Qin Official

In April of the 31st year of Qin Shihuang, Zhang Cang, who was in Xianyang, ushered in two major events in his life!

One is that he is a talented person who has spent several years compiling the first half of "Nine Chapters on Arithmetic"!

The first half of the Nine Chapters on Arithmetic has a total of six volumes, which are all about the application of mathematical knowledge in practice. The "Fangtian" chapter involves the precise measurement of acres, the "Millet" chapter is about the proportional conversion of grains, and the "Fafen" chapter is related to the actual application of mathematical knowledge. "Shao Guang" and "Shang Gong" are related to the calculation of civil engineering quantities, and "Jian Shu" involves the reasonable apportionment of taxes. Each volume contains not only formulas and algorithms, but also practical examples and tens of thousands of words.

In addition, Zhang Cang also wrote a booklet called "Abacus" in his spare time, which specifically talks about the usage and technical formulas of abacus.

These two books were presented to the First Empress of Qin by the imperial censor. The emperor was full of praise for them and even let Zhang Cang enter the palace. The eunuchs planned that Qin Shihuang would read a large number of memorials every day, and almost every one of them involved money and food. He habitually asked his visitors to recalculate the amount, but the calculation was slow and the emperor was too impatient to wait. The abacus, which has become increasingly popular in recent years, is a powerful tool for quick calculation.

Because of this opportunity, Qin Shihuang got to know this big fat man named "Zhang Cang" and thought that he would be a great scholar in charge of books and books. With a wave of his hand, he transferred Zhang Cang to the post of Zhi Su Nei Shi. The internal historian is Lingcheng, with a rank of six hundred stones...

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Qin Dynasty was the Ministry of Finance of the Qin Dynasty. It was in charge of the country's land rent and the income and expenditure of various money and materials. It was also called the "Ji Xiang". Under it were Taicang, Jitian and other five ministers, Zhang Cang Ze was in charge of Duzhi and was responsible for planning and "living within one's means" matters for counties and counties across the country. He was equivalent to the Development and Reform Commission in later generations.

After taking office in early April, Zhang Cang realized that this was really a hard job. Why? Because like the situation Heifu faced in Jiaodong, the entire Qin Dynasty was also on the verge of financial crisis...

The emperor sent him to govern Su Neishi, hoping that Zhang Cang could use his expertise to solve the financial loopholes that had plagued the court for several years.

As soon as Zhang Cang checked the internal accounts, he suddenly felt a toothache. After feeling anxious, he couldn't help complaining in a letter to his friends Heifu and Zhang Han:

"Your Majesty destroyed the six kingdoms, collected a large amount of the six kings' treasures, and played well. However, for more than five years, almost every year has been occupied. Even the Jinshan and Zhuhai have been squandered!"

He began to enumerate to Zhang and Hei the financial expenditures of the Qin Dynasty over the years: "In the twenty-sixth year, twelve golden figures were cast, a large-scale construction project was built in Beiban, Xianyang, imitating the palaces of the Six Kingdoms, and the world's richest people were moved to 120,000 households in Guanzhong!"

Although these people brought a lot of wealth with them, the relocation and food rations of hundreds of thousands of people put a heavy burden on the finances that year, and ended up with a deficit.

In the twenty-seventh year, the emperor listened to the alchemist's advice and was determined to seek immortality. He built the "Ji Temple" and the front hall of Ganquan Palace in Weinan, and also built a corridor from Xianyang to Lishan Mountain, which was equivalent to the emperor's exclusive closed highway. At the same time, Chidao was also being built across the country and patrolling Longxi and the North in the spring. Fortunately, Heifu diverted the emperor's attention to finding the Queen Mother of the West and suspended the palace complex in Weinan, so that the financial deficit of the Shaofu was not that big.

In the twenty-eighth year, the emperor was determined to open up the northwest and ordered Zhang Han to build a straight road. He also inspected Daibei and Shangjun. Although Heifu used troops to spend his time, it was only a small battle and did not consume much money and food. This year's revenue and expenditure were miraculous. The ground is flat.

