After lunch, the originally vacant room had been arranged into a study.
Two boxes of account books were placed on the table by year. Song Jinzhao and the others sat around the table, flipping through the ledgers of Suining City from the past five years page by page.
The only sound in the quiet study was the rustling of pages. Whenever they saw something noteworthy, they jotted down a few notes on paper with a brush and inserted a bookmark to mark the spot.
An hour passed, and the four of them had not taken a single sip of tea, not stopping until they had finished reading everything.
Song Shixue was the first to hand her notes to Song Jinzhao. The paper displayed clear percentage data and statistical charts.
The labor expenses of Suining Prefecture have been increasing every year. By last year, they had reached sixty percent of the revenue.
Qingshuang handed her notes over.
The commercial tax of Suining Prefecture is mainly concentrated on grain and liquor, and it has been dropping every year. Previously, it was three or four thousand taels a month, but last year it plummeted to only a few hundred taels. Suining City, Yunzhu County, and Songhe County account for the majority of this, while Qingxia County and Yanshan County are almost negligible.
Lanxi spoke up, The prefecture can only collect half of its annual grain tax, and last year it was a mere third. The grain seeds for this year were also borrowed from the government office, with a unified agreement to return them after the autumn harvest.
Song Jinzhao leaned back in her chair. The dense data and charts on the paper felt heavy and oppressive.
No matter how low the grain and commercial taxes were, a portion still had to be handed over to the imperial court every year. Less than twenty percent was left behind, which was not even enough for self-sufficiency.
Over these five years, the government office had solicited donations from local wealthy merchants thirty-two times, with the amounts showing a downward trend.
By the second half of last year, donations had turned into loans. That was how the three thousand taels of silver owed on the books came to be.
Given the current situation in Suining Prefecture, what do you think can be done to quickly fill the treasury?
Song Jinzhao crossed her arms over her chest, her gaze sweeping across the faces of the three as she intentionally tested them.
The three secretly exchanged glances before burying their heads in deep thought, their brows furrowing tighter than the last.
After Song Jinzhao finished her third pastry, Song Shixue was the first to look her directly in the eye.
Save on labor costs. Brother knows martial arts and doesn't need so many yamen runners to protect him. We should lay off the three hundred extra runners in Suining City.
Song Jinzhao pursed her lips and shook her head in rejection. Your brother doesn't need them, but the commoners of Suining do. These people are useful and cannot be dismissed.
She planned to recruit more people in the future, so she certainly could not drive away the existing official troops.
Song Shixue sounded slightly disappointed. If cutting expenditures won't work, then we can only increase our sources of income.
Qingshuang raised her hand. The commercial tax in Suining Prefecture is decreasing every year. Many local merchants have moved to Songzhou City. If we can get them to return, the commercial tax will definitely grow.
Lanxi suggested, There is a lot of wasteland outside the city. We can have the idle yamen runners clear the land, and then sell the grain for money once it is harvested.
Qingshuang added, We can replicate our businesses from the capital here. Not only will it earn silver, but it will also set a leading example.
Before coming here, they had already planned to expand their business empire into the southwest. They might as well start with Suining City.
Song Jinzhao twisted her stiff and aching neck. The wasteland needs to be cleared, but we still need to add more people.
The three looked confused.
Song Jinzhao spoke with absolute certainty. Suining Prefecture has so many bandits and robbers. Their mountain strongholds must hold plenty of gold, silver, and treasures. Wiping them out will fill the treasury, and the people can be used as free labor. It kills two birds with one stone.
Song Shixue's eyes glazed over, her mind going completely blank.
Wiping out bandits and raiding their strongholds? This sounded a bit like what her elder sister had mentioned before about raiding the homes of corrupt officials to fill the national treasury.
Qingshuang and Lanxi had already lowered their heads, thinking about the specific steps to take.
With the guards plus the yamen runners, suppressing the bandits would definitely not be a problem.
The only questions were how much silver there was, and whether there were many people.
They still needed to gather intelligence on the various bandit factions and strike the richest one first.
