Li Shimin didn't ask the reason for the division Li Ke said, but directly frowned and asked: "What does it have to do with Li Shiji?"
"It's nothing. He is a gold member of Erchen Youjian Mall. Erchen said he would take him to do business." Li Ke shrugged.
"You're going to give him 20% of a business that makes two million dollars a year for half a million dollars?!" Li Shimin's eyes widened. He really wanted to say that there's nothing wrong with your head, right?
"If you buy horse bones with a thousand dollars, of course you have to set a good example." Li Ke said matter-of-factly.
"Okay, the technology is yours, you can figure it out yourself, but is it too much to leave 30% for the local garrison? Also, I don't need the 30%." Li Shimin thought for a while and said.
"You must take this money. If you don't take it, others will feel uneasy. After all, there are tens of thousands of troops here. If they are given to the generals, these soldiers will definitely be very loyal to the generals. This is not good for your rule, so , this matter must be done in your name. If you really don’t want the 30% of the profits, Erchen can make Tuyuhun become a monolith within a few years! Completely belong to the Tang Dynasty!" Li Ke said with a smile.
"I don't want it, so I don't want it. How do you say it works?" Li Shimin's eyes lit up. He was not interested in any money. To a certain extent, the money from the emperor's treasury was his Li Shimin's money, although now there are treasury and internal affairs. Treasury, but you have to see what the emperor thinks.
Li Shimin doesn't like this little money, but the temptation to open up new territories and expand the territory is even greater for Li Shimin! Because of the Xuanwu Gate Incident, Li Shimin urgently needed more achievements to prove himself!
"This is simple. If 30% is only used to maintain the Tang Dynasty's garrison in Tuyuhun, 100,000 people will be enough! I don't think there is a need for 100,000 people here. 50,000 elite soldiers are enough! Taking 50,000 as an example, I can do other things as well. business, but the local grain should not be purchased from the thirty-six countries of the Western Regions, nor should it be transported from the Hexi Corridor, but transported from the inland of Shannan Road and Hedong Road." Li Ke said simply.
"Why?!" Li Shimin was a little confused. Isn't this more money? "Do you know how much food is lost from Shannan Road and Hedong Road? At least 70%."
The so-called Qicheng means that 100 kilograms of grain are transported from these places, and only 30 kilograms are left at the place, because the soldiers transported also need to eat, and these are losses.
"I know." Li Ke smiled, "Don't you want the 30%? The 30% is used to pay the soldiers who transport food. Since these soldiers are only responsible for transportation, I can consider it if you mind. Use some soldiers who are old or have performed meritorious service, but have returned to their original places."
"Using them to transport food not only gives them combat effectiveness, but also serves as a subsidy to them and provides them with military pay."
"Doesn't that conflict with the existing military system of the Tang Dynasty?" Li Shimin frowned. I have to say here that the Tang Dynasty had a military system. In the minds of everyone in later generations, being a soldier and fighting in wars meant you were rich. However, the Tang Dynasty only had an annual income of 10 million yuan. How could it afford to support nearly 800,000 people in the country? Soldier? !
In fact, there is a misunderstanding here. First of all, there is no military pay in the government military system. In other words, there is no money when you are a soldier. This is because when the country gives you Yongye Field under the equalization system, you need to perform military service, so you have no money to get. Not only do you have no money, the soldier also has You also need to be prepared to purchase small arms.
For example, bows, horizontal knives, and bringing your own food! That's right, the soldiers in the government bring their own food when serving! Of course, this is during non-war periods. These weapons are usually kept by the court, and when serving, the relevant weapons must be collected with a certificate issued by the court.
The imperial court is only responsible for armor, but armor can be used in rotation.
Therefore, the army of the Tang Dynasty consumed very little money from the imperial court.
But there are special troops, such as border guards. The troops guarding the border can get military pay after more than one year! But there were not many soldiers in this group, so the burden on the Tang court was naturally very light.
This is also the reason why Datang could not station troops in these small vassal countries for a long time because it could not afford to station them.
"No conflict, my father can hire these soldiers." Li Ke said with a grin.
Li Shimin was a little confused and obviously didn't understand.
"This is because the Tang Dynasty royal family paid sympathies to the frontier soldiers, and then used its internal treasury to hire meritorious soldiers to solve the food problem of the border soldiers. This is not a state behavior and does not conflict with the country's military system." Li Ke explained with a smile. For a moment.
Li Shimin: "..." Isn't this just another way of saying it? But thinking about it carefully, it seems...it does make sense? Moreover, this also promoted Li Shimin's reputation and made him quite prestigious among the lower-level soldiers.
Thinking of this, Li Shimin glanced at Li Ke strangely. No wonder he could make the entire courtiers and family powerless by himself.
"You haven't explained why you have to transport food from the mainland." Li Shimin looked at Li Ke and asked.
Li Ke had a headache. It was difficult to explain this thing. It was an economic problem.
In the minds of people of this era, for example, if there is a war in the Western Regions, in order to save the court's funds, it is natural to directly transfer grain from the Longyou Road of the Hexi Corridor. This is not wrong.
However, although Longyou Road can produce grain, currently the output and surplus grain are not large. Extracting too much grain will inevitably cause local grain prices to rise.
The output of a country is constant, and the number of people eating food is also constant, which means that the total quantity remains constant.
It seems that 70% of the food brought from the mainland was consumed, but in fact, 70% was eaten by the soldiers who transported the food, and the food in the soldiers' houses who transported the food was left. When the people's food cannot be stored in large quantities, It will naturally be sold, so the total amount of grain on the market remains unchanged.
When grain is transported inland, the surplus grain in the Hexi Corridor will be retained. This in itself is also a method of strategic storage and can assist in regulating grain prices in various regions of the Tang Dynasty.
Secondly, another hidden function of giving money to these soldiers is to hide wealth among the people. When the people are rich, they will naturally have money to buy the goods produced by Li Ke. When Li Ke is rich, he can find ways to help the people. Make some money, and in the process, the country will also develop, a virtuous circle, a win-win-win situation!
In ancient times, both ordinary people and wealthy families had a bad habit of burying their money! The people were okay, after all, they didn’t have much money.
As for these wealthy people with five surnames and seven hopes, as well as wealthy households, their money is either moldy in the warehouse, or they have secretly found a place to bury it.
And these aristocratic families are all very rich. They can bury millions or tens of millions of guan at a time. If the buried money cannot be circulated, what is the difference between that thing and the underground copper mine? If the entire country has less copper coins to use, there will naturally not be enough. This is a vicious cycle.
Now all the aristocratic families in the Tang Dynasty must have a large number of coins from the previous dynasties, and even the Northern and Southern Dynasties.
If they dig out all this money and recast it, the copper coins of the Tang Dynasty will definitely be enough, and there will be no need to use silk and other materials to replace currency.
What Li Ke is doing now is to find a way to circulate money. This method can only be done by him or Li Shimin to throw money into the hands of the people. In fact, this is also part of improving the country's strength.
"Dad, how about I explain this to you another day?" Li Ke said helplessly. This thing cannot be explained in a short while.
"What do you mean?" Li Shimin glared at him.
"I'm afraid you don't understand." Li Ke tentatively said.
Li Shimin: "..." Is your butt itchy again?
