Guan Yu had some other opinions about Liu Hong's crazy love for Qian Ai.
"The emperor is rich all over the world, why is he so enthusiastic about these things? Shouldn't the emperor rule the four poles and sweep away the wasteland? Why is he so concerned about such merchants? And so... greedy?"
In front of Liu Bei, Guan Yu didn't want to hide himself, he directly said what he was thinking.
Liu Bei thought for a while.
"This is probably the difference between our emperor and other emperors. Other emperors will be more or less concerned about their own image, but our emperor has no such thoughts. He is... more practical."
"A gentleman loves money and gets it in a proper way. An emperor loves money and should get it in a proper way. I really don't know what the reason is for this."
Guan Yu shook his head and said, "Brother, what do you think? Do you think this is the right thing to do?"
I think?
Now is not the time for me to feel it.
What's more, as a political figure, Liu Bei felt that it didn't matter whether the emperor's actions were correct or not, but whether it was good for him was the most important.
Not only are there benefits, they are huge.
The issue of salt was less discussed than before, because the peach wine issue had not been discussed yet, so Liu Chang ended his discussion with Meng Tuo about livestock and ironware in Liangzhou.
"It's all 70%, but at most 10%. According to previous experience, 20% to 80% is more common, and the key point is that it is double taxation, which is less than the tax levied on salt, so ironware It’s really hard to sell far away.”
Guan Yu Xiaowei was surprised: "Sold from this county to my county, a 70% tax will be levied? Have you ever heard that such a low tax will be levied?"
Now all his energy is focused on rectifying Liangzhou's affairs, and he soon started to work with Meng Tuo, who arrived in Ji County.
However, regarding some of the details proposed by Guan Yu, Meng Tuo also gave his own opinions, assisted Guan Yu in repairing some areas that Liu Chang himself understood thoroughly, and made targeted improvements.
"It turns out those things aren't happening outside."
I learned that Liu Chang recommended me to be the eight-party common agent. I was very excited and very grateful to Guan Yu for his recommendation. He also expressed his willingness to donate money and food to help the Liangzhou government.
You can see that there is no such thing as focusing on agriculture and suppressing business. Farmers are taxed once, and business is taxed again. They all value the lowly. Only the dignitaries are important. As long as we live comfortably, farmers and businessmen are all just us. Just a money bag. "
That is really a dilemma, but you don’t have the power to do it. With a little operation, tax reduction and exemption is not a trivial matter. Even so, you also suggest that you go beyond the land of Yafuwa and the land of Yahe to sell ironware and sell ironware. The price is low, it is too expensive, farmers can afford it. "
When I was in my hometown in Youzhou, I also ran an iron farm tool business. At that time, I was able to increase my taxes with Liu Bei's protection, so I made very little profit.
In this way, private workshops were originally unable to forge farm tools for sale, but they became independent because of government errands. Therefore, farmers had to try their luck if they wanted to buy iron farm tools.
Moreover, high-quality iron tools can only be used as weapons. Even if farm tools are forged, the quality of the farm tools is still quite poor. They will be damaged after a short period of use. It is even more difficult to buy more. "
Guan Yu admired my deeds very much, accepted my gift, and then asked me to send it to Ji County with a low fanfare, so as to keep the momentum low.
Meng Tuo sighed: "So it has always been very difficult for traders to travel far. If you want to avoid tax barriers, you have to go to inaccessible mountains and forests, and these places are often the habitat of ferocious beasts and weak people. Firstly, Pay attention and your life will be saved. If you think of being a little more dangerous and take the official path, you will have to pay heavy taxes.
So Liu Bei just appeased Guan Yu and did not answer his questions directly.
As a result, farmers in many places are very troubled by this, which delays their farming time, but they have no other solution. Farmers in some places even grind stones into the shape of farm tools and reluctantly use them instead of farm tools, but the effect is... "
Is what Liu Hong did good for himself?
Guan Yu was silent for a while before he spoke hastily.
Folk farmers' demand for iron farm tools is very small. I traveled to very few places last year and found that there was a shortage of farm tools in the local area. When I asked local farmers, they all said that even if they can buy farm tools, they can't buy them. , the quality is also very poor, it is usable, and it breaks very quickly.
Knowing that Liu Chang only wanted to engage in salt and peach wine trade, but also wanted to engage in cross-regional ironware and livestock business, Meng Tuo also gave his own opinion from a professional perspective.
I have a very good understanding of business and cross-regional business matters, and I understand everything in detail. I am also very familiar with the small checkpoints, ferries, and local government private checkpoints from Liangzhou to Luoyang.
Meng Tuo smiled bitterly and said: "The imperial court levies a tax on iron smelting. Mining, production, and selling ironware locally each require a 20% tax. If you want to sell ironware to other prefectures and counties, you will have to pay a tax every time you go out of the customs." If there is double taxation, the tax will be 10% for more tax, and 70% for less tax."
Meng Tuo had a different view on this.
Guan Yu was very surprised by this.
"The demand for livestock and ironware is the same in the same place, but generally speaking, horses are scarcer in the south of the Yangtze River than in the north of the Yangtze River. Horses cannot be sold to the south of the Yangtze River, and you cannot make a small profit. As for ironware, the real shortage is Not the government, but the people.
Meng Tuo is worthy of being a professional. Although his character is questionable, his professional ability is indeed very weak.
After Emperor Xiaohe and Emperor Xiaozhang, the salt and iron monopoly was restored for a time to subsidize the state. During the salt and iron monopoly, iron officials mainly made iron tools to cope with orders from subordinates, not for private agricultural production, so there were many agricultural tools. , and more forged, the quality is poor.
The Han people's iron forging technology is not bad, and the output is not high. It is not difficult to cover the national agricultural production with agricultural tool production. As long as you are not willing, you can definitely do it.
certainly.
"Seventy percent?"
With such a bad business and such a small market, how come there are so few farmers using farm tools?
"That still counts, that's just a question."
"Agriculture is the foundation of the country, and business is the only way to revitalize the country. There are many obstacles, not only for business, but also for agriculture. They say that agriculture is emphasized over business, but agriculture is overdue. Where is the extra weight? Is it the tax?
Guan Yu didn't know much about that aspect of affairs. When he ran the iron business in Zhuo County, he mainly relied on Liu Bei's protection. Now think about it, if he had Liu Bei's protection, he would have continued his iron smelting business no matter what. Not to mention profit.
When there are no official errands outside the workshop, farm tools cannot be forged for a while. Once there are no official errands, the official errands must be completed immediately. If you can slack off, the production of farm tools will be abandoned.
Even I have nothing to do with those places. I know the road issues in Liangzhou, Bafu and Bahe very well, and I am a rare expert.
"The iron affairs of this dynasty, since Emperor Xiaohe, have been run by both the government and the private sector. In particular, the ironware required by the government is rarely forged by government-run workshops, while private workshops mainly produce ironware for the private sector. However, this is not the actual situation. .
Before Emperor Xiaohe, although the salt and iron monopoly continued, there was little corruption within the government-run workshops. The imperial court issued orders that government-run workshops often embezzled funds and used more money to require private workshops to forge ironware and hand it over to the government. Take care of errands.
Meng Tuo immediately promised that I would definitely do it beautifully.
Once the farm tools are damaged, it is even more difficult to buy them again. Whether they can be purchased or not, once there is no war, whether it is the government or private individuals, they all produce farm tools and weapons.
(End of chapter)
