Spring and Autumn I Am King

A day later, in the palace of the state of Cao, a high platform stands on the banks of the Jishui River, and you can watch the sailless canoes of the merchants shuttle on the slowly flowing water.

Cao Boyang was sitting here in his court clothes, holding the high crown on top of his head rather impatiently. He was waiting for the exiled gentleman of the Zhao family to meet him without a shirt.

Although he felt that he and Zhao Wuxi were "like-minded" during the hunt, whether it was Qi Shang with Chen's background, or Zheng Shang who was personally supported by Zheng Guo officials, Cao Cao did not want to offend. Therefore, Cao Bo simply adopted an attitude of delay and hesitation, hoping that Zhao Wuxi and others would be impatient and leave Caojing as soon as possible, so that everyone can live in peace.

However, after Zhao Wuxi promised to give him Zhao's horse and a unique four-cart as a gift, Cao Bo was reluctant to meet him again.

At this moment, Yousi led Zhao Wushi, who was wearing a black crown and white clothes, to come up. Behind him was Zigong, who was wearing soap-colored dark clothes.

Zhao Wuxi stood and bowed his hands, while Zigong, who had a lower status, bowed his head.

"The foreign minister Zhao's son has no sympathy to visit Cao Cao."

"My servant of Wei, Duanmuci, pays respects to Cao Cao."

Cao Bo waved his sleeves wide and said, "Please get up and give me a seat."

Ten steps away, the temple people placed a banquet. This is a medium size for receiving foreign ministers. The banquet was given to Zhao Wuxie. Zigong had no identity and could only stand behind Wuxie.

Cao Bo looked at Zhao Wuxi and the merchant who had been imprisoned by him, and was thinking about how to perfunctory, but Zhao Wuxi spoke first.

"Uncle Cao, the foreign ministers came to harass me today, but they wanted to talk about the trade, I don't know..."

Cao Cao stroked the short beard on his lips and said with a haha: "As the saying goes, the chicken guards the night, and the raccoon catches the mouse. The monarch and the ministers each have their own duties. However, the questions are all left to Sicheng and Chu Shi. Today, Japan wants to talk to Zitai about the fun of autumn hunting. Who knows that you want to talk about this mundane matter with me. Although I am a monarch, it is not easy to go. If you interfere, Zitai should go to Sicheng."

Zhao Wuxi secretly thought that Zigong's inquiries were not bad, this Cao Jun really accepted the bribes from Qi and Zheng merchants, and smiled: "If the foreign ministers say, this is related to the filling of Cao's treasury; it is related to the autumn hunting. The number of chariots and horses during the winter hunting; it is about the strength of the bow and arrow, the speed of the dog, and the beauty of cooking Jiarou, doesn't Cao Cao care?"

Cao Boyang was very puzzled: "What does Zitai mean, can you elaborate?"

After Wu Xie smiled, he let Zi Gong standing behind him answer.

Zigong bowed respectfully and said, "Uncle Cao, when he passed through Rongguan two months ago, he noticed that Cao's tariff was only 2%. When visiting the pottery market, he saw that there are many shops and merchants, which is better than Xinjiang, Puyang and Linzi, but the city officials charge very little city tax. It is only 5%. Compared with Jin, Song and Wei, which each charge 1/10 of the city tax, it is simply the best of benevolence and righteousness. No wonder the merchants They praised Uncle Cao. They are also willing to come to Taoyi to farm goods, but I don’t know how much money is left after the city tax is collected into the treasury?”

"This……"

Zigong's remarks seem to be flattering, but they directly point to Cao Bo's vital point.

He tilted his head to look at Ji Shui, which was dyed red by the rising sun, and remembered that when his father was critically ill, he had pulled him here to count the number of trips in the canoe.

Cao Jinggong's last words were still in his ears: "Yang, as long as there are merchants' ships sailing on Jishui, the treasury of the state of Cao will not be empty!"

Although Guan Yiwu once advocated: "No levy is required for customs, and no tax is paid in the market." However, it is difficult for the lords and officials of various countries to hold back against the fat sheep passing through the border. In the next hundred years or so, the tariffs and city taxes have been increased, if not because of the background of all those merchants. They had already dispatched troops to loot.

