Do You Know?: I, the Little Cabinet Elder, Regent of the World.

Chapter 240 Sharpening the knife, seventy-three million strings of cash!
Wenyuan Pavilion.

On a small wooden table about ten feet tall, Jiang Zhao touched several documents, appearing deep in thought.

To be precise, five documents.

The first document was a joint document from the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Revenue regarding the revision of certain legal provisions. The main revisions were to the three major market trade regulations: the Market Trade Law, the Regulations on Prohibition of Monopolies, and the Regulations on Exemption from Certain Trades.

The Market Trade Law mainly regulates some basic market trade activities and makes specific rulings on some potentially controversial commercial activities.

The relevant regulations on border markets mainly regulate the tea-horse trade and related trade activities such as monopoly businesses in the border areas.

The "Exemption Regulations" mainly regulates the tax payment of merchants, distinguishing the tax rates for different industries into three levels: upper, middle, and lower.

The three trade regulations have two main purposes:

Firstly, it regulates the tax issues related to specialized businesses.

The cabinet's decree abolishing government-run businesses is undoubtedly a benefit to the people, as merchants must operate legally and pay taxes.

Jiang Zhao even planned to establish a tax collection force with a certain level of military power, just like the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the FBI.

Secondly, differentiating tax standards encourages small vendors to run their businesses.

Since Emperor Zhenzong, fifty or sixty years have passed, and the proportion of "commercial tax" has been increasing, gradually rising from less than one-tenth to about 50%.

Today, the imperial court's open and emphasizing policies on industry and commerce is not only to cooperate with the land survey, but also to enable the country to achieve commercial transformation.

For a country, a 50% business tax rate is still too low.

A ratio of 70% to 80% is the standard for achieving normal fiscal commercialization.

Even worse, 99% of taxes are commercial taxes, while agricultural taxes are almost negligible, or even completely abolished, so that people no longer have to pay taxes.

Of course, everything is a long and arduous journey, and one cannot become fat in one bite.

The second document concerns the land survey, which was written by Jiang Zhao and will be promulgated soon.

In recent years, agricultural tax revenue has been around 20 million strings of cash, roughly half of the total tax revenue.

In reality, this only involved levying land taxes that were documented in writing.

If they can really investigate thoroughly, they could collect at least 20 million strings of cash from the land they secretly owned.

It's so exaggerated!

This document concerning land surveying mainly established land surveying as a criterion for evaluating officials' performance.

The more land you survey, the more capable you are, and the more important you are to be given.

As for whether officials could fabricate something out of nothing?
The possibility is almost nonexistent!
After all, land surveying is not the only performance metric for officials; tax collection completion rate is also a performance metric.

Those who only collect paper data from land surveys but don't actually collect any physical evidence are just as useless.

The third document was Wang Anshi's report on the dismissal and removal of officials related to the performance evaluation system.

Since the implementation of the performance evaluation system in March, there were more than 20 days for adaptation. The system was officially implemented in April, with everything recorded in the performance evaluation book. The relevant performance evaluation documents were submitted to Beijing in May and June, and the performance evaluation results were verified in July.
In early August, the verification of the examination and assessment methods for the two capitals and fourteen routes finally yielded results.

More than 3,700 officials and more than 10,000 clerks!
Of course, it sounds like a lot, but once it's transferred to more than a thousand counties, it's only equivalent to demoting two or three officials who have reached the rank of rank and about ten minor clerks in each county.

The fourth document concerned bank deposits, which was submitted to the emperor by Zhang Heng.

Within a day of its opening, the bank had collected over 73 million strings of cash in deposits.

Of these, about 68 million strings of cash were deposited by wealthy merchants, while the remaining 5 million strings were deposited by officials and nobles.

Among them, the six Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet were the main force in saving money, with each of them saving about 200,000 strings of cash.

Two hundred thousand strings of cash, which is roughly the combined savings of four major merchants, is quite a large sum.

However, for a Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, it really doesn't mean much.

There's no other reason than that the salaries of several Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet alone amounted to a staggering 3,600 strings of cash per year.

If you include all sorts of miscellaneous salaries, wages, and rewards, making 30,000 to 50,000 strings of cash a year is not a problem at all.

Two hundred thousand strings of cash is only the income of a few Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet for several years.