Things were different in the twenty-nine years. The emperor sent 300,000 men to conquer the Xiongnu. They provided food for thousands of miles, paid internal and external expenses, and provided chariots and armor at a daily cost of thousands of gold. The tens of thousands of cattle and sheep captured by the generals were simply not worth the huge army. overhead. This year, Zhi Su Neishi tried his best to meet the supply of military rations. When it came to rewarding the soldiers, he could no longer come up with money and could only be funded by the Shaofu.

Thirty years seemed like nothing happened, but new counties were established, garrison troops were stationed in the fields, the Great Wall was built in Shuofang, the emperor inspected Bashu, opened a five-foot road to the southwestern barbarians, and sent envoys and merchants to the Western Regions, all of which wasted a lot of money, and the fiscal deficit was No improvement at all...

The troubled border areas and frequent construction projects meant that a large number of corvee garrison soldiers were needed. Frequent service of young and middle-aged people would inevitably affect field operations. Although the Qin Dynasty had a one-size-fits-all approach to collecting land rent, no matter how much you collected or how little you collected, it was only one and a half stones per mu!

But all the food can only fill the people's stomachs, and their desire to buy will naturally be greatly reduced. The private market was sluggish, and accordingly, city taxes, which accounted for the majority of Shaofu's income, also began to shrink, and the income of government-run workshops also dropped sharply.

Not to mention, in order to solve the fiscal deficit, from Zhi Naishi, Shaofu to local counties, there is only one method adopted: increase the oral tax!

In the worst twenty-nine years, some places even imposed additional taxes three times, forcing poor people to strangle their newborn babies...

This is an endless cycle. As he seeks his own government, Zhang Cang is horrified to see that the empire seems glorious and powerful, but within it, a huge crisis has quietly sprouted!

After counting the five years, Zhang Cang couldn't help but get angry at Hei Fu in the letter:

"There are many things going on in the world, and you only get half of the credit!"

Of course, these are angry words. Anyone who knows Qin Shihuang a little bit knows that His Majesty is impatient and does not want to keep the world peaceful for a year. Even if there was no western expansion proposed by Hei Fu, there would still be a southern expedition. Even if people were not sent to the Western Regions to find the Queen Mother of the West, they would still go to the East China Sea to seek immortality.

The road to Lingnan is long and full of miasma, which will cost money and food, and may cause more casualties. Wu Shiluo traveled to the Western Regions, and at least brought back some silk and sugar from the Central Plains and the countries in the Western Regions, and the possibility of earning foreign exchange. In the turbulent East China Sea, he could not find anything...

And Heifu's idea of ​​southerners guarding the south and northerners guarding the north also saved a lot of corvee costs.

Besides, if it weren’t for the compost retting method pioneered by Nanjun, which increased the harvest by half a stone per acre of land, the people would have been forced to survive by the heavy rents and taxes, and even bandits would be born in Guanzhong!

After getting angry in the letter, Zhang Cang also calmed down. What happened in the past is in the past. He must now concentrate on living within his means this year. He can no longer let the finances continue to be in deficit, nor can he pass the losses on to the people. !

But looking at the many things His Majesty the Emperor was planning to do this year, Zhang Cang's temples began to hurt again.

Originally, he hoped that in the thirty-first year, the imperial court would calm down, but the tree wanted to be peaceful but the wind did not stop. In the early spring, the relationship between Qin and Yuezhi broke down because of the murder case of Prince Yuezhi, who was sentenced to death. The Xiongnu Maodun Shanyu contacted him, and it seemed that he wanted to pick up the plan proposed by Maodun of "the alliance of the three Hus to resist the strong Qin".

At Li Xin's suggestion, Qin Shihuang decided to take a preemptive strike. At the end of February, he issued a proclamation, condemning the Yuezhi King for improperly educating his children and betraying the vassal alliance. With Li Xin as general, he sent a total of 100,000 soldiers and civilians to attack the Yuezhi!

Now two months have passed, and good news comes frequently from the west. Li Xin defeated the Yue clan king on the bank of black water, beheading thousands of people. Qin Shihuang was overjoyed and named the location of the battlefield "Wuwei". Li Xin led his troops to rest there and prepare to further attack Zhaowu City, the capital of the Yuezhi.

Although the Xiongnu Maodun Chanyu sent people to attack the Qin army's small town in Yanze, massacred all the garrison soldiers and burned the city, Zhang Han, the commander of the Northern Territory, was also working with them to prevent the Xiongnu from supporting the Yueshi...

