Chenguang in the second year of Xuanhe is still as calm as the water of an ancient well, without any waves.

Tangyin County, Xiangzhou, reported a case of suppressing bandits, rewarded several detective archers, and gave an auspicious case of the dragon manifestation on Peach Blossom Mountain.

Although there is a genuine white carp on Peach Blossom Mountain that will have a differentiated dragon in the future, to be honest, since Zhao Ji ascended the throne, he has shown his good way and true piety with practical actions, and there are many fairy miracles in the world like rats, and there is a tendency to seriously depreciate. In hundreds of states and counties in the Great Song Dynasty, almost a few masters can be found to send them to Beijing to face the saints, and even if they are not good, they can also witness a number of heavenly immortals descending to earth.

But over the years, the Great Song Tianzi has finally seen so many masters around him, and his vision has already been exercised, and he has some immunity to the ordinary warlocks who are good at talking. Tanlong Xiangrui, a small county in Hedong, is really not in Zhao Ji's eyes now-unless someone really carries a living dragon to open the eyes of the Great Song Dynasty.

But who has this leisure and elegance, specifically to open the eyes of Zhao Guan's family, so that he can fight bravely to catch a dragon?

At least Wei Ye felt that the Zhao Guanjia, who was good at painting flowers and birds and writing with a thin gold body, did not have such a big face in front of him.

After passing on Yue Feihushou's heart seal, and watching Lu Zhishen teach Niu Gao, Zhang Xian, and Wang Gui martial arts, Wei Ye patted his ass and left. As for the onlookers watching Yue Fei and their red colors, they accepted the commendation of Tangyin County?

The young years when the future celebrities are beginning to emerge, don't say that Wei Ye is not very interested in such scenes. It is Lu Zhishen, a reckless monk, who has achieved the position of an incorruptible envoy on the fifth road in Kansai before becoming a monk, and a martial artist who is a good soldier, where does he have the heart to see this excitement.

Speaking of which, Wei Ye still admires Lu Ti's point, and the envoy of the incorruptible visit during the Xuanhe period was a unique post in the Song Dynasty. Most of the eunuchs are in charge, and the power is not small, and they have the right to play the news like the imperial history, and the local military, political, and prison affairs can also be mixed with the previous hand. Of course, Lu Zhishen's incorruptible envoy is more special, and he belongs to the dispatch under the Western Army system, otherwise, he would not have killed a town in Guanxi, and he would have been forced to go to Wutai Mountain to become a monk.

However, judging from the fact that the Western Army was unable to lose at the end of the Kansai Fifth Road, the transformation into a feudal town was an established historical process. And Lu Zhishen, the incorruptible envoy of the five roads in Kansai, turned positive, it was also a matter of time or time, and if he managed it carefully, he might be a century-old heirloom of the Western Army.

However, as far as Lu Zhishen's upright temperament is concerned, and there is a trend of one hundred and eight demon stars turning into adulthood, there is no hope for him to be a family heirloom.

The reason why Wei Ye suddenly cared so much about Lu Zhishen's official fortune before he became a monk was not because of anything else, but because there was a very real problem in front of him-

The officials who have achieved the Guanxi Five-Way Honest Visiting Envoy, even if they are only military attachés, will always have the benefits of the Great Song Dynasty version of officialdom at some point, but they can save a lot of trouble.

For example, now, when I left the boundary of Xiangzhou, I could already see Liyangjin in the distance.

Liyangjin is a rare big ferry on the Yellow River, and compared with Fenglingdu in Guanzhong, Mengjindu in Luoyang, and Malingdu in Daimyofu, the status of Liyangjin is more valued by Zhao Song. There is no other reason, cross the river from Liyangjin, get off the boat at the opposite side of Baekmajin, and wait until you go straight to the land of Gyeonggi, and Bianliang City is already in sight.

Because the geographical location is in the key place, Liyang County, where Liyangjin is located, is also rising. In the Song Dynasty, the division of county-level administrative regions was divided into seven areas, such as Chi, Ji, Wang, Tight, Upper, Middle, and Lower, and Liyang County belonged to the third-class Wangxian County, which belonged to Junzhou Prefecture.

Similarly, Liyangjin is not like those obscure wild ferries, which are contracted from the government by boat owners who earn ferry money, but where the big ferries of the few official camps in the Great Song Dynasty are located.

