Ji Han Liu Zhang

Chapter 202 Maxima

Increasing taxes and plundering private wealth is an almost art form.

If Liu Zhang ordered to levy a house tax, it would be equivalent to guiding the people to demolish their houses. If the tree tax was levied, it would be equivalent to inducing people to cut down trees. And if the six-animal tax was levied, it would be equivalent to inducing the people to kill livestock and impose an additional oral tax on the heads of Guizhou leaders. In terms of gifts, the harm is the greatest, and it is equivalent to guiding people to abstain from sexual intercourse and have fewer children.

Although the heads of Guizhou have never read books, they are not stupid people, nor are they good people. Faced with various exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes from the government, the heads of Guizhou will try their best to avoid these taxes that squeeze them, and they will hide if they can. If you can't avoid it, try to avoid it.

However, salt is designated as a government monopoly, and production, sales, and pricing are all organized and implemented by the government. No matter how high the price of salt rises, by dozens of times, people will still eat salt.

Rich families, children from poor families, and farmers in the fields all, without exception, all need to eat salt. In addition to humans, animals also need to eat salt. As long as they are living animals, they probably need salt to support the pulse of life.

Everyone cannot do without salt. If the government's finances and taxes are tied to salt finance, no one can escape the tax.

As a system established by Guan Zhong for Duke Huan of Qi, salt finance has been highly recognized and policy imitated by rulers in different dynasties and regions in history. It can basically be said to be the basic national policy of every dynasty in China.

As a warlord of one side, Liu Zhang naturally couldn't help but focus on the salt as white as snow when wars were intensifying and the wars were going on for years, so that the treasury was in short supply.

After pinching a little white salt from the wooden barrel that Wang Lian moved, Liu Zhang felt the roughness of the well salt. After all, the technology was not in place. The technology in the late Eastern Han Dynasty was not enough to create the salt that Liu Zhang ate daily in his previous life.The white salt that Liu Zhang ate in his previous life was as white as snow and extremely fine. However, the salt in his hand had a somewhat rough feel, and the color was not very good, nor pure white.

Moreover, this bucket of salt could be placed in front of Liu Zhang, the Yizhou shepherd. Although Liu Zhang felt that Wang Lian was trustworthy, in an officialdom, Wang Lian would be infected with some bureaucratic habits. Liu Zhang expected that the bucket in front of him Well salt must be the finest among well salts. It probably took a lot of effort to refine it to its current appearance. The color and appearance of ordinary well salt will probably be quite different.

However, Liu Zhang did not expose Wang Lian's thoughts. According to the current situation, Wang Lian has already done a very good job. The small salt well developed and dug by Wang Lian is a great achievement, not to mention Wang Lian's arrival in Fushun. In just one month, the output of white salt in Fushun County increased by [-]% to [-]%. Liu Zhang secretly remembered every contribution he made.

After drawing a pie for Wang Lian to be promoted to Salt Captain at the end of the year, Liu Zhang asked a key question: "Wang Qing, in your opinion, what is the right amount for the price of salt?"

Wang Lian didn't need to think about it. Regarding this question, he had recently checked the price of salt in all directions, and went deep into the people to understand the income of the people in the head of Guizhou, as well as what he had seen when he was a humble official. He already had a good idea of ​​this question, so he answered.

"I report to Mr. Ming. I have visited various places and learned that the current price of salt is around one stone, eight hundred yuan. If it is less, it will not be less than six hundred yuan. If it is more, it will probably not exceed one thousand, two hundred yuan... Now Specializing in salt and iron requires the revenue from salt and iron to replenish the treasury, but the financial resources of the private sector must also be considered. Otherwise, the price of salt will be set too high and the people will not be able to afford salt. On the one hand, it will breed illegal salt, and many bad people will go there for high profits. Violating the criminal law will cause resentment among the people to take off, which will harm the public and benevolent people. Therefore, based on my limited knowledge, the price of salt should be set at one thousand yuan per stone."

"One stone, a thousand dollars." Liu Zhang repeated the salt price given by Wang Lian. This price was not too high. After all, the high point of salt price was twelve hundred dollars.However, [-] yuan is not the highest price of salt. If a war blocks the passage of vendors, the price of salt will rise to the sky. But in that case, people only need to survive, and people generally will not care about the rise in salt prices.

