Knight of the Blue Lagoon (The Past of Tao v)

38. Su Su

The heart is like a clear mirror, and there is no right or wrong in the avenue.

~

In this way, Chenzhou, the source of grain trade on Blue Lake, which contributed half of Dongfu's treasury silver, was no longer under their control. Spring had arrived, but the three ministers felt colder than winter.

After reading out the imperial edict formally appointing the governor of Chenzhou, Su Su took over the new governor's uniform. As the first female governor of Dongfu Kingdom and the youngest governor, Su Su was very grateful to His Majesty for his open-mindedness. In the blink of an eye, she thought of the recent events in the DPRK. The turbulent and joyful expression immediately came back. Dao Zhi became the Minister of the Ministry of War. He touched the purple governor's uniform and Su Su began to think deeply.

During this period, Su Su was appointed as the acting governor. He discovered that there were many staff members in the governor's office who were just living for free, as well as some government servants who were living on their own. What was unacceptable was that they even had a few sorcerers who were living on their own. It looks very bloated and inefficient. She knows the hard work of the farm workers and will never allow these people to cheat on food and drink. So as soon as he was officially appointed, he began to make drastic changes. First, he drove away the warlocks, and then sent the idlers raised by the governor's office to work in the Tianpu Society. This move made everyone applaud, and also caused dissatisfaction among some people.

Before the new governor got used to wearing his uniform, challenges came when the food tax increased again. The Blue Lake is like a business trading platform, and trade between various countries must pass through the Blue Lake. According to the Blue Lake Treaty, as long as the country sells items, it must pay taxes to the Xilu Country. When the Dongfu Country sells excess grain to other countries, it needs to pay food taxes to the Xilu Country. When the Luoba Country transports timber, it must also pay the timber tax. , Da Ying Kingdom has to pay tax on fabric interwoven fabrics, Nanzhai Kingdom has to pay cattle and sheep tax when selling cattle and sheep, and Silla Kingdom has to pay fish tax when selling fish... These are collectively called Blue Lake Tax.

Su Su thought of Daozhi and wanted to hear his opinion. Wearing a new uniform as a governor, he came to the Shangshu Mansion of the Ministry of War. The door was locked. The person guarding the mansion said that Daozhi did not live in the Shangshu Mansion on weekdays, but in the military camp with the soldiers. together. When they came to the military camp again, Su Su was dressed in the uniform of the governor, showing her novelty and handsomeness, and the ropes under the armor were also charming. The two looked at each other for a moment, competing for their beauty, each showing off their fragrance. After looking at Suosuo, he asked directly:"Why are you here? Why don't you stay in the governor's house and be your governor."

Susu had not seen Suosuo yet and didn't know who she was. She was wondering why there were women in the military camp. She was still very popular. Polite reply:"I'm here to find Daozhi.""

"What are you doing with the general? Just tell me what you need." Suosuo tried to stop her.

Seeing that the woman in front of her was deliberately looking for trouble, Susu no longer maintained her identity:"I'm looking for the way, not you, so I can't tell you."

"His business here is my business, no matter what the inconvenience is."Suosuo.

Susu asked politely:"Who are you? So nosy"

"I take care of the general's food, drink, and toilet. Who do you think I am?"

At this time, Dao Zhi and Li Lai happened to come back. They guessed that Su Su was here for food. After entering the barracks together, Dao Zhi said:"Suosuo, please go and make tea."

Suosuo glanced at Susu, served two bowls of tea, handed one bowl to Daozhi and the other to Li Lai. Upon seeing this, Li Lai shouted:"Sister, why are you like this today."

Suosuo reluctantly went to get another bowl, and put the tea in front of Susu with a temper. Susu immediately picked it up and took a sip:"The tea is sour."

"It’s not tea that’s sour, it’s tea drinkers’ sourness……"Soso.

Li Li glanced at the two of them:"Okay, okay, let's get down to business."

