King Su Hu of Wei had just finished washing when he received news that Prime Minister Qu Xiaolong was waiting outside the palace.

He knew that Qu Xiaolong was so anxious because the sudden opening of the Benniu Road Canal to navigation must have had a huge impact.

King Su Hu of Wei did not expect that the empire would make such rapid progress in digging a canal.

Wei Guo dug the canal, and he estimated that the canal would take at least five to ten years.

The empire took action, but it was not used for two years.

He and the Prime Minister and others had previously guessed that it would take at least three years for the canal to be completed, and they were all stunned by the empire's speed.

The first batch of merchant ships arriving through the canal a few days ago let them know that the canal was officially open to navigation.

This directly caused the prices of most commodities in Wei to fluctuate violently.

The price of commodities is closely related to supply and demand and the amount of taxes.

As Wei's market digested the news of the opening of the canal, many commodities would naturally adjust to their proper prices.

However, in order to allow more merchants to come to Wei to sell goods, the Customs of Wei State had very low taxes on imported goods.

Su Hu also asked maritime merchants to provide tax-free treatment for goods that were in short supply in Wei.

With the opening of the canal, these tax-related policies must be adjusted in time.

Wei's tariffs must be equal to those of other countries.

If the tax exemption continues, Wei will be robbed of a large amount of silver coins by these merchants.

Prime Minister Qu Xiaolong has been busy with tariff-related issues during this period.

He had to sort out which commodities were most in short supply in Wei State in the shortest possible time. Even if the canal was opened to navigation and a large amount of goods poured into Wei State, taxes on these commodities could not be increased.

Which goods can be taxed to increase domestic tax revenue?

King Su Hu of Wei personally went out of the palace to greet Prime Minister Qu Xiaolong. He saw Qu Xiaolong who looked tired and had bloodshot eyes.

He stepped forward and held Qu Xiaolong's hand, and said with concern: "Qu Aiqing has worked hard these days. In fact, the matter is not that urgent. You can take it slow before doing it."

Qu Xiaolong shook his head and handed Wei Wang Su Hu a document.

"Your Majesty, I have made a list of all the goods in Wei that should be taxed.

After you have stamped it, you can send it to the customs so that they can implement the new tariff immediately.

Only eight days have passed, and the taxes exempted by these businessmen amount to 1,620,000 taels of silver coins.

This is more than 1.6 million taels of silver coins. Every time I think of this number, my heart aches.

Without losing this tax, we can build many primary schools and many factories.

The canal project progressed so fast that people didn’t even have a chance to react.”

When King Su Hu of Wei heard about this amount, he also gritted his teeth and wanted to make the new customs tariff bill retroactive to the original bill.

With this huge sum of silver coins, he could build two more firearms divisions, making Wei's army stronger.

Wei Wang Su Hu quickly put his idea behind him.

The bankruptcy of a country's credibility will scare all these businessmen away.

He briefly looked at the list of tax increases and found that none of the products he was concerned about had any tax increases.

King Su Hu of Wei immediately used his seal to send his decree to the customs.

Today the customs will immediately announce the details of the tariffs, which will be officially implemented tomorrow.

After Qu Xiaolong said this most important thing, he looked a little confused. He wanted to report something, but he didn't know whether he should say it or not.

Wei Wang Su Hu saw Qu Xiaolong's entanglement and asked directly: "Qu Aiqing, the relationship between our monarch and his ministers must be about talking about everything.

If you have anything to say, feel free to say it, even if it is to point out my problem.

As long as I make mistakes, I will humbly improve them."

Qu Xiaolong heard that Wei King Su Hu had said such words.

He could only report the phenomena he had seen in the past few days to King Su Hu of Wei.

"Your Majesty, with the completion of the canal, our country's external transportation has also been opened.

In the past, if our country wanted to go to other places, there were only two ways to go.

One road is a sea road, which goes around the entire South American continent. This road is extremely long.

