Han Shizu

Chapter 1597 Anton Development 3
Without agriculture, there is no stability, without business, there is no life. In terms of agriculture and animal husbandry, Anton is also open to convenience, especially in terms of taxation and the looseness of goods in and out.

Since ancient times, successive dynasties have adhered to a policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing business. This is a basic national policy and is also determined by the natural economic foundation of self-sufficiency.

At the same time, as far as the ruling class is concerned, excessive commercial activities will not only affect the labor force engaged in farming and mulberry, but also increase the flow of the population, increase the hidden dangers of public security, and most importantly, it is not conducive to the government's governance and management.

Up to now, the biggest troubles encountered by the government in various places in the Han Dynasty in terms of public security management are still those business people who travel from north to south and are always in a state of flux.

Even if the imperial court resolutely and forcefully implements the household registration system, it is impossible to monitor without dead ends. As for handling cases across Daozhou or even across counties and towns, it is very difficult.

Therefore, although the officials in the world know the benefits and necessity of commercial activities, for the sake of political achievements and stability, they are still more willing to restrict the governance of the people to the land, which can not only create living materials, but also be more conducive to maintaining social order. Stablize.And some officials who uphold Confucianism even more despised merchants.

This kind of deep-rooted thinking is actually normal in the Han Dynasty. Even though the business activities of the Han Dynasty are becoming more frequent and the business atmosphere is getting stronger, the essence has not changed. On the issue of agriculture and business, agriculture will always be ranked first. front row.

The prosperity of commerce is basically limited to Gyeonggi, major cities in Daozhou, and some coastal counties. Outside of these areas, it is still in a relatively solid state of small-scale peasant economy.

At the same time, business is still accompanied by various tangible and intangible pressures. Most of the resources in industries such as salt, iron, tea, wine, and sugar are subject to the national monopoly policy, and merchants in one plate cannot participate at all.

Although the ban on salt and wine has long been lifted, the source of their production, especially salt production, is still firmly controlled by the imperial court, and even more firmly. Even the big businessmen who undertake the distribution must follow the regulations of the government and lick the stinky feet of the government. , in order to operate normally without trouble.

The commercial roads in various places are indeed smooth, and the heavy card taxes and customs duties have also been abolished, but they are replaced by severe and strict city taxes, especially in big cities. If you do not pay enough taxes, you will not even be able to enter the market. .

As Zhao Kuangyi implemented in Luoyang to separate the entry and exit passages of people and goods, it has now been learned by governments all over the country. This has indeed greatly reduced the possibility of tax evasion and tax evasion by merchants, unless they do not want to sell their goods in the city.

At the same time as restriction, it also means regulation. At least, there has never been a dynasty that has had such detailed and clear management of commercial personnel, activities and taxation, and has specially formulated a "Commercial Law".

Of course, the original intention of Zhao Pu and other ministers to formulate this bill was to cut the leeks of the merchants and relieve financial constraints, but it actually promoted the development of commerce to a certain extent.

After all, under the framework of the "Commercial Law", conducting legal commercial trade and engaging in commercial activities is an improvement in itself, and it is also something that businessmen are willing to accept.Those who are not willing to abide by the business law are profiteers, and they need to be punished naturally. Those who are willing to obey are naturally good businessmen. As long as they obey the management and pay taxes according to the regulations, they can operate with peace of mind.

In fact, Emperor Liu has made great contributions to promoting Dahan's business. If he hadn't said good things to businessmen from time to time, Dahan's current business atmosphere may not be so "loose".

But even so, some fundamental problems cannot be changed. It cannot be changed that Dahan is a feudal agricultural empire dominated by natural economy. Without a breakthrough in productivity, Dahan's business can only be limited to this, and It is difficult to have more breakthroughs and development, and policy restrictions are always there.

What's more, even Emperor Liu, if excessive commercial development has affected agriculture, mulberry, fishery, animal husbandry, agricultural output, social security, and threatened national stability, then he will not hesitate to raise his sword and even Butcher's knife, cut down fiercely, nothing is more important than the safety and stability of the empire.

Under such circumstances, Liu Xu also adopted some radical policies in Anton to promote business, such as a substantial reduction in business taxes, and the opening of various resources in Anton to merchants, including timber, leather goods, and various Animal and plant resources, even mineral deposits, are also open to the outside world, but they were stopped by Tokyo who heard the news.

