Han Hai Tang Ergui

In the east of Jinling Mansion, there is a courtyard that is not small, but not luxurious either.

Song Qiqiu looked at the few servants and maids who were packing their luggage, and while he sighed softly, his eyes always involuntarily looked in the direction of Jiankang Palace in the distance.

Seeing his father Song Qiqiu looking around, Song Mojie, the heir, couldn't help standing on tiptoe to watch.

It has been more than half a year since the sage took over the Southern Tang Dynasty. Many of the officials of the Southern Tang Dynasty, big and small, have reused them, but only Song Qiqiu, who is the iconic official of the Southern Tang Dynasty, has not been reused, let alone summoned.

Originally Song Qiqiu was in despair, but more than ten days ago, the sage summoned Zha Wenhui, which made Song Qiqiu feel a little hopeful again.

However, the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment. Even Song Qiqiu, a veteran who has been in the political arena for decades, can't help feeling overwhelmed by the feeling of waiting.

"Erlang, there is still a box of jewelry given by the old sage here at my slave's house, I will let brother Jie pawn it later, let's wait a little longer!" Wei said softly, supporting Song Qiqiu's arm gently.

In fact, the Song family was already in a difficult situation, because at this time, Song Qiqiu had already lost another political battle because of his personality problem.

Then, in order to maintain his prestige and ostentation, he did not hesitate to start throwing money around, enlisting the so-called talents and scholars by his side, creating an appearance that Song Qiqiu was still an opinion leader in the Southern Tang Dynasty.

And this kind of action to build momentum is undoubtedly very expensive. Song Qiqiu's income from the food town in Qingyang County, Mount Jiuhua, has long been consumed.

These days, their family of more than [-] people are forced to wait in Jinling Mansion, and the valuables that can be sold in the mansion are basically sold out.

However, what Song Qiqiu's family didn't know was that these days, for the sake of face, they secretly asked the servants to take rare toys to strange merchants outside the city for sale.

The emperor had already found out the economic situation of Song Qiqiu's family, and he was just waiting for him to fall into complete despair.

Inside the door, Song Qiqiu shook his head slowly, looked back at Wei who had long since faded, and said with a wry smile: "Forget it, just leave this bit of gold and silver behind, and let's go back to Qingyang County to work as a farmer. From now on, it will be a hard time.”

Song Qiqiu can eat the land tax of Qingyang County. This is a special courtesy that Li Jing gave him, the greatest hero in the founding of the Southern Tang Dynasty. It is naturally impossible to give it to Zhang Zhou.

Now Song Qiqiu has spent all his family property, leaving only a hundred acres of Susukida in his hometown. He said that he would go back to live a hard life, not just talking, but really going back to suffer.

Song Qiqiu is 63 years old this year, but judging from his appearance, he is more energetic than many people who have just turned 50. This traitor who monopolizes power must have a good body.

But after saying these words, he seemed to have aged ten years, and returned to the senility that should be expected at this age.

His heir, Song Mojie, had even more despair in his eyes. He was still very clear about the difference between the son of a first- and second-rank high-ranking official and the heir of an old farmer in the countryside.

"Is this Song Zisong's mansion in Qingyang?" Just as Song Qiqiu was sighing, a voice of inquiry suddenly came from outside the door.

When Song Qiqiu and his heir Song Mojie heard this, they immediately flashed from the door to the outside. Song Qiqiu, who had just entered his 60s for less than a quarter of an hour, flashed back to his 50s in an instant.

A junior official in green clothes, two rows of guards in golden armor, and in front of more than a dozen tall horses, there is also a peach blossom horse that is used by wealthy people for transportation. It is beautiful but not fast.

Song Qiqiu's eyes became hot, this is the standard match for the sage to summon the old ministers of the Southern Tang Dynasty!

"You are Song Qiqiu, the secretary of the former Southern Tang Dynasty?" Although the middle official's tone was not very respectful, Song Qiqiu didn't care, and arched his hands, "The old man is Song Qiqiu."

The middle official nodded, "The sage has an edict, ordering Song Qiqiu to enter the palace immediately to face the sage."

Beside Song Qiqiu, he had long expected that Song Mojie would slide down as soon as his knees softened. As expected of Song Qiqiu, he had gone through the storm, and he had completely calmed down at this moment.

"This eunuch wait a moment, let the servant take a shower and change clothes."

. . . .

