Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 545: The Eastern Roman Empire Asks for Help (Special thanks to book friend Fengzhongfeixu11111111 for the monthly ticket!)

The Deputy Minister and Minister of Revenue Ding Wei came out of the class and said:

“Your Majesty, last year, the tax revenue of our Great Zhou treasury amounted to 2.6 billion taels, of which 1.7 billion taels were domestic tax revenue and 900 million taels were overseas tax revenue, which doubled compared to the 25th year of Kaixi.

The top three industries in terms of commodity sales are:

The first is the garment manufacturing industry. Last year, the annual sales volume reached 1.5 billion taels. Based on the current population of 300 million in our Great Zhou, the average person spends 5 taels of silver on clothes.

The second is the construction and furniture industry, with annual sales of 1.2 billion taels last year. People's homes have generally moved from bungalows and courtyards to two- to three-story buildings, and furniture has become increasingly abundant.

The third is the catering industry, which had annual sales of 10 billion taels last year. During leisure time or holidays, dining with family and friends in restaurants has become a common lifestyle for the people of our Great Zhou."

After the introduction of the "inheritance tax", with the current overall tax rate of the Great Zhou at around 35%, the treasury tax revenue was 2.6 billion taels, the national annual GDP was around 7.5 billion taels, and the per capita GDP reached 25 taels.

It can be said that everyone in the Great Zhou Dynasty had a house to live in, every family had a horse, and they had clothes to change in all seasons. It was the richest country in the world at that time.

Because the land in the Great Zhou Dynasty was privately owned and had permanent property rights, the government only collected a 10% to 15% tax based on the size of the land. Therefore, although the annual transaction volume was extremely large, tax revenue was not among the top ten industries.

Chai Zongxun said:

“When officials do not disturb the people, the people will naturally become prosperous.

Only by providing the people with a relaxed business environment can the economy develop, the treasury tax base become large, and the people become prosperous and the country strong.

Governing officials is the key. We must not allow county and state officials to abuse their power to extort money from the people. This is enriching themselves and undermining the foundation of the country.

Such corrupt officials must be severely punished! "

All the ministers in Chuigong Hall said:

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

The Prime Minister Kou Zhun came out and said:
“Your Majesty, our Great Zhou now has more than 1,600 prefectures. Except for the 320 prefectures in Tubo, Angkor, and Kievan Rus, which still need financial subsidies from the court, the rest of the prefectures can pay taxes to the national treasury.

At present, the imperial court provides an annual subsidy of 8 million taels of silver to Tibet, 12 million taels to Angkor, and 10 million taels to Kievan Rus.

Chai Zongxun nodded slightly and said:

"These newly acquired lands are all agricultural or nomadic societies with backward economies. The court has invested heavily in their development, which will benefit them in the long run.

As long as the local people live a good and prosperous life in the future, their loyalty and recognition of our Great Zhou will increase day by day, and only in this way can it become the eternal territory of our Great Zhou."

Minister of Works Guo Zhi came out and said:
“Your Majesty, the Ministry of Works has planned and started construction of two major projects, water conservancy and the Great Zhou Straight Road, in Tubo and the three newly acquired places of Maya, Angkor, and Kievan Rus.

It is estimated that 5 million civilians will be involved, the construction period will be five years, and 35 million taels of silver will be used. "

Minister of Rites Wang Dan came out and said:
“Your Majesty, the day before yesterday, an envoy from the Eastern Roman Empire arrived in Beijing with a valuable gift, informing you that their emperor requested Your Majesty to send troops to assist them in attacking Bulgaria.

In June of the 43rd year of Kaixi (1002), the Bulgarian Kingdom of Abbasidia took advantage of Basil II's two-front war to pacify the domestic military aristocracy and attacked the seven states on the eastern border of the Eastern Roman Empire.

