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Zhao Han immediately sensed something was wrong: "In this Ye'erqiang country, can a businessman with a low background be an official?"

Ma Hemu replied: "The sultan is a wise monarch. He appointed civil servants to replace the local lords. The officials of the Khan court, regardless of their origin, can be officials if they are capable."

Another mighty king!

Zhao Han inquired carefully, Ma Hemu answered patiently, and finally asked about the situation: The Yeerqiang Khanate is in its heyday.

When the Yeerqiang Kingdom was first established, it was a nomadic country, and everything was Mongolian.Gradually began to live in animal husbandry, and then developed into agriculture and animal husbandry, manor economy and commercial trade became the country's leading.Local power is controlled by Burke (similar to the governor), and the Sudan is short of recruiting soldiers, because the population is also controlled by Burke.

Now this Abdullah Khan subdues local forces by force and replaces local lords with civil servants.Those who were disobedient were thrown on a pilgrimage to Mecca. Many died on the way back and forth, and those who were able to return happened to die of illness.

Even his own son was pushed out of the power center and sent to Kashgar to be the governor.

Of course, it is this operation that will capsize Abdullah Khan in the gutter.

In the near future, the son will return from Kashgar and force his old father to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca, and die of illness in the capital of India on the way back.As for the Yeerqiang Kingdom, it fell into a split, with the Black Mountain faction and the Baishan faction acting independently.

The Montenegrin Sect and the White Mountain Sect belong to the Sufi sect in Islam.

The Sufis in Ottoman and Persia were crazily suppressed by the rulers. Most of the Persian female slaves sold to China were followers of the Sufis.

But in the Mughal Empire of India, Sufism was the state religion.

The second Mughal emperor, who was killed by an Afghan general, fled to Persia. It was with the support of the Sufis that he was able to restore his country.

The Yaerqiang Khanate in Xinjiang also had Sufis as the state religion.

However, the Sufi sect in Xinjiang split into two sects, the Montenegro and the Baishan. At this time, the Yeerqiang Kingdom belonged to the Montenegro Dynasty.

Abdullah Khan drove his son to Kashgar, and his son took the opportunity to support the local Baishan faction.Then he united with the lost nobles, raised troops under the banner of religion, and successfully drove the old father to Mecca for pilgrimage, and then established the Baishan Dynasty.

Success is also religion, and failure is also religion.

The old father was expelled by religious forces, all the reforms of the old father were over, and the nobles failed to regain power. Instead, the head of the sect became the local power.Therefore, the Baishan Dynasty is also known as the era of Hezhuo (Prophet) rule.

The large and small Hezhuo rebellions suppressed by the Qing Dynasty were all Hezhuo of the Baishan faction.

Historically, Zhungeer was able to destroy the Yeerqiang Khanate because of the religious division within the Yeerqiang.Zhungeer first supported the Montenegro faction and raised troops to attack the Baishan faction. After the victory, he killed the Yeerqiang Sultan, allowing the Baishan faction and the Montenegro faction to continue to fight and consume.

"Your Majesty, please resume the tea-horse trade!" Ma Hemu said.

Zhao Han nodded and said, "Since my Datong court is the suzerain, the trade between the two countries should resume naturally."

Ma Hemu was overjoyed: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness!"

Zhao Han picked up the jade seeds on the desk and played with them: "Kunshan jade is pretty good, and you can send more tributes in the future."

"Follow the order!" Ma Hemu was even more happy.

Kunshan jade is Hetian jade, which has been famous all over the world as early as the Qin and Han Dynasties.But the Kunshan jade at that time was produced in the Qilian Mountains and had nothing to do with Hotan, Xinjiang.

Hetian jade was developed in the Ming Dynasty, and it was sold under the guise of Kunshan jade from Qilian Mountains.

Jinsheng Lishui, jade out of Kungang.

Kunshan jade is sought after by literati, not only for its quality, but also for its rich cultural connotations.

Emperor Zhao praised the quality of Hetian jade, which is equivalent to rectifying the name of Hetian jade, and there is no need to pretend to be Qilianshan jade in the future.That is: Hetian jade in Xinjiang is also a decent Kunshan jade, and it is also something worn by gentlemen.

Ma Hemu estimated that he had read many classics of the Han family, and Emperor Zhao knew them all.

This guy is a businessman himself. After returning to Xinjiang, he plans to immediately take out all his property, buy as much as he can, and sell it to Datong to make a fortune.

