Chapter 247: Family Affairs (I)

Yan Liben, Li Jingxuan, Liu Renliang, Zhang Wenjun, Hao Chujun, Dai Zhide, as well as various servants and Shangshu, such as Liu Xianli, Li Yiyan, Lai Heng, Xue Yuanchao, Gao Zhizhou, Pei Xingjian and others all arrived. I don't know what's going on, it turns out that the crown prince has been observing, and it is unprecedented to convene various prime ministers and ministers together with various ministers and scholars like this.

When they arrived at the Yanying Palace, Li Wei asked them to sit down and pick up a towel made of cotton cloth, which is also new, cotton cloth is highly absorbent, and it used to be used as clothing because it was expensive, but now cotton is planted, so someone makes a towel out of cloth.

Then he asked, "How much does a foot of silk cloth like this cost?" ”

There are really not many ministers who know, and they don't know the price of firewood, rice, oil, and salt, but most of these ministers will be in this family.

Or Dai Zhide said: "The palace is all made of fine silk, and each foot is about thirty wen. This is this year, the country has cotton, if in previous years, the fine silk is about 40 yuan per foot, which is comparable to the price of cotton silk, second only to silk cloth. ”

"And what about the rough silk used by the people?"

"Coarse and vulgar is not durable, so it is very cheap, the price used to be about ten wen per foot, slightly lower than raw silk, Dalian, linen, and cloth, but more expensive than Xiaolian, Victorian cloth and small water cloth, and burlap. This year, because there are more cotton plants, the price has dropped a bit. Each foot is about nine wen. There is a possibility that it will drop a little more next year. ”

At present, there is no special study of what economics is, but we also know that low prices have more benefits than disadvantages for the country. When food is cheap, the people will not go hungry, and when the cloth is cheap, the people will have clothes to wear. Very simple practical theory. After Dai Zhide finished speaking, he looked at Li Wei suspiciously, I don't know what the prince Tibu is doing?

Li Wei had some praise in his eyes, Dai Zhide, as the prime minister, of course it was impossible to go to the market to ask what prices were available, but if he cared, it showed that he had a heart. And this prime minister is very low-key, and the people think that he is just an elder like Yan Liben. Li Wei knew how many recitals he had reviewed every day, and how many suggestions he had written to his father. But he is low-key, and he never says anything about it. It's a virtuous man.

Li Wei secretly promised in his heart that he would not say anything. Boasting about Dai Zhide is not necessarily a good thing for Dai Zhide. He asked again: "Dai Xianggong, then I ask you, how much fabric do you need to make a dress?" ”

This question is inaccurate, it depends on whether it is a robe or a short coat, but the gap between the two is very large. The height of each person is different, the skeleton of men and women is different, and simple clothes are different from those with frills or petticoats. However, since the prince asked, Dai Zhide had to estimate it and replied: "About three or four feet less, about six or seven feet more." ”

"That is, each piece of clothing plus sewing work will cost at least 30 or even 60 yuan."

"About the same."

This refers to the clothes worn by the common people, if the fabric used is the kind of Shu brocade that Li Wu bought for his parents, it is not thirty Wen, it will be a thousand times more than ten times. Of course, Li Wei didn't expect the common people to wear such clothes, nor did he do it for the clothes. It's a winding way, a deliberative approach.

Then he said: "The common people are also human beings, and they will also have sickness, happy families, funerals, festivals, and sacrifices. It's not just about getting dressed, buying utensils, preparing food, it's more expensive. But can you tell Gu how much land each family can really own, regardless of the large households, medium households or ordinary households? ”

Dai Zhide frowned, according to the Juntian order, normal Ding Nan was awarded 100 acres of land, of which 20 acres were Yongye fields and 80 acres were mouth fields. However, now it is a dead letter, and he said: "It's hard to estimate, it's about forty acres." ”

"People with more than 40 acres are lucky. Lonely often goes out, and some only have a dozen acres of land per ding, or even only a few acres of land. If it is more than 40 acres, how many crops can be harvested per mu? Autumn received, although the harvest is slightly better, but there are still people in rotation ploughing, some of the harvest is poor, good land is thin, one acre of land combined, lonely about estimated, less than three stones. ”

