"I'll go to the third division tomorrow and ask."

Perhaps later generations did not understand it and thought that the official system of the Song Dynasty was to strengthen the imperial power. Actually, that's a mistake. The official system of the Song Dynasty was so pitiful, not for the sake of autocratic centralization, but for the division of power, which also included imperial power.

It is precisely because of this decentralization that at least in the early and middle Northern Song Dynasty, there were few real powerful ministers, including Ding Wei, Lü Yijian, Han Qi and Wang Anshi, and Song Yingzong has not succeeded in engaging in Puyi.

That's why we had this conversation.

It is also a microcosm of the entire change, that is, although Zhao Ji is the adjudicator, he is not the decision-maker. The formulation of national policies is a matter for the two governments, and then they write to Zhao Xu, who decides whether to agree or not.

Now that Wang Ju is playing the role of the decision-maker, the decision has been made, so it will be time for Zhao Ji to decide, and it is time for Zhao Ji to strongly support him!

"But ......"

"Your Majesty, it is very desirable to implement the Qi commercial tax, but you can do it step by step, and the first step is to simplify the field affairs and commercial taxes of various states and counties. Your Majesty, the minister asks, who is the group that has contributed the most to the country? ”

The greatest contribution to the Song Dynasty was not the first-class households, and their damage was far greater than their contribution. For example, there are several first-class households who pay commercial taxes in a regular manner, and there are also cultivated land, and there are a few wealthy and powerful people who pay the two taxes seriously, on the contrary, they hide the land and hide the land.

In addition to Haoqiang, there is also a more hateful group, the temple! Including the Shaolin Temple, the practices of those warrior monks, some of them are really ugly.

Therefore, the groups that contributed the most to the Song Dynasty were the second-class to fifth-class households, and they were the main force of tax service.

As for the households below the sixth grade, they can't even eat, so how can they contribute? But that's it. Some demanding states and counties still let them pay taxes for service.

But this subject is still a second- to fifth-class household. Especially the middle three or four class households.

These third- and fourth-class households refer not only to peasants, but also to urban households, that is, urban households, workers, merchants, and service industries......

Therefore, Wang Ju proposed that the imperial court first issue an edict to rectify the field affairs, ban unnecessary field affairs one by one, save the expenditure of state officials, and at the same time clearly stipulate the regulations. Any commercial goods can only be taxed once, only one tax can be levied within a state, only two taxes can be levied within one way, and only three taxes can be levied in the whole country but not more than three taxes. After paying the commercial tax in full, the merchants only have the right to verify any field affairs, but they are not allowed to extort or detain the merchants' goods in any form.

If the violator is violated, the merchant can file a lawsuit with the government, and the relevant officials must also be severely punished.

Zhao Ji raised his forehead after hearing this.

None of them. One is what happened to Li Laohan, which is what happened to Li Laohan. Only then did Wang Ju shoot angrily.

Second, Wang Ju had implemented a similar policy before, and had achieved great success.

Copy his policy, and the court can quote and implement it.

If this strategy is implemented throughout the country, it will undoubtedly be a boon to those small and medium-sized businessmen.

Then came the second edict, which stated that anyone who engaged in commerce and trade, including government households, must pay commercial taxes, otherwise he would be severely punished.

However, it should be noted here that unlike the previous severe punishment of the officials, the first edict clearly stipulates how to severely punish the unlached, but in this severe punishment as much as possible, it is as vague as possible so as not to cause a greater backlash.

Let everyone adapt to it first, but because of the ambiguity, it will cause some disputes, and then push the boat down the river to launch how to punish severely. Then, slowly, within the whole country, the Qi business tax will be implemented closely.

It's close, not really all executed.

This is like a doctor treating a seriously ill patient, there is a method, use the medicine of the tiger and wolf to drive them away, and then use mild medicine to nourish the body, Wang Anshi changed the method to do this.

There is another way, that is, to use mild medicine all the time and slowly improve the condition, which is Wang Ju's Qi Shang tax method.

It can't be helped, it's too big.

"Wang Qing, the imperial court does not allow officials to do business."

Officials and their guilds will lead to consequences, they all understand.

