The Legend of Shushan Xuanjian

Chapter 722

Liuqili in the grass pavement Yokono, the flute makes the night breeze three or four times.

After returning home and having a full meal at dusk, I do not take off my clothes and lie down in the moonlight.

——"Shepherd Boy" Lu Yan (Tang Dynasty)

……

The appearance of Zuyongshi eased the court's fiscal and taxation a lot, but just after the income was put into the treasury, generals from all over the Tang army came in droves.The high military expenditure emptied the treasury at once.

The imperial court's fiscal and tax revenues were stored in the Zuozang treasury, and there were strict regulations on expenditure and supervision.It is usually in charge of the Taifu and reviewed by the Ministry of Shangshu.The emperor could only listen to the reports of his courtiers, but could not control every specific expenditure.

Fifth Qi saw Suzong's panic, and moved the imperial court's finances and taxes from the left treasury, and sent them to the royal family's big surplus treasury.

The Daying Treasury guarantees the living expenses of the royal family, which is easier for the emperor to control.Suzong further undermined the court's financial system by pocketing the treasury.

In order to meet the court's expenses, under the proposal of Zheng Shuqing and Prime Minister Pei Mian, Suzong began to sell nobles.As long as the common people pay money to the court, they can get a certificate issued by the court and be awarded a certain title of official honor.

In addition to selling nobles, the imperial court also sold all the certificates that symbolize status:

For example, scholars in the Tang Dynasty need to pass the imperial examinations in order to have a corresponding background and be able to become officials in the future.In Suzong's reign, he only needed to pay money to obtain a background in Mingjing.

For another example, because monks, nuns, and Taoist priests do not have to pay taxes, the imperial court strictly limited the number of monks. If you want to become a monk, you need to hold a certificate issued by the imperial court.

In Suzong's reign, the imperial court sold Dudu certificates in order to collect money, which made the world increase a lot of monks out of thin air.

For another example, for merchants, the imperial court sells them the right to be exempted from military service, as long as they pay a heavy sum, they can be exempted from corvee.

The actions proposed by Zheng Shuqing and Prime Minister Pei Mian are all short-sighted actions, which are tantamount to drinking poison to quench thirst.Some fiscal and taxation can be raised in the short term, but it will lead to more serious financial problems in the long run. Not only will many evil gentry squeeze into the officialdom, but tax exemption for monks and merchants will cause the court to lose long-term fiscal revenue.

It is obviously not enough to solve long-term financial problems by short-term means such as selling nobles and looting. The court must systematically find large-scale sources of revenue and taxation to make up for the decline in land and household registration taxes.

Fifth Qi referred to the practice of Sang Hongyang, the financial and tax minister in the era of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and introduced two more measures: the implementation of currency devaluation and the establishment of government-run institutions for private salt monopoly, which eventually destroyed the relaxed business atmosphere of Datang.

As predicted by Shi Sun Yanji, Secretary of the Household Department, Yun Yanying, Director of the Household Department, and Wang Jiangting, Head of the Money and Banking Department of the Household Department at the gathering organized by Baifu two years ago:

"Kaiyuan Tongbao", "Qianyuan Chongbao", and "Chonglun Qianyuan Coin" were used together, which led to the depreciation of coins and skyrocketing prices. "Kaiyuan Tongbao" quickly disappeared from the market, some were hidden by the people at home, and the other part was taken and melted, and then secretly cast into "Qianyuan Chongbao" and "Chonglun Qianyuan Coin".

The confusion of prices forced the court to adjust the value of coins several times.

Because the value of "Kaiyuan Tongbao" was underestimated, the court adjusted the currency value for the first time, stipulating that a "Kaiyuan Tongbao" was worth ten coins, a "Qianyuan Chongbao" was worth thirty coins, and a "Chonglun Qianyuan" was worth ten coins. "Money" is worth fifty Wen.

This currency adjustment caused further currency depreciation and soaring prices.

At this time, there was a famine every year, and every bucket of rice was sold for seven thousand yuan, and people were starving and dying, and the hungry people devoured each other.

Bronze wares from all over the world were used by people to make money secretly.The capital has even reached the point where everyone steals it.In order to prevent private casting, the government arrested people everywhere.At that time, Jing Zhaoyin Zheng Shuqing hunted and arrested those who minted money privately. In a few months, more than 800 people died under heavy punishment with sticks, but still could not stop the trend of minting coins privately.

In the first year of Shangyuan (760 A.D.), the imperial court made another effort to stabilize the value of the currency, and ordered:
"Kaiyuan Tongbao" and "Qianyuan Chongbao" in Gyeonggi Province are all ten coins, and the currency value is ten coins; "Chonglun Qianyuan coins" are thirty coins, and the currency value is thirty coins; other states are waiting for instructions .”

Although the imperial court made the above adjustments, the chaos of currency values ​​and prices in the world remained.

……

Bai Fu is not proficient in the study of finance and taxation, but he remembers what Sun Yanji, the Secretary of the Ministry of Households, Yun Yanying, the head of the Household Department, Wang Jiangting, the head of the Money and Banking Department of the Household Department, and others said a few years ago.

Bai Fu found these household officials again, and humbly asked for advice.

Today's Bai Fufeng Hou Baixiang, with a prominent position, is no longer what he used to be.Sun Yanji, Yun Yanying, Wang Jiangting and others came to Bai Fu's residence, trembling and fearful.

No matter how approachable Bai Fu was, these household officials dared not show the slightest disrespect.Between the lines, there are words of humility and flattery.