In Jiankang Palace, before Song Qiqiu could see Zhang Shengren clearly in the distance, his heart skipped a beat.

Because he saw Zhou Xian, Zhou Zong's daughter, kneeling at the emperor's desk and grinding ink for the emperor.

Song Qiqiu and Zhou Zong have been political enemies for more than 20 years.

Seeing Song Qiqiu coming, Zhang Ting still stood up and walked a few steps forward, made a symbolic greeting, and said that at his age, he could still give him preferential treatment.

"Servant Song Qiqiu, pay homage to the saint!" Song Qiqiu bent down to the ground and made a big salute.

Zhang Ting bowed his hands slightly in return, and the servants in the hall immediately brought Song Qiqiu a brocade stool.

This is not some preferential treatment, but before the Song Dynasty, Zaizhi and ministers who were over sixty years old could have brocade stools to sit on.

Later, when I came to Chong Mynah, I could only stand up and answer. When I came to Daqing, I went a step further and knelt down.

"Song Weng sit down, I have a problem today, I want to talk to Song Weng." Zhang Tie has a lot of things, and he doesn't want to try again, so he just goes straight to it.

While speaking, he waved his hand, and Zhou Xian and the servants who were waiting around him all retreated.

"Although the servant is dull, he knows everything." Song Qiqiu was also taken aback for a moment before adapting to Zhang Tie's rhythm.

"I heard that in the past, Silla, Baekje and other countries would come to pay tribute to the great dynasty even though they were thousands of miles away.

But today, the Wang family has built Koryo for 40 years, but they have never paid tribute in the future, and they are quite disobedient. I intend to ask for it. "

Song Qiqiu was really surprised. What kind of rhythm are you doing? Although the Sui and Tang Dynasties had expeditions to Goguryeo, that was after recuperation!
After hesitating for a long time, Song Qiqiu decided to try to persuade him, saying that maybe the emperor was testing him with this question.

"Saint, Koryo is far away in Haidong, and before the dynasty is unified, it is going to go on an expedition for thousands of miles. This servant thinks it should be."

When Song Qiqiu said this, he suddenly got stuck, because he suddenly remembered something. During the Shangyuan Festival this year, Murong Xinchang, the king of Liaoyang County far away in Liaodong, sent Dongzhu and Liaoshen. The saint was very happy , gave Murong Xinchang the surname Zhang, and gave the name Zhang Yue.

This Prince of Liaoyang County has made great achievements and has been the adopted son of a saint for more than ten years. His mother is still a noble concubine. It is normal to give a surname, but it is not normal to give a name.

Because there is a habit at this time, that is, after the prince ascends the throne, he will change his name into a single word.

For example, Li Jing was originally called Li Jingtong, but after inheriting the throne, he changed his name to Li Jing.Qian Yue's third king was originally called Qian Hongzuo.

Moreover, Zhang Zhou is Jinde, and Murong Nobunaga was given the word gold next to it, and it is a very symbolic word for Jieyue's Yue, which suddenly opened Song Qiqiu's brain hole.

"The sage wants to rule Goryeo as the king of Liaoyang County?"

Clap clap!Zhang Bing clapped his palms in satisfaction. As expected, he was the most important mastermind of Li Min, who once made Xu Wen so afraid that he wanted to kill him quickly. He immediately thought of this place that ordinary people would not think of.

"The land of Liaodong has always been a big trouble for the great dynasties. From the Han Dynasty to the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the former emperors Taizong and Gaozong used all their treasuries to destroy them. Today, China has only been in chaos for more than a hundred years, and another king has appeared. Shi.

I don't care whether he is called Goguryeo or Goryeo, and whether they are from the same group or not, I will definitely not tolerate this Eastern captive taking root in the old land of the four Han counties. "

Different from the impression of Goryeo in later generations, because of the obedience of the Lee family in North Korea, many people in later generations felt that this small peninsula could not pose any threat to the Central Plains.

Although this is indeed the case, the reason why Goguryeo is difficult to deal with is that it is built on the rich land of Liaodong, and there is also the natural danger of Daze in Liaoxi as a support.

And the peninsula is a place of bitter cold, with mountains everywhere, few grains of grain can be produced, and there is no convenient water transportation, so there really can't be any big waves.

But thanks to Goguryeo, people at this time are still extremely wary of the regime in Liaodong.

Seeing that the emperor in front of him had already made up his mind, Song Qiqiu didn't say much. As an old minister in the south of the Yangtze River, how could he dare to speak on such a major matter.

