Brocade clothing as the country

Chapter 240 Ten thousand enemies by the canal

The channel of the canal is not wide, and the boats going up and down can go side by side so that they can travel in an orderly manner. If there is a slight violation of the rules, it will be overcrowded.

Therefore, no matter the official ship or the private ship, they all behave in a well-behaved manner. Otherwise, it will delay everyone's truth, so why bother.

The wharf is much wider than the river, but there are more boats here. The big vermilion boat is in the way, but there are still many boats passing by, so it is no wonder that it is crowded. Looking at the past from a distance, the river surface that can be seen upstream and downstream is full of boats, and the edge cannot be seen.

This is also a strange scene, there is nothing left and right, the training of the boot camp has been on track, Wang Tong simply rode his horse and went over there to see what was going on.

There are dense warehouses and businesses by the river, and people of all kinds are very busy. There are also many idlers who can eat floating food for entertainment, but it seems that not many people care about the congestion of the canal. They are all busy in their own way. This is obviously not surprising. It means that no one thinks it is rare.

When I got to the river, I got off my horse, and I could see more clearly that around the big vermilion boat, there were more than a dozen sampans sliding back and forth, and there were guards in black clothes and square hats standing on the boat, calling the passing boats to go to the big boat.

There was a big wooden pole inserted into the water in front of the prow of the big boat. There seemed to be ring-like patterns on the wooden pole. Two people squatted on the shore, shouting from time to time:
"High!" "Low!"

Every time he yelled, he could see the guards jumping over, and then the people on the boat that came close would take out silver coins and hand them over with smiles on their faces, one boat after another.

Look again, the inspections of the official ships and civilian ships are similar. After the officers received the money, they turned around and went to the shore. Presumably to pay money or something.

After looking at it for a long time, Wang Tong was still confused. He didn't know why. There were tax cards on the canal, but there were no tax cards in Tianjin. The ones in the north were in Tongzhou, and the ones in the south were in Linqing.

Wang Tong thought for a while, turned around and said to Ma Sanbiao:
"Sanbiao, go and call the shopkeeper of Xingcai Inn, and tell me that I want to ask again."

On the west side of the city, Wang Tong and the others lived here when they came. The shopkeeper and the staff of the Xingcai Inn are also acquaintances. Wang Tong stood on the side and watched the boats coming and going, like an ordinary knight who had never seen a canal. , It depends on the situation, if there is not fifty or one hundred a day, no one cares about it.

The guards who jumped onto the boat didn't have a good temper. During the time when the innkeeper rushed over, the guards beat and scolded the people on the boat four times. Several times they threw people directly from the boat, and only this time Only then did those idlers watching the fun burst out laughing, seeing that appearance was commonplace.

The Xingcai Inn is not far from here, and the innkeepers came here in fear. These shopkeepers are all stern-looking characters. In the past, the Jinyiwei could not live much better than a dog in the city, but when Wang Qianhu came, He did a few major things, whether it was asking for salary or killing Chuan Touxiang in the street, they all made people awe-inspiring.

Moreover, this young man was also generous in his actions. Around the first month, the business of these inns was the most bleak, but this Wang Qianhu's actions made the inns earn money that can only be earned in the peak season.

Besides, this shopkeeper has also seen the "Hongmen Banquet" where the Jinyi guards were beaten violently.

After arriving, he wanted to kneel down and kowtow to say hello, but was stopped by Wang Tong, who was wearing casual clothes. Wang Tong didn't want to disturb others, so he just asked:
"What's going on with this deed on the river?"

"In the words of your lord, this is Eunuch Wan checking the cargo carried by the passing ships."

Hearing the other party's answer, Wang Tong was stunned for a moment, and then realized that when he wanted to open a Nanhuo store with Zhao Jinliang and his family in the past, he talked about it. The transportation of grain from the south to the north was entirely for the country. There is no benefit at all, but the Grand Canal is currently the most convenient transportation route between the north and the south. The specialties from the south are sold to the north, and the profits are much higher than those sold in the south.

For example, the bamboo that Wang Tong saw in the Jinyiwei official office in Tianjin, but there are many checkpoints along the way for civilian ship trafficking, if all the taxes are paid up, no matter how high the profit is, it will be posted.

However, tank boats are exempt from inspection and tax, and there is no need to worry about these taxes and fees when transporting goods by tank boats, and the safety is also guaranteed. It is enough to give the soldiers on the tank boats some small money.

During the reign of Hongzhi, a large number of government-made tank boats had been destroyed and eliminated. The later shipyards were unable to build a few large ships due to corruption of ink and the incompetence of officials from the Ministry of Industry. Among them, the annual money for this transportation is very little, and it can't even be used to cover the loss, but the reason why civilian ships are still willing to do this is that [-]% of the cargo is allowed to be carried.

