Chapter 191: The whole city surrenders

Some things are not hurt unless compared.

Xie Baisheng stayed in Qingzhou City for ten days. During these ten days, what he felt was not a gap, but an insurmountable chasm with no end in sight.

The strength of Qingzhou City is not just the strength of the Black Evil Legion, but its strength in all aspects.

Let’s not talk about anything else for now, just abolish the agricultural tax.

This has never been done in any dynasty in the past, nor did anyone dare to do so.

For past dynasties, abolishing agricultural taxes would be no different from committing suicide by taking poison, but Qingzhou City did just that.

However, while Qingzhou City abolished agricultural taxes, it also banned private grain production.

This means that no individual will be able to manipulate food prices in the future.

All the grain that farmers harvested was either eaten by themselves or sold to the government.

Qingzhou City also abolished all exorbitant taxes.

All the arbitrarily fabricated taxes in the past, such as the Ding tax, the poll tax, the li tax, and the donation tax, have been abolished.

It is said that if so much interest is cancelled, Qingzhou City should be unable to continue.

However, the situation was just the opposite. Qingzhou City not only did not fail to survive, but became increasingly powerful.

Xie Baisheng is not a fool, on the contrary he is very politically savvy.

Although the Black Evil Legion only occupied the city of Qingzhou, it had already shown the potential to become a hegemon.

The benefits brought by Qingzhou City alone are probably many times greater than those of the entire Tianyun Dao combined.

So when Ancheng paid the ransom, Xie Baisheng not only did not leave, but also took the initiative to stay.

"Sir Xie, what are you doing in our rebel territory all day long?" asked Zhuge Wulong.

"I can't help it. Your Qingzhou City is so much better than the poor and remote Ancheng." Xie Baisheng shrugged: "I can't bear to leave."

"Hehe... it's not a good thing for you to stay here like this."

"Now that the imperial court is gone, what's the impact?" Xie Baisheng simply stopped pretending: "Why don't you take Ancheng as well, Mr. Zhuge? As long as you give me one million taels, everything in Ancheng will belong to you."

Zhuge Wulong shook his head. Seeing Zhuge Wulong's refusal, Xie Baisheng could not help but feel a little dissatisfied: "Mr. Zhuge, do you think Ancheng is not worth the price?"

"First, our current grain output is not enough to fully supply Ancheng. We need to wait until the autumn harvest at the end of the year. Therefore, even if we completely occupy Ancheng at this time, it will be difficult to manage it effectively. Secondly, our cost of sending troops to Ancheng is more cost-effective than spending one million taels of silver to buy Ancheng."

Ancheng is only more than two hundred miles away from Qingzhou City. With such a short distance, they don’t even need logistics. As long as they can end the battle in a short time, each soldier can bring some food and fodder.

According to the difference in combat power between the two sides, the battle can be ended with a military pay of less than 100,000 taels.

"Then I am willing to offer Ancheng to you directly."

"It's not presented to me, it's presented to my lord." Zhuge Wulong corrected immediately.

Zhuge Wulong is an absolute idealist, and now Rosen has given him the opportunity to realize his ambitions and taught him many truths. Zhuge Wulong's feelings for Rosen are more like those of a student for a teacher than a subordinate.

"Yes, yes, can you help introduce me to your lord?"

Zhuge Wulong knew what Xie Baisheng was thinking, and Xie Baisheng also knew that Zhuge Wulong knew what he was thinking.

Xie Baisheng has basically revealed his cards. The only thing of some value he has is Ancheng.

He now has two choices, either to cause trouble for Qingzhou City or to forcefully stop its expansion.

Or you can make friends with the other party early and place a bet in advance before the other party reveals his strength, so as to gain the credit of following the dragon.

Zhuge Wulong thought about it and picked up the phone.

"Hey, lord, Ancheng Xie Baisheng wants to see you."

Xie Baisheng looked at Zhuge Wolong in surprise while he was on the phone. After Zhuge Wolong hung up the phone, Xie Baisheng couldn't help but ask, "What was that just now?"

"This is a device that can transmit sound over a thousand miles. I don't know the exact principle. My lord is willing to see you."

Xie Baisheng was overjoyed, and then, under the leadership of Zhuge Wolong, he came to Rosen's residence.

"Go in by yourself."

Xie Baisheng first took a look at the surrounding environment. This house was of a rather modern style, with several square blocks stacked together irregularly. Most of the walls were made of glass, and the courtyard was a green screen with a small number of Pleurotus plants.

It does not have the freshness and pleasantness of the Jiangnan water towns, nor the rich colors of the imperial palaces, but rather another kind of simple style.

When Xie Baisheng walked into the house, he saw an old man sitting in the living room.

"Sit down." Rosen pointed to the sofa next to him.

When Xie Baisheng sat down, he felt that his whole body was about to be sucked into the soft cushion, so he hurriedly adjusted his sitting position.

"Are you Ancheng Xie Baisheng?"

"That's right."

"You want to achieve the feat of following the dragon?"

Xie Baisheng didn't expect Rosen to be so straightforward. After thinking for a while, he nodded: "That's right."

"Qingzhou City showed me the foundation of a dynasty that would last for eternity."

Of course, it is an exaggeration to say that it is an eternal dynasty, but Xie Baisheng did see unprecedented great changes in Qingzhou City.

How powerful will the new dynasty established based on the model of Qingzhou City be?

Moreover, as long as Rosen does not seek quick success and advance rashly, but advances steadily and steadily, gradually encroaching on all sides and expanding his territory, no force will be able to stop Rosen's steps.

"So what do you think are the current shortcomings of Qingzhou City?"

Rosen didn't mind Xie Baisheng becoming his subordinate. Currently, Qingzhou City had already let them handle the affairs of General Fan. If they continued to increase the territory and population, there would be more troubles, so it was necessary to increase manpower.

Xie Baisheng's answer determined where Rosen would place him.

Xie Baisheng also realized the meaning of Rosen's words.

Xie Baisheng did not rush to answer, but fell into thought.

Xie Baisheng reviewed what he had seen and heard in the past few days in his mind, and then said: "The territory is too small, the manpower is too small, and because of the chaos outside Qingzhou City, many goods cannot be transported outside to exchange for profits. If the local people of Qingzhou City consume these goods, the actual value will be greatly reduced."

"Oh? Can you give an example?" Rosen didn't expect that Xie Baisheng had unique insights into business economics.

"Take mirrors for example. In Qingzhou, a palm-sized mirror is only worth a few dozen coins. But if it can be sold to other places, the value of the mirror will increase by a hundred times, and a mirror can bring Qingzhou City a lot of more valuable goods."

“Have you ever been in business?”

"Xie was the top scholar in the 12th year of Daji Rongsheng. During the palace examination, he wrote an essay called "Business Theory" and won the top prize."

Rosen originally thought that Xie Baisheng was a warrior, but he didn't expect that he was actually the top scholar.

From the way he talks, we can tell that he is a very capable person.

Especially his vision and unique insights.

“Apart from the business side, are there any other issues?”

"Talent." Xie Baisheng replied, "You started the rebellion too recently, so you haven't had enough time to train enough talents. Also, because you are not well-known, few people are willing to join you."