Tibet

After visiting a few more shops, they were all similar. Li Ye was no longer interested, so he immediately left the shopping area and went to the warehouse group.

There are about seventy warehouses in the warehouse group, large and small, but the warehouses are owned by the government and are basically leased. The government collects rent on time, which is a good source of income.

How much rent can these warehouses collect per month? Li Ye asked.

About 350 guan. After deducting various expenses, the net income is about 300 guan. Each county and state will get half to subsidize government expenses.

This is not a big problem. It has always been a common practice. The imperial court only pays for the salaries of high-level officials and covers some ordinary daily expenses. However, the salaries, subsidies, travel, etc. of nearly a hundred civil servants and government officials in county and state offices are all subject to the government. To bear.

The main source of income for the government is rent, house rent and land rent. In remote and poor counties, land cannot be rented at high prices, the income is meager and dismal, and there are not many people in the county government.

But in Xiongxian and Chixian counties in Guanzhong, land is very expensive, the county government has rich income, and civil servants and government officials are well paid and have high benefits, so the county government will be relatively strong.

Hanyang County has a superior geographical location, developed commerce, and the government's rental income is huge. Even the state government wants a share of the pie.

Moreover, the rental income of the Hanyang County government goes far beyond dock warehouses, as well as official fields and official rental houses. Taken together, the monthly income exceeds a thousand guan.

The average county government revenue is only one to two hundred guan, and the better ones are two to three hundred guan, but Hanyang County, with a population of only 70,000 to 80,000 guan, has over a thousand guan of extra income every month. How is it used? Li Ye had some doubts in his heart.

However, Hanyang County had just come under his own jurisdiction, so he couldn't ask too many questions for the time being.

Li Ye slipped and came to the shipbuilding factory again. Hanyang's shipbuilding industry has always been relatively developed. It is one of the two major shipbuilding bases on the Yangtze River, the other is Jiangyang County in Yangzhou.

Hanyang's shipbuilding yards are also located on the edge of the Yangtze River. There are more than a dozen large and small. Except for the government-run Hanyang Shipbuilding Factory, the other dozen or so are privately owned.

It's rare that the government-run workshop is still in operation. Hundreds of craftsmen are busy building five large ships. Each large ship seems to be much larger than the three thousand stone building ships he rides on. Two of them have been 90% completed. .

Li Ye looked up at the two large ships and was very shocked. This was actually a five thousand stone ship, as were the other three ships. He quickly turned back and asked, Who are these ships built for?

The chief steward of the shipyard said quickly: Reporting to Your Highness, these five ships are all built for King Yong.

Li Ye frowned and asked, Has he paid?

The chief steward shook his head, The ship's materials were prepared two years ago. The order was placed by the Yangtze River Navy. Half of the ship's materials were paid by the Yangtze River Navy's official office. The other half of the materials and craftsmen's wages were advanced by our shipbuilding workshop. , If King Yong wants to take the ship, he must return the labor fee and half of the material money to us before he can take it away.

Then how much did King Yong pay? Li Ye asked again.

So far, he has not paid a penny. He came here for inspection three months ago and took possession of five large ships at a glance. I also expect him to give us the money we advanced for materials and labor. , otherwise we won’t be able to start work.”

Li Ye said happily: Now Mianzhou and Hanyang County belong to the Shannan East Road, and the shipbuilding workshop also belongs to the Shannan East Road. Calculate how much it will cost, and make an order to Liu Yuanshi, and I will allocate it to you immediately. The five warships are officially owned by the Jianghan Army.

The chief steward didn't care who owned the warship. They all belonged to the Tang Army anyway. He only cared about when the materials and wages he had paid in advance could be recovered.

If His Highness can pay as soon as possible, I will guarantee that these two ships will be completed within ten days.

Li Ye looked at Liu Yan, who smiled slightly and said, We can settle the wages and materials the day after tomorrow at the latest.

The chief steward was overjoyed and said, Then we can continue to prepare materials.

Can you build a thousand-stone ship? Li Ye asked again.

The chief steward hesitated and said: We can build a five-thousand-stone ship, and of course we can also build a ten-thousand-stone ship. But a ten-thousand-stone ship is very expensive and takes a long time to build. It costs at least thirty thousand guan to build one, which takes about two years, and Ship materials are hard to find, currently we only have five thousand stone keels, but there are no keels for ten thousand stone ships, but there are quite a few in the Yangzhou warehouse.

Thirty thousand strings!

