Chapter 248: Family Affairs (II)

"What Gu has always wanted to say is Ma Zheng. The imperial court from Longyou to Lanyuan, Qinyuanling, and the land of the river meander, are all pastures. At its peak, there were more than 700,000 horses, so our cavalry was strong. However, Dafeichuan was defeated, and the number of Qinghai horse farms and war horses killed in the battle was lost, resulting in a slight decline. There are still quite a few horses, but the price of horses is starting to rise slightly. But not only horses, but also large livestock such as cattle, sheep and camels. These large livestock have always been managed by the imperial court overseers and shepherds. Don't say it's bad, unify the management, and reward and punishment in an orderly manner. But not only the pastures managed by the imperial court, from Hequ to Lingwu to Longyou, until the Western Regions, there are also many Fanhu who make a living from nomadism. Because they are not good at farming, they mainly eat meat, and they also eat these livestock. ”

After Li Wei finished speaking, most people were incomprehensible, since ancient times, nomads have lived like this. It is difficult to force them to put down their horsewhips and cultivate with the Han people, which must lead to a big mess.

Li Jingxuan said: "Your Highness means ...... this"

"Lone just said one thing, a horse is worth twenty or thirty yuan in the capital, and its meat is fed, less than a year's food for a person, and exchanged for food? Twenty or thirty yuan, at this year's grain price, excluding the cost of freight, can also be exchanged for three or four hundred stone of grain, to feed seventy or eighty people. It's not that it's inconvenient to let the shepherds make it inconvenient to manage, after all, once the exchange involves the word Li, even the shepherd (a group of 120 horses, a group of shepherds, and shepherds, shepherds, and shepherds) are ashamed. Therefore, except for the horses used by the government soldiers in the official market, they are left to live and die. However, in the Central Plains, there is an extreme shortage of large livestock, and you have also seen that some poor families are pulled by people. There is also circulation, all of which are smuggled by merchants, and the imperial court prohibits the sale of horses, and also knows that it is inconvenient, so the past checkpoints are ignored, and it is also for the convenience of the people. ”

It is also true that the smuggling of horses was a gray area of the imperial court, and although it was nominally prohibited, in reality there were no officials who strictly prohibited it. But I was afraid that letting go would cause bad consequences, so I turned a blind eye and didn't go too far.

Li Wei continued: "Businessmen pursue profits, do they get real profits? Lone had spoken to Earth ponies before, but it wasn't. In the past, the level needed to be cleared, which took up most of the benefits. In other words, the so-called ban on sales by the imperial court is to cover up the ears and steal the bell, and raise a group of greedy ink. Lone thinks that it is better to cover it up, so it is better to let it go appropriately. After arriving in large numbers of these cattle and horses in the Central Plains, they will plough more fields and save a lot of manpower. And the Zhufan resettled on the border is also able to eat and clothe because of enough food, and the amount of food and clothing will be reduced. The imperial court can also set up checkpoints and collect a tax. Not only that, but the Tibetan and Turkic countries lacked cloth, salt, utensils, and grain. After all, they all eat meat, and even if it is a grassland, it can't feed many people. In addition, some markets can be set up, and people can be sent to manage and trade so that transactions can be placed in an orderly manner, and a batch of taxes can also be levied again. ”

"Your Highness, there is something wrong," Li Jingxuan said uneasily.

"There is nothing wrong with it, why at the beginning of the founding of the country, as long as the king was not dim and could quickly enter the great governance, it was the death of a large number of people and landlords, and a lot of land. After a long period of establishment, the population increased, and the encroachment became heavier, so the rich became rich, and the poor became poor, and then there were Zhang Jiao and the like. However, the imperial court cannot be governed, and it is precisely because it involves too much. Ladies and gentlemen, if you don't believe it, you can go down and take a look, some big families even dare to buy the Yongye field of the imperial court and occupy it. Lonely and young, I don't know what to do, but I don't want to cause any trouble. The mutual market has nothing to do with them, and it is not that they are not allowed to trade. The imperial court did not interfere in this piece of land, but only placed it in the open place for taxation and effective management. What is lost is only the interests of some greedy inks and some powerful people who do not regard the royal family and the imperial court as their eyes. Even the imperial court doesn't pay attention to it, why should the imperial court respect them? ”

A few ministers bowed their heads. Those who dare to ignore the imperial court are nothing more than dozens of famous families.

