Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 140 The nobles in Chang’an are very rich.
Although Fang Chongyong was building momentum in Dunhuang, there was news inside and outside that the Tibetans were coming.But unfortunately or fortunately, until the end of spring plowing, the Tibetan people did not come!

Fang Yanei's integrity was shattered to pieces, and he had almost become something of a joke in Dunhuang.Rumors abounded in the city, ranging from being as cowardly as a rat to being a waste of money and people, and they all said bad things about him.

Fang Chongyong understood that this was brewing because the local big business was dissatisfied with him.

In fact, it is not surprising, because no matter who it is, as long as his money is wasted, he will be very unhappy.The local big families headed by the Zhang family gave grain to the government, which was used as military rations to deal with the Tubo people, not to fill holes for Fang Chongyong.

Now that the Tubo people have not come, the ball has been kicked to Fang Chongyong. He must take action to appease the local big players.Otherwise, those people would join forces and engage in some small conspiracy behind the scenes, which would definitely make Fang Chongyong miserable.

In the Zen room of a temple next to the medicinal spring, Fang Chongyong, who had just returned, was reviewing the draft of the previously written order in front of the desk.

Recently, he has been spending time in government offices in small towns, looking through various account books in the government treasury. At the same time, he has been inspecting the public sentiment in various parts of Shazhou, and he already has a good idea.

In his previous life, he might have had a lot to offer Shazhou's local specialties, but now he really couldn't come up with any tricks.

For example, because of the long sunshine hours, the fruits here are very sweet and unique, especially the grapes.However, these things cannot be exchanged for money, cannot be converted into fiscal revenue, and cannot be transported to Chang'an for sale.

The only thing worth mentioning is the wine.However, local temples have a huge demand for wine. Many of the locally produced wines are consumed by the monks in the temples, and not much of them can be used as trade goods in exchange for money.

Although the local livestock products are abundant in quantity, they are not very competitive. The meat on camels is somewhat unique, and camels are more of a vehicle in the desert and are not raised specifically for meat.

To put it bluntly, there are quite a lot of cattle, sheep, and camels in the Hexi Corridor, and the prices are extremely low.The distance to Chang'an is more than 2000 miles, so local products can only be digested locally.

From a farming perspective, Dunhuang is not worth mentioning at all!
However, if you look at it from a business perspective, the conclusion you get is completely different.

All kinds of commodities from the Western Regions are gathered here. It can be said that everything you want is available.Although the local city taxes and customs duties in Dunhuang are very low, the volume of goods circulation is huge. Cumulatively, customs duties and taxes account for the majority of the government's revenue.

In Dunhuang, if you want to develop, you cannot rely entirely on local strength, you must rely on external forces.

In other words, the local livable areas are all oases in the desert terrain, and the total amount of resources they can provide is very limited.

Raising more cattle and sheep means sacrificing the straw in the fields as feed; if the straw is lost as fuel, the locals will have to cut down more precious shrubs such as white thorns and tamarisks; without vegetation, the oases will shrink and the living space will be reduced. be further compressed.

Every kind of output requires the sacrifice of local resources, whether it is water, vegetation or manpower.

Not to mention that there is no coal, no iron ore or even black oil (petroleum) in the surrounding area. There is only one jade mine, which is not small in scale.Unfortunately, the mining conditions in the mountainous area west of Dunhuang are very poor, let alone large-scale transportation in the desert.

After repeated inspections, Fang Chongyong discovered that local development in Shazhou seemed to have reached its limit.If you want to serve as the governor of Shazhou for four years and achieve some political achievements, then don't worry about local products.

At this moment, Anaye, who had just returned from Luocheng shopping with Fang Dafu, walked over with a basket and said worriedly:
"Langjun, many people in Luocheng are saying that you are wasting the people and money. We have been preparing for so long, but the Tibetan people have not come, and the soldiers of the Doulu Army have not been allowed to go back to farming. There are many people outside who are scolding Langjun."

"These are all put out by others to test me, so don't worry about them."

Fang Chongyong waved his hand and said, looking indifferent.

Sergeant Doulu took last year's winter clothes and this year's spring clothes at once and complained.After pacifying the local garrison, Fang Chongyong dared to continue living here in Yaoquan.Otherwise, once the local Qiu Ba rebels, things will change drastically!
The Doulu Army in Shazhou and the Moli Army in Guazhou were actually organized by the old Tuyuhun troops at the beginning.

"Doulu" means Guiyi, and "Moli" means wolf. Both of these words are dialects from the Tuyuhun side.Among the local people in Shazhou, many are Tyuhun people after sinicization, and they just changed their Chinese names.

