In the Southern Song Dynasty, I competed with Mongolia for the world

Chapter 204
Among them, Hu Yu was originally the envoy of Guangxi Economic Strategy, and he was also recognized by Cui Yuzhi, but this man was obsessed with literature and was an upright person. In Zhao Yurui's words, he could do things in the court, but it was difficult to do much in the local area.

This is a typical civil servant, usually writing poetry and speaking as his main business.

So Zhao Yurui found an opportunity this year and transferred him to the capital to preside over the work of Shangshu Province.

In addition to the emperor, there were a total of 13 people in charge of the ruling and other important departments of the Southern Song Dynasty.

The emperor arranged two rows of stools in the Xuande Hall, and everyone sat down according to their official positions.

This is the seventh time that everyone has come here. They were not used to it when they first came, but they gradually got used to it. Every time the emperor summoned thirteen of them, it was bound to discuss some important matter.

This made everyone very happy. In the past, when Shi Miyuan was around, usually only Shi Miyuan had the chance to meet the emperor alone, so it was their turn.

"The first year of Baoqing is almost over, let's hear about the achievements and shortcomings of the past year."

After Zhao Yurui sat down, he spoke, and then glanced at Du Fan, Shangshu of the Ministry of Accounts.

Du Fan stood up and bowed to the emperor first, and then took out a volume of documents from his sleeve.

"As of the tenth day of this month, I, Da Song, have been in the past nearly a year—"

Last year, the national tax and food in the Southern Song Dynasty was 1246 million stones (each stone is counted as two guan coins (there are differences in different regions), totaling 2492 million guan), gold 6 liang, silver 18 guan, copper coins 130 million guan, and silk 240 million pieces (unit price 600 Wen ), 784 million taels of silk cotton (unit price 60 ren), 560 million bundles of variegated colors (the variegated colors in the Song Dynasty include bamboo shoots, artemisia, firewood, charcoal, feathers, arrow shafts, yellow wax, etc., and the unit price is generally 20 ren) grass 680 Ten thousand bundles (unit price 20 Wen), etc., are equivalent to 3652 million guan in total, and there are also combined tea, salt, wine calculation, pitting, quarrying, buying and buying, and another 3688 million guan. Taxes in various places, including city ships The company and others totaled 2268 million.

In addition, in the Southern Song Dynasty, Sichuan’s income was independent, and the revenue and expenses of the Sichuan General Consul were all in charge. According to historical records: “Don’t count Sichuan’s money, it is more than 3300 million.” [-] million.

But as mentioned earlier, Sichuan mainly uses iron coins as its local currency, and iron coins are also used for financial accounting calculations. The conversion to copper coins is about 10:4, about 1320 million copper coins.

It can be seen here that Sichuan in the Southern Song Dynasty was quite rich before the war, and the province had accumulated tens of millions of coins.

Therefore, the income of the entire Southern Song Dynasty last year was about 1.09 million copper coins.

Speaking of this, Du Fan said in a deep voice: "Jiading 17 years." That is, the year before Zhao and Rui ascended the throne, Da Song's annual income totaled 7862 million guan.

In just one year, Zhao Yurui gained more than 3000 million guan.

Among them, the sales of white sugar, frequent transactions with Korea and Japan, and the restart of shipping companies in Liangzhe City also played a key role.

And because of Cui Yuzhi's past in Sichuan, the income has risen rapidly.

So the appointment of officials is very important.

The ministers were quite shocked when they heard that there were so many changes between the first year of Baoqing and the 17th year of Jiading.

"The revenue of the imperial court has increased significantly this year, mainly due to the increase in the volume of transactions with Japan, Koryo, Nanyang and other places. The sales of Qingyuan white sugar is the most important thing. Dinghai Yan's family has handed over half of the shares of Qingyuan white sugar to the imperial court. I North Korea has already occupied [-]% of the shares, and next year's income will only be higher."

When the minister heard this, he understood that it was still the emperor's profit from the sugar sales.

The income is high, ordinarily the emperor should be happy.

But Zhao Yurui's expression was not good, and she waved Du Fan to continue, "I'll tell you how much I have spent in the past two years."

