Brocade clothing as the country

Chapter 327
Ever since Tang Shan followed Wang Tong, his life became happier.

In the past, he was just the leader of a ship, and the sea was very windy and rough, and the ship owner and boss were in charge of him. He was nothing but a small person.

It is very different now. The sailors and shipowners on the Haihe River, the people who live on the shore, who doesn’t know that the "Tang Ye" who speaks is useful, the goods will be taxed by [-]%, which makes a lot of money. When boarding the ship for inspection , People who estimate the value of the goods fluctuate up and down, this is a large amount of money saved.

And even if there are no contraband, in order to earn more, everyone hides some goods in hidden places on the ship to pay less tax.

The person in charge of this matter is Tang Shan. He has been running at sea for so many years, and his eyes are very vicious. No matter how he hides, he can't hide his eyes.

Not only that, even people who knew Tangshan from a boat trip before felt puzzled. Tangshan used to be rather lazy, but now he has become stern and selfless. Everyone gives some money in private, hoping that he will be accommodating and never agree.

Everyone scolded Tang Shan in private, saying that they used to live together at sea, but now they don't even talk about this kind of affection. They are really scum and traitors who have taken refuge in the government.

No matter how cursing, scolding, you still have to laugh and call "Shan Ye" when you meet each other, and bring some special gifts over after collecting taxes.

Wang Tong gave them a very generous commission for the people who collected the maritime trade tax money, and at the same time had very strict rules, and if they violated the rules, they would be beheaded.

Tang Shan knows what money is for long-term benefits and what is cheap, and he has always grasped it very well. In addition, he is indeed an expert in the sea, and everyone trusts and respects him more and more.

There are so many Chuantouxiang people on both sides of the Haihe River doing coolies, and those who have daughters and sisters are thinking that marrying their daughters or sisters to a good family is better than the whole family suffering here.

Tangshan has status, family wealth is also good, and he is very popular. These days, there are many people who come to propose marriage, and he has been dazzled. When he was playing around in the sea, he just found a prostitute to vent his anger. Good things come to your door.

But Tangshan also has a hope, that is, as an official, there are about 50 people who inspect ships and collect taxes every day. Among them, [-] are accountants, and [-] are also willing to take refuge in Wang Tong. Most of the sea sailors, and the rest are those old soldiers from Jinyiwei Qianhu in Tianjin.

These people are all civilians, and even the old soldiers of native origin have been deprived of their military status, that is to say, they are just Wang Qianhu's helpers at the moment.

Although Tangshan now has the name of Haihe inspection, but this name is not officially recognized, and it has no status.

A few days ago, Pan Ming, who was in charge of the work of the Haihe Fragrances, invited Tang Shan over to have a drink because his family wanted to open a shop on the bank, so as to make friends.

It was only after chatting during the banquet that I found out that despite the hard work of the coolie leader, Pan Ming is a school lieutenant in the Jinyiwei Qianhu establishment, a real official and military status.

This treatment made Tang Shan feel itchy and jealous. He tried to find an opportunity to introduce himself several times, but he couldn’t open his mouth. Moreover, Pan Ming has made great contributions to neutralizing the incense in Tianjin, and he deserves this position. Tang Shan is a prisoner His background, and the team that Wang Tong established to achieve this level now has nothing to say about his achievements.

So since the banquet that day, Tang Shan has been more careful in handling errands. Every time the ship is inspected carefully, no entrainment is allowed, and he also keeps a strict eye on the people below, urging everyone to turn around.

However, the tax collectors worked hard, and there were fewer and fewer seagoing ships that could not stand up, and the goods were scarce, so the taxes could not be raised, and the tax money was paid less, let alone any meritorious service.

But after all, Tangshan has been at sea for many years, and he has seen a lot of various things. Although the day when the port is closed is approaching, it has not arrived after all, and the number of ships is decreasing. There must be something wrong with it.

He is also a member of Tianjin Jinyiwei Qianhu, so it is convenient to inquire about some things in the system. When he went to the canal pier once, he guessed something, and hurriedly asked to see Wang Tong.

*********
As soon as he entered the main hall and saw Wang Tong sitting there, Tang Shan didn't dare to go forward, so he knelt down and kowtowed at the door. To be honest, at the beginning, Tang Shan was not used to kowtowing to a fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy. But after a long time, this kowtow became more and more natural, and I felt it should be taken for granted.

"The Haihe side is doing a good job, Tangshan, you are diligent in doing things."

This word of praise made Tang Shan feel that people were going to fly, but he quickly warned himself not to get too complacent. It is really difficult not to be diligent about this job. Pretending to be a merchant and bribery, not one person was beheaded for being greedy for petty gain.

"More compliments from the master. The younger one is here this time and has something important to report. The master has noticed that the tax money collected these days has decreased."

Hearing what Tang Shan said, Wang Tong picked up the document in hand, flipped through it, and said:
"There is less tax money, but this has nothing to do with you. The cold winter is approaching, and there are fewer boats. I know it."

