Take the mall to Datang

Yuanshan's head was full of black lines, and he said in his heart how the sea trade felt like a human trafficker, why did he bring so many Fusang girls back, could it be that the business of Hepingfang would not be successful.

Seeing that Yuanshan was suddenly silent and thinking about something, Yu Jingming had to wait aside. In Liu Tong's accounts, these Fusang girls were actually not worth much according to the actual exchange rate.

Don't forget that the goods sold to Fusang have been multiplied many times, so the real purchase price of each woman is less than ten guan, and the main purpose is to sell all the Nanlingcao. When returning from Shikoku Island Passing through Kyushu Island, he made a business with Daimyo Taniguchi again. This time, the main sales were Nanling grass and spices.

Chapter 659 Sea Tax

Yuan Shan didn't know that the crew on board the Cangzhou for the second time was very lively, not only Zhou Ru, the school lieutenant and military supervisor who was going to sea for the second time, but also people from several guards in the imperial city were all on board this ship.

Moreover, Terajima, the swordsmith who made weapons for Sugita Hayao, was also brought back.

When the Cangzhou returned to Cangzhou, the crew was on vacation, because the big ship would no longer go to sea after winter, and the Cangzhou also needed some maintenance after two long-distance trades, which were handed over to the craftsmen of the shipyard.

The Li family brothers, Hao Dayi, Liu Tong, Gao Biaoren and others returned to Chang'an along with the goods, and were protected by soldiers from various guards along the way.

This trip took two months, because the weather was very cold in November, and I had to go to elementary school to delay a lot of the itinerary.

But before December, everyone rushed back.

In the imperial city, on the day when the people from Cangzhou came back, Xin Liangchou entered the palace to face the saint.

"Your Majesty, the Fusang swordsmith is now in the Military Weapons Supervision, and he brought back all the utensils that Terashima is making. The craftsmanship is indeed slightly different from the Military Weapons Supervision, and it will take some time to combine the craftsmanship." Xin Liangchou said.

"Well, you have worked hard this time." Li Shimin said.

"For His Majesty and for the Tang Dynasty, this is what a humble official should do." Xin Liangchou said.

"Well, tell me about the situation of going to sea this time." Li Shimin said.

Xin Liangcho immediately told all the things he saw and learned when he went out to sea with the boat.

"A few pieces of porcelain can be exchanged for a beautiful woman. Yuanshan's business is not losing money." Li Shimin muttered.

"By the way, what exactly is that Lingnan grass, and why it has such a large sales volume." Li Shimin asked.

Xin Liangchou said with some embarrassment: "Your Majesty, it is said that Lingnan grass is produced from Lingnan. It was originally used to burn mosquitoes, or it was used by Lantian Medical Center to make boil medicine. Later, it is said that someone discovered Lingnan grass. The grass has a refreshing effect after being ignited and smoked, so Yuanshan transported all the grass to Fusang and Silla. It is said that it is several times more than the first time."

"Rejuvenating effect." Li Shimin began to ponder in his heart.

He is the emperor, and he didn't give him some good things. He obviously knew Yuanshan's character of desperately asking for money, but after knowing that Lingnan grass didn't have any sales outlets in Datang, he directly sold all the Lingnan grass. For Fanbang, this has to make people suspicious.

However, after hearing the business income this time, Li Shimin was also moved, but his treasury did not receive a penny, which made him rather depressed, so he became interested in the tax law proposed by Yuanshan.

Because it is clearly written above, people's taxes are exempted, but customs duties and commercial taxes are still collected, but there are certain restrictions. At the beginning, Li Shimin didn't pay attention to this, because how could the national treasury be filled if the head tax was lost.

But right now, in combination with tariffs, I suddenly discovered that it seems that the current state is relatively unprofitable. If every ship that goes out to sea for trade pays taxes, it will be quite a lot of money.

Moreover, the trading profits from going to sea made him, the emperor, a little bit impatient and wanted to set up a fleet to make money.

And with the money, he won't worry about investing in the train project.

After letting Xin Liangchou leave, Li Shimin called several ministers to discuss the matter.

"What do you think about the shipping, I want to increase taxes?" Li Shimin said.

Changsun Wuji said: "The commercial tax can be applied to ships, and it also saves the need to re-draft the tax form."

"The minister seconded the proposal." Du Ruhui said.

Fang Xuanling thought on the side before saying: "Your Majesty, this is a commercial matter and only the Ministry of Economics and Development understands the situation of the shipyard best. It is better to listen to Yuan Pushe's suggestion."

"Xuan Ling is right. Somebody go and call Yuan Shan here," Li Shimin said.

