Why is it said that the Sixth Song-Xia War brought a lot of strategic gains to the Song Dynasty?

It is reflected in this aspect.

As long as Xixia accepts the payment, Zhao Ning can quickly and cheaply obtain war horses and green and white salt through financial means.

Competition between countries often involves competing for time.

Especially the Song and Jin Dynasties were racing against time.

After the Jin Kingdom dealt with the threat of the Mongol people and the internal chaos, it would inevitably go south again.

If the Song Dynasty wanted to destroy the Xia Dynasty and resist the Jin Dynasty, it had to seize the time to develop. Every minute it wasted was digging its own grave.

Especially the reserve of war horses.

It is obviously unrealistic to rely solely on the revenue from the treasury to purchase war horses, because the stability of the entire situation within the Song Dynasty requires money from the treasury.

Those transactions at Taifu Temple are unlikely to yield immediate results in a short period of time.

Therefore, this strategy of handing over banknotes undoubtedly gave a boost to the rise of the Song Dynasty, slowly awakening this sleeping dragon.

Zhao Guanjia said so, and Mei Zhili had nothing to say. Printing money to go to Xixia to buy war horses at high prices without taking it out of the treasury was definitely a good thing for the Ministry of Revenue. After all, the pressure was reduced a lot.

When necessary, it is not impossible to allow the handover of banknotes to flood in Xixia.

"Your Majesty, if you print too much copper coins to trade with the Xixia people, then the Xixia people will take a large amount of the coins to Shaanxi to exchange them. I am worried that Shaanxi will not have enough copper coins in reserve."

"The Xixia people exchanged a large amount of banknotes in Shaanxi?" Zhao Ning smiled, "The entry of Xixia people is strictly controlled. Except for merchants with credentials to enter the market, who can enter and exit the Song Dynasty at will?"

"But if the Western thieves pretend to be border residents to exchange money, it can be done."

This is a little bit arm's length, or looking at the problem from the perspective of Song Dynasty officials.

When Jiaobao was dispersed among the people of Xixia, Jiaobao became the legal currency of Xixia. The cost for ordinary people to travel far away was very high, let alone to the Song Dynasty where they were unfamiliar with the place and did not understand the language.

As for exchanging money, it is even more impossible to entrust others to do it.

There will be some people who come to redeem, for example, Li Qianshun arranged for people to come to redeem, but that can only be a part of the people, and the vast majority of Xixia people can't just come and redeem.

Zhao Ning did not explain too much and just said: "This matter does not need to be discussed in detail. The truth will come from practice. We will discuss it again when problems are encountered after the handover is implemented."

"yes."

Zhao Ning asked again: "With Shaanxi's current military configuration, what will be the annual military expenditure in the future?"

"The total strength of the Sixth Route of Shaanxi is 300,000 people, including the Forbidden Army, the Xiang Army, the Fan Army and the Tu Army. The annual military salary is 2 million guan. The annual food consumption, including the consumption during transportation, totals 3.6 million dan.

The converted cost is 2.52 million guan. The armament budget is calculated based on 50 guan per person. The useful life is 10 years, and the average annual requirement is 1.5 million guan."

"If there is a war midway, we may need to prepare an additional 3 million yuan for pensions and temporary needs."

"After comprehensive calculation, the Shaanxi Sixth Route Army consumes about 7 million dollars in military expenditures per year."

Mei Zhili still has a very clear mind when settling accounts.

"However, the most expensive thing in Shaanxi is not military expenditure, but the construction of city walls and the needs of foreign countries."

"During the Xuanhe period, Xihe Road required 4 million guan every year, of which 3 million guan were invested in the construction of the walled city and the implementation of Wanghua."

"Now the imperial court has re-introduced troops to Xixia, built a walled city between Yanyan Road and Yinzhou, and continued to implement royalization in Longyou to open up trade with the Uighurs and Tubo. I am afraid that an additional 5 million yuan will be invested every year in this alone.

above."

