Tang Dynasty Mingyue Song Dynasty Pass

Chapter 510 Why is the treasury so empty?
Su Chen heard what Han Xizai said was pitiful, and expressed curiosity about how much was left in the current treasury of Southern Tang.

"Uncle Han, our country of Tang has always been very rich, why is the national treasury suddenly so empty?" Su Chen pretended not to understand, and humbly asked for advice.

This is a state secret, but Han Xizai did not treat Su Chen as an outsider. Moreover, this kind of treasury foundation matter should be told to Su Chen earlier, so that he can have a practical understanding, and he thinks it will be helpful for his growth.

Therefore, Han Xizai explained carefully: "The treasury accumulated by the Tang State inherited the Yang Wu regime for 20 years, and it was indeed full. The people lived well. The national treasury was indeed very rich at that time. However, when the first emperor was alive, the Tang State launched several wars against Qianyue and Jingchu. Most of them ended in failure and consumed a huge amount of national power. Half of the country, the foundation is damaged, and the national treasury is directly hollowed out."

Of course, Su Chen understood this truth. Tang's transition from wealth to decline was directly related to those wars, which hurt the country's fortune and had a far-reaching impact.

"Can't we find a way to replenish the treasury?"

"Hey, that's easier said than done!" Han Xizai sighed. He was a servant of the household department, so he knew these aspects well, and continued to explain: "The national treasury has fallen off a cliff and cannot be adjusted. It is mainly related to three aspects."

"First, the large and small salt farms in Huainan were controlled by the imperial court, and the Yancheng Supervisor was set up. Private sales of salt were not allowed. The people in the Tang Dynasty had to buy salt from the imperial court, and the income was huge. Even if some of them were allowed to contribute to the imperial court later. The powerful families can sell official salt, but the salt tax is also very high, which is one of the main sources of filling the treasury.”

Su Chen nodded slightly, he knew this, he had seen it in historical materials and papers.

Yangzhou and Chuzhou in Huainan are the main salt producing areas in ancient my country, and Yangzhou is most famous for Jiangdu and Hailing.In Chuzhou, Yancheng and Lianshui have the largest output.Yangzhou, in particular, is located in the north-south thoroughfare. Since ancient times, rich salt merchants have gathered, and it has become the distribution center of the national salt industry. In the Tang Dynasty, there was a saying that "raise one and benefit two".

Southern Tang occupied the two blessed lands of Huainan and Jiangnan, and the salt field alone provided a steady stream of wealth for the Southern Tang treasury.

It's a pity that in the last years of Li Jing's reign, that is, a few years ago, the Later Zhou Dynasty conquered the Tang Dynasty and annexed half of the country north of the Yellow River. The Southern Tang Dynasty lost fourteen prefectures. The saltworks of the Song State held back the economic lifeline of the Southern Tang Dynasty.

As a result, [-]% of the salt used by officials and common people in the Southern Tang Dynasty was purchased from Song State, [-]% was purchased from Qianyue State, and only [-]% was obtained from self-made salt in small salt farms along the coast.

For this item alone, Southern Tang lost more than half of the treasury revenue, and even paid silver taels to buy salt. In this way, the loss would be huge.

Han Xizai continued: "Secondly, foreign trade is not as good as before. Yangzhou used to be an important port, and tea, silk, porcelain, lacquerware, pen, ink, paper and inkstone exported from Yangzhou ferry were continuously sent to Champa, Silla, Goryeo, even Nanyang, Dashi, etc., gold and silver items from all over the country are also shipped back from overseas. The benefits and taxes in this respect are also very considerable. However, since the Yangzhou ferry was occupied by the Song army, and the seaway was often blocked, Tang's foreign Trade has been somewhat suppressed."

"The third is that the Tang Kingdom lost Huainan's land a few years ago, leaving only half of its territory and population. Naturally, the treasury revenue has been cut in half."

After hearing these three factors, Su Chen also became silent.

Indeed, there is no solution to this. The general environment no longer allows it. The Southern Tang Dynasty wanted to fill the treasury, but lacked fundamental productivity and trade. It is not a long-term solution, nor can it solve the fundamental problem, just by plundering from the people.

Han Xizai looked at Su Chen, his eyes became a little heavy, and after a deep sigh, he said: "Actually, there is another reason, that is, my Tang Kingdom pays tribute to Song Kingdom every year, constantly emptying out the treasury that was not rich in the first place. .”

"Is there a lot of numbers?" Su Chen asked gossip.

Han Xizai nodded slightly, with a bit of indignation on his face, and said, "In August and October of the second year of Jianlong, we paid tribute once each, with 2000 taels of gold wares and 2 taels of silver wares each time. The first envoy was Feng Yanlu, and the second The second time was me and Taifu Qing Tianlin. In March, July, and November of the third year of Jianlong, we paid tribute three times, each time with 2000 taels of gold, 1 taels of silver, and [-] pieces of brocade and silk. Three times The envoys are different, they are Feng Yanlu, Zhai Rubi, envoy of Hakka Province, and Gu Yi, doctor of the Ministry of Water."

Su Chen was a little curious and asked: "Why do you pay tribute so frequently, two or three times a year?"

Han Xizai said: "Because Zhao Kuangyin had just usurped power and ascended the throne. After changing his reign name to Jianlong, our new official family had just ascended the throne in the second year of Jiande. Paying tribute a few more times represents my respect to the Song Dynasty from the Jiangnan Tang Kingdom."

After saying this, Han Xizai showed contempt and ridicule himself. Obviously, he didn't approve of this kind of servility and accusation to the enemy. However, he lost his official position and was forced to leave the center of power because of persuasion.

"What happened later?" Su Chen wanted to know clearly.

Han Xizai continued: "In the fourth year of Jianlong, to celebrate Song Ping Jinghu, 1 taels of silver and 3 pieces of silk were paid as a tribute. In the second year of Qiande, that is, last year, he celebrated the completion of the Song Dynasty Civilization Palace and helped Anling change divination. Two tributes of [-] taels of silver, [-] pieces of silk and silk, [-] taels of silver as tribute, and hundreds of gold, dragon, phoenix, tea and wine vessels. The loss of the Song army's conquest of Shu."

After hearing this, Su Chen felt sad for Southern Tang. Every year, a large amount of gold, silver and silk was given to Song State, and Song State used it to reward the three armies, and carried out a grand plan to conquer the world. In the end, it turned around and crusaded against Southern Tang.

"Then what else can we do?"

Han Xizai hesitated and said: "I am uniting with some ministers to persuade the officials to reduce tribute to Song Dynasty and allocate more money to develop military power. Zhao Kuangyin of Song Dynasty has the ambition to annex the world, and he will not let Tang pay more tribute However, sooner or later there will be a battle between the Tang and Song Dynasties, so make preparations in the morning.

"But the national treasury is empty and cannot support us to build secret government offices, Tiangongyuan, and armaments. Therefore, if you are Yixuan, you can create some new gadgets with multiple grids and produce them in national workshops. The trade between countries and overseas can fill a huge hole in the national treasury, and we have military expenses."

Su Chen finally understands, this is to transfer the patents to the imperial court, use official workshops, official kilns, official enterprises, etc. to produce and manufacture, and the profits belong to the state, so that they can concentrate their efforts on major tasks to deal with the crisis.

(End of this chapter)