"After statistics, this attack on Mongolia, the gold and silver that were plundered from Mongolian tribes alone reached an astonishing 11.2 million taels..."

"In addition to these gold and silver that can be used directly, there are countless cattle, sheep and war horses. [More good-looking ones are available ^^^^^^^^^^]"

"If these cattle, sheep, and horses are exchanged for silver, it will be at least 20 million taels."

After listening to Zhou Shuyuan's introduction, Sun Chengzong, sitting on the chair, could no longer describe his expression with the word "shock", but was shocked...

Yes, it's shocking...

The courageous shock of the Tiger and Leopard Army's attack on the Tiger and Leopard Army's great harvest...

After the shock, Sun Chengzong began to reconsider the true economic strength of the Tiger and Leopard Army.

A battle to attack Mongolia will bring about nearly 30 million taels of silver. How much will the entire Shanxi and Shaanxi Governor's Office make every year?

Zhou Shuyuan, who received Wei Zheng's instructions, did not ask him to wait too long.

He replied to Sun Chengzong, who was still shocked in front of him: "Mr. Sun, after half a year of development, the annual income that our Shanxi and Shaanxi Governor's Office can obtain is more than 45 million taels."

"The first income is undoubtedly tens of millions of mu of military farming in Shanxi that have planted grain. Even if taxes are collected according to the standard of four dou of grain per mu of military farming, there will be four million dan of grain a year."

"Now, the food prices in several northern provinces have reached 5 taels of silver per pound. Therefore, the Governor's Office alone has a profit of at least 20 million taels of silver per year based on the military farms of Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces."

"In addition, next year, the Governor's Office will open another 10 million mu of military farming in Shaanxi. In addition, Shanxi is still expanding military farming. We will strive to make the number of military farming in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces exceed 30 million mu."

There are 30 million mu of military farms. It sounds like a lot, but it is very scary, but it is not.

You should know that in the two provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi hundreds of years later, the arable land area in Shanxi alone reached an astonishing 60 million mu of arable land. If Shaanxi adds more than 100 million mu of arable land, there are still some.

Therefore, even if Wei Zheng opened 30 million mu of military farms, it would have reached less than one-third of that in later generations.

The only thing that made Wei Zheng regret was that the population in this era was too small. Even if he used all of this land and turned into military farms, there were not enough people to cultivate these lands.

However, Sun Chengzong, who was sitting in front of him, did not know about these things and did not have time to think about these issues. Because, with a shocked face, he was once again shocked by the taxes brought by 30 million mu of military farms.

30 million mu. According to taxation examples, the Shanxi and Shaanxi Governor's Office can harvest 12 million dan of grain at one time. If the price of grain remains unchanged, these grains will be about 60 million taels of silver...

You should know that the total land taxes of the court in the entire Ming Dynasty were only a few million taels, not even a fraction of the Shanxi and Shaanxi Governor's Office...

Faced with such a huge gap, Sun Chengzong, who was devoted to the Ming Dynasty, of course he had to think about the reasons.

Zhou Shuyuan, who was sitting in front of him, seemed to know what Sun Chengzong was thinking. After being shocked in front of him, he asked Sun Chengzong, who looked thoughtful, "If I don't expect it, Lord Sun must be thinking, why is the court's grain tax so small, with the ministers of Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces?"

"In fact, the reason is very simple. The court's grain tax has not changed since the founding of the Ming Dynasty."

"At the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the price of a load of grain was only five cents. But now, the price of grain has risen ten times, but the standard for the imperial court to collect grain tax has not changed."

"In addition, there is another fatal reason, which destined that the court could not have too much food tax."

"That is a rule set by Emperor Taizu since the founding of the Ming Dynasty: officials and gentry do not need to pay food..."

"The entire Ming Dynasty had a few hundred million mu of land. Even if one acre of land was used for one mu of land and one dou of grain, all of them were tens of millions of burrows. However, it was precisely because of the rule that officials and gentry did not need to pay grain that more and more land did not need to pay grain, which eventually led to the imperial court's grain taxes becoming lower and lower, and it became increasingly difficult to collect..."

At this point, Zhou Shuyuan did not forget to give the court a blow and continued: "Mr. Sun, I can be sure that if the court does not reform, sooner or later, the court will take this unrealistic grain tax policy."

"Take the current court, the reason why there is no silver to pay even the salaries of officials. The fundamental reason is that the court has no taxes, and the pitiful taxes can no longer meet the needs of the court, and the court has already lost money."

Faced with Zhou Shuyuan's accusations against the court, Sun Chengzong, as a loyal minister of the court, wanted to defend himself a few words.

However, when he said that, he didn't say anything. Because Zhou Shuyuan's accusations were reasonable and well-founded to him, and there was no one that could allow him to defend himself.

At this time, Zhou Shuyuan continued to speak.

