Chapter 16: Li Wang who is engaged in patents (Part 1)

When the Sesame brother and sister opened their eyes again, they found that they were in a magnificent palace.

Ma Doudou carefully led Zhiguoguo up and down, looking at the palace in front of her left and right, and the sound of someone talking came not far away.

Ma Doudou hurriedly held Zhiguoguo around behind the screen. He reached out to cover Zhiguoguo's mouth and signaled Zhiguoguo not to speak.

"King, if you can't do this, you will make the people unable to survive. Then you will lose the people's heart..." The man who spoke was Zhao Gong, the censor of King Li of Zhou. He advised King Li not to impose patents and to collect taxes from the people.

Not long ago, King Li saw that the treasury was empty, so he thought of a solution. He ordered the implementation of "patent" to the Chinese people.

He announced that the mountains, rivers and all items in the Zhou Dynasty belonged to the Zhou king's private ownership. Anyone who chopped firewood from the mountain, picked medicine from the mountain, and caught fish and shrimp from the rivers and lakes must pay taxes.

After this policy came out, it was opposed by the people, and everyone in the country was talking about King Li collecting taxes and raising royal patents.

When King Li heard the censor Zhao Gong say that he had lost the hearts of the people, his face darkened. He scolded Zhao Gong, "I don't collect taxes from the people. Do you see that the country is poor and rich? Without a country, how can the people come from? I will collect taxes from the people just to take it from the people and use it for the people. The national treasury is empty and the soldiers cannot pay the money, so who will come to defend the Great Zhou?"

Seeing that it was useless to advise, the censor Zhao Gong left the palace in dismay. When he left, he sighed deeply.

After the censor Zhao Gong left, King Li was so angry that he pushed all the bamboo slips on his desk to the ground. "Being arrogant, all under the world is the king's land, and the shores of the land is the king's minister. No one can stop the orphan from making patents, and no one can stop the orphan from collecting taxes."

Because Zhiguoguo's nose was itchy, she couldn't help sneezing. "Ah!"

King Li looked suspiciously at the figure behind the screen, and asked the person behind the screen in a deep voice, "Come out!"

Ma Doudou walked out from behind the screen with Zhiguoguo's hand. He pulled Zhiguoguo's sleeve. The brother and sister knelt obediently on the ground to study and bow to King Li, and then took the initiative to introduce themselves.

"Hello, king, I am Madoudou. This is my sister Zhiguoguo. We come from a very far place..." Before Madoudou could finish her words, she was interrupted by King Li.

King Li frowned and looked at Madoudou and Zhiguoguo, looked at their weird clothes, and asked with a puzzled look, "You said you came from a very far place? I don't know where it means?"

Ma Doudou whispered to King Li, "King, can my sister and I get up and talk?"

Seeing that Madoudou and Zhiguoguo were young, King Li didn't want to argue with him, so he made a call to Madoudou. "Flat!"

Madoudou and Zhiguoguo then stood up from the ground, and the brother and sister stood in front of King Li in a humble and arrogant manner.

"Don't lie! Tell me, where are your brothers and sisters from?" King Li asked Madoudou while criticizing the bamboo slips at the table.

Ma Doudou thought about it and remembered that Zhi's mother had mentioned to him that Emperor Mu of the Western Zhou Dynasty had traveled all directions to the Xitian Mountains. He hurriedly said, "We came from the Xitian Mountains, which are very far away."

Unexpectedly, Ma Doudou's rude words on the West Tianshan Mountain made King Li interested.

"You really come from the Xitian Mountain? My ancestor, King Mu, had visited the Xitian Mountain to pay homage to the Queen Mother of the West. Do you tell me about your charm?"
Chapter completed!