Chu and Han contend for the throne

Chapter 265

At that moment Xiao He asked: "Brother Bai thinks, how should the big man carry out the reform?"

Bai Mo didn't immediately answer Xiao He's question, but asked Xiao He back: "Mr. Xiao Guo thinks, what is the most lacking thing in the Great Han Kingdom?"

After pondering for a moment, Xiao He said: "Brother Bai is a sensible person, so there is no need to lie about the truth. The Han Kingdom is currently short of money, food, and even strong men. But in the final analysis, what is lacking is population! As long as the population is sufficient, money, food, taxes, and taxation Naturally, there will be enough, and there will be no shortage of strong men who can be recruited into the army."

Bai Mo tapped the knot lightly and said: "Xiao Guoxiang's words are right!" After a pause, Bai Mo said again: "So, if you want to make the country rich and the people strong, such as the implementation of the household registration law and the land tax law are all palliative measures, only rewards Procreation and population accumulation are the fundamental solutions, and if the Great Han Kingdom wants to carry out reforms, it should be used as a breakthrough point!"

Xiao He pondered and said: "Reward births, save population?"

"Yes, rewarding births and accumulating population." After Bai Mo finished speaking, he raised his wine glass, covered his sleeves and drank it all, and said, "However, given the current situation, it is not easy for the Great Han Kingdom to truly achieve these things."

Xiao He nodded lightly and said, "I would like to hear the details."

Bai Mo put down his glass of wine and said, "At present in Guanzhong, most of the land and property are in the hands of aristocratic families and gentry families. Many of the large number of Li and common people are tenant farmers of aristocratic families and gentry families. There are actually not many self-cultivating farmers who actually own their own land. The arable land they own is also extremely limited, but these tenant farmers and self-cultivating farmers bear all the Yao labor, calculation tax and land tax."

Xiao He nodded silently. What Bai Mo said was true. There are thousands of miles of fertile land in Guanzhong, and there are millions of hectares of fertile land. At least half of them are in the hands of major families and noble families, and less than half of the cultivated land belongs to self-cultivators. The owner farmers who own less than half of the arable land bear all the land tax of the Han Kingdom!

There are also those tenants and farm laborers who leased the land from the noble family and the gentry. In addition to bearing the high land rent, they also had to bear the Yao labor, pawns, and tax calculations (poll tax) apportioned by the state. The burden was not insignificant.

Bai Mo pointed his fingers and counted in detail: "Look, Mr. Xiao Guo, with a small area of ​​cultivated land, self-cultivating farmers not only have to support their wives and children, but also have to pay land taxes, calculate taxes, and serve in Yao labor. Under the circumstances, even if the Prime Minister of the country rewards births, would they dare to have children? You need to know that if you have one more birth, you will have to pay an extra tax!"

Xiao He was silent when he heard that, under such circumstances, the common people of Li and Shu did not dare to live more, because they simply couldn't afford to support them.

Bai Mo breathed a sigh of relief, and said again: "People in the world only know that war is a major cause of population loss. Who doesn't know that the heavy labor, calculation and land tax are the main factors restricting population growth!" After a pause, Bai Mo said again , "So, if the Han Kingdom wants to obtain more population, more tax sources, and more military sources, it must equalize the Yao service and equalize the tax!"

"Jun Yao's service, Ping Shu Fu?!" Xiao He's face suddenly changed, and he said in a deep voice, "I would like to hear the details."

Bai Mo said: "The so-called average Yao service is to convert the annual Yao service of the strong men into a fixed amount of money. In this way, the strong men of Han can only pay the fixed amount of money, and there is no need to suffer from the Yao service. If the country needs a lot When the strong men are employed, they can pay money to recruit labor from the people."

"Junyao's service is like this, so what about the balance?"

"The so-called equal calculation tax is the abolition of calculation tax (poll tax)."

"Suan Fu is the largest tax source for the national treasury. If it is abolished suddenly, won't it make the national treasury tight?"

"That's true." Bai Mo nodded, and said again, "Dare to ask the Prime Minister, how many mouths does Guan Zhongji have?"

Xiao He said without hesitation: "Now the four counties of Guanzhong plus the two counties of Ba and Shu, there are more than three million Dingkou."

"Okay." Bai Mo stretched out his right hand and raised five fingers, and said, "Then make a quota of 500 million kou, and then convert the 500 million kou to be paid into silver, and convert it into money together with the Yao service." In the land tax, the amount of the land tax was re-measured, and at the same time it was stipulated that all cultivated land, regardless of the aristocratic family, should be paid, so the big thing is done."

Xiao He was terrified, and said: "You mean, Yao service and counting Fu are included in Tian Fu?"

Bai Mo nodded his head heavily, and said: "Yes, if you convert the Yao service and the counting tax into the land tax, there will be as many tax sources as there are fields in the Han Kingdom, and the amount of treasury income will only be related to the number of fields from now on, but it has nothing to do with the size of the population." What is related, in this way, the factors restricting population growth will no longer exist.”

"Once the factors restricting population growth are removed, and the state encourages them, the people of Li and Shu will dare to give birth without worry. When the population increases, more farmland must be reclaimed to feed their families. In this way, the area of ​​cultivated land in the Han Kingdom will be There will be more, and there will be more tax sources for the Han Kingdom, which will enter a virtuous circle."

