There was no accident in the direction of the matter. Although Li Mu's methods were very rogue, it is undeniable that the effect was immediate. As the days of winter approached, the merchants carrying orders compromised one after another. They had thought about other methods, but now Li Mu, who is rich and food, has no way to start. Only they can use Li Mu, and not Li Mu can use them.

Moreover, Li Mu has always been a self-confessed. He doesn't care much about anyone except the emperor. When he is in a good mood, he will give you some slight face. When he is in a bad mood, he will also give you a slight affection. In the court, the emperor's attitude shows that although he does not explicitly support Li Mu, a procrastination is perfect. If you impeach, I will hold you accountable. Li Mu explained that you can continue to impeachment. This is not in a hurry for the monarch and minister, but this order cannot be waited. Compared with compensation, thirty taxes are not much. Just pinch your nose and accept it. After dealing with this difficult batch of orders, you will go back and settle the score with him slowly.

The merchants all thought this way, but for some reason, most people had a premonition. When they looked back, they were afraid that they would not be Li Mu's opponents. Because in business, no one has taken advantage of him so far.

Ma Zhou, who was impressed, took over the tax collection affairs as the chief of the Hou Mansion. He had a headache at first, how to collect commercial taxes well, because it was really difficult to measure commercial taxes before. But after seeing the method designed by Li Mu, Ma Zhou smiled bitterly. He now understood why Li Mu was not in a hurry and was indeed not in the same rank.

The commercial tax collection method designed by Li Mu is like this. The goods involved in orders are collected according to the total price of the order. For example, the total price of this order is 90 jin, 30 jin, and 30 jin of commercial tax is collected. This is the easiest. If there is no order, it is just selling goods. It is levied based on the selling price of the goods in Luoyang. Luoyang is a transportation hub to Chang'an, which is well-connected. There must be things in Chang'an, and there are things in Luoyang, but Chang'an may not have them. According to the price of Luoyang, it is slightly cheaper than Chang'an, but the merchants are not losing money.

When encountering special goods, things that are difficult to price, or things that are difficult to cash out for a while. The Hou Mansion has also prepared professional appraisers to estimate the price. Of course, this may lead to a higher tax amount and there are solutions. Special goods operators can register. After the goods are sold, they will pay taxes according to the transaction amount of the goods. Or pay an advance payment, mortgage the land deeds of the property, the mansion, etc., and wait for the transaction to be completed, and the specific amount will not be charged, but it is absolutely not cheap.

In short, no matter what the situation is, there is a way to deal with it. As long as it is goods passed by Luoyang, it is impossible to evade taxes. At least after Ma Zhou reads the details, he can't think of a solution.

In order to prove that he was not to fill his personal pockets, Li Mu also sent this tax collection method to Chang'an in a hurry, saying that all cities in the Tang Dynasty could be imitated. If you want to imitate the city, you can come to Luoyang to buy a unique color-changing ink. The words written in this ink can show colorful reflections under the sunshine. You can make a tax payment certificate to ensure that there will be no repeated tax collection. It is not easy to make ink, first come, first served.

It's time to do business...

It’s not that no one has the idea of ​​changing color ink, but fools want to get it. Since the tax payment certificate is written in color ink, isn’t it good to buy some color ink and forge the tax payment certificate yourself? The idea is good, but when they get the tax payment certificate, they find that it cannot be implemented at all. Luoyang City’s tax payment certificate is not handwritten, but seals. The seal has its own patterns when carving, and each mark cannot be exactly the same, and it cannot be imitated at all. With color ink, it is useless to have no seal.

After a battle of wits and courage, they finally had no choice but to give up. The merchants had no choice but to abide by the 30-1 tax policy and pay taxes according to regulations.

I didn't know if I didn't collect it, but I was shocked when I collected it. Ma Zhou followed the rules and collected taxes for several days before he realized how big a piece of fat it was. The goods coming and going in and out of Luoyang City were transported to Chang'an, Taiyuan, Shuzhou and other places in a day. The tax amount for each day is not a small amount. Although it may be because winter is about to begin and the orders are intensive, even if it is reduced by half, it will be a size of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, which is not a small amount.

If the whole country collects commercial taxes...

