After all the terms of going to Beijing were implemented, Murong Fu also had Han Baizhan, Huo Qianjun, and Wei Liangcheng command 20,000 troops each, and Zhe Yanzhi led 10,000 Shenji battalions to accompany the army, a total of 70,000 The soldiers and horses went to Shangjing to join the Liao army and march north to put down the rebellion.
With Han Baizhan and the others leading the Northern Expedition, and Zongze stationed in Longcheng, Murong Fu could sit back and relax and concentrate on planning the next arrangements.
Zhao Song has begun to issue decrees. Starting from the fourth year of Chongning, that is, this year, people's taxes will increase by 30% and by 50% in the following year. The deadline is uncertain.
In addition, even the oral tax, that is, the poll tax, which had been abolished since the Tang Dynasty, was re-imposed by the court, and there were also endless additional taxes such as commercial tax.
For a time, the people of the entire Southern Dynasty were dumbfounded. The war was obviously over, why did their life become more difficult?
Because of the war with the Liao Kingdom in the past few years, not to mention the homes of ordinary people, even the homes of some landlords were plundered and almost ran out of food.
Now that the war has been won, many refugees from the northern border still have no proper resettlement place, but as a result, taxes have to be increased. Doesn't this push them to a dead end?
If Juxianzhuang hadn't taken care of refugees like them, I'm afraid the north would have been filled with corpses, and people would have exchanged their children for food!
For this matter, many people from local prefectures and counties went to the gate of the prefect, hoping to lower taxes and give them a chance to survive. ?.?????.???
However, the county magistrates in the prefecture's yamen have not received their salary for several months. They are waiting for them to pay taxes so that they can receive their salary, so they will naturally not pay attention to it.
However, in addition to these stupid officials who don't care about the life and death of the people, of course there are also good officials who are dedicated to the people.
But no matter how they reported to the court, the court had only one sentence: let them act in accordance with the new order, and no one was allowed to object.
As the saying goes, the official level is overwhelming. Even though those local officials are interested in serving the people, they can't do anything. They can only try their best to appease people's hearts.
Similar things have happened almost everywhere in the Song Dynasty. There are naturally many people who are dissatisfied with the imperial court's excessive taxation, but there are very few people who really dare to rise up and resist.
For ordinary people, they just want to survive. In this feudal-ruled society, officials are the gods. If they are not really forced to a dead end, they will not choose to fight against the gods.
Therefore, the manpower arranged by Murong Fu in the Song Dynasty was also lurking in the dark and did not act in a hurry.
It is worth mentioning that when Murong Fu and the Liao Kingdom had just established commercial relations and set the location of trade in Bailang City, the Song Dynasty also immediately issued a decree to increase market and shipping taxes.
The market tax and shipping tax are also the so-called tariffs for trade between the two countries. Murong Fu's vassal territory did not have to pay taxes to the court and could set its own tax amount. In addition, the vassal territory he chose happened to be adjacent to the Song and Liao border. As long as He set the tax rate lower than that of the Song Dynasty, which could encourage merchants from the two countries to come to White Wolf City for transactions. In this way, he could collect a lot of sales tax, which was also a considerable amount of income.
There is also the ship tax. Murong Fu also arranged for people to start building trading ports in the coastal areas, and transferred all the shipbuilding industry in Jiangnan to the Liaodong coast. Coupled with the contacts he accumulated over the years, he can independently conduct business with those overseas comers. Trade and acquire resources.
After all, materials for making firearms are very scarce. It is almost impossible for Murong Fu to seize large quantities without alerting the government. But if he can reach cooperation with those Western outsiders, there is no need to worry. is restricted.
The use of gunpowder was introduced to Western countries after the 13th century, which was at least more than a hundred years ago. At that time, they must not understand the true use of those ores. Murong Fu wanted to trade with them, as long as If you can give them what they want, they won't be afraid of not being able to buy it.
After King Yan's army went to Beijing, Murong Fu locked himself in a room and studied for three days and three nights before finishing all subsequent plans. He even made some reforms based on the knowledge from his previous life.
As the saying goes, if you want to be rich, you must first build roads. Murong Fu is not short of money now, and he is expected to be rich for a long time in the future. Therefore, he is spending his wealth to build trade ports on the coast, and to pave roads and build houses everywhere. , he is not the only one who is busy, even the people under him are also busy.
Especially those who were originally members of Murong's family were all recalled by Murong Fu and began to work around him, serving as civil servants and running around.
Under Murong Fu's management, Xiao Fengxian, who was far away in Beijing, also gave him a lot of face. Under his arrangement, Khitan businessmen soon moved into White Wolf City.
Although Murong Fu took office as the vassal king in Liaodong at this time, don't forget that his family business has always been in the Jiangnan area. Therefore, he was able to meet the trade needs of the Khitan merchants one by one, and directly transferred the people in Jiangnan to Several big merchants have moved to White Wolf City.
When they saw that they could get what they needed by trading in White Wolf City, and the taxes were lower than those collected in the Song Dynasty, the Khitan merchants spread the word after returning, and soon the reputation of White Wolf City was established. No., more Khitans rushed to White Wolf City one after another.
There are even some wealthy businessmen who are willing to spend a lot of money to buy shops and start business here.
Although Murong Fu wanted to make money, he did not have to look so ugly. He gave these outside merchants great convenience. In addition to absolutely ensuring personal safety, he also reduced certain taxes and fees, which made more Khitan merchants feel at ease. Shops are open in White Wolf City.
Although Murong Fu was still fighting with their country on the battlefield six months ago, and now their country has been defeated, this did not make the Khitan people hate Murong Fu, but instead respected him.
The Khitans are nomadic people and they believe in the strong. Even if Murong Fu is not one of their tribesmen, as long as they are strong they are worthy of respect.
But based on this, many Khitan people believed that as long as Murong Fu was around, they would not be in danger in White Wolf City.
After all, when they are doing business, they will always inadvertently offend someone, or touch the interests of some people, thereby causing death, so this White Wolf City has also become a refuge for them.
Unknowingly, a month has passed. Murong Fu was paying attention to the war situation in the north and supervising the development and construction of various places. Although he had a lovely wife as his companion every night, he spent less time together. many.
On this day, Murong Fu took Li Qingzhao to Shanhaiguan to meet a friend from the West.
This is a tall and thin young man with dark skin, deep-set eyes and high eyebrows. His name is Basel, and he is an Arab.
Murong Fu met his father, but when they met, Basel's father was already older. Now it is his son, Basel, who is responsible for doing business with the Song Dynasty.
