A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 452
The Four King Kong are very polite to Wu Huaiyu.

But Huaiyu knew that these were old foxes with deep morality, and none of them were easy to get along with.

In the office of Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, I met with the main officials of the National Finance Department. In the future, I will be in charge of finance, and I will mainly rely on these two servants and two ministers, as well as four Langzhong and two Shaoqing.

"After you go back, please take stock of the accounts of your respective competent departments. At the next branch meeting, we will audit together."

Wu Huaiyu, the planner, was ordered to be in charge of finances, and the most important thing was to judge the title of Duzhi.

The minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs can't control Taifu Temple and Sinong Temple, but he can judge Duzhi.

After the 24th case, there was actually an informal Duzhi Envoy, which commanded the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Sinong Temple, and Taifu Temple. Wu Huaiyu, the Duzhi Envoy, was in charge of the national money and grain cashiers and balanced fiscal revenue and expenditure.

When a new official takes office, he always burns three fires.

Wu Huaiyu believes that the most important thing right now is to straighten out the organization, after all, there was no such a degree of support before.

After sorting out the books and clearing up the family background, the next step is to live within our means, formulate financial budgets, and strengthen auditing and cashiers.

Adding new sources of income is also a top priority.

He didn't come to check the old accounts to clear up the old background. His main task of this plan was to get money for the emperor. As for whether there were any problems with the previous accounts, corruption and deficits by officials were not the primary priority.

Launching a general offensive against Turkic Jieli next fall has been officially included in Datang's strategic plan, and the time has already been set, and all departments must act around this plan.

The emperor also deliberately promoted Li Jing to be Minister of the Ministry of War, and started to be in charge of the crusade plan. Wu Huaiyu, as the minister, had to take care of the money and food, and ensure the logistics.

When the troops are dispatched in autumn next year, if they are not prepared enough, then the people in the three yamen will not be able to bear the consequences.

If the soldiers and horses are not moving, the grain and grass will go first.

Wu Huaiyu not only had to raise enough military rations, horses and grass for the imperial court, but also had to find a way to transfer the food and grass to the frontiers for backup. These were very challenging.

Sinon Qing Dou Jing couldn't wait to ask Huaiyu what to do. He is in charge of the country's grain storage and cashier, and the pressure is no less than that of Wu Huaiyu.

Although he is the son of Dou Kang, Prime Minister of Wude, the cousin of today's emperor, the governor of Bingzhou, and the first Secretary of Agriculture in Zhenguan, he still feels powerless for the task at hand.

As a result, the imperial court received limited rented grain every year, and Sinong Temple had been struggling to transfer the insufficient grain to Guanzhong every year. The grain from the Jianghuai River was transferred to Chang'an, and the consumption on the road was twice that of the grain itself.

Especially the mountain road in Shanzhou, which is not navigable and has to be transshipped hundreds of miles in the mountains, is a big project every year, and we have to go all out.

Now there is only one and a half years left, and the imperial court said that to prepare food and grass for a [-]-strong army, it has to be stored in frontier areas such as You, Bing, Ling, Xia, Shuo, and Yun in advance.

"To tell the truth, our Sinong Temple doesn't have enough food and grass at all, and we don't have the ability to transfer so much food and grass,"

The eldest cousin is also approaching sixty years old, with gray hair all over his head. It is not easy to be a Secretary of Agriculture. It is difficult enough to ensure the food supply in Chang'an and the salary of all officials.

"What's the best plan for Da Sinong?"

"It's hard for a clever woman to cook without rice, and I have nothing to do. The time is too short. In a year and a half, there will not be so much food growing in the field. The only way I can think of is to cultivate wasteland on the edge of the river, but this It’s just a drop in the bucket.”

Dou Jing hoped that Wu Huaiyu would find a way.

The other three King Kongs also looked at Huaiyu without making a sound.

"I have a countermeasure," Wu Huaiyu said in a calm manner. I didn't want to talk about it today, I just wanted to say hello, but since the four kings came up to see the real chapter, I had to show my hands.

"What Da Sinong just said is indeed a difficult problem, but it is not without a solution. The key lies in salt."

"Salt?"

Dou Jing was puzzled as it was obviously about food, but how did it involve salt.

Wu Huaiyu looked at him, he looked a lot like his son-in-law Dou Dan, the two were brothers, Dou's son-in-law was sent to the governor of Liangzhou, and the governor Liang Yang Baxing and other six states' military forces, the two brothers went out one by one and returned to Beijing.

"When I went to Longyou with Dou Shilang to join the army, I encountered the shortage of food, grass and military supplies. At that time, I found that there were three large salt fields in Qinwei. People in Longyou can also eat cheaper salt, and even the surrounding Qiangdi tribes also traded cattle and horses for salt."

