Ye Zhao's cavalry commander was considered to be in name only. The people sent to negotiate with the Wuhuan Captain Guard had no reply. Ye Zhao knew that the weapons and armor had to be figured out by himself. After all, in name, although he was a cavalry commander, he was still under the command of the Wuhuan Captain Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard Guard

"Lord, this Wuhuan Captain is the clan brother of Guo Xun, the governor of Youzhou." Qiu Chi explained to Ye Zhao carefully.

"So what? I have no evil with Guo Xun." Ye Zhao frowned. Now Macheng is the only one who can truly be considered a combat power. The 400 Zhuang Yong selected by Meng Hu can only be considered a reserve soldier and a lack of soldiers. Although there should be no war at the moment, even if the village land in this village temporarily suppresses one of the Wuhuan tribes, other grassland tribes may not be intimidated. At this time, no tribe who cannot think of it comes to cause trouble. It is definitely not a good thing for Macheng.

"Don't you know that Guo Qing is also Guo Xun's clan brother?" Qiu Chi said with a wry smile.

Ye Zhao was slightly stunned, turned his head to look at Qiu Chi and said, "In this way, the military and political power of Youzhou are all in the hands of the Guo family. Will the court allow this happen?"

No matter how corrupt it is, it is not enough to entrust all the military and political power of a state to one family. In this way, the Guo family is equivalent to the King of Youzhou.

"Go back to the lord, although this matter is not a secret in Youzhou, Guo Qing and the guardian Wuhuan commander Guo Tai are not Guo Xun's own clan." Qiu Chi said with a wry smile.

Puzzle this?

Ye Zhao's first thought was to inform him of this matter, and the crime of deceiving the king was inevitable.

But then he realized that the court had no reaction to such a big thing and let the Guo family stay here. I am afraid that the emperor would not even see the water in it if he sent a memorial to him.

Qiu Chi could not see anything from Ye Zhao's expression, but he bowed and said, "Lord, my subordinates think it is not just an issue of military affairs, but more importantly, our Macheng has always been a business-based life and is backed by Dai County. Once the prefect Guo interferes, it is afraid that Macheng will be in danger."

"Mr. Qiu, are you worried about nothing?" Ding Li frowned and said, "I don't believe it. No matter how brave he is, can he still send troops to block us directly?"

"Sending troops to blockade is a good thing." Ye Zhao shook his head: "What I fear most is that the other party is coming to the dark side. If we want to cut off our way of life, sending troops is the stupidest way."

"What the lord says is right." Qiu Chi bowed and said, "Guo Yi doesn't even need to openly break up with his lord. He just needs to add an extra tax to other cities in Dai County, so that past vendors will give up their trade with our Macheng because of heavy taxes. In less than three months, Macheng will become a completely abandoned city."

Business is sometimes like this. It’s not that you can play with your connections and official positions if you have the ability.

"It's not difficult to crack this." Ye Zhao sat on Hu's bed and shook his head, "This move may be useful to some businessmen, but Guo Xuan is not as capable as one. Ordinary vendors are still okay, but he dare not raise taxes so blatantly for big families like the Zhen family, Cui family, and Gongsun family. If he really does this, it would be anger of the public."

"Then... the lord said, I, Ma Cheng, have no worries?" Qiu Chi said in confusion.

"No, life and death are at stake." Ye Zhao looked at Qiu Chi: "What is Macheng's biggest weakness?"

"This..." Qiu Chi shook his head blankly. Macheng had managed it well before. If the business road was not cut off, Guo Qing would only suppress a group of small businessmen. For Macheng, it would have no meaning at all.

"Grain!" Ye Zhao frowned and said, "Macheng's grain is purchased from other places by commercial use. If I am Guo Shi, if I really want to deal with Macheng, there is no need to do much, just convince the grain merchant."

"My lord is saying that grain merchants are prohibited from transporting grain to Macheng?" Qiu Chi's expression changed when he heard this.

"No need to do this. Just discuss with grain merchants and raise the grain prices in Macheng, which will cause chaos in our Macheng's economic chain. Food is the most important thing for the people. If the price of grain is high, the inevitable price will also rise. Once the price rises, there are no need for Guo Zhi to do anything. Merchants drive profits. At that time, there are still a few people who are willing to go here to do business. The most important thing is that Guo Zhi will not suffer any losses, nor will he inflict public anger." Ye Zhao knocked on the table and said.

