ps: Thanks to book friend Linghu Luemeng for the reward of 10,000 starting coins
The General's Mansion in Guangling City became lively again. People from all the major sects came, but everyone's mood was a little strange.
This place still belonged to Fang Zhenhai before, but now it has returned to the imperial court, and is still an "acquaintance" of them before. The speed at which the king's flag is changing on this city is too fast.
Gu Cheng sat on the main seat, looked at the people below and said with a smile: "We have met again. We are all acquaintances, so I won't introduce anything more."
Everyone below also congratulated hypocritically.
"Congratulations to Mr. Gu on your promotion!"
"The traitor in Kufang Zhenhai in Nanyi County has been there for a long time, and today he finally put things right."
"From now on, Mr. Gu will take charge of Nanyi County, so we can feel relieved."
Gu Cheng cupped his hands and smiled and said: "Thank you for your support. The imperial court will not ignore rebels like Fang Zhenhai. The difference is only a matter of time.
During the time when Fang Zhenhai occupied Nanyi County, he created a lot of messy rules. I noticed it at the time, but my strength was limited and I couldn't control it even if I wanted to.
For example, Fang Zhenhai forcibly collects 30% of the taxes from the Wulin Sect in Nanyi County. This is very unreasonable in my opinion, so this rule must be changed!"
Upon hearing this, everyone present nodded. Gu Cheng was quite a sensible person and knew what he could do and what he couldn't do.
When they all stood up to oppose Fang Zhenhai, in fact, the main conflict was that Fang Zhenhai forcibly collected their taxes and cut their flesh with a knife. How could they endure this?
Gu Cheng waved his hand and said: "So starting from today, the rules will be changed. The tax will be changed from 30% to 10%!"
As soon as these words came out, the entire hall suddenly fell into silence, and many representatives of the martial arts sects present sneered in their hearts.
Gu Cheng is still young after all. Does he really think they are all idiots?
If you, Gu Cheng, don't have the strength of Fang Zhenhai, you dare to charge 10% now. When you, Gu Cheng, have Fang Zhenhai's strength, won't you also charge 30%? What's the difference between this and Fang Zhenhai?
They were opposed to Fang Zhenhai's 30% offer, and they are equally opposed to Gu Cheng's 10% offer now. There should be no such thing as taxes!
So even if someone stood up and objected: "Master Gu, since you represent the court, you must act in accordance with the rules of the court.
There were no taxes when the imperial court controlled Nanyi County before, so there should be no taxes now.
Why don't you act according to the rules of the court, but act according to Fang Zhenhai's anti-thief rules?"
Gu Cheng stretched out his hand and pressed it down, and said calmly: "Everyone, please be patient, I haven't finished speaking yet, why are you excited?
The 10% of taxes you give is not for me, but for your own convenience.
Our Nanyi County is close to the Nanman Shiwan Mountain. You should all have various elixirs and materials that need to be traded to the outside world.
If a caravan comes to Nanyi County to take the initiative to purchase, they will have the final say on the price.
And if you organize your own caravan, the manpower, material resources and losses on the road are all huge risks, and it is far less cost-effective than selling directly to those caravans.
Everyone present, some sects may have less than a hundred people in total. Such sects may only be able to organize a caravan composed mostly of ordinary people. It is very dangerous to go on the road like this."
Most of the people present nodded secretly, and what Gu Cheng said was indeed what most of them were worried about.
Not every sect belongs to the Wang family. Although there are only a few hundred people in the direct line, there are tens of thousands of vassals. Even the people in a city depend on the Wang family for their livelihood.
Not every sect is a Siji Sect. There are tens of thousands of formal disciples alone, and there are tens of thousands of outer disciples. They are responsible for all aspects of the Siji Sect and can allow the disciples of the Siji Sect to practice with peace of mind.
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Most of the sects are actually small sects that cannot even support caravans. They can only sell the things they produce to the caravans who come to buy them. The price is naturally very low.
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Gu Cheng waved his hand: "The taxes I collect from everyone today are actually used on everyone.
At this time, as long as the tax-paying sect forces have caravans, they can come to Guangling City to register. When they need to do business, all the soldiers along the way will protect you and protect you all the way to the borders of other counties.
The same thing is sold to those caravans nearby for one price, and even if it is transported to the nearest Guangning County, it is still another price.
The price difference you can earn is more than the taxes you pay, so this account is very cost-effective."
After hearing what Gu Cheng said, everyone present looked strange. Someone from the imperial court had actually negotiated a deal with them?
Although Gu Cheng was talking about taxes, in fact, in their eyes, this was a transaction, a protection fee they paid.
Some people secretly calculated in their hearts that if Gu Cheng did not lie and would indeed fulfill his promise, even after paying 10% of the tax, their profits would be greater than before.
However, no one present agreed directly. Instead, they looked at Wang Yuan and Xiao Binggong who were sitting in the front. They came on behalf of the Wang family and the Siji Sect.
But these two men narrowed their eyes and said nothing, as if the matter had nothing to do with them.
In the past, the Wang family and Siji Sect were definitely the first to express their attitude towards this kind of thing.
