Ruan Xi had a few words with the businessman, and then led him to Zhu Qiyu.

The businessman bowed his hand: "The villain Tian Huiqing, I have seen Brother Tai." ”

Zhu Qiyu returned the salute with a smile: "Little brother Liu Yu, taking the liberty of inviting him, it is rude and rude." ”

The tax officials and the defenders put a few sets of tables and chairs at the gate of the city for rest, and Zhu Qiyu politely said a few words and invited Tian Huiqing to sit down and chat in detail. He Yi, Lian Gang, Wang Yue, Gao Yao, Ruan Xi, and Shu Liang sat at the same table.

Zhu Qiyu took the lead in asking: "Dare to ask Brother Tai, how much business tax do you have to pay in total to transport goods from the south to Beijing?" ”

Tian Huiqing smiled bitterly and said: "Don't mention it, there are a total of seven banknote customs on the Grand Canal, and I transported the goods and paid ten taels of commercial tax and one tael of ship tax at Shangxinhe banknote customs."

If I have six more banknotes, I don't have to pay the commercial tax repeatedly, but the ship tax has to be paid once every time I pass through a banknote, and I pay one or two each time.

And you also saw the twenty-one taels of business tax just now.

The cost of collecting silk from Suzhou is a total of eighty taels; When it was transported to Beijing, a total of 38 taels of silver were paid.

I sold these silks at a loss for four taels of silver per horse. After working hard for half a day, all the silver was earned by the imperial court. ”

He Yi asked curiously: "Shouldn't the commercial tax of Shangxinhe Banknote Customs be thirty taxes and one?" ”

Tian Huiqing asked rhetorically: "The banknotes in the capital should also be thirty taxes and one, but look at how they actually collect them?"

Since the Tumubao Rebellion, the situation in the DPRK has been in chaos, and everywhere there is either a Tatar invasion or a civil uprising in the interior.

To put it mildly, if you think about it, the capital is like this, and now the Holy Lord is probably a little out of control over the place. ”

Ruan Xi hurriedly persuaded: "Brother Tai is cautious, this is a taboo, if someone with a heart reports it, won't Brother Tai get into trouble?" ”

Tian Huiqing said with a smile: "That's not going to happen, in fact, I went to Beijing in March, but I have been living in a relative's house outside the city."

From Gong Rang for the emperor to return to Beijing to last month's mutiny, I have heard about the major events that have happened in the past few months.

If nothing else, I think I know a thing or two about the temperament of the saint today, but when I talk about current affairs like I am now, the saint will not find me a little trouble with the common people. ”

Zhu Qiyu asked again: "Brother Tian has been in Beijing for a few months, so why did you choose to enter the city today to sell silk?" ”

Tian Huiqing smiled: "There's no way, I can't stand it after waiting for a few months, so let's sell it at a loss." If I don't sell it, I will transport it back, and I will have to pay seventeen taels of tolls on the way; If you enter Beijing and sell it, you have to pay 21 taels of commercial tax.

For the price difference of four taels, it is impossible to toss the world, the south and the north. ”

"Brother Tian chose to use the newly minted silver coins of the imperial court to pay taxes, is this silver coin already so widely used?"

Tian Huiqing replied: "I have been going to the city recently, especially the Tianlou in Mingyufang, which is a well-deserved sea of news in the capital, and I often sit there all day.

These silver coins are all exchanged in the Heavenly Tower, don't you say, this Heavenly Tower is really a background to the sky, the magic is vast, no matter how much gold, silver and jewelry you have, he can exchange it for you into equivalent silver coins.

The silver coins in his vault seemed to be endless. ”

Zhu Qiyu nodded understandingly, I understand, the person in front of me who has been sitting in the sky tower for a day, is obviously a rich man with a rich fortune, as for selling silk, either to experience life, or to investigate the market, or maybe he just found a reason to go to Beijing to understand the changes in the court situation.

So Zhu Qiyu asked again: "Dare to ask Brother Tian what he thinks of today's court situation?" What do you think of the Holy Beings today? ”

Tian Huiqing shook his head: "It can be seen that today's saints obviously really want to prosper the Ming Dynasty, which is completely different from the kind of chaotic life and getting by in the Xuanmiao."

There is a world of difference between him and Gong Rang, who has a heart, but is ambitious and talented.

But how difficult it is to carry out reforms, and how difficult it is to expand the territory!

I was in a hurry to sell the silk in my hand and go home, but I was also sure that the reform was coming and the sea ban would be opened.

The opportunity to get rich is here, and I'm going to start preparing to get ready to participate in overseas trade. ”

"Brother Tai wants to go back to Nanjing to prepare, and then go to Hangzhou and Fujian to develop business?"

Tian Huiqing shook his head: "No, no, no, although the younger brother lives in Nanjing, the family foundation is in Qingzhou, Shandong. What the younger brother wants to do is the sea trade in Shandong. ”

"Oh? Why is Brother Taiwan more optimistic about Shandong? ”

Tian Huiqing said with a smile: "Today, the Holy Lord will definitely choose a place in the north to build a basic plate. But the people of Shanxi have already been offended by the saints.

