Rebirth: Overthrow Song Dynasty - Chapter 623

After New Year’s Eve, the twelfth year of Xuanwu came quietly.

On the 15th day of the Lantern Festival of the first lunar month, the court decreed to abolish the salt tax in the world!

After the imperial decree was issued, the world immediately shook!

People everywhere are extremely happy! Because salt is a necessity of life, the price of salt in ancient times was extremely high, and a large part of the people’s income was spent on salt every year! Now that the salt tax is abolished, the people only spend a few tenths or even one percent of the money they used to eat salt. How can they not be happy in their hearts!

For a time, few people among the people regarded the abolition of the salt tax as the biggest good governance since the establishment of the Government Administration Council.

Some Confucian scholars were surprised. From ancient times to the present, there has been no salt tax! In any era, salt tax is the backbone of the world’s finances! The abolition of the salt tax now will certainly benefit the people, but the government’s fiscal revenue will inevitably be greatly reduced!

These people have no idea that the salt tax now only accounts for one-tenth of the imperial government’s fiscal revenue, and that the imperial government already has the economic foundation to abolish the salt tax.

From the time when Zhao Chen entered the Central Plains in the seventh year of Xuanwu, to the twelfth year of Xuanwu now, in just a few years, agriculture in various places has recovered, and agricultural taxes in the world have greatly increased. The imperial court reduced tax cards and encouraged commerce and trade. It has almost quadrupled, and it’s still increasing! The current imperial court no longer needs the salt tax to supplement the economy!

The treasury was enriched, but soon, the gold and silver in the treasury were put into construction in various places.

This year, the imperial court focused its main energy on reclamation and immigration!

The imperial court encourages the people of Sichuan, Shu and Jiangnan to go to the north and Liaodong to reclaim wasteland. Anyone who goes to the north and Liaodong can immediately get more than ten acres of land, and there will be no tax within three years! The imperial court can also provide cattle and farm tools!

The imperial court spent a lot of money to build cities and settlements in the north and east of Liaoning!

In one year, nearly 800,000 people in Sichuan, Shu and Jiangnan went to the north and Liaodong. In addition, hundreds of thousands of people from Korea also went to Liaodong for land and farm tools!

Annan has only 1.5 million people in total, and about half a million people were deported to Yanyun and other places in the north this year to be responsible for reclaiming wasteland!

In addition, there are more than one hundred thousand middle-aged men in Dongying going to the Central Plains by boat, and they are responsible for building roads and piers throughout the Central Plains! The Government Affairs Council has long established a national-level construction organization, which is specifically responsible for construction matters! After the Dongying people came to the Central Plains, they only spent five hours a day, that is, ten hours of work for future generations. The rest of the time can be arranged by themselves. In addition, there is one day off every half month, and they can get ten hours every three months. With a two-silver salary, the Dongying man was overjoyed for such a treatment! When they were in Dongying before, most of them were tenant farmers under the lord and basically couldn’t get enough to eat, but now they come here, they feel that they have become rich all of a sudden! Many Dongying people write letters to their relatives and friends, encouraging them to also work in Central Plains! There are more and more handicraft workshops all over the Central Plains, and there is a great demand for workers. Tianjin Wei even has dozens of workshop owners co-signed letters requesting that Annan people be placed in the workshops.

In addition to land reclamation and immigration, another expenditure of the court is to build schools!

Not only are public schools built in various parts of the Central Plains, but public schools are also being built in Korea, Annan, Dongying and other places! The teaching materials in all schools are basically the same. In addition to Confucianism and Practical Learning, the imperial court now attaches great importance to patriotic education, and patriotic education is also being carried out in Korea, Annan, and Dongying at the same time!

In addition, a large number of retired soldiers returned to their hometowns. In order to relocate these retired soldiers, the State Council also spent a lot of gold and silver.

In this year, the two major provinces of Jiangnan and Huguang have also established provincial councils!

Yu Yunwen once again traveled to these two provinces as the emperor’s special envoy to guide the establishment of the two provinces councils.

Having traveled to various places as the emperor’s special envoy many times, many people feel that Zhao Chen will train Yu Yunwen as the future prime minister!

In fact, in addition to Yu Yunwen, Hu Quan, Wang Shipeng and others also often travel to various places to handle political affairs!

There are a lot of talents in the present Dasong Government Administration Council!

Young people such as Yu Yunwen, Hu Quan, and Wang Shipeng need not say much. Others Zhao Ding, Li Guang and even Qin Hui are outstanding. The governors of the 36 provinces are also elites who used to be in the Military Aircraft Department, the Army, and the Production and Construction Corps. It can be said that the country has a huge talent pool.

