Great Han Empire

Chapter 316 The rain is coming
In the early morning, Zuo Yan and Li Wei hurried into the big tent.Li Hong was very anxious. Before dawn, he sent Pang De to remind him.

"Junyi, Zhongyuan, can we discuss ways to appease the refugees?"

"My lord keeps urging me again and again, so how dare I neglect it." Li Wei unfolded the bamboo slips in his hand and said with a smile, "Because of time constraints, we didn't have time to sort it out, so let's talk to your lord first."

Li Wei explained to Li Hong in detail the system of immigration and land reclamation, military garrison and civilian garrison in this dynasty, and then put forward several different opinions on the ownership of unclaimed land and taxation.Li Hong had the same idea as Zuo Yan. He also believed that these difficult problems could be discussed further, and they should be put aside for the time being, and the most difficult and urgent problems should be solved first.

Xie Ming and Song Wen then explained how to resettle the refugees, measure wasteland, repair ditches, cultivate land and other specific matters.

Zuo Yan finally concluded: "My lord, whether it is renting the fields to refugees or selling them for cultivation, our early investment was very huge, and our little money is not enough. I calculated carefully with Zhongyuan and Wenlong. About 50 million yuan is needed to resettle millions of refugees. Think about it, my lord, these millions of refugees need to be fed and clothed, moved to Shangdang counties in Taiyuan, and built simple shelters for them. The place to live is to allow them to survive. If each person spends 27 yuan, one million people will be worth [-] million yuan. If we do nothing, the [-] million yuan will be gone. So if adults want to appease Taiyuan and Shangdang The yellow turbans of the land, resettling the Taihang Mountain refugees and farming, must find a way to get another [-] billion yuan, plus our own [-] billion yuan, probably barely enough to last until next spring."

Li Hong was dumbfounded.

"My lord, when Emperor Wu moved 70 people to open up wasteland on the south bank of the Yellow River in Beidi County, Xiliang, it cost 110 billion yuan in the first year." Yu Peng said with a bitter face, "Now there are millions of refugees in Taihang Mountain, maybe There are also refugees from Youzhou coming here after hearing the news, so..."

"Is this more expensive than fighting?" Li Hong asked with a frown. "Where can I get so much money? Even if I rob it, I can't get it."

"My lord, a refugee has nothing at all. We need to spend money to feed and clothe them, to provide them with a hut that can protect them from the wind and rain, and to provide them with agricultural tools, seeds and cattle. This supply will last until It will take about a year until they have harvested the first dendrobium grains. How much do we need to spend in this year? In addition, we need money to recruit the Yellow Turban Army, arrange government officials to garrison the fields, and make money to buy farm tools and seeds. It costs money to repair the ditches, my lord, it costs money even to feed a farm ox.” Song Wen explained, “When I was working in Bohai County, I had a hard time thinking about resettling refugees. If you don’t have money, you can solve everything if you have money.”

"It's useless to count on His Majesty and the imperial court. We can only rely on ourselves." Li Hong thought for a while, looked at Tang Yun, and asked, "Wenlong, is there a way to earn 50 billion in a short period of time?"

Tang Yun said dumbfoundedly: "My lord, if you can't even grab it, where can I earn it?"

Li Hongwang looked at the people in the tent, and suddenly said with a smile: "You must have a way, otherwise you wouldn't come to talk about it."

"Okay, tell me, talk now."

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"Using business to subsidize agriculture." Li Wei smiled, "We thought about it for a long time last night, and felt that this is the only way to maintain land reclamation and farmland for a long time. It will take about three to five years for us to continue to invest in resettling refugees in Bingzhou. In the event of natural and man-made disasters, it will probably last for a few years, so this money is absolutely indispensable."

"We plan to reopen the big market in Jinyang to attract and encourage businessmen from all over the country to come to the border counties to do business and make a lot of money. We collect business taxes from it to fill part of the vacancy in farming money."

"Business tax?" Li Hong asked: "Can I make a lot of money? Can I make money right away?"

Li Wei smiled and said, "Big money can definitely be earned, but it will take a long time."

"In the early years of this dynasty, from Emperor Gaozu to Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing, they all implemented the policy of not restricting the people, vigorously supported and encouraged the people to do business, so the business was very prosperous at that time. Yang is a place where materials are collected and distributed from all over the country. Merchants mainly traded livestock products such as horses and gold, silver and jewelry. Merchants in our dynasty exchanged silk, wine and other exquisite products with the Huns for livestock and fur products. Because of the mutual benefit , can get what they want, so the border trade is prosperous and the state business tax revenue is very high.”

