Deng Ming's words made Liu Jinge and Ren Tang both look up, straighten their chests and look at Deng Ming.

"First of all, I still have to blame you, you did this zhèngfǔ too badly." Deng Ming deliberately sold a pass, and also hoped that Liu Jinge would not do this kind of bullying and oppression of farmers in the future.

"Yes, I forgot my roots." Liu Jinge showed some shame when he heard this. Since he was a child, he had heard many tragic stories of peasants from his father, but after becoming a criminal officer here in Chengdu, Liu Jinge's priority was how to ensure Chengdu's military supplies and how to maintain the interests of the criminal yamen.

"I'm not saying that you forgot your roots, I'm saying that what you did is no different from before, isn't it just to collect grain, and if you don't pay grain, you will hit the board? Who wouldn't do that? Anyone can do it, and I'll let you take care of the affairs here in the capital? ”

In the past few days, Deng Ming inquired about the situation of the people around Chengdu, and in his opinion, Liu Jinge's actions are no different from the traditional government - of course, if there are earth-shaking changes, Deng Ming should think that Liu Jinge is also a future person who has traveled to this world.

Liu Jinge nodded again and again in shame, but Ren Tang didn't agree: "Sir, what is wrong with this, what do you mean that anyone can do it?" The county order requires people from the imperial examination to be competent. ”

"Is there anything surprising about Jinshi? If you don't pay the grain, you still play the board. During the trial, the suspect will be beaten first, and if the result cannot be asked, the suspect will be arrested and beaten again. Deng Ming shook his head with a smile and said: "This set of methods, the technical content is too low, you don't need to be a jinshi, even illiterate people can learn it in two days." ”

"Then sir, it's good that you can't even be a jinshi." Ren Tang felt that Deng Ming was humiliating the scholarly class, and shouted angrily: "Didn't Mr. just say that there is a good way, and the tax collection is light, and you can still collect grain?" Listen to your humble deaf ears. ”

"If I can't say it, I'll not accept you." Deng Ming laughed and took out a few pieces of paper from his arms. The pieces of paper were rectangular, with different patterns drawn on them, and the same numbers written on the four corners, all of which he had drawn in the last few days: "This is an IOU, the largest of which is a hundred dollars, and the smallest of which is one dollar." This time, Brother Liu and Liu Shuai couldn't afford the overcharged food, so I could only owe it first. Find someone to make a woodblock and print this IOU right away. ”

"How many IOUs does the gentleman have to send?" Liu Jinge couldn't help but be shocked when he heard that Deng Ming was actually going to print an IOU.

"Is this a treasure banknote?" Ren Tang's reaction was far faster than Liu Jinge's, and he had already sensed Deng Ming's intentions: "How can this 'yuan' be converted into silver?" ”

"It's similar to treasure money, but different, this yuan is not exchanged with silver, but with grain. For every stone of grain that the peasant gave me, I gave him a hundred yuan. Every farmer with 10 acres of land has to pay me 100 yuan a year for protection. From then on, my protection money was not for food, but for such IOUs. Isn't it always said that there will be losses in transportation on the road? Well, in the future, farmers don't have to give grain, just give an IOU of 10 yuan per mu, and this IOU is not afraid of wear and tear, right? Grinding off the corners a little, I can recognize it just as well. ”

Considering the literacy rate of this era, Deng Ming carefully considered what kind of patterns should be used on IOUs of different denominations. He first asked Ren Tang to carefully look at the pattern on the 100 yuan IOU, which was a stone of rice; Next is an IOU with a denomination of ten yuan, on which is a bucket, and one yuan is a millet liter; Fifty yuan means half a stone of rice, that is, the pattern of one hundred yuan is neatly cut from top to bottom, leaving only two halves. IOUs of different denominations are also different.

"What the gentleman means is that you can pay your taxes with an IOU in the future." Ren Tang said thoughtfully: "In this way, one hundred yuan will always be equal to one stone of grain, and it will not become waste paper like treasure money." However, the IOUs we are going to give to farmers this year will be enough for them to pay their taxes for many years to come, right? If we do this, won't we be able to get a single stone of grain in the next few years? ”

"It's just a tax, but farmers may exchange some of their grain for IOUs, except for seed grain and life-saving grain, as long as they think IOUs are more useful than grain, they will keep coming to us to exchange grain for IOUs." Deng Ming has always believed that the issuance of paper money is one of the important financial resources of the modern country, at least it is also a considerable first pot of gold.

