Du You pondered for a moment and said: "One thing is that there is too much new money in our government treasury, as much as half a million guan, and there is also a lot of new money in the hands of the people. I know that the new money is no longer circulating in Hedong, so
How to deal with these hundreds of thousands of new money using Kaiyuan money or Jin money? Also, if the new money in the hands of the people is not handled properly, it will be a huge hidden danger in the future!"
The problem reported by Du You is indeed a big problem. The new money refers to the Daqin Tongbao cast by Zhu Si, which contains only 50% copper, while the small coins in various feudal towns are basically iron coins.
Now except Guanzhong, all other Guo and Song territories have abolished the new money. This is also because they are less affected by the new money and are not difficult to abolish. But Guanzhong is different. Zhu Si has been operating here for nearly five years.
A large amount of new money was issued, and at least half of this new money was deposited in Guanzhong.
Guo Song had already thought about this problem before. He gave Zhang Lei and Li An the new stock of 350,000 guan confiscated from Guannai Road and Hedong Road to use it to buy official residences.
At the same time, Li An and Zhang Lei exchanged their Kaiyuan money for 300,000 guan of new money among the people in Chang'an, which was also used to buy official residences. A total of 650,000 guan of new money was used to buy official residences. All of this money was transported to Luoyang by Zhu Si to build a house.
The palace.
This is a method of asset transfer. A lot of new money from the private sector in Chang'an has been transferred to Luoyang in this way. What they got was old money from the Kaiyuan period, but even so, there is still a huge amount of new money deposited among the private sector in Chang'an and Guanzhong.
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Guo Song walked around a few times with his hands behind his back, and said to Du You: "These new money still have to be spent in Zhu Si's Qin Kingdom. Businessmen will take it to the Central Plains to buy land, official residences or other materials. We can set up a secret government office."
, is specifically responsible for handling this matter, but this matter is not urgent. After everyone comes here in March, we will sit down and discuss it carefully."
"So the new money can still be circulated now?"
Guo Song nodded and said: "It can still be circulated in Guanzhong for the time being, but I have to say a principle, new money can only be circulated in but not out, and it must be recycled slowly!"
"I understand the humble position!"
Du You added: "Then the second thing is about taxes. I'm afraid His Highness can't imagine that the current tax situation in Guanzhong is extremely chaotic."
"What kind of chaos method?" Guo Song asked with a smile.
"Let's put it this way! The Du family has never paid a penny in land tax in the past five years."
Guo Song laughed, "Is this preferential treatment given to the Du family by Zhu Si?"
Du You shook his head, "It has nothing to do with Zhu Si. In fact, not only the Du family, but also almost all the big families in Guanzhong have not paid taxes. On the contrary, many ordinary people are forced to pay two to three times the land tax. Even one acre.
If you own two dan of grain in real estate, you will be forced to pay one dan of grain, but not every ordinary household pays taxes. Many civilians rely on connections and don't have to pay taxes."
"Why is there such confusion?" Guo Song asked with some confusion.
"I have been studying this issue from the beginning of January to now, and now I am gradually getting some insights. The main reason is that Zhu Si was not short of food. When he occupied Guanzhong, Guangtong warehouse had 8 million shi of food. In order to win over the people at the bottom, he
He was exempted from the land tax for five years in Guanzhong.
But his order was taken advantage of by his subordinates. The prefectures and counties in Guanzhong still collected land taxes, but they were not handed over to Zhu Si. Instead, they were used for county expenses or to line their own pockets.
It is precisely because this kind of taxation is an unauthorized act by the local government, so they collect taxes very arbitrarily. Some people levy it, and some people don't. Those who are related to the county officials can get a favor and the land tax is exempted. If you have offended the county,
If you are an official, you will be taxed heavily, as is the case in almost every county."
"What about the household tax?" Guo Song asked again.
"Here's the problem. Zhu Si is not short of food, but he is short of money, so he imposes very strict household taxes on city residents. Not only household taxes are levied, but also commercial taxes and salt taxes, which are necessary in the city.
There are three major taxes levied, but many counties have various tricks, such as tea and wine tax, rack tax and car tax. Most of these taxes fall into the pockets of local officials. Then local officials pay filial piety to Yuan Xiu, Yao Lingyan and others, which leads to resentment among the people in the city.
It is boiling, but the people in the countryside are more supportive of Zhu Si."
Guo Song took a few steps with his hands behind his back and asked again: "What's the current situation?"
"Since His Highness took over Guanzhong, we are currently in a tax holiday, and all taxes have not been levied, waiting for His Highness to make a decision."
Guo Song pondered for a moment and said: "Taxes should not be high or low. The land tax is still in accordance with the rules set by Emperor Daizong. In fact, it is also the regulation of Hedong. The upper field is five taxes per mu, the middle field is three taxes per mu, and the lower field is two taxes per mu.
Military personnel are exempt from tax and officials are exempted from tax by half, but the discount per household cannot exceed 100 acres.
The household tax is calculated based on head count, and each person is one hundred cents per year. Those under the age of fourteen and those over sixty are exempt from tax. The commercial tax is divided into two parts. One is the goods tax, which is the same as other places in our country. It is tax-free for five years, and the shop tax is levied at three cents.
, as for the salt tax, which is levied at the source, with an additional hundred cents per bucket, and other tea and wine taxes, rack taxes, and vehicle taxes are all abolished."
Du You asked carefully: "Your Highness, the salt tax..."
