Chapter 571

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Wei Family Restaurant.

Xiao Qi looked at the bustling streets of Qingzhou with a sense of bewilderment. He had sent someone to convey the truce conditions back to Jinling City, but he felt very pessimistic about the outcome.

In fact, after the alliance failed, Xiao Han had widely slandered him in Jinling City, implying that he was merely superficial and that the alliance was a foolish idea.

However, despite this, the Prince of Wei had not lost his trust in him, but the Prince of Wei’s attitude was also very clear: he wanted Xiao Ming to withdraw his troops and return the cities. But today, after seeing the truce agreement, he suddenly understood that Wei’s territory had completely become an item of trade between Xiao Ming and the other vassal kings.

Precisely because of this, he suddenly felt a pang of sadness. Once upon a time, Wei’s territory was the foremost fief in Great Yu Empire, and even Xiao Wenxuan had to be wary of it. But now, Wei’s territory could only tremble in Xiao Ming’s shadow.

Yes, the Prince of Wei had some backbone, but in his opinion, no matter how tough that backbone was, it couldn’t stand against Xiao Ming’s guns and cannons now.

It was just that the Prince of Wei had not yet emerged from this disparity, still looked down on Xiao Ming, and was even more unwilling to submit to him.

Sighing, Xiao Qi closed his eyes. After Xiao Ming left this time, he suddenly had an ominous premonition. This feeling was strange, but he couldn’t quite explain it.

However, the ominous premonition soon became reality. On the third day, he received news of the Southern Expedition Army’s attack on Huaizhou.

Upon learning this news, he finally understood Xiao Ming’s words: as long as the truce agreement was not signed for one day, he would have time to continue conquering cities and seizing land. At this point, the Prince of Yan’s envoy and the Prince of Zhao’s envoy were also helpless, as all of this was his doing.

And by the time the Prince of Wei agreed to this matter, Huaizhou would probably also be a city listed in the truce agreement. Thinking of this, he immediately wrote a letter to the Prince of Wei, urging him to agree to the truce.

Otherwise, Wei’s territory would only lose more and more cities, and the Prince of Yan and the Prince of Zhao would not stop Xiao Ming.

In King Qi’s residence, three streets away from Wei Family Restaurant, Xiao Ming also received news of the Southern Expedition Army’s attack on Huaizhou.

“Your Highness, the Prince of Wei is suffering the consequences of his own actions this time. We don’t need to be polite. After taking Huaizhou, the land at the northern gate of Wei’s territory will all be ours, and our fief will increase by a million people,” Pang Yukun said.

Xiao Ming nodded. Pengzhou City had a population of five hundred thousand, Tongzhou City two hundred thousand, and Huaizhou City about three hundred thousand, totaling one million people. This was equivalent to increasing the fief’s population by a third. The South was indeed a densely populated area.

If he were to completely annex Wei’s territory, he estimated that the fief’s population would reach seven million, a number basically comparable to England’s population at this time.

With this population base, he would no longer fear the human wave tactics of other allied vassal kings. However, Huaizhou was now heavily fortified by the Prince of Wei, and it would probably not be easy for the Southern Expedition Army to crack this tough nut.

“I just hope Lu Fei can take Huaizhou quickly. By the way, what about the agricultural tax you mentioned last time? Were there any complications?”

Conquering territory was important, but internal governance was the foundation of conquering territory, so Xiao Ming dared not slack off at all.

Pang Yukun said, “Your Highness, I came precisely to discuss this matter. The people of the six prefectures did not object to the resumption of agricultural tax. After all, they had paid agricultural tax before, and this time our agricultural tax is very low, so the people are quite happy. Therefore, the collection of agricultural tax has been very smooth.”

After a pause, he continued, “However, some common people are unwilling to pay grain to offset the agricultural tax, but instead directly pay silver, cloth, raw silk, and other things. I wonder what Your Highness’s intentions are?”

“It’s normal for the common people to want to keep more grain now that they know the outside world is in chaos. Moreover, Great Yu Empire’s agricultural tax collection originally allowed for various goods to offset it. Since some are doing this, accept it,” Xiao Ming said contemplatively.

Pang Yukun nodded, then asked a very important question, “Your Highness, should the collected agricultural tax be kept in the government office, or handed over to the national treasury?”

Xiao Ming was stunned for a moment, then asked, “Why do you ask this question?”

Pang Yukun said, “Great Yu Empire’s agricultural taxes are partly retained by each prefecture’s government office, with the remainder submitted to the national treasury. However, the tax methods learned at Bowen Academy dictate that all taxes from each prefecture’s government office be submitted to the national treasury, and then the national treasury allocates funds back to each prefecture’s government office according to the circumstances. This tax is a major affair of the state, and I only report to Your Highness.”

Xiao Ming understood. He said, “Local retention of taxes inevitably leads to abuses like adulteration, corruption, and embezzlement. To prevent these taxes from being intercepted at the local level, have them submit their accounts and taxes to Qingzhou. After the accounts are tallied, return a portion to them.”

“However, this would incur significant transportation costs for the various prefectures and counties to transport these goods to Qingzhou,” Pang Yukun reminded.

Xiao Ming immediately realized. He sighed. This era was still too backward. But even so, he still adhered to this method. He hadn’t forgotten how tens of millions of taels of silver in taxes during the Ming Dynasty were intercepted at various levels, with only a small portion reaching the capital.

In any era, corrupt officials were audacious. Xiao Ming did not believe that all officials in his fief were incorruptible.

In fact, in any dynasty, whether during its founding or its decline, the proportion of corrupt officials in officialdom was higher than that of honest officials.

“A portion is sent, and all is sent.” Xiao Ming said, “Moreover, every village and every county must have its own account book backup for verification and inspection.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” Pang Yukun said.

Xiao Ming continued, “Chief Grand Councillor Pang, taxation is the easiest area for officials to embezzle. You must grasp this firmly. You tolerate no sand in your eye, and I tolerate no sand in my eye either.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” Pang Yukun’s expression was somewhat unusual. He looked at Xiao Ming as if wanting to say something, but ultimately said nothing.

…

Huaizhou.

As Xiao Ming and Pang Yukun were discussing the agricultural tax, the Southern Expedition Army was launching a full-scale assault on Huaizhou City.

Just as the intelligence reported, the Prince of Wei had added fifty cannons to Huaizhou City, but these cannons were scattered by the Qingzhou Army’s artillery before they could even be used.

Unlike Pengzhou City, Huaizhou’s terrain was very flat, a wide-open plain.

Facing such a city without even a moat, Lu Fei boldly deployed his soldiers in front of the city wall, while Bai Mu’s cavalry were positioned on both sides of the infantry to protect the flanks, as there were three thousand cavalry in Huaizhou City.

This time, to defend Huaizhou City, the Prince of Wei had indeed invested heavily.

However, when it came to cavalry, how could these Huaizhou cavalry be a match for the Qingzhou cavalry, who had personally engaged the barbarians? When the Southern Expedition Army first arrived at Huaizhou City, Huaizhou Army’s cavalry had attempted to attack the infantry lined up in formation, but after leaving a trail of corpses, these cavalry retreated into the city and never came out again.