Bai Fu sighed secretly, and thought: "The higher the position, the harder it is to hear the truth."

With a thought in his mind, Bai Fu invited everyone to a family banquet in Duke Wei's residence.

After drinking for three rounds, everyone blushed and gradually relaxed, no longer as stiff as usual.

These people are all officials of financial management. Once they put down their guard, they speak freely and have great insight.When it comes to the fields that they are good at, they should do their part and let me do my best.

Wang Jiangting, Chief Registrar of the Department of Currency and Banking of the Ministry of Finance, said: "My lord, dealing with currency depreciation and soaring prices is not difficult to say, and it is not easy to say."

Bai Fu smiled and said, "Let's not worry about the difficulty, just talk about it."

Wang Jiangting said: "My lord, the depreciation of coins and the soaring prices of goods not only involve the monetary system of the imperial court, but also involve the transfer of wealth among the people, and the efforts of one party alone are not enough.

However, as long as the imperial court orders the circulation of "Kaiyuan Tongbao" and "Qianyuan Chongbao" at the same value, and abolishes the "Chonglun Qianyuan Coin", the folk trend will cooperate, and it will automatically make "Qianyuan Chongbao" and "Chonglun Qianyuan Coin" " Withdrew from the market, leaving only "Kaiyuan Tongbao" to continue to circulate.

In this way, the currency value and prices will be stable. "

Bai Fu said: "The reason why the imperial court uses these three kinds of coins is to raise money and make up for the exhaustion of tax sources. If the abolition of 'Qianyuan Zhongbao' and 'Chonglun Qianyuan Coin' will lead to a gap in military expenditure?"

Yun Yanying, head of the household department, said: "There is no way to increase the source of income, as long as we do a good job in things like leveling, salt administration, and water transportation."

Bai Fu hurriedly asked, "What is Pingzhun?".

Yun Yanying said: "The imperial government can collect grain for half a year and store it in the liquidation warehouse, so as not to hurt the farmers due to the low price of the grain. When the grain price rises in a famine year, the grain price will be raised, and the liquidation warehouse will be opened to balance the grain price. The people will benefit and the court will benefit."

Bai Fu asked, "How do I know the price of food and commodities in various places in time?"

Yun Yanying said: "The imperial court can set up inspectors in all the roads in the world, and choose industrious and capable officials as officials to manage the inspectors. The inspectors collect the amount of rain and snow, the quality of crops, The situation of high and low prices. Report to the transshipment company every ten days and every month.

As the saying goes, "abundance is expensive, and hunger is cheap." '

With this news, the imperial court can buy more grains and millets and transport them to areas with poor grain harvests, sell them at low prices, and exchange for the people's native products and sundries to resell to areas with good grain harvests, thereby adjusting the availability and stabilizing prices.

In this way, it can not only prevent low grain prices from hurting farmers, and floods and droughts to disperse people, but also support farming and actively provide disaster relief without depleting the national treasury.It can be described as one stroke. "

Bai Fu nodded in praise.

Yun Yanying saw that her ideas were recognized by Bai Fu, her confidence was greatly increased, and she continued: "Let's talk about the salt administration after a humble job.

Fifthly, the salt law of "official transportation and official sales" stipulated by Mr. Qi not only greatly increased the price of salt, but many corrupt officials also took the opportunity to arrest ordinary people as errands, transport salt for free, and fill their own pockets.These bad behaviors caused the people to complain and hate the salt monopoly.

Even so, due to the huge salt affairs organization of the imperial court and the staggering expenditure, the imperial court did not receive much income.

If we can vigorously reduce salt administration agencies such as salt supervision and salt farms, adjust the salt monopoly system, and change official revenue, official transportation, and official sales into official collection, commercial transportation, and commercial sales, and uniformly collect salt tax, not only will there be little disturbance to the people, but the court will also benefit. There will be more. "

Bai Fu asked for advice: "Master Yun, what are official income, commercial transportation, and commercial sales?"

Yun Yanying said: "The salt officials uniformly purchase the salt produced by Tinghu (a private household specializing in salt production), and then sell it to salt merchants at a higher price, and they traffic it to various places for sale. The imperial court only controls the two links of unified purchase and wholesale. Take control of salt administration.

In order to prevent salt merchants from driving up the price of salt, the imperial court can set up Changping salt warehouses in various places to equalize the price of salt.

As a result, a large number of salt officials were streamlined, the price of salt fell, the people benefited, the merchants benefited, and the court tax payment also increased.

Today, the salt interest collected by the imperial court is only 60 yuan per year.If my deduction is correct, with the adoption of the new salt law, within five years, the salt profit can increase to more than 600 million yuan, accounting for half of the country's fiscal revenue, which is enough to cover various expenses of the imperial court and water transportation costs. "

　bibliography

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　　2. "The History of China's Economic Development", edited by Ning Ke, China Economic Publishing House, published in October 1999.

　　3. "History of China's Land System", written by Zhao Gang and Chen Zhongyi, Xinxing Publishing House, July 2006.

　　4. "Finance and Taxation of Ming Dynasty China in the Sixteenth Century", written by Huang Renyu, Life·Reading·New Knowledge Joint Publishing House, February 2007.

　　5. "History of China's Political System", edited by Bai Gang, Social Science Literature Publishing House, May 2007.

　　6. "Chinese Currency History", written by Peng Xinwei, Shanghai People's Publishing House, December 2007.

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(End of this chapter)