long live the queen

Chapter 95

After Wei Yunqing relaxed his idea to only open a women's academy in Shangjing, several cabinet ministers readily agreed while thinking that it was absolutely impossible for the Ministry of Household Affairs to have the money to run an academy in the future.

Anyway, it's just an academy, and the imperial concubine pays for it herself. Even if they don't agree, she can still manage it. Why don't they agree to it, so as to avoid another dispute between the two sides.

And Wei Yunqing, who had roughly figured out the thoughts of these ministers, was also very happy. Everything was difficult at the beginning, and now they agreed to her to open a girls' academy, which was their big mistake.Don't they just look down on her and think that she must not be able to do it in the future?In the future, she will definitely let them understand how wrong it is from their standpoint to let her let her run the academy today.

But for now, let them be happy for a while.

With the "support" of the cabinet, Wei Yunqing started to set up the women's academy.The women in the harem also heard all the disputes between her and the cabinet at that time, so she didn't repeat it when she summoned them to the Palace of Yanxi Palace afterwards, and directly asked who was willing to take over this task, and the person who took over this matter would be a woman The first head of the academy.

Although these harem concubines said that they were ready to take part in politics, after all, they did not show their abilities or were not enough, and they were unable to do anything independently. Most of them did not have confidence in starting a girls' academy independently.

Seeing that everyone fell silent, Wei Yunqing glanced around to look at Concubine Zhuang, and asked by name: "Concubine Zhuang, are you willing to take over this matter?"

Concubine Zhuang raised her eyebrows and snorted through her nose: "If I take over this matter, won't I be hated by those adults in the previous dynasty?"

She knew very well that the cabinet was so resistant to the establishment of a women's academy before, whoever took over it was a hot potato, no matter whether it was done well or not, it was of no benefit.

"There is indeed such a problem." Wei Yunqing nodded. She didn't think it was wrong for Concubine Zhuang to think of this level. People don't want to destroy themselves. Wei Yunqing admired her for being able to express her concerns bluntly. After thinking about it She said, "Then I will be the first mountain chief. It is my name to the outside world, but in fact you will take care of it, how about it?"

The fact is that she has too much to do by herself, and she always has to allocate many things.And if she summoned these concubines but didn't let them do things independently, wouldn't it be a waste?At least they are women, and they are generally more reliable than those pedantic scholars in the previous dynasty when it comes to helping her do some things to fight for women's rights.

"You mean, I do all the work now, and all the benefits in the future will be yours?" Concubine Zhuang snorted again.

Wei Yunqing glared at her: "Just say whether you want to do it or not! If you don't do it, I'll find someone else."

Concubine Zhuang glanced around contemptuously, and said with a sneer, "It's just them? You really have a big heart."

"...Okay, let's just decide it's you." Wei Yunqing rolled his eyes in his heart, and directly came to a conclusion.

Concubine Zhuang didn't object, but her expression was still dismissive.

Wei Yunqing didn't bother to answer her duplicity, and continued to ask: "Is there anyone else willing to help Concubine Zhuang?"

After a few seconds of silence, two of the selected servants carefully raised their hands—this was taught by Wei Yunqing, who said that when discussing matters, you should raise your hands if you have something to say, and don't make a mess.

Wei Yunqing nodded and said with a smile, "Then I will trouble the three of you."

Concubine Zhuang glanced back at the two chosen attendants, the latter two looked away a little guilty, not daring to look at her, Concubine Zhuang snorted coldly, looked away, and didn't say anything against her.

After confirming the person in charge of opening the women's academy, Wei Yunqing began to worry about money again.In fact, there are three difficulties in starting a women's academy: money, faculty, and student resources. But since the person in charge has been appointed, the last two items will be mainly in charge of Concubine Zhuang. Wei Yunqing only needs to discuss with her the main educational direction of the women's academy in the future.For the time being, Wei Yunqing still has the money to open an academy, but it is only enough to open and maintain this one. She has to find a way to make money so as not to lose her successor.

He couldn't think of a reason for it, so Wei Yunqing asked Cao Jun to call Jin Yan over. Jin Yan was the secretary of the household department, and he knew Daliang's financial situation best.

Jin Yan and Wei Yunqing can probably be regarded as hating each other. When Wei Yunqing asked him about his financial situation, he just chose the simplest way to say it, but he didn't lie.

At present, Daliang's national fiscal revenue depends on taxation, which is mainly divided into land tax and commercial tax, and land tax accounts for the bulk.The land tax is based on the area of ​​cultivated land and land area, and the annual fluctuation range is not large. The recent financial difficulties are mainly due to the sudden increase in military expenditure.

