Tibet.

Chapter 1320: Sending Troops to the South
After the news of the incident in Shizhou spread, prices in Chang'an also began to be affected, with food prices starting to rise first.

Why is the incident in Shizhou related to Changan Food?
Because Shizhou and several nearby states were the largest source of sugar supply in the Tang Dynasty, and it was also the largest sugarcane producing area in the Tang Dynasty, some people may wonder why sugarcane is produced in abundance in southern Sichuan?
This is a climate issue. The climate in the Tang Dynasty was much warmer than it is now. Southern Sichuan not only produced sugarcane, but also lychees. They were transported to Chang'an and became Yang Guifei's favorite.

Elephants also travel in groups, and all major sugarcane plantations train elephants to carry out transportation.

In addition, another reason is that the Indian sugar-making technique was spread to the Tang Dynasty via Yunnan and Myanmar, and first took root in the southwest region.

In addition to the rising sugar prices, tax reform has been a hot topic of concern for both the government and the opposition since November last year.

Last November, the salt and iron monopoly was officially launched throughout the Tang Dynasty.

At present, tax reform has begun to be fully implemented. First of all, salt, iron and wine began to be monopolized. Salt and iron taxes belong to the court, and wine taxes belong to local governments. Local governments are particularly active in controlling wine. First of all, the koji cakes used to make wine are controlled by the government, and then the wine-making license must be applied for from the government. Not everyone can make wine, and farmers are not allowed to privately brew fruit wine. The punishment may be a fine at the least and imprisonment at the worst.

Then the deed tax was also under the jurisdiction of the local governments, so the local governments were also very positive about it, stipulating that any transaction and lease of houses and land must be approved by a broker and use a contract printed by the government. If there is no government stamp, then the tax must be paid and a fine must be imposed. In addition, the government does not recognize the legality of the transaction.

Among them, the fact that the government does not recognize the transaction is particularly damaging.

For example, Zhang San is a tenant farmer who rents 20 acres of land from Li Si for cultivation. He does not sign or hand over a contract, which is a private lease. This has two consequences. Once discovered by the government, Li Si will not only have to pay additional taxes, but also be fined.

The second consequence is that at the end of the year, if Zhang San refuses to pay rent to Li Si, or there is a dispute, once a lawsuit is filed, the government will rule in favor of Zhang San. Why? Because the lease is illegal, so the lease does not exist. Li Si not only cannot get the rent, but also has to be fined by the government.

This applies not only to renting land but also to renting houses. If the landlord fails to pay the stamp duty, once the tenant sues the government, not only will the landlord have to return all the rent, but the tenant will also receive a reward of half of the fine.

Now, all lessors will honestly sign the contract and pay the deed tax. In the end, it will be included in the rent or land rent anyway, so it is not their burden. It can also protect their own rights and interests. Why not do it?
As for the purchase and sale of houses and land, deed tax must be paid, otherwise the deed cannot be transferred.

Although there were inevitably some complaints after the promotion of liquor tax and deed tax, the sharp rise in salt prices made many large salt users furious, mainly shops selling pickled foods.

But another benefit was immediate. The land tax dropped significantly, and the household tax was even more surprising. Eighty percent of households no longer had to pay household tax.

During the reign of Li Heng, in order to raise funds for military salaries, the land tax rose to an astonishing 13%, and the household tax started at 5 strings of coins per household per year. If the population was large and the household was considered a large household, the household tax would be 10 strings of coins per year.

Not only did the common people suffer, but local officials were also overwhelmed with anxiety. The household tax also caused countless families to be broken up, and some even secretly buried their children after they were born.

Now the situation is reversed. If you only have one child, you still have to pay household tax, which is still five strings of coins per year. If you have two children, the tax is halved, and if you have three children, it is exempted.

This fundamentally removed the shackles that kept people from having children. No one had to pay a head tax to have children, and every household began to prepare for pregnancy. After all, the idea of ​​having many children means more blessings has always been deeply rooted in people's minds.

The land tax was also reduced to one in thirty, a ten-fold reduction. The household tax that had been a worry for every household at the end of the year was also exempted. This made the people of the world cheer, and everyone raised their arms and shouted, "Long live the emperor."

But many officials and scholars were also worried: how could the court maintain its status with such reductions and exemptions?

The answer soon came out: the price of salt skyrocketed.

Since November last year, the price of salt has risen to 500 wen per dou, which is fifty times higher than before. During the Tianbao period, a dou of salt cost only ten wen.

Moreover, five hundred wen for a dou of salt is the price for coarse salt. Coarse salt is made by directly crystallizing seawater or brine and selling it. It has large grains, dark color, and bitter taste.

The imperial court also introduced fine salt. Fine salt was diluted with fresh water, crystallized, and then ground into powder. It was snow-white in color, much saltier, and had no bitterness. However, the price of fine salt was eighty wen per catty, which was equivalent to one guan of money per dou, twice the price of coarse salt.

Although the skyrocketing salt prices have made it difficult for ordinary families who are used to spending salt lavishly to accept it, if you do the math carefully, as long as a family does not make pickles, they actually do not use much salt in a month.

Many housewives even found that although fine salt is twice as expensive as coarse salt, it is actually more economical. Coarse salt requires at least five or six kilograms a month, while fine salt only requires one kilogram. After a few months of practice, the sales of coarse salt began to plummet, while the sales of fine salt soared. A year later, coarse salt disappeared from the market.

