In the early days of Quanzhou, due to sufficient tax sources and prosperous overseas trade, it was not a problem to maintain the clan's expenses until the Qingyuan period.
However, due to mergers and occupations by wealthy and powerful landowners, the reduction of tax sources, and the decline of trade, this expense became more and more heavy. The Quanzhou government had no choice but to levy taxes for one or two years in advance, which aroused complaints from the people. .
The so-called trade recession is not a real recession. In fact, it is just that many trade activities have turned into smuggling, and the court cannot collect taxes.
Later, when Zhende Xiu came to Quanzhou, he vigorously rectified maritime trade, increased the municipal shipping tax, and assumed a larger share of the clan's expenses, which somewhat alleviated this dilemma.
Of course, the clan did not just wait for the court to issue money.
The Song Dynasty did not penalize clan members and raise them as pigs, but allowed them to engage in normal occupations. The best way out was naturally to become an official in the imperial examination.
After the southern crossing, there were a total of more than 4,000 Jinshi in Fujian, and more than 300 of them were descendants of the clan. This ratio can be said to be quite high. After being awarded the official title, many of them made quite good political achievements.
The other is to engage in business indirectly or directly.
As the clan moved to Quanzhou, a large number of officials, soldiers, scholars, businessmen, workers, farmers, artists, and miscellaneous personnel also poured into Quanzhou, providing sufficient basic productivity resources for Quanzhou's economic development and social transformation.
The clan brought advanced production tools from the Central Plains, brought new products such as silk, silk, yarn, and damask, introduced advanced technologies such as weaving, embroidery, color, painting, dyeing, and printing, as well as advanced culture, promoting the economic and cultural development of Quanzhou. and prosperity of overseas trade.
In the early days, the clan was only involved in production and operations to provide export products. In recent decades, it has only organized ships to go to sea and directly participated in overseas trade.
After all, the Quanzhou government had financial difficulties and could not afford the clan's expenses. Nanwai Zongzhengsi could only use trade profits to support clan members.
Of course they will enjoy overt and covert preferential treatment when conducting maritime trade, which is unfair to ordinary maritime merchants, but at least it is better than directly reaching out to the country or exploiting the people.
However, the scale of the clan's maritime trade actually accounted for a very small proportion of the entire trade. Firstly, there were people with big headscarves keeping an eye on it. Secondly, local tycoons and powerful Tibetan merchants felt that the clan was taking away their own interests, so they often joined forces to squeeze out the clan.
Therefore, for Zhao Mengqi, the clan and he were on the same side and were a reliable force against powerful merchants.
Unexpectedly, when I arrived in Quanzhou, I met a "die-hard" like Zhao Xihan.
Zhao Xihan obviously did not agree with Zhao Jujing's excuse, "For the sake of relocation, you teamed up with merchants and slaves, which made the family a mess. You made some money, but you made more children indulge in arrogance and extravagance and compete with those who have nothing." The practical foreign goods are becoming more and more frivolous and dissolute, and they don’t want to study and make progress. If you want to say it, this shipping company should be closed down. We have our own products in the Song Dynasty, food in our mouths, clothes on our bodies, and daily use. What don’t we have? The goods brought by Tibetan traders are all flashy and luxurious things such as pearls, spices, ivory, pepper, precious wood, etc., which cannot support the people and are of no benefit to the country. They will only corrupt people's hearts, encourage greed, and catalyze the trend of extravagance. Let's say that A broken bead can be sold for 50,000 to 60,000 guan. If 50,000 to 60,000 guan are used to buy rice, how many people can be fed? If used to make armor, how many strong armies can be armed? And what can a broken bead be used for? Even if it is eaten If you can become an immortal, it's not worth the money. What's more, it's useless. It's no different from a stone. It's just a thing to show off and compare with. It is precisely because more and more people are falling into this endless desire and need, that makes The merger and exploitation is becoming more and more serious. If you, King Yan, are determined to rejuvenate and become a promising leader, you must reshape the atmosphere, sweep away the glitz, drive away all the Quanzhou merchants, and then strictly enforce the economic world, promote agriculture and encourage learning, and cheer up Baiye..."
Zhao Xihan kept talking, venting all the dissatisfaction accumulated in his heart, and hitting thousands of 'high-end people' present in the face with every word and every sentence.
His words were not completely unreasonable. The powerful people used the profits gained from mergers to invest in maritime trade. After obtaining greater profits, they in turn intensified mergers, corrupted local officials, and evaded land and commercial taxes, thus creating a vicious circle.
And Zhao Mengqi also agrees that those foreign goods are really of no use, that is, to decorate the appearance and so-called improve the quality of life...
Nowadays, the common people cannot even guarantee their survival, and the Song Dynasty is on the verge of annihilation. Who has the right to talk about the quality of life! ?
But this cannot be stopped, because it is human nature to pursue desires.
As the saying goes, when you are full and warm, you want lustful things. If you have good ones, you will want better and rarer ones. No one has the ability to express a sense of superiority. As for the practical value, who cares?
