Chapter 1599: Andong Grand Development 3

Without agriculture there is no stability, without commerce there is no vitality. In agriculture and animal husbandry, Andong insisted on addressing the root causes, and in commerce it also opened its doors wide, especially in terms of taxation and the relaxed movement of goods in and out.

Since ancient times, every dynasty has adhered to a policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce. This was a fundamental national policy, determined by the self-sufficient natural economy as its base.

At the same time, for the ruling class, excessive commercial activity would not only affect the labor force engaged in farming and sericulture, but also increase population mobility and add to public security risks. Most importantly, it was not conducive to the governance and administration of the officials.

By now, the greatest headache faced by the various government offices of the Great Han in public security management remains those commercial populations who travel far and wide, constantly in a state of movement.

Even though the court resolutely and forcefully promoted the household registration system, it was impossible to achieve surveillance without any blind spots, and handling cases across circuits and prefectures, or even across counties and towns, was extremely difficult.

Therefore, although officials across the realm understood the benefits and necessity of commercial activity, for the sake of political achievements and stability, they still preferred to bind the people to the land. That way, they could both create means of subsistence and better maintain social order and stability. And those officials who upheld Confucian thought held merchants in even greater contempt.

This deeply ingrained thinking was actually the norm throughout the Great Han court, high and low. Even though commercial activity in the Great Han was becoming increasingly frequent and the commercial atmosphere increasingly rich, nothing had essentially changed. On the question of agriculture versus commerce, agriculture was always ranked first.

Moreover, the prosperity of commerce was basically limited to the capital region, the major cities of the various circuits and prefectures, and some coastal prefectures and counties. Outside these areas, the economy remained in a relatively fixed state of small-scale peasant production.

At the same time, engaging in commerce was still accompanied by various tangible and intangible pressures. For industries such as salt, iron, tea, wine, and sugar, most of the resources were subject to a state monopoly policy, and ordinary merchants could not participate at all.

Although salt and wine had long been deregulated, the source of production, especially salt-making, remained firmly in the hands of the court — even more firmly than before. Even the big merchants who handled distribution had to follow government regulations and lick the officials' boots, so to speak, in order to operate normally without running into trouble.

The trade routes across the regions had indeed been opened up, and the layers upon layers of transit taxes and customs duties had been abolished, but what replaced them was a severe and strict market tax. Especially in the major cities, if you didn't pay your taxes in full, you couldn't even enter the market.

The separation of pedestrian and cargo entry channels that Zhao Kuangyi had implemented in Kaifeng had now been adopted by government offices across the country. This indeed greatly reduced the possibility of merchants evading or leaking taxes — unless they didn't want to sell their goods in the cities at all.

Restrictions also meant standardization. At the very least, no dynasty had ever managed commercial personnel, activities, and taxation with such meticulous and clear regulation, nor had any ever specially enacted a "Commercial Law."

Of course, the original intention of Zhao Pu and other ministers in drafting this law was to shear the merchants like sheep and alleviate fiscal strain, but it unexpectedly promoted commercial development to a certain extent.

After all, conducting legitimate commercial trade and engaging in commercial activities within the framework of the "Commercial Law" was itself a form of progress, and something merchants were willing to accept. Those unwilling to comply with the Commercial Law were profiteers and naturally needed punishment; those willing to comply were naturally good merchants. As long as they submitted to management and paid taxes according to the rules, they could operate with peace of mind.

In fact, Emperor Liu deserved great credit for promoting commerce in the Great Han. Had he not spoken up for merchants from time to time, the commercial atmosphere of the Great Han today might not have been so "relaxed."

But even so, this could not change some fundamental problems, could not change the fact that the Great Han was a feudal agricultural empire based on a natural economy. Without a breakthrough in productive forces, the commerce of the Great Han could only remain at this level, with little room for further breakthrough development. The policy restrictions were always there.

Even Emperor Liu himself — if excessive commercial development truly affected farming, sericulture, fishing, and herding, affected agricultural output, affected social order, or threatened national stability — would not hesitate to raise his great blade, even a butcher's knife, and chop down hard. Nothing was more important than the security and stability of the empire.

Under such circumstances, Liu Xu also adopted some policies in Andong that could be called radical in encouraging and promoting commerce. For example, he greatly reduced commercial taxes, opened up Andong's various resources to merchants — including timber, furs, and all kinds of animal and plant resources — and even held an open attitude toward mineral deposits, though this was halted by the Eastern Capital upon hearing the news.

However, for precious metals like gold and silver mines, he still agreed to let merchants mine and smelt them, just with strengthened oversight. And in this regard, it indeed attracted quite a few people, even sparking a gold rush in Andong.

