Chapter 169: From a small farmer to a farmer, to the silver standard and the emergence of capital
In the room, Zhao Duan's lecture continued.
Wang You's arrival did not cause any splash.
Because at this moment, everyone has escaped from the state of surprise and gradually sunk into what Zhao Duan said.
The method of passing the examination...seems...
There really is something...
Although in Zhao Duan's view, this group of scholars had less experience in governance.
Or even if you have experience, because when you were an official, you were a higher-level official and rarely hung out at the bottom. Some strategies and ideas are a bit whimsical...
Just like in the history of his previous life, many strategies failed miserably because the makers were too idealistic.
Scholars in the Yu Dynasty also had similar problems.
but……
It is undeniable that the group of people selected into the "Xiu Wen Guan" are definitely the elite of Dayu in terms of their brains.
It's always easier to talk to smart people. They can accurately understand what Zhao Duan means.
He even made his own deductions to find out and fill in the gaps for details that he had never thought of.
Because the bachelors are very smart, they easily recognized the advanced nature of this "examination method".
"...Zhang Faji suppressed the masses of workers, took power and established Baidu..."
"...In this way, the people of the Nine Encirclements compile their will carefully; the officials who are careless and unruly follow the law with dignity."
Zhao Duan was writing and talking. There were already many more ink characters on the screen behind him. He finally used a brush to deeply trace under the top three characters twice and said:
"This is what I call the 'test method'."
quiet.
In the room, his narration came to an end, but everyone was still immersed in it, seeming to be thinking.
Only Wang You, who was secretly sitting in the seats and not daring to say a word, still didn't quite understand what happened.
At this time, the remaining bachelors who were late came in one after another, and they were also stunned when they saw this scene.
"What are you..." someone said.
However, Mochou suddenly glared at him forcefully, telling him to shut up and stop disturbing the Grand Master's thinking.
Although she didn't want to admit it, she had realized the value of this assessment method.
Grand Master Dong, Han Zhi, Guo Jieyuan and others also had obvious changes in their eyes.
Looking at each other, they can understand each other without speaking.
"This method..."
Han Zou opened his mouth and frowned: "If such an assessment is implemented, will it cause the lower-level subordinates to go to any lengths to fulfill the restrictions?"
Zhao Duan said nothing, nonsense, of course.
Of course, performance appraisal cannot be perfect, and it also has many shortcomings.
But in comparison, it is already the best strategy at the current stage.
The old man with red robe and white hair sitting in the Grand Master's chair also came out of his deep thoughts and suddenly said in a confused manner:
"In this way, the six subjects will be under the jurisdiction of the cabinet."
Zhao Duan smiled and said:
"Now that there is no cabinet, there is only the Xiuwen Guan, and the Xiuwen Guan only has His Majesty's obedience."
The conversation between the two seemed to be completely out of context.
But smart people like Han Zhou already understood with a look in his eyes.
Master Dong is worthy of being a veteran, and he can see at a glance a major drawback of the examination method, which is "suppression of speech."
Because in this design, the six subjects originally responsible for impeachment, as well as the imperial censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, were also included in the examination.
Under the control of the "cabinet", which is actually today's Xiuwenkan.
In this way, the officials would not dare to offend the Xiu Wen Guan for the sake of their own black hats.
Invisibly, the officials were suppressed.
Historically, after Zhang Juzheng implemented this law, one of the crimes he was accused of was suppressing speech and controlling power in the cabinet.
And Zhao Duan's answer was very clever.
If the "cabinet" is still there, once this mechanism is activated, Li Yanfu, as the prime minister, will become the most powerful minister, and no one can suppress him.
But the "old cabinet" is gone. Today, the Xiuwen Museum only has a group of young, powerless bachelors, and a royal master who is completely imperial.
Everyone is only loyal to the empress.
In this way, as long as the examination method is in operation, the power of the entire court will be concentrated on the empress.
It would be extremely difficult for Li Yanfu to use his words to suppress the empress.
Grand Master Dong was silent for a moment and said:
"Many people in the court will strongly oppose it."
Zhao Duan smiled and said:
“The New Deal was destined to be opposed by countless people from the moment it was proposed.”
Master Dong nodded slowly and looked at Zhao Duan with a very different look.
I am also looking forward to the "manuscript" in my hand more and more.
"I observe that in your manuscript, only a small part of the text is written about the method of examination. How do you explain the word 'dividing a small family into an acre'?" Taishi Dong asked.
besides? Less than half?
The bachelors were stunned.