Ma Hemu thanked En and left the palace, waiting for the gift from the court.

The Datong New Dynasty will definitely not be taken advantage of. As much as the vassal state pays, it will basically give back as much, and it will keep some profits.

Of the two boxes of Hetian jade, one box was retained by the royal family, and the other box was thrown to the imperial court department for auction.

Government auctions are definitely prone to corruption, and private merchants make profits based on their connections.

But it doesn’t work without an auction. For example, this time the Yeerqiang Kingdom paid tribute to dozens of camels in addition to Hetian jade and other special products.

In Daming, there is a royal zoo, and camels can be raised.The giraffes, elephants, tigers, leopards inside... Most of them are tribute from the vassal state.Some animals were even raised from Zhu Di's time until the end of Ming Dynasty, and their children and grandchildren had no worries about food and clothing.

This way of feeding costs a lot of money and food, not only to raise animals, but also to support the breeders.

Sometimes there are more breeders than animals!

Outside Nanjing, the commercial, financial and diplomatic departments jointly held a tribute auction.

"Camels from the Western Regions start at ten taels per head, and the first batch of ten will be auctioned. This material is powerful enough to walk, and it can withstand heat and thirst when on the road..."

"I give 11 taels!"

"I'll pay 11 and a half yuan!"

"I am out..."

Ma Hemu looked at the auction scene dumbfounded, and the tribute was actually sold just like that.This is different from what he read in the book. The book said that the Chinese emperor was very generous, and the tribute trade would definitely make a lot of money.

"This is the Kunshan jade produced in Hetian in the Western Regions. Regardless of whether it is beautiful or not, His Majesty likes it very much. For this tribute, His Majesty wants nothing else but a box of Kunshan jade..."

The emperor likes it?

The merchants suddenly laughed, this can be used as a publicity stunt, and some guys have already made up their minds to go to Xinjiang to buy goods.

With the favor of Emperor Zhao and the cultural connotation of jade coming out of Kungang, the price of Hetian jade in Xinjiang will definitely rise.This is what Zhao Han wants to see. After all, Xinjiang is too remote and there is not much land that can grow food. There must be some treasures worth sending troops to.

If you want to go to Myanmar in the future, you can fry jadeite first.

Jade these days is nothing more than broken stones. It was only introduced to China at the end of Ming Dynasty, and now it is only accepted by a few people.

Of course, Myanmar is not easy to play.

It is easy to win a few battles. If you want to occupy the whole of Myanmar, it may not be easier than completely destroying the Qing Dynasty.

It is not only a matter of terrain and climate. At this time, Myanmar is called Toungoo, which belongs to the hegemony level of Southeast Asia and is the strongest feudal dynasty in Myanmar's history.Moreover, like the Yeerqiang Kingdom, it is now ruled by a wise monarch and belongs to the heyday of the strongest dynasty.

The king of Burma called Talong, similar to Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty.

His father, Anabilon, was in charge of war and expansion, a bit like Kangxi's case.Not only recovered all the lost land, but also recovered the Portuguese colonies, and greatly increased the country's land area.

After he succeeded to the throne, he immediately stopped the war, conducted a census, registered households, reformed the tax system, and distributed idle land to farmers.

Of course, prosperity must decline, and the next successor will soon be obsessed with pleasure, fatuous and incompetent.

"I give 80 taels!"

"85 taels!"

"..."

The auction of Hetian jade is still in progress, and this thing will be fired up in the future.

When merchants are frantic, what should the common people do?

Inside and outside Nanjing, tens of thousands of urban residents have immigrated in recent years.As long as beggars dare to take to the streets and are not severely disabled, they must be listed as immigrants and thrown to the north to slowly farm.The lower class citizens, who have also been immigrated in large numbers, have almost wiped out the unemployed group.

Ma Hemu is walking on the streets of Nanjing. He will go back and report to Sudan that there are no poor people in China's capital.Even coolies on the wharf can afford noodles, which is unimaginable in Yeerqiang.

This country is not to be messed with, so let's engage in trade in peace and security from now on.

Chapter 605 [Annual income of 500 million taels]

In spring, offering sacrifices to heaven and earth, and persuading farming and mulberry.

However, the weather was not good, and when the farmers planted rice seedlings, there was only a light rain in Jinling Mansion.The same is true for Jiangnan, Jiangxi, and Hunan. This year's spring drought is certain, and it is slightly better than last year.

