The Anshi Rebellion was an important watershed for the country.
In the face of increasingly difficult financial conditions, the imperial court implemented the two-tax law, which shifted from the ancient "taxation of people and land" to the direction of "taxation of people and land". Population is no longer the criterion for taxation, but assets are, so it is a great offense.
The rich and powerful.
However, the imperial court was in financial difficulties and the idea of getting money from the rich and powerful was very urgent, so it was finally implemented.
The promotion of the Two Taxes Law has led to the increasing prosperity of commerce, and the number of commercial taxes has gradually increased. It is no longer the dispensable state before the Anshi Rebellion.
The prosperity of commerce has brought about the improvement of businessmen's political status.
For example, the wealthy businessmen who came to Xingdaofang's mansion today all came in well-decorated carriages, and they were all covered in robes and had thousands of servants.
Businessmen can also be officials, and many officials in the country were originally businessmen.
People at that time also expressed their admiration for doing business, and there were countless commercial poems. Literati also accepted money from businessmen and added commercial elements to their wall poems, which was actually advertising.
Tuoba Sijing has been in Chang'an for several days.
He is now a standard businessman, selling livestock from Suizhou to Guanzhong.
A Jie sheep costs more than 200 yuan in Lingxia, more than 400 yuan in some places in Guanzhong, 500 or 600 yuan in some places, and even more in Chang'an. This leaves a huge profit-making space. Although it is not like some products that can easily cost several times,
The profit is more than ten times the profit, but the demand for sheep is huge, so even if the profit is less than one time, it is still worth doing if it is a volume product.
Guanzhong has been at peace for more than a hundred years. The occasional wars were localized and quickly settled. The most serious chaos in Chao did not spread to the north and west of Jingzhao Prefecture.
After years of recuperation, the people have regained their composure and their lives are on the right track.
Tuoba Sijing is not engaged in this kind of small business, which is too piecemeal. He is engaged in big business in Chang'an City.
The imperial court has a system: for princes and below, second-rank officials, the monthly salary includes "twenty sheep, sixty catties of pork, and twenty fish" without counting other rice, flour, oil, vinegar, wine, and fruits;
The third-rank official is provided with twelve sheep, and the fourth- and fifth-rank officials are provided with nine sheep every month.
There are more than 10,000 officials in the Nanyabei Division. Although it is not a lot of officials of fifth rank and above, you have to count the various casual positions, and the total is not a small number.
There is also the daily consumption of food and wine in palaces, yamen, libraries, inns, military camps and other institutions, which is also a big part.
Of course, the imperial court is now in such a state, with financial difficulties, and salaries are either in arrears or discounted. But how to put it, money and silk can be in arrears, and wine can be withheld, but rice, flour, flour, oil, salt, vinegar, honey, fruits,
If you don’t add seasonings such as crisps, charcoal, onions, chives, and peppers, it would be too much.
No one receives a salary, so they all work for you for free, right?
To a certain extent, the livestock donated by Marshal Shao were an important source of salary and military pay for the imperial court.
This was the case in the imperial dynasty. Money and silk were only part of the salary. Tempeh, onions, leeks, ginger, garlic, etc. were all considered salary. Insufficient money supply was just like this. It is estimated that this problem will not be partially solved until the late Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty.
, but most of the time it can’t be completely solved.
The above are salaries and public consumption, as well as a much larger amount of private consumption.
Nearly eight years have passed since the Chao Rebellion, and the population of Chang'an has gradually recovered. There are still hundreds of thousands of people in the palace, family members of officials, family members of soldiers, monks and nuns in temples, overseas Chinese living in other towns, itinerant businessmen, ordinary citizens, etc. Their lives are
The standards vary, but the number of people with high standards of living is very large, and this consumption cannot be underestimated.
This is the capital.
Any businessman who gets involved in this business can make a fortune.
Tuoba Sijing was originally unable to do this business, which was the territory of Chang'an merchants. However, in recent years, Shuofang's army has become increasingly powerful, and Marshal Shao's political influence has swept through the towns in northwest Beijing and the Gyeonggi region, and Shuofang merchants have also become more powerful.