After thinking about it for a while, Song Qiqiu asked: "My servant dares to speculate that the sage specially summoned his ministers, whether he wanted to build large ships from Jiangbei and Jiangnan provinces like Emperor Gaozong of the Great Dynasty when he conquered Goguryeo, and use his water army to attack the old Silla. place."

"That's right!" Zhang Ting nodded and admitted, "I invited Song Weng to ask whether the money and food from the old land of the Southern Tang Dynasty can support the court to build warships and train at least [-] sailors to sail eastward."

Song Qiqiu nodded, "Yes! The sage must have known that the number of hermits and fleeing households in the Southern Tang Dynasty, and the hidden population of wealthy families in various places, is no less than 300 million. If these people can be registered as households and Wu Yue enough to support.

But this matter is extremely difficult. In the past, King Wen Su wanted to do it, but in the end he still didn't have the courage to carry it out. If the saint wants to correct this matter, the servant is willing to risk his life to do it. "

In the end, Zhang Ting did not let Li Min enter the ancestral temple of the emperors of the Tang Dynasty, because it would involve a lot of troublesome procedures, and even if Zhang Ting let him, the three Li Jing brothers would not dare, because it would be too involved.

So in the end, after the three brothers wrote a letter, Zhang Wei issued an edict to abolish Li Minliezu's title of emperor, and changed his posthumous title to Wensu, and called him King Wu Wensu.

Zhang Tie naturally knew about Song Qiqiu's past, and he also knew what Song Qiqiu wanted to do.

Maybe he can really help Zhang Tie carry out this matter, but it will definitely be mixed with a lot of retaliation against political opponents, which does not meet Zhang Tie's requirements.

So I, Zhang Shengren, shook my head, "I have arranged for other people to do such mundane tasks. What I really want to ask Song Weng for advice is the collection of taxes in the old lands of Southern Tang and Wuyue."

A trace of disappointment flashed in Song Qiqiu's eyes. If Li Min was in front of him, he might jump out and lose his temper right away, but with Zhang Yu, he doesn't have the face, so he dare not do it .

In the previous Southern Tang Dynasty, Song Qiqiu designed a very special land tax collection system, that is, to abolish the previous land tax that only collected enough money. This kind of tyranny that was easy to be manipulated by officials and businessmen was changed to levy cloth, grain, etc. .

And when the people pay the land tax, the grain and cloth they turn in are priced at three or four times the market flow price.

That is to say, originally the property under your name would have to pay taxes of [-] Wen, but you happen to have silk cloth at home, and the market price is [-] Wen per bolt, so you need to pay four bolts of silk.

But when the imperial court collects, it will convert the silk cloth you paid by four times. That is to say, a piece of silk cloth in your family is worth two thousand Wen in the land tax, as long as you need to pay a piece of silk cloth. .

This trick is very powerful. It seems that the country has collected less taxes, but considering that this is a troubled time, and the population in the south of the Yangtze River is new, there are a lot of places that can be reclaimed into farmland.

The most urgent task is not how much tax to collect, but to expand the basic plate of rule, which seems very appropriate.

Song Qiqiu's move brought great benefits to the Southern Tang more than ten years ago. This kind of land tax policy made the Southern Tang unique among all the countries in the world, and made the Tang Dynasty in the Central Plains, Nanping in the west, Ma Chu and other countries. The people were attracted, and the enthusiasm of the domestic people to reclaim wasteland also doubled. Even Jiangnan began to prosper in the Song Dynasty, which was the solid foundation laid by this policy.

According to historical records, after the implementation of this policy in the Southern Tang Dynasty, the domestic open land was exhausted, there were no idle fields, the fields were full of mulberry trees, and the households were prosperous, which laid the foundation of a prosperous and powerful country in the southeast in one fell swoop. After that, Li Jing and Li Yu also benefited from this policy. bring abundance.

But now, because Li Jing is not giving up on preparing for the war, but at the same time has to pay tribute to Zhang Yan, this policy has been cancelled.

Since Song Qiqiu has made a lot of achievements in the economy, Zhang Tie naturally wanted to discuss these issues with him, and it was also for the convenience of Pei Yuan.

Because what can I say about the white gloves of this sage Zhang, conspiracy, political struggle, and even leading troops to guard one side are fine, but he is a little less good at economics, so Song Qiqiu just happens to fill the vacancy.

