Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 1677 Tax Reform IV
It was not until the end of June that Shao Shude received the complete set of materials about Qian Jian.

There is no way, he is too demanding, and the latest data must also be calculated, so the prime ministers of the Zhengshitang sent five hundred miles of urgent messengers to Yunnan, Liaodong, Anxi and other places to collect all the gold, silver and copper that have been developed or will be developed this year. The mine statistics were perfected, and an initial output was estimated. Finally, Zhao Guangfeng, Minister of Zhongshu, Han Jian, Minister of Industry, and Shen Ping, the new supervisor of Shaofu, came to report in person.

Qian Jian, as the name suggests, is an institution that mints money, and it is directly under the Shaofu.

Money cannot be minted privately, and the "Xia Law" clearly stipulates: "The one who steals the coin will die, and the family will lose his registration."

"The tool has been prepared, and those who have not yet cast it will be moved for three years."

"If the wrong grinding is made into money, Bo Xiao, who takes copper for profit, will move for two years."

In the Tang Dynasty, Li Yuan gave the princes furnaces and allowed them to mint money for their meritorious service.In Shao Shude's impression, it was given to two princes, one of which was Li Shimin.

This is a dangerous precedent. Fortunately, the rulers of the Tang Dynasty were very sober, and there has been no such thing since then, until Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty gave An Lushan a furnace in his later years, allowing him to mint money privately.

In the fourth year of Wude (621), Tang Ting set up money supervisors in Luoyang, Taiyuan, Chengdu, and Youzhou to make money. Two years later, Guilin money supervisors were added.By the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty, there were 11 money supervisors and 99 money casting furnaces in the whole country.By the end of the Tang Dynasty, the number increased slightly, and there were more than one hundred coin casting furnaces.

Daxia currently has 27 money supervisors and more than 9 coin casting furnaces. The largest one is located in Jiangzhou on Hedong Road, with an annual casting of more than [-] coins.

However, in recent years, the former Beijing Xiande Mansion in Bohai State and the current Tongshan Qianjian in Xianzhou, Daxia have sprung up. From the beginning, thousands of coins were minted each year, and the rapid growth has increased to more than 4 coins.Last year, due to the discovery of several new mines, the amount of coins minted suddenly increased to more than [-] coins. The growth rate was astonishing, and it meant to replace Jiangzhou Qianjian.

The third place was originally the Minzhou Qianjian, which made more than [-] coins annually, but last year it was directly surpassed by the Qianjian of Dali Prefecture, Yunnan Province, and ranked fourth.With the continuous development of copper mines in Yunnan, it is expected that the ranking of Minzhou Qianjian will drop further.

Casting money has always been an important income of the imperial court.Moreover, for a healthy economy, if the economic aggregate increases, you have to invest more money in the economic field, otherwise it will cause deflation and damage the economy.If it is serious, it will cause prices to plummet, farmers and handicraftsmen will go bankrupt, and the foundation of society will be shaken.

"More than 24 coins and [-] silver dollars are minted a year, totaling one million." After reading the data, Shao Shude said: "However, I have a doubt, so I have to ask. How much copper was produced in Tang Dynasty, and how much is it today? "

"Your Majesty. Copper was produced for one year at most in the Tang Dynasty. In the early years of Emperor Xuanzong's Tianbao, 32 coins were minted that year." Shen Ping, the supervisor of the Shaofu, replied: "After the hardships, many copper mines were abandoned due to wars, and the amount of coins minted Gradually descending..."

In the 20th year of Zhenyuan (804) of Emperor Dezong of Tang Dynasty, 13.5 coins were minted.

In the first year of Changqing (821) of Emperor Muzong of Tang Dynasty, 15 coins were minted.

Tang Wenzong Taihe eight years (834), less than 10 min.

The number of minted coins has declined steadily. There are reasons for war, reasons for the exhaustion of copper mines in the early years, reasons for the high cost of casting coins, and the decline in the control of the imperial court. The reason for the device is very complicated.

"Is the tax on gold, silver and copper still a quarter?"

"Yes."

"There are more private mines, or more government mines?"

"National mining and metallurgy is the big head."

"I see." After thinking about it for a while, Shao Shude said: "Gold class, silver class, copper class, can the tax rate be increased?"

"It is possible, but the output will definitely drop significantly." Chu Shenping said.

"Is there a precedent?"

"During the reign of Emperor Dezong of the Tang Dynasty, the taxation of various official and private copper smelters was raised. As a result, the output dropped sharply, the price of copper rose sharply, and it was no longer profitable to cast coins. A large number of copper smelters in the south of the Yangtze River were closed. Only then did the coinage recover.”

Yes, minting money can also lose money. This is not a joke, but a reality.

