Chapter 139 Investment is about to pay off! (Coming!)

"This matter is quite simple..."

Zhang Heng smiled and said, "...I suggest that you organize a unified maritime trading firm. A dozen of you will pool your strength, order a big ship, and gather all the crew members into this trading firm. Such a powerful trading firm, Who else can compete with me, what do you think?"

"Wonderful!"

Everyone suddenly realized.

The biggest problem has been solved.

But this is not the problem Zhang Heng wants to solve. Otherwise, why would Lu Yining come here?

Zhang Heng said: "Yesterday, I have discussed with the chief officials of each county and will fully support maritime trade. Next, the industries in each county will be adjusted and specially configured for maritime trade to fully meet the huge demand for maritime trade. Let Quanzhou maritime merchants not be stuck..."

After that, Lu Yining discussed with various maritime businessmen, which industries should be strengthened, which industries were lacking, which ones could be supported, and which industries needed key support.

Zhang Heng would sometimes give advice, and sometimes let them make their own decisions, but it was a pity that the government had no way to provide support like the governments of later generations, because the government's money could not be transferred at will, and it was all turned over to the national treasury, which was missing one item. A very useful killing weapon.

Fortunately, businessmen in this era only want the government not to exploit or cause trouble. It is already remarkable that the government can support them in name only.

Zhang Heng did this for them.

Zhang Heng announced that Quanzhou would not charge all kinds of exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes except for normal commercial taxes and customs duties collected by the Municipal Shipping Department. This made Quanzhou merchants dance for joy, but this move made the magistrates and counties dissatisfied because there were many It was they who initiated the exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes.

The magistrate of Dehua County complained to Zhang Heng: "...Zhang Taishou, you are not a householder and you don't know that firewood, rice, oil and salt are expensive. The county is in trouble. There is no income in the county. Just relying on the salary allocated by the court, the officials cannot support themselves at all." Every family is living a miserable life.

That's fine. The key point is that most of the money allocated by the court every year remains in legends. It's just that there is such a sum of money, but it has never been obtained, so the county can only make enough food and clothing by itself.

Also, the taxes we collect are not only used to provide food and clothing for officials. The key is that various office expenses, public funds, relief and disaster relief, poverty alleviation and respect for the elderly, etc. all come from here. If these are stopped, the county's official business will But there is nothing we can do!..."

Zhang Heng had heard about this situation, but in order to create a better business environment, Zhang Heng could not let go of this, at least not now.

But how to deal with this matter is a bit difficult. These taxes are very important to each county. If this road is blocked, it will cause public anger. Although they will not dare to object openly, they will privately There will definitely be various obstacles.

According to normal operations, Zhang Heng should submit a letter to the court, requesting to allocate a sum of money to the county in Quanzhou, or to withhold some tax revenue to make up for the shortfall in the county, but for the Song Dynasty, this administrative institution was already very rigid. , this kind of operation is definitely not possible, even if it can be pushed forward reluctantly, it will only take years and months to achieve it.

Zhang Heng thought about it and said, "How much is this money?"

The magistrate of Dehua County suddenly hesitated, and Zhang Heng knew his concerns at a glance: "For the time being, we can only take care of the normal expenses of the county. The private gray income of officials and subordinates is illegal in the first place, so don't think about it."

The magistrate of Dehua County suddenly looked bitter: "If it is a normal expenditure, it will be about 10,000 yuan."

Zhang Heng snorted: "The taxes Quanzhou pays to the treasury every year are only about 32,000 guan, so you have to spend 10,000 guan in Dehua County? That is to say, the seven counties in Quanzhou have to spend 70,000 guan every year.

Guan, and then Quanzhou turned over 30,000 Guan. Good guy, are we paying 70-30 to the imperial court? Do you know how many people will lose their heads if your words spread?"

The magistrate of Dehua County had a bitter look on his face: "We dare not touch even one cent of the taxes collected by the imperial court..."

Zhang Heng chuckled: "But they are all extracted from the local government through various exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes, right?"

The magistrate of Dehua County stopped talking, but stood there, very unconvinced.

Zhang Heng sighed: "I also know that it's difficult for you. The fiscal and tax policies of our Song Dynasty are not policy-oriented. We also require local governments to make a difference without giving money, so everyone can only think of ways on their own, not to make money for themselves."

In order to do things, you always have to have money in your pocket. This is true in all states and counties. I understand, I understand..."

The magistrate of Dehua County said happily: "It would be great if you understand, Grandmaster."

"but……"

The Dehua County Magistrate's expression turned bitter again.

Zhang Heng smiled and said: "...I don't want to hit you, but now is a critical moment. The spring in Quanzhou is too small. Everyone has to scoop water from it, but how much can we scoop out? If we can dig it deep

By storing water, perhaps it can become a large pond, or even a stream, with an endless supply, and then everyone's life will be better..."

The magistrate of Dehua County complained in his heart: Who cares about the future? After one or two years, I will be transferred. In the future, even if I become a vast ocean, what does it have to do with me? But now I have no money and can't do anything. What a pain.

It’s me who’s complaining!

Zhang Heng understood his thoughts and said with a smile: "...I won't treat you badly. Ten thousand guan is impossible. I will find a way to give you 5,000 guan every year. This money will be given to you when I am the governor of Quanzhou.

It will be established as a rule in the future, but if you dare to allow your subordinates to extend their hands at will, you will not blame me for being rude!"

The magistrate of Dehua County left, not very satisfied, but at least he was able to cope with it.

Zhang Heng sighed.

It's not easy to do things.

In a poorly managed government, the court is in trouble, the local government is in trouble, and the people are in trouble at all times. If you want to do something, you have to take into account the interests of all parties.

