Liu Xiudao took the list given to him by Zhu Yuanzhang and returned to his small yard. A group of wealthy families and gentry had been waiting in his yard for a long time. When he saw him coming back, the group rushed up and surrounded Liu Xiudao and asked anxiously: "What's wrong? Is he willing to leave?"

Liu Xiudao smiled bitterly and threw the list in front of them: "Look at it for yourself. This is what Zhu Ba asked about from the local snake in the past few days. He asked us to pay the money truthfully according to this list. Those who pay more will get back, and those who pay less will get it quickly..."

The squire put his head together and followed the list. After a while, he found his name. He saw that his own property and shop were clearly written behind him. Although it was not completely accurate, the difference was almost 100%.

"Silk!" Everyone gasped. After that, their property was investigated clearly. Even if they wanted to conceal their property, they could not do it. Do they have to hand over all the family wealth in their family to get out? They then looked down and marked a number behind them, which was the silver number they should have handed in. Seeing this number, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. This number was not high. Speaking of which, the number required for most people was much lower than the limit they could accept.

Some gentry have already prepared to take out most of their wealth to eliminate disasters. At this time, they saw that as long as they had less than 10% of their wealth, there was indeed very little.

"Huh? So strange? I have seen thieves robbing and killing, but I have never seen such a stop at the right time..." Someone couldn't help but speak.

"Yes, this Baishui Zhu Ba is indeed different from ordinary thieves..."

"You guys say, what does he mean to collect this number?" A wealthy businessman couldn't help but say, "I think the amount he collected from me is very strange. Two hundred and seventy-five taels are not hurt at all, and I just felt the pain..."

"Yes, my number is also... three hundred taels, it's such a strange number. For my family, this little money really doesn't matter." The squire talked a lot.

Liu Xiudao watched them guessing randomly. He couldn't help but sigh: "What are you guessing nonsense? Haven't you calculated it yet? Everyone's money is collected. There is a reason for it."

"What's the reason?"

"Your family is 275 taels, right? Is it exactly 30% of the money you earn in a year?" Liu Xiudao asked.

"Yes! Huh? I didn't notice it if you didn't say it, it was exactly 30%.

Liu Xiudao turned to another squire: "Did you collect 300 liang of pairs? Is it exactly 30% of your annual income?"

"Hey?" the squire also suddenly said: "That's right, although there is a little difference. But it's almost 30%.

The squire carefully pondered the number allocated to their homes. They couldn't help but say, "Yes, our numbers are all 30% of their income."

"Strange, why did it cost 30%?"

Liu Xiudao sighed lightly and said, "This is... the tax quota of our Ming Dynasty when the founding of the Ming Dynasty. Those who have their own agricultural tools to cultivate land. Three of the ten taxes... In September of the third year of Hongwu, due to the gradually developing military camps, the land reclamation is increasing, and the situation changes, the minister of the Secretariat asked the troops stationed in Shanxi Taiyuan and Shuozhou to pay taxes. The Ming Taizu ordered not to collect them. The following year, the Secretariat reported that: In the south of the He*, the east of Shanxi, Beiping, Shaanxi*xi, Shanxi and Huai'an prefectures of Zhili, all officials who give cattle breeds ten taxes, and those who bring their own taxes ten taxes three. Taizu still demanded exemption... Until many years later, the Ming Dynasty was already rich in all the seas, and Taizu allowed taxes, that is, it was collected according to the method of ten taxes three..."

After these words, the wealthy businessmen were a little disbelief: "Mr. Liu, what do you mean is that... this Baishui Zhu Ba is not robbing, but collecting... taxes?"

"Yes, he is indeed collecting taxes."

"Then why should we collect according to the standards of the founding country? Later, there was a one-whip method, etc., and the tax collection method has changed many times..." someone asked.

Liu Xiudao said helplessly: "What do you know? This is a long two hundred years. The court has been adding more money per mu. This year, a few cents per mu, a few cents per mu, and the next year... For example, in the 46th year of Wanli, Liao Zuo used troops and added nine cents per mu. In the third year of Chongzhen, three cents per mu... Just like this, a very outrageous number has been added in the past two hundred years. If you collect sharp numbers from you according to that number, it is not taxation, but robbery. After collecting taxes, you have to become bandits and go out to rebel with a hoe. Zhu Ba is obviously a smart person who can calculate and adopts the ten-tax and three-way plan from the founding of the country to collect taxes. It can be seen that he really wants to collect taxes, not robbers."

After hearing this, the rich businessmen felt incredible. After a while, a man whispered: "Mr. Liu, we have to pay this tax. There are indeed not many taxes and three. It would be great if we could buy a wealth of wealth and safety. But what we care most about is... Will Zhu Ba leave after collecting the money?"

