After Wang Zhongsi appeared with more than a dozen government soldiers armed to the teeth, he instantly suppressed the onlookers. The merchants and their entourage began to disperse slowly, and the news of the restructuring of Kuizhou Jiangguan began to ferment in the city.

Businessmen who go south and north, there are very few who lack eyesight, and they know that things cannot be changed in the short term by looking at this posture.

If it is just the united soldiers in the city who came out to rectify the order, then the restructuring of Jiangguan is likely to be just a "whim" of Zheng Shuqing, the assassin of Kuizhou.

But if the armor-clad government soldiers also come to the town, the meaning behind it must be unusual. This is because the military government and the local state capital are essentially independent of each other and do not belong to each other. The Kuizhou government can mobilize the unity troops, but it cannot directly mobilize the government soldiers.

So the wealthy businessman directly chose to handle the customs clearance documents, get the number plate, go to the local dock in Kuizhou to customize the "standard boat", and park the original old ship at the shore ferry, waiting for the situation to change.

There are also many businessmen who do not believe in evil and directly pay a "deposit" of 500 yuan and leave Kuizhou. These businessmen have the children of the family or clan behind them as the backstage, and they don't believe that Zheng Shuqing can cover the sky with one hand. The five hundred yuan handed over now, when the time comes, the Kuizhou government will spit it out with interest!

There are also many small businessmen who connect with each other, inquire about each other's final destination, choose to pool money to "share the boat", and buy a large "standard boat" together, and then decide the distribution of benefits after crossing the river pass.

The situation is not as upside down as Zheng Shuqing expected before, and the vast majority of businessmen still choose to temporarily stop and admit their instigation, as for whether they have any follow-up moves, that is another matter.

Yes, Zheng Shuqing's request seems outrageous, but compared to the profits obtained by the merchants, it is just like that. The difference in height of the Yangtze River in this section of the Three Gorges is not small, and many ships capsize and sink every year. The demands of the Kuizhou Jiangguan side are not completely vexatious and arbitrary.

Unifying the boats can unify the tariff standards, and it is convenient to keep the weight of the goods constant, whether it is for the merchants or the tax officials of the Kuizhou Jiangguan, the process is simplified.

Changing ships, no matter how expensive they are, they will be bought and sold with a hammer, and the tariffs have not risen.

If the goods are less than 200 catties, there is still no tax; If it is more than two hundred catties, it will be taxed proportionally, which is not much different from before.

If you want to talk about changes, it's not that there are no changes, and it's not good or bad yet, but it's more refined than before.

The new tariff requires that tariffs be charged on the entire ship, whether it is full or not, even if it is empty, if it does not exceed the standard waterline.

If the waterline is exceeded, it will be charged according to the scale, which is engraved on the side of the standard ship, which is actually the calculation of the weight of the cargo, which is the same as Cao Chong's reasoning.

For small boats that do not collect cargo tax, the weight of the cargo on board shall not exceed 200 catties, and the number of passengers, including the boatman, shall not exceed five people, and the tax shall be levied on the per capita.

In other words, there are only three kinds of ships that can pass through the Kuizhou River Pass in the future.

The first is the official ships and cao boats under the jurisdiction and operation of the imperial court, which have always been taxed and can be passed directly.

The second type is a private boat with a very small load, which basically has no cargo carrying function and is taxed per capitation.

The third type is the standard ship for merchants to transport goods, and the tariff is charged according to the weight of the goods, and no poll tax is charged. However, when the tax is set, the crew, including passengers, must be all on board.

Other boats are not allowed to cross the Kuizhou River Pass, and there is no room for bargaining.

All of a sudden, the news quickly spread from the capital city of Kuizhou, and countless letters flew like snowflakes to Chang'an City, thousands of miles away. A new game is brewing.

……

"Come, come, tea, tea. Try this Yixing Yangxian tea. ”

Just after nightfall, in the study room of the Lotus Pond Courtyard, Zheng Shuqing personally made tea for Fang Chongyong, and his technique was skillful, obviously not the first time to operate.

The long face, which was slightly old, was like a flower.

"I collected 50,000 yuan in one day, this money is really like having wings, and it is all piled up in the treasury, and I am afraid that someone will steal it. If you have this speed, you can make a difference in this month. Tsk, how did you come up with this trick? ”

Zheng Shuqing asked excitedly while breaking the tea cake.

If you don't accept it, this rebel of the Fang Youde family is really terrifying!

"Zheng Yuanjun, your skills are not very good, it is better to make tea made by your maid."

Fang Chongyong teased with a smug face.

"It's okay, it's okay, it's going to be replaced."

Zheng Shuqing didn't mind the other party's words slapping his face at all. As long as he can make money at this speed, Fang Chongyong hits him on the left cheek, and he can also stretch out his right cheek for the other party to hit. Fight until Fang Chongyong is satisfied.

"Come on, they've all withdrawn, boiled the tea and brought it over."

Zheng Shuqing gave an order, and several beautiful maids came over and cleaned up all the tables and tables.

"Have you written the official document sent to Chang'an?"