Mining, transportation, smelting, and casting all have costs. When the cost exceeds the value of copper coins themselves, casting coins is unprofitable.

The reason why many copper mines were not mined in the Tang Dynasty was not only due to war factors, but also economic reasons.

The Tang Dynasty also banned private mining, but as a result, the output of precious metals plummeted and the cost rose sharply, and the revenue of the court fell instead.

Really don't overestimate the capabilities of the bureaucracy.This is not a society with modern fine management. In ancient times, it was not a dead end to engage in a state-owned economy, but it was really risky--Bohai Commercial Co., Ltd. now earns more than [-] yuan a year. Shao Shude deeply doubts that if it is replaced by private individuals , definitely more than such a small profit.

After suffering a loss, Tang Ting found a way, that is, the "fertilizer mines" that are relatively easy to mine and are expected to cost less are directly operated by the government, and other mines are handed over to private mining, and the court collects 25% of the output as a tax .

The directly operated mines also adopted the method of recruiting "pit households" as contractors to further improve efficiency and reduce costs, so they were maintained.

Shao Shude also felt that this was probably the best solution in the real situation, and the officials who came up with this kind of compromise were of high standard.

In terms of mining, the Xia Dynasty inherited the policy of the Tang Dynasty, the government-private partnership, and the tax rate was 25%.For privately mined mines, a quarter of the output was collected as taxes and handed over to the Qianjian for making money. The imperial court also bought part of the rest, mainly grain and cloth, and then handed it over to the Qianjian for making money.

This is actually a way to digest the land tax.

Grain is relatively heavy, and in places with poor traffic conditions, the transportation cost is extremely high, and it may even cause huge losses to send it to the central government, so it can only be kept in the local warehouse.If there are mines nearby, you can purchase precious metals, digest some of them on the spot, cast them into copper coins and transport them away. This is the old wisdom of the Tang Dynasty, and it is a no-brainer.

"Sometimes, I feel that it is better to simply hand over the mining and metallurgy to businessmen. Many mine supervisors, after deducting the cost, can make a quarter of the profit a year, it is not a question." Shao Shude snorted, somewhat Said helplessly.

Zhao Guangfeng and the others lowered their heads and did not answer.

They know that the saint is just whining.If you hand it over to private mining, you can comfortably collect a quarter of the mining tax, but they may conceal the output.

So, it's hard to do anything.

Furthermore, many mines also produce gold and silver, which is highly profitable, making more money than copper.

"How much is the annual gold production?" Shao Shude turned to the end, only to see several records of gold mining and metallurgy, but did not indicate the production volume, and immediately became very dissatisfied and asked.

"Your Majesty, there are more than three thousand taels of gold per year for mining and metallurgy." Fortunately, Chu Shenping remembered this data and replied immediately.

"Including gold purchased from commercial mines?"

"Yes."

"Where do you usually use it?"

"Except for the gold wares that were handed over to the Shaofu for making, most of them were sold."

"Why sell it?"

"make money……"

"Huh?" Shao Shude really didn't understand these things, and asked curiously: "How to make money?"

"Following the old wisdom of the Shaofu of the former Tang Dynasty, first purchase silk and then sell it."

"Be specific."

"There was a money shortage in the early Tang Dynasty, and prices fell sharply. The Shaofu took 50 yuan to buy silk from the market. After the price rose, it was slowly sold out. In the end, it probably made a tenth of it."

Shao Shude laughed out loud.

Little sample, very good at playing!
Isn't this a way for stock market makers to collect money at a low price and sell at a higher price? 10% profit is actually not bad.

At the same time, it also explained from the side that Tang Ting really used all methods in order to raise money, and he was very subjective.Shaofu personally entered the market, using the minted money, first to be long, and then to be short, selling high and buying low.

"Don't do it like this." Shao Shude waved his hand and said, "Let's mint gold coins. Make a model and determine the price comparison with silver and copper coins, so that you can earn more."

After finishing speaking, he silently estimated: the overall cost of the silver coins minted by Zhuqianjian is relatively low, while the cost of copper coins is relatively high. After a comprehensive calculation, it should be less than 100 million.Even if gold is included, it will not reach 100 million.

Logically speaking, such a sum of income is not worthy of Shao Shude's personal attention.

But on the one hand, this still has great potential for growth. It is very likely that the revenue will exceed 100 million or even 200 million in the future.

It is also related to his great emphasis on currency and finance.Before that, he even vetoed the ministers' proposal to merge the money supervisors into the tax envoy's office.

"The money supervisors are separated from the Shaofu, and a new office is established. Think about the name." Shao Shude said: "Each province will add a coin envoy, who is in charge of the money supervisor. There is only one task for the money supervisor, which is to mint coins. The required gold, silver and copper materials will be provided by the Shaofu."

