The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 192 Turmoil

July 7th, Chinese Valentine's Day.

On the bank of willows, the south wind blows gently, and the swifts fly low.

After a light rain, the endless green grass looked even more vivid. This is the most romantic festival of the year, and a daughter’s tenderness can be fully displayed on this day.

If it comes in the evening, when night falls, the magpie bridge will appear, the bright moon will return, and fireworks will burst from the river bank. Literati expressed their emotions to the moon, and wrote two lines of poems to express their deep feelings.

It is said that in the Qin State of mainland China, on the night of the Chinese Valentine's Day, girls filled bowls with water and placed them in the courtyard, and then scattered a bunch of needles in them. People rushed to watch the pattern appear in the water. If the shape of the pattern was more beautiful, the hand of the person who placed the needle The more dexterous it is. This is the popular practice of "throwing needles and begging for cleverness" during the Qixi Festival in Qin Dynasty, also called "throwing clever needles".

However, in Qi State, girls are more flexible and free on this day. They do not "throw needles and beg for skills" like this. Instead, they go on outings and hunts with their loved ones, not only enjoying the magnificent mountains and rivers of the empire, but also Show their valor and beauty in many places.

"boom!"

Suddenly, a crisp gunshot rang out, breaking the tranquility in the wilderness.

Then, there was the sound of horse hooves, and several young men in hunting attire rode towards the prey.

"It doesn't seem... hit." Zhou Haoxuan sat on the horse, looked around for a while, then turned to a companion and said.

"Where is your wife? After all, she can be regarded as...a woman of the new era. Maybe she will divorce you for the so-called equality between men and women! Hey, these scholars really dare to advocate the liberation of women, break the shackles, and let women They have the same responsibilities and obligations in society as our men, and they are even allowed to serve as officials. What happened? Empress Wu reincarnated? Si Chen? Although, in comparison, the status of women in Qi State is far beyond Other countries can’t be equal to us men, right? Is it possible that our Daqi royal family will have a queen in the future?”

You must know that the Royal Trading Company is a large-scale comprehensive economy with many industries, including investment, finance, scientific research, production, trade, construction, circulation, mining and many other industries. It has dozens or hundreds of entities under its umbrella. There are tens of thousands of employed workers, and it also owns a considerable share of shares in more than a dozen large monopoly trading companies in the country.

"Young Master must have spent the whole day leaning against the red and green, just focusing on honing his other spear." Zhou Haoxuan teased with a smile, with an indescribable aura of vulgarity on his face.

Qi Shigao is a descendant of the old king Qi Dalu. His generation is already the fifth generation, and his blood relationship with the royal family is much weaker, and he is not even considered a royal family member.

"My young lord, have you heard of some discussions about the Royal Trading Company in the market recently?" Riding a horse and walking slowly on the vast grassland, Zhou Haoxuan shook the reins and lifted the head of the horse that was grazing with its head down.

"Really?" Qi Shigao asked with a smile: "I'm afraid that woman won't be able to enter the gate of your Zhou family, right? Are you going to spend money to raise her outside? ... Be careful if your wife knocks on the door!"

"What the young lord said is true! Some people in the country just put their noses in the face, thinking that the royal family is close to the people and delegating power to the people, which is a kind of weakness, and can be judged and judged by others. In my opinion, these remarks should be criticized , investigate them strictly, maybe these people are hiding evil intentions and slandering the royal family to achieve their personal sinister motives."

However, the royal rules are strict. They not only impose many restrictions on the royal family members, but also have various regulations and restrictions on the operating behaviors and processes of the royal trading company. The most basic one is that you cannot use the name of the royal family to do anything. He engaged in the dishonorable behavior of bullying and dominating the market, thus bringing trouble to the royal family.

