The rise of the prince

Chapter 725 History + Trade Network

Wanyan Zongbi entertained all the leaders of the grassland in the big tent, and also met Wang Khan of the Kelei tribe, and Khan Temujin of the Qiyan tribe.

He had already heard about the tragic fate of the Tatars in the west, and he didn't think there was anything wrong with it.Since the Tatars poisoned Temujin's father in the first place, they should pay for blood with blood.

This was a celebration banquet, and he was very happy. They also killed a lot of people in this battle, especially when the Tatars suddenly betrayed and attacked at the beginning.

If there is no flanking attack from the Tatars, I don't know when this battle will end.

So at the celebration banquet, Wanyan Zongbi was really happy and drank to his heart's content.

But when he sobered up the next day, two questions were placed in front of him, one was rewarding the tribes in the grassland, and the other was a vague uneasiness, especially for the Qiyan tribe.

This new tribe, which had only been reorganized for a few years under the leadership of the new Khan, did not pay much attention until he defeated the Tatars in one fell swoop. defeated.

He was more interested in this newly rising tribe, and when he sent someone to inquire, he was also shocked.

The Southern Expedition and the Northern War continued to annex the surrounding tribes, and kept them safe in the confrontation with the powerful thirteen tribes on the grassland.

He also paid special attention to his leader Temujin. This man grew up in hatred all his life and was whipped by suffering. His father and grandfather were killed by the Tatars. Boil alive in a cauldron.

His uncle, his brother, and his friends betrayed one after another, so he is different from those Nayans on the prairie (prairie nobles, but more like lords). Knowing this, Wanyan Zongbi slaughtered the Tatars Not surprised.

But there was some worry in his heart, an unexplainable worry, just like when he met Zhebe before.

Wanyan Zongbi looked at the camp of the Qiyan Ministry in the distance, smoke billowed from the kitchen, and soldiers were laughing and having fun. They had already had a carnival all night, enjoying their spoils, the wine and meat left by the Tatars, cattle and sheep, horses, and women.

But all night, no one ran around, and no one died.

The celebrations on the prairie were bloody, dead people, and galloping horses after drinking were common occurrences, but in the camp of the Qiyan tribe, none of these things that should have happened among the Tatar tribes happened.

He saw the difference between these people even more.

Wanyan Zongbi rubbed his temples, he saw it, but he couldn't think of any way out, when the emperor brother was still there, he didn't have to think about it at all, just lead people to kill him, the queen will settle all the things that need to use his brain.

This was the case all the way from Liaodong, to Shangjing, to Zhongjing. Although he was walking in blood at that time, he might die someday, but these were the happiest days for him.

Now he is not the reckless man who was killed from Liaodong, he is the King of Liao Dynasty, but he is not as chic and happy as before.

"Brother Huang, if your spirit in the sky is watching, teach me." He whispered, but did not respond.

"Am I getting old?" he asked the soldiers beside him.

The soldier shook his head: "How come, the prince is in his prime."

He doesn't talk, he feels really old
At this moment, someone hurriedly stepped on the snow from behind: "My lord, my lord, a letter from the prime minister, a letter from the prime minister!"

"What!" Wanyan Zongbi was overjoyed, and then hurriedly said: "Take it quickly." He stretched out his hand to snatch it.

In the past, he had never looked down on Liu Xu, a Han man, and kept pushing him out. If it wasn't for the protection of the emperor, he would have driven Liu Xu out like many others.

But now hearing his news, he felt endless joy and joy in his heart, and he hurriedly opened the envelope to read.

In his later years, after experiencing so many vicissitudes, he became more and more aware of the importance of Liu Xu, and the more he understood the painstaking efforts of the emperor's brother to protect him. Now he can only talk heart-to-heart with Liu Xu, a person of the older generation who was full of enthusiasm.

He sent away his own soldiers, returned to the big tent, and quietly read Liu Xu's letter by himself, with mixed emotions in his heart, unable to calm down for a long time.

Liu Xu consoled him, told him to take care of his health in the north, and gave him some advice.

Even hundreds of miles away, he can still clearly judge the situation on the grassland.

Liu Xu gave him two suggestions.

The first is the disparity in rewards. This time, the tribes of the grassland were ordered by the suzerain Jin Guo, so after the victory of the war, Jin Guo should reward the ministries.

Liu Xu told him that he should not "reward based on merit", but should have a disparity in the rewards. Some tribes are given heavy rewards, and some tribes are treated lightly. They are already dissatisfied with the Kingdom of Jin. May arouse their internal conflicts.

The second is to win over the son of King Khan.

Liu Xu had noticed the growth of the Begging Yan Department early on, and he also felt it was a threat. When he also sensed an opportunity, it was the Kelei Department, the most powerful ally of the Qi Yan Department.

Wang Khan of the Kelei tribe is Temujin's uncle, and Temujin's father's Anda. Temujin also respects Wang Khan very much and treats him like his own father. Wang Khan also values ​​Temujin's ability very much, so They have a very good relationship.

But because of this, this is not a good thing for Wang Khan's future successors.

Liu Xu told him that he could invite Wang Khan's son to the banquet, and when he pretended to be drunk, people deliberately said, "Tiemuzhen treats Wang Khan like a father. When Wang Khan dies, maybe he will hand over the Han throne to Temujin".

In this way, the Kelei Department and the Qiyan Department are likely to fight among themselves.

The letter was very long and talked a lot, and there were many repeated instructions, such as telling him that if he wanted to lie to Wang Khan's son, he should not speak, and he had to find someone who could lie, because he couldn't.
Another example is to tell him the relationship between the Kret and the beggars.

