Chapter 247: Marriage (Part 1)

Yan Liben, Li Jingxuan, Liu Rengui, Zhang Wenguan, Hao Chujun, Dai Zhide, as well as ministers and ministers of various ministries, such as Liu Shenli, Li Yiyan, Lai Heng, Xue Yuanchao, Gao Zhizhou, Pei Xingjian and others arrived. I don’t know what happened, but it turned out that the prince had been observing and summoning affairs together with ministers of various ministries in such a high-profile manner, which was unprecedented.

When they arrived at Yanying Hall, Li Wei asked them to sit down and pick up a towel made of cotton. This was also new. The cotton cloth was highly absorbent. It used to be expensive and was used as clothing materials. Now cotton has been planted, so some people made towels with fabrics.

Then he asked, "How much does a foot of cloth like this cost?"

There are really not many ministers who know about it. If you don’t take charge of your family, you don’t know the quality of your family, but most of these ministers have been in this family.

Dai Zhide said: "The palace uses fine sashes, about thirty cents per foot. This is this year, the country has cotton. If it were in previous years, fine sashes were about 40 cents per foot, which is equivalent to cotton silk, second only to silk cloth."

"What about the rough fences used by the people?"

"The coarse fence is vulgar and not durable, so it is very cheap. In the past, the price was about ten cents per foot, which was slightly lower than raw silk, large training, fire-screw cloth, and shredded cloth, but it is more expensive than small training, Victorian cloth and small water cloth. This year, because there are more cotton plants, the price has been reduced. Each foot is about nine cents. It may be lowered by next year."

There is no special study on economics now, but we also know that low prices are more beneficial to the country than harm. When food is cheaper, the people will not go hungry, when cloth is cheaper, the people will have clothes to wear. A very simple practical theory. After Dai Zhide finished speaking, he looked at Li Wei suspiciously, wondering what Prince Tibu did?

Li Wei had some praise in his eyes. As the prime minister, Dai Zhide, of course, could not go to the market to ask about prices, but he was concerned, which means he was interested. Moreover, this prime minister is very low-key, and the people believe that he is just an elder, just like Yan Liben. However, Li Wei knew how many memorials he reviewed every day and wrote a letter to his father. But he was low-key and never said anything after doing it. He was considered a virtuous prime minister.

Li Wei secretly agreed in his heart that he would not say anything. It may not be a good thing for Dai Zhide to praise Dai Zhide. He asked again: "Mr. Dai, then I would like to ask you, how much fabric is needed to make a piece of clothing?"

The question is inaccurate. It depends on whether it is a long robe or a short robe. The difference between the two is very big. Everyone has different heights, the skeletons of men and women are different, and simple clothes are different from those with frills or petticoats. However, since the prince asked, Dai Zhide had to estimate it and answered: "It's about three or four feet less, and about six or seven feet more."

"That is, each piece of clothing plus sewing will cost at least thirty cents, or even sixty cents."

"It's about the same."

This refers to the clothes worn by the common people. If the fabric used is the Shu brocade that Li Wu bought for his parents, it will not be thirty cents, but it will be thousands of times. Of course, Li Wei did not expect the common people to wear such clothes, nor did he discuss matters for the sake of clothes. This is a kind of winding pathways and secret discussion method.

Then he said: "The common people are also human beings. They will also get sick, have funerals, have festivals, and have sacrifices. These are not just about wearing clothes, buying utensils, and preparing food, which costs more. But can you tell the orphans, leaving the wealthy family, middle-aged family or civilian family to how much land they really own?"

Dai Zhide frowned and according to the equal field order, Ding Man actually granted 100 acres of land, of which 20 acres were Yongye land and 80 acres were quasi-dividing land. However, it was already empty words and said, "It's hard to estimate, it's about forty acres."

"A family with more than 40 acres is considered lucky. Orphans often go out, some of whom only have more than 10 acres of land, or even only a few acres of land. Just think that it is more than 40 acres, and each acre can harvest more crops? It is harvested in autumn. Although the harvest is slightly good, there are still people who are still taking turns to farm, and some are not harvested. Good land is thin. One acre, and the other is estimated to be less than three stones."

Hao Chujun said: "That's right, three stones have to be short, and they won't pass. But Your Highness, this is pretty good. In the past few years, there were only two stones per mu of land. If the land for rotation was not less than the land, the country would have been considered good weather, otherwise, the yield could be less than half a stone. It is also gratifying... Not only that, because of the new plow, some arable land has been reclaimed, and these lands are harvested again."

It is not surprising that half a stone is, but the increased output of the entire Tang Dynasty will be amazing. At least this year, most areas will not starve people to death. Not only are the newly added arable land, but there is also a new thinking, asking for food from mountains and waters, many people began to consciously raise and plant. It may not be as good as it immediately, but you can imagine what it will look like in a few years.

But Li Wei was not talking about this. He paused and said, "Even if there are three stones in two seasons, each 20 acres of land, at least half of which will be taxed, and then seeds, fertilizers and agricultural tools, the people's income will be only 30%.

