Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 362 0357 [Government Five]

To say that Wang Anshi's reform has all kinds of benefits but no harm, it should undoubtedly belong to the "Farmland Water Conservancy Law".

In the seven years since its implementation, more than 1 water conservancy projects have been built across the country, which can irrigate more than 3600 million mu of private land, and a large amount of wasteland has been reclaimed as farmland.

Fu Xingzhong presided over the dredging of mountains and rivers and weirs, and he went there with the "Farmland Water Conservancy Law".

Moreover, there is no need for the government to spend too much money and food, because it can be "spread into the mu".That is to say, according to the villages that the mountains and rivers flow through, money and people are paid according to the number of acres, which embodies the principle of "who benefits, who contributes".

Under normal circumstances, as long as the government does not mess around, the common people will actively cooperate.

Specific to each village, there must be countless small disputes.For example, my field is obviously farther away from the water canal, why should it be apportioned like yours?For example, if a canal passes by and occupies a ridge of land from my house, the government should compensate it.

These small disputes can be handled by the villagers themselves, and the government only needs to force them.

This approach is the literal meaning of "spread into the mu".

What Yongzheng did was actually to change part of the local tax to the national tax, and to link it with the land property in order to stabilize the tax collection (the Southern Song Dynasty also tried it and achieved certain results).

Zhang Juzheng practiced a whip method, and the corvee was collected as silver taels, that is, "Dingxi money".

In the Ming Dynasty, "Dingxi money" was used for local expenditures and did not need to be handed over to the central government.

In the second year of Chongzhen's accession to the throne, he thought about handing it in proportionally.But until he crooked his neck and hanged himself from a tree, he was only partially fooling around with execution.

Yongzheng came to be ruthless, and all provinces across the country had to hand over "Dingqian money" and spread "Dingqian money" into the land tax.Some provinces pay less and some provinces pay more. The overall average is about 80%.

For example, the city wall in a certain county has collapsed, and corvee needs to be conscripted to repair the city wall.

In the Ming Dynasty, the county collected 1 taels of dong, all of which could be used to build the city wall.

After Yongzheng, 8000 taels need to be handed over to the central government first, and only 2000 taels are left to handle affairs in the localities.

What if the project funds are not enough?
Either raise taxes or apportion.

It means that nothing has changed, the corvee has to be collected, and the landlord just pays an extra amount.The landlord will pass the loss on to the tenant.

So, it's purely for tax collection.

There are also advantages, such as increased central government finances, relaxed household registration management, and more active social population mobility.

By the way, no matter how powerful Yongzheng was, it was not implemented nationwide, and the reform was completely completed during the Guangxu period.The impetus for the reform was that the Qing government was short of money, forcing the provinces that had not been implemented to hand over.

……

Fu Xingzhong took a few civil officials and more than a dozen soldiers to inspect the Hanzhong Basin by boat and horseback.

Every time you go to a county, you first contact the county magistrate and call a meeting of local officials.

Then he visited Shanheyan on the spot and discussed the situation with local gentry, and there were constantly rural gentry as free attendants.

According to Zhu Guoxiang's plan, the treatment of mountains and rivers and weirs will be completed in three years: in the first year, the original weirs and canals will be dredged; Guduan; in the third year, the Shanhe Weir was extended to Yangzhou.

After the completion of the project, the Shanhe Weir will be completely integrated into the Han River system, which will benefit the entire Hanzhong Basin.

The grain in the Hanzhong Basin is very likely to be doubled!
Doubling is not an adjective, but a statement of fact. There is a huge difference in yield between dry and paddy fields.Moreover, in a disaster year, dry fields are likely to lose their harvest.

The preparatory work for the Shanhe Canal was carried out in conjunction with Zhu Guoxiang's Fangtian Order.Because the canal is built according to the apportionment of the farmland, the number of farmland must be found out first, otherwise it is unknown how many wealthy households will pass on the corvee.

After visiting for more than a month, Fu Xingzhong returned to Hanzhong Fucheng with thick drawings.

"Great victory, great victory, the general wiped out [-] enemy soldiers in Zitong. There are no strong enemies on Chengdu Fulu, and the emptiness of troops can be passed down..."

More than a dozen officials took the lubu and read it all over the city, then went out of the city to publicize it, and then ran to other counties.

Inside and outside of Hanzhong City, countless people rushed to tell each other.

These days, good news comes one after another.

Sometimes when a good news came from the front line, Zhu Guoxiang deliberately split it into several copies and released them separately at intervals of seven or eight days.

Even when Zhu Ming dispatched hundreds of miscellaneous soldiers to occupy a remote empty city, he could use it alone to promote it.It seems that there are a large number of officers and soldiers stationed in those small counties.

In this way, an atmosphere is created: the rebel army always wins battles, and the officers and soldiers can't resist the big victories every now and then.

Not long after Fu Xingzhong entered the city, he saw hundreds of people standing in front of Lubu to watch.Some scholars read it aloud, and the people standing outside could hear it.

"If this continues, Mr. Zhu will be the emperor!"

"If the officers and soldiers don't fight, how can they win the rebel army?"

"It's not that the officers and soldiers don't fight, it's that the general is very powerful. Didn't you hear Lubri say that the general led hundreds of cavalry and charged through thousands of officers and soldiers until he reached the central formation and chopped down the banner The enemy commander was captured alive?"

"I heard that the general knows magic, and it's the overseas fairy method he learned from Zhu Xianggong."

"I have known for a long time that Xingyuan Mansion... No, it should be called Hanzhong Mansion City, and it was captured by the general who summoned meteorites."