In the minds of those wealthy and noble people, it is never possible to slightly lower the quality of life of their families for the sake of the survival of the people and the survival of the country.
But if it is said that those luxury goods are of no use to the country, that is not necessarily true.
After all, there is always a class gap between rich and poor, which exists objectively and cannot be changed.
If the standard of living is the same regardless of whether the rich or poor are rich, then the wealth held by the rich can only accumulate, like stagnant water.
Luxury goods can make this wealth transfer, flow again, and flow to society for redistribution. This process will inevitably provide income to the general public, that is, business, and then the country will obtain tax revenue from business activities.
The reason why the Song Dynasty focused on commerce was actually because unlike other dynasties, the Song Dynasty was founded with the support of large landowners. When the country was founded, it was unable to redistribute land, and its control over the land was too weak to collect sufficient agricultural taxes for financial needs. Therefore, it was Focus on businesses that are easy for the state to control.
Whether it can be beneficial to the country depends on whether it can effectively obtain tax revenue during the circulation process and where the tax revenue is ultimately used.
Zhao Xihan's so-called "preserve nature's principles and destroy human desires" actually means that everyone can maintain their basic living needs. In this way, the wealth produced by the country's people will be enough to meet everyone's needs. This is almost the world of great harmony pursued by Confucianism, with distribution according to needs in the dream. The ultimate society...
But although Zhao Mengqi was not very clear about Confucian theory, he grew up under the red flag and knew that it was just a dream, an eternal dream.
From his perspective, the Song Dynasty's use of commerce to mobilize social wealth was good, but not good enough.
In later generations, most social wealth will be transformed into capital through various channels and then invested in ways to generate new benefits.
In this era, most of the wealth of the rich is stored away, no different from trash.
In other words, the Song Dynasty did not lack wealth, but it lacked channels to allow this wealth to flow.
What Zhao Mengqi has to do is to establish such channels, such as sugar companies, stock market banks, etc. So far, it has been quite successful. At least some of the wealth in Jiangsu and Zhejiang has been mobilized.
If he can fulfill the promise of returning this wealth, it is a real capital circulation system. If not, it is a 'Ponzi scheme'...
Now, he wants to set up a Ponzi scheme in Quanzhou... Bah, it's a capital circulation system.
This cycle not only mobilizes the wealth within the Song Dynasty, but also the wealth of half the world. If it succeeds, it will only destroy, plunder, and the Mongolians who do not understand construction and development will have nothing to do but eat shit.
In fact, if you can rob, it will definitely be more refreshing than cheating. At least you don't have to use so much brains. The imperialists of later generations will not start to use more troublesome hidden methods until they can no longer rob.
In Zhao Mengqi's vision, the clan will be a more important component in his plan, but it seems that Zhao Xihan still has a great influence on the clan. Although Zhao Xihan may not be able to hinder his actions, if he can get Zhao Xihan's support, it will naturally be smoother. .
However, Zhao Mengqi did not intend to do ideological work for the old man in public, so he said vaguely, "The old man's words have enlightened my grandnephew. It is indeed worth thinking about, but after fighting for so long, I am really exhausted mentally. Let’s wait until my great-nephew has given up on suppressing the rebellion, and then I can ask the old man for detailed advice, what do you think?”
Seeing that although King Yan gave him enough face, he did not give a firm attitude. Zhao Xihan was not satisfied and wanted to pester.
At this time, Uncle Xie Fang said, "Mr. Zong, Your Highness has not washed away his dust. It is getting late at this time, so we should welcome His Highness into the city first."
Zhao Xihan could rely on his elders in front of Zhao Mengqi. After all, he had the status of the elder of the clan, and the Zhao family did not dare to neglect him.
However, in the system of the Song Dynasty, civil servants were very aloof, and the prime minister was even more polite and superior to the princes. The tradition of nearly three hundred years has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
Zhao Xihan considers himself a scholar, so he naturally has to give Uncle Xie Fang enough respect, "Xie Xiang reminds me that this old man is so confused that he almost forgot..."
Immediately, Uncle Xie Fang summoned the chariot that had been prepared, but Zhao Mengqi refused, "I'll just ride a horse."
Uncle Xie Fang frowned and said, "Isn't this good? After entering the city, there are countless people waiting for you. There is a mixture of fish and dragons. It is an emergency right now. What if..."
"It's still wartime, so there's no point in riding a carriage for a general. Could it be that my own city is more dangerous than the battlefield? Besides, I'm wearing armor and surrounded by guards. Even if there is a plot, it can't hurt me. ." Zhao Mengqi looked calm.
Uncle Xie Fang knew very well that King Yan's expression meant that his determination was determined and could not be changed, so he had no choice but to follow him.
At this time, Jin Ye, who was loaded in the Shenzhou, and the war horses captured from the Pu family were unloaded on the dock.
Then Zhao Mengqi and more than a hundred imperial guards all got on their horses, and led by two hundred Dongwei infantry, entered the city from Deji Gate, with a long procession of various chariots following behind them.
Some people died, but not completely...
