With the last heavy rain, most of the Qin Kingdom entered the dry season.
Spring rice is grown from February to May, and summer rice is grown from June to October.
From October to January, upland rice has the lowest yield and value.
In the past, due to the smooth progress of the autumn harvest, Hanoi was extremely prosperous.
This is the first time in hundreds of years that the grain taxes of the 21 prefectures in the country have been neatly put into the treasury. For the Qin State, it is extremely cumbersome and joyful.
Liu Guan, the Prime Minister of the Yi Zhengtang, Mao Fu, the Second Prime Minister, and Ruan Cheng, the Prime Minister, all three sat quietly, their eyes moving, but they did not say a word.
Liu Guan, 50% of the 40s, was born in the same Jinshi class; Mao Fu, 33% of the 40s, was also a Jinshi student.
Only Ruan Cheng is a local, in his early sixties, a Jinshi of the Later Li Dynasty, and has always been highly respected among the people.
In order to completely eliminate the resistance among Annan people, the Qin State invited him to join the political hall and become the prime minister.
Following the example of the politics of the Ming Dynasty, the Qin State was headed by the Yizhengtang, with a prime minister, secondary prime ministers, group prime ministers, and draft memorials to assist the king of Qin in managing politics.
At the same time, a Daduhufu was established to command the entire local army of the Qin State.
Set up a winged imperial army, numbering 30,000, to guard Jiaozhou Prefecture and protect the safety of the king and the capital.
There are 21 prefectures and 190 counties in the country, among which Jiaozhou prefecture governs 21 counties, which is the largest among them.
The eight ministerial books are called banshu, and the five temples are called bansi.
"His Royal Highness has arrived——"
Suddenly, the eunuch screamed, and the 19-year-old King of Qin came to him.
He has a dark face and bright eyes. He inherited the bloodline of the Ming Emperor, which makes him handsome and extraordinary.
Wearing a four-claw dragon robe, there are dragons on the shoulders, chest and back. The yellow dragon robe looks majestic.
"I see your highness——"
Several people hurriedly bowed their hands, nearly sixty degrees.
"Get flat!"
King Qin waved his hand and sat down on the soft couch.
Looking at the three officials of the country, he smiled and said:
"The Qin State has been unified for several months, and the various prefectures and counties have been organized. Our Qin State is three thousand miles from north to south, with a population of six million, and the country is prosperous in the South China Sea——"
"The autumn harvest is over. I wonder how much grain the household department has in stock?"
Compared with the vast area of thousands of miles from north to south of the Ming Dynasty, the Qin State had only one province, which was narrow and long from north to south, and relying on the entire Jiaozhou, the King of Qin directly controlled the grain-producing area of the Red River Plain.
Therefore, just over a month was enough to put the entire country's grain into the warehouse, and the entire Red River Plain was collected and put into the warehouse in less than a month.
"Your Highness, the twenty-first government has turned over a total of 6.7 million dan."
Liu Guan whispered: "The imperial treasury is full!"
When the King of Qin heard this, he nodded with satisfaction: "When the spring grain was put into the warehouse, I had just entered Hanoi, and the various places were not in peace, and the national treasury had only received four million stones."
"Now there are nearly seven million stones. Thank you for your hard work, gentlemen."
"I dare not take credit——"
A few people were modest.
Liu Guan replied: "Upland rice is not as good as spring and summer, and its yield is only half. The imperial court can collect about 4 million shi. In this way, in the entire 18th year of Shaowu, the national treasury can receive 15 million shi."
As he spoke, he said excitedly: "It's a pity that the food in our country is cheap. Each stone is only worth four silver cents, which is half that of the Ming Dynasty."
"But when the commercial tax was first established, it still used the old people, so it could only collect 300,000 yuan..."
"Even so, the Qin State can still earn 6.3 million silver yuan per year."
"How much does it cost?"
The corners of King Qin's mouth rose, and he forcibly suppressed the joy in his heart.
