Chapter 1002: Year-End

"Roughly speaking, the trade deficit between Da Song and Gaoli is about three billion Song Yuan, and the trade deficit with Dongying is about 4.8 billion Song Yuan."

Yang He had been prepared for a long time; he held an account book and spoke to Zhao Xu.

After a pause, he said, "This is only the trade recorded in the books; there are many omissions in the private sector."

Zhao Xu nodded slightly.

According to the exchange rate between Silver and Song Yuan, this is equivalent to six million taels of Silver and over nine million taels of Silver.

If one compares Song Yuan to contemporary currency, the purchasing power of one Song Yuan is about the same as one yuan, just slightly higher.

Regarding this trade surplus figure, Zhao Xu felt it was within reason.

After all, Da Song basically controlled Gaoli and Dongying from top to bottom, exporting industrial products to them without any obstacles.

And because Gaoli and Dongying lacked an industrial foundation, Da Song's industrial products had no rivals in those two countries, so such a large surplus was only natural.

"Regarding commercial taxes, you must keep a close watch. Merchants must obtain a Merchant Permit to conduct business; every trade must be recorded, and commercial taxes must be paid according to the surplus," he reminded him, thinking of the "many omissions in the private sector" that Yang He had mentioned.

Currently, Da Song maintains very low agricultural taxes, so tax revenue must be supplemented from trade.

He leads the soldiers of Da Song to serve abroad, winning one market after another for the merchants.

They cannot just enjoy the dividends without being willing to shoulder any responsibility.

And paying taxes according to Da Song Law is their responsibility.

Of course, he is very clear about the nature of merchants; their nature is to constantly expand their interests, and they will avoid responsibility whenever they can.

This will also be the main conflict between the Imperial Court and private merchants in the future.

It is also a result that Da Song must bear as it transforms from an agricultural country into an industrial country and develops trade.

Regarding this point, he must remain vigilant; he must maintain the development of Da Song's trade, but he cannot allow chaos to break out.

This is the reason why he lets state-run firms occupy a dominant position to lead the development of trade.

No one can guarantee whether an ambitious person instigated by the ideas of Westerners will emerge in Da Song in the future.

He is unwilling to see the empire he and his soldiers worked so hard to build with blood and tears destroyed because of this.

"Yes, Your Highness," Yang He replied.

Zhao Xu nodded and looked at Liu Fu again, "To coordinate with the development of Da Song's trade, Da Song should also establish a nationality system. Those who do not hold Da Song nationality cannot enter the country without authorization. For those from Gaoli and Dongying who wish to become Da Song nationals, we must also customize relevant policies and set conditions."

After a pause, he continued, "Only those who possess Da Song nationality can enjoy all the benefits of Da Song, including policy benefits in trade. I will also require Gaoli, Dongying, and Luzon to establish nationality systems as well, to avoid the behavior of some Da Song merchants who transfer their assets to the aforementioned countries to evade taxes while still wanting to enjoy the dividends—eating from both sides."

His idea is very simple: responsibility and obligation must be equal.

Otherwise, if everyone only thinks about scheming and evading obligations, how can Da Song develop?

The purpose of this policy is to restrain some merchants who think they are clever.

Once the nationality systems of various countries are established, they will have no loopholes to exploit and must choose one of the two.

Either be a Da Song merchant, honestly conduct business and pay taxes, or give up Da Song nationality and no longer enjoy the dividends of Da Song's development.

Secondly, he will also establish a unified tax system in Dongtu, incorporating all the countries of Dongtu into it.

Merchants will have to pay the same taxes wherever they go, so they won't think of these crooked ways.

Having said this, Zhao Xu announced the end of the court session.

As the end of the year approached, he had Liu Fu issue a decree allowing the Government Office of prefectures and counties to purchase a batch of New Year goods to distribute to families with sons serving in the military.

This is naturally to unite the hearts of the people, and at the same time, it is to shape the "martial" atmosphere of Da Song.

Secondly, this is also to support some inefficient Workshops by purchasing from them specifically.

Thirdly, it is to promote grain trading, allowing the common people to exchange their surplus grain for money, because the main benefit given to the soldiers is grain.

Having dealt with the trivial matters before the New Year, Zhao Xu finally felt at ease to celebrate the New Year.

On New Year's Eve, it was the year-end fair at the East and West markets of Yancheng.

To join in the fun and also to observe the sentiments of the people.

He, along with Yang Susu, Feng'er, and Luan'er, with the help of the Four Courts team members, simply disguised themselves, changed into casual clothes, and left the Prince's Mansion under the protection of Xu Lie and other guards.

Of course, Xu Lie and the others also put on simple makeup.

The group looked like a wealthy young master with his wives, concubines, and guards.

After leaving the mansion and turning into the main street of Yanzhou, Zhao Xu was immediately shocked by the weaving crowd before his eyes.

The entire main street was shoulder to shoulder, people pressing against people, heels following heels, very noisy and crowded.

In this crowd were commoners carrying chickens, ducks, fish, and meat; they had just bought New Year goods from the Dong Shi and were preparing to go home, their faces filled with bright smiles.

There were also peddlers carrying candied haws and calling out to sell them; the trees full of candied haws were almost sold out, with only two or three left, and they were equally happy.

There were also mischievous children wearing brand-new clothes, holding colorful candies in their hands, their mouths full of drool.

The ingredients for these candies were cane sugar, not traditional maltose.

While Da Song's heavy industries such as steel, smelting, machinery, and Electricity were developing, he did not forget light industry.

After all, light industry mainly produces daily necessities.

And the main technologies for light industry are all in the Patent Office.

Whenever the conditions for a light industry technology were met, the Patent Office would list the patent to remind merchants to purchase it.

Therefore, Da Song currently already had Workshops specifically producing cane sugar candies.

As merchants learned about candy technology, they also innovated on their own, such as adding natural food coloring to make the candies more beautiful.

"Your Highness, Luan'er and I want to buy some too." Seeing the candies in the children's hands, Feng'er also became tempted.

Da Song is changing with each passing day, and new things are constantly emerging, which is dazzling.

Sometimes there were some small things she hadn't seen before.

"Go ahead." Zhao Xu smiled and followed slowly behind the two.

The two crossed the road and stopped at a grocery store diagonally opposite.

The grocery store was filled with a dazzling array of goods, most of which were industrial products manufactured by Da Song's Workshops.

Not to mention old items like White Wine, Perfume, Soap, Glass Bottles, and Pocket Watches, there were also new products like candies, rubber bands, and rubber-soled shoes.

After buying some candies, the group continued toward the East and West Markets, but the further they went, the more crowded it became.

Yang Susu could not help but exclaim that Yancheng was now even more bustling than Jinling.

Zhao Xu, however, was mainly concerned with the conditions of the people.

Walking along the way, he saw that even the poorest of the commoners were wearing cotton clothes instead of hemp, which brought him great comfort.

Seeing the market prosper and the commoners having at least some spare money to purchase goods for the New Year, he felt even more at ease.

Yet, he was clear that this was Yancheng, at the feet of the Son of Heaven, so it was naturally prosperous, but it could not represent the entire Great Song.

His goal was to make the commoners of the entire Great Song wealthy.

Furthermore, it was not just about being wealthy, but having a standard of living ten, a hundred, or a thousand times that of the Western Lands.

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