Chapter 198: The Tax Officer of the New Suanzao Gate
() In the eyes of the boatman, Ximen Qing's image suddenly became taller, with his white robe gently fluttering in the wind, and he also had a somewhat fairy-like air.
Lin Lingsu is a god-like figure, and officials should be polite when they see him; let alone a living god standing in front of him?
The boatman's knees softened and he knelt on the ground again: "God! What should the villain do?"
Ximen Qing's pretentious pinching technique was actually just pinching his fingers to make a shape; fortunately, he had become familiar with it recently, and he was quite good at pinching it.
"Hey! I have the power of Taoism, and I'm here to relieve you of your suffering!" Ximen Qing shouted: "Even if ten or eight dragon kings come together, they won't be enough for me to be struck by a thunderbolt!"
The boatman secretly wiped his sweat when he heard that there were dragon kings in the river. Everyone recognized this, but even the sea only had four dragon kings in the southeast, northwest and northwest. How could ten or eight dragon kings appear all at once?
It's almost time for the fish to have a meeting.
"This god," the boatman said calmly, "there is only one dragon king in this river."
Ximen Qing pinched the secret and pointed his right hand at the water: "Okay! I will kill the entire Dragon King today! Come on, thunder!"
"God, please wait!" The boatman hesitated a little, and gestured and asked: "How big is the range of the God's sky thunder? If the villain's ship is destroyed, what will happen to the God's cargo?"
"Huh? Range?" Ximen Qing tilted his head and thought for a while: "It's only about one foot! Boatman, don't worry, I will naturally cast a spell to send you to the cargo on the ship behind, so I won't need it!"
The boatman was immediately dumbfounded. He relied on the boat to earn a living. What would he do if the boat was destroyed?
"Immortal!" The boatman kowtowed several times and said, "Although the Dragon King stirs up trouble, he also has the responsibility of spreading clouds and rain. It doesn't matter if the immortal kills the Dragon King. What will happen in the future when there is a drought on both sides of the Taiwan Strait?"
Ximen Qing got what he wanted and said with a smile: "It's you on the left and you on the right. What do you want to do? Mortals are trouble!"
"The gods just cast some spells to scare the Dragon King back." The boatman hesitated.
"It's really troublesome."
Ximen Qing deliberately made some expressions, and the boatman kept kowtowing for fear of angering the gods.
Immediately afterwards, Ximen Qing rolled up his sleeves, casually put his hand into the water, stirred it twice and shouted at the same time: "Dragon King, your mother asked you to go home for dinner!"
"What kind of spell is this?"
The boatman suddenly felt an ominous feeling in his heart.
Ximen Qing took out his hand and shook the river water, as if saying goodbye to someone: "No more!"
Turning around, Ximen Qing shouted at the boatman: "The Dragon King has gone home for dinner, why don't you hurry up and start rowing!"
"Paddle! Row for me, everyone!"
The boatman also gave orders to his men. Regardless of whether the god really persuaded the Dragon King to go home for dinner, it was right to leave here as soon as possible.
"Shout me the trumpet!" Ximen Qing shouted again: "Several other ships are shouting too!"
Oddly enough, the chants were so loud that there was no movement under the water. The guys rowed the boat very fast with all their strength, throwing away both the big fish and the dragon king.
In less than a moment, the ferry on the other side was clearly visible, and the boatman breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Ximen Qing with complicated eyes.
Even if Ximen Qing is not a god, his courage is not something that ordinary people can achieve.
The boat arrived at the ferry and climbed onto the gangplank. Ximen Qing, Jiang Jing and others got off the boat first, took down the horses, and found some porters to move the wine jars and get off the boat.
When he went back to the boatman to calculate the money, the boatman was frightened and said he didn't want Jiang Jing's money, which made Jiang Jing confused.
After the cart was hired and everyone got on their horses, Ximen Qing told what had happened, and everyone laughed.
Jiang Jing, the divine fortune teller, was a bit taboo: "If there is indeed a Dragon King in the river, my boss will be very courageous."
"I'm not afraid even if the Dragon King shows up, let alone some big fish." Ximen Qing said with a smile: "Thunders are everywhere and even the Dragon King will be knocked upside down."
Everyone was chatting and laughing. Seeing that it was still early in the day, they drove their carts and drove straight to Bianliang, Tokyo.
The divine fortune teller Jiang Jingzi had some plans and told Ximen Qing that he would rest first at an inn north of Bianliang.
"As long as the goods pass through the city gate, it will be a heavy tax. It is better to go to the city to find a hotel or a place to stay, and then slowly move it."
Jiang Jing's approach is a bit like that of later generations of merchants, who had to transport goods piecemeal through customs in order to evade taxes.
"The Imperial City Secretary showed off his belt, are you afraid of him or something?" Ximen Qing didn't believe this evil: "There is also a big inn in the city, are you afraid that it can't accommodate these goods?"
Jiang Jing then thought about it and this was the truth, and he blamed himself for being a businessman.
At this time, it was already west of the sun. Everyone ate some dry food randomly, and when they were full, they gradually pulled the cart to the city gate.
Everyone crossed the Yellow River from the north of the city. In front of them was the New Suanzao Gate. There were not many people entering the city at this time, but the wine transport team of Ximen Qing and others was very eye-catching.
When the soldiers guarding the city gate saw it from a distance, their eyes lit up.
