As Liu Bei's generals went to their respective defense areas one by one, a large number of generals and soldiers originally stationed in Yecheng also left one after another.
In the end, even the civil servants gradually began to leave with the army. Yecheng, which was originally surrounded by the army, became much deserted, but the city became more prosperous.
The withdrawal of a large number of military camps and the departure of a large number of soldiers ended the military control of Yecheng. Yecheng, which had been desolate due to the war, once again regained its original popularity.
After all, it is one of the most prosperous cities in the north. After ensuring food and grass and injecting more suitable trade policies, the prosperity of commerce has driven the prosperity of the entire city.
However, generally speaking, Yecheng cannot reach the level of commercial prosperity that has suppressed agriculture like Fenggao. The positioning of the two sides has been different from the beginning. Fenggao's positioning is the center of world commerce, while Yecheng's positioning
It is an important military strategic town in the north.
In the feudal era, when manpower could not be completely separated from the land, it was impossible for many commercial centers like Fenggao to appear in the world. In this era, the country's emphasis on agriculture and suppressing commerce also made sense.
If food and clothing cannot be solved, commercial flow and even basic supplies will become a problem. Therefore, Chen Xi will not expect to build a second world commercial center now. Even if someone keeps making noises, Chen Xi will not agree.
"Who proposed the change of Yecheng's commercial tax this time?" Chen Xi squinted at Jia Xu. He didn't ask him to give an explanation last time, so he should give one this time.
"This is the demand of Yecheng businessmen, and we have now hired a lot of Jizhou scholars, and they are also working hard in this area. After all, the changes in Taishan County have indeed greatly increased our tax revenue." Jia Xu said.
I didn't dare to stop Chen Xi again.
"Oh, to put it bluntly, are they the demands of Xuzhou, Yanzhou, Yuzhou, and Jizhou?" Chen Xi raised an eyebrow, the demands of Jizhou businessmen? It's a joke. Believe it or not, if Chen Xi passes the demands of Jizhou people, other states will also jump in to express their opinions.
There is also this need.
"Indeed." Jia Xu nodded silently.
This is indeed a common demand of all states under the rule. Although the transaction tax has obvious benefits for small businessmen, for large businessmen with the support of banks, the benefits are even greater!
But there is a big problem here. It requires traveling thousands of miles to deliver the goods to Fenggao. It would be better if it could be nearby. The problem is that only Fenggao was like this under Liu Bei's rule, and other states and counties did not fully adopt Fenggao.
Business tax.
In fact, this is a problem between the local economy and the central economy. Chen Xi naturally developed and strengthened local strength on the premise of consolidating the central government, and controlled local governance by relying on political and economic means as much as possible.
He does not hope at all that one day the local government will be unable to lose its power and become like the governor Zhou Mu in the late Han Dynasty. The ruling power must be in the hands of the central government. Only in this way can we have a unified country!
If all regions have independent military and political forces, even if they are united under the leadership of the central government, is it still a complete empire? The federation and the empire are completely different. To be called a unified empire, at least the central government must have
Overwhelming the strength of all local alliances.
"Since you know everything, why did these things come to me?" Chen Xi looked at Jia Xu dissatisfied. Jia Xu, who had always been worry-free, actually sometimes caused trouble.
"Because I think what they say makes sense." Jia Xu stared directly at Chen Xi and said, "The tax revenue of Taishan County is basically comparable to the tax revenue of Jizhou, the leader of nine states. Money is very important to us."
"Based on the current situation, less than 10% of the people under the rule have been completely liberated from the land." Chen Xi was helpless. Even a wise man like Jia Xu could not escape the shackles of history. There was really no way
.
"It's true. About one-tenth of the people under our rule are not engaged in production." Jia Xu nodded and said. They have also calculated this data. The other 90% are basically farming.
"Among these people, excluding the merchants from the family lineage and the family service businessmen, there are about 70%." Chen Xi felt that it was necessary to explain the matter clearly to Jia Xu. Nothing can be achieved in one step. If the whole map transaction tax can solve the problem
, Chen Xi has already changed the commercial tax on the entire map.
Jia Xu briefly calculated the number of people and nodded to indicate that this was indeed the case.
"There are still 50% of people who are out of work, whether they are front-line veterans, low-level officials, or soldiers in the field, they should all be counted among them." Chen Xi sighed and said.
"Most of the last 20% are craftsmen with some skills who can support themselves. This is why I don't recruit troops. It's also the reason why I don't promote transaction taxes." Chen Xi shrugged and said, 90% of the people are still worried about this.
Struggle for land, business has reached its limit now.
"In other words, now that we want to increase taxes to the maximum extent, the most important thing to do is to make the original nine people supporting one person become eight, which is even less." Jia Xu frowned and said, it was also a shame for him.
I can understand what Chen Xi said.
"In the past, it took about fifteen or sixteen people to support a person who was out of work, so I have always said that Han Mou is very important." Chen Xi sighed and said, this era is so deceptive, what can you do.
The result of forcibly increasing the number of unemployed people is that the people will not be able to make a living. If there are not enough adult laborers, it will be a very big problem. This era is a sinkhole. There is not even enough to eat. If you want to develop business and raise taxes, first ensure that the people have enough to eat.
Say it again!
"So according to my estimation, even if we promote the new farming method to the whole country and continue to increase the number of unemployed people, we can only build two more trading offices in the world." Chen Xi has seriously considered this aspect.
There is no other way. Instead of having too many merchants and running out of supplies, it is better to set restrictions early so that while there is a surplus of supplies, the number of merchants involved in bulk trade is stabilized at a reasonable number. Although this is not conducive to commercial circulation, it is much easier to manage.
By the way, even in later generations, certain trades will not be carried out by individuals. As for the number of merchants currently engaged in large-scale trade, the maximum number of merchants has not yet been reached.
"Is that so?" Jia Xu could barely understand Chen Xi's thoughts, "I didn't think well, but I dare to ask where are the other two trading points you chose?"
"One is in Luoyang, and whether the other is in Jiangling, Xiangyang or Wancheng, I haven't decided yet." Chen Xi also hesitated, "Actually, if we can reach the Central Plains, I would like to establish a trading office here.
"
Jia Xu silently memorized these places, especially the overseas ones, and when he came back he would make preparations to enclosure the land. This was the chicken that truly laid the golden eggs.