In the 17th year of Jiading, the imperial court spent 400 million guan.

The income is only enough for ten months' expenses.

For this reason, Shi Miyuan issued a large number of clubs.

Due to the rapid decline in the output of copper coins in the Southern Song Dynasty and the increasing expenditure, Huizi began to be officially issued in the Shaoxing period (around 1150). Three years are a circle, and each circle is limited to 1000 million coins.

In the initial stage of issuance, the imperial court can still control its desire to issue, so that the currency value can be maintained stable.However, starting from the seventh year of Qiandao (1171), the circulation of Huizi broke through from 1000 million to 1800 million, and then increased step by step.With the continuous increase of war and other expenditures, the imperial court can only solve the problem of imbalance of income and expenditure by not increasing the issuance of huizi. Especially when Shi Miyuan was in power, he had no ability to make money, so he could only issue more huizi crazily. By the time of No.16 (in 1232), the circulation had reached 1 million coins, which made the club more and more devalued and worthless.

Moreover, in the past, one session was issued and the previous session was withdrawn, but in the hands of Shi Miyuan, the previous one was not withdrawn in the end, and the value was even more depreciated.

Now that Shi Miyuan has stepped down, according to the rules, next year will be the time for the release of the Thirteenth Session.

In the 16th year of Jiading, Shi Miyuan issued 600 million coins.

Originally, the imperial court would have to issue at least 6000 million coins next year, because this year the imperial court will spend 1.2 million coins, 5000 million coins, equivalent to only 2000 million copper coins.

"This year, the imperial court spent 1.2 million yuan, mainly for the fine-tuned military and horses across the country, and the improvement of the treatment of officers and soldiers. In addition, the Ministry of Industry has a huge expenditure on recruiting craftsmen from all over the country as officials. It costs a lot to build armored warships, and the income is still not enough to spend."

"It is His Majesty who has posted a large amount of private money this year, which is barely enough."

Du Fan continued: "Next year's expenses will only increase."

"According to His Majesty's standards, next year the imperial court will have nearly 90 troops."

"Only the annual military salary expenditure will reach 2000 million guan, plus horses, warships and utensils, and other armaments, the bottom line will be 4000 million guan."

"This year, recruiting nearly [-] artisans from all over the country as officials is also a big expenditure."

Zhao Yurui attaches great importance to craftsmen, and recruits them on a household basis. They add two stones of rice three times a month to support the whole family, and bonuses for good work, which is equivalent to eight to ten pieces per month on average, so there are more and more craftsmen across the country. Craftsmen are serving the imperial court, and there may be more next year.

This piece of expenditure alone reached 60 guan for the whole year.

However, the entire imperial court entered such a large department as the Zouyuan, which raised tens of thousands of people, and only had a budget of 60 yuan.

The officials at the scene were shocked after listening to it, and everyone had a premonition of what the emperor wanted to do in the future. Whether the craftsmen were officials, or whether they all entered the theater for reform, they were all for war.

The imperial court's military investment accounted for almost half of the Song Dynasty's income.

Zhao Yurui stood up at this time, and said slowly: "Originally, I took back one session every time it was issued, but now it has not been withdrawn for several sessions, and more and more are being issued."

"The number of clubs on the market has already exceeded hundreds of millions, so the ratio of copper coins to clubs is one to three, and there is a downward trend."

"I have decided that only 2000 million coins will be issued for the [-]th session next year, and at the same time, the [-]th session of the previous session will be recycled to reduce the total number of sessions and increase the value of the sessions."

"We must control the ratio of huizi to copper coins within a reasonable range, and we cannot let the huizi in the hands of ordinary people and everyone depreciate."

As soon as the emperor's words came out, everyone was of course happy. It would be a good thing for the officials on site to increase the value of the meeting. After all, most of the monthly money they gave out was from the meeting.

But Ge Hong immediately asked: "How much will the imperial court earn next year? Will it be enough if the expenditure is so large?"

This year's expenditure is already negative nearly 2000 million guan, which is equivalent to 6000 million clubs.

If Lao Shi is still there, Shi Miyuan will have to pay at least 8000 million meetings next year to be enough.

