The annual provincial examination starts on the ninth day of the eighth month, and it is called autumn examination because it is in autumn.

In early June, scholars from Guiyang set off one after another and set off for Kunming, Yunnan.

Historically, a Guizhou scholar named Tian Qiu will be awarded this year, and will be successfully allowed to hold the provincial examinations in Guizhou twenty-five years later.

He said in his memorial: "Guizhou (Guiyang) to Yunnan, more than 2,000 miles apart, such as Sinan, Yongning and other prefectures to Yunnan, and there are three or four thousand miles apart. It is even more difficult to travel in the middle of summer, with steep mountains and steep miasma and poisonous invasion. The suffering of scholars is the most extreme. There are poor people in the middle who cannot be used as a gift, young people who cannot pass by, some who cannot withstand hardships and return to the middle way, and those who are suffering from miasma and poisonous in the middle, often... "

Tian Qiu himself was from Sinan Prefecture, or "those who went to Yunnan three or four thousand miles", and it took more than a thousand miles more than Wang Yuan's entrance exam.

It’s not okay to not rush ahead of time. If you encounter any accidents, you can have room for maneuver.

Among Wang Yangming's core disciples, only Wang Yuan, Li Ying, Yue Zhen and Zou Mu took the exam. The others gave up for various reasons. Chen Wenxue and others did not even take the exam last year.

The main reason is that the cost of the exam is too high, and the students are not sure, so they simply stop taking the provincial examination. It will take several months to delay the cost, not only the cost, but also the health. Unlike other provinces, whether you are sure or not, go to the exam first and try your luck.

Among the four, Wang Yuan and Li Ying rode a horse, Yue Zhen and Zou Mu rode a donkey.

Zou Mu, whose courtesy name is Jinren, is nearly thirty years old. He joined Wang Yangming last summer and also studied in the Civilization Academy. He especially likes to run errands for Wang Yangming.

In addition to Wang Yuan, Li Ying, Yue Zhen and Zou Mu all brought book boys, and they were book boys who were used to fighting.

City West Inn.

A caravan with more than thirty horses was waiting on the official road, and several scholars were mixed in the team.

Wang Yuan came late and rushed to meet with the caravan.

This is the usual method of Guizhou scholars. Follow the caravan and there are many people to take care of them. Moreover, the caravan is familiar with the road conditions and knows where to stop to avoid sleeping in the wilderness when it gets dark.

Li Ying quickly dismounted and apologized: "Qin, I'm really embarrassed, I've made you wait for a long time."

Qin named Qin Hao, the leader of this caravan. He traveled to Yunnan and Guizhou Post Road to do business. He was contacted by Li Ying's family.

Qin Hao was tanned and shiny, his arms and legs were thick, and he smiled softly and said, "It doesn't matter, it doesn't delay anything. Li Sanlang is too polite."

Wang Yuan and others also dismounted and greeted each other, and followed the other scholars who set out with the caravan to greet him.

When they learned that Wang Yuan was a famous child prodigy, everyone became more and more respectful. Even in the caravan, there were many people secretly looking at him, as if they wanted to study the difference between Wenquxing and ordinary people.

Although the caravan had horses, the horses carried the goods and each led the horses on foot.

While observing the terrain along the way, Wang Yuan chatted with Qin Hao: "Qin Bartou, can you make a lot of money by making this trip to Kunming?"

Qin Hao smiled and said, "What do I earn? I am just a person who sells strength."

Well, it seems that it is not the boss, but the captain of the transportation team, who is only responsible for taking people to transport the freight.

Wang Yuan asked again: "What are you lucky?"

Seeing that the prodigy was very interested, Qin Hao said in detail: "The main thing is some Huguang goods, which are transported from Guiyang to Kunming to make the difference. The trip back is considered a real deal. From Kunming to Guizhou, our boss has salt intake."

After Wang Yuan asked carefully, he realized that this route was also one of the Tea-Horse Trading Roads, but it was the least valued route.

The busiest tea and horse trade route is the Sichuan-Guizhou-Yunnan Line. It directly enters Sichuan from Yunnan through western Guizhou and does not need to pass through Guiyang at all. The Sichuan-Guizhou Line is also very busy. It transports tea and horses from central Guizhou to north, and the ultimate goal is the Shaanxi-Gansu Zang area.

"I heard that the commercial tax is very low?" Wang Yuan said curiously.

"The commercial tax is still low? Who did you hear?" Qin Hao exclaimed, "The commercial tax is so high that it is so high that it is very common for people to lose money."