"Hahaha..." Qi Shigao laughed and pointed at Zhou Haoxuan, "Are you talking about your own behavior? Haoxuan, during this period, no one in the entire Chang'an City knows that you have a crush on that singer from Qin. I have been coveting her for a long time, raising money everywhere behind my back, hoping to redeem her body and settle in Qi, and then come to a golden house to hide my beauty! Tell me, have you crawled under someone else's bed?"

"Some people say that for nationwide tax audits, why not start with the Royal Trading Company?"

"That's right!" Zhou Haoxuan nodded in agreement: "The people who said these words are purely ungrateful! If Emperor Taizu hadn't single-handedly opened up the foundation of Hanzhou, innovated the past, and established regulations and systems, How could the empire be as prosperous as it is today? These people use their own selfish thoughts to speculate on and target the royal family, with really sinister intentions!"

"What are you talking about?" Qi Shigao watched as two Hanzhou natives carried the prey and quickly rushed to the campsite. There were many women gathered there. They had prepared drinks, fruits, snacks, and grilled food. Standing, waiting for the prey to be delivered.

However, relying on the kindness of his ancestors, his father found a position as the chief shopkeeper of the Royal Trading Company more than ten years ago (according to the industry breakdown, the Royal Trading Company has a total of nine shopkeepers). Although he has no power, he is extremely wealthy. Relying on the Royal Trading Company The salary, dividends and various related businesses of the trading company, as well as the large plantations opened in Nanyang, can also earn more than 100,000 yuan in interest every year, and they are definitely among the "rich people" in Qi.

In addition, the Royal Trading Company is also the main provider of funds for the Royal Academy of Sciences, major research institutes, institutions of higher learning, low-rent housing, as well as domestic welfare institutions such as the Freemasons, Almshouses and Disability Welfare Institutions. Its influence is absolutely decisive in the country. of.

"That's not the case." Zhou Haoxuan shook his head, "My wife, everything is fine, but she reads too much and thinks too much in her mind. Tell me, does my Zhou family lack her food? Not so much. She insists on teaching in the university, and if she is busy early and late, she will have no interest in life when she returns to the house. As for whether she will fight with me for a woman who is raised outside, I guess she has no chance It can’t be done.”

Not to mention, with the sign of being the boss of the Royal Trading Company on his head, no official from the cabinet ministers to the local prefectures would dare to sell a penny of noodles.

"That's natural." Qi Shigao nodded and said: "These people only saw the huge profits made by the Royal Trading Company, but they chose to turn a blind eye to the contribution made by the Royal Trading Company and the support for the orphans and disabled people and many other good deeds. It is true that Shameless and vicious people!”

"Humph, let's not mention that the royal trading company strictly pays various taxes in accordance with the law, and has never delayed or omitted. Even if I, as the royal family of Daqi, don't pay, who would dare to pay!" Qi Shigao said bitterly: "Look at this. In the past dynasties of China, when did taxation target the royal family? Looking at the world today, no government would tax the royal family! That is to say, Emperor Taizu wanted to personally subsidize the country and strengthen it. The government finance department has made such regulations, allowing the royal trading company to pay various government taxes in accordance with the rules of ordinary domestic trading companies. The government and the people have gotten an advantage, but they still want to force me, the royal family, again?"

"Damn it, I haven't been hunting for a long time, and I'm still unfamiliar with my hands. I let that marsupial escape in vain!" Qi Shigao shook his head mockingly, but his hands were not idle at all. He held the shotgun in his left hand and took it out of his pocket with his right hand. The gunpowder and projectiles were fixed and loaded quickly, while the eyes were constantly patrolling the vicinity, hoping to find new prey.

"Inspect the Royal Trading Company?" Qi Shigao heard this and his eyes widened immediately, "What bold and crazy person said these rebellious words? This is clearly aimed at our Daqi royal family! Without the royal family, where would the Daqi Empire come from? ? Without the royal family, how could there be such a good life for the tens of millions of people in the country today? Without the royal family, wouldn’t you be afraid of being robbed as slaves by the Western barbarians and barbarians, and never be able to stand up again? "

"Oh?" Zhou Hao No, I, Zhou, suddenly feel that life is boring!"

