A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 846 Life is hard and eating oysters

"Captain Feng, Commander Lian, please come over."

Feng Zhidai, who was observing the entrance hall of the yamen office and was sitting there drinking tea before seeing him, finally waited for the results and hurriedly got up and went over carrying gifts.

Wu Huaiyu met with Governor Feng in the courtyard. He had deliberately left him to dry out for the past few days.

Wu Huaiyu saw Feng's performance these days. He was a man who knew the current affairs very clearly. It could also be said that he was cautious about his duties and not too ambitious.

"After being in Beijing for a few months, the ambassador's office had a large backlog of affairs. As soon as he came back, he was busy and kept Governor Feng waiting for a long time."

"It's okay," Feng Zhidai said, and then motioned to bring some small gifts, "I read a new poem by the governor a few days ago.

Sophora bud cakes in a bowl with green floating eggs, catfish on an ice plate with red dots. Drunk and full, sleeping high is a true career. The taste of this life lies in the third decade.

The writing is so good, I can’t help but miss the locust leaf cold pottery I often ate in Chang’an. The most memorable one is the time I ate it at the residence of Prime Minister Wu.”

"I specially asked Zhuo Jing to make some locust leaf cold pottery when I came here today. The craftsmanship is not as rough as that of Wu Xiangfu, but I also brought some specialties from our Gaofu today."

The specialties he mentioned include fish balls, including mackerel balls, eel balls, snake mullet balls, as well as blue crabs, oysters, and conches from Bohe Port, which are fresh and plump.

There are also fresh sea fish such as croaker, hairtail, cuttlefish, squid, mackerel, and sea bass.

I specially sent someone back to Bohe Port in Gaozhou to pick it up.

He even specially brought Haoye,

"Fresh fish is delicious when steamed. Adding some clover leaves can play a good role in removing the fishy smell."

Huaiyu looked at the extremely fresh gifts and said with a smile, "It happens to be getting late. It's already noon. Why don't we just light up the stove in the courtyard and cook some seafood?"

"Okay, let's cook the fish balls, steam the sea bass, steam a basket of blue crabs, fry an eel, then charcoal grill the oysters and snails..." Feng Zhidai is quite experienced when it comes to eating seafood.

So Huaiyu was not polite and asked someone to get a stove, and the two of them started cooking seafood by themselves.

The seafood is very fresh, so it is delicious steamed, boiled or fried.

Feng Zhidai also brought a jar of Sangluo wine.

This wine is a famous wine in the Northern Wei Dynasty. It is made from sorghum, peas, mung beans, etc. It needs to be stored for more than a year after brewing. The taste brewed with the spring water of Sangluo Spring is the most unique.

Sangluo wine from Puzhou, Hedong Province, has many people competing for it from thousands of miles away. It is hard to find a jar.

Steamed sea bass, boiled prawns, charcoal grilled oysters, steamed blue crabs,

Next, serve a bowl of thick noodles with fish balls, no, fish balls with sophora leaf cold pottery,

Open the mud-sealed aged Sangluo wine,

"Come on, drink and win!"

Clink glasses together,

Drink it all in one gulp.

At first, Feng Zhidai was still a little restrained. Wu Huaiyu hadn't seen each other since he came back from Beijing, which made the relationship between the two of them unavoidable. Feng Zhidai even couldn't help but think about it.

After drinking this glass of wine, the atmosphere gradually improved.

As long as seafood is fresh, it can be equally delicious with simple cooking methods. Whether steamed or boiled, you can taste its original sweetness and deliciousness.

The fish balls brought by Feng Zhidai were also very chewy, and they were all made from real ingredients.

Paired with Sanluo wine, it was really enjoyable to eat.

Chatting while eating,

Wu Huaiyu controlled the rhythm very well, and Feng Zhidai was almost always led along, but he became more and more happy as he ate. He raised his glass frequently and soon became half drunk.

