Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 27 Urgent Strategy

Since the end of January of the first year of Kaixi, Chai Zongxun's new land and commercial policies were promoted in the Zhou Dynasty, and they have achieved remarkable results.

The people of the Great Zhou Dynasty received huge benefits from the New Deal. The millions of civil servants hired by the imperial court to build water conservancy projects basically provided for the livelihood of millions of families.

The reclamation of wasteland and the business of "night markets" have also helped solve the employment and livelihood problems of millions of people.

And driven by the "night market", the variety of goods in society has become increasingly rich, and the prices have dropped a lot, which has significantly improved the lives of people all over the country.

This also made Empress Dowager Fu and the young emperor Chai Zongxun increasingly popular and prestigious among the people.

By April 118, all 236 "night markets" in state capitals in the first phase of the Great Zhou Dynasty planned by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development had been completed and put into use.

In the morning, Fan Zhi, the Minister of Household Affairs and the Prime Minister, came out to report:
"To the Queen Mother, and to Your Majesty, the first phase of the 118 state capital "night market" projects currently planned by the Ministry of Revenue has been completed and put into use. The operation is in excellent condition, which has greatly increased the court's tax revenue.

After we complete the promotion throughout the Great Zhou Dynasty, we will surely enrich the country and strengthen the army!

In accordance with the decree, I have prepared a plan for the next step, which is divided into two types: urgent and slow. I ask the Queen Mother and Your Majesty to decide. "

A few days ago, Empress Dowager Fu heard from the emperor Chai Zongxun that the tax revenue increased by night markets in various states was huge, and she immediately said happily:

"Prime Minister Fan has taken appropriate measures to complete the nationwide "night market" project as scheduled, which is of great benefit to the country and the people.

Fan Xiangke can submit the two plans of follow-up priorities in detail, which will be decided after discussion between the palace and the emperor. "

Fan Zhi said: "Yes, Queen Mother.

The minister's method of slowing down is to set the goal set by the Queen Mother and Your Majesty: each of the 118 counties of the Zhou Dynasty will have at least one "night market", which will be divided into three phases of planning and construction, with each phase using 300 million taels of silver. about.

As for the urgent method, all the remaining 118 counties in the state capitals that have not yet built "night markets" should be built at once and put into use.

Due to the huge amount of purchases and employment of civil servants, the amount of silver used was approximately 10 million taels. "

When the Empress Dowager Fu and the officials in the palace heard this, they were all shocked by the amount of tens of millions of taels of silver.

After all, Sejong Chai Rong, who was wise, powerful, and well versed in economics and finance, worked hard for six years to rule, and finally accumulated a treasury of 22 million taels of silver, which he left to his son Chai Zongxun.

Although more than 10 million taels of property were confiscated when Zhao Kuangyin's party killed hundreds of families and more than 30,000 people, a lot was spent on rewarding the heroes, totaling more than 3 million taels.

When the imperial court implemented Chai Zongxun's new water conservancy and "night market" policies, another 5 million taels of silver were spent on the first phase of planning.

In addition, the salaries of the Front Division of the Forbidden Army Palace, the Guards and Military Division, and the Returned Army were greatly increased. The monthly salary of these 180,000 soldiers increased by about 130,000 taels.

At present, water conservancy construction is underway across the country, and one million people have a monthly salary of 600 taels of silver. This is another huge expense of 60 taels of silver a month.

After thinking about it, Queen Mother Fu couldn't help feeling sad that the treasury was spending money like water.

I wanted to open my mouth and choose Fan Zhi's "moderate" strategy, but then I thought that I didn't know anything about finance and economics. The new deal was also planned by the emperor, so I immediately kept silent and waited for the emperor Chai Zongxun to speak.

Hundreds of civil and military ministers in the palace were discussing, and some said that a "slow down" strategy should be adopted, otherwise the imperial treasury would spend too much money, and in the event of an enemy invasion, the finances would be stretched thin;
Some people suggested that changing the civilian employment system back to the corvee system would save a huge sum of 600,000 taels of silver a month.

