Chapter 1005: New Year's Eve

"According to rough statistics, the trade deficit between Dasong and Goryeo is about 3 billion Songyuan, and the trade deficit with Japan is about 4.8 billion Songyuan."

Yang He was well prepared and said to Zhao Xu while holding an account book.

After a pause, he said, "This is just the trade on the books, and there are many omissions among the people."

Zhao Xu nodded gently.

According to the exchange rate between silver and Songyuan, this is equivalent to 6 million taels of silver and more than 9 million taels of silver.

If Songyuan is compared with contemporary currency, the purchasing power of one Songyuan is about the same as that of one yuan, just slightly higher.

Zhao Xu thinks this surplus is reasonable.

After all, Dasong basically controls Goryeo and Japan from top to bottom, and exports industrial products to them without any obstacles.

And because Goryeo and Japan have no industrial base, Dasong's industrial products have no rivals in the two countries, so it is reasonable to have such a large surplus.

"You should pay close attention to the business tax. Merchants must obtain business permits before they can do business. Every trade must be recorded and the business tax must be paid according to the surplus." Thinking of what Yang He said, "There are many omissions among the people", he reminded.

At present, Dasong maintains a very low agricultural tax, so the tax must be supplemented from the business.

He led the soldiers of Dasong to fight outside and conquered one market after another for the merchants.

They cannot just enjoy the dividends without taking any responsibility.

And paying taxes according to the laws of Dasong is their responsibility.

Of course, he is very clear about the nature of merchants. Their nature is to continuously expand their interests and not to take responsibility if they can.

This will also be the main contradiction between the court and private merchants in the future.

It is also the result that Dasong has to bear when it turns from an agricultural country to an industrial country and develops commerce.

For this, he must be vigilant. He must maintain the development of Dasong's commerce and not allow chaos.

This is why he let the government-run business take the lead and lead the development of commerce.

No one can guarantee that in the future, there will be an ambitious person who grew up under the instigation of the Westerners in Dasong.

He worked hard with his soldiers to fight for the country with blood and tears, and he didn't want to ruin it.

"Yes, Your Highness." Yang He replied.

Zhao Xu nodded and looked at Liu Fu again, "In order to cooperate with the development of Dasong's trade, Dasong should also establish a nationality system. People who are not Dasong nationals cannot enter the country without permission. For those who want to become citizens of Goryeo and Japan in Dasong, relevant policies and conditions must be customized."

After a pause, he continued: "Only those who have Dasong nationality can enjoy all the benefits of Dasong, including policy benefits in trade. This king will also require Goryeo, Japan, and Luzon to establish a nationality system to prevent some Dasong merchants from transferring assets to the above countries in order to evade taxes, and want to enjoy the benefits of both ends."

His idea is very simple, responsibilities and obligations are equal.

Otherwise, if everyone only wants to make profits and evade obligations, how can Dasong develop?

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

The establishment of the nationality system of each country means that they have no loopholes to exploit and must choose one of two options.

Either they can be merchants of Dasong and do business honestly and pay taxes, or they can give up Dasong nationality and no longer enjoy the dividends of Dasong's development.

Secondly, he will also establish a unified tax system in the East, and include all the countries in the East.

Merchants have to pay the same taxes no matter where they go, so they don't want to do these crooked things.

Having said this, Zhao Xu announced the adjournment of the court.

As the end of the year is approaching, he asked Liu Fu to issue a decree to allow the prefectures, counties and government offices to purchase a batch of New Year goods and distribute them to families whose children serve in the army.

This is naturally to unite people's hearts, and at the same time to create a "martial" atmosphere in Dasong.

Secondly, this is also to support some workshops with poor performance and make special purchases from them.

The third is to promote the sale of grain so that the people can exchange surplus grain for money, because the main benefit for the soldiers is grain.

After dealing with all the trivial matters before the New Year, Zhao Xu finally settled down to celebrate the New Year.

On New Year's Eve, it was the New Year's Eve fair in the East and West Markets of Yancheng.

In order to join in the fun and to understand the people's sentiments.

With the help of the members of the Fourth Academy, he, Yang Susu, Feng'er and Luan'er simply changed their appearance, changed into casual clothes and left the palace under the protection of Xu Lie and other guards.

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

The group was like a rich merchant with his wife and concubines as guards.

After leaving the palace and turning into the main street of Yanzhou, Zhao Xu was immediately shocked by the huge crowds in front of him.

The whole main street was crowded with people, shoulder to shoulder, foot to foot, very noisy and crowded.

Among the crowds were people carrying chickens, ducks, fish and meat. They had just bought New Year's goods in the East Market and were ready to go home. At this moment, they had smiles on their faces.

There were also vendors carrying candied haws and selling them. The candied haws on the tree were almost sold out, with only two or three left, and they were equally happy.

There are also naughty children wearing brand new clothes, holding colorful candies in their hands, eating them with their mouths full of saliva.

These candies are made of sucrose, not traditional maltose.

While Dasong is developing heavy industries such as steel, smelting, machinery, and electricity, he has not forgotten the light industry.

After all, light industry mainly produces daily necessities.

And the main technologies of light industry are in the Patent Department.

When the technical conditions of each light industry are met, the Patent Department will list the patents and remind merchants to buy them.

Therefore, Dasong now has a workshop specializing in the production of sucrose candies.

As merchants learn more about candy technology, they are also innovating themselves, such as adding natural food coloring to make candies more beautiful.

"Your Highness, Luan'er and I will go buy some too." Feng'er was greedy when she saw the candy in the child's hand.

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

Sometimes she has never seen some small things.

"You go." Zhao Xu smiled and followed the two slowly.

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

The grocery store has a wide variety of goods, most of which are industrial products made by the current Dasong workshop.

There is no need to mention old items such as white wine, perfume, soap, glass bottles, and pocket watches, as well as new candies, rubber bands, and rubber-soled shoes.

After buying candy, the group continued to go to the East and West Markets, but the further they went, the more crowded it was.

Yang Susu couldn't help but sigh that Yancheng is now even more noisy than Jinling.

Zhao Xu is mainly concerned about the people's sentiments.

Along the way, he saw that the worst clothes of the people were cotton clothes, and there were no linen clothes, which made him feel relieved.

He also saw that the market was prosperous and the people had more or less extra money to buy New Year's goods, which made him feel even more comfortable.

However, he knew that this was Yancheng, under the feet of the emperor, so it was naturally prosperous, but it could not represent the entire Dasong.

His goal was to make the people of the entire Dasong rich.

And not only rich, but also ten, a hundred, a thousand times higher than the living standards in the West.