Since it is called "official camp", there are naturally prison officials, forbidden troops and box troops who maintain order, and tax collectors who are the most disgusting throughout the ages. This whole set of teams is not only as simple as guarding Liyangjin to collect commercial taxes, but also maintaining the law and order near Liyangjin, and the military horses stationed there also have the responsibility of guarding the Yellow River embankment. Not to mention the business travel in front of Liyang Jin, under the gathering of people, it has also become a big town, with reverse passenger hostels, car and boat foot shops lined up one after another, and there are more restaurants and wine shops than private houses.

Such a place, although the affairs are annoying, but it is also a good place to make money, and the scholars and doctors in the Qing Dynasty can't look down on it, but those who have sunk into the sea and never want to change into a seven-grade green robe for the rest of their lives have broken their heads.

And these green-robed miscellaneous officials, whether they are tax supervisors or supervisors, the way to develop is all on the heads of business travelers.

Don't look at Lu Zhishen, who has a copy of the longitude that Zhao Yuanwai bought for him, compared to ordinary business travelers, there is less of a hand order to handle the road in the yamen, but before arriving at Liyangjin, this degree is useless.

There is no other reason, but that there is a famous miscellaneous tax "river crossing money" at the government-run ferry port like Liyangjin.

This money is not included in the regular fare for crossing the river, but is a tax specially collected by the ferry supervisor, and it is not handed over to the state treasury, but is withheld by Liyang County itself and used as yamen funds. Therefore, there is no certain rule for collecting the money for crossing the river, and it is all up to the state and county yamen to set their own standards.

And with Zhao Ji's use of things, the corrupt atmosphere of the officials, the standard of the river crossing money is also going all the way up, and now the river crossing money in Liyangjin has risen to the standard of hundreds of dollars per person, and this is the price of pure copper, and it will be doubled if you pay the banknote. As for those merchants who carry on their shoulders and large bags and small bags, there are even more famous and colorful miscellaneous taxes such as the capital of the basket and the purchase of silk waiting to be collected, and they will never stop without peeling off a few layers of skin.

Before arriving in Liyangjin, this reputation was stuffed all over Wei Ye's ears, but Lu Zhishen had always had a temperament that didn't care about trivial matters, and before arriving at Liyang Town, he and Wei Ye picked a two-story restaurant and sat down.

Xu Xuanling and Toad Wang Chao did not have such good luck, and the so-called disciples obeyed their work, and they got to the ferry to ask about the market.

I picked a Qi Chu Pavilion in the restaurant, and when I saw that the guest who came in was a monk, I was still full of courtesy, and said: "Sir, Master, the vegetarian wine in the shop is good! Today there are new royal peaches and golden apricots in Bianjing, and it is not interesting for gentlemen to sit down, and please use some seasonal fruits, eat a few glasses of vegetarian wine, and we will come to serve later." ”

As he spoke, he had already sent a plate of fresh fruits, although it was just an ordinary restaurant in the market town of Jingbei, and the porcelain plates used were all ivory white and silver buckles on the edge of the mouth. If in the early years, such gold fixtures with gold buckles and silver edges were also decent in the mansions of Kou Zhun and other famous lavish rulers, but now they have become ordinary utensils for wine shops to entertain guests.

Lu Zhishen didn't care whether he was rich or not, he looked at the case full of vegetarian fruits, and just shouted: "The Sprinkle family doesn't eat fasting, and it's not a monkey, you just have to bring these things up and do something?

Listening to Lu Zhishen's Kansai accent, the edict still had a smile on his face, and his heart became a little disdainful, but Wei Ye said on the side: "Don't look at Wei and this Master Lu are from the north, but your small account is indispensable." We cultivators, we don't want any girls to sing music and music, as long as the silence is the best, don't let those singing characters break in and sweep away our Qingxing!"

When the edict received this order, he smiled and saluted, and gently and skillfully withdrew. After a short time, some dried fruits such as peach kernels, ginkgo biloba, and pine nuts, candied fruits such as carved papaya, crispy walnuts, and fragrant olives, and some pickled bream, such as pine preserves, roasted bacon, and sturgeon, were placed on a full table.

Even for the wine, the edict also removed the plain wine that tasted as light as water, and replaced it with a jar of the famous Jinquan wine on Jingxi Road.

Leave these few colors to press the table dishes, wait for the edict to retire again, and leave Wei Ye and Lu Zhishen to drink.

