At noon that day, King Chengling hosted a banquet for Zhao Hongrun and the other three princes at the temporary palace in Daliang.
After drinking for three rounds, the five of them started discussing the opening of Sanchuan.
The first thing to discuss is the export tariff at Chenggao Pass.
At the beginning, Anling merchant Jia Wen Shaobo believed that the tax of one hundred large coins in and out of Chenggao Pass must have been collected by the Chenggao army in the name of Su Wang Hongrun, but in fact, this was really an order issued by Zhao Hongrun.
And this money was not handed over to the Ministry of Revenue, but collected by the Chenggao Army itself to improve the food, treatment, etc. in the army. After all, in recent years, due to financial difficulties, the Ministry of Revenue has been continuously
As a result, the relationship between the Sixth Battalion of the Garrison and the Ministry of Household Affairs was very bad.
But to be honest, Zhao Hongrun can also understand the embarrassment of the Ministry of Household Affairs. After all, the power of the aristocrats who harm the public and enrich themselves is too huge in the Wei State. On the one hand, these people occupy a very profitable business, and on the other hand, they are in arrears with the taxes paid to the Ministry of Household Affairs.
This forces the Ministry of Revenue to be careful about budgeting.
Therefore, Zhao Hongrun established an additional export tariff at Chenggao Pass, which can be regarded as a military subsidy for the Chenggao Army.
Furthermore, Sanchuan reclamation has been determined to be a ten-year project that the Ministry of Industry is preparing for. According to the Ministry of Industry's plan, they will prepare to reclaim certain areas in Sanchuan that have fertile water sources and are conducive to reclamation to produce grains comparable to those in Yingshui County.
Farmland made Sanchuan one of the granaries of the Wei State, preparing in advance for the inevitable war between Wei and Korea in the future.
Zhao Hongrun is very supportive of this.
After all, food is hard currency. Although the price of rice in Wei State is not high at ordinary times, however, a trip to Sanchuan has caused the price of rice in many counties and counties in Wei State to rise by 30%. It is conceivable that in the
Consumption of military rations during the war.
How was Bitatu of the Jiejiao tribe defeated?
Apart from tactics, isn't the most important reason also the shortage of food?
If there is enough food, it cannot be said that Bitatu will definitely be able to defeat Zhao Hongrun, but at least he will not be defeated so quickly or so miserably. You must know that the war between Zhao Hongrun and Yangcheng Lord Xiong Tuo lasted for half a year, and
What about the war with Jiejiao? It actually ended in two months. Note: The half year mentioned here refers to the signing of the Zhengyang Peace Treaty until the armistice between Chu and Wei, not Zhao Hongrun's return to Daliang, which was nine months.
This is enough to illustrate the importance of Guangcun Liang.
After all, the real enemies of the Wei State in the future will not be the nomads like Sanchuan, but the Central Plains countries like Wei, Chu, Han, etc. They are Central Plains countries where fighting a war for one to two years is commonplace.
If the Wei State does not accumulate enough grain, then once the Korean-Wei War breaks out, the huge military food consumption will obviously affect the price of rice in Wei State, causing it to rise significantly, causing public dissatisfaction and even riots.
And if the Ministry of Industry can make Sanchuan the granary of Wei this time, then Wei will have the capital to fight a protracted war with South Korea.
Some people may say that if the Ministry of Industry transforms Sanchuan into a natural granary and doubles Wei's grain production, will this affect the domestic rice price?
In fact, this is not a problem at all. The excess grain can be sold to Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng, or to Sanchuan. After all, there are hungry people in Chu State, and for Sanchuan, an extra piece of grain can help them feed them more.
A slave.
Despite the fact that things are still calm here in Wei State, in fact, on the north side of Sanchuan, the Yi tribe and the Wubian tribe have already been at war with Qin. In the south of Sanchuan, the two major tribes, Jie and Ling, are also fighting fiercely with Ba State.
Food consumption is extremely huge.
Therefore, there is no need to worry about Wei’s food being unmarketable.
But having said that, if the Ministry of Industry wants to build Sanchuan into the natural granary of Wei, then the stability of Sanchuan will become a top priority.
Although at the moment, Bosile, the adopted son of Bitatu, the former leader of the Jijiao Tribe, is leading the 50,000 Northern Sichuan Archers and is responsible for the border defense in the northern part of Sanchuan, due to various considerations, it cannot be guaranteed to be foolproof.
And once something happens in Sanchuan, among the six battalions of the Wei garrison, the Chenggao army closest to Sanchuan will inevitably be the first to rush to the battlefield.
Therefore, Zhao Hongrun decided to give the Chenggao Army the first share of the pie, whether out of consideration for enhancing the financial resources of the Chenggao Army or to win over this army.
Regardless of the fact that the tariff for one hundred large pieces of money is not much, in fact, once Zhao Hongrun opens Sanchuan to the domestic aristocratic forces, the Chenggao Army's income from this money alone will be enough to maintain the operation of the entire army, and even still
The surplus will allow them to purchase some war weapons from the Manufacturing Bureau to strengthen border defense.
Not to mention, the tax paid by Zhao Hongrun to the aristocratic forces was far more than the one hundred coins.
"One percent?!"
No, Zhao Wenshen, the king of Chengling, Zhao Wenzhuo, the king of Jiyang, Zhao Wenxuan, the king of Zhongyang, and Zhao Wenkai, the king of Yuanyang, couldn't help but frowned when they heard the conditions proposed by Zhao Hongrun.
You must know that the 10% Zhao Hongrun said does not refer to the 10% of the profit earned by a certain caravan from a round trip to Sanchuan, but refers to the value of the goods loaded on the caravan carriage when the caravan left Chenggao Pass.
