In the first month of the third year of Wende, Huaiyuan New City ushered in the New Year.
The city already has a lot of people, mostly the shogunate generals and their families. Outside the city, there are tens of thousands of soldiers and their families, and the number is still increasing.
Most of the various buildings have been built. In another year, it should be completed, and private investment will gradually improve it later.
Wei Zhuang was walking on the main north-south avenue of Huaiyuan New City.
He didn't think there was anything special about this city. After all, he had lived in Chang'an for so long, and when he looked at other cities, he always found it a bit boring.
The old and new cities in Huaiyuan combined may be considered top-notch among the prefecture cities, but the prefecture city is just a prefecture city and cannot rise to the level of a national capital. It is so remote in the northwest that even Tongwancheng and Lingzhou are considered big and powerful cities.
The scale of Huaiyuan New City far exceeds that of Lingzhou and Xiazhou, which naturally makes people feel strange.
But there is still one thing about Huaiyuan New City that attracts Wei Zhuang's interest, and that is the amazing vitality of the place.
The convergence of trade routes brought prosperity to commerce.
Within the market, there are already more than 40 categories of shops including grain and wheat shops, rice and noodle shops, silk shops, vegetable shops, etc.
Wu Fu is really rich! His family doesn't even need to work, so they can make ends meet. If he is not too lazy and cultivates some land, he can live a very prosperous life.
Wei Zhuang had just been appointed as Kong Muguan of the Shuofang shogunate, which was similar to his position in the Zhou Bao shogunate, as a middle-level assistant.
After arriving at Zhidusi Yamen, he first met with Shangguan Fengwei.
Feng Wei's two younger sisters had served the commander for a long time, and they had a son and two daughters together. They were very favored. Although the reputation of the Feng family in Hezhong was not as good as that of the Wei family in Jingzhao, they were direct descendants of the Feng family, and they were very similar to his own.
Compared with Webster's broken house, haha, it's hard to say which one is more noble.
"Da Lang came just in time, come with me to go out." Feng Wei said while sending people to pack things.
"Where does the judge want to go?" Wei Zhuang asked curiously.
On the first day of the first month of the first lunar month, isn't it reserved for everyone to chat and reminisce about old times? How could it be in such a hurry?
Feng Wei saw Wei Zhuang's doubts and explained: "You will know when you get out of Chaojing Gate."
Not long after Wei Zhuang joined the job, he was confused by what he heard, but he still asked the driving officer to bring the account books, pens and ink and other supplies and prepare to go out.
"General Wang, thank you." After leaving the gate, Wei Zhuang suddenly found two teams of sergeants standing at the door, both wearing armor and armed with weapons. Especially the bows had been strung, looking ready to fight at any time. However, Feng Wei
He seemed very indifferent and even saluted the general who was leading the troops.
"Everything has been checked, no problem. Let's go, standing here is too eye-catching." Wang Jianji, holding a bow in his hand, urged.
"That's fine, you have to hurry up. The commander-in-chief takes this matter very seriously." Feng Wei replied.
After the greetings were completed, the group set off.
There was also a carriage accompanying him, which contained several wooden boxes with seals on them. No one knew what was inside.
However, a hundred elite soldiers from the Tianzhu Army were specially mobilized to escort them. It must be a very urgent matter.
Wei Zhuang rode a white horse and followed the judge Feng Wei. He walked out of Chaojing Gate unhurriedly and then turned to the southeast.
There is the water gate of Huaiyuan New City in the southeast, and a ditch leads directly to the river. However, the river is frozen this time, shipping is temporarily suspended, and the gate on the water gate is also closed.
Everyone quickly arrived at their destination, which was a market that was still under construction. The houses inside had been built and the roads had been repaired, but the outer walls of the market were not completed and were only surrounded by a wooden fence for the time being.
There are sergeants on duty outside the square wall, but they are not government officials or state soldiers, but a newly established force in Lingzhou, called the "Tax Police".
The Lingzhou tax police force has a strength of 500, which is exactly one battalion, and has 300 horses. The treatment is the same as that of the yamen army. They receive two grains per month and are rewarded five times a year. The training is also managed by the yamen.
The tax police are temporarily led by the commander-in-chief. There are currently three battalions of tax police in Shuofang, one in Lingzhou, one in Xiazhou, and one in Suizhou. They have good combat effectiveness and can almost be treated as yamen soldiers.
After negotiating with the tax police on duty and checking the documents, the group entered Fangshi, then went straight to a large courtyard with three entrances, and entered through a temporarily opened side door.
"Qiang Shijun." Feng Wei saluted Qiang Quansheng, the military envoy who came out to greet him.
"Judge Feng, have everything arrived?" Qiang Quansheng looked at the box on the carriage and asked.
"The thirty thousand silver cakes are all here." Feng Wei replied.
Hearing this, Qiang Quansheng didn't waste any time and directly ordered people to open the box and count the points.