They have a strong sense of belonging to the local area, and they still have to decide whether they want to be commanded by the Tang Dynasty unconditionally.

Once the supplies to the Tang Dynasty center are not in place, it is difficult to say how loyal these people will be.

The most obvious evidence is that after the Anshi Rebellion, all the armies in the northwest returned to Guanzhong, and the Chishui Army was the first to arrive in Guanzhong.However, the Doulu Army and the Moli Army did not move. Instead, they retreated to Shazhou before the Tubo offensive began and did not follow them to Guanzhong.

The Doulu Army and the Moli Army, which bear the strong imprint of the remnants of Tuyuhun, do not want to save Datang. This is the so-called human nature.

Fang Chongyong understands very well that the so-called "loyalty" has conditions and boundaries.There is no love without reason in the world, and there is no loyalty without reason.If the military pay is not in place, there will be no army that fights the enemy bravely.You can do as many favors as you want. To a certain extent, this is also a kind of business.

Fang Chongyong felt that as the governor of Shazhou, he should be very popular among the Doulu army, and it was only the local big families who had complaints!

Seeing Fang Chongyong's nonchalant look, Anaye begged, "Mr. Lang, there is a mixed bag of good and bad people here, and there are many bad people. It's better to be more careful, right?"

Fang Chongyong stood up, walked around Anaye a few times, crossed his arms and nodded slightly: "Go change into those Sogdian women's clothes last time. I have something good to show you."

"What good stuff?"

"You'll know then."

Fang Chongyong sent Anaye away.

Those noble people in Chang'an are living too comfortably. It's time to have some fun for them.

After a while, the beautifully dressed Anaye appeared in front of Fang Chongyong. The strange Sogdian clothes were not inconsistent with her at all, but instead showed an exotic style that perfectly matched her.

"Li Yi, this old man, is quite discerning."

Fang Chongyong murmured to himself, then opened a wooden box on the desk and took out a large handful of colorful jewelry.

Not to mention gold and silver, rubies, emeralds, garnets and diamonds are also included.

Anyway, there are all kinds of styles!

"Wow! Are these all given to me? Isn't this too exaggerated?"

Anaye ran over and held all the jewelry in her arms, but she heard Fang Chongyong say coldly: "I borrowed it from the treasury and have to return it tomorrow. You don't want me to be taken away by the court for embezzling the treasury jewelry." Come on?"

Fang Chongyong sighed helplessly.

"Oh."

Anaye put the jewelry in her arms on the table, looking at Fang Chongyong with a look of reluctance and resentment in her eyes.

"There is no future at all. How can these things be worthy of your status in the future!"

Fang Chongyong waved his hand impatiently and said.

"Really?"

Anaye was overjoyed when she heard this.

"That's natural. Would I still lie to you? What is my relationship with you?"

As Fang Chongyong spoke, he put a necklace inlaid with rubies around Anaye's neck, and then added jewelry piece by piece until it couldn't be worn anymore.Anaye's ten slender fingers are all wearing more than a dozen rings!
Some have three or four on their fingers.

"It's all good stuff!"

Fang Chongyong said with emotion.

"Yes, they are all good things."

Anaye said with a bitter face, feeling mixed emotions in her heart.Then he watched helplessly as Fang Chongyong took off the jewelry on her body one by one, which hurt as if he was cutting his own flesh.

"Don't feel bad, it will happen in the future. But wearing these things may be a disaster in the future." Fang Chongyong put all the jewelry into the box and said meaningfully.

Having just used Anaye as a model, he also saw that the jewelry from the Western Region and West Asia was indeed good and unique. If matched properly, it could add a lot of external beauty to a woman.

Changan should have strong competitiveness and value-preserving properties.

Now is the time to unleash a wave of big moves, otherwise the local tycoons would think they were wooden fish heads and would just fight and kill all day long.

"This is for you."

Fang Chongyong took out a small gold ring from his sleeve, handed it to Anaye and said.

"It's so small..."

Anaye couldn't help but complain as she took it and quickly put it on her middle finger.This thing is much inferior to the ones she wore just now!

It's completely incomparable, not even a gem!
"Love is stronger than gold. Haven't you heard this saying? Of course you should give a gold ring as a gift? Besides, you can't wear a big ring because your fingers are so thin.

Cook well at home, I'll go to a small town and come back in the evening. "

Fang Chongyong put the draft copy he had written into a wooden box and left with the box in hand.

After he left, Anaye, who had always had a sullen face, danced and laughed in the meditation room.While kissing the gold ring, he lay down and rolled on the soft cushion where Fang Chongyong had just knelt.