Ma Zhou didn't dare to think about it, and at the same time a question came to his mind. Those who did business did not pay commercial taxes before, so who did the money and where did they end up using it?

Ma Zhou firmly believed that everything Li Mu did was purposeful. Although he seemed to be Meng Lang, he could not do such anger for no reason, and there would inevitably be a trick. It was just that Li Mu never discussed with anyone, and no one could guess what he was thinking.

Of course, Ma Zhou couldn't guess Li Mu's thoughts because he had no idea at all. His idea was very simple, just to make money. Taking advantage of the situation is that simple. Fundamentally, he encouraged business because business can create jobs and jobs, so that can mobilize labor, generate more value, and feed more people. If the commercial tax collection is too heavy, it will be a big blow to business.

Therefore, commercial tax is destined not to charge a lot, and his goal is not all merchants. He did not intend to collect taxes in small business transactions. That is why he said that he would pay taxes on his own initiative, and there were preferential policies such as tax reduction and exemption. In the end, the small vendors would not pay much.

The object that Li Mu really wants to collect taxes is bulk transactions. For example, grain merchants in Luoyang, tea, wine, cloth, etc. in the southeast, and trade in bulk commodities must be taxed. The purpose of collecting these taxes is also to control the number, total price, destination of these basic materials, etc., not only economic purposes, but also to a certain extent of political purposes.

But this is all a story. At present, it seems that he is mainly trying to make money.

The daily taxes collected were spent on the books and were spent. Outside Luoyang City, not far from Chidao, a piece of open land was cleared out, and a whole pile of wood was piled on the open land, and hundreds of carpenters were busy working here.

They are making horse carriages used on the road, similar to the style of trains in later generations, but the power comes from horses. Not far away, it is a temporary horse farm. Every day, horses come to Luoyang from all directions, and special people are responsible for raising them.

Although he is busy, he is not chaotic. Everything is implemented according to the plan formulated by Li Mu. Such a complex system is impossible without huge financial support. In order to pursue efficiency, many links are given double the money. Under heavy rewards, there must be brave men. If the money is given enough, the efficiency will naturally not be worse.

Without the support of commercial tax, it will not be possible.

Many projects started at the same time, and there were many problems that needed to be faced. Originally, Li Mu did not expect that it would go so quickly. After all, many things were not something that could be achieved if the money was in place. But the potential of this place in Luoyang is really huge, just take craftsmen as an example. Chang'an City cannot bring so many successful carpenters. Only Luoyang City, when Emperor Yang of Sui recruited craftsmen to build Luoyang City, gathering all the craftsmen from all over the world here and leaving them here, Li Mu can now have so many craftsmen.

From this perspective, Emperor Yang of Sui also made some contributions to today's Luoyang City.

...

The lobby of the front yard of the Hou Mansion.

The floor was covered with drawings, basically they were drawn by Li Mu himself. These floor plans were all construction construction drawings of Luoyang City at the same time, because there were too many tables that could not be put away and could only be spread on the ground.

"...The general design of the stations on the Chidao is the same. Only Sanmenxia is hesitant to take into account the dock, so--" Li Mu was explaining his design ideas to Gongsun Kang, but suddenly Wei Yingluo broke in. Everyone looked over and found it strange. Wei Yingluo was a lady from a wealthy family, and her behavior was always very polite. It was the first time she saw such a panicked look.

Li Muxin felt something, put down the charcoal pen in his hand, and asked in a trembling voice: "What's wrong?"

"Madam, Madam..." Wei Yingluo stuttered and pointed to the direction of the backyard: "The midwife said, Madam seems to be giving birth..."

Before he finished speaking, Li Mu had already jumped out. Gongsun Kang and others looked at each other, but Li Mu could no longer care about that much. His wife was about to give birth, so how could she be in the mood to care about the drawings? Wei Yingluo watched Li Mu run to the backyard, and was stunned for a moment before she reacted and shouted, "Marty, you haven't given birth yet, don't be so anxious. The midwife said it, it will take some time-"

Li Mutou didn't reply, and he didn't know if he heard it or didn't hear it. Wei Yingluo had no choice but to turn back to her senses and look at the craftsmen in the lobby, saying, "If you have something to do in the Marquis' Mansion today, everyone should go back first."

