Chapter 562 The Minister enters Youzhou in the wind and snow
Youzhou ushered in the third year of Zhenguan in the wind and snow.
Zhengdan.
The special envoy of the imperial court, Cui Dunli, the minister of the Ministry of War, and the deputy envoy Zuo Lingjun Yifu Zhonglang General Pang Xiaotai finally arrived in Youzhou.
Cui Dunli's ancestral home is Boling, and Youzhou is half of his hometown, but he actually grew up in Guanzhong. His great ancestor Cui Xiaofen was a minister of the Northern Wei Dynasty.
He killed eight of his sons, five of whom were killed together, and only three escaped into the pass.
His great-grandfather Cui You was a confidant of Yuwenhu in the Western Wei Dynasty, and was given the surname Yuwen. His grandfather Cui Zhongfang passed the Ming Dynasty, and Yuwenhu started his career by joining the army. Yang Jian founded the Sui Dynasty and was highly regarded. Renshou first paid homage to him.
As the governor of the state, he suppressed the rebellion of the King of Han and worshiped the Minister of Rites.
Cui Zhongfang had two wives, one was the granddaughter of Li Bi from the Bazhu Kingdom, and the other was the daughter of Lu Zhengshan, the governor of Youzhou of the Fanyang Lu family.
Looking at Youzhou City in the wind and snow, Cui Dunli couldn't help but sigh,
"Mr. Cui, are you afraid of being close to home?" an official from the Ministry of War said with a smile.
"Actually, I grew up in Xianyang, Guanzhong," Cui Zaimao said. "I thought of something that happened three years ago."
Three years ago, in June of the ninth year of Takeori, after the Xuanwumen Palace Incident, Cui Dunli, the chief historian of Youxiao Guard, was sent to Youzhou by Prince Li Shimin to summon Li Yuan, Prince of Lujiang, the governor of Youzhou, to enter the court.
Li Yuan originally built a party, but he was uneasy and was instigated by Wang Junkuo with ulterior motives. According to the rebellion in Youzhou, Cui Dunli was detained and questioned about the situation in the capital. Cui Dunli asked himself to be imprisoned without saying a word. After the rebellion was put down, Cui Dunli was also commended by Li Shimin and promoted to Zuowei Lang.
Will,
From the sixth level to the fifth level, he was promoted to six levels in a row, and was given gold and a BMW.
It was also because of this that he fell into the eyes of today's saints. After that, he was promoted to a scholar in the middle school, and then to a minister in the Ministry of War. This career was also a meteoric rise.
His turning point was in Youzhou, three years ago.
Three years later, he came to Youzhou again as the minister of the Ministry of War, but this time he was no longer facing the governor of Youzhou, Lu Jiangshan Li Yuan, and the right-leading general Wang Junkuo.
The governor of Youzhou and the right-leading general Wu Huaiyu.
He was not in a hurry along the way, but while walking normally, he secretly sent people to Youzhou, Yanzhou, Yehuling and other places to collect information. He did not want to fight an unprepared battle.
"Is Shilang Cui's mother the Lu family of Fan Yang?" Pang Xiaotai asked. This Lingnan barbarian called himself Pang, the lackey of Wu Huaiyu's family. He once wore a purple robe and jade belt to drive Wu Huaiyu's car. Everyone knew that he was Wu Huaiyu's dog. He didn't
To be ashamed is to be proud,
When I arrived in Youzhou from Chang'an, it was snowing heavily, and Pang Xiaotai still felt cold in his mink and sheepskin.
"My mother is indeed the daughter of the Lu family of Fan Yang. General Pang may not know that my grandmother is also the Lu family of Fan Yang." Cui Dunli didn't have a good face towards this southern barbarian. He always felt that this person was deliberately arranged by Li Jing to favor his student Wu Huaiyu.
.
"As expected of the fifth surname, we have been married for generations," Pang Xiaotai covered his head like a bear. He also didn't give much face to the fifth surname. Anyway, he was a Lingnan barbarian.
"We have arrived at Minister Cui's territory now, so we won't have to work so hard from now on."