However, although the monarchs of the Cao Kingdom are unbearable, they have always adhered to a rule that has remained unchanged from generation to generation: the tariff and city tax must be lower than that of neighboring countries. The descendants of future generations shall not increase their own selfishness.

Because among the four places, Taoyi is not the only place that can be regarded as "in the world". The reason why merchants and goods from all over the world flock here is because the customs and commercial taxes are extremely low.

Therefore, even though Cao Bo deprived the people of the right to use the mountains and forests in order to raise money to buy more hunting equipment and breed wild animals, he also increased the land tax to half. Even the salaries of the junior officials in the country were reduced, so that the soap officials sang: "Wan Xi Xi Xi, Ji Nu Si is hungry."

But Uncle Cao knew that Tao City was the foundation of Cao's country, and he had always followed Cao Jinggong's will, and never attacked the merchants and men and women who accounted for one-third of the capital's population.

Having said that, seeing that the gold and silk that Zheng Jia earns from the merchants of Qi can be carried in a car, but as the owner of the pottery market, he can only pick up their scraps to survive, and Uncle Cao is also very unwilling.

But in addition to the fear of Zu Xun, he also knew that if the merchants detoured to other countries, the Cao Kingdom would definitely decline, and they would not be able to collect even the slightest business tax. Killed by Song State!

Cao Boyang finished thinking, and became angry again in vain. Although he was very dissatisfied with the income of the treasury, can this be asked by a foreign minister, a small businessman in the state of Wei?

He turned his head fiercely, and was about to end the conversation in anger, but saw that Wei Shang bowed again: "I have a plan, so that Cao Cao can use the country without raising taxes."

"Without raising taxes, the country will use enough money!?" Uncle Cao's indignation was gone, and all he could think about was how to get this trick out of Zigong's mouth.

He leaned forward with an eager attitude, "Speak quickly, please speak quickly!"

Zigong lowered his head and stroked his legs in embarrassment, and said with a pretense of melancholy: "The foreign ministers often come and go to the goods, the wind and the rain, and he developed rheumatism at a young age. numb..."

Uncle Cao didn't care about Zigong's identity, he quickly said loudly: "Give a seat! Hurry up and give a seat!"

The temple people hurriedly put on the banquet, while Zigong saluted and thanked him, and then slowly knelt down. to ask.

After Zigong was seated, he and Zhao Wuxi looked at each other, and the two nodded slightly, secretly saying that Uncle Cao really cared about the use of the state treasury. As a result, today's strategy was half.

He continued: "In the kingdom of the king of the sea, by virtue of the power of merchants and merchants, and the business of mountains and seas, so that currency, taxes, and wealth can be accumulated, the country can be enriched."

"According to the current situation of the state of Cao, if the tax rate set a hundred years ago is maintained, it will not be enough to meet the expenses of Uncle Cao on hunting, palaces, and beautiful utensils. But if the tax is rashly increased, the merchants will detour and the trade will be reduced. The state of Cao builds the country with a pottery market, and without pottery, there will be no Cao. If the pottery market declines, the treasury will be empty, which is tantamount to killing a chicken and taking its eggs."

Afterwards, Zigong recounted this Zhao Wuxi story and the fable he heard.

"So the foreign minister felt that the best way is not to directly kill the merchants, but to take it from the invisible, so that the people will not be angry and the chicken will not die."

Hearing this, Cao Boyang nodded again and again and looked at him with a fixed gaze. Just waiting for Zigong to tell the method.

Having said this, Zigong stopped again, hesitating, and he hesitated.

Zigong's narration has already touched Cao Boyang's itch. Seeing that he didn't say anything, he jumped up and down in a hurry. What's the matter?

Zigong sighed, "I'm ashamed. When I was young, I followed my elders to sell in the lilu and hurt my throat. Now I'm only talking ten steps away. I feel dry and can't speak anymore."

Cao Boyang stood up on the table and greeted the temple people: "Move the table for Zitai and Zigong. Five steps, no! Within three steps, quickly set up the table for a few feasts, and bring Qiong Berries, vegetables and fruits."

After a while, Zhao Wuxi and Zigong, who were holding back their snickers, sat three steps away from Uncle Cao, enjoying the treatment of guests of a great country.

Here you can see the Jishui River if you look up a little with your head up.