Hao Chujun said: "Exactly, the three stones have to be missing, and they will not pass." But Your Highness, this is not bad, a few years ago there were only two stones per acre. If it weren't for the gradual reduction of rotational cultivation land, and the whole country would be considered to be in good weather, otherwise, it would be possible to increase production by less than half a stone. It's also gratifying...... Not only that, but because of the new crops, some cultivated land has been reclaimed, and these fields are harvested. ”

Half a stone is not surprising, but the increase in production throughout the Tang Dynasty will be staggering, at least this year there will be no starvation in most areas. Not only was there a new increase in arable land, but there was also a new way of thinking, begging for food from the mountains and water, and many people began to consciously raise and plant. It may not be good right away, but you can imagine what it will be like in a few years.

But Li Wei didn't say this, he paused, and said: "Even if you can have three stones in two seasons, twenty acres of land per ding, at least half of which will have to be taxed, and then seed fertilizer and farm tools, the people's income will only be thirty percent." ”

Everyone is ***. This is a conservative statement, to have such a harvest and cultivated area, in the Tang Dynasty was already a good family. There are many poor civilians who are far from reaching.

"That is, 36 to 40 stone of grain can be obtained for each ding, counting one wife and children, old and young, excluding rations, only ten stone of grain can be left, may I ask, how much is ten stone of grain worth? Firewood, rice, oil, salt, clothes and quilts, plus birth, old age, sickness and death, marriage, building houses, and management utensils, how much is left? This is still the people of Shangzhong, what if it is less than this number of fields? Can't even keep food and clothing? ”

Li Jingxuan said: "Your Highness is benevolent, but it has been like this since ancient times. In the future, the output will gradually increase, and there will be more cotton cloth, which will gradually improve. ”

"Wrong, this is a good year, can you remember the drought of the previous year? And that's the case right now, but the population of the whole country is not large, and if there are 680 million people, what will we do? ”

Everyone looked at each other.

Every dynasty has faced this problem, but no one has ever solved it.

Li Wei didn't plan to solve it, in fact, it was very simple, the tax could be exempted from the peasants, that is, more than a dozen acres of land, and the whole family could be fed, although it was very poor, but it would not starve to death. If you want to achieve it, you can only set up industry and commerce, and this topic is a forbidden area. Of course, the current industry and commerce still can't solve this problem, but at least a lot of taxes can be exempted, not like now, every ding needs to pay rent two stones, pay two zhang and five feet of cloth, three catties of hemp, 20 days of annual service, and some land taxes and a small amount of miscellaneous taxes, as well as household taxes, which are not very high, the whole country levies more than 100,000 yuan a year, and then let the high households lend high on behalf of the officials, as the official's money. The former is not high, and the latter hurts the people.

But Li Wei secretly investigated, and the rent modulation accepted by the people everywhere was far more than that. For example, the Tang Law stipulates that Zhu Ding is a husband who is exempt from regular duty for 40 days, 70 days of rent, and full exemption for more than 100 days. This refers to regular service, in fact, officials in various places let the people serve for far more than 20 days, and they do not want to delay local taxes, mixed with other names, it is not regular service, and they are not exempt from rent and mediocrity.

Therefore, Li Wei said that the people of 40 acres of land should pay half of the tax, which is not excessive, and the burden on the people is not light. But although some mistakes are made from time to time, my father is not as frugal as my father in his early years, but he can be regarded as clear-minded, so the people can tolerate it. For example, the drought of the year before last, the imperial court did a good job, after all, the national strength is so, if you want to do a good job, the country does not have this economy. Therefore the people did not complain heavily.

However, when the country settles down, the population will always increase, not to mention anything else, but he remembers how much time it took for China to go from 400 million to 1.3 billion people in later generations, and through a series of mistakes and disasters, there was also family planning. Don't look at the Tang Dynasty, including the number of households that have fled in hiding, the population is less than 40 million. As long as the national policy is appropriate, the population can increase by nearly half in just two or three decades. Of course, not now, there are too many poor tenant farmers, which restricts the increase in population. But an increase is inevitable. Now 100 acres of land is a luxury, and a few decades later, 40 acres of land has become a luxury. But 20 acres of land is not difficult, if you want 20 acres of land to feed a family, and go back to the original point, tax reform must be carried out.

