Regarding commerce, Li Jia actually reduced and exempted many heavy taxes, made money and made money, etc., and also eliminated many checkpoints. The number of checkpoints in the country was reduced from more than 100 to a dozen, which greatly reduced the burden of trade volume.

In addition, in order to support the development of agriculture and reduce the burden on farmers, tax exemptions are provided for farm tools, cattle, charcoal, etc.; some specialties of farmers, such as vegetables, eggplants, etc., are also exempted from tax.

The Northern Song Dynasty was different. It completely inherited all kinds of complicated taxes from the Five Dynasties period. There were more than 2,000 tax cards in the country. It can be said that basically every city you passed would be taxed. It was similar to the late Qing Dynasty.

The price difference is almost the same, but the reputation is good.

All aquatic products, grains, bamboo, wood, books, paper, and lacquers are taxed, and even a few pounds of rice, a few pieces of wood, a few vegetables and eggplants are also taxed. It is more common to collect taxes outside of the tax amount. As a result, the tax field is known as a "big and small law field". In addition, the tax is not paid.

There are countless miscellaneous taxes.

If you were doing business in the Northern Song Dynasty, if you had no background, you would be eaten up by the officials.

Generally speaking, Lingnan basically only collects three types of taxes.

One is seat tax, which means that for those doing business locally, it is basically between 3% and 5%. It is also called city tax. As the name suggests, it is for those who buy and sell in the market.

One is tariff, also called toll, which is the toll fee for goods passing through checkpoints. It is usually about 2%. If there are not many checkpoints, the burden will not be heavy.

The last one is the external tax of the Shipping Department. Since this is a hugely profitable industry, it basically starts at 10% and can reach up to 80%, which is still very profitable.

As for tea, salt, wine, vinegar and minerals, they are basically monopolies and monopolies. Although there are many disadvantages, Li Jia does not dare to act rashly and there is no reform. After all, this is a big source of wealth. If something goes wrong, he will suffer a big loss.

There are not many restrictions on foreign trade goods. Even salt, wine, etc. can be exported abroad, as long as you pay taxes.

For example, if you go to a government-run salt shop in Guangzhou and buy a hundred kilograms of salt, it doesn't matter what it is used for. It can be exported, used for your own use, or even sold to remote mountain villages to make a profit on the price.

Of course, there are also private salt companies. Those salt farms basically sold the salt at very low prices. The court sold the salt at a high price. Naturally, some people felt uncomfortable, so they asked salt households to make more salt and then sell it privately.

This is where most of the private salt comes from.

Cui Chi exploited a loophole this time. Although the imperial court regained Hunan, the imperial government's official monopoly has not yet arrived, so he can still sell fine salt and earn the difference. It will take a few more months, but there is no such advantage.

Opportunity.

He carried a bag of fine salt, weighing about half a kilogram, in his arms, and carefully walked out of the warehouse, stopping and stopping along the way, like a tourist, constantly looking around.

Unlike other countries that specialize in the salt industry, Hunan does not have many salt-producing places, so the salt that people eat is imported from other places by merchants, such as Qingyuan Army in Lingnan, Shu, Wuyue, etc., as well as Huainan.

For this scarce resource, the tax burden in Hunan is relatively low, but the price is still high. After walking two streets, I found a relatively large salt shop that also sells tea and vinegar.

Business was good here, people were coming and going, and several clerks were running around and sweating profusely.

"Sir, what would you like to order? The salt we have here is the best fine salt, and there are not many in the city!" The waiter came up to greet me.

Seeing that Cui Chi couldn't understand, the waiter changed into Mandarin, which was Zhongyuan Luoyin.

This time he understood, Cui Chi swallowed his saliva and asked: "How much does your fine salt cost per pound?"

"Didn't we have a war in Changsha before? The caravans couldn't come in, and the price of salt has never fallen back. Now fine salt costs 360 yuan per catty. If it's too expensive, coarse salt is cheaper, 130 yuan per catty.

If you use iron coins, it will be this price; if you use copper coins, I will give you a 10% discount..."

Cui Chi was shocked when he heard that fine salt cost three hundred and sixty cents. This was almost three times the price of Lingnan. He calmed down a little and asked in a low voice: "Is your shopkeeper here?"

"Here it is, inside!"

Immediately, Cui Chi saw a middle-aged man with a thick beard. He welcomed him into the inner room very politely and asked, "Do you have any advice, guest?"

"Do you collect fine salt?"

"Yes, of course, the more the better! I wonder how many guests there are?"

"How to negotiate the price?"

"It depends on your quality. If the goods are good, our price will be higher!"

"Look at this..."

Cui Chi took out a bag of salt from his pocket, opened it and saw the fine white salt, which was very beautiful.

"This is fine salt produced in Lingnan, also known as snow salt. Shopkeeper, let's check the price!"

"This snow salt is naturally very good. I want as much as you have!"

"It's only fifty kilograms, and it's all high-quality snow salt."

"My guest is from Lingnan. Let me give you a favor. I will give you three hundred yuan per catty. This is the highest price in Changsha City!"

"Copper coins?"

"Of course, but it has to be exchanged for iron coins. Lang Jun, how many copper coins can this Changsha Mansion have? They are all iron coins!"

"Then help me send the money to the warehouse! When the time comes, you will pay with one hand and deliver the goods with the other!"

In this context of short supply, all business was booming. Fifty kilograms of salt was sold for five large iron coins (the rule is ten coppers and one iron, but it has been reduced to five coppers, or even three coppers), which is enough

It weighs hundreds of kilograms, and each iron coin weighs about thirty kilograms, filling a room.

And with the background of the salt shop, they also sold out the spices. This kind of thing requires special sales. A few kilograms of spices were sold for three taels of iron money, so the whole room could hardly fit in it.

"Brother, how do you bring this money back? It's more than two hundred kilograms!" Looking at the money here, the short fat man sighed, with a look of helplessness on his face.

"Why are you taking it back? We don't charge any money for it, and it weighs hundreds of kilograms, so we won't be tired to death!"

Cui Chi also sighed and said with a smile: "Let's use the money to buy things to take back. I heard that Changsha Prefecture has a lot of tea, and there is also Sichuan brocade. These things can be easily sold in Lingnan!"

"If you hook up with those big cannibals, you can still sell it for a high price!"

A few days later, just as they were preparing to return, the big merchants from Lingnan finally arrived, loaded with goods. There were thousands of mules alone, and the long caravan stretched as far as the eye could see.

The very next day, the price of salt fell by dozens of copper coins, while other tea cloths, etc., rose by several percent.

"This iron money, hey, who came up with this bastard idea? It's a scam!"

The merchants finally realized that something was wrong. This time, the money they earned was inexplicably less than a few percent, and the price did not reach the expected price.

The prices of things sold have gone down, and the prices of things purchased have gone up. It’s really unpleasant.
Chapter completed!