The commercial taxes in the Ming Dynasty were indeed thirty, and books, pens and ink, farm tools, fruits and vegetables, livestock and weddings and funerals were tax-free.

But this is just a business tax!

At the Jindu Pass, there is also a transit tax, with a tax rate ranging from 30 to 20 to 10. For example, wood, one directly draws one ten when passing the customs; firewood and thatch also need to draw one three times; mane and yellow vine are 30 to 2 times.

When encountering an unreasonable corrupt official, the caravan will impose a transit tax when they set off. Before the timber merchants can get off one tenth of their capital.

During the Xuande period, in order to promote the Daming Baochao, the store tax was increased by five times in the market. Large fruit and vegetable growers were also targeted. They had to pay taxes as long as they were loaded and wholesale, which violated Zhu Yuanzhang's ancestral system of not paying taxes for fruits and vegetables. In addition, the Heyunchao Pass was set up, and the transit tax was repeatedly levied, and taxes were collected according to the size of the ship.

In addition, there is also the Royal Shop.

This thing was flourishing during the Zhengde period, and Eunuch Liu made great contributions.

In Beijing alone, six imperial shops were set up to tax customers without legal basis. Now the imperial shops have spread to the surrounding areas with the center of Zhili in the north. The eunuchs used the emperor's sign to intercept merchants, and the more they were levying, and they were all determined by their will, and they often "kill people's lives, and they did not do anything."

After Liu Jin's fall, the imperial shop not only did not close, but instead opened nationwide.

Because Zhu Houzhao had already tasted the sweetness, the imperial shops imposed commercial taxes, and did not go through the government channels and directly put them into the emperor's small treasury. In the end, even small vendors had to pay, and the eunuchs raised a lot of idle people to collect along the streets.

Huangdian was the most harmful to commercial development in the mid-Ming Dynasty. Because the objects and amounts of collection were very casual, the merchants were completely unsure and always felt a sense of crisis that was in danger.

Moreover, the eunuchs have levied so many taxes, and most of the ones that really end up in the hands of the emperor may not be saved, and most of them have been embezzled by the eunuchs.

The emperors did this, so naturally the princes and relatives were not idle. They often set up private checkpoints and randomly imposed transit taxes, so local officials did not dare to take care of them.

If anyone insisted on the low business tax in the Ming Dynasty, he would be afraid that he would not be beaten to death by the merchants.

Are you a joke when you emphasize agriculture and suppress commerce?

Without exception, all the wealthy businessmen colluded with eunuchs, honorary relatives, and government officials to achieve the monopoly purpose of bullying and dominating the market.

A serious businessman is unable to move forward, and he often goes bankrupt once he goes bankrupt and gets ruined for no reason. Therefore, after he has money, he trains his descendants to study and become officials, and at the same time he buys land crazily. After all, local owners are much more reliable than being merchants.

Wang Yuan and Qin chatted for a long time, and they were completely speechless.

The repeated tax collection phenomenon in the Ming Dynasty was too serious, and the local tax power was too large, so the central government was always short of money. The emperor also lacked money, so he asked the eunuchs to set up imperial shops and messed around. As a result, the emperor himself did not make much money, and he fattened up a lot of eunuchs.

The court must conquer financial power!

"Ruoxu, what are you doing for these things? Do you still want to do business in the future?" Yue Zhen said with a smile.

Wang Yuan said: "If an official does not understand the people's feelings, it is like a doctor who does not expect to hear or ask questions. He will do whatever he wants to do. He will use medicine randomly. Wouldn't this Ming Dynasty be terminally ill?"

Yue Zhen immediately became solemn and dismounted and bowed directly: "Ruoxu is a good word, and I have received the teachings!"

Wang Yuan laughed: "I just said it casually."

"No," Zou Mu shook his head, "Although Ruoxu is a young man, his vision is longer than us. I am almost thirty years old, and I think about the imperial examination every day. How could I ever hope to heal the Ming Dynasty? I am really ashamed."

Li Ying pointed to the Siye Mountains and smiled and said, "You are treating the country, but I have to manage all directions and cultivate the nine sides of the Ming Dynasty like an iron barrel. Therefore, I should also observe the mountains, rivers and landforms along the way, so I will definitely be able to use it when leading troops to fight in the future."

Qin smiled without saying a word, and rushed to the road honestly. There were many scholars who went to the exam with him. He was full of passion before passing the exam, but there was no news after passing the exam.

He was nothing more than being assigned a small official and struggling to survive during his career. How could he have the energy to heal the Ming Dynasty?
Chapter completed!