The Maotan River comes from the northeast, and when it reaches the outside of Yongzhou City, it is divided into two, and it goes around Yongzhou City for a circle, and then it flows into the Yujiang River. The river around the city is the moat of Yongzhou, and the place where the Maotan River and the Yujiang River meet becomes the wharf of Yongzhou. Rare groceries from all over the world poured into this wharf, loaded onto the ship and went straight to Guangzhou.

Although it is already winter, the willows by the pier are still verdant like drops, and the breeze by the river gently blows the riverbank. It is approaching the Shangyuan Festival, and the lights on both sides of the road are hung in twos and threes, shining on the faces of pedestrians who come and go, flickering and dimming, as if dreaming.

Inside the water gate, not far from the city wall, is the largest restaurant in Yongzhou, Wangjiang Tower. The building is divided into two floors, rising from the ground, flying eaves and arches, standing out in the small Yongzhou city. Standing upstairs, over the city wall, you can just see the charming scenery of the Yujiang River outside.

On the second floor of Wangjiang Tower, in a small pavilion near the window, Xu Ping and Wang Wei were sitting opposite each other, with a few seasonal dishes and a pot of wine in front of them.

"It's not a peaceful year!"

Looking at the night, Wang Weizheng sighed in a low voice, his words full of impatience.

Xu Ping casually agreed: "Yes, since the beginning of the year, the Holy King of Jiaozhi Yi has continued to invade the border, looting property and people. Cao Zhizhou sent people to negotiate, but they shirked left and right, but they didn't let it go. If this development continues, if the imperial court does not have thunder means, it will cause a catastrophe sooner or later. ”

Xu Ping had already found out clearly, and at this time, Nong Zhigao didn't know where he was, but the surname Nong had a lot of power in Guangyuan Prefecture, and something would happen sooner or later. Nong Zhigao's rebellion happened during the Renzong period, but the northwest party has not yet happened, and Di Qing, who grew up in the war, does not know where to be a soldier, and the Nong Zhigao rebellion that was put down by Di Qing is estimated to have to wait for several decades, and it is estimated that it will be safe in the past few years. So Xu Ping wasn't too worried, just said it casually.

Wang Weizheng on the other side only smiled bitterly when he heard it: "Thunder means? Now Guangxi has no soldiers, no food, and the imperial court always wants us to calm things down, where is the thunderous means? There are more than 2,000 forbidden troops in the realm, and their support depends on other roads, as long as nothing happens. ”

"These are not for the lower officials to worry about, anyway, there is Cao Zhizhou."

Xu Ping didn't care about the authenticity. Cao Keming has seen the world, and he must be able to cope with this turmoil.

"Relying on Cao Zhizhou, he must also have money in his hands!"

Speaking of which, Wang Weizheng turned to the money again. Now that the situation is tense, Wang Weizheng did not dare to let Yongzhou go unattended, and finally agreed to make up for the gap in Yongzhou's minister's money. The transshipment envoy did not have money and food in his hands, so he had to transfer it from other states. Seven prefectures, including Guizhou, Liuzhou, Xiangzhou, Guizhou, Xunzhou, Wuzhou, and Yulin, gathered a total of 3,800 pieces and began to send them to Yongzhou one after another. This is within the authority of the transshipment to balance the finances of the road, and the states that have allocated the money are not satisfied, but they still have to do it.

With money, Cao Keming came back to life, and in case of accidents, he took his men and horses to Yongping Village to guard the town as soon as the New Year passed. Yongping Village is separated from Jiaozhi by a river, except for Qinzhou, which is the largest trade point between the Great Song Dynasty and Jiaozhi, surrounded by Tuzhou Barbarian Mountain. Cao Keming has been in Yongzhou for many years, and he has great prestige among the natives, and he can borrow the power of barbarians.

At this time, Zhizhou was not there, and Xu Ping was sentenced to be in charge of Yongzhou City.

After a year, the usual rewards were handed out, and even the military treasury was almost empty. Cao Keming sent troops and searched all the money left in the treasury. Xu Ping couldn't make money, so he had to pretend to be stupid after listening to Wang Weizheng's words, just looking at the scenery outside the window and making no sound.

Wang Weizheng saw that Xu Ping didn't answer, so he had to say directly: "The military is dangerous, and a single thought may cause a catastrophe. ”

Xu Ping couldn't hide, turned around and sighed: "Cao Envoy, Curry, you also went to check it in person, and the mouse was so empty that he didn't stay in it." What time is it? It's just that the green and yellow are not accepted, the summer tax is still early, and the court has no money to allocate it, where can I change it to him? ”

Wang Weizheng pointed to the dock outside and said: "Yongzhou is about to rush, and how many goods have to be transported from here every day." As long as you pay attention, the goods on the dock are all money and grain, it depends on whether you can collect it or not! ”

"Pull it down! Jiaozhi is in chaos, and the valuable sources of gold, silver, cinnabar and cinnabar from the barbarian land have been cut off, and how much is the value of those things being transported on the dock now? How much tax can be charged? ”

Wang Weizheng also knew that this was the truth, but he couldn't let go, he just said: "No matter how many reasons you have, you can't make Cao Zhizhou's side hungry!" If something happens, I won't spare you! ”

"And what do you want me to do? Do you want me to rob it? ”

Wang Weizheng was silent for a while, then raised his head and looked at Xu Ping and said, "Yunxing, I also heard that you and Cao Zhizhou don't get along well, don't affect state affairs because of personal grudges!" ”

When Xu Ping heard this, he pressed the table suddenly, and after a while, he let out a long breath and suppressed the fire: "Wang Cao, you are going to roast me on the fire!" Okay, Cao Zhizhou and I don't look at each other right, I don't know what he's for, it's very simple for me to see him not pleasing to the eye. On the first day I came, I went to see him, and he sat under the tree and shook his fan, and let me bask in the sun for most of the hour, and then I didn't say a word. I am an official of the imperial court, not a servant of Cao Zhizhou, how can I swallow this breath? ”

When Wang Weizheng heard this, he sighed secretly in his heart, and wanted to persuade Xu Ping.

