Chapter 164 Finance and Salt

In order to support the two Fengtian mixed associations, and even to expand the two mixed associations into towns in the future to achieve the goal of Fengtian's two towns, Zhao Dongyun has been thinking about ways to make money since he took office as General Shengjing.

At first, his main focus was on the development of industry and commerce, and he came up with a Huludao industrial zone. However, although this industrial zone has a very good prospect, and now many enterprises have been stationed, it is still a long way from maturity. At least in this year or two, it is difficult for Zhao Dongyun to get a lot of taxes from it.

However, Fengtian is under great financial pressure in the short term. Although there are more than 2 million taels of silver supported by various provinces, most of them are used to relieve refugees and restore people's livelihood. It is difficult to transfer money to let Zhao Dongyun support the army.

"Let's talk about it and see what's good about it!" In order to solve the financial problem, Zhao Dongyun convened many officials under him, especially those of the financial system, to hold meetings.

Among the people below are the main leaders of a series of new policy institutions newly established by Zhao Dongyun. Some of them are Zhao Dongyun's old subordinates, some are Zhao Dongyun's old friends, and some are famously invited, and some are recommended or recommended by others, no matter how they come here. But there is no doubt that the people in this room are the main staff under General Zhao Dongyun's shogunate.

Among these people, the most experienced one is Lin Yongquan. Although this person is not from a good background, he has been closely following Zhao Dongyun in recent years. He is not only the general office of the Education Office of the Third Town, but also the general office of the coaching office of Fengtian Supervision and Training Office. At the same time, he not only serves in the military, but also serves as the general manager of Fengtian Industry and Commerce. In the general office of the bureau, he is the number one direct descendant of Zhao Dongyun.

Come again, Zhao Dongping, who also served in both the military and the general's mansion. At present, he is not only the general office of the Ordnance Department of the Third Town, but also the general office of the General Administration of Finance of Fengtian. He holds the financial power of the third town and even the whole Fengtian, is the veritable God of Wealth in the Soviet system.

In addition to the people from these two third towns, there are Zhao E, Zhao Dongyun's old friend, Xiong Xiling, Deng Jiazhen recommended by others, and Fang Lintong recommended by himself.

By September 1905, Zhao Dongyun's chiefs of various institutions of the shogunate were generally complete:

The general office of the General Administration of Finance is Zhao Dongping, who is from the third town, and the general office is Xiang Rui, who is from the Department of Commerce and Engineering of Meiji University.

The general office of the General Directorate of Patrol is Wang Zhixin, who handled Tianjin police in his early years, and Zhu Qiling, who was recommended by Xu Shichang. Xiang Office came with Zhu Qiling *

The general office of the General Administration of Agriculture and Forestry is Chen Zhenxian, whom Zhao Dongyun recruited. He graduated from the University of California and studied agriculture. After returning to China, he was awarded the Agricultural Science Scholar. In the face of such a rare agricultural technical talent, Zhao Dongyun naturally did not hesitate to write a handwritten letter and invited him to Fengtian to serve as the General Administration of Agriculture and Forestry. General Office.

The general office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce is Lin Yongquan, but Lin Yongquan has several positions, and he himself does not know much about the development of industry and commerce. The reason for this position is to make a transition first, so that others can't control the scene. His work focuses on military affairs, so most of the business of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce is recommended by Zhao Erxun. The meeting will be handled by Deng Jiazhen. The Xiang Office of the bureau is Fang Lingtong, who recommended himself, and this person is from the Meiji Law School of Japan.

The general office of the General Administration of Salt Affairs is Zhou Ziqi. He graduated from Columbia University in the United States and has been a long-term diplomat in the United States. Zhao Dongyun did not know him, but he didn't know how he got involved with Lin Yongquan. Through Lin Yongquan, he said that he wanted to return to China to serve. Zhao Dongyun, a talent who has traveled for more than ten years, naturally raised his hand to welcome him and immediately sent a report inviting him back to China. Originally, his major was diplomacy, but Zhao Dongyun did not have a diplomatic department for a while, so he simply let him do salt work first and wait for later to adjust.

The general office of the General Administration of Education is Xu Hongbao. Although this person has a traditional background, he is extremely open-minded and supports the handling of industrial and commercial disciplines. Of course, the more important reason is that he is from Jiangsu, and the Xu family and the Zhao family have been friends for many years, so through various twists and turns, he came to Zhao Dongyun and became The General Office of the General Administration of Education, in addition, there is also Xie Yingchang, who is also a Jiangsu native of Meiji University. Although he has no qualifications, he has been recruited by Zhao Dongyun and appointed as the General Office of the General Administration of Education.

The general office of Huludao Industrial Zone is Zhao E. Needless to say, this person has a lot of personal friendship with Zhao Dongyun, and this person is from a relatively traditional background. He is a serious scholar. He has served as a magistrate and magistrate in many places, and was specially hired by Zhao Dongyun to take up the general office of Huludao Industrial Zone.

The meeting was Xiling, who has done well in handling the new policy in Huguang, and is also a well-known person in later generations, so Zhao Dongyun sent him a personal letter inviting him to work in Northeast.

