The immortal of the Tang Dynasty, but the game starts at Xuanwu Gate?

Feng Zhidai watched silently as his younger sister and Chen Huai'an reached an understanding, feeling nothing but emotion.

As expected, none of the people in the imperial court were simple.

Their methods were increasingly ruthless, and their tactics increasingly elaborate.

However, he didn't say anything. He wasn't ungrateful and knew that Chen Huai'an was helping them.

Seeing that they had finished talking, Chen Sujin smiled and said, "The food is all prepared. Perfect timing, let's eat first."

"Okay." Chen Huai'an nodded with a smile.

Chen Sujin held Feng Qiao'er's hand and said, "Speaking of which, it's already April now, and in just over two months you will be getting married. I should start preparing some things for the wedding later."

"I've inquired about it. Given Xiao An's current official position, his marriage cannot be taken lightly. There are many things to prepare, so we need to make plans early."

Feng Qiao'er blushed slightly and nodded gently: "It's fine for Sister Sujin to decide these things, I'm fine with anything."

marry......

Chen Huai'an listened to their conversation and was momentarily dazed.

Having lived two lives, he's almost at the point of settling down and starting a family.

"..."

In the afternoon, the torrential rain subsided a bit, and Chen Huai'an, holding an umbrella, went to the Ministry of Revenue and summoned Chang Gui and Ouyang Shu from the Ministry of Works.

"Minister, you were looking for us?"

Chang Gui and Ouyang Shu didn't dare to delay and rushed over immediately after receiving the news.

At this moment, Liang Bingyi of the Ministry of Revenue was already sitting quietly.

"Please sit down," Chen Huai'an said, raising his hand in a gesture of urging.

The two men from the Ministry of Works didn't stand on ceremony and sat down directly.

"The Feng family has already told me that the Xijiang River has been initially dredged to create a waterway that can accommodate one ship. My plan is to continue dredging and widening the waterway while simultaneously commencing trade," Chen Huai'an stated frankly.

Liang Bingyi was startled and turned to look at Chang Gui and Ouyang Shu: "Has the canal transport along the West River been completed so quickly?"

The two nodded, and Ouyang Shu said somewhat nervously, "We just received the news. The main reason is that Xijiang is located in the Lingnan region, and much of the construction there was handled by the Feng family, so our news came a little late."

"The Xijiang River has indeed been opened up, and it can currently accommodate one boat to pass through, but large-scale navigation is not possible."

Chen Huai'an raised his hand: "I understand, and it's not important."

"The problem now is that if we are going to trade, then the rules for trade between the two sides need to be established."

He turned to Liang Bingyi and asked, "How's the preparation of what I asked you to do?"

"Reporting to the Minister," Liang Bingyi sat up straight, "I have drafted your proposal of government supervision and merchant operation, tiered profit sharing, and taxation instead of tribute in the past few months, and it is ready to be submitted at any time."

"However...you said you want to establish a maritime trade commissioner and a transport commissioner, and collect commercial taxes along the canal...this is no small matter. I can only follow your instructions and write down the commercial tax system you have set. I cannot interfere with anything else."

Chen Huai'an was not surprised by this. He was already very satisfied that Liang Bingyi was able to formulate a commercial tax system according to his requirements, with government supervision and merchant operation, tiered profit sharing, and taxation instead of tribute.

His method was actually a copy of Pei Yaoqing's method of transformation during the Kaiyuan era.

It's not that he didn't have a better way, but in the Tang Dynasty, this method was indeed the most practical.

At least initially, Pei Yaoqing's method of transferring goods would be perfectly fine, and establishing a maritime trade commissioner was absolutely necessary.

"Show me what you've drafted," Chen Huai'an said.

Liang Bingyi was prepared and took out a thick book from his pocket and handed it over.

Chen Huai'an opened it and slowly began to read.

The three waited quietly, none of them daring to disturb them.

Liang Bingyi was somewhat amazed. Ever since the decision was made to open up the canal transport between the Central Plains and Lingnan, Chen Huai'an had proposed to him the idea of ​​government supervision and merchant operation, tiered profit sharing, and taxation instead of tribute.

He was also asked to develop a preliminary set of procedures and processes.

The so-called government-supervised and merchant-operated, tiered profit-sharing, and tax-based tribute system.

Essentially, it means not competing with the people for profits, but taking the lion's share back to the imperial court.

Simply put, the transportation was handled by merchants, while the government was only responsible for infrastructure and regulations.

Commercial tax collection is not high; the main idea is to collect taxes lightly but widely, resulting in a high total amount despite low tax rates and a large tax base.

Then comes the exclusive sales.

They only monopolize the most profitable and controlled goods, while leaving the rest open to merchants.

Different taxes are levied on different types of goods.

Whenever Liang Bingyi thought of the method proposed by Chen Huai'an, he would marvel at how his minister was a genius.

Chen Huai'an had already explained all the general procedures to him. He had just been refining it these past few days.

"..."

After some time, Chen Huai'an put down Liang Bingyi's folding book, nodded, and said, "Very good. Although some parts need to be changed, it's not a big deal."

"These things will be submitted to higher authorities afterward. This is not something that our Ministry of Revenue can decide on its own; it must be discussed and drafted by many ministers."

"The Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue should each write another memorial. The Ministry of Works should submit the news that the canal transport has been initially opened, while the Ministry of Revenue should inform the higher authorities that trade can now commence."

"Yes, Minister." The three immediately agreed.

This kind of memorial is not difficult to write, and it will be resolved in no time.

"Minister," Chang Gui then raised a question, "If we submit such a memorial... wouldn't it cause quite a stir politically?"

Chen Huai'an said, "That's inevitable, but it has nothing to do with us. The Ministry of Revenue only needs to manage taxation and warehousing, while the Ministry of Works only needs to continue to dredge the canal and build warehouses, striving to achieve large-scale shipping as soon as possible."

"How to control Lingnan after the canal is opened up is not a problem we should be considering."

"Do you have any other questions?"

Ouyang Shu cupped his hands and said, "Minister, now that we are going to engage in trade, shouldn't we establish warehouses?"

"We must build them!" Chen Huai'an decided. "We can build the warehouses first, and we also need to build the ships. We'll need them a lot in the future. Write down the necessary documents, and I'll approve them."

"There is no shortage of disaster victims in any area right now, so let's recruit people as soon as possible."

When the matter was brought up, Liang Bingyi hesitated for a moment and said, "Minister, the locust plague is getting more and more serious, and the number of disaster victims is also increasing. We also need to prepare for war against the Eastern Turks and carry out many large-scale projects."

"Most importantly... last time you mentioned building cement workshops to produce cement and planning to build a Yellow River dam. This will put considerable pressure on the national treasury."

"It's alright, we'll have a large sum of money coming in soon." Chen Huai'an glanced at the two men from the Ministry of Works. They had already produced quite a bit of glass, and it was time to release some of it.

Otherwise, it would indeed be quite difficult.

In addition... the locust plague is getting worse and worse. Now there is good news. It's time to make things difficult for Li Shimin.

"..."