Just like warriors, they began to "invade" other places.
It was against this background that Tuoba Sijing seized the opportunity and expanded his business into Chang'an.
He has a collaborator named Cui Shi, a local businessman in Chang'an who is very powerful. Today he was invited to attend the banquet held by Marshal Shao in his mansion.
Tuoba Sijing can also guess what the commander-in-chief is thinking, and he wants to encourage business exchanges between Guanzhong and Lingxia to strengthen the treasury.
His ambition is too great.
When my brother was still alive, his biggest dream was to become the military governor of Xia Sui. Compared with Shao Shude, the gap was insignificant.
By the way, Tuoba Sigong is dead and buried in the grassland. Of those who fled, only Sijian and Renfu, his uncle and nephew, are left. They are struggling to survive in Shaqi, Hexi. They heard that they can be compared with the Ganzhou Uighurs.
Khan and Li Renmei had a close relationship and helped each other.
Tuoba Sijing boldly spoke out this year and sent people to Shaqi to contact Tuoba Sijing and advise him. Renfu and Renfu recruited him to surrender so that he would never become a border threat.
Shao Shude promised it.
In the current situation in Lingxia, even if the Tuoba clan comes back, there is no possibility of making a comeback.
Shao Shude was not bloodthirsty. Han Xun, the surrendered general of Lingzhou, was still serving as deputy envoy under Qian Shousu of the Feng'an Army. He was very confident in his control of the troops. It was embarrassing for the officers to rebel but could not pull the soldiers away.
After solving this worry, Tuoba Sijing still had one thing on his mind, and that was his daughter Tuoba Pu.
She is not young yet, but she cannot get married. She has been living at home and has a lot of gossip from outsiders.
One time Tuoba Sijing came home and was shocked to see a cloud of soldiers inside and outside the house. Then he saw his daughter walking out of the house with wet hair and a flushed face. She suddenly understood everything and turned around to go to the store to drink.
Mr. Zheju, you are going too far to deceive others!
There was a noise outside, a servant came to report, and Cui Shi came to visit.
Tuoba Sijing put down his wine bottle, straightened his robes, and went out to greet him.
"Cui San, why did you come so late?"
"Silang, don't ask any more. The Prince of Lingwu County is going to hold an expo in Tongzhou and invites merchants from Chang'an to attend."
The two walked while talking, and soon entered the main hall.
"Why Tongzhou?" Tuoba Sijing asked curiously.
According to his idea, every prefecture should hold one, twice a year. Maybe there is a shortage of manpower?
Also, there are too few talents in Lingxia. There are very few people who can write and calculate accounts. If every state does it, where will so many people be recruited from?
"Most likely he wanted to lure merchants from the river." Cui Shi took out a silver dollar from his pocket and said, "Has Tuoba Shiro seen this thing?"
"I've heard of it." Tuoba Sijing did not attend the expo and only drove his livestock to Guanzhong to do business.
"The King of Lingwu County has said that the silver coins minted by Gaolan Money Prison will be used as accounting money, and they will go to the market outside Shayuan Prison in Tongzhou to do business. He really wants to use the merchants from Hezhong Prefecture, Huazhou and even Shaanxi and Guizhou to do business.
Come here, haha." Cui Shi said with a smile.
Wherever the soldiers are fighting, where the business stalls are, is the King of Lingwu a warrior or a merchant?
"Cui San, do you think anyone will go to Tongzhou?"
"Quite a few. Xia Bing is still in the city. For tonight's banquet, merchants from various quarters bought a lot of silver dollar bills, ranging from dozens to a thousand yuan." Cui Shi took out one from his sleeve pocket and said:
"Two hundred yuan can only be used in Tongzhoufang City."
Tuoba Sijing was surprised and asked: "It can only be used in Tongzhou? Then why do people still buy it?"
"They are all regarded as the favor of Prince Lingwu." Cui Shi was a little embarrassed.
Tuoba Sijing thought intently. He had always felt that the Lingwu County King must have made silver dollar bills to pass through all states. Now it seems that it can't be done?
