I can sign in in Datang

Chapter 432 Xin Fu's troubles

If you want to talk about the richest dynasty in history, you have to mention the Song Dynasty.

The Song Dynasty was the most prosperous era of economy, culture, and education in Chinese history, reaching the peak of feudal society.

The population of the Song Dynasty reached 2 million households, more than 1 million people, and 7.2 million mu of arable land. At that time, the economy of the Song Dynasty accounted for 60.00% of the world.

In the tenth year of Song Shenzong Xining (1077), the treasury revenue was 7070 million guan, and the highest reached 1.6 million guan. Even if the Southern Song Dynasty lost half of the country, the treasury revenue was as high as 1 million guan.

We must know that when the territory of the Song Dynasty was the largest, it was only a quarter of that of the Tang Dynasty. In the Southern Song Dynasty, it was even smaller.

With such a small land area, the fiscal revenue is several times that of the Tang Dynasty.

Because the Song Dynasty developed commerce and did not exclude making money.

Industry and commerce developed to the point that farmers were freed from the land to engage in handicrafts and commerce.

Commercial taxation in the Song Dynasty far surpassed that of agriculture, and it basically looked like a commercial society. When commerce was so developed that the currency was not enough, banknotes were issued (Jiaozi).Never in all dynasties has such a relaxed attitude towards business.In addition to the concept of military defense, the Song Dynasty can be regarded as the most successful dynasty in other aspects.The other dynasties retreated to agricultural society.

"As long as His Majesty encourages commerce, within five years, the income from commercial taxes will exceed the previous annual income of Datang, and at least double within ten years." Lin Xuan said with certainty.

Li Shimin's eyes widened.

doubled?Wouldn't it be 8000 to [-] million a year in commercial tax alone?
If that step can be achieved, how prosperous is Datang?
Wouldn't he far surpass Qin Huang Han Wu in the future?

Soon Li Shimin calmed down, he thought it was impossible.

Even if it can be achieved, they are all in business. Who will grow the land?
Although Li Shimin doesn't understand inflation, he also knows that the price of goods is soaring, and money is worthless.

"The imperial court has money now, but they don't even have food to send troops. What's the use of having money?" Li Shimin shook his head.

Since the beginning of the Shang Yang Reform in the Qin Dynasty, the country has been based on agricultural development, and the emphasis on agriculture and the suppression of business have been followed. By the time of the Han Dynasty, the development of agriculture had become the foundation of the country.

The integration of Confucianism and Legalism became the main idea of ​​emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce in the Han Dynasty. Since then, all dynasties have begun to take precautions, and they are more than equal in this respect.

Although Li Shimin is an emperor through the ages, he is still influenced by this idea of ​​emphasizing agriculture and suppressing business.

For the continuous suppression of business, businessmen have no status in society, nor are they a glorious profession, and a series of policies and systems have been established to restrict business activities, which makes business development more difficult.

In the Tang Dynasty, the idea of ​​emphasizing agriculture and suppressing business was even more serious. Many people peeped at the wealth of merchants, and began to rob merchants of their property in order to satisfy their own desires, which had a great impact on commercial development.

The environment of the Song Dynasty was very different from that of other dynasties. After the founding of the Song Dynasty, although under the governance of Zhao Kuangyin, the domestic regime had stabilized and the society was in stability, the border wars never stopped. During the Song Dynasty ruled the country for 300 years For many years, the border has been at war.

In order to be able to stabilize the society, it is necessary to continuously carry out financial military expenditures. Every year, the taxes of the Song Dynasty are basically used on the northern frontier.

In order to have enough money to support frontier wars, business tax is a very good choice.

After careful consideration, the development of commerce became a matter supported by the imperial court. Although commerce developed, it did not mean that the Song Dynasty put aside agriculture. On the contrary, with the economic development, agriculture gradually became stronger.

Anyone who is familiar with history knows that although the price of grain in the Song Dynasty was higher than that in the Tang Dynasty, the price of grain in the Song Dynasty was not expensive.

So the situation that Li Shimin said will not happen at all.

What's more, Lin Xuan has two high-yielding crops, corn and potatoes.

"Your Majesty, I have recently obtained another crop called corn. Although the yield of this product is not as high as that of potatoes, it can reach more than five stones per mu. Moreover, this product is different from potatoes. Although potatoes can satisfy hunger, they are not difficult to replace. The staple food, but corn is the staple food, does your Majesty know what this means?"

"What you said is true?" Li Shimin stood up in surprise.

Potatoes cannot replace the staple food, Lin Xuan told him before.

Although it can't replace the staple food, Li Shimin is very satisfied with eating it together so that Datang will not be in danger of food shortage.

But Lin Xuan told him now that there is a staple food with an yield of more than five stones per mu, so how not to surprise him.

Five stones per mu means that one mu of land can support a grown man.

"I dare not lie to Your Majesty, but has Your Majesty thought about what will happen if this grain is spread?" Lin Xuan asked.

"What happened?" Li Shimin was taken aback.

If the grain output is high, the country will be prosperous and the people will be safe, and the people will live and work in peace and contentment. What else can happen.

"Once it spreads, there will be food that rots in the field and no one collects it. The food grown by the people cannot be sold, and the people don't even have the money to buy salt." Lin Xuan said with a very serious expression.

Don't think that Lin Xuan is exaggerating, although high-yielding crops such as potatoes, corn, and sweet potatoes were introduced to China during the Ming Dynasty.

However, the Ming and Qing Dynasties were the Little Ice Age, the drought in the north was very severe, and the population was very large, so there was no phenomenon that there was too much food to eat.

During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, there were 9000 million people. Even after the chaos in the late Ming Dynasty, there were still more than 1 million people in the early Qing Dynasty.

But what about Datang?

Now it has a population of just over 1000 million, and including the hidden population, it will not exceed 2000 million at most.

When there are no high-yield crops, the price of grain can be as low as four or five dollars a bucket.

Now that there are high-yield crops, the situation that Lin Xuan said is really possible.

"How is it possible?" Li Shimin couldn't believe it.

It has been seven years since he succeeded to the throne, and Datang has been short of food.

He really couldn't believe that the situation Lin Xuan said would happen.

But his rationality told him that if Lin Xuan's statement of grain output of more than five shi per mu was true, and the weather was good year after year, that kind of situation might really happen.

"Your Majesty, do you still remember Zhenguan rice? In Linyi country, the grain is ripe three times a year. The grain is worthless at all, and no one harvests it if it rots in the field. If the Tang Dynasty has a good harvest year after year, why doesn't that happen?" Lin Xuan said.

Li Shimin's face changed. If that happens, then there will be big troubles.

All the income of ordinary people depends on the land. When the land cannot bring them income, the whole world will be in chaos.

But let Li Shimin give up the promotion of corn, he is not reconciled.

Food is related to his ambitions. If he didn't know that there is such a high-yield food before, it's okay to say, but now that he knows, it is impossible for him to give up.

Li Shimin has always been troubled by the lack of food, but now he is troubled by the abundance of food.

I don't know if this is the trouble of happiness.

Seeing that Li Shimin had almost digested it, Lin Xuan said: "Your Majesty, in this way, some people need to be liberated from the land. The court encourages commerce, and the people can do business and work in workshops. Only by combining industry, commerce and agriculture can the world Stablize."

Li Shimin was silent for a while, and said: "I have to think about this matter carefully. When the corn you mentioned is planted, let me know, and I will take a look for myself."

Encouraging business is not a small matter, and it will take time to promote corn, so there is no rush now.

(End of this chapter)