Merchants liked silver silk and banknotes, and the government also liked silver and cloth silk when collecting taxes.

Whether it's business or taxation, light and valuable items are always more popular.

This is mainly due to the fact that the value of the coin is too small, whether it is iron or copper, it is heavy and cheap, and the freight cost of long-distance transportation is often higher than the value of the coin itself.

For currency or substitutes that were light and easy to carry, there was a great need on both the merchant and the imperial court.

Han Gang published an article in the newspaper and proposed to the queen to continue to mint a lot of money, which was intended to meet this need, but what about Feng Congyi's intentions? Feng Daguan, who is worth hundreds of millions, will not be bored and have time to gossip.

"If you have something to say, just say it." Han Gang said.

Feng Congyi laughed dryly: "My brother knows me, but in fact, my younger brother doesn't plan to do anything, it's best to make money safely." It's just that the Ping An is just making flying money, which is really a waste. So if the younger brother has an idea, he doesn't know whether to say it or not. ”

"I'll let you say it straight." Han Gang shook his head, and his brother was still talking in circles.

"Can the banknotes of the imperial court be concentrated in Chang'an for exchange? This can also save the imperial court a little. ”

Han Gang shook his head and asked with a smile, "It's not necessarily a good thing to have more guests, right?" ”

Feng Congyi's smile couldn't be maintained, Han Gang saw through his intentions at a glance, and he was still prepared how to convince Han Gang.

"That's true." He nodded helplessly.

The actual value of the banknotes issued by the imperial court was often much higher than the price of grain in the land of Ganshan and Shaanxi, in order to attract merchants to transport grain to the border military villages. After all, the freight is too expensive, and if the imperial court transports grain, there are too many damage to the public and private mice. Handed over to the merchants, the freight and loss are free, and the benefits are several times more than what the imperial court paid for the banknotes.

However, those merchants who got the money did not personally organize people to transport grain, but bought grain nearby, or even did not buy it, but mobilized the border people/transported grain and grass, and after exchanging the money from the border military village, those businessmen came out to buy it. Of course, the price given is not high, but it is impossible for the border people to go to the capital to exchange banknotes, and it is not a loss to sell to merchants, and there is still some gain. And those businessmen who go south and north, often have a background and power in the capital, and they take the banknotes to exchange them, without worrying about being deducted and delayed. This is where the merchants make money.

But the merchants who entered the middle of the country also had a problem, if they wanted to do business for a long time, they had to exchange all the salt or money or other goods they got in the capital into money, and then transport them to Kansai every year, otherwise they had no money in their hands, how could they move those border people? For many merchants, the biggest loss is this section of transportation, which greatly affects their harvest.

And now there is the Peace.

The main business of the Heian is the flying money between the capital and Kansai. After the merchant deposited the money into his account in the Beijing branch of the Ping'an, he was given a voucher. With this voucher in hand, it is easy to return to Kansai and withdraw the money from places like Chang'an, Qinzhou or Gongzhou with a semicolon – but with a fee – merchants can buy local specialties and ship them to the capital to sell. And then there's a new cycle.

Among them, as long as they have a further relationship of trust with each other, they should no longer exchange money in the Kansai branch and trade directly in the account of the Ping An number. When buying cotton-based goods, you can simply transfer money directly and then pick up the goods. After all, the shareholders of the Ping An are all members of the Yongqin Chamber of Commerce, and many of the shops in their hands are dealing in specialty products.

If that's all there is to the flying money business, it's a win-win situation. But now the figure of the merchant who entered the Ping An gradually appeared. They all saved money in the capital, and then retrieved it in Kansai, and then took the money to the border to buy money in the hands of the people. In other words, the Kyoshi semicolon is a net inflow of hard currency, while several semicolons in Kansai are net outflows. If you want to change all this, you have to transport money from Kyoto to Kansai. But this is a discounted transaction that the imperial court is unwilling to do.

Feng Congyi opened his mouth, but Han Gang stopped him, shook his head and said, "It's not that my brother doesn't support you, the money is of great benefit to the imperial court's financial plans." But as long as the private family touches his hands, he will be the target of public criticism...... It's like the thing you once told me about paying the money in one piece, it's impossible to agree to it now. ”

"With your brother's sentence, it's easy for the younger brother to go back. After all, it's not the little brother who says it. Feng Congyi said with a smile, he just said, "But the unification of taxes is good for the country and the people." It's not that the younger brother is entangled, to extort miscellaneous taxes, and to integrate taxes into one, so that the court and the people can benefit from it. ”

"Taxation is the lifeblood of the country, affecting thousands of miles of people and hundreds of millions of people, so we must not be careful. Remember the Exemption Act? Han Gang shook his head and sighed, "Combining taxes into one is self-evident in the benefits to the imperial court. But to the people. ”

Han Gang remembers that Zhang Juzheng had implemented similar reforms. He couldn't remember the exact details, but he did remember the name of a whip. Guessing from the name, it should be not far from Feng Congyi's proposal. In the face of the same dilemma, the means that can be chosen are not too much worse.

This tax reform is not original, and it suddenly pops out of someone's head. Rather, it is in line with previous tax reforms. It was all about simplifying the tax system that had become complicated and confusing, while at the same time allowing the imperial court to benefit from it. It's just a person of insight, and he sees the same thing.

But there are problems with doing this, and they are very problematic.

Han Gang has done a certain understanding: "Yang Yan, the prime minister of Tang Dezong, changed the two tax laws from rent, and the household tax and Ding tax were changed to money collection. In order to pay taxes, peasants had to sell silk, grain, or other products at a low price to pay taxes. ”

"That's because there are not enough coins on the market, and as long as there are enough coins in circulation, there will definitely be no such result." Feng Congyi immediately refuted, which shows that he has put a lot of effort into it.

