Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 174 Breathing and Walking Rivers (5)

Zhao Xingde paid a little attention, only to hear the person behind him say again: "Most of my court's land grants belong to military prefectures and counties. If the imperial court does not promote business, will the treasury be empty?" His voice was quite loud, and even the two Song Dynasty officials in the middle paid attention When he arrived, the black and thin man said angrily: "Is this the reason for the disabled people to succeed?"

The man sneered, and retorted: "The chamber of commerce itself is self-governing, and the contract was signed by the refugees themselves. The words "for the disabled people to succeed" may not fall on the court."

People around looked at this side one after another, Zhao Xingde took two steps slightly to the side, letting out the questioning person behind him.This person has a round face and thick eyebrows, a short beard on his lips, and the emblem of the captain on the chest of the military robe. Although he is not tall, his eyes are as sharp as a knife when he looks around, which leaves a deep impression on everyone.

"Who is this?" Zhao Xingde heard the people around him whispering. "Lieutenant Yu of the Huguo Mansion." "Oh, so this person is Yu Zangyun." Yu Zangyun is one of the most prestigious captains in the Huguo Mansion, and the Guandong Juzi actually attracted him, and more people surrounded him stand up.

Yu Zangyun said in a deep voice: "The self-government of the Chamber of Commerce to promote industry and commerce is a national policy set by the founding of the country. How can it be changed lightly. Chang'an is only a place, but it is only a hundred miles around. The taxes it pays are worth Dozens of prefectures and counties, but the business tax and land tax are different, increasing every year, and the country has contributed a lot to expand the territory. Now the business tax of Guanzhong Workshop is no less than tens of millions. If the system of workers and apprentices is forcibly interfered, it will cause workers The workshops are in decline, and taxes are greatly reduced. How to make up for the lack of national use?" He looked around, raised his voice, and said in a deep voice, "Is it increasing land taxes and customs duties? Or reducing military salaries and salaries? Taxation, can't the treasury be turned into money out of thin air?"

At the beginning, there were more people who were inclined towards the Kanto Juzi, but when they heard Yu Zangyun talk about taxes, everyone's expressions changed slightly.Taxation is a major national event, and it cannot be agreed by Zhu Guofu and Huguo Mansion, even the emperor can't add taxes at will.And courtiers who advocate tax increases should not risk their reputation.And the reduction of military salaries and salaries for no reason is to risk the displeasure of the world.Yu Zangyun talked about the internal affairs of the Xia Kingdom, and the two Kanto masters didn't know how to refute him.

At this time, another person beside him said: "Lieutenant Yu's words are sensational, right?" Zhao Xingde turned his head to look, but there was another man wearing a captain's uniform, with a Chinese character face with slightly raised cheekbones and eyes Bright as a torch, but it gives people warmth.With a strong Hezhong accent, this person continued: "If it weren't for the Guanzhong Workshop imprisoning a large number of workers, Hezhong would not be so short of people. Those Guandong refugees got rid of the shackles and went to Hezhong, Mobei, or farming to work. Forget it, you can do business, but you also have to pay taxes. It’s not like what you said, is it?”

The crowd whispered again for a while to let Zhao Xingde know that this person is also a well-known captain named Kang Deming. In the middle of the day, he is the leader of the captain of the Anxi Army Division.

Yu Zangyun's face darkened slightly, and he cupped his hands and said, "As far as I know, the workshop employs hundreds of workers, and the tax paid by the merchants is worth hundreds of farm tax. It’s just a calculation, and the difference in taxes is not small. Since Captain Kang said so, can Hezhong County be responsible?”

Seeing Kang Deming and Yu Zangyun argue, everyone whispered.Someone next to Zhao Xingde said in a low voice: "These Kanto laborers can't do anything with guns and sticks. Even if they are used as cattle and horses in the workshop, they will not harm the country." Another person laughed: "Exactly, but only a few It’s nothing more than a hundred thousand useless people, and it’s worth the two arguing for a long time.”