But as soon as I drank a few glasses, I listened to the sound of sighs and sighs coming from outside, although there was such an elegant interval as Qi Chuge'er, it was still clear to the ear:

"Changjian Town has been a supervisor for three years, and this Liyang Town has been scraped three feet high by him!"

"The money for crossing the river has received Qimo and one person, and it is already alive and well, but now it has to be doubled, changed to one person and two runs, not counting other miscellaneous donations - this is simply throwing people into the pot and boiling oil even the bones!"

Needless to say, it's all the grumbling of the merchants who are going to cross the river.

There are hundreds of strangers, but today's customs, one Mo is seventy-five texts. Even if it is converted like this, Wumo money is not a small amount, in Hebei, this Qimo money is enough for a family of three for half a month.

But now, there is a problem that businessmen cannot ignore:

That is, since Zhao Ji ascended the throne and Cai Jing took office, most of the savings in the years of Shenzong and Zhezong have been wasted. In order to serve Zhao Ji, the merry son, Cai Jing, who was in charge of financial planning, did not have the ability to turn stones into gold, so he could only tear down the east wall everywhere to make up for the west wall, and the result was that prices soared and the banknote law was bad.

In the Central Plains, regardless of Jingdong and Jingxi, the price of rice has risen to a high price of killing two birds with one stone. The people of Bianliang have not felt it deeply because they enjoy the benefits imported from all over the Great Song Dynasty, but they have long felt unspeakably miserable in the west of Beijing.

At that moment, some people complained: "We braved the wind and snow, and walked down the road for a few months, and the profits we got were only 100 yuan, and this little money fell in Tokyo, but it was not used by birds! Just invite those officials of Kaifeng Mansion to eat a banquet, and then build a female book in the tiles of East Cross Street of Panlou Street, and you can spend about 20 percent." A trip to Bianliang to run down, earn less, stick to the book more!"

Most of the businessmen who complain are businessmen who have no followers and backstage. Such a businessman, most of his life, has worked the journey full of cottages, black shops, thief ships, and heroes, and if he is not careful, he will become a black pot burned in a black kiln, and a freshly steamed bun in a wild shop.

Because of this, their profits are really exchanged for their lives, and they can't throw away a penny, but they have to fill the dog hole in the yamen, and everyone has to bark a few times if they change it.

Wei Ye listened to these merchants complaining in the Qi Chu Pavilion, holding the wine cup thoughtfully.

Since the founding of the Zhao and Song dynasties, the so-called Tianshui Dynasty has always been associated with several terminal illnesses - the people are poor, the soldiers are weak, the wealth is scarce, and the scholars and doctors who have refreshed the lower limit from generation to generation are shameless.

With Cai Jing's work, the princes in charge who are still under the banner of Wang Xue have no worries about the country like Wang Anshi, except for political disputes to make money, and there is no trace of the scholars in the Qingli and Xining periods. The top is perverse, and the bottom is drunk and dreaming of death, although the "six thieves" led by Cai Jing have been the backstabbers, but the silverfish in the Xuanhe period are not only the six thieves can be summarized.

On the one hand, the political situation is completely corrupted, and on the other hand, there are heavy taxes and conscription brought about by redundant officials and soldiers, even if Zhao Song claims to have the skills to soothe the people, the means of maintaining internal stability have achieved the ultimate in the agrarian society, such as Wang Xiaobo and Yang Mi's generation is still endless.

What's more, from the time when Zhao Kuangyin usurped the country, he played a trick of demarcating the border with a jade axe, and the homelands of the Han and Tang dynasties such as Yanyun and Xingling were either entrenched by the Khitan or stolen by the Western Xia, not to mention the small countries of Dali, Jiaozhi, Khotan, and Black Khan. Such a strategic situation can be said to be so bad that later generations will talk about history and simply list Zhao Song, along with Khitan and Dangxiang, as Cao Wei and Sun Wu.

It's a pity that those benevolent and righteous people who spilled all their blood and couldn't save the sky!

As for the immortal warlock himself, there is nothing to say, Wei Ye, who single-handedly directed the palace changes at the end of the Han Dynasty and turned the great dynasty of the Qianlong Dynasty into a slaughterhouse, how could he have any protection for Zhao Ji, the leader of the prodigal son?

With a mocking look on his face, Qi Chuge'er whispered outside the edict: "Mr. allowed me to disturb, but there was a Xu Dao person who came to look for him, but I didn't know that it was someone who was familiar with Mr.?"

