How can I bow my head and serve the powerful officials?

The so-called customs tax is the toll paid by merchants when passing through official checkpoints when going to other places to do business. Every time they pass through a state checkpoint, they need to pay a customs tax.

The so-called taxes are that merchants have to pay a certain percentage of taxes based on the amount of money they earn after selling goods. Usually, relevant officials in the government office will audit and collect taxes on time. The more money a merchant earns, the more taxes he has to pay.

Don't underestimate these two kinds of taxes. Anyone who has done business knows that the amount of customs duties and levies collected depends entirely on the mood of the superiors. When you are unlucky or are deliberately targeted, you may even be on the verge of bankruptcy before you even enter the city. But if you can rely on a prefectural permit stamped by the prefect himself, let alone Yizhou, even if you go to other prefectures, people will be more respectful to you after seeing the permit.

Because people will think that you have a "big shot" backing you up!

If selling grain during a famine is opportunistic profiteering, then the government-issued tax reduction is a pass that allows merchants to move around freely, which is like a priceless commodity!

Even if Liang Wanda falls one day, this government certificate represents the certificate of Yizhou government office and will never expire!

The business owners couldn't help but look at each other, and they all saw desire and competition in each other's eyes.

"What are you still hesitating about, bosses?" Seeing that they were still considering the pros and cons, Liang Wanda reminded them indifferently, "The rice you brought should all be old, right? In Yizhou, there is not much else in the summer, but a lot of rain. We just had a flash flood a while ago, and I don't know if it will come for the third time."

“If your stale rice rots in your shop, don’t say I didn’t warn you~” Liang Wanda shook his head and sighed.

Business owners: …

Lord Liang really hits the nail on the head.

The rice they brought was indeed old. Wasn't it because they wanted to sell off the old rice immediately in the famine-stricken areas? They could clear the warehouse and make huge profits. Only a fool would not do it!

After a brief search, the merchants all said the appropriate price in their minds, but Liang Wanda was still not satisfied. "It seems that the bosses are still not sincere. I originally thought that the better your rice is and the lower the price is, the greater the tax reduction will be in my government, and the longer the tax reduction period will be..."

"Oh, your name won't be written on this government voucher. If you go bankrupt in the future, you might be able to resell it at a high price... Of course, I'm not wishing you to go bankrupt. I'm just saying that this is an insurance policy for when unexpected events occur..." Liang Wanda said nonchalantly, "If you miss this opportunity, you'll never get it again..."

Business owners: …

Enough! Enough!

Mr. Liang, don't do whatever you want just because you have a little power! It's such a pity that you don't go into business!!!

The business owners gritted their teeth and had to lower the grain prices again, especially the northern merchants. It was not easy for them to come here. If they could get this tax reduction certificate, even if they could not open up the trade route between the north and the south in the future, they could sell it to the wealthy merchants in the south and make much more money than selling old grain.

In the end, Liang Wanda bought all the grain along with the grain carts and horses at a price just slightly higher than the market price.

As promised, he took out the official seal, wrote a tax reduction certificate for the merchants, attached the corresponding tax reduction amount and tax reduction period, and stamped it with the official seal.

After the transaction was completed, the business owners asked, "Master Liang, what is the big project that is about to begin in Yizhou?"

Liang Wanda smiled faintly, "In the next few years, all the manpower in Yizhou will be used to dig through Yuji Mountain and dig countless channels for the Minjiang River, so that all the people will have sufficient river water to irrigate their fields in all seasons."

Business owners:!!!

Wow, this is indeed a big project!

On the way here, they also learned about the situation in Yizhou. In particular, the emperor had issued a clear examination paper to students all over the world, which was about the long-standing and difficult-to-treat floods in Yizhou. He must have intended to take this opportunity to completely solve the flood problem here.

But they didn't expect that the current emperor actually planned to spend several years to open an artificial river by manpower.

Many merchants have already smelled countless business opportunities from this, and the quick-thinking southern merchants have seen the pros and cons of it.

Once this river channel is dug, Yizhou will surely become an extremely prosperous place in the future. In this way, the sooner you open a shop here, the more likely you will be able to seize the business market first in the future and become the richest man in Yizhou and even the entire south.

By then, the palace vouchers in their hands will be even more rare and valuable!

The business owners who understood this immediately took better care of the Fu Yin placed in front of their chests and felt that this deal was worth it.

"I didn't expect that the current emperor would have such courage. We really admire him!" Another merchant couldn't help but sigh, "But this will probably cost several million taels, right? From this point of view, the imperial treasury is still full?"

Liang Wanda on the side smiled and said, "Where does the court get so much money?"

"Oh?" The shop owners were immediately puzzled. "What do you mean?"

Could it be that the silver note he just took out was not the relief silver given by the court? That's right, the relief silver issued by the court has always been official silver, how could it be a silver note, and a different silver note from the local area...

"If you bosses are really interested, you can stay for a few more days. When I count the grain carts and open the city gate, you will know where the money comes from." Liang Wanda kept the secret.

The shop owners could not help but look at each other, becoming more and more curious.

