Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 1655 Brothers
The servants and servants lived and cooked on the boat, and the fireworks were scattered.

Shao Mianren felt bored in the cabin, so he put down the "Liu Binke's Best Tales" in his hand, and went to the deck to have a breeze.

"Liu" is a miscellany.In the Yizong Dynasty of the former Tang Dynasty, it was written by Wei Xuan, the military governor of the Yiwu Army.

The book mentions that a man named Li Yue met a Hu merchant when he was sailing on the river.At that time Hu Shang was seriously ill, so he repeatedly invited Li Yue to board the boat, and entrusted him with two daughters, "both of whom are of different colors", and left behind a large pearl, which was priceless.

After Hu Shang's death, Li Yue sent tens of thousands of his money to the officials, found her husband's house for his two daughters, and quietly stuffed the priceless jewel in Hu Shang's mouth for burial, "Since the night light contains it, People don't know it."

A few years later, Hu Shang's family came to ask for money.Li invited people from the government to excavate Hu Shang's tomb, "the night light is there"-err, the whereabouts of the tens of thousands of coins were not explained, probably counted as donations...

When ordinary people read this story, they will probably be moved by Li Yue's keeping his promise.But Shao Mianren read it, and was only amazed by the depth of Hu merchants' tentacles in the jewelry industry.

Hu people are good at appraising treasures, which can be seen in many stories of the Tang Dynasty.At the same time, he is also good at processing jewelry. Taking Jiangnan as an example, the largest jewelry stores in Yuezhou, Runzhou, Xuanzhou, Yangzhou and other places are all run by Hu merchants. They have overseas jewelry resources and exquisite processing skills, so their works are very popular. .

The Hu merchants who entrusted Li Yue with running the jewelry business amassed tens of thousands of dollars, which shows how profitable this business is.

In Yangzhou today, there are still many jewelry stores opened by Hu merchants!
"哗啦啦" There was a sound of water on the river.

Shao Mianren looked for his reputation, but saw a small boat rowing towards him, with Wang Zhenbai standing at the bow.

He suddenly couldn't help laughing.

The river port was dirty, with vegetable leaves, rotten wood, and dead chickens and ducks floating everywhere. In this stinky environment, Wang Zhenbai was able to be so calm and composed, which is also a skill.

"Your Highness, I have been walking around the city with a lot of emotion." After boarding the boat with the help of the sailors, Wang Zhenbai said repeatedly: "Jewelry, spices, fragrant medicines, seafood, etc., Hu merchants do everything. Even There are also those who open restaurants and sell rice and noodles, and make a lot of money."

In the end, I was a little angry.

It is enough for Hu merchants to do some business that the Central Plains does not have, and it will not make people too jealous.

Selling jewelry is actually a bit jealous, but considering that many of their jewelry comes from abroad, let's bear it for now.

But actually even doing the rice noodle business, and also opening restaurants, making a lot of money, which makes people jealous.

Xia people can also do these transactions, why should Hu merchants make money?
After hearing this, Shao Mianren reminded: "The sage does not prohibit Hu merchants from doing business. They can do anything, as long as they pay taxes."

Wang Zhenbai was speechless.

"Furthermore, when Hu merchants come to sell goods, there are three expenses: berthing, offering, and closing. Before leaving, they are almost full of goods from the Central Plains. They may not have earned us much gold and silver, and even subsidized a lot of gold and silver. " Shao Mianren said again: "Why worry about the long history?"

The berth is equivalent to a tariff, which calculates the value of the goods brought by Hu merchants, divides them into different categories, and collects taxes in different proportions.

Jinfeng is the property that Hu Shangjin presented to the emperor, and he may also give a share to Shibo in private, but this is not on the table.

Closing market means that Shibo has the right to buy a batch of goods brought by Hu merchants at a low price, up to [-]%, and sell them by themselves, which has nothing to do with Hu merchants.

On top of that, there are taxes to pay when you trade.

It can be said to be "exorbitant and miscellaneous taxes", which are as numerous as a cow's hair.But the profit of this business is too great, and Hu merchants are still enjoying it, and they can’t drive them away——In the first year of Shangyuan (760), Pinglu Jiedu envoy Tian Shengong went to Yangzhou to quell the chaos, killing thousands of Hu merchants and looting money The remaining Hu merchants just avoided going to the south of the Yangtze River and continued to do business, with a very stable mentality.

The Great Xia court's attitude towards Hu merchants is just one point: encouragement.

If you sell silk and porcelain to them, you can sell them at a higher price and the court can collect more taxes.