Six million yuan can only be reached by a few provinces in Jiangsu and Zhejiang in the Ming Dynasty, which is much better than many large provinces.
"The total number of officials is about 3,000, the court has 1,000, and the local government has 2,000. Based on previous years' salary, the expenditure can reach 4 million dan."
"The local garrison camp consists of two hundred in the county and five hundred in the prefecture. There are nearly 50,000 people, and its expenditure is one million dan."
"The Winged Forbidden Army consists of thirty thousand people, with an annual expenditure of two million stones..."
Qin's army was treated completely differently by the central and local governments.
In local garrison camps, ordinary soldiers are paid ten dan per year, which includes food, shelter, food and clothing.
These garrison camps were made up of a mixture of captured soldiers and Qin army officers, and their treatment could only be described as average.
But in the Qin State, it was pretty good and could support the family.
The Forbidden Army is divided into the Garrison Forbidden Army and the Guard Forbidden Army.
The troops stationed in the Forbidden City received an annual salary of twenty stones, and there were also rewards during the holidays.
Not to mention, there are three thousand musketeers and one thousand cavalry among them, who are elite soldiers for suppressing disobedience.
There are only five thousand guards in the Imperial Guard, protecting the palace and garrisoning the city of Hanoi.
His salary reached thirty stone.
The King of Qin trusted those veterans of the Beijing camp who helped him conquer the world.
The title is given away.
There are five county princes, twenty-seven county uncles, fifty-two county sons, and seventy-eight county men.
Basically, all officers above the rank of captain have received knighthoods.
The number of knights he occupies is equal to that of the other 30,000 Qin troops.
In other words, six times as much.
The injured general went to various prefectures and counties to serve as garrison officers, which can be said to be extremely thoughtful.
Ordinary soldiers were awarded two hundred acres of land per capita, and they became landlords in one fell swoop.
Officials and the army ate up seven million shi a year, which was almost half of the government's finances.
The remaining eight million stones may seem like a lot, but when converted into silver, they are only three million stones.
"Eight million stones."
King Qin squinted his eyes and rubbed his temples: "For these grains, I will pay 200,000 stones as tribute (in exchange for 100,000 pieces).
Send another 800,000 stones to the capital to sell in exchange for some silver coins.
The remainder will be used to expand Hanoi City and repair national roads."
"The third is to prepare for the establishment of a navy."
"It's pretty good to have 1.8 million left in the end."
Among these three things, the most important is the expansion of Hanoi City.
Hanoi is a narrow castle-like city. When the Zheng family was in power, it was for military purposes, and its circumference was only fifteen miles.
It can only accommodate about 100,000 people at most.
This was not enough for the Qin State to unify Annan.
Therefore, the King of Qin and the Yizhengtang discussed extending Hanoi by two to three miles, expanding the outer city, and turning Hanoi into an inner city.
Its city is six miles long from east to west and seven miles wide from north to south, totaling twenty-six miles.
Enough to accommodate a population of over half a million people.
For the Qin State, it was already a big city.
Also expanded were the palace and the inner city.
In this way, the total cost of the political hall was nearly ten million dan, and the labor force was 500,000.
Naturally, it was divided into three years to practice.
Faced with the sigh of King Qin, the Second Prime Minister Mao Fu smiled and said: "Now the imperial court is establishing the Commercial Tax Department and the Customs Department. By then, taxation will reach a new level."
"Judging from the results of the Ming Dynasty, it's pretty good."
King Qin chuckled.
The customs is his internal fund, so he doesn't ask for much. A net income of one million silver dollars a year will be good.
"Your Highness!"
At this time, Ruan Cheng, the insignificant prime minister, cupped his hands and said: "Nowadays, the imperial court relies on the Ming Dynasty for all its silver coins, but the silver coins are so valuable that the people may not be able to use them."
"People usually barter for things and rarely use silver coins."
"Where are the copper coins?" King Qin was stunned, then slapped his head: "Damn it, I forgot that we don't produce copper."
