Chapter 892 Finance

Chapter 892 Finance (Part )

In the mist, Shao Xun listened to the report quietly.

"The prime minister thinks that we can collect taxes after the autumn harvest." Wang Huifeng sat on a Hu bed and reported carefully like a diligent secretary: "According to 70 households, minus 58 government soldiers, there are 380 households taxed at 192 mu and 192 households taxed at mu. We can get more than million hu of grain, million pieces of silk, and million catties of cotton. If all the labor service is deducted, we can collect another million pieces of silk."

After that, there was no movement for a long time.

Just when Wang Huifeng was wondering if Shao Xun had fallen asleep, a voice came from the misty water vapor: "Xinxing and Ruyin counties will be exempted from taxes for one year."

Wang Huifeng wrote this down.

Shao Xun sighed: "If we can levy taxes normally, we will know how much wealth there is in the world, and how much grain has been hidden by the noble families. Guo Mo is a fort commander, but after accumulating for several years, he actually has 800,000 bushels of grain and beans in his warehouse."

"Those 800,000 hu are for the people in the fort to eat," said Wang Huifeng.

Shao Xun sneered.

In times of chaos, many warlords would not leave these 800,000 hu of grain for the people to eat and drink. They would only pay attention to the lack of military rations and try every means to replenish them.

"Let's see how much we can harvest next year." Shao Xun waved his hand, splashing water.

It’s so refreshing to take a hot spring bath in winter. It’s so refreshing that it goes to your bones and you don’t even want to get up to work.

In addition, there is such a thing as tax collection efficiency. It is not the case that the amount you should be able to collect on paper is actually the amount you can collect. If you do not send people to the countryside to collect taxes in a predatory manner, generally speaking, the actual amount collected will be discounted. The specific amount of discount depends on your administrative efficiency.

The twenty counties of Liang State completed the land measurement before the New Year.

The number may not be that accurate, but it is generally correct. The tax revenue of more than 3 million hu of grain a year is actually not much.

Of course, this is normal taxation.

During war years, the court often had the urge to increase taxes.

The tax is not enough? I will add more!
How much to add depends mainly on how much oil the people can squeeze out, and secondly on the conscience of the rulers.

The twenty counties of Liang State had experienced reorganization after the disaster, and there were not too many complicated relationships. They had also experienced land measurement, and the tax requirements in the first year were not high. Three million hu of grain would be enough.

If nothing unexpected happens, the silk and silk production will be 2 million rolls, because the recovery of sericulture in some places is not ideal, especially in the areas north of the river. We will make another round of adjustments next year based on the actual situation.

"How much does it cost per year to recruit soldiers and support the State of Liang?" Shao Xun asked.

"In the twelfth month, we recruited another 3,000 men. So far, we have 30,000 soldiers in five camps. Each soldier is given three hu of grain per month and three pieces of silk per year. They are not allowed to exercise in the camp—"

"Leave some room for error and proceed according to the drill." Shao Xun said.

"That means eating three meals a day." Wang Huifeng said, "The annual grain expenditure is 250,000 hu, and the annual silk expenditure is 90,000 pieces."

"Starting from next year, one piece of silk will be given for each New Year's Day, Spring Festival, Autumn Festival, Double Ninth Festival, and Winter Solstice. Military uniforms will be issued every year in spring and autumn. No ready-made clothes will be issued, only cloth and cotton. Quilts will be issued every three years." Shao Xun ordered: "This order will be issued to the five military departments and the two departments of the Ministry of Revenue."

With more silk and cotton, Shao Xun was no longer stingy.

Recruiting soldiers for the five battalions cost only over 200,000 pieces of silk a year.

Grain was the most scarce food, and the blame was on Shao Xun, because he was temporarily unwilling to increase taxes within Liang. To be honest, each household in Liang had a surplus of dozens of bushels of grain and beans every year - if there were no disasters.

If a war is launched, he will send a symbolic increase in troops, but the powerful families outside Liang State will not be able to escape, and they will bear the brunt of the consequences.

Of course, the cost of maintaining an army is more than this.

Not to mention anything else, he had to pay out more than one million hu of grain in relief every year.

There are also other supplies consumed, such as arrows and medicines needed for training.

In general, the cost of recruiting soldiers at this time was much lower than that during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, when the large-scale recruitment system was first implemented in history. The main reason for the lower cost was that fewer rewards could be given during this era, because the soldiers were less ambitious and easier to talk to.

Otherwise, who could afford the fixed reward of five strings of cash and ten pieces of silk per year?

In addition to the fixed rewards, there are also additional rewards and various other expenses -

For example, every two or three months, when the army held a competition, they would prepare all kinds of silks, satins, and even gold and silver items as prizes. The Shuofang Army often used brocade quilts and silver bottles to reward brave men, and would give two quilts or two silver bottles at a time. These were not prizes that could be given away individually, nor were they made of ordinary silk. Only the finest silk could be given away.

In terms of rations, when not training or going on an expedition, they would eat four Hu bings for two meals a day, which was equivalent to two kilograms.

When going to war or training, they would eat six Hu bings for three meals a day, which is three pounds.

Before going out, you have to cook a delicious meal and prepare some meat and wine.

Otherwise, people will really shoot you with arrows just because you give them simple food and drink. It has happened before.

Things like "improper food distribution" would result in beatings by the soldiers, and the targets beaten were not the petty officials, but the commander-in-chief's trusted staff.

Shao Xun's troops did not meet the Tang Dynasty's recruitment standards in terms of daily rations, because he provided "grain" rather than "rice and flour" - but they were supplemented with some cheese and jerky.

Eating three kilograms of noodles a day may seem incredible to people born in the 21st century, but if we go back thirty years, it is not surprising. There were many people who ate a bowl of noodles in one meal.