Guo Song immediately knew that he had misunderstood and thought that the salt came from the sea. Guo Song then laughed and said: "Our salt comes from Hehuang. There are several large salt lakes over there, and there are dozens of salt merchants drying salt there.
, the price of salt is ten cents per dou, and then the Salt and Iron Department adds one hundred cents per dou, and it is sold directly by the government. Basically every county has a government-run salt and iron shop, and the salt price is unified at one hundred and ten cents per dou.
This is my request. Each person is only given a ration of five liters of salt per month. This is a benefit I give to my people."
Guo Song said that the price of salt is the welfare of the people. It is not false. The salt in the Tang Dynasty was not the refined salt of today, but coarse salt, which was relatively weak. The people mainly worked hard, so every household consumed a lot of salt. Some families had a large population.
How many buckets of salt are consumed every month?
But the price of salt is not low. The wholesale price of the government is one hundred and ten cents. Then the salt merchants transport it over long distances, and add various management methods along the way. The salt merchants make their own profit, and then distribute it layer by layer, increasing the price layer by layer, and finally reach the hands of the people.
, the price of each bucket of salt is at least five to six hundred wen, or even higher, so salt has always been a major expense for every household, almost as much as food.
By the late Tang Dynasty, salt tax had become the largest tax for the imperial court. Yangzhou was the distribution center for salt in the world, and salt fields were mainly concentrated along the coasts of Yangzhou and Chuzhou. Seventy percent of the imperial court's salt tax came from Yangzhou, so Yangzhou was known as
Zhu Si's capture was a huge blow to the finances of the Southern Tang Dynasty.
Fortunately, Bashu itself also produces well salt, which can make up for it to a certain extent.
Du You stood up and said: "I understand, I will sort it out now and write out a plan for His Highness to make a decision."
Guo Song smiled and nodded, "You can discuss it with Wen Canjun. I have told him some of my ideas before, as well as Hedong's tax laws. His information is more detailed. Du Sima can refer to it."
"I understand the humble position!"
Du You stood up and said goodbye...
Guo Song saw that it was still early, so he took a few soldiers with him, and called Yin Du Wenxing to Jingzhao. They all rode horses to inspect Han Chang'an City.
Han Chang'an City is located ten miles northwest of Chang'an City. Chang'an people call it a ghost town.
Basically all of the 110 squares in Chang'an City are full of residents. The permanent population of Chang'an is over one million, but the actual population is far more than that. Guo and Song want to build thousands of single-family houses, which is at least impossible in Chang'an City.
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Fortunately, Li An reminded Guo Song that he had the idea of Han Chang'an City. He thought about it all night and planned to build the Han Great Wall into a residential area for officials, and then add Taixue, Guozixue, Gongyuan, Confucian Temple, and Post House.
The hospital and other institutions were moved there, and Han Chang'an City could be reused.
"What is the situation in Chang'an City of the Han Dynasty now?" Guo Song asked.
Du Wenxing scratched his head and said: "I went there once last year, but I haven't been there for more than half a year."
"Let's talk about what happened last year."
"The Han Chang'an City has a population of about hundreds of thousands. The houses are old, the streets are dilapidated, it's covered in dust on sunny days, and covered in mud on rainy days. The sewer channels are completely blocked, and the city is overflowing with sewage. Winter is a little better, but in summer, mosquitoes and flies breed, and the stinky
Ah! I don’t want to go there a second time.”
"Who are the people living inside?" Guo Song asked with a frown.
"Actually, they are the people we see every day, such as bartenders in restaurants, shop assistants, vendors, performers, beggars, and some Taoist temples and monasteries. They are active in Chang'an City during the day and return to live in the old city at night.
The government doesn't care, it's been like this for generations, almost hundreds of years."
This made Guo Song's head grow bigger. He wanted the Han Dynasty to conquer the city of Chang'an. What would he do with these hundreds of thousands of people?
After leaving Guanghuamen, we soon arrived at Han Chang'an City. Han Chang'an City is equivalent to one-third of the size of Chang'an City. There is no branch area in it, but Weiyang Palace and Forbidden Garden in the southwest are still palaces transferred to the royal family.
Ordinary people are not allowed to enter. Emperor Zhongzong of the Tang Dynasty often went to Weiyang Palace to have banquets. However, it has not been repaired for sixty or seventy years and it looks relatively dilapidated.
The walls of Han Chang'an City are still relatively complete, surrounded by clear water, and quite impressive. Guo Song entered Han Chang'an City from Xi'an Gate. This was his first time to visit this ancient ancient city.
His first impression of Chang'an City in the Han Dynasty was that there were many trees, towering old trees everywhere, and dilapidated buildings. Occasionally, there were a few well-built houses, but they were only relatively good, and in Chang'an City they could only be considered average.
, most of the houses are very dilapidated, and the ground is pitted with dirt. Sure enough, there is sewage everywhere.
It's no wonder that Chang'an City in the Han Dynasty was a place where the lower class people gathered. No decent family wanted to live here, and even businessmen with lower status didn't want to live here.
However, the social status of merchants has been reversed. The status of merchants in major vassal towns in Hebei is relatively high. Both Guo Song and Zhu Si treated merchants well and removed all restrictions, just like normal civilians. This is also because merchants can bring wealth and can
Bringing military spending, everyone has become very pragmatic. Currently, only the scholar-bureaucrats of the Southern Tang Dynasty gather, and the status of businessmen has not improved.
Guo Song shook his head. At this time, he had an initial idea in his mind. Only Weiyang Palace was left, and everything else was demolished, bulldozed and rebuilt.