Not far ahead of Liu Guojin is an east-west street, with King Khan's palace and Zhang Han's mansion at the eastern end of this avenue.

The defense here is already relatively strict, and many soldiers patrolled here, all of them were musketeers.

Liu Guojin noticed that the muskets held by the muskets were all well-made, and the barrels were dark and thick. At first glance, they used enough fine iron. They were much better than those fooling things in the Ministry of Works. In addition, there were sharp and sharp bayonets at the muzzle, which looked very threatening. Some merchants came from afar and didn't know how majestic. Only after they came here did they feel that Hutchison was not an ordinary merchant, and Zhang Han was not an ordinary owner. People's aura gradually calmed down and was much quieter.

At the intersection, some Taoist priests set up stalls to tell fortunes, and the business is also very good. Many people spend money around the stalls to buy fortunes.

Qingcheng was originally one of the base camps of the Huang Cult. Most of the nobles in the city believed in the Huang Cult. Hutchison could not help but believe in the religion. They only renovated most of the Buddhist temples and moved some lamas out. The Huang Cult had a lot of opinions on this, but later Zhang Han reached an agreement with the Huang Cult leader in Kulun and the two sides reconciled.

Huang Cult has been repairing Buddhist temples in Mobei and other places, so he no longer cares about the loss in Qingcheng.

In addition to the Huang Sect, after Zhang Han entered Qingcheng, some Buddhist temples in northern Shanxi began to enter. They only found a small courtyard as a temple, and there were still many people worshipping, including many Buddhist temples in northern Shanxi, and the temples were also very strong. After the Huang Sect passed away, Zhang Han couldn't publicly support them, but there were still not many Han people who believed in Tibetan Buddhism, and they still worshipped these monks from the mainland.

In addition, there are Chenghuang Temple and Guansheng Temple in the city, as well as two Taoist temples.

This is a obviously different treatment. Zhang Han’s excuse was that his wife Chang Ning believed in Taoism, so he wanted to practice Taoism and worship it. In fact, Chang Ning did not believe in Taoism. On the contrary, Chang’s mother believed in Buddhism, but Zhang Han had his own considerations in this matter. The local pope has always been a defensive in the face of these foreign religions, and only Taoism in the Tang Dynasty was a truly glorious period.

Zhang Han did not want to restore Taoism to the same state as the Tang Dynasty. There were many emperors in the Ming Dynasty who believed in Taoism. Emperor Chengzu also cultivated the Wudang Mountain Palace. However, some emperors built the palace temples for the sake of the cornerstone of rule, while others were just for superstition. For example, the Ming Dynasty emperors had short life, some were physical reasons, and some were because of taking things like golden elixirs, such as Emperor Xuanzong, and Emperor Shizong. Zhang Han hoped that local Taoism would have a certain status and had a corresponding influence on the people. Foreign religions could exist, but they could not occupy a dominant position, so the Mongols were destroyed by the Yellow Sect. This is a fact before us.

Zhang Han’s support for Taoism is still useful. There are more Taoist priests in the city, and the residents in the city are also very acceptable. In the morning, the monks get up to beat wooden fish to report the time, and the Buddhist temple is worshipped in all seasons. However, the military department will not throw the ground to the temple. They all have to find ways to beg for alms to solve the problem of food and livelihood. Getting up early is considered the monk’s greatest contribution.

In addition, it is to do rituals. Taoist priests also do rituals, tell fortunes, look at Feng Shui, and combine the birth date and eight characters for others. They are more useful than monks. Chinese people pay more attention to practicality in their beliefs, so Taoist priests are more popular than monks.

The god stall in front of me was a Taoist priest from the Taoist temple, and there were also Taoist priests You Fang who had just arrived. Liu Guojin and others took a look and didn't care, but they saw several military officials coming over to stand in front of the god stall, and they stopped unconsciously.

"Tao Masters, taxes are available every ten days." A round-faced official in charge smiled angrily: "Please pay taxes for everyone."

Several Taoist priests seemed to be used to it. They took out copper coins from their pockets or purses calmly, and each of them handed over fifty copper coins.

A middle-aged Taoist was not paying money, but instead questioned: "Hamkaji has always been kind to the people and is not harsh to the people. Why do we Taoist still have to pay taxes? We have never paid taxes in our Ming Dynasty."

Some Taoist people next to him were about to speak, and the round-faced official waved his hand and said with a smile: "Master Taoist, you have never paid taxes in the Ming Dynasty, but have you paid for the rituals?"

"This one has been received."

“How much did it cost?”

"Ten taels of silver."

"Isn't that tax? Monks lead discs and Taoists give them talismans, which are all taxes for the country." The round-faced official was still very gentle, but his tone was very serious. He said: "Monks and Taoists do not do production, and discs are all taxes for prepaid. Because Taoists and monks will consume the wealth of society, they will spend a huge amount of money first, which is a reward for the court's finances and people's livelihood. Otherwise, the court would ignore it and everyone would become a monk and Taoist priest."

Everyone burst into laughter, and the Taoist priest blushed and said, "Whether we are doing rituals or fortune-telling, we always have to make a living by our ability, not by cheating."