Cui Dunli ignored him. In fact, since Cui Dunli's great ancestor was killed, his eight sons were killed and five of his sons were killed. Three of his sons fled to Guanzhong. The second wife of the Boling Cui family settled in Xianyang and became a Xianyang native.
At that time, great-grandfather Cui Dunli even changed his surname to Yuwen, and his family actively married into the Guanlong nobles. It can be said that they have actually become a part of the Guanlong Group, but they are far away from the old Shandong clan.
Although there are marriages, there are not as many marriages as with the Guanlong nobles.
Cui Dunli's grandfather first married the granddaughter of Li Bi of the Bazhu Kingdom, and then married the daughter of the Lu family of Fan Yang. His father died early and was only a county magistrate, so he married the daughter of the Lu family of Fan Yang.
, Li Yuan personally selected him as the honorary guard and changed his original name from Cui Yuanli to Cui Dunli.
Cui Dunli later married Li Yuan's niece, the head of Gu'an County, and the marriage was granted by Li Yuan.
In the second house of Boling, the three brothers fled to Guanzhong, but after several generations of development, now the population is prosperous and talents emerge in large numbers. For example, Cui Minqian was the minister of Huangmen as early as the early days of Wude.
Another example is the twenty or thirty grandchildren of Cui Zhongfang, including brothers Cui Dunli, Cui Yuqing, and Cui Shenfu. Now they have all reached the fifth rank or above, and they are all very young.
It is precisely because of this that the second house of Bolingcui, which was regarded as the poorest of the five surnames in the past, is now the best among the seven families of the five surnames, and even makes them compete to take the initiative to marry.
"It's really cold in Youzhou. I used to think it was cold in Chang'an, but I didn't expect it to be even colder in Youzhou." Pang Xiaotai complained again, thinking that Cui Dunli was just a playboy from an aristocratic family, and the journey was too time-consuming.
We should have arrived in Chang'an a long time ago.
“It’s already the first day of the Lunar New Year!”
"It delayed General Pang from attending the concubine banquet held by the Governor of Wuhan University." Cui Dunli was still looking at Youzhou City, which was different from when he came three years ago.
He came in the summer at that time, and he remembered that Youzhou City at that time still looked a little dilapidated.
Now that winter has come, Youzhou City, wrapped in silver, makes people feel taller, and even feels like something is very different.
people.
He suddenly came to his senses. It was the first day of the first lunar month during the Chinese New Year. Why were there so many people coming in and out of Youzhou City?
Everyone is not staying at home to celebrate the New Year. What is Mao Dong doing here and there?
On the road outside the city, there were many fully loaded carriages and horses.
"Could it be that Youzhou is collecting taxes and doesn't stop during the New Year?" An attendant from the Ministry of War said what Cui Dunli wanted to say.
"Go over and take a look."
They stopped several carriages and asked, "Where are you from?"
"We are coming from Haijin Town," said the people who were stopped. When they saw that these people were wearing official robes, especially two of them wearing purple robes under their fur uniforms, they quickly saluted and answered all questions.
"Haijin Town?" Cui Dunli had never heard of it before.
"It is at Dazhigu at the three forks of the canal. This year, Prime Minister Wu established the town of Haijin and garrisoned the fields. He also built a salt farm, built granaries and salt warehouses such as Zhigu warehouse and Guangtong warehouse, and built the Haijin Port wharf.
It’s very lively now. Although the canals and harbors are frozen in winter, when the ice thaws in spring, the canal will become even more lively with ships and goods passing by.”
When Cui Dunli and others came to Youzhou in winter, they took the route of Puzhou, Taiyuan, Jingxing, Hengzhou, Dingzhou, Yizhou and Youzhou, and did not pass through the canal.
I really didn’t know that since Wu Huaiyu arrived in Youzhou, he began to plan and build a large industrial and commercial town at the junction of the North and South Canals in Hebei, integrating canals, oceans, and land transportation, and relying on resources to dry salt, etc., and now it has begun to take shape.
It was quite large and even had troops stationed in the fields.