"How can the royal business be questioned and investigated? This trip must not be carried out, and this trend must not rise." Zhou Haoxuan said in a deep voice: "This is related to the dignity of the royal family, and the royal dignity cannot be desecrated."

Are you kidding me? How could a tax audit be traced to the Royal Trading Company so easily?

Isn't this a slap in the face to Royal Chi Guoguo?

In other words, as long as the officials and officials of the General Department of Taxation dare not investigate the royal trading companies, then naturally nothing will happen to the several trading companies and factories of their Zhou family that have the royal name, and there is no need to pay for the large number of people who escaped in the past. I am worried about paying taxes.

Let me see, which minister dares to say that he will be the first to investigate the royal property?
-

While the princes and nobles are keen on hunting in the countryside, enjoying the majestic beauty of nature, and feeling the joy of the fields, the common people prefer to listen to some storytelling in teahouses, listen to some tunes in the theater, or play on the streets in their spare time. Watch an exotic entertainer perform juggling and skills.

Yueminglou in Zhuque District, Chang'an is one of the largest teahouses in the city. Every afternoon, special storytellers and jugglers will take the stage there to play, sing, and comment on legendary stories.

At this time, the audience was crowded with spectators who had been waiting for a long time. Gather a group of three or five friends, order a pot of tea, a few side dishes, and buy a bag of melon seeds and peanuts. They sit around a small table, chatting, eating snacks, and waiting for the artist to appear.

The famous actor had just come out from behind the thick curtain, and before he even opened his mouth to speak, there was already thunderous cheers. Not to mention that when the play reaches its climax, the entire audience shouts loudly, making the whole teahouse lively.

There are many connoisseurs among the many spectators in the audience. They have sophisticated tastes and are extremely sensitive to the transitions of timbre, context, plot, tone, and emotion. The reputation and reputation of famous actors and artists on the stage are often reflected in their comments.

In addition to opera and storytelling, in recent years, a new art form - Yangzhou Pinghua - has been introduced from Qin to major cities in Qi including Chang'an.

The biggest feature of Yangzhou Pinghua is its meticulous expression and subtle depiction, which is in sharp contrast to the roughness and simplicity of traditional northern storytellers in mainland China. It was originally based on the Yangzhou dialect, with Zhongzhou rhymes and dialects playing the role. It uses hands, eyes, body, and steps to express ideas. It focuses on portraying characters and shaping artistic images in conflicts and conflicts, and pays attention to narrative, expression, and appearance. There are many expression techniques such as character expression, atmosphere expression, freehand expression, drawing expression, funny expression, comment expression and so on.

However, after Yangzhou Pinghua spread to the territory of Qi State, people had to follow the local customs. Naturally, the "mandarin" of Qi State should be used as the standard. Otherwise, few people in the audience would be able to understand it and would look at the commentators dumbfounded and not do anything. If you are moved, wouldn't it be embarrassing for both parties?

Just as this artist's "Tao Jing" says: "When telling a book, you need to reason, when you talk about reasons, you need to talk about things, when you talk about things, you need to talk about people, and when talking about people, you need to talk about your heart." The structure of Yangzhou Pinghua is almost always in the form of a character in the book connecting the book to the end, which is different from the structural form of the multiple lines of story telling events in the Northern School.

Whenever a storyteller from the Qin State takes the stage to tell ancient and modern anecdotes, the audience must be filled with emotion. Their heartbeats and thoughts have already followed the artist on the stage, watching his every not-exaggerated but vivid body movement, every sound A sigh full of helplessness, and the unwillingness to be defeated by reality.