But Dai Zhide said: "It's okay to trade with the border and discuss a feasible way." In the open, even if it is a war horse, the imperial court can openly control it. ”

"Dai Xianggong, the same is true of lonely thoughts."

"But Your Highness, why did you trade with the Turkic Tibetans? With food utensils, they will be more powerful, and the people will multiply more, and in the long run, they will be a border evil. ”

"No, Dai Xianggong, the Central Plains is rich, and Fan Hu is poor, so it will be violated. When people are hungry, they can do anything. Giving food will give them a thought. In the art of war, there are three and one is left, which is also the truth. With thoughts, the heart of plunder will not be strong. Maybe it will be strong, maybe it will invade the Central Plains. But there are too many people, and it is not enough to just rob them, and no transaction comes quickly. If I get angry, I close the city, which is tantamount to cutting off their wrists, and in the long run, the more they rely on trading, the more they will be controlled by me. Not only that, but in dealing with Fanhu, we can't use force in full, one clan perishes, and another clan rises again. Only by assimilation, Han Fan and Hu are all a family, and there will be fewer disputes. In addition, if we get a large number of livestock, we will increase the arable land and the population. Whether they are strong or not may not be known. But our dynasty will be strong, but it is inevitable. In the final analysis, it is our dynasty that needs to work hard to fight for strength, so Wu Qi said that the danger of the country lies not in the mountains and rivers, but in virtue and politics. Even without these, there are still many people on the border who continue to trade regardless of the feelings of the imperial court, and they have not really put an end to it. What can be traded and what cannot be traded, such as iron tools, cannot be circulated in large quantities in Turkic and Tibetan, and can be controlled. ”

The last point is quite tempting.

In fact, there is not only orderly, not only to increase income, but also to increase a large number of trades, which can increase employment opportunities, with the civilization of the Tang Dynasty, whether it is Tibet, or Turkic, Great Food, or Persia, it will always be the exporting country, that is to say, the two sides of trade, the Tang Dynasty is the winner. And no one knows the word protectionism anymore.

The latter did not say, because when it was mentioned, it was touched by the sharp word, and when it was said, it had the opposite effect. And then there is any cheese that has not touched the big names, and there are not many people who oppose it. After the proposal of Liang Lu and the others, the imperial court has received a lot of benefits, which everyone feels. So Li Wei said all kinds of things, and these ministers were moved again.

Liu Renliang asked, "Then Your Highness, what about the last one?" ”

"The last one is copper coins."

It puzzled everyone again.

Li Wei explained: "Because of the shortage of copper, the imperial court had to use cloth instead of currency circulation. In fact, as we all know, because of the lack of copper, many merchants turn copper into copper and sell it, but the price is more expensive. Although copper has been discovered from time to time, copper has always been insufficient. However, cloth is always meant to be worn, not to be used for money circulation. Even if there is enough copper, it is buried in the ground, always limited, and when it is mined, it is gone. It is a non-renewable thing. Therefore, Lone had an idea to use the copper, iron, gold and silver of the world. ”

"Chen still doesn't understand," Xue Yuanchao said with a frown.

"The imperial court set up a city department in Guangzhou, but Guangzhou is far away in Lingnan, the terrain is remote, and the products are barren. Even so, Guangzhou is therefore crowned in the Lingnan Prefectures, leading hundreds of thousands of tax revenues for the imperial court every year. It is precisely because of the presence of the city. Therefore, he wanted to set up two more cities in Suzhou and Quanzhou, and sell the products of the Tang Dynasty to various countries in the Great Food Empire, and exchange them for various metals, which can be used as currency and utensils. It can also increase some benefits for the country. Official ...... For the government (the word camp is not said, it is changed to politics) is appropriate, and it can continue to increase the income of hundreds of thousands of dollars for the imperial court every year. This alone was enough for the imperial court to hoard grain and expand the two rivers. With enough copper, it is equivalent to having enough currency, and there is no need to use bulky cloth and create unnecessary waste. ”

In this speech, Li Wei used a lot of skill, not only talking about the various benefits of setting up a permanent position and digging up the two rivers, but also put it under the general framework of the reduction of per capita arable land and the embarrassment of the people's lives. The latter is profit-making, but the livestock cultivated land and the lack of copper coins are used to explain, the fact is that large livestock are very scarce, otherwise the imperial court will not issue edicts one after another, not to slaughter the cattle, even if they die, they must be checked by the Li Zheng before they can be slaughtered. Copper coins are in great short supply, and they also feel the inconvenience of the lack of currency, but they are helpless. With these two points, it's not just about making a profit.