Han Tong shouted loudly: If the corvee system is changed back to the corvee system and the people are requisitioned, they dare not build water conservancy projects properly and obstruct His Majesty's New Deal. He is willing to lead troops to suppress it immediately and ensure that the people everywhere work honestly. Chai Zongxun, who was sitting on the Jinluan throne, pondered for a while, thinking that Guan Jian wanted to complete the construction of "night markets" across the country as soon as possible to prevent the bureaucrats, nobles and military leaders from all over the country who were aware of it from destroying the "night markets".

Although the construction of "night markets" in all counties under the jurisdiction of 118 prefectures at one time cost up to million taels of silver, there was still million taels of silver left in the national treasury, which was enough to deal with major emergencies.

In the future, after all "night markets" in 118 state capitals across the country are completed, the total monthly tax revenue will increase by 5 million taels to 600 million taels.

(Author's note: In the original time and space, the Northern Song Dynasty, which inherited the "merchant policy" of the later Zhou Dynasty, had a population of about 1 million, and the annual tax revenue was between 2 million and million taels of silver.

In the Song Dynasty, agricultural taxes accounted for about 7% and commercial taxes %. )
Although in the eyes of the courtiers, it has always been possible to enlist the people to work without spending a penny, thus saving 60 taels of silver per month, for Chai Zongxun's long-term goal: to promote the Zhou society to enter commerce as soon as possible after unifying the world Society, Chai Zongxun knew very well that the employment system could invigorate the economy of Zhou society and make the country rich and powerful.

Chai Zongxun said:

"Since the new policy of the Queen Mother and me has proven to be successful and will be of great benefit to increasing national treasury tax revenue, promoting commerce, and improving people's lives, then this time we will follow Prime Minister Fan's "urgent" policy and transfer all the remaining 118 state capitals at once. The county’s “night market” was built.”

After Fan Zhi accepted the promise, he returned to the court class.

Secondary Prime Minister Li Tao and Minister of Civil Affairs Wang Zhu have gradually become Chai Zongxun's confidants these days. They had previously been informed by Chai Zongxun of the gratifying tax results of newly built "night markets" in various places in the past month.

Wang Zhu left the class and said:
"His Majesty's decision is very wise. It is appropriate to build the remaining "night markets" in the state capital at once and put them into use as soon as possible.

In my opinion, the imperial court should send more personnel to various places to prevent local bureaucrats, local tyrants and evil gentry from obstructing and sabotaging the "night market" new policy. "

Chai Zongxun's heart was moved. He didn't expect that although Wang Zhu was usually a good drinker, he had such foresight. He could see that his new "night market" policy would attack the immediate interest groups that monopolized commerce in various parts of the Zhou Dynasty, and would definitely be counterattacked by these people.

Chai Zongxun nodded and said: "Teacher's eyes are as bright as fire. I and the Queen Mother are already prepared for this matter."

Chai Zongxun looked at Han Tongtong:

"Han Dian Kao will dispatch several inspection teams to the imperial guards in the near future to maintain the order of the "night market" in our various state capitals and deter the disobedient."

Han Tong was overjoyed and immediately saluted with one hand and said: "I obey your Majesty's will!"

His one-handed salute was quite funny, but all the ministers in the palace knew that the emperor was very fond of Han Tong's family, and Han Tong was obedient and loyal to the emperor, and no one dared to show any contempt.

After a while, Tian Min, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, came out of the class and said:
"Your Majesty, the Queen Mother, the Ministry of Industry has planned the first phase of thirty state water conservancy projects near Beijing. After two months of construction, except for time-consuming projects such as dams and embankments, the rest have been completed. .

Based on the experience gained from this first phase of water conservancy construction, Yichen believes that about five to six phases of construction planning are needed to achieve the goal of “flood-free” for all states set by the Queen Mother and Her Majesty. "

The first phase of the water conservancy project will require 5 million taels of silver for thirty projects near Bianjing Prefecture. The subsequent five to six phases of the project will require 6 million to million taels of silver.

Chai Zongxun nodded and said: "Water conservancy projects benefit the country and the people! A mountain has nine ridges, half of which is 90."

To achieve this goal, no matter how many phases of the project it is, it is still worthy of continued investment. "

Tian Min was originally worried that too much money was used for water conservancy construction across the country and would be criticized by the Queen Mother, the Emperor and other ministers. Now that he heard Chai Zongxun's support, he immediately felt relieved.

The "Night Market" New Deal and the New Water Conservancy Deal continue to expand in full swing.

(End of this chapter)