"Your Majesty, please lend me a pen, ink, paper, inkstone, and desk!"
Chongzhen nodded slightly towards Wang Chengen, and Wang Chengen waved towards the back side of the platform.
The Fang family and others quickly rushed to the back, and in just a few breaths they carried a table, pen, ink, paper and inkstone to the middle of the Huangji Hall.
A minister from the Ministry of Revenue said in a low voice, "Mr. British, I'm here to grind ink for you!"
The British Duke stood in front of the writing desk and said: "Everyone, please don't interrupt at will when our Duke is settling the accounts later. If you have any questions after the calculation is over, ask questions."
After saying this, the British official flexed his wrist and dipped his pen in ink.
"Everyone, are you ready? When you are ready, my lord will begin!"
"My father-in-law has studied the exchange market carefully these days and has some insights. I already know where to get money.
“In the first place, the imperial court provided space, built warehouses, built carriages, etc., and rented them to merchants.
Depending on the goods transported by the merchant, the rental price will be different.
Such as porcelain, tea, furs, medicinal materials, etc. These have different values, and the prices will naturally be different.
There are two types here. One is just renting a warehouse, and they keep the goods themselves. Whether they are lost or burned, it has nothing to do with us.
The second is that it is managed by the mutual market officials. Even if the money they keep for safekeeping is caught in a fire or stolen, we can compensate it according to the market price.
This is similar to the methods of escort agencies in the world, but the difference is that the court can tell the truth.
It is difficult to estimate how much money this part can earn for the time being, but the country's public assessor has figured it out. As long as these businessmen are not stupid, they will be handed over to us for safekeeping, which saves trouble and peace of mind.
Let's take a warehouse as ten taels of silver. Two hundred caravans are equivalent to two thousand taels, which is 60,000 taels a month and 720,000 taels a year.
Don't think that ten taels is expensive. Use ten taels to bet on the safety of a thousand taels of goods. This is a good deal. After all, you are not afraid of ten thousand, just in case! "
hiss……
There were gasps of air in the Huangji Palace. I didn't expect that the British Open Bureau would be so fierce.
Just by keeping it in a warehouse, they could earn seven to eight hundred thousand taels of silver a year, which simply subverted their imagination.
"Of course, this is just an idea. Whether it can be realized or not is hard to say right now. Let's ignore it for now."
The British public shook his head and continued: "The second part, since it is a transaction, it is necessary to reach a suitable price for both parties, and perhaps wait for a suitable buyer. This requires staying in the mutual market for at least one day, and as long as three to five days. day.
In such a mutual market, we need supporting restaurants, inns, and shops for daily necessities. We sell part of the land to merchants, and the one with the highest price gets it.
According to the fact that 5,000 people enter the market every day, even if 20% want to stay overnight, that is still 1,000 people, which requires at least ten restaurants and ten inns.
They are all businessmen. A meal for four people costing half a tael is not expensive, right?
A thousand people need 250 tables, and one meal costs 125 taels. Breakfast is nothing, so two meals are needed, which is 250 taels of silver a day.
If an inn can accommodate three people per room, we will charge one denarius per room. This will require 333 guest rooms, totaling thirty taels and three denarii.
It’s not too much for the proprietors and shopkeepers to live above their heads. For accommodation, let’s count it as forty taels a day.
Food and accommodation, combined, amount to two hundred and ninety taels of silver a day.
There are three hundred and sixty-five days in a year, which is one hundred and five thousand eight hundred and fifty taels of silver. On average, a restaurant or inn has a turnover of 5,300 taels in a year.
Based on the above, we can sell each acre of land for 500 taels a year, which is not expensive. These twenty restaurants and inns can earn 10,000 taels from the land alone;
The third source is that the shops in the mutual market also need to collect taxes... Let's calculate it based on the turnover of three hundred taels per day. The tax is one for thirty, and the tax is ten taels per day, which is also 3,600 taels per year! "
At this point, the British father suddenly raised his head and looked at everyone: "Of course, these can be ignored, after all, you can't make much money!"
The ministers who were still counting with their fingers suddenly shook their hands and forgot about the data they had just calculated.
Three to forty thousand taels of silver, you say it’s nothing?
Is it because the UK is in trouble, or is the Ming Dynasty’s treasury full?
You let us ignore the three sources, so why do you count him?
Feeling the resentment of everyone, the British Duke smiled lightly, dipped his brush in ink, and continued while writing: "The fourth aspect, taxing caravans trading in the mutual market, is the bulk of the entire mutual market.
There are two hundred caravans a day, and based on the minimum cargo of one thousand taels per caravan, the day is two hundred thousand taels of silver and thirty taels of tax. The daily tax collected is 6,700 taels.
There are three hundred and sixty-five days in a year, which is a total of two million four hundred and forty-five thousand five hundred taels.
Of course, natural disasters, man-made disasters, etc. cannot be traded all year round, so let's get a 40% discount, which is also true for a year... 1,467,300 taels.
After all, I have to calculate it. It is conservatively estimated to be more than 1.5 million taels a year. My official estimate of one million taels is still conservative! "
The British Duke pushed the calculated paper aside, picked up the tea prepared by the Fang family and drank it down. His dry throat instantly felt better.
He felt comfortable, but the officials were stunned, staring straight at the last data on the paper, their eyes full of shock.
Although they are not officials of the Ministry of Household Affairs, they are ministers who can stand in the Huangji Hall and can pass the math. The whole process of British public affairs is no problem.
If it is right, taxation of one million taels a year is absolutely no problem.
Bang...dang...
The sound of teacups being released by the British public awakened the shocked ministers.
Li Bu Shangshu Fang's magnificent eyes looked at Bi Ziyan, the Hu Bu Shangshu, with burning eyes: "Bi Shangshu, you are the Hu Bu Shangshu and are proficient in accounting. Come and check whether the calculation just made by the British Master is correct or not!"
Bi Ziyan did not respond, but looked at Duke Ying: "Mr. Ying, it's not that I don't believe you. It's really unbelievable. I want to check it out. I'm offended!"
"Bi Shangshu, please!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a young eunuch placed the abacus he had just taken on the table.
Bi Ziyan was not polite. He took a deep breath and reached out to pick up the abacus. His dry fingers were flying on the abacus, like a flying elf, extremely dexterous.
It is impossible to tell that this is the speed of a sixty-year-old man.
Crackling... For a moment, the pleasant sound of abacus resounded in Huangji Hall.
Fortunately, there wasn't much data, it was just time to count interest rates, and the sound of the abacus suddenly stopped.
Bi Ziyan raised his head and looked at the ministers, suppressing his excitement: "Yes, they are all right, the British calculations are all right!"
hiss……
The ministers took a breath, it was really shocking.
You must know that the annual tax revenue of the Ming Dynasty is about 28 million to 30 million, of which the commercial tax is only about 4 million taels.
And this one mutual market can have about 1.5 million, what an exaggeration.
When the officials were shocked, one person suddenly said: "No, there is something wrong with this data!"
