Early the next morning, Wang Xiaolie went to the official hall and handled daily affairs. After having breakfast and washing up, I came to see Wang Ruohai and Lu Qing.
The ceremony is over. Wang Xiaolie said: "You two are new to Xinye, how about I take you around? Although it is a small place, the scenery is not bad. Moreover, during the Three Kingdoms period, the late emperor once stationed troops here, and there are many legends left to this day."
Wang Ruohai said: "This is the best. If we just stay in the room, why do we need to come here?"
The three of them walked out of the city gate, and Wang Xiaolie said: "In addition to Xinye City, there are four acropolises. To the east is Shao Ling's military camp, and to the west is Niu Gao's military camp. The two receive new soldiers and train them separately. To the north is the new military camp. , and the south is where armor weapons are made.”
After hearing this, Wang Ruohai couldn't help but said: "How much will it cost for such a big deal!"
Wang Xiaolie smiled and said: "To be honest, my army is really short of money. To build these cities, we recruited civilians from nearby counties and counties and just provided them with food. It took a few months to build these cities. Several cities are coming. There are still many imperfections, and we will just wait until the autumn and recruit people to build them. I have calculated carefully, and I can still afford the food supply."
Wang Ruohai said: "People are cultivating the fields, how can they have free time in a year? If you recruit people like this, it will inevitably miss the farming season."
"The Supervisor is right. Now under my rule, all rural people, in addition to the land tax of three dou per acre, are required to work fifty days a year. I have asked carefully. In the past, various types of servants and laborers were ordinary The people have more than fifty days in a year! For the people, what they are doing now is exactly what they want. What the people are most worried about under the current rule is whether after harvesting the grain, it is really only three bushels per acre."
Wang Ruohai is a traditional bureaucrat, and he can give a rough idea of the burden on local people, but he can't tell the specifics. Liu Yuxi's "Inscription on the Humble Room" says that there is no need to work on filing documents. For many officials, the work of filing documents is irritating and should be left to officials. The total tax collected in the next year was good, and he was already a good official. Many people can't tell how to distribute it specifically.
I heard Wang Xiaolie analyze some taxes. Wang Ruohai said: "With such a huge tax cut, where will the money come from to feed the army?"
Wang Xiaolian said: "In the prison, one acre of land harvests three dou. If a county has 200,000 acres of land, there are 60,000 dan. Do the math, how can the army be short of food and grass? One ding has 500 dan in a year. Liyu, how many big things can’t be accomplished?”
Wang Ruohai made some calculations and couldn't help but nod. After thinking about it, I felt it was wrong. He said: "If this is the case, the taxes collected in the past were not much, so why are the people's lives so miserable? In places where taxation is the most important in this dynasty, such as Xuanzhou and Shezhou, an acre is only one or two bushels. There are all high-grade paddy fields. , how can it be compared here? You harvest three dou per acre, but the people think it is not much?"
Wang Xiaolie said: "The reason is very simple. I only collect grain, not money. As the saying goes, cheap grain hurts farmers, and expensive grain hurts farmers. Why? Because it is difficult for farmers to make a penny. The government collects money. Even if it’s not much, it’s like a big mountain if it’s spread over the farmers’ heads.”
"If you don't accept money, where will the money come from? Without money, how can you raise an army with only food?"
Wang Xiaolie said: "If you want to make money, of course it comes from industrial and commercial taxes. Moreover, if you run some reliable industrial government-run businesses, you can make a lot of money every year. If the government doesn't collect money, the farmers will sell the grain and cloth." Exchange it into money, and then buy things and spend it. The knowledge involved cannot be explained clearly in one or two sentences. In short, not collecting money from farmers will be of great benefit to the country."
After Wang Ruohai heard this, he looked at Lu Qing beside him and shook his head. What a fallacy! If the government does not collect money from farmers, it will receive more money. This is not nonsense.
Wang Xiaolie didn't bother to explain to them and just smiled.
After a thousand years of development, economic theory still had some use. The division of primary industry, secondary industry and tertiary industry plays a great role in economic planning. Agriculture ensures the smooth operation of society, and government revenue does not come from here. Not only did they not collect money from agriculture, many governments in later generations also subsidized agriculture. The government's revenue comes from industry, commerce and the tertiary industry.
It’s not that this theory doesn’t make sense in an agricultural society, it’s just not as obvious as in an industrial society. With proper organization, government monetary income does not need to come from agriculture.
The most typical example is that at the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty paid too much indemnity and mortgaged the customs duties. The British managed customs duties and collected much more money than the entire fiscal revenue of the previous Qing Dynasty.
There are many reasons for this phenomenon. For example, industry and commerce are underdeveloped, management is not standardized, the government does not act according to the laws of the market, does not act according to objective laws, and uses up all the benefits, etc. For example, during Wang Anshi's reform, he claimed to nationalize all profitable businesses. Due to extensive management, it actually caused a lot of damage to the industrial industry. Management methods were discovered step by step by later generations.
Everyone went to Beicheng first. I saw a large number of newly recruited soldiers, all in uniform, doing exercises in unison on the campus.
Lu Qing said: "Zi Zhi, I have never seen such training in the army. What are these soldiers doing?"