Nowadays, in normal times, the peak price of salt is [-] yen. Wang Lian’s price is [-] yen per stone, which will not cause pain to the people. As Wang Lian said, the people will not be worried because of the excessive price of salt. High and resentment arises.

More importantly, Liu Zhang could clearly remember the origin of Huang Chao, who ruined the Tang Dynasty because of the high price of salt. The situation of a madman sharpening his knife at night.

Even if Liu Zhang believed that the people were not angry about the high price of salt and revolted, he could easily suppress it with strong troops, but in this case, he would have lost his morality to some extent.If you want to wipe out thousands of miles, unite the eight wastelands, and build an empire that can be passed down for generations, the founding monarch needs to uphold the country's integrity. Otherwise, even if he conquers the world, he is afraid that future generations will not be able to defend it.

Just like Sima Shao, Emperor Ming of Jin Dynasty, after listening to Director Wang explain the glorious deeds of Sima Yi, Sima Zhao and Sima Shi, as well as the entanglement between the three horses, Emperor Wen of Wei and Gaogui Xiang Gong, Sima Shao buried his head in bed in shame. He shouted: "If it goes as planned, Jin and Zuo will be restored to peace for a long time!"

"According to Wang Qing's words, let's set it at one thousand yuan for one stone salt." Liu Zhang followed the good advice and followed the advice given by Wang Lian, a professional.

At the same time, Liu Zhang was somewhat lucky. Thanks to the closed geographical environment of Shu, Yizhou did not destroy the credibility of the five-baht coin because of Dong Zhuo's construction of small coins, and was reduced to bartering. Most private transactions in Shu still used five-baht. Baht money will not be used for bartering.

We must know that in today's Guanzhong and Central Plains areas, the five-baht coin that has been used in the Han Dynasty for a long time has lost its original trading role. People in Guizhou do not recognize the five-baht coin, but use cloth and salt as currency to trade, especially cloth, which is Things like silk and linen were almost used as currency because they were light, easy to transport, and easy to store. They were also necessities for the common people.

However, this kind of bartering among the people, which reversed the course of history, did not resume currency transactions until the early Western Jin Dynasty through the efforts of the three generations of monarchs of Cao Wei.Although there was no need to worry about the currency issue in Shu, Liu Zhang thought about it and was afraid that sooner or later he would have to face the consequences of Dong Zhuo's making small coins. After all, he would have to leave Shu sooner or later, and he would have to solve the problem of currency failure by then. , bartering is not the right way after all.

Liu Zhang, who followed Wang Lian to visit some areas of the Fushun County Salt Farm, recognized Wang Lian's political achievements since he took office as Jincao. He gave Wang Lian an eighty-point score in his heart, and then Liu Zhang and Wang Lian left the salt farm. He left and returned to the official temple in Fushun County.

At this moment, in the Mingtang of Fushun County Official Temple, all the officials from Fushun County, large and small, gathered here, ready to listen to the instructions of Liu Zhang, the Yizhou Shepherd.

Liu Zhang, who arrived at the official temple in Fushun County, strode to the main seat without hesitation and sat down peacefully.

"Ming Gong." Under the leadership of the Fushun County magistrate, a group of Fushun County officials bowed down and expressed their loyalty to Liu Zhang, the only cloud in the Yizhou sky.

"Gentlemen, please rise." Liu Zhang waved the jade Ruyi in his hand, and then said directly without too much politeness: "I have entrusted Wang Jincao with all the matters concerning the Fushun County Salt Farm. If Wang Jincao If you have any requests, you should do your best to meet them without any shirk."

"No." The magistrate of Fushun County took the lead again, leading the officials of Fushun County to accept the order, and he accepted the order given by Liu Zhang with sincerity.In the hearts of the officials in Fushun County, today's Shu region is already dominated by Yizhou Mu, and the orders of the Han Dynasty can only be ranked second. Whatever Liu Zhang said, they naturally did it, and they did not dare to make any mistakes. disobedience.

