The legend of the king of crossing

Chapter 61

"My dear friends, the national treasury is getting empty, what should we do? Let's discuss it together."

I saw Jia Sidao looking indifferent, with his eyes slightly closed, maybe he was watching what I, the real dragon emperor, would do, or maybe he was preparing to see my jokes, in short, this attitude made me very uncomfortable.

Since Emperor Lizong, the economy of the Southern Song Dynasty has been declining all the way, paper money has depreciated, prices have risen, and military expenditures are in short supply.Although the public land law implemented in [-] eased the pressure on the military expenditure of the frontier army, it did not essentially restrain the economic decline. In addition, the supervision was extremely weak during the implementation process, and it became a new source of social unrest.

Ma Tingluan and others don't know this way, and they don't dare to play it lightly. Although the current economy is indeed riddled with holes, these big bureaucrats and big landlords still live a life of adequate food and clothing, and the salaries issued by the court are not enough at all. For the cost, if we come up with a plan similar to the public land law, wouldn't it be shooting ourselves in the foot, and the gain outweighs the loss.

Wen Tianxiang, Lu Xiufu and others were too low in official rank, and they didn't play in the class.

For a while, the huge hall was silent.

"Since everyone is silent, let's throw bricks to attract jade." I said coldly, "When it comes to the national treasury, you have to mention the public land law, so let me talk about the public land law first."

Since I came to the throne, the ministers of the DPRK and China have been divided into two extreme factions. Although I have supported Jia Sidao in the past to continue implementing this law, I have never responded positively to the public land law. This time it should be me It was the first time for the emperor to express his views on the public land law, so Jia Sidao, Ma Tingluan and others all concentrated their energy.

"First of all, let me state my position. I support the public land law. The original intention of the public land law is also advisable, and enough military pay was raised in the year when the public land law was implemented." I said straight to the point, "The public land law can be divided into two parts. One is the source of public land, and the other is the use of public land. The source of public land was originally from official land, but due to the privatization of official land, the land has become more and more concentrated in the hands of a few people, resulting in serious poverty. Wealth is uneven, and this is why the government repurchases the excess land from the owners to become public land. The imperial court has public land, and then resells it to farmers with insufficient land, or recruits farmers by establishing official villages (similar to state-owned farms) , migrants, etc. lease farming, which can solve the unemployment problem of farmers displaced. From these we can see that the public land law is just a process of redistribution of land. For most farmers, this process has more advantages than disadvantages. But for the landlord class, there is a lot of opposition. Why? Because their interests are involved, I remember that if the teachers and ministers hadn't taken the lead in donating [-] mu of land in western Zhejiang as official land, to silence the opponents , the first emperor might abolish this law."

Speaking of this, I suddenly raised my voice: "My dear friends, tell me, why do you only account for one tenth of the population but own nine tenths of the land?"

Each of the ministers in the court has their own ideas in their hearts, but no one wants to say it in public. They just think that the emperor still supports the public land law. As for a few people owning a lot of land, it is only natural for them.

I resumed my normal tone and continued: "There is nothing wrong with the public land law itself. What is wrong is that the public land law cannot be implemented in accordance with the imperial court's instructions. I remember that Chen Zongli once said the four major drawbacks of the public land law at the court meeting last year. It is true. But These problems are not caused by the public land law itself. Teachers and ministers are dedicated to the public and only want to increase taxes for the national treasury to prepare for the ever-expanding military expenditures. A few days ago, I asked my teachers and ministers to draw up a supervision method, precisely to put an end to these disadvantages. Teachers and ministers, how is the progress?"

When Jia Sidao saw me calling names, he had no choice but to reply: "Your Majesty, we are discussing with various ministries, and it should be formulated before the end of the month."

"Well, the teacher and minister are bothering. Let's get back to the topic, how to solve the treasury problem."

Wen Tianxiang saw that there was still no one to speak, so he went out to play and said: "My minister Wen Tianxiang believes that the principle should be to increase revenue and reduce expenditure."

Weng Yinglong said in a strange tone: "What Mr. Wen said is very true. It is easy to say that increasing income and reducing expenditures, but it is far from easy to implement. I wonder if Mr. Wen has any specific measures?"

I know that Weng Yinglong's words were directed at me by Jia Sidao: "Today's court meeting, you can speak freely no matter what you think, even if it is a whimsical idea, and it is not marginal, it will be discussed in the court this ten days. Everything revolves around this point, our dynasty needs ZTE, first of all we need to let the people live and work in peace and contentment, only when the country is rich and the people are strong can we carry out other reforms, as the old saying goes, the warehouse knows the etiquette.”

Someone made a start, and there was no need to discuss the public land law, and the ministers began to get excited.

Ma Tingluan said: "My minister Ma Tingluan agrees with Mr. Wen's words. I suggest that the discussion on solving the financial constraints of the treasury should focus on two aspects: increasing revenue and reducing expenditure."

Ye Mengding, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, followed up: "The minister seconded the proposal. The minister proposed to re-approve the officials at all levels, starting with the officials, and merge and reduce unnecessary positions."

Chen Zongli, Zhu Pisun, Jiang Wanli and other queen dowagers and neutral factions seconded the proposal one after another.

I saw that everyone started to speak, and said: "Then let's talk about this throttling first."

"The minister proposes to reduce local officials."

"I believe that the salaries of officials at all levels should be reduced."

"I suggest controlling the daily expenses of each ministry."

"I feel that the Xiang army can be reduced."

"minister......"

In this atmosphere, even people like Jia Sidao couldn’t help showing up in class. It seems that not speaking means not giving the emperor face. Since the solar eclipse, such ministers have more or less treated me as the emperor A little bit of awe.

I watched, listened, and thought about it.

According to what most of these courtiers said, it was only superficial savings, and most of them were aimed at others. These superficial throttlings would at most save them a few coppers from their salaries.

The real losses are hidden in the dark, and corruption is the biggest hidden income of those in power.

Every change in history is very difficult. The reason is that these changes involve the interests of those in power, so the more radical changes will attract stronger pressure, and even pay the blood of those who change.

The time from the Shang Yang Reform to the Reform Movement of [-] was not bloody.

Chinese feudal society has always been a society ruled by man for thousands of years. Even if there are sound laws, they are reduced to a dead letter.

I interrupted: "What you dear friends say is true, I will think carefully, and then I will discuss the matter of open source later."

Jiang Wanli was the first to go out to play and said: "Your Majesty, I believe that the first thing to do is to pay attention to agriculture. The foundation of our dynasty is agriculture. The court should build water conservancy, improve crop yields, and increase farmers' enthusiasm for farming; the second is to develop Industry and commerce encourage different economic forms such as workshops and trade in various places as a supplement to agriculture, and the imperial court can also levy taxes according to their income.”

"This Jiang Wanli has some insights." I thought to myself.

Ma Tingluan objected: "Our government's tax revenue mainly comes from agriculture, and the income from industry and commerce is very small. Mr. Jiang must not put the cart before the horse."

Jiang Wanli said: "Master Ma..."

I was afraid that the two of them would get off topic once they got into an argument, so I interrupted hastily: "Jiang Aiqing, Ma Aiqing, today I'm just talking about ideas, there's no need to identify them, as long as it's good for the national treasury, you can talk about it, whether it's feasible or not."

Hong Tianci continued: "Developing industry and commerce is a feasible way, as long as laws are enacted to collect taxes, firstly, it can increase the revenue of the national treasury, and secondly, more and more refugees can be resettled."

Chen Zongli said: "The minister thought that agriculture should be put first, and then commerce should be carried out after warehouses and granaries."

Lu Xiufu saw that everyone had said almost the same thing and said: "Your Majesty, when the former ministers and Lord Li first entered Yangzhou, there were ruins and ruins everywhere, and it was in a state of desolation. In addition to emphasizing the resettlement of farmers, Lord Li also tried his best to support Yangzhou's salt industry. It took less than a year to make the appearance of Yangzhou City completely new, and I believe that under the premise of emphasizing agriculture, it is the right way to develop various local economies according to local conditions."

Jia Sidao glanced at Lu Xiufu, thinking, Li Tingzhi has capable people under his command, I should still persuade Liao Yingzhong to become an official in the court, just because Weng Yinglong and others still seem a little weak in the court.

Except for a few people such as Jiang Wanli and Hong Tianci, most of the courtiers proposed to expand agricultural investment and did not agree to support industry and commerce.

"My dear friends, after the next court, each department will discuss it on their own, and we will make a conclusion when the next day comes." I looked at Jia Sidao when I announced my retirement and said, "Masters and ministers stay here, and follow me to the imperial study room for further discussion." .”