Chapter 666: The Ministry of Revenue's Excitement

"Tariff......"

Kang Chong's eyes flashed with a light, and he seemed vaguely excited: "Sir, I recall you mentioned this privately to us last month."

"Are we going to implement it now?"

Chen Yan nodded slightly: "Tariffs are inevitable; they can be finalized now, and His Majesty approved them several months ago."

"It's already July; Minister of War Li Jing has assembled the army, and I expect the forces will reach combat readiness by the end of the month."

"Capturing Tuyuhun will raise the Tang Dynasty's prestige to a new level, and fine salt is now almost fully distributed. If we don't finalize the tariff now, when will we?"

Kang Chong was enlightened.

No wonder you weren't keen on stopping fine salt from flowing out; you wanted to snag a point on the tariff to secure more benefits for the Tang Dynasty.

"Sir, what does the tariff policy we prepared look like? Like foreign nations, do we levy it on goods?"

"Levy goods?" Chen Yan scoffed: "What goods do we need? Those flashy, useless items would just cost us effort to sell after collecting them."

"Better to assess the total value of the cargo and take a fixed percentage in gold... gold, or the Tang Dynasty's copper coins."

"Everything else is virtual."

Chen Yan paused, then turned his head: "Fine, you're no longer a Ministry of Revenue official, so you needn't worry about these details. When the matter is raised in the Court, if you think the tariff is acceptable, just lend your support."

"After you return, continue recruiting manpower and try to expand the fine‑salt production scale. I have a feeling our current capacity is still insufficient and needs to be increased."

"Yes, Sir," Kang Chong replied solemnly.

Chen Yan said dryly: "Kang Chong, we're now peers; you needn't call me Sir any longer, nor act like a subordinate before me."

Kang Chong heard this and replied firmly: "It's different, Sir; if it weren't for you, I'd still be a Fifth Rank official and could never sit in the Minister of Works' seat."

"In formal settings I have no authority, but privately, please don't find it odd."

"... Fine," Chen Yan, seeing his steadfast attitude and not wanting to fuss over trivialities, said casually: "When you go back, ask Ma Zhou and Du Gou to come over."

"Tomorrow we'll formally propose the tariff; this time it should go more smoothly, with little opposition."

"Very well," Kang Chong nodded, "I'll head back first, Sir."

"Go ahead."

Kang Chong left slowly, closing the door behind him.

Chen Yan reclined in the rocking chair, eyes fixed on the ceiling, lost in thought.

Soon after, the door was knocked.

Ma Zhou, Han Zhongliang, Du Gou, and Fang Yizhi entered.

Seeing Chen Yan in the rocking chair, they were unsurprised and each took a seat.

After a while, Chen Yan said lightly: "Let's bring up the tariff tomorrow."

"The specifics will follow what we discussed earlier."

The others heard this and were not surprised about the tariff.

Because three months ago Chen Yan had already told them about imposing a tariff and had often discussed how to collect it.

By now they had essentially finalized the tariff policy, awaiting the right moment.

Ma Zhou hesitated: "Sir, I'm still unclear why we must lock in gold and the Tang Dynasty's copper coins; can't we use silver?"

Du Gou and Fang Yizhi's eyes flickered at the remark, but they said nothing further.

Chen Yan replied bluntly: "No."

"As for why, you needn't worry; the point is to collect gold and copper coins."

"Also, the army is about to assemble; by month‑end it should enter combat readiness, and the Ministry of Revenue must carefully inventory the grain and supplies for me during this period."

"I don't want any issues in this area!"

"Yes, Sir," Ma Zhou and the others replied solemnly, not daring to be careless.

"War..." Chen Yan sighed deeply, then handed the ledger to them and said calmly: "With fine‑salt revenue, the Ministry of Revenue's burden will be greatly eased; just from salt alone, the annual income could match the Ministry's entire previous yearly revenue."

"If we add the tariff on top, the income should be even higher."

Grabbing the ledger from Chen Yan, the group gathered around, scanning row after row of numbers, becoming increasingly delighted.

Until they reached the total profit at the end.

All four were stunned.

Ma Zhou said trembling: "Over a million guan?"

"That's just a month's revenue?"

Du Gou also swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

What does over a million guan a month mean?

Over a million guan a month translates to over ten million guan a year.

This not only matches the Ministry's former tax revenue, it actually exceeds it.

Doubling it outright—could that work?

If we also factor in the soon‑to‑be‑implemented tariff......

Everyone gasped, each wearing a look of surprise, exhilarated.

This is a concrete achievement!

In just a year within the Ministry of Revenue, the treasury's income doubled, and it was done without raising taxes.

Who else could claim that, damn it?

"Sir!" Han Zhongliang exclaimed excitedly: "From now on we won't have to endure those people's nonsense in the Court, counting accounts finger by finger every day and still can't get it right."

"Indeed," Du Gou sighed: "Those hard days are finally over; we've finally made it."

"What are you thinking?" Chen Yan rolled his eyes. "We have too many tasks; if we try to count it, this money still isn't enough."

"Besides, do you think it's over once we defeat Tuyuhun?"

There are still many wars to fight in the future; Tuyuhun is just the beginning.

Whether it's within the Tang Dynasty or outside, whatever we do, it all depends on money, so this little amount of ours... I can only say it's enough to solve the pressing need.

The four: "......"

"No," Fang Yizhi was dumbfounded, "What are we supposed to do? Even an estimated annual income of thirty million isn't enough?"

Chen Yan said silently, "Not enough, far from enough."

"What do you think is the reason that makes the common people's lives hard?"

"Is that even worth mentioning?" Du Gou said without hesitation, "It's obviously the taxes."

"Regardless of dynasty or era, taxes are a mountain pressing on the people's hearts, and it keeps getting heavier until they can no longer bear it and are crushed to death by the taxes."

As he spoke, he said a bit nervously, "Zi Anxiong, you wouldn't happen to want to abolish taxes, would you?"

When that remark was made, the others were suddenly shocked and also grew tense.

Chen Yan said irritably, "What are you thinking?"

"Abolish taxes? What kind of joke are you making?"

"Even if I remove your official post, I still wouldn't cancel taxes."

"......"