After confirming the Ministry of Water Resources, Li Xin looked at Yu Maocai and Liu Jingxuan and asked, "Grand Secretary Yu, Grand Secretary Liu, time flies, and another year is almost over. How is the situation in the court this year?"
"His Majesty,"
Yu Maocai, as the Grand Secretary, spoke first, saying, "This year's situation is much better than last year's. One reason for this is that the peaceful and prosperous years of the past few years have allowed the people to accumulate a lot of wealth. After the peak of housing construction, the people have more money to buy goods. As a result, the court's tax revenue has increased significantly. Now, there is still some time before the end of the year, but tax revenue has already exceeded 20% of last year's total, and it is expected that by the end of the year, tax revenue will exceed 40% or 50% of last year's total!"
"So many?"
Li Xin was also somewhat surprised and asked, "Is the tax revenue situation this year so good?"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Yu Maocai nodded and continued, "So far this year, the total tax revenue of the imperial court has reached nearly 60 million strings of cash, not including the profits from Qingyu Trading Company and other enterprises in which the imperial court holds shares. Therefore, by the end of the year, the total tax revenue will be even higher, expected to reach nearly 90 million strings of cash. This is a significant increase compared to previous years!"
Nearly 90 million strings of cash!
Li Xin was also somewhat surprised when he heard this number.
It should be noted that the imperial court's revenue was only over 50 million strings of cash the year before last, but it reached 60 to 70 million strings of cash last year!
This year's increase is even more dramatic, which is truly astonishing!
"His Majesty,"
Yu Maocai explained, "This year, the largest contributors to the imperial court's revenue are undoubtedly industrial and commercial taxes and customs duties, which account for almost 70% of the total revenue!"
"The reason for this is nothing more than that people's lives are more prosperous, and they have enough money to buy goods. Moreover, with the booming development of industries such as machine weaving, machine grinding, and machine printing, there are more and more goods available for purchase on the market. Even products such as perfumes, soaps, distilled liquors, and coal stoves that we researched in Dongning are now selling well and have even penetrated into rural areas."
"In the past two years, newly emerging products such as bicycles, canned goods, matches, salt, instant noodles, and clothing have also seen very high sales volumes. Various businesses and manufacturing bureaus have made substantial profits, and naturally, their tax payments have also been very high!"
"Moreover, the goods of our Great Gan Kingdom are of high quality and low price, and are exported overseas. According to the data obtained from the survey, our Great Gan Kingdom's goods have already occupied an absolute dominant position in most countries in the entire Southeast Asia and Western regions. In particular, our high-quality and low-priced cotton cloth, silk, flour, salt and other products have a far-reaching influence. These products, which are in an absolute monopoly position, have very high profits, so customs duties are increasing day by day!"
"In addition to new products, the export share of products that our Great Gan Kingdom usually exports, such as silk, tea, and porcelain, has also increased significantly. The silk industry has not seen a decrease in sales due to the popularity of cotton cloth. On the contrary, as the influence of Great Gan Kingdom has gradually increased, a silk craze has formed in the upper classes of many regions. The advantages of its monopoly position have also brought substantial profits."
"In addition, the shipbuilding and steel manufacturing industries of our Great Gan Kingdom have gradually begun to be sold to other countries. As the war with Persia has reached its climax, the weapons of our Great Gan Kingdom have caused a great sensation in many countries in the West and even the far west. There are even many regions that have sold their pots and pans to come to our Great Gan Kingdom to buy new weapons."
"The arms trade market of our Great Gan Kingdom is currently booming, and the profits are very substantial. Technologies such as flintlock muskets, thunderclaps, and old-fashioned cannons, as well as the production lines of the various ordnance bureaus, have all been taken over by the imperial court and relocated to areas such as Lingnan City and Songjiang City to establish factories specifically for overseas trade. These weapons are exported to other countries, generating very high profits! This is also a major source of tax revenue for the imperial court!"
Hearing Yu Maocai's words, Li Xin nodded slightly.
He knew that it was precisely because of these factors that the country's fiscal revenue was soaring!
As for the arms trade, Li Xin had no worries whatsoever.
After all, the weapons and equipment currently used by the large army are the standard equipment from the first year of the Yan Ning era.
Yan Ning Type 1 breech-loading rifle!
Yanning Type 1 machine gun!
The first-year breech-loading cannon of the Yanning era!
Hand grenade!
Steamship!
In any of these ways, they are far superior to flintlock muskets, thunderclaps, and muzzle-loading cannons!
Moreover, in terms of weaponry, the Great Gan Kingdom has always maintained an advantage of being one generation ahead, or even several generations ahead.
Li Xin also did not believe that products such as flintlock muskets and thunderclaps would cause much harm to Daqian after being sold to other countries.
After all, Li Xin still possesses intelligent technology!
Currently, the Ordnance Institute of the Da Gan National Academy of Sciences, together with ordnance manufacturing bureaus in various regions, is also further researching new weapons and equipment to improve the performance of the current Yan Ning Year 1 standard equipment!
Moreover, with the tremendous development of steel in the Great Gan Kingdom, the performance of weapons such as artillery has become even more advanced!
Furthermore, with the successful research and development of mercury fulminate and smokeless gunpowder, the next generation of standard equipment for the Great Power is expected to be finalized soon!
Therefore, Li Xin had no worries about the arms trade.
In the fifth year of the Yanning era, the imperial court will have an income of 90 million strings of cash.
Li Xin knew that while his income was substantial, his expenses were even greater!
After all, nowadays, the construction of cement roads, railways, telegraph lines, water conservancy facilities, arms manufacturing, large-scale military operations, and reclamation troops within the Great Gan Kingdom all require a lot of money!
An additional portion must be set aside to deal with possible emergencies, as well as to cover the salaries of officials and military pay, resulting in substantial expenditures!
In addition, the construction of industrial zones in various regions requires a large amount of start-up capital.
With increased income, expenses have also increased significantly!
Fortunately, land tax can still be collected next year.
Turning to look at Liu Jingxuan, Li Xin asked, "Grand Secretary Liu, how is the land tax matter progressing?"
"Reply to Your Majesty,"
Liu Jingxuan replied, "After a year of publicity, the land tax issue has been effectively communicated throughout the region. The preliminary registration work has been completed. In particular, the registration of each household's land area and the amount of tax paid has been basically finished. After revisions next autumn, the tax can be officially collected according to the registers. The land tax is expected to be the highest next year, reaching forty to fifty million strings of cash."
"so much?"
Li Xin gasped, somewhat surprised.
"His Majesty,"
Liu Jingxuan explained, "This is a normal figure. After all, according to the latest statistics on the total amount of farmland this year, our Great Gan Kingdom has 900 million mu of farmland, and many places are still continuously reclaiming fertile land. It is expected that the amount of farmland will be even greater in a few years!"
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