Lord of the Desert

Chapter 475: Wasted Time

Two days later, April 29th.

The night is like a silent black crow, standing on tiptoe on the wall.

Hong Fan sat under the moon with his shirt open. Beside him on the stone table were two exquisite porcelain bottles, one empty and one full.

There is a poison in the bottle, called "Cuo Tuo Ku", which is taken from a rare sea snake in the South China Sea. Any mortal who is poisoned by it will die instantly, but after mixing with true essence, it can dredge the meridians.

The medicine has miraculous effects, but is rarely used.

The first reason is that it is expensive, costing two hundred strings of cash for one dose, and the second is that the side effects are significant, causing permanent liver and kidney damage to the user.

Hong Fan had been taking the medicine for more than half an hour. At this moment, the meridians in his heart and stomach were immersed in pungent and burning pain, which could only be slightly relieved by the cool night breeze.

When martial arts advance to the innate realm, the physical operations involved have become so delicate and subtle that ordinary elixirs and precious materials are of no help; if one still wants to seek help from external forces at this time, one can only use some strange methods.

Therefore, from March to now, the four kinds of auxiliary materials used by Hong Fan for practice all have strong side effects. The most serious one is the "Xiao Salu" one month ago. This medicine is the juice of a precious tree species in Chongshan. Three hundred strings of cash can only buy one penny of it. While softening the blockages in the collateral meridians, it will damage the main meridians.

The effect of the bitter medicine slowly wore off, and the burning pain moved from the heart and mouth to the waist, turning into soreness and swelling.

Hong Fan's mind once again echoed with Xiao Chu's warning from two days ago.

At the beginning of the year, due to the busy business of Kai Ming Xing, he did not feel deeply touched. However, as his unremitting hard work for nearly a year had not produced any results, the anxiety and confusion that had been suppressed in his heart for a long time gradually broke out.

A careful reading of the history books of this world shows that whenever the disputes between aristocratic families and sects reached their most intense, assassination and ambush would become the conventional means; if one was not a Martial Saint, or at least a celestial being of the second realm, one would not be qualified to talk about establishing one's own sect.

Of course, compared to other warriors who have reached the upper limit of their talents, Hong Fan still has two last resorts. One is to hunt dragon heirs to obtain dragon soul fruit, and the other is to participate in high-intensity wars to plunder vitality. However, now is not the right time.

After much consideration, Hong Fan remembered the old story of borrowing Tianxin Pills to practice martial arts.

At the beginning of the Yin hour, the effect of the first dose of the medicine wore off, and he took the second bottle.

This time the pain was more severe, which indirectly indicated that the meridians in this body were particularly narrow and blocked.

More than an hour later, at dawn, Hong Fan used his internal energy to look inward and saw that 90% of the fourth innate connection had been opened.

"Even so, is it still not enough to break through?"

He sighed quietly, truly feeling the despair of countless senior warriors who saw their future blocked.

The shadows of the locust trees in the yard were filled with moonlight cut into pieces by their branches and leaves.

Seeing this, Hong Fan recalled Li Heming's crazy pleas before his death, and felt a complicated and indescribable feeling.

The blazing fire essence is running at high speed.

Compared to a month ago, the response speed and output power have increased, but every time it reaches the most intense point, there will be a dull stinging pain, which is obviously the accumulated hidden damage.

"That's it."

Hong Fan suddenly had an idea and picked Xiao Tanghuang's Dragon Soul Fruit.

By the time daybreak in the east, the vast amount of vitality had helped him to repair all his hidden injuries. After that, he broke through the barriers one after another and opened up half of the fifth level of the innate realm.

······
The first day of May is the Dragon Calling Festival again.

In the city of Shenjing, there were sacrifices during the day and fireworks at night, and people sang and danced under the clear sky revealed by the rain clouds blown away by the King of the Mountain.

Hong Fan, accompanied by several of his colleagues with purple ribbons, lingered by the Diyan Lake for a day.

It was a pity that Zulong never showed up, which made him feel regretful but also secretly relieved.

Since this month, Hong Fan has basically given up his regular practice and has been using Xiao Chu and the Saint of Art of Weaponry to quietly collect information about the heirs of noble families and major battles in the Nine Frontiers in recent decades, in case of emergency.

In mid-May, Xiao Chu left Shenjing accompanied by Zhou Wenyang and Hu Zhuang. While inspecting the Shengyu Army in Juzhou, he raised military funds along the way.

