Number of romantic figures

Chapter 617 The national reputation of the T-shaped scroll, follow the temptation

"Ten years, two million taels, starting from the date of the court's announcement, pay 200 taels first within three months, and then pay another 50 taels before the end of this year, and pay another 50 taels before the end of Yonglong's eighth year, and the follow-up 20 taels will be paid in the future. In a few years, according to the amount of 80 taels per year, gradually pay off,..."

Even if Feng Ziying recounted the agreement reached again, it still made everyone present excited.

This year, 100 taels will be credited to the account, which is a timely gift. In addition, the franchise fee is also agreed to be paid within three months from the imperial court. This is a net income of 180 million taels. .

This is simply more comfortable than sending out the tax and mining supervisors to collect the few 10 taels of silver, and there will be no remonstrance from the censor and criticism from the people, and even the unanimous support of the gentry.

"..., but these people must have demands..." Feng Ziying also put forward the conditions unceremoniously, "First, the local government must cooperate with the relocation, not just to develop the saltworks, but also to build docks, roads, Basic facilities such as warehouses and even small ship repair yards need to be relocated. In addition, they also hope that the development of Longyou merchants and Anfu merchants can be coordinated with them, so that in the future, the local salt business in Dongpan will be better than nothing,..."

Ye Xianggao stroked his beard and nodded. This is what it should mean. Businessmen must make clear calculations, even if they can earn a penny more, it is a good deal.

"...Secondly, they hope that the Fujian Navy can be organized to achieve the goal of maintaining the safety of Dongfan, and they are even willing to give an extra 10 taels of silver to support the construction of the Fujian Navy,..."

"It's just the navy, not land?" Qi Yongtai couldn't help asking.

"On land, of course they hoped that the imperial court would send troops to Dongfan, but they were rejected by the students, because the imperial court might have paid too much in the face of the threat of the mountain people's harassment and disease and miasma, and the army stationed in Dongfan in the short term would outweigh the gains, so they All they want is to be safe and secure on the sea route to and from Dongfan, and they will hire private bodyguards and raiders to resolve matters on land."

This made everyone here breathe a sigh of relief. If they want to send a large army to Dongfan, they have to think carefully.

Even the mobilization of tens of thousands of troops is not a small number. Moreover, it is humid and hot in the east, and it is also a plague for the troops to adapt to the station. Death due to illness is also the biggest problem in reducing the number of troops.

"...The third is the government. This is what they don't mention, and the students will insist. If it is not appropriate to set up prefectures and counties now, then you can set up an inspection department first, but this rule must be established first to establish the government. If there is not enough power, you can let the bodyguards hired by these salt merchants and people like Daxing to assist, but the government must take the lead. ..."

In the eyes of the people in the court, these are trivial details, and the money problem is solved, and other things don't need to be discussed at the court. That is the responsibility of the Zhongshu Department.

After discussing the Dongpan Salt and Reclamation matters, the group was a little tired, but for the sake of money, the group refused to rest and continued to discuss.

"Although the opening of the sea bonds has been affected by these salt merchants, there are some twists and turns, but according to Weichen's estimation, the impact is not great, especially Dongfan Salt has absorbed two salt merchants with good performance, which gives these salt merchants The salt merchants were very encouraged, so according to Wei Chen's estimate, it is not a problem to sell 300 million taels of Kaihai bonds this year,..."

This sentence made the entire court gasp again. Even though many of them were somewhat prepared, it was estimated that it was only between one and two million taels, but I didn't expect Feng Ziying to open his mouth for 200 million taels, even if this guy was sure of the next The words will be followed by a "but" or "but", but this is 300 million taels after all.

What does 300 million taels mean?
大周现在每年田赋、盐课加商税所有加起来不到二千200万两，元熙30年的时候为一千800万两，然后逐步下滑到元熙41年也就是永隆帝登基前一年的一千500万两。

However, military expenses alone require more than 900 million taels, and official salaries need more than 400 million taels. Since Dazhou was founded in a short period of time, the number of clans was not large, with less than 600 people. , but it also needs about 400 million taels, while relief materials, river engineering materials, etc. are only 50 million taels a year, and sometimes only 20 million taels.

After Emperor Yonglong ascended the throne, he practiced thrift and increased income and cut expenditure, and strengthened the administration of officials to a certain extent. All the land tax, salt tax, commercial tax, and mining tax combined exceeded 2000 million taels. In Yonglong's six years, that is, last year's total fiscal revenue exceeded 100 million taels, of course, this covers the converted grain.

It’s just that the rising tide raises all boats. Military expenditure alone has soared from 30 million taels in the 900th year of Yuanxi’s reign to 200 million taels. Last year, due to Ningxia’s suppression of the rebellion and appeasement of the two towns in Ningxia and Gansu, military expenditures are expected to exceed 600 million taels. , This has also become an unbearable burden for the court.

