It was not an accidental fire, but someone set it on fire.

It turned out that the imperial court suddenly issued an order to impose 30% of taxes on Yanzhou, including land tax and commercial tax, and also made many tax items.

Although Yanzhou was on a plain, there were few rivers and irrigation had always been a problem. It was a good harvest every year, and just as the commerce industry started, the 30% tax was added, so the people would not have enough food and the merchants would have no profit to make.

"At that time, my brother-in-law just took over the silk shop, and was in his youth and energy, so he took the lead in refusing to pay 30% of the commercial tax. It was so fierce that the shops on this street were closed, and later the people followed suit, and the whole Yanzhou city was in chaos. At this moment, the silk shop caught fire. The fire was too fierce and it suddenly became a sea of ​​fire. My sister and brother-in-law were in the backyard of the silk shop. As a result, you know. My brother-in-law was burned to death with several friends, and my sister ran out by chance, but her face was also burned out." Gao Yuanwai sighed and said.

Liu Yunxiang frowned, "So the one who set the fire at that time... was the government?"

"Later, the merchants and the people saw the fate of my brother-in-law's family, and they did not dare to fight with the government again, and paid the 30% tax. After that, it was 30% year after year. The people suffered so much, and the shops closed one by one, and Yanzhou became a poor place." Gao Yuanwai did not answer Liu Yunxiang's question positively, but his words had already confirmed Liu Yunxiang's guess.

"Why did the imperial court suddenly impose more taxes on Yanzhou, and 30% of them at once? Taxation is a major event. The imperial court must consider it from multiple perspectives and it is impossible to implement it rashly. And why did it not impose more taxes on Yanzhou, and there is no reason for this?" Liu Yunxiang expressed his doubts.

After coming to Yanzhou, she realized that the court imposed an additional 30% tax on Yanzhou. She thought that Yanzhou was located on the plain and that the commerce and trade were prosperous, but now it seems that it is not.

Gao Yuanwai looked around and saw that there was no one around, and then he whispered: "The court built a palace in the northeast of Yanzhou. Does the Seventh Lady know?"

"Know."

She has been to the palace and it was built very gorgeously.

"Are you... are you going to build this palace?"

Gao Yuanwai nodded, "That's right."

"Why do you have to go to Yanzhou alone?"

"One of the time, the palace is in Yanzhou, and two, the taxes are added to build the palace will inevitably be resentful. The more places it involves, the harder it is to control public opinion, so it is only a place to be imposed, and..." Speaking of this, Gao Yuanwai sighed heavily, "In order to highlight political achievements and please the emperor, the Yanzhou Prefecture Station took the initiative to take over all the costs of building the palace."

Hearing this, Liu Yunxiang stopped and said, "Have you taken care of all the expenses?"

"yes."

"Who is this mansion?"

"Li Huai."

"What?"

"The current Yanzhou Prefecture Terminal is also the Yanzhou Prefecture Terminal of that year."

Liu Yunxiang was a little confused for a moment, "He built an imperial palace for the emperor, and he wasted such great efforts, so he had not received promotion?"

"Because Mr. Feng, the Minister of Personnel at that time, impeached his cool politics many times, which caused public resentment. So Li Huai was not promoted after being a prefectural official in Yanzhou for three years and was demoted to a further place."

"It was because of building the palace. Wouldn't this Secretary Feng do this to ruin the emperor?"

"Yes, so later he was dismissed from office for embezzlement and died of illness in just half a year, while his family was retaliated and killed one after another."

When Liu Yunxiang heard this, he immediately contacted her, "And in order to keep the Feng family's only seedling, Yang He brought Feng Zheng with him."

"Yes, Lord Yang He is a student of the Old Shangshu. The last thing he did during his tenure was to let Lord Yang take over as Yanzhou Prefecture. In order to live up to the teacher's expectations, Lord Yang did his best to help the people and merchants in Yanzhou break free from the 30% tax, and finally sent himself in." Gao Yuanwai shook his head and smiled bitterly.

Liu Yunxiang was shocked and admired even more. She stood there and sighed for a long time.

"But Mr. Gao, it turns out you know so much?"

I knew so much, but I didn't tell Hongxuan and Xue Changfeng. I saw that they had been looking for so long and had no clue.

Gao Yuanwai smiled, "If you say there is the truth in this case, there is the truth. If there is no, there will be no. And if I tell them, I don't know that it may harm them, after all..."

Gao Yuanwai pointed to the top, "After all, the one who was wrong is the one."

"Then why did you tell me now?"

"The Seventh Palace is coming down, what are you afraid of?"

Liu Yunxiang snorted, "If he takes the blame, you will naturally not be afraid."

Gao Yuanwai looked solemn, "If the Seventh Prince saves Lord Yang's life, then he will be the great benefactor of our Yanzhou."

This sounds familiar, and someone has told her.

After separation from Gao Yuanwai, Liu Yunxiang turned his head and asked Zijin: "Where is Feng Zheng?"

She didn't see him when she was outside Luoxia Satin Village.

Zi Jin shook his head: "If you don't pay attention, you won't see anyone."

Liu Yunxiang changed his mind and said, "He must have his purpose in this trip to Yanzhou."

When they returned to Wanchun Garden, it was already dark, and Yan Mu and the others had not come back yet. Liu Yunxiang was worried and kept wandering at the gate of the yard.

After waiting for a while, the three of them finally came back, but they all came back with mud all over, even Yan Mu.

"You won't go digging the canal again, are you?"

Yan Mu's face was not good at all, and when he heard this, his face became even heavier and he entered the yard angrily.

Although Hongxuan was in a mess, he was in a good mood. He walked to Liu Yunxiang and whispered: "During the daytime, His Highness and a group of people digging canals, they have made great efforts. Not bad, and they can be in the same heart as the people. This is the wise crown prince."

"Then why is he angry?"

Hongxuan smiled, "It probably feels that he's cheated."

"ah?"

Hongxuan smiled, no longer explained, and went inside with his hands behind his back.

Xue Changfeng walked at the end. Among the three people, he had the most mud on his body and his face was covered with mud: "We are going to find the Gu County Magistrate today. He was a cripple who was still digging a canal. I don't know who put the water and washed him away in one go. We can't wait to see him die, so Taoist Master Hongxuan and I jumped down to save the person. We finally picked him up, but when the water flushed several holes into the digging channel, he was so anxious that he had to jump down. In that case, we had to go down for him to block the hole. Isn't that what happened?"

"The Seventh Prince jumped down too?" Liu Yunxiang was for the sake of.

"Oh, at that time, both the officials and the people jumped down, like cooking dumplings. The scene was so shocking. I guess Lao Qi was infected by the atmosphere and jumped down unconsciously."
Chapter completed!