Seeing that Ren Tang and Liu Jinge had doubts on their faces, Deng Ming knew that they still didn't believe that the common people would exchange real grain for the IOUs in their hands, so he asked heuristically: "Think about it, how can you make the people willingly exchange grain for IOUs?" ”

Ren Tang and Liu Jinge racked their brains for a long time, but in the end, Ren Tang couldn't think of a way, and Liu Jinge thought that there was no way except to use the board, and using the board obviously could not be called willing.

"It's really rotten wood that can't be carved." Deng Ming seized the opportunity to hit the two of them, in his understanding, the so-called dispatch of generals is not as good as the meaning of the general: "I heard that some Yunnan people from Jianchang, they still have relatives in the king of Qingyang, if they want to redeem their relatives, they need to transport fifty stone of grain to Jianchang to replace people, right?" ”

"Yes." Liu Jinge had also heard about it.

"What if I say, you give me an IOU of five thousand dollars, and I will help you get the person back?" Deng Ming chuckled: "How easy is it to transport fifty stones of grain to Jianchang by yourself?" Are there any animals pulling carts? How many carts do you need to pull it? There is also the wear and tear on the road, the blackmail of officials along the way, and in the end, there is no seventy or eighty stone that can't get down, right? The people also know this in their hearts, and they have no way to bargain, so they can only say as much as Jianchang says. And Brother Liu is different, the capital can bargain with Jianchang, and it is completely possible to lower the price to thirty stone per person, or even less. Moreover, the grain transported by the capital is much less lost on the road, and who dares to rub oil? ”

"In this way, I earned twenty stone of food." Liu Jinge's eyes lit up.

"Yes, and you have to explain that as long as you have an IOU, you don't want food. People who want to redeem their relatives will raise food themselves, and exchange the food for IOUs to ask you to help ransom them. Deng Ming further inspired Liu Jinge and said: "Some people may not be able to make up so many IOUs now, it doesn't matter, I can lend you first, for example: lend you 5,000 yuan IOUs, and after you redeem them, repay me 1,000 yuan IOUs every year and pay them off in ten years." 1,000 yuan is just the output of a few acres of land, is a diligent man afraid that he will not be able to earn it? His brother can help him too, not to mention that in the event of a disaster year, I can give you an extension. Deng Ming may not ask the peasants for so much, but in order to convince Liu Jinge, he will say more.

"Wonderful." Liu Jinge laughed when he heard this: "Lending IOUs, you don't even need to give out food, this is a business with no capital." ”

"But Jianchang's side wants food," Ren Tang poured cold water and said: "If you ask Jianchang for someone, even if you redeem one person for thirty stones, you have to exchange it for food." ”

"Oh." Liu Jinge thought about it as soon as he was reasonable, and suddenly his feelings fell low again.

"Jianchang wants the people to pay off fifty stone of grain at a time when they ransom their relatives, that is to bully the people to have no ability to resist, and they dare not bargain, if they annoy Jianchang, it is to forcibly expropriate the grain you transported, and people will not return it to you, what can you do? But the capital is different, the capital can be said to say, I will borrow this person for a few years first, anyway, he can help you earn about three stones of grain in a year under your rule, I will give you five stones, ten years in a row, this person is mine. Will Jianchang not agree to this kind of thing? Even if they are too few, they can continue to bargain. Deng Ming's words suddenly mobilized Liu Jinge's feelings again.

"That's right!" Liu Jinge slapped his thigh: "If you pay back 1,000 yuan a year, you have to exchange ten stones of grain for an IOU from the government, and we only give Jianchang five stones, and we can earn five stones of grain, even if there is loss on the road, there is not much." ”

"There are many other methods, such as fighting wolves, which was originally a good thing, but you made people angry. According to the principle of voluntariness, if you pay an IOU, you will send someone to patrol the door of your home, and there must be many people who are willing, this kind of thing should not be done by Liu Shuai at all, it is obviously a job that can earn money. Deng Ming casually said some ideas: "zhèngfǔ can provide a lot of services that are difficult for ordinary people to solve by themselves, and these services are charged. zhèngfǔ is the easiest business to make money, but Brother Liu, you have no other way but to play the board, which is really disappointing to me. ”

Liu Jinge's face was red and white, and he secretly made up his mind to dig out more kinds of paid services. And Ren Tang not only admired it, but also scolded himself for being stupid in his heart, how could he forget the demeanor of Admiral Deng in Nanjing and Huguang so quickly?