Fang Chongyong asked with a straight face, not polite to Zheng Shuqing at all. Now the relationship between the two has completely reversed, and before he knows it, he has become the dominant person. What's even more terrifying is that Zheng Shuqing actually accepted it all!

"It's written, Xiao Langjun, please take a look."

Zheng Shuqing handed over the official document he had written today to Fang Chongyong for review.

I saw Zheng Shuqing complaining to the imperial court in an official document, saying that the Kuizhou section of the river was turbulent, and many treacherous merchants used large ships and huge ships to load goods, causing the ships to run aground in the river and silt up the waterway. Kuizhou Jiangguan often needs to send people to rescue people who have fallen into the water, salvage the sunken ships that block the waterway, and the annual cost is not enough, and it is impossible to find the imperial court to reimburse the expenses, which affects the local livelihood of Kuizhou.

If the boats can be unified, firstly, the ships can be avoided from capsizing due to overweight or over-specification to the greatest extent, secondly, they can reduce the labor of the officials under the Kuizhou Jiangguan and speed up the time for customs clearance, and third, it is convenient to picket prohibited items and ask for them according to the map.

It is hoped that the imperial court can approve the formal approval.

There is only so much to say in the official document, and there is not a word of the mandatory purchase of Kuizhou-made standard boats, the payment of a deposit that can only be refunded after one year for forced customs clearance, and so on.

The other two points are easy to say, and the third point is mainly because when handling the customs clearance certificate, you need to fill in the information of the shipowner, so that once the contraband is found, you can quickly find clues and facilitate detection.

Seeing that everything that should be written was written, Fang Chongyong handed the official document to Zheng Shuqing and said: "This policy is also a last resort, and it may not last long." If the court does not issue an edict, then the envoy can use it to get out of the sea of suffering. If the court decrees, the envoy will be demoted, and he will have to return to Beijing to report on his work, or he will be imprisoned. ”

Fang Chongyong said in a heavy tone.

"What can I do now?"

Zheng Shuqing asked a mantra of Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty.

"First send the 50,000 guan sent by the Kuizhou shippers to Wushan County overnight, and then let Wang Zhongsi escort this batch of wealth to Chang'an, just add such a sentence in the official document."

Fang Chongyong threw out his killer move.

After pondering for a moment, Zheng Shuqing sighed and said: "It is appropriate to send money, but it can't be sent by Wang Zhonghe." In this way, I asked Yang Ruoxu to escort this batch of wealth to Yangzhou with his cronies, and enter Chang'an by the road of the capital water supervisor. Now the water supervisor is under the control of Li Xiang, and there is no hindrance.

As for the fact that Kuizhou was unmanned during this period, it was okay to let Wang Zhongsi transfer troops to Fucheng. ”

Zheng Shuqing rejected the suggestion of letting Wang Zhonghei escort him, but he also thought that it was a major matter to send the 50,000 taxes back to Chang'an to Li Longji as soon as possible.

Zheng Shuqing can invite Wang Zhongsi to come to Kuizhou Mansion to watch the scene, because this is one of Wang Zhongsi's obligations.

In addition to training government soldiers, the military government of the Tang Dynasty also had the task of protecting the safety of the state and county where it was located (not daily public security) and coping with sudden military and civil situations. Although this is not common, it is clearly written in the charter.

This is the same as the Sui Dynasty's "governor's office" system, which manages the government soldiers and is also responsible for the security of the prefectures and counties.

However, if Wang Zhonghei is ordered to escort 50,000 pieces of wealth, it will be a change in Zheng Shuqing's political position, which is a very serious political mistake! Of course, Wang Zhongsi will not refuse to return to Chang'an day and night, and the government soldiers escort the taxes, which is barely reasonable, but what Li Linfu will think, it is difficult to say.

Fang Chongyong is still a little tender politically and doesn't understand these twists and turns. Zheng Shuqing is an old fritter in officialdom, it is impossible not to know this.

"That's fine, the envoy still has a lot to do."

Fang Chongyong took a sip of the tea brought by the maid, and I have to say that it is better than the local tea in Kuizhou. He is now a guest, and his treatment is rising.

"Anything else? What else? ”

Zheng Shuqing was stunned, he was already planning to lie down and collect money, how could something happen?

"Envoys, those merchants, behind them are all the children of the great family and the clan. The envoy himself is from everyone, don't you feel it? ”

Hearing this, Zheng Shuqing was thoughtful, and his face gradually turned cold.

Fang Chongyong said it well, most of these businessmen are the "gloves" of major families, nobles, and clans standing at the front desk.

They usually need to come out and make money.

At the critical moment, they need to come out and take the blame.

The noble lord of the family, who is all heirlooms of poetry and calligraphy, how can he be contaminated with copper stench?

Although it is impossible for these family masters to engage in lowly industries related to making money, if someone makes it difficult for him to make money and cuts off his financial route, then these people will also stand up and do things.

The so-called no wind and no waves, political problems do not necessarily need political means to solve. In this regard, Zheng Shuqing can be said to have seen a lot of winds and waves.

"What's your plan? Do you want me to use my family connections? ”

Uncle Zheng asked in a deep voice.

