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Tongguan is the throat for all places to enter Luoyang. There are many merchants coming and going, and the customs inspection is strict, so it takes a long time to pass through the customs. The shopkeeper of Yunguanlou where Qiu Yizhi and others stayed was Zhou Cijing's cousin Zhou Cineng, who was always experienced in doing things. He sent the waiter in the store to queue up in front of the customs the night before.
Therefore, Qiu Yizi and others did not get up early that day. It was not until the morning hour that they, led by the shopkeeper Zhou Cineng, drove their carriage all the way to Tongguan.
The tall city wall of Tongguan was faintly visible in the morning mist. The wall was at least 50 to 60 meters high, with a huge three-story watchtower built on it. The wall also extended to the north and south, connecting with the cliffs on both sides.
Countless merchants had already gathered in front of Tongguan, forming a giant snake that slowly moved on the dusty ground. Some vendors saw business opportunities and pushed carts loaded with fruits and snacks, like parasites on the giant snake, shuttling back and forth among the crowd, busy as ever.
Because the owner of Yunguanlou had made preparations in advance, Qiu Yizi and others did not line up obediently at the end of the line, but walked forward along the waiting line until they came to a dozen idle people who were either standing or squatting, then they replaced these waiters who had been arranged to take seats and squeezed into the line.
This move really aroused the dissatisfaction of many people waiting to pass the checkpoint behind him. If there were not seven or eight tall and strong guards in the team that Zhou Cijing brought from the main store in Guangyang City, the people behind him would have raised their fists to "ask" them to go back and line up according to the rules. However, although this group of people did not dare to use violence, they all started to curse and the team suddenly became agitated.
The soldier in charge of maintaining order in front of the pass saw this and took his spear. He walked lazily to the scene, chewing something in his mouth and mumbling: "What are you yelling about? What are you yelling about? It's so hot, can't you be quiet? Look how sweaty I am!"
Someone in the queue complained, "Sir, someone is cutting in line!"
The soldier spat and said, "What are you cutting in line for? What are you cutting in line for? Don't you businessmen know how to count? There were thirteen people here just now, and there are still thirteen people now. Who is cutting in line?"
"Sir! We never said that the people who cut in line were the dozen or so people in front of us. Aren't you trying to cover up the truth?" After saying that, the crowd burst into laughter.
The soldier's face turned red, and after a while he cursed: "Damn it, you want to rebel? Who said that just now? Stand up for me!" Of course no one admitted it voluntarily, and the soldier grinned again, "Well, since I'm among you guys anyway, you might as well not pass the checkpoint today and go home to sleep!" After that, he came to drive people away with a spear.
When the team saw that he was really trying to catch up, they immediately quieted down, fearing that they would not be able to pass the border today and miss their trip.
Zhou Cineng then walked up to the soldier and said with a smile: "Captain Wang, it's not easy for everyone to come here to line up early in the morning. Please be merciful and let it go!" After that, he took out a silver ingot from his sleeve and secretly put it into the hand of the man surnamed Wang.
The soldier took the silver, weighed it, and found it was quite heavy, so he stuffed it into his pocket and said to the team, "If it weren't for Shopkeeper Zhou, none of you would be able to get through today!"
Although the two people's bribery was small, they were already discovered in public, and they cursed in a low voice:
"Shameless, corrupt official!"
"He can be called an official? He is just a small bastard!"
"Turtle? I think the turtles in Luo River are much more precious than him!"
…
The soldier named Wang received tangible benefits, and pretended not to hear the increasingly harsh insults from the team. He walked to the shade under the wall, leaning on his spear, and sat down.
Qiu Yizi was quite disdainful of this practice, but he looked forward while sitting on his horse. There were less than two hundred merchants in front of him, while there were more than two or three thousand people lined up behind him. He felt relieved when he thought that he could pass through quickly.
Not far away, soldiers guarding Tongguan checked the identities of people one by one, counted the goods, and collected customs duties according to the value of the people and goods. There were also special people responsible for checking prohibited items. If anyone was smuggling pig iron, salt, gunpowder, etc., they would be punished for smuggling. If they saw someone carrying a sword, they would compare the length with the official sword they wore at their waist. If the sword was longer than the official sword, they would let it stay outside the pass, and if it was shorter, they could carry it with them into the pass.
Qiu Yizi estimated his own Western Region sword and found that the blade seemed to be an inch and a half longer than the official sword. He felt a little panicked and asked He Jiugong in a low voice: "Jiugong, please don't let them take my sword away! Should I hide it in the car?"
He Jiugong, on the other hand, looked nonchalant, half lying on the shaft of the cart with his legs crossed and said, "It's okay! Even if you bring the Azure Dragon Crescent Blade with you today, you can still get through the pass!"
After half an hour, the team, led by Zhou Cineng, slowly moved to the front of the pass.
Zhou Cineng seemed to be very familiar with the soldiers guarding the pass. Before they came up to check, he had already stepped forward, clasped his hands and said, "Oh! It's General Ruan Qian who is on duty here today! It's so hot, you must be working hard!"
The captain surnamed Ruan was very arrogant, sitting comfortably on the rattan chair without getting up: "Isn't this Shopkeeper Zhou? How come you have time to come to my place today? Look, there are so many people here, not even a cup of tea."
Zhou Ci Neng hurried forward and handed over a paper bag, saying, "General Qian is so poor. This little gift from me is not enough to show my respect. I will just buy some tea for General Ruan."
