Chapter 15 The Origin of the Military Expenses of the Wusheng Army
"It turns out to be Jiaozi!"
Wen Yanbo muttered softly.
Seeing that Wen Yanbo had been standing outside the crowd for a long time, Su Xun quickly stood up and walked over and said with a smile: "If you have any questions, please ask. I will tell you everything I know."
"Can these merchants really afford such a huge sum of money like 240,000 yuan?"
Now that he has served as the third envoy, Wen Yanbo has a clear understanding of the Song Dynasty's finances and the world's treasury. This amount of money is almost as much as half the wealth of Shuzhong, including salt and iron taxes, wine taxes, and tea taxes.
The total of horse tax, agricultural tax, and commercial tax is definitely not something that eleven merchants can afford.
Su Xun smiled but did not answer, and invited Wen Yanbo to talk in his tent.
The servant served a pot of tea and bowed away. Su Xun personally filled Wen Yanbo's tea before saying: "Eleven merchants are actually eleven groups. There are no less than 6,000 merchants in Sichuan. Basically,
Xanadu is among these eleven groups, and the 240,000 guan is scattered among more than 6,000 merchants, each of which only has 40 guan. After this explanation, do the three envoys still think that 240,000 guan is a lot of money?
?
Don't think that these merchants have really united together. They only united once, and it was for this southern expedition that they put aside their old grudges and came together.
The money they paid according to the shares was actually a business practice. The money was actually the payment for the purchased goods. You have also seen the endless stream of pack teams in the military camp. The merchants transported the goods to the Liuzhou waterway day and night. There are already
It has been more than half a month, and only 30% of it has been transported so far.
The general had a contract with the merchants long before the troops were sent out, that is, once Thang Long City was captured, the treasury of Jiaozhi, the royal treasury, and the contents of the official treasury would be given to Wu Sheng's army, because the Song Dynasty needed these dividends.
As for the rest of the goods, Wu Shengjun didn't care about them and didn't take them. They were the goods that the merchants and their people had worked hard to move back from Thang Long City, so Wu Shengjun was not allowed to touch them. So far, the contract has been successfully completed.
It’s time for merchants to start paying for this purchase.”
Wen Yanbo's hand holding the tea cup shook for a moment, but he soon regained his composure. He took a sip of fragrant tea and praised: "I heard that jasmine is now planted all over Guangnan. Is it related to this cup of tea?"
Su Xun smiled and said: "That's right. It was those merchants who discovered that Guangnan is the most suitable for growing jasmine during the days when they were waiting to send troops, so they came up with this proposal. The Guangnan pacification envoy also strongly recommended it. The merchants and
The people who have just settled down have signed a contract to purchase jasmine flowers, and have also paid part of the money and food in advance."
"As far as I know, most of them came empty-handed. How did they get so much money and food?"
"The merchants had advanced a large amount of money and food when Wu Sheng's army left Sichuan. Do you think that without the merchants, Wu Sheng's army could have left Sichuan quickly and with such complete equipment? If so, you think highly of Wu Sheng's army. We need it too.
With the support of money and grain, if there is no money and grain, it is hard to say whether Wu Shengjun can leave Sichuan now. You know the food and salary provided by the imperial court to the Xiang Army. You don't need to say more, right?
Since Wu Shengjun used merchants' money and food, he must compensate according to the market price. The source is the seizure Wu Shengjun obtained from Nong Zhigao. As a senior official, he joined the army and did not need to hide it from anyone."
Wen Yanbo was shocked after listening to Su Xun's explanation. Six thousand merchants! Once these people got together, they could support a large army to march south, and they were so well prepared that the equipment, food and clothing of Wu Sheng's army were even included.
The Imperial Guards in Tokyo were far inferior. However, the military affairs were in turmoil. Why did these merchants believe that Yun Zheng would be able to complete the feat of sneak attack on Shenglong Mansion? Why would they place a bet of 200,000 to 300,000 yuan?
Su Xun lowered his head and whispered without looking at the change of expression on Wen Yanbo's face: "Wu Shengjun left a deep impression on the merchants in Shuzhong. Now the Song Dynasty is exhausted and business is difficult to do. If there is no major change, it will be very difficult to do business."
It's rare to get a chance to get rich overnight.
Wu Shengjun provided such an opportunity to merchants. The predecessor of Wu Shengjun, Jiaziying, would make countless gains as long as he went out to fight. Later, Wu Shengjun could single-handedly quell all the banditry in Shu. The general was also a legendary figure.
He has seen the great world, he was able to come back unharmed from the clutches of the Xixia people, and he was able to stir up that country into a state of despair.
It’s not surprising that such a person can do anything when he leads an army like Wu Shengjun. You may not know that Wu Shengjun has a very good reputation among the people in Sichuan, so since merchants can’t find good business to do, they might as well spend some money
They wanted money to take a risk, and it turned out that their risk was very successful.
The wealth of Thang Long City is famous in the southern continent. Now it has been almost emptied out by those merchants. You can guess how much their income will be. In fact, it is the merchants who benefited this time. The benefits they gained are no less than
The treasury of the Jiaozhi Palace returned from plunder by Wu Shengjun.”
