Kanshui City Minfang, the second floor of the small building rented by Fan Yun and his party.

The crescent moon rises high in the sky, and the cool night breeze blows into the small building, swaying the flames of the candlelights inside.

Fan Yun sat on the chair by the window, holding a pen in his hand, recording today's entries and exits in the account book one by one, marking the details clearly.

"Crunch~"

The bamboo door creaked, and Zhu Zhuqing, who had packed up all the horses, vehicles and remaining goods, came up from the first floor, holding three bowls of fragrant white tender rice in his hands.

"Teacher, Miss Cat, it's time to eat."

After entering the door, Zhu Zhuqing hooked one foot on the door frame, pulled slightly, closed the bamboo door, and said to everyone in the room.

"Meow~" "Okay, here we go."

Putting away the banknotes in his hand, Fan Yun walked to the round table, picked up the bowls and chopsticks, sat down, smelled the fragrant smell of rice, and couldn't help but sigh:

"Zhuqing, don't tell me, the rice from Xingluo is as fragrant as Tiandou."

Taking out a piece of dried meat from the package, Zhu Zhuqing's nails flashed a little coldly, and he divided it into three pieces of different sizes with two strokes. The larger piece was given to the teacher, the smaller piece was given to Miss Cat, and he kept it for himself.

The one below is the smallest piece.

"Teacher, actually what you said is not entirely correct. This is Kanshui City. There are tens of thousands of acres of rice fields nearby. It is a famous grain area in the empire. The yield is rich and the rice grains are plump and fragrant. Generally, they are specially supplied to Gengjin City.

In the big cities where the princes and nobles live, ordinary people in the empire cannot eat such good rice."

"And the students remember that there is also a good grain and rice production area in the northeastern part of the Tiandou Empire. In Fuer Province, I heard that the grains are also large and plump. They were even called 'the best rice in the world' by the previous Emperor of Tiandou. However,

Because the growth cycle is too long and the yield is rare, few people taste it.”

Zhu Zhuqing put a mouthful of rice into his mouth and chewed it carefully.

"No, 'the best rice in the world' is such an exaggeration?" A hint of suspicion flashed across Fan Yun's face, "I have eaten rice from Kanshui City in the Pope's Palace before, but this rice from the Fore Province is actually

I've never tasted it before. This is strange, how come you can't even eat this so-called 'the best rice in the world'?"

"Meow?"

The big cat, whose paws were holding the chopsticks in a rather strange posture to chop the rice, also raised her head at this time, with some confusion on her face. She was also confused about the question raised by her feet, if the rice was really that good.

Eat, then why have you never eaten after following your two feet everywhere?

Hearing the teacher's question, Zhu Zhuqing also frowned. Apparently he did not expect this situation to arise. He thought about what he had seen and heard in his family when he was young, and replied:

"It is said that the Fore Province is one of the few provinces in the Tiandou Empire that is directly controlled by the royal family (which is not enfeoffed and independent). The rice in the Fore Province is basically directly supplied to the royal family. It seems that the royal family was responsible for controlling this matter at the beginning.

It is said that he has an old grudge with Wuhun Palace, so he may not give it to him because of this. Teacher, you also know that Xueye’s actual control over Tiandou is limited."

The Zhu family helps the Xingluo royal family take charge of the dark side of the empire, so they naturally need to have a sufficient understanding of the empire's future enemies.

Regarding some aspects of Tiandou, every child of the Zhu family must be familiar with it, and Zhu Zhuqing, who was once a princess, would only be asked for more, even if she was still young at the time.

Hearing Zhu Zhuqing's answer, Fan Yun raised his eyebrows and curled his lips, seeming to doubt this guess.

However, Fan Yun didn't dwell too much on this matter. He took a few more bites of rice, then thought of some things during this period, and became sad.

"Zhuqing, don't tell me, your business tax in Xingluo is too expensive."

Turning around and reaching out to the table next to the window sill, Yun Qi emerged and handed the account book on the table into Fan Yun's hand.

Fan Yun spread out the account book, pushed it in front of his young apprentice, and vomited his bitterness:

"Look carefully. Although there are a lot of goods sold every day and the revenue earned is quite considerable, after deducting the cost of renting the stall for the day and deducting the taxes and fees, the income is

Only 23/10 of the day’s revenue is left.”

"Although there is some profit, it still feels a bit not worth it... Most of our goods are shipped from Tiandou. Due to our special situation, we can save a lot of freight, and there are many goods shipped from

It cost nothing to scrape it from bandits, so it makes more money."

