Chapter 260: Salt Commander
"Since the Battle of Guandu, Xu You has cut himself off from the world."

In the side hall, Xu You showed no emotion, as if he was talking about something that had nothing to do with him: "If you, my lord, cannot use me, Xu You will have no choice but to live in seclusion in the mountains and end the rest of my life."

"Please teach me, sir."

"Don't dare."

Xu You rolled up his right sleeve and pointed in the direction of Xudu: "From my point of view, your Excellency pays attention to the big picture when doing things, and never gets bogged down in details or trivial matters. As far as I know, although your Excellency is heavy in killing people, he is not a bloodthirsty person, and most of his actions are to stop killing by killing."

As he spoke, his tone changed and became stern: "Your Excellency is not bloodthirsty and is lenient and loves the people. Although this is a good thing, there are many hidden dangers. The scouts and spies under Cao Mengde are very rampant. Guo Jia of Yingchuan once investigated your Excellency. If it weren't for the fact that Taishi Wengong was so brave and invincible, your Excellency's recklessness would not be far away from Sun Bofu's incident."

Xu You pointed to his chest at this time and said: "I came to Guanzhong to deceive Cao Mengde and to kill him. Cao Mengde would not believe me easily, and I was able to escape here only after some trickery."

"Guo Jia?"

Black Bear thought of that outstanding scholar and nodded: "Guo Jia was indeed bold, but he was discovered by Wen Pin. If he had not wanted to petition for an official position for Liu Fubo and had Kuai Yue to mediate, he would not have let him go so easily. According to Mr. Ziyuan, should I strengthen counter-espionage and supervision?"

"That's right. I am a humble man, but I am willing to serve you."

Xu You stood up, knelt on one knee, and looked up at Black Bear: "Your Excellency's external enemies are Cao Cao and Yuan Shang, who are also my enemies."

At this time, Lou Gui expressed his position again: "I will guarantee it with my three clans."

Black Bear took a sip from the cup and pondered for a moment: "Then I will give you a task first. Count the population of each county for me, and estimate the wealth of the powerful families and hidden households in each county. I don't need to be detailed, just give me a roughly reliable statistical data."

Xu You said without thinking: "The Salt Commander can do it."

By strictly enforcing the salt and iron monopoly, the private consumption of salt is fixed, so the approximate total population of each county can be estimated. By subtracting the registered population, the number of hidden households can naturally be estimated.

"Then please first serve as the captain of the Salt Administration. You can recruit and select more than a hundred people on your own, and I will send another hundred people. In the future, when we arrest smuggled salt, you can mobilize fifty armored soldiers in each hundred households with the order."

Black Bear then explained, "When the spring ploughing season comes, I will close the passes and barriers, and officials and people from all counties will not be able to travel without reason. As for the external spies, their travel will be cut off, and they will be unable to cause any harm for a while."

"Your Highness, I, Xu You, pay my respects to you, Your Majesty."

Xu You bowed his head and knelt, and Black Bear also stepped forward to support him: "I entrust the salt industry to you, my relatives and old subordinates will not covet the profits of the salt industry. You must act impartially and make sure to find out the population of each county for me."

If we want to eliminate the interest groups related to salt, the Salt Commander is the biggest interest group.

After receiving Black Bear's promise, Xu You became excited.

The power to mobilize fifty soldiers nearby is enough to wipe out any salt-smuggling team; if they are not given time to grow, private salt dealers will always be just private salt dealers.

Looking at Xu You's expression, Black Bear continued, "I want to know the actual population of each county within three years."

"Yes, I accept your order."

After Xu You sat down, he bowed again. He probably heard that he would not be allowed to control the salt industry for a long time; three years was enough time for him to rely on the salt industry to regain his footing.

The change of his official position three years later will depend on how he performs during that period.

Black Bear only looked at Lou Gui at this time: "Sima Zihua wants to build a tea plantation and said that Mr. Zibo can provide tea seeds. Mr. Zibo also intends to build a new tea plantation and manor?"

"Yes, from my perspective, Jingzhou will not be a place to settle down in the future."

