Kingdom of Heaven and Han

Leaving Wang Guan's house, the moon has risen, and various insects are singing in the surrounding fields, and occasionally there are a few frogs, revealing a kind of rural tranquility.

When Wang Xiaolie came to the door, of course he brought a gift.It's just tea, sugar, and some pastries, rare gifts in the countryside.The farmers in Taoyuan Xianxiang are still very rich, and Wang Xiaohun will not give cash when he comes to the door.

The farmers here are all transferred from various states and pieced together into villages.Originally, they were supposed to live here for three years, but now that the opening has just started, everything is not easy, and these people are allowed to live here for five years.Generally speaking, if a farmer lives here for three to five years, he will be able to save some money, and he will be a well-off family when he goes back.

Wang Xiaolie built this place with the original intention of allowing Xuan Fushi and these high-ranking officials to understand the life below and not to be separated from the people.The most important thing is to understand the daily life of farmers, not to discriminate between grains.

Now everything is starting from the beginning, everything is simple, and it has to develop slowly.

Not far from Wang Guan's house, there is a residence of Wang Xiaolie.It can be regarded as a rural courtyard, everything is what the countryside should look like.Today is Wang Xiaolie's first visit here, so he wants to visit the neighbors and take a look at the surrounding scenery.

Back at the residence, Wang Xiaolie, Gao Ying and the others took a rest, without talking all night.

The next day, Wang Xiaolie and the others had breakfast and drank two cups of tea.Wang Xiaolie said to the crowd: "Go to Caifengyuan today to see the situation there. The Caifengyuan is set up here so that the officials of Caifeng can live with the common people, and don't forget your roots."

Gao Ying said yes.

Wang Xiaolie's residence has eight main rooms, the four rooms on the left are office space, and the four rooms on the right are study rooms and bedrooms.There is a courtyard in front, a cross courtyard on the left and right, and a small garden at the back.Hibiscus, crabapple, pomegranate and other flowers and trees are planted in the yard, as well as a peony garden.In front of the door is a big lotus pond, which is full of lotus.To the west of the gate, three big willow trees were planted, and under the willow trees was a row of horse posts.To the east is a big sycamore tree, lush with sycamore flowers hanging on it.

To ordinary people, this house looks extraordinary.But for Xuan Fushi, it seemed too small.

After leaving the courtyard gate, a group of people walked south along the path by the pond.After crossing the pond, walk through a section of road under the shade of willows, and then turn east, you will arrive at Caifengyuan.

Caifengyuan is a government office under the Xuanfu Division, which is set up for officials who specialize in collecting wind.The current highest official is Chen Yuyi, who is on a business trip in Xinzheng at this time.

Ye Longji, the Deputy Envoy of Caifeng, had been waiting outside the door with officials. When he saw Wang Xiaolie coming, he hurried forward to greet him.

Entering Fengfengyuan, Wang Xiaolie asked Ye Longji: "How many officials are there now?"

Ye Longji said: "38 people. Xuan Fu said that there are still too few people, and we are recruiting."

Wang Xiaolie said: "It is indeed too few. However, when you recruit people, the people who want to come should be voluntary. If you have to come, you will lose the meaning of collecting wind. Generally speaking, the officials who collect wind are hard and their income is not high. Don't miss the people who come."

Ye Longji nodded in agreement.

When he arrived in the courtyard, Wang Xiaolie looked around and said, "It's sunny today and the weather is very good. Let's talk in the courtyard. You go and call all the officials collecting wind to the courtyard, set up a few tables, and get them some tea. This is chatting, not official lectures, so relax."

Ye Longji hesitated for a moment, but did as he did.

Wang Xiaolie and Gao Ying sat under a few jujube trees in the yard, drinking tea while looking at the crowd.

Not long after, everyone sat down and looked at Wang Xiaolie eagerly.

Wang Xiaolie said: "I have nothing to do today, so I came to chat with you. Don't be nervous, drink tea and relax."

Promise from people together.

Seeing that everyone still couldn't let go, Wang Xiaolie smiled and took tea to drink.

Putting down his tea, Wang Xiaolie said, "I went to Taoyuan Fairy Township yesterday. I went to a farmer's family first to see how his life was. Generally speaking, farmers in Taoyuan Fairy Township live well because they have plenty of land, complete farm tools, and no taxes. Why is it called Taoyuan Fairy Township? Mr. Wu Liu's "Peach Blossom Spring" said that Taohuayuan has flat land and houses like fertile fields, beautiful ponds, and mulberry and bamboo. Clothes are like outsiders. Yellow hair hangs down, and they are happy. This kind of life is simply the ideal of farmers."

After Wang Xiaolie finished speaking, he saw the blank faces of the people below, obviously not knowing what they meant.

