Li Mu, who was on the road alone, had clear ideas, and both his mental and physical state reached its peak.
Before leaving, Li Yubai took time out of his busy schedule to say goodbye, and gave him the sword passed down from Li Mu's biological mother. After so many twists and turns, Li Yubai had already grown fond of himself and Feng Qingli's son.
He was relieved and believed that Li Mu would be able to become a monk far better than himself.
Feng Qingli's sword was simple and unpretentious, and seemed a bit ordinary compared to the Starfall Sword, but Li Mu still carefully placed it in the warehouse system. To him, this was not only a sword, but also a sword that he had never met before.
his mother's love for him.
The journey of practicing alone has just begun. Without the support of his previous companions, Li Mu needs to learn to do many things by himself.
From planning routes to detecting dangers, from daily life to careful budgeting, although the journey was hard, it also made him grow a lot in many areas that he was not good at before.
The territory of the Cangyun Empire is very large. Even if Li Mu has the foot power of the Great Transformation Infantry Realm, it will take at least sixty days to cross the entire empire from Qinglan City in the east, so he has no choice.
Travel under starry night, but stop and go, and experience different kinds of fireworks in different cities.
After watching more, Li Mu was surprised to find that his state of mind was slowly improving as the journey continued. This was an unexpected surprise for him who had the heart of the Holy Spirit. A more stable state of mind represented the future.
Breaking through the realm will be smoother, and the power gained will be purer.
"Wow, how can these wontons be so delicious? Boss, please give me another big bowl of all-meat wontons. Wait, two servings."
Sitting in a small alley, Li Mu swallowed the last wonton in the bowl and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He felt that he was still satisfied. The red oil wontons at this stall were as delicious as the ones in his previous life. He was in a good mood.
Feeling so good, he immediately decided to ask the boss to cook two more big bowls.
This is Tailan City, located in the central area of the Cangyun Empire. The basin climate surrounded by mountains makes this small city humid and rainy, so it has developed a unique food culture. When Li Mu first arrived here three days ago, he was attracted by the air.
Attracted by the light spicy flavor that pervades the food.
The pepper skewers that can be seen all over the street, the fragrant spicy rabbit heads, and the addictive bowl of red oil wontons in front of him made Li Mu, who had been away from Qinglan City for more than 20 days, choose to stop here.
"Here are the wontons, two bowls of whole meat. I didn't expect that you, a foreigner, can really eat spicy food."
The wonton stall was not big, and there was only one man in his fifties or sixties standing there. It was not the time to eat, so there were no other customers. After serving the wontons to Li Mu, the man also sat aside and chatted with this handsome young man from a foreign country.
People started talking.
"I'm not bragging. My red oil wontons are ranked second in Tailan City, and absolutely no one dares to be ranked first."
The man was very talkative and extremely confident in his craftsmanship. However, in terms of taste, Li Mu still agreed with him. He just didn't know why these wontons were so delicious but could only be sold in small alleys.
"I used to have a wonton shop, but since the city government issued a new tax payment order a month ago, how can those of us with a small business survive? We have to give up the original shop."
The other party's words made Li Mu frown. After Huangfu Qing took over as the empress, he quickly promulgated a new tax order for all cities in the entire empire. But as far as he knew, the new bill would only reduce the burden on civilian merchants. Why?
How can a good wonton restaurant be pushed to this point?
"Boss, does this new tax law really make it so difficult for you to make ends meet? I know that in other cities, people and merchants still support the new law, and the emperor... Her Majesty the Empress attaches great importance to the people's livelihood in the empire and will definitely not rely on the implementation of what you said
The harsh tax, is there some misunderstanding here?"
Hearing Li Mu's words, the man was stunned for a moment. Just when he was about to answer, he seemed to have thought of something. He looked around the stall and after confirming that there was no one else, he moved to Li Mu's side and whispered.
"Little brother, you don't know something. In our Tailan City, the tax laws are decided by the city lord's palace, which has nothing to do with the empire. The taxes received are also used by the city lord's palace, and only a small part will be paid.
Deliver it to the Imperial Capital."
The wonton stall owner's narration surprised Li Mu. You must know that tax laws are the foundation of a country. Nowadays, the Cangyun Empire is in a period of rapid development. It is also time for Huangfu Qing to introduce such a generous new tax law.
To stimulate vitality within the empire.
But who would have known that in a small inland city like Tailan City, someone would dare to make his own tax orders and embezzle taxes. This is definitely a serious crime that can wipe out the nine tribes. However, in the mouth of the wonton stall owner, it seems that he has become accustomed to it.
things.
"How long has this been going on? Has it been like this before?"
Although he had already made a guess in his mind, Li Mu couldn't help but ask, because even during Huangfu Yi's reign, unified taxation across the country was the most basic system, and if Tailan City really regarded itself as an outlaw
In this land, its city lord is definitely a arrogant person.
"How should I put it? If we had paid according to the tax order of the city lord's palace before, even though the tax was very heavy, it would still allow us ordinary people to survive."
"But this time after the big change outside, the City Lord's Mansion suddenly issued a new tax order for some reason. If I still open a shop there, I will have to pay ten Cangyun coins first if I don't do anything every day.
Then, 70% of the money earned in the day will be given to the city lord's palace, how can I bear this?"
The man at the wonton stall had a look of helplessness on his face. He kept beating his thigh as he spoke. He could hear his complaints about the city lord's palace, but his words were more filled with fear and fear.
"In order to put an end to this kind of private tax order, Her Majesty the Empress sent special inspectors to every city. Doesn't Tailan City have one?"
The situation in Tailan City was completely beyond Li Mu's expectation. According to his guess, the changes in the imperial regime made the city lord here feel a huge sense of crisis. He knew that the secret tax order he had set up for many years would one day be exposed. Instead of arriving there,
It's better to just sit back and wait for death. It's better to make a big profit before being discovered before running away.
It was just that such an action did not attract the attention of the imperial inspector, which made Li Mu a little surprised. But the next words of the wonton stall owner made him completely determined to take care of the private tax saga of Tailan City.