Rebirth of Wu Ba Spring and Autumn

Chapter 114 Salt Iron Franchise
Hearing that Qingji had the idea of ​​banning Wu Guogongqing's fiefdom, the seven ministers present, including Ji Zha, Sun Ping, Ji Ran, and Fan Li, couldn't help being startled, their faces full of horror.

Fan Li followed up and said, "Your Majesty, what the Dazai said is absolutely true. Change the old enfeoffment system, and abolish the powers of the ministers and officials, such as conscription, governance, etc., and you must not act too hastily!"

"My country of Wu has just settled down, so we must not cause civil strife to waste the country's strength!"

"My minister agrees!"

Sun Ping, Ji Ran, and Sun Wu all agreed.

Only Dian Ke Bo Tong and the next doctor Wu Zixu were concerned about celebrating the taboo, and it was inconvenient to speak out, so they kept their mouths shut and kept silent!

"Okay, then only the county system will be implemented, and when the time is right in the future, the enfeoffment system will be banned. But there is one point that cannot be disputed!"

Qingji said seriously, "After the establishment of the county system, officials from all over the country must respect the county magistrate and cooperate with local government affairs, or they must not interfere in local government affairs!"

"Offenders will be punished severely!"

"Your Majesty Yingming!"

Seeing that Qingji did not insist on immediately changing Wu's enfeoffment system and depriving the officials of various places of power, the officials were relieved and sweated secretly.

If Qingji insisted on doing it, he might really be able to do it!

However, the country of Wu may suffer serious internal conflicts, and even riots among the countrymen.

Of course, Qingji wouldn't care too much about this.

After all, he has now grasped the power, life and death are at stake, who would dare to touch Qingji's fate?

However, Qingji knew very well that one bite would not make him fat, so boiled a frog in warm water.

So he doesn't have to rush for a while!
Forcing the ministers and officials from all over the country to rebel will always be detrimental to the country!
"Does the second and third sons have other good strategies for governing the country?"

Qingji looked around for a week, then continued to inquire.

"Your Majesty, I think that the state of Wu can still learn from the monopoly of salt and iron in Guan Zhong's reform!"

Right Prime Minister Ji Ran said slowly: "Guanzi said: 'Only officials, mountains and seas are worthy of ear'. It contains taxes in prices, that is, taxes are hidden in commodities, so that people pay taxes for the country unconsciously, and in their hearts Not very contradictory!"

"As for the resources of mountains and seas, the country can monopolize them. Iron ore is produced from the mountains, and sea salt is produced from the sea. This is a monopoly system for salt and iron."

"Such a monopoly of salt and iron will definitely create huge profits for our country of Wu!"

"good!"

Qingji deeply agrees.

For this kind of policy of governing the country that specializes in salt and iron, Qingji must implement it!
The so-called salt and iron monopoly is to control the ownership of resources, and then delegate the management rights to private businessmen, and distribute profits in a certain proportion.

This is the embryonic form of "state-owned assets and contracted management" that is very popular in later generations!

The importance of salt and iron is self-evident.

For example, the state of Qi after Guan Zhong’s reform, its financial revenue over the years has been composed of tax revenue and monopoly revenue. of.

"In addition, the minister thought that frugality hurts things. If the second and third sons all advocate thrift and don't spend more money, it will inevitably reduce the circulation of commodities, which will hinder production and profit, so it is called 'hurt things'!"

"That's why, Your Majesty should lead by example and encourage people to consume in order to facilitate marketing."

Hearing this, Qingji hesitated.

Dazai Jizha who was sitting on one side couldn't help frowning, and said dissatisfiedly, "Why did Prime Minister You say such a thing?"

"Throughout the ages, all virtuous monarchs with a wise and wise style have always practiced frugality and encouraged the people of the country to increase income and reduce expenditure. Why did you come to you, Prime Minister You, to instigate the king to promote extravagance?"

"Only using frugality will hurt things, but you can't convince others!"

Obviously, Ji Zha was not convinced by Ji Ran's argument that "thrift hurts things".

Because in the eyes of a gentleman like Ji Zha, who has the legacy of ancient times, a truly wise monarch should lead by example and practice frugality, so that he can follow the example and let the people follow suit and accumulate enough wealth for the country.

However, Ji Ran dared to say this kind of argument, naturally there is a reason for it!

At this moment, Ji Ran smiled slightly and said: "Dazai, this is not my fallacy. I wonder if Dazai knows a truth?"

"Whenever the year is bad and the people of the country have no jobs to do, the country should build palaces and pavilions to promote employment, especially for the poor who are almost bankrupt."

"At that time, the palace was built not for pleasure, but to promote employment, balance all parties, and benefit the country!"

"This……"

Ji Zha was silent about it.

The truth that Ji Ran said, in fact, as long as you think about it with your brain, you can get a glimpse of it, and you can get a glimpse of it!
Ji Ran is just like Guan Zhong in the past.

He affirms pleasure and opposes economy!

Guan Zhong valued circulation and opposed despising commerce. He advocated full employment and opposed passive relief.

In order to be fully employed, Guan Zhong advocated mass consumption and even a generous burial!

His emphasis is on the aspect that mass consumption can facilitate mass production.

Therefore, he said very little about how to proceed in production, how to improve technology, and so on, almost nothing!

As a time traveler, Qing Ji from the [-]st century knows very well that it took more than [-] years for Westerners to learn this method of stimulating economic recovery and promoting employment through national investment in fixed assets.

It can be seen that this practice of encouraging consumption is actually very advanced!
Furthermore, it is really difficult to make Qingji behave like an ascetic monk, with simple food, plain clothes, and strict frugality every day.

A monarch who can truly be diligent and frugal may be a generation of Ming emperors, such as Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty Liu Heng, and Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty in history.

However, there are exceptions!

For example, Emperor Daoguang, who was keen on wearing patched clothes, was reluctant to eat eggs because he thought they were too expensive, offered sacrifices to the heavens, and entertained everyone with a bowl of braised noodles on the queen's birthday...

With all these things, I am afraid that the word frugality cannot be afforded. Perhaps it is more appropriate to say that it is just stingy!
If so, Daoguang didn't make a difference, but passively became a faint king!
In fact, not only did he not faint, but he was also very considerate of the country, and he was unwilling to spend a penny more on the country.

Qingji said again: "Second and third sons, we have already discussed and formulated nine reform decrees. The tenth article is to encourage the population to have children. How to encourage them, I invite the second and third sons to express their opinions!"

In Qingji's mind, there are still many reform laws and regulations that have not been brought out.

However, Qingji knows that one bite can't make him fat, so he has to take his time in everything, and don't act too hastily!
Especially when it comes to such a major event as the implementation of the reform, a little carelessness will cause chaos in the domestic situation.

For this reason, he had to proceed step by step, tentatively set ten political reforms, and watch their effects, and then gradually implement them in the future to carry out the second reform!

(End of this chapter)