The revival of Shu Han

Chapter 70 Layout of Jiangyang County ([-])
After seeing off Zhang Zun, Guan Yi walked around his room several times with his hands behind his back and asked, "Xiao Qi, what time is it?"

"Patriarch, it's the three quarters of Xu time."

It's not even nine o'clock at night, but I hope it's still in time.

"Prepare the car immediately, I want to enter the palace!"

Liu Chan, who just got off the belly of a beautiful girl, has not fallen asleep yet.After all, I am in my 50s, and my body is very tired after engaging in such strenuous exercise, but the more tired I am, the more nutrition I need to strengthen.

So at this moment, Huang Hao tore off a thick layer of silk cloth with his own hands, and took out a "strengthening agent" produced in Fuling County, and Mr. Liu Chan swallowed it with deer blood.

"Report to Your Majesty, Han Shoutinghou and Zuo General Guan Yi are seeking an audience outside the palace."

"It's so late, why is he here?"

"The maidservant also told Hanshou Tinghou the same way, but the Marquis said that as long as His Majesty does not fall asleep, please see him."

"This lunatic Guan will cause trouble for me all day long. Let him wait in the front hall."

"Here!"

Guan Yi is very clear, as a courtier.There was no prior instruction or agreement from the emperor.It is very bad behavior to be reckless and ask the emperor outside the palace gate late at night.But as an eunuch, Guan Yi clearly remembered which nights in a month Huang Hao had to be on duty in the palace.If he misses tonight, he will miss at least ten days—he has too much to do, and without Huang Hao's help, he may not be sure to persuade Liu Chan.And this matter must not leak out, it can only enter the palace late at night.

Originally, according to Guan Yi's plan, in the next three years, his main job would be to expand production, accumulate population, and then raise troops.Finally, in the fourth year, we dealt with Cao Wei's war of destroying the country.In this plan, he needs the support of Brazil County very much: the population base of Fuling County is too small, and the geographical environment is really bad.In just three years, relying on the power of Fuling County alone, he could not raise troops, nor could he achieve self-sufficiency in food.And Brazil County has a huge population base. Although the geographical environment is not as vast as that of CD, at least there is a lot of wasteland that can be reclaimed.As long as Fuling County can provide enough financial support, coupled with the population purchased by Nanzhong, Wuximan and even Jingzhou in Soochow, he is sure to achieve food self-sufficiency before Cao Wei comes here—in the next three years Guan Yi is sure that the profits of the Fuling Society's industry in Fuling County will increase by at least ten times, but it is impossible to achieve food self-sufficiency.And once the war starts, this method of simply relying on external purchases of food will be full of uncertainties, which Guan Yi cannot tolerate-after all, this is not a game, and you cannot read the file and start over.

It's a pity that people are not as good as heaven, after all, the Shu Han is not his master.Two and a half years ago, Liu Chan, Chen Yu, Huang Hao and others felt that Fuling County was such a small and remote county, even if Guan Yi screwed him up, it would be harmless.Then the appointment of the Brazilian County Supervisor should be much more cautious-this is a big county!
As a result, Zhang Zun was assigned to Jiangyang County. This county has a resource that can be mined in large quantities and exchanged for countless money in this era-salt!But this thing is actually not what Guan Yi wants in recent years, what he wants is people!And how many people are there on the register of Jiangyang County Government, which has only three counties?Twenty thousand zero.It is less than that in Fuling County two years ago.

Therefore, he had no choice but to make mistakes and find ways to develop Jiangyang County.

To develop Jiangyang County, it is actually very simple, that is to develop the salt industry on a large scale.Guan Yi plans to maximize the size of the salt field in Jiangyang County within three years, and strive to feed more than 1 salt field workers.

Due to the decentralized nature of the agricultural economy, the discipline and organization of farmers are relatively poor. It takes a long time to train farmers into qualified soldiers, not to mention that the cost is relatively high - if you recruit a farmer as a soldier, you will It means that in addition to raising a soldier, you will lose at least ten acres of land income.But workers are different. Workers are more disciplined and organized—otherwise they cannot work in an orderly manner.On the one hand, the time to train a worker into a soldier is relatively short, and on the other hand, the cost is relatively small: in large-scale industrial factories, workers are gathered together.Give birth during the day, and concentrate on training at night or during public holidays.In this way, Guan Yi could completely hide his soldiers among the people, and in the fourth year, these more than 1 industrial workers could directly be drawn into the battlefield.

But to achieve such a goal, it is necessary to fully control all the salt fields in Jiangyang County in the future.And this is in conflict with the current salt policy of the Shu Han.

China's salt policy has changed a lot for thousands of years, but before the Ming and Qing dynasties appeared, there were no more than three types.

One is the total monopoly system: the state controls all salt farms, and the state is responsible for all production, transportation, and sales.The advantage of this system is that the state can control the whole process, set the price of table salt extremely high, and try its best to search for the copper coins of the common people.The disadvantages are inefficiency, corruption, and the creation of private salt.

One is the on-the-spot taxation system: the state sends officials to the major saltworks.The production of the salt field is in charge of private individuals. After the salt is produced, state officials collect salt tax in the salt field.The rest of the countries that transport, sell and so on don't care.The advantage of this is that the production is efficient and private salt is basically extinct.The downside is that the country gets relatively little.