After a long time, the driving officer of the Military Envoy Yamen completed the calculation. After repeated confirmations, Qiang Quansheng signed and stamped the delivery document.
Feng Wei breathed a sigh of relief when he saw this.
Thirty thousand pieces of silver cake were finally delivered. It was not a matter of money, it was actually the responsibility of the commander-in-chief who personally assigned it.
"Let's go and talk inside." Qiang Quansheng said: "Several bigwigs in the town are probably here too, and we just want to talk together."
Passing through a corridor, everyone came to a large hall, where more than ten wealthy businessmen were sitting. Wei Zhuang didn't recognize any of them, but Feng Wei obviously knew most of them.
"Everyone." Qiang Quansheng cleared his throat, looked at the officials from other yamen and the big businessmen from various states in the hall, and said: "The commander-in-chief has ordered that from this year onwards, large-scale transactions will be unified within the city."
Zhao Cheng and Kang Fojin looked at each other. This was the proper intention, in order to better collect taxes.
When the business has reached the level they have, there is no need to evade taxes anymore. Warriors are not easy to talk to. If they have no money, they will share it with you. If you evade too much tax, it will not only be dangerous, but also when the shogunate has no money, it will take advantage of the big ones.
I'm still going to get it on your head. Why bother? Small businessmen will just run away if they evade taxes. Where will the big businessmen run?
"All transactions in the market are kept in unified accounting and mutual deductions are made," Qiang Quansheng added.
"May I ask Mr. Qiangshi how to keep accounts and how to make deductions?" Zhao Cheng asked.
Wei Zhuang glanced at him. Hearing that this person was the uncle of the handsome concubine Zhao Yu, he was the first to get up and ask, which was quite interesting.
"Every merchant who enters the market must issue an official letter, called an 'account', at the Yamenfang City Branch of the Military Envoy. Every time a transaction is made, the input and output items are listed on the account, which is copied and transcribed by the Yamen commander.
.Input items and output items can be deducted from each other..."
Simply put, this is a clearing banking system.
Bulk transactions are concentrated in one place. Someone sells a batch of goods and lists them as input items. Buys a batch of goods and lists them as items. The input items and output items can offset each other, and the balance is finally calculated. Those who have a balance are provided to the military envoy Yamen
To make up the money, if there is a deficit, go to the Yamen to pay.
Of course, those with balances and those with shortfalls can also conduct transactions privately, which is equivalent to borrowing money. The yamen does not care, you do it yourself, it all depends on your credibility.
This is actually an exposition, trade fair-like form of trade, focusing on bulk transactions. It was particularly popular in Europe in the Middle Ages, and there were also prototypes of this type in the country. For example, a merchant from a certain state trafficked goods to Chang'an, and after selling them, he returned to the town.
Stationed in Chang'an, go to the memorial hall or a famous big businessman to get a voucher, and get the money after returning to your hometown.
The Jinzouyuan of the Guochao Dynasty was responsible for some banking functions before Huang Chao's chaos in Guanzhong.
There is no doubt that this transaction model greatly promotes business and is also conducive to government tax collection.
Big businessmen often spend tens of thousands of yuan on their transactions. Take Kaiyuan Tongbao in Huichang as an example. It weighs six kilograms and four taels for eight hundred yuan. Ten thousand yuan is equivalent to 64,000 kilograms. Long-distance transportation is miserable and risky.
Not to mention, some states and counties do not allow copper coins to leave the country at all, which greatly restricts commercial transactions.
The transaction model of the exposition, in which merchants opened accounts in the "clearing bank", was equivalent to transferring funds to each other, offsetting expenses and income, and making unified settlements. This not only greatly reduced the demand for currencies such as copper coins and silk, but was also very convenient.
The quality of copper coins is not necessarily the same, which has always been a headache for businessmen. Some coins with poor quality will be broken in half when dropped on the ground. Who dares to accept such copper coins?
In fact, silk is not easy to value because of the different patterns and quality, the huge price difference, and factors such as year-on-year depreciation, which greatly hinder commercial transactions.
So, in what currency will the transaction be recorded?
"May I ask Mr. Qiangshi, what items should be used to record the various transactions during the meeting?" Zhao Cheng asked again.
Wei Zhuang secretly thought, this person must have been trusted.
Qiang Quansheng nodded, asked the envoys to take the minted silver coins, and distributed five coins to each merchant. Then someone brought out some items and placed them on the table.
"The imperial court distributed scales and rulers to all the bureaus in Beijing and all the states in the world, as well as five scales, buckets, shengs, and sums, etc." Qiang Quansheng pointed to the weights and measures placed in front of him and said.
Weighing and measuring instruments were made under the supervision of the Taifu Temple of the imperial court and distributed regularly to all states in the world. They were made of copper.
This is actually a standard instrument issued by the imperial court as the standard for weights and measures in various states. Local governments will then make the same instrument and use it in daily life.