"However, since Emperor Wu began to focus on agriculture and suppress business, Jinyang's big city began to decline. Since then, due to the powerful Hu people, all the counties in the north of Bingzhou have been lost. Taiyuan and Jinyang have become places where both sides are at war, so there is no opening of the market. That said. During Emperor Guangwu’s time, Bingzhou Mu Guoji recovered the five northern counties. Soon thereafter, the Xiongnu split into two parts due to the civil strife among the kings. The Huns began to decline, and Bingzhou was able to gradually stabilized."

"The war in Bingzhou has gradually stopped, and Jinyang's big city has gradually recovered, but it is no longer as prosperous as it used to be." Li Wei said, "In the past few decades, Xianbei people and Karasuma people have taken turns to plunder the border, and the population of Bingzhou has dropped dramatically. , so the market is depressed, and there is almost no commercial tax revenue. If you want to make a lot of money, you have to wait until the market is prosperous."

"Zhong Yuan, is there any way to make Jinyang City prosperous immediately?" Li Hong asked.

"If adults want to make a lot of money immediately through the Jinyang market, they must have attractive goods." Li Wei said, "To supplement agriculture with commerce, we must first develop commerce, and to develop commerce, we must have a market. If there is a market, there must be attractive goods, otherwise, if merchants from all over the country don’t come, where can we earn money? You know, almost all the money of the Han Kingdom is hidden in the homes of these merchants.”

"Attractive goods? Goods that can make money?" Li Hong laughed. "Aside from war horses, livestock and grain, what other good things can be sold here?"

"Salt and iron." Li Wei said calmly, "The central and northern parts of Bingzhou are rich in good horses, and there is also a lot of grain to sell in the central and southern parts of Bingzhou after farming, but the most profitable things in Bingzhou are the salt ponds and iron mines in the south."

Li Hong's smile froze, and it took a long time before he said a word: "That is His Majesty's property, how can we move it?"

"Hedong's salt and iron are the most profitable in the world." Li Wei laughed, "During the Great Qin Dynasty, the imperial court was in charge of the mining, manufacturing, transportation and sales of salt and iron. It is twice as old as the ancients', so the profit from salt and iron is an important income for our Great Han Kingdom."

"It's not from the Han Kingdom, but from His Majesty." Li Hong said again, "Zhong Yuan, you are so courageous that you even dare to touch His Majesty's property."

"My lord, listen to me." Li Wei said with a smile, "I want to explain this matter of salt and iron to you carefully, otherwise, this business will not be able to rise. If there is no business, we will not make money, no money , there is no way to solve the matter of the millions of refugees in the Taihang Mountains."

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"My lord, in the early days of this dynasty, the common people were encouraged to do business, and the trade was very developed. Why was it suddenly attacked when Emperor Wu came? The reason originated from this salt and iron."

Li Wei said: "All the mountains, forests and ponds in our Han Kingdom belong to His Majesty, so the taxation system of our Han Kingdom stipulates that all farmland rents belong to the Dasinong Mansion and are paid by the imperial court, while the taxes on mountains, seas and ponds belong to less It is owned by the government and is exclusively for the private use of His Majesty and members of the royal family."

"This system was quite reasonable when it was first established. The country has a lot of arable land, and the land tax is the big income. There are few mountains, forests and pools, and the commercial tax is the small income. It is not selfish for your majesty to return the big to the state and the small to the royal family. But With the increase of salt ponds and iron mines, the profits from salt and iron have gradually increased, and the taxes on mountains, seas, ponds, and ponds have gradually exceeded the country’s land rent. This change in the amount of income was unexpected when the custom was first started. Commercial taxes exceeded Land rent, the income of the Shaofu is higher than that of the Dasinongfu, and the contradiction immediately arises."

"In the early days of the establishment of the dynasty, the policy of recuperation was implemented, the levy of customs and cities was reduced, and the ban on mountains and rivers was lifted, so that the country became rich quickly and the people could be self-sufficient. In terms of salt mining and iron making, the imperial court, in addition to the counties and state-owned In addition to the official operation of salt and iron officials, private operations were also allowed, so at that time, there were princes such as Wu Wang who became powerful by boiling the sea into salt, and there were also wealthy merchants who became rich by iron smelting."

