In Prince Yan's Mansion, in the meeting hall, Zhao Bin was sitting on a chair. Prefect Lin Jingtang, County Cao Li, Chief Registrar He Miao, Treasurer Yang Guangtai, and Wei Xiang were sitting on chairs below.
It can be seen that everyone has a smile on their face. Zhao Bin took a sip of tea and then said calmly: "Okay everyone, let's talk about what we are doing now."
Lin Jingtang said: "Prince Qi, after one month, the autumn harvest has been basically completed, and tax and grain collection can now begin.
It’s just that the tax was previously collected according to the amount stipulated by the imperial court. Now Yancheng is a fiefdom of the prince. Logically, all the tax revenue of the fiefdom belongs to the prince. I would like to ask the prince for instructions. What percentage of the tax amount should be charged? "
Zhao Bin thought for a while and said: "The previous tax was too high, five out of ten. The industrial output was already low, and there was not much left after the people paid the tax. From this year on, the tax will be two out of ten.
Official salaries will also be revised, and will be changed to a monetary system starting next year. The government will go back and convert the salaries of officials at all levels, change them all to monetary payments, and come up with a system as soon as possible. "
Treasurer Yang Guangtai said: "Your Majesty, Yancheng's business system is very backward, and the annual business tax payment is extremely low. I'm afraid the treasury does not have so much money to maintain it for a long time?"
Lin Jingtang and Cao Li also agreed: "Yes, Your Majesty, the money system can be maintained in the short term, but over time, it will definitely not be enough."
"Everyone, just do as I say. I will find a way to deal with the money." Zhao Bin said nonchalantly.
"Master He, how are you doing there?" Zhao Bin asked He Miao.
"Back to the prince, all the cattle, sheep and horses of the Suhe Department have been exchanged. Five hundred of the horses were handed over to Qin Duwei, and the palace kept five hundred. Half of the cattle have been distributed to the farmers.
However, according to the household registration under the jurisdiction of Yancheng, the total number of registered households is 15,000, and there is still a shortfall of more than 10,000 cows to ensure that each household is allocated one cow.
In addition, sheep are distributed according to two per household, ensuring that each household is assigned one male and one female to ensure subsequent reproduction. Bankers allocated to cattle will not be allocated sheep for the time being.
However, during the period, it was discovered that the village chief had embezzled and appropriated other people's livestock. Now the person has been captured by Wei Dutou and imprisoned in the government prison. After hearing this, he became angry. "
When Zhao Bin heard that someone was committing corruption and evil, a trace of anger flashed across his face, and then he spoke.
"There is nothing to say, beheading in public. This kind of person is what I hate the most. Pass on the order. All officials, from the prefect to the village chief, whoever dares to commit corruption and evil in this matter will be beheaded. "
Several officials present were shocked and couldn't help but feel cold in their backs. Fortunately, they didn't do such a thing at the beginning, otherwise they wouldn't even have a chance to beg for mercy, and they would just be beheaded to rest.
"It's the prince. In addition, the prince, Su Hetuo sent a message a few days ago to say that he has obtained the permission of the Xianbei Khan. A group of livestock will arrive in Yancheng in a few days. Please prepare the fine salt." He Miao continued.
"Let him rest assured about the salt matter. There is nothing else in the palace, but there is plenty of salt. Also, speed up the progress and don't delay." Zhao Bin replied.
"I understand the humble position." He Miao replied.
"Mr. Yang, how are you doing there? Has the farm tools been implemented and promoted?" Zhao Bin asked.
"Back to the prince, I humbly order people to copy the drawings drawn by the prince and distribute them to all villages and towns.
In addition, the blacksmiths and carpenters who were assigned low-level jobs by the prince were also protected and assigned to teach the craftsmanship.
Making so many farm tools is not something that can be done in a short time. Wood is okay, it is everywhere, but iron is in extremely short supply. Yang Guangtai said helplessly.
"Okay, I understand. I will find a solution for the iron material matter. Next, you and Mr. Lin will handle the tax matter." Zhao Bin said.
He had thought about this before. It was not that there were no iron mines in Yancheng, but the area was sparsely populated and war-torn, so the huge iron mines were there but had never been discovered.
In the area where the Xianbei people live, there is a natural open-pit iron mine, which was later built into a park. The original mine pit formed a natural pool, which is called "Beijing Xiaotianchi".
Zhao Bin went there once in his previous life, and it was only about 80 kilometers away from downtown Beijing. The mineral resources around Beijing are actually very rich, not only iron ore, but also coal mines.
There are a large number of coal mines in the Mentougou area around Xishan Mountain in Beijing. However, it was not called coal at that time, but coal. Now the coal used by Yancheng's blacksmiths is basically produced in this area.
After a moment of silence, Zhao Bin said to the county magistrate Cao Li: "Master Cao, tell me about your side."
"It's the prince. The two businessmen that the prince asked me to find have already been found. They are both local residents of Yancheng and do some business in the city.
