Chapter 344: Profit-seeking

"Sang Hong sheep?" Zhang Yunwen repeated the name, he knew this person.

Slowly walking back to the center of the study, Zhang Yunwen clenched his fists and said: "Your Majesty, this person is an important minister of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. It was in charge of the national economy and had been in charge of the central government's finances for nearly 40 years. It can be said that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was able to defeat the Xiongnu three times, in addition to the sufficient treasury reserves left by the Wenjing and Jing dynasties, this Sang Hong sheep dispatched from it to manage the wealth of the world, which can provide sufficient materials for Emperor Wu's expedition! ”

Li Shimin said "um", but handed the book in his hand to Zhang Yunwen: "This "The Biography of the Colonies" and "The Book of Pinghuai", I don't know if you have read it?" ”

Zhang Yunwen was suddenly a little surprised: "I read it before, but after I joined the army, I saw less, and I could only remember some faintly!" ”

"Alas, I don't know how many times I have read these two articles, as well as the "Pipe" and "Treatise on Salt and Iron", every time I read it, it seems that I have gained something in my heart, but when I think about it carefully, it seems that I have gained nothing! Could it be that my intentions are not as deep as those of the ancients? Li Shimin sighed lightly.

"Why did Your Majesty say this?" Zhang Yunwen asked suspiciously.

Li Shimin smiled, but stood up, paced in the room, glanced at Zhang Yunwen, and said: "Yunwen, before the military reform, you only had to make suggestions, but in the military reform, you were in charge of everything, but you didn't know much about these expenditures!" Do you know how much money the imperial court spent on this military reform? In order to support 400,000 recruited soldiers, how much money should the imperial court spend every year as military expenses in the future? ”

Zhang Yunwen was stunned for a moment, he didn't think much about this, firstly, these things did not belong to his scope of responsibility, and secondly, he was not a professional in finance and economics, and he didn't know much about these things like income and expenditure.

Seeing Zhang Yunwen's expression, Li Shimin stared at his face tightly with a pair of eyes, and said: "So far, a total of 1.03 million yuan has been spent from the state treasury in this military reform. Among them, nearly 600,000 yuan is the military expenditure needed to form the army of the north and south. 400,000 yuan is the cost of relocating the families of conscripts! For this military reform, the treasury has spent almost one-tenth of it! ”

When Zhang Yunwen heard this number, he couldn't help but be a little surprised. Although he knew that this military reform would cost a lot of money, he didn't expect it to be so much.

"This is just the number of military reforms! The imperial court is responsible for the provision and salary of 400,000 recruited soldiers, and it also needs to spend hundreds of thousands of yuan every year. With such a heavy burden pressed, many people inside and outside the court have used this to oppose the military reform, if it weren't for me and a few ministers to suppress it, maybe these people would have turned the world upside down! Speaking of this, Li Shimin's tone slowed down, "So, I want to find a way to make money, to build a treasury, to block the mouths of the people, to raise and recruit soldiers!" ”

Zhang Yunwen flipped through the historical records in his hand: "Could it be that Your Majesty also wants to learn the method of Sang Hongyang?" ”

Li Shimin was silent for a moment, it seemed that he had considered this possibility.

Seeing that Li Shimin didn't speak, he didn't say anything, and looked down at the historical records in his hand.

Li Shimin, on the other hand, was pacing and thinking about things at the same time, as if he was thinking about Sang Hongyang's policies.

After reviewing "The Biography of the Goods Colony" and "The Book of Equalization", Zhang Yunwen already had a plan in his mind. asked Li Shimin cautiously at the moment: "I don't know that Your Majesty has taken a fancy to Sang Hongyang's measures and wants to emulate them?" ”

Li Shimin suddenly stopped, looked at Zhang Yunwen and said with a smile: "I look at the method of Sanghong sheep, there are salt, iron and wine official camps, there are equal losses, there are leveling, there are calculations, there are coins, there are Tuntian and other policies. Among the strategies, I am optimistic about the first four strategies, which can be discarded by the method of coinage and the border of Tuntian! ”

