contend

Chapter 477
"One hundred thousand Chinese troops from Luoyang rushed to Guanzhong!" Pang Qing read the latest battle report.

"One hundred thousand?" Yang Zheng was a little surprised, not because there were too many troops, but because they came so quickly.

With the current strength of Liangzhou, Sima Zhao and Zhong Hui want to destroy themselves with an army of 14, which is almost a daydream.

Sima Zhao dispatched hundreds of thousands of troops for Shouchun, but 14 against himself?

Zhong Hui doesn't have this ability, does he?
If it wasn't for him, then it might be for the Kingdom of Shu.

"Where's the food?" Guanzhong has been deserted, and it's impossible for 14 people to drink northwest wind, right?

"Sima Zhao raised taxes, and the officials and the people are one." Pang Qing said.

In the late Ming Dynasty, the land tax in the Central Plains was granted to officials, eight people and two people. Under such a heavy tax, it is not known how the people survived.

"Isn't Sima Zhao afraid that the government will force the people to rebel?" Yang Zheng shook his head. This time Sima Zhao spent all his money. If he couldn't destroy the Shu Kingdom, or destroy himself, there would be turmoil in the territory.

In fact, since Cao Cao created the farming system, people have been fleeing.

It is impossible to revolt. The military power in the Central Plains has always been very strong, and the people have long been afraid of being killed.

The tax is too heavy, and the blow to the people is all-round.

In order to attack the Xiongnu in the north, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty vigorously searched the people. The newly born children had to pay taxes to the country when they were three years old, which was called "export money". To pay to the country, and must use currency, in the middle will be squeezed by the price of food again...

There is a clear record of this in the Han Dynasty: Emperor Wu conquered the barbarians and paid heavily to the people. When the people gave birth to a child at the age of three, they would export money.

In fact, the Central Plains at the end of the Wei Dynasty was even more miserable than that of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty treated all people equally, regardless of whether they were powerful or common people, they paid taxes the same.

Even the rich and powerful will pay more, and the leeks of the rich will be harvested.

There is at least a way for the people to survive.

However, Sima Zhao's heavy tax was completely apportioned to the powerless people.

The gentry tyrants have various ways to avoid heavy taxes, do not pay taxes, or even pay less.

For one thing, the government couldn't figure out how many households they had hidden and how many fields they had enclosed.

Secondly, the government itself is the tyrants of the gentry, and they will pay their own taxes with their lives?
Sima Zhao dared to play like this, and Yang Zheng had to admire his courage.

But then again, as long as the gentry tyrants stand on Sima Zhao's side, the loose and unorganized people at the bottom will not be able to cause any disturbances.

Compared with the Central Plains, Liangzhou's taxes are much lighter.

Slaves, waiting to return, and governing the people only need to pay enough land taxes and complete one or two months of military training every year, basically nothing else.

In slack farming, people can fish, hunt, raise animals, make some handmade products, and sell them in the market.

Or work for the government with no wages, and eat three meals a day to fill their stomachs, which is also saving food.

Except for land tax, Liangzhou's salt, livestock, and iron are all government-run.

Any salt lake in the West Sea is enough to feed the whole world for dozens or hundreds of years.

Livestock is also one of the great advantages of Liangzhou. The whole world also adopts large-scale government operations in Liangzhou, setting up pastures on the vast grasslands of Hehuang, Xihai, Hetao, and Zhangye. A livestock can eat and work, and its value is huge .

There is also commercial tax, which has accounted for an increasing proportion of government fiscal revenue in recent years.

As the gentry in the Central Plains grew stronger and stronger, their demands also increased.

Luxurious goods such as pepper, spices, Sichuan brocade, sable fur, agate, gems, amber, rhino horn, ivory and so on must pass through Liangzhou.

Regardless of spring, summer, autumn and winter, there will always be long caravans coming from the west. The food, clothing, housing and transportation of these foreign merchants will all be in Liangzhou. Some oil and water.

Since the Juqu Department was wiped out, the business environment in Liangzhou has been greatly improved, and many businessmen from the Western Regions simply bought mansions in Guzang.

After conquering Chang'an and beheading Sima Fu and Wang Ji last year, the prices of Gu Zang's mansions rose steadily like sesame seeds, giving them the aura of a metropolis.

Supplemented by commercial taxes, salt and iron, and livestock, the gold and silver in the Liangzhou treasury piled up like mountains.

So every time there is a big war, there is basically no need to squeeze the people.

The entire Liangzhou is on the rise, and the tyrants of the scholars and the common people can live in peace.

Under Yang Zheng's suggestion, some discerning tyrants formed a caravan and started trading in bulk commodities.

In addition to merchants, the number of Tianzhu monks in Liangzhou continued to rise.

The meaning of the Hexi Corridor, in addition to the economy, is actually a place where cultures collide.

The plateau, grassland, Central Plains, and Western Regions meet again, constantly colliding with powerful sparks of civilization.

Chinese civilization is great and splendid, but other civilizations also have merits.

Western civilization was able to come from behind because it did not close itself. Whether it was plunder or the Crusades, it was a constant collision of civilizations.

On the contrary, Chinese civilization entered a period of comprehensive decline after the Song Dynasty. Losing the Hexi Corridor, Yan Yun could not regain it, and the spirit of pioneering and enterprising was gone. Women's feet were bound, and men were ashamed to join the army...

Yang Zheng has always believed that civilization is not just about reciting poems and painting, but an inner upward spirit, where a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend. One can be a poet and painter, but not only a poet and painter.

Yang Zheng neither encourages nor supports monks.

Many monks are well-educated and wealthy people. After obtaining the consent of the government, a Buddhist temple began to be built in Guzang City.

The temple is managed under the name of Xuanyi Division, and every monk needs to register and make a register, and he is a legal monk after obtaining the certificate of Xuanyi Division.

After the capture of Chang'an, Liangzhou seemed to have entered a new stage.

In the spring of this year, a large number of scholars popped up out of nowhere, as many as a thousand people.

In the past, there were only a hundred people at most, and when it was small, there were 50 or [-] people...

With so many scholars, the original examination room could no longer accommodate them.

The selection of scholars in Liangzhou is different from other places. They don't look at their family background or their origins. They are all treated equally.

Yang Zheng decided to be creative and take the exam on the street.

The main street of Guzang was cleared out, futons and tables were laid out, and more than 2000 elite soldiers were arranged to carry knives and spears to maintain order on the scene.

In the northwest, no matter what you do, you can't do without a knife.

Flying in the sky, running on the ground, there are wolves and beasts everywhere.

You need to carry a knife for farming, not only for grazing, but also for a bow, and you need to carry a knife even when you go shopping in the street, otherwise you will be ashamed to have friendly exchanges with others.

This is also one of the unique cultures of Liangzhou.

As long as you don't wear armor and hold a crossbow, the government never asks.

This battle frightened many scholars, some immediately left the examination room, some looked ugly, and secretly glanced at the soldiers around them from time to time.

The common people who watched the excitement around them all came to see something new.

As long as there is no noise and noise, the government will let them go.

This was actually the first test set by Yang Zheng.

A literati without courage will basically not be able to work in the Northwest.

The Xiongnu, Xianbei, and Qianghu would not reason with the powerless scholars, and the naturalized barbarians are also more vigorous...

(End of this chapter)