Chapter seven hundred and thirty-eight open source and reduce expenditure
The grass spreads across the field for six or seven miles, and the flute plays three or four times in the evening breeze.
After returning home and having a good meal, at dusk, I lie down under the moonlight without taking off my coir raincoat.
——"Shepherd Boy" Lu Yan [Tang Dynasty]
…
The emergence of the mediocre envoys eased the imperial government's fiscal and taxation a lot, but as soon as the revenue was put into the treasury, generals from the Tang army came in one after another. The high military expenditures immediately left the treasury empty.
The imperial court's fiscal and taxation revenue reserves were kept in the Zuozang Treasury, and there were strict regulations on expenditure and supervision. It was usually managed by the Taifu and reviewed by the Bibu of the Shangshu. The emperor could only listen to reports from courtiers, but could not control every specific expenditure.
Fifth Qi saw Suzong's panic and moved the imperial court's finances and taxes from the Zuozang Treasury and sent them to the royal family's Daying Treasury.
The large surplus treasury ensured the royal family's living expenses and was easier for the emperor to control. Suzong pocketed the treasury, further damaging the imperial court's financial system.
In order to meet the expenses of the imperial court, at the suggestion of Zheng Shuqing and Prime Minister Pei Mian, Suzong began to sell his titles. As long as the common people paid money to the imperial court, they could get certificates issued by the imperial court and be awarded certain official titles.
In addition to selling titles, the imperial court also sold all certificates that symbolized status:
For example, scholars in the Tang Dynasty needed to pass the imperial examination in order to have a corresponding background and be able to become officials in the future. However, during Suzong's reign, he only had to pay money to obtain a background in the Ming Dynasty.
For another example, because monks, nuns and Taoist priests do not have to pay taxes, the court strictly limits the number of monks. If you want to become a monk, you need to hold a certificate issued by the court.
During Suzong's reign, the court sold ultimatums in order to collect money, and many monks and Taoists were added to the world out of thin air.
For another example, for merchants, the imperial court sold them immunity from servitude. As long as they paid a heavy fee, they could be exempted from corvee.
The measures proposed by Zheng Shuqing and Prime Minister Pei Mian are all short-sighted, which is tantamount to drinking poison to quench thirst. It can raise some taxes in the short term, but will lead to more serious financial problems in the long term. It will not only allow many evil gentry to squeeze into the officialdom, tax exemption for monks, but also tax for merchants.
The exemption caused the court to lose more long-term financial revenue.
It is obviously not enough to rely on short-term means such as selling nobles and looting to solve long-term financial problems. The court must systematically find large-scale financial and tax sources to make up for the decline in land and household registration taxes.
Fifth Qi, referring to the practices of Sang Hongyang, a minister of finance and taxation during Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, introduced two more measures: devaluing the currency and establishing a government-run agency for private salt sales, which ultimately destroyed the relaxed business atmosphere of the Tang Dynasty.
Just as predicted at the gathering organized by Bai Fu two years ago, Sun Yanji, the Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs, Yun Yanying, the Director of the Ministry of Household Affairs, and Wang Jiangting, the Director of the Money Department of the Ministry of Household Affairs predicted:
The three coins "Kaiyuan Tongbao", "Qianyuan Chongbao" and "Chonglun Qianyuan Qian" were used together, which led to the devaluation of coins and soaring prices. "Kaiyuan Tongbao" quickly disappeared from the market. Some of them were hidden at home by the people, and the other part was
Take it, melt it down, and then steal it and cast it into "Qianyuan Chongbao" or "Chonglunqianyuan Money".
The chaos in commodity prices forced the court to adjust the value of coins many times.
Because the value of "Kaiyuan Tongbao" was underestimated, the imperial court adjusted the currency value for the first time, stipulating that a "Kaiyuan Tongbao" was worth ten liters, a "Qianyuan Chongbao" was worth 30 liters, and a "Chonglun Qianyuan" was worth 30 liters.
"Money" is worth fifty cents.
This currency adjustment caused further currency depreciation and skyrocketing prices.
At this time, there was a famine, and each bushel of rice was sold for 7,000 yuan. Starvation was everywhere, and the hungry people devoured each other.
Bronze wares from all over the country were used to secretly mint money. In the capital, everyone was stealing money. In order to prevent private minting, the government arrested people everywhere. At that time, Zheng Shuqing, the Yin of Jingzhao, went on a large-scale search for people who minted money secretly.
In a month, more than 800 people died under severe beatings with sticks, but the practice of privately minting coins could not be stopped.
In the first year of Shangyuan (760 AD), the imperial court once again made efforts to stabilize the currency value and issued an edict:
"Gyeonggi Province's "Kaiyuan Tongbao" and "Qianyuan Chongbao" are all worth ten coins each, with a coin value of ten coins; "Chonglun Qianyuan coins" are worth thirty coins each, with a coin value of thirty coins; other states are waiting for instructions
.”
Although the imperial court made the above adjustments, the world's currency values and prices remained chaotic.
…
Bai Fu was not proficient in the study of finance and taxation, but he remembered what Sun Yanji, the Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs, Yun Yanying, the director of the Ministry of Household Affairs, Wang Jiangting, the chief clerk of the Money and Banking Department of the Ministry of Households, and others said a few years ago.