Throughout June, Hong Fan and Shi Yuanwei witnessed three battles between geniuses, all of which took place in the square in front of the imperial palace. The third and most watched battle was between Yi She, who had just turned 23 at the end of June, and "Ling Boyu" Yin Wuxiang, who was about to be removed from the list due to age. The battle ended with the latter losing after two hundred rounds.

With this battle, Yi She was promoted to fifth place on the Tianjiao List with his innate five-combination cultivation, and ranked first in the same realm - considering that the top four on the list are older, he has almost secured the top spot in the future.

The time came to the second day of July in the thirty-second year of Zhenghe.

Hong Fan finally received the second summons from the Dahua Martial Arts Academy and arrived in front of the Jianwei Palace at 7:00 p.m.

Birds chirp on the tiles.

Even with his innate hearing ability, he could not hear a single word spoken in the hall.

Guan Qimai was extremely busy in the morning. Important people from all parties came to see him and ask for instructions one after another. It was not until an hour and a half later that it was his turn to enter.

Walking around the bookshelf, the documents piled on the wide table in the corner of the hall were about a foot high.

Behind the table, Guan Qimai was scratching his white head, wearing a linen coat and no shoes.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting. What I want to say today will take a long time, so I'll let you in last."

As usual, he got straight to the point without any polite greetings.

But that one explanation is enough to flatter ordinary people.

Hong Fan had just stopped and was about to reply when he was confronted with a series of questions from Guan Qimai.

"Do you know anything about Dahua's tax system?"

"Probably know."

Hong Fan returned immediately.

"Taxes are roughly divided into head tax, land tax, and commercial tax, and corvée labor includes labor service and military service."

The Jianwei Hall seemed to be shrouded in a dry and cold atmosphere.

Standing across the table from the Martial Saint, Hong Fan felt a solemn feeling like he was about to go into battle activating his body and mind, revealing even the slightest bit of vanity and selfishness.

"You're right."

Guan Qimai nodded.

"I asked you to come here today to spend some time on the farm."

When Hong Fan heard the word "Dutian", he became extremely alert.

As an engineer in his previous life, he had only a superficial understanding of history, but he had heard of famous stories like that of Harry Cha and Xu Jie.

"There are four types of tax exemptions for land tax in Dahua."

Guan Qimai pushed a piece of paper written in cursive across the table.

“The first is official land, including royal land and military farms such as those in the garrisons;
The second is the noble estates, which have a designated number of tax-free fields according to the rank of the nobility;
The third is sacrificial land, where some of the land occupied by gods and Buddhist and Taoist temples is exempt from 50% tax;

The fourth is Takeda, which is only enjoyed by warriors in the Qi realm. It can be tax-free for 100 acres, 1,000 acres of Yuanci, and 10,000 acres of Tianren. It is often used as land under the name of a family or sect.

This system was not bad originally, but as Dahua enjoyed a longer period of time, there were more and more cases of hidden fields and donations, so that the tax base of the court was damaged, but the aristocratic families were getting fatter and fatter! "

When he said this his tone became a little hasty, and to Hong Fan it sounded like a frustrated new carpenter repairing an old house.

"Dahua was founded on martial arts, and the rank of nobility often corresponds to the realm of martial arts. It is extremely difficult for ordinary people to earn a high rank. So in the final analysis, the hidden fields in the second, third, and fourth items are all caused by the fact that the martial arts are stronger than the local government. We, the Martial Arts Academy, cannot intervene in the affairs of the noble families for the time being, but the Ministry of Martial Arts has the power to deal with the sects through judicial means, and it is within our reach in terms of legal principles."

Hong Fan's heart tightened when he heard the words "legally within reach".

[I feel like this is not something I should be dealing with at the Xiantian level...]

He thought silently.

"The Dahua Law stipulates that all sects and clans can deposit property, such as fields and houses. In terms of the system, their tax-free amount should be determined according to the number of martial arts masters alive; if a martial artist dies, the tax-free land should be cancelled. But in practice, this is extremely difficult and often a mess of accounts."

Guan Qimai sneered.

"Has the matter of Dutian been investigated before?"

Hong Fan interrupted.

"Of course we have. This is essentially a matter of competition between the central government and local governments. How can we not investigate it?"

Guan Qimai nodded.