Zhao Duan did not rush to speak, but looked at the brush on the table:
“There’s not enough ink, there’s not enough white paper.”
Everyone: "..."
Master Dong turned his head, glanced around, and pointed at the few bachelors who came in:
"Grind the ink and change the paper."
Wang You and other bachelors were in disbelief, especially Prince Wang, whose eyes were as high as his head, and his expression almost changed.
Let him be given a careless body and start with a face that is selling off and ruthless?
As a wealthy man, he couldn't accept it.
Mochou also glanced at them and said in an indifferent voice:
"Didn't you hear? Do you want the Grand Master to do it himself?"
"...dare not."
Wang You and others were frightened, so they reluctantly took new ink, poured it into the inkstone, and replaced the screen with a new page of white paper.
Zhao Duan rubbed his throat: "My mouth is dry when I talk about it."
"..." A bachelor sighed and got up to make tea.
Another person opened the drawer and took out the pears that Zhao Duan gave him at noon, and returned them to their original owners.
The night breeze was cool, and Zhao Duan slowly ate a pear and drank a cup of tea, leaving time for these scholars to digest what he had just gained.
About a quarter of an hour later, he clapped his hands to attract attention and said with a smile: "Just now, we talked about the administration of officials. But in the final analysis, the biggest problem for the court today is the word money.
Scholar Han's ten strategies are effective if they are just for making money for the country. What I criticize is not that they are useless, but that they have too many drawbacks. "
Han Zou's face was red and his ears were red, and he said:
"Zhao Jun, don't mention it again. If you have any ideas, please tell me."
Zhao Duan smiled, no longer teasing him, and said seriously:
"As for the word money, I would like to talk about it in two parts. The first part was discussed during the day. It is also the focus of Scholar Han's strategy, which is the two major problems of taxation and corvee."
"It is said to be two, but actually it is one, because the corvee itself is a kind of tax.
The dynasty's treasury, the largest source of money, is also a tax. As for Dayu's tax collection method, in my opinion, it is really not flattering.
Not to mention exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes, it is inevitable. The use of goods to offset taxes has given the lower-level officials too many opportunities to make money, and the most terrible thing is the "head tax" that has been used for thousands of years since ancient times. "Zhao Duan wrote the words "Poll Tax" on the screen.
He was no stranger to the so-called poll tax, which everyone had to pay. It was the most common regardless of ancient and modern times, both at home and abroad.
Dayu's head tax was a typical form of feudal dynasty.
The poor and the rich all pay the same amount. The rich will not feel anything about it, but it is different for the poor.
As the saying goes, the poorer you are, the more likely you are to have children... Coupled with the high rate of premature death, the people of Dayu are very good at having children.
But the more people a family has, the more poll tax it needs to pay...it gradually becomes unable to support it, and even more so in a disaster year.
Either run away and become a "hidden household", or you can only sell your land and become a tenant farmer.
The gentry class, however, enjoyed tax-free privileges and had family wealth, so they could acquire land unscrupulously... Pandora's box was thus opened, and the wealth of the Yu Dynasty quickly concentrated among a few people.
"Under the head tax, as the dynasty continues to grow, the tax money that the court can collect will inevitably lead to less and less... Therefore, my second strategy is to divide the land into acres!"
Zhao Duan wrote these words on the screen and then explained their contents.
The so-called "divide a small family into an acre" is actually a modified version of Zhang Juzheng's whipping method, and its core has not changed much.
One is to reduce all kinds of taxes into only one thing, which is "silver".
The imperial court only had money, and it changed from the past forms of paying items, or doing corvee service, and other messy things.
This is similar to the Korean porridge strategy, that is, the people who serve as corvees only need to pay silver, and the workers needed for the corvees are hired by the government.
But the difference from Han Porridge Ten Strategies is that Zhao Duan directly implemented the tax collection method, so he would not collect it twice.
The second is to change the head tax to the "acre tax". Those who have no land will pay as much as they have, and those who have no land will not pay.
In this way, the landed gentry can afford to pay taxes, and the poor can have as many children as they like without the poll tax...
Zhao Duan knew very well that more people are more powerful, and people are the productivity. He does not dissatisfy too many people, only dissatisfied with few.
"besides……"
After Zhao Duan finished speaking the main content, he turned around and added two additional words on the screen:
The fire consumption returns to the public
Officials and gentry integrated
"In the past, the government had to smelt the broken silver from the taxes paid by the people into silver ingots and supply them to the court. However, there must be losses during the smelting, and many people would enrich themselves.
