Three Kingdoms: I will act as a substitute for the Hunjun

Almost everyone paid for the paper on the spot.

Although this new type of paper is as expensive as the Cai Hou paper on the market today, its quality is superior.

Moreover, high-ranking officials like them all came from wealthy families, so they did not need to consider the cost at all when buying their favorite papers. Their subordinates brought back large rolls of paper.

If Liu Bei hadn't stopped the purchase restrictions, they would have wanted to use a car to transport it.

That’s right, now papermaking and paper sales are left to Liu Bei.

The last time Yuan Wei rebelled, Liu Bei was just drinking there and almost missed the big event. It was a mishandling of the matter. Liu Ming deprived him of his command of the imperial guards and demoted him from left colonel to team leader.

Perhaps due to the God's perspective of a time traveler, Liu Ming did not want Liu Bei to become too powerful to avoid unpredictable consequences, but he could not treat him harshly because he had two awesome sworn brothers: Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.

These two great men must not fall into the hands of enemy forces.

He took this opportunity to strip Liu Bei of his military post, but could not force him to leave. After his injury healed, Liu Ming put him in charge of papermaking and completely relieved him of all his military posts.

For this reason, Liu Ming also specifically talked to Liu Bei and told him clearly that he should be executed for dereliction of duty last time, but considering that you are also a relative of the Han Dynasty and are loyal to me and the court, I will give you a chance to atone for your sins by making meritorious deeds. I will appoint you as Paper Cao, responsible for the manufacture and sale of paper.

At the same time, I did not forget to fool him by saying that papermaking is what I value most at the moment, and that papermaking can leave its name in history and benefit future generations, which is no less than the achievements of saints.

Finally, he specifically pointed out that papermaking is the most profitable business in the world today. The prosperity of the Han Dynasty's treasury depends entirely on the money made from papermaking. Your branch of the royal family, which has already declined, can also use this to accumulate wealth and compete with the powerful.

The fact that I entrust you with such an important matter shows that I still have high hopes for you.

When Liu Bei heard this, he burst into tears of gratitude. He thought that he was lucky to have saved his reputation because of his previous mistake. It would be extremely difficult to be reused again. He must have been put on the blacklist by His Majesty.

I didn't expect to be entrusted with such an important task so soon. Although it was not a military position, it was also a department that His Majesty valued very much. Liu Bei's already uneasy heart became restless again and his enthusiasm soared.

Liu Bei was extremely dedicated. The papermaking workshop had already been built at that time, so he quickly started mass production according to Liu Ming's formula, launched a batch of high-quality paper, and established the world's first paper brand.

The business opened today and the effect was surprisingly good. Liu Bei guessed that these papers would sell well when put on the market, but he didn't expect them to be so popular that they had to limit purchase.

Looking at the officials leaving, Liu Bei immediately ordered to speed up production. The papermaking workshop should work non-stop for twelve hours in three shifts to produce several batches of paper as soon as possible and put them on the market.

When these officials arrived at the court, they received an unexpected surprise:

The eunuch Lu Qiang gave each of them an object made of the new Ming Han paper, which was about the size of a palm, but when it was opened, it was actually a folded paper.

"This is a memorial, which I prepared specially for you, my dear ministers." Liu Ming said with a smile, "From now on, you, my dear ministers, will no longer need to use bamboo slips when submitting memorials and letters. You can use this memorial instead."

When the court officials heard this, they were filled with joy and immediately felt that this was a high-end game.

"Your Majesty is wise and wise. Once Ming Han paper is produced, it will help our great Han culture flourish forever."

"Your Majesty will be remembered for eternity just for making paper."

"Your Majesty's improvement of the papermaking technique will benefit future generations, and your contribution is comparable to Cangjie's creation of Chinese characters!"

……

One after another, flattering the emperor came and praised him, and no words were too excessive.

Liu Ming was helpless about this. This was the current atmosphere and habit, and it had even been passed down for hundreds of years. It was impossible to change it all at once, and he could only guide it slowly.

"Today's memorials are made by me for you, my dear ministers. In the future, you will need to make memorials yourself." Liu Ming said with a smile, "This way, a lot of paper will be consumed."

Everyone laughed.

Liu Ming cleverly turned the paper used for memorials into something that officials had to pay for out of their own pockets. This way, paper sales would be even more prosperous and the court's revenue would quickly accumulate.

Once the situation stabilizes, Liu Ming plans to build a papermaking workshop in each state to specialize in the production of new paper and quickly make paper available throughout the world.

