Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 195 Curved Arc Fears Sirius (5)

In the past of the Qingming Dynasty, in the autonomous area of ​​the chamber of commerce outside Chang'an City, the peonies transplanted from Luoyang in the east of Kanto competed in beauty.Taking advantage of the beautiful spring, activities such as outings, cuju, "swinging" and kite flying last until the end of April, and cockfights last from the Qingming Festival to the summer solstice.

Everywhere is lively and lively, but the newly opened Chang'an Relief Department is full of desolation.The imperial court allocated 40 guan relief money in advance, but after the relief agency was established, it was discovered that the workers were all controlled by the merchants in the workshop, and the contract stated that if they went out without authorization, wages would be deducted.Workers cannot come out, and even officials cannot enter the workshop without permission.People from the Chang'an Chamber of Commerce often came to express their feelings at the beginning, and wanted to embezzle this batch of relief money to resettle the poor in the autonomous region. Seeing that Yuan Xingzong was very tight-lipped, he quickly lost interest, and the relief office quickly fell into the cold.

A few big elm trees were full of black crows, and bird droppings were everywhere on the ground in front of the door.This land turned out to be a "mass" burial site. After the businessman bought the land at a low price, he built dozens of large houses.The location here is close to the area where the workshops gather, and the price is much cheaper than usual, and several people were found to raise the price.Fu Zhiren, an official in Guanzhong who was ordered to buy the house of the government office, bought it without any risk of fraud.Now, there is only one road away, and there is not a single crow on the big tree in front of the shop opposite, but the Chang'an Relief Department is densely packed like a crow's nest.Officials of the Relief Office are now privately nicknamed "Crows" by businessmen in Chang'an, and their notoriety is comparable to that of tax collector Cao's "Black Dog".

In the signing room of the government office, Yuan Xingzong was ordered by the Relief Department to sit in the upper seat, and the two subordinate officials, Fu Zhiren and Chen Yuyi, were reporting to him the results of going to the Dongxishi Chamber of Commerce this morning.

Fu Zhiren's face smelled worse than bird droppings now, and he said in a deep voice, "Master Yuan, the Dongshi Chamber of Commerce still says that if they want to provide relief to the workers, they can only send the food to the workshop." The Chamber of Commerce's attitude towards the Relief Department It was lukewarm, such soft resistance, coupled with the fact that he was cheated when he bought a house, really made the former Xihe patrolman very angry.He hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Huishou Zhou said that the chamber of commerce has too little authority to intervene in the workshop. If it is expanded a little bit, maybe it will be able to serve the court more."

Yuan Xingzong snorted coldly and said: "He has a good idea." Seeing that Fu Zhiren seemed a little moved by Huishou Zhou's proposal, he added, "It turns out that the Chang'an Chamber of Commerce has great power and is controlled by several wealthy businessmen. , when new businessmen do business in Chang'an, they must first ask the chamber of commerce to set a price before they can buy or sell, otherwise they will not be able to do it at all. 30 years ago, Prime Minister Lu realized the disadvantages, and only then pushed Zhu Guofu to implement the "self-defense market law". It is stipulated that neither the government nor the chamber of commerce shall forcibly interfere with the contracting transactions of merchants. When this law was first implemented, the chamber of commerce strongly opposed it and obstructed it in every possible way, which is similar to the current work of apprentices. However, the imperial court finally implemented this law, and since then The leaders of the chamber of commerce have been removed from all over the country to control the market, and the prosperity of all industries is far better than before." He paused, "When this law was first implemented, I was still a small official, and I knew that the chamber of commerce was too powerful. The tiger in the cage must never be released again."

Fu Zhiren didn't insist any more, and only slandered: "It seems that since then, the 'treacherous' merchants from the Kanto came here with great fanfare."

Yuan Xingzong asked Chen Yuyi again: "What is the attitude of the West Market Chamber of Commerce?"

Chen Yuyi said with an angry face: "Hedongshi is similar. I think they must have colluded in private."

Fu Zhiren also said: "These merchants have a good plan, and they go to the workshop to give relief. If the imperial court raises apprentices for them, how can there be such a cheap thing in the world?" To live, meals cost at least [-] yuan a day, which is more than [-] yuan a year. The "profiteer" businessman wants to save even this little money.He couldn't get used to the mercenary face the most. These days, he was really annoyed with the boss of the chamber of commerce.

