Soon, Chai Yan and Hang Baiqiu returned to Jiang Ji Inn.
While the two were drinking tea and eating scones, Cheng Jiu and Guan Maochun came back.
Cheng Jiu and Guan Maochun came in and saw Hang Baiqiu. Their faces were stunned for a moment, but they immediately turned into nonchalant expressions.
Hang Baiqiu just raised the corners of his mouth slightly and did not expose them.
Chai Yan waved: "You are back, come on, come and have something to eat, freshly baked scones..."
Guan Maochun felt hungry as soon as he heard this. He ran to the table and sat down. He reached out to grab the cake in the basket. Then he heard Hang Baiqiu say: "Have you washed your hands?"
Guan Maochun's hand immediately stopped in mid-air, and then he said: "No."
Chai Yan said, "If you don't wash it if you don't, look at your dirty hands."
Guan Maochun retracted his hand and looked at it. His palms and fingers were indeed quite dirty, so he had to go to the back to get water and wash his hands.
Cheng Jiu slowly came to the table and asked, "Sir Hang, how did you discover us?"
Hang Baiqiu ate the cake, thought for a moment and said, "If you ask me how I discovered it, I really can't answer you. It can be said to be an intuition. Anyway, I noticed it as soon as I left the inn."
Cheng Jiu didn't say anything after hearing this.
Chai Yan said to Cheng Jiu: "Hurry and wash your hands and come over to eat cakes."
Cheng Jiu paused, nodded and went to the backyard.
"By the way, call Yu Tie over too!" Chai Yan turned around and said.
After a while, Cheng Jiu, Guan Maochun and Yu Tie all sat at the table, drinking tea and eating scones.
Chai Yan first told everyone about Zhang Youde's situation, and then said to Hang Baiqiu: "Sir Hang, I asked Lieutenant Liu today about the suppression of bandits and taxes..."
Hang Baiqiu looked at Chai Yan and asked, "What did he say?"
"He said there is no need to investigate this matter!" Chai Yan said.
Hang Baiqiu frowned: "Why do you say that?"
Cheng Jiu and the others were also very curious, their eyes fell on Chai Yan's face, wanting to know the reason.
Chai Yan told everyone what Liu Hongxuan said truthfully.
Hang Baiqiu was very angry after hearing this. He slapped the table angrily and said, "Damn it!"
Chai Yan was also helpless, slowly shaking his head and saying: "The Yaozhou Guard Camp has always had insufficient military expenditures, and military pay may not be sent to the soldiers in time. Now they have to wipe out the bandits. If the Ministry of War does not acquiesce to them, this battle will be a disaster.
It’s really impossible to fight!”
Cheng Jiu asked: "Sir, you are right to say so, but if the bandits are not wiped out, won't the Yaozhou guard camp have to be surrounded at the foot of Lintai Mountain? Then won't the people have to pay the bandit tax endlessly?
?”
"Yes, sir!" Guan Maochun also agreed very much.
Cheng Jiu said that Chai Yan had not thought about it, but he was just a sexton and had no right to interfere in military affairs, so he felt powerless!
Hang Baiqiu was silent for a moment and suddenly said: "No, I must write to Your Highness about this matter. Your Highness will definitely have a way to solve it! In short, we cannot let them continue to make money in the name of suppressing bandits!"
Cheng Jiu and other three people all nodded in agreement. When Hang Baiqiu was righteous, they still admired him very much!
Chai Yan thought for a while and said: "Sir Hang, you said that it is not impossible to write a letter to report to His Highness, but it will take a long time to send the letter back to the capital from here, and then wait for His Highness to see the letter before investigating and processing it.
!”
After finishing speaking, Chai Yan added: "And one thing, have you ever thought about it? The Ministry of War only acquiesced to Jiang Yong's double taxation. What is acquiescence? There is no official letter or documents. Everything is a private agreement between them. In case His Highness the Prince sends
People are investigating and holding people accountable. Maybe those officials are
With one move, the blame will all fall on the officers and soldiers of the Yaozhou Guard Camp. Jiang Yongshuang will naturally deserve the blame, but won’t the commanders of the other three battalions be unjustly accused? Will Liu Xiaowei not be unjustly accused? By then, the fourth battalion will
If all the generals are held accountable, who will suppress the bandits in Lintai Mountain?"