Since there is less meat and oil, doesn’t it mean we need to produce more staple food?
The rewards were greatly reduced compared to the Tang Dynasty.

The equipment also decreased slightly. However, it was quite good in this era, and it had never been so high since the Qin and Han dynasties.

The treatment of soldiers in the Tang Dynasty was abnormally high, and no dynasty after the Tang Dynasty had ever provided such high rations to soldiers.

From a pragmatic point of view, it would have been good if the country established by Shao Xun could evolve to the late Northern Wei Dynasty or even the Eastern and Western Wei Dynasty, but he planned it with the Sui and Tang Dynasties as his goal.

He was well aware that the more awakened the military consciousness was, the greater the expenses on maintaining the army would be.

Therefore, he is awakening the consciousness of the warriors and trying to make them a force, but he will not raise their status indefinitely.

As for everything in the world, moderation is the most important thing - it sounds easy, but it is not easy to do.

"The Liang State can only support five battalions of recruited soldiers and its own troops." Shao Xun stood up from the pond and said as he walked: "The Yicong Army still has to graze their own livestock in Liyang, and the Luoyan Army and Zhuosheng Army cannot all be converted to recruited soldiers. It can be seen how difficult it is to support the army. But fortunately, after spending such a large amount of money, it is still worth it in the end."

"Just maintain it." Wang Huifeng signaled with his eyes.

Xuan and Fan immediately got up from the water and cleaned Shao Xun.

Wang and Liu came over holding robes and waited quietly.

"Yes, it's just for maintenance." Shao Xun sighed, "There are still so many officials in Liang State, and they all rely on official slaves to grow crops and mulberry trees to get their salaries, but it's just a drop in the bucket. The extra silk may be used to give them more, or to cover the office expenses of local government offices, so that they don't have to conscript people to serve in the county all the time."

The practice of paying for work will inevitably continue for quite some time.

With this financial situation, do you think we can get by without measuring the land?
"There is actually no need to measure the land in Xiangcheng and other places, taxes can be levied together," Wang Huifeng suggested.

“Which counties do you think would be good?”

"Xiangcheng, Henan, Hongnong, Jibei, Jinan, Yanmen, Changshan, Zhongshan and other six counties." Wang Huifeng counted them one by one: "Xinye, Yiyang, Suiguo, Xiapi and other counties and states where fighting has been going on repeatedly are also acceptable."

"Wait a little longer." Shao Xun opened his hands and let Liu Cong's queens dress him. He said, "First stabilize the twenty counties of Liang for two or three years. After everything is stable, we will start with the easy ones and then move on to the difficult ones, step by step."

"It's good that you know what's going on." Wang Huifeng put down the official letter in his hand, and naturally came to Shao Xun, helped him to straighten his robe, and said: "Did you not get any news about the rebellion in Wei County beforehand?"

"Who said it wasn't!" Shao Xun got angry when he mentioned this matter. He said with an unhappy face: "Hundreds of people came from Guangping, carrying swords and bows. Didn't anyone along the way suspect anything? In the end, it was Shen who informed on them. If Weijun was allowed to investigate on its own, I don't think it would be easy."

"It's not a good time to move." Wang Huifeng skillfully fastened Shao Xun's belt and said, "Keep calm and check slowly."

"You said--" Shao Xun hesitated, then sighed and didn't continue.

Wang Huifeng stopped and looked at him.

Shao Xun hesitated for a moment and said, "What do you think if we send a relative to govern the area?"

"Imitate Sima Yuanchao's story?" Wang Huifeng asked in surprise.

"Everyone knows that this matter has great hidden dangers, but it is also very tempting and really difficult to decide." Shao Xun sighed.

During the three hundred years of the Two Jin Dynasties and the Northern and Southern Dynasties, there were so many cases of royal family members attacking each other and usurping the throne. Why did the rulers turn a blind eye and continue to use royal family members to govern the foreign vassal states?
There are profound reasons for this.

No one is a fool. We have all seen and even experienced the bad things, but we still have to take this path.

"Forget it." Shao Xun said helplessly: "I don't know how many years I can live. If I am here, none of my relatives can make a big wave. If I am not here, the Sima family will learn from the past."

Sima Yan, Emperor Wu of Jin, enfeoffed the princes. At first, the internal historian, the chief of agriculture, and the lieutenant were all appointed by the court, and they were even responsible for supervising the princes. At that time, the princes were unwilling to take up their posts and tried their best to stay in Luoyang, because they knew that they had no real power after becoming vassals, and they could not manage any of the finances, soldiers, and people, which was really boring.

But before his death, Sima Yan relaxed his policies, causing the vassal states to suddenly spiral out of control.

The lesson is not far away.

But the temptation is real.

The whole world depends on him alone. He is walking on thin ice and trembling with fear. It is so tiring.

Cao Cao had relatives such as Cao Ren to help him, and he only had a nephew and an uncle who could go out to govern the vassal states.

My uncle is getting old and is gradually unable to do the job. He can’t do it for a few more years.

His nephew reminded him of Shi Hu and Fu Jian.

Damn, it's all a trap.

The traditions of fathers being kind to their sons and brothers being filial to their parents, and brothers being friendly to each other and respectful to each other have existed since ancient times, but they have been infinitely magnified in this era.

But no one can help him with these things, and no one dares to say much, so he has to make the decision himself.

When he was alive, if he had sent a few of his adult sons to take charge of a certain area, it would have been helpful in stabilizing the situation in the world.

But having experienced the great epidemic, he dare not say that he will definitely die of old age.

Everything has its pros and cons, it all depends on how you choose.

(End of this chapter)