Sighing secretly, Wang Xiaolie said: "So we build a Taoyuan fairyland, which can be regarded as the realization of farmers' dreams. Of course, is it true that such a hopeless situation is the ideal of farmers? Of course not. This is just a scene imagined by people in war-torn times, who suffered enough from the exile of their country and their families, and kept their desires to the minimum. In times of peace, people's desires are always more and more, and they cannot be satisfied. The Buddha said that life is bitter, and people should not have desires. , we live in the dunya, and the dunya certainly cannot limit desires.”

"When people have desires, they have the motivation to move forward. How do you know that we are better now than in the ancient world? The blend of five flavors we eat is much better than the no salt and no taste in the ancient world. We have clothes to wear and use fire, which is much better than the animal skins in the ancient world. There are many such examples, so there is no need to explain them one by one. Therefore, this Taoyuan fairyland does not prohibit people from going out, it is a normal life. The poor people who come here are equivalent to five years of good luck. Live for five years. Take a look at what they have achieved in these five years."

Speaking of this, Wang Xiaolie looked at the crowd, and said with a heavy tone: "Don't think this is a gift to the people. I want to tell you that this is the life the court is trying to let the people live. There is no tax or tax, where does the court get its money from? There used to be a salt and iron department in this dynasty, but now tea and salt are promoted. This is how the money should be. Of course, salt, iron and tea are necessities of life, and we do not advocate making money with necessities. But in addition to necessities, the court has other industries. There are supply and marketing cooperatives and banks, all of which can make money. We have invested money for several years, and starting this year, most industries and businesses have made money."

"In addition to the industrial and commercial industries we directly invest in, we can also collect taxes from industry and commerce. The money collected by a factory is equivalent to how many farmers? There are several factories in a county, and the money collected is enough. How much more convenient is this than collecting money from ordinary farmers?"

"In the past few years, our agricultural tax has been reduced a lot, all exorbitant taxes have been cancelled, and we have invested heavily in the industrial and commercial industries. Where does the money come from? I am not afraid to tell you that it is printed. Tens of millions of coins per year is not a small number. But printing money is not a long-term solution. Unplanned printing will bring down this industry sooner or later. Because our territory is expanding, industry and commerce are developing, the money printed is still increasing. But there is a limit to growth.

Seeing the people below whispering, Wang Xiaolie picked up tea and drank it, and stopped for a while.

Under Wang Xiaolie's rule, taxes are obviously not heavy, so why can they still spend everything?The answer is printing money.Of course, there is another reason. Government spending at this time is not high.

The second tax revenue of the Song Dynasty usually did not exceed 500 million Guan.Under Wang Xiaolie's rule, there are only one or two routes, and the actual number is less than 100 million.Wang Xiaolie was completely exempted from the second tax in real money, but only received 100 million yuan less.As for the food tax, Wang Xiaolie's rule is not light, and it is even higher than before.

The money printed every year, coupled with the increase in business taxes brought about by the development of industry and commerce, Wang Xiaolie's finances are still loose after supplying the army.Generally speaking, in this era, the government's expenditure is relatively small, and a little financial means are enough for the government's expenditure.

The heavy burden on the people is not the normal taxation of the government, but a means other than normal taxation.After Wang Xiaolie strictly controlled these methods, the burden on the people was no longer so heavy.To collect money in addition to taxation, and collect money from the people, the cost of collecting money will be ten dollars.When the government does not collect the usual money, the benefits to the people will be great.Of course, the premise is that the government does not need this consistent money.

Putting down the teacup, Wang Xiaolie said: "In short, we hope to collect more money from industry and commerce, and at the same time reduce farmers' money. Farmers' life is very hard. You yamen are here. You can go out and have a look when you have nothing to do. Farmers have to plow in spring, work in summer, harvest in autumn, and collect in winter. There is no free time all year round. In this country, it can now be said that farmers live well, and the world will be peaceful."

With the advancement of technology, it has developed from an agricultural country to an industrial country.From agriculturalization to industrialization, the process can be orderly or chaotic.In Europe, because the king represented the feudal lord, and industry and commerce developed in the towns, chaos was almost inevitable.Other countries, such as Germany and the United States, are relatively more orderly.In Asia, as Japan was a latecomer, catching up quickly also brought a lot of suffering.But other Asian countries are relatively mild.

There is no need for the current Song Dynasty to adopt cruel measures, and many things can be done slowly.Use time in exchange for the impact of industrialization on agriculture.

One of the purposes of Wang Xiaolie's establishment of Taoyuan Xianxiang was to observe the impact of industrial development on the countryside.The Caifeng Academy is set up here to let them experience this change for themselves, so they should not be ignorant of the changes in the folk.

In Taoyuan Xianxiang, with such good conditions, if the life of farmers is not as good as that of ordinary workers in the city, it goes without saying in other places.Only when the peasants here live well, at least equivalent to the middle class in the city, can it be said that the society will not be affected.

With a clear understanding of society, these officials can truly grasp the basic situation of society and provide valuable references when they go out to gather folk stories.If not, it is far from enough to rely on the conscience and knowledge of officials alone.