"How dare I say that to Taoist priest?" The round-faced official shook his head and said, "The Taoist priest misunderstood. It was just that the Ming Dynasty also collected taxes for monks and Taoists, and the distribution of these things gradually became rewards to noble eunuchs. After the gifts were distributed, the monks and Taoists were asked to spend money to buy them. The price increased a lot, and they had to pay money to ask for help. We don't care about these things here, no matter whether they are all the religions and all the people who are free to do it, but no one can avoid paying taxes. The Taoist priest said that he would not pay taxes before, but has he been exploited and extorted by others, and he has ever been worried about bandits and other people? We must be responsible for ensuring public security and repairing roads. These are called public affairs. If taxes are not collected, how can we have money to do these things? Just like the Taoist priest came from another place, and had been sick and hungry before, our Ministry of Health here accepted Taoist priest first, and lived without any penny for more than ten days, and asked a doctor to see a doctor and take medicine. If he did not collect taxes, the Taoist priest's life was worrying."

Everyone nodded a lot. Even the Taoist priest looked embarrassed. He took out the copper coins from his arms and handed them over.

"It's clear." The round-faced tax collector gave a receipt and smiled and said, "Even if the Taoist priest leaves Qingcheng, there is no need to pay taxes before the deadline. If there is no income, it can be tax-free. And you can get relief. Of course, the Taoist priest is talented and should not need relief."

The tax collector turned to all directions and bowed: "We have all the uses for tax collection. All expenses have details. The finance and taxation department will post them. If you have any doubts, you can go and have a look. Of course, the most important thing for us and tax collection is our own development. This is impossible. We have to pay something on our land. Do you think so?"

"It's reasonable and concise." Liu Guojin praised, and felt even more uneasy. An ordinary minor official in Hutchison was so capable and said so clearly about major policies. His governance was open and upright, and his internal prosperity would only attract more people to settle down.

Judging from the situations I saw along the way, Hutchison's various measures in its ruling area were much more effective than the Ming Dynasty, and it was more united and centripetal. No wonder its territory was getting bigger and bigger, and its military strength was getting stronger and stronger.

At this time, another team of cavalry passed by, and everyone spontaneously made way, including some officials riding horses, also took the initiative to avoid them.

Many people bowed to the soldiers in the army, and all kinds of respects came from the heart and had no pretentiousness.

"Let's go." Liu Guojin said to his two sons: "Be careful when you go and speak, and don't make mistakes."

"My father is coming again with such a cautious look." The boss of the Liu family said disapprovingly: "Everything that Hutchison has laws and regulations, don't deceive others, don't worry."

"It's just that I have a little experience in my father's situation." Liu Guojin stroked his gray beard and said slowly: "It's because Hutchison talks about the law in everything, so there is no favor when he commits a crime. You must be more cautious and be cautious. The more you abide by the law, the less you fear the law. If you are in the capital, relying on your father's side, and some illegal things that are small and unspeakable, no one can get along with you, you will suffer a loss here."

"What my father said is very much." Liu Da bowed: "Son understands."

Liu Er agreed very much and said, "Actually, this is good. When we were in the capital, we relied on our father's power in the officialdom to bully others, but we were always worried that others would bully us. When we met eunuchs and nobles and wealthy families, our identities would not be enough. We have hidden dragons and tigers in the capital, and we have suffered many times. Hutchison is a good thing, and everything is best."

"There will be some powerful people." Liu Guojin smiled and said, "But that's the case. It's good that you can understand it."

Liu, the father and son left, and everyone knew that they were heading to the east of Zhang Mansion. The Zhang Mansion looked a bit ignited and cooked oil these days, and it was very lively.

In the past, Zhang Han loved to keep a simple and rich style in Hutchison, so he did not want to hold banquets with great fanfare. His private house did not encourage officials to come to visit. Whether it was Chang's mother or Zhang Han himself, he never held a birthday party. After a long time, people understood that Zhang Han was like this, so no one would come to visit him again.

This time my idea was not to accept gifts. The entire Hutchison was owned by Zhang Han. What gifts would he have to receive? The amount of gifts should not exceed fifty taels, and the bureau level had to give less than twenty taels. Liu Guojin was an outsider, so he played a side ball and gave more ideas, but he would not be rejected. Ordinary generals and officials could only give gifts according to regulations. The Zhang family would also receive gifts, which could not be calculated.

Everyone understood that this time it was to establish the Young Master and set the title. From then on, in addition to Zhang Han, there was another Master. Although he was the Young Master, he was also the King.

Those who were qualified to send gifts and attend banquets rushed over to Zhang's house, and many of them were not qualified to go there, not for anything else, just to see the fun.

The Zhang Mansion is close to the Khan Palace. It was originally a large temple. The place was very wide and could accommodate many people to watch the fun.

There are many guards outside the gate, separated by many people, causing people to keep coming in and out to prevent trampling.

There are also some etiquettes. As long as the people who come here say a few words to praise and bring blessings to the children, there will be a small gift for them. As for those who give them new shoes and clothes, no matter what fabric they are using, there will be a generous gift for them.

This time, Zhang Han used his private money to give some benefits to the people in the city, and everyone who came here was happy to smile. Even if most people in Qingcheng have a good family background, the free money always makes people feel good.

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If you have a red vote, don’t forget to support me. You don’t need money. If you do it, you will be very supportive of me.
Chapter completed!