Fu Song

Chapter 662

Since Xiao Cheng came to power, the most grievous thing has been the word profit.

In the words of some people, morality and righteousness are placed on both sides, and the word "benefit" is placed in the middle.

Just like the annual official merit test, the largest proportion has become the local economic situation.

Not only look at the total amount, but also look at the growth rate.

Officials in one place, if the local economy is booming, basically one can't get away with the top of the evaluation.

And other indicators, in the face of economic indicators, can basically be ignored, not worth mentioning.

Many of the behaviors that allowed local officials to be commended in the past and made the local people look good are completely inappropriate now.

It's like a certain place reported to the imperial court that a certain woman was hanged in the mourning hall with a rope for her husband's death festival, and asked the imperial court to commend her.When the memorial arrived at Xiao Cheng's place, Xiao Cheng was furious.

Not only did he annotate the four big characters of "how can this be reasonable", but even at the grand court meeting in Liri, in front of all civil and military officials, he scolded the officials who reported this incident bloody.

This time, this official has nothing to lose by stealing chickens, not to mention commendations, if there is nothing else to make up for this year's test performance, an inferior must be firmly on the head.

Xiao Cheng really hated such things.

He can't control the past, but in his hands, such unhealthy tendencies must be killed.

Maybe there are such chaste women,
But even if there is, Xiao Cheng does not agree.

If the imperial court greatly praises such things, sets up archways, and provides resources, then I am afraid that such things will still be endless in the future.

Officials want to get the praise of being educated, and paint a strong stroke for their promotion. Those families use this to highlight their own reputation and raise their family's value, but those who go to martyrdom are really willing ?

Nobody knows.

Because the dead cannot speak.

It can only be left to the living to make irresponsible remarks.

"Han Duan, your Ministry of Rites should write an article on this matter and publish it on the Jiangning Monthly Newsletter. The headlines on the front page should severely criticize this kind of behavior!" Han Duan said.

Han Duan frowns: "Shoufu, how do we write this? In the past, such behaviors were highly praised and advocated! This, this, this is going to be the opposite now, and I really don't know where to start. ! Shoufu, can you give me a hint?"

Facing Xiao Cheng's flames, Han Duan did not dare to refute, but he knew in his heart that once he returned to the yamen of the Ministry of Rites, he was afraid that the people below would spray him to death.

"Isn't this simple?" Xiao Cheng said angrily: "At the moment when the country is in crisis, every living Song Dynasty person can contribute his own strength to the country, even a woman can do it, go to the textile workshop Look in the field, look in the fields, the women are working hard, abandoning themselves is disloyal to the country."

Not to mention that Han Duan was dumbfounded, even Cen Zhong, Lu Wenhuan and others were dumbfounded.

To be honest, they still appreciate such things in their hearts.

But when Xiao Cheng opened his mouth, he directly exaggerated this matter to the level of being loyal to the country, and it would be a disaster if this big hat was taken off.

But it also shows how dissatisfied Xiao Cheng is with this kind of thing.

"There is an old man who hasn't lived for a hundred years, it's unfilial, and there are children who are underage, it's unkind, such an unfaithful, unfilial, and unkind person still wants to get a posthumous title from the imperial court, don't think about it!"

Looking at the furious Xiao Cheng, Cen Zhong, who wanted to persuade him a few words, just shut his mouth.

They knew that once this article was released, it would cause an uproar all over the world, and there would definitely be another dispute among scholars over this matter.

But it's only among scholars, and ordinary people don't feel much about it.

Because such things will not happen to the people at the bottom.

There are no worries about debts, and no itch for lice. Now, are they still afraid of Shih Lin?
It has already been sprayed.

How precious were the Jinshi exams in the past!

Thousands of troops and horses cross the single-plank bridge, and there is an exam every three years. There are at most two or three hundred Jinshi at a time. Which one of the Jinshi who passed the exam is not well-educated, knows astronomy at the top and geography at the bottom, and the essays are colorful?
But this year's autumn examination, under Xiao Cheng's order, the Jinshi examination was divided into six subjects, corresponding to the six universities under the jurisdiction of the Guozijian. The number of people admitted has soared to nearly a thousand.What made these people most dissatisfied was that only less than 80 people were accepted for the literary examination, but the number of students enrolled in law and mathematics increased greatly, accounting for about [-]% of them.

Xiao Cheng didn't care a bit about Shilin's scolding.

"Scholars rebelled, it won't work in three years!" This sentence made the other ministers in Zhengshitang, including the six ministers, who were worried about this, speechless.

"Just scold them! They have been deprived of their benefits, and they are not allowed to vent their anger by scolding a few words!"

And for another group of sycophants who said that they would punish these bad-mouthed guys to vent their anger on the chief assistant, Xiao Cheng also seemed extremely generous, even though some people had already posted in Jiangning city criticizing the government.

"You scold fiercely, but you must be honest physically. You see, in the autumn test three years later, these guys who scolded the most will definitely come to take the test again. Maybe they are not allowed to take the test, it is now These miscellaneous studies that they look down on."

Regarding Xiao Cheng's assertion, others were dumbfounded, but they also knew that it was really true.

