Just when Fang Jinzhi was furious, Tianxing stood up and said: "There are younger members of our clan who are about to enter the officialdom. I would like to ask for leave and ask for advice on how to help the victims." "I hope you will spare no effort. Give me some advice.”
Hearing this, Huang Qiaoyun looked at these people for the first time. Businessmen who know how to send their children into official careers are generally not ordinary people. However, after seeing the faces of several people, Huang Qiaoyun felt that these people seemed to be rich and powerful. The autumn clouds are graceful and luxurious, the eternal springs are heroic and martial, and the sky is elegant and elegant. These people do not look like businessmen. But these have nothing to do with Huang Qiaoyun. Since it is his fault, he will explain it to these people.
"Since you sincerely ask for advice, I will give you some advice." "I would like to ask you, who are the relief grains for?" "No need to ask, it is naturally for the victims." Fang Jinzhi said with a look on his face. He looked at Li Jin with retarded eyes. Huang Qiaoyun ignored Fang Jinzhi and continued: "Since it is for the victims to eat, what's the problem with adding some sand into it?"
Huang Qiaoyun said it was reasonable, but Fang Jinzhi and the other three looked at him in shock. Especially Fang Jinzhi, whose expression at this moment wanted to bite Huang Qiaoyun twice. Fang Jinzhi roared: "Aren't the victims people of the Song Dynasty? Are the victims not human beings? Is the sand meant for people to eat?"
Huang Qiaoyun's face was still calm, and he said calmly: "Can the victims of the disaster still be considered human beings?" "What did you say?" Fang Jinzhi's eyes widened with anger, and he looked at Huang Qiaoyun in disbelief. Even Qiuxia, who had the gentlest temperament, slowly turned sharp when looking at Li Jin.
Seeing that Fang Jinzhi wanted to kill herself, Huang Qiaoyun explained in a common way: "People who are about to starve to death can no longer be regarded as humans, they are beasts." "As long as they can survive, let alone rice porridge mixed with sand. , they dare to eat even dirt." When Tian Xing heard Huang Qiaoyun's words, he finally couldn't help but taunted:
"This is really shocking coming from an official." Huang Qiaoyun ignored Tianxing's sarcasm and said:
"Of course you are shocked." "You are businessmen, so of course you don't understand the suffering of the people, let alone what the victims need?" "Have you ever seen people who ate Guanyin soil and swelled to death because of hunger? ?" "Have you ever seen the tragedy of people exchanging food for food?" "What the victims need is just one bite to eat. They don't care at all what the taste of this bowl of food is?" "They only care about this bowl of food. Can you fill your stomach?"
Qiuxia, who has experienced countless hardships, certainly knows that what Huang Qiaoyun said is true. After all, his parents and brother had starved to death just because of a bowl of food. But he still couldn't accept Huang Qiaoyun adding sand to the relief food. This did not treat the victims as human beings at all. "But since you are already giving them a bowl of food, why do you have to add sand into it?" "Isn't it unnecessary to let victims like them eat sand every day?"
Huang Qiaoyun shook his head and said: "A few years ago, when I first came to Tianjing New City, this place was already deserted." "White bones were exposed in the wild, and there were no roosters crowing for thousands of miles. It was extremely desolate." "At that time, Tianjing New City was extremely desolate. Everything is clear. In order to recruit refugees, I decided to open a warehouse to release grain." "But I found that after I opened a warehouse to release grain, there were not many victims who could be relieved."
"Do you know why?" This time it was Fang Jinzhi and others' turn to be confused, and several people shook their heads. "Because after knowing that the officials were distributing free food, people who had surplus food at home also came to receive relief food." "I didn't have much relief food, so these people who were not victims of the disaster all came to receive food." " Then how can I recruit refugees and provide relief to the victims?"
"So, I issued an order, that is, let all the relief points mix sand into the relief porridge." "This allows me to recruit more refugees and cultivate more fields." " It is precisely because of this that Tianjing New City has such a grand scene." After hearing this, Tian Xing was a little confused. What does land reclamation have to do with sand mixed in disaster relief grains?
