I am Da Song

Chapter 82 State Material Control in Wartime
Zhao Huan ordered Wang Zongmian, who was carrying the imperial equipment beside him, "Light the few pieces of charcoal in your hand, and warm them up for the officials to drive away the cold. After that, they are not allowed to provide any charcoal."

Wang Zongmian asked worriedly: "Will the bodies of all the officials be frozen? These people will take the opportunity to make trouble again and slander the king."

Zhao Huan didn't mind, and said, "Let's just swear a few words. If they can't stand the cold, they will naturally put coals in the fire. After a while, these people will get used to it and use coals to keep warm."

Wang Zongmian couldn't understand, and asked: "Then what are the officials trying to do? Don't they provide excuses for these people to use their tongues."

"After the Kaifeng government has collected the various charcoal farms and grain shops, these ministers will be put back. At that time, they can't stand the shortage of charcoal and firewood, so they will naturally look for charcoal." Zhao Huan glanced at Wang Zongmian, and said with a smile: "Tokyo City How much coal is there, do you know?"

Wang Zongmian shook his head. I am afraid that no one can figure this out. After all, neither the government nor the common people paid much attention to coal before.

Could it be that the official family is so sacred that they know all about the coal reserves in Tokyo?Thinking about it, Wang Zongmian was amazed, the herdsman, the Son of Heaven, was indeed born noble, different from ordinary people!How can officials manage this kind of thing?
Seeing Wang Zongmian looking at him as if looking at a saint, full of worship and holiness.

Zhao Huan flicked his forehead with his hand, and said with a smile, "What are you thinking about? Have you ever heard that the old swallows before Wang Xietang flew into the homes of ordinary people?"

Wang Zongmian nodded quickly. Although he hadn't read many books, he had heard of this poem.But what does this have to do with coal?
Zhao Huan said: "You said that these ministers and officials are keen to use coal for heating, what would ordinary people do?"

Wang Zongmian's eyes lit up, and he immediately said: "Of course, I'm following the example of the Duke, using charcoal to keep warm."

Yes, it is the hundreds of thousands of people in Tokyo who really know the distribution of coal.With the custom of using charcoal for heating, the people of Tokyo will hide in corners everywhere to find the forgotten charcoal.It can save countless people from the fate of freezing to death and frostbite.

In the Jingkang disaster, the two most severe tests that Tokyo City had to face were the Jin army's offensive and the severe cold weather.

The former depends on the bravery of soldiers and bloody battles on the battlefield to stop the enemy's offensive.And the latter will count on Kaifeng Mansion.

The efficiency of this powerful civilian government did live up to Zhao Huan's expectations.

At noon, Li Ruoshui found Zhao Huan at the newly-built Yuqian Armory with two copies (reports), and introduced to Zhao Huan: "The official family, Kaifeng Mansion intends to advance in two ways. Immediately set up a corn mill on Taxation Street. Every ten days, people in the inner city can receive a bucket of rice and ten catties of charcoal."

"Tax Street?" There is no special significance in choosing this place.

Li Ruoshui explained: "The Taxation Street is on the east side of Da Nei, just in line with the Qishengyuan on the west side. It is enough for the people in the inner city to remember that its survival in the inner city is all due to the kindness of the officials, and it should be loyal to the emperor and serve the country. read."

Zhao Huan nodded slightly. Although it was of little significance, the idea of ​​being loyal to the emperor and serving the country was instilled in the subjects of the Song Dynasty. Little things add up, and subtle influences can finally form a general consensus among the subjects of the world on loyalty to the country.

"This is just one of them. The ministers and others chose the tax street. The more important point is to facilitate the statistics of household registration in the inner city. Although the imperial court did not carry out detailed statistics on the number of people in Tokyo, it has previously counted taxpayers, restaurants, workshops, and street vendors in Tokyo. But they are all registered by region.”

Putting the household registration under the tax name for statistics involves the advanced tax system of the Song Dynasty.The Song Dynasty implemented a dual urban-rural tax system, and residents in the city mainly paid house tax and land tax, that is, real estate tax.Relying on real estate tax, it is easy to calculate the corresponding household registration of ordinary people.

And more importantly, after the distribution of materials, the servants and servants under the names of those rich and powerful families can be further investigated.As the capital city of Tokyo, there are countless high-ranking officials and dignitaries, wealthy businessmen and wealthy families, and these people have a large number of servants and maidservants in their homes.After the statistics, the household registration of all the big families will be controlled in detail, which will not only increase the population of military service, but also increase the scale of taxation.

At the same time, it will also have a grasp of the number of workers and monks employed by various restaurants, businesses, workshops, and temples in the city.

Zhao Huan enthusiastically said to Li Ruoshui: "The Kaifeng Mansion's handling measures are brilliant. I am very much looking forward to how large the population of the inner city will be after counting the countless servants, craftsmen, and outsiders in the city. These are all The most extensive source of soldiers for the Shenwu Youjun."

Li Ruoshui replied respectfully: "The ministers will strictly check every hidden citizen in the inner city and register them. At the same time, in order to supply sufficient supplies, the Kaifeng government plans to issue a decree immediately, and the people are not allowed to hoard charcoal, rice and other supplies privately." .”

"Anyone who hoards more than [-] stones of rice grain and more than [-] catties of charcoal must be sold to Kaifeng government, and Kaifeng government will buy it at the perennial price. Anyone who hoards charcoal grain and fails to declare to Kaifeng government, the excess charcoal and grain will be confiscated And depending on the amount exceeded, a fine, criminal detention or even death is imposed for the worst cases.”

Zhao Huan glanced at Li Ruoshui, but he didn't expect this minister to be kind.He even promised the government to fund the purchase of charcoal and rice grain hoarded by the people.

The management and control of wartime materials in later generations will not be so benevolent, and the excess will be directly and forcefully expropriated.In order to quell prices, the previous dynasties directly ransacked all the merchants who were hoarding, and all the grain was collected into the national treasury.

However, the Song Dynasty was not short of money anyway, so Zhao Huan did not object. After all, the city of Tokyo was so big that it was inevitable that some people were also engaged in the rice, flour and charcoal business. The collection at the perennial price could be regarded as protecting these ordinary people to a certain extent.

Then Zhao Huan said: "Let's do it according to Kaifeng Mansion's suggestion. The household registrations of the people that have been counted will be handed over to the Prime Minister in time, and the Prime Minister will preside over the conscription."

Under the compulsory conscription system, Zhao Huan must make everyone clearly realize that military service is everyone's obligation.If someone just wants to refuse military service and wants to enjoy the fruits of other people's bloody battles, he will inevitably face extremely serious consequences.

And as long as Prime Minister Zhang Shuye strictly enforces it, after counting the population of the inner city, the size of the Shenwu Youjun will increase significantly.At least it can increase from the 3 people in front of me to [-] to [-] people.

It may not be possible to defeat more than [-] gold troops, but it is no problem to defend the inner city as solid as gold.

After Li Ruoshui left, Zhao Huan turned his attention back to the imperial armory in front of him.

(End of this chapter)