Xiao Hede admits that the prospect Bai Mo paints is indeed very attractive.

In today's world, it is a common reality that the common people of Li and the common people only own a small amount of cultivated land, but bear most of the exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes; Don't dare to have more children, dare not raise more, because they can't afford to have more children.

If Bai Mo’s mentioned Junyao service and flat-rate tax can be implemented smoothly, most of the tax burden will be passed on to a few aristocratic families and gentry, and the burden on the common people will be greatly reduced. Counting the endowment (poll tax), if there are more state rewards, they will dare to give birth and raise them with confidence.

It is entirely foreseeable that the population of Han Kingdom will explode at that time!

Along with the surge in population, the cultivated land area of ​​the Han Kingdom will also increase sharply. As a result, the tax sources and military sources of the Han Kingdom will also increase sharply. In at most 50 years, the comprehensive national strength of the Han Kingdom will be able to leave the Kanto countries far behind. behind him, and this, even Qiang Qin couldn't do it back then.

However, it is not easy to equal Yao's service and equal income.

Xiao He said: "However, it is a very difficult task to clear the cultivated land of the whole country."

After a pause, Xiao He said again: "Also, it is extremely difficult to accept the Fu from aristocratic families and gentry clans. Once a change is forced, it will inevitably lead to fierce backlash from all parties. Wouldn't it shake the foundation of the country?"

Xiao He's worries were not unfounded. As early as the Spring and Autumn Period, many scholars discussed the possibility of Junyao's servitude and the calculation of Fu, but no one could do it for more than 2000 years. Until Zhang Juzheng in the Ming Dynasty, Only then did he finally realize Junyao's service in the true sense, that is, a whip method.

As for Ping Suan Fu, it was not finally realized until the Yongzheng period of the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

The population of the Huaxia nationality also achieved explosive growth during the Yongzheng period. The previous population peak occurred in the Wanli period at the end of the Ming Dynasty. At that time, the total population of the Huaxia nationality was only more than 1 million people. The population of the Huaxia tribe suddenly increased to over [-] million. The main reason was the abolition of the poll tax.

The poll tax was not really abolished until the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty, which shows how difficult it is to abolish it.

Especially now that it is still in the period of great turmoil at the end of the Qin Dynasty, Liu Bang, the king of Han, urgently needs the full support of Guanzhong aristocratic families and gentry families. Good Liu Bang may be overwhelmed by the aristocratic families and gentry in Guanzhong.

Therefore, Xiao He's concerns are very reasonable.

But Bai Mo seemed to have a plan in his mind, and said lightly: "Xiao Guoxiang, the so-called troubled times should use heavy codes. In today's world, all the heroes in the Kanto are making great efforts to govern and change. If the King of Han sticks to the rules and sticks to the rules, the general situation will go away." Said, "As for the reaction of the aristocratic family and the gentry..."

Just when Xiao He pricked up his ears to listen solemnly, Bai Mo put it off and said with a smile: "Xiao Guoxiang, it's getting late today, and the younger generation is already a little drunk, why don't we talk about it another day, okay?"

Xiao He couldn't help laughing when he heard the words, thinking that this white ink is clearly up for sale.

"Alright, let's talk about it another day." Xiao He got up after finishing speaking, and said again, "But today I had a long talk with Brother Bai, and I am very pleased with it. I admire my brother's knowledge and experience."

"Xiao Guoxiang is too famous, heh." Bai Mo gave a bow, turned and drifted away.

It wasn't until Bai Mo's slender figure disappeared from the street that Xiao He walked out of the restaurant in a hurry, and ordered the clerk who was waiting outside the gate of the restaurant: "Hurry up, prepare two fast horses immediately!"

"Quick horse?" The little official under the door was stunned when he heard the words, "Where does the Prime Minister want to go?"

"Longxi, there is an urgent matter to present the truth to the king face to face!" Xiao He paused and said, "Hurry up!"

"Here." The little official under the door bowed, turned and hurried away.

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Longxi, the camp of the Han army.

Liu Bang was circling a fiery red horse with a shoulder height of more than eight feet, and asked Sui He, "Sui He, this is the Dawan horse you mentioned?"

Su He nodded and said, "Exactly."

While speaking, several members of the small Han army who had confronted Chu State heavy cavalry in Jiujiang had already arrived at the tent.

At that moment Liu Bang asked those little schoolboys, "Look, how does this Dawan horse compare with the heavy horses of the Chu army?"

Several Han army juniors nodded and said: "My lord, the heavy horses of the Chu army are almost like this."

"Okay!" Liu Bang slapped his thigh and ordered Sui He, "Sui He, you will go to Yueshi immediately to buy such a horse for the widow, and tell the king of Yueshi that he wants as many such horses as there are widows! "

Sui He nodded, and said: "My lord, the Yuezhi people are now facing the threat of the Huns, and the situation is not optimistic. Once the Yuezhi people are destroyed by the Huns, it will be very difficult for us to get Dawan horses."

"Huns?" Liu Bang frowned, and said angrily, "It's these damned Huns again!"

Zhang Liang next to him smiled slightly and said, "Your Majesty, our cavalry is almost ready now, and it's time to show the Huns some strength, ha ha."

(End of this chapter)