The foreign goods brought by Hu merchants are also sold at high domestic prices, and the imperial court can also collect a large amount of taxes.What's more, most of the consumers are wealthy people. Why do ordinary people use luxuries such as dipteroline, ambergris, sandalwood, shark skin, glass, rose water, coral, and gemstones?

Every time a transaction is made, the court collects taxes, which is equivalent to taking money from the pockets of the rich, and then to pay for various national expenses. In the early Southern Song Dynasty, the revenue of the Customs and Shipping Department accounted for 15% of the total fiscal revenue of the court. At that time, it was close to one-third, which may be the period with the highest customs revenue in all dynasties.

At this time, maritime trade was not as developed as in the Song Dynasty. The shipping companies in the Great Xia cities earned about 40 to 40 yuan in taxes every year-the tariffs in the early and mid-Northern Song Dynasty were about [-] yuan.

The goods and goods presented by foreign businessmen to the emperor are worth millions of dollars-this is a gift, not a "tax".

The market-closing system earns even more money-generally, the Ministry of Internal Affairs sells it on its behalf, and the proceeds go to the treasury of the Ministry of Household Affairs.

In order to encourage trade, Shao Shude just issued an order to stop the bad rules of entering and closing the market until the Southern Song Dynasty, and consolidate them into the tariff, that is, to increase the tax rate and reduce the irregular plundering system.

Considering the total income of Shibo Department of 1000 million yuan in the late Southern Song Dynasty, Daxia's total income of less than 200 million yuan per year is really insignificant, and there is still a lot of room for improvement.

"Dignified Huaxia, making money is not as good as Hu merchants. Listening to it makes people angry." Wang Zhenbai was a little annoyed, his chest heaved, obviously he didn't want Hu people to open a shop to make money from Xia people.

In his opinion, it's fine for you to come to buy things, don't do anything else, just give money obediently.

"You don't understand." Shao Mianren smiled and said, "That's not how accounts are calculated. The sage's idea is that the bureaucrats can provide more taxes to the court, and the more the better. Moreover, this tax will not harm the common people .”

He didn't want to talk about this subtle point.

Any fool knows which is better, taxing the rich or taxing the poor.

Anyone with a discerning eye knows which is better: simple and rude direct taxation or making you willing to pay taxes when you buy things.

Well, rich people just spend more money.The money you spend is passed by the imperial court, some taxes are collected, and then the poor are hired to work and fight wars, so that the cycle can last longer.

"Your Highness's whimsical idea, I might as well." Wang Zhenbai cupped his hands and said.

"It's okay, I didn't know before, until I read the first drafts of the two books "Commerce" and "Land Rent" written by the sage." Shao Mianren glanced at Wang Zhenbai and encouraged him: "Chang Shi has an outstanding literary talent, is familiar with official documents, and manages general affairs in an orderly manner. I can't live without it for a moment."

Wang Zhenbai's face turned rosy, and he bowed in salute.

Inside and outside Guazhou Pu, there are many masts, and even the nearby small river is full of ships of all sizes.

The ship was fully loaded with cargo, and the draft was extremely deep. From time to time, people went up and down, even after nightfall.

Brothels, restaurants, and tea shops can be seen everywhere, the sound of silk and bamboo is bursting, and there are shameless prostitutes, wandering around potbellied businessmen, no matter whether they are foreigners.

As long as the situation is stable, merchants will travel north and south and sell goods as if they came out of the ground.

As a large goods distribution center, there are a lot of merchants gathered in Guangling, and there are 5 to [-] Hu merchants and their families.

There are countless silks, copper coins, silver dollars, dirhans, and dinars flowing here every day. No wonder Gao Pian wanted to occupy this place back then, watching the Chao army go north.

There are tens of thousands of elite soldiers from Henan, Hedong, and Hebei, countless commercial taxes, and the benefits of fishing and salt. They also enjoy the rich Huainan Plain with hundreds of thousands of hectares of fertile land.With this capital, who has no idea?
In Guangzhou, Quan, Ming, Yang, Hai and other states, there are more than ten ports authorized to foreign trade. If the shipping companies of these cities can provide 500 million yuan in taxes to the imperial court every year, no one in the world can ban the sea.

Even the proposal to ban the seas will be considered heretical until the sea trade has penetrated into every corner of people's lives.

This process may take decades, 100 years or even hundreds of years, but as long as you walk on the right path, you are not afraid of anything.

******
On the eighth day of March, after changing to a flat-bottomed boat, Shao Mianren arrived in Gaoyou.

Just at this time, Prince Shao Chengjie also arrived here via Bianshui, Sishui, and Caoqu, and the two brothers met with wine in a grass pavilion outside the embankment.

