Brother Song Taizu

Chapter 80: The trading company stole all the taxes?
The old lady personally serves as the chairman of the board and wants to take her grandson Zhao Dezhao to Guanzhong to purchase saltpeter mines!
As soon as the news came out, the world...

Anyway, since the establishment of the Song Dynasty, His Highness the King of Qin has always caused an uproar in the world. Although everyone was shocked, everyone actually felt like they were used to it.

As expected of His Highness the King of Qin, there is nothing he does that is not unexpected.

It's outrageous, but it doesn't seem so. After all, the trading house is only a trading house in name. It is a small business done by the royal family of Zhao Song. Since the three brothers all have shares, and the three brothers are so busy, they serve in the court. If there is an important position, it seems reasonable for the old lady to step in and take charge.

In many private businesses like this, mothers are in charge.

As for Zhao Dezhao being young, well... Zhao Guangmei is not much older than Zhao Dezhao. The old Zhao family is very precocious. It is just a matter of buying some saltpeter ore. In fact, it is indeed a very simple matter.

But you are not outrageous. Who in the world doesn't know that this trading company is trying to grab the business of Changyuan and Salt and Iron Division, and even wants to become the fourth division of the three divisions. In all dynasties, unless she listens to politics behind the curtain, how can the queen mother herself What’s the point of doing things in person?This queen's power is in conflict with the king's power!
Everyone in the world felt that this matter was inappropriate and were not satisfied with it, but the business itself was so privately owned by the Zhao family, and Zhao Kuangyin was known to everyone as a filial son, that no one really dared to say anything about it. Whatever, any dissatisfaction has to be suppressed.

At most, he could only say one sentence: His Highness, King Qin, is really evil.

After that, Zhao Guangmei even made it mandatory that no matter how busy he was every afternoon when he was working, he would take time to give a one-hour lecture on economics and business management. In his previous life, he was a restaurant owner, but he was also a boss. Always know something about this kind of thing.

It is required that all retired veterans and their personal soldiers must learn, and all management positions above the middle level of commercial banks must pass the exam before they can take up their posts.

If there are people who are really unwilling to study, you are welcome to go home and lie down. The dividends will not be less when the time comes. Zhao Guangmei does not mind raising them as children of the Eight Banners.

In this way, all the retired generals will be honest. If anyone comes to Zhao Guangmei to intercede again, Zhao Guangmei can just spread his hands and say: "I can't make the decision, my mother has the final say in the business of the trading company."

Of course, everyone in the world knew that Zhao Guangmei was using the old lady as a shield, and the real power of the trading company was still in Zhao Guangmei's hands.

…………

As the saying goes, if you have books, you will be long, if you don't have books, you will be short. In the blink of an eye, one year passed. The first year of the founding of the Song Dynasty was not smooth, but everything went smoothly.

The business of the commercial bank has finally got on the right track after one year of management by Zhao Guangmei. It is divided into three categories: light industry, heavy industry and service industry.

The light industry category mainly makes money through monopoly. Currently, it is mainly engaged in soap, candles, liquor, fruit wine and other businesses. It focuses on low input and high output, and is the cash cow of the commercial bank.

To put it bluntly, with Zhao Guangmei’s identity and background, it is difficult to make money from this three-piece time traveler suit, not to mention that he doesn’t have to pay taxes.

In terms of heavy industry, saltpeter mines are currently the main focus. At the same time, Zhao Guangmei came forward to merge the current factories of various armies. He gave a symbolic grant of [-] yuan to purchase the iron smelting, fried iron, cast iron, armor, weapons, and arrows of each army. The military manufacturing factories and yards finally fell into his hands.

The original production model of Changyuan was allocated by the imperial court. Changyuan used the court's money to purchase raw materials and pay workers, and the armor and weapons they cast were directly distributed to the army.

After Zhao Guangmei took over, it was changed to a procurement system. The Privy Council directly invited bids for commercial banks according to the annual plan. The front department, the guards' Ma Jun department, and the guards' infantry department conducted competitive bidding respectively. The one with the lowest price won the bid, and the one with the lowest quality would be deducted. money.

As for the service business, in Zhao Guangmei’s words, it does not seek to make money, but serves the soldiers of the Forbidden Army. So far, there is only one business, which is to convert the pergola originally planned to be built in each army into a theater tea house, and professional military school.

