Zhao Ning stood at the entrance of the village, the anger in his heart was like a volcano about to erupt.

However, even though he was extremely angry, he did not show it, but looked as usual, even looking over there with a smile on his face.

Wang Mazi apparently also discovered Zhao Ning's group and asked Liu Chunsan: "Who is that?"

"I don't know." Liu Chunsan shook his head, "He's from out of town."

Wang Mazi took a closer look at Zhao Ning's group and walked over with them.

As soon as he walked over, the guards around Zhao Ning came forward and surrounded Zhao Ning on three levels outside.

"This official, my Excellency Wang Song, may I ask what your name is?"

Zhao Ning also had a smile on his face and said, "I'm Zhao Ning."

Wang Mazi began to search for a person named Zhao Ning in Julu County, but there seemed to be no one.

"Guan Zhao is from out of town?"

"Passing by."

"Why are you passing by?"

"Come and excuse me for a drink of water."

"please!"

Zhao Ning ordered people to go to the wellhead to fetch water.

Wang Mazi also brought more than a hundred people, some of whom were collecting taxes from door to door, and some of whom were following him.

"Where is Mr. Zhao from?"

"Gyeonggi Passerby."

"Where are you from Gyeonggi Road?"

"Chanzhou."

"Oh, it turns out you are from Chanzhou, what are you doing here?"

"I'm going to do some business at home and go north to talk about some business."

"Oh? North?"

Zhao Ning smiled and said: "Zhaozhou."

"Zhaozhou?"

"Zhaozhou."

"But talk about..."

"That's right, we're just talking about that deal."

Wang Mazi laughed and said: "Guan Zhao, come here, if you don't mind, why don't you come and sit down for a chat?"

Jing Chao said: "The officials in my family don't like others to be close to each other."

Wang Mazi still kept his smile and said to the people around him: "Everyone, step aside."

Everyone around him stepped aside, and Wang Mazi continued: "Please."

Zhao Ning stepped forward, and Jing Chao followed him.

Zhao Ning sat down under the big tree.

He actually wanted to slap this Wang Mazi to death.

But he didn't do it immediately.

The reason is actually very simple.

Who is Wang Mazi?

He looks so majestic and arrogant now, but in fact he is just a dog of the person above.

Can swatting a fly change the overall situation?

After seeing the scene just now, Zhao Ning's first reaction was not to think that Julu was a dark place, but to think about how many places in Hebei and Hedong are this kind of scene happening?

The imperial court issued tax exemptions, but how many areas were left behind?

How many places are there using the excuse of raising military rations to levy excessive taxes on the people?

Is it a special case in Julu County, or is most of Hebei West Road frantically searching for people's money?

Moreover, judging from Wang Mazi's words and deeds, these local officials and gentry are extremely skillful in their work and do not seem to be ruthlessly robbing.

If you rob directly, that would leave too many clues, and what should the people do if they go to Daming Mansion to sue the officials?

Therefore, it is necessary to create a clever name, while plundering the people's fat and anointing, while leaving the people speechless.

Of course, deploy force and use both kindness and power.

For example, Liu Chunsan and Zhao Ning are Wang Mazi's henchmen at first glance. He usually does the dirty work and is the bad guy.

Another example is Li Baozheng, who looks like a peacemaker at first glance.

For example, if the people had complaints about how much grain they had to pay now, Liu Chunsan would pick out the young and strong to be cruel and frighten others, and Li Baozheng would come out as the peacemaker.

Finally, Wang Mazi himself came out to explain the reason, scolded Liu Chunsan, and even kicked him a few times, allowing the people to vent their anger.

However, when he turned around and went back, Liu Chunsan continued to enjoy the food and drink.

The official behind this incident should be the magistrate of Julu County. If people want to go to Daming Mansion to sue the officials, there is no valid reason.

How to sue?

If you can't sue, will your whole family still be able to survive?

Therefore, in the end, I could only swallow my anger and linger on.

Since ancient times, officials have been like a mountain, weighing heavily on the people.

People are afraid of officials, just like sheep are afraid of wolves.

"I wonder what business Zhao Guanren does?"

Zhao Ning whispered: "Tea."

Wang Mazi's eyes glowed.

tea!

This is a big deal!

In the Song Dynasty, tea was not popular. It was only available in the south, and it was government-run. You had to have a tea supply before you could sell it. Otherwise, you would be imprisoned, and in serious cases, you would be beheaded.

Why?

Because tea is a national strategic material and must be exported, it imposes strategic constraints on other countries.

The staple food of nomadic peoples such as Khitan and Xixia is meat, including the Uighurs in the northwest and Qinghai area, who all eat a lot of meat.

Eating meat is prone to constipation, so tea is needed to cleanse the intestines.

So these nomads like tea very much.

On the contrary, their demand for ironware imports was very weak.

Both the Liao and Jin countries were rich in iron ore resources.

The biggest misunderstanding that future generations have about ancient nomads is that they think nomads cannot smelt iron.

In fact, the Huns mastered the technology of iron smelting.

The later Turks were the "forging slaves" of the Rouran people, which means that the Turks specialized in smelting iron for Rouran people.

The word "Khitan" means "iron" in the Khitan language.

The iron smelting industry in the Liao Kingdom was more developed than that in the Song Dynasty, consumed less and was more sophisticated, so there was no need to import iron at all.

Therefore, when Zhao Ning said that he was a tea merchant, Wang Mazi's eyes widened.

Even the gentry in the north who have money may not be able to drink tea, only officials provide it specially.

Wang Mazi's attitude became even better. He said, "I wonder how much tea Mr. Zhao has?"

"a lot of."

"How much is a lot?"

Zhao Ning stretched out a finger.

"A thousand pounds?"

Zhao Ning shook his head.

Wang Mazi's eyes almost popped out: "Ten thousand catties?"

"One hundred thousand catties."

Wang Mazi's jaw almost dropped.
To be continued...