Now the emperor has not only reduced the issuance of huizi, but also took back the previous huizi. Is there enough money for the court?This is the concern of all the officials present.

"This year, white sugar plantation has been expanded to Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian. I also plan to open up new lands in Dayuan. Guangdong, Guangxi and Zhejiang will increase the construction of sea-going ships to expand the scale of trade."

"Increase business and trade with surrounding countries. If there is no accident next year, the income will definitely increase sharply. Don't worry, Zhu Aiqing."

"When I was King Yi, I was famous for my ability to make money. Everyone just needs to work hard and leave the money-making to me. I promise you that your wages will never be reduced."

There was a burst of laughter at the scene.

The emperor will make money, which is recognized by everyone.

But Zhao Yurui is not a fairy, so he can change as he says, next year's expenses will be even bigger, and he doesn't know how much his income will be. The money bank is opening, and when to close the net depends on when the court is short of money.

After laughing, everyone found that the emperor's face was still serious, and they all silenced.

Zhao Yurui said at this time: "The revenue and expenditure of the imperial court are always the same, which is unhealthy. Therefore, starting from next year, we will reduce expenditure and find ways to increase income."

All the ministers nodded in agreement.

Now the entire imperial court has no savings, it is like this every year, and it loses every year. When Shi Miyuan was there, he relied on issuing additional huizi to continue his life. In the end, the huizi depreciated to be like a blank sheet of paper. The local government and the court have no money. Strange.

But increasing income is not just talking about it. The income of the feudal dynasty is nothing more than agricultural tax, agricultural tax, agricultural tax.

The Southern Song Dynasty was already considered the best era. Last year, business tax accounted for more than a quarter.

Zhao Yurui plans to open up wasteland, immigrate, farm and grow sugarcane to make sugar in Dayuan next year. Judging from the experience of the Ming Dynasty, the output of both grain and sugar will be considerable.

However, the investment in the past few years was also huge, and no benefits could be seen in the short term. Zhao Yurui assessed that the manpower invested in the senior staff in the past five years was not counted, and it was equivalent to various financial resources, at least 3000 million yuan.

The officials gasped again after hearing this, the court is so short of money, His Majesty still has to invest heavily in the officials.

Some people doubt that after three to five years, will the officials be able to return the output to the court?

The emperor said yes.

In fact, the Southern Song Dynasty managed Hainan and the officials very early, and government offices were set up in both places, but Hainan was mainly a place to distribute prisoners, and the officials were the reason for fighting pirates.

In the seventh year of Qiandao (1171), Wang Dayou, the prefect of Quanzhou, learned that nearly a thousand Vaisayas had invaded the coast of Quanzhou. He quietly assembled the Turkish army, naval forces, and sea patrolling troops, and ambushed the Vaishayas.

But in the second year, the Visayas came again, and Wang Dayou thought it was impossible. If they didn't cut the grass and roots, the bandits would still come back.If you want to fight pirates, you must pull out their lair.

Wang Dayou organized soldiers and horses to kill the Penghu Islands directly and wiped out this wave of pirates.

After he went to the island, he found that the place was good, so he ordered the construction of [-] houses and stationed [-] soldiers and horses.

At the beginning, it was a regular defense, sending troops in spring and summer, and returning in autumn. Later, Wang Dayou felt that it was too troublesome, and the soldiers complained a lot, so he changed it to a long-term defense. He didn't have to come back, he just stayed there.Plow the fields when you have nothing to do, and fight pirates when you have something to do.Slowly these garrisons also multiplied on Penghu Island.

Later, the Song court further clarified that Penghu was placed under the jurisdiction of Jinjiang County on Fujian Road, and it was clearly defined as under the prefectures and counties of the Song Dynasty.

This is the official rule and management of the Dayuan area by the Southern Song Dynasty.

The Penghu garrison remained until the end of the Song Dynasty, and the local population continued to migrate to Dayuan Island.

In the Southern Song Dynasty, there was an emperor who made preparations in advance and managed the big officials in advance. When the army was finally defeated, he didn't have to run to the cliff mountain. Maybe he could run to the big officials to resist for a while.

(End of this chapter)