Chapter 259: Frustrated

Shanxi merchants are stingy with themselves at home, but they are very generous when doing business outside, and they are all in the world.

The shopkeeper Chang Da prepared a variety of famous Yangzhou wines and banquets, allowing Macheng to truly feel the living conditions of this prosperous place in Jiangnan, literati, scholar and scholar. How could it be so drunk that he died of death? During the meal, he placed a cup of water.

A glass of good wine, Tongzhou snow wine, Taizhou Ku, Chen Laoku. It is agreed that each of the people present will recite a poem related to Yangzhou. It would be better if you can write it yourself. It would be lively. During the meal, officials from Shanxi, who are from the ancestral home on the ground of Yangzhou.

, famous scholars gathered, and the girls in the opera troupe were shuttled back and forth on various boats, laughing and playing, which opened Macheng's eyes and made himself a fool of himself as a local bun outside the pass. He had never seen such a scene before.

Eat the flowing mat and hold the girl casually. This is the welfare of officials and scholars to participate in the hometown association. If you don’t hear the true celebrity, you will be romantic. This is called elegance. If you catch up with a strong emperor to rectify the administration, you will have no fun.

He was originally in a group to oppose it, so even Zhang Juzheng and the Prime Minister Zhang did not dare to touch the administration of Jiangnan.

The shopkeeper Chang Da was not in vain for a treat. After the banquet was over, there were still guests. A few Shanxi-born men living in Yangzhou were drunk and wanted to go south with the ship. Ma Cheng suddenly realized that these men were amulets.

Oh, Juren, officials do not have to pay money in the past. This is the real original ecology of the Ming Dynasty merchants. After being beaten, Juren has no worries about food and clothing, and they have a boat trip to the mountains and rivers, and they have money to take, and girls play.

No wonder I have only heard of poor scholars and never seen poor scholars. This is the truth.

The boat went down to Yangzhou, and the afternoon of Shen is approaching the time when the money is closed.

In the cabin, when Ma Cheng heard someone from the neighboring boat ask loudly: "Do you dare to ask if your ship is a juren who goes south?"

The Chang family's boatman replied: "What's the matter?"

The middle-aged man who looked like a businessman in Linzhou hurriedly said with a smile: "I am going down to Qingzhou, Shandong to do some cotton trading. I am afraid that the money is too fierce to collect taxes in front of me, so I want to ask a juren to board the boat and take charge. The villain wants to

Offer two taels of silver and flowers.”

The Chang family boatman said: "Two taels of silver, when will the fame and fortune of Juren be so valuable!"

The merchant from Linzhou smiled and said, "How much money can you make in a small business? It's just a cash gate in front of you. Please ask the juren to move it and you can get expensive."

The waterway has passed five cash gates from the capital to Yangzhou. The cash gate is the toll station where the government collects ship tax and cargo tax. Generally, the tax gates are ten cents for a small boat, thirty cents for a medium boat, and five big boats.

Ten cents are required, and merchant ships have to pay cargo tax in addition to passing the ship. The cargo tax depends on the amount of goods, but officials, eunuchs and juren do not have to pay money in the past, so some civilian ships carrying passengers or cargo

Just hire a juren to escort it. The distance is long and there are too many money, so you can save a lot of money. There are even more courageous merchant ships hanging the "Governor's Lobby" and the "Censor's Lobby" sign pretending to be an official ship to evade taxes.

Several juren on the boat behind heard it in the cabin, and laughed and ridiculed, "Do you dare to call Huahong for two taels of silver?"

The businessman in Linzhou heard that the juren refused to be condescendant and hurriedly said, "The villain is willing to pay three taels of silver. Please ask the master to help you. It's expensive to move."

At this time, it was close to Yangzhou Chaoguan. Because the front checkpoint was blocking the ship to collect taxes, the ship sailed slowly on the river. The front boat squeezed the back boat into a group. The merchant just begged in a low voice, but the juren was so cruel.

He talked and laughed at himself, but no one was willing to move his butt, because he thought that the money was too little.

Ma Cheng walked out of the cabin and asked seriously: "Why do you have to do this? According to your estimate, how much tax will you charge for the previous banknote?"

The Shandong businessman cried out, "It will not be less than five taels. If you meet a ruthless tax collector, you will dare to collect ten taels of silver."