One is in the restaurant business and the shopkeeper is named Zhang Guide, and the other is in the grain business and is named Li Youcai. Now the two of them are waiting outside.
Although the two of them are both businessmen, they are somewhat different in their personalities. The restaurant owned by Zhang Guide has many good friends and operates with integrity.
This Li Youcai was really a profiteer. He was in the grain business and controlled the people's daily rations, which often resulted in shortfalls. Many people complained about him, and he was relatively slippery. "Cao Li said word for word.
"Well, in business, there is no one who is not slick, and there is no businessman without treachery. This is normal. Honest people can't make money even if they do business." Zhao Bin said with a smile.
"In addition, the area in the northeast of the city has been vacated, and the original residents have been resettled in other areas. Currently, there is not a single household living in the two streets in the northeast of the city." Cao Li continued.
The reason why it was chosen here was, firstly, due to the wind direction, which could prevent a large amount of dust from falling into the city. Secondly, there was a river passing through the northeast corner of the city, which could open a channel to divert water and provide water and power for iron smelting and purification of fine salt.
"Okay, here are some drawings for you to take. According to the planning of the drawings, let's start transforming the area into different factories. Prioritize the construction of iron ore smelting factories and salt mills.
Now that the autumn harvest has been basically completed, the people should have nothing else to do. The farmers who received the cattle and sheep will provide one laborer from each household to perform corvee service.
Some people build factories, and the rest go to the west to mine coal. The coal can be transported back and piled outside the city. "Zhao Bin said.
"This is the prince. I will arrange for someone to do the job tomorrow." Cao Li replied.
"In addition, Old Wei, I will give you a hard job. After this is completed, I will reward you heavily." Zhao Bin looked at Wei Xiang and said.
"Your Majesty, please give me your orders. I will definitely handle it." Old Wei said, patting his chest.
"I will draw you a rough map later. Tomorrow you will take thirty brothers and two blacksmiths to the area I drew for you to look for iron ore. If you can find it within half a month, all brothers will be rewarded with two months' salary. .
If necessary, you can find two guides from Suhetu to avoid getting lost in the mountains. But don't let them know that we are looking for iron ore. " Zhao Bin ordered.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty, I will never come back until I find the iron ore." Wei Xiang said firmly.
Zhao Bin smiled and continued: "Okay, that's it for today's discussion. Cao Li will stay, and the others will go back and prepare first. Lao Wu, go next door and call Tian Qi and Wang Dayong over."
Wang Wu, who had been standing behind Zhao Bin, responded and went out.
After a while, the two men, covered in sweat, followed Wang Wu into the hall.
The two of them entered the room, bowed their hands and said, "I have met the prince."
"You two brothers don't need to be polite. You two have worked hard these days. Sit down." Zhao Bin said and motioned for the two of them to sit down.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." The two of them were not polite and sat directly on the chairs below.
"You turned out to be my father's bodyguards. I came to Yancheng with me and asked you to practice salt. I really treated you badly." Zhao Bin said apologetically.
Regarding these two people, Zhao Bin did not call himself the king, but used a more cordial tone and called himself "I".
"Why did the prince say this? The prince thinks highly of his subordinates, and they should do their best." The two replied.
"There's nothing we can do about letting you practice salt training. This matter is of great importance, and I really don't feel comfortable using outsiders.
But soon you won't have to practice salt anymore. Master Cao has built the factory, and the brothers will only be responsible for guarding it. Besides, I want you two to return to the capital. "Zhao Bin said.
"Back to the capital?" The two looked at each other in surprise and said,
Tian Qi asked: "Why does the prince want us to return to the capital?"
"You have also seen the copper pot we made some time ago, and you have also eaten the hot pot. If we want our brothers to live a good life, this tax alone is not enough, we have to find ways to make money.
We can't just exchange salt with the Xianbei people, so I asked Mr. Cao to find two businessmen to open a restaurant in the capital to make some money, but they are outsiders after all.
The two of you are asked to accompany us, ostensibly to protect them, but actually to keep an eye on them and prevent them from harboring ill intentions and making mistakes, otherwise our losses will be too great. "
"My subordinate understands, then I dare to ask the prince, when will we set off?" Wang Dayong asked.
"The day after tomorrow, when I return to the capital, I have to open a shop and there are a lot of things to deal with. In addition, let Chunxi go back with you. Didn't Suhetu bring some old wild ginseng and good quality food? Fur? You should be able to get a lot of money in exchange for it in the capital." Zhao Bin said.
After talking about the matter, the two of them resigned, and Zhao Bin ordered people to recruit Zhang Guide and Li Youcai.
Both of them are ordinary people. The biggest official they have ever seen in their lives is Lin Jingtang, the prefect. They have never seen any royal family members. When they were brought into the palace, they were already frightened. Especially Li Youcai, who used to do The regrets of the past are constantly replayed in my mind.
When the two entered the hall, they immediately knelt down on the ground and bowed their heads: "Common man Zhang Guide, Li Youcai bows to the prince."
"Do you know why this king came to you?" Zhao Bin asked, looking at the two of them expressionlessly.
