"According to statistics, the gold and silver looted from the Mongolian tribes alone reached an astonishing 11.2 million taels ......."

"In addition to the gold and silver that can be used directly, there are countless cattle, sheep and war horses."

"If these cattle, sheep and horses are also exchanged for silver, then there will be at least 20 million taels."

After listening to Zhou Shuyuan's introduction, Sun Chengzong, who was sitting on the chair, could no longer use the word 'shock' to describe his expression, but was shocked......

That's right, it's shocking......

The shock of the courage of the Haw Par Army to attack and dare to enter Mongolia, and the shock of the huge harvest of the Haw Par Army......

After the shock, Sun Chengzong began to reconsider the real economic strength of this Tiger and Leopard Army.

A battle against Mongolia has a profit of nearly 30 million taels of silver, so how much will the entire Shanxi Governor's Mansion have every year?

Zhou Shuyuan, who got Wei Zheng's signal, didn't let him wait too long.

He replied to Sun Chengzong, who was still in shock in front of him: "Lord Sun, after half a year of development, the annual income that my Shanxi Governor's Mansion can obtain is more than 45 million taels. ”

"The first income is undoubtedly the tens of millions of acres of tuntian fields that have been planted with grain in Shanxi. Tens of millions of acres of tuntian, even if taxes are levied according to the standard of four buckets of grain per mu of tuntian, there will be 4 million quintals of grain a year. ”

"At present, the price of grain in several northern provinces has reached five taels of silver per load. Therefore, with the tuntian of Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces alone, the governor's palace has an annual income of at least 20 million taels of silver. ”

"In addition, by next year, the Governor's Office will open up another 10 million acres of tuntian in Shaanxi. Plus Shanxi's still expanding tuntian. Strive to concede the number of tuntian fields in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces. Exceeded 30 million acres. ”

30 million acres of tuntian. It sounds like a lot, it's scary, but it's not.

You must know that a few hundred years later, in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces, Shanxi alone, the cultivated land area reached an astonishing 60 million mu. If you add Shaanxi, hundreds of millions of acres of cultivated land, there are still some.

So. Even if Wei Zheng opened up 30 million mu of tuntian, it would only reach less than one-third of the later generations.

The only regret for Wei Zheng was that the population of this era was too small, and even if he used all these lands and turned them into tuntian, there would not be enough manpower to cultivate them.

However, Sun Chengzong, who was sitting in front of him, didn't know these things, and he didn't have time to think about these questions. Because, with a shocked face, he was once again shocked by the tax revenue brought by 30 million acres of tuntian.

30 million acres. According to the proportion of taxes, the Shanxi Governor's Mansion can harvest 12 million quintals of grain at one time. If the price of food remains the same. This grain is about sixty million taels of silver......

You must know that the land tax revenue of the imperial court in the entire Ming Dynasty is only a few million taels, which is not even a fraction of the Governor's Mansion of Shanxi......

In the face of such a huge gap, Sun Chengzong, who was dedicated to the Ming Dynasty, of course, had to think about the reasons.

Zhou Shuyuan, who was sitting in front of him, seemed to know what Sun Chengzong was thinking, and after being shocked directly in front of him, Sun Chengzong, who was contemplative, asked: "As I expected, Lord Sun must be thinking, compared with the two provinces of Shanxi and Shanxi, why is the grain tax of the imperial court so small?" ”

"In fact, the reason is very simple, the grain tax of the imperial court has not changed since the founding of the Ming Dynasty."

"At the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the price of a load of grain was only five dollars of silver. Now, the price of grain has risen tenfold, but the standard of grain tax imposed by the imperial court has not changed. ”

"In addition, there is another fatal reason, which is destined that the imperial court cannot have too much grain tax."

"That is a rule set by Emperor Taizu since the founding of the Ming Dynasty: the gentry do not need to pay ...... grain"

"In the entire Ming Dynasty, there are hundreds of millions of acres of land, even if one acre of land contains a bucket of grain, all of them add up to tens of millions of loads. However, it is precisely because of this rule that the gentry do not need to pay grain that more and more land does not need to pay grain, and eventually the grain tax of the imperial court is getting lower and lower, and it is becoming more and more difficult to collect it......"

Speaking of this, Zhou Shuyuan did not forget to make up for the imperial court and continued: "Lord Sun, I can say for sure that if the imperial court does not reform, sooner or later, the imperial court will be included in this already unrealistic grain tax policy. ”

"Take the current imperial court as an example, the reason why there is no silver to distribute even a hundred officials. The fundamental reason is that the imperial court has no taxes, and the pitiful taxes that are small can no longer meet the needs of the imperial court, and the imperial court has been unable to make ends meet. ”

In the face of Zhou Shuyuan's accusations against the imperial court, Sun Chengzong, as a loyal minister of the imperial court, wanted to defend a few words.

However, when the words came to his lips, he couldn't speak. Because, Zhou Shuyuan's accusations are all justified and well-founded for himself, and there is no one who can defend himself at all.

At this time, Zhou Shuyuan continued to speak.

"For the Shanxi Governor's Palace, although there are many grain taxes, grain taxes are not the most important income."