Besides the Grand Secretaries, Empress Dowager Cao and Marquis Gu Tingye of Ningyuan were also major contributors to the savings, each contributing at least 200,000 to 300,000 strings of cash.

The rest of the money was deposited by officials of all ranks, as well as nobles.

Overall, the vast majority of nobles and officials chose to wait and see for the time being.

After all, the imperial court's credibility... well, it's not that it has no credibility at all, but it's practically zero.

Who knows if the imperial court was short of money and set up banks to make a quick buck and then run away?
The last document was the one Jiang Zhao was to submit, which contained words such as "bomb," "cannon," and "Jurchen."

This memorial was mainly to prepare for dealing with the Liao Dynasty.

At the end of May, the Liao Dynasty condemned the people of the Hedong Circuit on the border for cultivating their fields beyond their borders and sent an envoy to the capital.

The envoy Xiao Xi was resolute in his attitude, intending to enter the border to survey the frontier lands in order to "prove" that the people of the Great Zhou had not crossed the border to cultivate the land.

This method of proof is undoubtedly a case of Xiang Zhuang's sword dance aimed at Liu Bang.

On the surface, the purpose was to survey farmland, but in reality, it was to survey the military strength of the Zhou Dynasty's border regions.

Emperor Zhao Ceying would naturally not agree to such a method.

However, Xiao Xi's purpose in entering the border was to investigate the strength and weakness of the frontier, so he naturally wouldn't let go of the issue of "farming beyond the border" and refused to back down even a step.

Ultimately, the negotiations between Zhou and Liao broke down, and the Hedong Road became quite turbulent. Liao troops frequently crossed the border rivers without authorization, and a storm was brewing, with the Liao becoming increasingly arrogant and domineering.

Therefore, the emperor personally appointed Wang Shao, the Earl of Zhennan, Zhang Ding, the Commander of the Pengrixiang Army, and Yao Si, the Deputy Commander of the Shenwei Army, to guard the border.

As a result, the Liao Kingdom became much more obedient and ceased its provocative actions.

It is not hard to foresee that the Zhou and Liao states will eventually go to war.

At this time of year, Jiang Zhao couldn't help but pay attention to some military weapons that could potentially be developed and could be described as a game-changing, disruptive force.

The first is the bomb.

The principle behind bombs is actually not difficult: sulfur, saltpeter, and charcoal.

Furthermore, the Great Zhou Dynasty already possessed the prototype of a bomb, which was recorded in the "Complete Essentials of Military Classics" by Zeng Gongliang, a Grand Secretary of the Cabinet.

Caltrop fireballs, poison smoke balls!
The caltrop fireball mainly consists of three iron blades with six spikes placed in the center of the ball. Gunpowder is wrapped around the iron blades, and after being ignited, it is launched by a catapult, causing them to explode and thus creating a killing force.

Compared to the "one sulfur, two nitrates, three charcoal" formula, the main problem with caltrop fireballs is the chaotic formula.

Sulfur, nitrates, rosin, tung oil, beeswax, and fixative.
The excessive clutter reduced the power of the explosion.

In terms of explosive power alone, it is not even as powerful as some fireworks or firecrackers.

In addition, the poison smoke bomb also has the implication of a bomb prototype, containing sulfur, saltpeter, charcoal powder, aconite, small oil, arsenic, and beeswax.
Almost like the Caltrop Fireball, it suffers from an overly complicated formula, which has led it astray and made it resemble a smoke bomb.

Secondly, artillery.

This is also based on a prototype, but the problem is that, like the caltrop fireball, the recipe is flawed.

Jiang Zhao was not an expert in the manufacture of bombs and artillery; he only vaguely remembered the phrase "one part sulfur, two parts saltpeter, three parts charcoal."

But it doesn't affect anything; as long as those in power set the general direction, that's enough.

If they could actually manufacture bombs and cannons, they would surely be able to destroy the Liao Kingdom and unify the world.

Jiang Zhao pondered for a moment, then picked up his brush and prepared to add something.

Just then, a clerk entered and announced:
"Your Excellency, Chen Xiang, the Director of the Salt and Iron Bureau, requests an audience."

"Chen Xiang?"

Jiang Zhao was taken aback, somewhat surprised.

If I remember correctly, this is the main organizer of the "tea merchants' run" case, right?

To be precise, he was both the organizer and the idea generator.

Previously, the two had no interaction whatsoever, so why did Chen Xiang make a special trip to request an audience?