Chen Yuyi said indignantly: "How can you tolerate and support 'traitors' like this?" He was born in a family of officials in the Guandong, and he was extremely dissatisfied with the Xia Kingdom court in his words.

Yuan Xingzong glanced at him, and said slowly: "The interests of business and industry are of great importance, and the court has to be cautious about it." Chen Yuyi bowed to his subordinates, and although he did not refute, he showed disapproval on his face, Yuan Xingzong said again, "Our dynasty adheres to the way of farming and fighting, and establishes the system of soldiers. There are more than 530 million households in the country, less than one million households of scholars, more than 320 million households are shade households, and more than one hundred thousand merchant households." He was in the Tiance Academy. Studying the state affairs every day, now it's very important to talk about it. Fu Zhiren and Chen Yuyi both knew that this was a rare opportunity, so they listened attentively.

Yuan Xingzong took a sip of tea, and said slowly: "Thirty percent of the annual income that these three million shady households give to the scholars a year is estimated by Cao to be more than fifty million yuan, but only three percent goes to the battalion, and three percent goes to the officials. In the end, the imperial court only got 300 million guan from Yinhu every year. As far as I know, the Kanto two taxes are nearly 800 million guan, most of which belong to Bianliang.”

"Is the court income so little?" Chen Yuyi asked in surprise.He believed in the constant wealth and goods in the world, since the Xia Kingdom treated the sergeants leniently, the imperial court must have less income, but he did not expect it to be so little.Although Xia Guo did not keep these tax figures strictly confidential, they would not announce them to the public. Chen Yuyi could only look at Yuan Xingzong with shock and doubt.

"Exactly," Yuan Xingzong affirmed, "Kandong uses rich households to protect the country's wealth, and our dynasty uses soldiers to protect the country's territory. The soldiers get the land rent originally owned by rich households and landlords. Scholars, the wealth is not as concentrated as in the Kanto."

Chen Yuyi nodded and asked, "Where does the imperial court give the soldiers and officials the salaries?"

Yuan Xingzong continued: "With less than a million households, 800% of the annual income paid to the court is more than [-] million guan. And one hundred thousand merchants pay [-]% of the annual income to the court, which is more than [-] million guan. The total of the two More than [-] million guan. Currently, the imperial court pays more than [-] million guan for sergeants and officials, and the salary expenditure for rural teachers is more than [-] million guan. In addition to that, there are still [-] million yuan of income from private households, [-] out of [-] import and export tariffs, mining rights and apprenticeship money from the imperial court to maintain the operation of the imperial court at all levels, and to build bridges Paving the way, rewarding studies, promoting advantages and eliminating disadvantages, etc."

Chen Yuyi was silent for a moment. He used to only think that the Guandong had the expense of redundant soldiers and officials, but he did not expect that the military system, and the financial burden caused by the award of titles to millions of soldiers would be no less than that of the Kanto.The tax paid by the chamber of commerce is already an indispensable income for the court of the Xia Kingdom, so it is no wonder that the two governments are so wary of it.

Fu Zhiren asked: "Could it be that the chamber of commerce can only be left alone, and the court can't intervene any more?" He picked up the draft of "Regulations on Relief Workers" written by Yuan Xingzong next to the table and said, "In my opinion, Master Yuan's proposition is more important than Those 'treacherous' dealers are a hundred times better."

Yuan Xingzong shook his head, and said: "If there is an advantage to a husband, there must be a disadvantage. The imperial government allows the chamber of commerce to implement the policy of self-government, which is also to protect us." Seeing the puzzled look on Fu Zhiren's face, he was silent for a moment, and slowly Slowly said, "Four years ago, I went to the post station and handed over the memorial to the merchant. The Mongolian court valued it, so I entrusted this matter to me to carry out. One day, a businessman invited me to a banquet, because it was the magistrate of Hua County. The old acquaintance of the last time, I went to the banquet. As a result, the businessman brought a stunning woman covered in jewels and emeralds to sit with him, and promised to pay him ten thousand taels of gold. The inn on the road is just left to him to operate. If he said, everything will be done in accordance with the court's procedures, and there will be no mistakes, and the stunning beauty and ten thousand taels of gold will belong to me."

"Then what happened next?" Although Fu Zhiren knew the result, he still couldn't help asking.

Yuan Xingzong smiled ironically, and said in a deep voice: "I have been taught by the sage for thirty years, so I reprimanded him and walked away. However, I still remember the words of the businessman to this day."

