The military and political officials were all worried and raised many difficult questions.

Li You smiled: "Let's not just see the difficulties, let's talk about something happy first." ”

As he spoke, he pointed at Wu Xu and smiled: "Money is asked everywhere, but our Minister Wu has brought us a lot of income." Come, tell us about it. ”

Wu Xu was the imperial court's minister of commerce, concurrently serving as the commerce secretary of the two newly established provinces, and was currently in charge of tax revenue.

In order to appease the newly acquired areas of the two provinces, the Tang Dynasty wanted to let the local people get tangible benefits, so the imperial court implemented a policy of tax reduction and exemption for these two places.

The taxation of the Tang Dynasty was based on the land-based two-tax system, and the other taxes were called miscellaneous taxes, mainly commercial taxes, of which salt, wine, tea, and customs were the four main taxes.

Salt, wine, and tea are easy to explain, but what is this "off"? "Guan" refers to customs duties, or tolls.

Taxes on agriculture and taxes on the common people, such as taxes on the common people, were exempted, but miscellaneous taxes had to be paid as usual.

The two newly established provinces, Angart and Pakistan, are geographically important and are key links between Tibet, Tianzhu, Persia and Dashi.

Especially after the establishment of a commercial center in Kabul, commerce flourished. In terms of taxation, the government can not only collect a large amount of commercial taxes, but also a large number of customs duties.

The amount of these two taxes is significant, and will increase further as the influence of Kabul's commercial and trade center grows further.

Prior to this, the exact amount was not yet known because the commercial center had just taken shape, and the statistical work of calculating taxes on a quarterly basis had not been completed.

Wu Xu briefed the military and political officials on taxes and other revenues.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the total of business taxes and duties in the last quarter of this year is 1.41 million."

"What, there are so many?" Abhassan was shocked.

While it is not clear whether this number is more or less, Abu Hassan does. The commercial taxes and customs duties they collected before added up to only 560,000 yuan of Kaiyuan Tongbao for the whole year, but when people came to Wuxu, the increase in tax revenue reached such a point.

After explaining the previous tax situation to everyone, he said excitedly: "If this continues, the future will be better." ”

Wu Xu said: "This is just the beginning. With the further expansion of the influence of the business center, the commercial tax and customs duties will increase further. It is expected that the total amount of tax revenue will at least quadruple in no more than three years. ”

The generals of the military knew very little about taxation and other issues, but seeing the civilians so happy, they knew that there must be a big increase in business taxes.

Wu Xu suggested: "My lord, the minister suggested that the tariffs be lowered temporarily in order to attract more merchants to the Kabul trade center. ”

Li You nodded and said: "It's a good idea, it reduces the cost of customs clearance for merchants, and it can indeed attract more merchants to come to the trade center for trading." I propose the adoption of Minister Wu's proposal. ”

The first person Ma Zhou admires the most is Li You, and the second is this Minister of Wu, who was in charge of Chang'an City Construction back then, and he dealt with Wu Xu a lot. He said, "The minister seconded the proposal. ”

Abu Hassan understands this, and he agrees.

The rest of the people didn't know much about it, but it sounded like a good thing, and everyone didn't object to it. So Wu Xu's proposal was passed.

Wu Xu continued: "With the approval of the prince, salt, tea, and wine are monopolized by the local government, relying on the domestic advantages of the Tang Dynasty, and in the last quarter of this year alone, the income has reached 7 million. ”

When she said this, Zhang Guigui couldn't help but say: "Let me tell you, this wine and tea are mainly produced by my brother You, and now they are used for the local government to operate, and most of the profits earned are left to the local government, so it can be said that most of this money should originally be my brother You's own." ”

Li You did give the profits to the local government, and he basically handed over most of the tea and high-grade liquor to the local government at a slightly higher price than the cost.

When Zhang Guigui said this, everyone felt that His Royal Highness King Qi was indeed a high wind and bright festival, and everyone expressed their admiration.

Zhang Guigui couldn't help it again, he said: "To tell you the truth, there are also my shares in wine and tea, and I will also have a share of the money you spend in the future." ”

Li You has never forgotten Zhang Guigui and Yin Guanghao in business, and he basically has shares in both of them in his industry.

Li You smiled and said: "Precious, on behalf of the government and the people of the two new regions, thank you for your contribution, okay." ”

When Li You said this, Zhang Guigui was a little embarrassed. He said: "Brother You, you are the big head, don't mention the little brother." Ha ha! ”

Cheng Yanjin has a stake in the sugar industry with Li You, and sugar is a big business, and if it is shipped to Kabul, it can also make a fortune. He was also a little moved when he saw Zhang Guigui, but when he saw that Li You didn't mention it, he couldn't help but say nothing.

At present, the sugar beet planting area in Shaanzhou and other places is not large, and the sugar produced is only enough to supply Chang'an and Luoyang.