10%, which is 10% of the principal of this transaction.
"This is too harsh!"
Jiyang King Zhao Wenzhuo immediately shook his head and refused, looked at Zhao Hongrun and frowned and said: "If His Highness Prince Su hadn't personally promised that a result would be reached through negotiation today, I really doubt that His Highness Prince Su was still planning to delay."
"One cost, is that high?"
Zhao Hongrun took a sip of the wine in the cup and said calmly: "If I sell the tea leaves of Dawei to Sanchuan, it will be a triple return!"
King Zhao Wenzhuo of Jiyang shook his head when he heard this and said: "Your Highness Prince Su, there is no need to trick me. Perhaps selling teacups to Sanchuan is indeed triple the reward at the moment, but once Sanchuan is opened, so many nobles from the country will flock to Sanchuan.
, when the time comes, will it still be a threefold return? Things are rare and expensive. The reason why the price of tea in Sanchuan remains high is just that the common people do not have much cargo capacity. This is something that King Su will not miss.
Have you thought about it?"
Zhao Hongrun looked at Jiyang King Zhao Wenzhuo with some surprise.
In fact, Zhao Hongrun naturally understood what the latter said, but he still tended to squeeze these nobles and make them pay huge taxes.
This money can be used to improve Cheng Gao's army, or it can be used to make the Ministry of Households rich. Only when the Ministry of Households becomes rich can the Wei State have the capital to add infrastructure in Zhao Hongrun's plan.
For example, digging rivers, building border forts, improving official roads, etc., all of these require money, and the money spent is probably in the tens of thousands of taels.
After Jiyang King Zhao Wenzhuo finished speaking, Chengling King Zhao Wenshen also echoed: "In fact, the export tax for a cost proposed by His Highness King Su is not high, but His Highness King Su, don't forget, we will wait for you every year
We still have to pay a huge amount of taxes to the Ministry of Household Affairs. If the latter can be reduced or reduced, I am willing to accept His Highness Prince Su's request. Otherwise, no one will agree to this condition."
Zhao Hongrun touched his chin and asked: "What does the clan uncle mean?"
"Don't you think it's biased, Your Highness King Su? Why do those common people only pay a hundred dollars for customs duties, but we have to pay 10% of the principal?" Chengling King Zhao Wenshen said seriously: "One hundred and one,
That's the bottom line."
"One hundred and one is not enough." Zhao Hongrun shook his head and said: "In a few months, the tariff for those civilian merchants will be raised to one hundred and one." After saying that, he turned to look at Chengling King Zhao Wenshen and said seriously.
: "One hundred and five, this is my king's final concession."
One hundred and fifty, which is half of the principal, originally Chengling King Zhao Wenshen would not agree to it.
Just think about it, why do the common merchants only need to pay a hundred bucks no matter how much goods they load, while nobles like them need to pay a high tax of half the cost?
However, when he heard that Zhao Hongrun intended to increase the export tax for civilians to 100 yuan, the unfair feeling in his heart was relieved a little.
After a while, Chengling King Zhao Wenshen nodded and said under the surprised eyes of the other three princes and kings: "Yes. But Your Highness, King Su, I hope that His Highness will open Luogang to us."
The other three princes and princes were initially shocked and prepared to object, but after hearing these words, they immediately shut up and agreed to the suggestion of Chengling King Zhao Wenshen.
Luogang
Zhao Hongrun took a deep look at Prince Chengling.
Luogang, the river port east of Luocheng City, is currently only open to the imperial household department.
Even though Daliang seems to be a long way from Sanchuan, in fact, if you travel by water and use the big rivers Yellow River and Luoshui, the round trip only takes half the time. What's even better is that although the Yingshui water system generally has a shallow draft,
The advantage is that it is connected in all directions. For some nobles who are located far away, such as Chengling King Zhao Wenshen, taking the water route is almost three times faster than taking the land route.
"good!"
After thinking for a while, Zhao Hongrun nodded.
On that day, Zhao Hongrun reached certain agreements with the four princes and kings, Zhao Wenshen, the king of Chengling, Zhao Wenzhuo, the king of Jiyang, Zhao Wenxuan, the king of Zhongyang, and Zhao Wenkai, the king of Yuanyang.
Sanchuan was finally opened to the aristocratic forces in Wei State, but only starting from July 1st this year.
In this regard, although Chengling King Zhao Wenshen and others were somewhat reluctant, they were not incomprehensible.
After all, Zhao Hongrun had already told them frankly that he did not intend to let civilian merchants replace the status of aristocratic merchants, but to make both parties restrain each other and achieve a situation of mutual checks and balances.
Some nobles must fully realize that the Wei Dynasty is not indispensable to you. In fact, there are people who can replace your position at any time.
However, regarding the mutual checks and balances that Zhao Hongrun wanted to achieve, Prince Chengling Zhao Wenshen and others just smiled.
He had no doubt that once July 1st came and Sanchuan was officially opened to the aristocratic forces in the Wei Kingdom, those civilian merchants would be squeezed out of their ability to survive in an instant by these aristocrats.
There is no need to use any despicable means, just the crushing of the wealth gap is enough to crush those common merchants who are like insects in front of the aristocratic forces.
"I hope the common people whom His Highness King Su has tried his best to support can still survive after July."
After reaching a preliminary agreement, Chengling King Zhao Wenshen said to Zhao Hongrun with a smile.
He was so confident that he probably didn't expect that some of the civilian merchants they looked down on actually survived tenaciously and struggled to grow stronger under the pressure of their future wealth.
And while Zhao Hongrun was discussing the matter of Sanchuan with these four princes, a rumor spread in Daliang, the royal capital, a rumor that was quite unfavorable to Zhao Hongrun. To be continued