Another way is to cross the American continent and head to the west coast of the Americas.

This road is also very difficult to walk. If you go west to Cao State, you need to go through the harsh tropical rainforest.

Even for indigenous people who are familiar with tropical rainforests, the casualty rate is very high when walking in tropical rainforests, let alone ordinary people.

Most will choose to leave by land and sea, passing through the narrow Central America.

However, there had been occasional wars in Central America before, and the rainforests above were dense, and the harsh environment was similar to the rainforests in the western part of the empire. This road was basically impassable.

People in China who miss their hometown immediately give up their longing when they see the distant road ahead.

Now that the canal is connected, transportation has become more developed.

Leaving through the canal, you will not be blocked by the tropical rainforest.

I saw many people packing their luggage, they all want to take a cargo ship and go to the empire to see their relatives."

King Su Hu of Wei heard that Qu Xiaolong said it tactfully, but he immediately analyzed the meaning of Qu Xiaolong's words.

What kind of person? He can leave at will.

The boat ticket from Wei to the Empire is not cheap at all and costs at least a hundred taels of silver coins.

People who can spend hundreds of taels of silver coins without feeling any distress at all are definitely not farmers who manage dozens of acres of farms and look forward to good weather every day.

Not to mention workers who work in a factory and expect to be paid more for overtime work.

People who have this idea are not only officials but also businessmen.

Wei Guo Su Hu felt that they were leaving in a hurry, and Qu Xiaolong was also cryptic in his words.

He immediately understood what Qu Xiaolong didn't say.

He suspected that there were bad people among these people, but he couldn't say it clearly because he had no evidence.

"These people are too impatient, and I feel something is wrong.

The king will have people screen them. We in Wei are not bandits, so those who have no problems can be released freely.

They are really in a hurry, or they miss their families, and the temptation is to return home in rich clothes. This is their freedom, and Wei has no reason to stop them.

But if there are some country bugs who are corrupt, accepting bribes or evading taxes, and they want to take this opportunity to escape from Wei, it is simply wishful thinking."

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Qu Xiaolong cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty."

King Su Hu of Wei thought that someone missed his relatives, so he sighed and said: "As a younger brother, I also want to visit my elder brother.

Previously, it was extremely difficult to send a messenger to deliver a message because it was too far away from Zhao.

Today, the canal has been opened, and I should send someone to visit my brother again.

During this time, I communicated with my brother that there was a shortage of saltpeter in Zhao State, which affected the supply of gunpowder.

The State of Zhao had no choice but to collect human and animal excrement to accumulate fertilizer and scrape the nitrate.

The elder brother was very helpless. The saltpeter he collected in a year was all used up within a month or two.

The Wei State was not as good as the Qi State, but the production of saltpeter mines was not as embarrassing as the Zhao State.

I decided to send several boatloads of saltpeter to my brother to alleviate his urgent need."

By doing this, King Su Hu of Wei reached an agreement with his brother Su Xiong to help each other.

The two brothers worked together to achieve success when the canal was connected and traffic problems were no longer an obstacle.

As long as the two of them join forces, no force in the American continent can destroy them.

In the early days when things were most likely to go wrong, they stood by and helped each other. As their rule became truly stable, the two countries would take root in the Americas and no longer be afraid of challenges.

Qu Xiaolong immediately agreed and went to arrange the matters assigned by King Wei.

…………………………

In Daliang City, Wei State, Zhang Dahai was fiddling with the watch he was wearing.

This is a rare item worth more than fifty taels of silver coins.

In the past, only wealthy nobles could afford watches.

Now a small businessman like him can afford a watch.

He showed off his gold watch, hoping that everyone could see the gold watch in his hand.

When Zhang Dahai returned home, he saw that the area had been cordoned off by officials.

Officials stopped everyone and prevented the carriage from passing.

Zhang Dahai had no choice but to get out of the car. He was very confused when he saw this scene.
To be continued...