Chinese New Year

Chapter 1469 Silver
When the main force returned to Gaochang, it was already mid-September. At that time, the north wind was howling behind the mountains, and snowflakes were falling. The temperature drop in front of the mountains was also quite noticeable, but not as dramatic as behind the mountains.

The first thing Shao Xu did after returning home wasn't to spend time with women, but to head straight to the market...

The market in Gaochang is located in the west of the city and covers a large area. Unfortunately, it is rather chaotic, with all kinds of goods sold together, and there is not even a rough division of areas according to industry.

"I have heard that in the Jiaozhou and Guangzhou regions, most trade is conducted in gold and silver. This phenomenon also exists in Gaochang, which is cause for celebration," Shao Xu said happily as he walked in the center of the crowd, looking at the people and merchants on both sides.

However, he regretted coming over directly, because there were people holding large shields around him, and soldiers on both sides were staring intently at the merchant, causing quite a commotion.

It's best not to come again next time; just send a minor official from the Prince's residence to investigate.

However, not coming for a long time is not a good thing either, so I'm really torn.

Song Heng, the former governor of Hexi and the current governor of Gaochang, said with a smile: "Guangzhou has Shixing County, which governs hundreds of silver households. It produces a lot of silver, so it is naturally not lacking."

Shixing Commandery was established during the Eastern Wu period, with its capital located in what later became Shaoguan. After the Jin dynasty conquered Wu, it was incorporated into Guangzhou, and later belonged to Xiangzhou. When the Qing dynasty abolished Xiangzhou, Shixing Commandery was reintegrated into Guangzhou.

In addition, some foreign silver coins also flowed into Guangzhou, so there is a lot of gold and silver on the market.

Jiaozhou was simply a result of a large influx of foreign gold and silver, leading to an abundance of currency in the market.

Both of these places have relatively small populations and market capacities, so only a small amount of gold and silver is needed to support the entire market. The same applies to the Western Regions.

“It’s a pity that Yinshanqi and Yinshankeng were assigned to the Protectorate of the Western Regions. Gaochang has no silver and can only rely on melting down Persian silver coins.” At this point, Shao Xu suddenly remembered something and looked at Song Heng, asking, “How much salary did you receive in August?”

"Fifty tortoise shell coins, one hundred bolts of silk, and twenty bolts of woolen cloth," Song Heng replied.

Of the salary he received, the silver coins were paid monthly at fifty coins, but the silk cloth was received in a lump sum, only once a year. Therefore, as a prefect of the fifth rank, Song Heng's annual salary was six hundred silver coins, one hundred silk cloth, and twenty woolen cloth.

In addition, there are some wines, dried fruits, salt, cheeses, and dried meats, which are usually distributed in the twelfth lunar month as a form of welfare.

"Is there enough?" Shao Xu asked.

Song Heng thought for a moment and said, "I have been here for several months. Grain prices have been generally stable. In March, my servant bought three bushels and nine dou of millet, which cost three coins."

"In April, I bought 69 bushels of millet, which cost 69 coins."

"In July, the market price is two bushels and seven pecks of wheat, costing three coins."

"This month's market wheat is twelve bushels, costing twelve cash."

Shao Xu nodded slightly upon hearing this.

The "silver coins" that Song Heng mentioned were actually Persian silver coins; one silver coin was equivalent to one Persian silver coin.

He only learned after arriving here that the local people of Gaochang called silver coins "silver money" and used "wen" as the unit of measurement.

Song Heng used this term in accordance with the locals' way of addressing him.

Currently, Gaochang is still in a period where the old and new currencies coexist. The government is constantly demanding that the people offer foreign silver coins, silver plates, silver bottles, silver bricks, etc., in exchange for tortoise-shaped currency. The deadline has been extended again and again, and it will now be after the autumn harvest next September.

As governor, Song Heng's monthly salary could buy less than seventy bushels of grain (tortoise shell coins were heavier than Persian silver coins), which was slightly more than during the Jin Dynasty, except that the Sima Jin Dynasty directly distributed grain, while Gaochang distributed silver coins.

