Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 361 0356 [Government [-]]

Zhang Gen and his wife, Huang Shi, visited Zhu Guoxiang's mansion for the first time.

Zhu Guoxiang warmly received him, let Shen Yourong and Wen Xiaomei chat with Huang, and also called his daughter-in-law Zhang Jinping to meet his parents.

Compared with when they got married, the two families are obviously much stranger.

After a few glasses of wine, Zhang Gen reminded casually: "The scope of salaries and officials has been expanded to the county government. Do you have a lot of money and food to pay the officials' salaries?"

"You have to try, and the salary is not high. Many officials can only receive some monthly rations."

Zhu Guoxiang explained in detail: "Many yamen in the court of the Song Dynasty overlapped. With Chongwenyuan, Mige, Longtuge, Zhaowenguan, Jixianyuan, these five yamen, in fact, only one or two can be left. There are six divisions in Shangshu Province, nine temples, and three divisions. If half of these yamen can be cut down, wouldn’t the court cut down the three divisions? There is the Ministry of Rites, there is Taichang Temple Ritual Music, and there is also a discussion ceremony Bureau, Court of Etiquette, and Court of Taichang Courts. There is the Ministry of Punishment, the Criminal Code of Dali Temple, and then the Judgment Court. These yamen not only have overlapping functions and powers, but also have countless redundant officials, and each yamen has more officials. There is still a shortage of officials. That’s how redundant officials and redundant officials come about. Wouldn’t it be good to abolish the redundant yamen and use it to pay the low-level officials?”

Zhu Guoxiang drank a cup and continued: "This is the case in the center of the imperial court, and so are the various state capitals. A large number of yamen have overlapping powers, and there are countless redundant officials. Cutting half of them is redundant. Streamlining the organization and cutting redundant staff can also improve office efficiency.

When Zhao Guangyi was in office, there were only 200 court officials.

When Song Zhenzong succeeded to the throne, the number had increased to 400.

When Song Renzong ascended the throne, it directly became more than 1000!

Since then, the establishment has continued to expand, both at the central and local levels.

And every time an official is added, several officials, or even more than ten officials, will be added.

If it is because of economic and population growth, it is reasonable to need to continuously increase officials.But many yamen are purely redundant, and many positions are completely empty, and it is more than enough to cut half of them directly.

Especially extra officials and idle officials are purely for dry food!
If one idle official is abolished, a bunch of officials can be laid off, and the salaries used to support them can be used to pay grassroots officials, isn't it?
Zhang Gen raised his glasses and touched each other: "Your Excellency, do you want to practice the young crop method?"

"The young crop method must be done, but how to do it needs to be carefully planned." Zhu Guoxiang also felt a headache about this.

Because Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty expropriated and expropriated the small households in the countryside, they basically owed usury loans to large households, and the interest could not be paid off for several lifetimes.

It is definitely not possible to divide the land by beating the local tyrants. It can really be as simple as one size fits all and comfortable.Without strong grassroots control, it will only turn into smashing, looting and burning, which will destroy productivity and stable production relations.

What's more, the landlord is also the basic base of the Zhu family and his son.

The young crop method was not invented by Wang Anshi, it existed as early as the middle and late Tang Dynasty.

Based on the Changping warehouse, the government buys rice at high prices in good years to avoid hurting farmers due to low grain prices; sells rice at low prices in bad years to keep grain prices down as much as possible.Appropriate amount of loans to farmers, so that farmers can spring, or used to tide over difficult times.This is the green seedling method that has been used since the Tang Dynasty.

However, in the implementation process, there are too many loopholes to exploit, and the scope is limited to the rural areas near the state and county towns.

Wang Anshi's young crop method is to fill in those loopholes and expand the scope to a wider area.

But the operation is completely deformed!
First, Wang Anshi stipulated a maximum interest rate of two cents, and local officials adjusted it to at least three or four cents, and low-interest loans to benefit the people directly became usury loans.

Second, I am afraid that the people will borrow indiscriminately, so that the rich and the poor will be matched, and ten households will be guaranteed loans.If the interest rate is really low, rich households will borrow more, but small people will not be able to get loans.In addition, rich households take low-interest loans from the government, and resell them to make high-interest loans to small people to make a difference.And if it becomes high interest rates, the common people will be forced by the government to borrow money, and the rich households will pass on the usury to the ordinary people.

