One Hundred and Twenty Sixth Chapter Courage to Serve
The summer and autumn grain and commercial tax quotas of the Great Zhou Dynasty were basically inherited from the previous Ming Dynasty. A rough number was determined from the founding of the People's Republic of China, and then the rest was retained for local use, which is somewhat similar to the model of excess retention after a minimum guarantee.
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But in fact, for the north, it is difficult to complete in many places, so there are often some gaps in the start and retention, and it often becomes an important criterion for the Ministry of Personnel and the Metropolitan Procuratorate to evaluate officials in various places every year.
Similarly for the Jiangnan region, the summer and autumn grain and commercial taxes retained by the shipment will basically be adjusted every few years. Of course, this cannot be a decrease, it can only be an increase, so this is why Jiangnan
The gentry were particularly dissatisfied with the imperial court.
But for the imperial court, in the face of the increasingly difficult situation on the nine sides, food, salary, and military resources were constantly increasing. If they did not find a way to the south of the Yangtze River, could they still scratch a layer in the northern prefecture counties that were unable to complete the task of launching the shipment?
This is also the most prominent focus of the differences and conflicts between the North and the South.
But from the north, the entire nine frontiers are pressing on the northern provinces. From Liaodong to the north to Shanxi and Shaanxi, the supplements of the frontier troops basically come from the guard posts of the northern provinces, and most of the soldiers come from the north.
In addition, once the Mongols break through the border wall, they will bring huge damage to Shaanxi, Shanxi, Beizhi and Liaodong. This long-term war pressure has also made the Northland poor in terms of agriculture, commerce and even urban construction.
None of them can be compared with the south, not to mention the climate and transportation advantages of the south.
It is obviously a military pressure that the entire Zhou Dynasty needs to face. Why should the north bear it alone? If the north has people to bear the pressure, shouldn't it be compensated in the form of tax exemptions?
This is probably the crux of the dispute between the North and the South.
In the past few years, Yongping Mansion performed poorly in shipping summer taxes and autumn grains and in paying commercial taxes. Zheng Jizhi also wiped the butt of fellow villager Zhu Zhiren a lot. Now things have finally changed. Zheng Jizhi also mentioned this intentionally.
Everyone understands that no matter how powerful Feng Ziying is, he is just a fellow intellectual. Without Zhu Zhiren, the prefect, to support him behind his back, he would never have been able to do so easily in just three months.
So many things happened.
"Bo Xiaogong, the commercial taxation of Yongping Mansion will definitely be completed this year, and there will even be a relatively large increase. It is still early for the opening of Yuguan Port, but I believe there will be a big improvement next year. As for the summer tax and autumn grain, this is not what I
You have to ask the prefect or magistrate about the scope of responsibilities of Tongzhi, and they can answer it."
Feng Ziying was very polite and only talked about matters within the scope of her responsibilities.
This is a basic criterion for being an official. It is the prefect's right not to evaluate the performance of his colleagues.
Zheng Jizhi glanced at Feng Ziying, but he gave Feng Ziying a thumbs up in his heart. No wonder Zhu Zhiren's letter was also full of praise for this son. This is not only a matter of ability, but his performance is enough to show that this person can not only do things, but also be a good person.
Will be an official.
"Ziying, I also heard that you are opening mines in Lulong and Qian'an. It seems that the revenue from the Ministry of Industry and Finance will increase significantly this year, but the cabinet is more concerned about the smelting project you are doing with the Shanxi Chamber of Commerce and Foshan Zhuangji.
I heard that the workshops, those two ironworks, will have some new craftsmanship? Zhuang Ji is a big company registered with the Ministry of Industry, and also cooperates with the Ministry of War. How did you do this in Yongping Prefecture?
considerate?"
Li Sancai was much more practical than these people and asked directly for specific details.
“Master Daofu, Ziying doesn’t dare to hide anything in front of the other masters. These two iron factories mainly produce wrought iron and steel, with iron materials coming second…”
Feng Ziying’s words are half true and half false.
Iron and steel are two different concepts. The price of steel is much higher than that of pig iron and wrought iron. The new process used this time is mainly for steelmaking, but he cannot say enough.
Too much improvement in quality and quantity will definitely arouse the curiosity and even suspicion of the court, so no matter what angle you look at, you have to be cautious.
"Preliminary predictions show that the annual iron output of Lulong Iron Works can reach about 1.4 million jins, of which wrought iron and steel can reach about 800,000 jins. The output of Qian'an Iron Works is higher, about 30,000 jins.
About 1.8 million jins, the output of wrought iron and steel can reach about 1.2 million jins,..."
Everyone here was shocked. Such a huge increase in pig iron production is shocking. This is just Yongping Prefecture, but can wrought iron and steel also reach such a high level?
Pig iron is the cheapest and easiest to produce. Wrought iron is more complicated, but steel is not easy to produce. Although everyone here does not know the specific production processes of pig iron, wrought iron and steel, they still understand the distinction between them.
“Ziying, can the output of wrought iron and steel reach such a high level?” Li Sancai was a little unconvinced. He had served as minister of the Ministry of Industry and was very aware of the national steel output. It was time-consuming and labor-intensive, so there was a huge shortage.