……

"The government will issue these government decrees. I will bring them over and show them to Zhang Yuanwai first."

Fang Chongyong handed Zhang Tan the draft of the decree he wrote.This man once served as Wailang, a member of the court's Ministry of Rites, so Fang Chongyong deliberately called him the highest official position in the past to show respect.

In a study room at the back of the Zhang family residence, Fang Chongyong was having a secret conversation with the Zhang clan leader.

"Security fee?"

When Zhang Chan saw this word, he was a little confused for a moment.

Not because it's unfamiliar, but because it's too familiar.

One of Fang Chongyong’s new policies is the so-called “commercial insurance.”The kind that sells dog meat on a sheep's head.

It's not far from the Western Regions to Dunhuang. If you get lost on the way, you may die in the desert, not to mention the ubiquitous bandits.Therefore, the "commercial guild" formed by local merchants already has the concept of "commercial insurance".

But it's not called insurance, it's called "commercial mutual assistance."

Merchants in the guild can choose to pay a sum of money before each departure and let the guild guarantee them. If something goes wrong, part of the "public fund pool" in the guild will be allocated as compensation to prevent merchants from going bankrupt.

However, this system has many flaws, the most difficult of which is obtaining evidence and settling claims.Therefore, the so-called "commercial mutual assistance" has only appeared in the Dunhuang area, and is far from being popular.

"Your Majesty, this idea is good, but it is too difficult to implement."

Zhang Chen didn't know what to say. He could only say that although this Fang Shijun was not a big man, he really had a big heart.

"No, no, no, Zhang Yuanwai has misunderstood.

After paying this money, the government will take care of the matter and let the Doulu Army people investigate.

If you don't pay the money, then the government will assume that there is no proof, the claim is false, and it won't even pay attention to it.

This is mandatory and tax evaders are severely punished.And they only accept luxuries, such as gold, silver, jewelry, rare medicinal materials, etc. from the Western Regions, but not things like silk. "

Fang Chongyong said with a smile, stretched out a finger and said: "Twenty percent will go to the big families in Dunhuang, and [-]% will go to the government offices. If you don't pay, you will have escaped slaves pretending to be bandits to rob those people."

Hearing this, Zhang Chan's eyes suddenly lit up.

They have long been jealous of the Hu merchants from the Western Regions who control commercial transactions. A large amount of gold and silver cannot fall into their hands and they cannot even touch it.

This is like holding a golden rice bowl and begging for food.

This Fang Shijun is really a wonderful man.

"Then what is this hierarchical tax list?"

Zhang Chan asked doubtfully.

Fang Chongyong's second decree is that from now on, the government in Dunhuang will collect taxes on the subdivided types of past commodities.

Luxury goods that have nothing to do with production and life are heavily taxed!Such as jewelry and rare medicinal materials.

Light tax on materials related to production and life!Such as spices, plant seeds, etc.

Not only are there no taxes on supplies that are urgently needed locally, they are even subsidized!Such as grain, silk and so on.

Of course, these are taxes from the Western Regions, and taxes from Chang'an are calculated separately.

In short, it is to classify different types of goods in a more detailed manner based on the previous tax rates.It is no longer the same as before, where taxes are only levied on the value of goods.

Generally speaking, most of the things from the Western Regions are luxury goods.This alone can provide a large amount of tax revenue to the local state capital.

Of course, this will naturally push up the price of luxury goods in the Chang'an market.However, Fang Chongyong believed that the powerful people in Chang'an, headed by Ji Ge, had never lacked money, nor the means to make money.

Since they are not short of money, they are also the main consumers of luxury goods.So under the principle of "only buy expensive, not right", adding some surcharge to them will only increase the shame on these people's faces, right?

"Your Majesty, this export tax rebate..."

This is the first time Zhang Chan has heard such words.

"It's easy to say. For example, spices and pepper are good if they are added to dishes, but it's okay not to eat them.

As for this, we will collect heavy taxes first, but then issue a voucher.After the merchants transport grain or cloth from elsewhere, they can use this voucher to come to the government office to get back part of the collected customs duties.

The local area not only received supplies, but also increased income. "

Fang Chongyong said with a smile.

Export tax rebates are a great way to make money.Even if the previous two decrees are abolished, as long as this one is in place, I can safely survive the four-year term.

Fang Chongyong was secretly proud that the Tubo and Turks didn't want to drink his own foot-washing water.So what if Brother Ji doesn't give him military pay? As long as he is given time in the office, he can still have fun!

(End of this chapter)