The content of these commentaries is very wide. In addition to telling some traditional heroic deeds and historical stories such as "Three Kingdoms" and "Water Margin", sometimes in order to keep the audience's curiosity, they also tell some anecdotes that reflect real-life issues. , or some commonplace affairs full of mystery and glamour. The images of knights in rivers and lakes, talented scholars and beauties, upright knights and knights, etc. account for an increasing proportion in the comments.

“…Today, let’s talk about the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty. In order to embezzle people’s money and disregard their integrity, Emperor Shenzong issued dozens of imperial edicts and sent palace eunuchs to various parts of the country to specialize in collecting mining taxes. They were mine supervisors. ...The money collected this time was not for the state, but went into the emperor's personal purse. It's a pity that as the king of a country, you only want to make money. Those eunuchs who serve as mine supervisors and tax envoys are naturally full of fat. The people all complained."

"...Eighteen provinces in the Han Dynasty, hundreds of prefectures, counties and military prefectures. Wherever there is a mine, there are eunuchs to control it, and countless families have been destroyed. ... Dear readers, these mine supervisors are comparable to Are you going to the country to audit the tax collectors?"

"Wow..."

The audience burst into laughter.

"Master Yu, you are wrong! The mine supervisors of Emperor Wanli of the former Ming Dynasty are not comparable to the tax collectors of our Qi State. That is under the guarantee of the national legal system, reasonable taxation, taking it from the people, and using it for the people!"

"What the hell are the mine supervisors in the former Ming Dynasty? Aren't they all just the same eggless eunuchs? Our tax collectors in Qi are serious civil servants!"

"Who says it's not the case! We have tax collectors from Qi State coming to conduct inspections. Which trading company, industry or mine dares not to pay government taxes?"

"..."

"Come on!" The artist on the stage was smiling, and after bowing to the audience, he patted the wooden door heavily, "Qi State is really like a superior country! Nowadays, tax collectors are everywhere, inspecting In the world, with such momentum and majesty, even if the eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty used their power to commit crimes and wreak havoc in all directions, they would be inferior!"

"Hey, after Master Yu said this, I feel that the tax collectors in Qi are comparable to the mine supervisors of the former Ming Dynasty!"

"Yes, yes! I heard that many local trading company owners stopped production and laid off all their workers in response to the national tax audit. Where did this come from?"

"That's right, there is news from a trading company that it is a tax audit and production must be stopped first. If a problem is found, it must not be closed down immediately!"

"Look at what you said, it seems like tax collectors are disrupting normal business operations..."

"Not to mention, many business owners think so. This government will follow the example of the previous government and prepare to suppress merchants!"

"..."

"What nonsense!" Yao Shaoxiong peeled off a few peanuts, threw them into his mouth, and laughed dumbly, "Our country of Qi is founded on industry and commerce, how could we stop eating due to choking and suppress merchants?"

"Old Yao, don't you smell anything?" Fan Zhiqi showed a trace of solemnity on his face, staring at the commentator on the stage. While bowing, he laughed and joked about the recent national tax audit. .

"What does it smell like?" Yao Shaoxiong said nonchalantly: "It's still a while before dinner! What's the matter, have you smelled the delicacies at Changchunju next door?"

"Someone is going to cause trouble!"

"Huh?" Yao Shaoxiong was shocked when he heard this, and his eyes instantly swept to every corner of the teahouse, and his eyes became extremely sharp.

"It's not a teahouse." Fan Zhiqi said solemnly: "Someone is taking advantage of this nationwide tax audit to stir up trouble and start to incite rumors."

"Old Fan, what do you mean..." Yao Shaoxiong immediately understood.

"I'll keep an eye on it here. You go and call a few brothers over and arrest the critic and the people behind him first." Fan Zhiqi's mouth showed a bit of sternness. On the topic of tax audit, if you say he has no problem, you won’t believe it!”

"Well, you're really keeping an eye on me. I'll come as soon as I go." After hearing this, Yao Shaoxiong stood up and walked out without any delay.

Damn it, I really thought our polling office was vegetarian!

(End of this chapter)