Therefore, since the new law was to be settled in silver, this loss must be attributed to the imperial court. "
"Similarly, since the taxation based on land has been changed, the tax-free privileges of the gentry must be taken away. This is the integration of officials and gentry."
Zhao Duan finally concluded: "Dividing a small number of people into an acre, more fields means more dings, less fields means less dings. The calculation of acres means there is no way to deceive others. The benefit is one, and the people do not have to pay compensation. The benefits are Second, in the year of compilation and review, the books will be made as usual, and there is no need for additional audits, which will benefit three things; everyone who completes their own fields will be able to get their hands on them, which will benefit four things."
He paused, looked around at everyone, and said loudly:
"If this method can be implemented, it can protect the country, the country, and the country, and the imperial treasury will no longer be in short supply."
The room fell into silence for the second time.
When Zhao Duan finished speaking, many people present had longing expressions on their faces.
suddenly see the light.
"Wonderful, wonderful." Han Zou stood up, patting the table, staring at the words on the screen with bright eyes, and he was lost in thought.
No one knew how depressed he felt this afternoon, not only because his ten strategies were rejected.
Even more so, he racked his brains and couldn't think of a better way.
The so-called, take back the ten policies and revise them, but how to revise them, how to revise them?
He has no clue.
However, at this moment, just a few hours later, he saw a method that was completely different from his ten strategies, but obviously superior.
How can you not be excited?
"Spreading the land among the people... spreading the land among the land..." Mochou also murmured this word.
Although she is far inferior to a real "female prime minister", because she is a love rival with Zhao Duan, she often behaves more like a maid.
But being able to be reused by the empress and assist in handling family and country affairs is enough to show that Mo Zhaorong is by no means inferior to these bachelors in terms of vision and judgment.
Therefore, she also understood the benefits of this method.
And Wang You and other subsequent bachelors finally understood why the atmosphere in the room was so weird before.
Really, what Zhao Duan said was so impactful.
The key is not that the words are not surprising, but that no matter how you think about it, you feel that it is indeed feasible.
After being surprised, Wang You, a member of a wealthy family, frowned.
Because this new law is obviously targeting the gentry class.
This is not a good thing for wealthy families everywhere...
"Grand Master..."
Someone looked at the leader of the old man and wanted to ask for his opinion.
Master Dong stared at the screen with sharp eyes for a long time before he let out a long breath:
"It's good for a small person to occupy an acre."
After a pause, he shook his head again and said, "It's a pity."
pity? What's a pity?
Taishi Dong looked at Zhao Duan and said:
This method is indeed quite feasible. However, although it is much gentler than the Korean porridge method, I am afraid it is still difficult to implement. If it is to be done, it must be done. It's time to figure it out, but the court can't wait."
Can't wait!
This sentence instantly brought everyone back to reality from their excitement.
Han Chow calmed down, was startled for a moment, and then sat down again.
Yes, although Zhao Duan's method is good, after going around in a circle, it is still difficult to solve the imminent problem, which is the word money.
If we try to do it slowly, it will be difficult to alleviate the emptiness of the national treasury.
If you strive for speed, you will inevitably become enemies of the gentry. Although you can win the hearts of the people,...
If the gentry in the world become disloyal and defect to the Eight Kings, the court will also be in turmoil.
It was indeed much better than his ten strategies, but water from afar could not quench the thirst for nearness.
Wang You's brows relaxed and his expression became slightly more relaxed.
Mochou also reacted, his eyes slightly dim.
Yes, whether it is to share the land or the previous examination method, it actually takes time to implement it slowly.
Good is good, but...
"Oh, what the Grand Master said is right. If the above two methods are to be implemented, it will definitely take time."
Zhao Duan saw everyone's expressions in his eyes, but he didn't panic at all.
Because Zhang Juzheng was never the only weapon in his hand.
At first, he had no idea how to make money quickly, without using weapons and without affecting the stability of the court.
But after talking to Han Zhi, some inspiration became clear.
"However, please don't forget that I just said that in order to solve the word money, I have to say two parts, but now I have only said one.
And the next one is the way to alleviate the urgent need. " Zhao Duan said with a smile.
What?
Is there any other way?
At this moment, everyone, including Master Dong, looked at him in astonishment.
Only then did I remember that this warrior and cruel official had indeed said before that he would talk about two parts.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Zhao Duan turned around and replaced it with a new piece of white paper himself.
On the screen, brush and write a few big words:
"Silver, merchants, capital, market."
(End of chapter)