People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 206 Annual Revenue
"I heard that you are already preparing to bid for this military procurement?"

On the ridge of a country field, Xu Chen, dressed like an ordinary citizen, was looking at the growth of crops in the field while chatting casually with Ju Shou beside him.

Although Xu Chen's tone was casual, Ju Shou's heart skipped a beat. When he mentioned this, he remembered how he scolded his son some time ago.

The scolding that time was indeed effective. Both his son Ju Hu and his second brother Ju Zong behaved much more obediently.

At least they began to know how to obey the social order dominated by the consensus of Xuanxia thought. When opening a factory, they no longer thought about buying servants like the gentry did in the past, but began to hire workers with formal work contracts in accordance with the law. Although they both paid people to do work, the essence of them was completely different.

"Once you get out of the water, you have to adapt to the way of survival on the shore. The way of business is the best choice for my relatives, and it also conforms to the current plan of the court. I will take good care of them in the competition and ensure that they do not embarrass the leader." Ju Su felt the implication of Xu Chen's warning and responded immediately.

Seeing that Ju Shou knew that he was optimistic about his family group, Xu Chen nodded. As long as they followed the rules, he would not stop them from making money: "The army has a great demand. If you can get some, you will not have to worry about survival."

Ju Su said: "My lord, you are right. My family is working hard to prepare for this matter and we are determined to succeed."

Xu Chen walked to the side of a field ridge, picked up a crop that was about to mature, and observed the ears of grain. He could clearly feel that the crop was growing very well.

In this era, agriculture is of paramount importance. Xu Chen is much more familiar with farming than before and can now see some of the tricks.

One obvious change is that compared to the uneven growth of crops in the wheat fields in the past, the growth of crops today is becoming more stable.

The number of grain ears produced by each crop is very close to the size of rice grains. There is no longer a situation where some scions are numerous and large while others are very sparse and small. Today, the grain ears have been stabilized in a relatively good state.

This is because the improvement of production tools such as agricultural tools, iron plows and oxen has allowed farmers to have more energy to focus on intensive farming.

Similarly, the Agricultural Department of the Institute of Engineering is also playing a role. Although the existing theoretical and technical levels are not enough to do much research on crops, suitable things can be found using scientific research methods.

Those experienced farmers who are skilled in farming are no longer limited to studying farming methods, but have begun to observe specific crops using scientific methods.

They don't understand gene expression, but they can observe the good and bad traits of crops.

Even if we only use the most basic and crude method to select good varieties, we can still promote crop yields. After all, human crops themselves are the result of continuous artificial selection, and such professional and meticulous selection will further accelerate this process.

The original average yield per mu in Youzhou was about 200 kilograms per mu, but now it has reached 230 to 240 kilograms.

According to the data from the government's land survey, after continuous reclamation, Youzhou now has 330,000 hectares of arable land and a population of about 800,000. Assuming an average of four people in a household and each household is allocated 100 mu of land, there is still a large amount of surplus land, which is still in Xuanxia's hands and has not been distributed.

Most of these fields are waiting to be distributed to the incoming population, or are planned to be used to plant cash crops such as cotton, hemp, and mulberry.

In fact, the actual grain output is 39 million dan, and Xuanxia's autumn harvest can bring in 7.8 million dan of grain tax. Although winter wheat is also planted now, the current output is not high. If it can be increased by 30%, the annual grain tax income can reach about 10 million dan. Xuanxia is based on the overthrow of the original order. All the fields are thoroughly reshuffled and distributed. Without the nobles and powerful families to seize the benefits, the annual income of the court has expanded immediately.

Moreover, grain tax only accounts for the majority of Xuanxia’s annual revenue. The profits generated by the industrial and commercial industries controlled by the court can account for 20% of the annual revenue.

However, Xu Chen understood very well that it was not enough to just make money without being able to spend it. After Xuan Xia was established, various budget plans began to be implemented.

Fifty percent of the annual revenue is allocated to the three states, and eventually transformed into roads, bridges, water conservancy projects, schools and other achievements. These achievements can support the development of talents and industrial and agricultural industries. The people will also gain extra income from these constructions, and with income they will be willing to consume, which in turn stimulates commercial prosperity.

The remaining 50% of the annual income is used for military and court expenses, and a minimum of 3 million shi can be invested in the military.

Whether it is a standing army of 10,000, or expanding the army for war, or building military equipment, these three million stones can be said to be more than enough, such as this purchase of military supplies.

"In the future, when Xuanxia goes to war, 20,000 to 30,000 troops will not be enough. We need at least 50,000 troops to deal with enemies from various states. This military procurement is also aimed at the needs of 50,000 troops.

There was a huge demand for soldiers' rations, uniforms, armor, swords and crossbows, shields and bows, water bottles, tents, engineering shovels, and everything else.

This is not something that one household can consume. If you are too greedy and want everything, you will end up with nothing. It is better to specialize in one thing and study it in depth. Only in this way can you compete with countless other merchants."

Xu Chen didn't mind Ju Su's relatives taking advantage of this to develop, as it did not violate the order of Xuan Xia, and Xuan Xia did need to support the development of industry and commerce.

This time, the purpose of transferring military supplies to the civilian population is to take advantage of the huge military demand to completely boost Xuanxia's productivity and give the industry a boost through military demand.

Even though most industries now consist of labor-intensive manual workshops, they are still sufficient to generate considerable productivity, which will naturally spread to the people and achieve prosperity in industry and commerce.

At this stage, there is no need to consider the harm of the emerging merchant class. Instead, we should encourage their growth and then use their power to promote development.

Not to mention that he had already made the shackles and was fully capable of taming them.

"Don't underestimate other businessmen. To stand out from the competition, you have to do better than others in terms of quality, production capacity and price. It's good to have confidence, but don't be arrogant." Xu Chen glanced at Ju Shou and even gave him a reminder.

Hearing Xu Chen say this, Ju Shou couldn't help but feel anxious.

Most of the confidence of himself and his clansmen came from the mentality that scholars were naturally superior to others, but now that Xu Chen had poured a bucket of cold water on him, Ju Su was really unsure.

After all, when it comes to this matter, businessmen are more professional, and Ju is just a latecomer.

(End of this chapter)