But this problem, because it touched industry and commerce, Li Wei didn't dare to mention it, and he didn't plan to solve it. Therefore, he said: "In the final analysis, the harvest year is cheap, and it is also hurting the people." The imperial court used grain cloth as a rent again, which hurt the country again. In the year of disaster, the people will be hurt even more, and the country will have to pay for it, which will hurt the country even more. Therefore, I want the imperial court to come up with another batch of finances, buy them when they are cheap, and buy them when they are expensive. ”

"No," almost all of them said in unison.

"Lone knows what you're trying to say. Production is increasing, and the price of grain will be cheaper. Transferred to the Liangjing barn, the freight itself is a lot of money. The barn is damaged by the plough, and the filthy officials are greedy for ink. In the event of a disaster year, it may be useful. In the end, the grain rotted and deteriorated due to a long period of rest, and it became a serious loss. The country's vitality has not been fully restored, and there is not much money allocated to waste. ”

"Exactly, Your Highness thinks twice."

"Lone also knows, but after thinking about this for a long time, I have some thoughts in my heart, so I will discuss it with you. Lonely's thoughts, the imperial court doesn't need to give too much," he said, took out the account books of the household department, and continued: "Only take out 200,000 to 300,000 yuan. But not in the two capitals, the idea of loneliness in the heart, respectively in Yizhou, Qinzhou, Longzhou, Qingzhou, Yanzhou, Fenzhou, Bingzhou, Youzhou, Dengzhou nine state capitals set up a standing position. This year's harvest is bumper, and you can stock up on the spot to save a lot of freight. This Kyushu radiates many people in the mountainous areas who are prone to drought, and once in ten years, they can recover the imperial court's contributions. Especially in the Guanzhong Prefecture, it is not enough to set up a barn in the capital. Everyone can also see the events of the previous year, how much money was wasted just for freight? The second is also. In recent years, the Silla Turkic Tubo has not been very peaceful, and the imperial court will use a large army to suppress it at any time, just like the Lone Southwest Expedition last year, just because of the grain and grass, how much the country spent, and there are records in the account books of the household department. For another example, next year the imperial court will conquer Silla again. How much money will be saved by a one-time expedition, temporary requisition and preparation. Only one expedition can recoup the lost finances. Therefore, the isolated choice of Kyushu, which is connected to the border and not at the border, can ensure safety and can be transferred in time when the army is dispatched. This is the third also. If it is wasted, you can go out and inspect it, and some people feed their livestock directly because the grain is too cheap, or because the local transportation is inconvenient. In these nine states, except for Dengzhou and Yizhou, there are a large number of herders in the periphery of the herdsmen, and after a few years of storage, they can also be used as feed to feed livestock, which is not completely wasteful. This is the fourth also. The imperial court concentrated the barns in the two capitals in order to defend the two capitals, but the establishment of these states, from Yizhou to Bingzhou, are all the periphery of the two capitals. The periphery is restless, and the two capitals are peaceful? This is the fifth also. The grain is too cheap to hurt the people, but if 300,000 yuan is paid in advance, the price of grain will rise slightly, and the people's lives will be better. This is the sixth also. ”

There is another benefit, Li Wei did not say. The grain taxed by the imperial court accounted for a large share, and the slight increase in grain prices was also invisibly equivalent to an increase in taxes. It's like one year when Americans sank wheat into the sea because food was cheap, raising the price of grain. Whether this is the case or not, Li Wei is not sure. Therefore, not to mention.