Wang Xiaolie said: "In the new military camp, the main purpose is to train the soldiers physically, to have them observe discipline, practice military formations, and learn how to use weapons such as knives, spears, bows, and crossbows. After they are proficient, they will be incorporated into various armies. Carry out training. These recruits have to run five miles every day when they get up early. After coming back, they relax and have breakfast. Now is the time for them to relax, and they will have breakfast soon."
Looking at the sky, Wang Ruohai said: "The sun is rising now, so it's still a little early to have breakfast."
Wang Xiaolie said: "It's not too early. Unlike ordinary people, the military camp has three meals a day, otherwise they won't be full. If there is training in the evening, a midnight snack will be added. Soldiers are particularly hard-working, and first of all they have to eat They’re full.”
Wang Ruohai and Lu Qing couldn't help being surprised when they heard this. This year, it is good to ensure that the soldiers have food. Such carefulness is considered to be the first among Wang Xiao's hunting troops. Moreover, in most armies, the soldiers cook and eat by themselves, and only rice is distributed in the army.
Just from eating, you can know what the situation is like in Wang Xiao's hunting army. Ensuring that soldiers have enough food and clothing is easy to say but not easy to do. Especially since officers have no other income, they are inevitably greedy for the soldiers' food and salary, and their food and clothing will be discounted.
The soldiers over there finished relaxing and lined up to enter the restaurant.
Lu Qing said: "Since we happened to meet each other, let's go in and have a meal. I was drunk this morning and got up a little late."
With that said, the three of them entered the restaurant.
When we arrived at the cooking area, we saw several large wooden basins filled with three kinds of food. Fried dough sticks, steamed buns and fried buns, arranged neatly. The soldiers each carried two large bowls. When they arrived, they chose what to eat, and the cook gave them big bowls.
When he arrived, Lu Qing asked Wang Xiaolie: "What kind of food is this yellow thing? I've never seen it before."
Wang Xiaolie said: "These are fried dough sticks. They are made of white flour and fried in oil. They are crispy and delicious. You can try two of them, Taiwei."
Lu Qing nodded. The food cook took two fried dough sticks, two steamed buns, and two fried steamed buns. This appetite was larger than that of ordinary soldiers, which made Wang Xiaolie look back and click his tongue.
After taking the staple food, I went to the back and saw two more large basins. There was white and tender food in a large basin, and millet porridge in another large basin.
Lu Qing knows these two things well. He had had tofu nao when he was in Xiangyang. It was smooth, tender and extremely delicious. I made a large bowl of tofu puffs, followed by two large bowls. One has hard-boiled eggs inside, and the other has marinated eggs inside.
Each soldier took an egg, put it in his own bowl, sat aside and ate it.
Lu Qing took the tea eggs and took two large bowls to one side.
There are long tables and benches in the restaurant. Although rough, it is very neat. After Wang Xiaolie and Wang Ruohai also got their food, the three of them went to a corner and sat down together.
Putting the big bowl on the table, Lu Qing couldn't help but sigh: "Zhizhi, I have been in the army for decades, and this is the first time I have seen eating like this! If everyone in the army is like this, whoever doesn't obey will die! Zhizhi will lead the army like this, and he will definitely suffer in the future." Become a great weapon!"
Wang Ruohai said: "Looking at today's food, you can see why Zhizhi is so confident in his army! But, how much does it cost to eat like this every day? You don't have much income, can you really survive?"
Wang Xiaolie said: "I hope I can hold on. To be honest, as long as the organization is good and it takes an area of several states to support ten or twenty thousand people, it is still possible to eat like this. There is just one thing. Officers in the army cannot compete with other armies. Just like that, why are you thinking about the windfall?"
Lu Qing was the one who led the army. He understood it as soon as he heard it and nodded.
Picking up the fried dough sticks and taking a bite, Lu Qing felt the deliciousness and couldn't help but praise them. Fried dough sticks are a rare delicacy for people who rarely eat fried food. However, after eating several meals in a row, it is easy to get bored.
After chewing two fried dough sticks and drinking a big mouthful of tofu, Lu Qing was satisfied.
Wang Ruohai cracked the eggs, peeled them carefully, and said to Wang Xiaolie: "Zhizhi, are there eggs every day in the army?"
Wang Xiaolie nodded: "Yes, the army must ensure that every soldier has an egg every day. Now the canteen cooks the food. To be honest, no matter how it is managed, it is actually difficult for everyone to eat. The army will The rule is that everyone has a shelled egg every morning. With the shell still there, you can still eat the egg no matter what."
Wang Ruohai and Lu Qing nodded repeatedly, both saying it was a good idea.
In fact, this method was used in many collective dining places in Wang Xiaolie's previous life. If you remove the shells and cook in the cafeteria, you won’t be able to tell if there are too many eggs or too many eggs. No matter how detailed the regulations are, there will always be cooks who tamper with them. Not to mention corruption, it would be better if the soldiers eat less and the cooks keep the eggs for themselves. If the shell is not required, it will be difficult for the soldiers to eat it.
Wang Xiaolie had already eaten breakfast and just drank another bowl of millet. Seeing Wang Ruohai and Lu Qing eating contentedly, they felt happy in their hearts. Just to achieve this, these two people didn't know how much they had paid.
