Just when Zhao Zhen was addicted to novels and couldn't extricate himself.

Zhao Jun has already taken advantage of the spring breeze to go south.

It is late January, which corresponds to February and March of the solar calendar, and the spring is shining brightly and the sun is shining.

The boat went south along the Bianhe River and galloped all the way.

Zhao Jun stood on the side of the boat and looked around, the Bianhe River is one of the main canals of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, 20 meters wide, and there are many boats coming and going.

Therefore, in order to prevent collisions, everyone will keep a certain distance and dare not get too close.

The wilderness farmland on both sides, the villages are all over, and the willows are fluttering.

Because the speed was too slow, almost at a turtle speed of more than 10 kilometers per hour, Zhao Jun quickly lost interest in continuing to watch the scenery and returned to the cabin to rest.

In order to pass the time, he brought a lot of books, not the Four Books and the Five Classics, but the small talking books that were originally available in the Song Dynasty.

Although novels were not flourishing at that time, there were few good works and not many novels. But at that time, the novels were often dominated by monsters and legends, and some wrote detective suspense and the like, which were quite curious, and you could barely read them.

It's a pity that Zhao Jun can't bring out the notebook, but he doesn't dare to bring it. After all, he was running around, going back and forth, carrying a notebook everywhere during the journey, and it would be uncomfortable if he bumped and fell.

So he can only leave the notebook in Bianliang, although Zhao Zhen is not a good emperor, but he knows the importance of the notebook, and leaving the notebook in the palace is the best choice.

The cabin was bumpy, but Zhao Jun was a southerner, and he hadn't been on a boat since he was a child, so he didn't think there was anything wrong with it, and read the novel to pass the time.

About four hours later, about three o'clock in the afternoon, the boat swayed into Ningling.

Bianliang to Yingtianfu is not far away, about 150 kilometers, basically ten hours to get there. Ningling is in the northwest of Yingtianfu, belongs to Jingxi East Road, and the location is Ningling County, Shangqiu City, Henan Province in later generations.

As one of the transit stations between Bianliang and Yingtianfu, Ningling not only provides local commercial transactions, but also mainly provides overnight docking and supply functions.

At this moment, the dock was full of boats, and the boats did not stop, but passed directly through Ningling and went all the way to Yingtianfu.

Ningling provides overnight services for passing ships, often from Bianliang after 10 o'clock in the morning of the merchant ships, Zhao Jun's boat departed early, more than seven o'clock in the morning, about five o'clock in the afternoon should be able to arrive at Yingtianfu, there is no need to dock here.

But just as his boat was about to pass, a speedboat came speeding up from the small pier of the pavilion on the bank of the river, and on board there were seven or eight tax collectors dressed in official clothes, all of them fierce, and stopped the boat.

The ship was forced to stop.

This place is still more than 200 zhang away from the branch canal extending from Ningling in front, even if you have to pay taxes, you have to wait until Ningling Wharf to talk about it, but I didn't expect these people to stop the boat in advance.

The pilots of Zhao Jun's ships were Jiang Dalang and them, who were themselves from the docks, and the ships were skillfully controlled, so they were naturally under their control.

At this moment, Jiang Dalang asked the people in the cabin to park the boat and look at the boat outside.

"A few officials, what's the matter?"

Jiang Dalang asked expressionlessly, he actually knew what it was, and he had relied on Cao Yun to make a living all year round, so why didn't he know the rules inside?

A tax leader on the boat scolded: "Blind your eyes, don't you know how to read? We are in charge of the Ningling field affairs of the Tianfu Commercial Tax Institute, and all merchant ships passing by must pay taxes. ”

Jiang Dalang said in a deep voice: "But we don't have any cargo on board. ”

"Check!"

The tax leader shouted.

"What's wrong?"

Zhao Jun came over at this time.

"The prefect is here to collect taxes at the Ningling Field of the Tianfu Commercial Tax Institute."

Jiang Dalang replied.

"Huh."

Zhao Jun was amused and said, "It's really going to be rampant, where did Ningling come from." ”

In the Song Dynasty, commerce flourished, and there were regulations for taxation.