Bai Fu once again found these officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs and humbly asked for advice.
Nowadays, Bai Fu's status as a marquis and prime minister is no longer what it was back then. Sun Yanji, Yun Yanying, Wang Jiangting and others came to Bai Fu's mansion, trembling with fear and fear.
No matter how approachable Bai Fu was, these household officials did not dare to show any disrespect. Every line was filled with humility and flattery.
Bai Fu sighed secretly and thought to himself: "The higher the position, the harder it will be to hear the truth."
Bai Fu had a thought in his mind and invited everyone to come to the Duke of Wei's house for a banquet.
After three rounds of drinking, everyone became red-faced and gradually relaxed, no longer as rigid as usual.
These people are all financial management officials. Once they let down their guard and speak freely, they are very knowledgeable and insightful. When it comes to their respective areas of expertise, they do their best and no one else can.
Wang Jiangting, the chief clerk of the Department of Money and Banking of the Ministry of Household Affairs, said: "Sir, dealing with the depreciation of coins and soaring prices is difficult or not, but it is not easy either."
Bai Fu smiled and said: "Don't worry about the difficulty first, just tell me and listen."
Wang Jiangting said: "Sir, the devaluation of coins and the soaring prices not only involve the court's monetary system, but also involve the flow of wealth among the people. The efforts of one party alone are not enough.
But as long as the imperial court orders "Kaiyuan Tongbao" and "Qianyuan Chongbao" to be circulated at the same value, and abolishes "Chonglun Qianyuan Coin", the folk trend will automatically cooperate and automatically allow "Qianyuan Chongbao" and "Chonglun Qianyuan Coin" to be circulated.
"Withdrawn from the market, only "Kaiyuan Tongbao" remains in circulation.
In this way, the currency value and commodity prices will be stable."
Bai Fu said: "The reason why the imperial court uses these three types of coins is to raise money and make up for the depletion of tax sources. If the 'Qianyuan Chongbao' and 'Chonglun Qianyuan Money' are abolished, will there be a gap in military spending?"
Yun Yanying, the head of the Ministry of Household Affairs, said: "There is no way to increase the income, as long as we do a good job in leveling, salt management, water transportation and other matters."
Bai Fu hurriedly asked: "What is balance?".
Yun Yanying said: "The imperial court can collect grains half a year and store them in liquidation warehouses to avoid low prices and harming farmers. In famine years, when the grain price rises due to the lack of supply, the imperial government can open liquidation warehouses to level the grain prices. The people will benefit and the court will make a profit."
Bai Fu asked: "How to know the food prices and commodity prices in various places in time?"
Yun Yanying said: "The imperial court can set up inspectors in various provinces in the world, and select diligent, honest and capable officials as magistrates to manage the inspection agencies. The inspection agencies will collect information on the amount of rain and snow in each state and county, and the quality of the crops.
Price levels. Report to the transshipment department every ten days and every month.
As the saying goes, "If you are rich, you will be rich. If you are hungry, you will be cheap."
With this information, the imperial court could purchase more grains and millets and transport them to areas with poor grain harvests, sell them at low prices, and exchange them for people's local products and sundries to be resold in areas with good grain harvests, thus adjusting the supply and stabilizing prices.
In this way, we can not only prevent farmers from being harmed by low grain prices and disperse the people due to floods and droughts, but also support farming and proactively provide disaster relief without draining the national treasury. It can be said that it kills several birds with one stone."
Bai Fu nodded in praise.
Yun Yanying saw that his proposition was recognized by Bai Fu, and his confidence increased greatly, and he continued: "Let's talk about salt politics in this humble position.
The salt law stipulated by Mr. Wu Qi that "officials transport and sell salt" not only significantly increased the price of salt, but many corrupt officials also took the opportunity to catch people as errands, transporting salt for free, and enriching their own pockets. These bad behaviors caused the people to complain and hate salt.
monopoly.
Even so, due to the huge size of the imperial salt administration organization and staggering expenditures, the imperial court did not receive much income.
If we can vigorously reduce the salt management agencies such as salt supervision and salt fields, adjust the salt monopoly system, change the official collection, official transportation, and official sales to official collection, commercial transportation, and commercial sales, and levy a unified salt tax, not only will the people be less disturbed, but the court will also make a profit.
There will be more.”
Bai Fu asked for advice: "Master Yun, what are official collection, commercial transportation, and commercial sales?"
Yun Yanying said: "The salt officials uniformly purchased the salt produced by tinghu (households specializing in salt production), and then sold it to salt merchants at a higher price, who then trafficked it to various places for sale. The imperial court only controlled the two links of unified purchasing and wholesale.
Control the salt policy.
In order to prevent salt merchants from driving up salt prices, the imperial court could set up Changping salt warehouses in various places to equalize salt prices.
As a result, a large number of salt officials were streamlined, the price of salt fell, the people benefited, the merchants made profits, and the court's tax revenue would also increase.
Today, the salt profit collected by the imperial court is only 600,000 yuan per year. If my inference is correct and the new salt method is adopted, within five years, the salt profit can increase to more than 6 million yuan, accounting for half of the world's fiscal revenue, which is enough to pay for all the expenses of the court.