"Well, there is a mountain here, but it's not high or steep. You can go up it by riding a horse!"
"How high is it? Ten feet or a hundred feet?"
"How can I remember this clearly?"
"Didn't you say that your ability to remember directions is excellent? You can remember any place you have been to once?"
"Well... I remembered this at the time, but I have forgotten it now..."
"You...! Damn it, think about it again and go practice if you can't remember! I'll ask Zhiping to double your practice tasks today!"
"Uh, don't, don't, don't! Xiaoxuan, wait a minute, I seem to have remembered it! That mountain is almost fifty feet long, half a mile in radius, and there are many pine trees on the mountain!"
"Well! What about here? The map shows that there is also a peak here. Do you remember how high it is?"
In the afternoon, in Li Zexuan's camp of the Xuanjia Army, he and Cheng Chumo were working hard to make a military sand table for Niushou Mountain based on the map. Cheng Chumo suddenly realized that he seemed to have made a wrong decision, that is, to assist Li Zexuan in the sand table work in the camp. It doesn't seem to be any easier than practicing on the school field!
Because Li Zexuan asked too carefully!
Details include how high a mountain is, how wide it occupies, whether the woods on the mountain are dense, and how many mountain roads there are around the mountain. It’s true that he used to go hunting in Niushou Mountain with a bunch of second-generation dudes from Chang’an City, but he He went on a hunting trip, not to survey the terrain. How could he remember these details?
But it was too late to regret it now. If he wanted to "get off the pirate ship" at this time, today's training mission would be calculated as twice as much. Wouldn't this cost him his life?
So, throughout the afternoon, Cheng Chumo's head wanted to explode! It’s really too brain-burning! This guy feels that since he was born, he hasn’t used his brain as much as he does today!
"The map of Niushou Mountain given by Duan Zhixuan was originally very scrawled, and many details were not clearly drawn. Now that the gate of Xuanjia Army is closed, only people are allowed in and no one is allowed to go out. It is basically impossible to go to Niushou Mountain to survey the terrain in person. , and Qiu Xinggong will definitely stand in the way, so we can only force Cheng Chu to be silent! Although this guy can't remember some details clearly, after all, this guy has been to Niushou Mountain many times, and with him correcting him, The error of the sand table created here will definitely be much smaller than that of the map!"
Seeing Cheng Chumo sweating profusely from being "forced to question", although Li Zexuan couldn't bear it, in order to win this competition, Wu Ziying must rely on reasonable tactics, and the premise of reasonable tactics is to find out in advance The topography and topography of the battlefield! Therefore, he could only sympathize with Cheng Chumo in his heart!
"Chou Niu, which peak of Niu Shou Mountain has the most prey? And what kind of prey are usually found nearby?"
"Well... to say that there are the most prey, it must be the main peak. This main peak occupies the largest area. Because the top of the peak is shaped like a bull's head, the people in Hu County call it Niushou Mountain. Oh, there are also people called Niushou Mountain, anyway. They all mean the same thing. The main peak of Niushou Mountain is densely forested, but ordinary people dare not go inside, because in addition to rabbits and pheasants, there are also tigers and wolves that occasionally appear inside!"
"What? There are actually tigers and wolves in Niushou Mountain?"
"Of course! When I was twelve years old, I shot a tiger. How about it? Isn't it awesome?"
"Go! You're a talkative guy! Then tell me about the other peaks!"
"Oh! In addition to the main peak, Niushou Mountain also has..."
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"I've called you here today because I have something to discuss with you!"
At the end of the third quarter, Lantian County, the county government office hall.
Magistrate He, County Magistrate Meng, Hu Dianshi, Lieutenant Wang, Chief Zhang, Sun Captou and other key officials of the county government all gathered together. After everyone arrived, Magistrate He put down the tea cup in his hand and spoke.
"My Lord County Magistrate, please speak, I am all ears!"
Mengxian Cheng said with a respectful expression on his face.
After Li Zexuan took control of Lantian County and promulgated a series of policies to benefit the people and business, the entire Lantian County showed a prosperous attitude. In addition, Li Zexuan personally sent people to clear out the gangsters hidden in the darkness of Lantian County. After defeating the evil forces, Li Zexuan's prestige in the entire Lantian County has become even greater. As Li Zexuan's "little brother", County Magistrate He has naturally grown stronger, and his position in the Lantian County government has become more stable than ever before!
After all, as a prince, Li Zexuan holds many official positions, and he certainly cannot devote all his energy to managing Lantian County. Therefore, the actual manager of Lantian County is still Magistrate He!