For a whole year, there was no war in the court!

Mongols still invaded southward this year, and Li Xianzhong, Liu Qi and other tribes were still passively defending.

In the thirteenth year of Xuanwu, five major provinces established their respective provincial assemblies. In this year, the Council of Government still did its best to carry out the “Northern Development”, while encouraging commerce and strengthening education!

In winter, when the Mongols invaded south again, the Song army still focused on defense!

However, a large amount of ordnance has been shipped to the northern ministries one after another.

This year, Zhao Chen has less and less interference in the Council of State Affairs. He has spent a lot of energy on the construction of the Congress and the court system, and the Council of State Affairs has been operating steadily.

In the spring of the fourteenth year of Xuanwu, on February 20th, Zhao Chen led the imperial camp with 10,000 soldiers heading north. Military Minister Qu Duan and Zhao Chen went north together.

On February 21, Zhao Chen had already left Juyongguan Pass, and they entered the vast grassland!

Although spring has arrived, the grassland is still slightly cold. Zhao Chen is in a cool breeze and fresh air, and he seems to be in a very good mood.

Ten Thousand Imperial Army troops continued to gallop northward. They did not stop when they encountered the state capital, but passed by each state capital.

On March 15th, Zhao Chen, Qu Duan and others came to the Linhuang Mansion in the former capital of Liao State, which is now the capital of the northern province of the Great Song Dynasty.

In the afternoon of that day, Zhao Chen came to the south gate of Linhuang Mansion, where countless Khitan people knelt to welcome Zhao Chen’s arrival!

In the past few years, the Government Affairs Council has continued to carry out propaganda work in Liaodong. Zhao Chen’s reputation as the “savior” has become more and more loud. Every Khitan family has a statue of Zhao Chen in their homes. There are even multiple religious organizations among the Khitan people. They are all for the purpose of enshrining Zhao Chen.

At this moment, the Khitan people were kneeling there, and the voices of “Lord” and “Savior” were everywhere outside Linhuang Mansion.

“Your Majesty!” There are countless soldiers there at the forefront, and the eyes of these soldiers also carry excitement.

Zhao Chen’s prestige in the army is so high that no one can match.

“Li Xianzhong!” Seeing a general kneeling there, Zhao Chen laughed and pulled him up and said.

This general is Li Xianzhong who is stationed in Shanghai! At this moment, Li Xianzhong was extremely excited and joyful.

“Your Majesty, you are finally here!” Li Xianzhong said.

“Go! I live in your barracks today!” Zhao Chen said.

At dusk, Zhao Chen, Li Xianzhong and others came to the Song Army barracks, where he once again received a huge welcome.

“How many horses do you have now?” Zhao Chen and Li Xianzhong asked as they walked inside.

“Now we have a total of 250,000 war horses! The northern province is the place where horses are produced, and our army has the largest number of war horses!” Li Xianzhong said.

“Very good! You can arm 120,000 cavalry!” Zhao Chen said.

“Our current cavalry number has reached 130,000.” Li Xianzhong laughed.

“What’s the situation with Liu Qi?” Zhao Chen said.

“General Liu Qi has one hundred thousand infantry and eighty thousand cavalry!” Li Xianzhong said.

“Yue Fei now has 100,000 cavalry and 40,000 infantry. Han Shizhong has 90,000 cavalry and 110,000 infantry! The number of northern cavalry is close to 400,000! The imperial court spends a lot of money to raise these 400,000 cavalry every year!” Zhao Chen said.

Li Xianzhong nodded silently.

“But this kind of expenditure is worth it! We have a population of thousands of miles and a nation of nearly 100 million people. We must maintain at least one million or more troops! Although the world is safe, if we forget the battle, we will be in danger!” Zhao Chen said.

“Your Majesty, the northern Mongols have continued to invade us over the years. They have kept their troops for a thousand days and used them for a while. At the end, they will ask to bring troops into Mongolia to eliminate the troubles of Mongolia!” Li Xianzhong said.

“This time I am here precisely for this matter!” Zhao Chen said.

“Ah!” Li Xianzhong’s face showed a look of surprise.

“The imperial court has been recuperating for two full years. Both the policies and systems have become more and more perfect, and the country’s fiscal revenue has also increased. Now we can finally deal with the Mongolians!” Zhao Chen laughed.

“Your Majesty, when do we use troops against the Mongols? There are a lot of Mongols. If you rely on the last general, you may not be able to wipe out the Mongols!” Li Xianzhong said.

“Naturally it’s not your army! This time the court will use you, Yue Fei, Han Shizhong, and Liu Qi to encircle the Mongols and eliminate the Mongolian borders in one fell swoop!” Zhao Chen said.