Chapter 325: How to Turn Losses Into Profits

As for the consequences of Eunuch Li and Hong Siqi's warning, Xia Fan was also well aware of it.

In the final analysis, it is still a matter of "money".

Not enough residential space in the city? Just expand to the suburbs.

Food consumption is rapid? We can increase investment in beach salt fields and strive to double our harvest in the coming year.

As long as you have money on hand, these problems are not difficult to deal with.

The General Affairs Bureau invests in new projects and provides a large number of jobs, all of which require money to support, but accordingly, the General Affairs Bureau does not receive much profit. Since taking over all functions of the government office, Jin Xia's only stable income comes from commercial taxes. It's just that this amount of money is not enough compared to the expenses. Especially after opening schools and promoting primary education, the Secretariat is losing tens of thousands of taels of money every month.

From Eunuch Li's point of view, he was simply spreading his own money to the people like water. Once the money in your pocket is gone, the policies built on this system will collapse.

In his view, the most ideal situation is a balance of payments, or a financial situation in which revenue is slightly greater than expenditure.

This will ensure that Ning Wanjun's treasury will have a surplus every year and her wealth will increase.

But Xia Fan knows that this is not what a dominant government should do.

On the contrary, the Secretariat's expenditure should be greater than its income, and the expenditure should be increased every year to moderate the inflation of social wealth, so as to make the economy full of vitality.

To put it simply, it is to increase the amount of money circulating among the people.

Therefore, there is no problem with the current situation of Jinxia City. The only crux is that silver coins are physical objects, unlike banknotes, which can be printed as much as they want.

In other words, it is precisely because of the emergence of banknotes that the shackles of gold and silver and other currencies were completely liberated, allowing social development to take off rapidly.

Xia Fan also wanted to do this, but unfortunately Jinxia City still lacked sufficient power, and printing money directly would easily lead to a series of problems.

The most important thing is the product.

Apart from salt and houses, Jinxia has no necessities for daily life. This leaves the government with no channels other than government decrees to encourage residents to exchange their silver taels into banknotes, or conversely prevent them from exchanging banknotes for silver taels.

Out of concerns about new things, people will definitely find ways to exchange money back after receiving the banknotes as salary. If the supporting banks cannot exchange enough cash, the credit of the banknotes, which is not much, will probably go bankrupt immediately.

Of course, he can also increase the selling price of salt and houses and stipulate that transactions must be done with paper currency. This indeed allows people to hold a certain amount of banknotes for a long time, but the high prices of salt and houses will greatly reduce the willingness of immigrants to move in. The result is to put the cart before the horse.

After a large-scale harvest occurs in the salt fields, using grain as an intermediate equivalent may allow us to think about printing money, but now it will definitely do more harm than good.

Jinxia needs to use more direct means to solve this shortfall.

After dinner, Xia Fan directly asked the princess to summon his men and held a small meeting in the meeting room.

"Master Xia, I haven't seen you for a month, and you are stronger than before." Eunuch Li said with a smile, "I heard that you want to solve the problem of empty internal treasury this time?"

Probably because the recent changes in Jinxia City have been rapid and upward, and even the most senior veteran in the princess's team has become respectful.

"Indeed." Xia Fan said calmly, "If you don't have money, you will have less confidence to do things, right?"

"You're right." His brows almost knitted together with a smile. After all, he was the one who proposed this matter. If he could avoid a financial crisis, it would be considered a credit to the princess. "Which project needs to be stopped or a new tax added?"

"None of them." Xia Fan shook his head, "The projects currently promoted by the Secretariat must not only not be stopped, but must also be promoted more vigorously. It is easier to increase taxes than to reduce them, and we cannot increase them hastily just because of temporary difficulties."

Eunuch Li was stunned, "Then how can the inner treasury reduce its deficit? Could it be that... you are waiting for the tribute from the Evil Horse Kingdom?"

"The money is certainly considerable, but we don't know when the ships from across the sea will arrive." Staff officer He Guicai expressed concern.

"Of course I won't place my hopes on uncertain things," Xia Fan spread out the map of Shenzhou in front of everyone, "The silver balance should be resolved from within Shenzhou."

Army commander Xu Sanchong's eyes lit up, "You mean... robbery?"

"——It is to take the power back to Jinxia." Xia Fan corrected, "It is foreseeable that the Privy Council will take action against Jinxia in the coming year. Our original plan was to gradually attack Shenzhou, but the matter has come to this, hiding There is not much need. Sending troops to capture surrounding cities and towns and replace these local governments is the task to be completed this winter! "

Ning Wanjun stood up suddenly, "What a good idea!" Her eyes were full of excitement, "These government officials must have collected a lot of money. If they can rob them all - gathered together, it will be equivalent to another Wang family. accumulation.”

For Shenzhou locals, the snow season will only cause difficulties for the army in traveling and supplying, but it will not make it impossible to pass. And the only garrison in Shenzhou is far to the west. Jinxia City is undoubtedly the overlord of the entire southeast region.

"If you include the settlement of old accounts, there are several Wang families." Xia Fan said with a smile, especially local squires and big landowners, there are absolutely very few who have not committed any illegal or disciplinary matters. After taking over the government, you can probably find out a lot of cases by searching according to the government documents and deeds. "Of course the purpose of this is not just to enrich the pockets."

He held out three fingers.

"The air rifles have been assembled in the troops, and five or six machine beasts have been built. This operation can be used as a practical exercise, which will not only familiarize the troops with the use of these new equipment, but also an opportunity to test their actual effects."

In a sense, this is the foot-tank synergy with Jinxia's characteristics. The mechanical beasts are far less flexible than horses, but their durability and load capacity are not comparable to horses. Xia Fan didn't know how useful this kind of war equipment could be in actual combat, so practicing against weak enemies in advance was definitely a necessary process.

"Secondly, the officials previously prepared for these towns can be seamlessly integrated into the new plan. Therefore, after the government is abolished, these towns will not lose order. On the contrary, they can be immediately used by Jinxia to supplement our single resource. and shortcomings.”

"Finally, I hope that when the Privy Council takes targeted action, the war front will not start near Jinxia City." Xia Fan solemnly said, "A last-ditch battle certainly shows determination, but it is also another sign of the end of the road. If we want to fight with the Privy Council To fight, we should at least take the entire Shenzhou into our hands this winter and compete with them within the boundaries of Shenzhou."