In fact, there are copper mines in Annan, but their output is originally small and has been exhausted by logging over the years.
Nowadays, people mainly barter for cloth and food.
Just look at the Qin State. Isn’t the salary also food?
"Paper money?" King Qin asked tentatively.
The three prime ministers righteously refused.
Not only ordinary people have a bad opinion of this thing, but even officials like them are afraid of it, for fear that they will have to pay their salaries to wipe their butts.
“What kind of minerals is our country rich in?”
King Qin said helplessly.
"Coal, iron, lead."
Liu Guan said helplessly.
These three things can be said to be extremely cheap.
In Guangdong during the Ming Dynasty, a pound of pig iron only cost fifteen cents, and lead was even cheaper, only two or three cents per pound.
"Then cast iron money."
The King of Qin thought over and over again and decided to use iron to cast the money. Lead would easily break into eight pieces and would be useless in a year or two.
Iron may be rusty, but it can still be used, right?
"In the Song Dynasty, iron coins were cast. Because of their heavy weight, one copper was worth ten iron coins."
Liu Guan was well-read and said smoothly: "Although our Qin State is short of copper, we can only use iron money."
“How much iron can be made from a pound of iron?”
King Qin suddenly asked.
"In the Song Dynasty (Song Dynasty Yiguan 777) iron coins weighed about seven kilograms, so one kilogram of iron can be cast into one hundred ten iron coins."
"Fifteen cents per pound of iron is worth one hundred and ten iron cents."
"It's worth eight irons and one bronze."
King Qin thought about it, good guy, it’s really cheap.
Qin's iron production was large, so it was cheaper. Ten irons and one copper.
"no."
King Qin raised his head and said in a deep voice: "The imperial court's cast iron coins must be of exquisite style, with five irons and one copper made to order."
"Your Highness, I'm afraid that the public will take advantage of this opportunity and make large amounts of counterfeit money..."
Ruan Cheng said quickly, his face full of worry.
"I can't control that much anymore." King Qin said casually: "Nowadays, the people are short of money, so what can we do if we don't use iron money?"
"Qin is a hot and humid country, and food cannot be stored for long. Iron money is inevitable."
"That's all."
King Qin suddenly shook his head and said helplessly: "I will ask my father to spare some craftsmen and do fine work such as stamping and water forging. Then there will be fewer imitations."
At this time, he felt a little irritable.
Although it is majestic to have a country all to yourself, there are so many nonsense things that ruin the whole situation, which is really annoying!
Several people discussed it all morning, and finally decided that in order to avoid private manufacture, one copper and eight irons should be exchanged.
In this way, the iron ore mined by the imperial court, coupled with blast furnace iron smelting, coal control, and exquisite forging, will definitely reduce the profit margins of the private sector.
Those with technology do not have iron ore, and those with iron ore do not have coal mines. They can all be prepared, unless there is an internal rebellion.
At noon, while the eunuchs were serving the meal, someone suddenly came to report that an angel from heaven had arrived.
"Father, what's the matter?"
After thinking about it, King Qin realized that he really didn't know, so he had to lead all the civil and military officials to greet him outside the palace.
This is because the Qin vassal is a close vassal. If it is like Korea, the monarch and his ministers will kneel down to greet him thirty miles out of the city.
The angel is a civil servant, carrying a group of people, twenty or thirty, with a kind appearance:
"Your Highness, Your Majesty asked me to send the princess and the crown prince here..."
Hearing this, King Qin was startled, and then he looked happy.
He had several concubines in Qin, but he almost forgot about his son and wife in the capital.
The civil and military ministers behind him were also delighted.
The emperor sent the princess and the crown prince here, and the trust in them was self-evident.
Sure enough, a woman slowly emerged from the carriage holding an almost two-year-old boy in her arms, smiling gently.
"I'm going to pay homage to the royal concubine, please come down from the crown prince's residence——"
All the civil and military personnel quickly knelt down.
