"Ladies and gentlemen, everywhere we went in Anhui this time, there were mulberry trees and bamboo forests everywhere. As far as we now know, in 1911 the People's Party exported 1 million quintals of raw silk, and this alone sold more than 200 million taels of silver, worth 30 million pounds. As a result, the purchase price of raw silk in the market plummeted......"

Speaking of which, exclamations erupted in the Jiangsu Council as if a pot was boiling. Zhang Yutong's voice was completely drowned out by the exclamation like the tide of the sea.

"How can there be so many?"

"How many mulberry trees did they plant and how many silkworms did they raise?"

……

Last year, the Jiangsu parliament applied to the People's Party to see how the People's Party organized production in the mulberry sericulture industry, but the People's Party did not prevent the Jiangsu delegation from going to the base area to investigate, and this incident caused many Jiangsu parliamentarians to regard this as a "trap." If there is a good way, it's too late to hide and tuck, and let others visit and learn, isn't it a fool?

Now after hearing the news brought back by Zhang Yutong's group of parliamentarians, the Jiangsu parliamentarians, whether they are involved in the sericulture industry or not, feel that they are about to go crazy. More than 200 million customs taels, that's a lot of money.

Customs two is Guan Ping Yin, also known as "Guan Ping Liang", "Guan Yin", a kind of accounting currency used by the customs in the middle and late Qing Dynasty, belonging to the virtual silver used for bookkeeping. During the Qing Dynasty, when China's customs collected import and export taxes, there was no unified national standard, and the fineness, weight, and name of metal silver actually circulated in various places were inconsistent with each other, and it was difficult to convert, which made Chinese and foreign businessmen feel inconvenient. In order to unify the standards, the "Sima Ping" ("Ping" is the weight), also known as "Guangping", which is used in foreign trade, is used as the standard unit of Guan Pingliang.

The hypothetical weight of the historical customs tael was 583.3 centimeters, or 37.7495 grams (later evolved to 37.913 grams) of full-coloured silver (containing 93.5374% sterling silver). Every 100 taels of customs taels is equivalent to 110 taels of 4 yuan in Shanghai, 105 taels of 5 cents of Xinghua silver in Tianjin, and 108 taels of 7 cents of foreign silver in Hankou. Roughly a one-to-one ratio to silver.

Many of the gentry in the Jiangsu Council were rich, and because they knew what the concept of money was, the impact of more than 200 million taels of customs was particularly violent.

Knock knock! The Speaker of the House violently struck the castanets with his mallet, and it was with great difficulty that the commotion was temporarily quelled.

The Jiangsu representative obtained this information through the internal personnel of the customs in Shanghai, and Zhang Yutong was already shocked, and now he was finally able to maintain a minimum of calm. It was just the call from the councillors below that reminded him of how he felt when he first learned the number. From the scalp to the soles of the feet, every pore stings as if it had been pricked by a needle, and every hair on the body immediately stood on end.

Zhang Yutong's family is not rich, and there are more than 500 acres of good land, and the raw silk trade is also quite good. In the first few years, when the raw silk trade was at its peak, Zhang Yutong's family could earn at least 60 taels of silver per acre of land. The 400 acres of mulberry fields also have an income of more than 20,000 taels of silver a year. Compared with the more than 200 million taels a year of the People's Party, this income is only 1/10,000. According to the current scale of Zhang Yutong's family, it will take him 10,000 years to earn more than 200 million taels. In the face of this number, how can you easily remain calm.

"Not only raw silk, but the BJP itself spun silk. It also grows cotton, and the labor cloth and silk cotton launched in the past two years are selling quite well. Originally, tea was also produced in Anhui and other places, but after the People's Party came to power, a large number of tea was planted in the mountainous areas. Although the quality of tea is good and bad, it is good in every grade, and tens of thousands of catties of tea are exactly the same. It also has a large volume, so it can be sold even if it is cheap. Although the merchants who purchase raw silk tea have money, they are limited after all, and after buying the things of the People's Party, where is the remaining money to buy our things. We want to fight against the People's Party, but there is no other way than to let the raw silk and cotton of the whole Jiangsu adopt such and such a method. ”

Zhang Yutong has been to the Anhui base area more than once, and there are mulberry trees planted on both sides of the hillside and field roads, and a large mulberry forest has been planted at the water's edge. Jiangsu has fertile land and a large proportion of yeoman farmers, and every farmer grows mulberry trees. It's just that it is completely inferior compared to the scale of the BJP's cultivation. Without mulberry leaves, the number of silkworms cannot go up. Scale, scale, now Zhang Yutong's mind is full of these two words.