Li Ye was shocked, Is it so expensive?

The chief steward gave a wry smile and said: Your Highness, the keel of a ten-thousand-stone ship costs five thousand guan, but the labor is even more expensive. It takes hundreds of shipwrights two years to build it. The big craftsman's wage is ten guan per month, and the small craftsman's wages are ten thousand guan per month. The salary is five guan per month, and the headcount ratio is 37%. Let’s consider it as seven guan per person! One hundred people are worth 700 guan per month. In two years, the wages alone will be 17,000 or 8,000 guan.

In addition, there are five thousand keel bones and other wood. If you want to equip a racket pole, it will be particularly troublesome to make. It will take three years just to repeatedly immerse it in oil and dry it in the sun. One rod costs three thousand guan. Your Highness understands why. I want 30,000 yuan!

At this time, Liu Yan coughed slightly, and Li Ye understood that he had something to say to him, so he nodded, Okay! Let me think about it.

There is no need to look at the civilian shipyard Li Ye. They cannot build military ships, they can only build ordinary civilian passenger ships and cargo ships.

Looking for an opportunity, Li Ye asked: What did Liu Shijun want to remind me just now?

Liu Yan said slowly: I am here to persuade His Highness to stop building military ships and just build civilian ships.

Why?

Your Highness, it will take at least ten years and millions of dollars to build a navy. For us, we don't have that much time, and we can't afford such a high price. Your Highness, it is unrealistic to build a thousand-stone warship. But we can use other methods.

Li Ye was silent. He understood what Liu Yan meant. Ten years was indeed too long, and the expenditure of millions of dollars was unbearable.

Did the other methods Liu Shijun mentioned refer to King Yong's fleet?

Liu Yan smiled slightly and said: King Yong's fleet was not built by King Yong. It is also the Yangtze River Navy of the Tang Dynasty. We can plan carefully and bring this navy over. King Yong can get the ships of the Tang Dynasty. fleet, why can’t we? We can get a huge fleet without spending a penny, why not?”

Li Ye said happily: Let's go to Jiangxia tomorrow to have a look. Maybe we can learn something about the Yongwang Navy!

In the afternoon, Li Ye met with the governor Li Xun in the state government office and listened to his report, while Liu Yan sat aside.

Your Highness, I have been in office for about half a month. I first spent ten days visiting Hanchuan County and Hanyang County. The remaining time was mainly used to understand the details of all aspects of Mianzhou. Mianzhou is a small state. The water network is densely covered, and the population is about 170,000, most of which are in Hanyang. Farmers are either farming, fishing, or engaged in shipbuilding, commerce, shipping, or dock handling, which are just these industries.

Li Ye smiled and asked: Actually, you have just taken office. I don't want to ask any more questions. I just want to ask two things. The rental income and expenses of the Hanyang government. Secondly, is there any movement in Yuezhou?

Li Xun pondered for a while and said: I have done a special investigation on the rental income and expenditure of Hanyang. I have a relatively good understanding of the situation. The net rental income of Hanyang County is about 1,200 yuan per month, and the division between the prefecture and county government is 50-50. , the prefecture government and the county government each receive 600 guan per month, and then the state government has to subsidize 200 guan to Hanchuan County. Hanchuan County is an agricultural county, and the monthly rental income is only more than 100 guan, so the state government itself pays back 200 guan every month. There are four hundred guan. There are no government officials in the state government. Two hundred guan per month is enough for civil servants’ salaries and miscellaneous expenses. The other two hundred guan are used to subsidize state schools, so there is basically nothing left every month.”

Where is Hanyang County?

Li Ye asked: Have you ever understood how they use it?

I have learned from my humble position that their 600 guan is also divided into two. The 300 guan is the salary of the county clerk and yamen servants and some miscellaneous expenses, such as night watch subsidy, travel allowance, etc., and the other 300 guan is divided into two parts. One hundred guan will be used to subsidize the county school, one hundred guan will be used to subsidize the orphans in the welfare home, and one hundred guan will be used to subsidize the orphaned elderly. Each person will receive a monthly subsidy of 300 cash to ensure that every elderly and orphan has food and clothing. Clothing.”

Li Ye was stunned for a moment, and he was really moved, and asked: Is this the tradition of their county?

Exactly, it started more than twenty years ago.

Li Ye nodded secretly. It was not easy to be able to help orphans and elderly people for more than 20 years. The officials of Hanyang County really left a deep impression on him.