According to Deng Ming's memory, it seems that the issuance of currency on the gold standard is the mainstream of the world in the future, and it seems that China can also consider the silver standard, but now Deng Ming does not have so much gold and silver, so it was finally decided to adopt the grain standard system.

"Do you want to immediately announce your new law to the people of the capital?" Liu Jinge has already made some leaps and tries.

Shut down

"Of course, I plan to announce it immediately, but because of your work, it's hard to say whether the people of the capital will believe me now." Deng Ming found an opportunity to ridicule Liu Jinge, he did not intend to pursue Chengdu's unauthorized taxation, so he hoped that this method would make Liu Jinge less likely to be ingenious in the future: "Maybe there will be many people who think that what I say today will not count next year, so I have to give them more things to make them feel that they are not too disadvantaged." ”

On the same day, Liu Jinge mobilized the soldiers of the Yamen to count the amount of grain levied from house to house, and Deng Ming said that it was no problem to give more. When the statistics are carried out, the soldiers give a handwritten temporary IOU counted with the word "zheng" on the spot, and press the handprint to use it as a voucher for exchanging official IOUs.

Originally, Liu Jinge planned to follow the previous practice to post a list at the city gate, and then read the list to the people entering the city, so that the new policy would be spread by word of mouth. But Deng Ming was afraid that there would be something wrong in the middle, so he insisted that he personally explain it to the people, anyway, it was also the time of the farming, and the training of soldiers could be handed over to the guards.

Therefore, when the arrears were counted, the soldiers notified the people by the way, designated a number of assembly points, and asked them to listen to Deng Ming personally explain the policy before the specified time.

After Li Yanpeng and his neighbors got the debt vouchers from the soldiers, a few people were excited at first, thinking that the government might have to return the grain, but many more people could not count on it. All the meeting places are designated nearby, Li Yanpeng and the others feel that it is not far anyway, and it is okay to listen to it, besides, there are not many opportunities to see big people up close.

Early the next morning, Deng Ming arrived at the assembly point ahead of schedule, and when he arrived, Li Yanpeng and other nearby residents had already gathered in front of the platform that had just been erected. After seeing Deng Ming arrive surrounded by several guards, the people at this assembly point fell to their knees one after another and bowed to Deng Ming, who slowly ascended to the podium.

After stepping onto the podium, Deng Ming did not waste time, put a microphone made of iron in front of his mouth, and began to talk loudly about the policies he had talked to Ren Tang and Liu Jinge.

After hearing that the official IOU could be used to pay all government fees, Li Yanpeng was still skeptical. Deng Ming frankly admitted that he could not afford to pay back the food and apologized for it, which left an okay impression on the people, but whether the government will keep its promise next year, the people present did not have enough confidence. But after all, this is to give the people a hope, Li Yanpeng touched the IOU in his arms, and felt that the value of this thing had increased a little.

"I will do my best to redeem the IOUs in your hands, two years if you can't redeem them in one year, and three years if you can't redeem them in two years, but until you redeem them, you are my creditors." Deng Ming took out the killer weapon prepared by Jīng, which was not simply used against the peasants, and he believed that it would also have a great effect on the Chengdu officials. Although Deng Ming had already thought about this killer plan, he did not disclose it to anyone in advance, and he believed that it would shake the government and opposition in Chengdu: "In order to thank you for lending me food, all my creditors, I will give Xiucai fame!" ”

There was a buzzing sound in front of the stage, and the people below were talking to each other to make sure that their ears had not heard it wrong, and Ren Tang, who was standing calmly behind Deng Ming, opened his mouth in surprise.

"Any creditor who has an IOU, that is, a liter of grain, has a reputation for talent, whether it is on his body or at home." Deng Ming repeated in an accentuated tone: "A person who has the fame of talent has the right not to bow to officials, and from now on, no creditor needs to bow to any official; People who have the fame of talent and merit cannot be tortured, so from now on, any creditor can be imprisoned in the territory of the Ming Dynasty, but he cannot be beaten with a board, clamped with sticks, paraded in the streets, or stood in a flail ......"

When Deng Ming said this, Liu Jinge was also stunned, although he had already heard Deng Ming say that he would give more things to the people to make up for the words of the Chengdu government, but it sounded too much.

