choke element

Chapter 976 Invitation to Battle (Part )
Having said that, what should be reported still needs to be reported.

The Zhongdu Police Patrol Office has strict regulations on the activities of members of the caravans coming from afar and requires daily verification of the personnel list, which is naturally a reason.

The prosperous and orderly business of the Great Zhou Dynasty was not formed naturally. In the early years, when military settlements in various places participated in or established supply and marketing cooperatives, they were often led into traps by unscrupulous merchants; after the organized caravans set out on the road, they were often sidelined by merchants, and after walking hundreds of miles, they were confused and had no idea what was going on. Some merchants who cooperated with the army even drank the blood of the soldiers under the banner of the army and dug into the court without any scruples.

At the most dangerous times, caravans became a tool for illegal armed forces other than the army to gather and coordinate, and brought deterioration of public security wherever they went.

When Guo Ning first took control of Zhongdu and established the Capital Marshal's Office, the northern defense line was unstable, and there were many ambitious bandits and hooligans everywhere, and there were countless local hooligans. Many of them, either out of greed or instigated by enemy forces, had their eyes on several prosperous cities under the rule of the Great Zhou.

During that period, the caravans that traveled frequently were the easiest to exploit.

The most serious incident occurred when a group of Mongolian horse thieves entered the city in a large livestock team and burned down the Yongfeng Warehouse in Zhongdu and hundreds of houses in the surrounding area that night, causing hundreds of casualties. Another time in Tongzhou, the robbers broke into a house while fleeing in a panic and killed many weavers hired from the north at high salaries, causing commotion among many people in the Southern Song Dynasty.

Fortunately, no matter how greedy the merchants were, the warriors only needed to deal with them with swords. As the rule of the Great Zhou stabilized, several batches of merchants who were unstable and did not regard themselves as citizens of the Great Zhou were killed, and a large number of soldiers were added to the caravan system. On the surface, they were guards, but in reality they also had supervisory responsibilities. When the garrison troops and local government offices gradually became fully staffed, the public security situation gradually improved.

There is no such thing as being able to guard against thieves for a thousand days. As the danger gradually recedes, ordinary people will inevitably relax. However, the rules within the royal capital cannot be ignored after all. Many control measures have been continued even if they are just for show, and people are directly held accountable.

The supervisor of Yangfangdian arrived at the Commercial Taxation Bureau at dusk with the documents.

The supervisor looked unhappy, and Yang Woyan, who was following behind him, was also a little embarrassed. The managers in the caravan usually took good care of him and took him to drink with the shopkeepers, but once something happened, none of the managers were willing to step forward. Only Yang Woyan, the direct person in charge, stepped forward, ready to face the questions from the officials at any time.

Yang Woyan had never experienced such a scene before, and his legs felt a little weak after following along all the way.

The superior of Zhongdu's various markets was the Zhongdu Commercial Taxation Office, which was established during the Dading period of the previous dynasty. It was in charge of the commercial transaction taxation from Hebei to the Northeast. It had envoys, deputy envoys, and supervisors, with ranks ranging from the eighth to the ninth rank. During the Dading period, the commercial tax rate of Zhongdu was 1% of gold and silver, and 3% of other goods. During the Taihe period, due to frequent military affairs, the commercial tax rate was increased to 3% of gold and silver, and 4% of other goods.

The tax rate was not actually high, but local cruel officials and gentry would often rob people and plunder them. In many cases, Jurchen Meng'an and Mouke would even set up tax stations in their own homes and exploit people in broad daylight. It was not a big deal for Jurchen nobles to steal money and kill people, let alone robbing? As long as they did not go too far, they would be justified in front of the emperor.

So in the end, merchants suffered terribly, local prices soared, and when the Commercial Taxation Bureau of Zhongdu was at its peak, the commercial tax collected was only 214,500 strings of cash each year. Compared with the Southern Dynasties, it was extremely poor.

The Zhongdu Commercial and Taxation Office of the Great Zhou Dynasty would not be so helpless. This government office now has the two functions of promoting industry and commerce and collecting taxes. Both its authority and scope of control far exceed those of the previous dynasty. Therefore, the chief officer was changed from the 8th-rank envoy and the deputy envoy to the 5th-rank doctor, and the subordinate institutions also became larger, becoming one of the powerful departments of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

The eunuch carrying the documents rode across three streets, turned through the main gate of the tax commissioner's office at the west of Yuhua Gate, and walked for a long time before reaching the side gate. It was the afternoon when the officials from various places came to report, and there was a queue at the gates of the two small courtyards.

