Chapter 4 Fengxian Difficulties

Fang Ling understood a little when he heard this. Chen Mou suggested, "Your Highness, since Lord Cao said that the tax is serious, now that this place has become the fief of Your Highness, if Your Highness reduces the taxes, it will definitely reduce a lot of burden on the people."

Fang Ling nodded slightly and said, "Then let Feng County get exempted from the three-year tax. What does Lord Cao think?"

Cao Jingyuan was overjoyed and walked out and bowed, "Your Highness is wise, and the people must be grateful for your kindness."

Fang Ling smiled faintly and said, "This is just a treatment for symptoms. Eliminating this tax may not necessarily make Fengxian richer, right?"

Cao Jingyuan smiled bitterly and said, "I'm going to hide it from your highness. This is also a problem that I have been thinking about for more than ten years here. However, this Fengxian land depends on the mountains. If the bandits cannot be eliminated, then there will be no way to make the people rich!"

Fang Ling touched his chin and said, "As far as Lord Cao knows, how many bandits are there around here?"

Cao Jingyuan shook his head and said, "I don't know whether the lower officials are aware of it. I only know that the bandits in Misty Mountain and Shilong Mountain are not the same group. What troubles Fengxian is the bandits in Misty Mountain, but it is unknown how many people there are, or how many stocks there are."

Chen Mou said on the side: "Your Highness, no matter how many bandits are, they are familiar with the local terrain and have been active in the mountains and forests for a long time. I'm afraid we can't deal with it at the moment. Not to mention that there are 10 soldiers in the city, even 100 people may not be able to gain an advantage."

Cao Jingyuan then interrogated: "Mr. Chen said very well. The mountains outside Feng County are originally the intersection of two mountains. The terrain is very complicated. Even if there are thousands of troops here, they can only defend the county town. However, it is more difficult to destroy them than climbing to the sky."

Fang Ling also knew that he could not get the idea of ​​the bandit for the time being. He touched his chin and thought, "Then why are the other two counties more wealthy?"

Cao Jingyuan said: "Although Xihe County is also among the mountains, there are high mountains and streams down there, which impacts into fertile land and a river. Therefore, even if you cannot go up the mountain to hunt, livelihood is not a problem. Moreover, the fish, shrimp and aquatic products you get can be sold to other counties through vendors. Fruit trees are abundant in Maling County, and there has been a custom of raising horses there since ancient times. One horse can sell hundreds of taels of silver, which is naturally very rich."

After hearing this, Fang Ling looked at Chen Mou.

Chen Mou smiled bitterly and said, "Your Highness, it seems that Fengxian is not rich. If you have mountains, you cannot hunt, and if you have fields, you cannot farm. If you have people, you will have no income. Even if you are exempt from taxes, you will not be able to save much money. The bandits who solve the root cause of the problem cannot be solved in one day or two days, and the subordinates have no choice for a while."

In fact, this problem is clear at a glance, but it is very difficult to solve it. After all, it is really a bit troublesome to think of the problem that Cao Jingyuan has not figured out for more than ten years here.

Fang Ling thought for a while and had a headache. It was impossible to solve the bandits immediately. Then only by looking for another way is a problem that must be solved. Only by changing the situation here and establishing a reputation can the people have their own Stone City King in their hearts.

Only when the people want can they be invincible, but I didn’t expect that the first thing that came to the fiefdom would be so overwhelmed.

Alchemy is a must-do homework Fang Ling has done every day. Fang Ling has never missed this matter in the more than ten days after entering the northern border.

It’s just that because of the limited time, it takes more than an hour to refine each pill, so the pills that are refined every day are limited. In addition to Xiao Xue, one pill for each mother and herself. The remaining time to practice is divided into more pills for them, which can be considered as a benefit to everyone.

Although Xiao Xue did not see these things in person, Xiao Xue would not expect them and could only regret passing on the pill recipe.

Although the problem in Fengxian was not solved, Fang Ling still adjusted his mood and practiced the pills in the room. After practicing the three, it was already night. When he arrived at the side yard, he found Xiao Xue dancing with his sword.

The sword was bought in a county passing by for self-prevention. Although it is not of high quality, it is gentle, shiny, and as thin as wings, and the workmanship is quite good.

Xiao Xue held a long sword in her hand, her jade wrist was lightly wrapped, and her sword was like a stroke of a magical stroke. Sometimes it was as fast as lightning, sometimes it was as gentle as water. Her white dress was better than snow, and she was filled with the falling moonlight, so beautiful that it made people unable to take off her eyes.

Moreover, after so many days of Peiyuan Pill, Xiao Xue is no longer an ordinary mortal. Although she has not yet absorbed her true blood, she is already like a warrior with considerable skills when dancing the sword.