As a hard currency, grain continued to circulate stubbornly in the market. In fact, in private transactions, grain was used to pay for various expenses more often than silver coins, while copper coins were rarely seen. Shao Xu even regretted minting so many copper coins, which led to many people engaging in speculation and profiteering.

"A fine red horse, of uniform quality, costs thirty-seven coins per horse."

"There are two bolts of the Devadatta brocade left, which only cost one hundred coins."

Deva brocade is a type of brocade imported from India, featuring numerous Theravada Buddhist stories. As a result, it is very expensive, yet still very popular. This is because there are quite a few Buddhists in Gaochang, and many of them not only buy brocade but also donate a significant portion of their family fortune before they die.

“If anyone comes to my house as a servant, I will pay two coins in advance, and five coins and one dou and four pecks of millet after the job is done.”

"Three catties of coarse iron (used for making farm tools) only cost three coins."

"One bolt of six-layered cotton cloth costs twelve silver coins."

"One cow, ten coins."

"Three legs of mutton, two coins each."

Shouts rose and fell, and when he heard this, Shao Xu raised his eyebrows. Thank goodness, he finally heard the words "flat money".

"Pingqian" refers to the government-issued stabilization currency, which is essentially the Daliang tortoise-shell coin. After wandering around for a while, I saw goods priced in "silver coins" everywhere. According to the established customs of the time, this meant Persian silver coins. Now, I finally heard someone using Daliang silver coins for pricing.

In a few years, I will make sure that Persian silver coins disappear from the market!
"The journey has been arduous, and everything is in need of rebuilding." Shao Xu sighed, then looked at Prefect Song Heng and said, "Minister Song, this year we must clarify the tax system. Last year, the four counties of Gaochang only collected 63,000 cash in 'Dingzhengqian' (a type of tax), but now that the war is basically over, we can slowly get back on track."

"Does Your Majesty intend to implement the Central Plains tax system?" Song Heng asked.

Shao Xu hesitated for a moment, then said, "Let's follow the old rules first."

Before the King of Gaochang was deposed by Zhang Jun, the Gaochang Kingdom implemented a tax system that blended the characteristics of Central Plains and Western Region city-states. The two main components were land tax and poll tax.

After the establishment of the Great Liang Dynasty, the tax system remained unchanged, and all funds were used for local purposes.

The land tax was levied at one-fifteenth of the total tax, payable in either silver or grain. The "Dingzheng tax" was actually the Central Plains term for the "head tax" levied by city-states in the Western Regions, payable by all adult males at a rate of six silver coins per person per year.

In addition, there are some taxes levied on special commodities, such as taxes on honeydew (a specialty of Gaochang), grapes, fees for entering secular life, fees for entering monastic life, salt taxes, and various commercial taxes. There are many taxes in total, but they are quite complex and there are few specific taxes for any particular commodity.

Currently, land tax is uniformly required to be paid in grain, not in silver. However, the acreage of the land is unclear, making the collection process rather haphazard.

Other taxes were also a mess, totaling over 20,000 coins, including a large amount of goods obtained through point-based transactions, which they still didn't know how to convert into cash.

It sounds like a lot, but if you learn about the distorted social conditions of the Gaochang Kingdom, you'll understand: here, a strong male slave was more expensive than a horse, and much more expensive.

Whether it was a temple, a government office, or a wealthy household, all were deeply troubled by the shortage of able-bodied laborers.

The land here is worthless, and even money is worthless; it's the people who are valuable.

As long as there are people continuously digging wells and canals, more farmland, orchards, vegetable plots, and pastures can be created.

Without people, the farmland that was originally cultivated will be abandoned, and the wells and canals will be abandoned.

The two prefectures of Gaochang Kingdom had only over 60,000 people. It wasn't that they could only support that many, but rather that they lacked immigrants. They had only cultivated enough farmland to support that many people. In fact, their irrigation water and agricultural potential were far from being exhausted.

