The Heavens: Starting from Traveling through Song Qingshu

Chapter 93 The policy of ignoring the people has been implemented in all dynasties
At the beginning of a new dynasty, a thousand wastes are waiting to be rejuvenated.

After the initial determination of the imperial center and the local system, the survival of the common people became the next focus.

After some discussion among the officials, Song Xuan made the decree.

All miscellaneous taxes are exempted, and farmers only need to pay the agricultural tax on time every year.In the future, the imperial court no longer forcibly apportioned corvee, but paid recruitment instead.

In terms of commerce, according to the tax rates of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, commercial tax is levied nationwide. Anyone who engages in business activities must pay taxes according to law.

In order to ensure that the tax work can be successfully completed.The Ministry of Finance has set up a tax bureau and an independent tax army to suppress all criminals!
In the Wu Dynasty, there was no distinction between superiors and inferiors, but if you dare to evade taxes, you are an inferior person, and you must be prepared to be dealt with by violent agencies.

Song Xuan issued a lot of decrees in a row, and then, when it came to education, the officials in the court had a dispute.

The cause was the advice on education given by Zhu Yuanzhang, No.1 military officer.

I have to say that although Zhu Yuanzhang, who was born as a cowherd, is a military officer, he cares more about the well-being of the common people than anyone else.

According to Zhu Yuanzhang's suggestion, at least one enlightenment school should be established in each township, at least one county school in each county, and at least one institution of higher learning in each province.

Boys over the age of six, supervised by the local government, must enter the enlightenment school for free and complete a five-year basic education.

This move will be used as a rigid indicator for the annual evaluation of officials. If the completion rate of enlightenment education is poor, from village to township to county, all local chief officials will be dismissed.

Zhu Yuanzhang's suggestion, to be honest, really offended all the civil officials in the Manchu Dynasty.

In this era when the troubled times have just settled down, those who can stand in the court and be an official must be learned people.

As for those who are educated, which family has poor conditions?

No matter how bad it is, it is also from a poor family, and the so-called poor family is just that the great-grandfather has been rich and his family background has declined.

A skinny camel is bigger than a horse, even if it is from a humble family, it is not comparable to those ordinary people who spend their days digging in the fields.

The civil officials of the Manchu Dynasty, to put it bluntly, were actually the gentry class.

The reason why the gentry class can be superior is because they have a large number of scholars, they can train and subsidize the scholars to study, and make them become the official spokespersons of the gentry, landlords, and businessmen.

Zhu Yuanzhang's policy of popularizing enlightenment education nationwide and even giving various preferential policies is even more ruthless than the imperial examination system that broke the family's monopoly on officials.

In the short term, it will naturally not affect the gentry class, but after a long time, the foundation of the gentry class monopolizing officialdom through reading will have to be cut!
Many civil officials expressed opposition to Zhu Yuanzhang's proposal.

The reason they gave was that to popularize enlightenment education across the country, the financial expenditure must be extremely huge. The Wu Dynasty had just been established, and every penny had to be spent wisely.

Such a huge expenditure just after the founding of the country is very likely to put the empire's finances in crisis.

In this regard, Song Xuan looked at Hu Qian.

He really wanted to know the attitude of the Minister of Finance, who was born in a big family in the south of the Yangtze River and could be said to be a typical representative of the gentry class.

Seeing His Majesty's gaze on him, Hu Qian's expression turned serious, he straightened up, and then walked slowly to the center of the hall.

Then, meeting the expectant eyes of many civil servants, he solemnly said: "Your Majesty, don't worry, if the treasury is not enough, even if I spend all my wealth by selling pots and irons, I am willing to solve the problem of enlightenment education for the people!"

As soon as this remark came out, there was an uproar in the court hall.

You are a speculator who was born as a big landlord and tyrant. You are not greedy for money and start playing close to the people. What are you doing?
Song Xuan glanced at Hu Qian meaningfully, and had to say, this old boy has a vicious vision, and he has never been on the wrong side in terms of key positions.

This kind of person may not be a good official, but he is definitely the favorite courtier of the superiors.

There is no way, worry-free and sensible, which emperor will be in power, will you not like it?
At the same time, Liu Bowen also spoke.

"Lord Hu doesn't need to spend all his family wealth. I was in charge of taxation before, and I know more about how much money our Wu Dynasty has than anyone else.

In a word, my Wu Dynasty is not short of money! "

It is indeed not bad for money, as the emperor, Song Xuan knows this better than anyone else.

Ordinary people can't even imagine how much tax Liu Bowen collected from the powerful gentry in Jiangsu and Zhejiang when he led teams of gunfire soldiers.

There are hundreds of thousands, millions, and even a family that has collected tens of millions of taels of silver.

It was precisely because of the money that Song Xuan was able to build an invincible army of firearms in just a few years, sweeping all kinds of dissatisfaction along the way, and dominating the world!
The three giants of civil servants have already stood up and expressed their support for the universalization of enlightenment education across the country. The civil servants in the hall who originally spoke out against it all faded away.

Although Li Shanchang has not expressed his position yet, everyone knows that this is an old fox who does not scatter eagles when he sees a rabbit. It is impossible for him to express his position directly before the emperor expresses his intentions.

Sure enough, when Song Xuan asked Li Shanchang for his opinion, the head of the Ministry of Civil Affairs did not express his opinion directly.

"Your Majesty, popularizing enlightenment education for all is a great gift to the people. But equally, there are advantages and disadvantages.

The positive side is naturally that there will be a large number of talented generals in my military dynasty in the future, and I will no longer have to worry about the lack of talents.

The disadvantages are also obvious. After the popularization of enlightenment education, the common people have opened up their wisdom, and I am afraid that it will be more difficult to manage in the future.

In fact, all dynasties and dynasties have essentially implemented a policy of ignoring the people.The less the common people know, the easier it will be for them to rule if the structure is fixed on their own one-acre three-point land.

And if the people's wisdom is opened, the common people will know more, understand more, and the desire in their hearts will continue to increase. For the officials of my Wu Dynasty, how to govern the people will become a big test!

Whether to open up the wisdom of the people or follow the policies of the previous dynasties, the ministers dare not speak nonsense on this matter, it is up to His Majesty to decide arbitrarily! "

After the words fell, the elegant sparrows in the court were silent.

Many people looked at Li Shanchang and couldn't help admiring him.

The policy of obscuring the people has been a matter of tacit understanding throughout the dynasties, but who dares to take the initiative to speak out in the court meeting.

If these words are spread in the future, they will definitely be reviled by all the people.

If one fails, Li Shanchang, the head of civil servants, will be a living target for those so-called Qingliu celebrities to gain prestige and reputation.

Song Xuan looked at Li Shanchang quietly, and said with a smile: "Li Qing is not afraid of rumors and dares to speak the truth in this court. I am very pleased about this. Before I make a decision, can you talk about your thoughts?
Do you want to enlighten the people's wisdom, or do you not want to? "

(End of this chapter)