Jiang Zhao pondered for a moment, then waved his sleeve and said, "Let him in."

The two were complete strangers, and Chen Xiang had been plotting this for a long time with ulterior motives.

Now, why has he suddenly rushed to the Wenyuan Pavilion to request an audience? It's not hard to guess.

If things are hopeless, surrender immediately!
After about ten breaths, Chen Xiang stepped in.

Upon entering the courtroom, they saw Jiang Zhao picking up a document and examining it intently.

"Boom!"

Chen Xiang glanced at it only once before suddenly bowing down and kneeling, bowing deeply and saying, "Your humble servant Chen Xiang greets Your Excellency."

Ok?
Jiang Zhao glanced up and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise:

"How could a high-ranking official like Chen Langzhong be reduced to this?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a minor official stepped forward to help him up, forbidding him from bowing.

"I am guilty, and I have come here to plead guilty!" Chen Xiang said, raising his head with tears streaming down his face.

really!

Jiang Zhao couldn't help but click his tongue and looked down with a complicated expression.

It's really rare for the eldest brother to turn against his master!
"What crime have you committed?" Jiang Zhaoping asked calmly.

"This matter is due to the replacement of the Securities Law with the Interchange Act."

"For more than a decade, tea merchants have mainly relied on collusion between officials and merchants to embezzle funds from the imperial court through the intermediary system."

Chen Xiang couldn't stop crying and quickly explained, "Now that the exchange of tea has been abolished, many tea merchants are unwilling to accept this. They have gathered together, intending to raise 10 million strings of cash, 5 million strings to buy grain and drive up grain prices, and deposit 5 million strings into the bank to wait for a run on the bank."

"In this way, by contacting some officials and getting them to speak on his behalf, we can force the court to back down and cancel the new securities law."

Chen Xiang bowed deeply and said in a tearful voice, "The Salt and Iron Bureau has been split up, and my power has been divided. I have been secretly dissatisfied and was misled by the tea merchants to collude with them."

"However, upon hearing the Grand Secretary's admonition today, I was deeply moved and realized that I had gone astray."

Chen Xiang took out a page from his sleeve and bowed deeply: "This humble official has come to pay his respects, to present the list of tea merchants, and to ask for Your Excellency's forgiveness!"

"Boom!"

A heavy knock, quite crisp and clear.

“Pick it up.”

Jiang Zhao waved his hand, and a minor official presented him with a list of tea merchants.

A quick glance at the list revealed approximately five or six hundred people.

Compared to salt and wine merchants who made stable profits, selling tea was far too risky.

Losses can be devastating, while profits can be enormous.

The price difference between harvesting a day earlier and harvesting a day later is almost like heaven and earth.

Therefore, there are indeed some tea merchants who become extremely wealthy, but they are ultimately very few and far between.

Of the five or six hundred people on the list, only sixty or seventy could come up with 50,000 strings of cash on their own. The rest almost all had to find others to help them raise the 50,000 strings of cash. Some had as few as three or five people to raise the 50,000 strings of cash, while others had as many as ten people to raise the 50,000 strings of cash.

A gentle breeze stirred, causing the pages of the book to rustle.

Chen Xiang looked sorrowful, becoming even more respectful, his heart filled with trepidation.

From the moment the wealthy tea merchant questioned the feasibility of a bank run, he knew it was absolutely impossible. The reason was simple: the number of tea merchants involved was far too complex!
It's not difficult to keep secrets from one or two people.

If three to five people don't leak the secret, it's not that difficult.

It would be quite difficult for ten people to keep the secret.

Five or six hundred people
This is no longer a question of whether or not secrets will be leaked, but rather when they will be leaked.

A single sentence from the wealthy tea merchant jolted Chen Xiang awake, prompting him to hastily surrender and seek self-preservation.

Who would have thought?
"You are late."

Jiang Zhao gently put down the list and said calmly, "Around May, a tea merchant informed Zhang Heng, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, of the secret."

"You! You're a full sixty days late."

Someone tipped them off back in May?
Chen Xiang was stunned.

Did someone betray us and defect so early?

Did the informant say who the leader was?

Chen Xiang was greatly shocked, and his body trembled slightly.

You should know that he had already "reduced" quite a bit of the charges against him.