Chen Yuyi's face changed slightly, and he asked, "What are you talking about?"

"With as much as [-] guan, you can serve ghosts and gods." Yuan Xingzong raised the teacup and took a sip. "Since then, every time it involves talking about business and profit, this official is trembling, as if facing an abyss. You must know the desire of the tree." It's quiet but the wind doesn't stop." His face darkened, and he said in a more serious tone, "Knowing benevolence and righteousness, this is not a quiet place, you two are the pillars of the court, you should clean yourself up." What Yuan Xingzong didn't say was that the station changed In the end, several officials were lured in for business affairs, and finally they were prosecuted for treachery.

"Yes, Commander." Chen Yuyi and Fu Zhiren replied in unison, the voice was so loud that the dust on the paper on the edge of the window fell off.A few crows flew up outside the signing room, rattling and rattling in the air, making the officials next to them very anxious.

In Zhao Xingde's mansion, it was the time when wages were paid every tenth day, Li Ruoxue thanked her and said: "I am unable to move these days, so I am sorry for Aunt Liu." When she was in her boudoir, she often saw Mrs. Wang giving wages to the servants in the mansion, so The posture of the hostess is also similar.

Aunt Liu smiled and said, "Where is the madam talking, I feel more immortal to be able to stay beside a person who looks like a fairy." She took three [-]-character papers and put them in her arms.

Zhao Xingde asked: "There are few idlers in the countryside in April, and only the sericulture and 'planting' the fields. Aunt Liu stays with me all day, did you not miss the farming season?"

Aunt Liu said: "To tell you the truth, I have employed two part-time laborers and my two half-grown children, so I can take care of them."

Zhao Xingde nodded, and said in a deep voice: "If the family is useless, I can help a little here." He knew that some farm children had not yet received land grants due to their age or other reasons, so they invited them out to help these families during the busy farming season. People who are short-handed work part-time.Because of the shortage of manpower due to the busy farming season, the labor cost is more than Aunt Liu's one hundred and fifty cash a day.Thanks to the money Aunt Liu earned from helping the servants in these years, she was able to cultivate the [-] acres of her family's granted land.

Aunt Liu shook her head and said, "Thank you for your kindness, the old woman can still get around here."

Li Ruoxue was kind-hearted, worried that she would not be able to speak because of face, so she asked softly, "Really?"

Aunt Liu nodded and said, "Thank you Ma'am." Seeing the concern in Li Ruoxue's eyes, she couldn't help feeling grateful.In the state of Xia, shady households had to report their annual income to the scholars in order to determine the specific figure to pay 26% of the annual income. Therefore, Aunt Liu also explained in detail to Zhao De's wife: "Last year, the weather was good, and 56 shi of grain was harvested in the granted field. There are twelve fattened sheep, plus twisted yarn and weaving clothes, the old woman helps out, deducts the wages for the short-term laborers, and there are more than [-] copper coins. The wife is sorry for not taking the hidden tax, which is enough to cover the family. .”

Li Ruoxue frowned slightly, and looked at Zhao Xingde, she was born into an official family, and sometimes she had to use consistent money to buy a book, and there was a difference between Xia's copper coins and Song's copper coins.Therefore, I don't know if fifty or so per year is enough for the farmers.

Zhao Xingde's thoughts flickered slightly, and he calculated: "A family of four, with a daily fee of one hundred and fifty yuan, is it really enough?"

Aunt Liu nodded, and said happily: "The three little ones have lunch at the teacher's place, and the four mouths eat five liters of grain a day at home. The chickens, ducks and sheep are all raised at home, and the side dishes are grown at home. Half of the remaining food, the fattened sheep, was sold, plus the income from the old woman's helper, the money was more than 20 guan. Miscellaneous expenses such as sauce, vinegar, tea, sugar and salt from the beginning to the end of the year also cost eleven or twelve guan. It takes two pennies to buy stone carbon in the cold winter months. If there are five or six pennies left, I can buy a few bolts of cloth, each of the family will wear two new clothes, and the balance will be settled throughout the year.”

Aunt Liu's husband died early, and she raised her three children up from dawn to dusk, with a proud expression on her face at the moment.There was sympathy in Li Ruoxue's eyes, she didn't show it because she was afraid of her embarrassment.Zhao Xingde sighed: "The farmers are busy all year round, and in the end they can only keep warm. The land tax can't be increased any more."