"I once offered a policy to His Majesty. The Chinese salt law was established. The imperial court monopolized the sale of salt, and the government collected it by the people, and the merchants sold it. The imperial court encouraged merchants to transport grain and grass to the border for the army, and then exchanged it for salt. Go to the salt warehouse to get salt and sell it."

The key to the Kaizhong Salt Law is to allow the court to monopolize and control salt first, so that merchants who want to obtain salt sales must first help the court transport grain and grass to the border for exchange, or they need to buy and sell grain and grass to the border for exchange.

The most important thing about this open salt method is to get the salt merchants to help, and at the same time, there must be enough interest to attract them. After this trip, they have to make money, and they may even make more than before, so they will be motivated.

Wu Huaiyu's suggestion was discussed by the imperial court before, but Du Ruhui and other prime ministers were opposed to it at the time, thinking that this method was complicated, had a great impact, and was difficult to implement, so it was shelved.

Now that Wu Huaiyu has made a plan, it is impossible for him to directly conjure up money and food, let alone send a large amount of food, grass and military supplies to the border.

Salt monopoly, this is a new policy that has been established now, and it also has the basis of the Chinese Salt Law.

The salt monopoly policy has also been attacked in the court, but Li Shimin also knows that the treasury is empty, so in order to solve the financial problem, he can only do so.

If the court is short of food, it will exchange salt for food. If the court cannot afford the transportation and consumption, it will turn it into a business and let the merchants come.

"What about the specific method?" Tai Fuqing Han Zhongliang asked.

When Wu Huaiyu first opened the Zhongyan Law, Han Zhongliang was the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and he was also one of the opponents.

"The method is not complicated. Now the imperial court has implemented a salt monopoly, and all salt farms have implemented the policy of private government revenue, commercial transportation and commercial sales. The only thing that is the same as before is that now after the salt is produced, it must first be valued and then evaluated. It is monopolized to the imperial court and collected in various salt warehouses, and cannot be sold directly.

Salt merchants can only buy salt from the imperial salt warehouse.

Now it's just a matter of taking money directly to the salt warehouse to sell salt, instead of transporting grain and grass to the border gate to exchange salt, and then going to the salt warehouse to supply salt. "

"Is this method too complicated?" Han Zhongliang still didn't think so.

"We don't need to use the Chinese method for everything. We first estimate the grain and grass needed at the border, and then publish the list in the merchant newspaper. The salt merchants must first undertake the task, and then purchase it by themselves or just transport it for the court. Salt farms support salt, and finally sell it in the market."

The price of open salt will definitely be cheaper than buying salt directly from the salt warehouse to pay taxes, and it will be profitable.

As long as the report is successful in advance, it is to budget the required food, grass, cloth and other military supplies, formulate the converted price and freight, and openly invite investment. It is more open and transparent, leaving enough profits for the merchants, and attracting them to undertake.

There are different prices for directly purchasing grain, grass, materials, etc. to the border, or just undertaking the transportation task, and the imperial court finally pays by paying in salt.

"It seems that the imperial court does not spend a penny. It not only solves the military needs such as food, grass, cloth, etc., but also does not need to bear the transportation, recruit the people, and bear the cost of the road. As for the money, doesn’t this have to be paid for by the treasury?”

"What's the difference between purchasing directly from the treasury and expropriating people for transportation?" Han Zhongliang questioned.

Wu Huaiyu's answer is that the government-run business was changed to a commercial one, which can be more flexible and efficient. The government recruited a group of civilians to transport grain and grass to the border, which was very inefficient and had a great impact on the people's farming and production. , manpower, chariots and other tools, they are more efficient.

It is true that they are even more flexible and efficient in purchasing materials, etc.

Of course, opening up China and France can also reduce some intermediate links. The imperial court sells salt to get money, then purchases materials, and then enlists civilian labor for transportation. This link is more complicated.

If it is directly changed to the method of opening salt, the court will have much less to do to attract investment, transport grain in exchange for quotations, and obtain salt by quotation.

The government's efficiency cost is much higher than that of businessmen.

The remaining salt other than the salt required by Kaizhong can be sold directly to salt merchants without transporting grain for food, but the price of this salt must be higher, and the profit is less than that earned by Kaizhongfa.

Only in this way can the merchants be stimulated to transport grain to the border, and even encourage some merchants to directly reclaim wasteland and farm land in the borderlands. At that time, they can directly exchange the grain from the border land to the nearest one. The biggest cost of grain transportation is the cost of the road. Especially for long-distance, if you can grow food in border areas, it will be more profitable.

The result of this is that the merchants benefit, and the imperial court also benefits. After all, the frontier is sparsely populated and needs to be developed, and the army guarding the frontier needs more food and grass.

It would of course be best for the imperial court if the frontier land could produce supplies.