Lou Gui said calmly: "I know the taxes under your rule, and I will follow them."

Black Bear was thinking about the profit sharing ratio of Lougui Tea Mountain. No matter whether it was the state-run tea mountain in Shangluo or the private tea mountain like Lougui, their profit sharing target was the future Shaofu.

The official tea plantations in Shangluo had a 2:8 split, with the tea produced divided into 5 parts, and the tea plantations could only take the second-best grades; for private tea plantations, the profit share had to be 19:1.

After thinking for a while, Black Bear said, "Tea mountains are heavily taxed. If you are willing, we can split the profits 100% to 90%. As compensation, tea houses built near tea mountains will be exempted from residential land tax."

He has begun to formulate a new system of conferring titles for military merit. In the future, if one wants to build a manor, the title must reach the rank of a noble. After obtaining a manor, if the title of the descendants is downgraded, they must pay a house tax based on the level of the manor.

The system of conferring titles based on military merit and giving land and residences according to titles conflicted with his idea of ​​building earthen forts and round forts in various places.

Therefore, in the future, when a title is granted, the size of land and residential land will be compressed, and the title salary will be additionally increased.

Adjusting the title and salary is also simple. Otherwise, readjusting the size and location of homesteads and fields according to changes in titles will increase the workload at the grassroots level. The greater the workload, the higher the probability of causing disputes and conflicts.

After being awarded a title for military merit, the title salary was deposited in each county.

Due to the preciousness of grain, the title and salary would be divided into three parts: one part for grain, one part for money, and one part for cloth.

After reaching the position of a noble, one is granted a manor. The so-called manor is actually a quadrangular earthen fort or a round fort. Inside the fort is the residence, as well as the surrounding fields.

The homestead tax on a manor is roughly equivalent to the land tax.

In the future, if this family produces another nobleman and is granted another title, all we need to do is to reduce or exempt the land tax.

But corvée labor cannot be reduced or exempted. This loophole cannot be opened.

In the early Han Dynasty, one mu of Qin land was 240 steps long and one step wide; the land of the six kingdoms was 100 steps long and one step wide; during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, the land of the six kingdoms was reorganized and the large mu system was promoted. So now it is a large mu, about 465 square meters; the first-level residential land awarded by the Qin military merit system is one and a half mu, about 700 square meters; the field is 100 times the residential land.

For a manor of military significance, Black Bear decided to limit it to thirty acres.

Such a manor was built as a quadrangular earthen fort with a side length of 120 meters.

Considering the cost and defensive efficiency, building a complete earthen fort is a long-term task.

The reclaimed fields will not be too far from the manor, but there will be restrictions. A manor will come with 3,000 acres of fields. The mountains, forests, lakes and swamps near the manor can be converted into fields, and felling of trees and fishing and hunting are allowed. If the fields are reclaimed for tea planting or mining, it will be a different calculation.

Others like to build their manors in remote mountains and forests, so three thousand acres of land are enough for thirty households to farm and graze.

Lou Gui didn't know this, so he asked, "May I ask, sir, how big is the area of ​​this manor house?"

"Thirty acres, with three thousand acres of farmland attached. If the farmland is insufficient, we will use forests to make up for it. In total, this is the eighth manor under my rule that has been permanently exempted from taxes and rents. Several of my wives are also building manors, and they will also collect homestead taxes in the future."

Wang Yi, Ma Teng, Duan Wei, Yang Qiu, Cheng Yi, Cheng Yin, and Gan Ning, the manors that these seven people were allowed to build are all within the scope of permanent exemption.

The sizes of manors vary. For example, Ma Teng, Duan Wei, and Yang Qiu own large manors with 70 acres of land.

In order to increase land utilization efficiency, these people's manors were all in the Wangchuan River Valley, so they were divided into two parts; the owner's relatives lived in the small valley, and the followers and servants lived in the outer manors.

The amount of farmland that can be reclaimed in Wangchuan is limited, so after the mountains and forests are converted, the area occupied is generally larger.

