Crown Prince of the Empire, I quit!

"Smuggling? Your Majesty is so bold!"

The Shenmu Kingdom has been frequently mobilizing troops recently, and these troops have been squeezed out from various defense lines.

Not only the 100,000 troops that Mu Liuming brought to the Western Regions, but also the 50,000 troops that went to the south to support and encircle Fang Yuanjian.

All of them were drawn from various lines of defense.

This resulted in a gap in their defense, which naturally created some loopholes.

Qin Ming learned the news after he asked Elder Song to arrange someone to investigate.

Directly determine the direction of transfer.

The money they have in their hands requires a huge amount to be used for legitimate business in order to leverage the market here.

But if you use smuggling methods, you don't have to pay taxes when bringing goods in and out of the Shenmu Kingdom.

It will directly deal a heavy blow to them.

The Shenmu Kingdom is ultimately still a feudal dynasty.

The taxes on merchants were very heavy.

The imperial court even needed many wealthy businessmen and spent a lot of effort to support it.

In contrast, Daqian has begun to gradually reduce taxes on doing business.

Because they have many factories, various industries can provide sufficient profits.

Reducing taxes when profits are huge still allows them to collect the money they need.

The Shenmu Kingdom is not good in this regard.

If smuggling is used, not only will their market be hit, but even the tax revenue of the Shenmu Kingdom this year will be cut in half.

By that time, Hua Yunhong probably wouldn't be able to bear it anymore.

"As long as smuggling issues arise, even Lu Fang must get involved and resolve them quickly."

"While he's distracted, I'll dig a tunnel in Shuilian County and put weapons and armor inside."

"You two can lead your troops and launch an attack directly after the preparations are completed. I hope everything goes well for you."

Hearing that Chu Ying was going to play such a big game, both of them felt that what they were planning now was actually not worth putting on the table.

"Thank you very much. Feel free to tell me if you need anything."

"Don't worry, I'll need you both in many ways in the future. His Majesty said that if my smuggling attempt fails, I'll need you both to protect me."

Chu Ying actually had no idea.

Although he liked to take advantage of loopholes in his business, he had never done anything so big.

Now we are not only going against the Shenmu Kingdom, but also smuggling in front of them.

It will even disrupt the military deployment here and cause many people to hunt him down.

From a certain perspective, the task Chu Ying undertook this time was indeed very heavy.

They even became sitting ducks, attracting huge firepower from Fang Yuanjian's surrounding troops.

Fortunately, Chu Ying is a shrewd businessman and deeply understands what it means to have three burrows.

He had already made the arrangements before coming and divided his team into many groups.

Even if the enemy discovered something was wrong, it would be difficult to find Chu Ying's whereabouts for a while.

Soon, a group of bicycles entered the county town on the border of Shenmu Kingdom.

This novel gadget quickly became popular among many people.

Although the Shenmu Kingdom has many sophisticated mechanisms, it lacks an industrial foundation.

Things like tires are very difficult for them to produce.

Since Qin Ming obtained rubber and oil, making tires has become much easier.

Especially after many rounds of improvements in the workshop.

Their bicycles are now affordable and durable.

You can buy a bicycle for three taels of silver.

When this price came out, people all over the border were excited, and almost every household flocked to the market to buy.

It was at this time that the news reached Lu Fang's ears.

"General, it seems Daqian bicycles have appeared in various counties recently."

"what happened?"

The incident happened suddenly, and Lu Fang didn't react to his subordinates' intentions for a while.

Goods from Daqian sometimes also enter their market.

It's not a problem.

But his subordinate's next words quickly made him alert.

"Bicycles have appeared in many county towns, and the price is only three hundred yuan."

"What? Why is it so cheap? Aren't there any taxes?"

This unusual behavior made Lu Fang very alert.

There are indeed many people who use bicycles in Shenmu City, but they are generally rich people with some savings at home.

Because after the tricycles and bicycles were transported from outside, the imperial court would impose heavy taxes on these inexpensive and high-quality items in order to protect the inheritance and continuation of mechanical technology.

Sometimes the tax may be double or triple.

The purpose was not only to increase the court's revenue, but also to limit the flow of too much of such items into the market, thereby impacting their mechanical engineering industry.

This led to tricycles and bicycles being transported from Daqian.

The price is also high in the imperial capital like Shenmu City. Sometimes it may cost three taels of silver to buy one, and you have to rank and wait for a long time.

Because of the high price, it is extremely difficult to purchase.

Many people choose the relatively cheap wooden travel mechanism that only needs to be moved back and forth like stilts.

This thing will wear out very quickly. After all, it is made of wood, even the wheels and axles are made of wood.

Originally they were selling well like this.

The imperial court also collected a lot of taxes because of this.

But now, bicycles that only cost three hundred yuan have flooded into the market.

In the Shenmu Kingdom, one hundred coins are not worth one thousand, but one hundred!

Three hundred coins to buy a bicycle.

This is crazy!

As expected, just after Lu Fang received the news, the local governor Cao De rushed in quickly.

"General, something terrible is happening!"

The system of the Shenmu Kingdom is similar to that of Daqian. The Hudu is the highest official in the area, and he controls more than a dozen large cities and hundreds of counties.

The matter that made him run to the military camp in person and find Lu Fang so anxiously must be no small matter.

"Master Cao, what's wrong?"

"Haven't you received the news yet? Your Highness must be informed that someone is smuggling. The money must be settled quickly, otherwise you and I will be doomed."

"I've sent letters to all border cities, asking them to allocate at least half of their troops to investigate who is smuggling with me."

"You also cooperate and arrange two thousand elite troops to follow me."

There was no intention of negotiation in Cao De's tone. As soon as he finished speaking, he asked Lu Fang to give the order immediately.

"This……"

Lu Fang's face was full of embarrassment.

Cao De's position was much higher than his, so it was difficult for him to refute what he said.

But even so, they are different systems in the court, one is a civil official and the other is a military general.

I have a mission to accomplish, how could I possibly cooperate with the other party like this?

He still needed two thousand people at once, but he only had five thousand elite soldiers, and they were waiting to escort the captives gathered from all over the place away.

As if seeing his hesitation, Cao De took out a letter from his arms and handed it to him.

"A letter from General Changsun."