The supervisor did not dare to delay and quickly entered the third courtyard to hand in the documents. However, he saw the clerk above flipping through the books, not looking at the goods entering and leaving the market and the tax situation, but seemed to go straight to the page at the back that recorded the missing persons.

The eunuch was startled, fearing that he and his superior would be punished, so he quickly laughed and interrupted, "Where is our master doctor? Yesterday, forty carts of high-quality iron ingots were transported from Jinshan, weighing a total of 80,000 kilograms. The master doctor must be very happy, and maybe he wants to go and take a look?"

"Eighty thousand pounds?"

The clerk calculated that recently, several large ironworks that had been inherited from the Liao Dynasty had reopened in Jinshan. One of the largest vertical furnaces produced more than 2,500 kilograms of iron per day. The furnaces used for frying steel were also being expanded.

Although the output increased, the price of iron did not change much, and it fluctuated around 50 coins per catty. 80,000 catties of iron were worth 4,000 strings of cash, and the tax collectors pocketed 120 strings of cash in taxes.

Last year, a single tax of 100 strings of cash was enough to earn the services of a doctor, but the situation is different this year.

"You are confused. Nowadays, all ironworks are working hard to produce iron ingots. Jinshan Ironworks has iron ingots delivered every ten days. Thirty batches every year is a routine! A routine! If it is a routine, why would the doctor come in person?"

As he said this, the clerk turned to the page that recorded the whereabouts of the people.

When Yang Woyan saw his eyes sweeping over him, he immediately took half a step forward.

During the journey, he had carefully considered the interactions between his family and the three missing persons. He had sorted out all the details about the three persons' backgrounds, the reasons for their escape, the possible hiding places in the city, the possible escape routes outside the city, etc. He was also ready to atone for his sins and personally lead people to search everywhere, and would not stop until these rats were found.

But he didn't expect that before he opened his mouth, he heard the clerk say, "Huh? Sure enough, some people on your side are starting to run away too!"

"what?"

"I have long felt that among the people gathered in the Yangfangdian area, many have a southern desert background and many are Mongolians. There must be many spies among these people, and they come from all kinds of backgrounds."

"Ah this..."

The eunuch's forehead was covered with sweat. He kept saying, "In my area, we have daily inspections and checks, and the Left and Right Offices and the Record Office have also sent people! How could there be so many spies?"

As he spoke, the eunuch gestured to Yang Woyan, indicating that he should explain a few words as well.

But the clerk didn't seem to want to listen. He took the page of the document, stood up and shouted to the back hall: "Three people left the Yangfang Inn too!"

Several people in the back hall said vaguely, "That adds up to more than 30 people! In the past three to five days, more than 30 suspicious people have escaped from various markets and livestock farms. Even a newly converted Mongolian Taoist priest escaped from the Taiqing Palace. Now someone has also escaped from the Sheep Shop we have been keeping an eye on. If the police patrol office or some other government office doesn't react, it will seem fake."

"Then let the Police Patrol Office comb through the city and try to dig out some spies. As for outside the city... it would be an overreaction if the Record Office or the Palace Inspection Office intervened. Why not let Jinshan come forward?"

"The Jinshan garrison suddenly sent people to search everywhere. There must be a reason."

"Let's say two escapees stole a precious carpet pattern."

This sentence caused several people in the inner hall to laugh: "You really can't stop talking about felt carpets!"

Amid the laughter, someone answered briskly, then excused himself and left: "I'll go arrest them right away... Don't worry, I'll keep them and not arrest too many. As we agreed before, arrest half and release the other half!"

When this person spoke, Yang Woyan felt that his voice and tone were very familiar. When he walked out from behind the screen, Yang Woyan said in surprise, "Judge Lu, is that you?"

Lu Wusi paused for a moment and asked, "Old Yang? Are those people who ran away from Yangfang Inn your people?"

"……Yes."

"Come with me."

"well!"

Shuiquangou Village in Dazhuangke Township, Yanqing District, has a group of mining and smelting sites from the Liao Dynasty, which is one of the top ten archaeological discoveries in China in 2014. In addition, Yangfangdian was named as a sheep market in the Jin Dynasty.

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(End of this chapter)