Three days later.

During these three days, people in the government office were counting grain carts and transporting rice into the city to solve the hunger problem of the refugees in the city. People in the city were also actively preaching. Now even young children who have just learned to speak can read the word "dag mountain".

However, digging in the mountains is a physical job after all, so the yamen runners gave priority to organizing strong men and wrote their names and places of origin on the registration book to facilitate related matters in the future according to the registration book.

After everything was ready, the city gate was finally opened.

The yamen runners who were maintaining the scene waved their hands and shouted, "People from Danyang County, Dongyang County, Longyang County... should first receive the disaster relief grain and return to their villages. After properly settling their families, they should pack their bags and gather at the city gate, waiting to set off to Yuji Mountain."

The villagers in the eastern county town lined up obediently, but their heads were looking excitedly outside the city. When they saw the endless grain carts, they all showed an expression of relief on their faces.

That’s great, they finally got the relief food!

Everyone is saved!

The business owners stood aside, watching this scene, secretly thinking about what Liang Wanda said three days ago.

Where does the money to buy food come from?

When the first villager stepped forward and reached out to take the grain bag from the grain cart, they suddenly saw a tall and burly soldier stepping onto a high stone, holding up a piece of paper, and shouting in a loud voice:

"A drop of water should be repaid with a spring. Yizhou is in trouble and all parties are helping. To help the people of Yizhou overcome the difficulties, the people of Zhuolu County in Jizhou donated more than 250,000 taels of silver, the people of Cangfu County donated more than 200,000 taels of silver, the people of Shangqing County in Yuzhou donated more than 103,000 taels of silver, the people of Ning'an County donated more than 80,000 taels of silver, and the people of Xinyuan County in Jinzhou donated more than 137,000 taels of silver..."

The shocking figures made the business owners' ears ring and their heads dizzy, and also made the people of Yizhou dumbfounded and stunned.

None of them had expected that during this flash flood disaster in Yizhou, so many people from other counties would willingly donate so much silver to help them overcome the difficulties!

Hundreds of thousands of taels, what does this mean? As ordinary people, they know it very well. It means almost everything they have!

Obviously...it's already difficult for them to survive on their own!

The eyes of the people in Yizhou were all red and filled with tears. After receiving the rice and grain, some of the people knelt down and kowtowed to the soldiers who read out the list of donations, and memorized the names of these counties in their hearts.

Just as this official said, a drop of kindness should be repaid with a spring!

If there is trouble in other places in the future, the people of Yizhou will never give in even if it means death!

……

On the city wall, Shen Yuan looked at the scenes below and couldn't help but have tears in his eyes and mixed feelings in his heart.

He couldn't help but turn his head slightly and look at Xie Chengze, who was leaning on the city wall with his chin, leisurely enjoying the afternoon breeze.

He had never thought that Xie Chengze would use these banknotes here, let alone that he would use the stolen money snatched from corrupt officials in the name of public donations to closely connect the people of Yizhou with those of other states.

If Yizhou can really become a land of abundance in the future, it will certainly give back to these prefectures and counties without hesitation. Perhaps over time, the entire Jian'an Dynasty will form this kind of cohesive force of "one side in trouble, support from all sides" and overcome difficulties together.

By then, the imperial treasury will be much more relaxed.

This was a path that even His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had never imagined. Shen Yuan couldn't imagine what kind of compassionate heart and mind a person had to come up with such a shocking solution.

Xie Chengze...what on earth did you go through during that time that I didn't know about to become this kind of person?

Shen Yuan couldn't tell whether the person in front of him was Xie Chengze. He seemed to be Xie Chengze, but also seemed not to be Xie Chengze. His actions were completely different from that "Xie Chengze", but he knew everything about his previous life, as if he had experienced it personally.

What made Shen Yuan feel most panicked and helpless was that he even felt that Xie Chengze... was someone he wanted to follow and be loyal to more than His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

"Second Prince." With this absurd thought in mind, Shen Yuan did not realize how tightly his palms had been clenched because of nervousness. He stared deeply at this old enemy in the court who had fought with him for ten years, and asked:

"When one side is in trouble, all sides come to its aid. Is this your way of governing a country?"

If this is his way of governing the country, then he may not be able to...

Xie Chengze looked up when he heard the voice and gave him a puzzled look.

"What are you thinking? The premise of all sides coming to the aid of one side in trouble is that the money donated by the people here can go into the pockets of the people on the other side without any loss. But do you think this is possible?"

Even places with such advanced modern information technology cannot do this, so how could those county magistrates and prefects miss such a great opportunity to embezzle?

When did Shen Yuan become so naive? Was he not reincarnated? Instead, he was some other ancient soul that had traveled through time and space?

Xie Chengze scanned and looked at Shen Yuan repeatedly with a suspicious and distrustful look, and began to doubt whether his original judgment was wrong.

Shen Yuan who was questioned: ...

Shen Yuan wanted to strangle himself again.

How could he think that Xie Chengze really had that kind of brain? He was also sick, and he was almost led astray by him!!!