But Wang Ju said sarcastically: "Su Shi openly operated private salt, Lu Huiqing used the exemption law to blackmail the big families in Jiangnan to buy farmland for him, Duke Wen's family lent usury, the rich duke and Wang Gongchen built a luxurious manor in Luoyang, which is more magnificent than the palace, and even the Duke Jiefu returned to Jiangning to live in seclusion and bought a large amount of cultivated land to make a comfortable farmhouse, the country is corrupt to such a point, what can we talk about not allowing officials to do business?" ”

"Jiefu Gong is different."

"What is the difference between one paying taxes and the other merging farmland? Since the state can't ban it, why not guide it. However, if His Majesty is not at ease, he can add another edict that the officials themselves are not allowed to engage in commerce. ”

Zhao Ji continued to groan.

His current state of mind has to be analyzed from two perspectives.

The first angle is to accumulate wealth, in fact, the Song Dynasty really doesn't need to continue to accumulate wealth now, but he really doesn't know about these shortcomings of changing the law? In fact, Zhao Ji also knows, but why is the minister not allowed to change and adjust? After the adjustment, there will inevitably be two results: many old parties will win Longwangshu, and then new controversies will arise. In this way, it is better not to move, and see how quiet the court is now. The second consequence is that fiscal revenues will be severely reduced.

But Zhao Ji has a dream in his heart, now that the country is rich, it is not strong. If you want to be strong, it is not Dali or Jiaozhi, but Western Xia, as long as you destroy Western Xia and recover Yanyun, the Song Dynasty can be called a strong country. At least put the big trouble in Xixia to the end.

If you want to recover Western Xia, you must launch an unimaginable army, so you must have enough money and food in the treasury.

There is a simple example, Song Taizong's second invasion of Liao failed, the country made the people miserable, the number of households did not increase, but seriously regressed, Zhao Pu came forward, Song Taizong had to change conservative measures. What if the state is financially adequate?

There was also the Battle of Qingli and Song Xia, the actual scale of several battles was far less than the two battles of Liao, but a few years later, peasants revolted everywhere in Henan and southern Shaanxi. It was not Liu E who made the country financially strained, but a major drought and the first major burst of the Yellow River in the Song Dynasty, which led to an empty treasury.

But on the other hand, in the Battle of Lanyuan, no matter which country won or lost, the Song Dynasty spent a total of 70 million yuan before and after that battle. And it happened shortly after the founding of the Song Dynasty. But why is the country peaceful? The reason is simple. The rule of Xianping led to the filling of the national treasury.

It is not wrong to think this way, it is precisely because the treasury is full that all the future two fiascos have not been seriously crisis in the Song Dynasty......

The second angle is the difference between Zhao Ji and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty inherited a good stall, and the rule of Wenjing accumulated countless wealth for the Western Han Dynasty, so that the rope of stringing money was rotten in the money warehouse.

But the mess that Zhao Ji took over couldn't be worse. The country is in a serious deficit, the treasury is empty, in order to save the emergency, all the spices and jade accumulated in the inner treasury are taken out and sold, and the drought comes, leaving the people to fend for themselves......

This is like Fan Li, who retired to Qi under the pseudonym Tao Zhugong, his second son was imprisoned in Chu State, and he sent his third son to rescue him, but his wife disagreed and insisted that the eldest son be rescued. As a result, because the eldest son started a business with Fan Li since he was a child, he knew that life was difficult. was reluctant to use the money, but instead led to the killing of the second son.

This difference in mentality determines that the methods of the two are completely different.

Just like Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, at the end of the war, he had to use Sang Hong sheep to collect money to save the emergency, but in his later years, he immediately adjusted it in time, not only because of the prince's case, but also because of this mentality. It was this adjustment that the crisis of the Han Dynasty was resolved, coupled with the foundation laid by Huo Guang, that there was the revival of Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty.

The most terrible thing is that at the beginning of Zhao Ji's accession to the throne, Han Qi arrogantly forced Zhao Ji to be helpless, although in the end Han Qi had to take the initiative to withdraw from the court, but Zhao Ji's personality became suspicious......

Therefore, Wang Ju said decisively: "Your Majesty, don't worry about this, the time will be for the ministers to write the book." ”

You remain in the position of "duel" to leave room for manoeuvre.

"But it's better to wait until next spring."

"Yes, then next year."

It's not that Zhao Ji wants to delay until next year, send people back from overseas next spring, and discuss with the imperial court that the imperial court will send officials to settle in and accept such a large territory overseas, as well as the extraction of the city and the division of gold......