Zhao Xingde turned his head to look, only to see that these two people were dressed gorgeously, but their expressions were quite frivolous.He took a breath and said in a low voice: "Today someone sitting on a dangerous rock thinks it is as safe as Mount Tai, what a joke."

Those two people heard the sarcasm in his words, and their expressions changed drastically. Turning their heads, Zhao Xingde's expression was calm, as if he was talking to himself: "In the Qin Dynasty, Lishan prisoners can still kill Zhou Zhang, Tian Zang, Chen She forced the heroes of Shandong to tie their hands and made the overlord afraid. In my opinion, if the hundreds of thousands of apprentices in the Guanzhong are trained a little, they will be strong soldiers who can endure hardships and use their lives to wipe out those who speak loudly, just like chickens and dogs. .”

Zhao Xingde's voice was not loud, but it happened to be heard by Yu Zangyun. When he was arguing with Kang Deming, he was still fascinated, and looked deeply at Zhao Xingde, as if he wanted to remember his appearance.It turned out that the faces of those two people turned from blue to white, and they couldn't figure out his details, so they were bored, so they had to go by themselves.

At this time, the two scholars from the Great Song Dynasty were quiet and quiet. They were pushed aside and stood alone in the crowd, looking quite lonely and helpless.Seeing this, Li Rui took Zhao Xingde over, bowed his hands to the two of them and said, "Brother Wang, Brother Wu." It turned out that he knew these two people.

Seeing Li Rui and Zhao Xingde approaching each other, they seemed very friendly.The black and thin man first bowed his hands politely: "My humble servant, Wu Yue, named Nanying." The white-faced man cupped his hands and said: "Wang Zhong from the Guandong, named Cao Jiesheng." Zhao Xingde has been in the army for three years, his expression and behavior are different from before. Zhong claimed to be from the Kanto region, so he obviously regarded Zhao De as a native of the Xia Kingdom.Li Rui introduced: "Brother Wang is the leader of Chang'an Dongren Society." He also said: "Brother Wu is also a talented person of Dongren Society."

Zhao Xingde cupped his hands and said: "I'm Zhao De, the cursive characters are straight." He knew in his heart that the more polite Li Rui pointed out the two people's identities, the more polite he was, the less friendship he had with these two people.If this is the case, it will be inconvenient to exchange shallow words and deep words, and the original identity cannot be told bluntly.

Li Rui also said with a smile: "Xingzhi is also from the Kanto region, a well-known female bachelor of the Academy of Literature, and the husband of Mrs. Zhao." Zhao Xingde smiled unknowingly. He didn't expect that he would be introduced like this on this day, and felt a little strange. Ruoxue had never heard of the matter of being a bachelor of the Academy of Literature.He shook his head slightly in his heart. After three years of separation, there are still many new changes that need to be recognized.

Wang Zhong and Wu Yue looked at Zhao Xingde suddenly with weird eyes.Both of them knew that Mrs. Zhao's husband was a reckless man who joined the army.It's not worth it in ordinary conversation, but when I saw it today, it seemed that it was not what I imagined.It's just that with this prejudice, when talking with Zhao Xingde, his expression was a little strange, and he didn't talk so much.

Seeing this, Zhao Xingde didn't think he was disobedient, he just stood aside with a smile and listened to what Li Rui was talking to these two people.At this time, everyone around was paying attention to the argument between Yu Zangyun and Kang Deming, and pushed them aside instead.Li Rui was quite savvy, and led the three of them to the side.Wang Zhong and Wu Yue originally wanted to impress the officials of Xia Kingdom's five government offices in Zheng Xiangtang, but they didn't know that they spoke lightly and no one paid much attention to them, so they followed Li Rui to a corner.The two of them didn't talk much with Zhao Xingde, so they started lobbying for Li Rui's joint name on the letter to Dongrenshe.

Zhao Xingde heard them say a lot about the disadvantages of the workshop, but he didn't say how to deal with the aftermath, so he asked: "Dong Renshe wrote a letter to express their feelings, do you have any specific suggestions?"

