Call of the Heroes of Chaos in Another World

Chapter 2091 The Dispute over the Ministry of Commerce, and the Opinions of the Officials

Although the matter of moving the capital had never been explicitly stated, the court officials and the public had long been prepared for it.

Officials from the Hebei faction, though harboring many complaints, were powerless to retaliate against the powerful.

Wang Yu's origins can be traced back to Hebei, but that doesn't mean his core team is also from the Hebei faction.

Therefore, although the Hebei faction, with its natural advantages, was not weak in the court, it could not change this fact.

After all, the idea of ​​moving the capital was not just the opinion of most of the officials; most importantly, Wang Yu, who was above them, had been considering this matter all along.

In fact, after gaining a certain advantage in the Battle of Henan, Zhao Anling and Guan Zhong had already begun preparations to move the capital.

Only after the battle of Henan was decided could the civil and military officials, as well as the empress and crown prince's entourage, set off immediately.

And just yesterday, the first batch of officials finally arrived in Tianjing.

The relocation of the capital cannot be accomplished overnight, and it is even more impossible to move all the people and resources there at once.

Such a major event naturally requires a planned and regulated relocation process, carried out in batches to ensure that no chaos is caused during the process.

However, the first group to arrive consisted of the highest-ranking civil and military officials. Similarly, among the concubines in the harem, only a few, including the Empress, accompanied the first group; the rest arrived in subsequent groups.

However, the officials, weary from their journey, had only just had a good night's sleep when they received rumors that the six ministries were about to be expanded into seven.

Not only that, the seventh department is actually the Ministry of Commerce.

Therefore, they all became restless and arrived at the palace early in the morning to confirm the news with Wang Yu.

As for Wang Yu, he naturally wouldn't hide anything about it, since this was indeed part of his plan. In fact, without his authorization, how could such a rumor have possibly spread? It was merely a test of the court's reaction!

Morning dew still clung to the golden dragon pillars of the Golden Palace in Tianjing. Wang Yu sat leisurely on the Nine-Dragon Throne, his fingertips caressing the warm jade tablet.

The hall below was filled with officials in red and purple robes. Whether all the civil and military officials had arrived was uncertain, as most were still in Yedu. However, those who truly held power in the court had all arrived.

The scent of sandalwood mingled with the fragrance of ink in the hall as the Imperial Censor Zhao Nanping stepped forward, holding an ivory tablet.

The Imperial Censor was nominally a second-rank official, on par with the high-ranking officials of the Six Ministries. However, in terms of actual power, they were not necessarily comparable to the high-ranking officials of the Six Ministries. Yet, in terms of status, they were in no way inferior, and even rivaled the Left and Right Chancellors above them, often earning the nickname of Deputy Chancellor.

The officials of the Censorate were called "censors," and these officials themselves were critics, serving as a check on power in the court.

The purpose of the Censorate was to supervise officials, and it could even impeach princes. Therefore, the Censorate was, to some extent, a sword hanging over the heads of certain officials.

Some of the most outspoken critics in the Censorate even dared to criticize not only the officials but also the emperor himself in court.

As for being flogged in court, that's an honor on a censor's resume. If it costs them their lives, it might even play right into the hands of some censors. If a censor loses their life for speaking frankly and honestly, it's truly something that will go down in history.

Therefore, many officials in the court did not like these people. However, in a sense, the court really could not do without these censors.

However, Zhao Nanping was indeed an exception; who didn't know that this old guy was extremely shrewd?
Many people understand that he was appointed to the important position of Imperial Censor by Wang Yu not because he was suitable for the position, but simply because, given the old man's age, he could only serve for a few more years at most, so he was temporarily promoted.

As the vanguard in Wang Yu's attempt to become emperor, this person naturally deserves to be promoted to the position of Imperial Censor, which is better than making him one of the high-ranking officials in the Six Ministries.

But before today, who would have thought that this old man would be the first to stand up?

"Your Majesty, last night, this old minister observed the stars and there is a sign that Mars may be about to offend the ruler."

His aged voice was like a rusty gong: "The word 'merchant' represents the metal element, and when metal is excessive, it harms the wood element. If we were to establish a Ministry of Commerce again, I fear it would shake the very foundation of our great Han Dynasty's agricultural system."

In this alternate world, although commerce holds a much stronger position than in ancient times on Earth, and there is no deliberate policy of prioritizing agriculture over commerce, it still cannot compare to agriculture in terms of importance.