Zhang Yunwen said: "Now the Tang Dynasty is up and down, the implementation is the monopoly of salt and iron, the imperial court does not monopolize the benefits of salt and iron, for the salt and iron production area, set up institutions to manage, the imperial court sent salt and iron envoys to collect the benefits of salt and iron. If it is changed to the official camp of the imperial court, although it can increase the income of the imperial court, how can the merchants who make a living from salt and iron lose their livelihood? In this way, it will not cut off its way of life, and it will also hurt the business operation. And how much less business tax does my Datang have! These methods, together with the method of reckoning, can gain short-term benefits and harm long-term benefits! In addition, if the salt and iron are all in the official camp, the price is also set by the imperial court, and the price of salt and iron will definitely soar for profit. However, under the current situation, each family restricts each other, and its price is not high! ”

After listening to Zhang Yunwen's words, Li Shimin did not refute, but continued to ask: "Is the method of losing evenly and equalizing available?" ”

Zhang Yunwen thought about it and nodded: "This method of losing evenly is specially designed for tribute, and setting up equal-loss officials in each state and county to distinguish the good and bad of tribute, and take the best ones to pay tribute to the Jingshi, and the inferior ones to sell to other counties to obtain their profits." However, in today's Tang Dynasty, the annual tribute of various states and counties symbolizes far more than its value, and even if it is sold in other counties, the profit is not high. As for this method of equalization, it is to sell when it is expensive and buy it when it is cheap, so as to level the price. This law has already been implemented in Datang. ”

"Oh, in this way, none of this Sang Hongyang's strategy can be applied to my Datang?" Li Shimin said lightly.

Zhang Yunwen said solemnly: "Your Majesty's words are wrong, for this Sanghong sheep's law, Weichen thinks that he should take his god instead of his form." Take their views and use them for yourself! ”

Li Shimin said with a smile: "So, does Yunwen know something about this Sanghong Sheep God?" ”

Zhang Yunwen nodded and said, "Wei Chen looked at it once, and only saw two of his propositions. First, we should value commerce and agriculture and industry. Second, mountains, forests, rivers and rivers are all state-owned, so they need to be strictly controlled. For these two propositions, Wechen is very much in agreement. Your Majesty wants to make the treasury abundant, but you must pay attention to industry and commerce, and if you want to make the warehouses abundant, you must pay attention to agriculture. As for the mountains, forests, rivers and rivers being state-owned, they are afraid that the powerful will benefit the mountains and forests, and the light will bring disaster to the people, and the worst will harm the country! ”

Li Shimin listened to it with relish, and when Zhang Yunwen finished speaking, he stroked his palms and smiled: "Yunwen is worthy of being born in a scholarly family, although he is a military general, but this ability to read is powerful, after reading it twice, you can see its roots!" If you want to make the treasury abundant, you have to pay attention to industry and commerce, and if you want to make the warehouses abundant, you have to pay attention to agriculture. Let me ask you, how can this industrial and commercial industry be revitalized, and how should this agriculture be important? ”

Zhang Yunwen was speechless for a moment, his eyes wandered around, and his footsteps slowly paced, looking to find inspiration.

It's a pity that after walking around the house for a while, I still have no clue in my head. Suddenly, he saw some flocculent objects scattered around the edges of the ornate carpet on the floor, presumably hanging from the carpet.

"Flocculation...... Batting...... Cotton ......" Suddenly Zhang Yunwen had a flash of inspiration, and said to Li Shimin: "Your Majesty, Weichen has thought of it!" This method of revitalizing industry can develop cotton textiles! ”

"Cotton? Cotton? Li Shimin was puzzled, what are these things?

Zhang Yunwen hurriedly explained: "This cotton is the raw material for weaving white folded cloth!" There is one over there in Gaochang. This kind of cotton is no more than three feet high, and when it is planted, it can be planted on sandy land without occupying fertile land, and it is extremely resistant to drought. Where crops are not suitable for planting crops in Longyou Prefecture, this thing can be planted. This cotton is picked and spun into cloth, which is white folded cloth. If we Datang introduces this kind of cotton on a large scale and develops cotton textile on a large scale, it can greatly promote the development of industrial paper! ”

When Li Shimin heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up: "Is this true? ”

"How dare Weichen deceive Your Majesty!"