Fang Ling looked at her dancing with a concentration, and suddenly a question arose.

As if he noticed Fang Ling's arrival, Xiao Xue stood with his sword and looked over faintly.

Fang Ling walked over and handed the Peiyuan Dan over, but couldn't help but ask curiously: "Miss Xiao, why do you want to become a disciple of the Immortal Sect?"

Xiao Xue frowned slightly, as if she didn't expect him to suddenly ask about these things. She took the pill gently without answering.

Fang Ling stared at her expression and guessed: "I guess you should be a skeleton genius, who was selected by the Tianshi Master of the State Town in a certain country and entered the Immortal Sect, right?"

Xiao Xue couldn't help but give him a blank look. She had been with the boy for nearly a month and had a deep understanding of his personality. This is the case with this person. As long as you want to know, you will always use various methods to test it indirectly until you get a satisfactory answer. If you don't answer, it will arouse his interest.

Xiao Xue thought she could maintain a calm mind about anything and anyone, but she had no choice but to avoid being harassed by this prince who was good at making trouble and wise. In order to avoid being harassed by him, she had to nod.

Fang Ling smiled with satisfaction and continued to curiously: "Where is Miss Xiao's family?"

"Family?" Xiao Xue couldn't help but sneer, and then seemed to notice that she was a little out of control, so she said coldly to Fang Ling: "You don't need to ask about my family affairs!"

Seeing that she was a little angry, Fang Ling knew something about the inside story. Naturally, he knew that some things should be asked and some things should not be asked, and he smiled and said, "I am just a little curious. I don't know what kind of family Miss Xiao will be born in and what kind of family members she has. But no matter how bad the family is, it should be happier than my family, because one day, I will face them with weapons and think this is a fate that I cannot escape."

Xiao Xue was stunned when she heard this. Looking at the boy under the moonlight, although he was a few years younger than him, there was no tender expression on his face. His black eyes were as deep as the sea and shining like stars, but with a hint of sentiment. His not-wide shoulders supported the pressure that ordinary people could not imagine.

She suddenly felt a sore nose, and she felt a little distressed.

Fang Ling came to his senses, smiled faintly at Xiao Xue, and turned around.

When they arrived at the front yard, Huang Jian and Meng Zhiyuan were sitting on the wooden bench in the yard chatting. When they saw Fang Ling coming, they quickly got up to salute.

Fang Ling asked Chen Mou and others, and then he realized that Chen Mou had already rested early. This imperial physician and counselor paid great attention to the way of self-nourishment. If there is no major and urgent matters, he would always sleep on time and get up on time.

As for Dong Canghai and others, Cao Jingyuan asked for an empty space to build a temporary horse farm and led several war horses over.

Fang Ling then called Huang Jian and the others to go to the city to take a walk, which was also considered to be aware of the people's sentiment.

It was just night time, and there were not many pedestrians on the street, but there were quite a few children, running in groups and playing games happily, adding some vitality to the calm night.

Because I was not walking on the road, I also saw some other scenes, some people raised silkworms at home, some people weaving cloth at home, and some people grinding tofu.

Although there is no tavern, many residents open their houses and move chairs, benches and tables to the street. Three or five neighbors sit together. Although they eat plain food, they laugh and talk about some interesting things, which naturally includes the news of the arrival of the King of Shicheng.

Everyone came from Hao Tieniu's mouth. According to his words, the King of Shicheng was very kind and kind.

But this adjective makes people think of Fang Ling as an old man in his decades.

Just as he was walking through an alley, a child suddenly rushed over from one side of the alley and just ran into Fang Ling's arms.

This collision naturally did not knock Fang Ling down, but instead fell to the ground, and a stone in his arms rolled aside.

"Kid, are you okay?" Fang Ling asked hurriedly.

The child's head was only 8 or 9 years old. He tied a braid on his head and touched his head with a smile and said, "It's okay." Then he looked around and ran over and picked up the stone.

Huang Jian's eyes lit up and suddenly said, "Child, wait a moment."

The child looked at him with his head tilted, as if he felt that he was looking at the stone he was holding. He hurriedly hugged the stone tightly with a look of vigilance.

"What's wrong?" Fang Ling asked.

Huang Jian replied: "Your Highness, the stone this child is holding seems to be iron ore."

"Iron ore? What's so strange about this? There should be a blacksmith shop in the city. Isn't there iron ore in that shop?" Fang Ling said.

Huang Jian shook his head and said, "This iron ore is very dark in color, which shows that it contains a lot of iron. The iron ore that can be obtained in blacksmith shops in county towns are generally inferior."
Chapter completed!