Fang Jinzhi suddenly understood and said: "You are saying that the relief food is for the real victims. If sand is added to it, only those who are about to starve to death will come to eat." "And those who do not need to be relieved in the first place." People will definitely not be able to eat this kind of rice porridge. In this way, the real victims can be screened out." "This kind of relief porridge can really be fed to the people who really need it."
"Not only do we screen out the victims of severe disasters, but we also save food and help you recruit more people." "Brilliant, indeed brilliant." After Fang Jinzhi figured it out, he began to appreciate Yang Peng again. Yang Peng is a talented person who has quick thinking and knows how to adapt. Tian Xing was still a little confused and said:
"The people are all honest. Even if there are some people who pretend to receive food, they won't eat too much." "Isn't it inappropriate to mix sand into the food because of some people?"
When Huang Qiaoyun heard this, he began to say: "The heart is like water, how deep it is. The people's heart is like smoke, how chaotic it is!" "The people are a bunch of unruly people. Each of these people is selfish and will make their own calculations. They are all people who like to be greedy for petty gains." "When one common person can get something for nothing and you turn a blind eye, then the second and third one will appear." "Until all the common people will follow and eat the relief food that they have obtained for nothing. ." "Only by turning relief food into rations that must be eaten to survive, these people and disaster victims will work hard to make progress and make their lives better."
"Instead of always counting on relief food, eating and waiting to die." "Only by guiding them to work hard can they have a good life, and only with this kind of atmosphere can a miraculous city like Tianjing New City be built." Fang Jinzhi remembered. The young man I met at the porridge shed. Obviously, he belongs to the kind of unruly people who have a surplus of food but want to take advantage of it.
After some teachings from Huang Qiaoyun, Fang Jinzhi felt that Yang Peng was indeed indispensable for the prosperity of Tianjing New City. Tian Xing, who was next to him, couldn't help but frown and think. He felt that what Fang Jinzhi said seemed reasonable, but he still felt that something was wrong. Qiuxia, on the other hand, changed her impression of Yang Peng greatly after hearing Huang Qiaoyun's words, and felt that Yang Peng was a capable person.
Huang Qiaoyun saw that it was getting late and it was lunch time, so he said, "If you have nothing else to do, please leave." "There are many interesting places in Tianjing New City, and you can go shopping around." After that, Just pick up the teacup and see the guests off. ....
Fang Jinzhi walked out of Tianjing New City in a daze, feeling that everything he heard today had somewhat subverted his understanding. "Saintess, how are you? Is Yang Peng a corrupt official?" Wan Chun saw Fang Jinzhi coming out, so he hurried to Fang Jinzhi's side and asked curiously. Fang Jinzhi nodded, then shook his head. Until now, he was still a little confused about who Yang Peng was. Wan Chun was confused when he saw Fang Jinzhi like this. He nodded and shook his head. Is Yang Peng a good official or a corrupt official? He wanted to ask again, but Tian Xing stopped him and told them everything that happened inside.
"Is there such a thing as putting sand in porridge?" Qiuxia looked at Fang Jinzhi dumbfounded and said, "This Yang Peng really has the talent to govern the world." Si Fang was silent at this moment, even though he couldn't stand Yang Peng. Peng, but I have to admit that this Yang Peng does have two skills.
Tianxing admonished: "Holy girl, since we have seen Yang Peng here, let's go back to Beijing." Fang Jinzhi still refused: "No, although we have seen Yang Peng, we think this Yang Peng , he is definitely a wise master." "We must seize Yang Peng's handle to see if it is worth taking refuge in." "Find an inn to stay first, and we want to see if Yang Peng is a good person here in Tianjing New City. The world is unified."
Fang Jinzhi planned to stay in Shanghu County for a few days. He planned to choose an inn first and put his things and luggage in the room. After picking and choosing, Fang Jinzhi felt that the so-called Tianjing Hotel best met his requirements. From the outside, Tianjing Hotel is covered with white tiles, making it look very clean and tidy. The architectural style of Tianjing Hotel is more Gothic, so it looks strange in shape, but it has a unique flavor.
