Chapter 617: National Credibility in T-shaped Volume, Follow the Guidelines
"Two million taels for ten years. From the date of the court's decree, five hundred thousand taels will be paid in advance within three months, and another five hundred thousand taels will be paid before the end of this year. Another two hundred thousand taels will be paid before the end of the eighth year of Yonglong, and the following eight years will be paid. The one hundred thousand taels will be paid off gradually in the next few years according to the annual amount of one hundred thousand taels,..."
Even when Feng Ziying stated the agreement again, everyone present was still excited.
One million taels will be received this year. This is a timely help. In addition, the royalties have been agreed to be paid off within three months by the court. This is a net income of 1.8 million taels. The Ministry of Household Affairs can give it to the Ministry of Accounts. The bag is much looser.
This is simply much more comfortable than sending out tax inspectors and mine inspectors to collect hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. Moreover, there will not be any advice from the censor or criticism from the people, and it can even get the unanimous support of the gentry.
"..., but these people must also have demands,..." Feng Ziying also put forward the conditions unceremoniously, "First, the local government must cooperate with the relocation. It will not only be the development of the salt field that requires relocation, but also the construction of docks, roads, warehouses and even Basic facilities such as small ship repair shops require relocation. In addition, they also hope that the expansion of Longyou merchants and Anfu merchants can coordinate with them, so that in the future, the local salt business in Dongpan will be better than nothing,..."
Ye Xianggao stroked his beard and nodded. This was as it should be. Businessmen have to calculate these clearly. Even if they can earn an extra penny, it is a good deal.
“..., secondly, they hope that the Fujian Navy can be reorganized to maintain the security of Dongfang, and are even willing to spend an extra 100,000 taels of silver to support the construction of the Fujian Navy,..."
“Only in the navy, not on land?” Qi Yongtai couldn’t help but ask.
"On land, of course they also hoped that the imperial court could send troops to station in Dongfan, but the students refused because in the face of the harassment of mountain people and the threat of disease and miasma, the imperial court might have to pay too much, and in the short term, the gains of the army stationed in Dongfan would outweigh the losses, so they They just want the sea route to and from Dongfan to be safe and sound, and they will hire private security agencies and law enforcement agencies to handle matters on land."
This fact made everyone here breathe a sigh of relief. If they want to send a large army to Dongfan, they will have to think carefully.
Even if it means tens of thousands of troops are mobilized, it is not a small number. Moreover, it is hot and humid in the East. It is a plague for the troops to be stationed and adapt. Death due to illness is also the biggest problem of attrition of the army.
"..., the third is the government. Even if they don't mention this, students will insist that if it is not appropriate to set up prefectures and counties now, then we can set up inspection departments first, but this rule must be established first to establish the government's Governance status cannot be complete without rules. You must understand that this is the land of the Great Zhou Dynasty. If you are not strong enough, you can ask the escorts and gangsters hired by these salt merchants to assist, but the government must take the lead... "
From the perspective of the people in the court, these are just trivial matters. After the money problem is solved, other matters do not need to be brought to the court for discussion. That is the responsibility of the Zhongshu Keke.
After discussing the matter of salt affairs and land reclamation in Dongpan, everyone was a little tired, but for the sake of money, the group refused to rest and continued to discuss.
"Although the Kaihai bond issue was affected by these salt merchants and had some twists and turns, in Weichen's estimation, the impact will not be significant, especially since Dongfan Salt has attracted two salt merchants with good performance to join, which has given these The salt merchants are very encouraged, so Weichen estimates that it will not be a problem to sell 3 million taels of Kaihai bonds this year..."
This sentence made the whole court gasp again. Even though many of them were mentally prepared, it was estimated that it was only between one and two million taels. But Feng Ziying didn't expect that Feng Ziying opened his mouth and said three million taels. Even if this guy I'm sure the next words will be followed by a "but" or "but", but after all, this is three million taels.
What does three million taels mean?
The annual land tax, salt tax and business tax in Dazhou now add up to less than 22 million taels. In the 30th year of Yuanxi, it was 18 million taels, and then gradually dropped to the 41st year of Yuanxi. Fifteen million taels the year before Emperor Yonglong ascended the throne.
But the military expenditure alone requires more than 9 million taels, and official salaries require more than 4 million taels. However, because the founding of the Zhou Dynasty was still short, the number of clans was small, less than 600, and the expenses were far less than those in Feng Ziying's previous life. The Ming Dynasty in China still needs about four million taels, while relief, river engineering materials, etc. are only three to five million taels per year, and sometimes only one or two hundred thousand taels.
After Emperor Yonglong ascended the throne, he implemented strict frugality, increased revenue and reduced expenditure, and strengthened the administration of officials to a certain extent. The total of all land taxes, salt taxes, commercial taxes, and mining taxes exceeded 20 million taels. In the sixth year of Yonglong, the total fiscal revenue last year It exceeded 21 million taels. Of course, this includes the converted grain.