"The common people don't know, please let me know for sure." Zhang Guide said cautiously.
"Li Youcai, don't you know?" Zhao Bin asked, staring at Li Youcai.
At this time, Li Youcai was trembling all over. When King Yan asked him by name, how dare he take any chances, he immediately kowtowed and said: "The common people deserve to die, the ordinary people deserve to die, the ordinary people deserve to die."
"Okay, you deserve to die. Business is a waste of money on weekdays. For this one thing, in Yancheng, I can kill you. But I don't want you to die yet," Zhao Bin said word for word. He said, "You two, get up and talk."
"The common people don't dare, the common people don't dare," the two responded hurriedly. Not to mention standing up, from the moment they entered the door, they didn't even dare to raise their heads. They didn't even see what the King of Yan in front of them looked like. clear.
Wang Wu on the side scolded angrily: "What are you saying, Feite? Get up as soon as the prince tells you. If you dare not listen to the prince, I will chop you with a knife."
Zhao Bin saw Wang Wuhu pretending to be a tiger, and gave Wang Wu a thumbs up to show his appreciation. Wang Wu returned the look with tacit understanding and thanked the prince.
"The common people don't dare, the common people don't dare, thank you so much, Your Majesty." After the two of them finished speaking, they stood up tremblingly.
Zhao Bin looked at the two of them and said, "Both of you are merchants. In our Daxia, the status of merchants is very low. You know this."
"Know."
"The king calls you here this time, not to investigate your past, but to ask you to do something. If you do it well, I will ask you to be an official in my palace, Prince Yan. You can be willing."
When the two of them heard about being an official, they were both surprised. How could they, a mere commoner, become an official in Prince Yan's Mansion? With an uneasy heart, Zhang Guide replied softly: "Thank you, Your Majesty. The common people are willing to do things for Your Majesty, but I don't know what Your Majesty is talking about?"
"I plan to open a restaurant in the capital, and I called you here because I want you to take care of the business in the capital for me." Zhao Bin continued.
When Li Youcai heard that he was not going to investigate the past matters, but was still allowed to serve as an official, he immediately relaxed a little and boldly said
"Your Majesty can think highly of us because we are waiting for the smoke to come out from our ancestral graves. Naturally, we are willing to serve you. But what worries the ordinary people is that we have never been to the capital, and what we have done is nothing." It’s a small business, so I’m afraid it might miss the prince’s important event.”
"People naturally want to live a wonderful life in this life. They want to go to places they have never been to and see the world they have never seen before. The things I ask you to do are indeed big things. This king has given you the opportunity. It depends on whether you have the courage. To try, to change..."
Zhao Bin changed the topic to the value of life, which shocked the two of them. They had never thought about such a problem. They just wanted to run their own small business and make a little money on their own three-quarter acre of land.
Suddenly one day, someone told them that they should do something meaningful and valuable. At that moment, they realized that it seemed that their past selves had been living in a cage.
Li Youcai is a slippery man. Slick people are very smart and can tell the truth. After listening to Zhao Bin's words, Li Youcai knelt down again: "Thanks to the appreciation of the prince, the common people are willing to go to the capital to handle business for the prince."
Zhang Guide on the side also realized that this was an opportunity to change their identity and destiny. He also knelt down and said he was willing to go to the capital.
“In this important place in the capital, there are many dignitaries and aristocratic families, so if you are not careful, you will get into trouble.
Of course, I will also send personal soldiers to protect your safety, and I will also send people to protect your family members in Yancheng.
Once done, I will ensure that you will be prosperous and wealthy in the future. But I also say ugly things first.
When you work for me, you must be loyal to me. If you have evil thoughts in your heart, you will betray me and seek refuge with others. Your heads and your family members will not be spared by this king. "
"The common people don't dare."
"The common people don't dare." The two men kowtowed and replied.
"Okay, get up. You go back today and arrange things at home. Leave the business to others at home. Come back to the palace tomorrow. I still need to discuss some details with you. You can start your journey the day after tomorrow. "After Zhao Bin finished speaking, he raised his hand to signal the two of them to get up.
"It's your lord, please retire." After saying that, the two bowed and exited the hall. Zhao Bin turned back to Wang Wu and said, "Send two brothers to keep an eye on it."
Wang Wu also left the hall immediately.
Zhao Bin and Cao Li were the only two people left in the room. The two further studied the construction of the iron ore smelting plant. The current productivity level and smelting level are still very limited. Zhao Bin only added some improvements to the existing iron ore smelting technology to increase some productivity.
In addition, the steps of steelmaking are added. The difference between steel and iron is actually very simple, that is, the carbon content is different. The carbon content of steel is roughly between 0.02% and 2%, and the carbon content of iron is higher.
In addition, there is a foundry workshop. Casting tools is much faster than making tools, thus ensuring the mass production of agricultural tools. It will be ensured that iron plows and agricultural tools can be distributed to the people before next spring, so as to facilitate the expansion of cultivated land production.
After the two agreed on some details, Cao Li also said goodbye and left.