At the same time, the Wusun tribe, which had been feuding with the Yuezhi for generations, surrendered to the Qin Dynasty and began to attack the northwest of the Yuezhi under the persuasion of Qin merchants. The Yuezhi did not have the breadth and depth of the Xiongnu, and they were in a dilemma for a while.

It seems that this war will be won by the end of summer at the latest.

All the government offices in Xianyang were rejoicing, but the officials who were in charge of Su Neishi had a sad face. Even if everything went well, it was a long way to Hexi. The money and food that had been collected last year were now flying out like running water.

What is even more terrifying is that after Qin Shihuang heard the good news from the west, he decided to wait until Li Xin destroyed the Yuezhi and when the weather was cool in early autumn, he would start his repeatedly postponed eastward tour plan!

In one day, he could conquer Liuhe, defeat the Xiongnu, and destroy the Yueshi. These things were truly unparalleled. He was more qualified to be granted Zen status than the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors!

After hearing the news, Zhang Cang's heart almost stopped. With trembling hands, he calculated the accounts: Zheng Yueshi spent one-third of Zhi Su Neishi's financial income, and the rest could not make ends meet.

He reported to the governor of Su Nei: "If we don't want the officials in Xianyang to be unable to pay their salaries, and we have to patrol the east to enshrine Zen, we can only pay for it from the Shaofu!"

But the Shaofu also complained endlessly, saying that the conquest and construction of roads in various places would take at least a year, but the Lishan Mausoleum project undertaken by the Shaofu had lasted for more than ten years.

Although Qin Shihuang wanted to seek immortality, he was also making preparations to create his own afterlife.

As His Majesty proclaimed himself emperor, the specifications of the Lishan Mausoleum were also expanded again and again, and more and more tricks were added: for example, terracotta warriors and horses with first-class proportions and vivid faces should be fired to guard the imperial mausoleum; for example, the underground palace should be made as huge and gorgeous as no less than In Xianyang Palace, for example, mercury needs to be refined, which is compared to hundreds of rivers and seas, so that the tomb has astronomy on the top and geography on the bottom.

The huge tomb has turned into a ferocious monster with a mouth full of fangs that cannot be fed no matter how much money is stuffed in it!

When the leaders of Zhisu Neishi and Shaofu units were put together, they found that each other was exhausted. Even if the counties and counties were asked to increase the levy money, they would not be able to fill this year's big hole, so they could only think of new methods.

The Shaofu Supervisor came up with a clever idea: "Nowadays, there are many sugarcane growers and sugar boilers in the south. The Ba family in Bajun became rich through this method, and the Tang family in Nanjun also accumulated a lot of money. The rich and powerful people in Southern Chu also often used this method to make profits. Brown sugar is very popular in all counties and counties, and can even be sold as far away as the Western Regions, and is sold to the kings of Hu at high prices. We might as well ask your majesty to follow the example of wine and salt, and nationalize the brown sugar workshops in each county, and make them exclusive to the government! "

They are also in a hurry and want to start the burgeoning sugar business. In recent years, the north has been dealing with heavy corvee levies and the economy has been somewhat depressed. However, the south has become prosperous due to the sugar industry. However, due to insufficient population, the planters in the south have begun to clamor for mobilization against the southwestern Yi and Baiyue. War, plundering of slaves.

Zhang Cang listened and held a moment of silence for Hei Fu. Everyone knows that the so-called Nanjun Tang family is the Heifu family, which almost controls the sugar industry in Yuzhang and Nanjun. But Heifu strictly ordered his family not to leave these two places. At most, he opened a few loss-making branches in other places and did not expand wildly.

It was precisely because of Heifu's low profile and restraint that the imperial court tolerated this. It was only now that the young master was forced to have no choice but to slaughter the unfattened sheep.

Just when Zhisu Neishi and the Shaofu decided to pursue this matter even if they severely offended Heifu, at the end of April, a piece of news came from Jiaodong, which made it difficult for both families to take action...

"The governor of Jiaodong County said that a large gold mine was discovered in Qucheng Township, Huang County! Please ask the Shaofu for permission to set up officials to mine it, and immediately mobilized two thousand soldiers from Linzi to station in Qucheng to guard against illegal mining by powerful officials and Guizhou leaders. !”