The king of Zhuzi Kingdom was very satisfied with the prince.
The prince was only eighteen years old, but he was so brave. Killing wild boars and tigers was just a matter of course, and killing monsters was his specialty.
When such a prince ascends the throne in the future, he will be able to firmly control the military power and the national security will be stable.
It's just that the prince is too brave, he only cares about martial arts and neglects literature, and does not know how to govern the country. The king often has this doubt.
Today, the king couldn't help but feel shocked when he heard that the prince had written a memorial.
"I report to my king that our country has a vast territory, fertile land, large population, dignified figures, neat clothes, and clear speech. It must be bordering four major continents in the world, and it is also a big country. However, I recently checked the household records, and found that
I found that the tax revenue was decreasing year by year, so I reported it."
Feng Zhou's words immediately stirred up a hornet's nest. Not only the officials in the Ministry of Household Affairs were frightened, but also several ministers and the prime minister looked unhappy.
The reduction in tax revenue is naturally due to the incompetence of the Ministry of Household Affairs, or the prime minister's status as a prime minister.
Feng Zhou's words were like a slap in their faces, which made them happy.
Immediately, the officials of the Ministry of Household Affairs complained: "To my king, as the prince said, the tax revenue of the Ministry of Households has been decreasing year by year for many reasons. But last year, my king just gave the prince 30,000 acres of fertile land, and these are not included in the tax...
"
"It's ridiculous. Land tax is only one-fifth of the national tax revenue. Commercial tax is the foundation of our country. The level of land tax in our country is stable. What is reduced is commercial tax. If you don't even know this, Taoist priests are used to raking it over in a hurry!"
Feng Zhou's words made the official of the Ministry of Household Affairs blush, but he ignored him and turned to the king: "Father, I am too lazy to take care of the affairs of the Ministry of Household Affairs. According to my analysis, the reason why our country's commercial tax rate has increased year by year is
The decrease is due to the fact that there are fewer and fewer business trips in the past.”
"My son has gone deep into the people during this period, made careful inquiries, and discovered several major events that affect our country's business travel tax revenue."
As soon as this statement came out, everyone couldn't help but look at each other, really not understanding what the prince wanted to express.
Even the king looked puzzled and asked, "Prince, if you have anything to say, just say it."
"As you command!"
Feng Zhou smiled faintly: "As we all know, far to the east of our country is the Kingdom of China, the Kingdom of Tianzhu to the southwest, the Kingdom of Persia to the northwest, and even further away is the Great Qin Kingdom with its tall nose and deep eyes. Together with our Zhuzi Kingdom, they form the world's largest kingdom.
There are five major countries, and among the five major countries, there are countless small countries and city-states."
"Our country is located in the center. For thousands of years, business travel and exchange of goods have provided our country with a steady stream of generous tax revenue. However, in recent years, the number of business trips has gradually decreased, and our country's tax revenue has naturally decreased."
"Why did the number of business trips decrease?" the king asked hurriedly after hearing this.
He is a king, so he is naturally well aware of tax issues. Now that he has discovered the problem, he naturally wants to inquire seriously.
"Reporting to my father, the reduction in business travel is naturally because the roads are dangerous, or the roads are blocked and it is difficult to move around."
"My son has inquired about it. To the east of our country, at the border with the Kingdom of Jisai, there is a mountain called Qijue Mountain. It is eight hundred miles from east to west. The land there is vast and sparsely populated. No one has ever walked to that deep mountain. Every year, we get ripe and rotten persimmons.
Falling on the road, it completely filled up a stone alley; it was also covered with rain, dew, snow, frost, and weathered the summer, making it filthy. People in this area are commonly known as the Sparse Persimmon Valley. They blocked the road leading to the east from our country.
."
In the west, to the west of our country's border, there is Pansil Ridge, and to the west of the ridge there is a lion and camel kingdom. The king, ministers and people were all devoured by monsters and occupied the city as king. Business travelers were afraid and naturally did not dare to pass by.
The traffic between the east and the west is cut off, and business travelers have to take detours instead of passing through our country, so the business tax will naturally be reduced."
"Speaking of which, if there had not been business exchanges between the Uzbeg Kingdom in the south and the Tocharian Kingdom in the north, I am afraid that the flow of goods in our country would have been cut off, and the people would have been unable to buy anything. They would have cried for their mothers and cursed the government!"
"What, this happened?" Not only the king was surprised, but also the prime minister.
Because of the vast territory, the monarch and his ministers rarely interacted with other countries, and because of the high mountains and dangerous terrain, everyone knew nothing about the situation in neighboring countries, so they were not as good as the prince, who was only 18 years old.
