When the delegation arrived at Shanhaiguan, the original escort committee member, Mr. Ma, had already set up a front station and waited here for two days.

As usual, members of the envoy, large and small, presented him with "Beijing gifts". Hong Dashou took out one of the two pieces of Hangzhou silk gifted by Jiaqing and gave it to Commissioner Ma.

They were very satisfied. The price of silk and satin outside the customs was already more expensive than inside the customs. In addition, the items were given to the envoys by Jiaqing, so they were above the average level.

There was no trouble after that, and we walked to Yiju one step at a time. It was hot, so I was lucky to ride on a mule cart for a while. Otherwise, I would have to carry more than 100 kilograms of stuff a day, and the temperature would sometimes be 30 degrees.

Walking thirty kilometers under the bright sun, Hong Dashou Neng lost half his life.

After all, I am still a scholar and cannot bear that much hardship.

Arriving at the XX River, bidding farewell to the Manchu escort committee members, Li Chao pretended to check whether there were any prohibited items. Hong Dashou gave the soldier who came to turn over a book a five-liang tablet, and when he shook his sleeve, he actually shook it.

Into the secret pocket in the sleeve.

Pretending to reach up and touch the car to see if it was equipped with a screen, the money actually rolled into his arms along the hidden pocket.

These days, who doesn’t bring some contraband, and some even dare to bring sulfur. This is military supplies, and the import is restricted, but it still passes the customs.

Compared with that kind of thing, what does Hong Dashou bring with two illustrations? It’s not enough!

The Yiju side knew that whenever the envoys returned home, they would always pack countless large and small bags with countless things, so even the Yiju Gulf merchants' own fleet sailed into the XX River to transport countless goods.

In fact, in a hundred years the Japanese will build a bridge on the XX River to facilitate their desperate efforts. They have sacrificed most of their lives to transport the Northeastern resources stolen by Tsarist Russia back to the country.

But with a river hundreds of meters wide, it is basically impossible to build a bridge these days. The basic material conditions of reinforced concrete and bridge steel are not sufficient, and there are no machines sufficient to drive piles in the river.

We have no choice but to rely on ferry. It took half a day to go there, but now it really takes a whole day to come back.

Fortunately, Uiju is very close, and you can go back in a few steps. Once you reach Uiju, the envoy will be disbanded, and the officials will return to Beijing as usual, while each business group will go back to their homes to find their mothers.

Min Tingyue was under the command of King Min, and after telling Hong Dashou that he must attend the imperial examination next year, he went straight to Hanyang.

Li Xi planned to carry the silk and various gadgets he bought to Donglai, which was the window city for trade with Japan. Many things could be doubled if exchanged for Lai merchants.

Lin Shangwo returned to his main store in Wanshang. He used the silk he bought in Yanjing to pay off Hong Dashou's first loan from Wanshang, and finally repaid the favor of Hong Dashou's brothel.

However, Hong DaShou still owed money, so Lin Shangwo continued to work as his "sit-in accountant" and followed Hong DaShou.

Hong Dashou himself sold the silk and silk yarn that Jiaqing rewarded, as well as the former official horse, as well as more than one mule and cart, and collected two hundred taels of silver to pay Jin Douji's money. As for what he had already paid,

Li Xi is planning to go to Donglai. Leave the address and talk about it later.

Followed by Lin Shangwo, he walked one stop further south and returned to his home in Tieshan County. This trip took nearly five months and was exhausting.

The Hong family took care of the family business at home. According to Hong Dashou's instructions, he bought a rough little girl, twelve or thirteen years old, to help her with the washing and cleaning, which always saved some effort.

Sitting in the courtyard to rest, Mrs. Hong first asked Hong Dashou what she wanted to eat. She immediately did it, and then waved to Hong Dashou to follow him to the rice warehouse.

At this time, the autumn harvest had already ended, but the warehouse of Hong Dashou's house was full of rice and cloth. At first glance, Hong Dashou couldn't figure out how there could be so much rice and cloth.

Even if there is a good harvest, local exploitation will only get worse. How can it be possible to give the Hong family so much money?

Ms. Hong started to explain embarrassedly, saying that she neither stole nor robbed, and that the rice and cloth were just for free.

The reason is quite simple, and it is not surprising at all to say it.

Because Hong Dashou became Min Tinghye's disciple!

In a country like the Li Dynasty with extremely strict status levels, perhaps Min Tinghye's words could make everyone in Tieshan County unable to live or die.

Who told him that he was the son and daughter-in-law of Jin Zuchun, who was in charge of the country's political power, and he was also a senior official in the Third Grade Hall.

And Hong Dashou, who was rumored to be his lackey, suddenly became the "big shot" in the hearts of the people of Tieshan.

In addition, Hong Dashou's family was originally a two-class household, and had some privileges in taxation, so he did not need to be taxed too much.

For a normal farmer, theoretically the state's statutory tax is no more than one-tenth of the field's output, but in reality it is basically one-third.

This is just the rice from the field administration, plus the military and administrative cloth, more than 50% of the output of the fields must be handed over to the state. The remaining grain may not be enough to eat, let alone the various tax incentives of the local government.

The expropriation has not yet been calculated. As a result, the homesteaders have become bankrupt and their families have fled.

Many farmers in Tieshan heard that Hong Dashou had become prosperous and became Min Tinghye's dog. They didn't believe it at first, because the former Hong Dashou was a nerd and didn't quite understand the principles of camp. There was no such thing in Tieshan.

He has such a good reputation that it is impossible to get close to a high official.

But after Hong Dashou was appointed as an attaché by the imperial minister Min Ting and sent as an envoy to the Qing Dynasty, a county said it was big or small, and it spread throughout the country within a few days.

In addition, the autumn harvest was approaching, and Tieshan farmers who were fed up with the government's excessive taxation gave full play to their ingenuity, and many families took refuge under Hong Dashou's household registration.

The land was divided into Tianpi (permanent tenancy) and Tiangu (ownership). The Tiangu surrendered to Hong Dashou in exchange for the protection of Hong Dashou's family.

The county officials of Tieshan went to the countryside to collect taxes like wolves and tigers, and suddenly found that these real estates had voluntarily surrendered to Hong Dashou's name. Even the farmers themselves sold themselves to Hong Dashou, giving up their status as good citizens.

, became Hong Dashou’s personal slave.

Well, now, they might have had to pay 60% of the total output, but they only took 50% and gave it to the Hong family, and the Hong family only paid 35%, even if it was fully paid.

Tribute.

The people who devoted themselves to Hong Dashou were also directly exempted from the compulsory labor imposed by the state.

The country will definitely not be damaged, because the quota given to Tieshan County is fixed. The amount of meters and cloth required this year was set at the beginning of the year.

There is a big gap between the national tax amount and the actual tax amount collected. The extra money in the middle is originally going to go into the pockets of everyone up and down.

But after many farmers joined Hong Dashou, they lost a lot of money and food. In the Tieshan County Yamen, everyone from the guardian to the petty officials will get less money. Now they must hate Hong Dashou to death.

But they can't do anything. They are also dogs, and Hong Dashou's status is hundreds of levels higher than them. As long as they don't hate Min Tingyue, if it is on another horizontal line, a hundred years from now, Hong Dashou's family can

Iron Mountain walks sideways.

Therefore, Hong Dashou is not only not afraid of these people, but he is also sure that if Hong Dashou does well, they will even come to tease him.
Chapter completed!