Everyone was shocked. This is a conservative saying that such harvest and cultivated land area were already a good family in the Tang Dynasty. There were many poor civilians far from reaching it.

"That is, each dime can get thirty-six stones to forty stones of grain, counting one dime's wife, children, and five children. Apart from the food, you can only have ten stones of grain. How much is the value of ten stones of grain? How much can you save food in the food? Can you save food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food in the food

Li Jingxuan said: "Your Highness is kind, but it has been like this since ancient times. From now on, the output will gradually increase and the cotton cloth will increase, and it will gradually improve."

"It's wrong. This is a good year. Can you remember the severe drought of the previous year? It's still the case now, but the population of the people in the country is not large. What if there are 60 to 80 million people, what should I do?"

Everyone looked at each other.

Every dynasty faces this problem, but no one has solved it.

Li Wei did not plan to solve it. In fact, it is very simple. Taxes can be exempted from farmers. Even more than ten acres of land can support the whole family. Although they are very poor, they will not starve people to death. But they can only establish industry and commerce, which is a forbidden area. Of course, the current industry and commerce still cannot solve this problem, but at least many taxes can be reduced. Unlike now, each person needs to rent two stones, pay two zhang, five feet of cloth, three kilograms of hemp, twenty days of labor per year, some land taxes and a small amount of miscellaneous taxes, and household taxes are not very high. The whole country levies more than 100,000 yuan a year, and then let high households lend high loans as the salary of officials. The former is not high, and the latter causes the people to suffer.

But Li Wei secretly investigated that the people in various places have far more than these. For example, the Tang Dynasty ruled that the general servants were exempted from transfers for 40 days, the regular servants were exempted from transfers for 70 days, and the staff were exempted from transfers for more than 100 days. This refers to the regular servants. In fact, officials from all over the country allowed the people to serve for more than 20 days, and did not want to delay local taxes. They were not ordinary servants, so they would inevitably rent and transfer.

So, the various things added up. Li Wei said that the 40 acres of land had to pay half of the tax. It was not too much, and the burden was not light for the people. However, although the whole country made some mistakes from time to time, his father was not as frugal as his father in his early years. It was considered Qingming, so the people could tolerate it. For example, the severe drought of the previous year was quite good, and the court did it well. After all, the country had such a national strength and wanted to do it well, the country did not have this economy. Therefore, the people did not complain heavily.

However, when the country was settled, the population would always increase. Not to mention anything else, he remembered how much time it took for China to go from 400 million to 1.3 billion in later generations, and after a series of mistakes and disasters, family planning. Although the Tang Dynasty now includes the number of households hiding and escaping, it was less than 40 million. As long as the national policies are appropriate, the population will increase by nearly half in just 20 or 30 years. Of course, it is not possible now. There are too many poor tenant farmers, which restricts the increase of the population. However, it is inevitable to increase. Now one hundred acres of land is a luxury, and decades later, forty acres of land has become a luxury. But twenty acres of land is not difficult. If twenty acres of land are to support the family, they will go back to the starting point. Taxation needs to be reformed.

But Li Wei did not dare to mention this problem because it touched industry and commerce, and he had no intention of solving it. Therefore, he said: "After all, the low grain in a good year is also a harm to the people. The court also used grain cloth as a rent and regulated, which hurts the country. The disaster year is even more harmful to the people, and the country needs pensions, which hurts the country even more. Therefore, I wanted the court to release another batch of finances, buy them when they are cheap, and buy them when they are expensive."

"No," almost everyone said in unison.

"I know what you want to say. When the output increases, the price of grain will become cheaper. When the transfer to the barns of the two capitals, the freight is a good expense. The barns will also damage farming and corruption. If there is a disaster year, it may be useful. If there is a bumper year, the grain will eventually rot and deteriorate due to long-term slaughtering, which will become serious loss. The country's vitality has not fully recovered, and it cannot allocate much finance to waste it."

"That's right, Your Highness thinks twice."

"Gu also knows it, but he has been thinking about this for a long time and has some ideas in his heart, so he discusses with you. The court does not need to pay too much for Gu's ideas," he said, "He only took out 200,000 to 300,000 yuan in money. But he did not put it in the two capitals. Gu's thoughts set up Changping warehouses in nine prefectures, Yizhou, Qinzhou, Longzhou, Qingzhou, Yanzhou, Fenzhou, Bingzhou, Youzhou and Dengzhou. This year, he can hoard grain on the spot and save a lot of freight.