County Magistrate He coughed twice and said in a deep voice: "Ahem! You must have read today's "Datang Daily", right? The Yanhuang Chamber of Commerce will hold a fund-raising meeting at the Longmen Inn in two days to call on Datang businessmen to contribute to the country. Raising military supplies! This matter was initiated by the Yanhuang Chamber of Commerce, and Lord Marquis is the president of the Yanhuang Chamber of Commerce. How do you think our county government should handle this matter?"
Hearing this, everyone couldn't help but frown and fell into deep thought.
Obviously, they have read today's "Datang Daily", but the fund-raising meeting was initiated by the Yanhuang Chamber of Commerce and was a matter for businessmen, while the county government is the government and represents the court. Whether and how much they can participate, This speed is difficult to control!
"What the county magistrate means is that this fund-raising meeting was promoted by the Marquis?"
Meng Xian Cheng arched his hands and asked.
Magistrate He nodded and said, "Of course!"
Director Zhang couldn't help but wonder: "But Mr. Hou is in the army now and has no other skills. How can he have time to arrange the fund-raising meeting?"
The rest of the people couldn't help but nod.
Magistrate He stroked his beard and said: "It is true that Mr. Hou is in the army, but Mr. Hou can arrange other people to do this! As far as I know, the person who is hosting the fund-raising meeting this time is named Lin Wenyuan. This person is not only Lin Wenyuan is one of the first members of the Yanhuang Chamber of Commerce, and has a good personal relationship with Mr. Hou in private. The reason why Lin Wenyuan is able to mobilize other members of the Yanhuang Chamber of Commerce is precisely because he has the seal of the president of the Yanhuang Chamber of Commerce! You think, this matter is Hou Ye's. How can I not know this?"
"This...it seems that this fund-raising meeting must have been promoted by the Marquis!"
Hearing this, Prime Minister Meng County couldn't help but nodded, and then he continued: "The Marquis launched a fund-raising meeting to help the court raise military supplies. Maybe this matter was authorized by the Holy Emperor! I just don't know how much the Holy Lord raised at this fund-raising meeting. How much does it cost? No requirements!”
County Magistrate He nodded in approval and said: "Meng County Cheng's analysis is good. All dynasties have always underestimated merchants. This time, the Marquis can launch a fund-raising meeting in the name of the court. First, it shows that the court has indeed encountered difficulties in preparing for war with the Turks. The difficulty, secondly, is that this matter must have been authorized by the Holy Emperor, otherwise no one in the civil and military dynasties would dare to agree to let the Marquis call on businessmen to raise military supplies!
In addition, regardless of whether His Majesty has any requirements for the amount of military resources raised, after all, the more he raises, the better it will be for the Marquis' situation in the court. This is always true! Therefore, I believe that our county government must give full support to the fundraising meeting at Longmen Inn in two days! "
Wang Xianwei, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke. He stroked his beard and said: "Yes! The county magistrate's analysis is reasonable! Regardless of whether the Holy Emperor has any requirements for the amount of military resources raised, it is right to raise more. ! But this fund-raising meeting is aimed at businessmen, what can our county government do?"
"That's right! What can our county government do?"
The rest of the people also looked puzzled.
Magistrate He couldn't help but laugh and said: "Haha! In this matter, our county government actually has a lot to do! At the beginning of the year, Mr. Hou took over Lantian County and carried out a series of drastic reforms. Now our Lantian County has become the world's leading In a place where merchants are the most important, not only has a Commerce Department been established to manage merchants, but it has also cleaned up the city's scoundrels and created a good business environment for merchants!
From this aspect, the relationship between our county government and merchants is far closer than the relationship between county governments and merchants in other counties. In this way, our participation in this fund-raising meeting is a "famous example"!
After the discussion was over, Prime Minister Meng County went to contact Lin Wenyuan to inquire about the process and preparations for the fundraising meeting. If possible, ask about the Marquis's plan! "
Li Zexuan bypassed the Lantian County government office this time and directly entrusted Lin Wenyuan to organize the fund-raising meeting. This made Magistrate He a little panicked. From the moment he saw the news in the newspaper in the morning to the time he convened the county government to discuss the matter, He County Magistrate Ling has been thinking about why Li Zexuan handed over the fund-raising meeting to Lin Wenyuan instead of the county government!
At first, he thought that he, the county magistrate, had neglected his duties recently. He had seriously reflected on what he had done during this period, but he did not find anything wrong or did anything wrong!
