My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 524 A good deal
Every person in the world spends one hundred coins on salt every year. According to the market price of salt, it is actually just over half a catty, less than a catty.

Converted into later measurements, it is about 200 grams.

Obviously, this is far below the normal salt intake.

According to more authoritative data from later generations, the human body's annual salt intake requirement is roughly around 1.4 kg to 2 kg.

Being below 1.4 kg or above 2 kg will have an impact on your health.

The annual intake of 1.4 grams of salt is 85% less than the minimum intake requirement of kilograms, which is obviously extremely serious in terms of negative impact on health.

So in fact, the average annual salt intake of the 30 million people in the Han Dynasty could and must have reached more than one kilogram.

However, this one kilogram, or four catties, of salt produced each year, with a market price of five or six hundred coins, is not entirely commercial salt purchased from the market.

Some people eat minerals and clay containing salt.

Some people use other methods to obtain things that are extremely high in impurities and of very poor quality, but still contain some salt.

By this calculation, each person spends one hundred coins per year to buy more than half a pound of salt, and then supplements it with salt obtained through other means and channels. This is actually a very conservative calculation method.

Having come to this point, it is not difficult to find that the current Shaofu treasury is no longer what it used to be.

——During the reign of Emperor Taizu Gao, the Han Dynasty had more than 4 million households and only more than 15 million people;

With such a population base, even if the then Shaofu treasury collected head taxes at the statutory rate of "120 coins per person per year", the annual income would only be 1.8 billion coins.

And most of them were Sanzhu coins or even lead pod coins!
During the reign of Emperor Taizong Xiaowen, there were more than 20 million people in the world, and the head tax was reduced to 40 coins per person per year. The annual head tax for the Shaofu treasury was only 900 million coins - at most no more than 100 million coins.

And the Han family managed to survive such days.

The total annual revenue of the imperial treasury was no more than 100 million coins, but during the reign of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing, which lasted for more than 30 years (the timeline in the book), it still accumulated a huge savings of more than 20 million coins for the current emperor Liu Rong!
This not only shows that Emperor Taizong Xiaowen and Emperor Xian Xiaojing were stingy and able to save;
It can also be said from the side that the total income of one hundred million coins per year is more than enough for the treasury of the Shaofu.

If you are frugal, you can even save most of it!

So what is the current situation of the Shaofu treasury?

——The government-run grain production, millet alone earns 200 million coins per year, and the additional wheat and further processed product: wheat flour, together earn 300 million coins.

In other words, the profits that the Lord Commandant obtained through the official grain business and turned over to the Shaofu treasury amounted to more than 500 million coins every year.

In addition, the ceramics produced by Liu Rong during his time as the crown prince - porcelain in the luxury category, is worth 300 million to 500 million coins per year, and pottery in the civilian category is steadily maintained at more than 100 million coins!
All added together, the total profit can be at least 1.5 billion yuan per year.

This is already two hundred million yuan.

This is already twice the total annual income of the Shaofu Treasury during the reign of Emperor Taizong Xiaowen.

If salt is included, it brings three hundred million coins to the Shaofu treasury every year;

Even if we exclude another highly profitable industry: iron, the current Han Shaofu's annual fiscal revenue has reached a staggering 500 million coins just from grain, ceramics and salt!

You have to know that from the first year of Emperor Xiaowen of the Taizong Dynasty to the sixth year of Emperor Xiaojing of the Taizong Dynasty - the reign of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing lasted for a full 33 years on this timeline, during which Manchuria accumulated 20 million yuan in wealth and savings for the Han Dynasty's Shaofu treasury.

Theoretically, it would only take four years for the current Shaofu treasury to save up the same 20 million yuan.

Even if we take into account the treasury of the Shaofu, it is impossible to learn from Pixiu - only eating and not defecating, only earning and not spending. The savings goal of 200 million yuan will most likely be completed in five to six years.

This is scary!
Except for the new era in later generations, any feudal dynasty in China, no matter which dynasty, that could accumulate the wealth accumulated during the 'Reign of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing of the Western Han Dynasty' within ten years would be a feat worthy of being recorded in history!
However, the current Liu Rong seamlessly connected this magnificent era after the reign of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing.

Closer to home.

Today, the Shaofu Treasury has changed from the past model of relying on head tax as a single income channel to a comprehensive multi-category income channel model with grain, salt and iron as the main sources of government-run business, and the production and sale of ceramics and cloth, as well as the production and sale of various industrial and agricultural machinery as supplementary sources.

In the past, if the Han Shaofu failed to collect the oral tax in a certain year, his vitality would be immediately damaged - at least his income would not be enough to cover his expenses.