All in all, he had a very fulfilling life this year, and his results were naturally outstanding.

In the blink of an eye, the autumn harvest came again, and all the yamen in the Northern Song Dynasty were busy, especially the three divisions. Such was the nature of the yamen, it was not usually very busy, but at the beginning and end of each year It will be extremely busy during the harvest and autumn harvest, and I wish I could divide it into eight for one person.

Zhao Kuangyin was also extremely nervous at this time. He wanted to go to Sansi seven or eight times a day to check the annual income results at any time. This was his first fiscal year after becoming emperor, so he was naturally extremely concerned about it.

There are too many things he wants to do, and they are too big. Whether it is to resist the Khitan or conquer Jiangnan, a lot of money is needed. In this year, after eliminating the old and weak, the imperial army has carried out a large-scale expansion, bringing together elite troops from all over the country. All the troops were mobilized. When he first became emperor last year, there were only 13 soldiers in the imperial army. This year, there are already 16. He plans to expand it to 20 within five years. These are all professional soldiers and they cost money to support. ah.

"Have you still not calculated this year's finances and taxes?"

Xue Juzheng smiled bitterly when he heard this, and couldn't help but sweat profusely. This was the sixth time Zhao Kuangyin asked him in the past three days.

"Back to the official house, the grain tax from the Ministry of Revenue has been calculated. Last year, the year was not very good, only the Xiande period, [-]%."

"Why is it only [-]%?"

Zhao Kuangyin was dissatisfied. Could it be that the Song Dynasty was not as good as the Zhou Dynasty?
"The main reason is that the Khitan invaded more frequently last year and the pressure on the border troops was greater. The kings of Wei and Jin both fortified the walls and cleared the country several times. You also exempted Hedong from taxes this year. In addition, there was a slight drought in Henan. Therefore, the food supply It’s true that the photo collection is less than before.”

Zhao Kuangyin suddenly realized it, but he was also quite irritable for a while.

There was nothing that could be done about it, because last year Zhao Guangmei destroyed the Northern Han Dynasty and regained Hedong. This was certainly a good thing, but it also really annoyed the Liao Kingdom.Although Yelujing was a foolish king, he was also a pacifist. When Chai Rong regained the three states of Guannan, he once said, "This was originally Han land, and it is natural for it to be returned to Han people now." This was simply a bastard statement within the Liao Kingdom, but Nannan The great king of the academy, Yelv Xiezhen, was a militant faction.

Therefore, although the Liao Kingdom did not move south on a large scale, small-scale harassment continued. Yelv Xiezhen even conquered Yanmen Pass himself and tried to attack Taiyuan, but after two days of fighting he felt that he could not win and then went back.

Although it can't be said to be a major war, at least Kaifeng's Forbidden Army never went to rescue, and Fu Yanqing and Li Jun also organized counterattacks. Both sides had their own wins and losses, and no one took much advantage. However, Yelu Xiezhen's style of play, However, this war ultimately delayed the farming season.

"Yelu Xiezhen is really abominable. It's a pity that the dynasty has just been established and it's time to recuperate. It's not appropriate to go to war with the Liao Kingdom now. Let's see if he will restrain himself next year. If he doesn't know what's good for him, , we will lead the elite of the Imperial Army to meet him in person."

When all the ministers heard this, they were all silent.

Everyone knows that what he said was just being tough. Today, the military strategy of the Song Dynasty still advocates the order of south and north. Yelu shuddered.

Although the Northern Han Dynasty has perished, the military tacit understanding between the Liao Kingdom and the Song Dynasty is still there. The national policy of the Liao Kingdom has already changed since the beginning of this generation. It is in the transition period from strongman politics to system construction. The overall military strategy advocates defense. To appease Youyun, they were not willing to start a national war with the Song Dynasty.

Therefore, this year's Song-Liao war was always fought by Yelu Xiezhen, Fu Yanqing, and Li Jun. Everyone unanimously agreed not to send out the main force. However, even so, it was nothing more than a blunt knife for both sides. Cutting the flesh involves slowly bleeding out.

Although the Song Dynasty was richer than the Khitan, this kind of war of attrition was still uncomfortable.

"What about finance and taxation? How much is the calculation of finance and taxation?"

"Well... I haven't finished the specific calculation yet, but it should be roughly between 700 million and 800 million. I'm afraid it will be difficult to have a surplus, and even... maybe, there will be a deficit."

