Chapter 45
Merchant.
These two words could be said to be at the bottom of Great Qin's contempt chain.
Deceitful, glib, sly…
In the eyes of Great Qin's citizens and local officials, the Great Qin Empire was extremely powerful.
Even if he could earn a lot of money from this, it was still the most undignified profession.
In fact, Great Qin's laws even targeted merchants.
Higher taxes.
No matter how rich they were, they could not wear silk clothes and shoes. They could only dress like commoners.
Once the merchants failed and went bankrupt, they would be captured and forced to serve.
It could be said that doing business in Great Qin was like going through hell.
"In my opinion, Great Qin's laws are targeting merchants everywhere. This was not a big mistake in the past.”
"However…now that Great Qin has been unified, there are many things to do, and the treasury is empty. This is the time for merchants to contribute to Great Qin's rise, and it is also the time when Great Qin needs these merchants the most!”
Meng Yi and Wang Ben looked at each other after hearing Zhao Tuo's words.
Ying Zheng even waved his hand and said with a frown,""Why does our Great Qin need those merchants?”
"As long as we have sufficient rations, what else do we lack? Our Great Qin has millions of soldiers, and we can take anything from our neighboring countries!”
“……”
Zhao Tuo rubbed the space between his eyebrows helplessly.
As expected, Ying Zheng was still the same Ying Zheng.
They immediately started fighting.
Back then, the Qin country was in such a situation.
Under Shang Yang's reform, everyone worked in agriculture and had abundant food and grass.
The rest depended on one word: rob.
In the end, he took over the entire land of China.
It could not be denied that Great Qin's army's current fighting power was definitely the strongest in this era.
But humans were made of flesh and blood, not machines. They kept fighting like this without resting.
No matter how strong a country was, it would be dragged down one day.
Great Qin was clearly not far from that day.
"Father, apart from war, we have to have other ways to get rich, right?”
"Real wealth isn't just for the treasury, but also for the people.”
Zhao Tuo's words made Ying Zheng fall into deep thought.
"Yes, my son is right, but what does this have to do with Great Qin's merchants? Could it be that they would give Great Qin and the people money for no reason?”
Zhao Tuo sighed in his heart and asked,""Imperial Father, everyone, do you know where most of Great Qin's wealth is?”
"The answer is in the warehouses of the nobles and merchants!”
Meng Yi and Wang Ben looked at each other and nodded.
Indeed.
When the First Emperor was in power, he was generous with his rewards.
Merchants who could gain a foothold in Great Qin were all old and powerful families.
All of them were really rich.
"There's a saying: If money doesn't circulate, how can the economy grow?”
"Imperial Father, everyone, why don't you tell me why you don't spend the money in your hands? Instead, it was placed in the warehouse to scatter dust?"
Ying Zheng frowned, but did not say anything.
He did not know about this.
After all, he didn't need to spend money to get what he wanted.
Everyone hesitated for a long time. In the end, Meng Yi stood up and said,"Your Majesty, I think…it's because I can't spend the money.”
"How can we not spend the money?" Ying Zheng looked at Meng Yi with a strange expression.
This time, it was Wang Ben.
"That's right, High Emperor. Lord Meng is right. This money isn't easy to spend.”
"The main thing is that there are only so many things sold in this market. It won't cost much to buy all of them.”
Zhao Tuo smiled and nodded.
"That's right. There are few types of goods. The rich can't spend their money. If money doesn't circulate, there won't be any taxes. Naturally, the income of the national treasury won't be much.”
Ying Zheng's eyes lit up.
His mind had been focused on the war before, so he had not paid much attention to the financial aspect.
He did not expect that there were so many twists and turns.
Zhao Tuo took a sip of tea and continued to explain,"With more merchants, Great Qin's market economy will become more active.”
" For their own interests, merchants will take the initiative to increase the variety and quantity of goods, and in the process, there will be a 'employment' relationship. Coupled with the purchase of a large number of original products, the people will also become the main beneficiary group.”
" Most importantly, there will be multiple tax relationships…"
"In the end, the commoners will earn money, and the rich will be able to enjoy it. Great Qin will also be able to collect taxes, so why not?”
Zhao Tuo's words were like a clap of thunder that resounded in everyone's hearts.
Both Ying Zheng and Meng Yi's eyes lit up at this moment.
"Your Majesty is right! I…never thought that there would be such a complicated relationship!”
"Tuo 'er's foresight really surprised me, but…"
Ying Zheng stroked his beard and said in a deep voice,""These merchants can indeed bring Great Qin many benefits, but we can't let our guard down!”
"Father is right."
Zhao Tuo said in a deep voice," It's fine if the merchants are big and keep to their duties. If they have any ill intentions, they might cause a huge impact on our Great Qin's rule!”
"Since Tuo 'er is clear about this, does he have a way to deal with it?”
Zhao Tuo grinned.
"Of course. It's actually easy to solve this problem.”
"Oh?"
"That's the nationalization of big merchants!"
"This…is also the main reason why I chose Ba clan!”
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