Gongsun Kang and others hurriedly said, "The Marquis' Mansion is about to add children. We will congratulate the Marquis and ask the girl to convey it on their behalf."

Gongsun Kang didn't know what was in love between Wei Yingluo and Li Mu, but after all, he had no status. He dared not call him wife, so he could only call him "Miss".

Wei Yingluo didn't care, thanked Li Mu on behalf of Li Mu, and said, "There will be news tomorrow. There will be arrangements for the Marquis' Mansion at that time. Everyone will congratulate you in person."

Gongsun Kang and others said goodbye. Wei Yingluo packed the drawings and set up the arrangements. While she received notifications from others, such as Li Tai, Li Siwen and others, she would have to inform her. If she was born today, she would have to celebrate tomorrow. According to Li Mu's style, she would not be allowed to set up a flowing table. What you need would have to buy today. Chang'an also needs to prepare to inform her. The palace had sent a message and told her to inform her immediately if there was any news.

All kinds of mixed and trivial things appeared in Wei Yingluo's mind at the same time. If she had changed someone who had no idea about it, she would have long known what to do first and what to do later. But Wei Yingluo could arrange it in an orderly manner. In addition to her ability, it was also obvious that she had already prepared for this and would not panic in front of her.

...

Li Mu rushed to the backyard and was immediately stopped by several midwifes. Bai Qiaoqiao was about to give birth. Not only did Chang'an send the palace maid, but the famous midwife in Luoyang City were also invited by Li Mu to the mansion and guard the back house day and night. He had thought about delivering his baby, but after all, he had never done this job in two lifetimes and had no confidence in himself. He could only hope that the midwife in Chang'an and Luoyang could have real skills to ensure that his wife and children were safe.

"Everyone is out of the way, I will go in!"

Bai Qiaoqiao's painful groan came out through the window. Li Mu felt anxious when he heard it. He really couldn't stand it anymore. He wanted to jump and fly into the room. But several midwife refused to let go and said angrily: "Marty, there is no such rule. How can a man meet a woman with a child? The omen is bad, it won't work!"

Seeing Li Mu's attitude firmly, the midwife was scared: "Mr. Marquis is not an exaggeration. Some people don't believe in evil. They saw a woman having a child and were unlucky for three years!"

"There are still things that cannot be raised! Master Hou is careful!"

"Get out of here, get out of here!" Li Mu could not hear it. His iron-thrusting arm was not enough for a group of old ladies to bear it. The two midwifes said aloud and almost fell to the ground.

Li Mu broke into the room and was stopped by Jin Chen. There was a curtain in the inner room, and he couldn't see the situation inside.

"How is it? Isn't it okay when I eat for lunch? Why is it so sudden?"

"It's all too late. According to the days, it's time to give birth to three days ago. Didn't the mother-in-law say that they were all taking the midwife yesterday? It's possible at any time in just a few days." Jin Chen saw Li Mu's sweat on his forehead and said, "Now I'm only opening my fingers, and Madam Jin said it will take one or two hours. Qiaoqiao is the first child, and it's possible for a day and a night."

"One night a day?" Li Mu's heart immediately raised his throat. He had never given birth, but the TV series or popular science he had watched told him one thing: giving birth is very painful. It is said that pain is divided into twelve levels, and childbirth is the most painful level. Bai Qiaoqiao may have to endure such pain for a day and a night. Is that so much?

"It hurts so long--" Li Mu's tears were about to fall: "Why don't you give birth,"

"What nonsense?" Jin Chen pulled him and said, "It's now, I won't give birth if I don't want to give birth? This is not the place where my husband stays, so go out quickly."

"I want to stay with Qiaoqiao!" Li Mu was determined and looked unconventional. Jin Chen also had a firm attitude and said, "Husband, you can't do this. I just asked the midwife to pick up her midwife. You can't go in and out at will. You came in from outside, and you haven't taken a shower or steamed. When you come into contact with Qiaoqiao, you may have a wind after giving birth. Besides, you have to leave some face for Qiaoqiao. What else can you do when you watch her give birth?"

"This," Jin Chen's words were reasonable. Li Mu hesitated a little. At this moment, a sudden cry began to sound.

Li Mu was stunned, and Jin Chen was also stunned.
Chapter completed!