People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 617 Game of Chess
For this era, Xu Chen is undoubtedly a dazzling sun that suddenly appeared, and this sun also successfully ended the chaotic times that should have appeared at the end of the Han Dynasty. Even the more cruel and long dark age that followed would disappear because of this. Even if other factors are not considered, just changing the trajectory of history and avoiding greater disasters is already a great contribution Xu Chen has made in this era.

Of course, Xu Chen brought more than just this to this era. While leading the Yellow Turbans to conquer the world, he also planted new ideas and consciousness in the era. Under this new consciousness, this ancient civilization began to undergo quiet yet drastic changes.

Has anyone ever seen a country achieve a leap forward in just a dozen or twenty years?

Xuan Xia is experiencing this kind of thing now.

An ancient agricultural civilization is desperately moving towards the industrial age. In this process, everyone in this era is like a duckweed drifting with the tide. No matter whether they are willing or able to keep up, they can only follow the trend and rush forward.

In the sixteenth year of the Huangli calendar, under the leadership of the great leader Xu Chen, Xuanxia won a great victory in the southern expedition, and Liangzhou surrendered. In the end, the natural way won the final victory in this great battle at the end of the Han Dynasty.

The troubled times came to an end, but for the Xuanxia court, the end of the war was just the beginning. How to govern the world next would be the real test.

With Xuan Xia's complete military victory, the world went from the flames of war to a peaceful period of recuperation.

Thanks to Xu Chen's early promotion and popularization of natural science ideas and the huge talent education system, science and technology have had increasingly fertile soil, and the growing industrial and commercial environment has become a catalyst for technology. Xuanxia's technological development began to advance by leaps and bounds after the war.

The main road project connecting the north and the south connected the vast land of China more closely, and under the strong policy guidance of the imperial court, a unified national market began to take shape.

An increasingly large group of businessmen are doing everything they can to recruit talent and develop technological products in order to get a piece of this vast ocean of wealth.

At this time, the business environment with relatively strict market supervision but particularly supportive policies began to take effect. Under the influence of the invisible hand of the market, technological progress brought about by competition began to blossom in all aspects, and this is also the value of private businessmen themselves.

In the pursuit of higher profits, lower costs and larger markets to gain wealth, they will continue to launch more high-quality and low-priced products, and they will look for every possible business opportunity to develop products.

The imperial court broke down almost all obstacles and barriers for them. Money houses could provide them with start-up capital, local governments would introduce various favorable policies, and the education system continued to provide them with qualified talents. This made the merchant group the protagonists of the era in the nearly ten years after the war, and countless myths of getting rich overnight were constantly staged.

What followed was an explosive growth in productivity. The industrial development driven by mature steam engines was like installing a never-stopping heart for this civilization, continuously injecting energy and wealth into the country.

In the 25th year of the lunar calendar, Xuanxia's industrial and commercial taxes had completely exceeded agricultural taxes, becoming the largest proportion in the court's financial structure, and this proportion continued to expand. It was not until this time that the energy contained in the industry was finally fully revealed.

For those who have witnessed these earth-shaking changes with their own eyes, the greatest feeling in their hearts is profound respect for Xu Chen.

"The Prime Minister is saying that at an appropriate time in the future, the court will completely abolish the agricultural tax?"

In the courtyard of the Prime Minister's Mansion, two people were playing chess on a chessboard carved on a stone table. One of them was the owner Xu Chen, and the other was Xu Chen's best friend, Zhang Zhongjing, who had accompanied the Yellow Turbans all the way to today. At this time, Xu Chen had completely entered his forties. Even though he was a saint and heavenly master in the eyes of the world, he still could not resist the erosion of time. You could see obvious tail wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, and you could also see that his hair was gradually turning white. He was less vigorous than before, but more calm and restrained.

Zhang Zhongjing, who was sitting opposite him, looked even older. After all, he was much older than Xu Chen, but he was still in good spirits.

While playing chess, Zhang Zhongjing casually talked about the front page of today's newspaper, which was that industrial and commercial taxes completely exceeded agricultural taxes, and he couldn't help but marvel at it.

As a person born in the agricultural age, the most important thing for him was farming for food. Until now, when he had witnessed with his own eyes how industry had brought about earth-shaking changes in the world in the past decade, and today it had directly surpassed agriculture to become the industrial pillar of Xuanxia, ​​he could not help but sigh at the wonders of the world.

However, such a result did not surprise Xu Chen at all. During the conversation, Xu Chen even put forward an idea that shocked Zhang Zhongjing ten times more, which was to directly abolish the agricultural tax.

When he heard this, Zhang Zhongjing's hand shook and the chess piece fell directly onto the chessboard. He was stunned for a long time and didn't react.

Only after he confirmed several times that Xu Chen's expression was not a joke and that he had not heard wrongly did he come to his senses. Without even having time to pick up the chess piece, he asked back.

A rhetorical question is not really a question, but an expression of disbelief.

"Don't ruin the game. It looks like I'm going to win this one."

Xu Chen smiled faintly, stretched out his hand to help him pick up the chess piece and put it back into the chess box, then answered: "This is as it should be. I think that in another 20 to 30 years, the proportion of agriculture in tax revenue will drop to only single digits, and it will be fine to cancel it at that time."

Zhang Zhongjing's eyes widened in shock: "It has come to that!"

It was still difficult for him to imagine that agricultural tax only accounted for a single-digit percentage. In the agricultural era, a country had to rely almost entirely on taxation from agriculture for its survival, while industrial and commercial taxes accounted for a very small proportion. If agricultural taxes were not collected, no matter how great the Qin and Han dynasties were, they would starve to death.

If what Xu Chen said were true, Xuanxia’s tax structure and agricultural society would be completely reversed in the future.

Xu Chen smiled and said, "Zhongjing, don't be surprised. Since we are entering an industrial society, industry and commerce will definitely become the main body of social production. This is a logical thing. The abolition of agricultural tax will not have any huge impact on the country. On the contrary, it can reduce the burden on farmers who are already working hard. This is undoubtedly a good thing."

At this point, Xu Chen paused and looked at Zhang Zhongjing: "Let alone exempting agricultural taxes, even if the imperial court provides subsidies to farmers to support their farming, that's fine."

(End of this chapter)