As for the huge amount of salt and tea, as well as alcohol, Li You's large-scale trafficking organized by Li You can be regarded as a convenience for both public and private purposes.

After Wu Xu finished his introduction, Li You said, "Li Duan, let's talk about it." ”

Li Duan stood up and said, "Lord Wang, so far, the industrial investment in the Kabul area has been a total of 680,000 yuan.

Since the last quarter, some enterprises have begun to put into production and have achieved part of the sales revenue. So far, it has generated a profit of 270,000 kan.

It is expected that the full investment will be recovered in the first half of next year, and some profits will be generated.

With further investment and construction, the industry in the Kabul area will reach a certain size. Chen dared to guarantee that after three years, the annual industrial income would not be less than 10 million yuan. ”

"Gee, that's great." Everyone was very happy to hear the good news.

The generals of the military, especially the generals of the client states, heard that the industry and commerce here had such a large income, and knew that what Li You said about exempting their own country's military expenses was guaranteed.

"This is just the beginning, and I will talk about the use of prisoners of war and newly recruited troops," Li said.

In order to ensure the economic income of the two new provinces, I plan to send 12,000 Aryan prisoners of war to the salt base in Tuyuhun to increase the labor force there. ”

Li Tongshan immediately said: "Your Highness, this idea is good, and the minister agrees." The transfer of these 12,000 people from the first fort not only reduced the burden on the imperial court, eliminated the hidden dangers of public security, but also increased the labor force for the imperial court. Good idea. ”

Latif, as the governor in charge of the Bajistan province, was most worried about these Aryan prisoners of war. Once these people are re-displaced into society, it will really be a headache for him.

He also expressed his approval. He said, "Your Highness, what about the 40,000 troops that have been recruited? ”

Li You said: "Although these people are all you Darobitun people, they are the old army after all, and they cannot be relied on to protect the security of Baijistan Province.

But so many people, disbanding all at once, and letting them go to society, is also a big security risk.

My idea is to select 10,000 men from among them, get rid of all the old officers, and select a trustworthy person among you Darobitu people to serve as the main officer, and the Tang Army will train them, organize them into a new army, and unify them under the command of the Duke of the Kingdom.

The remaining 30,000 people were dismissed from the old, weak, sick and disabled, dismissed from the army, and turned them into workers, so as to enrich the ranks of workers in industrial construction on the one hand, and turn them into transport teams responsible for transporting official products such as grain, tea, liquor, and especially salt from Longyou Province and Tuyuhun to the two new provinces and regions. ”

Latif said excitedly: "Your Highness has a good idea, which not only solves the problem of social stability, but also solves the livelihood problem for these people. ”

Wu Xu interjected and said: "The prince has reached an agreement with the Persians, Da Shi, Tu Shan and Tianzhu people, they can digest more than 6 million quintals of salt every year, and transport such a large amount of salt, these people can just come in handy." ”

"Okay, great." Cheng Yanjin is in charge of the military, and these newly incorporated troops have always been a big trouble for him. He was naturally very happy to be able to solve it in this way.

Murong Ling said happily, "Thank you, Your Highness." ”

When she said this, everyone understood what she meant. A large amount of salt is sold, of which they have a 30% stake in Tuyuhun, which is equivalent to adding a lot of wealth to Tuyuhun.

The generals of those servant countries were very envious, and even Ashina Qing was a little jealous that Tuguhun had such a big salt lake.

Li You said: "The armies of your various countries have come from afar and have made great contributions to ensuring the stability of the two new provinces and regions. Starting next year, all military expenses will be borne here. All officers and soldiers, including the Tang Army, in addition to the salaries stipulated by the imperial court, will also pay border allowances to all officers and soldiers. ”

"Great! The ministers agreed. The generals applauded.

Li You continued: "I once said that not only should you be exempted from military spending, but also find ways to increase your domestic revenue, but you need to do this yourself. ”

As soon as Li You said this, the generals became excited. They had heard that His Royal Highness King Qi was a ruthless man, and the people who went out to fight with him had always come back with a fortune.

In the battle between Kabul and the Feituo Kingdom, Li You did not let them get rich in advance, but asked them to strictly discipline the army, conscientiously restrain the troops, and not disturb the people.

At that time, he promised that he would have a chance to make them rich in the future.

Now, when they heard Li You say let them figure out their own way, they immediately understood that this was to let them get rich.

Ashnasimo asked, "Your Highness, you say, where are we going to fight?" ”

"Yes, Your Highness, you have to find a place with money." The generals said one after another.

Li You said: "I have already chosen a target, it is very rich, and there is gold everywhere. ”

Although Zhang Guigui is now a rich man, the money he earned seems to be not as happy as the one he robbed, he said: "Brother You, don't sell Guanzi, quickly say where is it?" ”

"Yes, tell me, Your Highness, where is it? Which country is it? The generals said anxiously.