Wang Youhong basically attended every parliamentary meeting, and when he heard what Zhang Yutong said passionately, he couldn't help but ask: "Councilor Zhang, although I have never been to Anhui, as far as I know, although the People's Party has planted a lot of mulberry trees, the silkworm farm is not built by the people. What do you think about this. ”

It was not a day or two for Jiangsu to study the people's party's sericulture, and this was the first time that Jiangsu had openly dispatched a large-scale delegation, but the gentry and personnel sent by Wang Youhong who had gone to the base area privately did not go once or twice. The scale of the mulberry tree has long been clear, and similarly, the BJP's sericulture and silk reeling factories are state-owned. If it is not the cocoons sent by the National Nutrition Silkworm Farm, the silk reeling factory will not accept them. Wang Youhong also knows this very well.

Zhang Yutong nodded, "Wang Dudu, the reason why the People's Party's silk is of excellent quality is because their silkworm farm is state-run, and the silkworm species used are all of the same type. Unlike our Jiangsu, most of the silkworm seeds used are self-retained silkworm seeds. If we want to catch up with the BJP, we must have a charter on this matter. ”

Although the answer was smooth, Zhang Yutong's voice was much lower. The biggest difference between the People's Party's mulberry sericulture and Jiangsu and other places is that mulberry trees are planted on state-owned land in the base areas. After the implementation of the land reform by the People's Party, the people had three acres of land per person, and all other land was owned by the state. The farms that were run on these lands, the crops that were grown, and even the lowly mineral deposits, were owned by the state. In Jiangsu, the land is privately owned, and the mulberry leaves planted by each family can be disposed of by themselves, whether they are used to raise silkworms by themselves, or they can be picked out and sold, and others cannot control it.

The People's Party is a state-owned mulberry leaf, and there is a special enterprise responsible for the management of mulberry forests, which can make money by maintaining mulberry forests, picking mulberry leaves, and transporting mulberry leaves. This production chain is extremely costly. A load of mulberry leaves can be sold for two taels of silver in Jiangsu, even if the silver is cheap and copper, there must be 1,600 copper coins.

In the People's Party, transporting a load of mulberry leaves can earn four catties of rice. Calculated at 30 wen yuan per pound of rice, it is only 120 wen yuan. Including the wages of employees in mulberry factories, workers in silkworm farms, and workers in silk reeling factories. The cost of the People's Party to produce a load of silkworm cocoons is only two taels of silver. The most important thing is that the people do not pay taxes when they earn money. Only 30% of the tax is collected for farming, and the money earned from doing any other work is net to his own pocket. It seems that the income from work is not high, but it is good that it is stable. No matter how much money is lost in the raw silk trade, the workman will not lose money. Instead, the people were willing to help.

As far as Zhang Yutong saw in the base area, the men and women who worked were almost half, and even many old men and women carried burdens to carry mulberry leaves, or picked mulberry leaves in the mulberry garden. In Jiangsu, if the elderly can still come out to work, it must be exquisite, how many people can have such a veteran style? As for the old ladies, not to mention, no one will hire them. During the investigation, Zhang Yutong found that these old men and old ladies could earn seventy or eighty catties of rice in a month. Although the BJP's banknotes are awkward to look at, you can really buy things with these paper money. A large number of old men and women who have little craftsmanship rely on work to support themselves, which is unthinkable in Jiangsu. Old men and old ladies are still like this, and young people earn more.

Zhang Yutong was completely opposed to Jiangsu's land reform like the People's Party, but he wanted Jiangsu to be tax-free like the People's Party. It's just that he didn't dare to say this to Wang Youhong. With more than 40,000 troops and policemen under Wang Youhong, what do they eat without collecting taxes?

It's just that as soon as the tax is collected, the cost of mulberry sericulture in Jiangsu will immediately rise. The People's Party's mulberry leaves don't need money, and the wages that need to be paid to produce a load of silkworm cocoons are actually compressed to two taels of silver. Even if it is to produce a load of raw silk, the cost is twenty taels. The price of raw silk on the market is 200 taels. The difference of 180 taels of silver fell into the pockets of the People's Party.

In Jiangsu, from mulberry leaves to silkworm seeds, silkworm raising, and silk reeling, each link requires money, and the government has to collect taxes on each link. If you are out of 200 taels, you will be taken away at least 100 taels. In this comparison, the People's Party, which has earned 180 taels, should be like a wolf and a tiger. However, in the eyes of the people under the rule of the People's Party, the People's Party has done an extremely beautiful job. Everyone in the base area has money to earn, and the price is extremely cheap, and the price of many iron farm tools is one-tenth of that of Jiangsu. What's even more infuriating is that the People's Party provides cloth tickets, and with the cloth tickets, they can buy cloth at a quarter of the price in Jiangsu. Because the price gap is so large, Jiangsu's goods cannot enter the People's Party's base areas at all.