The more popular Wang Anshi's young crop law is, the more miserable the people will be.

And when it was implemented, the government did not have enough money and food for loans, so it had to buy rice from rich private households as a reserve, that is, "hebu".At the time of Wang Anshi, "Hebu" had already started issuing IOUs. Rich households sold grain to the government, but they could only receive a bunch of IOUs, saying that they could use IOUs to offset taxes next year.However, whether the tax can be deducted and when the tax can be deducted depends on how the government interprets it.

Up to now, the government has stopped pretending, and the IOUs are too lazy to fight again. "Hebu" has directly become a miscellaneous tax apportionment.

Zhu Guoxiang needed to supply food for his son to fight the war. Where did he get the money and food reserves to engage in the young crop method? The reputation of "Hebu" has been rotten, and the Zhu family and his son announced the cancellation of this kind of apportionment, and picking it up would just slap themselves in the face.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "I plan to let the landlords reduce rent and interest."

"How to subtract?" Zhang Gen was quite curious.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "It will be implemented from New Year's Day next year. Previously, farmers borrowed money and food, no matter how much interest they borrowed, it would be calculated as one cent per year. If the interest exceeds the borrowed principal, the interest will be suspended immediately and only the principal will be repaid. If it has been repaid twice Principal and interest, the payment of principal and interest will be stopped immediately, and the loan relationship will be terminated. From next year, the annual interest of new loans of money and grain shall not exceed two and a half cents. This is a reduction of interest. As for the reduction of rent, the maximum land rent limit shall be established according to the level of land property and the tax amount. The land rent shall not exceed [-]% of the land’s regular products.”

Zhang Gen said with a smile: "The landlord thinks the interest rate is too low, so what should I do if I don't lend money to the tenants and ordinary people?"

Zhu Guoxiang said: "The annual interest rate of two and a half cents is enough for the landlord to borrow money to make a profit. If it is profitable, he will definitely lend money and food."

Zhang Gen asked: "How to implement the reduction of rent and interest?"

Zhu Guoxiang said: "I have a knife."

"King Shu also had a knife back then." Zhang Gen said.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "My knife can kill officials, officials, and landlords."

Zhang Gen shook his head: "Your Excellency, you can't kill people with your own hands. The knives will always be in the hands of officials. What should officials do if they take advantage of the opportunity? What about the collusion between officials and the people? What about the landlord who conceals the property?"

Zhu Guoxiang said: "That's why we need to start equalizing the tax on square land. We will clear the land in autumn and winter this year, and send inspectors to all states and counties. Small people can sue the landlord, and the landlord can sue the officials. Beheading. If the landlord intentionally conceals the property, or falsely reports the land, etc., the penalty will be determined according to the amount of concealment. The light ones will be fined ten times, and the property will be confiscated.”

"It is inevitable that there will be omissions or unjust cases." Zhang Gen said.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "Some mistakes and omissions can be tolerated, as long as there are no major disturbances. If the officials are not stupid, they will implement them seriously, because they can quickly gain political achievements. The real worry is not the collusion of officials when Zhang Tian was in power, but In order to increase their political achievements, the officials count the barren mountains and wild mountains as the landowners."

"Indeed," Zhang Gen said, "It's a good thing to check the fields, but Cai Jing's several Fangtian orders were ruined by the officials' random Zhangtian."

Zhu Guoxiang said: "I have asked the craftsmen to make a thousand Zhangtian rulers and a thousand Zhangtian poles, and use the pole rulers as the basis for checking the fields, so as to prevent officials from making large rulers into small rulers and small rulers from making large rulers."

Zhang Gen stayed in Zhu Guoxiang's mansion, and the two chatted for most of the night. The topics were not limited to equalizing taxes in Fangtian, reducing rent and interest, resetting household registration through Zhangtian, and checking out hidden households.There is also the future sharing of the land into the mu (this thing will be announced after the end of the land), how to adjust the tax year by year, and even completely abolish the policy of fines and crimes.