Ma Cheng said unhappily: "Didn't this court's commercial tax say thirty taxes? "

A businessman in Qingzhou smiled bitterly and said, "The master reads the books of sages and does not know anything about the lowly people's lives. The thirty tax refers to the commercial tax paid by each store to the local government. This tax is indeed not high, but when the goods are transported,

Every time you pass a cash quota, you have to pay thirty taxes. It would be fine if you can really pay thirty taxes, but if you really collect taxes, the tax collector is greedy and overvalued, and often doubles the taxes, or even several times.

After struggling all the way, the little people are simply unprofitable."

The shopkeeper Chang Da, who came out of Macheng, hurriedly explained: "The banknotes are heavy, and merchants will never lose money. They will never sell them at a low price. Merchants will increase the selling price, and the people who are trapped in the end will still be ordinary people."

Ma Cheng pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "The tariffs on money are heavy, but business travel is not good, which ultimately leads to the high cost of all things among the people."

The shopkeeper Chang breathed a sigh of relief and said hurriedly: "Some big businesses with close ties with the government can make a lot of profits."

The Qingzhou businessman there still did not say anything when he saw the juren on the boat here, and sighed and had to line up to pay taxes. What a person Ma Cheng is, naturally he would not trust the Qingzhou businessman, who is not a businessman, just like usual

Even though the shopkeeper said that the money was heavy, the merchant would never lose money. If he believed the lies of the Qingzhou people, he would really see the ghost.

There is a cross-blocking river in the banknote. After the ship pays the ship tax, the cross-block will rise on both sides and let the ship pass. The ships in front of the juren showed the public notice of the juren entering Nanjing to study, and they passed quickly. Ma Cheng signaled

The boatman in the Chang family was behind and asked the Qingzhou cotton merchant to pass by first. He and the shopkeeper Chang stood on the bow of the boat. He saw two tax collectors wearing soap-colored trays and tin plaques on their waists jumped onto the merchant's boat and asked.

After a few words, I went to the bottom of the cabin to see it.

After a moment, the tax collector came out and collected six taels and eight cents of silver.

The Qingzhou merchants did not dare to argue and obediently paid the money to pass the test.

The colleagues who had passed the Chaoguan early, three boats were moored on the left bank one mile away from the Chaoguan. Seeing that the two boats behind had been delayed for so long before they followed, someone stood at the stern of the boat and asked loudly what was wrong.

The Chang family's boat approached slowly and was docked. Ma Cheng smiled and said, "I learned about the banknote tariff system. Are we going to dock in Yangzhou at night?"

The few pickets laughed loudly and said, "That's right, since you have come to Yangzhou, how can you not experience the bright moonlit night of the Twenty-Four Bridges?"

Seeing everyone discussing a night trip to Yangzhou, Ma Cheng came over and asked, "Brother Chang, is the West Lake Slim?"

Manager Chang Da was stunned, "Where is the West Lake?"

Ma Cheng said in confusion: "It's right next to Daming Temple."

The shopkeeper Chang smiled and said, "That is Baoyang Lake, so the legacy of the Song moat, but Master Ma called Baoyang Lake to be a thin West Lake, and Baoyang Lake is actually a corner of the West Lake."

Those few men had already sneered and looked at the local tycoon, Master Ma was full of contempt, which made the boss of Ma Cheng uncomfortable and difficult to get angry. He pulled out and returned to the cabin. Liu Zihua had already smiled with his maid.

Compared to Hua Jiao, Ma Cheng's old face was burning and it felt bad to be ridiculed by others as a local gangster. After a few days of sects, he realized that his family had never read the books of sages and was not the same world as sects.

The person.

Liu Zihua laughed and the flowers were trembling: "Mr. Ma has also been so angry, it's strange."

Ma Cheng was so angry that he said viciously: "I'll eat you first!"

Liu Zihua hurriedly begged for mercy. She was extremely tender and broad during the day. There were boatmen passing by frequently outside, which was a little embarrassed.

After laughing and making a fuss, Ma Chengfang laughed and said, "Come on, I want to drink a big bowl."

Liu Zihua giggled and said gently: "Why do you have to do this? Cheng Lang was born in a family of generals and was good at the army. His masculinity was different from that of a weak scholar."

Ma Cheng stared at her pretty face and said suspiciously: "The truth?"

Liu Zihua spat lightly and said, "Everyone belongs to you, you have to ask."
Chapter completed!