They never mentioned that they were the leaders, nor did they mention why the tea merchants gathered together or why they engaged in practices such as bank runs and grain price gouging.

Surprisingly, some people arrived even earlier?
"Hehe!" Jiang Zhao smiled faintly, raised his eyebrows and said, "More than one person informed on us."

The tea merchants' plot was only just beginning when someone informed Zhang Heng of it.

Subsequently, several other pragmatic individuals informed Zhang Heng of the situation and voluntarily became traitors.

To date, at least ten people on the list are moles.

Chen Xiang immediately sensed something was wrong, and his face instantly broke out in a cold sweat. He quickly said, "When a person's mind is not working properly, even realizing their mistake takes a long time. I hope the Grand Secretary will forgive me!"

"Then I, Jiang, will give you one more chance."

Jiang Zhao waved his hand dismissively, "You told quite a few lies just now."

"Yes Yes!"

Chen Xiang quickly bowed and began to explain in detail how he had encouraged the tea merchants.

In fact, Jiang Gelao may have been lying.

But he didn't dare to gamble!
Within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, everything was explained clearly.

Jiang Zhao shook his head and waved his hand, saying, "Since you've realized your mistake, I'll give you a chance."

“Continue to incite tea merchants to run on the banks. Once it is done, you can request to be transferred to the rank of Fifth-Rank Official.”

Given Chen Xiang's temperament, Jiang Zhao had no intention of taking him under his wing.

There are three main purposes to doing this:
Firstly, it would cause Chen Xiang to bear the brunt of public criticism.

If six or seven hundred tea merchants are wiped out in one fell swoop, their relatives and friends will surely curse the imperial court and the Grand Secretary.

However, if the organizer, Chen Xiang, escapes with his life, and his official position remains unchanged, merely being transferred from a substantive post to a nominal one, then the tea merchants' relatives and friends will certainly resent Chen Xiang.

Six or seven hundred people were wiped out, but you're the only one who's alright. If you say you're not guilty, who's going to believe you?

Let Chen Xiang suffer a bit; Jiang Ge Lao won't bear the infamy!
Secondly, he spent a fortune to buy a horse's bones.

With Chen Xiang as an example, other officials who have done bad things, or are doing bad things, undoubtedly have a new path to take.

Before things go wrong, surrendering proactively can at least save one's official position.

Thirdly, it serves to intimidate other merchants.

Let Chen Xiang continue to incite merchants to run on the banks. Once the incident comes to light, other merchants will definitely want to know the inside story.

Upon inquiring about the details, it turned out they were trying to run on the bank!

This will naturally deter other merchants from acting recklessly.

Chen Xiang had no time to think and quickly bowed, saying, "Thank you for your mercy, Your Excellency!"

Afterwards, Chen Xiang stood up, bowed, and respectfully withdrew.

Just as he reached the door, Chen Xiang suddenly realized something and quickened his pace.

Let people hold a grudge if they want.

This outcome is far better than losing one's official position and being convicted.

Tea stall at the end of August.

More than ten tea merchants gathered together, raising their bowls to drink tea.

These dozen or so people are all top-tier large-scale tea merchants, and can be considered representative figures among tea merchants.

"Accurate information indicates that the bank has a staggering 70 million strings of cash in its accounts, of which 36 million strings have already been transferred to the other nine major banks, and 330 million strings have been used to fill the gaps."

"With trade booming in August, some merchants will surely try to withdraw their money. This will deplete the treasury's reserves."

Chen Xiang's face was serious, but a ruthless glint flashed in his eyes: "The time has come. Heaven is not waiting for me. Proceed according to the original plan!"

More than ten people immediately perked up.

One of the more outspoken individuals slammed his hand on the table and chimed in, "Cheers!"

In an instant, someone echoed, "The method of exchanging seals must be abolished!"

Immediately, the crowd was filled with fervor and excitement.

Many people called their friends and headed straight to the bank.

Royal study room.

The window was half-closed, and the emperor and his ministers faced each other.

"Your subject Jiang Zhao greets Your Majesty." Jiang Zhao bowed, holding a document in his hand.

"Jiang Qing, I was just about to send someone to find you!"

Zhao Ceying, unable to hide his excitement, picked up a document and passed it over, laughing loudly, "The land survey of the Liangzhe River system has yielded approximate results."

Jiang Zhao was taken aback, then reached out and picked it up.

