After marrying the fierce god, her handsome young husband was pampered to the extreme.

He was afraid that his younger brother would notice something was amiss, so he quietly wiped away his tears, but he did not see Yin Cheng in the room.

Where did that kid run off to?

As Yin Mo was thinking, her younger brother pushed open the door and came in carrying a bowl of scallop and seafood congee.

Yunzhou is located by the sea, and many dried fish, shrimp, and shellfish are sold throughout the country.

"Brother, come and have some porridge. Although it's dried meat, the porridge is quite delicious," Yin Cheng said. "I've put it on the table for you."

Yin Mo frowned. "Where are you going?"

Yin Cheng replied, "Taking a stroll."

"Alright, come back soon, we need to get to Linhai County as soon as possible."

"understood."

Yin Mo asked the waiter for hot water, washed up, and then went to see the breakfast her younger brother had brought back.

Seafood congee, steamed pork buns, crispy scallion pancakes...

This kid raises pigs, bringing so many back.

Linhai County has a unique geographical location. The county seat is located on the coast and has the largest port in the world.

Many Western merchant ships docked here to trade with Da Yin.

A few days later, the two brothers arrived in Linhai County.

They were stopped before they even entered the city.

The soldiers guarding the city asked, "What are you doing here?"

Yin Cheng noticed that the carriage in front of them was full of cloth and casually made up an excuse, "Textile trade."

"What?"

Yin Cheng said, "A cloth seller."

The soldier looked behind them and, seeing that there was indeed only one horse, asked, "Where is your cloth?"

Yin Mo suddenly grabbed his younger brother's shirt from behind and pulled him back, saying, "Sir, it's like this. My brother and I have heard that there is a kind of exquisitely beautiful mermaid silk in Linhai City, so we came here specifically to see it."

The soldier spread his hands.

Yin Mo looked at him, puzzled.

The soldier, seemingly having never seen anyone so stupid, said, "There are only two of you, right?"

Yin Mo nodded. "Yes."

The soldier said, "Four taels of silver for two people." He beckoned with his finger, "Give it to me."

Yin Mo asked, "Was it the city gate tax?"

The soldier said, "Don't worry about what kind of tax it is, just pay and we'll let you through. If you don't have the money, you'd better go back now."

Yin Cheng bypassed his brother and handed him a silver ingot.

"Here is five taels of silver. Consider the extra tael as my treat for you gentlemen to some drinks."

Upon seeing this, the soldiers exchanged smiles.

They didn't make things difficult for them any further and let them pass.

"Go in."

Yin Chengchong and several soldiers clasped their hands in greeting, then pulled his brother's wrist and led him into the city.

As pedestrians mingled at both ends of the city gate, Yin Mo noticed that, not to mention the merchants coming and going, even ordinary people had to pay a hefty price to enter the city.

In the second year after he ascended the throne, he abolished the city gate tax and instead levied a commercial tax on goods traded within the city.

Unexpectedly, there are still people who dare to outwardly comply but inwardly defy.

Yin Cheng noticed his brother's expression and said, "Bear with it."

Yin Mo took a deep breath. "It seems that the Yunzhou Navy is a deeper pool than I imagined."

Twenty miles west of Linhai City is the garrison of the Yunzhou Navy, and there are also soldiers stationed at the dock to patrol and guard it.

If the governor of Linhai County really dared to collect a city gate tax, would Bao Xu sit idly by?

The most likely scenario is that Bao Xu has already taken control of Linhai County.

Linhai County is a maritime fortress. If travelers are charged such an outrageous entrance fee, it's hard to imagine how absurd the county town would become.

After entering the city, the two headed straight for the eastern dock.

Just then, I overheard some boatmen complaining that the cost of mooring their boats had been rising higher and higher in recent years, and now it had even reached a high price of three taels of silver a day. Who could afford to moor their boats at that price?

"Heh." Yin Mo chuckled enigmatically. "To amass wealth so openly and blatantly, this Prefect of Linhai County has quite the audacity."

Yin Cheng comforted him, "Brother, don't be upset. Maybe we'll have to pay a food tax when we go out to eat later."

Yin Mo's expression immediately became complicated. "Are you trying to comfort me?"

How amazing! I can't hear a thing.

Yin Cheng said, "I mean, you should get angry later. It's not worth getting angry every time something happens. You can get angry when you're summarizing and reflecting on things before going to bed tonight."

Yin Mo: "..."

The two walked around the dock and found that there were very few merchant ships docked there, and the docks were almost all empty.

Yin Cheng randomly grabbed a passerby and asked around, only to find out that since last year, there had been far fewer merchant ships coming and going to Da Yin.

He didn't know the reason either, only that he had heard that pirates had been rampant lately, and even fishermen dared not go out to sea.

"What do you think?" Yin Mo asked.

Yin Cheng thought for a moment, "Could it be that the Age of Exploration has arrived?"

Yin Mo: "...Say something I can understand."

"Let's go eat first, I feel hungry."

Life is tough, Yin Mo sighed.

"What's the difference between you and a complete idiot?"

Yin Cheng thought carefully and answered cautiously, "I'm more handsome than that good-for-nothing."

Yin Mo: Speechless.

"Let's go," Yin Mo said. "If there really is that food tax you mentioned, you go and behead the prefect right now."

"You need to pay more," Yin Cheng said. "You clearly wrote in your letter that I was here on vacation! If it involves overtime, then I have something to say."

"Shut up."

"No." It's the younger brother's fun to contradict his older brother.

Yin Mo was exhausted and didn't know if Bai Yuchen had prepared a drug to make him mute.

The two of them randomly chose a restaurant to eat at.

Good news: There is no food tax.

Bad news: The restaurant, being a large establishment, is taking advantage of its customers and openly operating as a black market.

A bowl of rice costs five taels of silver, stir-fried bok choy costs twenty taels, and braised pork is even more expensive, with a small dish costing as much as one hundred and twenty taels.

Even home-style dishes are this expensive; if those exquisite delicacies were served, they would surely fetch exorbitant prices.

Even Yin Cheng was stunned. "They have their own currency in Linhai County, right?"

Yin Mo slowly picked up his food and ate his meal without any rush. Finally, he slowly and domineeringly made his request, "I'll go first."

Yin Cheng was showing off his food when he suddenly heard his brother continue, "Later, you deliberately don't pay them and see what they do."

Yin Cheng nodded. "Okay, can I beat them up?"

"You decide what to do."

"oh."

After Yin Mo secretly left, Yin Cheng swaggered out of the private room.

When a waiter came to ask him for the bill, Yin Cheng instinctively reached for his money, but then remembered his brother's unreasonable demands and had no choice but to stubbornly say that he had no money.

Upon hearing this, the waiter immediately became furious.

They actually dared to dine and dash, so someone was immediately sent to fetch the yamen runners.

Outside the restaurant, Yin Mo saw a group of yamen runners come and take Yin Cheng away.

He thought: I knew it!

If it weren't for collusion between officials and businessmen, how could these people dare to raise prices so arbitrarily?

Yin Mo pondered, and he was absolutely certain that Linhai County was rotten to the core.

Regardless of whether the governor of Linhai County was involved, he is largely to blame for the current state of Linhai County.

In the middle of the night, Yin Cheng escaped from the prison and, guided by the royal guards, slipped through the window into his brother's room.

"Brother, transfer the compensation for emotional distress to my account."