Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 1086
On the first day of March in the second year of God Bless, it was sunny.

After the Shuowang Grand Court Meeting, Shao Shude returned to his own residence in Xiuyefang.Almost at the same time, Wang Pu came over with another set of utensils.

"Your Highness, in front of all the ministers, the Empress said in person that 'Taifu's great name cannot be concealed, but his true character must be revealed'. Therefore, don't refuse." Wang Pu said.

"The empress is so loving, I am so grateful, I don't know what to say." Shao Shude sighed.

"The merits of the world need to be rewarded." Wang Pu complimented with a smile, and then ordered his followers to send a set of equipment into Shao's house.

Shao Shude sent some rewards, and everyone was beaming with joy.

"Prepare the horses, I want to enter the palace to thank you." Shao Shude instructed Li Yixian: "Please also invite the prime ministers of the Zhengshitang, the heads of the household department, and Henan Yinzhi Xianju Hall to say that the queen will call Yanying to ask questions."

"Of course." Li Yixian replied immediately.

After a while, Wang Pu left first.Shao Shude waited for a while, then went to Shangyang Palace under the guard of his entourage.

Today, the prime minister was called to discuss the matter in order to sort out the finances and taxes.

Financial planning is a major event of the country.

The collapse of an empire often begins with a financial deficit.

After entering Shangyang Palace, he first went to Lichun Palace.

In fact, he only left early this morning and arrived at this time, so he was busy enough.

The queen was changing clothes, and as soon as they met, the first sentence almost made Shao Shude faint: "You messed up too much."

Shao Shude stabilized his mind, and said: "I have received great kindness, and I can only repay the empress with blood."

The queen gave him a blank look, and said, "Come and change my clothes quickly."

"I obey the order." Shao Shude waved the palace servants to leave.

These girls are clumsy, and they lived an unrestrained life in the tribe before entering the palace. They will slowly start to learn the rules, and the progress is very slow.But the victory lies in being loyal and reliable, and not talking nonsense.

Shao Shude had studied in depth how to untie the various dresses of the queen, and of course he would wear them in reverse, his movements were even smoother than those of the palace people, and he finished it in a short while.

The queen also enjoys this process very much, it is really harmonious between the monarch and his ministers!
"Do you want to go together in the imperial chariot?" The queen asked softly, leaning into Shao Shude's arms.

After the way to the soul was occupied, the queen's sense of anxiety was greatly reduced, but it also brought about a side effect, that is, the number of forced numbers became less and less.

"The minister will go first, the queen will be later." Shao Shude said.

After finishing speaking, he squeezed the queen's face and left first.

Someone has already arrived in Xianju Hall.

"See Taifu." Pei Tingyu saluted.

Dongdu was dismissed, and Gao Renhou no longer served as Henan Yin, and was replaced by Pei Tingyu.As a native of Hedong Wenxi, he has served Shao Shude for more than ten years, so he is considered one of his own, otherwise he would not be able to become Henan Yin.

"Sit down." Shao Shude nodded, and then saluted with all the officials.

Half an hour later, the queen also came, and Yanying's questioning officially began.

"In the first year of Jianzhong, there was a two-tax law, which established a system of two taxes and three points." Shao Shude opened his mouth without hesitation, and said: "Nowadays, the towns are abolishing one after another, and the taxation must be cleaned up. Today, Jiru Town, the eastern capital, will be used as the For example, see the big from the small, and come up with a charter. See how much wealth will be left in the local area in the future, and how much will be offered to the court."

The two taxes refer to the summer tax and the autumn tax, which are collected twice a year and are levied based on the amount of property, not on the head of the tax base.

Three points refers to the tax collected. The governor first deducts a part of the funds for "staying in the state", and then "sends the rest" to the envoys.

Shao Shude's territory basically follows this pattern.For those feudal towns who are pro-Jiedu envoys, he gets the money for "sending envoys", while those who are not part-time feudal towns get "offerings", but there are more "offerings" for this part, just like the imperial court from the south. The observation makes there tax the same.

"Queen, Grand Tutor, all teachers." Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Henan Yin Pei Tingyu stood up immediately, and said: "It is a great act of kindness for the Tai Tuo to set up Taoism and envoys. I think that the governments of all states in the world , generally the cost is about the same, if I try to say something, you may get something."

"Pei Qing, but it doesn't matter." The queen said.

"Abiding by the order." Pei Tingyu cleared his throat and said: "The 21 counties of Henan Prefecture, Yique, Luhun, Yiyang, Shou'an, Fuchang, Yongning, and Changshui counties are located in the southwest of the prefecture, Tongdeng, Guo , the rivers and valleys are wide and deep, there are many elk, people are hunting and hunting instead of farming, and migration is impermanent, so the two taxes are less. The six counties of Luoyang, Henan, Yanshi, Gong, Xin'an, and Mianchi have favorable geographical conditions for farming, and they are also important for water transportation. , Business travel is prosperous, so it is relatively prosperous. In the southeast of the prefecture, there are six counties of Yingyang, Goushi, Dengfeng, Gaocheng, Yangzhai, and Mi. .The two counties of Heqing and Wangwu are isolated in Hebei, but they have the benefit of business travel and transportation.

This money mainly refers to miscellaneous things such as household tax, green crop money, and taxation, which are converted into copper coins and calculated.Things like land tax are completely food and are not included.

But whether it is household tax or land tax, there is actually a serious problem, that is, there is no fixed tax rate.

After the Anshi Rebellion, the fiscal system that lived within its means was terrible.How much money is used and how much tax is collected? Isn’t this hooliganism?
If Shao Shude wants to reduce the burden on the people, he doesn't need to take any measures to recuperate. If you fix the tax rate, the people will be very grateful to you.