"Don't talk nonsense, the general is both civil and military, and he relies on strategy and martial arts to fight. Among the thousands of troops, capturing the enemy commander alive is a peerless general, and Xiang Yu's resurrection is nothing more than that."

"Han Erlang, you have also studied, why don't you become an official soon? You still have time to watch Lubu with us."

"I went to seek an official in the past two days. I knew that Mr. Zhu could accomplish something. I was watching and divination for Mr. Zhu a few days ago. The astrology was obtained yesterday. The guest star violated the Ziwei Palace, and the Ziwei star was weak. It must perish, a new king will come, and the dynasty will change soon!"

"Didn't you say last month that the emperor's star is bright, and the rebels must die?"

"One moment, another moment. The astrology is unpredictable, and it is difficult for ordinary people to understand. In case, there will be changes from day to night, not to mention it has been more than a month?"

"..."

Fu Xingzhong heard it funny, and continued to go to Zhu Guoxiang's mansion.

But outside the yamen, more than 20 scholars gathered.

These guys have been holding a wait-and-see attitude. Knowing that the entire army of officers and soldiers on Chengdu Fulu was wiped out, and that the rebel army occupied the Chengdu Plain was a foregone conclusion, they finally couldn't help but ran to seek an official position.

Suddenly, an official came out and announced: "Master Jinglue (Zhu Guoxiang) told me to pass on the message that all the gentlemen are the pillars of the country, and if they have talents, they must be reused. After the spring of next year, there will be another exam. Please come again next year." .”

The scholars seemed very anxious. If they wait until next year, all the good jobs will be taken up.

Now everyone is starting to regret that they shouldn't wait and see.Those scholars and officials who were quick to follow the thieves had already reached the highest level of knowing the state, and they were actually compared by the subordinate officials!

A scholar asked: "Is it still possible to sign up at this time and go to the counties to be Fangtian inspectors? We don't want anything, we bring our own money to inspect the counties, just want to find out mistakes and omissions and get some political achievements."

"Yes, yes, yes, you bring your own money to be an inspector, and it doesn't cost Mr. Zhu a cent!" The rest of the scholars echoed.

The subordinate officer said: "Everyone wait a moment."

The subordinate officer went in to ask for instructions, and came back after a while: "Master Jinglue said that you can be an inspector, but you are not allowed to take the opportunity to harass the local area, and you are not allowed to eat for free in the countryside. Once it is found that such behavior has occurred, it will be sent to the police station." The roster will never be hired! Come in and get your badge if you want to."

"Willing, willing!"

When a group of scholars flocked in and could become officials easily, they watched with cold eyes.It is even more difficult to be an official now, but he is so enthusiastic that he is willing to work as an inspector at his own expense, just to accumulate political achievements before being officially hired.

Fu Xingzhong didn't know whether to laugh or cry. With these guys eager for political achievements staring at him, it is estimated that Qingzhang Tianmu will be smoother, and officials and landlords will be caught if they don't pay attention.

After waiting for a while, Fu Xingzhong was invited in.

Zhu Guoxiang asked his entourage to watch tea, and asked with a smile, "How is the investigation going?"

Fu Xingzhong held out a thick stack of drawings, pulled out the top one and said: "This is the map of mountains, rivers and weirs from Baocheng to the northeast of Nanzheng (the first phase of the project). Change, after all, time has changed for too long."

Zhu Guoxiang asked: "What is the attitude of the people?"

Fu Xingzhong said: "The gentry are the most active. They are willing to contribute money, food and people. If there are disputes, they will also coordinate themselves. The common people are more indifferent, but they do not resist this."

This stems from Zhu Guoxiang's folk prestige, and he has never contradicted his promise, so his credibility is directly full.

To put it bluntly, the Zhu family and his son may be exterminated by the court, but the repaired mountains and rivers have always been there, and the landlords can enjoy the benefits for a long time.

Zhu Guoxiang could get the gentry and landlords to work together to build the weir, but the officials of the Song Dynasty couldn't do it.Because of the poor credibility, the landlords don't trust the government even if they say it in a hype, and they always feel that those guys want to take advantage of the opportunity.

"How much food do you need for the first phase?" Zhu Guoxiang asked.

Fu Xingzhong said: "After removing the apportionments of the common people, the Jinglue Mansion has to allocate five thousand guan of money and eight thousand shi of grain."

"Yes, I will raise funds as soon as possible." Zhu Guoxiang was satisfied with this, because it was so cheap.

It is so cheap, of course, the common people apportioned the bulk.

Zhu Guoxiang also said: "Jinglue Mansion formally established the Water Conservancy Department, and you will take full responsibility. Officials and officials, I will transfer some of them to you. It is advisable to start work as soon as possible, and repair it before spring plowing."

There are two main weirs and many branch weirs in the water conservancy project that runs through the two counties. The construction period in one winter is very tight.

Even if the fathers and elders of all villages go to battle, if there is heavy snow, they will probably not be able to complete it.

Pointing to the blueprint, Fu Xingzhong said: "We promise to dredge the two main weirs, but the branch weirs may not be able to do so. Especially the branch weirs connecting the two main weirs and the Han River are almost completely silted up, which is no different from re-excavation. "

Zhu Guoxiang said: "You don't have to worry about how much you repair this year. You can dig the rest next year after spring plowing."

"Yes!"

Fu Xingzhong is full of ambition, and being an official under Zhu Guoxiang is much more interesting than being an official in Song Dynasty.

There are many things that he wanted to do but could not do before.

(End of this chapter)