"Hmm?" Xuan Tianming was surprised by his question. "The three provinces in the northern border are exempt from taxes. This is a rule that was established more than a hundred years ago. Why do you have doubts?"
The fat boss nodded vigorously, "Yes! There is a big doubt!" He seemed a little excited, and his voice subconsciously raised a lot, and he said loudly, "We have never heard of tax exemption. We have to pay taxes for everything we do, and the taxes are very heavy. I have to pay half of the money I make from selling noodles for a day to the government. *huotxt/. . . "
As soon as these words came out, Xuan Tianming and the other three frowned at the same time. Feng Yuheng immediately realized that something was wrong and rushed to ask, "What about the children going to school? What about the people seeing doctors? The houses you live in should be passed down from your ancestors, right? These don't require any money, right?"
This conversation was heard by many people, and they gathered around. Someone said, "Duanmu Anguo said that the Dashun court exempted half of the children's school and medical treatment fees, so we only need to pay half of the normal amount. As for the house, it was passed down from our ancestors, and they also said that the Dashun court built it for us, but we still have to pay the court management fees every year."
Someone else said, "Yes! But this is already very good. If the court hadn't exempted half of the silver, how could the children afford to go to school?"
As soon as these words came out, Bai Ze became anxious, slammed the table, and shouted angrily, "You have all been deceived by Duanmu Anguo! For more than a hundred years! More than a hundred years!"
"Cheated?" People were puzzled. "How was it cheated?"
Bai Ze was so angry that he stamped his feet. Feng Yuheng and Xuan Tianming looked at each other, and then he saw Xuan Tianming stood up, facing the people, and said loudly, "You have indeed been deceived. Since more than a hundred years ago, after the three provinces of the Northern Boundary were incorporated into the territory of Dashun, my Xuan family has considered the special terrain and environment of the Northern Boundary. You cannot grow crops, so we encourage people to start other side jobs. We built houses, shops, academies, and clinics for you. Except for the cost of the 'medicine' materials, which the patients have to pay for themselves, the cost of seeing a doctor, the cost of the children's schooling, as well as the house and shop, are all borne by the court, and you don't need to pay extra. In addition, the court exempted the three provinces of the Northern Boundary from taxes more than a hundred years ago. You can completely control your income and don't need to pay a penny to the government;"
"What?" People were dumbfounded. No need to pay taxes? But... "But only if the daughter of the family is selected as the Winter Concubine, there is no need to pay taxes!"
Xuan Tianming shook his head. "Everything I said is true. For more than a hundred years, the imperial court has not asked for a penny from the Northern Territory. However, a large sum of money is transferred to the Northern Territory every day, just to let you live a good life and feel the friendliness and warmth of Dashun, so as not to be chilled in such a cold Northern Territory. As for the situation you described, I think it should be Duanmu Anguo's personal behavior of deceiving his superiors and subordinates. At this time, when my army enters Songzhou, I will investigate it strictly."
Everyone was shocked!
The news delivered by Xuan Tianming really shocked them. They had heard the strange voice in the streets and alleys saying that if they wanted to return Qianzhou, they had to return the money they had paid to the academy and clinic over the years. They thought they were going to return the half they had not paid, but they didn't expect that Dashun had never asked them for anything! All of this was done by Duanmu Anguo himself!
The crowd became excited, and the people from the Northern Territory were all impatient. Men and women began to curse Duanmu Anguo, and some even shouted that they wanted to join the army to attack Songzhou and capture Duanmu Anguo alive and chop him into meat paste.
Xuan Tianming and his men began to appease the people again. Xuan Tianming even promised, "In the future, no matter how much gold, silver and wealth we collect from Duanmu Anguo's mansion, we will convert it into silver and divide it equally among the people of the three realms."
People cheered, and the last bit of affection for Qian Zhou and Duanmu Anguo disappeared.
Feng Yuheng asked the fat boss to make another bowl of noodles, and personally helped the old woman to sit over here, then placed the bowl of noodles in front of her, and said with a smile, "Eat, and we'll take you home when you're full."
The old woman's eyes were filled with tears, but she kept begging Feng Yuheng, "Don't blame my son, he has no choice. It's all my fault that I'm incompetent and haven't been able to raise him well. He's almost forty before he can find a wife. If we don't follow the wishes of the wife, she won't marry us. Isn't this a waste of time? I don't want anything else. It doesn't matter if I have to go begging on the street. I just hope that they can give birth to a child as soon as possible, so that when I get there, I can also face my old man who died early."
Someone who heard this also said, "The husband in her family died early, so life was hard. Plus, her son was born lame, so no girl wanted to marry him. The current daughters-in-law are from the countryside."
Feng Yuheng frowned and thought for a while, but didn't say anything. He just pushed the bowl of noodles towards the old lady again and said, "Eat, and we'll take you home when you're full;"
The old lady didn't understand what she meant. Hunger made it impossible for her to think any further. She grabbed the chopsticks and shoveled noodles into her mouth.