After Jin Yan talked about the tax rate of land tax, Wei Yunqing nodded. The land tax in Daliang is not heavy, and farmers can basically survive.In fact, according to her idea, the agricultural tax should be abolished. Farming is very hard work, but every year there are only a few things to grow in the land, and taxes have to be paid, so farmers can only have enough food and clothing.But even in modern times, the agricultural tax was not abolished until 2006, which was due to the development of the entire social economy and the industrialization and scale of agriculture. Nowadays, it is all manual, and the national tax depends on the agricultural tax. The agricultural tax is basically Impossible to cancel.Moreover, not only economic considerations, but also political considerations in the collection of agricultural taxes—in some places, the sky is high and the emperor is far away. If the agricultural tax is not levied, how can the people feel awe of the imperial power?

Since the agricultural tax is inconvenient to adjust, only the commercial tax can be used.However, according to Jin Yanyi's introduction, there are many types of commercial taxes, including taxes on gold, silver, iron, grain, silk, etc., customs and city taxes, etc., and it is not appropriate to add more.And things like tea, salt, and minerals are monopolized, which is equivalent to contracting from the state to private individuals, and others are not allowed to operate them without authorization.

After listening to Jin Yan's introduction, Wei Yunqing thought of two problems. One is that there is a lack of state-owned enterprises in Daliang. Monopoly products such as tea and salt can be controlled by the state, but now they are all outsourced. This must be indispensable. Money and power transactions are operated in a black box. If she proposes to nationalize all those things, it will definitely arouse opposition from both sides of the interest. Let's wait for the future to discuss this.The other is that Daliang adopts a complete closed-door policy and does not do business with other countries.According to Jin Yan, this is also a helpless move.

Daliang and other countries have land and sea routes.Let’s talk about the land route first. In the early years, there were commercial exchanges with Song Dynasty, but after the relationship between the two countries deteriorated, the commercial exchanges were cut off.In addition to the Song Dynasty, there are also some independent nomadic peoples in the north. Daliang has dealt with the other party. The other party does not respect the spirit of the contract. They do not pay for the goods they rob, or the quantity of goods sold is not enough. After a long time, the merchants in Daliang They didn't dare to do business with others, so they also turned to the Song Dynasty. The people of the Song Dynasty are more aggressive, and those nomads can't beat them, so naturally they can only do business honestly.

Let's talk about the sea route.Wei Yunqing had heard from Liu Huiniang a long time ago that there was a sea ban in Daliang, and this was also forced out.There were Japanese pirates on the sea, and Daliang also sent troops to suppress them, but the Japanese pirates were cunning. Daliang sent more troops, so they fled and hid. Daliang sent fewer troops, so they fought them. Lost a lot.So in the end, the imperial court issued a sea ban order, simply not allowing merchant ships to go to sea.However, this maritime transaction was highly profitable, and many people violated the ban, some died under the looting of Japanese pirates, and some successfully broke through the double blockade of the Daliang court and the Japanese pirates, and became rich overnight.If caught by the court, those who violate the prohibition will not only have the goods and payment confiscated, but also be sentenced.It is also embarrassing that the original purpose of the maritime ban was to protect maritime merchants, but in the end it became a reminder for maritime merchants.

"Lord Jin, I heard that the maritime trade is quite lucrative, why not find a way to destroy the Japanese pirates and open the sea ban." Wei Yunqing said.

Jin Yan clasped his hands together: "Your Majesty has a good idea. It's just that the Japanese pirates have been suppressed many times without success, and secondly, the Ministry of Households has no money for the army. Your Majesty should not think too much about it."

Wei Yunqing was full of depression, and he had no money!If you don't have money, you can't fight Japanese pirates. If you can't fight Japanese pirates, you can't open the sea ban. You can't do foreign business. If you can't do foreign business, you have no money. It's a vicious circle!

After sending Jin Yan away, Wei Yunqing's mind was still full of money and money. In the predicament, she suddenly thought of someone, so she hurriedly asked Cao Jun to call him.

The person Wei Yunqing asked Cao Jun to call was Wang Mian, who had previously been assessed by Wei Yunqing as one of the candidates with no background in the selection for the position of Lang Zhong of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.Of course, he lost the election in the end, but Wei Yunqing remembered that his son-in-law was the son of the richest man in Jiangnan.

Yes, she is crazy about lack of money now, and she decided to sell her official title!

"Master Wang, I wonder if your in-laws are interested in the title?" Wei Yunqing never liked to beat around the bush, and when Wang Mian came, she said straight to the point.

Wang Mian was really stunned when he heard the words, and finally came back to his senses and asked: "Your Majesty, what did you mean just now?"