"Good!" Li Shimin slapped his thigh, sat back at the desk, picked up the pen, and wrote in a dance.

Putting down the pen, Li Shimin asked again: "What other good strategies are there?" ”

Zhang Yunwen shook his head: "The strategy of heavy industry, Weichen only thinks of this." As for the pro-mercantile policy, it is nothing more than measures such as tax cuts, and the ministers of the household department must have taken a variety of measures, and the ministers will not be here to show ugliness! The last heavy farmer, the current plan, is to expand the number of fields and increase the output! ”

Li Shimin couldn't help but be slightly disappointed when he heard this.

Seeing this, Zhang Yunwen immediately smiled and said: "Your Majesty should brainstorm ideas, and eventually someone capable person can come up with an appropriate strategy." Besides, as Taishi Gong said, the world is bustling, all for profit; The world is crowded, all for profit. All the people in the world are naturally profit-oriented, as long as Your Majesty is appropriately guided and lured by profit, then all the people in the world will rush to it, but whether it is heavy agriculture or heavy industry and commerce, will it be heavy? ”

Li Shimin nodded, pondered for a moment, but said: "The things that Yunwen talked about are all long-term benefits, but I am eager to seek great profits, so as to block the mouths of the people and raise recruits!" ”

Zhang Yunwen heard this, but was silent. Brain teasers, thinking about activities that can make huge profits in the short term. Mining? Plunder? Trade? Sea?

Go to sea, yes, go to sea! Zhang Yunwen's heart moved. Nowadays, the Tang Dynasty's maritime industry is very developed, and there is no such thing as a sea ban, if the government takes the lead, drives a giant boat out of the East China Sea to pass through Goryeo, Silla, and the Wa Kingdom, operates a ship to go out of the South China Sea, sells Tang specialties, plunders the resources of Southeast Asia, and makes huge short-term profits, I am afraid it is worth the tax income of the imperial court.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yunwen immediately said this thought.

When Li Shimin heard this, he frowned and said, "Can this maritime trade really make such huge profits?" Also, is there no country on these Nanhai islands that you can exploit their minerals? ”

Zhang Yunwen smiled: "Your Majesty, please don't doubt it. Weichen gave His Majesty a simple account. If Weichen has three ships, it can carry thousands of stones! ”

Li Shimin suddenly laughed when he heard this: "Your boat is so small!" ”

Zhang Yunwen ignored the laughter and continued to calculate: "Weichen trafficked in thousand-stone lacquerware, Shu brocade, silk silk, etc., and spent a total of 3,000 yuan. During the period of three months, he traveled to the east to the sea and went to the Wa Kingdom, and the value increased tenfold, and he got 30,000 yuan. Then buy back the special products of the Japanese country, spend three months, and return to Middle-earth. The profits from the sale of Japanese goods have multiplied several times. Isn't that a very profitable profit? ”

Li Shimin swallowed his saliva and nodded: "Well, extremely high, very high!" ”

"Let's talk about the South China Sea Islands, although there are human traces on them, they have not yet been civilized, and they are naked and chase between the mountains and forests, hunting birds and beasts. And its physical characteristics are very different from those of the Han people. Isn't it a merit for us to spread the king's transformation and preach in the South China Sea? At the end, Zhang Yunwen couldn't help laughing.

Li Shimin stroked his beard: "Yunwen's words are extremely true!" Okay, I'll make a note of it first, and I'll make plans after I find someone to sum it up! Oh, by the way......" Li Shimin suddenly seemed to remember something, "Yunwen, how do you know about this matter in the East China Sea and the South China Sea?" ”

"Uh......" Zhang Yunwen was speechless for a moment, but his mouth was divided, "This ...... This, didn't the Wa State send an envoy to the Tang Dynasty a few years ago? This matter of the East China Sea was learned from the mouth of the Tang envoy. As for the South China Sea, it is...... It's, uh, the king of Linyi was gossiping about it during that time in Chang'an! ”

Zhang Yunwen quickly found an excuse, looked at Li Shimin, and saw that the latter seemed to be careless, so he was relieved.