Zhao Qingzhu didn't understand what Zhu Yuntong meant by saying he would get angry if they went to Xi'an.

However, she didn't think much of it, assuming that Prince Qin, Zhu Shuang, was secretly colluding with Zhu Yunwen, which was why Zhu Yunwen got angry.

But that's not actually the reason.

Zhu Yunwen knew that Prince Qin, Zhu Shuang, would probably do many things in Xi'an that would anger him.

If I hadn't come to see it before, I might not have been too angry. But now that I've come in person, if I see something, I'm sure I'll lose my temper.

As the saying goes, out of sight, out of mind. If you don't see something, you might not get so angry just from hearing about it.

However, some things, if witnessed firsthand, are enough to ignite intense anger.

Therefore, Zhu Yunwen had already mentally prepared himself, telling himself that he would definitely encounter many things that would make him angry after arriving in Xi'an.

But even though he had thought that way, what he saw and heard after actually arriving in Xi'an still made him very angry.

As soon as he approached Xi'an Prefecture, Zhu Yunwen discovered that countless people were displaced outside the city.

Many refugees and beggars gathered at the city gate, but the passersby seemed to have become accustomed to this scene.

It should be noted that there are no natural or man-made disasters in the vicinity of Xi'an, so it is unlikely that there would be any refugees or displaced people under such circumstances.

However, outside the city, there were hundreds, even thousands, of refugees who lived like beggars, begging for a living.

At the very least, they are homeless, which makes this scene somewhat puzzling.

Even after witnessing this scene, Zhao Qingzhu said to Zhu Yunwen:

"I haven't heard of any disaster in Xi'an. How come there are so many homeless refugees?"

Zhu Yunwen frowned, snorted, and said:

"It's either a natural disaster or a man-made one. Let's go into the city."

With that, he led Zhao Qingzhu and nine Imperial Guards into the city gate of Xi'an Prefecture.

Xi'an was a very prosperous city, after all, it had been an imperial capital for a long time, and during the Tang Dynasty, its prosperity could even be said to be the best in the world.

Even after all these years, Xi'an is still bigger than a horse, even though it's a lean camel.

No wonder Zhu Yuanzhang sent his second son to Xi'an to assume his fiefdom.

In stark contrast to the scene outside where there were many refugees, Xi'an was a bustling and prosperous city with hardly any beggars or refugees.

This slightly improved Zhu Yunwen's mood, but not long after, when he passed by the gate of the Xi'an Prefecture government office, he saw a large number of people kneeling there.

One commoner even shouted wildly at the government office, only to be beaten by several constables who rushed out of the office.

Zhao Qingzhu couldn't stand it any longer and said to Zhu Yunwen:

"That person clearly has some grievance, but the government office seems unwilling to handle it and instead beat him up. Isn't that just unreasonable?"

Zhu Yunwen said, "The world is vast, and many bad things happen all the time. It's unrealistic to try to manage them all, but we can't ignore them either..."

At this point, he sighed helplessly, then said to one of the Imperial Guards behind him:

"Let's investigate first."

The Imperial Guard nodded and left, and then Zhu Yunwen took Zhao Qingzhu to a nearby tavern and ordered a few dishes.

The most famous foods in Xi'an Prefecture are mostly noodles, and Zhu Yunwen and his entourage were able to try some of the local specialties.

However, when it came time to pay for the meal, Zhu Yunwen was stunned.

A meal that would normally cost only a few dozen coins elsewhere costs over a hundred coins here.

It has more than doubled.

This puzzled Zhu Yunwen, who said to the waiter:

"It's just some pies and a few side dishes, why are you charging so much?"

The waiter asked, "Are you all from out of town?"

Zhu Yunwen nodded and said:

"That's right, they're from Nanjing!"

The waiter suddenly realized and said:

"I see. In that case, it's not surprising that you didn't know."

Zhu Yunwen smiled and said:

"Then why don't you explain yourself to us?"

Upon hearing this, the waiter first sighed, then, while wiping the table, whispered to Zhu Yuntong and the others:

"Alas, you don't know, the taxes here are very heavy. Not to mention a tavern like ours, even the people who carry a load on the street to sell cakes and pears have to spend almost half of their money on taxes."

These high taxes once caused us business owners to lose money, so we had no choice but to raise the price of food.

This way, we can at least break even and earn a tiny bit of income. Otherwise, the little we earn probably wouldn't even cover our taxes.

Zhu Yunwen touched his nose in confusion and said:

"This tax is half of the revenue? How can it be so high? Hasn't it always been one-tenth or one-twelfth of the profit?"

Zhu Yunwen understood that the difference between half of the total revenue and one-tenth or one-twelfth of the profit was not insignificant.

Profit and revenue are two different things. Revenue refers to the income from selling a meal for 100 coins, without deducting costs.

Profit is calculated after deducting costs. Generally speaking, taxes only account for the profit portion, which is the portion earned.

Generally speaking, only one or two tenths are collected, meaning that if ten coins are earned, one or two coins are collected as tax.

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