Wei Yunqing smiled and said: "It's exactly what you heard, Mr. Wang. You also know that the household department has no money recently, and this palace has no money to do some practical things for the people, so I have to think of other ways. You see, your in-laws Although he is the richest man in the south of the Yangtze River, he is a commoner after all, don't he have any interest in titles?"

Although Wei Yunqing is very short of money, she hasn't gotten too hot-headed because of it. It's not easy to sell an official, but a false title like a title is okay.What's more, the title she wanted to sell was different from ordinary ones. Without a salary, it could only be regarded as an honorary title, not hereditary.However, even so, she believed that many wealthy people without titles would also flock to it.In this society where status is paramount, money is nothing, status is the most important thing, and those rich people must not be stingy about spending some money for this honorary title.With the honorary title, the status has risen, and officials with lower titles than him will treat him with courtesy when they see him. How majestic.She didn't believe that rich people with no status were not tempted.

The truth is, not to mention Wang Mian's in-laws, even Wang Mian himself was moved when he heard this.

I saw Wang Mian looking at Wei Yunqing with bright eyes, and said excitedly: "Your Majesty, how do you sell it?!"

Wei Yunqing: "..."

Seeing Wang Mian's impatient look... Is she finding the right person?

With a light cough, Wei Yunqing said slowly: "I would like to explain two points first: first, the title sold this time is only an honorary title, without salary, and cannot be hereditary, other than that, it is no different from other titles; second, Buyers of this title must meet certain conditions before they can purchase it."

"Your Majesty, please tell me!" The light in Wang Mian's eyes did not weaken.The first one is nothing at all, if you have money to buy a title, who cares about the salary!As for the issue of inheriting the title... There are other serious titles that cannot be hereditary, not to mention that if the descendants want the title, they can just buy it themselves, it is not a problem!
"First, the buyer must have no title or official position; second, the title can only be purchased if the tax payment reaches a certain amount." Wei Yunqing said.

"Pay taxes?" Wang Mian asked suspiciously.

Wei Yunqing nodded: "This sale is mainly aimed at businessmen. After his personal tax payment reaches a certain amount, he can apply for it."

This move is to limit the number of buyers, so as to prevent this newly added honorary title from becoming a bad street thing, and second, it can encourage businessmen to actively pay taxes and increase the country's fiscal revenue.Otherwise, how could these shrewd businessmen not do it if they could evade taxes?Businessmen are profit-seeking.

"How much is that going to be?" Wang Mian asked with a look on his face.

"I'll have to look at it again. I'm looking for Mr. Wang to come over today, just to ask... If your in-laws are interested, you can also make preparations as soon as possible." Wei Yunqing said.

Wang Mian nodded and said with a smile: "I understand, my in-laws must be overjoyed when they hear about this."

"That's good." Wei Yunqing smiled slightly.This matter is a win-win situation, and after that, she will go to the cabinet to wrangle this matter as a policy and openly announce it to the whole country.

There is no suspense, Wei Yunqing's proposal was opposed as soon as it was put forward in the cabinet. After all, although there have always been peddlers, they would not put it on the stage so openly. They also want to save face.But this time it's not that no one supports her—this time it's Jin Yan who supports her.As the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, it is difficult for him to do things even if the country's finances are difficult. Now that he has money, he naturally welcomes it.

Then Wei Yunqing watched Jin Yan fight the Confucianists alone, and she just had to watch silently from the side.In the end, all the ministers in the cabinet were exhausted from the quarrel, and Wei Yunqing said: "The emperor also agrees with this matter."

Wei Yunqing asked Cao Jun to report this to Yang Yi. Cao Jun said that Yang Yi hadn't seen him, so he asked Zheng Xiang to come back and let her figure it out.If she doesn't object, she agrees, so what she said now is not a false imperial order.

The cabinet was collectively silent.

The experience of fighting Wei Yunqing for many days made them understand that this move may be a certainty and there is no way to change it.After being depressed, Mao Yirong quietly took the lead to discuss specific measures with his colleagues-it was to create wealth for Daliang.

Seeing that the cabinet agreed to this matter, Wei Yunqing immediately asked Liu Huiniang to be invited into the palace.The so-called fat water does not flow to outsiders. Of course, she must first think of her friends when there is a good thing. Liu Huiniang is a businessman and a woman. Also extremely useful.

She believed that when drafting the imperial edict, the cabinet would not think of such creatures as businesswomen under the stereotype of thinking. I am afraid that they would not restrict men and women in the imperial edict, so Liu Huiniang might become the first lady owner in this dynasty. Naturally, the more such first-of-its-kind things, the better.

In addition, when Liu Huiniang was called into the palace this time, Wei Yunqing had another risky matter to discuss with her—benefits and risks always coexist.

(End of this chapter)