As a county of Yangzhou, Gaoyou still has large lakes and wetlands until later generations.And in the Tang Dynasty this will only be more.

During the Tang Dynasty, Huainan was a bit like Jiangnan in the late Tang and early summer, and it was vigorously developed.The local people dredged lakes and rivers, dug out the silt at the bottom of the swamp, and stacked them together to form a highland surrounded by rivers or lakes. People planted grain on the highlands, and the yield per mu was extremely high.

During the reign of Tang Xianzong, Li Jifu, the governor of Huainan, presided over the construction of seven ponds to further improve the duotian system.

Since then, the local economic model has been basically finalized: people grow grain on the stacked fields, raise water chestnuts, fish, geese, and ducks in the rivers and lakes beside the stacked fields. With mulberry and sericulture, those who live near the sea cook salt and fish, coupled with the benefits of commerce, Huainan has become very prosperous—to this day, this well-known and rich land provides more taxes to the court than Jiangdong Road .

Brothers Shao Chengjie and Shao Mianren looked at the crystal-clear river a few steps away, and the isolated farmland like small islands in the distance, and remained silent for a long time.

"Third brother is going north this time—" After looking at it for a long time, Shao Chengjie turned his head and said, "Be good at doing things. Don't look forward and backward, don't be afraid of those rumors, second brother is not so narrow-minded."

Shao Mianren looked at his second brother, and only said one word: "Okay."

Shao Chengjie smiled gratifiedly, got up and walked to the riverside, and said, "Did you see those wheat fields?"

Shao Mianren came over, nodded and said, "I can harvest it in May, right? It grows quite densely, and the harvest should be five or six buckets per mu."

Shao Chengjie laughed suddenly, and said: "Yang Xingmi and his son have ruled Huainan for many years. If I ask Yang Wo, he must not know the harvest of this wheat field. The third brother has a heart. It is very good to experience so many years outside."

"Don't get me wrong." Shao Chengjie patted him on the shoulder again, and said with a smile: "What I say will always count. I'm just such a man. It needs you and my brother to work hard, and there must be no trouble."

"I believe what the second brother said." Shao Mianren looked at the prince in military robes, and suddenly felt emotional.

The second brother is really a pure martial artist who is so self-confident.

Perhaps, only such confident people can control the world.

This is not a bad thing.

If they were replaced by incompetent and unconfident people, they would become paranoid, and their life would be difficult.

"Second brother is visiting Jiangning in the south, do you have anything to say to me?" Shao Chengjie asked again.

Shao Mianren thought for a while, and said: "Father attaches great importance to maritime trade. If the second brother has time, he can carefully inspect the shipping department of Huainan and Jiangdong Erdao cities, and then call the local merchants who are accustomed to maritime trade. Hu merchants can also call some , find out the bottom line, after returning to Beijing, you can also explain something."

"On the other hand, my father promoted the three-crop crop rotation system in the north, but there is no mature plan for how to improve the agriculture in the south. I have been in Nanjing for many years, and I deeply feel that there are many mountains in the south of the Yangtze River, different sounds for ten miles, and complex people's conditions. It may be possible to adapt to local conditions and grow suitable tea. Tea, silkworms that are suitable for mulberry, and trading for those that are suitable for sea trade. Where there is a lot of fertile soil, fish and rice are raised. In barren hills, you can try to plant fruit trees.” Shao Mianren said: “That’s all. , you can call your staff to discuss it together.”

After Shao Chengjie listened, he grabbed the third brother's hand and said with a smile: "It's all true, the second brother is very happy. The wealth and honor in this world, you and my brother can enjoy it."

Shao Mianren also laughed.

He knew that the second brother had a strong personality and a tough style, and sometimes martial arts students spoke foul language, but he was not rough-minded - this matter was first told to him by the elder brother, after Shao Mianren observed it, he found that what the elder brother said was quite right.

He had no intention of arguing with his second brother, because he knew he couldn't control Wu Fu.

Just under their feet in Yangzhou, Xu Wen and Zhang Hao overthrew Yang Wo to the ground with only 200 people.We can't let the warriors return to their hearts. If someone tells the story of Xu Wen and Zhang Hao in the future, the Great Xia Imperial Army will become the Eastern Academy's horse army.

His wealth is enough, there is no need to fight for what he has.If outsiders took advantage of it, he would not even be able to keep his current wealth.

From this point of view, the second elder brother is the guarantee of wealth for the brothers and sisters.

In this world, no one is a fool.Once the father passed away, it was the outsiders who needed to be on guard the most. They needed the second brother, and the second brother also needed them, that's all.

(End of this chapter)