The people all over the country complained about the skyrocketing price of salt from the beginning, but the complaints gradually died down after a few months. On the one hand, complaining was useless, and on the other hand, everyone enjoyed a significant reduction or even exemption of land tax and household tax, so they understood the difficulties of the court. But more importantly, buying salt each month did not cost much. With a small population, one catty of fine salt was enough. With a large population, two catties at most, which was only one hundred and sixty coins.

In fact, if you eat two kilograms of fine salt a month, it will cost two strings of coins a year, but ordinary people don't calculate it this way. A little over a hundred coins a month doesn't matter, but collecting two strings of coins a year would cost them their lives.

After the price of salt began to soar, a high-quality vegetable produced in Guanzhong, cabbage, began to sell well all over the country, and the imperial court then forced the government offices across the north to promote its cultivation.

Emperor Li Ye gave the cabbage a new name, Chinese cabbage.

Promoting Chinese cabbage is also one of the important measures to cooperate with the salt tax reform. In the past, every household had to pickle vegetables, which consumed a large amount of salt. At that time, a bucket of salt cost ten cents, and people didn't feel bad about it. Now fine salt costs eighty cents per catty, so pickled vegetables are unaffordable. Without pickled vegetables, what will we eat in winter?
So cabbage came out. Cabbage has a high yield and can grow even in winter. It is simply a life-saving vegetable in the northern region. Every household started to grow cabbage in their vegetable garden, and of course radishes.

So where did the saying "radish and cabbage" come from? In the north, every household relies on eating radish and cabbage in winter.

The Shezhou incident triggered a rise in sugar prices. At that time, sugar was not a monopoly of the imperial court. Although the Changping Warehouse quickly put in affordable sugar to curb the rise in sugar prices, the Nanzhao issue came to the public's attention because of the sugar price incident.

For a time, the entire court and the people were talking about Nanzhao. In early February, Emperor Li Ye made a decision that he would send 50,000 elite troops to attack Nanzhao, led by Li Sheng, the governor of Longyou, with Qu Huan, the governor of Jiannan, as his deputy general, and 50,000 Guanlong troops to rush to Bashu to prepare for war.

Li Sheng was changed to deputy marshal of the Southern Expedition, and Hun Jian, the governor of Hezhou, concurrently served as the governor of Longyou.

In the imperial study, Li Sheng pointed at the sand table and said, "After entering Bashu, I will lead 50,000 troops to Longyou County, Jiazhou for training. The Military Equipment Supervisor promised me that all training mines will be in place by the end of February, and that by mid-March at the latest, 10,000 people will be equipped with firearms."

Training mines are arrow mines, hand-thrown mines and thunder mines that are not loaded with explosives. They are all made of ceramics and equipped with a fuse. In fact, they are used to train soldiers to control the fuse.

There are two scales on the fuse of all the Tang army's firearms. One is a green line, indicating that it is ready to be thrown, and the other is a red line. When it burns to this point, it must be shot out immediately. This ensures that the fire bomb explodes when it hits the ground or before it hits the ground.

This is the basis for becoming a firearms soldier, and basic training is required before one can use firearms.

"How to distribute firearms and equipment for 10,000 people?" Li Ye asked.

"Reporting to His Majesty, two thousand people will use thunder bombs, equipped with three types of thunder bombs, totaling 500 thunder bombs, five thousand arrow thunder troops, each equipped with five arrow thunders, and then three thousand troops will be equipped with explosive arrows, each equipped with ten, which are mainly used to deal with buildings and ships."

Li Ye nodded and asked again: "General Li, have you ever understood the reasons why the Tang army was defeated in the tenth and thirteenth years of Tianbao?"

"Reporting to your Majesty, I have carefully inquired and read the records. The incident in the tenth year of Tianbao was because the Tang army was not adapted to the hot and humid climate there. Another major reason was that the enemy used elephant soldiers. In the crucial battle, the enemy drove thousands of elephants to attack the Tang army's formation. The Tang army was defeated and lost tens of thousands of people. This was the key point of the Tang army's final defeat.

As for the battle in the 13th year of Tianbao, it was because the Tibetans attacked the Tang army from behind, causing the Tang army to be attacked from both sides and suffered a great defeat. "

"Are you sure you can handle the elephant soldiers?"

Li Sheng nodded gently, "The 50,000 Tang troops are all equipped with gunpowder arrows. We will use them to shoot the elephants from a distance. If it doesn't work, we will use arrow mines to scare them. If it still doesn't work, I will use kerosene to burn them. This will form a 30% defense in the long, medium and near ranges. I believe it will be effective!"

Li Ye pointed to Shizhou with a wooden pole and said, "Once the firearms are equipped, the army will immediately march into Shizhou. You must remember four points. First, destroy the active forces of Nanzhao and Tubo, and do not accept prisoners of war. Second, restore the borders of the ninth year of Tianbao. Third, all the captured Han people return. Fourth, accept the surrender of Nanzhao and occupy Taihe City at the same time. All wealth will be transported back to the Tang Dynasty to make up for the war expenses!"

Li Sheng bowed and said, "Your Majesty's order, I will keep it in mind!"

(End of this chapter)