Zhao Kuangyin couldn't help but became furious: "How much? Between seven and eight million yuan? Why is it so little? Last year, the annual income was clearly more than 800 million yuan. Why was it so much less when you were replaced as the third envoy? Come on! Were those more than 1000 million yuan taken away by you? Why did we actually suffer a loss after replacing you?"

Upon seeing this, Xue Juzheng knelt down and apologized: "Guan, last year you first gave rations to the river workers, and then reduced the horse administration and leather administration in Hebei. The expenses were indeed much higher than in the previous dynasty, and, and... "

"And what?"

"Moreover, the decrease in annual income this year is indeed related to the business."

"Commercial bank? Isn't the money used by the commercial bank the money earned by Lao San himself?"

"Guan family, last year, the wine sold by the merchants alone was at least tens of thousands of kilograms, and they all made their own wine. Just for this alone, the Salt and Iron Department had to collect more than 100 million guan less in wine tax, and His Highness once told me that since this year, the iron smelting output of the trading company has increased by a full [-]%. In addition to military use, it has also been involved in a large number of civilian iron products. Although there is no fixed number, but even if it is less, I am afraid that the salt iron As a result, the company will have to collect at least more than one million yuan less in taxes."

Zhao Kuangyin was stunned for a moment, but then he understood. What Xue Juzheng calculated was only obvious and easily calculated amounts, such as the tax on distiller's yeast and the tax on cast iron. In fact, as long as you calculate how much wine the company produced throughout the year and how much it sold, How much iron is there, one can roughly calculate how much tax the trading company has evaded in total.

And the invisible taxes that the Salt and Iron Division has collected less due to the rise of commercial banks are probably even more significant.

After all, although the taxes in the early Song Dynasty were complicated, they were essentially based on the Two Tax Laws. The Two Tax Laws said that one thousand to ten thousand were property taxes, such as real estate tax, transaction tax, and production materials tax. To put it simply, That is to say, the richer people are, the more severe the tax collection. Those merchants who make more money pay more taxes, and the transaction tax is as high as 25%. Nowadays, all this money has been earned by the merchants.

When the merchant bank makes money, the merchants whose business it robbed will naturally earn less. As a result, these merchants will naturally buy less property and the property tax will naturally be less.

Under such circumstances, if the Salt and Iron Division collects only [-]% less this year, I am afraid that Xue Juzheng has really done a good job.

"The trading house... how much profit did it make this year?"

"I don't know. I have never asked about the accounts of the merchant bank. I really don't know."

But I saw Wang Pu, who had been silent, suddenly said: "I heard that the company may get involved in sugar and salt production next year, and may purchase salt mines. In this way, next year's annual income will be Isn’t it even less?”

Xue Juzheng was in a dilemma for a while, but in the end, he let out a long sigh and said: "It depends on how much salt the company will make. Sugar is not bad. The key is salt, which is a major financial and tax item. If the salt tax is really paid, If the problem is solved, it’s not impossible to cut next year’s annual income...in half.”

Seeing this, Wang Pu suddenly raised his hands in anger and said: "Officials, I dare not say that His Highness the King of Qin and the trading houses are competing with the people for profit. However, I believe that the trading houses must be placed under the third department, and the taxes that should be paid must be paid. ! It has only been a year, and the commercial banks have already misappropriated finances and taxes to such an extent. Minister, I beg the officials to reprimand the King of Qin for the sake of the country and the world, and order the merchants to make rectifications. If the officials tolerate it, the court's annual income will not be able to make ends meet. This is going to happen. Something big happened!"

Zhao Kuangyin's face was extremely gloomy and he said nothing, but his hand could not help but hold the jade ax in his hand.

But Zhao Guangyi also stepped forward and said: "Brother, I also think this is not good. The business firm does not pay taxes. For us, it is nothing more than the left hand paying the right hand. However, not to mention the profits of the business bank, our Zhao family I only took [-]%. My brother heard that because the trading houses were strong, many private merchants would do everything possible to establish relationships with the trading houses in order to evade taxes. When the local government faced the trading houses, they were weak after all. They dare not forcefully levy them. Who knows how many merchants in the world are stealing taxes in this way? Although I also hold [-]% of the shares in the business, I think that we, indeed, cannot Don’t let third brother fool around anymore.”

(End of this chapter)