"Shuai Lian, I have already sent greetings to all the eight states of Gaofu, asking all states and counties to speed up the production of tax bills. As soon as November arrives, we will go to the countryside to collect taxes and ensure that the autumn taxes are collected in November."

As he spoke, he patted his chest, "But no matter how much tax I collect, I will pay one-third to the envoy and another third to the national treasury. I will do what I say."

After saying a few words, he poured himself another glass and drank it all in one go.

Soon his face turned red and he stuttered a bit when he spoke, "I have met Duan Sima and Gao Jun in the past few days and talked to them.

I fully support Duan Sima's appointment as deputy defense envoy of Gaozhou, support him in training and commanding the 3,000 new soldiers of the Gaozhou Guard Camp, and also support Gao Junshi in taking over the Yongning Army. I fully support them. The cost of the new army of Gaozhou Guard Camp, I I also promise here that there is no need for the government to allocate money. The eight states of Gaofu will handle it themselves. I will pay for it. "

······

Feng Zhidai seemed to be excavating his heart and lungs, and seemed to be completely drunk.

Wu Huaiyu always smiled,

He knew that Feng Zhidai drank a lot, but he was definitely not completely drunk, at most half drunk. This guy was acting, and he was acting with the help of some alcohol.

The acting was pretty good,

This statement is what he needs,

Feng Zhidai supported the implementation of the two-tax law, supported the three-cent tax, supported the construction of the capture camp, supported Duan Shen's return to command the capture camp, and supported Gao Rong's promotion to Yongning Army garrison.

Anyway, his current profile is extremely low, and he supports all the arrangements made by the court.

He also gave unconditional support to Wu Huaiyu.

It's just unbelievable,

But Wu Huaiyu really believed that he was not lying. He might be acting, but he was not deceiving. His choice at the moment was actually the most current choice and the most correct choice.

Feng Ang, who was accompanying him at Jiucheng Palace, clearly stated in his letter to his son that he must obey the court's policies because Lao Feng was very knowledgeable.

Speaking of excitement,

Feng Zhidai no longer drank, but helped Wu Huaiyu roast and pry the oysters, "Lian Shuai, eat more oysters. Men take a lot of tonic. The oysters in this season are very fat." People who don't know may think Feng Zhidai Zhi Dai was a local official. Who would have thought that he was the governor of the Gaofu family and the current head of the Feng family in Lingnan.

Life is hard, eat oysters.

To live a better life, you should eat oysters. Raw oysters can not only be directly grilled over charcoal, but also steamed. You can also cut out the oyster meat, stir it with wine, put it into water and cook it before eating.

The best oysters in Guangdong are Zhanjiang Guandu oysters. The oysters here grow at the junction of salt and fresh water. The water quality is excellent and the salt and fresh water are balanced, making the oysters here particularly plump and delicious.

A party cannot be held without poetry and wine, and a feast must include fat oysters.

Feng Zhidai is an expert at prying out oyster shells and carving out oyster flesh. He is very skilled at it. He does it several times, but Wu Huaiyu is not polite to him.

If Feng cuts one out, he will eat one.

Eat in big chunks, extremely delicious.

"Seize the time to check and sort out the household registration records and land account books again,"

"If there is anyone who resists the obstruction, if you are unable to handle it, or if it is inconvenient, you can report it directly to me, or you can directly speak to Yongning Military Envoy Gao Rong, or Gaozhou Deputy Defense Envoy Duan Shen,"

Huaiyu finished eating the oysters and then started eating blue crabs. As usual, the experienced Feng Zhidai was helping him get the meat and paste. Feng Zhidai listened to his plain words, but knew the murderous intention in them.

Of course, this murderous intention was not directed at him. He had already expressed enough sincerity.

That murderous intention was directed at the powerful chiefs and stooges from the eight states of Gaofu.

The powerful people will be the hardest hit by the two-tax law. They occupy a large number of fields and operate mines and workshops.