"Why didn't you report this matter to the Ministry of Household Affairs earlier? What if..."
Wen Yanbo originally wanted to say that if the Ministry of Revenue of the Song Dynasty made such an investment, the financial crisis of the Song Dynasty would have been resolved. But halfway through, he realized that it was impossible for the Ministry of Household Affairs of the Song Dynasty to make such an investment.
Wen Yanbo, who felt disappointed, no longer wanted to listen to Su Xun telling him about Wu Shengjun's rules for dividing money. The general of the Xiang Army had great autonomy, and he could not dictate to him.
After walking out of Su Xun's military tent, he looked at the soldiers of Wu Sheng's army under the sunset and found that these people were extremely strange. The world here was fundamentally different from the world he knew.
The other soldiers went about their business after receiving the money. The wounded soldiers who were lame or still wrapped in white gauze did not show the despair they were used to seeing, but talked in twos and threes.
What a joke, the one-eyed dragon laughed at the lame man, and the one-armed man laughed and scolded the man with only one leg. It seems that they are not worried about their future livelihood. In the Song Dynasty, rich people were the bosses. Now, those wounded soldiers are rich men.
, a rich man with fifty or sixty guan in his hand buys a boy from a small family, and his daughter comes to serve him. It is not a big deal. The better servants in Ren Yazi's hands don't cost more than ten guan...
There is also a place filled with porcelain jars in the military camp, which is where Yun Zheng goes most often. Today, everyone is collecting money. Yun Zheng himself once again came to this place full of ashes of soldiers who died in battle and cursed.
"You are all a bunch of bastards. I have long told you that the more you sweat in normal times, the less you will bleed during a war. Now it's over, right? Others are happily taking money, but you are lying here coldly. Isn't it fun?
I know that I am most afraid of telling your parents, wife and children that you died in the war. Now, I have to write nearly three thousand death certificates. One person who died in the battle will receive fourteen guan, one hundred and twenty kilograms. This is what I am spending money on.
Buying your meat, damn it, is much more expensive than pork."
Yun Zheng sat cross-legged on the ground, looking worriedly at the nearly three thousand porcelain jars in front of him with tears in his eyes. Regardless of whether he had feelings for these soldiers or not, these people also went to the battlefield under his orders.
"You are not obedient. If you practice martial arts better and your military formation coordination more skillfully, you will not lose your life no matter what. To be honest, I have thought about this possibility countless times in my dreams.
, that is to take you all to the battlefield and bring you all home safely, even if I have to pay more money and food, I am willing.
Damn it, you will become my inner demon sooner or later. I don’t care about many things, but I can’t care about you. If you live, I will forget you after a while. I am a very forgetful person. I can’t remember so much.
You are such indifferent people, but now that you are dead, you are fixed in my mind and I can’t get rid of you.
Forget it if you die, I will hand over your money and food to your parents, wives and children, not a penny less. If you are a bachelor, then it will be easier for me. During the holidays, I will burn paper for you. If you don't have it in the underworld,
If you want blood food, remember to give it to me in your dream, and I will cook it for you. The blood food from Marquis Wenxin’s Mansion will be more advantageous for you..."
Xiaolin walked over with one leg lame, sat on the ground with Yun Zheng, took a sip of the wine in the gourd, and then handed the gourd to Yun Zheng. Yun Zheng rubbed his sleeve against the mouth of the gourd in disgust and drank it hard.
A big mouthful.
Xiao Lin had endured Yun Zheng's habit of being clean for a long time, so he snatched the wine gourd and put the stopper on it, not intending to give Yun Zheng another drink.
"What are you going to do? Do you still want to be a Taoist priest? You already have a daughter, can you live a good life? One of you is a Taoist priest and the other is an old bustard. Neither of you are good people. Please don't come to my Wenxinhou Mansion in the future.
, it’s embarrassing to be seen!”
Xiaolin lay on the ground nonchalantly and put his hands on the back of his head as a pillow. He looked at the clouds in the sky and said with a smile, "Could it be that if I return to secular life and become a bustard, I can enter the gate of your palace?"
"It's natural. I am no longer the poor boy I was back then. I am now a Marquis of the third rank. My friend, of course, I have to keep pace with the times. According to your achievements this time and what you said to the emperor,
If the relationship is unclear, it won’t be a problem to get a viscount or earl, right?
I plan to work hard to have a child after I go back, give birth to a son and marry your daughter. The son of the Marquis must at least marry the daughter of an earl. This is called a good match. If it is the daughter of a wild Taoist priest and an old bustard, then forget it.
No, it’s not embarrassing enough.”
Yun Zheng's previous words made Lin laugh at them as farts, but when he heard what he said next about his daughter, he sat up and looked at Yun Zheng and said, "Are you serious?"
"Of course it counts. As long as I give birth to a son, this marriage will count. If not, don't blame me. This is not something I can control, nor is it a problem that I can solve if I am smarter."
Xiaolin touched his messy beard and asked, "If I give birth to a son, can you marry your daughter to my son?"
Yun Zheng's eyes widened and he said, "That's my daughter!"
Xiao Lin burst into anger and said: "I am also my daughter!" (To be continued)