The next step was to print books and promote the dissemination of knowledge, laying the foundation for the effective promotion of rural, county and state schools.

In this peaceful atmosphere, today's regular court session began.

First, Grand Tutor and Chief Clerk Xun Yu publicly reported on the progress of the work related to the new tax system.

Everyone finds this model very fresh.

In the past, ministers would report matters to the emperor in court, and major matters were finally decided in a question-and-answer format between the monarch and his ministers. There has never been a public reporting of work progress to the court like today.

So everyone listened very carefully.

Regarding the new tax system, Yuan Ji had been promoting it for several months in the early stage. Now that Xun Yu took over, some contents have been standardized. Xun Yu reported all the relevant circumstances in detail.

At present, all states have sent special tax officials to promote this matter. According to Liu Ming's previous instructions, while vigorously promoting the new tax system, they are also publicly measuring the actual land and population of each household, including the powerful families.

By now, this matter is almost known to the whole world, and it is too late for some vested interests to cover it up and hide it.

The people are extremely looking forward to it, but at the same time they are also worried: Will such a good policy really fall on the shoulders of us suffering people?

The rich and powerful have always been in power, controlling the most abundant resources and finding ways to exploit the lower classes. Occasionally, they would introduce some decompression measures to stabilize their rule and ease conflicts, but in the end, it still comes down to one sentence: prosperity brings suffering to the people, and decline brings suffering to the people. Therefore, most people are in a wait-and-see state, waiting to see what the court will do, whether it is just talk or real action.

After hearing the last sentence, Liu Ming frowned.

"In other words, the Yuan family is actually deceiving their superiors and hiding the truth from their subordinates?" Liu Ming showed anger on his face.

From Xun Yu's investigation, it seems that Yuan Ji was vigorously promoting the new tax system, but in fact there was a difference -

In the counties surrounding Luoyang, the new tax system and the order to promote commerce were indeed being promoted with great fanfare, and land measurements and population surveys were also completed in accordance with Liu Ming's requirements.

In fact, he gained Liu Ming's trust in the early stage because of this, and even slowed down Liu Ming's liquidation of the Yuan family to a certain extent. If Yuan Wei had not directly jumped out to rebel, Liu Ming was even ready to let the Yuan family go, and even planned to leave the position of Grand Tutor to Yuan Wei.

But it now seems that in other places, the promotion of the new tax system and even the order to promote business is extremely limited, the publicity is lukewarm, and the measures are slow to advance. A lot of the publicity is still promoted by Liu Ming using the power of the Ming-Han Guards.

The enthusiasm for promotion at the local level was not as high as expected. The Yuan family also secretly communicated with several large families, hinting that there was room for maneuver. Some places even made arrangements on how to fool people.

"That's true. The Yuan family is actually just putting on an act for Your Majesty to see." Xun Yu said with certainty.

"What about those local officials? I have already sent Yuan Wei's head to all the states. Aren't they moved at all? And they still dare to pretend to obey but actually disobey?" Liu Ming's face was terribly gloomy.

"Most local officials still don't know how to do it." Xun Yu said, "I have already drawn up a work process and asked local officials to implement it. It should be implemented soon, but as you can imagine, there will be a lot of resistance."

"There are always some people who cannot see the situation clearly and are optimistic." Liu Ming stood up. "I have mentioned two principles before, and now we must implement them. First, those who are unwilling to implement the new tax system will be required to make up the tax evasion amount of last year according to the actual land and population statistics. After the amount is made up, the new tax system will be implemented;
"Second, those who are unwilling to cooperate with land surveys and population censuses, or even maliciously obstruct and create trouble, then there is only one word: kill! Kill them until they agree. If one person causes trouble, we will kill that person. If a clan causes trouble, we will kill the entire clan. Not only will we kill people, but we will also confiscate their property. Let these vested interests know what is more important!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the hall fell into silence, and everyone even felt a chill.

Even Lu Zhi, Yang Biao, Xun Yu and others who already knew that His Majesty would use strong measures to push the new tax system again today still felt a chill.

Your Majesty's aura is getting stronger day by day. That kind of momentum that suppresses the world and advances forward really makes people dare not disobey.

There are even many court officials who are still hoping that the new tax system will be shelved with the demise of the Yuan family, so that they can reduce their losses. Now it seems that His Majesty is going to force it.

In this situation, they had no choice but to obey.

"As you wish!" Xun Yu agreed.