Taking weighing as an example, the imperial court had a system: "The weight of a hundred grains of millet is regarded as baht, twenty-four baht is regarded as liang, and sixteen liang is regarded as a catty."
Millet is a crop produced somewhere in Hedong. According to this standard, one hundred grains of medium size weigh one baht.
Strictly speaking, it is not very rigorous. But since this is ancient times, it can be said to be very good and relatively thoughtful.
Based on this, the imperial court made weighing instruments and distributed them to all states in the world as a standard.
"This silver cake is called 'Yuan'. It weighs eighteen baht and is nine coppers per silver. I will use this to keep accounts." Qiang Quansheng said.
The silver dollar actually existed as an accounting currency for trade fairs. But unlike the imaginary currencies (such as marks and lira) used by Europeans in the Middle Ages, it existed in kind.
More than 58,000 pieces of silver produced in the Gaolan Silver Mine have been minted, all of which are stored in the Zhidusi Yamen. Now, 30,000 pieces have been transferred to the Military Envoy Yamen to prepare for emergencies.
Generally speaking, a trade fair will be estimated in advance. Generally speaking, the sales and purchases are balanced, and it does not necessarily require spending many silver coins. These 30,000 coins are really just for emergencies.
Of course, if a trade fair ends and the merchants in Lingxia are really in a state of trade deficit and need to replenish other people's money and the silver coins are not enough, Marshal Shao will ask someone to issue a certificate. The person who receives this certificate can go to
After a fixed period of time (for example, after the autumn harvest), you can use this certificate to receive various things including grain, horses, and silver coins. The military envoy's Yamen that issued the certificate will pay it, and some interest may be appropriate.
Nowadays, there are frequent wars in the Central Plains. The merchants who come to Lingxia to buy goods such as skins, ribs, bird feathers, and horses are completely innumerable. If Shao Shude is willing to sell 100,000 horses, some people may even dare to eat them all.
In high-intensity wars, horses have become a consumable, and it is common for thousands of horses to die in a battle.
Marshal Shao is ready to let Datong Horse Racing Company monopolize the horse trade of the pastoral supervisors and Tibetan tribes. Last year, he only sold 10,000 horses, but the purchase volume reached more than 30,000. These talented people are now fighting.
So cruel?
By the way, if the local merchants in Lingxia have a trade surplus, the military envoy's Yamen will pay the equivalent of silver dollars in hard currency such as copper coins, silk, and grain.
They can also choose to save the surplus for the military envoys, which can be used to offset taxes, purchase land, or use it at the next trade fair.
Rectifying business order and promoting commercial trade is something Shao Shude has been thinking about for a long time.
There is no other reason than to collect money. The more business transactions there are, the more business taxes will be. This is a very clear thing.
The first thing that hinders commercial activities today is war, which is easy to understand. The second is that states restrict the export of copper coins, which is very troublesome. It eliminates too many potential trades at once and hinders the circulation of goods. The third is copper coins and silk.
The quality was confusing, it was difficult to appraise, settlement was difficult, and many transactions were lost.
Introduce an accounting currency based on physical silver dollars, and conduct centralized bulk trade in the form of expositions and trade fairs at fixed times, which is more standardized, more convenient, and safer than all kinds of messy private trade.
As for the commercial tax collected at the trade fair, it's just a small thing, right? It's not a small thing for Shao Dashuai, it's a lot of money.
The residence tax is 3%, except for Mo Qian 2%, plus the tax on special commodities, such as the 5% Ma Qian that will be levied soon, and the stamp tax that Marshal Shao is hesitant to pay, which means printing some bills and affixing them to the transaction voucher.
The fairness of the government gives businessmen a sense of psychological security. If the total trade volume of a trade fair can reach 100,000 yuan, then the shogunate can collect at least 10,000 yuan in tax, which is equivalent to 15,000 copper coins.
Don’t forget that there is also a 10% tariff. Both import and export are taxed. The more businessmen you attract, the higher the total tariff will be.
In fact, big businessmen are not afraid of paying taxes. What they are afraid of is not doing business. If a horse is bought in Xiazhou for more than 30 pieces of silk, it is no exaggeration to bring it back to Shuzhong and the price will be doubled several times. That little business tax is
It’s so funny, it’s drizzle.
Shao Dashuai provides merchants with a safe location, provides accounting currency and a clearing bank system to facilitate their transactions, and uses a trade fair model to gather merchants to facilitate purchase. With such a multi-pronged approach, I hope that commercial tax will reach a new level.
steps.
Without money, it is really difficult to move forward.
There are more than 100,000 troops. If there is a big battle to be fought later, the cost will not be small.
In addition, it is really not appropriate to always give sheep as rewards to the sergeants. It is necessary to get more cash, and I hope to attract more precious metals from other towns.
Many of Marshal Shao's plans cannot be carried out without currency reform. As for the accounting currency, there are physical silver dollars for you to see now. What if there is no physical silver dollar one day?