Be a small county magistrate in ancient times

Chapter 220 North Wall Market
"I asked Master Futai that Liangzhou owes taxes almost every year, no matter whether it is a disaster year or not. The imperial court not only needs to allocate money to fight the war, but also to feed the people of Liangzhou.

In the past, it was due to war, but last year the war did not break out and taxes were reduced or reduced, but the people of Liangzhou still could not recover. "

Qi Renli didn't understand, "Why is this?"

Meng Changqing lowered his voice, "The things involved cannot be explained clearly in one or two sentences."

Qi Renli continued to think along Meng Changqing's words, and it was difficult not to understand the other party's intention, "Do you want to use Beishan County as the starting point to drive the entire Liangzhou?
Your Excellency has such ambitions, and your subordinates will do their best for you. "

The cake painting that Meng Changqing painted was already big enough, so he turned the empty topic to reality, "I invite you to come to Beishan County. There is a very important but extremely difficult thing to do, and I want to leave it to you to do."

Qi Renli looked solemn and said, "Say."

"make money."

"What?" With just these two words, Qi Renli obviously couldn't understand what Meng Changqing meant.

"I want you to make money for the Beishan County government. I have all kinds of plans for Beishan County, but I don't have any money, so no matter how good the plan is, it won't work.

Building roads, building streets, digging ditches, which project does not require silver?

It's hard to move without money. "

Qi Renli also agrees with this view.

Meng Changqing continued: "If the county government wants to make money, there is only one word: tax.

Where do taxes come from? They come from the people. Therefore, the prerequisite for the government to have money is that the people must be able to pay the taxes. "

"You mean, let me be responsible for taxation?" Qi Renli still has some inherent thinking.

"Taxation is one of the things. How can people pay taxes to the government when they have no money? Force them to sell their land, wives and children? I, Meng Changqing, would not do such a thing.

What you have to do is give them a chance to make money. Whether it's farming, working, or running a small business, you have to plan for them, and you even have to take certain risks for them. "

Meng Changqing paid attention to the other party's expression as he spoke. Seeing that Qi Renli showed no resistance, he continued, "To tell you the truth, this is a very difficult job. Are you willing to do it?"

Qi Renli raised his head and met Meng Changqing's eyes. "I am willing to do it." He emphasized again, "My original intention here is to work for the country and I am not afraid of difficulties."

"Okay! As expected of the person I like!" Meng Changqing was so excited that he stood up, "Let's go! I'll take you to see the Beiqiang Market."

After saying that, Meng Changqing walked out of the house, Qi Renli followed behind him, "You have trouble with your legs and feet. Do you want to ask someone to prepare the car?"

"No, it's only a few steps away."

Meng Changqing led Qi Renli out of the west door, followed the tracks left by the carriages and horses, and walked north and slightly west.

Sure enough, not long after walking, he saw a half-foot-high wall on the flat ground. The wall was so long that he couldn't see it for a while.

Follow the wall to the west to the end, and when you turn the corner, you will see the gap in the wall. Meng Changqing introduced from the side: "This is the North Wall Market, and this is the west gate of the market."

Qi Renli followed Meng Changqing, and as soon as he stepped in, he saw two government officials sitting behind a long table.

When the two men saw Meng Changqing, they immediately stood up and saluted, "Sir!"

Meng Changqing stopped to greet them, "Are there many goods sold in the market today?"

"Sir, there are only two families left." The Yamen servant who replied had a look of embarrassment on his face. When the Beiqiang Market was first built, how much your lord valued it. They also learned from Yang Xiaowei's mouth what the situation was like back then. , Now that the depression is like this, anyone with some eyes can guess that adults will not feel comfortable.

Meng Changqing nodded, "Okay, you guys should stay here while Master Qi and I go inside to take a look."

When the Beiqiang Market was first built, the people who were doing business in Beishan County at that time were considered.

There are generally two types of stalls in the market. One is relatively simple, with only a ceiling covering the head and surrounded by brick and stone platforms that are half a person high for traders to place goods. The rent for this kind of stall is relatively cheap. , and most of them are short-term rentals. They are mainly distributed on both sides of the road connecting the east and west gates.

Shoppers can see this part of the stalls as soon as they enter the market.

The other one is relatively complex, and even describing it as a stall is not accurate. It should be called a shop. It is built of bricks and wood, but the door opens wide.

Meng Changqing spent a lot of money to build these shops. Until now, the money invested by the Yamen has not been recovered yet.

Meng Changqing told Qi Renli all these situations, including his ideas for the Beiqiang Market.

Qi Renli listened very carefully.

The two walked around a row of shops and finally saw people doing business in the market.

Seeing white steam coming out of a cage in the distance, Qi Renli said: "It seems that this business is doing pretty well, so we can continue to do so."

Meng Changqing knew who was running the business by smelling it.

"She can stay until now not because business is good, but because she has nowhere to go."

Meng Changqing walked to the door of this house on a crutch and shouted: "Shop, please bring two pieces of millet cake."

A smiling girl walked out of the dimly lit shop. She wiped her hands with a clean cloth, "Mr. Meng, I haven't seen you for a long time." When the woman was carrying the steamer, she noticed the crutch under Meng Changqing's arm. "What happened to your foot?"

"I suffered some minor injuries and am almost healed." Meng Changqing introduced, "This is Lord Qi from the county government. From now on, Lord Qi will be in charge of the market."

The woman immediately put down the things in her hands, walked around the stove at the door and saluted, "A common girl bouquets two flowers to pay homage to Mr. Qi."

Qi Renli raised his hand and said, "Get up. My official position is below Lord Meng. Since I am a person familiar to Lord Meng, I don't need to be polite."

Shu Erhua smiled heartily and said, "Look at me, sir, I want two pieces of millet cake, but I haven't given it to you yet." As she spoke, she quickly cut two pieces from the steamer, carefully placed them on oil paper and handed them to Meng Changqing. .