In another time and space, this should be the fourth year of Shunzhi.

During the Shunzhi period, there were many disasters.According to historical records: floods and droughts, earthquakes, winter thunder and spring snow, meteorite rain and soil.

In this regard, following the advice of the civil servants, Emperor Shunzhi repeatedly issued his own edict.

Before the Lantern Festival was over, the first batch of immigrants this year, with a total population of 8, moved from several provinces in the south to the north. .

Under the propaganda of the imperial court, the weather in the north has been smooth in recent years.Moreover, the tax exemption for the first year of immigration, and the tax cut in half for the next three years, all of these make the relatively poor people feel excited, and more and more people spontaneously sign up to migrate to the north.

"Lu Ting posted a notice!"

In the city of Nanjing, a passer-by yelled, and the nearby people rushed to check.

A scholar shook his head and said: "Since March [-]st, the Maqun Racecourse has been open to the common people. Those who want to learn riding skills or enjoy riding horses can go to the racecourse to pay money and enter, and the fee will be charged according to the hour..."

The common people were all surprised that it was a royal racecourse, and they could actually play by paying a fee.

Zhu Yuanzhang built many horse farms in Zijin Mountain, especially the area around the horses was the largest, and it had been occupied as arable land by the end of Ming Dynasty.

Now, the farmers near Maqun have been collectively relocated to Hebei, and the Maqun racecourse has been completely restored.In the racecourse, a school ground for the imperial guards was set up, and the imperial guards went out of the city in turn to practice.

Usually, one-fifth of the racecourse is open to the public, and you can enter to play after paying the ticket.If you pay more, you can rent horses, or even hire a jockey to teach riding skills. Of course, the hiring fee is definitely not cheap.Only when the emperor came to the racecourse, the venue was cleared and closed three days in advance.

The large mountain forests to the west of the racecourse are all designated as royal hunting grounds, which are open to the public for half a month every autumn, and they also have to pay money to go hunting.

The large area of ​​forest to the west of the hunting ground is the area around Meiling Palace and Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, all of which have been transformed into royal gardens for members of the royal family to go to the mountains to escape the summer heat.

morning meeting.

Zhao Han smiled and said to the ministers: "But you are slandering me and building a large building?"

"I don't dare!" All the officials quickly denied.

Zhao Han said: "In the years of natural disasters, it is necessary to use work as relief. At first, in the city of Nanjing, Guanlou (official dormitory) and Yilou (economical housing) were built, so that a large number of unemployed people got jobs. Waiting for the official building and Yilou After the building was completed, the Forbidden City was repaired, and at the same time, immigrants continued to move north, so that there were no more unemployed people in Nanjing. Natural disasters have continued in recent years, and the water conservancy around Nanjing has almost been repaired through work-for-work relief.”

Zhao Han glanced at the group of officials: "According to the theory of the relationship between heaven and man, it is because of my lack of virtue. I will not issue this edict for my own crime. I consider myself a virtuous king. Maybe God still wants to test me. ,There is another spring drought this year. The horse farm has already been built. After the spring plowing, a hunting ground and gardens will be built in Zijin Mountain. This is also a substitute for work, and it will give nearby farmers more livelihoods. The hunting grounds and gardens are enough to build for several years. Rest assured , all the money comes out of the house, and the money from the treasury will not be used.”

"Your Majesty is holy!" the ministers shouted.

In fact, many people are slandering, saying that the emperor's internal funds contributed the money, but this year the royal family's expenses have risen again. Emperor Zhao personally decided that it was 150 million taels per year.

This number has already reached the royal expenditure of the Hongzhi Dynasty of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhao Han smiled and said, "Fei Chun, tell me, what was the national treasury revenue last year?"

The annual income of the previous year cannot be counted until the end of February of the following year.

Fei Chun got up immediately, cupped his hands and said, "Last year, the national treasury's annual revenue, excluding local taxes, was more than 2557 million taels of silver."

As soon as this remark came out, there was an uproar in the hall, and the previous Ming Dynasty was never so rich.

For local taxes, mainly agricultural tax and industrial and commercial tax, provinces, prefectures, and prefectures and counties can keep [-]%, and the remaining [-]% will be handed over to the central government.However, [-]% of the revenue from special taxes such as tariffs, salt tax, tea tax, and tobacco tax goes to the local government, and the rest is handed over to the central government, from which the royal family budget is also taken.