But now, even if there is a problem with one of the input items of the Han Shaofu, its foundation will not be shaken at all.

As for the specific annual fiscal revenue, it reached 500 million coins - and it was at least 500 million coins.

On this basis, oral poetry?

Emperor Liu Rong just wanted to say: If it were not for the consideration of gratitude for a little rice and hatred for a big rice, and the fear that the people of the world were accustomed to not paying taxes and not fulfilling their state obligations, Liu Rong would not even be willing to collect the current twenty coins per person per year.

——After all, the annual head tax of 120 coins per person is the statutory tax rate of the Han Dynasty and is a theoretical value.

This theoretical value had long been reduced by Emperor Taizong Xiaowen to 40 coins per person per year.

Well, as a descendant of Emperor Taizong Xiaowen, and especially one who had to rely on Emperor Taizong Xiaowen for some of his power, it was naturally impossible for Emperor Rong to add back the head tax that was exempted by his grandfather, Emperor Taizong Wen.

This means that during Liu Rong's reign, and even for the next two or three generations of Han emperors, the people's annual tax would be nailed below the red line of forty coins per person.

It can only be less, not more.

Any more would be a rebellion against Emperor Taizong Xiaowen, against the ancestral system of Emperor Taizong, and damage to the virtues left by Emperor Taizong!
At present, the Han Dynasty has 30 million people. Even if we collect 40 coins per person per year as a head tax, it will only amount to 1.2 billion coins a year.

This amount of money would certainly make the Shaofu treasury drool.

But now, the Shaofu Treasury, which had been 'spoiled' by Emperor Liu Rong, was somewhat disdainful.

——The collection of taxes and levies has never been a simulation game where they can be automatically added to the warehouse with just a click of the mouse.

Every grain of rice in agricultural tax and every penny in head tax required administrative manpower costs, and officials were sent to collect, summarize, record, and escort them to Chang'an for storage.

There are 30 million people in the world, and each person has 40 coins per year. It is said that the annual import tax of the Shaofu treasury is 120 million coins.

However, if we take into account the manpower, material resources, time and administrative costs of collecting the tax, it is hard to say whether half of the 1.2 billion yuan can be saved.

Furthermore, the collection rate of 40 coins per person per year is just the same as that of Emperor Taizong Xiaowen and Emperor Xianfeng Jing.

At that time, Emperor Taizong reduced taxes to 40 coins per person per year, and people all over the world were grateful - because the original head tax was 120 coins per person per year.

Later, when Emperor Xian Xiaojing came to power, the tax was still 40 coins per person per year, but no one thanked Emperor Xian Xiaojing anymore. Because even without Emperor Xian Xiaojing, the tax of the Han family was already 40 coins per person per year.

Maintaining the status quo can only be said to be because the late emperor did not dare to disobey Emperor Taizong and did not dare to collect a higher tax than his father.

The same principle applies to Liu Rong's generation.

——If we continue to maintain the standard of 40 coins per person per year for the head of government, we will certainly not be grateful or thankful by the people of the world, and it may even cause a certain degree of dissatisfaction.

To be precise, it might slightly disappoint the expectations of the people of the world, causing them to classify Liu Rong as a mediocre monarch who was "nothing great and only imitated his father and grandfather."

Taking all these factors into consideration, the decision Liu Rong ultimately made is understandable.

Firstly, the Shaofu treasury was not short of money at all. Even if no head tax was collected, the annual income would still be more than 500 million coins.

Secondly, even if this oral tax was collected, it would only bring in 1.2 billion coins per year in nominal terms, but actually 600 to 700 million coins per year in fiscal revenue.

Compared with this little income, the price of disappointing the world and being regarded as a "mediocre king" by the world is really too high.

Simply put, it's not a good deal.

Therefore, Liu Rong made a logical decision: based on Emperor Taizong's head tax reduction of "40 coins per person per year", it should be further reduced by half to 20 coins per person per year.

In this way, it is hard to say how much benefit the Shaofu Treasury can get - at least the 600 million yuan of tax collected can cover the cost of collecting the tax.

The oral tax was also reduced again during the reign of Emperor Rong, and people all over the world could not help but feel grateful and regarded the current Liu Rong as the second Emperor Taizong.

At the very least, people began to associate the current Liu Rong with the possibility of becoming the second Emperor Taizong.

At this point, the account is clear.

The treasury of the Prime Minister's Office, which was controlled and dominated by the outer court and jointly managed by the Prime Minister's Office and the Chief Censor, had an annual agricultural tax income of about 1.2 billion coins.