In the past, he couldn't bear to read these things at all, but now, he sat seriously in the big tent, read them word by word, and slowly wrote them down.

With Liu Xu's letter, he is no longer a headless fly, he understands what to do next and why.

If in the past, he would have satirized by the emperor's side, "My Jurchen men will take over the world immediately", but now that the emperor is gone, he suddenly understands why the emperor attached so much importance to Liu Xu and protected him so much, and understands Liu Xu Xu's difficulties and difficulties.

He was abused and excluded by so many people, but he was doing the most important thing to Jin Guo.

Wanyan Zongbi stood up, carefully put away the envelope, and suddenly realized that he already knew how to deal with the future situation.

When he goes back this time, he wants to have a good chat with Liu Xu, Wan Yan Zongbi thought to himself, and then walked out of the big tent, the sun was rising in the distance, reflecting the white snow, it seemed to be full of life even in the cold.

"Brother Huang, you can rest assured that you are in the spirit of the sky. I understand everything and will listen to Liu Xu more. You don't have to worry about Dajin Kingdom!" Wanyan Zongbi raised his head and said loudly to the clear blue sky.

After mid-November, with the Spring Festival approaching, Li Xingzhou came to this world, and it will enter the fifth year in the blink of an eye. After a few heavy snowfalls, Kaiyuan City began to gradually clear up.

This year, Jingguo won a great victory, conquered Liaoguo, captured the emperor of Liaoguo, and the people were overjoyed.

And the emperor was even more happy, because despite the war, the tax revenue collected after autumn was more than [-]% higher than last year!

Don't underestimate this [-]%, rising to the national level, let alone [-]%, even a percentage point is a huge amount.

The reason for this is also due to the drive of the north-south trade of the Wangfu, the commercial tax revenue has risen sharply.

Li Xingzhou participated in the planning of the Department of Household Department, Department of Duzhi, and Department of Salt and Iron. Now Jingguo's national tax revenue, agricultural tax only accounts for about 30.00%, and the rest is mostly commercial tax.

After the mid-Song Dynasty, commercial tax accounted for [-]% of the country's fiscal revenue, and agricultural tax accounted for only [-]%.

This point is actually very interesting. In this point alone, the Song Dynasty is worth studying among ancient dynasties.

Take the Ming Dynasty as a comparison. The Ming Dynasty emphasized agriculture and suppressed business very seriously. The commercial tax was collected at the beginning, and then it was not collected at all. But what was the result?

Bureaucrats control commerce and trade, there is no fair competition in commerce, farmers have become the hardest group of people, and the state's finances rely on agricultural taxes, wars, building the Great Wall, etc. What should I do?Tax increase!Finally, it is added to the bottom peasants.

The Song Dynasty focused on commerce, but the main source of finance was the commercial tax, and the agricultural tax became lighter and lighter after the founding of the country. When the business was at its peak, it was almost negligible, and the burden on the people at the bottom became smaller and smaller.

If it weren't for the weakness of foreign wars, the Jin Kingdom, Mongolia, and the continuous wars that could not resist the rise of the north.As a low-level commoner, living in the Song Dynasty will be much happier than the Ming and Qing dynasties that emphasized agriculture and suppressed business.

Therefore, it is not surprising that dynasties such as the Ming and Qing, which were extremely focused on agriculture and suppressed business, came to an end.

This is very contrary to the common sense of ordinary people. The peasants of the dynasty that emphasized agriculture and suppressed commerce were forced to suffer, and the taxes were harsh.

On the other hand, ordinary farmers in the mercantile dynasty had a very light burden.

In fact, the reason is very simple. Many people hate the rich, but what they hate is not the rich, but the power behind the money, or unfair business competition.

Neglecting business in the Ming and Qing Dynasties is actually an infinite relaxation of the supervision of business.

Laissez-faire leads to the easy control of business and trade by the powerful. Trade no longer depends on the competitiveness of commodities, but on the backing of the backer. Power depends on power and money.

Such a situation must have existed in the Song Dynasty, or this situation was inevitable, as long as there were people, this situation would inevitably occur.

However, the Ming and Qing dynasties ignored, let go, did not supervise, and tacitly allowed bureaucrats to profit through unfair competition.

Because of the emphasis on commerce in the Song Dynasty, the supervision of commerce and trade was more perfect and more important, and this situation would be much less.

The most different thing is that the trade of the Song Dynasty spread from the Korean Peninsula, the Japanese islands, to the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and even the east coast of Africa. Can you manage such a vast and open trade map?No matter how great the power is, can it make waves?cannot.

So this is why Li Xingzhou wants to actively encourage overseas trade. It can limit the damage of power to the rules of competition through the expansion of trade territories. You can use power for personal gain in a small area or in the country. What about Jingguo?The vast sea.

The ocean is a vacuum of power. No matter how powerful you are, in such a vast trade network, you can't break the rules. In the end, you can only return to the fair and benign route of commodity competition.

However, the Ming and Qing sea bans completely blocked this road. In order to monopolize the interests of trade, the high-level bureaucratic groups and the royal family manipulated the trade rules at will. Himself, ruin the dynasty.

Now, when the emperor and his ministers were all happy because of the substantial increase in tax revenue, and the emperor praised him many times, Li Xingzhou asked Gillian to write for him, dictated it himself, and wrote several times to explain the huge benefits of river network trade and sea trade.

He also told everyone in the court about the various benefits of expanding the trade network.

Because the facts are right in front of you, the tax revenue has been increasing year by year in the past two years, and the increase has been huge, so his words are very convincing.
(End of this chapter)