Today's survey touched Chen Qing a lot. He at least knew about the life of the people at the lowest level. The family's monthly income is about 3,000 yuan, and they have to pay rent and various expenses. They can barely eat and clothe themselves, and they can't get sick.
I couldn't go to restaurants, teahouses, or go to the theater. I was frugal and could only have two to three hundred cash left every month. Life was very difficult.
Of course, they are not the most miserable, and the most miserable families are even more miserable than them, but there are very few such families, and they have little reference value. When making decisions, you cannot use the rich or the poorest people, you must use the bottom class.
For most people, the Zhang Ping family is the most typical example.
But even this has made the people in the Central Plains and Hebei very envious. At least there is no war, and at least they can have enough food and clothing. Bianliang in Tokyo during the Xuanhe period was nothing more than this.
Once the war comes, all industries will immediately wither away, and the rich and businessmen will be slaughtered like pigs by the Jurchens. Without production and employment, the majority of the people at the bottom will lose their source of livelihood and struggle to survive.
But there are gains. Chen Qing knows that there is still room for a tax increase in indirect taxes. If salt is increased by ten cents per catty, the impact on the cost of living will be almost negligible to the people at the bottom. However, the population base is huge, and every household cannot live without it.
Opening up salt, no wonder the salt tax became the largest tax in all dynasties until the emergence of tobacco.
After leaving the Southwest District, Chen Qing returned to the government office. Chen Qing's government office is still the same team, with two brands, not only the Sichuan and Shaanxi Xuanfu Envoy Department, but also the Prince Yong's Mansion. It is the original palace covering an area of 300 acres. The front is 180
The first acre is the government office, and the 120 acres behind it is Chen Qing's mansion.
But now the official office is no longer enough, so another official office covering an area of 50 acres was built on both sides. One is the Military Department, and the other is the Planning and Financial Transfer Department. Now the construction is almost completed, including the expansion of the city wall.
At the end, a tall new city wall was erected, thus increasing the perimeter of Jingzhao City from more than thirty miles to more than fifty miles, and the land in the hands of the government suddenly increased.
As soon as we arrived at the gate of the government office, a soldier came over to report, "Your Majesty, Madam said there is something urgent. Please go back."
"I'll go back right now!"
Chen Qing also happened to be looking for his wife and Zhao Qiaoyun in the afternoon. When he was away from Jingzhao for half a year, the two of them reviewed important memorials. He also needed to hear reports on many important matters.
Chen Qing turned around the alley and went directly to the door of his house. Chen Qing's family still lived in Qifeng Pavilion. During the half year that Chen Qing was away from Jingzhao, Lu Xiu attached great importance to safety and insisted that his family live in the pavilion.
As soon as Chen Qing walked into Qifeng Pavilion, his wife Lu Xiu walked up to him. Seeing her husband's nervous look, she smiled and said, "I shouldn't be in a hurry to get my husband back. In fact, it's not too late to talk about it tonight."
"Now tell me! What happened?"
"Yingluo is pregnant."
"What?"
Chen Qing was stunned and immediately asked anxiously: "Is it accurate?"
"Doctor Liu has just diagnosed her. She said that Yingluo should be three months pregnant. Didn't her husband find out?"
Chen Qing thought about it and realized that when she returned to Chengdu, Zhao Yingluo was indeed feeling unwell, and he thought she was sick.
"Where is she? I'm going to see her."
"She was feeling a little uncomfortable. Just after she fell asleep, Dr. Liu said that she needed to preserve the fetus. If the pregnancy was discovered later, the fetus might not be preserved."
Chen Qing felt guilty, Yingluo was already pregnant, and he and she should have been so crazy.
"How did you find out?"
"She was not feeling well yesterday and today. Qiaoyun and I asked her and found that she acted very much like she was pregnant, so we quickly asked Dr. Liu to come. It turned out to be a happy pulse."
Chen Qing felt happy and ashamed at the same time, so he said: "Let her rest! I'll go to the study and let Qiaoyun see me. There are two things I want to ask her."
"Shall I come too?"
Chen Qing nodded, "You guys come together!"
Chen Qing took out a memorial and said with a smile: "I have no intention of overturning your decision. I just want to know the reason. This is the second phase of the city expansion plan. It mentioned that the north city wall will be extended for another three miles to the northwest. What does this mean?
?”