The third is the on-the-spot monopoly system.The production of the salt field is privately owned, and after the salt is produced, it is sold to the state at a fixed price.Then the salt merchants go to the salt field to buy from the state, and after the purchase, the salt merchants themselves are responsible for transportation and sales.The advantage of doing this is that the country can earn the price difference steadily and its interests are guaranteed.Manufacturers and distributors are also more active.

And what kind of salt policy is the Shu Han?I am very sorry, but Guan Yi dislikes the "full monopoly system" - production, transportation, and sales are all under the full control of the state, and private individuals are not allowed to intervene - not only the Shu Han, Cao Wei, Dongwu, all of them are like this - — There is no way, the country has been in a state of war for a long time, and more money is needed to support the standing army.

"Chen Guan Yi pays homage to His Majesty. Disturbing Your Majesty late at night is a death penalty!"

"Hmph, General Zuo, you also know that you have disturbed His Majesty. Although the death penalty is unlikely, if you don't tell a reason, let alone Your Majesty, our family will not spare you!"

Covertly cast a grateful look at Huang Hao, Guan Yi leaned down and said, "Your Majesty, I have a method that can make Jiangyang County ruled within three years and make a profit of one billion a year!"

Liu Chan and Huang Hao just looked at each other and smiled in the previous sentence "three years of great rule in Jiangyang County": I know that you, the leader of the Yuan Cong faction, will not neglect your little brother.But the latter sentence "make a profit of one billion a year" made Liu Chan and Huang Hao unable to calm down.

What is the concept of one billion dollars a year?According to the current domestic rice price in Shuhan, the retail price of a stone of polished rice is 150 yuan.One billion dollars can buy 660 million shi of grain—enough to feed the entire population of the Shu Han in the first half of the year!

As soon as Liu Chan rolled his eyes, Huang Hao immediately got up and said to the little eunuchs in the room: "Get out of our house, and keep an eye on the door. If something leaked out from what General Zuo said tonight, you still have to pay attention." With your family members, all of you will die!"

After stepping away from the screen, Liu Chan pointed at Guan Yi fiercely and said, "Speaking carefully, if you dare to lie to me, don't blame me for not remembering the past!"

"How dare you lie to Your Majesty about such a big matter. Your Majesty, there is a place in Jiangyang County where there is almost endless brine underground..."

……

"Even if what you said is true, the country's salt administration has its own laws. How can you expect me to promise you that this salt farm will be in charge of the Fuxing Society?"

Guan Yi obviously felt that when he proposed that after the salt field was mined in Jiangyang County in the future, its production and sales rights would be handed over to the Fuxing Society, Liu Chan's eyes flashed murderous intent.

"Your Majesty, I have three reasons for this. First, if the salt fields in Jiangyang County are fully exploited, the amount of salt produced will be astronomical. With such a large output, who can your Majesty trust?"

Before Liu Chan answered, Huang Hao had already opened his mouth: "Your Majesty, what General Zuo said makes sense. Since the 16th year of Yanxi, the output of 41 of the 39 salt farms in the country has been declining every year. And the officials of all salt farms The scale of private houses and manors is getting bigger and bigger. The country’s salt income has dropped from 16 million yuan a year before Yanxi 3000 years ago to [-] million yuan last year.”

It can be said that the total monopoly system is destined to breed a lot of corruption.And what year is the 16th year of Yanxi?Fei Yi was assassinated and died.Without the high pressure of prestigious officials, the disadvantages of this system suddenly become infinite. Liu Gan, the current prefect of Brazil County, is one of the main officials of the Shu Han. Corrupt officials.

And the sorrow of the Shu Han lies in this: For the native wealthy families in Yizhou, they dislike the regime of the Shu Han very, very much.Therefore, the entire monopoly system also gave birth to a large number of private salt dealers in Shu Han, a country where the grassroots seriously conflicted with the central government.

"Tell me the second reason."

"Here, Your Majesty. If the country can reform the salt law and implement the on-the-spot monopoly system, then the country's income will be stable, and it will not lose too much because of officials' actions. And the officials responsible for transportation and sales, and the army can be laid off. Reduce a lot of expenditure. More importantly, the people will not suffer from lack of salt. This is a great good government. If your majesty implements this method, the people will be grateful to your majesty."

The people of Shu Han are miserable.The government controls the production, transportation, and sales of salt throughout the whole process, and set the price soaring to the sky. During the Taiping period of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the price of salt was [-] yuan per stone. What is the price of salt in Shuhan now?Twelve hundred dollars!Such an outrageous price led to the general lack of salt for the people of Shu Han—so the envoys of Soochow all said that "people have food" in Shu Han.

"Hmph, I'm afraid the people will say that this is Zhuge Siyuan's proposal. What about the third reason?"

"Your Majesty, the original intention of the establishment of the Fuxing Society was to revive the great man. Therefore, the Fuxing Society is not only owned by us descendants of Yuan Cong, but also belongs to Your Majesty. Now, on behalf of the Fuxing Society, I invite Your Majesty to take a stake in Fuxing Salt Industry. Your Majesty's [-]% of the shares. [-]% for the regular servants, [-]% for the ministers, okay?"

(End of this chapter)