Chapter 932 Ji Zijuan is brave enough to do his job

The summer and autumn grain and commercial tax quotas of the Great Zhou Dynasty basically followed the previous Ming Dynasty. A rough amount was determined from the founding of the People's Republic of China, and then the rest was retained for local use, which is somewhat similar to the model of excess retention after a minimum guarantee.

 But in fact, for the north, it is difficult to complete in many places, so there are often some gaps in the start and retention, and it often becomes an important criterion for the Ministry of Personnel and the Metropolitan Procuratorate to evaluate officials in various places every year.

Similarly for the Jiangnan area, the summer and autumn grain and commercial taxes retained by the shipment will basically be adjusted every few years. Of course, this cannot be a decrease, it can only be an increase, so this is why Jiangnan The gentry were particularly dissatisfied with the imperial court.

But for the imperial court, in the face of the increasingly difficult situation on the nine sides, food, salary and military resources were constantly increasing. If they did not find a way in Jiangnan, how could they still scratch a layer in the northern prefecture that itself could not complete the task of launching the ship?

 This is also the most prominent focus of the differences and conflicts between the North and the South.

But from the north, the entire nine frontiers are pressing on the northern provinces. From Liaodong to the north to Shanxi and Shaanxi, the supplements of the frontier troops basically come from the guard posts of the northern provinces, and most of the soldiers come from the north. In addition, once the Mongols break through the border wall, they will bring huge damage to Shaanxi, Shanxi, Beizhi and Liaodong. This long-term war pressure has also made the Northland's agriculture, commerce and even urban construction None of them can be compared with the South, not to mention the climate and transportation advantages of the South.

It is obviously the military pressure that the entire Zhou Dynasty needs to face. Why should the north bear it alone? If the north has people to shoulder the pressure, shouldn't it be compensated in the form of tax exemptions?

 This is probably the crux of the dispute between the North and the South.

 In the past few years, Yongping Mansion performed poorly in the transportation of summer taxes and autumn grains and in the payment of commercial taxes. Zheng Jizhi also wiped the **** of fellow villager Zhu Zhiren a lot. Now things have finally improved. Zheng Jizhi also mentioned this intentionally.

Everyone understands that no matter how powerful Feng Ziying is, he is just a fellow intellectual. Without Zhu Zhiren, the prefect, to support him behind his back, he would never have been able to do so easily in just three months. So many things happened.

"Bo Xiaogong, the commercial taxation will definitely be completed in Yongping Mansion this year, and there will even be a relatively large increase. It is still early to open the port of Yuguan, but I believe there will be a big improvement next year. As for summer taxes and autumn grains, this is not what I You have to ask the prefect or the general magistrate about the scope of the Tongzhi's responsibilities, and they can answer it."

 Feng Ziying was very disciplined and only talked about matters within the scope of her responsibilities.

 This is a basic rule for being an official. It is the prefect's right not to evaluate the performance of his colleagues.

Zheng Jizhi glanced at Feng Ziying, but he gave Feng Ziying a thumbs up in his heart. No wonder Zhu Zhiren's letter was also full of praise for this son. This is not only a matter of ability, but his performance is enough to show that this person can not only do things, but also be a good person. Will be an official.

"Ziying, I also heard that you are opening mines in Lulong and Qian'an. It seems that the revenue from the Ministry of Industry and Finance will increase significantly this year, but the cabinet is more concerned about the smelting project you are doing with the Shanxi Chamber of Commerce and Foshan Zhuangji. I heard that the workshops, those two ironworks, will have some new craftsmanship? Zhuang Ji is a big company registered with the Ministry of Industry, and also cooperates with the Ministry of War. How did you do this in Yongping Prefecture? considerate?"

Li Sancai was much more practical than these people and asked directly for specific details.

“Master Daofu, Ziying doesn’t dare to hide anything in front of the other masters. These two iron factories mainly produce wrought iron and steel, followed by iron materials,…”

 Feng Ziying’s words are half true and half false.

 Iron and steel are two different concepts. The price of steel is much higher than that of pig iron and wrought iron. The new process used this time is mainly for steelmaking, but he can't say enough.

 Too much improvement in quality and quantity will definitely arouse the curiosity and even suspicion of the court, so no matter what angle you look at, you have to hold back.

"Preliminary predictions show that the annual iron output of Lulong Iron Works is about 1.4 million jins, of which wrought iron and steel can reach about 800,000 jins. The output of Qian'an Iron Works is higher, about 30,000 jins. About 1.8 million jins, the output of wrought iron and steel can reach about 1.2 million jins,..."

Everyone here was shocked. Such a huge increase in pig iron production is just as scary. This is just Yongping Prefecture, but can wrought iron and steel also reach such high levels?

 Pig iron is the cheapest and easiest to produce. Wrought iron is more complicated, but steel is not easy to produce. Although everyone here does not know the specific production processes of pig iron, wrought iron and steel, they still understand the difference between them.

“Ziying, can the output of wrought iron and steel reach such a high level?” Li Sancai was a little unconvinced. He had served as the minister of the Ministry of Industry and was very aware of the national steel output. It was time-consuming and labor-intensive, so there was a huge shortage.

