roccoschili Chapter 420 City Entry Fee
Chapter 420 City Entry Fee
Who would have thought that before he even entered the city gate, he was stopped outside. "Why are you going to enter the city without money? Go, go, go, go quickly, don't block the road here."
Lu Chuan didn't argue too much and just stood aside. When it was the next person's turn, he paid two cents for the entrance fee.
In the past, there was no entrance fee to enter the city. I never thought that the court is now in such a deficit that even money is required to enter the city.
Restraining his dissatisfaction, Lu Chuan walked back and saw a friendly man and started to talk to him, "Brother, do I need to pay to enter the city now?"
Seeing that Lu Chuan was puzzled, the elder brother replied enthusiastically, "Little brother, it seems that you haven't been to the county town for a long time."
Lu Chuan rubbed his hands in embarrassment, pretending to be an unworldly person. "To be honest, my home is quite far from the county town, and I haven't been to the county town for almost half a year."
The man nodded in understanding and explained to Lu Chuan, "After the New Year, you will need to pay an entrance fee to enter the county town. It is two cents per person, capped at 10 cents. If there are more than five people, no additional fee will be charged. In addition, if you bring livestock into the city, you will need to pay an additional five cents."
"So that's how it is. Thank you for telling me, big brother." Lu Chuan clasped his fists and bowed. The man returned the gesture and the two said goodbye to each other.
Since he couldn't enter the city, Lu Chuan turned around and went to the post station. He hadn't been here for a long time. The last time he came to the post station was when he sent Yunhua and Zhao Yunyun. He didn't know if Uncle Zhang and the others had sent any letters during this period.
As expected, I gained something when I arrived at the post station. Uncle Zhang and Shopkeeper Xiao Li both sent me letters.
Lu Chuan opened the letter and took a look at it on the spot. Seeing that there was nothing important in it and it was just greetings to each other, he felt relieved.
Because I had no money and couldn't write a reply, I could only get up and leave, and wait to reply to Uncle Zhang and others next time.
I think Uncle Zhang and the others know Lu Chuan's situation and will not blame him for it being inconvenient for him to go up and down the mountain.
As the sun began to set, Lu Chuan couldn't help but quicken his pace and rush home.
By the time I got home, it was already dark.
Because the Taoist priest and Lu Chuan said they would definitely be back before dark, Xu Han couldn't help but worry when she saw that it was already completely dark and there was still no sign of them.
The lights were on in the yard. Xu Han, Grandpa Zhao, and the children were enjoying the cool air in the yard while anxiously waiting for the two people who had not returned.
I don't know how long it took, but finally I heard a dog barking outside. "They're back. They must be the two of them."
Xu Han was about to open the door when Grandpa Zhao pulled her back and said, "Don't worry, wait a little longer."
Upon hearing this, Xu Han reacted quickly and immediately let the two children into the house.
When Lu Chuan called the door from outside, Xu Han finally felt relieved. She quickly ran to the gate and opened it.
"Why are you back so late? Did something happen?"
"I was delayed in the county town for a while. I'll talk about it when I get home."
Lu Chuan flashed in and answered while pretending to close the door.
Xu Han was confused, why was there one person missing? "Where is the Taoist priest? Where did he go? Why didn't he come back?"
Lu Chuan took Xu Han's hand and started walking into the yard. Seeing that the Taoist priest had not returned, Grandpa Zhao also stood up and looked at Lu Chuan anxiously.
After Lu Chuan sat down on the bench, he took a deep breath and said, "Master, it's okay. My wife, please get me some food and water. I haven't eaten for a day and I'm starving."
Xu Han was even more confused after hearing this. She had clearly taken a lot of food and water when she left in the morning, and had also given some silver. How come she hadn't eaten for the whole day?
However, Xu Han also knew that now was not the time to ask this, so she should get something for Lu Chuan to fill his stomach first.
Thinking that Lu Chuan hadn't eaten for a day and must have an upset stomach, Xu Han took out some porridge and some light dishes from the space.
Lu Chuan wolfed down everything on the table. Xu Han was very tactful and quickly handed him a glass of water. After Lu Chuan finished drinking the water, she slowly began to explain.
"Today, the Taoist priest and I just came down the mountain and ran into a group of new soldiers..."
Lu Chuan roughly recounted the whole story, and Xu Han and Grandpa Zhao felt relieved after hearing it. They just wanted to know that the Taoist priest was safe now.
As for whether they would encounter any danger later, the two were not worried at all. The Taoist priest could handle such a small matter by himself and there would be no problem at all.
"Now you need to pay an entrance fee to enter the city. Since all my money was taken by the Taoist priest, I didn't go in. I just asked for information outside."
"Entrance fee? How much?"
"It's not much, just two cents, but the livestock will cost an additional five cents."
Grandpa Zhao fanned himself with a palm-leaf fan and recalled, "We in Yuanqing have not collected city entrance fees for nearly thirty years. In the past, when the country was peaceful and the people were prosperous, all these miscellaneous taxes were abolished.
Now that the city fees have been collected again, it means that the treasury is really empty. The people will definitely have a harder time in the next few years.
We will see that in the future there will not only be an entry fee, but also various other taxes, such as head tax, livestock tax, etc. Not only that, if nothing unexpected happens, the grain tax will definitely increase this year."
Xu Han continued, "In this case, won't the people of Yuanqing Kingdom still have a hard time? With all the taxes added up, the people can't even afford to eat."
Grandpa Zhao sighed, "There's nothing we can do. The front lines need to fight, and the soldiers need to eat. The treasury is empty, so we can only squeeze money out of the people."
Xu Han complained quietly, "In this era, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer."
In fact, it is not only this era, but also everywhere, even in modern times. It just doesn't seem so obvious. At least everyone under the five-star red flag can have enough food.
But it's different here. Once a war breaks out, it is the poorest people who bear everything in the end.
Grandpa Zhao smiled and said, "Don't worry. Once the war starts, the first ones to bleed will definitely be the wealthy merchants and those aristocratic families. You know, we still have a devilish prince in the capital. This prince will definitely make these rich people bleed."
Xu Han and Lu Chuan were very curious when they heard this, wondering who this person was.
Grandpa Zhao saw the two of them with a puzzled look and explained, "Our prince is a person who hides from the entire capital. It is not an exaggeration to say that he is a demon king in the world. Those children of aristocratic families have never been beaten by him. Because the emperor favors him, and the current emperor is also spoiled by him, he always walks sideways in the capital.
But our prince is not really a playboy, he just has a bad temper, but he is very reasonable. When he sees a noble family kid bullying ordinary people, he will definitely catch him and beat him up. Therefore, all the noble family kids are very afraid of him. "