Tibet

After the news of the incident in Shizhou spread, the prices in Chang'an also began to be affected, and the first thing was that food prices began to rise.

Why does the incident in Shizhou have anything to do with food in Chang'an?

Because Shizhou and several nearby states were the largest sources of sugar supply in the Tang Dynasty, and this was the largest sugarcane producing area in the Tang Dynasty. Perhaps some people would wonder why sugarcane is produced in abundance in southern Sichuan?

This is a climate issue. The climate in the Tang Dynasty was much warmer than it is now. Southern Sichuan not only produced sugarcane, but also lychees, which were transported to Chang'an and became Yang Guifei's favorite.

Elephants also came in groups, and all major sugarcane gardens trained elephants to carry them.

In addition, another reason is that the sugar-making technique of Tianzhu was passed on to the Tang Dynasty from the Yunnan-Myanmar route, and first took root in the southwest region.

In addition to the rise in sugar prices, tax reform has been a hot topic of concern to the government and the public since November last year until this year.

In November last year, the salt and iron monopoly was officially launched in various parts of the Tang Dynasty.

At present, the tax system reform has been fully implemented. First, salt, iron and wine began to be monopolized. Salt and iron taxes belonged to the court, and wine taxes belonged to local governments. Local governments were particularly active in controlling wine. First, the koji cakes for brewing wine were controlled by the government, and then the winemaking license had to be applied for from the government. Not everyone could brew wine, and farmers were not allowed to brew fruit wine privately. They would be fined at the lightest and jailed at the worst.

Then the deed tax also belonged to the local government, so the local government was also very active in the deed tax. It was stipulated that any transaction and lease of houses and land must be passed by the agent and the contract printed by the government. If there was no government stamp, then all taxes would be paid and fined. In addition, the government did not recognize the legality of the transaction.

Among them, the fact that the government did not recognize the transaction was very lethal.

For example, Zhang San was a tenant farmer who rented Li Si's 20 mu of upper field for cultivation. He did not sign a contract or hand in a contract. It was a private lease. This had two consequences. Once caught by the government, not only did Li Si have to pay taxes, but he also had to pay a fine.

The second consequence is that by the end of the year, if Zhang San does not pay rent to Li Si, or there is a dispute, once the lawsuit is filed, the government will rule in Zhang San's favor. Why? Because the lease is illegal, the lease does not exist. Li Si not only cannot get the rent, but also has to be fined by the government.

Not only for renting land, but also for renting houses. If the landlord does not pay the deed tax, then once the tenant sues the government, not only the landlord has to return all the rent, but the tenant can also get a reward of half of the fine.

Now, all lessors will honestly sign the contract and pay the deed tax. Anyway, it will be included in the rent or land rent in the end, not their burden, and they can also protect their rights and interests. Why not do it?

As for buying and selling houses and land, deed tax must be paid, otherwise the deed cannot be transferred.

Although there are some complaints after the promotion of liquor tax and deed tax, and the sharp rise in salt prices has made many large salt users angry, mainly shops selling pickled foods.

But another benefit was immediate. The land tax dropped significantly, and the household tax was even more surprising. Eighty percent of families no longer had to pay the household tax.

During the reign of Li Heng, in order to raise military salaries, the land tax rose to an astonishing 10.3%, and the household tax started at 5 guan per household per year. If the population was large and it was defined as a large household, the household tax was 10 guan per year.

Not only did the people suffer, but also the local officials were overwhelmed. The household tax also caused countless families to break up, and even secretly buried the children after giving birth.

Now it's the other way around. If you only have one child, you have to pay the household tax, which is still 5 guan per year. If you have two children, it will be halved, and if you have three children, it will be exempted.

This has removed the shackles of the people's unwillingness to have children from the root. There is no need to pay the head tax for having children. Every household has begun to prepare for pregnancy. After all, the concept of having many children has always been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

The land tax was also reduced to 30% tax, a tenfold reduction. The household tax that worried every household at the end of the year was also exempted, which made the people all over the world cheer and shout, "Long live the emperor."

But many officials and scholars were also worried. How could the court maintain such a reduction?

The answer came out soon. The price of salt skyrocketed.

Starting from November last year, the price of salt rose to 500 coins per dou, which was 50 times higher than before. In the Tianbao period, a dou of salt was only 10 coins.

Moreover, 500 coins per dou of salt was the price of coarse salt. Coarse salt is sold directly after crystallization of seawater or brine. The particles are large, dark in color, and bitter in taste.

The court also introduced fine salt at the same time. Fine salt is diluted with fresh water, then crystallized, and then ground into powder. It is snow-white in color, much more salty, and no longer bitter. However, the price of fine salt is 80 coins per catty, which is equivalent to one guan of money per dou, which is twice the price of coarse salt.

Although the soaring salt prices made ordinary people who were used to spending salt lavishly unable to accept it all at once, if you carefully calculate the accounts, as long as you don't make pickles, a family doesn't actually use much salt in a month.

Many housewives even found that although fine salt is twice as expensive as coarse salt, it is actually more economical. Coarse salt needs at least five or six catties a month, while fine salt only needs one catty a month.