He can indeed use his family connections to settle this matter, but the benefits to be paid will be unimaginably large, or it will be difficult for him to turn over in his life!

"Four words, unite as one!"

Fang Chongyong stood up and said categorically in his unique childlike voice.

"So how do you unite as one?"

Zheng Shuqing looked at Fang Chongyong with a puzzled expression and asked. It's hard to imagine that he, who has a dignified history of assassination, was actually led by the nose by a yellow-mouthed child.

"The new rules have been set at the Kuizhou River Pass, and the large-scale replacement of ships that have passed the customs is inevitable. Do you want to hire people for the shore dock? Do you need to recruit people at the ferry port for unloading? The merchants and their servants who stayed in Kuizhou, do they want to eat and stay in the hotel? Do you need people to make a living?

With so many livelihoods, will the people of Kuizhou live better or worse? If there are outsiders making trouble at the ferry, should they stand behind the envoy and support him, or help the outsiders destroy the various livelihoods that are thriving in Kuizhou Mansion?

Isn't the answer clear? ”

In a trance, Zheng Shuqing seemed to see Li Linfu speaking in front of him. The assassin muttered to himself, "With the grace of your father, he will become the prime minister one day." ”

……

Chang'an, Daming Palace, Zichen Palace. Li Longji, the son of the Tang Dynasty, was holding his forehead, looking at the vermilion pillars hugged by several people in the hall in a daze, the disturbance of state affairs and the chatter of family affairs only made him want to escape from the palace that suffocated him.

Originally, Concubine Wu Hui, whom he loved, had been blowing the wind on the pillow, saying that he wanted to make Li Xuan, the king of longevity, the crown prince. It's just that now there is a prince named Li Ying, how can there be another prince?

Not to mention that Li Ying has been the crown prince for twenty years.

The court was also uneasy, Pei Yaoqing was replaced, Li Linfu took his place as a servant, and there was still a lack of a prime minister in the three-phase pattern. Li Longji wanted to promote Youzhou Jiedu to make Zhang Shouqi return to the dynasty to serve as the third rank of Tongzhongshu, but he was fiercely opposed by Zhang Jiuling.

Cui Xiyi, the new envoy of Hexi Jiedu, played to the imperial court, saying that the previous Hexi Jiedu made Niu Xianke accessible in government affairs, and the Hexi Domain Town was full of treasury and armaments under his management, and this person had the talent to slaughter and assist. I hope that the imperial court can promote it and reuse it.

At this time, Niu Xianke had already gone to Shuofang to serve as the general manager of Shuofang's march.

Seeing Cui Xiyi's letter, Li Longji was very generous and directly proposed to transfer Niu Xianke back to the capital to serve as the sixth secretary. In fact, I want to observe the cattle cyclamen, and if it is appropriate, go directly to the phase.

But this appointment was also fiercely opposed by Zhang Jiuling.

Zhang Jiuling's reason is that Niu Xianke is only familiar with Hexi affairs, and is not necessarily qualified to be the prime minister. His person rose step by step from a small official in Hexi, and his ability can only shine in Hexi, and once he arrives in the capital, he can't show it.

This is a true sentence, and it is also a true word that can only be said by an old fritter with extremely rich experience in government affairs.

Li Longji reluctantly agreed to Zhang Jiuling's suggestion, but he was very annoyed in his heart.

The emperor always wants to monopolize power, and he is what he says! Where is the turn to get a courtier to tell himself all day long that this is not good, then don't do it, what kind of system!

Today, Li Longji was thinking about whether to replace Zhang Jiuling in Zichen Hall and replace him with an obedient one, or even ...... Let Li Linfu try to be the prime minister alone, if it is useful, then there will be no need to change the prime minister every three or four years.

In Li Longji's opinion, it is actually very tiring to deal with these courtiers. You must be familiar with the temper of these people, you must be good at using these people to do things, and you must be able to control these people to prevent them from messing around, and not let them always do things that are not in line with their own emperor's wishes.

"The saint, Zheng Shuqing, the assassin of Kuizhou, ordered someone to send goods worth 50,000 yuan, as well as an urgent official document."

Gao Lishi, who was nearly fifty years old, walked into Zichen Palace lightly, came to Li Longji's side and whispered, handing over the official document in his hand to the other party.

Now Li Longji has begun to neglect his administration, and if the official documents sent urgently are sent directly to the palace, they will be read by Gao Lishi first and feel that they are valuable, so they will be handed over to Li Longji. As for the official documents that go through the channels of the imperial court, they are processed by the six ministries of the three provinces and then submitted. Gu Gu's official document of the Red Lotus Rice had been sent for several days, and it had already been processed, and Li Longji didn't know what Gu Gu said in the official document.

"Uncle Zheng does have a talent for governance, and Zhang Xianggong is old."

After reading the urgent official document, Li Longji sighed and said to Gao Lishi: "Lux, you write an edict for me, send someone to send it to Zheng Shuqing, and ask him if he can help me get more money." Next year's Shangyuan Festival, I want to celebrate. ”

"Holy man, rest assured." Colliers said with a respectful salute.