Quyang, old street.

Huo Bao and Shui Jin came out of the county magistrate's office and walked on the street, without a guard behind him.

The force of the two men is nothing scary in this small county town.

Before I could wait in front of the sauce meat shop, I could smell the smell of meat coming from my nose.

Huo Bao's nose moved, and he remembered the big cake and meat, and became greedy again.

Although he had a great meal at the county magistrate's office before, his exquisite meals really provide a good meal.

Seeing this, Shuijin couldn't help but feel funny: "Why are you still thinking about this?"

Both of them have been in Quyang, and Huo Bao once brought water to this sauce butcher shop.

Huo Bao swallowed and said, "I can never forget the big cake and meat meal... After eating that meal, I realized that the taste of being full is so wonderful!"

This is about the time I went south from Nanshan Village in March.

On the way, I met the Jia family, and Jia Yan went to the city to buy a lot of sauce-fried pork cakes.

Shuijin couldn't help but be surprised: "The fifth master loves you so much, can you still make you hungry?"

"I had just grown stronger at that time and I had a long appetite every day. My father didn't know how much I should eat, but I was confused..."

The time to speak, the sauce butcher shop arrived.

"Five pounds of sauce meat, two sauce ducks, and two smoked fish!"

Huo Bao touched two silver beans in his purse and ordered a few.

"A pound of sauce meat is 60 cents, five pounds and three hundred cents; a piece of sauce duck is 50 cents, two 100 cents, one smoked fish is 30 cents, two 60 cents, a total of 360 cents!"

The fat boss lady in the shop used dried lotus leaves to prepare meat while calculating.

Huo Bao frowned when he heard this: "Why did the price increase? It wasn't the price last month? I remember that the sauce meat was only 40 cents at that time!"

Although the current price is only 30% compared with March.

But March is the time after the disaster, and the time for the green and yellow is not enough, and the food is the most scarce and incomparable.

On the contrary, in September, Chuzhou was stable, farmers basically resumed production and life, prices fell, and tended to stabilize.

The boss lady sighed and said, "There is no way to do it if you don't increase it. Isn't this a tax increase in the yamen?"

"Add taxes, what taxes? The commercial tax in Quyang County is not ten taxes and one tax?"

Huo Bao's heart trembled, but his expression remained unchanged, and he seemed to ask casually.

The commercial tax stipulated by the court was "thirty taxes and one", but in actual local implementation, local officials exploited local governments and did not dare to touch the gentry class. They often attacked merchants, and the actual tax paid increased by more than ten times more than twenty times.

Under the rule of the Chuzhou Army, this issue has been discussed specifically.

Others don’t know the profits of merchants, but Huo Bao and Xue Biao are familiar with them.

Huo Bao suggested that the commercial tax be set as "ten taxes and one" according to the profit cost of trading, and a certain tax exemption amount will be given.

Snacks such as Jiang Po Shop must be calculated based on the rent and population. If the turnover is deducted by 20% or 30%, the remaining turnover is "ten taxes and one".

In this way, the tax is very thin.

As for those high-profit businesses in brothels and wineries, these "ten taxes and one" are 10% of the actual flow of money.

The boss said, "Our Chuzhou army has fought Jinling... There is no need for money in this war, so the commercial tax has doubled..."

Shui Jin stood beside Huo Bao and heard something was wrong, so he couldn't help but change his face.

Huo Bao took the lotus leaf bag, handed the silver beans over, and said, "When will it take for the price?"

"September 19... I remember clearly that my mother had a birthday and wanted to respect her for three hundred citrus. When I heard that the tax was increased, I respected her for two hundred and left a hundred citrus. My mother even scolded me for being stingy... My daughter was carrying her flesh and having a birthday peach, and two hundred citrus was not a small amount, right? I really have no place to make a decision..."

The boss's wife was chattering and found a handful of copper coins.

Huo Bao felt depressed, but it did not affect his appetite. He took the handful of copper coins and bought four big cakes directly from the shop next door.

Compared with last month, the price of big cakes has indeed increased.

He was carrying food, but he couldn't eat on the street, so Huo Bao picked up a restaurant that looked clean and went in.

The guy who was welcoming guests at the door was very confused when he saw Huo Bao's big bags and small bags. He didn't know whether to invite the guests in or to persuade the guests not to bring food out.