"Emperor Cheng, who founded the Martial Arts Academy a hundred years ago, investigated it, and the current emperor also investigated it when he first ascended the throne more than 20 years ago, but both had little effect. One is a technical problem, such as complicated documents and officials sent by the central government are not familiar with the local area; the other is that the interests of the local people are intertwined and there are many obstacles. In the early years, local officials falsely reported small plots of farmland of civilians as non-tax-free land of warriors in order to deal with the court's investigation, which put a double tax burden on the poor."

"In fact, there was an opportunity in Zhongzhou two years ago. I sent people to test it, but it didn't work."

He paused, and seeing Hong Fan's grim expression, he added.

"This matter is of great importance, and I cannot expect one person to solve it in one go. This time there is a more mature opportunity in Qingzhou, so I want you to pave the way for me."

The second letter written in small regular script was pushed across the table.

"The Qing Emperor Zhen Sect in Cangxu City, Qingzhou, has the Qing Emperor Sword Canon handed down from generation to generation, which can reach the highest level of the Yuanci Four Levels. One hundred and fifty years ago, when this sect was at its peak, there were three Yuanci and six Xiantian in the world, and they enjoyed 3,600 acres of land tax-free, which can save about 5,000 strings of silver in taxes a year.

According to the information from the Qingzhou Military Affairs Department, the Qing Emperor Zhen Sect now nominally owns over 6,000 acres of land, half of which is tax-free. The amount of land hidden in private is unclear, but it is at least over 10,000 acres. Seven days ago, the only Yuanci 'Blue Sky Hanging Sword' of this sect, Yang Cuiwei, passed away; now a "funeral shed" has been set up in Cangxu City. According to convention, the body will be kept for three months, and after relatives and friends from all over the world come to pay tribute, the body will be removed and buried. "

Hong Fan has experienced the burial process of the powerful Yuan magnetic masters several times.

Generally speaking, the longer the body is kept, the higher the person's status during his lifetime. It is also customary to publicly remove the remains before burying them - otherwise the tomb will always be coveted by tomb robbers and it will be difficult to rest in peace.

[So the "mature opportunity" that Shanzhang mentioned means that the highest combat power has just died of old age and has not yet passed the seventh day? ]

He realized this and found it a little difficult to comment.

Guan Qimai is obviously not a person who cares about his reputation.

Fortunately, Hong Fan himself was not one of them.

"Hong Fan, Qingdi Zhenzong has become a soft persimmon, and you are the hardest knife in Zishou."

Guan Qimai spoke loudly and pressed his palm on the table.

"In person, you have outstanding combat capabilities, excellent character, and both wisdom and skill. In the past two years, you have gained world-wide fame. In terms of identity, you come from a poor family in Liangzhou, your parents are both dead, you have no master or sect, and you have no personal connections with the locals of Qingzhou. In addition, you are a star lord chosen by Zulong, so anyone who wants to touch you will be more cautious."

These words made Hong Fan a little confused.

The first part is a kind of hypnotic way to boost morale, the middle part "both parents are dead, no teacher or school" is clearly not a good word, and the last part "touch you" and "care" are even more difficult to understand...

But no matter what, Hong Fan could fully understand the difficulties of Dutian.

This is because the powerful people in Jinhai City themselves are not clean in this regard - take the Hong family as an example, there are about 2,000 acres of land in the clan that have been hidden, some of which were expired land used by Hong Jian, some were falsely reported as wasteland and forests, and many were registered under the names of deceased civilians (poor "dead households" with lower tax rates).

"This matter belongs to you. What are you going to do?"

Guan Qimai asked.

"I have two thoughts now."

Hong Fan thought for a moment and replied.

"The first is to obtain full authorization from the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Revenue and other relevant departments before departure; the second, um, the second is to send people back home immediately, and all the hidden land in my family must be cancelled first - with my current family property and prestige, this should not be difficult."

"It seems I didn't choose the wrong person."

Guan Qimai smiled.

"But to do this, I still need a lot of manpower."

Hong Fan spoke again.

"What kind of manpower do you need?"

"The accountant and clerks are self-explanatory. It takes manpower to check the land and verify the evidence. Besides, these people have no ability to protect themselves, so warriors are needed to accompany them."

As he spoke, he looked at Guan Qimai, but the latter just shook his head.

"Measurement of land has always been a major task that the Ministry of Revenue has been unable to accomplish. Accountants and clerks can be borrowed from there, but I don't have any warriors in Shenjing to transfer to you."

Hong Fan was stunned when he heard this.

"The Jiuzhou Zhangwu Academy does have a large number of law enforcement positions, but the system strictly limits them to certain regions. Only the Purple Ribbon can enforce the law across states."