If no suitable way to open source can be found, the court will really collapse.

This is why the officials from Emperor Yonglong down to the six ministries were so enthusiastic about the strategy of opening the sea, and even suppressed many opposing voices.

"..., but there is a problem involved here. This is a bond, not a franchise fee. It needs to calculate interest and repay the principal. It involves the issue period and the mortgage ability of sea tax. For example, 300 million is ten years ago. , then from ten years later, the principal and interests will be paid 300 million taels at once, which may be as high as 800 million taels, can the imperial court pay so much money at once?"

This issue is indeed a difficult problem, but the cabinet has already discussed it before. Faced with the current difficult situation of the imperial court, the bond proceeds must be obtained no matter what.

But how to do it specifically, they now hope to hear some suggestions and opinions from Feng Ziying, which have never been encountered before.

Short-term temporary loans, not without the imperial court, three to five million taels, three to five months, no interest, but merchants are forced to borrow for some unavoidable reasons, such as this kind of borrowing for three to five years or even ten years There has never been a long-term loan.

To put it bluntly, it was something Feng Ziying thought up in his head, and no one had encountered it before. How to operate it, even Zheng Jizhi, the old household secretary, had no idea.

"Then Ziying, what do you mean?" Fang Congzhe also asked a rare question.

"It depends on the current situation of the imperial court. If all the ten-year open sea bonds are sold, the first interest calculation may be higher, and the second will make the merchants have some doubts, worrying that the imperial court will not be able to repay. I personally suggest that a combination can be adopted. For example, the three-year Kaihai bond is 100 million yuan, the five-year Kaihai bond is 100 million yuan, and the ten-year period is 100 million yuan. This will not only eliminate the worries of these businessmen, but also reduce unnecessary interest calculation. The income from sea tax next year will be considerable, and we can also consider continuing to sell Kaihai bonds. At that time, businessmen will see the considerable income from sea tax and their confidence will increase greatly, and these will not be a problem.”

The first half of Feng Ziying's suggestion was nothing, even Ye Xianggao and the others could think of it, but the second half of the sentence made everyone's hearts light up, which means that this kind of operation method seems to be continued next year?

From the changes in the eyes and expressions of this group of people, Feng Ziying can figure out the thoughts of these people, including Qi Yongtai, without exception, their eyes are a little more fiery.

Ye Xianggao coughed lightly, and glanced at Qi Yongtai, and Emperor Yonglong also leaned back slightly, his eyes also fell on Qi Yongtai, and the others were all smiling, but silent.

Qi Yongtai sighed softly in his heart, a group of old and important ministers and the emperor had their eyes pierced into Qian's eyes, but he was also unavoidable, forced by the real predicament.

"Ziying, according to what you said, these bonds can be sold every year, instead of waiting until the court repays them ten years later?"

Qi Yongtai's words spoke out the hearts of everyone. Although Feng Ziying didn't fully understand the mystery, Feng Ziying's ability to say this meant that there must be a way.

"Your Majesty, my lords, in fact, this issue is not complicated. Of course, it is not a question of continuing to sell it until the repayment is complete. It is not even a problem to sell it twice a year. These are not the key. The key is whether you can let people buy it." Feng Ziying knew. It is time to instill in them some sense of national credibility (court credibility).

"Your sea tax for the next ten years will only be two or three million taels a year on average. If you want to sell 30 million bonds at once, how will you repay it then? Unless the imperial court raises funds from other places to pay back, sea tax can be used as collateral. This is written It’s clear, so it’s hard for businessmen to believe that if you sell it this year and sell it next year, no one will buy it, and it may even cause people’s distrust of the first batch of Kaihai bonds,…”

"If the sea tax is only 20 taels in the first year, but increases to 30 taels in the second year due to the growth of foreign trade, and to 50 taels in the third year, then out of the optimistic expectation of this situation, maybe businessmen We are willing to buy the second and third batches of Kaihai bonds,..."

Feng Ziying talked eloquently. "... This is just one aspect. Let me give another example. For example, when the imperial navy occupied Ezo Island and found that Ezo Island is rich in fur and has a developed fishery, then the fur and fishery income of Ezo Island can be used as collateral. Selling Yezo bonds and occupying the Spice Islands in Southeast Asia, which are rich in spices, and the annual income from the sale of spices may reach one million taels, so the imperial court can also sell the Spice Islands bonds,..."

"The reason is not when the bonds are sold, how many times a year, what name they sell, and how much they sell each time. These are not important. The key lies in whether the merchants can and are willing to trust the court and whether they believe in it or not. I believe that the imperial court can repay the exchange as scheduled, this is a matter of credibility,..."

　My health is still poor, so I can only write as much as I can, or I can think about the next step.

　
(End of this chapter)