After a few months of practice, the sales of coarse salt began to plummet, while the sales of fine salt soared. A year later, coarse salt disappeared from the market.

The people all over the world complained about the soaring salt prices from the beginning, but the complaints gradually disappeared after a few months. On the one hand, complaining was useless, and on the other hand, everyone enjoyed a large reduction or even exemption of land taxes and household taxes, so they understood the difficulties of the court, but more importantly, buying salt every month actually didn't cost much. With a small population, one catty of fine salt was enough, and with a large population, at most two catties, which was only 160 coins.

In fact, if you eat two kilograms of fine salt a month, you will have to spend two strings of money a year, but ordinary people will not calculate it this way. It doesn't matter if they spend more than a hundred coins a month, but if they have to collect two strings of money a year, it will cost them their lives.

After the salt price began to soar, a high-quality vegetable produced in Guanzhong, cabbage, began to sell well all over the country, and then the court forced it to be promoted to government offices in various parts of the north.

Emperor Li Ye gave cabbage a new name, Chinese cabbage.

Promoting Chinese cabbage is also one of the important measures to cooperate with the salt tax reform. In the past, every household had to pickle vegetables and consume a lot of salt. At that time, salt cost ten coins per pound, and everyone didn't feel bad. Now fine salt costs eighty coins per kilogram, and vegetables can't be pickled. Without pickled vegetables, what to eat in winter?

So Chinese cabbage came out. Chinese cabbage has a large yield and grows in winter. It is simply a life-saving vegetable in the northern region. Every household has started to grow Chinese cabbage in their vegetable fields, and of course radishes.

So where did the phrase "radish and cabbage" come from? Every household in the north survived on radishes and cabbages in winter.

The Shizhou incident triggered a rise in sugar prices. At that time, sugar was not a monopoly of the court. Although Changping Warehouse quickly put in affordable sugar to curb the rise in sugar prices, the Nanzhao issue came into the public eye because of the sugar price incident.

For a time, the entire court and the market were talking about Nanzhao. In early February, Emperor Li Ye made a decision that he would send 50,000 elite troops to Nanzhao, led by Li Sheng, the governor of Longyou, and Qu Huan, the governor of Jiannan, as his deputy general, and led 50,000 Guanlong troops to Bashu to prepare for war.

Li Sheng was changed to the deputy marshal of the Southern Expedition, and Hun Jian, the governor of Hezhou, concurrently served as the governor of Longyou.

In the imperial study, Li Sheng pointed to the sand table and said, "After entering Bashu, I will lead 50,000 troops to Longyou County, Jiazhou for training. The Military Equipment Supervisor promised me that all training mines will be in place before the end of February, and 10,000 firearms will be equipped by mid-March at the latest."

Training mines are arrow mines, hand-thrown mines and thunder mines without explosives. They are all made of ceramics and equipped with fire ropes. In fact, it is to train soldiers to control the fire ropes.

There are two scales on the fire ropes of all Tang army firearms. One is a green line, indicating that it is ready to be thrown, and the other is a red line. When it burns here, it must be fired immediately, so as to ensure that the fire mine explodes when it lands or before it lands.

This is the basis for becoming a firearms soldier. Basic training must be carried out before using firearms.

"How to distribute the firearms equipment for 10,000 people?" Li Ye asked.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, two thousand people use thunder bombs, equipped with three types of thunder bombs, totaling 500 thunder bombs, five thousand arrow thunder troops, each equipped with five arrow thunders, and three thousand troops are equipped with explosive arrows, each equipped with ten, which are mainly used to deal with buildings and ships."

Li Ye nodded and asked, "General Li, have you learned about the reasons for the disastrous defeat of the Tang army in the tenth and thirteenth years of Tianbao?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, I have carefully inquired and read the records. The tenth year of Tianbao was because the Tang army was not adapted to the local hot and humid climate. Another major reason was that the other side used elephant soldiers. In the key battle, the other side drove thousands of elephants to attack the Tang army. The Tang army was defeated and lost tens of thousands of people. This was the key point of the Tang army's final defeat.

As for the battle in the thirteenth year of Tianbao, it was because Tubo sent troops to attack the Tang army from behind, causing the Tang army to be attacked from both sides. A big defeat."

"Are you sure you can deal with the elephant soldiers?"

Li Sheng nodded gently, "The 50,000 Tang troops are equipped with gunpowder arrows. They shoot the elephants at a long distance with gunpowder arrows. If it doesn't work, they will use arrow thunder to scare them. If it still doesn't work, I will use kerosene to burn them. This will constitute 30% of the defense in the distance. I believe it will be effective!"

Li Ye pointed to Shizhou with a wooden pole and said, "Once the firearms are equipped, the army will immediately march into Shizhou. You must remember four points. First, eliminate the active forces of Nanzhao and Tubo troops and do not accept surrendered prisoners. Second, restore the borders of the ninth year of Tianbao. Third, all the captured Han people return. Fourth, accept the surrender of Nanzhao and occupy Taihe City at the same time. All wealth will be transported back to the Tang Dynasty to make up for the war expenses!"

Li Sheng bowed and said, "Your Majesty's order, I will remember it in my heart!"