Chapter 16 Two salted fish sunbathing on the river beach
After all, Zheng Shuqing still did not have the guts to directly resist the imperial decree. He honestly handed over the blueprints of the canal ships. Although Kuizhou continued to receive orders for shipbuilding, the imperial court dispatched officials from the Du Shui Supervisory Station to directly station in Kuizhou to supervise.
Ship production, therefore the profits that should have been handed over to the Kuizhou government office were directly taken over by the people from the Capital Water Supervision Bureau.
You can't resist. Li Linfu is in charge of the Capital Water Supervision, and this road has been completely blocked. Such as selling quotas for next year's ships, playing "ship futures" and other frivolous operations, all cannot be used, otherwise it will become a problem.
Needless to say, hitting Li Linfu in the face is not fun.
Kuizhou has a prosperous shipbuilding industry, but now he can't even make a penny. Zheng Shuqing is heartbroken. He sees so many yellow-orange copper coins and even gold and silver passing under his nose every day.
I feel so depressed.
Not only that, he had to ask Yang Ruoxu to escort 250,000 guan of goods to Yangzhou for transshipment, leaving only 50,000 guan to see if Fang Chongyong could think of any way to "turn over". p>
Looking at the empty treasury, and thinking of how hard he had worked hard to make money in the past six months, Zheng Shuqing felt that all his strength had been drained.
The prodigal son, the ten women at night, and so on are not tired enough to be like this.
On this day, Zheng Shuqing was wearing the double-breasted linen short shirt commonly worn by Kuizhou people, loose trousers that exposed his ankles, and a bamboo hat on his head. He left aside his staff and entourage and was dressed like a fisherman on the river. He came to the river beach outside the city alone.
On the side, looking at Kuizhou Jiangguan, which has basically returned to normal traffic, I have mixed feelings in my heart.
In the past half a month, Zheng Shuqing felt like it was raining copper coins from the sky with every delivery of a canal boat. Now, looking at these canal boats piled up in mountains of money, they are happily going to and from the Kuizhou Jiangguan, and the customs clearance speed is faster than
In the past, it actually sped up a lot, and for a while I didn’t know whether to cry or laugh.
The main road to making money has been blocked, and now there is still 100,000 guan that has not been sent to Chang'an. How can we make up for the 50,000 guan in hand?
Zheng Shuqing, who had never run a business before, turned the 50,000 guan in his hand into 100,000 guan before the Lantern Festival next year. Once the scale of the business becomes large, quantitative changes will lead to qualitative changes, and the business will no longer be a simple business.
.
The network of relationships, connections, and protective umbrellas needed to maintain a business are like a bottomless nest. You have no idea what monsters are hiding in this nest. It is not easy to double the 50,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan in a short period of time.
Ah!
"Zheng Shijun seems to be very leisurely, without the worries of copper odor, and he has become more relaxed and fatter. I also slept soundly last night. I haven't slept so soundly for a long time."
Fang Chongyong's childish voice came from behind, making Zheng Shuqing raise his eyebrows in anger.
You guys, don’t you see that I’m upset!
"Whatever you say, it's over this time... it's completely over."
At this moment, Zheng Shuqing was like a fish that had been dried in the sun and had completely given up on treatment. He sat casually on the sand by the river, feeling in advance the openness and openness of returning home to work after being dismissed.
After catching so much, there is probably no problem in saving his life. Thinking of this, Zheng Shuqing smiled bitterly.
This "saint" in the Daming Palace in Chang'an City is really not just greedy.
"Your Majesty, a hugely profitable industry cannot be sustained unless the government intervenes to monopolize sales through taxation.
You see, now this customization of tank boats has become a kind of tax in disguise. Even though new tank boats have been built in various places, the customs clearance certificates are still held in the hands of the government. The price of tank boats has not been reduced at all. More money
They were all raided by various government agencies and sent to Chang'an.
I heard that merchants from all over the country now jokingly call it: water tax. Thousands of years later, Shi Junke became famous. As the first governor to collect water tax, his name will last forever."
Fang Chongyong saw Zheng Shuqing's appearance of giving up on treatment and couldn't help but tease him.
"Just stop saying a few words. Who came up with this mandatory unified standard for ships? Others don't know, but don't you know?"
Zheng Shuqing was too lazy to chat with Fang Chongyong, the "culprit".
"Master Zheng, don't be resentful."
Fang Chongyong sat next to Zheng Shuqing, also looking at the river. The two of them were like two salted fish basking in the sun together on the riverside.
Open your eyes to bask in the sun, close your eyes to bask in the sun!
"Zheng Shijun, would you like to hear a story about a saint?"
Fang Chongyong suddenly asked abruptly.
Zheng Shuqing was almost like a dead dog at the moment, he snorted and said nothing.