In fact, this practice is very similar to the later Northern Song Dynasty. The Song Dynasty set up a large number of granaries in Hebei and Shaanxi, which were forced to be set up helplessly. Because of the invasion of Western Xia and Liao, a large number of troops were hoarded, and it was not like the Tang Dynasty now that it occupied many vast and sparsely populated areas, and it was possible to tuntian. I had no choice but to set up a large number of standing positions to prepare for disasters and military rations. The effect may not be very good, and a large amount of loss and greed for ink have become a burden on the country. In a year of great drought, it is far from enough to just close the warehouse and hoard grain. But it is better than the strategy of the Tang Dynasty following the Sui Dynasty, and there are also Yicang in various places, which are very small, mainly in Liangjing, and the freight alone is a staggering number.

There are still many drawbacks, but on the whole, it is a relatively progressive strategy, besides, it is only 300,000 yuan, and the court can still get it. Of course, the number of hoards is increasing year by year, and if there is a real disaster, it will have a positive effect. And there are also some advantages, according to the times, hoarding when grain is cheap, such as the current four or five cents a bucket of rice, there are hundreds of thousands of rice can hoard a large amount of grain. When the harvest is not good, you can put grain and sell it, that is, it is sold, which is lower than what the merchant sells, and it is also a disguised relief. The difference in price is more than enough to cover the loss. Of course, Li Wei didn't say it, and everyone also understood that when doing business, those who say it don't say it, and those who listen don't mention it. Coupled with all the other benefits, after Li Wei finished speaking, the ministers pondered together, but some ministers already showed a look of approval in their eyes.

But Li Wei said more than this, and said: "This method still treats the symptoms but not the root cause." ”

This period of history of the Northern Song Dynasty, he didn't know, he may have come up with some drawbacks, so he said: "The main thing is traffic and Guanzhong, there is a danger of mountains and rivers in Guanzhong, and it is above and below, so Xijing is the imperial capital of our dynasty." However, the territory of Guanzhong is mountainous and the traffic is blocked, so it is impossible to transport grain in a good year, and it is also inconvenient to transport production. In disaster years, it is not possible to mobilize in time. Therefore, I want to re-govern Weishui. In addition, since the year before last, many merchants have traveled up from the Han River and can reach the supplies only by crossing the Qinling Mountains. In fact, Danshui can be dredged, and materials can be transported to the territory of Shangzhou by boat. Not only food and materials, if the country changes in the future, it can be from Weishui, or from Danshui, and quickly transfer materials and military resources to Guanzhong, just in case. It's equivalent to one more road. An edict can also be issued to encourage large households in various places to build roads and bridges, build water conservancy, and facilitate transportation. ”

"His Royal Highness's intention is good, and he can punish the ring of Emperor Yang of Sui." Li Yiyan said.

"Lone is by no means Emperor Yang of Sui. How long is the Grand Canal, Weishui has, but the dredging is deepened, although the upper reaches of the Danshui are turbulent, it is not impossible to dredge, and the rapid section, the use of slender men, is also easier than the use of manpower and animal power to pull the cart to transport. Of course, it's still a lonely idea. Dredging the two waters needs to be in winter, which is the time for the people to rest. But you can't learn from Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, and the imperial court can allocate a batch of funds, 100,000 to 200,000 yuan a year, to raise people for construction. The right should give relief to the people, and also give them a benefit, and on the day of construction, every few days, a batch of meat can be distributed for the people to eat. If the six days are completed, you can take a day off, and you will also be given a subsidy for money and materials. In this way, the people not only do not complain, but have enthusiasm. Although within a year, it is impossible to complete it, not in one year, two years, not in two years, three years. Once the two rivers are dredged and deepened, they can ensure the future of Guanzhong for hundreds of years, and it can also ensure the safety of Xijing in the future. ”

In this way, it seems to be a better strategy, but Dai Zhide said: "But it needs a lot of finance." ”

Not afraid to talk about money, afraid of disagreeing, Li Wei immediately said: "Today, the lonely general called you to discuss, there are four resolutions. These two items are a loss of wealth, and the last two are an increase in wealth. ”

: I'm even more anxious, and I haven't thought about a lot of the content that follows, so I have to be less these days, and even because of Kavin's interruption. From today, the number of updates will be restored again. In addition, for the book review area, take out some *** coins every day to reward.