However, for precious metals such as gold and silver mines, it is still agreed to allow merchants to mine and smelt them, only to strengthen supervision.And in this regard, it really attracted many people, and even set off a gold rush in Anton.

For a long time, resources such as mineral deposits have been directly controlled by the state. The imperial court has also set up a large number of mine supervisors throughout the country to mine and smelt them. Private mining is not allowed.But at this point, some barriers have also been broken in Anton.

At the same time, for the merchants who came to Anton for trade and business, the Anton Governor's Mansion also agreed with them to organize escorts, wear weapons, and escort goods with arms.

In general, Anton has shown his sincerity in loosening the restrictions on team merchants. Many things that are difficult to achieve or even banned in other places in Dahan can happen in Anton. After a few years, Liu Xu basically built the Andong area into an adventurer's paradise.

Except for the remote location, Anton is very friendly to merchants in any other way.The remoteness of the location can be completely overcome for businessmen who often travel north and south, and the key is to make a profit.

The business promotion policy of the Anton Governor's Mansion has indeed attracted merchants from all over the world. Even with the mentality of trying, there are still an endless stream of merchants going to make a living.

Even, a large number of merchants from the south, hearing the news, traveled thousands of miles to Anton.Especially for some merchants in the southeast coast, the commercial atmosphere in the south is already strong, and those merchants, especially maritime merchants, are more enthusiastic, especially the merchants in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian and even Guangdong and Guangxi near the sea.

With the rise of maritime trade and the development of Dahan Shipping, the sea route to the north has become very mature, and a lot of costs can be saved by sea.

In the past few years, a large number of merchants have come to Liaodong to do business. The fur goods, ginseng antler, and shipbuilding and construction timber in the Northeast are all key business targets.Although Anton is farther and farther away, and the traffic is more inconvenient, thanks to the business-friendly policy, the cost has also been diluted. Basically, as long as the things can be successfully shipped out, it will be profitable.

Merchants have their own risk factors, and those who are willing to go out to sea are more adventurous and even risk their lives.The influx of a large number of merchants and caravans also injected vigorous vitality into the Andong area, and the Andong Governor's Mansion also benefited a lot from it.

Farming and animal husbandry are the foundation of governance. The expenditure chosen by the Anton government is only a means to promote development for business. No matter how many discounts there are, it is impossible for the Dudu government to engage in loss-making business.

Therefore, commercial taxes have become the most important fiscal revenue of the Andong Dudufu in recent years, and with these taxes, the Dudufu can promote development normally.

If only relying on the 1 million special funds allocated by the imperial court every year, it is unknown how long it will take to bring Anton on a normal development track.Even if the imperial court can persist for a long time, it will cause gossip. The big man is so big and there are so many good places. Why spend a lot of money in such a remote Anton.

At the same time, since the 15 years of Kaibao, Anton has contributed a large amount of gold and pig iron to the court every year. With these, the dissenting voices in the court were suppressed.

Precious metals such as gold and silver, even if they are opened to the public, they cannot be taken away when they are excavated. They must be converted into copper coins or silver ingots from the Anton government. It's not just a matter of financial ruin.

In the development of Anton, Liu Xu withstood the enormous pressure with great determination and forged ahead.It has to be said that even though some achievements have been made, the controversy has been even greater.

According to some bureaucrats in the court, Anton's actions are completely undermining the court's laws and regulations, corrupting the court's discipline, being unconventional, radical and reckless, contrary to the Han's philosophy of governing the country, belonging to heresy, and should be banned. There are too many people who are against Liu Xu's "big move" in Anton has taken an attitude of opposition and even criticism.

That is to say, Emperor Liu did not acquiesce, Crown Prince Liu Yang did not express his opinion, and Prime Minister Zhao Pu was also silent, so the pressure of public opinion did not turn into a real political move. Even so, even in Anton, Liu Xu felt something.

Probably to show his determination, Liu Xu even sold all the properties of Prince Qin's Mansion in the two capitals, brought all the servants to Anton, and invested in the local development. With practical actions, he showed his determination to develop Anton will.

In the two capitals, only two palaces and sporadic maintenance personnel remained.Such actions and attitudes have indeed strengthened the confidence of many officials who follow the "Anton Policy", and have also brought confidence to business travelers and immigrants.

(End of this chapter)