"Emperor Wu of this dynasty was very talented and general, conquered the Xiongnu, communicated with the Western Regions, conducted foreign affairs with the barbarians, and promoted internal utilitarianism, resulting in huge military expenditures, depleted financial resources, and empty treasury. Although he implemented measures such as selling officials and minting coins, it still could not meet his needs. Emperor Wu not only used up all the money from the Dasinong Mansion, but also spent all the money saved by the ancestors Wen and Emperor Jing in several lifetimes."

"At that time, the people's land rent tax was a fixed amount of one-thirtieth, which was set by the ancestors and could not be easily changed. Therefore, Emperor Wu had to use the money from the Shaofu to supplement the treasury. The salt and iron merchants were the ones who donated as freely as he did, but the result made him very angry. Those wealthy merchants ignored Emperor Wu’s edicts at all, and they were all very stingy. Even if they donated, it was only a little bit. At that time The salt and iron merchants are the two largest and most profitable merchants, and their actions finally angered Emperor Wu."

"Emperor Wu was furious. In his opinion, these people's money was earned because of their generosity. He gave up the mountains, seas and pools to these businessmen, so that they could smelt salt and smelt iron and make money. However, these people not only don't appreciate it, but trample on their own authority. Since you don't appreciate the greatness of the emperor and don't want to spend money to help the country, then don't run the country's mountains, seas, ponds, and let the court run it. So in Zhang Tang Under the advice and auspices of ministers such as , Sang Hongyang, etc., Emperor Wu implemented the policy of selling salt and iron officials. The imperial court set up salt officials and iron officials in important salt and iron producing areas to take charge of salt and iron affairs, and private operations were not allowed. "

"The anger in Emperor Wu's heart was out of control. He felt that merchants were ungrateful people. Coupled with the incitement of a group of ministers in the court, it finally caused a catastrophe, the catastrophe of merchants."

"After Emperor Wu forcibly took salt and iron back into the official camp, he immediately implemented the official operation of important industries such as wine and tea, as well as the transportation and trading of important materials. At the same time, he ordered to impose heavy taxes on various businesses and ordered merchants across the country to Self-declaration of family property, whoever reports falsely, will be fined for one year in the army. Encourage reporting on businessmen, and anyone who is accused will have half of his property confiscated. So the denunciation is out of control. Millions of merchants with more than one million properties across the country have been accused. As a result, all merchants and merchants were defeated. Emperor Wu obtained tens of billions of people’s wealth just by reporting and confiscating property.”

"Corrupt officials took advantage of the opportunity. The number of merchants arrested by the imperial court reached 7 to [-], and officials from all over the country intensified their efforts, increasing the number of arrests privately, reaching more than [-] people. There are countless refugees. It is said that more merchants were killed than the Huns killed by the Han army in the desert. The prosperous business in the early days of the Han Dynasty was destroyed.”

"There is no one who does not eat salt, and there is no family that does not use iron. However, the management power of boiling the sea into salt and producing iron from the mountain was taken by Emperor Wu. Emperor Wu no longer allowed merchants to operate without authorization. He ordered the court to select Effective officials burn salt and smelt iron by themselves, and all their tax revenue goes to the imperial court, so salt and iron have become a monopoly of the imperial court and government monopoly."

"For this issue, the government and the opposition have been arguing for a long time. By the time of Emperor Zhao, merchants and rich merchants from all over the country and the three princes and officials in the court had a huge debate on the monopoly of salt and iron. The content of this debate was It is recorded in "On Salt and Iron". Rich merchants from all over the country advocated opening up the salt and iron industry, and privately intervened in the salt and iron operation, while the imperial court advocated following the old system of Emperor Wu and letting the government monopolize it. After the debate, it was still the government monopoly."

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When Li Wei said this, Li Hong already understood what he meant.What Li Wei meant was that he hoped that Li Hong would write to the imperial court, requesting that the official sale of salt and iron be changed to open operation of salt and iron.After salt and iron allowed private operators to intervene in the operation, businessmen would be profitable, and they would naturally gather in the state, so that the business would flourish, and money would flow in after the business flourished.

"My lord, if you want to make a lot of money right away, you must open up the salt and iron industry." Li Wei said, "For decades in Bingzhou, due to foreign invasion and population loss, the salt ponds and iron mines in various parts of the south have come to a standstill. The commercial tax revenue of the imperial court has long since disappeared. At present, we have neither the ability nor the money to cook salt and open iron. We can only rely on those merchants to invest money in the operation. In this way, the imperial court has income, merchants have benefits, and they have money. We have reaped a lot of rewards.”

