"Your Highness, there are people from the wilderness who are exchanging cattle and sheep for salt, and are selling this salt to Xinzhou City..."
At the Governor's Mansion, Tuoba Kang said to Fu Xiaoguan with a serious face, "We are comparing the price of sheep with that of 500 coins per catty, but the salt they sell to Xinzhou City is sold for 700 to 800 coins per catty."
"The difference of two or three hundred coins was profited by these salt merchants."
"Our salt tax is based on a price of 500 wen, but their difference of 200 or 300 wen is not taxed. Should we issue an official document to either prohibit them from making profits in this way or to collect taxes on this difference?"
Fu Xiaoguan laughed, "Lao Kang, I suddenly thought of a tax called value-added tax..."
Tuoba Kang was delighted. "This is a good name, appropriate and easy to understand. How about we also add a value-added tax to the difference?"
Fu Xiaoguan shook his head. "Old Kang, don't mention this again. Absolutely not! But...trading sheep for salt? Could it be that someone from Green Flag State did this?"
Fu Xiaoguan had long understood the huge discrepancy, so he didn't allow wealthy merchants from the autonomous region to buy salt directly from the Muyang Salt Field. Salt from the Muyang Salt Field had to be traded in Xinzhou and Lanqi Trade City.
The only thing he allowed was that the barbarians exchanged cattle and sheep for salt.
Because he was worried that the merchants in the autonomous region would unite to monopolize the salt in the Muyang Salt Field - this salt must be sold to the Yu Dynasty or the Yi State at a fair price. As for what price the merchants in these two countries would bid for the salt, he didn't care. What he needed was for this white salt to occupy the salt markets of these two countries as quickly as possible.
Once successful, it will destroy the salt markets of the two countries and directly lead to a sharp drop in salt taxes in the two countries.
The salt tax accounts for at least 30% of the fiscal revenue of the two countries!
"Your Highness, it was done by people from Green Banner State. They are a small tribe called the Wanyan clan, and they haven't expanded much yet. Are you really not going to stop it?"
"Think about it, it takes almost a year for a sheep to grow from a lamb into a mature sheep. How many sheep can they have?"
"But once they've tasted the sweetness of it, they'll actively breed and raise more sheep. You see, they don't even need the government to push them; they'll just do it on their own initiative."
"That's called emancipating the mind. There's no profit to be made. They just need to raise enough cattle and sheep to feed themselves and exchange for salt for daily use. Who would bother to work so hard for development?"
"So, Lao Kang, not only can we not impose a value-added tax, we can't even ban it. We have to spread the word so that more herders in Green Flag State can hear about it. Within a year, Green Flag State will be overflowing with cattle and sheep!"
Can it still be done this way?
Tuoba Kang was very surprised, thinking, could this be what His Highness often refers to as misplaced thinking?
“What if merchants from the autonomous region go out and buy up all the cattle and sheep?”
Hey, this guy’s brain is getting brighter and brighter!
Fu Xiaoguan immediately looked at Tuoba Kang with admiration.
"Then let them buy. If they do, the price of cattle and sheep will inevitably rise, but we still exchange one sheep for three pounds of salt. If the price of cattle and sheep rises, won't we make a little more by selling them?"
Tuoba Kang was stunned for a while, then roughly figured it out.
Thinking back, with such a huge profit margin, how could those herders possibly sell their cattle and sheep to merchants in the autonomous prefecture?
The herdsmen are uneducated, but they are not really stupid!
…
…
Green Banner State, Wanyan Tribe.
In Wanyan Honglie's yurt, there was a huge pile of white silver on the low table, and there were also many silver bills around it!
Her cloudy old eyes had long since brightened up, and she stared at the money in amazement. Suddenly, she felt it was unreal, as if she were in a dream.
"Is this really the money earned from exchanging cattle and sheep for salt in Xinzhou City?"
Wan Yanzong swallowed his saliva and said, "Grandma, this is all true. It was Coach Peng's idea. Thanks to Coach Peng!"
Wanyan Honglie turned around and grabbed Peng Yuyan's hand, his voice trembling: "I, I don't know how to thank you, how about you give me half of the money I earned here?"
Peng Yuyan smiled, feeling extremely warm in her heart.
These herdsmen live a simple life and have very simple thoughts.
This kind of innocence is what Peng Yuyan admires very much after having seen the filthiness of the world. It is precisely because of their innocence that she decided to stay here and live on.
"Elder, I am also a member of the tribe. You are treating me as an outsider by doing this."
Peng Yuyan also shook Wanyan Honglie's hand and continued, "This is just the beginning. This business opportunity loophole will either be filled by the autonomous region or many tribes will try to get involved. So we have to take advantage of now. On the one hand, we must vigorously develop cattle and sheep breeding. On the other hand, winter is approaching. Except for the fat cattle and sheep that the tribe keeps for the winter, I suggest that we convert them all into salt and sell them in Xinzhou City."
"We need to use the money we earn to buy ewes or lambs from other tribes. I predict the price of sheep will rise sharply next year. When it does, we won't exchange them for salt, but for grain."
Wanyan Zong was bewildered when he heard this and asked, "Why don't you exchange it for food now?"
Peng Yuyan did not go to settle the details with Wanyan Zong. It was extremely unprofitable to exchange sheep for food now. It would be better to eat the sheep.
"It's not the right time. More than half of the cattle and sheep on the grassland have been wiped out by the war. If these sheep weren't already fat, I wouldn't want to exchange them for salt."
Wanyan Honglie didn't understand either, but she felt that what Peng Yuyan said made a lot of sense. She glared at Wanyan Zong and said, "For such important matters, just listen to Coach Peng. You should just do what he says..."
"Tomorrow morning, take this money and go to Xiushan Tribe to ask your uncle to buy more ewes and lambs."
Wanyan Zong nodded quickly, "Okay, we will set off early tomorrow morning."
"Remember, if your uncle asks where the silver came from, just say...just say I sold some horses for it."
"Also, we must take good care of the ewes in our tribe. Not a single one is allowed to be sold."
Wanyan Zong agreed and turned to leave the yurt. Wanyan Honglie then sat down, picked up a silver ingot and examined it carefully. He said, "Seeing so much silver, and it was during the Taihe era, I thought I would never see such a scene again in my lifetime. My grandson is very lucky. I am afraid he will witness the beginning of a prosperous era again."
As she said this, she turned to look at Peng Yuyan, "You are not an ordinary Yu person. Do you know that Ding'an Earl?"
Peng Yuyan smiled and shook her head, "I don't know him, but Yu Chao has too many stories about him."
"Oh, he must be in his forties or fifties."
"No, he's only nineteen."
Wanyan Honglie opened his mouth and asked in surprise, "So young?"
"Well, although he is young, he has done a lot for the Yu Dynasty."
"...Then why did this place become part of the Wu Dynasty?"
Peng Yuyan didn't answer, she didn't know how to answer.
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