The Green Caliphate, which occupies Misir and the Mediterranean, has a feud with the Eastern Roman Empire. Taking advantage of the instability both inside and outside the Eastern Roman Empire, they also took the opportunity to send 300,000 troops to attack the coastal states of the Eastern Roman Empire from the sea. Your Majesty, please make the decision. "

Bulgaria is located to the east of the Eastern Roman Empire, bordering Khwarezm and Kievan Rus of the Great Zhou Dynasty. It has an area of ​​about one million square kilometers and a population of over seven million. Its cavalry is fierce in combat, and it is considered a small bully in Eastern Europe.

The previous king of Kievan Rus was killed in a surprise attack by the Bulgarians on his way back from attacking Bulgaria.

The chief military minister Hu Yanzan came out and said:

"Your Majesty, Bulgaria is a fertile land with plains and abundant water resources.

All the countries in the Star Cult world were conquered by our Great Zhou, leaving only the Green-clad Arabs in the Misir area.

I think that since the Eastern Roman Empire has sent envoys to ask for help from our country, we should raise an army to conquer Bulgaria and the Green Caliphate!"

Taifu Li Hang came out of the class and said:
“Your Majesty, our Great Zhou has just conquered Angkor and Kievan Rus, and our rule is not yet stable. We urgently need to develop the local economy and people’s livelihood.

In the past world war with the Star Sect, although our Great Zhou had far more military power, we still had to fight for eight years to face the large number of enemy troops, consuming hundreds of millions of silver taels of military supplies and suffering the casualties of more than 300,000 soldiers.

Bulgaria was not a weak country, and the Green Caliphate was far away, so they would have to fight across the sea. Once the war broke out, it would take several years, consuming a huge amount of silver, and it would be suspected of being a war of aggression.

I think it would be better to send two armies from Khwarezm to Bulgaria to quickly defeat them and force them to withdraw their troops and stop attacking the Eastern Roman Empire."

Chai Zongxun pondered for a while.

For hundreds of years, the Eastern Roman Empire was surrounded by enemies:
To the east is Bulgaria, and the two countries often go to war over territory and population;
To the south and west are the Star Religion countries. Due to religious beliefs, the two sides are incompatible.

This was also the reason why Chai Zongxun fought against the Xingxing Sect coalition and formed an alliance with the Eastern Roman Empire, because both sides had a common enemy.

As expected, the Eastern Roman Empire, acting out of national interests, immediately agreed to the alliance request of the Great Zhou Empire, which had just conquered the Karakhanid Khanate and was emerging in Central and West Asia.

After the two countries formed an alliance, after eight years of war, the Great Zhou Dynasty destroyed all the Star Religion countries except the Green Caliphate located in the area of ​​​​Misir (North Africa and East Africa in the previous life). Although the Eastern Roman Empire only regained the lost territories of three states including Donkovo, with the destruction of the Star Religion countries, it also lost a major enemy.

Basil II maintained a good alliance with the Great Zhou Empire. After several years of developing domestic affairs and reorganizing the army, he began to rectify the unruly military nobles in Asia Minor.

Most of these nobles were Armenians, who had close kinship ties with the Bulgarians, so they instigated the Bulgarian Abbasid Kingdom to attack the Eastern Roman Empire.

Chai Zongxun said:

"The Eastern Roman Empire is an ally of our Great Zhou and has made great contributions in the attack on the Star Religion World Alliance.

With the Eastern Roman Empire around, the general situation in West Asia is stable. Our Great Zhou can concentrate on developing the economy of the local new territories and greatly improve people's livelihood.

At present, the Eastern Roman Empire is facing a rebellion by military nobles at home and attacks from Bulgaria and the Green Caliphate abroad. It can be said to be fighting on three fronts. If it is not handled properly, it will be destroyed.

If the Eastern Roman Empire were not our Great Zhou's ally to stabilize the situation in West Asia, and our Great Zhou had to face the chaos alone, then in order to protect the vast territory and the lives and property of the people, the garrison sent by the court to the area would have to be increased from the current three corps to more than six corps, with an annual cost of more than 70 million taels of silver. "

(End of this chapter)