"My lord, since recruiting the Yellow Turbans and resettling refugees requires a lot of money, we only ask for the opening of the salt and iron business in Bingzhou. Your Majesty and the court should be able to accept it." Zuo Yan reminded in a low voice, "What's more, the bulk of the income from salt and iron Or give it to His Majesty and the court, why not do it?"

Li Hong looked at the crowd and asked, "How many salt ponds and iron mines are there in the south of Bingzhou? If they are opened for operation, can you guarantee that you will be able to make a lot of money in a short period of time?"

Li Wei nodded with a smile.

Song Wen said: "My lord, there is a lot of salt and iron in Bingzhou. If all of them are put into operation, coupled with the self-sufficiency of food in the later stage, we can completely feed Bingzhou's population of 10 and 10,000+ troops. If we manage well, we will be able to There should be a slight surplus. When Bingzhou was the most prosperous in this dynasty, Taiyuan County alone had a population of 68, so as long as we have a proper strategy, ten years later, we will be able to reappear the former prosperity."

"The salt ponds in Bingzhou are distributed in Taiyuan, Shangdang, and Yanmen. This dynasty set up 27 salt officials in 34 counties across the country. Among them, there are three salt officials in Bingzhou, namely Jinyang in Taiyuan County and Lou in Yanmen County. Annoyance, Woyang."

"Bingzhou was already an important area for iron production in the Warring States period. According to the book "Shan Hai Jing" written by people in the Warring States period, the Baima Mountain in the Bingzhou area at that time had iron in its shade, and the Weilong Mountain 170 miles to the south' There are many irons in its yin, and Zheshan, which is [-] miles to the south, has iron in its yin. These three mountains are all in the central part of Bingzhou. There are more than a dozen mines in the central and southern part of Bingzhou, and there are also iron officials in Daling Ben Dynasty .”

"My lord, if all these salt ponds and iron mines are used, the output will be astonishing, and the income will be huge, which can solve a large part of the money needed to resettle the refugees."

"In addition, Bingzhou also has a profitable thing. If this thing can be operated by merchants, it will also be a source of income."

Li Hong hurriedly asked: "What is it? Changfeng, tell me quickly."

"Coal." Song Wen replied, "Does your lord know what coal is?"

Li Hong shook his head and said embarrassedly: "This is the first time I've heard of it. What is this thing for? Can it make money?"

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"My lord, iron smelting in Bingzhou usually uses smelting furnaces, melting furnaces, and forging furnaces. The main fuel is charcoal. The smelted iron is mainly sponge iron, which can be used to cast utensils after being melted in the furnace. The forge (steel frying furnace) is repeatedly fried and forged to squeeze out the slag to make an indestructible sharp weapon." Song Wen said, "Bingzhou's weapons are famous for being not only sharp but also not easy to break. Coal is used instead of charcoal. Coal burns hotter and lasts longer, but charcoal doesn't."

"The earliest record of coal can be found in the "Shan Hai Jing". Its "Bei Shan Jing" says: "The mountain of Mengmen has many berth and gold on it, and there are many topaz and many stones under it." "The mountain of Cardia, its There is a lot of beryl on the top, and there are many chalks and stones on the bottom. This "Nieshi" is coal, and the "Mountain of Mengmen" is in the east of the river, and the "Mountain of Cardia" is in Taihang. Therefore, there is coal in Bingzhou, and there is a lot of it , In many places, the entire mountain is full of coal, and you can use it by digging a little bit.”

"In addition to smelting iron, this thing can also be used to warm wine and roast meat. Although it is not very useful, it can be sold for money. If merchants can transport it to a wealthy place in Guanzhong and Guandong, it may be sold for a good price."

"Changfeng is crazy about money. He can even come up with such an idea." Tang Yun said with a smile, "I think it's better to make more swords and sell them privately to earn more."

"Selling weapons in private is a capital offense." Xie Ming pointed at Tang Yun and said with a smile, "I think you are the one who is crazy about money."

Everyone in the tent laughed.

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"My lord, to subsidize agriculture with business is to make money quickly by reopening the Jinyang city and opening up salt and iron, and then use the money to reclaim land and farmland." Li Wei said, "but the key problem is that the opening of salt and iron The first thing is to get the consent of His Majesty and the imperial court; the second is how to let the wealthy merchants from all over the place get the news quickly and rush to Bingzhou to do business; and the most important question is who will support this matter."

"If the imperial court sends a traitor to take charge of the salt and iron affairs, let alone using business to subsidize agriculture, even resettling refugees will become a luxury."

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(End of this chapter)