Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 345 Clean Up (Part [-])

In the first month of the third year of Wende, Huaiyuan New City ushered in the new year.

The city already has a lot of popularity, and most of them are the family members of the shogunate general Liao Zuo.Outside the city, there are tens of thousands of family members of sergeants, and the number is still increasing.

Most of the buildings have also been built.In another year, it should be finished, and then it will be gradually improved by private investment.

Wei Zhuang stepped on the most important north-south road in Huaiyuan New Town.

He didn't think there was anything special about this city. After all, he had lived in Chang'an for so long, and when he looked at other cities, he didn't find it interesting.

The combination of old and new cities in Huaiyuan may be regarded as the top in the state city, but the state city is the state city, and it cannot rise to the level of the national capital.It is also remote in the northwest, and even Tongwancheng and Lingzhou are considered to be big and powerful cities.The scale of Huaiyuan New City far exceeds that of Lingzhou and Xiazhou, which naturally makes people feel strange.

But there is one thing about Huaiyuan New City that has attracted Wei Zhuang's interest, and that is the amazing vitality of the place.

The convergence of trade routes brought prosperity to commerce.

In Fangshi, there are already more than 40 major categories of shops in the market, such as Gumai Shop, Rice Noodle Shop, Silk Shop Shop, Caizi Shop, etc.

Wu Fu is really rich!The family doesn't even have to work to get enough food and clothing.If you are not too lazy, you can plant a little more land, and you can live in abundance.

Wei Zhuang has just been appointed as the governor of the Shuofang shogunate, which is similar to his position in the Zhou Bao shogunate, a middle-level assistant.

After arriving at the Yamen of the Zhidu Division, he first met with Shangguan Fengwei.

Feng Wei's two younger sisters have been serving the Marshal for a long time, and they have a son and two daughters together, and they are very favored.Although the reputation of the Feng family in Hezhong is not as strong as that of Jingzhao Wei's, but he is a descendant of the Feng family. Compared with his own, the Wei family's poor settlement, hehe, it's hard to say which one is more respectable.

"Da Lang came just in time, come with me." Feng Wei said while sending someone to pack things.

"Where does the judge want to go?" Wei Zhuang wondered.

On the first day of Shangzhi in the first month, isn't it all reserved for everyone to chat and reminisce about the old days?How can you be in such a hurry?

Feng Wei saw Wei Zhuang's doubts, so he explained: "Go out of the Chaojing Gate, and you'll know when you get there."

Not long after Wei Zhuang joined the job, he was confused by what he heard, but he still asked the driving officer to bring the account books, pens and ink, etc., and was ready to go out.

"General Wang, I'm sorry." After leaving the gate, Wei Zhuang suddenly found two teams of sergeants standing at the gate, both in armor and armed.In particular, the bows have already been stringed, and they look like they are ready to fight at any time.But Feng Wei looked very indifferent, and even saluted the general who led the troops.

"I've checked everything, no problem. Let's go, it's too eye-catching to stand here." Wang Jianji urged with a bow in his hand.

"Alright, hurry up, the commander-in-chief attaches great importance to this matter." Feng Wei replied.

After exchanging pleasantries, the group set off.

There was also a carriage accompanying him, and there were several wooden boxes on the carriage, with seals on them, and it was unknown what was inside.

However, it must be a very important matter to specially dispatch a hundred elite soldiers of the Tianzhu Army to escort them.

Wei Zhuang rode a white horse, followed behind the judge Feng Wei, walked out of Chaojing Gate unhurriedly, and then turned to the southeast.

To the southeast is the water gate of Huaiyuan New City, and a ditch leads directly to the big river.However, the river will freeze, the shipping will be temporarily suspended, and the gate on the water gate will be closed.

Everyone soon arrived at the destination, which was a market that was still under construction.The houses inside have been built, and the roads have been repaired, but the outer wall of the square has not been completed, and there is only a circle of wooden fences around it for the time being.

There are sergeants on duty outside the square wall, but they are not Yamen or state soldiers, but a newly established army in Lingzhou called "tax police".

The Lingzhou tax police force is [-], which happens to be a battalion with [-] horses.The treatment is the same as that of the yamen. They receive two hu a month and are rewarded five times a year. The training is also managed by the coach of the capital.

The tax police are temporarily led directly by the Marshal.There are currently three tax police battalions in Shuofang, one in Lingzhou, one in Xiazhou, and one in Suizhou.

After negotiating with the tax police on duty and checking the documents, the group entered Fangshi, then went straight to a large courtyard with three entrances, and entered through the temporarily opened side door.

"Force envoy." Feng Wei saluted Qiang Quansheng, the envoy who was going out to meet him.

"Judge Feng, is everything here?" Qiang Quansheng looked at the box on the carriage and asked.

"Thirty thousand silver cakes are all here." Feng Wei replied.