When Wang Tong spoke like this, Tang Shan knew that the other party had misunderstood, so he hurriedly said:
"My lord, I didn't come here to apologize. There are fewer ships coming. It's not because the winter is about to freeze. It's because these ships are docked elsewhere."

"Oh?"

Wang Tong raised his eyebrows and leaned forward. Tang Shan continued:

"The Haihe River charges [-]% of the tax. Everyone wants to earn more, and always wonders if they can pay less tax. There are so many places where you can unload goods on the coast, and you can find places not on the Haihe River."

Wang Tong pondered for a while, but asked back:
"It's not on Tianjinwei's side. There is no other place here that can be directly transported to the capital by waterways and canals. Moreover, many goods are not in Tianjin, and there are not so many merchants to distribute them. If the distance is far away, the cost of transportation may not be economical."

The transportation cost of water transportation is at most one-third of that of land transportation. The coastline is long, and there are indeed many places where goods can be unloaded, but these places often do not have roads leading to the inland. It is also too high, and the profit is too thin.

"The master understands that it is not enough to have a seaport alone, but also a waterway leading to the canal. When I was running a boat, I heard from the old man on the boat that Qi Jiguang, the commander-in-chief of Long Qingnian, once stayed in the Acropolis of Tianjin. For a while, no one dared to go in and out of the Haihe River at that time, so they found a small port, which they said was thirty or forty miles south of the mouth of the Haihe River..."

"Where?"

Wang Tong asked a question, but Tang Shan shook his head with a pensive expression on his face, seeing that Wang Tong's expression was wrong, he quickly said:
"Master, it's easy to know that this matter is easy, let the villain catch a few people on the canal."

Seeing that Wang Tong still didn't understand, Tang Shan kowtowed and said:

"Whoever has a lot of foreign goods on board, it is natural that the goods were shipped from the south."

Only then did Wang Tong understand, and said with a smile:

"Dahai, send four people to follow Tangshan to say hello to Zhang Shiqiang who is on the other side of the canal, and say that this is an errand arranged by the official."

Sun Dahai raised his voice outside and agreed, and Tang Shan hurriedly got up to do it.

When Tangshan left over there, Wang Tong pondered for a while in the room, and confessed to Sun Dahai who walked into the room:
"Look for Tan Bing and Tan Jian, and ask them to stand by in the barracks outside the city. Please ask the head of the engineering department of the firearms workshop to wait for me in the house. Prepare the horse. I'm going to Master Yu outside the city!"

Sun Dahai turned around and went to the courtyard. Zhang Shiqiang was quiet and meticulous, so he presided over the tax collection by the canal. Control it nearby, so as not to cause any trouble.

Handing everything over to someone else, Sun Dahai still did a good job, ordered to go on, not long after Chi Hei had led the horse to the yard, and now Chi Hei followed Wang Tong through life and death several times, and his status was quite different, even though he was still raised in the backyard. Ma, the monthly rules that can be taken are almost the same as that of a hundred households. When Wang Tong goes out to do errands, Chi Hei is also considered as a member of the entourage.

Going out on horseback, you can't ride too fast in the city, but when you see people in brocade clothes and guards coming out, no matter whether the officials or the people run away, Wang Tong's prestige is really not small. His subordinates, but when they saw this group of people approaching from afar, they hurriedly moved away, not daring to ask.

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Now the reserve battalion has seven battalions on the bank of the Haihe River, and six battalions are in the training camp. They rotate every three days. It takes almost three hours to march on the road, which is very troublesome.

But the changing of defense and marching of these battalion heads, firstly, it is to exercise the marching and formation, and secondly, it is to show the force of Jinyiwei to people inside and outside the city, and to deter those Xiao Xiaoxiao, which is still very effective.

Yu Dayou was still in good spirits and in good health. Wang Tong suggested that he come to the mansion several times but was rejected. Yu Dayou said that he felt more comfortable living in the barracks, so he didn't have to force it.

Wang Tong used to go to the barracks in the afternoon. When he came in the morning, he saw Yu Dayou sitting on a chair surrounded by dozens of generals sitting on the ground. From time to time, some generals would stand up and ask a few questions. answer slowly.

Seeing Wang Tong approaching, all the generals stood up and saluted with a standard posture. Wang Tong returned the military salute and ordered:
"Return to the battalion, prepare for battle, each battalion selects soldiers who know how to ride horses to stand by!!"

All the generals agreed in unison, and immediately disbanded the preparations. Yu Dayou slowly stood up from the chair, looked at the backs of those young officers, and said with emotion:
"You boys can't find anything wrong now, but you see less blood. Training is like sharpening a knife. A knife that doesn't kill people is not a good knife!"

Wang Tong didn't answer the words, but just clasped his fists and begged:
"Boss, please come forward and borrow some war horses from Jizhen's military camp in Tianjin."

"For what?"

"Kill the thief!"

(End of this chapter)