How much food is collected every year, is it okay to give the number clearly?Don't do whatever you want.

Therefore, the financial revenue of Henan government reported by Pei Tingyu is of little significance to Shao Shude, so he said: "The focus is on expenditure."

"Follow orders." Pei Tingyu didn't even need to look at the files, and said directly: "There are three major expenses. One is the expenses of the posthouse, which is the most important task of the government, and there is no posthorse."

Speaking of this, Pei Tingyu added: "The posthouses in Henan Prefecture actually have money to spare."

Some Henan post stations were contracted to samurai who had retired from injury, and some were still government-operated, originally under the management of the post inspector of the shogunate.

Because of the accessibility and convenient transportation, the post system of the entire Henan Prefecture is profitable every year, and it was like this before Shao Shude took over Henan Prefecture.

For example, in the first year of Changqing (821), "Henan Yin Wei Guanzhi please use 580 pieces of residual money and 580 bundles of grass from the end of last summer to the beginning of this summer to fill in yuan and 11 to 15 years on behalf of the common people. The annual tax owes and this year's summer tax, follow it."

The Henan post office system actually has profits to cover the arrears of taxes that should be sent to the embassy, ​​which shows that this is actually a high-quality asset.The reason is probably the huge profits brought by the country's busiest post road from Chang'an to Bianzhou via Luoyang.After all, Datang’s inn was operated externally, earning money for catering and accommodation, and he had an inn, and there were strict regulations on the consumption of officials.

But this cannot be pushed to other prefectures across the country, because some places do not have this condition.

"The second is the expenditure of official salaries. According to the 12th year of the Dali calendar (777), the amount of official salaries is the same as that of Jingzhao Prefecture. There is one member of Yin, with a monthly salary of [-] yuan; two members of Shaoyin, with a monthly salary of [-] yuan each. Ten min... the annual official salary expenditure is more than [-] min."

Officials in Henan Prefecture are of high rank, equivalent to Jingzhao Prefecture, and the counties under its jurisdiction are all Ji counties, so the official salary expenditure is relatively large, accounting for about 15% of the current fiscal revenue.

"The third is the expenditure for the army, which is the largest expenditure." Pei Tingyu said: "Henan Prefecture has more than [-] state soldiers, and the annual military contribution is more than [-]."

This is the total expenditure including military pay, supplies, procurement, training, etc.Meals are not counted in it, because the land tax can be paid, and there is no shortage of food in Henan Province.

"There is no fee for the army, and there is no fixed fee for delivery." Pei Tingyu said.

The so-called disbursements refer to the expenses of crossing roads and temporary settlements.

The Tang Dynasty has a system, "Where the army of various ways goes out of the country, it will be paid to Duzhi." That is to say, the expenses of the forbidden army and the vassal army going out to fight, including rewards, pensions, and material transfers, are borne by the central government. Fuzhou still has huge expenses.

When the army crosses the border, do the soldiers need to supply millet, wheat, wine and meat?Temporary garrison, you have to bear.Even later, when the central government faced financial difficulties, local prefectures and prefectures had to help the central government bear part of the expenditure, and the proportion was even higher and higher.

This was the case under Shao Shude's rule.

In the battle of the army, in addition to the rear transfer, the part that is collected nearby is also quite large.The more frequent the wars, the more unlucky the prefectures will be, and they will basically consume all the local finances, and even go into debt.

This is the indistinction between the central finance and the local finance, which is a confused account.

"Based on the situation of Henan Province, official salary, military service and miscellaneous expenses account for about one-third of the two taxes." Shao Shude said: "Last year, the sending envoy was about 20 yuan. Is this the amount?"

"Exactly." Pei Tingyu said.

Jiru Jiedu envoy in the eastern capital had no soldiers in his hands. After sending the envoy’s money, after deducting the shogunate’s salary, the rest could be sent to Shao Shude to raise soldiers. This figure was shared with Ruzhou and Zhengzhou, about 17 About [-] yuan, this is the final contribution of the Henan government to the central finance.

Of the total income of 40 yuan, the central government received about [-]% of it.The proportion is a bit low, but to be honest, local funds are also very tight, and they often complain about shortfalls.

"Chaos!" Shao Shude sighed.

For a feudal town to be a country, there are many things to do, not only the official system and military system, but also the chaotic financial system.

Before the towns were abolished, he often reached out to the Jiedushi for money, because the money they donated was not enough, and the ratio of the donated was also fluctuating. .It's not that the Jiedu envoys didn't work hard, it's just that there were frequent wars and the finances were completely messed up.

What else can we do if we impose miscellaneous taxes on the people without money?During the reign of Emperor Dezong, there was an Anshi Rebellion, the population dropped sharply, the people went into exile, and there were rebel towns and towns that did not pay tribute. However, the central government’s fiscal revenue was even higher than that of Tianbao. Can you believe it?Of course, after the implementation of the Two-tax Law, wealthy aristocrats, rich merchants and Tu ethnic groups also began to pay taxes, and the tax base expanded, but excessive taxation is also a common phenomenon.

"The tax system in some places can be finalized. For example, Guanbei Road, where there is no war all year round, how much food, how much cloth, and how much money a household pays can be determined. The local warehouse city, also sent people to return it to the imperial court. , which ones belong to the prefecture, and the most important thing is, how much will the local government give to the court, [-]%, more? Or less?" Shao Shude looked at the prime ministers, and said: "Please calculate carefully."

The reform of the central and local tax sharing system is imperative.

Shao Shude estimated that this needs to be determined one by one, and a ratio should be determined according to the actual situation.

The chaotic financial situation is definitely not what the new dynasty should look like, and it should be on the right track.

(Friendly recommendation "I'm Really Immortal", written by Xia Huaniang, anyone who understands it)

(End of this chapter)