When the prime minister reviewed the affairs, his face suddenly turned red. He wanted to hide it, but he didn't know what to say.
But the king could no longer wait.
As a king, taxation is the foundation of the country. If he cannot collect taxes, even if he is a majestic king, he will not be able to accomplish anything.
He knew that the prime ministers and ministers had no problem handling government affairs, but it was difficult for them to overcome difficulties and subjugate demons like the prince did.
So he asked the prince: "If you find a problem, do you have a solution?"
"My ministers believe that the East is the Kingdom of China, the Kingdom of Heaven, with abundant products and good exchanges with our country. Therefore, we should first open up the Oriental Persimmon Valley and open up the route of communication with China. If we can trade with each other and exchange our goods, our country's business tax will definitely increase.
."
China is a kingdom of heaven. Although the monarchs and ministers have never seen it, they have heard that it is said that the Huns who fled westward through the Zhuzi Kingdom hundreds of years ago were driven away by China. This kind of majestic power is really like thunder.
If we can do business with such a big country, this tax will definitely be indispensable.
Thinking of this, the king couldn't help but feel shaken, and immediately issued a decree to give Fengzhou full authority to open the route to the east, so as to facilitate the opening of trade routes.
As for the prime minister and the Ministry of Household Affairs, they naturally have to summon business travelers and urge them to do business with the East.
After receiving the order, Feng Zhou led a brigade, assisted by Jiang Bin and others in commanding, and left the royal city and galloped toward the east.
They were cavalry, and their speed was many times faster than that of the pilgrims, who only took seven or eight days to reach Qijue Ridge.
Sure enough, I saw that among the seven or eight hundred miles of mountain trails, there was only a sparse persimmon valley connecting both sides. It had long been blocked and the stench was so overwhelming that the officers and soldiers under my command changed their colors.
Jiang Bin also looked sad, and raised his hands to Feng Zhou and said: "Your Highness, this rare persimmon valley is full of rotten persimmons. The soldiers will be suffocated to death just by getting close, let alone clearing them away."
Feng Zhou said calmly: "The soldiers came here to fight. Naturally, no mortals can do anything in this valley where people are suffocated."
He paused and then said: "Go down and set up camp. Everyone prepares extra food. I will ask someone with great supernatural powers to come and clean up this sparse persimmon valley."
"But I don't know who your Royal Highness will invite?" Jiang Bin asked curiously.
"You will know when he arrives!"
Feng Zhou smiled faintly, supervised everyone to set up camp, and ordered Jiang Bin to lead the army to prevent trouble.
After everything was arranged, he left on horseback, reached an inaccessible place, and jumped into the sky.
In the original work, this rare persimmon valley is the result of Zhu Bajie appearing in the sky, turning into a huge pig, eating all the way, and completely clearing the 800-mile valley, which can be regarded as taking over this bad work.
But now that I am still a young man, I don’t know if Zhu Bajie has descended to earth, but there is another guy with a stronger magic power than the old pig. If he came to open this sparse persimmon valley, he would probably do it faster than Zhu Bajie!
Thinking of this, Feng Zhou climbed up to the clouds and flew straight to the southeast. In just a moment, he saw a tall mountain. He pressed down on the clouds and stood on the peak to watch. The mountains are made of stones, and the stones are made of earth.
Essence. The haze contains moisture, and the moss contributes to the fresh greenness. The towering mountains dominate Peng Island, and the quiet flowers are as fragrant as the sea. There are several trees, pine trees, and wild cranes, and several declining willows and mountain warblers. It is indeed a thousand-year-old monument and a fairyland that has been around for thousands of years.
Colorful phoenixes sing in the green sky, green dragons hide in the living water. Piper peppers hang down the winding path, and vines and kudzu climb on the stone stairs. Apes whistle on the green rocks in the moonlight. The tall trees like the clear sky. The two groves of bamboos provide shade as cool as rain, and the flowers along the path are thick and embroidered. Time.
I see white clouds coming from far away, slightly unstructured and drifting with the wind.
Feng Zhou smiled with satisfaction, pressed the cloud head, and suddenly shouted: "Feng Zhou, the crown prince of the Zhuzi Kingdom, has come to pay homage to the Great Sage Pingtian of Cuiyun Mountain and the powerful Bull Demon King! Please grant me an audience!"
Its roaring sound, like thunder, instantly spread to every corner of Cuiyun Mountain. Even insects, ants, birds and beasts could hear it clearly.