Song Qiqiu talked with Zhang Ting for a long time, and gradually got a feel for the emperor's "context". He understood that the emperor wanted him to build up the economy of the entire Jiangnan, Jiangxi, and Jiangbei, and by the way, raise a huge amount of wealth to supply Liaoyang County Wang Murong Nobunaga conquered Goryeo and even Japan.

Because judging from the current situation, the population of Andong Province is sparse, and it is difficult to support tens of thousands of troops to go south to conquer Korea.

At the same time, there are many mountains and mountains in the north of Koryo, and it is relatively difficult to attack from the north alone. If you can attack from the sea and take the south of Koryo first, it will be much easier to fight.

So Song Qiqiu arched his hands, and asked Zhang Ting whether he could return to the old tax policy, that is, the policy of paying taxes by the people is equal to four.

"If it is a short-term plan, the sage should not resume this policy, because the areas that can be reclaimed in the Southern Tang Dynasty, except for the south of Hongzhou, have almost been reclaimed.

Now that the benevolent government was abolished by the king of Wu, the grievances are all on the Li family, and the saint just pushed the boat along.

However, in the long run, it is better to implement this land tax policy for another 30 to [-] years, because at this time the troubled times have not yet come to an end, and Dingkou has not yet returned to the Great Dynasty.

If you choose to follow this strategy, not only will the imperial court win over Sanjiang's hearts immediately, but it will also quickly restore people's power. "

Zhang Ting nodded, and after thinking about it for a while, Song Qiqiu was right, both strategies had their own benefits.

If you don't recover, you can raise material resources to conquer Goryeo in a short time.

Recovery can quickly win the hearts of the people, gain the foundation of popular support to fight against tyrants, and quickly restore the population in the next 30 to [-] years.

"Thousands of years ago, Emperor Zhaolie of the Ji Han Dynasty said that the major affairs of Fuji must be based on the people. If I blackmail the people for the purpose of conquering Goryeo, it would be inhumane. It is better to think about it in the long run."

Song Qiqiu Fudi praised him, he really saw that the emperor in front of him lacked some schemes, but he was indeed a benevolent emperor.

Well!If Pei Yuan and Feng Dao were here, they would definitely scoff at Song Qiqiu's cognition.

It's not that Zhang Ting is not benevolent, but that his benevolence is selective. If the benefits outweigh the harms of extorting the people at this moment, he will definitely do it.

Zhang Tie chose to look at the long-term because the most important thing in his plan for Xia Junyi and the people is the population. The implementation of this policy can restore the largest population in the shortest time. Compared with this plan, it is possible to attack Wang's Koryo. Things will happen a little later.

Seeing that Zhang Ting had made a choice, Song Qiqiu went on to say: "Since the sage focuses on the long-term, the restoration of the population should be the top priority. The servant suggested that instead of completely copying the strategy of King Wu Wensu, it should be implemented by Dingkou. .

For example, if the family only has one child, the price will not be raised. If the family has two children, the price will be doubled. The above increase is five times, and as long as it is implemented for 30 years, the population of Sanjiang Province alone can increase by several million. "

"Song Weng is indeed a great talent!" Zhang Tie rubbed his hands excitedly, "But it's still less.

I have decided that if a couple has five children, the increase will be quadrupled, if seven children are born, the increase will be five times, and if there are nine or more children, the tax will be completely exempted!

First, implement it for 30 years. I will not only implement this policy in the Sanjiang area, but also promote it throughout the country. "

But as Zhang Tie talked, he felt a little melancholy again, because he wanted to move some people from Shuofang, Ningxia, Hedong and Hanzhong Prefectures to the Central Plains, but his implementation was not in place.

The first four are due to ecological problems, and the local yield per mu is extremely low and it is not cost-effective to plant them.

The latter is because the population is too dense, a large number of people are struggling to survive on the mountainous land, and there are no good fields in places such as Shangqiu and Xuchang in the Central Plains.

Song Qiqiu turned his eyes and noticed, "My servant thought that the sage could simultaneously implement new land tax policies in other provinces, and set the tax rates for upper, middle and lower third-class land according to the fertility of the land, while Shuofang, Ningxia, The east of the river is collected according to the old tax."

There is a very strange thing about the land tax at this time, that is, no matter what the field is, the imperial court will collect the land tax for a bucket of grain anyway.

This thing has made the tax rates of people all over the country extremely unbalanced.

If your family is unlucky enough to farm, if you can only produce one stone per mu, it is equivalent to a high tax of [-]%.