"While there are many grain taxes for the Shanxi Governor's Office, grain tax is not the most important income."

"For our Shanxi Governor's Office, the biggest income is the commercial tax..."

"Whether it is the continuous production of glass or the fine salt that every household in the Ming Dynasty must eat, it can bring huge wealth to the Shanxi and Shaanxi Governor's Office."

"So far, the glass mirrors we produced have brought six million taels of silver to the Shanxi Governor's Office in less than half a year."

"The salt is not the same as the one in terms of fine salt. In half a year, we brought us eight million taels of silver."

"As for other commercial taxes in the country, because the Grand Marshal raised the commercial tax from 30 taxes to 10 taxes, and regardless of officials, gentry and people, they had to pay taxes strictly. In just half a year, they had two million taels of silver."

"I can be sure that when all the 10 million mu of military farming food is collected and the people in the country start to have surplus grain, the commercial taxes in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces can reach 10 million taels according to the policy of 10 taxes."

"Does Lord Sun think that the Shanxi and Shaanxi Governor's Office are not able to support more than 100,000 troops?"

At this time, Sun Chengzong was already shocked and could not speak.

After a cup of tea, Sun Chengzong reacted from shock.

After taking a deep breath, I had to sigh: "Mr. Wei, I admire him... I really didn't expect that in just half a year, the two provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi had such a drastic change in your hands..."

At this time, Sun Chengzong seemed to have been several years old all of a sudden, and said to Wei Zheng with a decadent look on his face: "Now your goal has been achieved... I will continue to stay here, except to add trouble to you, and it will not do anything."

"So, I decided to leave Datong Mansion tomorrow and return to the capital to apologize to the court. I not only regretted the emperor's trust, but also committed the crime of deceiving the emperor. If the emperor can forgive me, I will resign immediately."

A loyal minister is so depressed, which is definitely not what Wei Zheng wants to see.

Besides, now let Sun Chengzong leave and return to the capital to report his life. What he did for almost half a month has finally achieved his goal, and it has not been in vain.

Therefore, Wei Zheng refused to say without thinking about Sun Chengzong's request.

"No, it will take at least three months before you can leave Datong Mansion..."

"For the safety of Lord Sun during this period, I will draw 100 elite troops from the personal guard camp to strictly protect the safety of Lord Sun."

Hearing this, Sun Chengzong's decadent eyes quickly shot out two rays of light.

At the same time, a strong murderous aura emanated from his body.

He asked Wei Zheng without hesitation: "Master Wei, you are going to put me under house arrest... Although the two thousand Beijing camps under my command are gone, I still have a lot of force. If Master Wei really plans to do this, I don't mind killing people here... Even if I die here, I will not allow you to put me under house arrest in the Governor's Mansion..."

While talking, a big knife placed on the table was re-held by Sun Chengzong's trembling right hand.

At this moment, the soldiers of the Qinwei Battalion who had been guarding the door rushed into the room like a flood breaking the dike, surrounded Sun Chengzong, and took out a short-barrel broken-haired musket that had been loaded with lead bullets, aiming at Sun Chengzong who was still sitting on the chair.

It is certain that as long as Wei Zheng gave the order, these guards would pull the trigger without hesitation and use lead bullets to knock Sun Chengzong into a hornet's nest.

Faced with the instant tense atmosphere in the room, Wei Zheng quickly spoke, "What are you doing? Go out immediately. There is no danger here..."

After that, he directly explained to Sun Chengzong with an apology: "Mr. Sun, you misunderstood. Before the imperial court issued an order, you were still the governor of Shanxi and Shaanxi. However, for the safety of my commander himself and more than 100,000 soldiers under my command, I had to send someone to monitor my every move, and I could not let you leave Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces. So, please understand."

Seeing that Sun Chengzong's face finally changed slightly, Wei Zheng continued: "Before the imperial edict issued by the court, you are not only the governor of Shanxi and Shaanxi, but also enter any place you want to go in the two provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi to understand all the places you want to know. I will never stop you from the general and the soldiers under my command... I wonder if Lord Sun is satisfied with this decision..."

Under Wei Zheng's gaze, Sun Chengzong's eyes lit up and he fell into deep thought.

For me, I have committed the crime of deceiving the king. Since this fact cannot be changed, the only thing that can make up for my fault is to find out Wei Zheng's true strength for the court. Only in this way can the court make the wisest decision at a critical moment.

If you want to figure out Wei Zheng's true strength, relying solely on Zhou Shuyuan's explanation just now is obviously not enough.

And this decision of Wei Zheng from the Qianqian just helped him solve the problem of in-depth understanding of the Tiger and Leopard Army.

Although I don’t know what Wei Zheng’s purpose was, this result was the best for Sun Chengzong who had no right to choose.
Chapter completed!