Resources like mineral deposits had always been directly controlled by the state. The court had established a large number of mining supervisors across the country, handling extraction and smelting, and private mining was not permitted among the people. But this point was also somewhat broken through in Andong.

At the same time, for merchants coming to Andong to trade and do business, the Andong Governor-General's Office also agreed to let them organize escort teams, carry weapons, and transport their goods under armed guard.

Overall, Andong's restrictions on merchants were very loose. It could be said that it showed full sincerity. Many things that were difficult to achieve elsewhere in the Great Han, or even explicitly prohibited, could happen in Andong. Over the past few years, Liu Xu had basically turned the Andong region into an adventurer's paradise.

Apart from its somewhat remote geographical location, Andong was extremely friendly to merchants in every other respect. And the remoteness of the location was entirely surmountable for merchants who were used to traveling far and wide — the key was that there was profit to be made.

The Andong Governor-General's Office's pro-commerce policies genuinely attracted merchants from all corners of the realm. Even those with only a tentative mindset came in an endless stream to take their chances.

Even a large number of merchants from the south, upon hearing the news, traveled thousands of li to rush to Andong. Especially some merchants from the southeastern coast — the commercial atmosphere in the south was already rich, and those in business, especially maritime merchants, were even more eager, particularly merchants from Jiangzhe, Fujian, and even Guangdong and Guangxi along the coast.

With the rise of maritime trade and the development of the Great Han's shipping, the northbound sea routes had become quite mature, and traveling by sea could also save many costs.

Over the past few years, a large number of merchants had already gone to Liaodong to do business. Northeastern furs and goods, ginseng and deer antler, shipbuilding and construction timber — these were all key items of trade. Although Andong was even farther and more remote, with even more inconvenient transportation, thanks to the merchant-friendly policies that spread out the costs, as long as you could successfully ship your goods out, there was profit to be made.

Merchants were naturally endowed with an adventurous streak, and those willing to venture out to sea were even more adventurous, even willing to risk their lives. The influx of large numbers of merchants and merchant caravans injected vigorous vitality into the Andong region, and the Andong Governor-General's Office also profited considerably from it.

Agriculture and animal husbandry were the foundation of governance. The Andong government's choice of expenditure was such that commerce was merely a means to promote development. No matter how many concessions were offered, the Governor-General's Office could not run a losing business.

Therefore, commercial taxes had become the Andong Governor-General's Office's primary source of fiscal revenue in recent years, and it was with these tax revenues that the Governor-General's Office was able to smoothly advance development.

If it had relied solely on the one million strings of special funds allocated annually by the court, who knows how many years it would have taken to bring Andong onto a normal development track. Even if the court could maintain this over the long term, it would invite criticism — the Great Han was so vast, with so many good places, why spend such a great cost on such a remote place as Andong?

At the same time, starting from the fifteenth year of Kaibao, Andong contributed large quantities of gold and pig iron to the court every year. With these contributions, the dissenting voices at court were suppressed.

Precious metals like gold and silver — even if opened to the private sector, whatever was dug up could not be taken away. It had to be exchanged at a discounted rate with the Andong government for copper coins or silver ingots. Anyone caught smuggling it out secretly would face severe punishment — it would no longer be just a matter of losing money to avoid disaster.

In the development of Andong, Liu Xu resisted tremendous pressure with great determination and forged ahead with keen enterprise. It must be said that even though he achieved some results, the controversy he stirred up was even greater.

According to some bureaucrats at court, Andong's practices were completely destroying the court's laws and regulations, corrupting the court's discipline, seeking novelty for its own sake, being radical and reckless, running contrary to the Great Han's governing philosophy, and constituting heresy that ought to be abolished... There were too many people who held opposing or even critical attitudes toward Liu Xu's "big moves" in Andong.

It was only because Emperor Liu tacitly acquiesced, Crown Prince Liu Yang made no statement, and Chancellor Zhao Pu remained silent that the pressure of public opinion did not transform into substantive political measures. Even so, Liu Xu, though he was in Andong, could still feel it.

Perhaps to demonstrate his resolve, Liu Xu even sold off all the Prince of Qin's estate properties in the two capitals, brought all his servants and palace eunuchs to Andong, and threw them into local development — using concrete action to show his unwavering determination to develop Andong.

In the two capitals, he left only two princely residences and a scattering of maintenance personnel. Such actions, such an attitude, genuinely strengthened the confidence of many officials who followed and implemented the "Andong policy," and also brought confidence to merchants, travelers, and immigrants.