"The main reason is that some new smelting processes have been adopted to increase the furnace temperature, so that the molten iron can be better mixed with other furnace materials..." Feng Ziying made up a few words, "It's not a big problem, but it will take a year. Under normal circumstances, it’s definitely not possible now.”

"Even so, it's impressive. There is a shortage of steel in Dazhou. If the new process can increase steel production, that would be great, especially for the Bingzhan Bureau's production of armor." Fang Congzhe nodded.

Every year, the War Bureau alone consumes a lot of steel and wrought iron to produce various armors, protective equipment and weapons, and the cost is also huge. If the cost of steel production is reduced, the output can still be increased. This situation is of course a great boon to Dazhou.

"Ziying, I wonder if this iron-smelting and steel-making process can be promoted across the country? In this way, our steel materials in Dazhou will no longer be stretched." Li Sancai was born as Minister of the Ministry of Industry, and he knew very well that steel has great influence on Dazhou. The importance of this kind of thing is needed in almost every field.

"Master Daofu, this depends on the Shanshan Chamber of Commerce and Foshan Village. I have provided some insights and ideas for this new technology, but it is their craftsmen who have worked hard to refine it. In addition, it is said that it is not stable yet, and There is a lot of room for improvement, but I think even if it is a business secret, it will gradually spread in three to five years. However, the Shanshan Chamber of Commerce and Zhuangji invested a lot in the early stage, and they have to let people recover the cost. , but they can be allowed to further expand the scale. Anyway, there are a lot of iron ores here in Yongping,..."

Feng Ziying put the burden on the Shanshan-Shaanxi Chamber of Commerce and Zhuangji. The Shanshan-Shaanxi Chamber of Commerce will definitely not agree in the short term. How can they easily hand over such huge profits that are almost a monopoly?

I wish I could hide it and eat it, how can I let it out to others?

Isn’t that just making your own money bag feel bad?

Li Sancai nodded knowingly. He was originally from Shaanxi, and merchants from Shanxi and Shaanxi have always been one and the same. He did not want to have trouble with these merchants from Shanxi and Shaanxi.

“Ziying, your trip to Yongping Mansion didn’t last long, but your actions were big enough. What did you think about opening the port at Yuguan?”

Both Fang Congzhe and Zheng Jizhi were very interested in the opening of the Yuguan port. From Fang Congzhe's point of view, after the opening of the sea, the north made a lot of noise, thinking that this was purely a gain for the south of the Yangtze River and nothing for the north. If this could prove that the north You can also benefit from opening up the sea, which can be regarded as a counterattack against the northern scholars.

And Zheng Jizhi simply saw the huge benefits that could be brought by the establishment of municipal shipping companies after Ningbo, Quanzhou, Guangzhou, and Zhangzhou opened their seas. If after Yuguan opened its ports, it could be like cities like Ningbo and Quanzhou, then that would be It’s quite a small addition.

"The opening of the Yuguan port is not only a tariff revenue, but also a great benefit to the food and material security of Yongping, western Liaoning, and even the entire border towns in eastern Liaoning. Guangning and Ningyuan no longer need to purchase goods from the capital or Zhigu To transport it over there, you have to go through a transshipment in the middle, and shipping by sea is faster than taking the canal. Here you can get off the ship directly at Yuguan and pass through Shanhaiguan to reach the Western Liaoning Corridor. You can save a lot in transportation consumption alone. "

Feng Ziying explained patiently: "And Yongping iron materials can also be exported in large quantities to the south of the Yangtze River and along the Yangtze River into Huguang. It can be said that as soon as Yuguan opens the port, the whole game from western Liaoning to Jingdong will be alive, and even the people who want to Chahar in the future will In the territory under our control, North Korea and Japan outside can also import and export materials through Yuguan, which will become a hub..."

Feng Ziying smiled and said, "I am a co-president of Yongping Mansion, but as soon as I went to the mansion, he handed over the business tax affairs to me. Originally, because of the opening of the sea, I had more dealings with businessmen from all over the country, and the situation in the north and south was also different. I generally understand that businessmen in the North are very jealous of the opening of the sea in the south of the Yangtze River and the silk, tea, porcelain, cloth and other industries brought about by the sea opening. How can the land use its strengths and avoid its weaknesses, because Northland is inherently deficient in industries such as silk and tea, so what are the advantages of Northland, that is, in coal stone and iron smelting,..."

 Feng Ziying introduced her ideas, and several cabinet ministers nodded slightly.

This is the one who really does practical things. Logically speaking, this Tongzhi should not be in charge of these specific matters. The Qing army, coastal defense, and public security are the Tongzhi's main responsibilities, but it is not wrong for the prefect to hand over commercial taxes to Feng Ziying. The first rule of Zhi Tong Zhi is to assist the magistrate in handling government affairs, so any matter that is not clearly assigned to the general magistrate or the official can be assigned to Tong Zhi.

 Those who are mediocre and lazy can find excuses to shirk and delay, but those who want to do things will seize such opportunities to prove themselves.

Feng Ziying seized the opportunity and not only handled her duties in an orderly manner, but also helped the prefect handle the most important taxation matters. It can be said that the courage to take charge is often the most important point in the assessment of officials. This is the attitude. question.

 (End of this chapter)