"Saint, when we first established the Jiedu Envoys, we prevented them from rebelling. There were various systems to restrict them. In many cases, the food and military pay required for the war were not entirely provided by the local people. In the beginning,
, this is not a big problem, because Jiedushi still has many soldiers under his command, and they are rotated frequently."
Fang Chongyong's words were not unreasonable, but Zheng Shuqing couldn't understand what the other party wanted to say. He was just a local official who was proficient in civil affairs. To talk about Jiedushi was really flattering him.
"So, so what?"
Zheng Shuqing couldn't help but ask.
"The sage believes that if we are stationed on the border and supply the army of the vassal town alone, it should actually be enough military rations. In fact, the military rations are rarely provided by the central government.
However, the military salary was still firmly held in the hands of the imperial court and refused to let go. A considerable part of the money produced in the border towns still needed to be transported back to Chang'an, and the financial power was not completely controlled by the Jiedushi.
For example, during the confrontation between the Jiannan Army and Nanzhao, the imperial court stood still according to Wang Yu's plan, so his troops could not move around because without rewards, they could not form an army.
On the surface, the imperial court did not allow local government agencies to contribute money, which is why the Zhangqiu Jianqiong incident occurred. And I went to investigate. In fact, the money and silk were delivered in the name of the Xiuleshan Buddha. You did it very secretly.
."
After Fang Zhongyong finished speaking slowly, Zheng Shuqing stood up like a spring, as if he was suddenly awakened!
"Are you saying that the saint did not want to let go of his financial power and had to use troops in emergencies, so he seconded Kuizhou's customs duties and silk?"
Zheng Shuqing suddenly understood this line of thought that he had never thought of! The more he thought about it, the more chills he felt all over his body!
"That's exactly what happened. Moreover, through the uninformed Wang Yu, Nanzhao was paralyzed. Zhangchou Jianqiong's actions were sudden. Zheng Shijun was really useful to the country."
Fang Chongyong said with a hint of regret.
It's a routine to ride all the horses, right from the beginning! Li Longji can only say that he is extremely shameless!
"So, the money and silk sent by Zhangchou Jianqiong were also robbed by people from the imperial court and finally delivered to Chang'an..."
Zheng Shuqing was awakened and immediately clarified his thoughts. If the mastermind behind the scenes was Li Longji, then everything would fall into place.
"It's just... why does the saint need me to raise another tariff?"
Zheng Shuqing was puzzled and couldn't get rid of the bad breath in his chest. Since Li Longji knew everything, it was too much to play like this.
What a filial piety you have given Li Longji 300,000 yuan. As long as you are an individual, no one will be calm!
"Because Lord Shijun has always committed the crime of deceiving you, of course the saint will punish you. I dare to bet that if Lord Shijun attempts to hang himself and is saved, and the news spreads, it will be possible
Get through the difficulties calmly. However, your official career ends here."
Fang Chongyong said slowly.
Zheng Shuqing sat down on the sand, dumbfounded.
"Someone also speculated that the imperial court currently lacks a talented branch official who can help Prime Minister Li implement the detailed new financial management policy.
The sage or Prime Minister Li probably thought that Shi Jun was qualified, so he wanted to test his ability to make money... and manage money. Kuizhou was a commercial port, and the rent was in vain. There were a lot of commercial taxes, and the tariffs were even more terrifying. Like this
It can eliminate interference and it is easy to see how capable the envoy is.
Perhaps both the saint and Li Xiang wanted to see where the limit of Shijun's financial management was. If there were no huge debts behind him, it would be difficult for him to use all his strength. Of course, this is just someone's guess.
However, I am sure that if you can make up the money requested by the saint, then after returning to Beijing to report on your duties, it will not be long before you serve as a branch official of the imperial court, and even become prime minister in the future."
After hearing these words, Zheng Shuqing only had four words in his heart:
So scary!
"Actually..."
Fang Chongyong wanted to say something else, but when he saw Zheng Shuqing looking at him in confusion, he swallowed everything he wanted to say. After all, it concerned his father Fang Youde. The road back to Chang'an had not yet been paved, so it was better not to get into trouble. The imperial court's intention to pilot "monetary taxation" in Kuizhou is very obvious. I hope that my father, Fang Youde, can carefully inspect the local people's livelihood situation and provide first-hand information for the pilot. The imperial court has long been aware of the situation in Kuizhou.
Guanhuo, the long-standing alternative tax payment method, obviously has its merits and is worthy of careful study and promotion by the Central Committee.
It's a pity that my stubborn father Fang Youde didn't think that much at all. He kept saying that the local bureaucrats were colluding and so on. He only thought that Zheng Shuqing and his like were deliberately destroying the court's laws.
The imperial court should have now realized the shortcomings of rent-paying taxes, and these are closely related to the disintegration of the military system. Monetary tax reforms can be carried out in certain key places (such as Yangzhou and other places), as well as adjusting rent-paying rents in different regions.
