Royal road

Chapter 321 Economy

"Qijun Gong, last month Haixing Port received a total of 92 shi of grain! In the next two months, I am afraid there will still be such income." Even though he has done a lot of big business in these years, Jiang Ni is the first time he has seen such a large-scale trade.The cargo handled by a seaport is so huge that it is almost comparable to the grain output of several counties along the coast of Jizhou!

This is still September, and when the autumn harvest is over, more merchant ships are bound to head to Jizhou.It is well known that Xingang uses grain to buy and sell.Although the profit of grain transportation is small, the advantage lies in the convenience.Which wealthy family that manages maritime trade doesn't have dozens or hundreds of hectares of land?On the other hand, the goods held by Bingzhou were not easily obtained.

After all this back and forth, a large amount of grain poured into the warehouses of Jizhou, and even Sizhou and Bingzhou.And with food, there is naturally the capital to feed the refugees and reclaim the fields.If things can go on like this for a long time, why worry about the unhappiness of the Northland!

Facing Jiang Ni's excitement, Liang Feng remained calm.It is not a big deal for a seaport to handle tens of millions of tons of materials.If it weren't for frequent wars and shrinking trade, maybe the tax revenue would not only be this amount.

Duan Qin on the side was also very emotional: "When the lord said to exempt customs duties and reduce market rent, many people were still worried. Unexpectedly, the income tax was not only not reduced, but also increased slightly. If things go on like this, Haixing Port will not be so good. It can become a big port like Panyu.”

"Business routes are like water, and they can last long only if they are smooth. Didn't there be tariffs in Han Dynasty? It's just picking up people's teeth." Liang Feng explained with a slight smile.

During the Han Dynasty, tariffs were indeed abolished, which promoted business.It was not until the end of the Han Dynasty that the warlords of the Three Kingdoms came together, and the warlords in various places set up pipe cards to collect tariffs and increase tax rates.The current tithe was also determined at that time.That is to say, one tenth of the tax should be paid to the warlords under their jurisdiction.With such a high tax rate, additional tariffs have to be added, and it is impossible for business to develop.

Although Liang Feng is not an expert in business, the concept of attracting investment, invigorating the economy, and developing people's livelihood really makes his ears callous.The biggest benefit brought by business is to benefit the people, and the huge business district can drive the rapid development of the surrounding economy.Just like Haixing Port, a city was built in just a few months, isn't it because it is profitable?

And what he did was to implement the most favorable measures, and by the way, set up a real estate.Government-led new city construction is a business that will never lose money.As for hotels and shops invested by individuals, they are secondary. The main purpose is to attract some aristocratic families to take shares and share profits, so that the interests converge and management is convenient.Otherwise, how could the number of bandits in Jizhou plummet by more than [-]%?

Duan Qin nodded again and again: "Everyone says that business is harmful to the interests of the people, but half of the refugees newly attached to Jizhou survived because of Haixing Xingang. I'm afraid that Qin Zhidao couldn't be like this back then!"

This is also what Duan Qin is most emotional about.It has never been easy to build roads. At that time, the first emperor built a straight road in Qin Dynasty. On the contrary, the huge project caused a lot of trouble, "the burden is getting heavier, and there is no limit to guarding you."The death of Qin II was caused by huge projects such as Afang Palace, Zhidao, and Chidao.

But the master's method is completely different.How dare you use refugees to prosper in times of great chaos!No state or county can swallow tens of thousands of refugees. There is not enough food, and there are few cultivated fields.However, it is different to use work as relief. The refugees can not only get food for subsistence, but also use the labor that they have no time to digest to build large-scale construction projects.

Just like the original dirt road, it will take at least three days to travel from Xingang to the ferry of the Zhangshui tributary.I don't know how much human and animal power will be wasted.But after the new gravel road is built, it can be reached in one day at the earliest!Moreover, there are post stations along the way, where fodder and meals can be prepared for the food team to take.As a result, the loss is less than [-]% of the original.

And such a road also brought great convenience to the caravan.The more merchants there are, the higher the city rent will be, which will feed back the refugees.Wouldn't it be wonderful to go back and forth like this?

Liang Feng nodded: "We still need to continue to build the road. It is best to cover Jizhou. Jizhou is flat. If there is such a main road, it will be of great benefit to attacking Youzhou in the future."

Jizhou, that is, Hebei in later generations, is a flat river, which is most suitable for cavalry to play.If you want to resist the Xianbei iron cavalry, you must make the road as smooth as possible so that you can dispatch troops and transport supplies.Therefore, it is urgent to build roads while dredging the canals and reorganizing the river courses.

Hearing this, Duan Qin frowned slightly: "It's not difficult to repair a few days' journey. But Jizhou is a vast land, and I'm afraid financial resources are limited."

"If you don't have money, try to let the aristocratic family sell it. Reduce business taxes, increase the purchase share of salt, porcelain, and colored glaze. As long as it is beneficial, people will naturally flock to it. Now Jizhou is not short of labor, and there are convenient repairs on gravel roads. Some people will always be tempted to order rations." Liang Feng said.

Duan Qin's heart skipped a beat.This statement is not without reason.There is no shortage of manpower in Jizhou now, and the large-scale water reeds built on the Zhangshui River also solved the problem of gravel required for paving the road.The water flowing into the sea keeps pushing the wheels day and night, pulling the mallet to beat the stones, isn't it a hundred times more convenient than manpower?