Excluding local retention, the central government can still collect more than 2500 million taels of taxes, mainly due to the rapid growth of industrial and commercial taxes and tariffs.

Moreover, the northern and southwestern provinces are still in the state of reducing or exempting land taxes.The rest of the provinces don't squeeze the people hard, otherwise they can collect more.When the whole country returns to life in the future, the annual income will definitely exceed 3000 million taels.

We must know that in another time and space, the annual income of the Manchu Qing Dynasty had exceeded 2000 million taels during the Shunzhi period, and it was around 3000 million taels during the Kang, Yong, and Qian dynasties.

The Qing Dynasty was able to collect so many taxes, it was purely disregarding the life and death of the people. Do you believe that the Qing Dynasty is still collecting three rates?

When the Manchus first entered the customs, they pretended to be exempted from the three-payment increase.With the fierce resistance in the south, the military expenditure of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties was insufficient, so Liao's payment was re-levied, but the name was changed from "Liao's payment" to "Nine Percent Silver".

Although the training rate has been said to be exempt, until the early years of Kangxi, many places continued to collect it.In the last years of Shunzhi alone, the additional salary levied every year reached more than 500 million taels of silver.

Nearly 2000% of the 90 million yuan income of the Shunzhi Dynasty came from farmers' grain taxes and additional taxes.

Only 2500% of Zhao Han's annual income of 60 million taels comes from agricultural taxes.After all, many provinces are still in the period of grain tax reduction and exemption, and local officials can't collect more if they want to.

"In today's court meeting, it's better to discuss business." Zhao Han said.

Song Yingxing took the lead in saying: "Your Majesty, agriculture is the foundation and business is the end. This is an eternal principle. It is all because businessmen seek profit. The more money they gather, the more they can control the market, and the wealth of ordinary people is exploited by them. Therefore, emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce must be made a national policy, and merchants must not be allowed to run rampant in the world."

When the ministers heard the words, they all said yes.

Song Yingxing also said: "However, the world cannot be without business. A strong business does not necessarily mean a strong country, and a weak business will inevitably lead to a weak country. In the Ming Dynasty, the decline of commerce began in the Wanli period. The government and the opposition took everything from merchants. They even imposed taxes for no reason and detained the family members of the merchants. The merchants were exploited by this, and many of their families were destroyed. As a result, the circulation of goods was inconvenient, and the prices in the cities increased day by day, and it was the people who suffered in the end.”

In the Ming Dynasty, business reached its peak during the Wanli period, and began to decline in the middle and late Wanli period.

On the one hand, the import of silver from the Americas has decreased, and on the other hand, merchants are not treated as human beings.From the emperor to the magistrates, and then to the military generals and bandits, they asked businessmen for money when they had no money. The business of Ming Dynasty was far inferior to that of Jiajing.

At the same time, big businessmen collude with the powerful, and can pass on the losses to the small people, and even get richer by paying back the power and money.As for small and medium businessmen, there are countless bankrupts.

Wu Yingji has been promoted to Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs. He went on to say: "What Song Diange said is absolutely true. Without agriculture, there is no stability, without work, there is no prosperity, and without business, there is no wealth. Xunzi divided the people of the world into four categories: scholars, farmers, businessmen, and farmers. Farmers do their best. Tian, ​​Jia Yicha exhausted his wealth, and hundreds of craftsmen used skillful equipment, if this can be achieved, the country will last forever, the country will be rich and the people will be strong.”

Qian Qianyi popped up suddenly: "This is the debate between righteousness and benefit. Master said, wealth and honor are what people want. Poverty and lowliness are what people hate. Everyone pursues wealth and honor. Among all kinds of businesses, only business can do it." To get rich. If everyone goes into business, who will cultivate the land? Therefore, we must emphasize agriculture and suppress business. As far as businessmen are concerned, they should seek profits with righteousness and not seek ill-gotten gains. After gaining profits, businessmen should also gain Donate to the public, so that both righteousness and benefit can be obtained.”

Except for what Song Yingxing said was slightly reliable, the rest are all very correct nonsense!

Zhao Han asked: "What Dr. Qian said is to use benevolence, righteousness and morality to restrain businessmen?"

"Of course." Qian Qianyi replied.

"How many merchants in the world are benevolent merchants?" Zhao Han asked with a smile.

Qian Qianyi said: "The less benevolent and righteous the merchants are, the more the imperial court should educate them."