Tax ratio, optimization of material transportation routes, etc.
However, the water transport reforms in previous years have had little effect. Transporting grain from Guandong to Chang'an is extremely expensive, which made Li Longji doubt the importance of water transport in supporting the prosperity of Chang'an.
Since the canal is not easy to use, I will think of other ways.
As a result, many reforms have not yet begun. They are only preliminary pilot projects and have already been aborted.
Thinking of this, Fang Chongyong couldn't help but sighed. Zheng Shuqing may be a qualified Tang Dynasty bureaucrat, and he may be able to work as an official in Beijing. But telling the other party about the tide of these times, it must be a serious overstep.
When the overall atmosphere in society is "I am invincible in the Tang Dynasty", saying these "inappropriate" words is obviously to become a "non-mainstream" in society.
At this moment, Zheng Shuqing and Fang Chongyong saw Gu Kuang carrying a baggage and preparing to hit the road with simple luggage, as if he was looking for them.
"Zheng Shijun, Fang Xiaolangjun, and Gu are going to Chang'an to report on their duties."
Gu Kuang couldn't help but feel happy and a little melancholy at the same time.
"Brother Gu, I said you wanted to be promoted, and you can see that you have been promoted."
Fang Chongyong teased.
The expression on Gu Kuang's face changed, and finally turned into a long sigh.
"It's really... shameful to get this official position."
Gu Kuang didn't think it was such an honor to mention this matter, so he wrote a letter saying that Red Lotus Rice was burned, and he was actually promoted!
What kind of world is this!
I don't know whether it was the official document that pleased the powerful, or whether Fang Chongyong's song "Hoeing Day at Noon" was appreciated by some high-ranking intellectuals. Anyway, Gu Kuang took advantage of this gust of wind, and now everyone in Chang'an is
I know that there is an honest and humble official in Kuizhou who works hard in the red lotus rice fields.
"By the way, Brother Gu, if someone asks you in Chang'an whether the Red Lotus Rice was really burned, just answer, "It seems so, I don't really remember. Just vague words like this, don't be too honest."<
/p>
Fang Chongyong reminded him.
Gu Kuang nodded and said with some hesitation: "The imperial court sent people to Kuizhou again to take care of the hundreds of hectares of red lotus rice fields. I don't think I can even give them to you, so I'm really sorry."
Fang Chongyong waved his hand indifferently, Gu Kuang still hasn't figured out the situation.
After the official document was delivered, his mission was completed. As for the rice delivery later, naturally there were "own people" in this line to contact him to ensure that the lingering fragrance of red lotus rice could be tasted at every step, ensuring it from the source.
Rice integrity.
Otherwise, what Gu Kuang said in the official document is one thing, but when the time comes to do it, it is another thing. Wouldn't that be a trap for people?
"Then I'll say goodbye. See you in Chang'an."
Gu Kuang bowed deeply to Zheng Shuqing and Fang Chongyong, then turned around and left, very neatly.
"Have you thought of any way to manage money?"
Zheng Shuqing asked in a low voice.
Now he has ambitions in his heart. He wants to return to Chang'an and become a branch official! He wants to be a capital official and take power!
Whether it can succeed or not depends on Fang Chongyong’s deal!
"If you want to defeat Duke Cao, you should attack with fire; everything is ready, all you need is the east wind."
Fang Chongyong looked at Gu Kuang's leaving figure and muttered to himself.
It's a pity that Zheng Shuqing, who has never watched "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", has no idea what this joke means.
"There is really nothing we can do now. But we will hibernate for a month and wait until the autumn harvest, and we will have a solution."
"Waiting for the autumn harvest? Why wait for the autumn harvest?"
Zheng Shuqing asked in confusion. Kuizhou does not produce much grain, and most of the grain consumed in the commercial port is imported from Shu, and some comes from Jingxiang.
"After the autumn harvest, food will be available in Shu and Jingxiang, and the price is very low. With the 50,000 guan we have, we can buy a lot of food."
Fang Chongyong said with a mysterious face.
Zheng Shuqing waved his hand and said: "In the past few years of the Tang Dynasty, the price difference of grain has not been high at any time. You can't make much money by selling grain."
"It's not reselling, we're here to make wine."
Fang Chongyong looked into Zheng Shuqing's eyes and continued: "Wuxia Chun can be bought everywhere in Zhuangfu City."
Spring was often used as a suffix for wine in ancient times. For example, Wuxia Spring and Jiannanchun are examples.
"What's so good about Wuxia Spring? The only good wine in Kuizhou is Yun'an Qumi Chun."
"This is not how you drink wine; and this is not how you sell it. Your Majesty will know when the time comes."
Fang Chongyong stretched his waist and said: "Who said salted fish can't turn over? Before the Lantern Festival next year, I want to prove that even dried salted fish can turn over!"