Based on the major commercial cities, there are commercial tax institutes, commercial tax divisions, commercial taxation departments, and local tax kiosks.

The problem is that in the earliest days the tax was only levied in the major commercial cities, and whichever big city you pass through, you would pay the tax there, which was 2% of the total value of the goods.

Taking Yangzhou to Bianliang as an example, there are only seven collection points: Yangzhou, Chuzhou, Sizhou, Suzhou, Bozhou, Yingtianfu and Bianliang.

This is about 14% of the total value of your goods.

If you have to pay a tax once in every county you pass by, there are more than 20 counties along the way, and you have to pay more than 40% of the tax, and the businessman must not lose money?

After all, in ancient times, the cost of doing business was inherently high, and the profits were not considerable. If you add high taxes, if you want to make money, you have to increase the selling price, and in the end, the people will pay.

Therefore, at that time, the tax rate was basically maintained at about 10%.

It is a pity that the regulations are regulations, and all localities do not fulfill them at all, and often they have to be taxed at least twice for each state, and there are a lot of exacting taxes and miscellaneous taxes, such as "strength wins money", "onshore money", "municipal money", "bridge money", and "fighting money".

By the time of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, the tax rate had reached more than 30%, which seriously increased the burden on merchants.

Obviously, Ying Tianfu set up a field in Ningling, that is, to prepare for the goose to pluck the feathers, and then to pay a tax in Ying Tianfu, it is estimated that in Yangzhou, the tax rate has far exceeded 10%, in more than 20%.

Jiang Dalang asked, "Do you want to drive them away?" ”

Zhao Jun pondered for a moment and said, "Let them come up, keep an eye on them, and prevent them from tumbling, I want to see how they are rampant." ”

"Yes."

Jiang Dalang poked his head out again and said, "Come up." ”

As he spoke, he lowered the ladder.

Soon the tax collectors below climbed up.

But before they had time to show off their might, they panicked one by one.

For they were horrified to find that the deck was full of people, each with a knife hanging from his waist, staring at them with a look of disgust.

Jiang Dalang took out his waist card and said: "We are a garrison of the forbidden army transferred from abroad, passing by here. ”

It turned out to be a group of thieves with an army.

The tax collectors were immediately relieved, but the leader did not maintain the initial domineering, but said: "Since we are brothers who are transferred from abroad, then we are not embarrassed, according to the usual practice." ”

The garrison troops who were transferred abroad also often did business, and it was normal for them to hide some goods in the cabin between them, and everyone did not want to have conflicts, as long as the basic meaning was fine.

It's just that Zhao Jun next to him pretended not to know: "I'm tired of this official, we are also the first time to be transferred, but I don't know what this usual practice is." ”

The leader of the tax collector wondered, "Don't you have anything with the chief?" ”

"The chief rested in the cabin, and did not dare to disturb."

"Okay."

The leader said: "If you bring the goods, you can calculate it according to the price of the goods, and if you don't bring it, you will need two dollars for the size of a boat like yours." ”

At that time, the tax threshold for goods was 300 wen, that is, if the value of the goods exceeded 300 wen, 6 wen tax had to be paid.

Don't look at those big businessmen, who bring tens of thousands of yuan worth of goods every time they travel.

But small and medium-sized businessmen bring hundreds of thousands of goods, it is very remarkable, if according to the goods of 1,000 yuan, the normal tax is 20 yuan, there is no need to give money if there is no goods on the ship, but there is a tax called Lisheng money, according to the size of the ship.

Zhao Jun and their ship are considered medium and large ships, although they are not as good as the top ships, they also have to pay money. This is still the forbidden army they are transferred from, and if they are merchants, even if they are empty, they have to pay more than ten times.

Jiang Dalang looked at Zhao Jun.

Zhao Jun nodded slightly.

"There's a labor officer."

Jiang Dalang took out two pieces of money from his arms and handed them over.