"The imperial court's annual trade with the Xixia people is about 700,000 guan, including green and white salt, and a small amount of it buys horses and daily necessities."

"If you print money to buy green and white salt, and then sell it back to the Song Dynasty for 10 taels, you can earn about 1 million guan."

"If we print money to buy war horses, we can further reduce arms expenditure. If we can buy 100,000 war horses within five years, we can reduce it by nearly 10 million guan, which is a reduction of 2 million guan every year."

Finally, Mei Zhili gave a total: "If we don't print money, Shaanxi Sixth Road will invest 12 million guan every year. If we print money to buy green and white salt and war horses from Xixia, we will invest 9 million guan every year, which can save the court about 3 million guan."

Shaanxi Sixth Road invests 9 million guan every year, and the annual official salary is still maintained at about 14 million guan. The total annual expenditure of the Central Army remains at 1 million guan. The military investment in Hebei and Hedong is no less than 8 million guan.

These alone add up to 32 million yuan.

Not counting administrative expenses, internal road construction, station construction, etc.

Moreover, in the next implementation of the New Deal, Zhao Ning plans to abolish many exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes that waste people and money, which means that the court's income will decrease.

While the income is decreasing, even if Taifu Temple's business can increase, it will still be able to maintain an income of more than 3,000 yuan a year, and it will be difficult to increase it.

Zhao Ning said: "If we build a walled city and issue handouts to the people, how much can we save?"

Mei Zhili was stunned for a moment, then said solemnly: "Does Your Majesty want to print money to pay salaries to the soldiers and civilians who built the city?"

"Why not?"

"This is absolutely unacceptable. If this is the case, too much money will be paid by the people, which will inevitably lead to an increase in prices."

"As prices increase, people who work have money in their hands. This is relative. The imperial court has promoted Chang Pingsi in various places. The imperial court regularly invests grain, cloth and other materials into the private sector to stabilize prices. Is this feasible?"

"But……"

Zhao Ning said bluntly: "But some people are worried about the devaluation of the banknotes in their hands?"

"Indeed, those large investors must be worried about paying too much and causing devaluation."

Zhao Ning's behavior of handing out banknotes to the people who built the city can be summed up in four words: robbing the rich and giving to the poor!

In ancient times, there were no investment institutions. Money was kept at home, and large households must deposit their money in banks.

If the imperial court continues to release water to the people, and the money paid reaches the people who build the city, the overall amount of money paid will increase, and the money in the hands of large households will inevitably depreciate.

"Large households will exchange copper coins if they are worried about depreciation." Mei Zhili continued.

"If the imperial court wants to use printed money to pay salaries to the builders of the city wall, how long will it take to complete the entire process?"

"It may take three years to complete the entire process and hand over the money to the private sector."

"Then the big investors are worried about depreciation and want to exchange copper coins. It will be three years later?"

Mei Zhili said: "It may take five years, or even longer. After all, it takes a process for banknotes to become popular among the people and become truly excessive."

"That's good."

"I am stupid, what do you mean, Your Majesty?"

"What I mean is that when the public accepts the payment of banknotes to a certain extent, the exchange of copper coins can be completely closed."

Mei Zhili's whole body was shocked. Sure enough, Zhao Guan's family was ready to act like a hooligan in the later stage.

"this……"

“Does this have an impact on the general public?”

"What if I pay more and more money..."

"I have already said that some banks and local governments have promoted the Changping Department to control prices and ensure the regular return of banknotes."

"His Majesty……"

"This matter has been settled. I don't want to explain any more. This matter is confidential and cannot be publicized to the outside world. I don't want a third person to know about it."

Mei Zhili took a deep breath and said, "Yes."

"If so, how much more money can Shaanxi save every year?"

"You can save another 3 million yuan."

"So, is it feasible for Shaanxi to regularly invest 6 million yuan from the national treasury every year?"

"feasible."
Chapter completed!