Huo Bao said: "Come to a private room and have a table of food..."

"Hey! Please, two guests!"

The guy immediately smiled like a flower on his face, greeted Huo Bao, and the water entered the restaurant, went directly to the private room on the second floor, and called Dr. Tea to serve tea.

"A pot of white peony!"

Huo Bao ordered tea casually and sent Dr. Tea down.

"What's going on? The magistrate of Quyang County exploited the local area?"

Water enters the way.

Huo Bao was also confused.

If Luzhou, Hezhou or Taiping Prefecture is inappropriate in employing people, it is understandable that the emperor will be far away while exploiting places.

Quyang is only a few dozen miles away from Jinling, and it is also the foundation of the Chuzhou army.

This Quyang County Magistrate has taken the courage of a leopard. How dare he disobey the emperor in such a way?

There must be some inside story here.

Qu Yang is Deng Jian’s hometown. Qu Yang was left to stand up for his independence as early as when Deng Jian was three times enlisted.

By the time Huo Wu got the Chuzhou Army, he had never interfered in the affairs of Quyang.

However, it is one thing not to interfere with Quyang's personnel affairs, and it is another thing that Quyang does not listen to Chuzhou's military and political orders.

Things will be smooth if they are slow.

Huo Bao was not in a hurry, wiped his hands and rolled up a big cake and meat first.

After eating one, he was indifferent.

The big biscuits are so good that the sauce meat also has a little fishy smell.

Times have changed, and perhaps it still feels like the same thing as before, but there is no longer the satisfaction of the same thing as before.

Then the restaurant came to the table, and the side dishes were exquisite and the hot dishes were delicious.

The two of them ate the noodles with sauce and the smoked fish left, and they did not waste it. They carried it back to the magistrate's office.

...

In the county magistrate's office.

The leader of the village tilted his body and sat on the couch, listening to the little song.

The magistrate sat down and accompanied him, saying something funny, and the atmosphere was just right.

There were two prostitutes with pretty eyebrows in the hall, one playing the piano and the other holding the pipa, plucking the strings and singing in their mouths.

The leader of the Mazhai Village was playing the beat and was fascinated by the sound.

Seeing Huo Bao and water came in, the head of the village became straight.

He is not easy to let go in front of the younger generation.

Otherwise, Huo Bao would follow suit, and he would cry.

The magistrate stood up and said attentively: "Mr. Xiaobao is back, General Shui is back!"

In other words, he is not a person, but his brother-in-law of Wang Qianhu who was left behind in Quyang. He was born in Tongsheng and had already fought with Wang Qianhu.

When Wang Qianhu was transferred to Hezhou, he was not afraid of relatives and recommended his brother-in-law to take over as the left-behind Quyang.

Huo Bao looked at the magistrate, but did not answer.

The leader of the village looked at Huo Bao, looked at Shuijin again, and noticed that the two of them looked different. He waved his hand to send the two prostitutes down: "What's wrong?"

Huo Bao said directly: "Uncle Six, Quyang County Government has doubled the trade tax!"

"Oh!"

The leader of the village was so surprised that he looked at the magistrate of Naquyang County, and could not speak for a long time.

At the age of thirties, he is very brave and courageous.

However, the magistrate of Quyang County was not exposed and said frankly: "It was increased commercial tax... This year, Quyang exempted summer tax and the autumn tax was reduced by half. There was no commercial tax. There was no money in this yamen! Merchants are profitable and have no miscellaneous items. They only doubled their taxes, which is less than in previous years!"

"What do you want money in the yamen? According to the rules, the salaries of the people and the people in the yamen have been paid off long ago!" Huo Bao said in confusion.

"That...that's not...that's not..."

This time, the magistrate of Quyang County's eyes flashed and he did not dare to speak out.

Huo Bao said to the master of the village: "Uncle Six, send someone to report to the old supervisor and let professionals investigate!"

The magistrate of Quyang County was shocked and hurriedly begged: "Your Majesty Xiao Bao is raising your hands... Isn't the servant thinking of doing his best for the Chuzhou army..."

Huo Bao said seriously: "You are adding commercial taxes to the name of Chuzhou Army, and you are guilty of being the first; the whereabouts of the cashier are not known, and the second is guilty. How can I be proud of myself if I want to give up my hands?"
To be continued...