As a result, both families are now silent, which makes them somewhat confused.
Since these two families didn't object, could it be that they acquiesced?
So some people here felt it was a good deal, but some people were still hesitant.
At this moment, a middle-aged man dressed in Taoist attire stood up and sneered: "Master Gu has a good plan. Fang Zhenhai's 30% is to exploit our martial arts sect in Nanyi County. Leave it here with you."
Do you want all the martial arts sects in Nanyi County to be grateful to you as soon as you harvest a harvest? Do you think we are just monkeys that wander around?
The convenience you provide is only for sects with caravans, but some sects do not have caravan business, so why should they pay 10%?"
Gu Cheng glanced at the Taoist priest and said calmly: "Without the caravan business, the sect's turnover is also low, so naturally there is no need to pay such taxes."
The Taoist priest continued to sneer: "So we still have to pay? What's the difference between Master Gu doing this and Fang Zhenhai?"
Gu Cheng frowned slightly, why did this guy always target him? In fact, he didn't have much dealings with these martial arts sects in Nanyi County. The only ones he had contact with were the Wang family and the Siji sect.
"May I ask where this Taoist priest comes from?"
The Taoist priest raised his head and snorted coldly: "Chen Zhouping, the poor Taoist deputy master of Yunhai Temple, is it possible that Mr. Gu is still preparing to retaliate?
The fierce tiger Fang Zhenhai just left, could it be that another bad wolf has arrived in our Nanyi County?
You all should be careful, this Mr. Gu is simply more domineering than that Fang Zhenhai, and he won't even listen to the slightest disobedient words."
After silently reciting the name Yunhaiguan several times, Gu Cheng finally figured out why Chen Zhouping wanted to target him.
When he was dealing with the ghost governor, Gu Cheng demolished the opponent's temple and also killed several Taoist priests who were guarding the temple in collusion with the ghost governor. Those Taoist priests were the people of Yunhai Temple.
But later on, Gu Cheng began to intervene in the power struggle under Fang Zhenhai. He had long forgotten about the Yunhai Temple. He didn't remember it until Chen Zhouping jumped out to target him.
If it were someone else who came to Yunhai Temple today, maybe he wouldn't be so intense.
But among the Taoist priests of Yunhai Temple killed by Gu Cheng, the leader was Chen Zhouping, the younger brother of the deputy temple master.
After learning about his brother's death, he wanted to seek revenge from Gu Cheng, but was stopped by the master of Yunhai Temple.
The other party is one of the Eight Great Vajras under Fang Zhenhai's command. How can a small Taoist temple like Yunhai Temple compare with the Eight Great Vajras? If he goes there, he will die.
Later, when he learned of Fang Zhenhai's downfall, Chen Zhouping was secretly excited for a while, thinking that Gu Cheng must have followed Fang Zhenhai in his misfortune, and that he would be able to avenge his great revenge.
As a result, news came out that Gu Cheng was actually an undercover agent of the imperial court. Not only did he not follow Fang Zhenhai into bad luck, he also became the commander-in-chief of the Jingyesi Division in Guangling City, temporarily in charge of all affairs in Nanyi County.
This result made Chen Zhouping even more resentful and simply unacceptable.
So when he came to participate in the discussion this time, Chen Zhouping couldn't suppress his hatred, so he jumped out without hesitation to change the concept and cause trouble for Gu Cheng.
Moreover, he was quite clever, knowing that Yunhai Guan alone would be unable to defeat Gu Cheng, so he directly tied the entire martial arts forces in Nanyi County to himself.
Gu Cheng's attack on him was retaliation, which meant he had a guilty conscience, and he wanted to make the entire Nanyi County Wulin an enemy!
Looking at Chen Zhouping, Gu Cheng suddenly showed a smile.
Gu Cheng had encountered a lot of bad luck before, so he always felt that his luck was not very good.
But no matter how unlucky a person is, there will always be a time of change.
When I felt sleepy, someone handed me a pillow. I wanted to scare the monkeys, but I couldn't find a reason. As a result, someone immediately put their head over me.
Chen Zhouping saw that Gu Cheng didn't speak, but laughed, but he suddenly felt a little flustered. Why was the smile so charming?
Before Chen Zhouping could say anything, Gu Cheng's whole body was shining with true energy, and the Yin Zhu Minghuo on the long sword was burning fiercely. He stepped forward and appeared in the center of the lobby, stabbing out at Chen Zhouping!
Chen Zhouping never expected that Gu Cheng would take action right away in front of everyone present.
Shocked, he immediately mobilized all his spiritual energy and performed seals with his hands. A mirror-like wave of water appeared in front of him, trying to stop Gu Cheng's sword.
But who knew that Gu Cheng suddenly sheathed his sword halfway, five yin energy shining in his hand, and the five ghosts moved out. The five little ghosts surrounded Chen Zhouping's head. With a slight turn, his head was instantly turned around.
After a circle, it appeared in Gu Cheng's hand, and blood was spread evenly in the center of the lobby.
Looking at Gu Cheng carrying a human head, the entire lobby fell silent!