Putting down the wine cup, Wei Ye responded: "It is a disciple of Wei, wait for the edict, bring him in quickly!"

Xu Xuanling pushed open the door and walked in, and saluted Wei Ye first: "Mountain master, there are a lot of boats crossing the river today, as long as you pay the money for crossing the river......

When Wei Ye heard this, he shook his head first: "Xuan Ling, don't you hear that the dragon is a thing? Its ability is big and small, and it is different from each other, only in the four words 'change of time', since we have arrived in Bianjing, if it is not terrifying, how can we be considered to have entered the game? There is no one here who has sealed the heavens and established a precept, and uses the excuse of showing off his magical powers in front of people to meddle with our affairs——"

......

.........

Before the Liyang crossing, Chang Xiu, the overseer, sat under the pergola, shaking a fan in his hand, looking at the scene of hundreds of boats competing for the current at the ferry.

The Yellow River flows through the Central Plains, and the flow is much slower than in Kansai, and the surging river is separated by water, and it is difficult to distinguish the cattle and horses on both sides. The tall and sturdy embankment is a miracle in the history of human engineering left outside the Great Wall by the Central Plains Dynasty at the expense of manpower and financial resources since the Dayu water control.

Thousands of miles of plastered land, the benefits of vehicles and boats, all because of this long river, this long causeway.

But in Chang Xiu's eyes, the sound of waves and boats on this river every day is no more important than the money he intercepted in it.

It's also pitiful, don't look at the merchants in Liyang Town who scolded Chang Xiu as a regular pickpocket, but Liyangdu's money for crossing the river and all kinds of miscellaneous donations can only fall into Chang Xiu's waist is a drop in the bucket, and most of the head has entered the Liyang County Ya, the county lord who was born as a serious jinshi.

This kind of means of subordination is also the norm under the bureaucracy. Chang Xiu such a vulgar official can only pinch his nose and bring out the means of scraping the skin and removing the bones one by one. If nothing else, just for the sake of being able to get a few letters of recommendation from the local supervisor in the future, change to a five-cut success, and get out of the sea as soon as possible!

Sitting under the pergola, Chang Xiu watched his soldiers collect the money for crossing the river according to their heads, and the tax collectors on the side were checking the goods of the merchants. Chang Xiu's eyes are also vicious, if there are merchants who intend to get on the ship with goods in confusion, he can see it at a glance, but for these merchants, he only deducts some goods, but he does not take the opportunity to hit the board and put the flail on the board.

During the Xuanhe period, it seems that a bureaucrat like Chang Xiu who is willing to do things, can do things, and is not a black man can be regarded as a rare species.

was shaking the Japanese fan, watching his tax collector inspect a few Qiongzhou silk horses brought by a Shu merchant, but Chang Xiu heard a commotion in the place where the money for crossing the river was collected:

"If you want to cross the river, you have to pay the money to cross the river!"

The person who spoke was a team leader under Chang Xiu, who usually followed Chang Xiu to do things, and his vision was also spicy. The group in front of me saw that they were all dressed as monks, but they were carrying swords on their backs, and those with Zen sticks were holding Zen staffs, and they were still wearing precepts around their waists.

Although it is not uncommon for the village Han in the north to walk with some blades such as simple knives and short spears, as long as there are no forbidden things such as crossbows and armor, it is easy to say. But if a monk carries a killing weapon, then the way he came from is absolutely not right.

Especially the reckless monk in front of him with a beard like vertical needles, with a Kansai accent, it is not a good way to look at it. The kendo man wearing a bamboo crown next to him had a mocking smile on his face, and he was wearing a green brocade uniform on his body that was almost like a round-necked official uniform, and he also looked so weird, maybe he was some kind of thief, or even a first-class military advisor in the cottage.

This time, under the preconceived idea, this team is even more reasonable: "What's more, in your profession, Taoist monks and monks, you are very strange in your attire, who knows if you are a serious monk, or a thief who has changed his name and surname is pretending?

This team is not really so diligent in their duties, they just want to cheat. Ordinary people hear that they are going to prison, and their legs and stomachs have to turn around, whether there is a case or not, they have to pay money to buy peace, not to mention that there is a monk in front of him, and his clothes, swords and staff are not like bargains, maybe he can really cheat a lot of oil and water!

However, to his surprise, the reckless monk's eyes widened, and he slapped his five fingers and slapped him: "Straight lady thief!