"The food tax has been increased to 30%, and recently our food-carrying merchant ships are often intercepted and interrogated by the Xilu Kingdom on the Blue Lake without any reason."Su Su said seriously

"The food tax has been increased to 30%, and the action is really fast."Li Lai

"How much more food do we need?"Daozhi

"Apart from grain reserves, there is not much left over from last year, but ordinary people still have some bulk grain to be purchased."Susu

"Loose grains are easy to handle for the common people. They can find private grain dealers and privately contact some familiar grain dealers in neighboring small countries and ask them to secretly transport them out, thereby avoiding grain taxes."Li Lai

"Is this good? What will happen once the Xilu Kingdom discovers that the food comes from the Dongfu Kingdom?"Susu

"Relying on its control of trade channels, the Xilu Kingdom arbitrarily raised grain taxes and set up obstacles. It was not cost-effective for the Tianpu Society to collect the bulk grain and then sell it, so they had to take a detour. Let the common people contact the grain dealers and transport it directly from their homes. The quantity is not large anyway, so it is easy to take action. Even if it is seized, it is a matter for the common people of the two countries, but their target is not these common people's boats."Li Lai said to Su Su

"If Xilu Country continues like this, what should we do?"Susu

"We supply nearly half of Blue Lake's food. If he raises taxes, the countries that need food will be harmed even more. As long as we remain calm and the people want to eat, they will suffer more than us."Daozhi

"Official rations are also sold as usual, and the price does not drop. A 30% tax is added to the original basis, which means that the extra 30% is the Blue Lake tax. They can buy it if they are willing to buy it. Anyway, we don't have much official ration now."Daozhi

"why is that?"Susu

"If you are told to be like this, you do this. You don't understand anything and you still dare to be the governor."Sosuo

"you……"Susu was so hurt that she didn't know how to fight back.

"You...what, do you have a method?"Suosuo glanced at Susu.

"Our food is good, but the price is not raised by us. If you want cheap food, buy low-quality food elsewhere, or buy private food. We will not lower prices to hurt the people. The purpose of raising prices is to let other countries know that Xilu has increased taxes. If it hinders our grain trade, everyone will be affected."Daozhi

"It can be tolerated in the short term, but if it cannot be exported in the long term, there will be a backlog of grain next year. Not only will domestic prices in Dongfu fall, but our treasury revenue will also decrease."Susu

"It won’t last long, as long as countries have needs, there will be a way."Daozhi

"Why are they doing this? It would not be good for them to not let us buy food."Susu

"How can you understand, just listen to the general."Sosuo

"As the governor, the largest farm society is in Chenzhou, so of course I have to figure it out."Susu

"I heard that you are not very smart, so you want to go."Sosuo

"Sister, you are going too far"

"There is no benefit to them. They want to contain Dongfu Kingdom from the grain trade and force the court to see who can stabilize it. We have the most food and hoard it. If other countries are short of food, we will not be the ones who are hungry. How did the people react?"Daozhi

"The people were fine, they were still enthusiastic, but some wealthy gentry were a little dissatisfied."Susu

"A wealthy gentry?"Li Lai

"At that time, the former king sold the grain fields of the imperial court. Now, only 30% of the land in Dongfu Kingdom is in the hands of the imperial court to stabilize the imperial court. The other 40% is in the hands of large households, and the remaining 30% is in the hands of the common people."Susu

"The power of the wealthy gentry cannot be underestimated."Li Lai

"Ignore them for now, we sell our grain, you go back and tell Suini, he knows what to do."Tao Zhi.

After Su Su left, Li Lai scolded:"Sister, you are too much."

Suosuo said angrily:"What's too much? I can't stand the way she thinks she is domineering. It's not because of nepotism. What's the big deal?"

"Everyone is for Dongfuguo."Daozhi

"General, it seems that they have realized the impact of changes in the political situation on the future and have already taken action."Li Lai

"It was only a matter of time before he started, it was expected."Daozhi began to think deeply.

Daozhi thought for a while and then said:"The food tax has been increased from 10% to 30% now. Although this method is arrogant, it still hits the point. The interests of the large gentry families with land and land have been harmed, so they will inevitably make trouble. The large gentry families have always colluded with the officials to hide the truth from His Majesty and bully the people. They have formed a considerable influence in various places and have always been the main obstacle to the government's governance of the place. This gang It will be difficult to effectively implement the policies of the DPRK and China without rectifying the forces."

"General, are these people going to take this opportunity to cause trouble?"Li Lai

"What can they do?"Sosuo

"I don’t know, only with these ministers can such people appear. There are only a few ministers, so there are many people to help."Daozhi

"How can we protect ourselves?"Sosuo

"There is no way to prevent them. We can only wait and see what they do, and then we can think of countermeasures."Li Lai.

Sure enough, not long after, a song suddenly appeared on the street in the southern commercial center:

"When a woman enters the dynasty, there will be chaos in the dynasty, her fortune is unknown, and the Blue Lake is in turmoil.……"

They did not dare to target the imperial court directly, so they had to attack the female governor first. The song gradually spread in the streets and alleys of the south, and became a trend after being enriched by teahouses in various places.