The most abundant thing here is money, all kinds of money. The wealthy are eager to buy slaves everywhere. During the reign of the Qu clan in Gaochang in history, due to the war with the Turks, a strong man was sold for ten times the price of a horse, which was extremely astonishing.

This is why, when the western expeditionary army handed over slaves to Shao Xu several times, and he incorporated them all into the households, the wealthy families of Gaochang lamented – why didn't they sell them to us?

After wandering around for a while, Shao Xu found that he was disturbing the people too much, so he left in a huff and returned to the palace.

Princess Shen has not yet arrived; currently, only Lady Yin and Lady Murong are in the palace. They were weaving brocade when they saw Shao Xu, and immediately put down their work, bowing in unison: "Your Majesty."

Shao Xu nodded and said, "We've been running around for a long time and are starving. Let's eat first."

Yin responded and went outside to prepare.

When Murong saw that no one was around, she threw herself into Shao Xu's arms and said, "Your Majesty, I missed you so much."

Shao Xu had been away for several months without any women by his side, and he was starting to feel overwhelmed.

Murong was voluptuous and charming, which made him even more thirsty.

After giving her a good squeeze, Murong was a little out of breath and let out a soft cry of pain—or rather, a seduction.

However, Shao Xu had strong self-control and quickly came to his senses, apologizing, "It was my fault, I hurt you."

Murong opened her big, watery eyes and thought to herself that His Highness was much better than her previous husband; at least he wouldn't beat her when he was drunk.

Moreover, he is handsome, gentle, and knowledgeable, and he is also sensible and knows how to care for women, making him a perfect match.

If she were to have children, she would only wish to have them for the King of Zhao.

“Tu Fu just came by once,” Murong said. “He said he had received the Kangju people and arranged for them to stay at the inn. He also asked what to do next.”

"Oh? So soon?" Shao Xu was somewhat surprised, then pondered for a moment and said, "I will meet with the envoy. After that, I will have Tu Fu take people to Dunhuang, and then I will be done with it."

"Is Your Majesty about to go on another campaign?" Murong asked.

"Go to war?" Shao Xu shook his head with a smile and said, "Right now, I only want to make money. No, I want to make people and food."

He still retains many habits from the Central Plains, subconsciously referring to human and material resources as "money".

But money is just a medium; ultimately, it still comes down to human and material resources.

"Furthermore, there won't be any expeditions," Shao Xu continued. "The 3,500 infantry and cavalry in Kucha haven't been fully recruited yet, and they haven't been trained enough. The imperial troops sent by the court are also leaving, so there's no way we'll be going on an expedition."

At this point, he realized that the Murong family might not care much about these things, so he stopped talking and only said, "The only thing to worry about is that Yu Yuandu is unwilling to give up and is still staying in Dayuan. Alas."

Footsteps sounded outside, and Madam Yin, along with her maids, brought up the food.

Sweet honey-steamed cakes, savory mutton cakes, two plates of seasonal vegetables, a plate of fruit, and a pot of wine—it's simple, not as refined as in the Central Plains, but the portions are generous and filling.

The three of them then sat down to eat together.

“A few days ago, I recruited sheep herders in the manor. From the tenth day of the ninth month to the fifteenth day of the twelfth month, they would give me one portion of cake and two bushels of porridge every day.” Madam Yin finished eating first, and then said, “This price is astonishing even in Dunhuang.”

“My father hired people to cultivate the fields and open up vineyards. It will take more than nine months, from the 20th of February next year to the end of November, and it will cost him fifty coins.” Murong also said from the side, “If the king hadn’t forbade it, he would have wanted to recruit able-bodied men to work.”

After finishing his meal, Shao Xu nodded and said, "It is expensive. With hundreds of miles of sandy desert separating us, people are just that expensive. Don't arrest anyone. Gaochang is not a bandit's den. I still have my pride."

Thinking of this, he sighed inwardly. There was a shortage of manpower, and prices were soaring.

He recalled what his father had mentioned in his letter: there was indeed more silver in the market of Gaochang, and many goods were either incredibly expensive or surprisingly cheap.

He wanted to write to his father again to discuss the matter.

(End of this chapter)