Gao Pragmatic worked very hard to explain terms such as "Gross National Product", "Productivity", "Production Efficiency", "Production Loss Rate", "Exchange Rate" and other terms. He felt as if he had returned to the time when he took economic courses at the Party School.
In the era of examinations, fortunately, Gao Gong is indeed a practical scholar, capable of managing the world, and has worked hard in the center for many years. He does have extraordinary skills in financial management - although most of them are outdated ideas, he has accepted new ideas.
It didn't take long to come, and I finally understood a bunch of terms Gao Pragmatic put forward.
Then Gao Wuzhen changed his mind and brought out the biggest difference in the fiscal systems of the Song and Ming dynasties: "So, third uncle, you see, the gap between the industrial and commercial taxation in the Song Dynasty and the industrial and commercial taxation in the Ming Dynasty is so huge! In the 10th year of Xining, the Northern Song Dynasty
The total tax revenue is 70.7 million guan, of which agricultural and industrial taxes are 21.62 million guan, accounting for about 30%, and industrial and commercial taxes are 49.11 million guan, accounting for about 70%.
. Even if we don’t calculate the difference in the currency exchange rate between the two dynasties, nor the difference in productivity between the two dynasties, we can see a big problem just from this ratio. How much industrial and commercial tax did the Ming Dynasty collect every year? In comparison, it is simply
It makes me feel cold all over! Third uncle, you are a master of practical knowledge. Many data are much clearer than my nephew. My nephew will not ask anything else, but only one question: The actual amount collected by the Ming Dynasty and entered into the treasury of the Ministry of Household Affairs every year.
How many times less were the taxes on salt and tea than in the Tang and Song dynasties?"
Gao Gong had a sullen face and said nothing, but his breathing became heavier and heavier. After a while, he suddenly stood up and paced back and forth quickly, his annoyance palpable.
Gao pragmatic didn't press him, didn't say a word, and just drank tea silently. During this period, the housekeeper poked his head around the door of the study room. Gao pragmatic glanced at the tea tray in his hand, shook his head slightly, and then gently moved it towards him.
He waved his hand. The steward was an old man named Gao Gong. He glanced at his master and knew that if he entered now, he would be scolded. He nodded gratefully and pragmatically, and quietly retreated.
I don’t know how long it took, but Gao Pingshi had already finished drinking his tea, and then he heard Gao Gong suddenly say: “You’ve been thinking about these things for a long time, right?”
Gao pragmatic noticed that his third uncle's voice suddenly became much hoarse. When he looked up, he realized that Gao Gong's brows were deeply furrowed and his expression was so solemn that it seemed as if he could drip water at any time.
Gao pragmatic sighed, the same solemn expression as Gao Gong was very inconsistent with his childish face: "Do you remember? Ever since you returned to Xinzheng last time to supervise your nephew's studies, your nephew has often pestered you to ask some financial questions.
Among the questions and data, you once mentioned that in a certain year, the treasury of the Ministry of Revenue actually received 3,124,467 taels of silver. However, did you know that before this, my nephew had actually heard
My mother once accidentally mentioned that the Zhang family in Puzhou, combined, has a gross profit income of about four million taels of silver every year..."
"boom!"
Gao Gong punched his desk and said bitterly: "These salt dogs...salt merchants! They harm the public and enrich themselves, all the time!" Gao Gong originally wanted to scold the "salt dogs", but he thought of Gao's pragmatic relatives.
My mother is from the Zhang family in Puzhou, a big salt merchant family, and she swallowed back half of the word "dog".
"Third uncle, my nephew is not speaking for my uncle's family, but my nephew still has to say... you are scolding the wrong person."
"Huh?" Gao Gong suddenly turned around and stared at Gao Pingshi: "Am I scolding the wrong person? You just said it yourself, I am the Ming Dynasty court official and the prime minister of the world's money and food. The annual income is only three million taels.
A mere salt merchant earns more than the imperial court in a year! How ridiculous this is!"