"Ping Shen!" The princess raised her hand dignifiedly, very much like a mother nurturing the world.
Regardless of the princess or the prince, King Qin never worried about this. How could a grandfather harm his grandson?
The angel bluntly stated the reason: "The imperial court will set up an embassy in Hanoi to accept the words of Beijing and explore the affairs of Qin..."
"Imperial envoy?" King Qin looked ugly. He did not want to have a supreme emperor.
"What exactly?"
Seeing that his tone turned cold, the angel hurriedly said: "The imperial envoy to the vassal state and the ambassador to the vassal country are usually only in the embassy and do not interfere in the political affairs of the Qin State."
"It's just to convey Beijing's imperial edict."
"His Royal Highness is also going to Beijing to set up an embassy and send envoys to stay there permanently."
King Qin was relieved.
…
When it comes to setting up an embassy, North Korea is the most enthusiastic.
It's so close that it only takes a day or two to cross the sea.
He heard about the affairs of the embassy during the day and arrived in Beijing at night.
It was just something that made the Ministry of Rites dumbfounded. North Korea was dissatisfied with its own ambassador and requested the appointment of an imperial envoy:
"Although our country belongs to the princes, we still enjoy the treatment of princes. Why not envoys?"
The Ministry of Rites said helplessly: "The imperial envoys all go to the vassal, and your majesty's own son is in the country, so it is a bit special..."
Because of this, North Korea was willing to give up.
When the delegation arrived in Beijing, it happened to be mid-September, and everything was gradually becoming desolate, leaving behind the last touch of green before winter.
At this time, the emperor and the court, who had summered in Yuquan Mountain, also returned to Beijing, where they had been away for several months.
As a result, the capital city became lively again.
As for the embassy area, it was extended to an area near Chaoyang Gate in Daxing County.
The Ministry of Rites said bluntly: "The inner city is tight and there are many people, so don't run around in case you can't find anyone. The embassy should be adjacent to each other. It occupies an area of one acre."
The vassals can only rent or buy a second home in a designated area, and cannot run around.
This arrangement allowed the Ministry of Rites to take a breather.
The emperor had just returned from Yuquan Mountain and was not in peace.
It turned out that the pinyin was finalized, and after several compilations, it was named "Shaowu Phonetic Notation" and published all over the world.
For a time, public opinion was boiling.
The defenders were furious and spoke in barbarian language and usurped the Chinese language, which should not be published.
Some are overjoyed and start enlightenment according to their method, making rapid progress.
mixed reviews.
Seeing this, Zhu Yixi was annoyed by the scolding of this group of people. He said directly: "I not only want to pinyin, but also to make it known to the world."
A group of doctors were found in the Imperial College and asked to compile a book of enlightenment.
That is, the Three-Character Classic, the Thousand-Character Classic, the Classic of Filial Piety, and other enlightenment books for Confucian children must all be annotated with pinyin and then promoted to the world.
At the same time, the emperor also asked them to compile "Three Hundred Poems of the Tang Dynasty", "Three Hundred Poems of the Song Dynasty", and "Guan Zhi".
Poetry, lyrics, and prose cannot escape.
These must be notated.
To put it bluntly, these enlightenment books allow scholars to become familiar with Pinyin from an early age.
At this point, the emperor refused to give up. He once again summoned Confucian scholars from both the government and the public to compile a dictionary "Shaowu Dictionary".
Sort Chinese characters according to pinyin alphabetical order, radicals, stroke checking, etc.
The role of Shaowu Dictionary is very important for scholars, especially poor scholars.
Since there is no guidance from a famous teacher, a dictionary can help standardize taboos, search for typos, and standardize pronunciation.
The Shaowu Dictionary contains more taboos than the Kangxi Dictionary, so I don’t know how many people it could save in the imperial examination.
At the same time, due to the existence of Pinyin, dictionaries can also quickly popularize Mandarin so that everyone can speak as one.