Qiang Quansheng didn't talk nonsense when he heard the words, and directly ordered people to open the box to count points.

After a long time, the driving officer of the military envoy's yamen finished counting, and after repeated confirmation, Qiang Quansheng signed the delivery document.

Seeing this, Feng Wei breathed a sigh of relief.

The [-] silver cakes were finally delivered.It's not a question of money, it's actually assigned by the commander in person, and the responsibility is heavy.

"Let's go, let's discuss things inside." Qiang Quansheng said: "Several tycoons in the town are probably also present, so we just have a chat together."

Passing through a corridor, everyone came to a very well-regulated hall, where more than ten wealthy merchants were already seated.Wei Zhuang didn't know any of them, but Feng Wei obviously knew most of them.

"Everyone." Qiang Quansheng cleared his throat, looked at the officials from other yamen and big businessmen from various states in the hall, and said: "The commander-in-chief has ordered that from this year onwards, large transactions will be unified into the transactions in the city."

Zhao Cheng and Kang Fujin looked at each other.This is what it should mean, for better tax collection.

There is no need to evade taxes when the business reaches the level of the two of them.Warriors are not easy to talk about. If you have no money, you will be apportioned to you. If you evade too many taxes, not only is it dangerous, but also when the shogunate has no money, the rich will still eat you.Why bother?Small businessmen evade taxes and escape. Where can big businessmen escape?
"All transactions in the square city are recorded in a unified way, and they are mutually offset." Qiang Quansheng said again.

"May I ask Mr. Qiang Shijun, what is the accounting method, and how can it be deducted?" Zhao Cheng asked.

Wei Zhuang glanced at him.Hearing that this person is the clan uncle of the marshal's concubine Zhao Yu, he was the first to get up and ask, which was quite amusing.

"Every merchant who enters the market must issue an official letter at the Yamenfang City Branch Office of the Military Envoy, which is called an 'account'. Every time a transaction is made, the account will list the input and output, which will be copied and transcribed by the driving officer sent by the Yamen. .Incoming items and outgoing items can be offset against each other..."

In simple terms, this is a clearing banking system.

Large transactions, centralized in one place.Someone sold a batch of goods and listed items, bought a batch of goods and listed items.The input and output items can be offset against each other, and the balance will be calculated at the end.Those who have a surplus will go to the Yamen to make up the money for the army, and those who have a deficit will go to the Yamen to pay.

Of course, the surplus and the deficit can also conduct transactions in private, which is equivalent to borrowing money.

This is actually an exposition and trade fair-style trade form, with bulk transactions as the mainstay.It was especially popular in Europe in the Middle Ages, and there were also prototypes of this kind in the country. For example, a merchant in a certain state sold goods to Chang'an. After selling them, he went to the town's Chang'an Jinzuoyuan or a well-known big merchant to get a certificate, and received the money after returning home. .

The Jinzhao Academy of the Guochao, before the Huangchao chaos in Guanzhong, assumed part of the bank's functions.

Undoubtedly, this transaction mode greatly promotes business and is also conducive to government tax collection.

A big businessman spends tens of thousands of dollars in buying and selling.Take Kaiyuan Tongbao in Huichang as an example. One trolley of [-] yuan weighs six catties and four taels, and [-] coins is [-] catties. Long-distance transshipment is miserable and risky.Not to mention, some states and counties do not allow copper coins to leave the country at all, which greatly restricts commercial transactions.

In the trading mode of the expo, all merchants open accounts in the "clearing bank", which is equivalent to transferring money to each other, offsetting expenses and income, and unified settlement, which not only greatly reduces the demand for currencies such as copper coins and silk, but is also very convenient.

The fineness of copper coins is not necessarily the same, which has always caused headaches for merchants.Some of them are poor in color, and they fall in half on the ground. Who would dare to accept such copper coins?
In fact, it is not easy to estimate the value of silk, because the different patterns and appearances, the great price difference, and the depreciation of the year have greatly hindered commercial transactions.

So, what currency will the transaction be recorded in?

"May I ask Mr. Qiang, what is used to record all the transactions during the meeting?" Zhao Cheng asked again.

Wei Zhuang sneered secretly, this person must have been entrusted.

Qiang Quansheng nodded, asked the envoys to take the minted silver coins, and distributed five coins to each merchant.Then someone took some things out and put them on the case.

"The imperial court distributes scales, rulers, and five scales, buckets, liters, and combinations to the various divisions in Beijing and all states in the world." Qiang Quansheng said, pointing to the weights and measures in front of him.

The weights and measures were supervised by the Taifu Temple of the imperial court and distributed to all the states in the world on a regular basis. They were made of copper.

This is actually a standard instrument, issued by the imperial court, as the standard of weights and measures for each state.Locally, it is made according to the same pattern and used in daily life.