Just like this, if you want to release the vitality of the people, you must cut off the interference of excessive official taxes and miscellaneous taxes, but the local officials will be crying because the court's tax policy leaves no room for them at all. If Zhang Heng's ideas are followed

, the local government has no way to do anything, and the officials have no enthusiasm at all.

But if you want financial power from the imperial court, the imperial court will also cry for poverty. Because of the geographical situation, the border has to support dozens of millions of troops, and then the civil servants will also have to eat most of the taxes. If the taxes are not recovered, then the imperial court will soon

Then it collapsed.

It may take less than half a year for the army to mutiny. In fact, this was also the case. The previous Wang Lun uprising was probably because of the deduction of military pay. Wang Lun and his subordinates killed the inspection envoy Zhu Jin and then launched an uprising. Finally, in the Song Dynasty,

The turmoil in the hinterland lasted for nearly three months before it was finally calmed down.

During the Qingli period, in addition to the above-mentioned major mutinies, there were also the following recorded in historical records during the same period:

In the first year of Qingli: Henan sergeant Li Shizhong and others mutinied.

In the third year of Qingli, soldiers in Nanjing, Dengzhou, Qingping Army, and Jianchang Army mutinied one after another.

In the fourth year of Qingli: Liyang, Wei County, Shun'an Army, Yingzhou, and Ansu Army mutinied successively. Daming, Xingzhou, Luozhou, Chu

There were small-scale soldier riots in every state.

In the fifth year of Qingli, soldiers from the Yanfeng Army and the Yongning Army robbed the treasury and mutinied.

In the sixth year of Qingli: Yizhou, Mizhou, Laizhou, Liuzhou, Qingzhou, and Huaiyang armies all had riots. 1

In the seventh year of Qingli, soldiers mutinied in Baozhou, Shenzhou, Qizhou, Dezhou, and Xiangzhou.

…

If you add in the civil uprising and the invasion of the Western Xia and Liao Kingdoms in Bianjing, you can't even figure out how this court, which was suffering from internal and external troubles, maintained its rule without being overthrown.

That's too far.

The general meaning is that now the Song Dynasty wants to do things, but all institutions have no money, and the corrupt institutions have blocked the decrees. It is difficult for the decrees from above to reach the bottom, and the demands of the lower levels are often ignored by the upper levels.

But when something goes wrong, he is sure to catch it immediately.

In this case, who dares to do anything?

Therefore, Zhang Heng did not expect the money to come out of the court and could only find a way on his own.

Fortunately, the seven counties only amounted to 35,000 yuan, so he was able to pay it. In his expectation, it would only take three years for Quanzhou's business to be on track. By then, the businessmen in Quanzhou would have this money

It can also be topped.

Under Zhang Heng's promotion, Quanzhou's vitality was unleashed.

First, the shipyards in Quanzhou went into full swing, and the construction of ships with a thousand materials was stopped, and all large ships with more than 5,000 materials were built;

Quanzhou Commercial Bank, jointly established by Quanzhou Maritime and Lin'an Commercial Bank, began to exert efforts in various industries, providing large-scale financial support. For industries that were lacking, they were looking for talents to organize.

As for the original industries, such as various carving handicraft workshops, funds are injected to train apprentices and expand to produce more exquisite and more products to supply sea trade exports.

In this investment, Lin'an Commercial Bank spent about 300,000 guan, and the maritime merchants worked together to raise 1 million guan. A total of 1.3 million guan of huge funds suddenly poured into Quanzhou's business. Quanzhou

The business vitality of the century suddenly burst out.

I just feel sorry for the officials in the county offices in Quanzhou. It is too painful to see the massive amounts of money flowing in front of them, but they dare not reach out to grab the money... Oh, no, I still couldn't see the situation clearly and stretched out my hand.

, and was immediately taken out and imprisoned by Zhang Heng. More than a dozen officials were investigated and dealt with, which immediately shocked most people.

Throughout the summer, Zhang Heng traveled around, rarely staying in the prefectural government office. He personally conducted research in various counties, urged and promoted the development of advantageous industries in each county, and carefully protected this fledgling commercial seedling.

Winter has arrived in the blink of an eye, and large ships gather in Quanzhou Bay, with people flowing in and out. Massive amounts of goods are being transported onto the large ships, which are preparing to go to sea.

Because today's navigation technology is not advanced enough, there is only a short window period every year to avoid the storm season. Only winter and spring can go to sea. Zhang Heng and the others have prepared for several months just for this.

Going to sea for the first time.

However, we can only take short distances this time, such as going to Japan, Korea, and Champa. The farthest is Bo Ni. These countries are relatively close and not difficult.

The reason why we have been preparing for so long and are only going to these countries is because the big ship with 5,000 materials has not been built yet, and the ones currently going to sea are only the original ships, which are not suitable for long journeys.

Moreover, the demand for Song Dynasty commodities in these countries was also very large. Because Jiangnan maritime merchants were temporarily unable to go to sea, the demand for Song Dynasty commodities in these markets was desperate. Now is the time when Quanzhou maritime merchants are in urgent need of recovery. With this Once a batch of goods is passed, a large amount of blood will probably be recovered.

This trip to sea is very important for Quanzhou, it means a good start, so when we go to sea, Zhang Heng specially came to see him off.

Amid firecrackers and cheers, dozens of large ships set sail one after another and headed for the sea.

Zhang Heng said enthusiastically: "The rise of Quanzhou begins today!"

As the merchants went to sea, Zhang Heng also had some leisure for the time being. The key is that the New Year is also here.

Once people are free, they will inevitably think more.

It's true that Fujian is his hometown, but those with family are where his heart belongs.

So Zhang Heng missed Bianjing and his family very much.

Zhang Heng wrote a letter.
To be continued...