Facing Gao Gong, who was on the verge of rage, even the most important ministers in the court had to retreat, but Gao Pragmatic was different. He still calmly looked into Sanbo's eyes that were slightly red due to anger, and said without being humble or arrogant: "The gross profit of salt merchants is naturally high.
But my nephew has a few questions that he has to ask."
Gao Gong gritted his teeth and coldly said one word from between his teeth: "Speak!"
"The first question is: the salt merchants themselves do not hold official positions. Even my uncle Fengpan Gong (Zhang Siwei's nickname: Fengpan) has never managed the common things in the salt field since he was elected, but left it to others.
My younger brother took care of it, and from the time he passed the imperial examination until he was promoted by you, none of the official positions he held had anything to do with the affairs of the salt farm. The same is true for other salt merchant families, or even no one in the family was an official at all.
There are many people involved. If this is the case, how can we talk about harming the public and enriching private interests?"
Gao Gong didn't answer.
"Second question: Where did the salt tax system come from? San Bo, you know a hundred times better than your nephew. Could it be that the salt merchants set it themselves? In the final analysis, the salt merchants were just forced to accept it. What's great about them is that
The practitioners under the Guochao salt tax system are not the makers of the system. Even if the profit distribution is unreasonable, does the responsibility still fall on them? To put it bluntly, they just discovered the Guochao salt tax because their ancestors had good vision.
Business opportunities under the system, that’s all.”
Gao Qiao's breathing became heavier, but he still didn't answer a word.
Gao Pragmatic didn't care, but stretched out three fingers and continued: "Third, you only see that the gross profit of the salt merchants is quite high, but you don't know how much investment the salt merchants have."
Before the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty's regulations for salt merchants were that salt merchants would transport grain to the border, exchange it for salt at the border, and then come back to exchange for salt and sell it. Salt is a consumable, and salt merchants have to invest huge funds to ensure the purchase of grain.
And transportation. Therefore, although the salt merchants are engaged in a business with high profits, the risks are also huge. In addition, no matter who can get the salt as long as they transport the grain to the border, the competition pressure is also great.
However, during the reign of Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty, a salt guide reform was carried out. From then on, salt guide was no longer a one-time consumption, but became hereditary. As long as you take the hereditary salt guide, you can receive salt, and you no longer have to work hard to raise food.
Border customs. The impact of doing this on the country is naturally "the deterioration of border reserves." After the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the combat effectiveness of the border troops declined, and this can be considered one of the reasons.
"Huh? Invest?" Sure enough, Gao Gong's face was full of sarcasm, and he said with a sneer: "I only heard that a wealthy salt merchant spent extravagantly. I once heard that a wealthy salt merchant invited guests to dinner, and the first-class banquet was only one dish.
For mutton, five hundred sheep are used, for medium-level banquets, three hundred, and for low-level banquets, one hundred. Why so many? It’s not because thousands of people are invited to eat, but when they eat, only
Cut off a small piece of meat from the mouth of each sheep and throw away the rest. The reason is that 'all the beauty of the sheep is here, and the rest is fishy and useless'. Is this what you mean by investment?"
Gao Pragmatic had previously sent Gao Xiaozhuang to investigate prices, and happened to know the price of mutton and mutton oil. He knew that if Gao Gong's words were taken seriously, it would certainly be an amazing luxury, but his expression remained unchanged: "My nephew doesn't know whether this is true.
But even if this is true... Third Uncle, with your wisdom, can't you see why they behave like this? Do they behave like this all the time?"
Naturally, this is not always the case. It is nothing more than showing off one's financial resources in front of certain officials, and then promising to "serve with all one's heart" to ensure that one has long-term possession of the salt and has a long-term monopoly on this lucrative business.
Gao Gong naturally understood, but given his status, when he thought about this, what he was most concerned about was no longer the extravagance of the salt merchants, but the chronic collusion between government and businessmen. And Gao Pragmatic's so-called "investment" of the salt merchants, naturally
It goes without saying.
Gao Ge Lao's complexion immediately became three points worse.