Chapter 113 Finance!
The situation in Liangshan Prefecture is like this, and the situation in the north is army of the Yan court consisted of four core Yanshan Army is the most elite army in the entire Yan Dynasty and is the foundation of the royal family.
Under the Yan Army, there are four town armies, Zhenbei, Zhennan, Zhendong, and Zhenxi. They are all composed of warriors. Among them, the Zhenbei Army is commanded by the Baizhan Hall of the Imperial Court and sits in Wanren City, Yanshan. Dayan resisted the main force of the Northern Barbarians.
Below the four town armies is the Twelve Prefectures Army. The Liangshan Army is one of the Twelve Prefectures Army. The Twelve Prefectures Army is much inferior to the above five armies. The conditions for soldiers to enlist are no longer required to be warriors. Ordinary people You can enter, and if you become a warrior, you can serve as minor officials such as corps commander and team leader.
Below are the soldiers from various places who defend the city. Most of them are soldiers who have been injured and retired from the battlefield, or military children with average talents. There are also strong ones among them, but the good and bad are mixed, and their combat effectiveness is average.
Among the armies of the twelve states, the other nine states have an army of 10 people. Only the three armies in the north, which are threatened by the northern barbarians, have an army of 15 people. And His Majesty specially approved the Northern Liang King to form an army of 5 people. The elite cavalry of the people were used to defend against the Northern Barbarians.
The number of troops in the northern border is greater than that of the entire Great Yan, and is the largest among the twelve states of Great , the three northern states have the fewest people among the twelve states of Dayan, and the land is also the poorest.
The twelve states of Great Yan, whether they are the five states in the north of Yan or the four states in the south of Yan, the people have taken root and multiplied here since ancient times. The culture is prosperous, the population is large, and the land is fertile and suitable for farming.
Only the three northern states were the land conquered by Taizu Yan from the Northern Barbarians. They were originally grasslands and were used to grow crops, but the harvests were not people of the three northern states all migrated from Yanbei. Although they have multiplied for hundreds of years, they are still far behind compared to the other nine states.
Moreover, there are frequent wars in the north, and soldiers' pensions are a huge expense. The pensions required for a year are even more than the military pay of the army. The three northern states alone cannot afford the expenses of the three northern armies.
The King of Northern Liang has been rooted here for several years and knows the situation in the North very well. There is no reason why the King of Northern Liang doesn't know how productive the North is, so why is he still competing with Dayan for the Northern Territory.
While Chu Jiang was thinking, Chen Gong on the side continued: "But the officials in Liangshan Prefecture have never collected ten taxes and four taxes. At the beginning of the establishment of the Northern Territory, it was always ten taxes and five taxes. 30 years ago The tax has become six on ten, whereas ten years ago, the tax was seven on ten!”
Chu Jiang frowned slightly. Ten taxes were seven. This was already the tax at the end of the dynasty. Looking at the history of China, the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the late Three Kingdoms, and the late Southern Dynasties, only in these times could taxes reach such levels.
Similarly, the tax rate of seven out of ten also means that this life is in ruins, the people are in dire straits, and the dynasty is about to fall! "Gongtai, the taxes are so heavy, how can the people survive?" Although there are extraordinary powers in this world, and there are mysteries in culture and martial arts, the people who farm the land are still ordinary people, no different from previous lives in ancient times.
"Sir, in the past five days, I have studied the people's livelihood in the northern territory. The northern territory is vast and sparsely populated. Although the yield of farmland is low, the quantity is large. The people have plenty of land. If they work harder, they will pay [-]% tax per [-]%, and there is still a way to survive!"
Chu Jiang suddenly realized that there were advantages to having fewer people. In the last years of the ancient dynasty, not only was Tian Shao but also taxed heavily, it was natural that he could not , although the taxes in the north are heavy, there is a lot of space and land. As long as you work hard and plant a variety of fields, you can still survive.
"Ten taxes are seven, and the taxes of the six counties are 800 million taels of silver per year. The taxes of the entire Liangshan Prefecture are about 1000 million taels, which can supply the Liangshan Army. If the war is not fierce, there can still be a surplus." "It turns out. That's it." Chu Jiang nodded slowly, if he could be self-sufficient, then there would be no problem.
If the Northern Territory cannot be self-sufficient, once it becomes independent and is not destroyed by the Northern Barbarians, a large number of people will starve to death due to food the population is too small to support a large army, the army must be reduced. Once the army is reduced, it will be unable to fight against the northern barbarians and will be destroyed sooner or smart person would not want a northern border like this.
"Gongtai, after taking these six counties, will it be helpful to us?" Chu Jiang looked at Chen Gong and said.
"Yes, it will be of great help!" Chen Gong nodded immediately.
"Although the tax amount is certain and needs to be handed over to the King of Northern Liang and cannot be misappropriated, there is no problem in secretly deducting more than 800 to 20 taels out of the more than [-] million taels of silver. Grain production depends on the weather. If anything happens, The output will inevitably be reduced due to disasters, but we have the final say by how much, as long as the quantity is appropriate, it will never attract the attention of the King of Northern Liang."
"With the Jinyi Guards here, the Shadow Guards and Secret Guards can't find out anything. This is one of them!"
"Secondly, court taxes are not in money. They are only calculated in money. Most of them are offset by grain. Cloth, silk fabrics, even iron ore, fur, wood, stone and other raw materials can also be used to offset the tax. Merchants pay taxes with goods. There are quite a few, including porcelain, wine, various fabrics, jade, etc.”
"These things are generally handled centrally by various government agencies. Now this processing power has also fallen into our hands. We can give priority to supplying various high-quality raw materials, refined grains and other precious items to our armies. We can also Trade in inferior items for better ones and replace some cherished items from inside."
A smile appeared on Chu Jiang's face. This job is not bad. To put it bluntly, he is a logistics manager. It is a good job. Even if he is not greedy, there are many hidden benefits.
"There is also good news. All the six counties have spare cash and grain, as well as a number of other precious raw materials. We can borrow these things temporarily." Chen Gong said with a smile.
After a pause, Chen Gong said: "Similarly, the six county guards' families are quite wealthy. Jin Yiwei found a large amount of gold and silver in their homes. The six counties combined have nearly 60 taels of silver, which has been secretly escorted to The Jinyiwei stronghold can be called at any time."
Chu Jiang's eyes suddenly lit up. Sure enough, the discussion of wealth still depends on the imperial court. Several county governors are in charge of the finances of a county. The wealth that can be intercepted at will is wealth that ordinary people cannot County Sheriff is a transient official, changing every three years. The current officials all came two years ago. In two years, a county guard secretly pocketed 10 taels of , these have not affected the operation of the imperial court, and no hidden income problems can be found from top to bottom.
"The Northern Barbarian army is about to move south. How many of their county guards will be recruited?"
Wang Hu's information will naturally be sent to Chu Jiang. The Northern Barbarian army is about to move south. The entire northern border is preparing for the war, and logistics is the top priority. Preparations must have begun.
(End of this chapter)