"And how much money can those merchants who travel around and sell goods according to normal procedures make? In other words, those merchants who don't need to travel to local merchants very much or those with very large volumes of goods can earn more. 'Small-scale' ones like us can

Businessmen may only be able to satisfy their needs for food and clothing."

"No wonder I feel like I met far fewer businessmen in Xingluo along the way than Tiandou..."

"Dong dong~"

The big cat also stood up from his position in time, stretched out a cat paw and tapped the ledger to express approval.

After hearing the teacher's words, Zhu Zhuqing was silent for a while. Following the teacher's topic, she thought of many things.

"What's wrong, Zhuqing?"

After Fan Yun finished vomiting his bitter words, he immediately noticed something was wrong with his disciple and quickly asked with concern.

"It's nothing, teacher, it's just that I thought of something." Faced with his teacher's concern, Zhu Zhuqing just shook his head.

"What's the matter?" Fan Yun asked, putting down his bowl and chopsticks, and the big cat beside him also turned his attention to the little kitten next to him.

"Alas..." Zhu Zhuqing sighed, looked at the moonlight pouring into the building outside the window, and said slowly:

"Teacher, to tell you the truth, I was extremely proud to be from the Star Luo Empire because we had the most powerful army, the clearest administration, the wisest monarch, and the most stable order."

"But now... after studying with you, teacher, for these years, I discovered that the empire is not so perfect..."

Recalling what he had seen and heard along the way, Zhu Zhuqing's face looked a little struggling and painful: "Although I was struggling on the edge of life and death in the past, I also enjoyed treatment that most people in the empire could not enjoy. I was like a noble person on a high platform.

Looking down at everything in the empire, I feel that even though the clan is cruel and bloody, the people under its rule are peaceful and happy."

"But following your journey from Tiandou back to Star Luo, teacher, I re-examined the empire from a perspective that I had never experienced before, and discovered many things that I had never discovered before."

"The clean and honest administration within the empire comes at the cost of cruel punishments and strict supervision standards. Officials within the empire are all in danger, fearing that they will be reported to and imprisoned by their colleagues or superiors, even after returning home from get off work every night He would also hug his wife and children and cry."

"Suspicion and defensiveness are the background to getting along with imperial officials."

"And in order to protect themselves from being punished, officials disregarded the lives of the people when completing the empire's targets, abandoned all the good things in their hearts, and tried to turn themselves into cold machines to complete all the instructions sent by the empire."

"And the empire's unparalleled army..."

When Zhu Zhuqing said this, he closed his eyes, paused for a long time, and then began to say:

"Economic production is the basis of everything. The empire's economy is not stronger than that of Tiandou next door, and is actually a bit weaker. So why is the empire's army so much stronger than Tiandou? What about the army's expenses such as food, grass, armor, etc.

Burdened?"

"I didn't understand it when I first started studying with you, teacher. Now that I've traveled around the empire again, I seem to understand..."

"This powerful army of the empire was developed at the expense of squeezing the people... Unlike the high taxes caused by Tiandou's human corruption and corruption, the empire's harsh taxes are due to a policy system that is more difficult to adjust..."

“Not only did it levy high taxes on commerce, but also in cities and villages, after the empire levied the agricultural taxes for the season, all that was left to the peasants was enough food to survive the season, and all the rest had to be turned over for collection, which was strict.

The taxes have made the people miserable, and they cannot afford any disaster."

"The army is the foundation of the empire and cannot be shaken. Therefore, in order to meet the huge expenditure of the army, strict taxes imposed on the people cannot be changed..."

"In addition to taxes, there are also corvee services for young men other than nobles and merchants. The people I saw along the way were building official buildings..."

Zhu Zhuqing was speechless for a moment, and every word she uttered when she opened and closed her lips seemed to be carried with great force, making her tone heavier.

"And the so-called stable order...is only in the towns and villages of the empire...bandits are running from city to city, killing and robbing people who come and go, but the officers and soldiers of the empire turn a blind eye to this.

, as long as the bandits do not affect the towns and villages, we can leave them alone when the scale is small."

"...Because this can reduce the flow of the population and avoid the loss of the empire's labor force, and regular bandit suppression can also return the property looted by the bandits to the national treasury..."

"The empire has never been sacred...I seem to understand the meaning of this sentence better now, teacher..."

"In today's situation, no matter whether the empire rises or falls, the people's life is difficult...the prosperity...the people are suffering...the empire is dying...the people are suffering..."

Zhu Zhuqing's voice gradually weakened, but the pain in his eyes gradually increased.

"Zhuqing...you are almost ready to start training..."
Chapter completed!