If no suitable way to open source is found, the imperial court will really collapse.
This is also why officials from Emperor Yonglong down to the six ministries were so enthusiastic about the strategy of opening up the sea, and even suppressed many opposing voices.
"…, but there is a problem involved here. This is a bond, not a charter. It requires both interest calculation and principal repayment. It involves the issue period and the mortgage capacity of sea tax. For example, three million was ten years ago. , then from ten years on, the one-time payment of three million principal plus interest, including principal and interest, may be as high as seven or eight million taels. Can the court afford so much money to repay it at one time?"
This issue is indeed a difficult problem, but the cabinet has discussed it before. Faced with the current difficult situation of the court, the bond proceeds must be obtained no matter what.
But how to operate it specifically, they now want to hear some suggestions and opinions from Feng Ziying, which they have never encountered before.
The court has not never borrowed short-term temporary loans, such as three to five million taels, three to five months, without interest, but these are all businessmen who are forced to borrow money for some unavoidable reasons, such as borrowing for three to five years or even ten years. Years of long-term borrowing have never been available.
To put it bluntly, this is all something that Feng Ziying came up with in his head. No one has ever seen it before. Even Zheng Jizhi, the old Minister of Household Affairs, has no idea how to operate it.
“What do you mean, Ziying?” Fang Congzhe also asked a rare question.
"It depends on the current situation of the court. If all the bonds are sold with a ten-year term, the interest calculation may be higher. Secondly, it will also make businessmen have some doubts and worry that the court will not be able to repay. I personally suggest that a combination of For example, the three-year Kaihai bond can be sold for one million, the five-year Kaihai bond can be sold for one million, and the ten-year Kaihai bond can be sold for one million. This will not only eliminate the inner worries of these businessmen, but also reduce unnecessary interest calculations. , and if the sea tax revenue next year is considerable, we can also consider continuing to sell Kaihai bonds. At that time, businessmen will see the considerable sea tax revenue and their confidence will increase, and these will not be a problem."
The first half of the advice given by Feng Ziying was nothing. Even Ye Xianggao and the others could think of it, but the second half of it made everyone's hearts light up. Does this mean that this method of operation can be continued next year?
From the changes in the eyes, looks and expressions of this group of people, Feng Ziying can figure out the thoughts of these people. Including Qi Yongtai, all of them have a little more fiery eyes.
Ye Xianggao coughed lightly and glanced at Qi Yongtai. Emperor Yonglong also leaned back slightly and his eyes also fell on Qi Yongtai. The others smiled but said nothing.
Qi Yongtai sighed inwardly, a group of senior ministers and the emperor all had their eyes fixed on money, but he himself was also unavoidable, forced by the plight of reality.
“Ziying, according to your statement, these bonds can be sold every year without having to wait until the court repays them in ten years’ time?”
Qi Yongtai’s words asked everyone’s thoughts. Although they haven’t fully understood the mystery, Feng Ziying can say this, which means that there must be a way here.
"Your Majesty, my lords, in fact, this issue is not complicated. Of course, it does not have to be paid back before you can continue to sell it. Even selling it twice a year is not a problem. These are not the key. The key is whether you can let others buy it." Feng Ziying knew It is necessary to instill in them some awareness of national credibility (court credibility).
"Your average sea tax in the next ten years will only be two to three hundred thousand taels a year. You have to sell three million bonds all at once. How will you repay it then? Unless the court raises funds from other places to repay, the sea tax can be used as collateral. This It’s clearly stated, so it’s hard for businessmen to believe that if you sell it this year and sell it again next year, no one will buy it, and it may even cause people to distrust the first batch of sea-opening bonds...”
"If the sea tax is only 200,000 taels in the first year, but due to the growth of foreign trade, the sea tax increases to 300,000 taels in the second year, and to 500,000 taels in the third year, then out of the optimistic expectation of this situation , maybe businessmen will be willing to buy the second and third batch of Kaihai bonds..."
Feng Ziying talks eloquently. "..., this is just one aspect. Let me give you another example. For example, if the imperial navy occupied Ezo Island and discovered that Ezo Island is rich in furs and has a developed fishery, then it can use Ezo Island's furs and fishery income as collateral to sell them. The Ezo Bonds have occupied the Spice Islands in Nanyang, which are rich in spices. The annual revenue from the sale of spices may reach one million taels, so the imperial court can also sell the Spice Islands Bonds..."
"The reason is not about when the bonds are sold, how many times a year, under what name they are sold, or how much they sell each time. These are not important..., the key is whether the businessmen can, are willing or not to trust the court, and whether they believe it or not The imperial court's ability to repay the exchange as scheduled is a matter of credibility..."
I’m still in poor health, so I can only write as much as I can, but maybe I can think more about the next step.
(End of this chapter)