"But what about the good years? If you only pay grain, you won't sell it if you pay it, but what if you want to pay it? At that time, even if you overcharge three or five buckets, it will not be a good thing for the people. ”

"What about the foldability? When the grain is converted into money, the money is folded into goods, and when it is folded to the fullest, the taxes to be paid have increased several times. ”

Reversal is the evil government of the day. That is, the government will change the requisitioned goods to other things at the same price, and 'because of the needs of the moment, they will change and take them, so that they will be equal in weight and weight, which is called a change of change'. But in fact, for the people, it is 'the amount of rent and taxes to or twice the amount', which has doubled! It also forces the people to exchange the food in their hands for money, and even other physical goods needed by the government. It's worse than a whip.

But Han Gang disagreed: "It's much easier to ban folding." You can't cut off all the good meat just because you have sores. ”

Feng Congyi's 'one whip law' is not something that can be implemented now, let alone proposed by himself.

Even if Han Gang can preside over the government one day, his ruling policy will be to open up the source, not to throttle expenditure, let alone change the distribution method.

"It's a big no-no, after all. Don't think about it just yet. Brother Wei is not going to be the target of public criticism now. ”

Feng Congyi frowned, although he was only a businessman, the young man still had a heart in his chest that was unwilling to be dull.

Han Gang was about to say a few more words, when someone suddenly came to report, saying that it was Zhang Shumi's visit.

Feng Congyi sighed, stopped arguing, and got up to enter first. As soon as he left, Zhang Dian arrived-Zhang Dian had a very good relationship with Han Gang, and he had a good family, and when he came to Han Gang's side, he went directly to the door and led him to the study.

Although Zhang Dian came quickly, he only saw Feng Congyi's back. Glancing at the cups on the table that had not yet had time to put away, he asked with interest: "But cousin Ling, a famous Feng Siguan in Kansai?" What are you talking about? It's not homely. ”

"I'm talking about how to enrich the country and the people." Han Gang was half-joking, half-serious.

"A rich country and a rich people?" Zhang Dian was stunned for a moment, and then laughed, "Why do you need to be like this, as long as you can let the four people work in peace, you won't be trapped in illness inside, and you won't be harmed by thieves outside......"

"Then the old will have their end, the strong will be useful, the young will grow, the widowed, the widowed, the lonely, the lonely, and the disabled will have their own support, and the men will have their share, and the women will have their home." Han Gang smiled and continued.

"Alright, don't carry it." Zhang Dian shook his head, "When the world is the same, there may be a time." Nowadays, it's just empty words. ”

"If you don't do it, of course, it's empty words, but what about doing it? Eventually, we can go a little further. ”

Zhang Dian disagreed, "How? It's easier said than done. ”

"What the Master said was nothing more than three words: benevolence, courtesy, and middle. It is used to educate the people, so that everyone can read and reason. ”

"Isn't it benevolence and courtesy?"

'Self-denial is benevolence. One day of self-denial and retribution, the world will return to benevolence'. Confucius's pen sharpened the Spring and Autumn Period, and his purpose was only to use it as a means to comment on the behavior of the princes and thus convey his views. What Confucius thought of all his life was to return the world to benevolence and achieve his goals through self-denial and retribution. This is the joint that is articulated in the Analects.

And Han Gang added a 'middle', the middle of the golden mean.

When he entered Beijing at the beginning of that year, Han Gang made a lot of nonsense in front of Cheng Hao. At that time, his understanding of Confucianism was indeed too superficial and shallow. Although it is still not as good as Cheng Hao, Cheng Yi and Wang Anshi, they have all read through the Five Classics and ten times as many commentaries, and they can use Confucianism to package the knowledge from later generations, and they can no longer fall behind in the exchanges between the great Confucians.

However, if it is for the purpose of edifying all peoples, it is useless to be profound. Books are easy to understand, poems and rituals are difficult to understand, and the way of Confucius is not so easy to learn thoroughly.

Han Gang is not presumptuous, and the worst in terms of intelligence is above the middle and upper levels, and he has an advantage in books and communication objects that are difficult for others to match. It took him ten years to fool people, and if ordinary people want to learn Confucianism, the result of ten years of poor work is only a small success. In this era, books are a big problem, and excellent teachers are even rarer, otherwise Zhang Zai, Cheng Hao, and Cheng Yi would not be able to gather so many students.

And in Han Gang's opinion, these things are pure waste of time. With that time and energy, you can be proficient in a practical knowledge. For example, water conservancy, such as financial planning, such as military, such as criminal names, are all studies that can be used in the world.

Han Gang's idea is to simply summarize Confucianism as 'benevolence is the foundation, propriety is the use, and the middle is the action'. Benevolence is the heart of life and work, and etiquette is the rule, and laws, morality, and even the three outlines and five constants can be put into the box. And in the middle, it is to uphold the golden mean in life and work. That's enough.

The simpler it is to teach people, the better. The rest of the time can be used to learn the practical knowledge that has been applied by the world. This will also attract more people to learn, which is of great benefit to the promotion of education.

Zhang Dian had known Han Gang's thoughts for a long time, but he had never thought so, and now he was just repeating the conversation of the past.

"There is a difference between Mahayana and Hinayana in Futu. Hinayana people, emphasis on self-degree. Mahayana, in addition to self-discipline, also have to save immeasurable sentient beings. Self-salvation is already rare, let alone saving people? What about billions of sentient beings? Zhang Dian sighed, "Self-cultivation Qi family rules the country and the world." Yukun, your goal is to be above the world! ”

"Since the road is under your feet, and you know that you can reach it if you go down, why don't you go? It's just a little harder. ”

"It's not just a little harder."