After much thought and no answer, Magistrate He decided to let the county government participate in this fund-raising meeting in order to "restore" the impression of the county government in Li Zexuan's mind!
(Actually, he was overthinking it. Li Zexuan's original arrangement for Li Ke to hand over the fund-raising meeting to Lin Wenyuan was completely a subconscious move of "talking about business", and was not considered as much as County Magistrate He had thought)
"Yes! I obey your orders!"
Magistrate Meng also heard something unusual in Magistrate He's last words, and he quickly accepted the order.
County Magistrate He nodded, and then ordered: "Captain Sun, for this fund-raising meeting, you will bring a hundred government officials and deploy them inside and outside the Longmen Inn in advance. First, to ensure the safety of the money raised from donations, and second, to ensure that No one will be present to cause quarrels and trouble. Violators will be taken down directly and sent to the county jail first! We must ensure that the fund-raising meeting goes smoothly!"
"Yes! Don't worry, county magistrate, Sun will not let this fund-raising meeting go wrong!"
Sun Captou clasped his fists and said loudly.
At the beginning, under Li Zexuan's instructions, Lantian County's county government expanded the number of three-class government officials several times. Sun Captou now has many subordinates. It can be said that his back is twice as strong, and he has the confidence to do anything!
"Yeah! This is the best!"
County Magistrate He nodded with satisfaction, then his eyes glanced over Mr. Sun, looked at Mr. Zhang, and said: "Mr. Zhang, it has been more than three months since the county government established the Commerce Department and reformed the commercial tax. In the past three months, how much has the number of merchants registered with the Department of Commerce increased? How much business tax has been collected in total?"
The Department of Commerce was established in April this year, and it is now the end of July. It has indeed been more than three months!
In addition, although the Commerce Department is another department independent of the county government, because it is a newly established department, it is difficult to find relevant talents in a short period of time, so the work of the Commerce Department has always been done by people from the county government. He is here to take on a part-time role, and Chief Bookkeeper Zhang is in charge of the taxation and accounts of the Commerce Department!
Master Zhang is not only proficient in arithmetic, but also has an excellent memory. After hearing this, he pondered for a moment and then replied:
"Back to the county magistrate, in the past three months, a total of 472 merchants have been added to the city. Including the original merchants, the number of merchants registered with the Department of Commerce has exceeded 600!
In the first month, the commercial tax collected by the Department of Commerce was 2,165 guan, in the second month it was 5,728 guan, and in the third month it was 9,724 guan. , so the total commercial taxes collected by the Department of Commerce in the past three months are 17,617 yuan. All commercial taxes and accounts are in the county government warehouse. The county magistrate can send people to check at any time! ! "
"Hiss~!"
At that time, Li Zexuan not only established the Department of Commerce and cleaned up the local bullies in Lantian County, but also reformed the commercial tax, increasing the commercial tax ratio from 1 in 30 to 1 in 60 net profits of the original shops, an increase of five times. ! Although the commercial tax rate has been increased, the number of businessmen in Lantian County has not decreased but increased!
Because in Lantian County, the property of merchants is protected by the government from infringement by others. The children of merchants can enter the county school and take the admissions examination of Yanhuang Academy. In addition, when opening a shop in Lantian County, you don’t have to worry about ruffians coming to collect protection fees. The sum of all these benefits is enough to offset the negative impact of the increase in the commercial tax rate. Therefore, there are more and more merchants in Lantian County and more and more shops!
Everyone had a relatively high estimate of Lantian County's commercial tax collection before, but after hearing this number from Master Zhang, everyone couldn't help but gasp, because of this. The numbers are simply too astonishing!
What is the concept of business tax of more than 17,000 yuan? In the past, the commercial tax collected by Lantian County in a year was less than 2,000 guan. As a result, the commercial tax collected in three months is more than eight times that of the previous year!
What’s even more frightening is the growth rate of business taxes collected every month. It’s so amazing!
In the first month, it was still more than 2,000 guan. In the second month, it went directly to more than 5,000 guan. In the third month, it was even worse, reaching more than 9,000 guan. God knows how much it will be in the fourth and fifth months.
"Well! Master Zhang, two days later, from these 17,617 guan, you will take out 10,000 guan, and you will attend the fund-raising meeting on behalf of the county government! This can also be regarded as my contribution to Lantian County. The imperial court is doing its little bit to conquer the Turks!"
The hall was quiet for a long time, and Magistrate He finally spoke.
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