This place is connected by the canal and has the transportation advantage of the Haihe River. The canal and the tail end of the Five Rivers meet at the mouth of the Sancha River and the mouth of the Sanhui River.
"Now we are in Haijin Town. It is a large wharf for the transportation of grain and silk from the south to the north. It is also a processing center for emerging handmade goods. A large number of workshops have been built to produce salt, grain, cloth, livestock, fur, and medicinal materials from the grassland.
, even slaves from North Korea are extremely prosperous."
The person who answered was an old man who looked like a shopkeeper.
"Then what are you doing?"
"There is a trade fair during the Chinese New Year in Youzhou. It was organized by Prime Minister Wu, who united businessmen from all over the country and invited many merchants from tribes outside the Great Wall to display and promote their goods together to help facilitate transactions.
There are many good things, sugar, tea, wine, medicine, silk, cloth, porcelain, ironware, as well as livestock, slaves, furs, medicinal materials, all kinds of things are available.
This shopkeeper is the shopkeeper of a kiln in Haijin Town. Their business has seventeen kilns, mainly producing bricks and tiles. Thanks to their excellent craftsmanship and convenient water and land transportation, their business is quite prosperous.
This year's market renovation in Youzhou City, their company participated a lot, selling a lot of bricks and tiles, and their company also produces pottery.
This Youzhou New Year Fair is hosted by the Metropolitan Governor's Office. Its main purpose is to promote industrial and commercial development and drive the economy so that more people can earn more money, at least more job opportunities. It is also to compete with Xi, Khitan, Turks, etc.
The newly attached tribes strengthened trade,
They used handicrafts from the Central Plains in exchange for their livestock, furs and even slaves. Everyone took what they got and exchanged what they had, so that everyone could live a better life and avoid plundering again.
Although they sell bricks, tiles and pottery, the Fanhu people still like their products very much. This has resulted in a lot of orders, and they have to ship goods here from Haijin during the Chinese New Year.
"Are these carriages coming into the city delivering goods just like you?"
"Most of them are," the shopkeeper said with a smile, "This exhibition was indeed very successful. All kinds of goods were gathered together, especially many workshops like ours, which directly communicate with Fanhu
Face-to-face transactions not only eliminate the need for middlemen to exploit, but also face more merchants,”
The Governor's Office even has many other promotion and help functions. For example, many Fanhu only have livestock, furs, and medicinal materials. They have no gold, silver, or money, so it is inconvenient during transactions. At this time, the Governor's Office
It will play a very good role. When Fanhu enters the market, he can first place his goods at the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion to evaluate the price. Then he can either wait for the goods to be sold before buying what he wants, or he can first find
The Dudu Mansion came forward, and the official Yanyun Bank came forward to give them a sum of money to buy goods. After selling their own goods, they would pay back the money, plus an interest.
"Does this trade fair require tax?"
"If you want, you will be fined 20% for the overtax and 3% for the residence tax."
"How to draw?"
Overtax is levied on business travelers who resell goods, and the tax is levied at 2% of the price of the goods. The Governor's Office of Youzhou stipulates that only one overtax will be levied on those who resell goods within the ten states of Youfu, as long as they do not leave the country and there is no transaction.
, the same batch of goods will only be taxed once.
As for the residence tax, merchants who open shops sell goods locally, or merchants sell goods when they arrive at the place of residence and sell goods. They are taxed at 3% of the price of goods in that place.
Workshops produce goods and sell them, and they also have to pay residence tax, and craftsmen who reach a certain scale also have to pay.
The same goes for this fair in Youzhou, where only passing tax and residence tax are collected.
Residence tax is equivalent to transaction tax, which is levied once for each transaction, while over-tax is equivalent to tariff, which is levied during the trafficking and marketing process.
"No one has collected taxes at various checkpoints?"
"No one dares to do so. The governor's office is very strict. Previously, some people set up checkpoints privately, including those from local yamen, the army, and even local clan leaders. However, those found were severely punished, with fines a hundredfold, and even
They will be sentenced to imprisonment and forced labor reform. Once a group of them are arrested, no one will dare to commit crimes again. It is not worth it."