The trade-off between agriculture and commerce is inevitable before productivity reaches a certain level. It's not that commerce is unimportant if productivity doesn't increase, but it simply cannot compare to the importance of agriculture.

The changes in the proportions of various industries are due to the development of productivity, not because the rulers think that any particular industry is more important.

In ancient times, many famous ministers, led by Shang Yang, proposed or even supported measures to prioritize agriculture and suppress commerce. Could it be that none of these famous figures could see the benefits of commerce?
It's not that they couldn't see it! It's just that it was an inevitable trend of the times.

Commerce can indeed generate more tax revenue, but if it affects agriculture and leads to a lack of food, that can be truly fatal!
In situations of insufficient productivity, commerce will inevitably impact agriculture.

The same applies in this alternate world of apocalypse. Even without suppressing commerce, it still cannot compare to agriculture.

Although there were four imperial merchants, they belonged to the aristocratic class, not the merchant class. What other merchants could possibly hope to achieve such a status?

The officials present were not only afraid that the emergence of a new department would disrupt the power balance in the court, after all, a department on par with the Six Ministries was no small department.

At the same time, what they were more worried about was that the emergence of the Ministry of Commerce would affect the balance between agriculture and commerce.

"Does Minister Zhao know that last year's border taxes in Yanbei were 60% less than during the Qiancang era?"

Wang Yu gestured to the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial to bring out the yellow silk account books, "However, the flow of merchant caravans at the border has more than tripled."

Compared to the strength of the Four Rivers, Yanbei was indeed barren, but the commercial taxes from the Yanbei border were a large part of Yanbei's revenue.

In the midst of chaos, war did not deter these merchants who frequently traveled between the Central Plains and the grasslands; on the contrary, it further stimulated them.

It is precisely because of the chaos of the times that they have more opportunities to profit.

The former Da Cang Dynasty and Yanbei, with their rich history, had their own horse farms and established their own horse administration. However, Zhendong and Zhennan, which were mainly composed of infantry, did not have their own horse farms.

Not to mention the Great Yan, which had absolutely no foundation whatsoever.

Therefore, being able to sell warhorses from the Northern Barbarians to these places was still an extremely expensive business.

Besides warhorses, there were also a few oxen for plowing.

In an era dominated by an agricultural economy, oxen were essential everywhere. The fact that Wang Yu had barely eaten beef throughout his life speaks volumes.

In recent years, the various forces of the Northern Barbarians have not yet recovered from the snow disaster. If they can overcome this crisis, the prices of grain, fodder, and other supplies can also be sky-high.

Therefore, with such exorbitant profits, how could one possibly stop merchants from traveling between the two places?
The volume of merchants moving around has increased, but the amount of tax they pay has decreased, which is obviously problematic.

After all, it's the same thing to pay taxes. If you earn ten taels of silver, you only have to pay two or three taels. But for those merchants, they may have earned 100,000 taels of silver, but they still have to pay 20,000 or 30,000 taels.

Although the proportions may seem similar on the surface, can the feelings they evoke when they finally meet be the same?

Not to mention, those who pay 20,000 or 30,000 taels of commercial tax are not considered big merchants. Those wealthy merchants might pay hundreds of thousands of taels a year.

The taxes paid annually by the four imperial merchants above them were astronomical figures.

While the four major imperial merchants may not be entirely free of tax evasion, it was at least a minority of their families involved. The vast majority, adhering to their family's unique survival strategies, would not engage in such activities.

At their level, many things are more important than taxes. For them, there are more reasonable means to accomplish such things.

After all, they were not essentially a merchant class, but a powerful aristocratic class, and the largest one at that.

Therefore, the fact that most of the four imperial merchants did not evade taxes does not mean that they did nothing.

If the imperial court granted the four imperial merchants special policies, they could naturally and legally pay less tax. And they, however, had a way to do just that.

But whether it's other merchants trying every means to evade taxes, or the four imperial merchants taking advantage of the policies granted to them by the court, these are all problems that Wang Yu needs to solve.

Money is always a problem for the imperial court. Taxes are its lifeblood.

"Your Majesty, these are the accounts of the Yanbei Ironworks."

Chen Pingping, the deputy commander of the Luo Wang (Net of Heaven), took out a roll of yellowed parchment from his sleeve.

Although Zhao Gao was the chief commander of the Luo Wang (Net of Heaven), he was also one of the Five Supervisors and was not suitable to stand with the other officials.

Therefore, if members of the Luo Wang (Net of Heaven) were required to attend court, one of the two deputy commanders would usually take their place.