"Brother, there is oil and water." A soldier whispered to the soldier next to him: "Hurry up and find the head. This seems to be transporting wine."
The tax on wine has always been heavier and heavier. Not only do you peel off the skin at the city gate, but when you open a wine shop to sell wine, you have to pay additional taxes.
As for the amount of tax to be paid at the city gate, that is, the tax official at the city gate has the final say. Although the tax to be paid depends on the type and quantity of the goods, in many cases the tax official will be more rude and just open his mouth.
Drinks are inherently highly profitable goods, and the tax collectors naturally know this very well, so they often ask for money desperately. Most of the money is stuffed into their own pockets, and only a small part is paid.
So when Ximen Qing's wine transport team appeared at the city gate, the tax collector led two soldiers to stop the team and asked arrogantly: "Where is the wine merchant?"
Ximen Qing was too lazy to come forward first, so he called the fortune teller Jiang Jing to come forward and deal with it: "What are your orders, sir?"
Although the tax officer is a serious official, he is really not a good person. Jiang Jing's "Sir" call made the tax officer frown and ask: "What are you loading in this car?"
"Sir, it's wine."
Although the wine jars are sealed with mud, pottery is prone to smell, so when a gust of wind blew over, the smell of wine made the tax collector sniffle: "How many jars are there?"
"Sir, there are approximately one hundred, seventeen or eighty altars."
Jiang Jing told the truth, but the tax collector was embarrassed: "One hundred, seventeen or eighty jars? Do you think the eyes of the master are on dogs? There are obviously as many as five hundred jars!"
The divine fortune teller Jiang Jing also knew that such nonsense was a common practice among tax collectors. Ximen Qing didn't say anything, so he didn't need to get upset, so he replied: "How much tax do you have to pay?"
"Each altar is the same." The tax official stretched out a finger and said, "If there are more than five hundred altars, you can count them as five hundred, so you don't have to worry about counting."
Five hundred strings!
This is not a small amount, the tax collector is really mouthing blood, and the two soldiers behind him are also smiling happily, looking very proud of themselves.
If it is ordinary wine, a jar will only sell for one or two guan. Although the price in Bianliang, Tokyo is high, even if it is sold for a half guan, the tax official will take all the profits at once and ask the wine merchants what to do.
Business?
Of course, the owner of this batch of goods is not an ordinary wine merchant, but Ximen Qing, who has some official background.
Ximen Qing looked at the tax collector with a big belly and a pair of mustaches on his horse, and he suddenly felt disgusted.
Such people really exist in all eras, and they are always at the forefront of oppressing the people.
It's mostly this kind of stuff that drives good people to death.
But today, I came down from Liangshan Mountain.
Ximen Qing gracefully turned over and dismounted, coughed and said, "Mr. Jiang, leave this to me."
Behind him, Wu Song and Sun Erniang also got off their horses and guarded them from left to right. When the drum was on the ground, Qian Qian touched his beard and smiled secretly, just waiting to watch the show.
The tax collector saw Ximen Qing wearing a white robe with a mutton-fat jade pendant hanging around his waist. His eyes greedily glanced at the jade pendant twice, and he still put on an official air and said, "Who are you?"
"I am the owner of this batch of goods." Ximen Qing stepped forward with a smile and said, "If you have any orders, please do it to me."
"Five hundred strings, plus the jade pendant."
The tax collector stretched out his thick and short fingers and tapped the thunder stone on Ximen Qing's waist: "Sir, I see that the jade pendant is good, why don't you pick it off and offer it to me?"
"Huh?" Wu Song and Sun Erniang behind Ximen Qing saw the tax collector increase the price in the blink of an eye and glared at them.
Bianliang, Tokyo is not a rural place, and it is obvious that holding a sharp knife is not for fun.
So Wu Song put away the pair of snowflake iron swords and placed them in the car.
Although he was using his bare hands, Wu Song's glare made the two soldiers behind the tax collector tremble. One of the soldiers pulled out a steel knife and stepped forward and shouted: "That man, what are you looking at!"
"When doing business, harmony brings wealth." The tax collector said slowly, "Those who use knives and guns, you see, this hurts harmony."
"But if you still don't see the five hundred coins, the master's soldiers will be a little out of control."
"There are a lot of craftsmen in the Liao and Jin kingdoms these days. It wouldn't be a good idea to treat you as craftsmen and cut them off. Do you think this is true?"
"That's what your Excellency said." Ximen Qing smiled, asked Jiang Jing to take out a piece of Jiaozi, stuffed it into the tax collector's hand and said: "It's not easy to stand at the city gate on such a hot day, so I will use this money to drink tea for my brothers.
"
The tax official took the money and said with a smile on his face: "Look, you still know the rules."
As he said that, the tax collector unfolded the jiaozi in his hand and took a look, and a smile suddenly froze on his face.
"Always?" The tax collector waved his usual jiaozi angrily: "Are you here specifically to amuse me?"
"Someone is coming!"
"Here!" the two soldiers behind him responded: "What are your orders, sir!"
"These are all the work of the Liao Kingdom. Catch them!"
"Sir, wait a minute!" Ximen Qing slowly raised his right hand and spread his fingers and said, "Sir, please see what is in my hand."
Romantic Prince Ximen Qing:
Chapter 198: The Tax Collector of the New Jujube Sect: