On the occasion of rebirth Zhou Sui

Chapter 469 Long-term plan
Cui Che's good mood came and went quickly. After hearing Cui Qiji's detailed account of what he saw and heard on the way home, Cui Che was very angry.

In order to prevent tax collectors from being corrupt, he even specially dispatched spies from the Observation Department to supervise them. Unexpectedly, this so-called supervision department was useless, and might even belong to a link in the chain of interests.

"Tell Zhao Wen to come and see me!"

The roar almost toppled the roof of the wing room, Cui Che's anger made all the followers shudder, Changsun Wuji hurried to the Observation Department to find Zhao Wen.

"The auxiliary machine (Changsun Wuji's auxiliary machine) is in such a hurry, could it be that the king has something to order?"

Zhao Wen was puzzled.

Changsun Wuji waved his hands out of breath and said:

"Your Majesty summoned Master Zhao to go to Xiangguo Mansion as soon as possible."

Seeing Changsun Wuji's appearance, Zhao Wen also guessed that the matter must be serious, he hurriedly put down the file in his hand, and went out with Changsun Wuji quickly before he even had time to explain the matter of the government office to the assistant officials.

On the way, Zhao Wen couldn't help asking:

"Auxiliary machine, do you know what happened?"

Changsun Wuji hesitated to speak, but finally said perfunctorily:

"Master Zhao has gone to Xiangguo's mansion, so it is natural to know."

These words made Zhao Wen's heart tense, he knew that something must have gone wrong, the king wanted to blame himself, otherwise how could Changsun Wuji keep his mouth shut.

If there is really something to ask, Changsun Wuji will definitely reveal a few words, and it will also prepare him to be able to organize his words, calmly respond to Cui Che's inquiries, and give Cui Che a satisfactory answer.

Along the way, no matter how Zhao Wen thought about it, he didn't know what he did wrong, which made Cui Che want to blame himself.

It wasn't until he came to Xiangguo Mansion and faced Cui Che's anger that he realized:
It turned out that the people below committed the crime.

Speaking of Zhao Wen's injustice, he is indeed wronged. Of course, it is impossible to control every spies in various states and counties by himself. They collude with each other and defend each other. It is not difficult to deceive the people above.

But in any case, the responsibility of a powerless man cannot escape.

After scolding Zhao Wen, Cui Che panted heavily, and asked:
"Did you profit from it too?"

Zhao Wen hastily disregarded the relationship, and besides swearing, he also asked Cui Che to send someone to investigate his assets in order to prove his innocence.

Seeing that Zhao Wen was so determined, Cui Che also heaved a sigh of relief. He was really afraid that his trusted companion would be against him.

It's just that Cui Che didn't easily believe Zhao Wen's one-sided words. He would investigate whether what he said was true or false.

Cui Che asked:

"How do you think this matter should be handled?"

Zhao Wen saw Cui Che's complexion softened slightly, and he was glad in his heart, gritted his teeth and said:
"Cunning thieves, who lie to the superior and the inferior, should not be tolerated. I believe that to rule the chaos, heavy codes should be used. I also ask the king Xu Chen to thoroughly investigate the tax customs and markets in various places. Anyone who violates the order and exploits them can be killed."

Cui Che waved his hand, rejecting Zhao Wen's initiative, he said:
"Guzi will send someone to thoroughly investigate this matter."

After dismissing the uneasy Zhao Wen, Cui Che looked at Cui Qiji, with a look in his eyes showing the intention of taking a school exam, and he asked:

"Killing people can only scare people for a while, but if you want a long-term solution for your father, does Bodhisattva slave have a strategy?"

This question also happened to scratch Cui Qiji's itch. Along the way, he was often troubled by this matter. Cui Qiji said seriously:

"I told my father, my son thinks that tax collectors are corrupt because they have a lot of property and their salary is meager, so they don't hesitate to put themselves in danger.

"Since the father asks the child, and the child dares to speak out, it is better to increase the tax collector's salary to maintain his integrity, and to use severe punishments and cruel laws to make him fearful. It will last for a long time."

Cui Che nodded slightly, Cui Qiji was able to think of a way to raise money with a high salary, which was not beyond Cui Che's expectations.

However, Cui Qiji did not stop there, he continued:

"The father used the observation department to supervise the tax collectors, but there was no one to supervise the observation department. The child asked the father to follow the Han system and ordered the spies who supervised the tax collectors to declare the family wealth."

Cui Che's eyes lit up when he heard the words, he was obviously extremely satisfied with what Cui Qiji said.

The so-called imitation of the Han system specifically refers to the counting.

Suan Mian is a property declaration system established by the Han Dynasty for traders and handicraftsmen. According to a certain percentage of the declared property, property tax is paid to increase the country's fiscal revenue.

In the actual implementation, it also encountered strong opposition from businessmen and handicraftsmen.

Naturally, Cui Che didn't want to copy the calculation, but only let the spies who supervised the tax collectors declare their properties, but they didn't collect property taxes.

Of course, what Cui Che was more satisfied with was that Cui Qiji did not simply suggest that he set up another spy agency to supervise the observation department.

The old secret service agencies were monitored by the new secret service agencies. Isn’t that how the Jinyiwei, East Factory, West Factory, and even the Inner Factory of the Ming Dynasty came about.

After agreeing to the two strategies presented by Cui Qiji, Cui Che did not give up on the examination of his eldest son. He continued to ask:

"This time, we wantonly hunted and killed corrupt tax collectors and spies, and we will be able to collect a lot of stolen money. What do you think should be done with these stolen property, Bodhisattva slave?"

Cui Qiji pondered for a long time, he really couldn't decide to pay attention, his father was notorious for plucking wild goose, if any corrupt officials fell into his hands, regardless of the seriousness of the crime or the amount of stolen money, they would have to confiscate their ancestral property.

Seeing Cui Qiji's hesitation, Cui Che smiled and said:

"If you have any thoughts, it doesn't matter if you say it. As a father, you will never blame me for words."

With his father's promise, Cui Qiji said:
"Father, my son thinks that this year's Kanto region has a bumper harvest, and the national treasury is now abundant. The original wealth of the corrupt people can be confiscated from the national treasury, but the stolen money should be returned to the merchants."

Cui Che raised his eyebrows slightly and asked:
"Why do you say that?"

Cui Qiji explained:

"Father once promised merchants that he would not repeatedly collect taxes. Although it is a bad thing for the people below, the people are ignorant and may think that father is untrustworthy. If father returns the stolen money, the people will be convinced."

Cui Che asked:
"It's hard to distinguish the owner, and it's so difficult to return the stolen money. Bodhisattva slaves have a way."

Cui Qiji smiled bitterly and said:

"Children are not gods, so how can we tell the difference?"

As he spoke, Cui Qiji changed the subject and continued:
"However, the boy thinks that since the father and the king cannot distinguish the owner, it is better to inform the people after a thorough investigation of the matter that the stolen money collected will be used as commercial tax for the next three years, and the merchants will be exempted from tax for three years.

"It not only punishes crimes, but also benefits the people. The merchants must be grateful."

Of course, the starting point of all this is the bumper harvest in the Kanto this year. If it was really financially tight, Cui Qiji would not suggest that Cui Che invite people to buy people's hearts like this.

Cui Che looked at the confident Cui Qiji, in a daze, as if seeing himself in his youth.

　There is one more chapter, before twelve o'clock.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)