The largest flat-bottomed boat transporting grain is [-] shi, and the government allows [-]% of the goods to be entrained. These are not subject to tax, and the profits from selling goods from the south to the north are huge. With [-]% of the goods, it is naturally worth the round-trip transportation. But money is touching, since the profit is so big, who would not want to carry a little more, the more goods you bring, the more you will naturally earn.

Hearing this, Wang Tong nodded and said:
"This kind of inspection is doing things for the country..."

Wang Tong's comment made the shopkeeper next to him almost laugh, and said with a straight face:
"Master Wang, do you know that Mr. Wan Dao Wan has a nickname... called 'Ten Thousand Enemies'? He has been here for several years. After the inspection in the first year, he was severely fined and confiscated. No one dared to entrain more than [-]%, but no more than [-]%, this Wan Gonggong insisted that you passed, either handed over the money or confiscated the goods, even if you transported to the capital, there is no profit."

Wang Tong shook his head. This is also a way to make money, but it is too dark to start. Originally, he also thought about the idea of ​​setting up cards on the canal to collect taxes, but he didn't expect someone to do it.

"Since the embezzlement is so severe, why are these ships still entrained, and why are there other ships not stopped? I think there are also civilian ships!"

"I was fined and detained, and I can earn a few taels when I ship out the goods. It's better than nothing, and these Wan Gonggongs don't come out every day. There will always be ships thinking about taking advantage of this loophole. Those who don't stop "My lord, you can see what's going on when you go to the river, they are all people with incense burners on the bow, burning incense and forming a society, the bow incense is a big face in our Tianjin Wei, with this incense, who will care."

It's no wonder that Chuantouxiang is so arrogant and has grown so big. With this kind of relationship, he doesn't know how much money he can make every day, so he is naturally extremely arrogant.

"My lord, my lord, this small ship of porcelain is shipped from Linqing, and the taxes and taxes have been paid clearly. It's not entrained. You always look at it, you always look at it."

The sound of the dispute below attracted everyone's attention. They saw a medium-sized boat parked in the middle of the river, and a middle-aged man in a satin gown at the bow was explaining loudly.

Originally, everyone was used to seeing the entrainment, but when they heard someone yelling, everyone became interested and looked at it together.

The three servants had already jumped onto the boat, and the middle-aged man took out a few pieces of paper from his pocket, and begged:

"Masters, the goods were delivered at the Wang's Warehouse in front, and they were not intended to be transported to the capital. The tax-paid receipts and the way to leave are all here."

Before he finished speaking, the guards on the opposite side snatched the papers, tore them into pieces, threw them into the river, and shouted:
"Thieves, if you say it's a merchant ship, it's a merchant ship. If everyone on this river says it's a merchant ship, grandpas can't do it anymore, and the motherfucking wants to do it!"

When the middle-aged man saw that the certificate was torn, he immediately panicked. He stepped forward to cry and begged, but was kicked by another guard, and he was kicked directly into Hanoi. The canal is not deep, but it will not drown , but the weather was still cold and it was inevitable that he would suffer. A boatman jumped down and took the man ashore.

The rest of the sailors didn't dare to do anything, and quickly docked their boats in front of the big ship according to the arrangement. An officer squatting there didn't even look at it, and shouted loudly:
"high!"

Several guards pushed the man away and went straight into the cabin. After taking a few glances, they shouted loudly:
"Ten percent of the private porcelain is carried, the goods will be confiscated, and a fine of 500 taels of silver will be fined."

Wang Tong and the people around him looked at each other, and the shopkeeper next to him sneered and said:
"Your Excellency, you know why Wandao is called the enemy of ten thousand people. The more serious he is doing business, the more he will not let him go, and he hates it. If this toss continues, the Tianjin Acropolis will end his tossing sooner or later."

The middle-aged man who was kicked into the water squatted there trembling, but ignored himself, and kept urging the boatman to report the letter. How could the people on the boat get the 500 taels of silver? The porcelain was taken out one by one and smashed on the bow.

Seeing this, Wang Tong didn't want to look at it any more, but he hesitated if he couldn't manage it anymore. The grain supervisor eunuchs were responsible for the transfer and storage of the grain.

The idlers watched the commotion and gathered more and more. When the servants threw a piece of porcelain, the people on the shore shouted in unison. If there was no middle-aged man crying anxiously, the atmosphere would seem to be It's like a holiday.

Just as Wang Tong and the others were about to turn their horses and leave, they saw from the other side, a wealthy gentry in official uniform and several entourages rushing through the crowd. It must be the owner of the warehouse not far away.

The rich man walked in quickly, and when he came to the river, he turned his head and glanced casually, just in time to see Wang Tong who was about to turn around, the man was stunned, but stopped, hesitated, and shouted:

"The one over there is Master Wang Tongwang!!"
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There are so many things that leave people speechless
(End of this chapter)