"If you can't use corporal punishment, then how can you owe half of the people who don't pay the imperial grain?" As soon as Liu Jinge's idea came to him, he vetoed it himself: "The third prince said that an official government that can only play boards is an official government that has no ability. ”

"Those who possess the fame of talent may wear weapons in addition to armor and bows, and this creditor of power shall also have it, so you may own and wear swords and firearms in the future." Deng Ming on the stage is still continuing: "In the territory of Daming, people with Xiucai and fame do not need road guidance to pass through the county, and they do not need household registration to live...... In the territory of the Ming Dynasty, not limited to Sichuan, if you sue the government, it is not counted as a civil lawsuit...... There is no need to serve conscription if you have a meritorious reputation, oh no, this meritorious service is exempted from forced labor and miscellaneous service, and when this national disaster occurs, military service cannot be exempted from ......"

After the initial discussion, the stage and the audience became silent, and everyone listened attentively to what Deng Ming said. It wasn't until long after Deng Ming was finished that the crowd around him remained silent.

"What's your problem?"

Deng Ming repeated this question again and again, and finally, he saw the first bird.

"Your Excellency!" Li Yanpeng shouted in the crowd.

"What's your name?" Deng Ming asked loudly.

"Villain Li Yanpeng."

"Are you my creditor?"

"The villain has an IOU." Li Yanpeng carefully took out the IOU in his arms.

"Well, you can call yourself 'student' or 'me' in front of me in the future, and you don't need to call yourself 'villain' anymore."

"Little ...... Little ......" Li Yanpeng was speechless for a long time, and he did not dare to tarnish the word "student", let alone use the self-title of "I" in front of Deng Ming, and it was also inappropriate to call himself "lowly position" and "subordinate".

"There won't be a Xiucai who calls himself a 'villain'," Deng Ming waited for a while, and couldn't help but threaten: "Li Yanpeng, are you going to insult the reputation of the imperial court?" ”

Ren Tang scolded when he heard this: "Who is insulting Xiucai's fame?!" ”

However, Li Yanpeng's courage was strengthened because of this: "I don't dare." ”

"Well, you don't have the guts." Deng Ming smiled and said, "What questions does Li Xiucai have?" ”

"I ...... I would like to ask, when the IOUs are redeemed, will my fame still be there? Li Yanpeng asked.

"Well, that's it." Deng Ming felt that he gave the people of Chengdu basic citizenship, but there was no need to reveal his hole cards for the time being: "I haven't thought about it yet, let's talk about it then." ”

Some other people also asked some questions, and after Deng Ming answered them one by one, he saw that there was silence in front of the stage again, so he announced: "Okay, let's disperse, I'm going to the next meeting point." ”

When Deng Ming stepped off the high platform, Ren Tang hurriedly approached, but before Ren Tang could say anything against it, Deng Ming preemptively stopped it: "Hurry up and follow the power." ”

"Ugh." Ren Tang retreated: "Then after paying off the IOU, these fame will be stripped away." ”

"I think so, too." Deng Ming didn't want to stimulate Ren Tang too much, because Ren Shusheng had not participated in the Manchu imperial examination, so he didn't have a talent to show his fame yet.

After Deng Ming left the podium, Li Yanpeng's group of peasants remembered a few more questions, but Deng Ming said that he would no longer answer questions after leaving the podium.

"Oh, why didn't you think of it just now?" Many people regretted it again and again.

"It doesn't matter!" Immediately, a smart man said, "The next meeting point is not far away, so let's run over and say hello." ”

"Yes!"

After being reminded by this person, hundreds of Xiucai rushed to the ground, even if there was no problem, they thought about listening to Deng Ming again to confirm that they were not dreaming.

When Deng Ming ascended to the second podium, the peasants in front of him also knelt down like the people in front of the first podium. But at this time, a few scud shows had already arrived, and one of them had already squeezed to the front of the stage, and these shows did not dare to insult the fame of the imperial court, and stood up one by one, standing out in the crowd.

Deng Ming glanced at these people, a smile appeared on his face, and he raised the iron microphone again and began to preach the policy.

After Deng Ming finished speaking, a large number of Xiucai had already arrived, and under their leadership, this time the questions were much more enthusiastic than just now, and Deng Ming had to stop asking questions in order to rush to the next meeting point in time.

One after another, more and more people gathered in front of the stage, and the proportion of people standing became higher and higher, and finally Deng Ming had to let the guards maintain order to ensure that the peasants who had not yet heard the policy could have a place in front of the stage.

Within a day, there were more than 20,000 talents in Chengdu.