The other people gathered around Xuan Tianming and asked him questions. The Ninth Prince, who was originally scary in their eyes, was now chattering like a fellow villager. Xuan Tianming even asked a few elderly people to sit down together, and they sat opposite him without any hesitation. People told him about the situation in the Northern Realm over the years, starting from Duanmu Anguo's heavy taxes, and all the way to his annual selection of the Winter Concubine.
A young concubine said with red eyes, "My daughter is just fourteen years old. She was sent to Songzhou at the beginning of last year. She is pretty and it is said that Duanmu Anguo fell in love with her at first sight and kept her in the Winter Palace. Our family has reduced taxes and given her a lot of money, but who would be willing to exchange a good girl for money? She is so young, how can she be someone's wife? Duanmu Anguo is simply committing a sin."
Under her influence, those who had daughters in the Winter Palace began to complain, and some even knelt down and begged Xuan Tianming to rescue their daughters. No matter whether they could get married in the future, it was better for them to be at home than to be harmed by that perverted Duanmu Anguo over there.
Xuan Tianming had heard about Duanmu Anguo's selection of the Winter Concubine before, but he had never thought it would be so serious. This time, he went deep into the Northern Realm and heard and saw with his own eyes what the people had said. He immediately felt angry and guilty, and couldn't help but say, "The court has acknowledged this matter. It is the Dashun court that has let you down. For so many years, you actually trusted Duanmu Anguo so much and didn't have a deep understanding of the actual situation in the Northern Realm. Don't worry, I will do my best to rescue all the women in the Winter Palace and ensure their safety."
In fact, he knew that it was not that the court really believed in Duanmu Anguo, but that the northern border belonged to the Duanmu family, which was decided more than a hundred years ago. At that time, there was no Emperor Tianwu, and no one could make this decision. The drawbacks have been passed down from generation to generation until now. When Emperor Tianwu wanted to make some changes and do something, Duanmu An's power in the north was already deeply rooted. As the saying goes, the ice is three feet thick, and it is not frozen in one day. A single move can move the whole body. The northern border is not so easy to move.
However, now that he has led his troops north, all of this must be completely resolved today and this time.
Since entering Guanzhou City, Xuan Tianming, Feng Yuheng, and deputy generals such as Qian Li all deeply understood one truth, that is, winning the hearts of the people is the key to winning the world. If the people's hearts are not in Dashun, no matter how powerful the army is, it will be meaningless to station there.
They were all looking for opportunities to effectively contact the people of the Northern Territory, and gradually and subtly influence them with their own ideas, including the two of them going out today, and Feng Yuheng choosing such a noodle shop on the street in the downtown area to eat, which was also intended to understand the people's sentiments; but they did not expect that there would be such an opportunity that would attract so many people to gather around them, chatting and eating noodles together in a harmonious atmosphere, and even at the end of the conversation, Xuan Tianming was already asking them what they hoped their hometown would be like if the Northern Territory returned to Dashun in the future?
The people were talking about the future, and gradually, more and more people gathered around the small noodle stall. The fat boss had never been so proud before. He stood very close to Xuan Tianming, and from time to time he stopped people from getting too close. Every time this happened, Xuan Tianming would say, "It's okay, you come closer, and the people behind you can hear me talking."
Some people were puzzled. They heard that the Ninth Prince of Dashun was a man with a strange temperament and a bad temper. He would whip anyone to death if he didn't like them, and burn down anyone's house if he didn't like them. But now, he doesn't look like a bad temper! How good is this man, he has no airs at all, so close to the people. Not to mention that he is a prince, even when Duanmu Anguo was the governor of a region, he didn't dare to be so close to the people, for fear of assassins or something. Now it seems that it really fits the saying that the more you show something, the more you lack it. Duanmu Anguo's airs are so big, which shows that what he really lacks is a noble status. On the contrary, like the Ninth Prince, he is the son of the dragon. Who else in the world is greater than him except the emperor? He doesn't need to show or prove his status, his status is there, so he is closer to the people.
Feng Yuheng thought that such a harmonious atmosphere was really thanks to Duanmu Anguo. If it weren't for the fact that his Duanmu family had gone against the will of the court and privately embezzled the money allocated by the national treasury for so many years, the people might not have been able to get along with Xuan Tianming so smoothly all of a sudden. It was the Duanmu family's self-destruction that gave them the best opportunity to integrate with the Northern Realm.
Feng Yuheng smiled as she watched Xuan Tianming's every move. No matter how she looked at him, she felt that the man she had chosen was truly the best in the world. No one else could have his style, and no one else could have his natural temperament. It was true that her man was always good no matter how she looked at him.
She couldn't help but smile, and she said silently as she walked to work, "Flower maniac."
She raised an eyebrow, "I'd love to."
But at this moment, a deputy general of the Dashun Army squeezed forward from the crowd, squeezed to Xuan Tianming in a mess, and said urgently, "Your Highness, it's not good, Duanmu Anguo has started killing people in Songzhou!"
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