Cao Bo smiled shyly, and bowed to Wuxi and Zigong respectively: "Is there really such a coup to take it from the invisible? The few are stupid. Also ask Zigong to teach me."

After teasing Uncle Cao twice, Zigong's anger after being under house arrest for a month was considered revenge. At this time, he pointed to the river under the pavilion, and said faster, "Uncle Cao, please take a look. This Jishui that flows through Taoyi, just like Qi Shang and Zheng Jia who came to trade here, brought a lot of water. , but the amount of water left behind is small, dare to ask how to retain more water besides using ditches to divert water to irrigate the fields?"

Cao Boyang scratched his head and thought about it for a long time. Then he suddenly remembered the waterside garden he built in the spring, and suddenly realized: "Could it be that a pond or a small lake was dug by the river?"

Zigong slapped his palms and said: "Of course, the ditch is like a tax, everyone can see that the water has been taken away, and the pond is just pouring the river water into it, it seems to flow unchanged, but in fact, it is retained More water flow. If we can follow suit, and we can generate Cao's wealth through the power of the pottery market, we will be able to increase the treasury without increasing taxes."

Cao Bo was so excited that he stroked his beard again and again. He looked at Zhao Wuxi and Zigong with earnest eyes: "Although the truth is like this, how should it be implemented?"

Zigong said word by word: "Four words, encourage extravagance!"

Uncle Cao was shocked, a little incredible. He knew that he was an extravagant monarch, and he was often persuaded by some old ministers on weekdays, saying that hunting and beautiful palaces would only make the treasury empty and the people weak, so it is better to be simple. Perfunctory and annoying, but this Wei businessman said that encouraging extravagance can increase income?

how can that be!

Cao Bo had never heard of such a strange thing, so he opened his mouth slightly and looked at Zhao Wuxi, who had been listening silently.

"Zi Tai, isn't your businessman suffering from hysteria? Did you make a special trip to entertain the widow?"

However, Zhao Wuxi laughed and said: "So that Uncle Cao knows that after the foreign ministers were expelled from the country, they still have money and silk to support six or seven hundred soldiers, so that they can have enough food and clothing, and rely on Zigong to help me farm goods. He is a There are talents out of nothing, Cao Cao don't worry, just listen to what he has to say."

Seeing that Cao Bo had held back his temper, Zigong began to confidently describe the "wasteful" theory that he and Zhao Wuxi discussed.

"Qi merchants and Zheng merchants earn a lot of money and silk in Taoyi every year, most of which are exchanged for special products from other places to take away, or return to the country to buy farm houses. Qi and Zheng merchants leave Cao with a hundred yi goods, and the pass can only be How little is it to receive two yi."

"Yes, too few!" This was also the most indignant part of Uncle Cao.

Zigong smiled and said: "But what if there are a lot of extravagant entertainment in Taoyi? People who eat and drink, people who are extravagant, do what people want. Suppose the tax rate for this industry is 10%, and the merchants of Qi and Zheng are in Taoyi. Consume 100 yi~www.wuxiahere.com~ Uncle Cao can collect 10 yi tax. In this way, not only businessmen will not be reduced, but even many foreign officials and officials will come to Taoyi to have fun. This is not like digging by the river. If you have a big pond, if you are extravagant on the top and you will be extravagant on the bottom, you will not hide your wealth, so the way to accumulate wealth in the country is not good at extravagance!"

Cao Boyang was completely stunned. Zigong's miraculous theory sounded real and very practical, but he was worried again.

"What kind of fun is it to have to lure merchants and high officials to spend extravagantly here."

This time, it was Zhao Wuxi who took over the words: "Uncle Cao, don't worry, the foreign minister had already asked Zigong to do something similar when he was in Shangqiu, and he can fully satisfy the wishes of the merchants and the officials of the officials. As long as Uncle Cao ordered that Sicheng and Master Chu should not embarrass us, and given a special trip with preferential tax rates and protection, Zigong would be able to open a wine shop and all kinds of extravagant businesses in Taoyi, making a fortune for Uncle Cao!"

ps: This theory is taken from "Guanzi. Extravagant" (to be continued)

ps: Thanks to book friends Jiutian Yanyu, Xunlang, New World Zhou, Xiaoqi's miracle of civilization, not who's holiday, and Meng Xiaosuo's reward!

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