There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 348 Personal Expedition
This spring, the King of Han personally led an expedition to Jiangnan.

Merchant ships from Hubei, southern Anhui, and Jiangxi provinces that could be requisitioned were all requisitioned to serve as supply and grain transport vessels for the army.

Merchants from the three provinces were not unhappy about this at all; on the contrary, they were very enthusiastic.

Because the Han army requisitioned and hired merchant ships, although they did not pay money, they would issue a tax deduction document to the ship owners and the merchants involved as compensation.

As long as you use this document to pass through the various customs checkpoints of the Han Dynasty, you can receive tax reductions or exemptions within one year.

Don't underestimate this preferential treatment. Merchants who can be conscripted by the Han army are basically those with some financial strength and wealth. Without strength, how can they build a fleet of ships?

The tax laws of the Han Dynasty had already undergone comprehensive reforms at the very beginning of its establishment. Generally speaking, the higher your property income, the higher the tax rate you have to pay.

Currently, the Han Dynasty has only been established for a few years, and its bureaucratic and administrative system is relatively clean, with no instances of favoritism, corruption, or bribery.

The corrupt officials who are publicly executed every year, and the relatives and family members of prisoners who are exiled, are not killed or exiled in vain.

Therefore, for these merchants with some wealth, the tax deduction documents issued by the Han Dynasty are not just simple pieces of paper, but rather a lot of hard-earned silver.

Moreover, the severity of the Han Dynasty's crackdown on smuggling further increased the value of these tax deduction documents.

Moreover, the tax reduction documents issued by the Great Han Dynasty are limited to the time and amount of tax reduction, and are not limited to fixed users. Even if these merchants do not need them themselves, they can resell them to others to earn commissions.

In short, as soon as the Han Dynasty issued the policy of using tax documents as collateral to hire merchant ships, a group of merchants who saw the business opportunity immediately began to lease their idle merchant ships to the Han army.

Some business-minded merchants even stopped doing business themselves and went to build supply ships for the Han Dynasty. Once they arrived in Jiangnan, they would buy local specialties and use the tax deduction documents issued to them by the Han Dynasty to resell the specialties back to the Han Dynasty for profit.

"Your Majesty's method is truly remarkable. With just a document on future tax reductions, without spending a single penny of the national treasury, you have managed to recruit so many merchant ships to fight for the Han army." Gu Jing stood at the Jingzhou dock, gazing at the massive fleet of supply ships sailing down the Yangtze River, and couldn't help but sigh.

Lin Wenchang, who was standing next to him, added: "Requisitioning merchant ships is one thing. With these tax reduction documents, those merchants will eventually use them. Even if they don't use them themselves, they will definitely rent them out to others."

"Although the tax reduction period is only one year, as long as all merchants use it for business within that year, they will get used to it, and the commerce of our Great Han will naturally flourish. With the prosperity of commerce, tax revenue will increase, and the country will be well-off."

"Moreover, the merchants have already tasted the benefits this time, so they will no longer be afraid of foreign wars next time. In fact, when war breaks out, these merchants will come to ship grain for my army."

As expected of someone who works in economics, he immediately saw the advantages of Nie Yu's method.

Not only does it save money in war, but it also increases commercial flow, stimulates the growth of the Han Dynasty's fiscal revenue, and allows the tax revenue lost due to the issuance of tax reduction documents to flow back to the treasury in other forms.

Wow, killing three birds with one stone, getting something for nothing!

Even Lin Wenchang, the Minister of Revenue, thought about it for a long time before figuring out the tricks of the trade based on some economics books given to him by the Prince of Han.

Those businessmen who thought they were getting a benefit were even less likely to know, and even if they did, they wouldn't be able to resist the temptation.

Businessmen are profit-driven and short-sighted; as long as there is profit to be made, they will not care about the risks hidden behind the profits.

Anqing, Tongcheng.

Li Dianhua had already secured the official position of Tongcheng County Clerk, because apart from the newly transferred County Magistrate Li Wumao, he was the most educated person in the entire Tongcheng County government, and he also had some experience in governance, and he was not from the county.

At this moment, Li Dianhua was presiding over the recruitment of laborers in the county. Looking at the registration office that was almost overwhelmed by the people, he was speechless and amazed.

The county clerks at the several registration points set up by the government office were already extremely busy.

"Fellow villager, we're hiring laborers here, you'd better go home!" "Everyone else can take them, why not me!"

"Fellow villager, I've already called you fellow villager, but you look like you're almost sixty, so don't bother coming along. If you really go, will you be able to keep up with the soldiers?"

"Ma'am, we need laborers, not women, only men. Please don't try to take advantage of the situation by coming here with your dirty face."

"Brother, you're all set, but let me make it clear beforehand that this labor conscription is only for meals, no wages will be paid."

"We know, let's hurry up and put our fingerprints on!"

"..."

The fact that the people of Xiangcheng County were so enthusiastic about being recruited without paying wages, but only by conscripting laborers from the local area, is why they were able to do so.

This is all because the Han army changed its policy again this year. The Han army's military deployment plan this spring has clearly exceeded the Ministry of Revenue's budget, so the allocation of various funds and grains has become somewhat strained.

The solution proposed by the Han cabinet was to conscript laborers now, stop paying them wages, and only provide them with food.

As compensation, all laborers with wives in their households could have their wives reclaim land, and those with children could also reclaim land just like adults.

This brings us back to the original Han Dynasty. Because the distribution of land did not take into account that women would take their land with them when they married, some single men in the area faced difficulties in finding husbands.

The solution proposed by the Han cabinet at the time was not to intervene forcefully, but to let the people resolve the issue through negotiation.

The common people resolved the issue quickly, much like the Han cabinet had predicted: women would not take their land with them after marriage, and the husband's family would not provide a dowry.

Therefore, apart from ordinary families who exchanged land and property through marriage, the land and property of the wives of the other families were basically left to their maternal relatives.

Even families with children were not allocated land according to the previous policies of the Han Dynasty, which stipulated that children without adult children would not be allocated land.

This was also to alleviate the pressure of land redistribution in the Han Dynasty. Otherwise, the conflict between people and land in the localities would be too great, and the population pressure would be too great. This amount of land would not be enough to distribute.

Now, with the Han King's policy of employing laborers, the wives of those in Bei'an who are willing to work as laborers without pay can regain their land.

Families with children who are minors and therefore ineligible for land allocation can receive land earlier after becoming laborers.

Nie Yu's policy can be described as a huge investment: either don't attack Jiangnan at all, or if you do, go all out and make sure to win the battle to secure Jiangnan's victory!

Li Dianhua said, "The people are so unafraid of war, and instead fight bravely. The people of the Han Dynasty support and rely on us. Jiangnan will be taken in no time!"

Li Wumao, the magistrate of Tongcheng County, suddenly approached Li Dianhua and said with a smile, "With His Majesty personally leading the expedition, we are bound to achieve a resounding victory. Perhaps in two months, Clerk Li will be able to return home in glory and bring honor to his family!"

"Your Excellency!" Li Dianhua quickly bowed.

Li Wumao made a brief joke before getting down to business: "News has just arrived from Anqing Prefecture that the Prince of Han's entourage has arrived in Anqing. General Bai will soon be leading his troops north. We, Tongcheng County, must prepare accordingly!"

"Yes!"

……

(End of this chapter)