"In this way, there are three sources of national revenue, namely, land tax, commercial tax, and money supervisor." He finally concluded: "The income from commercial tax and money supervisor all belongs to the imperial court, which is about 2300 million yuan. After the implementation of the two tax laws of the former Tang Dynasty, the peak value of 1800 million has greatly increased..."

He originally wanted to say "but not enough", but he was worried that officials would misunderstand his intentions and extort money, so he stopped.

The income of more than 2000 million includes tariffs, stamp duty, overtax, housing tax, salt, tea, horse... and a series of business-related taxes, and there is no need to share profits with the local government. .

Land tax includes household tax and land tax. Shao Shude recently discussed with the prime ministers, and felt that the amount of land tax collection can be appropriately reduced and fixed. If it is converted into money, it can roughly collect 900 million yuan a year—— — This part needs to be shared with local governments.

If it is said that in the former Tang Dynasty, the commercial tax and the land tax were divided in half, the Xia Dynasty had already accounted for about 55%.

In fact, this fiscal revenue still has a very strong "military first" feature, that is, the collection was too harsh in the past, but now the tax is reduced or exempted, but it cannot be reduced too much.

Let's talk about it in the future.

In terms of expenditure, the rewards of the forbidden army and the expenditure on food will need about 1000 million yuan a year-in the absence of war.

The state army also needs about 800 million people a year. After all, the number is large, and it will definitely be reduced slowly in the future.

The number of town troops is still small, and the current annual expenditure is more than 100 million, but the number will increase in the future, and the expenditure will also increase.

It can be seen that in peaceful times, military expenditures accounted for half of the central government's fiscal revenue.

Compared with the army, the expenditure of more than 1 officials across the country is much smaller, several million a year.

After removing these expenditures, the central fiscal revenue is probably less than 700 million yuan a year. After removing palace expenses, station subsidies, entertainment and banquets, daily expenses (including government and military consumables), etc., there is actually not much left .

This financial structure is generally similar to that of the Tang Dynasty, but the same proportion has been enlarged.

Of course, whether it is the central government or the local government, there are still a large amount of hidden income. This has not been included in the fiscal revenue in the past dynasties, but it is real.

For example, the Tang Dynasty had a large number of public lands.When an official goes to work in a certain place, the local government will allocate a part of the output of the public land as his income during his tenure, and it will stop after he leaves office, that is, "job land".

Officials also have kitchen waste money, handwork lessons money, and even interest income from local government loans, etc., many of which were called "taxes and external collections" in the Tang Dynasty. Most of them were local revenues, which were used to subsidize officials and other expenses.

In addition, the imperial court sometimes sells some commodities.In the Tang Dynasty, Sinong Temple often sold food, fruits, vegetables, livestock, etc. that could not be consumed by the court to obtain income.

The shepherds will also sell horses and the like, which is quite a lot of income.

In general, the government of the Tang Dynasty had a large amount of land in its hands, and this part of hidden income was not included in the fiscal revenue—the Xia Dynasty was basically similar to it, and even because the country had just been founded, the government had more public land in its hands.

In the Northern Song Dynasty, the amount of land in the hands of the government decreased sharply, and because the commodity economy was more developed, the expenditure was even greater, and finances were more difficult.

During the Tianxi period of Emperor Zhenzong of Song Dynasty, there was no war. Once the statistics of the expenditure of that year reached more than 1.5 million yuan, I don't know how to spend it.

"That's it." Shao Shude stood up and said, "Financial and taxation reform, the general framework has been finalized so far. The tax envoy's yamen will be established as soon as possible. From now on, tax collection and expenditure will be in charge of the tax envoy. The money supervisor is independent. , together with the six ministries and nine temples, is directly under the jurisdiction of Menxia Province. I intend to collect half of the land tax as a whole, but there are differences in each province."

He didn't mention the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which is the royal family's money bag, and the income belongs to the internal treasury, not the national treasury.

The three major trading companies of Bohai, Annan, and Western Regions operate independently, and whoever gets the dividends gets theirs.

"I'll give you half a year." Shao Shude said, "In the first month of next year, the preparations for the tax envoy's office will be completed. I will give you a two-year transitional period for the new tax system, and it will be officially implemented in the eighth year of Tongguang (923)."

(The update is late, but this kind of chapter is too fucking difficult to write... It consumes too much brain cells. I wrote it and was said to be watery. It is estimated that the starting point is full. No author is as self-abusing as I am. Taking the finances since the middle Tang Dynasty as the The basics are deduced, and the writing is so detailed and realistic...)
(End of this chapter)