The above personnel are the main team of Zhao Dongyun's shogunate at present. The source is relatively complex. Except for Xiong Xiling, most of them are less famous.

Zhao Dongyun actually invited many famous people to serve, but to be honest, Zhao Dongyun is not Yuan Shikai. If Yuan Shikai opened his invitation, it is estimated that those people would have run over, but Zhao Dongyun's words are obviously not attractive enough. Many contemporary well-known new political officials are against Zhao Dongyun. The invitation is indifferent.

In addition, if you look at this list, you will find that there are many people with overseas study experience, even more than Zhao Dongyun's army students.

This is not that Zhao Dongyun despises talents from traditional imperial examinations or prefers international students, but because Zhao Dongyun can only rely on these knowledgeable talents if he wants to play the new policy, and international students are relatively easier to accept and advocate new ideas than talents from traditional imperial examinations.

After sweeping such a circle, Zhao Dongyun turned his eyes to Zhao Dongping: "How is the official bank account now? When will silver dollars and copper dollars be issued?

Zhao Dongping, as the general office of the General Administration of Finance, is in charge of the whole financial affairs of Fengtian. Naturally, the preparation of Fengtian official silver is also his internal affairs, but he has not carefully managed this matter, and the main business is undertaken by Xiang Rui by the General Administration of Finance.

So Zhao Dongping immediately said, "Now Fengtian official silver has gathered 500,000 taels of official shares and officially opened a branch in Jinzhou, Fengtian and Yingkou. It is expected that a branch will be opened in more places by the end of the year, and the coinage is also in progress!"

Speaking of this, he glanced at Xiang Rui beside him, and Xiang Rui naturally answered, "The machine needed for coinage is ready, and copper and silver dollars can be mass-produced next month!"

Zhao Dongyun nodded slightly and motioned him to continue!

"The new copper dollar is mainly composed of one dime, supplemented by two dime and 50 cents. The silver dollar is subject to the imperial silver dollar. Once issued in large quantities, it can make a profit of at least 50,000 taels per month."

It was very profitable to play coinage at the end of the Qing Dynasty, and the coinage right is also an important symbol of the local governor's financial power. The court has long wanted to take it back but has never succeeded.

Zhao Dongyun said, "We still need to be cautious about coinage. We would rather make less profits in the early stage, but also raise the credit, so that we can issue it in the future*!"

Zhao Dongyun did not stay on the official bank account for too long, but soon continued to ask Zhao Dongping: "How about the new tax? When will it work?"

Zhao Dongping said with a slightly depressed look, "The progress of rectifying miscellaneous taxes is a little slower than expected. I'm afraid it won't be until the middle of next year!" Zhao Dongping knew that this would make Zhao Dongyun dissatisfied, so he quickly added another sentence: "However, the new tax has been properly handled, and more than a dozen new taxes such as tobacco and alcohol tax and housing transaction tax have been added. In addition, the proportion of gold and scale tax have also been increased. Lin Lin will collect at least two million more silver this year than last year. Son."

What was the fiscal revenue of Fengtian Province in 1904-1905? But it's only two million taels, and Zhao Dongping now says he can charge two million taels more? That is doubling, and this is still based on the premise that the industry has not been developed and perfect. It can be imagined that Zhao Dongping must have thought a lot of crooked ideas when he searched for money.

If you collect too much tax, Fengtian's merchants will also have opinions, so Zhao Dongyun said, "You should pay attention to the matter of tax increase and don't do anything!"

Zhao Dongping disapproved: "In fact, our various commercial taxes in Fengtian are relatively low. If we change to Jiangsu, Guangdong and other places, we can also charge at least 5 million taels more! And now tax evasion is more serious. Add two million taels of silver just to let them take out the part of tax evasion again!"

The profit of Fengtian official silver account and the new taxes are the income that the State Administration of Finance can provide, but if Zhao Dongyun wants to get money, it is naturally impossible to just keep an eye on them. There are other departments. Immediately, he transferred it to Zhou Ziqi: "What about your salt affairs? How much can you take out this year?

Zhou Ziqi said, "Fengtian's salt affairs are more corrupt. Now the Ministry of Labor is still under rectification. It is expected that about one million yuan of salt tax will be obtained this year. If the rectification can be completed, it is expected that there will be more next year!"

Salt revenue has always been the majority of the fiscal revenue of feudal dynasties, but it was different from traditional feudal dynasties. In this era when even tariffs were independent, although the salt revenue of provinces nominally belonged to the central government, it has always been intercepted by the provinces.

Taking Fengtian as an example, in the past few years, Zeng Qi has not paid even a silver salt tax to the court, and all of them have been left in Fengtian for his own use.

A few months ago, when Zhao Dongyun planned to reform the Fengtian salt government, he also said so: Feng Province's salt affairs have been abandoned for a long time, and the Salt Administration should be set up to supervise and sell, and the proceeds will be retained in the province first. If there is a surplus, then go to the Ministry!

This means that when I have too much money to use up, I will give it to the household department...

It's just that Fengtian is widely and sparsely populated. It is doubtful whether Zhou Ziqi can find out millions of taels of silver in salt politics!