"This is the place." Fang Jinzhi waved his hand and led a few people with him to the Tianjing Hotel. As soon as I arrived in front of the door, I saw several beauties wearing strange costumes standing on both sides of the door. When Fang Jinzhi passed by, these beauties bowed neatly and said with a smile:
"Welcome to Tianjing Xincheng Hotel, I wish you a pleasant stay!!" Fang Jinzhi was surprised. Although he had never seen such a way of welcoming guests, he found it inexplicably pleasing to the eye. It's the clothes these women wear that are a little revealing. The skirt's slits reached to her thighs, which was really indecent.
Fang Jinzhi gradually walked to the center of the hall with curiosity. I found that this Tianjing Hotel is indeed different from ordinary inns. The hall on the first floor does not have any tables and chairs for people to eat, only a few pieces of furniture for people to rest. There are no other items, giving people a simple and comfortable feeling. The decoration in the hall is also very luxurious. Just a huge glass lamp hanging upside down above the hall is probably worth no less than one hundred thousand taels of silver. The floor is even covered with white tiles. It can be seen that the owner of this room has done an excellent job in hygiene. Fang Jinzhi could even see her own reflection on those tiles.
At this moment, the waiter from Tianjing Hotel saw someone coming and came forward kindly. "A few guests, I don't know if you want to stay in the hotel or stay in the hotel?" "Stay in the hotel!" "Okay, please come to me. First, go to the front desk to register your information." The waiter led the way for Fang Jinzhi and others, and said at the same time: "Let's The check-in time here is from a quarter past noon on the day to a quarter past noon the next day." "If you want to check out, please inform the front desk in advance, and we will arrange special people to clean the room."
With that said, several people came to the front desk. Fang Jinzhi felt that this inn was quite satisfactory, and asked casually: "How do you calculate the rent here?" The person who received the guests at the front desk was also a beautiful woman. After hearing Fang Jinzhi's question, he immediately showed a sweet smile and asked Fang Jinzhi:
"I wonder if the guest wants a single-bed room or a twin-bed room?" "Oh, I wonder how much this single-bed room costs? How much does a twin-bed room cost?" The front desk continued to smile professionally and said:
"A single-bed room costs 8 taels of silver per night, and a twin-bed room costs 10 taels of silver." What! ! Ten taels of silver per night? This is taking us for granted! "Do you think this is a palace? The fees are so high?" Wanchun immediately shouted loudly. "Where's your shopkeeper? I want to see your shopkeeper."
At this moment, the shopkeeper of Tianjing Hotel had just come down from upstairs. When he saw Wanchun shouting at the front desk, he hurriedly ran forward. "Sir, I wonder if there is anything that dissatisfies you?"
Looking at the shopkeeper's chubby face, Wan Chun snorted coldly: "Why are your charges so expensive? Even the best inns in Bianjing are not as expensive as yours!!"
"Do you think we are being taken advantage of?" The inn immediately smiled and said, "Guests, please don't be angry. Our Tianjing Hotel is expensive, so there is a reason for it." "Everyone, please move over and come upstairs with me to take a look. , you will understand.”
Fang Jinzhi and Wanchun didn't believe in any inn that could charge ten taels of silver a night. "Guide the way ahead. If you dare to deceive us, we will destroy your inn." The shopkeeper immediately led Fang Jinzhi and the others upstairs. When they arrived on the fourth floor, the shopkeeper randomly found a free room, then opened the door and let a few people in.
"Please see, each of our rooms is integrated." "Not only is there a place to stay, but even the toilet is separate." "And you can also take a bath in the room, all of which are ready-made." "Please, sir. Look here, this thing is called a faucet, you just need to turn it on slightly and water will come out."
As he spoke, the shopkeeper gently turned on the faucet, and sure enough, he saw a clear stream of water gush out. Fang Jinzhi and the others had never seen such a magical thing before, and they were extremely surprised. Qiuxia also reached out to take a handful and tasted it. It felt the same as the water she usually drank. "This is called tap water. Although it is convenient, it costs money." "There is also this thing called a shower. You can take a shower just by standing under it. There is hot water here."
"All these things are provided for free. Guests can also receive the breakfast service provided by our store for free every morning." Fang Jinzhi heard the shopkeeper's introduction, but he was looking around the room. The room is transparent from north to south, and the windows are wide open, so you can clearly feel the breeze blowing through it. Fang Jinzhi looked at the big bed in the center of the room, which was covered with neat and clean white quilts.