The man surnamed Ruan took the paper package and immediately lowered his right hand, realizing that the paper package contained not silver but gold at a rate of ten to one. He straightened his back and sat up from the rattan chair, smiling and saying, "What are you talking about, Shopkeeper Zhou? My brothers all rely on the nearby merchants for support. Otherwise, if they only relied on the irregular military pay from the court, wouldn't they all be starving?"
Zhou Cineng also shook his head and said, "General Qian, you are too polite. You and I are friends. This is just a little courtesy. Look, I have something to ask you today."
Ruan Qianzong narrowed his eyes and pointed at the group of carriages and horses behind Zhou Cineng with a smile, "Is this the group of people that Shopkeeper Zhou is talking about? Do you want to pay less customs duties again?"
Zhou Ci Neng hurriedly said, "General Qian, you have misunderstood. This is not an ordinary merchant. Our boss is inside. He wants to visit the capital and donate money to become an official!"
After hearing this, General Ruan Qian quickly left Zhou Cineng and walked to the front of the motorcade. He didn't know which car the Zhou family's headmaster was sitting in, so he just bowed and said, "I didn't know that headmaster Zhou was here. I greet you."
Although Zhou Cijing was a businessman of humble status, he was used to seeing high-ranking officials. He did not care about the petty official named Ruan. He lazily got out of the carriage, said only "Thank you for your care, General Qian", and went back in.
After hearing this, Ruan Qianzong smiled and said, "Since Master Zhou has spoken, then these people can be regarded as candidates going to Beijing to take the imperial examination. There is no need to check the writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstones they bring with them. Only a head tax of two taels of silver will be collected from each person!"
After this small captain spoke, all the soldiers in Tongguan were no longer ignorant enough to check the goods carried by Qiu Yi and his entourage. The precious sword on his waist, which could cut through iron like mud, also passed through Tongguan safely.
Zhou Ci Neng, the owner of Yunguan Tower, escorted the group all the way out of Tongguan before returning to take care of his own business.
After passing the customs, Qiu Yizhi breathed a sigh of relief and asked He Jiugong: "This little captain has so much power? With just one sentence, he exempted us from so much tax."
He Jiugong drove the cart while smiling and saying, "That's not how the bill is calculated. Sir, do you know what the tariff rate is?"
"Tax is one in thirty." Qiu Yizi has seen his adoptive father and master managing the military and political affairs of Youyan Dao for more than a year or two, so he knows something about financial and taxation matters.
"That's right. The goods we brought on this trip are worth about three thousand taels of silver. According to the tax rate of thirty to one, we have to pay a tax of one hundred taels of silver. But when we passed the customs just now, the gold that Manager Zhou gave to the captain must have weighed at least eight taels, which is equivalent to eighty taels of silver. We only saved twenty taels of silver in total. However, although this saving of silver is not much, it saves a lot of trouble when passing the customs, which is not something that can be bought with a mere twenty taels of silver." He Jiugong explained.
Qiu Yizhi said: "General Ruan Qian got 80 taels of silver for nothing, and we saved 20 taels of silver for nothing, but the court lost 100 taels of silver..."
"Alas. That can't be said. The court is short of money now, and military officers have to draw empty salaries and have their rations withheld. This Ruan is an officer after all, so his salary will not be short of silver, but it's hard to say for the soldiers under him. Of the eight taels of gold he took today, at least three taels must be used to honor his superiors, three taels to bribe his subordinates, and only about two taels will fall into his own pocket!" He Jiu said fairly.
"Then he can do it too. He easily earned twenty taels of silver when our team passed the checkpoint. If there are five teams, he can earn a hundred taels of silver a day." Qiu Yizi lowered his voice and said, "To be honest, when I left Guangyang, my adoptive father, the King of Youyan, was happy and raised my monthly salary to fifty taels of silver. I have to talk to my adoptive father when I go back. I can't be outdone by a mere gatekeeper, right?"
He Jiugong said with a smile: "Young Master has a bright future ahead of him. How can this little captain be compared with you? But then again, there is a saying in Kinki: 'In my next life, I would rather be a marquis than a marquis, than to be the governor of Tongguan Pass'. It is indeed a lucrative position!"
"Well! This Ruan guy must have gone through so many connections and given so much tribute to be able to hold such a position! I can't compare to him. How many marquises are there? I don't have such a blessing!" Qiu Yizi's tone was somewhat indignant.
"To be honest, this Ruan guy is not completely unrelated to you." He Jiugong looked at Qiu Yizi's puzzled look and said with a smile, "Mr. Zhongli, the chief strategist of the Prince of Youyan's Palace, has a clerk named Ruan Wenyuan. I wonder if you know him?"
Isn't it Ruan Wenyuan, the one that Master Zhongli sent to help him review the Tianzun Sect's scriptures? Qiu Yizhi thought so in his heart, but said, "Well, there is such a person, and I am just an acquaintance with him."
He Jiugong nodded and said, "That's right. They are cousins within the fifth degree of mourning. Who knows, when General Ruan Qian was planning this gatekeeping job, he might have borrowed money from Secretary Ruan!"
After hearing this, Qiu Yizhi was surprised that everything in the world was closely connected, and was also surprised that He Jiugong, a merchant's follower, was so well-informed. After a long pause, he sighed, "Jiugong really has good ears and eyes!"
He Jiugong said nonchalantly: "What's so strange about this? We businessmen are always in danger of losing our jobs. If we didn't have sharp ears and a long tongue, we would have gone bankrupt long ago!" (To be continued)