"According to the Han law, each furnace of molten iron should be taxed three taels of silver, but in reality..." Chen Pingping said in a flat tone as he opened the account book, "The ironworks in Yanbei, which are supervised by the government and run by merchants, evaded a total of 247,000 taels of taxes last year!"

The longer a power structure has been solidified, the greater the hidden problems will be. And Yanbei is naturally the first to bear the brunt of these problems.

After all, in the other regions, power was reshuffled during the conquests. Only Yanbei, being an inherited territory, experienced the least power turmoil.

Therefore, when problems arise, Yanbei is always the first to be affected.

"Two hundred and forty-seven thousand taels of silver is enough for me to support twenty or thirty thousand soldiers of the Han Dynasty! And this is just for the iron smelting business in Yanbei!" Wang Yu said quietly.

In fact, the number Wang Yu mentioned was exaggerated.

One hundred thousand taels of silver can support about ten thousand soldiers, and two hundred and forty-seven thousand taels can support about twenty-five thousand soldiers. Therefore, from this perspective, the number of twenty to thirty thousand soldiers mentioned by Wang Yu is not a problem.

However, this is a very basic number, calculated based on the most ordinary infantry.

Can the cost of maintaining a heavy infantryman be the same as that of a light infantryman? And can the cost of maintaining a cavalryman be the same as that of an infantryman? Not to mention heavy cavalry! In addition, there are those elite battalions.

Therefore, the figure of 20,000 to 30,000 troops is obviously an exaggeration.

However, even from this small detail, one can see the bigger picture and the hidden problems behind it. Just as Wang Yu said, this is only in Yanbei, focusing on iron smelting!
“Your Majesty, the ‘Martial Rites’ states: ‘Craftsmen reside in their shops, and merchants do not engage in trade.’ If a Ministry of Commerce is established alongside the Six Ministries, it would be a reversal of yin and yang, and would disrupt the moral order established over thousands of years!” Zhao Changkong said, his aged body trembling.

"Does Imperial Censor Zhao know that your grandson has opened three shops in Yedu this year?" Chen Pingping said, turning around.

Civil and military officials were allowed to have their own thoughts, and they could express their political views in court. Even if these political views differed from the emperor's, it didn't matter.

However, the Net of Heaven is different; they are the emperor's weapon, and the emperor's thoughts are their thoughts.

A person can have their own thoughts, but a knife cannot. Once a knife develops its own thoughts, it is likely to become unusable.

Within a faction, people are needed, but so are weapons.

“Your Majesty, many merchants are greedy and forget morality. Sixty years ago, during the great famine in Zhaode, merchants, driven by greed, inflated grain prices, ultimately charging a thousand coins for a bushel of rice. This is still fresh in our minds!” Di Renjie, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, also spoke up.

Even Di Renjie voiced his opposition, which shows the stance of the majority of the officials below.

"Does Your Majesty know why agriculture and sericulture have been valued throughout history?" The Vice Minister of Revenue pointed his withered finger towards the outside of the palace, where a light drizzle was falling.

"If this rain turns into a torrential downpour, within ten days, tens of thousands of acres of fertile land in Henan will suffer a complete crop failure. At that time, no matter how much gold and silver your Ministry of Commerce piles up, will you be able to produce even half a grain of rice to satisfy your hunger?"

Sixty years ago, the great disaster in Zhaode was caused by torrential rain, but it didn't happen in Henan. Of course, although it's raining in Henan now, and has been raining for several days, it's just light rain and there's no way it could cause a major disaster. This old minister was just using this analogy.

"Indeed, merchants have always profited from the common people. Throughout history, there have been countless great upheavals, with merchants openly or secretly fueling the flames."

"Leaving aside distant matters, let's talk about what's close at hand. As far as this old minister knows, various large and small caravans along the border are smuggling pig iron to the Sun Kingdom, transporting smuggled salt to the Northern Barbarians, and selling medicine to the Eastern Barbarians!" Imperial Censor Zhao Nanping said again in a nonchalant tone.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Anling, the Left Chancellor who was at the head of the civil officials in the court, blinked as if he wanted to say something, but remained silent.

Although both men shared the surname Zhao and were veteran officials of Yanbei, they had absolutely no relation to each other.

After all, one of them is an outsider, and the other is a local.

Now, Zhao Anling understood why this usually shrewd old man had taken the initiative to step forward this time.
This is because he wanted to do something for the monarch before he retired, so as to save face for his descendants.

Sure enough, just moments before they were vehemently resisting the Ministry of Commerce, they suddenly started targeting those imperial merchants.