"This...what should I do this!" Qiu Chi couldn't help but feel a little panicked when he heard this. If it was as Ye Zhao said, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"What should I do?" Ye Zhao glanced at him: "I can think of it, but it doesn't mean that Guo Qing could think that when he reacted and prepared, he immediately began to stockpile grain in the mainland, in addition to the necessary salt traded with the grassland. He said that the grassland had a drought and needed to buy a large amount of grain. If this grain was stored, it would be possible to survive this year. In addition, find someone to farm."

"Farming?" Qiu Chi looked at Ye Zhao in shock and said with a wry smile: "Lord, farming can indeed alleviate our external food demand, but Macheng has been mainly engaged in commerce for so many years. There is no shortage of business and craftsmen in Macheng. But if you talk about farming, some of the previous thin fields have been abandoned in recent years. If you want to farm, you have to re-cultivate them. The project volume is huge."

"That's also necessary." Ye Zhao shook his head: "If there are not enough people, I will recruit you. I have three years of tax exemption, which can greatly reduce taxes to attract refugees to reclaim wasteland. In this world, there are so many people who cannot survive with heavy taxes. As long as the tax is low, I don't have to worry that no one will come."

It is not just because of the current crisis. In this era of agriculture, a completely commercialized city should not exist at all. The weakness in agriculture will limit the upper limit of Macheng. It is not that commerce is bad. It is just that the limitations of this era limit the vigorous development of commerce, and even basic survival is difficult to maintain. How can there be so many rich materials to promote the circulation of commerce? If commerce is to flourish, the first problem is to increase agricultural production efficiency and liberate a large amount of labor to engage in other industries. At least the current Han Dynasty does not have this condition. Agriculture does not have fertilizers and tools are very simple. Only when agricultural production can be improved will there be ghosts.

However, Ye Zhao is not ready to change anything on a large scale at the moment. After all, his goal is not here. Ma Cheng is just a pedal for his career. Good things must be kept as trump cards and become his future advantage.

"Here!" Although Qiu Chi and Ye Zhao had not been together for a long time, they could feel that his lord was a very opinionated person. Once he decided on the strategy, it would be difficult to change. He no longer said anything, but began to consider some details.

"I wonder how to collect the agricultural tax prepared by the lord?" Qiu Chi bowed.

"If you want a horse to run fast, you have to make the horse full. As far as I know, in the world of Han, agricultural taxes are generally between 70% and 80% in various places, which is right?" Ye Zhao asked.

"Yes, there are fewer near Luoyang, between 50% and 60% of them. Youzhou is the profit, and the taxes in various places are basically around 75%." Qiu Chi nodded. The grain business has always been controlled by major families, and they did not pay taxes to the court according to this proportion.

Why did the Yellow Turban Uprising spread like a plague in a short period of time? In Ye Zhao's view, such a heavy tax is definitely a key reason. With 70% of the taxes, in terms of agricultural output in this era, the annual output of 30 acres of land may not be able to support a family of three after putting aside taxes. What are you waiting for if you don't?

"Tax exemption is impossible. We have to support the army..." Ye Zhao shook his head. He also thought about this matter along the way. After all, when the big man is generally heavy in taxes, how to set this tax is the key, and it is necessary to maintain its reputation, but it cannot be too much: "In this way, you first send people to various counties to recruit brave men and women, and at the same time secretly spread remarks, saying that the tax on Macheng is low, and the goal is to be determined in some villages that cannot survive. Don't publicize in the county town, which is easy to cause trouble. Let Gao Sheng handle this matter. He is better than you in this regard, and first see the effect. As for taxation, I will make a charter in the next few days, but the most important thing is to buy food. Before Guo Shi can react, hoard a batch first, and it will be much better to survive until the autumn harvest."

"Here, I'll do it now." Qiu Chi stood up, bowed to Ye Zhao, and then hurriedly left. He wanted to implement these things as soon as possible.

"Lord, then let's wait..." Ding Li, Meng Hu and Guan Hai looked at Ye Zhao.

"Continue to train troops. You don't have to worry about other things. Practice the troops first. As for equipment, I will find a way. What the court promised me to do is not that easy to get greedy for private self-indulgence." Ye Zhao waved his hand and said.

"Here." The three of them bowed and stood up and left. In fact, they didn't need to attend such a meeting today. However, Ye Zhao's subordinates are just a few kittens to attract them, which is to express their importance to them and win people's hearts.
Chapter completed!