After thinking about it, everyone already has some intentions.

But Li Wei added: "As soon as the city shipping department is opened, the imperial court can only operate the city shipping department, and is not allowed to use ships. ”

Once it is opened, there is the Yangtze River Grand Canal, and the benefits are amazing, and the impact is even more amazing. Therefore, he thought of the Song and Ming dynasties, the Song Dynasty, especially the Southern Song Dynasty, had a very developed maritime industry, and it did a good job, and it supported a large number of the country's economy without showing its water. But in the Ming Dynasty, because Zheng He went to the West, it was not called occupation, it was not called trade, it was called showing off his might, as long as he was sincere and obedient, he bent his legs, and immediately carried cloth, tea, porcelain, and silver from the ship, and went to the West seven times, which cost the country six million taels of silver. So Liu Daxia burned the drawings of the ship, so the sea was forbidden, and then there were Japanese robbers.

Now, some of them add to it, but it's better to say it than not to say it.

That's the same, but no one cares, four things, each of which is a big deal, and everyone is thinking about the importance of things.

Li Wei sighed and said, "The City Department must be decided, mainly the compass. I have heard about it, and it takes a year and a half to come and go from Dashi to Guangzhou. Why so, because there is no direction, we have to wait for the monsoon. With a compass, it's different. ”

I don't know what the ship looks like now, but there is always a speed of ten knots in still water for about an hour, that is, it can sail two hundred nautical miles a day, and about six or seven thousand nautical miles from Dashi to Guangzhou. Of course, it is impossible to arrive in January, all kinds of delays, three or four months can always arrive, that is to say, including loading and unloading, most of the year or less than a year, you can go back and forth.

There is a premise for this, and there must be a sense of direction. Without direction, the risk of navigation is still very high, and even losing direction, and it may not be known if the ship drifts to Antarctica and the Americas. Even Li Wei privately guessed whether the pyramids of the Mayans were built by the sea ships of the Great Food Empire and floated past to guide the local aborigines.

With a compass, sailing is equivalent to ushering in spring. If the Tang Dynasty let go of the order that the people were forbidden to go abroad, with the civilization and technology of the Tang Dynasty, in this backward era, they would frantically plunder the wealth of the South China Sea, Da Shi, Shizi and East Africa, and even some European countries. But when Li Wei's words came to his lips, he endured it again. The opening of Fan City and Haishi can also find an excuse to let the people go to the sea to do business, which is purely for profit. As soon as he said it, these ministers immediately impeached him.

After listening to it, everyone thought that the prince said that with a compass, there would be more sea vessels, and the tariff on income would increase. An increase in tariffs is equivalent to an increase in revenue. It's not in the name of profit, exchanging foreigners' gold, silver, copper and iron for currency, it's even more promised.

But not only that, many ministers glanced at Li Wei suspiciously.

Liu Xianli said: "Although His Royal Highness said a few things, and the minister agrees very much, it is not a trivial matter, do you want to get the permission of the Holy Lord?" ”

"Let's report this to Gu when I go back, everyone go back and think about it first, and come back tomorrow to discuss."

Let everyone disperse, and then Li Wei began to read the newspapers in various places again, trying to review them. He didn't do too much, and what his father let him do was only his duty. It's not a pro-government, it's not that qualified, it's a real family.

After getting off the court, he returned to the East Palace, and was about to go to the Daming Palace, when Di Renjie and Wei Yuanzhong arrived. These four major events are not trivial, the two of them immediately heard about it, and Di Renjie asked uneasily: "Your Highness, ...... you today?" ”

Li Wei replied: "Lone has already passed the year of crowning. ”