Is it because the accounts are too huge to be calculated? That shouldn’t be the case. There are only two expos a year and there aren’t many accounts to be settled.
Silver dollar bills from Lingzhou, Xiazhou, and Suizhou can be used universally!
Or is it too far away from the same state? There is no way to manage it? Or is it because of insufficient manpower?
Tuoba Sijing couldn't understand and decided not to think about it. Anyway, for Shuofang Town, the big soldiers entered Guanzhong, and the merchants also followed southward to Guanzhong. Everyone made a profit, which was enough.
"When merchants go to Tongzhoufang City to do business, the court will make less money..."
"The imperial court is excessive in collecting money, including wine money, music money, customs taxes, donations, palaces, markets, and even royal mausoleums. If the prime ministers continue to collect money, I am afraid that all the merchants will run away." Cui Shi said with some ridicule,
It seems that I get a lot of scratches on weekdays.
Of course he could see that this was an act by Prince Lingwu to steal the court's money, but it was good for their merchants and they didn't pay much tax, so why not do it?
Is the imperial court in trouble? There are too many people to support! Why doesn’t the Shuofang shogunate support so many idle people?
If you don't have enough money, don't raise your spirits and build an army! Or just raise 20,000 to 30,000 people to control the capital. What do you need so many soldiers for more than 20 counties?
There are too many officials in the Nanyabei Division! Heyunyuan and Weiqiao Granary are empty, and it is ridiculous to have so many officials.
If possible, it would be better to let the Prince of Lingwu County concurrently serve as the governor of Gyeonggi Province, in charge of Jingzhao Prefecture, Tonghua, Jin, Shang Prefecture and four prefectures, so that everyone's burden can be lighter.
Anyway, in this land of Guanzhong, people can come and leave whenever they want. What else can the court do to him? It's better to be happy.
Merchants like Lingwu County Prince, but they don’t like the imperial court!
Prince Lingwu, who was favored by the merchants, was discussing matters with his staff in the palace.
"How much can we charge if the Tongzhou Expo is held twice a year?" Shao Shude was very concerned about this issue.
"Commander, Lingzhoufang City held two expositions and collected a total of more than 26,000 yuan in commercial tax. Tongzhou should have more." Feng Wei, the judge of the Zhidu Division, has been sent to Suizhou to serve as governor.
Internal affairs are in charge of Wei Zhuang.
One yuan is probably worth less than 1.5 cents. Lingzhoufang City held two expositions, and the tax collected was converted into copper coins, which was nearly 40,000.
This is just Lingzhou.
Xiazhou also did it twice, collecting more than 10,000 yuan in taxes, and Suizhou received more than 20,000 yuan in revenue.
"Collecting taxes is just a benefit." Shao Shude stood up and said: "More and more merchants must realize that silver dollar bills are a thing. Even if they are just circulated in the hands of merchants, they are of great benefit. People's daily lives include daily necessities of food, rice, oil and salt.
We can’t use any silver coins to make soy and vinegar tea, so the merchants should return the copper coins to the people.”
Everyone laughed when they heard this.
Silver dollar bills can only be used in fixed locations and are circulated among merchants who open accounts. It is difficult for ordinary people to come into contact with them. They do not need to come into contact with them because they do not need such a large amount of money in daily life.
"The merchants have seen it more and used it more, so they feel relieved. When they need it urgently in the future, they may have to ask the clearing bank to borrow silver dollar bills. Not only the merchants, but also some court officials may have to ask for it."
Shao Shude said again.
"Isn't this a story about debt handsome?" Wei Zhuang asked in surprise.
Everyone laughed again.
In those years when the court was in good shape, such as the Xianzong Yuan and Zhongxing meetings, a large number of Shence Army generals were sent abroad to serve as Jiedushi envoys. They had to borrow usury and bribe middle-ranking officials to get what they needed. After they took office, they plundered money.
, make up for the shortfall.
People at that time had a vivid name for these Jiedu envoys who came from the Shence Army: Debt Commander.
"I have planted in the spring, and I will harvest in the autumn." Shao Shude sat back in his chair and said with a smile.