With people and sand and gravel, what is lacking in road construction is food.It is really exciting to get the shortage of goods just by sending out some food and fodder.And the lord did not say clearly that the only ones who can provide food are the aristocratic family?In fact, there is a lot of food in the hands of the common people and the powerful!These people don't have the opportunity to get their hands on porcelain and salt. How can they miss such a good opportunity to enter the game?

Once this law comes out, I am afraid that Jizhou will no longer be able to ban trade routes!

"My lord, this method is wonderful!" Thinking of this, Duan Qin couldn't help but nodded.

Liang Feng smiled. In fact, the benefits of doing business are not limited to building roads.This class that only recognizes money is a sharp weapon to break the monopoly of the family.When more and more people enter the property class through business, their children and grandchildren will also have the opportunity to study.Merchants cannot be officials, and it has been the tradition of the past dynasties to emphasize agriculture and suppress business.But more often than not, merchants become landlords and commoners after buying land, and then they are promoted through this channel.It just so happens that now Bingzhou's system department is nominally a selection of officials.This is tantamount to becoming a gap that can be exploited.It depends on how many smart people can jump onto the dragon gate before this gap closes.

However, there is still a problem that needs to be solved urgently for commercial development.

"We still need to be prepared for the minting of coins..." Liang Feng said slowly, "Once the number of merchants increases, it will be inappropriate to rely solely on grain transactions."

"This matter must not be rushed!" Regarding this point, Duan Qin was extremely firm, "Since Emperor Wu, for more than fifty years, the imperial court has not minted coins. Why rush? Besides, minting coins privately will easily arouse Yangzhou's fear. If the food is troublesome, you can use silk instead. The coinage should be figured out slowly."

This was also the problem that caused Liang Feng the most headaches.In fact, the coins of the Western Jin Dynasty did not really enter the circulation market.Small transactions, or transactions between aristocratic families, can also use money.However, the circulation of goods on a large scale, and even the salaries issued by officials, are all carried out in kind.Just because after Emperor Wu came to the throne, there was no coin at all!

There are many aristocratic families and manors everywhere. In this self-sufficient society, business will naturally shrink.What's more, after years of wars and chaos, the Western Jin government simply did not have the ability to mine copper or issue currency.Therefore, the money that can be seen in the market now is just an antique left over from the previous generation.The money of the Han Dynasty was already considered good, but the bad money made by Dong Zhuo was useless at all, and the coins issued by each of the three kingdoms of Wei, Shu and Wu were not enough.As for the "straight one hundred and five baht" of Shu and Soochow, that is, a big coin worth one hundred and five baht, it is even more frivolous and cannot be equal to the face value of the currency.

This problem is serious when a coin is not circulated in large quantities, but is used as a decoration for face-saving behaviors such as rewards and burials of the powerful class.No matter how ignorant Liang Feng is of economics, he also knows that using currency instead of barter is the only way forward for society.If you want to further develop your business, you still have to issue your own coins after all.

But the various concerns that Duan Qin mentioned had to be considered.Of the three prefectures under his command, according to memory calculations, only Hedong, which is later known as Yuncheng in Shanxi, has copper mines.But Hedong is in the hands of the Huns, and it won't be able to take it down in a while.And when you get copper, how to mint coins, how much to issue, and even how to circulate are also big questions.If there is more and less, it will cause social turmoil. How can we not be cautious?

Sighing lightly, Liang Feng backed down: "Let the doctors of Qiuzhi Institute study it first. Minting coins is a very important matter, and it will be put on the table sooner or later. It cannot be ignored. However, Haixing Port still cannot be settled with silk, and the food is still not available. It should be put in the first place. The foundations of Si and Jizhou are weak, and it will take time to restore the output of the year, and grain storage is the top priority."

These years, the weather conditions are not very good.The chaos in Bingzhou at the beginning was precisely because of the severe drought in several states at the same time.And there are definitely more than one large-scale weather changes.Drought, flood, locust, frost, hail, one after another, the impact on farming society can be imagined.It was also the worst time for Sima Clan, the weather was like bungee jumping, and the group of county kings continued to devote themselves to beating human heads into dog heads.It's like an old birthday star hanged himself, he's tired and crooked!

Taking advantage of the fact that the Xiongnu, Shile, and the small court in Yangzhou are too busy to take care of themselves, it is the most important thing for development to quickly recuperate.

There is only so much he can do.

It's the fall semester.Liang Feng's eyes could not help turning to the exam questions sent on the case.The exam questions given by Fan Jijiu were much more difficult.I don't know how many useful talents can be selected in this subject...

The author has something to say: Qin Zhidao is also a super-large project. It starts from Yunyang Linguang Palace (now Liangwudi Village, Chunhua County, which means Emperor Wu enjoys the coolness), an important military site in Xianyang, Kyoto, in the south, and ends in Jiuyuan County (now Baotou City, Inner Mongolia) in the north. Southwest Mengjiawan Village), across 14 counties, more than 700 kilometers.The widest part of the road is about 60 meters, and generally 20 meters.In fact, the first emperor was similar to Yang Guang, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty. They were both keen to play with infrastructure. They walked a hundred steps in one breath, and then played themselves to death_(:з」∠)_

As for the issue of coins, the courts of the Jin and Jin Dynasties did not mint money at all. Only during the Taixing period of Emperor Xiaoyuan of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (318-321 AD), Wu Xing and Shen Chong issued some small coins with large holes privately.From the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Southern and Northern Dynasties, there were quite a few regimes that minted coins. I don’t understand why the Sima family didn’t do it _(:з」∠)_