Speaking of this issue, Liu Xiudao was excited, and the expression on his face suddenly became proud, and he smiled and said, "Haha! I have already moved the Baishui Zhu Ba with my tongue. He just waited for the tax to leave the city and enter Zhongtiao Mountain, and then headed east along Zhongtiao Mountain and drilled into Taihang Mountain!"

"What?" Everyone was overjoyed: "Mr. Liu is so talented! How did you tell Zhu Ba?"

Liu Xiudao laughed and asked the gentry to sit down, serve tea, and then slowly began to talk about his strategy, such as hiking into Zhongtiao Mountain, hiding from officers and soldiers, stationing in Taihang Mountain, etc., and told his own tricks from beginning to end.

After hearing this, the squire was impressed: "Mr. Liu is so amazing. Even we think this strategy is feasible after hearing it. Baishui Zhu Ba will definitely go into Zhongtiao Mountain as you said... Haha, Puzhou City is safe now... When the city returns to the hands of the court, we jointly submit a letter to the magistrate to send you a reward for your wise withdrawal of the thieves!"

"Haha, everyone, you are kind to you, this is what the young student should do!"

--------------

Zhu Yuanzhang's army stayed in Puzhou City for another two days. The taxes sent by the gentry were in place. Zhu Yuanzhang left 80% and distributed 20% to Xue Hongqi.

As soon as Xue Hongqi got the money, he immediately distributed it to his horse thieves evenly. The same amount left to her and the ones distributed to her were the same. He did not occupy the largest share because she was the leader. This loyalty is commendable, but Zhu Yuanzhang was not commendable for the fact that she had all the money she had.

"Miss Xue Hongqi, I think... you should not allocate all this money evenly, you should leave a part of it to save it as your team's funds." Zhu Yuanzhang persuaded.

“Why?”

Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said, "As a leader, we should look at the team's income from a long-term perspective and distribute the funds together. If the money is spread out and the horse thieves can use it themselves, we cannot use the funds reasonably."

"This... please forgive me for not understanding it!" Xue Hongqi said sweating.

"For example, if your brothers need to add a batch of new scimitars, since the money is divided, they have to go to the blacksmith shop to make knives by themselves. In this case, the scimitars made will have problems of inconsistent specifications and chaotic standards." Zhu Yuanzhang explained patiently: "But if you unify the money and find a blacksmith shop to customize a batch of exactly the same scimitars, your cavalry camp will be much cleaner... The same principle can also be used on food, clothing and other items, and the combat effectiveness and morale of the entire army will change..."

"Oh? So that's it!" Xue Hongqi understood as soon as she heard it, but she still shook her head with a smile and said, "Brother Zhu Ba, you are right, but the money you earned by my younger sister still wants to share with her brothers, so that she can be very talented."

"Yeah!" Zhu Yuanzhang stopped and did not persuade him, because Xue Hongqi had no ambitions and did not think that the army would continue to grow, so it was understandable that she was unwilling to do so. In the future, she would naturally be able to solve this problem.

The 80% of the silver he received was first given to his brothers according to his merits and deeds, and then sealed the remaining ones in boxes, and sent an old team of elite soldiers to carry them back to Baishui for military expenses.

After the tidying up, Zhu Yuanzhang didn't want to stay in Puzhou for a long time. If he stayed for too long, he might really cause Governor Xuanda and the governor of Shanxi, and things would be troublesome at that time. The right thing is to leave quickly while the court has not yet reacted.

With his order, the entire army quickly set off and opened the south gate of Puzhou City. Thousands of troops left the city and headed towards Zhongtiao Mountain to the south.

Baishui and Zhu Ba are leaving! This is obviously a big deal. Although the people and gentry in the city did not mean to see him off, they inevitably came to see the fun. The south gate was full of people, and Liu Xiudao and a few well-known figures were inevitably exposed and stood by the city gate to show up as if "going for a farewell to the rebel army".

Zhu Yuanzhang deliberately called Liu Xiudao and asked, "How can I walk the safest way after I leave the city?"

Liu Xiudao said seriously: "A few miles south, there is a Wangzhuang. After passing Wangzhuang, you will walk southeastward. After walking a few miles, there is a mountain village... This village is called Shandi Village, which is why it is at the bottom of Zhongtiao Mountain... After passing the village, you can see a deep ditch called Xiaoliugou... As long as you enter Xiaoliugou, even if you go deep into Zhongtiao Mountain, the officers and soldiers will never find you again."

"Yes!" Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said, "Don't lie to me. If the road you said is fake, I will kill you back to Puzhou to destroy your entire family."

"I don't dare to die late!"

"I dare not be the best!"

"Then you...you're going all the way...we won't give you it..."
Chapter completed!