Lord of the Desert

Chapter 207 Plan ahead
On May [-], it was sunny.

Hong Fan rode a red flag and left the northeast gate of Xijing City.

This is exactly the direction to Tianpeng Mountain.

After traveling for thirty miles, he raised his eyes and looked around, and saw that the distant mountains were raining and green, and the clouds were flowing in the sky.

On both sides of the official road, there are rows of green cypresses, but there are no fields and crops.

That's why the tiger eater can walk with concentration.

Not long after, the family house of the He family came into view.

Two days ago, Hong Fan had sent someone to send over the greeting card, and he had also done his homework in advance.

The He family is a prominent family in Xijing, inheriting a second-grade martial art and is famous for its pharmaceuticals.

Since the patriarch passed away, there is no Yuanci living in the world, but there are still two innate masters.

A considerable part of the Xisui Dan circulating in the Xijing market comes from the He family, which is why he came to visit.

Hong Fan got off his horse, stepped forward to call the porter, mentioned his identity, and was led to the reception room after a while.

The courtyard is deep and the sandalwood is faint.

He turned around the entrance and saw He Zhixin who stood up to greet him.

The two sat opposite each other across a long table.

As soon as Hong Fan looked up, he saw a plaque in official script hanging beside the beam, with the words "plan for rainy days" written on it.

After a few pleasantries, he first took out the accompanying gift.

"This three-foot tail armor was taken from a six-sacrificing snake man."

He said, unfolding the red scales on the long table.

This gift really impressed He Zhixin.

"Jinhai is a bad frontier land with poor products, and there is nothing that can be sold."

Hong Fan was silent for a while.

"If you want to talk about the most famous specialty, it is probably the snake man."

He Zhixin laughed out loud, but he could hear a bit of meaning from the breezy joke.

"Six Sacrificial Snake Man, that is Yuan Magnetic level combat strength."

He stroked the leather to feel its texture, and asked.

"I think this pair of leather armor is still new, and it happened to be around the year after the rumor of snake men committing crimes, but what was it hunted at that time?"

Hong Fan nodded.

"I've heard that Jinhai's folk customs are aggressive, and it's true!"

He Zhixin exclaimed.

"Speaking of this matter, it has some far-reaching effects."

"The new governor sent by the imperial court is also taking advantage of this to provoke and stir up so many twists and turns out of thin air."

He didn't ask Hong Fan why he came, but he couldn't help complaining about a current event first.

"I also heard about this matter in the Martial Arts Academy, but I don't know the whole picture."

Hong Fan heard the meaning of the word "borrow" and asked curiously.

"Could it be that the governor is not here for military purposes?"

"The frontier defense in Liangzhou can account for about [-]%."

He Zhixin replied.

"The imperial court intends to introduce a new policy in Liangzhou and return all the waste to the public."

"Consumption envy?"

Hong Fan didn't understand.

"The so-called waste envy is the general term for all kinds of waste when the court collects taxes, including fire waste (reduced by recasting silver), sparrow waste, etc."

He Zhixin explained.

"In the past, local taxation was always done in the name of consumption and envy, in order to get more income."

"For example, use heavier weights when weighing grain, temporarily change the exchange rate between copper coins and silver, or simply add some items to increase the tax standard."

"Returning the consumption to the public means to bring the consumption to the court in a unified way, and not allow the local government to keep it privately, and then return part of it as public expenses."

Hong Fan understood what he heard now, and his mind immediately woke up.

This is clearly a dispute between the central and local tax powers.

"It's such a big deal!"

Hong Fan frowned.

"I have been in Xijing City for nearly a month. I only thought that Xijing was quiet and peaceful, but I didn't know that there was such a turbulent undercurrent under the calm waves."

"Who said no?"

He Zhixin smiled wryly.

"There was already a state governor, and now there is a governor, and there are two suns in Xijing all at once. I don't know how many people can't eat well and sleep well."

"Only half a month ago, the two giant Buddhas sent out invitations to invite people to the banquet, but the day was on the same night..."

"Why?"

He said these four words with a smile, but there was deep worry hidden in his eyes.

On the other hand, Hong Fan thought of Zhuang Liren's trance-like state when he first met him.

"Don't talk about these embarrassing things."

He Zhixin changed the subject.

"A few days ago, I heard that when Shura Sect opened the mountain, a star king went up to the mountain, and even mocked the demon king face to face."

"Is it the son?"

he asked with a smile.

"It's me, but there's no sarcasm."

Hong Fan smiled back.

"Brother Qu and I hit it off right away, so we made a few little jokes..."

After chatting for a while, the atmosphere became more relaxed and harmonious.

Hong Fan then turned to the topic.

"I've heard that Liangzhou's energy-produced Wudao resources in the Hunran Realm are no more than five fingers, among which Xisui Dan is the most famous."

"Jinhai Hong's family is located in a remote place, and many of its disciples practiced slowly after passing through the penetration state, and were forced to waste time."

"Hong Fan came here because he wanted to seek a way from the second master."

He Zhi said Shen Ning, and did not give an immediate reply.

"I heard from the following that there is a 'Uncle Pan' from Jinhai in Xijing who spends a lot of money and collects a lot of pills every year."

he asked after a moment.

"But Master Hong?"

"It's my uncle at home."

Hong Fan nodded and added another sentence.

"It's about the achievements of the children in the clan, even if the price is higher, we can accept it."

"To be honest, I'm afraid it's hard for my He family to help me with this job."

He Zhixin smiled wryly, and added a cup of tea for Hong Fan himself.

"It's not easy to make Xisui Dan. Our monthly output is only a few hundred pieces; to be honest, the whereabouts of each piece is clear."

"This business involves too much. Our He family has been running it until now. It can only be said to be 'trembling'. What we are doing is not profit, but favor."

Hong Fan was very disappointed when he heard this.

Not to mention Jin Hai's side, his own marrow washing pill can only last for less than ten days.

"Mr. Hong is young and promising. He is in charge of the Dragon's Fate Star. He is a friend that I, Mr. He, Mr. He especially want to make."

He Zhixin paused and spoke again.

"To tell you the truth, there are about [-] Xisui Pills per month in our clan that can still be deployed."

"If Mr. Hong wants to use it for himself, I, He Er, tried my best to secure four of them."

"But if you want to supply a family, it's really beyond your capabilities."

Hong Fan nodded silently and drank the tea.

Just as he was about to say goodbye, he heard He Zhixin exhale.

"Mr. Hong, there is no proof in the end. I guess you may not believe me."

"Why don't I take you to the Xisui Pill workshop in the clan?"

He stood up to invite.

"This is important, I'm an outsider..."

Hong Fan was taken aback.

"The preparation of Xisui Pill is complicated, so it is precious. If it can be learned so easily, how can the He family gain a foothold?"

He Zhixin laughed.

Half a quarter of an hour later, the two passed through heavy guards and reached the depths of the clan.

"The production process of Xisui Pill is very complicated, and there are seven major processes alone."

He Zhixin explained, leading Hong Fan past the line-shaped workshops.

"A total of 22 kinds of raw materials are used."

Hong Fan glanced inside the door and saw several young people were binding many kinds of unknown herbs with gauze, putting them into a stone mortar and beating the juice out.

"One of the most important materials comes from the cicada Wuming wood core you recovered that day."

(End of this chapter)