In the land of Gyeonggi, Renmiao, Xuanmiao, and Gongrang Emperor have been in operation for decades, and that power has become intertwined and pervasive. If the Holy Lord wants to take full control of Gyeonggi, it is by no means something that can be done in three or five years.

Only Shandong, only one king of Lu. Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the kings of the past dynasties did not attach much importance to Shandong, let alone have any preferential treatment.

Shandong Province can be described as a terra nullius.

Why did the current saint have to promote himself from the king of the servant to the king of Qi before ascending the throne, in addition to the fact that the king of Qi is a first-class king, a hundred times better than the king of the servant, there is also the most important reason.

That is, before the Holy Lord ascended the throne, he had already fallen in love with Shandong, and was preparing in advance to build Shandong into a basic plate. ”

Zhu Qiyu glanced at Tian Huiqing in surprise, and sure enough, opportunities are reserved for those who are prepared.

Soon He Yi, Lian Gang, Wang Yue, Gao Yao and others also joined the discussion, and the more everyone chatted, the more enthusiastic they became, and the more Tian Huiqing chatted, the more frightened they became.

The knowledge and conversation of these four young people in front of him are obviously many times beyond their peers, and they are blind and visible.

Tian Huiqing summed up a little in his heart: a handsome son, with four young men who are not inferior to Shi Hanlin, and two eunuchs who have at least worked in the palace.

Now there are no young vassal kings in the capital.

Just when a few people were chatting hotly, the tax official shouted again.

The crowd followed the prestige, but saw more than 30 rough men pulling dozens of handsome horses and trying to enter the city, but they were stopped by the tax collector.

Wang Xian, the youngest of them, sighed: "What a handsome horse, I don't know how much silver tax I have to pay." ”

He Yi smiled and said: "Not necessarily, maybe a foreign country came to pay tribute." Under normal circumstances, Gongma does not need to pay taxes. ”

Sure enough, as soon as He Yi's voice fell, he heard the tax collector shouting: "What kind of tribute horses, they are from Jianzhouwei, and they are not kingdoms like Korea and Annam."

I only know that those kingdoms canonized by the Ming Dynasty are eligible to pay tribute, you two commanders, which of the tribute horses, are you eligible?

Besides, where Jianzhou Wei is, this official has never heard of it. ”

The others didn't react when they heard Jianzhou Wei, only Zhu Qiyu stood up and took a few steps closer to look at it carefully.

Just now, the tax official said that there are two commanders, so it seems that they should be Li Manzhu, the commander of the Jianzhou Guard, and Dong Shan, the commander of the Jianzhou Left Guard.

Dong Shan is not a master of peace, this guy once attached himself to North Korea and accepted the position of the central privy envoy canonized by North Korea. Even if it is forgotten, it also entangled tens of thousands of Jurchen troops and attacked Liaodong many times.

The fifth ancestor of this old slave Nurhachi, in the orthodox and Jingtai dynasties, was already a big wild boar with anti-bones in the back of his head, jumping out of abnormalities, and rampaging everywhere.

Zhu Qiyu was about to tell which of the first two was Dong Shan, when he saw one of the rugged men take a step forward and shouted at the tax officer:

"I, Dong Shan, am the governor of the Great Tomorrow, the commander of the left guard of Jianzhou, and I have guarded Liaodong for generations. This time I came to Beijing to contribute Junma and thank the orthodox emperor in person for mediating the internal dispute between the Jianzhou Zuowei.

Thou little tax collector, if you obstruct it, will it not hinder the holiness of His Majesty the Orthodox Emperor?

I advise you to get out of the way quickly, otherwise you will get into a lawsuit, and you will not be able to eat and walk around. ”

When the tax official heard this, he said angrily: "Which tartar drilled out of the deep mountains and old forests is now Emperor Jingtai, and your orthodox emperor has long since abdicated." ”

Zhu Qiyu shook his head: This Dong Shan, didn't he deliberately find fault, he really couldn't even distinguish between orthodoxy and Jingtai? But not necessarily, it is clearly stated in the history books, at least many Mongolians, it is true that they can't distinguish between orthodoxy and Jingtai.

But it doesn't matter, Dong Shan and his children and grandchildren, none of them want to live. I'm going to have an enhanced version of the plough court to sweep the caves, and the tribes of Dong Shan, Li Manzhu, and Fancha all have to die.

What Nurhachi, Huang Taiji, Dolgon, Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, there is no need to come to this world again.

As for the Jianzhou Guard, the Jianzhou Left Guard, and the Jianzhou Right Guard, the original Jurchens naturally wanted all of them, and then they were all replaced by Han generals, and the three princes each led a guard to jointly rule the Jurchen tribes.

(End of chapter)