Zhu Guoxiang also drew a blueprint for Zhang Gen. The sixteen prefectures of Youyun must be restored, the Western Regions must also be opened up, Yunnan and Jiaozhi must be brought back, and the vast territory of the prosperous Han and Tang Dynasties must be reproduced.

After talking overnight, Zhang Gen was so old that he was so excited by the talk.

In the middle of the morning of the second day, Zhang Gen woke up in the guest room, staring at the mosquito net on the bed in a daze.

"What happened?" Huang asked.

Zhang Gen said with emotion: "The Zhu family's father and son have been planning for a long time, and the rebellion is definitely not a whim. They have their own system, which involves various ills of the court. If they were born in the Xining period, they must be the backbone of the reform. Now the Song Dynasty has accumulated evils. Besides, it is impossible to reform the law, and we can only implement the new law by rebelling. I no longer hate them for rebelling, but rather admire their decision. It is a pity that my Zhang family is born in Song Lu, how can I be a thief?"

Mrs. Huang looked around and asked in a low voice: "The Zhu family and his son, can the rebellion succeed?"

Zhang Gen thought about it: "It depends on whether we can stop the imperial army. If they occupy Sichuan and prevent the imperial army from conquering it, they only need three to five years of stable governance to conquer Sichuan. They are very ambitious. I will never be reconciled to partiality to Bashu, and I will either lead my troops into Bianliang or be wiped out by the officers and soldiers. There will be no second Xixia, only the rebels who have been killed or the new emperor."

Huang said happily: "Our daughter, can she be a queen?"

"What are you thinking?" Zhang Gen reprimanded, "The Zhang family and the Huang family have been Song officials for generations, so there should be no such words!"

Huang asked: "You often say that the Great Song Dynasty is hard to return to, isn't it?"

Zhang Gen nodded.

Huang asked again: "You often say that it is impossible to change the emperor's reform. Is that true or not?"

Zhang Gen had no choice but to nod again.

Huang said: "The court is hopeless, and our daughter can still be the queen of the new dynasty. Why are you still hesitating in public or private? When you were in power in Huainan, you moaned and sighed all day long, blaming the emperor and blaming the emperor. The treacherous officials still scold the local corrupt officials every day, and the poor people are expropriated. If you look at Hanzhong again, after being occupied by in-laws, how can the people live better than the people in Huainan?"

Zhang Gen was upset, got up and went for a walk outside, and said: "I'll think about it again."

Zhang Gen walked alone in the street, no one was following him, thousands of thoughts came to his mind, he stood at the cross street not knowing where to go.

"Good news, good news!"

An official ran through the streets holding a loofah: "The general (Juming) has captured the entire Keli Prefecture, and the officers and soldiers have been defeated..."

After a while, another official sent Lubu to report the victory: "Li Tongzhi (Li Bao) has conquered the entire territory of Bazhou, and the officers and soldiers fled..."

The two good news caused a sensation in the city.

Merchants, scholars, and ordinary people took to the streets one after another, and ran to watch Lubu to inquire about the news.

If there were no victories, if the territory could not be continuously expanded, Zhu Guoxiang's benevolent government would be a rootless apple, and the people would always have various worries in their hearts.

Only continuous war victories can effectively boost the hearts of the people!

With the prestige of a great victory, Zhu Guoxiang announced the tax order for Fangtian, and at the same time asked the scholars in his jurisdiction to sign up as inspectors.

Inspectors have no salary, only food and travel subsidies, and replace Zhu Guoxiang to inspect the average land tax situation in various places.This is not counted as being a thief, but just monitoring for the people. If any problems are found, being a thief in the future will also be counted as political achievements.

Those hesitant scholars put aside their doubts completely and came to sign up one after another.

I am not a thief, I have no psychological burden, and I am not afraid of being traced by the court.

If the rebels become bigger and the separatist regime in Sichuan is not destroyed, they will be able to formally follow the rebels, and this inspection will also be included in their political achievements.

There are only advantages, no disadvantages, and fools will not do it!
Even the Taixue expelled students are itching and brainwashing themselves: this is not following the thief, this is clearing the land for the people!

Chen Dong couldn't hold back at first, and took a few friends to sign up, and was assigned to Baocheng County as a "Fangtian inspector".

(End of this chapter)