Since the division of Zhejiang and Jiangsu, the water system in Zhejiang and Jiangsu has become much more subdued.

As a result, local powerful clans dared not disobey or resist any of the reform decrees, which made it much easier for Song Huai and Wang Fuzhi to govern.

It has only been eighty or ninety days since the decree for land surveying was issued. The remaining dozen or so routes may have only completed less than half of the surveys, but the Liangzhe River system has already produced relevant results.

Perhaps in their eagerness to be first, both Song Huai and Wang Fuzhi rushed to report the approximate data, striving for "first place," and therefore did not report the specific results.

"Around 40 million mu."

Jiang Zhao clicked his tongue in amazement: "The powerful families of Liangzhe are truly capable!"

Regarding the statistics on arable land, Emperor Taizong, Emperor Zhenzong, and the previous emperor all commissioned the collection of relevant data.

During the reign of Emperor Taizong, there were approximately 300 million mu of cultivated land.

During the reign of Emperor Zhenzong, there were approximately 500 million mu of cultivated land.

At the end of the reign of the late emperor, there were approximately 400 million mu of cultivated land.

Among them, the statistics on cultivated land in Liangzhe Road at the end of the reign of the late emperor were 15 million mu.

In just a few years, 25 million mu of land were surveyed. The Zhejiang water system is really good at hiding things!
"call!"

Zhao Ceying picked up the document, let out a long sigh, and exclaimed, "Fortunately, I have Minister Jiang to assist me. The new policies are much easier than I expected."

Throughout history, reforms in every dynasty have been extremely difficult, with opposition from all levels of government often overwhelming even the emperors.

Even worse, emperors were sometimes forced to issue edicts of self-reproach.

Just like Emperor Dezong of Tang, who was forced to issue an edict of self-reproach due to the Two-Tax System, stating frankly, "I have lost the ancestral lineage and am now living in the wilderness."

However, this reform was surprisingly easy, and even decrees such as the land survey were able to be implemented.

There are definitely quite a few opponents.

However, he had more supporters, and they overwhelmingly outnumbered his opponents.

Why?
Because the imperial court not only issued decrees that were unfavorable to powerful clans, but also issued decrees that were favorable to them.

This is a real and substantial discount for heavy industry and commerce!

With powerful clans gaining benefits, and officials becoming exceptionally assertive, officials representing the interests of these clans naturally chose to cooperate in implementing government orders.

As for the performance evaluation method?
To put it bluntly, any official who has experienced a certain amount of training, truly held great power, and possesses genuine knowledge is not afraid of the performance evaluation system at all.

Those qualified to attend court and participate in political discussions are mostly people with real abilities, so their noise is naturally not loud.

Small changes, but very different results.

Jiang Zhao bowed silently without making a sound.

Just then, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial entered and announced:
"Your Majesty, Zhang Heng, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, is standing outside the palace. He says that tea merchants are withdrawing money en masse, and there are signs of a bank run."

"Oh?"

"This is truly a double blessing!"

Zhao Ceying clapped his hands and laughed, "Let him in."

Jiang Zhao had already submitted the list of names that Chen Xiang had presented to the Imperial Study.

Therefore, Zhao Ceying knew about the tea merchants' exodus.

About ten breaths later, Zhang Heng entered.

Afterwards, he bowed and reported: "Your Majesty, tea merchants have been encouraged and have collectively applied to the government for 50,000 strings of cash. People in the city and countryside have also begun to buy grain in large quantities."

"Jiang Qing, what's the explanation?" Zhao Ceying paced back and forth, looking over.

"Let them make a fuss for a few days first."

Jiang Zhao calmly said, "At that time, let the newspapers report on it, exaggerating the food shortage and creating an atmosphere of unethical tea merchants."

"Let them make a fuss for ten days or so, and then we can start selling the prepared grain at the normal price."

"After thirty days, let them withdraw the money."

"Then, arrest the people from the Salt and Iron Bureau to identify them, and then confiscate their property."

Zhao Ceying nodded repeatedly, agreeing, "That makes sense."

"When the time is right, I will order the Imperial Guards to confiscate their property!"

Firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea are all common consumables in daily life.

The five or six hundred tea merchants on the list are definitely not just a little bit wealthy.

If this move is executed well, it could earn at least ten or twenty million coins.

This will solve our immediate problem!

(End of this chapter)