Seeing this, Liu Zhang nodded with satisfaction. With his current prestige, there was no need to include any threatening words when ordering something.For example, in the current situation, he asked the officials in Fushun County to cooperate with Wang Lian's actions. He didn't need to say anything. If he didn't cooperate, he would shout and kill the relevant people. That would only lose his prestige. Now he is in Shu. This is a place where words are followed and threats are made.

After inspecting the salt field in Fushun County and testing the talents of Wang Lian, the Jincao, Liu Zhang left Fushun County with satisfaction and headed towards Hanjia County.

On the way, Liu Zhang and the soldier Cao Pengyi chatted every now and then to kill the fatigue of the journey.

"Ming Gong really has a keen eye for knowing people. Wang Jincao has outstanding talents and is extraordinary. With Wang Jincao as Ming Gong's governor of salt and iron affairs, it is inevitable that the treasury will be sufficient. In the future, the army will march east and west, so there is no need to worry about property." The baggage is in short supply." Peng Yi bluntly expressed his appreciation for Wang Lian. Although Peng Yi had an arrogant temperament, he still paid attention to talented people and would not look up to the sky.

After praising Wang Lian, Peng Yi thought of Wang Lian's past and sighed empathetically: "With Wang Jincao's talent, after entering Shu, he spent many years as a subordinate. If it weren't for his wise eyes, Wang Jincao would I'm afraid Cao will be depressed and unable to get ahead for many years, and he can only waste his days and years in official positions such as county magistrate and county captain."

"There are Bole in the world, and then there are thousand-mile horses. There are always thousand-mile horses, but there are not always Bole." Liu Zhang read out the sentence of Han Yu, the leader of the eight great masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties, in the horse theory. The horse theory is an article he had learned. First reading He didn't think it was amazing at the time, but since traveling through time, combined with the worldly events he has experienced, he has gained a very deep understanding.

Liu Zhang's subordinates, such as Huang Quan, Peng Yi, Wang Lian and others, were full of talents and outstanding talents. Unfortunately, in history, it was necessary to wait until Liu Bei entered Shu before they began to shine. In addition, Liu Bei's mastermind Fazheng , was unknown under the weak Liu Zhang, but under Liu Bei, he was like a shining sun, making plans for Liu Bei to win Hanzhong, so that the Shu Han regime would not die midway.

'Eh. Liu Zhang stroked the jade Ruyi on his hand, with some doubts on his face. He had been the shepherd of Yizhou for more than a year, but he had never seen Fa Zheng come to ask for an audience. In private, he also sent people to come to Shu. I checked among the refugees, but unfortunately I couldn't find the name of Fa Zheng, just like the character Fa Zheng was gone.

Liu Zhang had some guesses. He suspected that it might be because of the flapping of his butterfly wings that history had changed. Fazheng did not migrate from Guanzhong to Shu as recorded in historical materials, but maybe he stayed in Guanzhong. .

'There are lovers, and then there are thousands of miles.A thousand-mile horse often exists, but a bole does not always exist. 'Here Peng Yi fell into deep thought and murmured the words given by Liu Zhang. He couldn't help but nodded heavily. These words were so appropriate to his situation.

Peng Yi thought of the time when he was a scribe in the prefecture of Shu County and was depressed. At that time, he was not a thousand-mile horse, but he was in the same stall with a group of colleagues who were like inferior horses. At the same time, he was also bullied by his colleagues. Because of the crowding out, no Bole took a glance at him and recognized the thousand-mile horse he was.

After thinking about this, Peng Yi looked at Liu Zhang, the Bole in front of him, with a smile: "What Ming Gong said is true. Thousand-mile horses often exist, but Bole does not always exist. For example, Wang Jincao, a thousand-mile horse, if there is no Bole, Ming Gong. , but it’s hard to get ahead.”

Liu Zhang sensed Peng Yi's emotions, and he teased: "Yongnian, are you talking about Wang Jincao, or yourself?"

"It's possible." Peng Yi heard the joking in Liu Zhang's words, and he gave an ambiguous answer.

　Regarding Liu Congfei’s work by Cai, the previous chapter has been revised. Thank you readers for your suggestions~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)