Great Warriors of Sui and Tang Dynasties

Chapter 1103 Xuanzheng Hall

The collapse of a country begins with finances.

The prosperity of the world comes from the army.

In the Xuanzheng Palace, the emperor proposed to the prime ministers that the price of salt will drop starting next year. "At the beginning of the founding of our dynasty, the price of salt increased by one hundred dollars per bucket, and then it has been increased to three hundred. Adding the cost of salt production by the salt people and the profit of the salt merchants, the last bucket of salt was nearly four hundred dollars. The common people are all right. The imperial government is extremely dissatisfied with the salt administration. Illegal salt sales are lucrative and lure countless people to take risks. Starting next year, the imperial court will collect salt from the salt people at ten dollars per bucket, and the price will be increased by one hundred and five. The price shall not exceed two hundred dollars a bucket."

This is almost a direct cut in half of the salt price. For the imperial court, it was originally [-] yuan per bucket of salt, but now it is only [-] yuan, which is a real drop in half.

Immediately, the prime minister complained.

"Your Majesty, the imperial court has just issued 5000 million guan bonds, which will be exchanged and repaid in the next five years. The total principal and interest is 500 million guan. It all depends on the salt tax. If it is reduced by half, then the annual salt tax may be less than 2000 million guan. , How to fill this huge hole?" It was Cui Junsu, Minister of Minbu and Pingzhang Shi, who complained.

"Imperial tax revenue cannot be entirely dependent on salt. It collects tens of millions of salt taxes a year. The officials of the Ministry of Civil Affairs are naturally smiling, but the people are becoming more and more dissatisfied. When the emperor was founded, a bucket of salt was only ten yuan, but now It’s nearly four hundred dollars, almost forty times.”

"However, under the tax adjustment system during the founding of the emperor, the tax paid by the people is actually much higher than the current two taxes." Cui Junsu argued.

"But the common people don't think that way. They only see that the price of salt has increased by forty times. I also think that it is indeed a bit higher. Salt is not a rare thing. It is not even as good as food. It requires fields and farmers. The coastal areas are all You can dry salt, you don’t even need to cook the sea, and even in the Central Plains or even in the borderlands, there are also salt lakes and mineral salts. The biggest cost of salt is not salt production, but transportation. Set up salt warehouses in various places, the imperial court can coordinate and dispatch them, and then distribute them to merchants for sale, which can greatly reduce the transportation cost on the road.”

"But what about finances? Your Majesty often tells us that the collapse of a country must begin with the collapse of finances. If the 2000 million salt tax is missing, where will the court make up for this hole?" Cui Junsu worried.

"There is always a way. I checked the files recently and found that the tax on tea and wine has increased greatly in the past two years. In addition, the tax on vehicles, cattle and horses has also increased a lot. Tea and wine are not necessities of people's livelihood. Higher taxes are fine, and tea In recent years, a large amount of wine has been sold abroad, production has expanded, and taxes have increased a lot.”

Of course, Luo Cheng suddenly wants to reduce the salt tax. The greatest confidence comes from the fact that foreign trade has opened up now. After defeating Xitu Shekui Khan, several Silk Roads in the Western Regions have been opened. Let the court open up new business routes.

Not to mention, under the leadership of the Royal Maritime Fleet, the Maritime Silk Road is being completed.

Cochin Port Shipping Department, Nanhai Port Shipping Department, Jiangdu Port Shipping Department, Penglai Port Shipping Department, Tianjin Port Shipping Department, Lushun Port Shipping Department, and Pyongyang Port Shipping Department are the seven major ports established by the imperial court. The Seaport Ship Department, through these city ship customs, Daqin's commercial goods are continuously being transported to outside the customs, Haidong, South China Sea, Tianzhu, Persia and other places.

And in the inland frontier, there are also border markets.

The imperial court has a very high tax on these foreign trades. Ordinary goods are taxed one out of ten, while some goods that do not involve people's livelihood are often taxed two out of ten. If it is some pure luxury items, such as pearls, agates, spices, etc. , then the tax is three cents.

30.00% tax.

Even for some scarce and short-selling commodities, if they enter the customs, they may also be bought directly, that is, the government will buy a certain share first, and the court will take it for sale.

On the other hand, the prosperity of foreign trade not only increased the customs duty on ships, but also promoted the prosperity of handicraft workshops, etc., and the imperial industrial and commercial tax was also greatly increased.

"I have done the math. Through the customs and border markets plus the newly added industrial and commercial tax, the gap of 2000 million yuan can be filled back. Moreover, the foreign trade situation is very good now, and the land and sea silk roads are smooth. Our Silk, porcelain, paper, tea, wine, pottery, musical instruments, etc. are all popular, and even gold, silver, bronze, iron, and even our armor weapons are very popular."

All kinds of high-grade silk fabrics are the most sought-after. They are treasures that are only produced in the Central Plains, especially all kinds of gorgeous brocade satins made of silk. Foreigners can't imagine how such gorgeous things come from. , so now the imperial court also has policy control over silk export, reducing the export volume of raw silk and raw silk, and greatly increasing the export volume of silk products.

Compared with raw silk and raw silk, silk weaving products have greatly increased the added value and promoted the development of workshops such as weaving workshops, embroidery and spinning. It can not only attract many young women and girls to work and make money, but also increase taxes for the court.

Even the export of weapons and armor was originally prohibited, but now the imperial court has begun to relax some conditions and began to sell high-end weapons and armor, from Mingguang armor to horizontal knives. These armor weapons are not made by the Qin army. In terms of materials, it is completely foreign trade style, not worse, but more exquisite, more gorgeous and more expensive.

Some ministers once objected to the export of these armored weapons, but Luo Cheng believed that the imperial court spent a huge amount of money on the research and production of military armors.

But in order to ensure the national military strength, this is necessary.

But Luo Cheng also believes that it is actually possible to change the way of thinking and let the military department of the imperial court produce some foreign trade equipment for sale, or even establish some civilian workshops for sale.

As for Daqin's weapons and armor in the hands of the enemy, it will be used by the enemy, in fact, there is no need to worry.

After all, there are so many targets for foreign trade, and only high-end models are sold, such as those gorgeous Mingguang armors, which are at least general-level, and any set is very expensive, even the vassals cannot buy it to equip low-level soldiers.

As for the same weapon, if it cannot be equipped on a large scale, it is actually not very meaningful.

As for counterfeiting, don't be afraid. If you really want to imitate, there are some ways to get samples, but the technology in it is not easy to imitate, and there must be a problem of cost and production scale. If they can't solve these It's just that it has been imitated into a small number of Qin army equipment at a high price, so what's the point.

Therefore, it is better to change the way of thinking, develop foreign trade in military industry, and use the performance advantages of the Qin army's equipment to greatly increase the export price and make a fortune.

(End of this chapter)