Chapter 578 Big Plan
In the months after Liu Jin's death, although there have been occasional waves inside and outside the court, it has basically maintained a calm situation due to mutual fear and constraints. After Song Nan scolded the foreign court for not doing its job in court, Yang Tingyu also realized that after more than a year of turmoil, the Ming Dynasty's top priority was to quickly recuperate and recover and restore national strength.
According to the report of the Ministry of Household, last year, due to the chaos of Liu Liu and Liu Qi, the imperial court's fiscal tax revenue fell sharply, and Shandong, Shanxi and Hebei provinces suffered heavy losses. Not only did they lose millions of silver in their fiscal revenue, but the reconstruction and repair of dozens of prefectures and counties would cost more money to provide relief for the people.
The whole court understands that this year will be a difficult year, and the sharp decline in income means a sharp decline in expenditure, and many huge projects planned by the court are unsustainable. Fortunately, after the years, the fall of King Anhua and Liu Jin has allowed the court to harvest more than 9 million taels of stolen silver, eliminating the consumption of mobilizing the army during the rebellion in Ningxia Town. In addition to the expenses such as post-war pension and reconstruction, there are still 6 million taels left in storage, which solves the urgent need.
But none of this can make up for the trauma suffered by the Ming Dynasty for more than a year. The Ministry of Households expects that the reconstruction of state governments and the people's relief expenses will reach 30 million taels of silver, and officials in the imperial court are stunned. That is to say, in the next year or two, even under the circumstances of good weather, all the fiscal revenue of the Ming Dynasty will be used for reconstruction, which can only restore everything to the situation before the turmoil of Liu Liu and Liuqi. The catastrophe actually caused a huge economic regression in the Ming Dynasty.
In fact, in addition to financial worries, people also understand that the psychological trauma of the people is not less than the loss of money and housing. How can people cheer up from painful memories, rest and rebuild their homes is the focus of the problem, but at this time, these things are naturally ignored Slightly, the most prominent problem of today's Ming Dynasty is one word: poor! How to increase fiscal and tax revenue and give the court money to work has become the top priority of civil and military officials.
Yang Tinghe and leading the six ministries of the cabinet and other officials are not careless, but there seems to be no way to start. One of the best shortcuts to increase taxes is to raise the tax rates of various taxes in the imperial court, but this is undoubtedly inappropriate. The Ming Dynasty's tax collection has always adhered to the principle of lightness. If you do this, harsh taxes will lead to another scene. In the event of the turmoil, Liu Jin's land and political policy is a lesson from the past.
After several court discussions, officials reached a top-down consensus that the recovery of national strength should be Xu Tuzhi. Taxes should not be increased, but also symbolically reduced for the consideration of people's livelihood. Shandong, Shanxi, Ningxia and other places that have experienced war are also exempted from tax to encourage these places to quickly recover their vitality.
In order to increase the overall income, the Foreign Court has formulated policies to encourage the reclamation of silkworms. At the same time, the Ministry of Industry has stopped some costly major projects and used limited financial resources to the construction of farmland water conservancy in various parts of the Ming Dynasty, not only to ensure the drought-proof irrigation of land in various places, but also to prevent floods in rivers. At this time, absolutely It can't stand natural and man-made disasters.
Song Nan was very happy to see that the foreign court finally began to do business. As she and Li Dongyang said in the conversation that day, if people don't offend me, I won't offend them. As long as the foreign court doesn't mess around, I won't be bored to provoke them.
However, Song Nan is disdainful of the various measures of the foreign court. It is certainly a good thing to cultivate fields and encourage farmers and mulberry to build water conservancy, but this is not the Qin, Han, Song and Tang Dynasties, nor the founding of the Ming Dynasty. History has come to this day, relying on these farming methods to It is unlikely that the Ming Dynasty will be rich.
As far as the current situation of the Ming Dynasty is concerned, the fields of the Ming Dynasty are not many, and the agricultural mulberry tea and salt are not underdeveloped, but the problem is that the most fertile land of the Ming Dynasty, the best tea mountains and mulberry gardens, and the highest quality salt fields and mines are all held in the hands of a few people. In the 100 years since the founding of the country, thousands of nobles have held the hands of these people. The wealth held is greater than that of all the people of the Ming Dynasty, and they all suck the blood on the blood vessels of the Ming Dynasty eagerly, which is one of the cruxes.
Even with these constraints, Song Nan still felt that there was a way to make the Ming Dynasty rich. In an era of capitalism, abandoning the policy of a rich country dominated by farming, and building a Ming Dynasty with developed commerce was the best shortcut out of poverty. However, in a country that binds people to land, travel requires the approval of the government. To enter the boundary of a state capital, you need to report to the Ming Dynasty first. How difficult it is to develop commerce. Not to mention the stubborn ideas of low status of businessmen rooted in people's hearts.
