Not to mention thirty years later, I still haven't mastered both writing and swordsmanship.
The mountains and rivers look for Wu and Yue, and the wind and dust hate Luo Jing.
The flat boat floated across the lake and sea, and I bowed to the prince.
Just enjoy the things in the cup, who cares about the reputation in the world.
——"From Luo Zhiyue" Meng Haoran [Tang Dynasty]
…
After the matter of ensuring military supplies came to an end, Suzong arranged a new task for Bai Fu. Bai Fu handed over the construction of the mansion to Princess Qingluan and devoted himself wholeheartedly to the government.
As a subordinate of Tong Zhongshu, Bai Fu was equivalent to the prime minister of the cabinet and could participate in the highest decision-making of the Tang Dynasty. Only then did Bai Fu know the true family background of the Tang Empire. After the An Lushan rebellion, the Tang Empire had already
It's riddled with holes.
…
Before An Lushan's rebellion, the Tang Dynasty's finances were already seriously out of balance, which was only covered up by the superficial prosperity of the "Kaiyuan Heyday". After the rebellion broke out, the Tang Dynasty's financial problems worsened rapidly, and the speed was jaw-dropping.
In the thirteenth year of Tianbao (754 AD) before the Anlushan Rebellion, the total population of the Tang Dynasty was 8.9 million households, nearly 53 million people. However, after the rebellion, the population that the imperial court could control declined rapidly.
, by the first year of the Yuan Dynasty (760), there were only 1.93 million households and 13 million people left in the Tang Dynasty. The number of households was less than a quarter of what it was a few years ago, and the population was less than one-third.
one.
The huge difference in population before and after the rebellion was not because so many people died in battle or starved to death during the war, but because the imperial court lost control of the territory and many people were outside the imperial household registration statistics.
What is even more troublesome is that among the 1.93 million households and 17 million people, there are 1.17 million households and 14.62 million people (the old, weak, sick and disabled, relatives of the emperor and the country)
, aristocratic families, monks and other privileged classes) do not need to pay the rent tax.
In other words, there were only 760,000 households and 2.37 million people to bear the huge rent and tax adjustment of the entire Tang Empire.
Since the taxes borne by each person could not increase significantly, the imperial court's fiscal and tax revenue dropped sharply to about one-third of that of the Xuanzong Dynasty.
The imperial court's fiscal and tax revenue was reduced to one-third of its original value, while military expenditures were even greater than before. The imperial court must do everything possible to collect fiscal and tax revenues from the areas it could control.
To make matters worse, the rebels cut off economic ties between the capital city of Chang'an and the richest city of Jiangnan.
The Jianghuai area with Yangzhou as the center was the center of Datang's finance and taxation.
Yangzhou is the southern starting point of the canal. The food from the south is collected here, and then transferred to Bianzhou (today's Kaifeng) through the canal. From Bianzhou, follow the Yellow River and Weihe River to Chang'an, or follow the Yellow River and Luohe River to Luoyang.
An Lushan raised troops from Fan Yang and went south to occupy the Central Plains, gradually cutting off the connection between Chang'an and Jiangnan. Food and taxes from Jiangnan could not be transported to Chang'an.
After the war broke out, the first thing the rebels destroyed was the imperial court's financial allocation ability, making it impossible for the imperial court to use the empire's materials to support the army and fight against the rebels.
This is a battle of life and death for the empire's finances, and is no less dangerous than a decisive battle on the battlefield.
After Suzong ascended the throne (756), he first sought subsidies from trade.
Before the Anshi Rebellion, the taxation of the Tang Dynasty was mainly aimed at agriculture, called Xuyongduo, which means a certain rent tax was charged on the land, and then "tuning" (tax on agricultural products, mainly linen and silk) was levied on farmers, and a tax of 20 yuan was levied every year.
The "yong" of heaven (labor).