"Councilor Zhang, does your delegation have any plans for this charter?" Wang Youhong did not know that Zhang Yutong had so many ideas, and he was extremely interested in the fact that the People's Party earned more than 200 million customs taels a year. The People's Party has four provinces, even if Jiangsu loses northern Jiangsu, the output of southern Jiangsu can be one-fifth of that of the People's Party, 40 million customs two, Wang Youhong is very satisfied. With such a sum of money, even if he gets half of it, Wang Youhong can get 20 million taels.

The cost of raising 40,000 troops is extremely high, and southern Jiangsu is a rich land, which is a good thing financially. Not necessarily good from the military. Jiangsu people are reluctant to be soldiers, and an ordinary soldier in the Beiyang Army spends nearly 100 taels a year, and according to the standards of the Beiyang Army, Jiangsu's 40,000 troops spend 4 million taels of silver a year, plus the operation of government officials, which is 10 million taels.

Wang Youhong firmly believes that without its own military industry, it is impossible to guarantee its own security. There is the Jinling Arsenal in Nanjing, but if you want to maintain the annual operation of this arsenal, it is an expenditure of nearly one million taels of silver. In addition to these, it is necessary to build factories and schools, and 20 million taels is already the lowest expenditure. If there is a natural or man-made disaster, I am afraid that the annual expenditure will have to be doubled. Now seeing that the parliament is ready to do a big job in the mulberry sericulture, Wang Youhong decided to firmly control the tax revenue on the basis of facilitating this matter.

Zhang Yutong's delegation also discussed a charter, and at this time he said stubbornly: "Wang Dudu, the charter of our delegation is to establish our silk industry company in Jiangsu, and all silk-related industries will be incorporated into this silk company to operate. From the distribution of silkworm seeds, the purchase of silkworm cocoons, the reeling of silk, to the sale, all are operated by this silk company. ”

Wang Youhong also has his own people in the delegation, and he also knows about this plan. However, Wang Youhong is an outsider after all, and he has only been in power in Jiangsu for more than three years. Even the so-called "henchmen" he sent, Wang Youhong himself did not dare to fully trust them. He said: "Councilor Zhang, this charter is specific. ”

"That's right, Councilor Zhang, since this mulberry sericulture is promising, you can quickly talk about it." Other lawmakers also shouted.

Although there were discussions in advance, and even some tandem, Zhang Yutong also knew the responsibility he should bear, so he could only bite the bullet and say: "Now the People's Party has the largest sales volume in raw silk, and foreigners will take their price as the standard." The representative of the People's Party also once said what this is called bargaining. That is, the largest buyer and the largest seller negotiate the price, and after the negotiation, the other buyers and sellers all follow this price. So in any case, our price cannot be higher than that of the BJP. Now that the price has been set, the profit of this mulberry sericulture has also been set. The parliamentarians we represent believe that we might as well adopt a fixed tax approach to taxation. The proportion of taxes is determined first, and the silk company only pays taxes once, and other taxes are not collected. ”

As soon as these words came out, the council hall, which had been full of discussions, quickly fell silent. Everyone's eyes fell on Zhang Yutong's face, and the parliamentarians never expected that the first content of the charter formulated by Zhang Yutong and others was not how to organize production, but went straight to taxes.

Zhang Yutong used great courage to say this, and after speaking, Zhang Yutong looked at Wang Youhong, wanting to see some changes on Wang Youhong's face to judge Wang Youhong's thoughts.

Wang Youhong's face did not change, he didn't say a word, and looked at Zhang Yutong thoughtfully, this unpredictable and profound performance made Zhang Yutong feel great pressure. After staring at him for a while, Wang Youhong frowned slightly, which made Zhang Yutong's heart immediately nervous. Because of nervousness, Zhang Yutong's face couldn't help but twitch a few times.

"Why don't you go on? Is that all there is to it? Wang Youhong asked puzzled.

Zhang Yutong realized that he had just lost his temper, he cared too much about Wang Youhong's reaction, but he didn't notice what he should do at all. "Oh, there's still down there, there's still one down there." Zhang Yutong said a few words in a row, but found that he had completely forgotten the rest of the charter. hurriedly opened the manuscript of the charter, but Zhang Yutong couldn't find which paragraph he should read. After tossing and turning for a while, he realized that what he was about to talk about was on the first page that he had hurriedly opened.

After reading the charter, the councillors listened for a while, some of them nodding slightly, others showing impatience. These specific contents are about the structure of the silk company at all levels of the future covering the whole of Jiangsu. This thing is still concerned about the parliamentarians who are mainly engaged in silkworms, and the parliamentarians of other industries are not so enthusiastic.