However, his family's field can produce two or three stones, so the field tax is equivalent to the thirty tax one that only existed in the early Han Dynasty.

The most direct result is that rich and powerful households occupy resources such as water conservancy facilities and farming cattle, and pay a tax of [-] yuan, while ordinary people pay a tax of [-] yuan, which is extremely unfavorable for population growth and reclamation of wasteland.

Moreover, this is obviously a one-size-fits-all approach made by the warriors of the Five Dynasties who were lazy and unable to control the actual situation of the country. Later, it was even inherited by the Northern Song Dynasty, which became one of the important factors for the Northern Song Dynasty's inability to equalize the land.

However, this one-size-fits-all land tax law is not without benefits. For example, now, it can be used to drive away those people who cut down the only vegetation on the hillsides of Ningxia and Hedong and planted the fields, and drive them to better planting land. the plains of the earth.

"Song Weng's suggestion is very good!" This is the second time Zhang Tie admired it. After he was about to go back, he called the Zaizhi, the Ministry of Households, and the Transit Department to discuss and implement it.

As for Song Qiqiu, Zhang Tie gave 30 yuan on the spot, which is [-] yuan, and then promised that he would be appointed as the chief envoy of Jiangnan Province and the transit ambassador of Jiangnan and Jiangbei in a few days.

Song Qiqiu was also very satisfied, thanked him a thousand times and left.

After Song Qiqiu left, Zhang Tie tapped his fingers on the table, and Zhou Xian and the guards who had just left came back.

Zhou Xian pouted and looked at Zhang Ting with some displeasure, "Sage, then Song Qiqiu is a treacherous official who likes to slander and hurt others the most. How can a saint reuse him?"

Zhang Ting didn't speak, but turned his head and looked at Zhou Xian with cold eyes.

How could a thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl be able to bear the power of Zhang Tie's immediate hero, and within a few seconds she knelt down on her knees in panic and stopped talking.

"Stretch out your hand!" Zhang Tie snorted, and then picked up a small bamboo stick.

Da Zhouxian stretched out his white and tender little hand tremblingly, and was immediately hit by the bamboo stick heavily on his little hand. She babbled in pain, and tears only rolled in her eyes.

"Speaking about politics in the harem is the monopoly of empresses, noble concubines and virtuous concubines. If you dare to say such things at such a young age, you will not be hit once, but five times."

I, Saint Zhang, don't care about the harem meddling in politics. You can't control this stuff even if you want to, and it's not necessarily a bad thing.

But if everyone in the harem speaks a few words, it will be a mess, so here, only the nineteenth lady, the third lady Cao, and the little aunt can speak in terms of political affairs.

Da Zhou Xian, who had been slapped on the palm of his hand, didn't even wipe away his tears, and began to sort out the paperwork for Zhang Tie again.

These days, it is different from what outsiders think. The Queen of the Great Zhou Dynasty in history is here not as a beauty to accompany the king, but to go through a series of special training.

Chemical geography, mathematical geometry, everything that Zhang Tie could barely remember but soon forgot, he poured his brains into Zhou Xian and asked her to record it in the book.

I, Zhang Shengren, stroked my chin and looked at this busy little figure. It was a pleasure that I had cultivated too much.

Moreover, does he know what kind of virtue Song Qiqiu is?
Ability must be good, but the desire for power is extremely high and he likes to form cliques for personal gain. Those who are attached to him will try their best to cover up, and those who do not obey him will use all kinds of means to attack.

It sounds like he is indeed a treacherous minister who will cause great damage to the country.

But but ah!Song Qiqiu's immediate boss in the future will be Pei Yuan, a Jia Xu and Cheng Yu-like villain. In terms of the reputation of a treacherous official and the ability of a real villain, Song Qiqiu can't keep up with his flattery, and the difference in status is too big.

Where Song Qiqiu can be used and where it can't be used, Pei Yuan must know.

If anyone disobeyed the court's new policy, it would naturally be Song Qiqiu and their henchmen.

In the end, he took a ten thousand step back and said that Song Qiqiu would not be afraid if he recruited his fellow party members and played tricks on every link, because they were literati without military power.

If Song Qiqiu is not too knowledgeable, he may be able to enjoy his old age peacefully

If you don't know how to be interesting, you can kill him and eat meat after he becomes fat. In this way, my saint Zhang can get a big blood bag without exploiting the people himself, which is perfect.