Liu Ming thought for a moment and said, "My dear ministers, please explain to your clansmen, so that they won't come to you to complain when they run into trouble. I have made it clear that I will not show any leniency in the implementation of the new tax system. No matter whose clansmen they are, they will be treated equally. Even the princes and nobles of the Liu family of the Han Dynasty will have to pay taxes according to the new system and have their land measured again."

what? !

Many court officials looked at each other in bewilderment. They had never expected that His Majesty would add such a clause in order to promote the new tax system. You must know that since the Han Dynasty, no matter whether they were kings or marquises, especially those who were relatives of the Han royal family, they did not have to pay taxes. They just ate the court salaries and fiefdoms for free. Instead, they could collect taxes and rents within their fiefdoms.

The world is still in turmoil, and the usual approach should be to consolidate the power of the royal family. I didn't expect that Your Majesty would take action against those ennobled princes at this time. You must know that wars are raging everywhere now. If the princes and princes rise up to cause trouble again, wouldn't it be even more chaotic?

"Your Majesty, those who have been granted titles have made contributions to the country, and taxes have never been collected. This is a favor from Your Majesty to the ministers who have made contributions." Grand Marshal Yang Biao suggested, "I suggest that the issue of collecting taxes from the ministers who have been granted titles should be discussed after the world is pacified."

Liu Ming had not mentioned this point when they had met at the central government meeting before, so he suddenly brought it up at this time, which surprised several people.

In fact, everyone knows that His Majesty is trying to set an example for the new tax system and let the people with titles and salaries take the lead, but is it necessary? In order to collect taxes from those powerful people, is it necessary to offend the meritorious officials and the royal family relatives?
"From now on, farms directly managed by the imperial palace will also have to pay taxes." Liu Ming did not directly respond to Yang Biao's words, but continued, "To put it bluntly, that is, under heaven, no matter whether you are a monarch or a minister, a king or a duke, a powerful person or a commoner, an official or a civilian, there is no land that does not pay taxes, and everyone must pay taxes according to the new tax system."

"I understand," Xun Yu replied. With your majesty's resolute attitude and the active cooperation of the court officials and their families, the rest will be easy.

As for the local tyrants, they could not make any waves at all. They had already suffered heavy losses in the Yellow Turban Rebellion. How could they have the ability to directly confront the imperial court at this time? Unless they directly started a rebellion, it was obvious that most people did not have the courage to do so.

The power of the royal family has already declined greatly. In today's chaos, even the court's control has been greatly weakened, let alone those princes who have been granted titles in various places?
Some died in the war, some even became refugees. Even those who stayed could only protect themselves at best. They were absolutely incapable of rising up in rebellion to oppose the new tax system. They were lucky enough to be able to collect taxes from their own fiefdoms.

Of course, there were also more powerful royal families, such as King Chen Liu Chong, who, because of his wisdom and courage, not only saved the land of Chen, but also raised his own army of tens of thousands.

Strictly speaking, it is not allowed for a feudal prince to raise his own army, and it can be considered as treason. However, the Han Dynasty is in turmoil now, and as long as he behaves himself, Liu Ming does not want to touch him.

If Chen Wang Liu Chong rebelled because of the new tax system, Liu Ming would not hesitate to put him down.

"Your Majesty is wise!" Yang Biao could only praise him like this.

He was not worried about the damage to his family's interests. The Yang family of Hongnong had suffered heavy losses when Dong Zhuo occupied Hongnong, whether in terms of land or population, there was nothing to hide.

Now it was nothing more than a little more tax, which was nothing compared to the suffering they had endured before. Moreover, Yang Biao had already taken quick action and planned business matters with his clansmen.

He was actually worried that if such a tough policy was implemented, it would cause backlash or even rebellion among the powerful people in the world.

After all, the Han Dynasty is now plagued by wars all over the country, and these court officials feel that there are crises everywhere, so they prefer to proceed step by step and make steady progress.

As a "veteran", Liu Ming knew that the more chaotic the situation was, the easier it would be to promote reform, and the easier it would be to make the reform thorough. The new tax system, the order to promote commerce, and the imperial examination system had to be vigorously promoted under this special chaotic situation.

Once the new class solidifies, the resistance will be even greater.

"Since all the ministers have no objections, then we should work together to promote its implementation. If we are to do this, we must do it thoroughly and purely, leaving no opportunity for opportunists."

Liu Ming said calmly, "Next, please review the imperial examination system. The relevant selection rules will be distributed below, and Wenruo will explain them one by one."

Soon, Lü Qiang and several eunuchs handed out the imperial examination rules written on white paper to everyone, and then Xun Yu began to explain them one by one. (End of this chapter)