Kou Ji smiled and waved his hand and said: "Okay, go down and let your people prepare, let them settle the soldiers who are coming, and set aside a camp for the Forbidden Army soldiers who stay here to garrison."

"I will send someone to take care of it immediately."

Qian Tong agreed and immediately ordered an assistant officer behind him to follow Kou Ji's instructions.

Then he took Kou Ji and Wang Zeng to patrol the Shangjing City.

During the inspection.

Qian Tong intentionally or unintentionally brought the topic to Bohai Mansion.

"Prime Minister Kou, those two guys from the Bohai Prefecture are not honest. They took advantage of the fact that their Bohai Prefecture had the right to reduce or reduce business taxes, and they completely raked in the taxes of the merchants who rushed outside the customs.

They didn't miss any tax they could collect.

It’s made it difficult for the lower officials to collect taxes.”

Qian Tong complained softly.

When Kou Ji heard this, the corner of his mouth twitched.

Su Xun and Bao Zheng were so evil-minded that they actually collected all the taxes they could.

Aren't they afraid that the prefects here will unite and kill them both?

Before Kou Ji could speak again, Qian Tong added: "What's more important is that they have allocated a large area of ​​​​space for merchants to store their goods in Bohai Mansion.

So much so that merchants regard Bohai Prefecture as a place to take root and Linheng Prefecture as a post station.

Don't look at the large number of merchants in Linheng Prefecture. Almost all of them come from Bohai Prefecture.

Not only do they have to collect taxes from merchants now, but they will also continue to collect them for a long time in the future.

There is absolutely no way for lower officials to survive."

After Wang Zeng listened to Qian Tong's words, he said to Kou Ji in a neutral tone: "If you let your two students continue like this, they will become the target of public criticism here in the future."

When Qian Tong heard this, he kept nodding aside.

Kou Ji smiled calmly and said: "By next year, Bohai Mansion's tax revenue will be restored to its original state."

When Qian Tong heard this, he let out a sigh of relief.

Wang Zeng said nothing more.

After nightfall.

Qian Tong set up a table of wine and food to entertain Kou Ji and Wang Zeng.

The food and wine are not extravagant, but they are very delicious.

It can be seen that Qian Tong put a lot of thought into this matter.

Wang Zeng took the rare opportunity to praise Qian Tong.

After drinking and eating, they each went back to their rooms to sleep.

The next day.

According to the arrangement agreed upon in advance, Kou Ji left a forbidden army to guard the place, and then left the place with the remaining soldiers and horses.

before leaving.

Qian Tong gave part of the money he earned from selling his house and shops to Kou Ji, and asked Kou Ji to help escort him back to Beijing.

Kou Ji thought Qian Tong was good, so he sold some of the remaining fabrics they had seized to Qian Tong at a very low price.

The group of people set out on the road again.

The further west you go, the more prosperous the prefectures, states, and counties you see.

The most prosperous one is Bohai Palace.

Su Xun and Bao Zheng took advantage of Bohai Mansion's proximity to the sea to develop everything they could commercially.

Not only did they take advantage of tax advantages, they attracted many businessmen.

Several docks were also built on the seaside to provide berthing for merchant ships.

They also plundered some ships and craftsmen, built some shipyards, and developed the fishing industry.

Su Xun and Bao Zheng managed the Bohai Mansion so well that they took advantage of it, so some people naturally became jealous.

Therefore, after Kou Ji and Wang Zeng crossed the Gubeikou, they didn't see any greeting scenes.

On the contrary, someone secretly sent a "reporting letter" to Kou Ji and Wang Zeng.

The letter mentioned that Su Xun relied on his position as the prefect of Bohai Prefecture and the power of tax reduction and exemption to open the door to convenience for his old Taishan Cheng family.

The Cheng family used to be a moderately wealthy businessman in Meishan.

Now after moving to Bohai Prefecture, he became a wealthy businessman.

Not only does it have a fleet of five large ships, it also has five large shops covering a large area in Bohai Mansion.

Nowadays, the Cheng family is involved in many businesses, and it is not an exaggeration to describe it as making money every day.

After Wang Zeng read the 'report letter', he handed the letter to Kou Ji and asked, "What do you think?"

Kou Ji said indifferently: "I don't have any opinion. If you don't get jealous, you are mediocre."

Wang Zeng hesitated for a moment and whispered: "The Cheng family..."

Kou Ji glanced at Wang Zeng and said: "When Su Xun first became the governor of Bohai Prefecture, it was near winter last year. I didn't leave much food for him at that time.

He tried his best to feed the prisoners in Bohai Mansion.

The head of the Cheng family did not move to Bohai Mansion willingly, but was tricked into moving to Bohai Mansion by Su Xun.

The five houses of the Cheng family, as well as several large boats, were all forced upon the Cheng family by Su Xun.

Su Xun took this opportunity to take out a large amount of money and food from the Cheng family.

Feeding the captives and the people who subsequently moved there.
Chapter completed!