The tax collector took it, bowed his hand to him and said goodbye, and when he got off the boat, he was far away, and the leader said: "It's really unlucky, so the big ship thought that there was a big customer, but I didn't expect it to be a boatload of forbidden troops." ”

When the tax boat walked away, Jiang Dalang looked at Zhao Jun and said, "Zhiyuan, this power wins money is a harsh tax that should not be paid, why should we pay it?" ”

On one side, Huang Sanlang was also not angry: "Yes, Zhiyuan, if you show the seal of the Zhiyuan card, don't scare them to death, why let them?" ”

Zhao Jun waved his hand and said: "Now that you have your identity, the news has spread all over Ying Tianfu in the blink of an eye, and those officials who have been up and down have gotten the news, how can they check the evidence of their crimes?" Be honest, explore the situation first, and don't be too public. ”

"Yes."

The crowd had no choice but to answer.

After paying the exorbitant taxes, Zhao Jun returned to the cabin, and the ship continued to sail.

Soon approached the river in Ningling County.

Originally, if they hadn't had this delay, they would have passed smoothly.

However, it was the delay of the tax collectors that caused a fleet of ships to sail out of the wharf in Ningling, fifty or sixty zhang away, blocking the river in front.

This is obviously a merchant fleet, the scale is not small, there are more than a dozen large ships, absolutely top merchants.

Jiang Dalang looked at the other party's posture, if he didn't get in front of the other party, he would have to delay a lot of time.

Therefore, Jiang Dalang and the others immediately signaled to the other party's ships that had not yet been inserted into the canal, signaling the other party to slow down first and wait for their ships to pass.

But it was still a step too slow, and the other party's boat had already sailed out of the canal dock in Ningling due to inertia and couldn't stop.

At this time, if they rushed directly over, there was a danger of collision, so Jiang Dalang and the others had to slow down the boat and were forced to stop in the river again.

The ships stopped, and the merchant ships slowly came out, like cars going straight waiting for a traffic light, watching the car turning left in front of them enter the main road.

Zhao Jun's boat could only stop in place, and he had to wait for the other party to pass before he could continue to move forward.

Jiang Dalang stood on the deck, raised his head and looked at the sky, and scolded: "They have so many ships, it is estimated that it will take half an hour to come out of the dock." This group of straight thieves is really, they will die after a while? ”

Huang Sanlang said: "Forget it, wait for now, don't disturb the prefect." ”

They just kept waiting.

The merchant ships outside were still coming out, obviously stuck in time to prepare to go to Yingtianfu.

After more than ten minutes, Zhao Jun was bored in the cabin, and found through the window that the ship had stopped again, so he walked out of the cabin and asked the attendants on the left and right: "What's going on again?" ”

The attendant replied, "It seems that there are merchant ships coming out of Ningling Wharf in front, which happens to cut off our river, so we can only stop and wait for them to pass." ”

"Oh."

Zhao Jun got out of the room and walked to the deck to take a look.

They saw that there were indeed a large number of merchant ships moving forward in the distance, and because of the narrowness of the canal, they even blocked the ships coming from the opposite side, and they had to wait until they all made a successful turn and approached the right channel before they could continue to pass.

Obviously, with the scale of the merchant ship, it will definitely not be able to go immediately for a while, and the speed of the big ship is slow, and the turning is also slow. Second, the river is narrow, and we must be cautious and not in a hurry.

Therefore, Zhao Jun can only stand on the deck and watch the scenery, looking at the Ningling city in the distance, inside and outside the city gate, there are many vendors, and it is still quite prosperous.

And at this time, on one of the merchant ships, a person was also looking around, and suddenly he seemed to see something, his face froze, and then he immediately exclaimed: "Quick, stop the ship, stop!" ”

"Jiajun, will you stop the ship now?"

The servant asked.

"Stop the boat now, prepare the boat, I'm going to that ship!"

The man shouted.

The servant hurried to inform the boatmen in the cabin to stop the boat.

Soon a small boat was lowered from the boat, and in the distance, Zhao Jun saw someone climbing the ladder to get off the boat, and then boarded the boat and drove quickly in his direction.

It wasn't until Zhao Jun found out that that person was actually Tian Chang, the owner of Tian's tea.