He Sui, a member of the Jiangsu parliament, had a calm face, showing no support or impatience. But that doesn't mean he's as calm as his face. First of all, He Sui was very disappointed in Zhang Yutong, although as a citizen of Jiangsu and a member of the Jiangsu Parliament, he still dared to speak out at a critical moment in order to protect his own interests, but his ability ended here. The panic after saying the key words in the parliament, compared with the heroism of patting his chest and promising to get things done when he took on this task, Zhang Yutong's performance proved that he was still a local landlord.

Since the end of the Qing Dynasty, due to the repeated defeats of the imperial court, the indemnity has been paid one after another. The queen mother, the emperor, the princes and ministers, and those who are full of people will not spend money and money, so the money can only be showdown with the people. Jiangsu is rich because of its wealth, so the Jiangsu gentry, as a wealthy class, suffer from it.

When talking about the establishment of a silk company, the parliamentarians all held that the silk company could not be run by the government, but at least it was a joint venture between the government and business. Of course, the gentry parliamentarians wanted not to pay taxes, but everyone knew that it was unrealistic. Then, through the joint establishment of government and business enterprises, tax control should be avoided, at least all kinds of harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes should be avoided. If you can have this beginning in the silk industry, then you can draw a scoop according to the gourd. It would be great if such joint ventures could be built in various industries and eventually drive the tax collectors out of the countryside controlled by the gentry.

He Sui was the initiator and second-in-command of the Jiangsu Civic Party, which had just been established, and at that time He Sui tried his best to persuade Zhang Yutong that Wang Youhong would not take Zhang Yutong under the knife. After all, the status of a member of parliament is noble, and in the constitution of the parliament, even if a member commits a real crime, he must first apply to the parliament and deprive him of his status before he can be arrested. Since Zhang Yutong is speaking for everyone, the lawmakers will ensure Zhang Yutong's safety first no matter what.

Zhang Yutong said boldly, if he continued to talk about the articles of association of the silk company frankly, this speech could be said to be perfect. It's just that Zhang Yutong cares too much about Wang Youhong's performance, but he shows his timidity.

But things have come to this point, and there is no point in complaining about Zhang Yutong. He Sui was quite surprised by Wang Youhong's open-mindedness, and he did not think that Wang Youhong could not understand the meaning of the tax proposal. And Wang Youhong's attitude that was not affected at all was really awe-inspiring. Could it be that someone leaked the news to Wang Youhong, or did Wang Youhong expect this?

Although he complained in his heart that Zhang Yutong was a little out of shape, He Sui knew that he was also afraid in his heart. Wang Youhong was able to sit firmly in his current position, relying on the soldiers in his hands. The gentry were extremely opposed to the land reform of the People's Party base areas within easy reach, and they were also full of distrust of Beiyang, which had seized power from the Manchus. In the chaos of the late Qing Dynasty, the Jiangsu gentry had to support a governor of Jiangsu who was born in Tianjin.

Wang Youhong has been quite respectful of the parliament in recent years, and more and more parliamentarians have a good impression of Wang Youhong. Respect is respect, when it is time to collect taxes, Wang Youhong has never collected a penny. Heavy taxes have made it difficult for legislators everywhere. This time, taking advantage of the silkworm matter, it was also because many parliamentarians were really impatient. In the past few years, they have finally understood that the Jiangsu Parliament is the organ of power in Jiangsu, and the leaders of Jiangsu should be elected by the Jiangsu Parliament, not self-appointed like Wang Youhong. Since the Jiangsu parliament has such power, it is naturally the most reasonable thing for the parliament to fight for its own interests.

Thinking about things in his heart, it was not until Zhang Yutong finished reading all the articles of association of the silk company that He Sui understood in a round of applause. He applauded calmly, but his eyes unconsciously glanced at Wang Youhong.

Wang Youhong didn't rush to speak, he already roughly understood what Zhang Yutong wanted to say. Now there is a dilemma in front of us, if we can't get the silk company in trouble, the tax problem will not be solved. Similarly, if he could not immediately pat down the group of parliamentarians who were trying to start a rebellion, Wang Youhong would not be able to sit down. There's no better way to do it than to be able to do both. It's just that Wang Youhong hasn't figured out exactly what to do for the time being. His mind was tumbling through the various books of the People's Party that he had read, as well as the various speeches of Chen Ke that he had excerpted.

There are many similarities in politics, many things are plausible, and when you think about it, they are completely different. In addition, there are many people in the parliament, and there are many speeches. was disturbed by this, Wang Youhong's attention was completely distracted, and he couldn't concentrate.

finally adjourned the meeting at noon, and Wang Youhong went back to his house in a sedan chair. He was not ready to attend the afternoon meeting, although he had no relevant experience, Wang Youhong had an inexplicable vigilance, if he could not think of a solution immediately, it was likely that a big chaos would be imminent.