But no matter whether it is feasible or not, the Chinese law is adopted. Now the imperial court is implementing the salt monopoly law. If you want to use salt to lead the branch, the most important point is that you can use as much salt as you want. You must not use too much salt, which will cause endless troubles.

Yanyin has to be a simple certificate, which is the qualification certificate for buying salt. You can get the corresponding amount of salt with the salt, and pay money and taxes at the same time.

After paying the salt money and paying the salt tax, and receiving the corresponding amount of salt, you can sell it freely, and the court will no longer control it, and don't engage in any division of operations, or even a fixed salt merchant status, which is prone to problems.

Now the basic salt price is fixed, [-] renminbi for bucket salt and [-] renminbi for salt tax, which may be slightly adjusted depending on the location of the salt farm.

Both production and sales are handed over to merchants, and the imperial court is only responsible for wholesale.

Compared with the official system of the imperial court, it must be simpler and more efficient. Although the profit will be less, the cost is also low.

What the imperial court has to do now is to monopolize all the salt, make good grains of salt and put it in the warehouse, and concentrate on wholesale, earning some wholesale price difference, and collecting the salt monopoly tax at the same time.

Yanyin is equivalent to a food stamp, which is an indicator. When buying salt, you must have a salt. Salt.

For convenience, salt quotations have a fixed denomination, such as one hundred catties per quotation, or one stone per quotation, or large, medium and small quotations, which is equivalent to a currency in disguise. Yin, it is worth [-] yuan, off a piece of silk.

For salt merchants transporting grain to the border, the imperial court has set prices for materials such as grain, grass, cloth, etc. to attract merchants according to the distance of the border, or the freight for separate transportation. .

Therefore, in Wu Huaiyu's plan, the imperial government's salt administration will be wholesale in the future, and the Chinese salt law will be developed.

"Everyone, we still have a year and a half to prepare food and supplies. Let's walk on two legs and register with one leg. In the future, we must obtain a license from the imperial court to make salt, and all the salt we make must be sold exclusively. To the imperial salt warehouse, the sale of illegal salt must be severely cracked down according to law.

The second is to do a good job in the military budget, the figures must be accurate, and investment should be attracted according to the needs, and the implementation will be carried out, and the grain and grass will be transferred and stored in place as soon as possible. "

Wu Huaiyu himself also runs a salt business. He has his own salt-making workshops in Zhangzhou, Longyou, Lingzhou, and Yanzhou.

With the new law of the imperial court now, there will be multiple intermediate wholesalers in the future, which will be the imperial court.The salt boiled by the Wu family's own salt stove had to be sold to the imperial salt warehouse first, and could not be sold privately to others, nor could it be sold by itself.

If you want to sell salt, you can go to the salt warehouse to open the salt, pay the tax and receive the salt, and sell it as you like.

In this way, the court will have more wholesale profits, and it can also guarantee the income of salt tax. After all, you have to pay taxes at the same time when you buy salt, instead of filing taxes after the fact. There is no chance of tax evasion.

For the salt business of the Wu family, it will definitely have an impact. At least selling salt by yourself will cost more, and salt production will also have an impact. The imperial court will buy it uniformly, even if it has to wait for the price, it is definitely not as good as pure free trade. .

Of course, from the perspective of the imperial court, it is a good thing that doing so can increase fiscal revenue.

Anyway, there are not so many ways to have the best of both worlds.

Wu Huaiyu has a large amount of land in Shuofang, and many slaves were transported to farm there. The implementation of the Chinese law is also good news for Wu Huaiyu. The grain grown in the frontier is directly used for the army in exchange for salt. The benefits are very high. After all, when the imperial court formulates its budget, it mainly calculates according to the price of food in the border areas, or even the cost of purchasing and transporting from the mainland.
Whoever can have food in the frontier will naturally make a lot of money.

Dou salt ten qian, tax increase ten qian, the basic salt price and tax after the salt law are indeed relatively restrained, you must know that after the Anshi Rebellion in history, the court that was short of money, after the implementation of the salt monopoly, directly set the price on the salt price , ten times as tax.

A bucket of salt is worth ten cents, plus a salt tax of one hundred, and a bucket of salt is sold at a wholesale price of one hundred and one.

From then on, Datang private salt dealers sprung up like mushrooms after a spring rain, and they were banned endlessly. Huang Chao, Zhu Wen, Qian Liu and others who finally buried Datang were almost all private salt dealers.

Wu Huaiyu plans to improve the fire salt bricks produced by the salt stove of the Wu family in the future, apply to become medicines, and sell them in Qianjintang Pharmacy.

Medicinal salt is not table salt, so naturally there is no need to return the salt to the warehouse, and the fire salt will take the high-end route.

Shangguan a word, Xiaguan run broken legs.

Wu Huaiyu's plan came out, enough for the officials below to keep busy.

(End of this chapter)