"God of war, does the East-West Trade Zone allow people to pass through the city?"
"No! We need to be on guard against sneak attacks. How can we have the time to constantly monitor the trade caravans passing through Haifan City?" The trade zones outside Haifan City's east and west walls are closed. Did the Qingfeng and Leishen tribes pretend to be trade slaves in an attempt to sneak in and attack Haifan City?
"Is there any problem?" Such a simple question, why do the three priests need to ask?
"The Qingfeng tribe wants to pay the city entrance fee using mid-grade fire-type spirit stones." No wonder the third priest was tempted. Mid-grade fire-type spirit stones are what Ma Yue needs, and they are not cheap.
In theory, the eastern trade zone, with its hundreds of tribes, was indeed prosperous. West of the city, however, there were only a few major tribes, the Qingfeng Tribe and the Moon Tribe. Even including the grassland people of Sun City, the rest were small and medium-sized tribes living outside the protected areas of the warm zone. The trading volume was incomparable to that of the eastern trade zone.
"What do you think?" Ma Yue asked Shang Yin.
"A large trade caravan is going to pass through our Haifan City, so I must reach the military realm. Charlatan, this is a good opportunity to start alternative taxation. As long as the benefits are enough, it's worth it!" Shang Yin is of course starting from the perspective of profit. There is no gain without pain. The Hai tribe allows you to trade in the trade zone, but no taxes have been collected.
Wouldn't it be possible to gain some benefits altogether?
"Didn't they say that Haifan City is short of manpower?"
"That's relative. As long as the benefits are sufficient, it's worthwhile. We've hired a lot of outsiders. In other words, we've opened the East-West Trade Zone, which requires manpower to maintain the Zetian Channel. Doesn't that mean they also have to pay for their labor?" Shang Yin said.
Ma Yueyi pondered, isn't this similar to the city gate tax collected in the previous life?
"Will the people from the trade team sneak into our Haifan City and hide there?"
"That won't happen. Our Ministry of Civil Affairs has an organization system, and almost every brigade sleeps together." said the third priest.
Ma Yue was thinking carefully, was he being too nervous? Wasn't the commercial street in his previous life also in the city?
"Third Priest, Shang Yin, please consult with Luo Bai and Shuichong to find a more reasonable solution."
"Understood!" Once trade passes through Haifan City, it will inevitably involve the issue of military realm, so of course we have to find Luo Bai and Shuichong.
Haifan City is stuck in the middle of the East-West Trade Zone. We can't afford not to pay the "bridge toll." Otherwise, it's disconnected. What can you do? If you don't like it... no other coastal port is suitable as a central trading point like this.
Is it okay to put the trade zone in the city? Firstly, Haifan City needs to worry about more; secondly, not everyone is willing to pay taxes. This primitive world is very poor.
Without even a currency, one can imagine how difficult transactions were. If the Sea Tribe hadn't invented units of measurement like jin and liang, transactions would have been even more difficult.
The Hai Tribe was not only a trade center, but was almost becoming a cultural center. They simply learned and used whatever the Hai Tribe had. The Hai Tribe's language and writing system had become almost universal. With so many different dialects among the tribes, wouldn't it be easier to communicate and trade if they all adopted the Hai Tribe's language and writing system?
Ma Yue thought about it. The idea of paying taxes wasn't very realistic. Without a recognized currency, how could you collect taxes from people trading a sheep? Would you chop off a leg of the sheep as tax? Haha!
In early feudal society, the public didn't recognize gold and silver. The standard for transactions was essentially cloth and grain. Cloth and grain were the most widely recognized commodities. Gold and silver, if you couldn't eat or drink them, were of little use.
Shouldn't sweet potatoes and potatoes be the standard for trade? Come on! The Hai Tribe, which produces the most sweet potatoes and potatoes, doesn't even have enough to eat themselves, so what's the point of trading?
Generally speaking, it is because productivity is too low.
Why would the Qingfeng Tribe want to go to the East City Trade Zone? They say the fish there is cheaper. After all, fish is meat, right? The Qingfeng Tribe's sweet potato production is quite good. If they see fit, they could even trade their livestock for other foods like fish. That would be great, wouldn't it?
If you want development, you have to have peace. Constant wars are just nonsense.
In the core area, the Qingfeng Tribe and the Moon Tribe have their own territories and have no intention of fighting. They focus on farming and animal husbandry. How great is that? Isn't everyone happy?
Some were unhappy, like the Thunder God Tribe in the warm zone. Although they were no longer in the protected area of Haifan City and had more freedom to develop, they were still far from the core area and Haifan City, truly isolated and safe.
Whether it was the number of large livestock or farming tools, they were far inferior to the Sea Tribe. As for copper plowshares, you couldn't even buy them. The Sea Tribe's own copper production was very limited, and the copper items offered for trade were pitifully small.
The even more backward productivity has greatly restricted the development of the Thunder God Tribe. It is still a long time before they can recover their vitality. This has been a frustrating experience for the ambitious Lei Ting for many years.
Even though he'd managed to recruit some small tribes thanks to Thunder's miracles, what good was that? Haifan City's southern branch had been completely evacuated due to the war, and your Thunder God Tribe wouldn't dare enter, right? As long as the Sea Tribe didn't fall, Thunder God Tribe knew they had no chance.
Many tribes in this area are content to just survive, but the ambitious Lei Ting is not like that.
"You want to return to the core area now? The Qingfeng Tribe definitely won't allow that. Your Leishen Tribe was too aggressive back then. It's best to get out of here."
The Southern Branch of the Sea Tribe was becoming increasingly less visible. Their original 3,000 cavalry had been reduced to 1,500. Given the standard of requiring two people to pull a large animal, a combined force of 3,000 men and 3,000 large animals was clearly unreasonable.
The 1,500 large livestock that were cleared out were assigned to the Northern Branch. The Northern Branch has a large population, over 10,000 people.
When the North and South Divisions were first established, security was the primary concern, so they were primarily cavalry. Now, the focus is on the utilization of the large livestock in the production squadrons. Wasting the efficiency of large livestock is the greatest waste.
As for Qiu Haicheng, he only has 800 cavalrymen. The situation is special, so there is no way to waste some of them.
Lei Ting felt that this was simply the Sea Tribe's blatant disrespect for their own Thunder God Tribe. Even if the Southern Branch didn't have as many cavalry, what was there to be afraid of? Come and fight if you dare? The Sea Tribe's retaliation would be fierce.
The leader of the Southern Branch was also changed. White Eagle went to Lingguo Island; Zhuozhuo, who came back after a long voyage with no gains, became the boss of the Southern Branch.
Ma Yue had his own reasons for Bai Ying's departure to Lingguo Island, and Lei Qing was more focused on cultivation. Therefore, the Lingguo Island branch needed someone to take charge, and Bai Ying, with his expertise in both military and civil affairs, was the perfect candidate. At least, there would be someone in charge of the military, right? Leaving Bai Ying in the Southern Branch seemed like a waste.
White Eagle had performed well in the previous raid on Xishui Bay, and Ma Yue had high hopes for him. The Lingguo Island branch was becoming increasingly important. In the future, whether it was defense or offense, White Eagle would be a formidable force.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
