The Legend of Shushan Xuanjian

Chapter 721 Empire Finance
Not to mention thirty years, the book and the sword are nothing.

The landscape looks for Wu Yue, the wind and dust hate Luo Jing.

The flat boat goes to the lake and the sea, Changyi Xie Gongqing.

Let's enjoy the things in the cup, who is on the world's name.

——"Ziluo Zhiyue" Meng Haoran (Tang Dynasty)

……

After the matter of ensuring military supplies came to an end, Suzong arranged a new task for Bai Fu.Bai Fu handed over the construction of the mansion to Princess Qingluan, and devoted himself wholeheartedly to the government.

As a member of Tong Zhongshu, Bai Fu is equivalent to the prime minister of the cabinet and can participate in the highest decision-making of the Tang Dynasty.Only then did Bai Fu know the true family background of the Great Tang Empire.After the An Lushan rebellion, the Tang Empire was already riddled with holes.

……

Before An Lushan's rebellion, Datang's finances were already seriously out of balance, which was only covered up under the superficial prosperity of the "Golden Age of Kaiyuan".After the rebellion broke out, Datang's financial problems deteriorated rapidly, and the speed was jaw-dropping.

In the 13th year of Tianbao (754 AD) before the Anlushan Rebellion, the total population of the Tang Dynasty was 890 million households, nearly 300 million people.But after the rebellion, the population that the court could control declined rapidly. By the first year of Shangyuan (760), there were only 190 million households and 300 million people left in the Tang Dynasty.The number of households is less than a quarter of what it was a few years ago, and the population is less than one-third.

The big difference in population before and after the rebellion was not because so many people died in battle or starved to death during the war, but because the court lost control of the territory, and many people were outside the court's household registration statistics.

What's more troublesome is that among the 190 million households and 700 million people, there are 110 million households and 460 million people (privileged classes such as the elderly, weak, sick, royal relatives, noble families, monks, etc.) There is no need to pay rent adjustment tax.

In other words, there are only 76 households and 2307 million people to bear the huge rent and tax adjustment of the entire Tang Empire.

Since the taxes borne by each individual could not be greatly increased, the fiscal and tax revenue of the court dropped sharply to about one-third of that of the Xuanzong Dynasty.

The imperial court's fiscal and tax revenue has been reduced to one-third of the original, but military expenditures are even larger than before. The imperial court must do everything possible to search for fiscal and taxation from the areas it can control.

To make matters worse, the rebels cut off economic ties between the capital Chang'an and the wealthiest Jiangnan.

The Jianghuai area centered on Yangzhou was the center of Datang's finance and taxation.

Yangzhou is the starting point of the canal in the south, where food from the south is collected and then transported to Bianzhou (now Kaifeng) through the canal.From Bianzhou along the Yellow River and Weihe River to Chang'an, or along the Yellow River and Luohe River to Luoyang.

An Lushan moved south from Fanyang and occupied the Central Plains, gradually cutting off the connection between Chang'an and Jiangnan. The food and taxes from Jiangnan could not be transported to Chang'an.

After the war broke out, the first thing the rebels destroyed was the imperial court's financial allocation ability, so that the imperial court could not use the empire's supplies to support the army and fight against the rebels.

This is a financial life and death of the empire, and its danger is no less than that of a decisive battle.

After Suzong came to the throne (756), he first sought subsidies from commerce and trade.

Before the Anshi Rebellion, Datang’s taxation was mainly aimed at agriculture, which was called Zuyong modulation, that is, a certain tax was collected on the land, and then “tune” (agricultural product tax, mainly linen and silk) was collected from farmers, and the tax was collected 20 days a year. The "yong" (labor).

The Tang court has always adopted an open attitude towards commerce and trade, and the rate of commerce and trade tax is very low, and it is not the main tax.It is also because of this that the commerce and trade of the Tang Dynasty was very developed. When all nations came to the dynasty, merchants from all over the world gathered from all directions, and goods from all over the world were dazzling.

Suzong began to levy heavy taxes on merchants in order to pay for military expenses when the taxes prepared by rent-yong could not make ends meet.

Emperor Suzong sent his imperial envoy Zheng Shuqing to the Jianghuai and Bashu areas, which were not affected by war, to collect 20.00% wealth tax from wealthy businessmen at one time, that is, rate loans.

In addition to Jianghuai and Bashu, the imperial court also collected trade taxes from merchants in the markets and road checkpoints of various roads in the world. All goods worth more than [-] yuan must be paid.

However, with the stalemate in the war, the temporary taxation on merchants was still unable to meet the huge military expenditure, and the court had to find another way.

At this time, Fifth Qi (surname 'fifth', first name Qi) appeared in Suzong's vision.

Fifth Qi Chen Zou said: "Now is the time when the imperial court urgently needs to use troops. However, the strong combat effectiveness of the army comes from the sufficient supply of food and salaries, and the food and salaries are directly linked to taxes. Most of the taxes come from the Jianghuai area. If you can give me the post, all Turn the money in the southeast into military pay, and immediately support Hangu Pass and the front lines of Luoyang, just waiting for His Majesty's order."

Suzong was overjoyed after hearing this, and appointed Fifth Qi to serve as supervisory censor, Jianghuai Zuyong envoy, Siyu Yuanwai Lang, Henan and other five branch envoys, and Si Jinlang middle-level posts.

The Jianghuai Zuyongshi sits in the most affluent Jianghuai region of the Tang Dynasty, and his task is to find tax sources by all means, such as salt from Wudi, hemp and copper from Shudi.

Since the rebel army led by Shi Siming occupied the canal junction, the supplies of the imperial court could not be transported through the canal and the Yellow River.

Therefore, under the suggestion of Xu Taifu, the imperial court opened up another road to protect finances and taxes: take the Hanshui River from the Yangtze River to Xiangyang, then continue to take the waterway from Xiangyang to Hanzhong, and then from Hanzhong to Fengxiang.

This waterway is very difficult and the transport capacity is small, so after the levy was collected, the salt, hemp and copper were not directly transported to the imperial court, but sold on the spot, replaced by local products and transported to other places for high prices.

Replacing salt, hemp, and copper with local products can reduce the weight, which not only reduces transportation costs, but also sells for more money.

As a result, the taxes in the Jianghuai area were finally collected by the imperial court to guarantee the expenditure of the imperial court and the military expenditure of the Tang army.

However, the emergence of Zuyongshi led to another phenomenon: the official system of the imperial court was mainly based on the system of three provinces and six ministries, and each official performed his own duties. However, due to temporary financial and tax needs, the emperor used Zuyongshi to bypass the three provinces and six ministries. If the officials directly handle affairs, it will destroy the daily operation system of the imperial court.

Wu Qi, who was originally unknown, became the emperor's favorite and took power by relying on his mediocrity.Other middle- and lower-level officials followed suit, urging the emperor to set up various "envoy" posts in the name of raising money.For example, transfer envoys, Zuyong envoys, salt and iron envoys, Duzhi salt and iron envoys, Changping coin salt and iron envoys, Zuyong green crop envoys, water and land transport salt and iron envoys, two tax envoys, etc.

Each envoy possesses greater or lesser powers, directly authorized by the emperor, overriding the official imperial system, and avoiding the constraints and checks and balances of the three provinces and six ministries of the imperial court.

Because these envoys were in charge of specific affairs, over time, the power of the imperial court was transferred to the hands of these middle- and lower-level officials, and the official officials of the imperial court were left aside, resulting in huge redundant staff and low efficiency of the government, which further aggravated the Tang dynasty. Financial difficulties of the empire.

(End of this chapter)