Song Nan keeps these considerations in mind. He will not make these suggestions, because he doesn't want to be the target of public criticism. Before he could speak at will, even if Liu Jin was in power at the beginning, he was still careful to avoid touching the interests of nobles when he came up with the so-called new land policy, because it would cause disaster.
Song Nan will not say any nonsense such as restricting the nobles' enclosure and enrichment, and he will not say such useless words as no business or wealth. He has his own plan. Within his ability, he wants to set an example, which is also what he has always wanted to do.
In July, the heat is steaming in the capital, and few people can be seen on the streets. The white paper workshop in the southwest corner of the outer city is even more empty. Even the people living here can't stand the rotten and pungent smell of the ground in such weather. They have tried to go to other places to avoid this heat. Smelly noon.
But there were more than a dozen figures walking in the vicious sunshine on the street full of smelly sewage. They entered the white paper square from Xuannanfang into the street passing through You'anmen, and walked all the way west and north along the only street between the white paper square until there was no road. In the feasible northern barren forest, sit down and drink water to rest in the shade of a forest.
Li Daniu, with a dark face, took off the mask on his mouth and took a heavy breath, spat, handed the kettle around his waist to Song Nan, who was sitting aside, and said, "Brother, are you really going to build a house and a shop here? This place is simply not a place for people to stay. How can we have a future?
Song Nan took a sip of water, wiped the sweat on her face and said, "Yes, what else are we doing here?"
"Brother, I still want to remind you that this is not a joke. This white paper shop is a piece of psoriasis. Others are not even willing to walk in, and those who live are poor people. It can be said that it is worthless. Isn't it risky to do so?"
Song Nan laughed and said, "What do you know? Within the city wall of Beijing, there is an inch of gold, and the White Paper Square is definitely a valuable treasure. If it hadn't been for the dirty and messy here, how could it be my turn to think about it?
Li Daniu sped his lips and said, "Well, I can't figure out what my brother is thinking, but what I want to do is fully supported; but this matter is too big, I'm afraid it's not easy to do. Among other things, silver is a big problem, and whether the court allows it is also a question."
Song Nan nodded slightly and said, "It's really difficult, but I believe in my vision. Maybe I will become the richest man in the Ming Dynasty in a few years. The current problem is the problem of capital and qualifications. The issue of money is not considered for the time being. I need to tell the emperor about this matter first. If the emperor can agree, the capital to which belongs to the Ministry of Industry will not be completed. If we dare to make things difficult, we will not take advantage of the court. The taxation that should be levied and the procedures that should be handled have been completed, and we don't give people a word of truth.
Li Daniel muttered, "It's no wonder if the court disagrees. Someone spends their own money to transform the white paper workshop, a pit-like place. The court can still get taxes without spending a penny. If it doesn't agree, it's really a damn."
Song Nan got up and patted the grass on his buttocks and said, "Yes, I don't think it will be too difficult. I hope no one will interfere with it."
A few days later, there was a little news circulating in the court that the bored Marquis Song actually wanted to buy the dirty land of the white paper workshop, saying that he wanted to transform the white paper workshop. The civil and military officials couldn't help laughing. Is this Song Nan stupid? Is that place a place for people to stay? There are large and small paper workshops all over it, and the stinky sewage produced by papermaking flows everywhere. There are flies, mosquitoes and mice everywhere. People and tramps who live there. It's crazy that Song Nan actually wants to pay for the land there.
There is a lot of rumors, but Song Nan is immersed in a kind of excitement. In later generations, she is a big crocodile of a real estate company. I don't know how many miracles he has created. This time it can be regarded as a familiar road. Although ancient and modern similarities and differences, Song Nan is still familiar with some basic means and steps.
After running between Zhengde and the relevant government office for more than ten days, it was finally finalized. However, although Zhengde agreed with Song Nan's request, he was worried that this matter would attract the opposition of the ministers. The reason is very simple. The law of the Ming Dynasty stipulates that private individuals cannot hoard a large number of residential land, otherwise they will be punished.
But Song Nan is full of confidence. He knows that this is one thing they want. Baizhifang has become a huge psoriasis in the capital. Some people even suggested building a wall to separate it from the outer city of the capital. In this case, he spent money to buy that area that others would not want to see. If you take a look at the land, you will not really oppose it.
My reason is very sufficient. I bought it to change the dirty situation there. The court can get a large amount of money for emergency, and will be taxed to the tax department of the Ministry of Household in the future. If the officials still oppose this, it is really unreasonable.
In fact, the foreign court has no intention of objecting at all. Although I don't know why Song Nan spent this money and what he bought it for, anyway, can Song Nan make the white paper workshop worse than before? In that case, there is no need for everyone to come forward, and the emperor will also scold Song Nan.
Of course, the more they don't understand why Song Nan did this, Yang Tinghe became more and more careful, and they did not intend to give in the price of the land. They proposed to take the land price of Xuannanfang as a reference, six taels of silver per mu of land, one word can be less. Everyone thought that Song Nan would be annoyed, but Song Nan readily accepted the price and made the officials secretly laugh for many days.