Zhao Qiaoyun thought for a while and said: "This is actually the plan proposed by Counselor Jiang. It mainly considers the connection with Han Chang'an City, and finally connects Xinjingzhao City and Han Chang'an City into one."
"I see it says it's estimated to cost 500,000 yuan!"
Zhao Qiaoyun smiled and said: "The officials may not have seen it clearly. The five hundred thousand guan includes the possible expenditure for rebuilding the Han Dynasty Chang'an City. That ancient city is basically abandoned, but the land is very flat. It is completely possible to build a new city on the site and evacuate it."
The people of Jingzhao City."
After a pause, Zhao Qiaoyun continued: "Actually, Counselor Jiang has another memorial, which is the second plan, which is to rebuild a new county town on the east bank of Bashui fifteen miles away from the east city to accommodate military dependents. It is expected to cost as much as
Five hundred thousand dollars."
Chen Qing frowned, "I also saw that memorial, but Zhao Kai clearly opposed both memorials."
Zhao Qiaoyun shook his head and said: "In fact, Counselor Zhao opposes all memorials that involve the expenditure of property, and no one agrees."
Chen Qing sighed softly and said, "Half a million dollars is too much expense."
Lu Xiu next to him smiled and said: "The five hundred thousand guan will not be taken out this year, but divided into ten years, with an average of only 50,000 guan each year."
"But 50,000 guan here, 50,000 guan there, it adds up to a huge expenditure."
Zhao Qiaoyun and Lu Xiu looked at each other, and Zhao Qiaoyun asked: "Did Counselor Zhao mention the financial gap of five million yuan to the officials?"
Chen Qing was slightly surprised and said: "You also know?"
Zhao Qiaoyun smiled and said: "He wrote a brochure last month, asking to stop all support for fortifications worth more than ten thousand yuan. In his brochure, he listed the current financial revenue and expenditure in detail, mentioning the current financial situation.
There is a shortfall of five million dollars, but we think there are some areas worth discussing."
"What's worth discussing?"
"There are two main places. One is Sichuan road salt tax revenue. He used last year's tax money. That number is wrong. It was the salt tax revenue under the impact of a large amount of private salt. But since the Sichuan road rebellion was suppressed, the salt tax revenue
With rapid recovery, this year there will be at least two million more than last year, and another one million will be added next year to reach the tax amount of the previous year."
Chen Qing secretly scolded Zhao Kai for cheating him. It turned out that the salt tax on Sichuan Road was based on last year's data. Of course it was inaccurate. He almost scared himself to death. The financial gap actually reached 5 million yuan.
Chen Qing suddenly became energetic and asked with a smile: "Is there anything else worth discussing?"
"There is double counting when it comes to purchasing livestock from nomadic people."
"Tell me more about it!"
Zhao Qiaoyun smiled and said: "Sister, tell me! This is what you discovered."
"If you didn't remind me, how would I have discovered it?"
Having said that, Lu Xiu was still very happy that Zhao Qiaoyun gave her the opportunity, and she also knew about it.
"That's right. The military food subsidy includes a piece of meat expenditure, which is about 40,000 guan per month, so it is 500,000 guan a year. Then livestock is purchased from nomadic people, which mainly buys sheep for the army to eat, which is also a year.
Spending 500,000 yuan, wouldn’t it be repetitive?”
Chen Qing was a little confused, "Why do I feel like something is wrong?"
Zhao Qiaoyun chuckled and said: "The sheep bought from the grassland were placed in Qingzhou and were not sent directly to the military camp. The sheep sent to the military camp were Qingzhou sheep. Mr. Zhao converted it into an expenditure of 500,000 yuan. In fact, Qingzhou
The state’s sheep are all transported from the grassland and put in Gyeongju for foster care. The expenses have already been calculated, so they cannot be calculated a second time.”
Only then did Chen Qing realize that he had indeed overcalculated the army's meat expenditure.
"In that case, there is still a gap of 150 guans. I plan to increase the price of salt by 10 guans per catty. In this way, the financial gap should be filled."
Zhao Qiaoyun pushed Lu Xiu gently, and Lu Xiu smiled and said: "In fact, we have already thought of a way to fill the financial gap without raising the price of salt."
Chen Qing was overjoyed, "What do you think we can do?"
Lu Xiu smiled slightly and said: "Jinghu South Road and Jinghu North Road are such a large area. Do you still want to give up the salt tax to the court?"