If these two edicts are put forward again under this good news, the controversy will undoubtedly be a little smaller.

However, Zhao Ji said again: "There is still less gold." ”

There is a different nature of this gold, no matter how Wang Ju said that the water is lit with a lamp, but there is no gold and silver, how many people believe it? Now that there is finally gold, it is equivalent to proof.

But mine production is staggering, but on the crowbar of the banking division, the quantity is still woefully underwhelming.

"Your Majesty, the combination of internal and external, in fact, is only 10 million taels of silver, 1 million taels of gold, that is, there is no overseas, if the country seriously gathers, how much worse can it be? Of course, it is also necessary to find a way from overseas, the more gold and silver, the better, the more they are, the more Jiaozi will be issued, then it can not only be used as a crowbar, itself can also be used as a turnover of funds, and even can play a role in controlling prices. ”

If the country's economy can be turned around, I am afraid that Zhao Shu also wants to reduce light taxes, which is the mainstream idea of the country.

In short, because of this private occasion, Wang Ju was also happy, and Wang Ju also took the opportunity to make a small request, transferring Zhang Shangying, who was in charge of supervising the taxes of Jiangling County, back to Kongmufang to serve as the capital inspector.

Zhang Shangying was originally Yuying, but he made some mistakes, and had a serious conflict with Shu Kang, and he was demoted.

The Confucius room is the head of the five rooms of the Chinese book, it is in charge of the archives and books of the Chinese book, so the person called Confucius is like a hole and a eye, all through his hands, that is, the Confucius room is corrected, and it is a good place to cultivate talents.

Wang Ju's request was a little excessive.

However, Zhao Ji actually agreed with great interest.

When it was time to leave, Zhao Ji's mouth flattened.

But he didn't know what to say, whether his aunt fell on Wang Ju, or Wang Ju on his aunt?

Wang Ju was happy in his heart, but he said with a serious face: "Your Majesty, it's not early, it's time for the minister to leave." ”

…………

Soon, Zhao Ji issued an edict and agreed to Wang Ju's proposal, abolishing the City Yi Division, resetting the Southern Twelfth Road Shipping Division, and Xue Xiang presided over the Twelfth Road Shipping Division.

Sure enough, there was a huge controversy between the government and the opposition.

The New Party fears that this will make a bad start.

The old party had to look at Shu, and even Sun Gu publicly shouted that no matter the City Yi Division, or the Southern Twelfth Road Shipping Division, or the various lifting divisions, all should be abolished.

Yu Shitai was impeached again and again, Xue Xiang was a person who was punished, how could He De preside over such a heavy position?

Many ministers even ignored the court rituals and made noise at the court meeting.

Wang Ju was forced to be helpless, held his tooth wat and walked out from the front and said, "Your Majesty, it seems that the minister has made a mistake in a case in the south. ”

"What's the case?"

"The minister broke a case on Guangnan West Road, there was a family surnamed Duan, the family had ten hectares of fertile land, thousands of properties, one day he went to the street and saw a beautiful jade belt, so he bought it. Then his wife and parents went to the minister to tell the mansion shop, saying that it was the bewitchment of the mansion shop that Duan Sheng bought the belt. ”

The minister asked if the mansion had used coercion to threaten the Duan family to buy it, and they said no. The minister asked again, then how can you sue others? His family said that once Duan Sheng bought this belt, he would definitely want to buy exquisite clothes, boots, and scarves to wear with it, and after these purchases, he had to buy exquisite jade pendants to wear around his waist so that no one would laugh at them. If you buy a jade pendant, then you will inevitably buy a beautiful carriage. ”

"When you buy a carriage, you have to equip the coachman, you have to buy a good horse, and when you buy it, you have to buy a mansion, and if you want to be recognized by others, you have to spend a lot of money. Well, after a few years, the Duan family will inevitably be ruined. Therefore, Duan's parents, wife and children sued the shop that sold the jade belt. ”

When the minister heard this, he cut them off for being vexatious, and gave them twenty lashes each, and let them go back. However, today, it seems that Chen Zhen was wrong. Look, the minister just proposed to abolish the city and reset the 12th Southern Shipping Division, so the scholars thought that I was going to abolish all the changes, or take the opportunity to let the court abolish all the changes. Do you have that idea? Therefore, the minister was wrong, if the Duan clan was unreasonable, then what are the scholars and doctors in the court today! (To be continued.) )