Guan Qimai explained.

"When you go to Qingzhou, I will certainly allow you to dispatch the strong men and the police rangers in the prefecture, but no one can guarantee whether those locals will be of benefit or harm in matters like measuring the land, and how much effort they can contribute."

"I remember that the headmaster is from Qingzhou."

Hong Fan asked tentatively.

"Yes. Fifty years ago, I was still farming in the northern border of Qingzhou, and ten years ago, I was still the governor of Qingzhou Martial Academy. Looking at the whole of Kyushu, my name as the Wheel of Life is the most famous in my hometown - but farming is not something that can be done by issuing an order in the capital."

Guan Qimai admitted it frankly.

“It’s too difficult.”

Hong Fan couldn't help but smile bitterly.

"Why would it be easy to exchange for the "Burning Explosion Codex"?"

Guan Qimai laughed out loud.

"This burden is a bit heavy, but Tian Huai helped you get the upper hand last time - he has known Duan Tiannan for a long time, and he loves you as well - you should know that catching an ordinary innate person is not worth anything to me."

"I will personally sign a contract with each Purple Ribbon, but I do not have the time to personally manage all the daily tasks; Hong Fan, you are extremely capable, and the agreement only includes four things, so it will inevitably be extremely difficult and important."

Hong Fan was silent for a long time and did not respond immediately.

"Think about it again."

Guan Qimai waited patiently.

"I can transfer people from Liangzhou, but it will take too long."

Hong Fan took another step back.

"You don't have to use the villagers. There are better ways."

Unexpectedly, Guan Qimai said something casually.

"I heard that you have been helping Princess Xiande train the Shengyu Army recently?"

Hong Fan was really stunned this time.

Across the wide table, he felt that the person he was talking to was not the contemporary martial saint or one of the most powerful figures in Dahua, but a cunning and sly old farmer.

There are many kinds of farmers, and the one in front of him was definitely not one of Gu Yixin's before he started practicing martial arts.

Countless pieces of information diffused and reorganized in Hong Fan's mind.

In recent years, Guan Qimai has relied on the power of the Martial Academy to fight against various feudal states, sects, aristocratic families, and even local military towns such as Zhenbeiwei. In essence, he is representing the struggle for power and centralization between the central and local governments.

This is not a bad thing for the court.

But from Xiao Chu's usual casual chats, Hong Fan could vaguely grasp that the current emperor only wanted to stay out of it and reap the fruits of others' labor - although the aristocratic families were strong, the Zhangwu Academy headed by Guan Qimai was not weaker either, and it was in line with the principle of checks and balances for the two powers to consume each other.

[So Guan Qimai wanted to use my relationship with Xiao Chu to drag the Xiao family into the water - or at least prevent them from standing on the shore...]

It was difficult for Hong Fan to describe his feelings at this moment.

He attacked Qingdi Zhenzong before Yang Cuiwei was buried, which was taking advantage of someone's misfortune; he used Hongfan to get Xiao Chu and Shengyu Army involved, which was taking advantage of the personal friendship of his subordinates.

No matter what, both of these things go against human nature, let alone being aboveboard.

However, Guan Qimai not only did so, he did not even hide his intentions.

"I understand."

Hong Fan finally agreed.

At this moment, he even suspected that Tian Huai did not arrange the task of playing a prank on him out of his own will, but was ordered to pave the way for today's events.

"Okay, I can rest assured that you are here with me."

Guan Qimai nodded heavily.

"The Qingdi Zhenzong's lineage can be preserved, but their hidden fields must be sorted out, and the people must sign to admit their mistakes. Also, be careful on this trip; warriors are unruly and can do anything when pushed into a corner."

"Is there anyone who dares to attack Zishou?"

Hong Fan finally couldn't hold back his temper and asked back.

"Of course I wouldn't dare to do that."

Guan Qimai put his hands behind his back and turned away.

"But if they are really so bold, I will clean up the mess and put an end to it."

From these words, Hong Fan heard the unspeakable hardness and determination of the contemporary Martial Saint.

To Qingdi Zhenzong, and also to himself.

The Tiqi often mentioned that serving the Zhangwu Academy was a transaction and they were relaxed about it.

But transactions and utilization have always been mutual.

Hong Fan took a deep breath, gritted his teeth and left.

Walking past the couplet that reads [I wish for a peaceful life without any heroes after me], he had completely different feelings.

(End of this chapter)