.The Kyushu radiated many mountainous people who were prone to drought. After ten years, the court could recover the efforts of the court. Especially in the several states in Guanzhong, it was far from enough to set up barns in the capital. Everyone can also see the events of the previous year. How much finance was wasted by freight alone? Secondly, in recent years, the Turkish Tubo in the Silla in recent years, the imperial court would use large troops to suppress them at any time, just like the southwest rush last year. It was just because of the food and grass, how much the country spent, and the records in the Ministry of Revenue Books

.For example, next year, the imperial court will conquer Silla again. Once the war is launched, temporary recruitment and preparation for the war will save much finance. Only one war can recover the lost finance. Therefore, the Kyushu is chosen alone, and the border is not on the border, which can ensure safety and timely allocate when dispatching troops. This is the third reason. If it is wasted, you can go out to patrol. Some people feed livestock directly because the grain is too cheap or because of inconvenient transportation in the local area. Among these Kyushu, in addition to

Outside Dengzhou and Yizhou, there are a large number of herders outside grazing. After storage for a few years, they can also be fed as feed to feed livestock, which is not entirely a waste. This is the fourth. The imperial court concentrated the barns in the two capitals to protect the two capitals, but they set up these several states alone, from Yizhou to Bingzhou, all of them were outside the two capitals. The outer periphery was uneasy, so how could the two capitals be peaceful? This is the fifth. The grain was too cheap and the people were hurt, but if you had 300,000 yuan in advance, the grain price would rise slightly and the people's lives would be better. This is the sixth."

There is another advantage that Li Wei did not say. The imperial court taxed grain accounts for a considerable share, and the slightly higher grain price also invisibly levyed more taxes. Just like one year, Americans sank wheat into the sea and raised the grain price because of the cheaper grain prices. Li Wei is not sure whether this is the case. Therefore, I will not mention it.

In fact, this approach is very similar to the later Northern Song Dynasty. The Song Dynasty set up a large number of granaries in Hebei and Shaanxi, and was forced to set up a lot of troops. Because of the invasion of the Western Xia and Liao Kingdom, a large number of troops were hoarded, which was not like the Tang Dynasty now occupied many sparsely populated areas and could farm. It had to set up a large number of Changping Warehouses for disaster preparation and military rations. The effect was not necessarily very good, and a large amount of losses and greed became a burden to the country. In the years of severe drought, only the grain stored in Changping Warehouses was far from enough. However, it was better than the strategy of the Tang Dynasty since the Sui Dynasty. There were also voluntary warehouses in various places, which were very small in the two capitals, and the freight was just amazing.

There are still many disadvantages, but overall, it is a relatively advanced strategy. Besides, the court can still get only 300,000 yuan in 300,000 yuan. Of course, the amount of hoarding is gradually increasing year by year. If there is a major disaster, it will have a certain positive effect. And there are some benefits, adapted to the times and hoarding when the grain is low. For example, four or five cents a dou of rice can be stored for hundreds of thousands of yuan. When the harvest is not good, the grain can be released and sold, which is sold, which is still cheaper than the merchants, and it is also a disguised relief. The price difference between this is enough to make up for the loss. Of course, Li Wei did not say it, and everyone also understood it. If you do business, don’t say it or listen to it. In addition to the other benefits, after Li Wei finished speaking, the ministers pondered together, but some ministers had already shown a look of approval in their eyes.

But Li Wei said more than this one, and said: "This method still treats the symptoms but not the root cause."

He didn't know about this history of the Northern Song Dynasty and might have come up with some disadvantages, so he said: "The main thing is transportation and Guanzhong. Guanzhong has dangerous mountains and rivers, and it is close to the top and bottom. Therefore, Xijing is the imperial capital of our dynasty. However, Guanzhong has many mountains and traffic, and it is impossible to transport grain in a good year, and it is inconvenient to transport grain in a good year. It is impossible to mobilize in time during the disaster year. Therefore, I wanted to re-control the Wei River. Since the previous year, many merchants have been able to reach the Han River and only cross the Qinling Mountains. In fact, they can evacuate Danshui and arrive in Shangzhou by using a ship. Not only grain and food supplies, but also quickly transfer materials from Wei River or Danshui to Guanzhong, just in case. This is equivalent to an additional road. You can also issue an edict to encourage wealthy families in various places to build roads, build bridges, build water conservancy, and facilitate transportation."

"Your Highness's intention is good, and he can punish Emperor Yang of Sui for his tutelage." Li Yiyan said.

"The orphan is definitely not Emperor Yang of Sui. How long is the Grand Canal? The Wei River has already existed, but it is only dimmed and deepened. Although the upstream of the Dan River is dangerous and turbulent, it is not impossible to dimmed. Using a boater in the rapids is easier than using manpower and animal power to transport it. Of course, it is still an idea of ​​the orphan. It is necessary to clear the two waters in winter, which is when the people rest. However, it is not possible to learn from Emperor Yang of Sui. The court can allocate a batch of funds, ranging from ten to twenty thousand yuan a year to raise the people to build construction.

It is to give relief to the people and also give them a bonus. For example, on the construction day, every few days, a batch of meat can be distributed for the people to eat. For every six days, you can take a day off and give money and goods subsidies. In this way, the people will not only not complain, but will become more motivated. Although it is impossible to complete the construction within one year, not one year, not two years, not two years, not three years. Once the two rivers are deeply dredged, they can ensure that Guanzhong will last for hundreds of years and Xijing will be safe in the future."

This seems to be another better strategy, but Dai Zhide said: "But it requires a lot of finance."

Not afraid of talking about money or disagreeing. Li Wei immediately said: "Today I will call you to discuss, and there are four resolutions in total. These two are to damage wealth, and the last two are to increase wealth."
Chapter completed!