Yunzhou County is still not short of money. Although it will definitely cost a lot to form an army of 100,000 people, it is not a difficult task for Yunzhou County, which has been in a wartime system since its development.
Compared with the imperial court, the land tax in the territory under Yunzhou County was as high as 90%, while in the Song Dynasty it was less than 10%.
In other words, for one acre of land with 200 jins, Yunzhou County could receive 180 jins of grain, while the imperial court could only receive less than 20 jins.
This is the difference between the wartime system and the normal system.
Under the wartime system, priority was given to meeting the government's spending policy.
Individuals only guarantee a minimum supply of food, so there are such high taxes.
Yunzhou County's grain reserves and money reserves will be much higher than those collected by the same territory in the Song Dynasty, and its reserves will be more abundant.
But... due to the special characteristics of Yunzhou County, Nanli County and Youer County, Woye County are both newly acquired lands, and there is a large area of unowned land in the area, so even under the condition of 90% tax , the people under Zhao Jun's rule still lived better than those in the pass.
The main reason is the difference in land per capita. In Yunzhou County, as long as you immigrate to three new lands, you will have ten acres of land per person.
Although it is tiring and the taxes are high, a little adds up to a lot. One acre of land leaves 20 kilograms, and ten acres has 200 kilograms of grain.
But for many people in Guan Nei, their family of five may not have more than ten acres of land.
The Song Dynasty court received 10% of the output of 200 kilograms, and the local government took 20% due to clever design. When the Xiongnu entered the country, they added a border defense tax, which was another 10%.
Coupled with all kinds of exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes, if one acre of land is calculated as producing 200 kilograms, the people may end up with not even 50 kilograms left!
Ten acres and 500 kilograms seems like a lot, but it has to support a family of five. In the south, it’s not so bad, as the grain is harvested twice a year.
But for the people in the north of the Song Dynasty, they could only grow food one season a year.
500 kilograms is less than 100 kilograms to feed a family of five. Plus the daily consumption of vegetables, salt, oil, cloth, etc., it is simply not enough for the people.
In order to survive, most people have to get up early and work hard at night to find other jobs during the slack season, so that they can survive.
But there are unforeseen circumstances, and such days are extremely risky. If there is a slight disturbance, these people who have been hovering on the line of food and clothing will be in trouble.
Maybe it was an illness, maybe a heavy rain, or maybe other work was lost.
Then people who have no ability to resist risks can only rely on selling land to survive, and eventually become refugees in a vicious circle, or become tenants of other landlords.
Then you owe money to the landlord every year to survive, and in the end you are still free even though you are apparently free.
But in fact, people who owe so much money will eventually become their contract slaves for generations. One, two or even three generations will not be able to pay off the debt they owe, and they can only be driven by others.
Although Zhao Jun's food tax is high, there are no other exorbitant taxes!
And because they were exempted from taxes for a year, everyone has a sum of grain in their hands. One person can't eat 600 kilograms of grain a year, so he can sell some for money.
Just by farming, basic life can be guaranteed.
If you have another skill, you can go to work in the city to supplement your family income during the slack time.
The three counties under Zhao Jun's command are basically still in the land reclamation period. There are so many jobs that can be done. As long as the workshop owners can't find people, there is no reason why people can't find jobs.
As long as you are willing to work hard, you can live a better life.
So relatively speaking, in Yunzhou County, not only did the government have money and food, but the people also lived a much better life than in Guan Nei.
After getting Zhao Jun's reply, Li Shaoshi, the director of the Arms and Logistics Department, thought for a while and then frowned and said: "Your Majesty, one hundred thousand sets of infantry equipment and fifty thousand sets of cavalry equipment are under the jurisdiction of the county governor's house. After allocating enough funds, our Arms Logistics Department can ensure that it will be completed within four months and delivered to the military in mid-September.
But there is one thing. If the 50,000 cavalry equipment is prepared according to the instructions you set at the beginning of this year to ensure that the army can achieve one man and two horses this year to improve the mobility and long-term combat capabilities of the cavalry in the army.
That means within the next four months.
Our Arms and Logistics Department not only needs to purchase 60,000 more war horses for the original 50,000 light cavalry and 10,000 heavy cavalry in the army, so that they can be equipped with one person and two horses.
An additional 100,000 war horses must be prepared for the new army so that the entire army's war horse configuration can be completed.
This means that our Arms and Logistics Department needs to prepare another 160,000 war horses!
This amount is too huge. The current reserves of our Arms and Logistics Department cannot be fully equipped before mid-September. "
After talking about his difficulties, Li Shaoshi couldn't help but sigh, with a sad look on his face.
The system of one man and two horses proposed by the prince at the beginning of the year had already made him worry about finding war horses.
Now I can add another hundred thousand, how can I get it out? Isn’t this making things difficult for me?
Zhao Jun also frowned after hearing this. He was not one of those dudes who didn't want to eat minced meat.
He knows that the problem of war horses is far more difficult than the equipment. As long as you pay enough for the equipment and provide enough iron, the equipment will not be a problem and you can get it no matter what.
But war horses are different. A qualified war horse is not just one in a hundred, but not just any horse can be a war horse.
The number of horses that meet the conditions is usually ten to one.
In addition, the war horse is a living creature, it cannot be made, and it takes time to grow.
If you really don’t have a war horse, you can’t buy one even with money!
Quantity restrictions, conditional restrictions, and all these factors have resulted in a shortage of qualified war horses.
War horses are indeed an important factor in limiting the number of cavalry in Yunzhou County.
After thinking for a moment, Zhao Jun raised his head and asked, "How many war horses are there in the Arms and Logistics Department now?"
Li Shaoshi thought for a moment and answered immediately.
"Since the beginning of the year, Your Majesty, you gave the instruction of one person and two horses, our company has started to reserve war horses.
Currently, our Arms and Logistics Department has about 40,000 suitable war horses.
We are already gradually getting to know the military.
Our company couldn't find the other 20,000 war horses, so we had to buy them from various naturalized Tatar infantry in the territory. In the end, we managed to scrape together the number of 20,000.
If the prince really wants to expand the army, then the current vacancy in our equipment department is one hundred thousand war horses! "
"One hundred thousand!"
Zhao Jun's brows furrowed even more solemnly. This was not a small amount. Where was he going to get these 100,000 war horses?
Zhao Jun asked Li Shaoshi unwillingly:
"Do the naturalized tribes in Yunzhou County really have no war horses?"
Li Shaoshi nodded affirmatively and replied: "Except for their own war horses, all the other adult horses that can become war horses have been bought back to the Arms and Logistics Department by the subordinate officials.
Nowadays, the remaining war horses in the hands of various tribes in Yunzhou County can only be used as slave horses and cannot become war horses, or they are only half-sized ponies.
There are really no more mature and suitable war horses.
well……"
After finishing speaking, Li Shaoshi couldn't help but sigh.
Everyone in the hall fell silent.
At this moment, an official from the Grain Reserves Department suddenly raised his hand weakly.
Jiang He, who was presiding over the meeting, saw it and nodded immediately, indicating that he could speak directly.
The official then spoke weakly:
"Since there are no war horses in Yunzhou County, why don't we buy them from outside Yunzhou County?"
"Outside Yunzhou County?!"
Zhao Jun's eyes lit up, but then he frowned deeply.
…
Many people have some criticisms about taxation, so I specially explain it in this chapter. I hope everyone can understand it. Thank you.
(End of chapter)
