Chapter 401 Three Years Later

Prince Huo Yang of Rui and even the emperor felt that it was almost impossible for the two countries to open up mutual trade if the pilot project was in Xizhou.

Because they all felt that Beili only came to Daxing every year to extort food and cloth, so how could there be any good things to trade?

Xizhou is the poorest place in Daxing.

Huo Zheng wanted to make some political achievements when he first arrived in Xizhou, so it was understandable that he made such a big fuss, but if he really wanted to make any real progress, it would take at least ten to eight years.

But what surprised everyone in the capital was that the grain output in Xizhou this year had tripled compared with previous years. After the turquoise, agate, Tibetan carpets, saffron and other items from Beili were introduced to Daxing, they were also very popular among the public.

Items such as cordyceps and golden mushrooms, which were previously rare, have also become regulars at the Xizhou Hu Market.

Even rare and priceless items such as the Ferghana horse and the Tianshan Snow Lotus appeared on the foreign market.

The trade between the two countries grew bigger and bigger, and many small border countries spontaneously joined the trade. Various goods from Dongzhou and Xizhou were also continuously shipped to Xizhou. In a short time, many businessmen emerged in Xizhou, and the first batch of people who dared to think and act quickly became rich.

Song Anlan, Mu Kaiji and others traveled between the states, busy mobilizing specialties and goods from various places, and more and more people were running to Xizhou.

In just half a year, Xizhou was full of talented people and had a brand new look.

Seeing that Xizhou had leaped from the poorest place in Daxing to the place where it was easiest to make money and get rich, people in the capital began to get restless.

Many people who previously opposed the opening of trade between the two countries began to feel jealous.

Especially Prince Rui Huo Yang, he originally thought that Huo Zheng had lost the qualifications to compete for the throne after he went to Xizhou, but he did not expect Huo Zheng to achieve such political achievements in Xizhou.

On the other hand, Huo Yang was named Prince Rui early on, but he shamelessly forced himself to stay in the capital and was targeted by Huo Yan all day long. His father was annoyed by the two brothers fighting with each other and was not very nice to them. Recently, he often went to Concubine Zheng's palace, looking forward to the birth of his youngest son.

Huo Yang became increasingly anxious, and summoned all of King Rui's followers to the palace that night to secretly discuss countermeasures to prevent Huo Zheng from taking advantage of this opportunity to make a comeback.

At the grand court meeting the next day, the Rui Wang party publicly proposed that the trade between the two countries should be formal and legal, and taxes should be levied.

The amount of silver generated by mutual market transactions far exceeds the various taxes in Xizhou.

Imposing this tax would enrich the national treasury, and the emperor would naturally be happy to see it happen.

But Liu Yan stepped out and repeated the memorial that King Chang'an had written to the emperor. One of the items was to show that the court strongly supported the trade between the two countries and would not collect taxes for five years.

The emperor had never thought that Huo Zheng could make the trade so big, and he did not take this tax seriously, so he agreed without paying attention to this point.

Today the situation is very different.

Huo Yang did not expect that Huo Zheng had already been prepared. At this time, Liu Yan repeated these regulations in public, and the ministers in the court were discussing it.

Some people feel that the situation has changed and adjustments are naturally necessary.

Liu Yan said sternly, "The court cannot change its orders overnight. I hope Your Majesty will reconsider."

Mu Qingshan and others also said that imposing additional taxes on trade at this time would inevitably break the trust of the people, and would make Beili and a number of small border countries think that Daxing was only seeking short-term benefits.

The emperor valued his reputation the most, so he naturally couldn't let anyone say that he was short-sighted. After thinking it over, he rejected the request of Prince Rui Huo Yang.

When the news of this incident reached Xizhou, all the officials there breathed a sigh of relief and were thankful that the prince and princess had the foresight to act.

Huo Zheng smiled and said, "It's all thanks to the princess."

"To be honest," Chunzhi said, "when I was selling tofu at a stall in Linshui Town, my biggest fear was that Prince Ning would suddenly increase taxes. Every year, he'd impose new taxes under new pretexts. Xizhou was just about to start developing trade, and we were already facing many difficulties. We couldn't let those taxes force us out of business."

Everyone praised: "Princess, this is a great idea!"

After Chunzhi became the Princess of Chang'an, she did not hide the fact that she was once a tofu seller. Those past events were not a shame to her, but a real part of her life.

It is precisely because she has lived as an ordinary citizen for ten years that Chunzhi knows what ordinary people want most and what they fear most.

Nowadays, people and vehicles are coming and going in Xizhou, and countless business transactions are completed every day in the market. Agricultural trade, recruitment of talents, training of soldiers and horse training are carried out at the same time.

Three years passed in a flash.

Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15th.

The entire Xizhou was decorated with lights and colorful lanterns, dragon and lion dances, and the people were celebrating the festival with great enthusiasm.

I remember that in the past, people in Xizhou City were reluctant to even set off fireworks during festivals, but now every household can come up with something new and exciting.

That night, Chunzhi and Huo Zheng carried Xiaoxing back to the city wall and admired the bright moon with everyone in Xizhou.

Fireworks bloomed all over the city, and when the sparks fell, they were like shooting stars across the sky.

A Mid-Autumn Festival banquet was held on the city wall, and the city's foreign courtesans paraded through the streets, set off fireworks, and danced with dragon lanterns, attracting people from all over the city to watch.

A group of Xizhou officials sat on the city wall, looking at the prosperous scene of Xizhou, feeling deeply moved.

An old man drank two more glasses and burst into tears on the spot, saying that he never expected Xizhou to become so good.

A group of officials tried to comfort him with a mixture of laughter and tears, saying that with the prince and princess around, Xizhou would surely become more and more prosperous, and the people would live a good life.

The old people dare not imagine that there will be better days than now.

"Uncle, have some mooncakes." Lian Xiaoxing took a piece of mooncake and walked over to give it to the old man, comforting him like a little adult: "Let's not talk about those who are too far away. At least now the people of our Xizhou can eat mooncakes like this."

"Thank you, thank you, young master."

The old man was nearly sixty years old, and he felt embarrassed to continue crying when the six-year-old boy used mooncakes to comfort him.

Xiaoxing looked back and saw that he had stopped crying, then returned to his father and mother, took out another mooncake and gave it to Nian'er beside him, and then listened attentively to what everyone at the table said.

Yuzhu and Gu Yuanjia happened to be arranged to sit together today. Mr. Gu seemed to be sitting upright, chatting and laughing with others, but his hand under the table was secretly holding Yuzhu's hand.

Yuzhu was afraid of being seen, so she could only pretend nothing happened, but she didn't know where to look.

Fortunately, everyone at the table was sighing about the good times Xizhou was having, and no one tried to figure out what was happening under the table.

Countless fireworks bloomed in the air at the same time, and suddenly a team of carriages and horses passed through the crowd and headed towards the city wall.

The general guarding the city wall was surprised to see this. "Who dares to ride a horse through the streets with a convoy during the Lantern Festival today?"

The streets were crowded with people walking around, and the group of people who came on horseback and drove were too conspicuous, and many people on the city wall were attracted to them.

Haruzhi was listening to the officials with a smile, and her eyes also looked over there.

At one glance, she almost lost her grip on the wine glass. She couldn't believe what she saw was real. "Yanran?"