Sitting down, Fang Jinzhi felt as if his whole body was sinking in. Standing up suddenly, he realized that the bed was so soft. The shopkeeper looked at Fang Jinzhi with a smile and asked:
"Now, guest, do you think these ten taels of silver are worth the money?" Fang Jinzhi walked to the balcony, through which he could clearly see the whole view of Tianjing New City. There is also an independent toilet and bathing area in the room. The service is so attentive. How can it cost so much? "Give us four single-bed rooms." Fang Jinzhi and Qiuxia shared one room, and the remaining three shared one room each.
"Okay, sir, please come down and register your information." After the shopkeeper came down, he ordered the waiter to put the luggage of several people in the room. He also asked the front desk to register information for Fang Jinzhi and others. At this time, guidance was needed. Fortunately, Fang Jinzhi was prepared, and their guide was the information about the merchants in the capital. After everything was registered, Zhu Yuanzhang paid the money and was about to leave, but the front desk stopped them.
"Sir, please get your bill!!" Fang Jinzhi was confused again. bill? What is this for? "Is your guest a foreigner?" At this time, the shopkeeper also stepped forward to explain. "This bill is your consumption record. You must provide a bill for buying and selling anything in our Tianjing New City." "Our merchants must pay taxes to the Tianjing New City Tax Office based on this bill." Fang Jinzhi can understand the bill, but Since it is something that businessmen use to pay taxes, what does it have to do with themselves?
"You merchants can just keep this thing, why do you have to give us a copy?" Even though the tax stamp is used to pay taxes, it has nothing to do with the customers. The shopkeeper continued to explain: "This thing is not only for paying taxes, but also a voucher." "Just imagine, guest, if you buy something but don't know whether it is genuine or not, when you find out that it is fake, what if the businessman If I don’t give you a return, won’t you suffer a big loss?” “At this time, you only need to show the bill to prove that the item was indeed purchased here.”
"In our Tianjing New City, merchants who sell fake goods will have to pay ten for every fake product." "This is also a way to protect your customers." After hearing this, Fang Jinzhi immediately understood. Unexpectedly, there was still money left in the consumption bill. This function. He reached out to take his bill and saw the amount of the purchase and the amount of tax to be paid written on it. When she saw the tax amount, Fang Jinzhi was a little confused. I saw that the consumption amount was written on it as 32 taels of silver, but the tax amount reached an astonishing 3.2 taels, a full 10% tax.
Wanchun became furious and shouted: "Why is this tax so high? One tax per ten?" "Our laws in the Song Dynasty clearly stipulate that the commercial tax is only one tax per thirty."
The shopkeeper said: "This is stipulated by my city lord. In our Tianjing New City, you have to pay 10% of the tax." "No one can evade taxes. Once discovered, their home will be ransacked and deported immediately." Fang Jinzhi was confused, and then Is it this Yang Peng? Our Song Dynasty only had 30 taxes per tax, but he raised it three times?
Is he still a human being? Dog officer. We must kill him! ! Yang Peng's business tax in Tianjing New City is one out of ten. This made Fang Jinzhi furious, wishing he could rush into the government office right now and kill Yang Peng, that bitch.
Fang Jinzhi said angrily: "Are you just going to let a dog official like him exploit you? Won't you go to Beijing to complain?" The shopkeeper, who was still smiling at first, suddenly turned serious when he heard Wan Chun scolding Li Jin. "Don't insult my City Lord." "It is only natural that the City Lord collects one out of ten taxes." "No one in Tianjing New City owes our City Lord a favor. Anyone who can live in Tianjing New City must Thanks to my city lord."
"Don't talk about ten taxes and one, even if it's five and one, we are willing." "If you dare to speak rudely to my city lord again, please leave immediately. We will not entertain you in this store." Fang Jinzhi looked at the shopkeeper's changes in shock. , respectful in front and arrogant in back? Just because he called Yang Peng a bitch, did the shopkeeper treat him like this? Seeing this, Tian Xing hurriedly came out to smooth things over and said:
"Don't be angry, shopkeeper. It's just that the head of my family heard that the tax of 10 per cent is too high, so he is just trying to avenge you." "After all, we are also businessmen, and we have never heard of such a high tax."