Taking the balance as an example, the imperial court has a system: "The weight of a hundred grains of millet is the baht, 24 baht is two, and 16 two is a catty."

Millet is a crop produced somewhere in the east of the river. Using it as a standard, a hundred grains of medium size weigh one baht.

Strictly speaking, not very rigorous.But this is ancient times, so it can be said that it is very good, and it is considered relatively comprehensive.

Based on this, the imperial court made weighing instruments and distributed them to all states in the world as a standard.

"This silver cake is called 'Yuan'. It weighs eighteen baht, nine silver and one copper, so we use this to keep accounts." Qiang Quansheng said.

The silver dollar actually exists as the bookkeeping currency of the trade fair.But unlike the imaginary currencies used by Europeans in the Middle Ages (such as marks and liras), there is a physical existence.

More than [-] pieces of silver produced by the Gaolan Silver Mine have been minted, all of which are stored in the Yamen of Zhidu.Now [-] have been transferred to the yamen of the military envoy, in case of emergencies.

Generally speaking, a trade fair will be estimated in advance, and the sale and purchase are generally balanced, and it does not necessarily need to spend a lot of silver dollars.These [-] pieces are really for emergency use.

Of course, if a trade fair is over and the merchants on Lingxia's side are still in a trade deficit and need to supply other people's money, but the silver dollars are not enough, Commander Shao will ask someone to issue a certificate.The person who receives this certificate can receive various things including food, horses, and silver dollars with this certificate after a fixed time (such as after the autumn harvest). .

Nowadays, there are frequent wars in the Central Plains, and the merchants who come to Lingxia to trade can hardly buy leather, tendons, bird feathers, horses and other commodities.If Shao Shude is willing to sell [-] horses, some people even dare to eat them all.

In high-intensity wars, horses have become a kind of consumable, and it is not uncommon for thousands of horses to die in a big battle.

Shao Dashuai is ready to let Datong Horse Company monopolize the horse trade of Zhu Mujian and Fanbu.Last year, he only sold [-] horses, but he asked for more than [-] horses—this group of murderers, are they fighting so hard now?
By the way, if the local merchants in Lingxia have a surplus in trade, the Military Envoy Yamen will pay copper coins, silk, grain and other hard currencies according to the equivalent silver dollars.

They can also choose to save the surplus for the military yamen, which can be used to offset taxes, buy land, or use it at the next fair.

Shao Shude has been thinking about rectifying the commercial order and promoting commercial trade for a long time.

There is no other reason, to collect money.It is very clear that the more business transactions, the more business taxes.

One of the things that hinder commercial activities today is war, which is easy to understand.The second is that the states restrict the export of copper coins, which is very troublesome. It destroys too many potential trades at once and hinders the circulation of goods.The third is that the quality of copper coins and silk is chaotic, it is difficult to estimate the value, it is difficult to settle accounts, and many transactions have been lost.

Introducing the bookkeeping currency based on the silver dollar as the benchmark, and conducting bulk trade in the form of expositions and fairs at a fixed time, which is more standardized, more convenient, and safer than various messy private trades.

As for the commercial tax collected at the trade fair, it's a trivial matter - well, it's not a trivial matter for Shao Dashuai, it's a lot of money.

3% for housing tax, 2% for excluding money, plus tax for special commodities, such as 5% for horse money to be collected soon, and stamp duty that Shao Dashuai is hesitant to engage in—that is, to print some bills, which can be pasted on the transaction voucher In fact, the government is just, so that businessmen have a sense of psychological security.If the total trade volume of a trade fair can reach 1.5 yen, then the shogunate can collect at least [-] yen in tax, which is equivalent to [-] copper coins.

Don't forget that there is also a 10% tariff, which is taxed on both import and export. The more businessmen you attract, the higher the total tariff.

In fact, big businessmen are not afraid of paying taxes, what they are afraid of is that they will not be able to do business.It is not an exaggeration to buy a horse in Xiazhou at the price of more than [-] pieces of silk, and bring it back to Shuzhong to double it.That bit of commercial tax is ridiculous, it's drizzle.

Shao Dashuai provides merchants with a safe place, provides accounting currency and a clearing bank system to facilitate their transactions, and gathers merchants in the form of a trade fair to facilitate purchases.With such a multi-pronged approach, I hope that the business tax can reach a new level.

Without money, it is really difficult to move an inch.

There are more than [-] troops. If there is a big battle to be fought later, the cost will not be a small amount.

In addition, it is really inappropriate to always give sheep as rewards to the sergeants.It is necessary to get more cash, and I hope to attract more precious metals from other towns.

Many of Shao Dashuai's plans cannot be carried out without currency reform.As for the bookkeeping currency, there are physical silver dollars for you to see now, what if there is no real silver dollar someday?
(End of this chapter)