"This..." Hang Baiqiu had never thought about this before, but after Chai Yan analyzed it, he didn't know what to say.
Cheng Jiu then asked: "Sir, what should we do?"
Guan Maochun and Yu Tie both stopped to eat and drink, looking at Chai Yan intently.
Chai Yan sighed, shook his head and said, "I don't know now..."
Hang Baiqiu's heart moved, and he suddenly said: "Is this okay? When I write back to Beijing, I won't talk about the bandit suppression tax. I just ask your highness to go to the Ministry of Household Affairs to coordinate and ask them to allocate a sum of money to the Yaozhou Guard Camp for the suppression of bandits.
military expenditure, so they don’t have to pay private taxes!”
Cheng Jiu and the others immediately nodded after hearing this.
Chai Yan shook his head and smiled, and said to everyone: "Your ideas are too simple. Let's just talk about military funding. Who doesn't know that encircling and suppressing bandits is a top priority for the imperial court? Do you think Jiang Yongshuang will ask for money from his superiors before the soldiers leave?
?”
Hang Baiqiu thought the same thing. Jiang Yongshuang was the commander-in-chief of the Yaozhou Guard Battalion. How could he not ask for military expenditures when he traveled all the way to Mount Tai to suppress the bandits?
Guan Maochun nodded vigorously and interjected: "It will definitely pass!"
"That's right!" Chai Yan glanced at Guan Maochun and continued: "So, if the Ministry of Revenue could allocate enough military expenditures, it should have done so long ago. How could it have to acquiesce to the guard camp to collect taxes and raise military expenditures on its own?
"
"What do you mean..." Hang Baiqiu was suddenly startled and said, "The Ministry of Finance has no money at all!"
Chai Yan disagreed with this statement and shook his head: "You can't say that, I think it may be like this... The Ministry of Revenue must have allocated a sum of money to the Yaozhou Guard Camp, but, this allocation
I'm afraid the money that went there was very small, and it was not enough to support the soldiers of the Yaozhou Guard Camp in fighting the protracted battle against the bandits. That's why the officials of the Ministry of War privately allowed Jiang Yongshuang to levy money privately as their military expenses!"
Cheng Jiu nodded seriously and agreed: "I agree with your opinion!"
When Guan Maochun and Yu Tie heard what Cheng Jiu said, they both nodded hastily.
Chai Yan sighed secretly and added: "But judging from the current situation, Jiang Yongshuang seems to be a bit greedy. He wants to station himself around Lintai Mountain for a long time and continue to collect money in the name of suppressing bandits!"
Hang Baiqiu said angrily: "How can the people around us tolerate this? What difference does they have from those bandits?"
Chai Yan said with emotion: "This has been like this since ancient times. Wherever there is war, the people who suffer the most are the people!"
After that, everyone stopped talking, and the atmosphere in the room instantly became heavy...
After being silent for a long time, Chai Yan suddenly spoke up: "Actually, there is a way that is the simplest, most direct, and most effective!"
"What method?" Hang Baiqiu asked hurriedly.
Chai Yan snapped his fingers and said seriously: "Suppress the bandits! As soon as the bandits are wiped out, the soldiers of the Yaozhou Guard Camp will naturally withdraw to their garrison. In that case, the people near Lintai Mountain will not
No more taxes!”
Chai Yan originally thought that his words would be praised, but who knew that after the words were spoken, no one spoke for a long time, and the situation was a bit embarrassing.
"What's wrong? Am I right?" Chai Yan looked at everyone in confusion.
Hang Baiqiu said to Chai Yan: "You still said that my idea was too simple, but now it seems that yours is about the same..."
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PS: Yesterday I was watching the game and drinking with my friends, and happened to witness the U.S. team’s overturn. As a result, we were chatting too late in the evening, so I couldn’t update it. I’m sorry!
In addition, thank you to the book friend "152 tail number 0668" for voting for 2 monthly votes. Thank you for your support!