"For my Shanxi Governor's Mansion, the biggest income is the commercial tax ......"

"Whether it is the glass that is continuously produced, or the refined salt that every household in the Ming Dynasty must eat, it can bring huge wealth to the Shanxi Governor's Palace."

"So far, the glass mirror we have produced, in less than half a year, has brought six million taels of silver to the Shanxi Governor's Palace."

"In terms of refined salt, it is also comparable, and in half a year, it brought us eight million taels of silver."

"As for other commercial taxes in the territory, because the marshal raised the commercial tax from 30 taxes to 10 taxes, and regardless of the officials and gentry, they had to pay taxes strictly, and in just half a year, there was an income of two million taels of silver."

"I can say with certainty that when all the grain in the 10 million mu of tuntian is harvested and the people in the territory begin to have surplus grain, the commercial tax of Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces can reach 10 million taels according to the policy of 10 taxes and 1 tax."

"With tens of millions of taels of silver a year, does Lord Sun still think that the Shanxi Governor's Mansion is not capable of supporting hundreds of thousands of troops?"

At this time, Sun Chengzong was speechless because of the shock.

It was a long time before Sun Chengzong reacted from the shock.

After taking a deep breath, he had to sigh and said, "Lord Wei, the old man admires it...... I really didn't expect that in just half a year, the two provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi would undergo such earth-shaking changes in your hands......"

At this time, Sun Chengzong seemed to have aged several years all of a sudden, and said to Wei Zheng with a decadent face: "Now your goal has been achieved...... The old man continues to stay here, and it will not do anything but add to your troubles. ”

Therefore, the old man decided to leave Datong Mansion tomorrow and return to the capital to ask the court for guilt. The old man not only apologized for the emperor's trust, but also committed the crime of bullying the king. If the emperor can still forgive the official, the official will definitely resign immediately. ”

A loyal minister is so demoralized, which is definitely not what Wei Zheng wants to see.

Besides, now let Sun Chengzong leave and return to the capital to resume his life. What I did for almost half a month finally achieved my goal, and it was not all in vain.

Therefore, for Sun Chengzong's request, Wei Zheng refused without thinking about it.

"No, it will take at least three months before you can leave Datong Mansion, Lord Sun......"

"For the safety of Lord Sun during this time, this commander will transfer one hundred elites from the personal guard battalion to strictly protect the safety of adults."

Hearing this, Sun Chengzong's decadent eyes quickly shot out two rays of light.

At the same time, a thick murderous aura also emanated from his body.

Facing Wei Zheng without hesitation, he asked rhetorically: "Lord Wei, are you going to put the old man under house arrest...... Although the 2,000 Beijing battalion under the old man's command is gone, the old man still has a body of force. If Master Wei really planned to do this, the old man wouldn't mind killing people here...... Even if you die here, the old man will not allow you to put me under house arrest in the Governor's Palace......"

As he spoke, a big knife placed on the table was re-grasped by Sun Chengzong's trembling right hand.

And at this moment, the soldiers of the personal guard battalion who had been guarding the door, like a flood that broke the embankment, quickly rushed into the room, surrounded Sun Chengzong, and took out the short-barreled broken musket that had already been loaded with lead bullets, and aimed it at Sun Chengzong, who was still sitting in the chair.

It is certain that as long as Wei Zheng gives an order, these guards will not hesitate to pull the trigger and beat Sun Chengzong into a hornet's nest with buckshot.

Facing the tense atmosphere in the room in an instant, Wei Zheng hurriedly spoke: "What are you doing, go out immediately, there is no danger here......

After speaking, he directly explained to Sun Chengzong with an apologetic face: "Lord Sun, you misunderstood, before the imperial court issued an order, you were still the governor of Shanxi. It's just that for the safety of Ben Shuai and the more than 100,000 soldiers under his command, Ben Shuai has to send someone to monitor your every move, and you can't let your Excellency leave Shanxi and Shaanxi Provinces, so please understand Lord Sun. ”

Seeing that Sun Chengzong's face finally changed slightly, Wei Zheng continued: "Before the imperial court issues a holy decree, Lord Sun, you are not only the governor of Shanxi, but you can also enter any place you want to go in the two provinces of Shanxi and learn all the places you want to know. The commander and the soldiers under his command will never stop him...... I don't know if Master Sun is satisfied with Ben Shuai's decision......"

Under Wei Zheng's gaze, Sun Chengzong's eyes lit up, and he fell directly into contemplation.

As for himself, he has already committed the crime of deceiving the king. Since there is no way to change this fact, the only thing that can make up for his mistakes is to find out the true strength of Wei Zheng for the imperial court. Only in this way can the imperial court make the wisest decision at a critical moment.

And if you want to figure out the true strength of Wei Zheng, it is obviously not enough to rely on Zhou Shuyuan's explanation just now.

And this decision of Wei Zheng in front of him just helped him solve the way to understand the Haw Par Army in depth.

Although I don't know what Wei Zheng's purpose is, this result is already the best for Sun Chengzong, who has no right to choose.

Therefore, Sun Chengzong didn't think about it, so he nodded in agreement. (To be continued......)