Chapter 284 Currency and Taxation

With Ouyang Shuo's approval, Meng Zhida began to explain his currency plan.

The most important thing is to set up a banknote printing bureau under the headquarters of the Four Seas Bank, which is responsible for printing banknotes.

The banknotes planned to be issued by the Four Seas Bank include four denominations of 10 gold coins, 20 gold coins, 50 gold coins and 100 gold coins. There are neither copper coins nor silver coins, nor denominations below 10 gold coins.

According to Meng Zhida's vision, paper currency is positioned as a high-end currency, mainly used for bulk commodity transactions. As for the daily consumption of ordinary people, copper coins, silver coins and gold coins are still the main coins.

What Ouyang Shuo needed to do was to purchase the "Papermaking Technology Manual", "Printing Technology Manual", architectural drawings of the papermaking workshop and architectural drawings of the printing workshop.

It happened that Yingyou was going to discuss with Cui's Chamber of Commerce about setting up a branch in Shanhai County, so Ouyang Shuo simply entrusted Yingyou to handle the procurement matters. At the same time, I told Yingyou that it would be best to recruit a group of skilled craftsmen in Dali through the Cui Chamber of Commerce.

Taking this opportunity, Yingyou put forward relevant reform opinions on the territory's finance and taxation, saying: "As the territory's economy has successfully passed the incubation period and started to prosper, the tax rate set during the privatization period is already somewhat outdated. The Finance Department believes that the adjustment The time is ripe for higher tax rates."

Ouyang Shuo was silent. At the beginning, he formulated a tax rate of 30% to 1. The purpose was to encourage the development of handicrafts and commerce, and to successfully incubate a private economy.

Facts have proved that Ouyang Shuo's original decision was correct. With the help of low tax rates and low-interest loans from the Universal Bank, the private economy in Shanhai County has flourished, and the tax revenue of the territory has continued to increase.

Shiyi Time Shift, as Yingyou said, since the original intention has been achieved, it is imperative to adjust the tax rate to a normal level. Otherwise, the territory's economy will be prosperous like never before, but the territory's finances will not benefit from it. The increase in taxes and fiscal revenue in the territory is not for the purpose of collecting money, but for the purpose of better investing fiscal revenue in public services and infrastructure construction.

"What level does the Finance Department think is appropriate to adjust the tax rate?" Ouyang Shuo asked.

"Twenty taxes and one."

"Twenty tax one? Is this the final opinion of the Finance Department?"

"No, in fact, the most suitable tax rate should be one tax per fifteen, but..." Yingyou hesitated.

"Just what?"

"The Ministry of Finance is worried that the tax rate will be adjusted too much at once, which will easily cause dissatisfaction among the people."

Ouyang Shuo shook his head and said, "The tax rate is a major political policy of the territory. It cannot be changed overnight, and its stability must be maintained. Since it needs to be adjusted, it must be adjusted in one step. If there is some pressure, what should be overcome must be overcome."

"Understood." With Ouyang Shuo expressing his support, Yingyou will be more confident in implementing it, and then said: "In addition to taxes, there is also the issue of paying the fiscal revenue of the subordinate territories. The opinion of the Finance Department is that the tax revenue of the subsidiary territories has to be handed over to seven It will go to the Hou Mansion, and then the Hou Mansion will make unified arrangements."

Ouyang Shuo frowned, financial power is not an independent entity, it must be unified with administrative power.

"In this way, the Finance Department will consult with the economic advisor again, and formulate a detailed fiscal and taxation reform plan. After the territory is promoted, we will discuss the implementation." Ouyang Shuo shelved the proposal of the Finance Department.

"Okay!" Yingyou said a little discouraged.

*************

In the next few days, Shanhai County became completely busy around the promotion task.

The first to make progress is Mission 2 [Settling the Chamber of Commerce]. After negotiation between Shanhai County and Cui's Chamber of Commerce, it was agreed that Cui's Chamber of Commerce would set up a branch in Shanhai County to purchase goods from Shanhai County, seafood and salt from Beihai County, tea and medicinal materials from Yushui County, fur from Youyi County, Yongye Timber from the county, mountain products from Gushan County, etc., are all within the scope of the Cui Chamber of Commerce's purchases.

At the same time, the Cui Chamber of Commerce also opened shops in Shanhai County, selling scarce commodities in Shanhai County, such as stationery, porcelain, spices, jade ornaments, embroidery and so on.

The establishment of the Chamber of Commerce not only promotes the export of the territory's commodities, but also enriches the commodity sources of the territory, further improves the commodity structure of the territory, and stimulates the economy of the territory. It can be said to kill two birds with one stone.

In addition, Cui's Bank was also introduced to Shanhai County to compete with the Four Seas Bank. If it is said that most of the loans of the Four Seas Bank are supportive, then the Cui's Bank is a pure investment.

Whether it is the pottery factory outside the city, Lu Guangzhi's wooden cow and horse processing workshop, or even the Xila Lake pearl breeding base in Tianfeng County, they have all become the investment objects of Cui's Bank.

These invested workshops will usher in another development opportunity.

Ouyang Shuo's attitude towards these foreign investments is the same, and he will not refuse any comers. Of course, Sanhua winery, mulberry gardens, tea gardens and other industries controlled by the Industry Division of the Ministry of Finance are listed as non-investable objects.