In the future, if your military merit and rank are further promoted, you will have a hereditary title, which will mean a hundred acres of land and three manors.

The residential area and cultivated land area of ​​a manor are roughly the same as those of a small village.

Seeing that Black Bear was serious, Lou Gui felt disappointed. This man was even more cruel than Cao Cao.

A tax of 90% was a heavy tax that he had never imagined and was rare in ancient and modern times.

But what better choice does he have?

There were already many people coveting his ancestral tea house, and there were countless people who wanted to plant tea trees.

In the past, he could borrow tiger skin from Cao Cao, but now, if he cannot borrow the black bear's skin, his tea shop will be divided up immediately.

Seeing Lou Gui's reluctance, Black Bear did not want to force him, so he said: "Nanxiang is not under my jurisdiction, your tea garden in Nanxiang will remain the same. However, in the future, when Jingzhou tea passes through Wuguan Road, a heavy tax of 50% will be imposed."

Lou Gui felt a chill in his heart again when he thought that the tea could still be sold to Central Plains and Hebei.

With a little doubt and expectation, Lou Gui asked: "In the future, when Jingzhou is incorporated into your rule, how much will the tea shop tax be?"

"Looking at the tea houses in Shangluo, they are all 80%; if Jingzhou resists, it will be 90%; if the tea house owner joins the rebellion, I will confiscate the property and make it a government-run business."

Black Bear also saw Xu You's expression change, so he chuckled and said, "That's how I do things. I keep my word. The future profit of tea is as lucrative as that of salt and iron. If you can keep 10% or 20%, you should be satisfied. Any more will become a disaster for future generations."

Tea is a valuable commodity and must be held in our hands.

If we are lenient now and allow these tea house families to accumulate huge wealth, their influence will skyrocket in the future and it will be difficult to control them.

Xu You suggested at this time: "Zi Bo, according to your Majesty's wishes, why don't you build more tea houses? Zi Bo can build five more in Nanxiang, or expand the tea garden, and you will be a rich man in the future."

Lou Gui nodded and bowed solemnly to Black Bear: "My family is quite wealthy, and I want to share the tea trees. I want to offer 30% to Shangluo and take another 20% to build a new tea garden. I want to build two tea gardens in Nanshan, and the remaining tea seeds will be used for expansion. What do you think, my lord?"

"You can build two or three, but I will only exempt you from the land tax for one. I will not collect taxes from you for the first three years of the tea garden, starting this year."

Black Bear thought about it and suggested to Lou Gui: "Why not build a new tea garden in Jingnan? The climate there is humid and more suitable for tea growth."

Lou Gui smiled when he heard this: "Jingnan has always been dissatisfied with Liu Zhennan and his son. The tea garden is very profitable, and the land of Jingnan is not something that I can set foot in."

"Of course."

Black Bear also smiled. Lou Gui forced himself to build the tea garden. When the tea garden was about to make a profit, it was looted by bandits at best. In serious cases, everyone would be killed.

The Lou family is also the most famous family in Nanxiang, otherwise Lou Gui would not have been in such a hurry to leave Xu Du and come here to find a solution.

Black Bear had no intention of taking advantage of the situation, and said, "Although the price of tea has increased a lot, if the price of tea increases again next year, tea seeds will definitely be hard to find. If you have enough money, you might as well buy more tea seeds, and perhaps you can breed better tea seeds. Otherwise, tea seeds will not be circulated in various places in the future, and it will be difficult to improve tea seeds."

"Yes, I dare not forget your teachings. When I return home, I will order my disciples to go to Jingnan to negotiate this matter."

Lou Gui bowed and thanked him, and the meeting ended.

Hei Xiong stood up and escorted the two men out of the side hall. He sent Lou Gui away first, and then gave Xu You repeated instructions in the corridor.

Xu You was not given any chance to meet with other colleagues in the Grand Marshal's office. After giving the Salt Commissioner a silver seal, a waist badge, and related official documents, he was sent to Hedong to set up the Salt Commissioner's office.

Afterwards, the black bear returned to the house to enjoy a family dinner to celebrate.

(End of this chapter)