The spring breeze blows, carrying the fragrance of flowers, and hits my face head-on, as if I have plunged into a sea of flowers. The peach blossoms are already in bloom, and one tree here and one tree there are all pink. Five or six white magnolias against the wall are all in bloom. The huge flowers look like fairies in the sky.
Wang Xiaolie took a sip of tea and said: "Call a few people here today to discuss what to do next. How to make enough money to support an army of 120,000 people. On such a good day, with hundreds of flowers blooming, this We should go on an outing to enjoy the flowers. It’s just that there are too many things to do, which has delayed you all.”
Chen Qiudao said: "What did the governor say? For the money and food to support the soldiers, I can't sleep well these days. How can I be in the mood to enjoy flowers!"
Wang Xiaolie said with emotion: "Yes, each of us has a lot of things to do now, and we are really not in the mood. When will we drive away the golden captives, restore the Central Plains, and bring peace to the world, it will be great."
After hearing this, several people were silent. We have won several battles in the past two years, giving everyone hope of victory. But no one dares to think about real victory. The Jin Army is still powerful and can dominate the world without any hindrance, but its own strength is still weak.
Li Yanxian said: "I heard these days that the weather is good in several states under the rule of the Zhenfu. There is no shortage of food and grass, but money. The Zhenfu doesn't want to collect money from the people. Where does this money come from?"
Wang Xiaolie said: "In the past two years, we have been cracking down on local powerful people and eradicating gangsters. Many evil-minded officials and outsiders have been dealt with. Now the local area is dominated by small farmers. We have calculated that one household has an average of more than forty acres. Land. Although there are some officials who have thousands of acres of land, and there are also clients who make a living from servants, it does not affect the overall situation. One household has forty acres of land, and one acre collects three measures of tax and grain, which is twelve dan per household. With 600,000 households The total amount is 7.2 million shi of grain. In recent years, the price of grain here in Xiangyang has been relatively low. One dou is about 50 wen, and one shi is about 500 liters. The average consumption of the generals in the army is about 80 yuan per person per year. Shi Liang, an army of 120,000, is about one million Shi. There are still six million Shi, which can be sold for money, which can be exchanged for about three million guan."
Having said this, Wang Xiaolie shook his head helplessly: "But the problem is, it's not easy to sell the grain!"
Chen Yuyi said: "If Zhejiang and Jinghu are short of food, we can find a way."
Wang Xiaolie said: "How can Liangzhe Road be sold? Wherever the grain is sold, they give it to Huizi. What's the use of having it? Jinghu Road is now full of thieves. The thieves will not buy, the officers and soldiers will only want it. This business really cannot be done.”
Li Yanxian said: "It seems that it is difficult to exchange money for food."
"Yes. Judging from the situation of grain sales last year, even if the major grain merchants are willing to contribute, it is difficult to sell one million grains a year." Wang Xiaolie was a little helpless. "In other places, there are no waterways, and business is even more difficult to do."
When talking about these things, Wang Xiaolie felt upset. Under his own rule, production relations were gradually straightened out, and with good weather and good weather, there were continuous bumper harvests, but selling grain became a problem again. This year Jinghu is more chaotic than last year and business is more difficult to do.
Wang Ruohai said: "The world is like this, what can we do? It's just that when the food is collected, it must have a place to go, and it cannot be left to rot in the warehouse."
Wang Xiaolie said: "Besides the food for disaster prevention, the only ways I can think of now are to make wine, raise some poultry and livestock, and replace the food with other things. I heard that many people in Hedong and Hebei Province like our food. Make as much shochu as possible this year and sell it for money. Even if you know that selling it will save them food under Liu Yu's rule, you still have to sell it."
Several people nodded. After much deliberation, this is all I can do. We can't let food rot in the warehouse.
Wang Xiaolie said: "Based on this calculation, the money that can be exchanged for food is only 2 million kikan at most. For an army of 120,000, there are five soldiers and one officer, which is about 100,000 soldiers, and the money required is about 360,000 kikan. . The remaining officers’ salaries require nearly 2 million guan. In addition to the officers’ salaries, the rest of the army’s expenses require about more than 2 million guan in cash. The money gap is about 2.5 million guan.”
Chen Qiudao said: "This is the money that the army is short of, and what about the officials' salaries? In the past, officials had no salary, but the governor thought it was not possible, so he set a relatively rich salary. This is not a small number. There are more than four hundred officials, about The salary required is more than 300,000 guan. There are more than 4,000 officials, about 500,000 guan. The total of the two is about 1 million guan."
Li Yanxian opened his mouth and couldn't help but said: "Including the money the army lacks, it's 3.5 million yuan!"
Wang Xiaolie breathed out softly and said: "Three and a half million yuan is not unavailable. It's just that distributing salary money in this way will affect the development of the local area. If the local area does not develop, the money will become less and less spent. .This is a dilemma!”
Chen Qiudao said: "These days, for these more than three million yuan, I don't think about food or tea, and I can't think of a way. I heard from the town governor, is this not difficult? If it is not difficult, why should we worry!"
Wang Xiaolie said: "It is very difficult to say this, but it is actually easy to say it is easy. We have banks, and the people are short of money. The cash collected from doing business with other places can be deposited in the bank for the purpose of this development association." The money can be made several times out of thin air. Coupled with supply and marketing cooperatives, shopping malls and many other places that make money, more than three million yuan can still be collected. But the money is in the bank, and the bank can lend. First, the bank charges interest for lending. , Secondly, localities can do many things with cash. For example, building bridges, paving roads, digging canals, and building ponds will all be beneficial to the future."
Having said this, Wang Xiaolie said: "That's all, nothing is bigger than raising troops. That's it. First ensure the army uses it, and then the local government will find a way. As long as the business is good, you can still get the money. "
The others nodded and said nothing. Wang Xiaolie said that the money was enough, what else could others say?
In fact, the officers are mainly lower-level officers, and their salary is less than 2 million yuan. Just now everyone was overestimating. However, military expenditures include military personnel's salary and other equipment and training. The army now has sufficient food, and some of this can be offset by food.
In the land of eight states, millions of stones of grain were produced, which was a huge figure that other warlords dared not even think of. The main reason is that Wangxiao hunting does not disturb the people, and the official supply of cattle, farm tools and seeds is preferential, so the output is high. Another thing is that the grain tax of three dou is indeed heavy. Only the prefectures and counties with the heaviest taxes in the Song Dynasty had this figure. The most important thing for it to be implemented is that large local households have been eliminated and various additional taxes have been cancelled. The actual burden on farmers has actually been reduced. One of them is not to collect money from farmers.
Among the official income of the Song Dynasty, agricultural taxes and money taxes accounted for the majority. It varies from place to place, and in some places it is very heavy. The output of farmers is food, and once they receive money, it is a very heavy burden. Not to mention the Song Dynasty, but also the New China in later generations. In the 1990s, rural areas collected more money, which made it difficult for farmers to afford it, and various problems occurred.
Wang Xiaolie did not need the high accumulation of later generations, nor did he need heavy taxes to support the city and a large number of civil servants, mainly soldiers. After the food is sufficient, the army has a basic guarantee. What remains is how to make the officers and soldiers live a better life.
After carefully calculating all the expenses, Wang Xiaolie felt that it should be what he could afford at the moment, and he felt much more cheerful. In the past, China was in a state of lack of currency for a long time. By using Huizi, it could actually sustain it for a period of time. As industry and commerce develop in the future and money is recovered in an orderly manner, industrial taxes should be able to support government spending.