Tian Chang rowed to the bottom of the boat, with a flattering smile on his face, and bowed to Zhao Jun above: "Little old man Tian Chang, I have seen the Zhiyuan." ”

Zhao Jun leaned over to look at him and said, "It turned out to be Tian Dadong's family." ”

As he spoke, he asked Jiang Dalang to put down the ladder and let people come up.

Although Tian Chang is an old man, he has been running around on the boat all the year round, and his skills are actually quite vigorous, so he climbed up and said with a smile: "I didn't expect the little old man to be so lucky to meet the prefect." ”

"Huh."

Zhao Jun smiled, then pointed to the distance and said, "The fleet of the big boss is parked on the river, but it is not good to block the river. ”

Tian Chang hurriedly said to the rowing people below: "Quick, let them go, be faster." ”

"Yes, yes, yes."

The small boat below sped back to the big one.

Soon the flotilla in the distance continued to set sail, and it was not long before it gave way to the river.

Taking advantage of this, Zhao Jun asked Tian Changdao: "Is the big boss planning to go back to Jiangsu and Zhejiang to collect tea?" ”

Tian Chang said with a smile: "Yes, the villain set off yesterday, and it happened that there was a deal in Ningling, which was delayed until today." Originally, I wanted to go to Yingtianfu to rest today, but I didn't expect to meet the prefect, so the villain hurriedly came over to greet the Venerable. ”

As he spoke, he took out a jade pendant from his arms and said, "It's in a hurry, the villain didn't bring any gifts." This jade pendant is an ancient jade received in Ningling City, and I specially came to give it to the prefect to show my gratitude. ”

"It's not going to be done."

Zhao Jun said with a smile while refusing: "No wonder Tian Dong's business is big, and this person is also sophisticated. But it's a pity that it's useless, and this knowledge court will only act impartially and will not accept bribes, so forget it. ”

Tian Chang hurriedly said: "The villain knows that the Zhiyuan is honest, but this is not a bribe, and the villain does not plan to ask the Zhiyuan to do anything, this is just a villain's intention." ”

Zhao Jun shook his head and said: "That's not good, there is no friendship between you and me, and it is indeed inappropriate to give a big gift when we meet for the second time." ”

Tian Chang said with emotion: "The incorruptible governor is really a model for hundreds of officials. ”

Zhao Jun smiled and didn't speak.

He didn't blame Tian Chang, mainly because the style of gift-giving was prevalent in the Song Dynasty, if it was just a gift, and there was no request for help, it was not considered a bribe, so the officialdom at that time gave gifts to each other like this.

But as the so-called softness of people, Zhao Jun's status is obviously not suitable for accepting gifts from others, so except for Lu Yijian and their people's things that can be accepted with peace of mind, even if the gifts of the rest of the people are not reciprocated, they must not accept a penny.

Seeing that Zhao Jun didn't speak, Tian Chang put away the jade pendant, and then said, "I don't know what happened to the Zhiyuan's trip?" If you go to Yangzhou, the villains are familiar with it along the way, and they are willing to saddle up for the governor's house, and they dare not slack off. ”

Zhao Jun wanted to refuse, but suddenly remembered that since Tian Chang was a businessman, he must know all about the current taxes, so he asked, "Then do you know about this current tax?" ”

Tian Chang said with a smile: "If the prefect asks others, he will definitely not be able to ask anything, if he asks Xiao Lao'er, it is to ask the right person, this is going from south to north, Cao Yun, there is nothing that Xiao Lao'er doesn't know, it's just."

"Just what?"

"It's just that the little old man wants to know, what does the Zhiyuan want to hear?"

He asked tentatively: "Is it all the taxes of Caoyun, or is it just the business tax situation along the way?" ”

"I want you to know everything, and I want you to say everything."

Zhao Jun looked at him lightly and said, "Including where there are corrupt officials and corrupt officials, and where there are people who do evil along the way." Tian Chang, I know that you are not a bad person, so I asked you so bluntly. If what you give does not match what I investigated, then this state-run sale, and whether you can get tea in the future, I am afraid will have to be discussed. ”

Tian Chang's face froze, and then he was ecstatic, and said: "Little old man, you must tell the truth, and there will be no lies." ”

Brother Zhang Xian.

It's time to avenge your brother!

(End of chapter)