Even if the 1.2 billion coins of agricultural tax revenue were divided up by the outer court and used to pay officials' salaries, it would only be 600 million coins, plus millet worth 600 million coins.

The actual number was about 400 million coins, plus 400 million coins worth of millet, as the salary of officials throughout the Han Dynasty.

This time, Emperor Rong used the treasury of the Shaofu to raise the salaries of officials all over the world. It seemed that the salary had increased a lot, but in fact, it was still a small matter.

——Liu Rong increased the original salary of 400 million coins by four times, which means that the Shaofu treasury paid an additional 1600 million coins;
The rice subsidy was replaced by wheat flour of the same weight, instead of millet, which was originally worth 400 million coins.

The specific operation was as follows: the treasury of the prime minister's office delivered 400 million coins, or 10 million shi of millet, to the treasury of the Shaofu, and the treasury of the Shaofu took out 10 million shi of wheat flour in exchange.

The loss from the price difference between the two will also be borne by the Shaofu Treasury.

By this calculation, Liu Rong's collective salary increase for officials across the country actually meant that he had the Shaofu treasury take out about 200 million yuan every year to subsidize officials across the country.

For the Shaofu Treasury, which once had an annual income of only about 100 million coins, this was obviously a way to bring disaster to the country.

But for today's treasury with an annual income of 500 million coins and total savings of more than 300 million coins, plus a huge amount of millet, wheat and other food and materials, 200,000 coins a year?
The official salt business run by the Lord Commander makes more than this much in a year!

It can be said that these two hundred million yuan are not a bit of pressure for the current Han Shaofu.

As for whether it is necessary to do so, why Liu Rong did so, what is the purpose of doing so, and what benefits can be obtained?
This brings us to the question of what kind of person Liu Rong is today.

Well known.

Since the founding of the Han Dynasty, public opinion regarding the crown prince of the Han Dynasty has always received extremely high attention among the people.

This also meant that every crown prince of the Han Dynasty - even every royal family member who had the opportunity to get involved in the position of crown prince - was put under a magnifying glass by the people of the world, and ultimately an extremely scarce evaluation of the character was made.

For example, the first crown prince of the Han Dynasty, the only son of Emperor Taizu Liu Bang and Empress Lü Zhi: Emperor Xiaohui Liu Ying, was unanimously recognized by the public as a "benevolent and weak monarch", a "Confucian emperor", and a "type of Fusu".

Liu Ying's son, the former Emperor Shaodi Liu Gong in history, was a typical reckless man as rumored by the people.

There is no doubt that Emperor Taizong left his mark - living saints don't just talk nonsense.

When it came to Emperor Taizong's crown prince, Emperor Xiaojing Liu Qi, people's opinions became interesting.

In the early days, people tended to give precise and concise evaluations that "hit the point directly", and the public's evaluation of Emperor Xian Xiaojing during the period of crown prince was very complicated.

There are chess heroes, troublemakers, and those who deserve to be beaten by their fathers. Naturally, there are all kinds of them.

In addition, there are also many positive comments - if you dare to be decisive, mean and ungrateful, etc.

Today, Zirong had already received a neutral evaluation of "shooting without purpose" in the market as early as the reign of Emperor Xiaojing.

To this day, Liu Rong's performance over the past few years has repeatedly verified the saying: There are only wrong names, but no wrong nicknames.

Today's Emperor Zirong, although not a shrewd person who plucks feathers from a passing goose, is at least a "shrewd" person whose every move has a deep meaning and every advance and retreat has a purpose.

After understanding this, it is not difficult to smell something different when we look at Liu Rong raising the salaries of officials all over the world.

——The current Emperor Zirong is not a person who has nothing to do and then shows mercy by raising the salaries of officials!
When Tian Zirong gives you a piece of cloth, he definitely wants to take a finished garment from you - or has already taken it from you!
The same principle applies to raising officials’ salaries.

Two hundred million coins every year were paid from the Shaofu treasury, which meant that the emperor Liu Rong paid out of his own pocket.

With such a huge and continuous cost invested every year, what Emperor Rong wants is naturally not just verbal gratitude from officials all over the world.

What Liu Rong really wanted was to interfere to a certain extent in the current Han Dynasty's bureaucratic system through this nationwide wage increase.

To put it simply: in the past, your salaries were paid by the national treasury, your positions were discussed outside the court, and I ran around all the time, but all I could get from you was a phrase like 'loyalty to His Majesty, loyalty to the country'.

it's good now.

I have real money, and I am going to spend it on you again.

How to say?
Call me Your Majesty, I want to hear it again?
Listen, is there anyone else who picks up the bowl to eat, puts down the chopsticks and curses?

(End of this chapter)