Xu Ping didn't let him speak, and continued: "Although I don't like him, since I entered Yongzhou City, but when I go to inquire about any official business, when will I feel sorry for him?" Cao Zhizhou is going to send troops, I have emptied the military treasury, and the soldiers I brought out are not satisfied with the money and materials rewarded? Now the state treasury is empty, and I can't make money if I sell it in the future! ”

"How can you be emotional?" Wang Weizheng can't make money, and the money and materials allocated by Hunan will not arrive until a few months later, so he still has to soften down and discuss after all. "You are sitting in Yongzhou, you always have to find a way, otherwise what is the use of the imperial court setting up officials?"

Xu Ping calmed down and nodded, "Okay!" Speaking of which, we might as well do the math. Now that the New Year has just passed, the two taxes cannot be counted on. Yongzhou City is small, and the monthly commercial tax is only 100 yuan, and it is not enough to transport it to Yongping Village. The rest are forbidden things, but I can't control them! ”

The main materials forbidden in Yongzhou are salt, and other tea and wine are not prohibited here, and gold, silver, copper and iron are not produced in Yongzhou, so there is no meaning. The salt is mainly the responsibility of the transshipment envoys, and the state only assists, and does not benefit much. Moreover, salt profits are more sensitive, not just rising. The forbidden materials in the Song Dynasty are mainly divided into two categories, one is represented by salt, because it is necessary for people's livelihood, in fact, it is a disguised poll tax. Another is represented by wine, which is not necessary for people's livelihood and can barely be regarded as a luxury tax. The Song people are already very clear about the difference between the two, the wine tax rises as much as they want, as long as the total amount of the imperial court revenue increases, it is a success, and some people oppose the answer is very simple, you can not drink if you are too expensive, and you will not die if you don't drink. The salt tax will not work, once it rises, it will affect the people's livelihood, and if it is not good, it will be impeached by the imperial envoy.

Now after all, there is no formal war, and Wang Weizheng does not dare to raise the price of salt, so he said to Xu Ping: "Don't talk about it, other tea and wine and other Yongzhou have a lot to do, you can think of a way." ”

"Promising? These Yongzhou can't help it, isn't the tax still uncollectible? ”

Wang Weizheng's face was full of distress, and he looked at Xu Ping and shook his head.

Xu Ping vented almost completely, looked at Wang Weizheng and sighed: "Actually, it's not absolutely impossible, it's man-made, it's just not easy." ”

"Oh, if there is any way, Yun Xing might as well talk about it."

This kind of trick of wanting to capture and indulge in the past has no good results for the chief, Xu Ping is really annoyed, and he just has these scruples.

"It's nothing more than borrowing money and goods from the military treasury and the minister's treasury to return to it, and every state army has it. But Cao Zhizhou has never done these things, and I didn't dare to move not long after I first came. ”

It is very common for local businesses to subsidize the use of degrees. Otherwise, with the harshness of the three central departments on local finances, every money and everything must be approved by the top, and the local officials will not have to live.

Wang Weizheng looked at Xu Ping and didn't speak for a while. Local business is a black hole, which can indeed supplement the lack of local funds, but it also opens the door for local officials to illegally accumulate wealth, let alone compete with the people for profit.

Seeing that Xu Ping had been calm, Wang Weizheng said slowly: "What are you going to do?" ”

Xu Ping said: "This house sells wine, and there is some fame in the capital, so I first opened a restaurant in Yongzhou City, and used my family's secret recipe to sell wine, which is considered to be my free subsidy to the imperial court." ”

Hearing this answer, Wang Weizheng's face became more natural. He went to the capital to report on his work, and he had also heard of the wine in the Xu family restaurant, and Xu Ping was not lying.

Seeing that Wang Weizheng nodded, Xu Ping said again: "In addition to wine and tea, the imperial court has set a ban on white sugar two years ago, but I don't know if Yongzhou can't help it?" ”

"You also make sugar?" Wang Weizheng asked curiously.

Xu Ping smiled bitterly: "Cao Envoy said this, the third division just accepted my family's sugar shop before starting to ban white sugar, how could I not." ”

When Wang Weizheng heard this, his face let go, and he said to Xu Ping: "Don't worry, except for salt, gold and copper, everything else in Yongzhou is fine, I will guarantee you!" ”

opened a sugar shop, and there is a restaurant at home, and the family background is not ordinarily rich, Wang Weizheng underestimated Xu Ping, but he didn't expect his family to be a rich man. With this kind of background, a little bit of small profit will inevitably be looked down upon, and local business can be opened up.

When Xu Ping heard this, he was relieved. What is this place? Guangxi was the sugar capital of China in later generations, and in some years, the cane sugar produced in this part of Yongzhou could account for more than seventy or eighty percent of China's total output, and it was also ranked among the few in the world. As long as the output of white sugar can reach one percent of the future generations, it will be an astonishing benefit, and it will be more than enough to cover the finances of the entire Lingnan and Guangzhou.