In the next step, Ouyang Shuo plans to decentralize the logging farms and quarries controlled by the Material Reserve Department and include them in the scope of private investment. The Material Reserve Department will only retain strategic resources such as copper, iron ore, and gold mines.

All of this is to further revitalize the territorial economy.

Cui's Chamber of Commerce brought not only commodities and funds, but also a large number of craftsmen and craftsmen. In the commercial street of the North District, Cui's Chamber of Commerce built a magnificent restaurant - Shanhaiyuan.

Shanhaiyuan integrates catering, accommodation, leisure and entertainment. More than a dozen chefs bring delicacies from all over the world; the hired troupe has performances every day, including acrobatics, face changing, singing and dancing.

No wonder Qing'er, one of the shareholders of Sangu Restaurant, a small money fan, shouted: Wolf is coming! ! !

For such a competition, Ouyang Shuo naturally would not help each other. Whether Sangu Restaurant can survive in front of such a strong competitor as Shanhaiyuan depends on the ability of the shopkeeper Gu Sanniang.

The presence of the chamber of commerce has injected fresh water into the economy of Shanhai County, and Ouyang Shuo is naturally happy to see the success.

Task 3 [Cultural Event], the Administrative Office also has a clue.

Fan Zhongyan and Xu Shuda, director of culture and education, proposed to hold a grand Mazu temple fair. During the Lantern Festival, Ouyang Shuo once had the idea of ​​holding a temple fair, but due to limited conditions, he had to change it to the Lantern Festival.

The time has changed, and the present Shanhai County is naturally not comparable to the original Shanhai Town. It already has the conditions to hold a grand event. In addition, the Cui Chamber of Commerce has settled in, which will make up for the shortcomings of Shanhai County.

It is clearly required in the task that the grand event held must have a certain influence.

Since it is necessary to have influence, the people who come to participate in the Mazu Temple Fair cannot be limited to the citizens of Shanhai County, and people from outside must participate.

The first thing Ouyang Shuo thought of was the allies of the Shanhai League. But after thinking about it, I felt wrong again. One is that they are all players, and the other is that the base is too small to be called influential.

In the end, Xu Shuda had a solution. He proposed to spread the story of the appearance of the statue of Mazu Temple in Shanhai County in Quanzhou, so as to attract gentry, businessmen and ordinary people in Quanzhou to Shanhai County to participate in the Mazu Temple Fair.

Ouyang Shuo slapped his head, annoyed at his stupidity.

In reality, Fujian is the birthplace of Mazu culture. If the aborigines in Quanzhou knew that the statue of Mazu appeared in Shanhai County, they would not be excited and fanatical, and would come here desperately to pay homage.

Just do what you said, Ouyang Shuo immediately notified the Shanhai County Office in Quanzhou to handle the matter.

In order to achieve a better publicity effect, Xu Shuda also polished up the deeds of the Mazu Temple, wrote an eloquent and colorful article, and asked the office to post it in front of the resident.

Mazu occupies a very important position in the hearts of Fujian people. As soon as the news came out, it immediately triggered a frenzy. At first, they didn't believe it, but when someone teleported to Shanhai County, after a field visit, they saw the faint divine light emanating from the statue of Mazu, and they all worshiped it.

At this point, the news of Mazu's miraculous appearance in Shanhai County spread in Quanzhou at once. There was an endless stream of gentry, businessmen and common people traveling between Shanhai County and Quanzhou.

Some believers with firm beliefs immediately moved their families to Shanhai County to settle down.

The development of the matter was beyond Ouyang Shuo's expectation. In order to resettle these believers, Ouyang Shuo had to move part of the population of Shanhai County to Yongye County and Guangshui County to free up the population quota.

Some impatient believers chose to settle in Yushui County, Youyi County, and Beihai County without waiting for Shanhai County to free up its population. This not only solved the problem of livelihood, but also paid homage to the statue of Mazu nearby.

Among them, Beihai County has absorbed the most believers. Because a large part of these believers are fishermen, they are not overjoyed to learn that Beihai County is such a place.

Not to mention the issue of belief, because of the large number of fishermen in the waters of Quanzhou, coupled with overfishing, the pressure of competition among fishermen is high, which can't compare with the virgin land that has not been developed like Beihai Bay.

Every day since then, thousands of aborigines have chosen to settle in Shanhai County. Shanhai County simply cannot afford such a huge transmission fee, so the aborigines can only pay for it themselves. Even so, it cannot stop the determination and enthusiasm of the aborigines to believe in Mazu.

Later, the entire fishing village moved to Beihai County as a whole.

Gu Xiuwen, the magistrate of Beihai County, was naturally ecstatic. He swept away the haze of being overtaken by Yushui County before, and mobilized all the departments and offices of Beihai County to make sure that the aborigines who moved in were settled properly.

According to subsequent statistics, the number of Quanzhou aborigines who migrated to Beihai County alone reached more than 10,000. These aborigines are not as penniless as the refugees, they all have a lot of money and take care of their families.

Beihai County ushered in another development opportunity.

In addition to Beihai County, 5,000 to 6,000 immigrants moved in from Youyi County and Yushui County. As for Shanhai County, it is even more dominant, and the number of immigrants has directly exceeded 20,000, and it is still growing.

At the same time, it meant that more than 20,000 people were resettled into Yongye and Guangshui counties. The population of the two counties broke through the 20,000 mark one after another, and they were promoted to second-tier counties.

The 40,000 immigrants are a huge number for Shanhai County, but for Quanzhou, they are just a drop in the bucket.