The shopkeeper's face softened slightly and he explained: "My city owner treats merchants favorably, and even attracts investment in Tianjing New City. He treats merchants equally and actively develops business." "Except for Tianjing New City, I have never seen a county with such a business atmosphere. "Not only that, the city lord will also promise the merchants that the backend of the merchants who pay taxes is the government office." "If anyone dares to cause trouble in the merchant's shop, the city lord will severely punish them or even directly execute them."
"In Tianjing New City, after paying this tax, we don't need to pay attention to any other taxes. This is the promise made by the city lord to us." Fang Jinzhi was silent. Although they implemented policies to reduce corvee and reduce taxes on merchants during the uprising in Hangzhou. However, the status of businessmen has always been looked down upon, which has also led to businessmen being bullied wherever they do business. Not only the officials and yamen have to pay for their services, but even the gangsters on the street have to collect protection fees.
After conversion, let alone one tax per ten, even tax per five is not enough. Yang Peng implements a one-for-ten tax system here, but he, Yang Peng, also does practical things and tells all businesses that their backend is the county government. It is their city lord Yang Peng. In this way, merchants will not be bullied by officials, and the gangsters on the street will not dare to provoke the county government. In the end, the merchants will still make money. Naturally, Tian Xing knew the truth behind it, and immediately said to Fang Jinzhi:
"It's almost noon, why don't we go get something to eat first?" He handed Fang Jinzhi down the steps. Fang Jinzhi nodded, and then left Tianjing Hotel with a few people. "Tian Xing, why do you think Yang Peng always does unexpected things?"
After Fang Jinzhi came out, he couldn't help but ask Tianxing. Tian Xing lightly stroked his beard and said, "There are always amazing things done by talented people and strangers." "I think this Yang Peng is the so-called strange person."
Fang Jinzhi thought for a while and said, "Do you think our strategy of focusing on agriculture and suppressing business back then was wrong?" Seeing the prosperity of Tianjing New City now, Fang Jinzhi became suspicious of his approach. In his vision, all dynasties were based on agriculture. Only when farmers farmed the land would the country's taxes increase. If the national treasury is sufficient, and the people can have enough to eat, it will be a peaceful and prosperous age.
This is also Fang Jinzhi’s ideal prosperous age. But in Tianjing New City, Fang Jinzhi felt that this prosperous scene was not the prosperous scene he expected. Is his strategy wrong? Should he encourage business like Yang Peng so that the world can enter a prosperous age? Tianxing began his own analysis:
"Every bustle in the world is for profit, and all the hustle and bustle in the world is for profit." "If the people in the world are all doing business to make money, and abandon the land instead of farming." "No matter how prosperous business is, it will only be a rootless enterprise. Ping, water without a source, wood without water." "It is precisely because of the agriculture in various places in the Song Dynasty that it can support the commerce of Tianjing New City."
"Let's go eat first, and then take a closer look at how prosperous Tianjing New City is." "Holy Girl, the barbecue in this store is so delicious. This is the first time I have eaten such delicious meat. ." Wanchun bent over while holding his belly, still mumbling something.
"Eat, eat, eat. You know how to eat, so you can't eat less." Fang Jinzhi looked at the bill in his hand angrily. He saw twenty taels of silver, half of which was eaten by this bastard. But Tian Xing looked at Wan Chun lovingly and said, "Being able to eat is a blessing. Wan Chun is a blessed person."
"My military advisor still loves me." Wan Chun happily hugged Tian Xing's arm and started to cheer. Fang Jinzhi shook his head helplessly. If he stayed in Tianjing New City for a few more days, he was afraid that Fang Jinzhi would go bankrupt. "Tian Xing, do you know what spice you just ate?"
"Why does it feel so fragrant? Sprinkled on barbecue, it is simply a delicacy on earth." Tian Xing frowned and thought for a moment, then said with some uncertainty: "It seems to be called Parthian fennel, also called cumin." "It is a kind of Parthian country. Spices." After hearing this, Fang Jinzhi said, "Why have we never seen this thing before?"
"An'an is thousands of miles away from our Song Dynasty. This cumin is indeed very rare." "It's surprising that we can eat it here." Tianxing explained.
What happened after all, let’s see what happens next.