Wang Zhong replied: "Please the prime minister's mansion to prohibit the workshop from luring people into apprenticeships. There are hundreds of thousands of apprentices, and they should be properly settled by Dao Cao." His eyes were still on Li Rui's side.He thought that Zhao De was just a reckless man who went into battle.Even if he has read poetry and books and is arty, he has no influence on such political affairs, and it is difficult to have any good opinions. He is only a good friend of Li Rui, so it is not easy to refute his face.Seeing this, Zhao Xingde nodded, Zhiqu didn't speak any more.His main focus was on listening to Yu Zangyun and Kang Deming's rhetoric.Seeing this, Wu Yue cast apologetic gazes at him, Zhao Xingde only smiled slightly and nodded slightly to express his gratitude.

Yu Zangyun said: "All industries are prosperous in my dynasty. The workshops in various places smelt millions of catties of iron, and tens of thousands of pieces of cloth and silk are used. , buy in the morning, buy all in the afternoon, and the goods will be sent to the military camps in a steady stream. If the Chang'an workshop closes down, even if the treasury has money, where will these materials come from?" He paused and laughed, "In the river workshop, okay?"

The scale of workshops in various parts of Guanzhong far exceeds that in Hezhong.As long as the arrow is the same, it is divided into dozens of processes, and each workshop is only responsible for one or a few processes, with the help of canals extending in all directions for transshipment, which is unique.Some merchants who set up workshops imitated the process of the Ordnance Department, dividing the process they were responsible for into dozens of simple actions, and borrowing hydraulic and animal-powered machines greatly improved efficiency.

Kang Deming sneered and said, "Is the scale of the Guanzhong Workshop natural? Isn't it just like what the two said just now, it was formed by squeezing the blood and sweat of the workers in the Guandong. The workshops in various places will naturally replace them, and the local good merchants in Guanzhong will have more opportunities."

He lost his confidence a little bit.The population in the river is not as dense as that in Guanzhong, and it is close to the newly opened land. Even if the children of the shady households cannot inherit the land, they will often go to the frontier to receive the land grant. In a big city like Samarkand, the residents are also mainly commercial. Most of the workshops make some curios, jewelry and other things.Even though the Ordnance Department has established a lot of workshops for military supplies, they can only meet the needs of the garrison in the river itself.Unlike the Guanzhong Workshop, it can meet the needs of Mobei, Tubo, and even Longyou Hexi.

Yu Zangyun said with a smile: "If that's the case, then I'll have to wait and see." He didn't expect that Kang Deming would suddenly "intervene" today, he was not well-prepared, and secretly calculated, next time he will bring the taxes and property information of the two prefectures , will make this man speechless.

The two of them can be regarded as colleagues in the Huguo Mansion, so naturally they couldn't compete with each other in Zheng Xiangtang.After seeing the two school captains returning to the calm, the crowd dispersed one after another, expressing emotion in their mouths.

At this time, under the persuasion of Wang Zhong and Wu Yue, Li Rui finally agreed to jointly sign on the love letter.Those two people talked dryly, but they left with a happy face. I heard that Wu Yue said that he would visit the prime minister's wife who was also from Luoyang.

When he got to a place where there were no one around, Li Rui smiled and said: "Yuanzhi is finally back. This time, you don't have to go to war. Just retire from the army and come to the scholar's mansion. Both your husband and wife are high-ranking scholars. It was also a good story." Zhao Xingde shook his head and sighed in a low voice: "In the army, people cannot help themselves. The five-year service period must be completed." Even so, his heart is actually a little different.He was a little disturbed by the scene of discussions in Zheng Xiang's mansion, but he missed his time in the army.

The two talked freely about their respective affairs in the past three years.Zhao Xingde heard that Li Rui had been in the scholar's mansion for three years. He lived in the cave for a long time in cold and heat, and even rarely went down the mountain. He advised him to take care of his health. Although he had to stay day and night in pursuit of true knowledge, he should not be isolated from the world, and he had to move around frequently. walk around.Li Rui laughed and said, "It's been three months since I went down the mountain, how about this, Brother Zhao is the master, let me try my sister-in-law's craft."