Then several people began to talk about going to sea for trade. The news of Cangzhou's second return voyage had already spread in Chang'an, especially the news that they could exchange goods from the Tang Dynasty for the Fusang girl.

At this time, they didn't know that Yuanshan was really troubled by the whereabouts of these Fusang girls. If you say that you don't need so many people to do love work, the food processing factory of Yuan's family doesn't need so many people, and the textile factory of the Cotton Chamber of Commerce doesn't need so many people. They have more than 3 people and don't need to recruit people at all, so what else can they do.

Sending them directly to Pingkangfang can’t maximize the benefits according to Liu Tong’s statement, unless the Ministry of Economic Development opens a yard in Pingkangfang for business, but how can the Ministry of Economic Development do such a business? If it does, it’s not impeachment. easy.

Moreover, Yuan Shan would not arrange these foreign women to some skilled workshops in order to prevent the leakage of technology. Who can be sure that there will be no spies hidden among these women.

Just when Yuan Shan was worried, someone came from the palace.

Soon Yuan Shan saw the emperor.

"I am discussing with the ministers about the application of commercial taxation to shipping, and I want to hear your opinion." Li Shimin said directly.

"I think it's a good thing to encourage maritime merchants and develop maritime transportation," Yuan Shan said.

"How can adding customs tax become the development of shipping?" Li Shimin thought.

"Tell me." Li Shimin asked immediately.

"The tax purpose of adding maritime merchants is not only to increase the revenue of the treasury, but also to attach importance to Datang's coastal defense. If the ships going out to sea are not managed by the imperial court, how can they collect taxes? Therefore, the Datang Coastal Defense Department must have it. The purpose of collecting officers and soldiers is to strengthen coastal defense, and the purpose of collecting taxes is to fill the treasury, so it is natural to encourage merchants to develop maritime trade, so that the more ships, the more frequent the trade, the more revenue the treasury will have. I think this is a good thing, but I hope there can be a reasonable way to collect the amount of tariffs, and I feel that the tax amount will be lighter at the beginning, which will help the development of Datang Shipping in the future." Yuan Shan said.

Li Shimin was a little upset in his heart. He wanted to pay taxes lightly even though he could sell so much money for a shipment of goods.

But the current situation is that there is only the Cangzhou ship currently going out to sea for trade. Even if heavy taxes are charged, how much money can be collected at one time. If the Cangzhou ship is not going to sea, it will not be collected in the future.

Thinking about Yuan Shan's words, taxation will naturally not be a problem after the maritime business develops.

Wouldn't it be more cost-effective if the income earned by the imperial court's own fleet went out to sea for trade.

No matter how you think about it, the sea tax must be collected, and said: "This matter will be entrusted to the Ministry of Economic Development."

Yuanshan was under a lot of pressure, not because he couldn't do it, but because there were only so few people in the Ministry of Economics and Development, and the time was tight and the tasks were heavy.

Thinking about money, Yuan Shan actually didn't remind Li Shimin that the Cangzhou shipyard is officially run by the government, and even if it has to pay taxes, it will not be able to pay the Cangzhou ship, but the property of the Ministry of Economic Development is also the property of the court. How to collect commercial taxes.

Chapter 660 Building Ten Treasure Ships

"I heard that the performance of this treasure ship is better than that of the Datang ship. Since it is necessary to develop shipping without a large ship, it is impossible. Cangzhou Shipyard alone produces very limited ships. If other shipyards can start working together, the speed of shipbuilding will be much faster. " said Li Shimin.

Yuan Shanxin said that this was the beginning of the idea of ​​a treasure ship.

"Your Majesty said that the shipyards in the south can hire Cangzhou shipbuilders as supervisors," Yuan Shan said.

"Let your Ministry of Economy and Development handle the matter, and the Ministry of Households will withdraw the silver needed to build treasure ships for the imperial court." Li Shimin said.

"The construction cost of treasure ships is relatively high. Each ship costs 35 guan according to the internal price of the shipyard. How many ships does your Majesty want to build?" Yuan Shan asked.

"Changsun Wuji, how many ships do you think should be built?" Li Shimin asked.

"Your Majesty, I think we can build ten ships first," Changsun Wuji said.

Li Shimin's heart was bleeding, but he didn't object. After all, Changsun Wuji was more experienced. The shipping power composed of ten large ships should not be underestimated. Besides, the cement kiln has made a lot of money recently.

Even the cement in Chang'an is sold by the building materials chamber of commerce, and the building materials chamber of commerce has basically shifted its focus to Luoyang and other places, even if it is bought on behalf of it, it is very profitable.