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"The main reason is that some new smelting processes have been adopted to increase the furnace temperature, so that the molten iron can be better mixed with other furnace materials..." Feng Ziying made up a few words, "It's not a big problem, but that will have to wait until later.
Under normal circumstances for half a year, it will definitely not be possible now.”
“Even so, it’s impressive. There is a shortage of steel in Dazhou. If the new process can increase steel production, that would be great, especially for the Bingzhan Bureau’s production of armor.” Fang Congzhe nodded.
Every year, the War Bureau alone consumes a lot of steel and wrought iron to produce various armors, protective equipment, and weapons, and the cost is quite huge. If the cost of steel production is reduced, the output can still be increased.
Under such circumstances, it is of course a great boon to Dazhou.
"Ziying, I wonder if this iron-smelting and steel-making process can be promoted across the country? In this way, our steel materials in Dazhou will no longer be stretched." Li Sancai was born as Minister of the Ministry of Industry, and he knew very well that steel has great influence on Dazhou.
The importance of this kind of thing is needed in almost every field.
"Mr. Daofu, this depends on the Shanshan Chamber of Commerce and the Foshan Village. I have provided some insights and ideas for this new technology, but it is their craftsmen who have worked hard to refine it. In addition, it is said that it is not stable yet.
There is a lot of room for improvement, but I think even if it is a business secret, it will probably spread slowly in three to five years. However, the Shanshan Chamber of Commerce and Zhuangji invested a lot in the early stage, and they have to let people recover the cost.
, but they can be allowed to further expand the scale. Anyway, there are a lot of iron ores here in Yongping..."
Feng Ziying put the burden on the Shanshan-Shaanxi Chamber of Commerce and Zhuangji. The Shanshan-Shaanxi Chamber of Commerce will definitely not agree in the short term. How can they easily hand over such huge profits that are almost a monopoly?
Wouldn’t that make you feel sorry for your own money bag?
Li Sancai nodded knowingly. His ancestral home was Shaanxi, and merchants from Shanxi and Shaanxi had always been one and the same. He did not want to have trouble with these Shanxi merchants.
“Ziying, your trip to Yongping Mansion didn’t last long, but the action was big enough. How did you consider the opening of Yuguan Port?”
Both Fang Congzhe and Zheng Jizhi were very interested in the opening of the Yuguan port. From Fang Congzhe's point of view, after the opening of the sea, the north made a lot of noise, thinking that this was purely a gain for the south of the Yangtze River and nothing for the north. If this could prove that the north
You can also benefit from opening up the sea, which can be regarded as a counterattack against the northern scholars.
And Zheng Jizhi simply saw the huge benefits that could be brought by the establishment of municipal shipping companies after Ningbo, Quanzhou, Guangzhou, and Zhangzhou opened their seas. If after Yuguan opened its ports, it could be like cities like Ningbo and Quanzhou, then that would be
It's quite a small addition.
"The opening of the Yuguan port is not only a tariff revenue, but also a great benefit to the food and material security of Yongping, western Liaoning, and even the entire border towns in eastern Liaoning. Guangning and Ningyuan no longer need to purchase goods from the capital or Zhigu
To transport it over there, you have to go through a transshipment on the way, and shipping by sea is faster than taking the canal. Here you can disembark directly at Yuguan and pass through Shanhaiguan to reach the Western Liaoning Corridor. You can save a lot in transportation consumption alone.
"
Feng Ziying explained patiently: "And Yongping iron materials can also be exported in large quantities to the south of the Yangtze River and along the Yangtze River into Huguang. It can be said that as soon as Yuguan opens the port, the whole game from western Liaoning to Jingdong will be alive, and even the people who want to Chahar in the future will
In the territory under our control, North Korea and Japan outside can also import and export materials through Yuguan, and this will become a hub..."
Feng Ziying smiled and said, "I am the governor of Yongping Prefecture, but as soon as I went to the prefecture, the business tax affairs were handed over to me. Originally, because of the opening of the sea, I had more dealings with merchants from all over the country, and the situation in the north and south was also different.
I generally understand that businessmen in the North are very jealous of the silk, tea, porcelain, cloth and other industries brought about by the opening of the sea in the south of the Yangtze River. I can understand this. At that time, I also discussed with people from the Shanxi Chamber of Commerce in our north.
How can the region maximize its strengths and avoid its weaknesses, because Northland has inherent deficiencies in industries such as silk and tea, so what are the advantages of Northland, that is, in coal stone and iron smelting,..."
Feng Ziying introduced her ideas, and several cabinet ministers nodded slightly.
This is the real thing. Logically speaking, this Tongzhi should not be in charge of these specific matters. The Qing army, coastal defense, and public security are the Tongzhi's main responsibilities. However, it is not wrong for the prefect to hand over commercial taxes to Feng Ziying.
The first rule of Zhi Tong Zhi is to assist the magistrate in handling government affairs, so any matter that is not clearly assigned to the magistrate or the magistrate can be assigned to Tong Zhi.
Those who are mediocre and lazy can find excuses to shirk and delay, but those who want to do something will seize such opportunities to prove themselves.
Feng Ziying seized the opportunity and not only handled her duties in an orderly manner, but also helped the prefect handle the most important taxation matters. It can be said that the courage to do things is often the most important point in the assessment of officials. This is the attitude.