Taxes are levied on an acre basis, and even the money must be paid in lieu of labor, and the money for labor is spread among the acres. For those powerful landowners, the tax is a huge sum. In the past, it could be said that there was almost no tax, but now it is a hundred times higher. Increased a thousand times,

I'm using a knife to cut out the meat.

Even if these two taxes are levied on a per-mu basis, the actual spread does not account for much of the output per mu, but who is willing to pay outside?

There will definitely be a lot of opposition.

Even the Feng family should have taken the lead in opposing it.

But Feng An said he would obey, and he didn't dare to object, so he just ignored it.

"Especially, the field inventory must be accurate and timely. It cannot be delayed for too long. It must be completed and registered before November. The ambassador's office will also send people down to verify."

"In terms of items, we must first sort out the household registration and land area, and collect household tax and local tax first. As for other industrial and commercial miscellaneous taxes, monopoly taxes, mining taxes, etc., I can relax some restrictions. This year, as long as it is in Just collect it before the end of the year,”

Wu Huaiyu said while eating,

Feng Zhidai listened carefully while cutting the crab legs to get the meat.

"One more thing, the Municipal Shipping Department mentioned to me that there are many people illegally smuggling along the coast of Gaofu. This matter needs to be investigated."

Wu Huaiyu only said to check it out, but actually left room for Feng Zhidai.

Because the smuggling along the Gaofu coast is actually mainly done by the Feng family and the Xian family.

The imperial court now has many ports along the coast, but they are also divided into domestic trade and foreign trade.

For example, Yangzhou and Hangzhou are domestic trade ports.

Guangzhou and Jiaozhou are foreign trade ports.

In recent years, the imperial court has newly listed Quanzhou and Dengzhou as foreign trade ports, while Qinzhou in Lingnan, Fuzhou and Mingzhou in Jiangdong have also been added as domestic trade ports.

Foreign trade ports have municipal shipping departments, and domestic trade ports also have specialized management agencies.

For example, in Lingnan, the designated foreign trade ports are Guangzhou and Jiaozhou, which means that only these two ports are qualified for foreign trade, and Hu merchant ships can only trade in and out of these two ports.

Except for this, they are not allowed to park or trade in other places in Lingnan.

Doing this for the imperial court is also beneficial to management and the development of trade and economy. Of course, it also facilitates taxation, and this tax is actually not low.

The Municipal Shipping Department will draw an explanation, that is, whether the customs tax levied is two cents, a 20% tax, or it will be levied directly on the physical goods.

Under such a heavy tax, of course there are many maritime merchants who are willing to smuggle goods. They do not dock in Guangjiao and Guangjiao ports, do not register or pay taxes, and directly land and trade secretly in other places.

The Feng family's Gaozhou Governor's Mansion is located on the coast. Several of the eight states in Gaozhou are along the coast. Beijin Bay, Bohe Port, Zhanjiang Port, etc. are all large ports.

They have also been doing maritime trade with the Hu people, and they have made a lot of money.

But now Wu Huaiyu said that they were smuggling, but he did not directly name the Feng family.

"In the future, if Gaofu wants to do maritime trade, they will come to Guangzhou Port. If they smuggle directly with the foreigners again and are discovered by the Guangzhou Shipping Department or the patrol navy, the consequences will be very serious, ranging from the confiscation of the ship and cargo. , a fine will be imposed, and in severe cases, the person may be imprisoned, beheaded, or have his or her house confiscated and beheaded.”

Feng Zhidai was stunned,

He did not expect that Wu Huaiyu wanted so much, not only levying two taxes, but also taking away two-thirds of the taxes. Now they were not even allowed to trade with Hu Shang.

If you go to Guangzhou, you will have to pay 20% of the price, and if there are good things, the merchants will give priority to buying them. There is a big difference between the inside and outside here.

It's hard to agree to this.

"Please tell the merchants in Gaofu, don't say you didn't predict what you said!" Wu Huaiyu smiled and peeled off a blue crab shell, which was filled with yellow fat.

(End of this chapter)