I seek economic hegemony in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 261: War fortune is made

Liu Lang stayed in Jiangling for a few days, presented the items on the ship, and then left.

As for Zhuge Rong, I didn't even meet him.

Whether Zhuge Rong is taken away or not is not important. What is important is expressing to Li Heng that he hopes to take Zhuge Rong away.

The first day of April, Chengdu.

Dong Yun and Meng Guang came to the Prime Minister's Mansion with sad faces.

"It's just in time. I received an urgent report from the Prime Minister a few days ago that Guanzhong still needs ten thousand pairs of armor." Jiang Wan said, "I went to the Ministry of Industry and asked, and the Ministry of Industry said that Da Si Nong won't pay?"

"Gong Yan, I have no money!"

"No money?" Jiang Wan put down the pen in his hand and glanced at Meng Guang doubtfully, "The imperial court not only had refined salt, but also textiles and papermaking, and also sold large quantities of blue and white porcelain. Did it make a lot of money from Wu and Wei? "

"Everything earned from the Wei Kingdom is left in Guanzhong, and what is earned from the Wu Kingdom has been used up."

"Don't make fun of me."

"I have checked the accounts, and now I sell 5600 pieces of silk, 3500 pieces of blue and white porcelain, and jins of refined salt every month. The total income is about million guan, of which million guan is traded in Guanzhong and Longyou. There is almost no balance in Guanzhong. , starting from the first month of this year, the court’s expenses have increased sharply.”

Meng Guang sighed, now the accounts are getting more and more difficult to calculate.

"To be precise, since last year, the cost has increased greatly, especially for the weapons inspection. Three ordnance inspections have been set up in Guanzhong, Jingshi, and Chongqing. The scale of each ordnance inspection this year is larger than last year. More than ten times bigger.”

"Especially since the general thought that the armor should be manufactured in batches, the prime minister also agreed to his proposal. The money earned would be quickly consumed after being invested in the weapons inspection."

"The Chongqing Ordnance Supervisor alone burns 1500 million arrows a month. When the general went east this time, he only made a million arrows, and he was still working day and night."

"The number of people mining iron ore has expanded from the original 3,000 to the current 20,000."

"A large amount of grain is transported to the mining area, and the consumption in the process is also huge."

"Now the officials of Dasi Nongdu Branch only do three things every day, giving money, food, and keeping accounts."

Jiang Wan also had a headache when he heard these numbers.

Guan, a unit for measuring money, was not widely used during the Three Kingdoms era.

But now the Han Dynasty's financial system is slowly being built. The amount of money is too large, one dollar is one hundred dollars. This not only brings trouble to statistics, but also makes accounting difficult.

So Li Heng began to focus on using "Guan" as the unit of coins.

The key here is one thousand coins.

According to the monetary system of the Tang and Song Dynasties, one thousand coins equaled one thousand coins.

But one Shu coin is worth one hundred coins, so the one here is actually only ten coins.

An interesting thing happened here. Meng Guang said that he earned 3500 million yuan every month. This sounds very scary at first glance.

After all, during the prosperous Tang Dynasty, Li Longji's annual tax was only 1100 million yuan.

The Song Dynasty, known as the richest country, had experienced several generations of emperors constantly minting money, and the highest annual tax revenue was more than 50 million yuan.

Ji Han's monthly income now is 3500 million yuan?

This is the impact of direct money.

There were always only ten coins, but inflation has actually increased a hundred times. In other words, it was equivalent to 35 guan in the Tang and Song Dynasties, but the court artificially defined it too much.

"Since the implementation of the land equalization system, the general has recruited nearly 70,000 people in one breath, which is equivalent to 70,000 households exempt from tax. The year before last, the general issued a three-year tax exemption for all households. Now the court's tax revenue is basically non-existent."

"An official's salary requires three million yuan a month. Now the general has arrived in Jiangling City, and the business with Wu State is probably suspended. This part of the income will obviously drop. We can only rely on the imperial court to control the wealthy people in Yizhou. The business can be maintained temporarily, but it can only last for two or three months at most. After two or three months, official salaries will no longer be paid."

After hearing what Meng Guang said, Jiang Wan's heart skipped a beat.

He didn't expect that the imperial government's finances would be in such serious condition.

"Now there are three free trade cities, one in Chongqing, one in Guanzhong, and one in Longyou. The production of refined salt has also increased."

"But taxes have been cleared and military expenditures have skyrocketed." Meng Guang said, "And the general said that when Jiangling is captured, 30,000 more pieces of armor will be prepared."

"Thirty thousand sets?" Jiang Wan couldn't help but frown, "General, are you going to equip the entire army with iron armor?"

Dong Yun took a deep breath: "Isn't the war in Ji'an too expensive?"

"Your Majesty has been so worried that he hasn't had a good sleep for two days. The people at the Chancellor's desk have been talking all day long that the general is too hasty to fight the war and should wait for another year."

"Wait another year?" Jiang Wan sighed and smiled bitterly.

Fuck!

Just wait if you say you want!

The enemy won't give you a chance!

"Cao Wei has begun to implement government troops. The general's eastward departure is imminent. In another year, Cao Wei can mobilize at least 400,000 troops. By then, Jiangling will be even more difficult to fight. The general's decision was approved by the prime minister. Yes, how can the Prime Minister not know the current changing situation in the Three Kingdoms?"

"Then what should we do now?" Meng Guang said, "I really have no money!"

"Just wait, after Jiangling is taken over, the income will increase significantly." Jiang Wan said, "After all, Jiangling is conveniently located on the Yangtze River. It can reach Xiangyang in the north and Jianye and Hefei in the east."

"When will Jiangling be captured?" Meng Guang said, "The general has sent troops for more than half a month, and Jiangling has been captured. Wu will not let it go. Cao Wei must also be eyeing it. If he wants to get a sum of money back from Jiangling, it will not be possible in the short term. It can be done.”

"Mr. Jiang, you don't know something. Now the whole court is tense about the fight against Jiangling. Although they don't say it on the surface, they are very nervous and even pessimistic in their hearts. The navy of Wu Kingdom is too powerful."

"I have heard the general mention his tactics before. After quickly capturing Jiangling, he will give benefits to the local wealthy families in Jiangling, obtain food, and gain a firm foothold. According to the general's calculations, Cao Wei and Sun Wu's demand for new salt will increase unprecedentedly this year. , and there are many salt-producing lands in Nanjun. If everything goes well, the treasury crisis will be solved. The 30,000 pieces of armor mentioned by the general may not be impossible to achieve. Everything depends on the situation in Jiangling? "

The so-called war is an extension of politics, and politics requires financial support.

Judging from the laws of state operation in the 21st century, the state's financial status is the most intuitive reflection of a country's strength.

The fiscal status mentioned here does not simply mean that the national treasury has money, but that both fiscal sources and expenditures are healthy.

That’s why it is said that the collapse of a country begins with its financial collapse.

For example, the financial collapse in the last years of the dynasty reflected a series of phenomena such as the overall collapse of officialdom, the necrosis of the tax system, and the distortion of the distribution of national resources.

At present, Ji Han uses the military system to sacrifice short-term tax revenue, which is a financial investment.

From a business point of view, attacking Gangneung is actually a kind of financial revenue generation.

(End of this chapter)