Northern Song Dynasty: Starting from the son of Song Renzong

Chapter 87 This seems to make sense!
Originally, Zhao Xin didn't know how to tell his father about developing maritime trade.

This year, Champa sent three elephants, which gave Zhao Xin just the opportunity.

Champa was located in the southern part of later Vietnam, with Zhenla to the west, the sea to the east, and Jiaozhi to the north.

From Quanzhou to Champa, if the wind is favorable, it will take about 20 days.

But it's a bit difficult to come back.

I'm afraid we'll have to wait at least half a year.

Therefore, during the Tang Dynasty, some settlements exclusively for Arabs appeared in Guangzhou.

Because they have to stay in Guangzhou for half a year and can only go back after the monsoon comes.

Madam Miao’s courtyard.

Zhao Xin had just come back from the Lecture Hall, skipping and jumping, when he saw his father already sitting there, leaning against the bed.

Seeing that Zhao Xin seemed very happy, he asked, "Why are you so happy?"

Zhao Xin has been "kidnapped" by Champa's envoy for a month.

If we don't let them go back, it will be difficult for them to take the boat back.

Zhao Xin also threw himself on his father's thigh and said, "Dad! Champa is about to be destroyed!"

Zhao Zhen asked, "Why are you so happy? Didn't you promise them anything?"

Zhao Zhen was really afraid that someone would come and say it without hesitation, so he agreed to help others.

The Song Dynasty is currently struggling to protect itself, so how can it have the time to care about other people's affairs?

Zhao Xin also replied: "No, but I told them a plan, maybe it will work."

Zhao Zhen asked curiously, "What's the plan?"

Madam Miao also looked disdainful and asked, "You are still giving others strategies?"

Zhao Xin looked at Madam Miao and said, "Madam Miao, please stop looking down on me. In a few days, I will be five years old!"

Madam Miao said, "Five years old, so what?"

Zhao Xin then said, "Five years old, then I am an adult!"

Madam Miao almost made him die of laughter.

But the look is still very gentle.

"You are still an adult."

In order to prevent the topic from being diverted by Madam Miao, Zhao Xin also said, "Madam Miao, please don't say anything next. Dad and I have something important to discuss."

Madam Miao had no choice but to take Zhao Huirou somewhere else so as not to disturb the two of them while they were talking.

Zhao Xin also asked everyone else to leave, acting very mysterious.

Zhao Zhen looked puzzled and asked, "What business has come with Zui Xing?"

Zhao Xin then asked, "Dad, what do you think is the most important thing in a war?"

Zhao Zhen had a deep understanding of this point.

He quickly replied: "Money and food."

Zhao Xin said: "So, if Champa wants to fight and win, it must have money and food."

"Where do the money and food come from?"

Zhao Zhen: "Collect taxes."

Zhao Xin: “Except for collecting taxes.”

Zhao Zhen: "Rob?"

Zhao Xin: "It's business! I asked the envoys of Champa, they are rich in spices, ivory, rhinoceros horns, etc., but they don't produce tea, wine, or silk."

"We can sell our tea, wine, silk and porcelain to them in exchange for their spices, ivory and rhino horns." Zhao Zhen: "And then?"

Zhao Xin: "Then the envoys of Champa can use the tea, wine, silk and porcelain obtained from us to bribe the officials and rulers of Jiaozhi and corrupt them, and we can also sell spices, ivory and rhino horns to the rich to make money. In this way, Champa can bribe and disintegrate the enemy, and we can also make money and enrich the country and strengthen the army."

It's easy to say.

Zhao Zhen listened and thought it was simple.

But in practice...

And the key point is, how did Zui Xinglai know?
Zhao Zhen then asked, "How do you know this can enrich a country and strengthen its army?"

Zhao Xin then asked, "Dad, tell me, in whose hands does the wealth of this world generally belong?"

Zhao Zhen thought for a moment, then asked, "In whose hands?"

Zhao Xin said, "Of course it's in the hands of officials or businessmen! These people have accumulated a lot of wealth. What will they do after they have wealth?"

Zhao Zhen: "What?"

Zhao Xin: "They will continue to use their own money to earn more money from others, such as buying land and building shops."

"As time goes by, these people will become richer and richer. Do you know what they will become in the end, Dad?"

Zhao Zhen frowned in confusion and replied, "I don't know!"

Zhao Xin said: "When the time comes, the poor will get poorer and the rich will get richer. The poor will rebel and revolt, and the country will fall into chaos. In the end, the country will lose its poor and its tax revenue, and then the country will perish."

"For those wealthy officials and rich people, it's just a matter of changing the emperor and ministers. Even if the officials change, they still go on with their lives."

“The rise and fall of a country can be seen from the distribution of its wealth.”

"As the saying goes, while the rich feast and drink, the poor freeze to death on the streets. Isn't this exactly the beginning of the Tang Dynasty's decline?"

"So… Daddy, what lesson should you learn?"

Zhao Zhen: “Uh…”

Zhao Xin: "You should make the rich not so rich, and the poor not so poor. So how can you make the rich not so rich, and the poor not so poor?"

Zhao Zhen: "How?"

Zhao Xin: "Dad, you should let the poor go out to sea, give them a job to make a living, let them bring back the spices from Champa, and then sell them to the rich, and then distribute the money from the spices to the poor."

"In this way, the rich get spices and the poor get a livelihood, and the world will be stable. Otherwise, the rich have money but cannot spend it, and the poor have strength but nowhere to make money. If there are some natural disasters and even no food, then the country will definitely be unstable."

"Tell me if I'm right!"

Zhao Zhen: "..."

Zhao Xin added: "So... I think we should set up a maritime caravan and send people out to bring back some precious and valuable things. We can use these valuable things to divide the money of the rich equally, and let them take out their money and distribute it to the poor."

"Of course! We can also make a profit from the price difference, or directly set up a customs office to collect taxes."

"Then the people will not be taxed more, and the country will have more money."

"This is actually the same in Champa. To fight a war, you need money and food. So where do you get the money and food? They can also sell some of the things they don't have to the surrounding small countries through trade, and then earn a lot of profits from other small countries, which is enough to enrich the country and strengthen the army, and beat Jiaozhi back."

"Dad, what do you think of my plan to enrich the country and strengthen the army?"

Zhao Zhen: "..."

……

be honest!

In the past few years, due to the war with Western Xia, the need to increase the currency to the Liao Kingdom, and the huge daily military expenses, Zhao Zhen has become a little nervous about the country's finances.

nowadays……

Hearing what Zhao Xin said, it was simply... this seemed to make some sense!

(End of this chapter)