The Tang Dynasty court has always adopted an open attitude towards the trade industry. The tax rate of commercial tax is very low and is not a major tax. Because of this, the commerce of the Tang Dynasty is very developed. All nations come to the court, merchants from all over the world gather in all directions, and goods are dazzling from all over the world.
When the taxes raised by rents and taxes could not make ends meet, Suzong began to impose heavy taxes on merchants in order to pay for military expenses.
Suzong sent his imperial envoy Zheng Shuqing to the Jianghuai and Bashu areas that had not been affected by the war, and levied a one-time 20% wealth tax on wealthy businessmen, that is, rate loans.
In addition to Jianghuai and Bashu, the imperial court also levied trade taxes from merchants at markets and road checkpoints all over the world, and all goods worth more than one thousand yuan had to be paid.
However, as the war became stalemate, the temporary taxation of merchants was still unable to meet the huge military expenditures, so the court had to find another way.
At this time, Wu Qi (surnamed "Fifth", given name Qi) appeared in Suzong's field of vision.
Fifth Qi Chen said: "Now is the time when the imperial court urgently needs troops. However, the strong combat effectiveness of the army comes from the sufficient supply of food and salary, and food and salary are directly linked to taxes. Most of the taxes come from the Jianghuai area. If you can give me a position, all of them will be paid."
Convert the money from the southeast into military pay and immediately support the Hangu Pass and Luoyang front lines, just waiting for His Majesty's order."
Suzong was overjoyed after hearing this and appointed Wu Qi as the supervisory censor, the general envoy to Jianghuai, the wailang of the Yu Yuan Dynasty, the envoy to the five branches of Henan, and the minister of Jinlang to other important positions.
The Jianghuai Tax Envoy was stationed in the Jianghuai area, the richest area in the Tang Dynasty. His mission was to find tax sources by all means, such as salt from Wu, hemp and copper from Shu.
Since the rebels led by Shi Siming occupied the canal hub, the imperial supplies could not be transported through the canal and the Yellow River.
Therefore, at the suggestion of Taifu Xu, the imperial court opened up another road to protect finance and taxation: take the Han River from the Yangtze River to Xiangyang, then continue to take the waterway from Xiangyang to Hanzhong, and then from Hanzhong to Fengxiang.
This waterway is difficult and has little transport capacity. Therefore, after the tax collection was completed, the salt, hemp and copper were not transported directly to the court. Instead, they were sold on the spot and converted into local specialties and transported to other places for high prices.
Replacing salt, hemp, copper, etc. with local products can reduce the weight, which not only reduces transportation costs, but also sells for more money.
As a result, taxes from the Jianghuai region were finally collected from the imperial court to ensure the imperial court's expenses and the Tang army's military expenses.
However, the emergence of the envoys led to another phenomenon: the original official system of the imperial court was mainly based on the system of three provinces and six ministries, and each official performed his own duties. However, due to temporary financial and taxation needs, the emperor used the envoys to bypass the three provinces and six ministries.
Officials who directly handled affairs destroyed the daily operation system of the imperial court.
Wu Qi, who was originally unknown, suddenly became the emperor's celebrity by renting mediocre envoys and took over great power. Other middle- and lower-level officials followed suit and instigated the emperor to set up various "envoy" positions in the name of raising money.
For example, the transfer envoy, the leasing envoy, the salt and iron envoy, the Duzhi salt and iron transfer envoy, the Changping coin salt and iron envoy, the leasing young crops envoy, the water and land transportation salt and iron envoy, the two tax envoys, etc.
Each envoy possesses greater or lesser powers and is directly authorized by the emperor. It is above the formal official system of the imperial court and avoids the constraints and checks and balances of the three provinces and six ministries of the imperial court.
Because these envoys were in charge of specific affairs, over time, the power of the court was transferred to the hands of these middle- and lower-level officials, leaving the official officials of the court aside, resulting in huge redundancy and low efficiency of government affairs, which further aggravated the situation in the Tang Dynasty.