Just like Xu Xiangqi, who is still serving as the Minister of the Household Department but whose real power is not as good as before, Xu Shangshu has already ordered his nephews to start studying mathematics in depth, which was originally miscellaneous in their eyes.

All of a sudden, the value of the gentleman who is proficient in these miscellaneous knowledge skyrocketed.

Without sufficient financial resources and prestige, in Jiangning City, it is impossible to invite gentlemen with certain attainments in this area.

Three years later, the mainstream of the Jinshi examination must still be the upper class in the past. Regarding this point, Xiao Cheng knew it well, and there was no way around it.

It's always a good thing to get these guys to put their ingenuity to work on it.

If there are such things as Four Books and Five Classics, poems, songs and prose, as long as you have them, if you let the whole people engage in this stuff, will the Song Dynasty still be alive?

When the Liao people came, could it be possible that you sent a group of scholars to chant poems and prose to defeat the enemy?

Moreover, Xiao Cheng also hopes that through such a change, a group of talents who focus on mathematics, physics and chemistry will emerge among the rich.

Speaking of doing these things, it costs money, and it’s not enough if you have less money!
Ordinary people will regard learning these things as a stepping stone, but once rich people learn it, they will regard it as a hobby to study for life.

Even if there are very few such people, as long as there are a few of them, maybe Da Song will make a lot of money!

"Shoufu, you are called Qian Xianggong now!" Xu Xiangqi said with a smile.

Although they were at odds with Lord Xiao, and the two sides were almost at odds in terms of political views, but now Xu Xiangqi also knew that Xiao Cheng was still a person who could negotiate. In this round of struggle, they failed completely, but as a victory Xiao Cheng, the leader of the warlords, still reserved room for them, not only did not kill them all, but also found a new profit point for them.

Although it was unexpected, it also laid the foundation for future political struggles, and it can be regarded as delaying the tradition of political struggles in the Song Dynasty.

Therefore, in addition to preparing to accumulate strength to launch the next struggle, their faction now gets along very happily with Xiao Cheng at least on the bright side.

"How can you do it without money!" Xiao Cheng spread his hands and said, "Starting from this year, the army will expand to 10 people within three years. , that is 10 million guan, the cost of the entire army is around 1000 million guan. The salaries of the civil and military officials of the court are not low, can you owe them money? If you owe them, is there anyone else to work for you? Not to mention anything else For these two items alone, 3000% of the imperial court’s annual income has been taken up. Look at how many memorials are on my desk. Didn’t they come to ask me for money? Xu Shangshu, what do you think? Is it clearest?"

Xu Xiangqi laughed, "That's right, Mr. Xu is willing to donate the money to the imperial court without any salary."

"You can pull it down!" Xiao Cheng snorted, this guy is afraid that the world will not be chaotic: "You don't want money, what should the other people in your household department do? Respond to your call? You don't live on salary, and the rest of the family Everyone is still counting on this!"

Seeing that Xiao Cheng was not fooled, Xu Xiangqi pursed his lips and remained silent.

This year is the first year of the implementation of the new policies. Although the effects of the various new policies have begun to appear, they are still far from enough compared to the huge expenses.

Although the Chinese New Year is still a month away, this year's income is basically calculated.

The annual fiscal revenue is 6000 million yuan.

To be honest, Xu Xiangqi was shocked by this number.

Of course, compared to Xiao Cheng's ambition, this number is indeed far from enough.

Within three years, Xiao Cheng wanted the imperial court to earn more than [-] million yuan.

In Xu Xiangqi's view, this is a difficult goal to achieve.

The military is just too expensive.

That is a gold swallowing beast.

This is also the fundamental contradiction between the Jiangnan faction and Xiao Cheng's faction.

The army is controlled by Xiao Cheng's cronies, he will never lose money to the army, and they who advocate the Northern Expedition are constantly expanding their army and preparing for war, all of which will cost money.

The Jiangnan faction believes that as long as there is no northern expedition, living in a corner of the south, and focusing on defense, then everyone's life will be much easier!

Why let go of a good life but choose to live a poor life!
Fighting against the Liao people, I don't see how much chance of victory there is!

It's better to build a fence, strengthen your own defense, and then negotiate with the Liao people. It's the same as in the past, and give the old coins!

It doesn't hurt to give a little more.

As long as you don't support so many troops, what a little old coins are!

Of course, the losers in the political struggle are not qualified to raise objections now, unless Xiao Cheng encounters a major defeat, they will have a chance to start again.

It is precisely because of this goal that the official examinations of officials in the Song Dynasty are based on money.

In Xu Xiangqi's view, the only thing Xiao Cheng thinks about every day is how to make money.

In order to make money, he has already disregarded his face and will do everything he can.

Of course, this guy does have some tricks. With half of the Great Song Dynasty now, this year's fiscal revenue has reached the fiscal revenue of the most glorious period of the Great Song Dynasty in the past hundreds of years.

But the price is that they, the scholar-official class, are crying!

Qian Xianggong skinned them especially hard.

Now the Jiangnan faction finally understands that no matter how sharp the mouth is, no matter how clever the pen is, it is not as sharp as a steel knife!
It's a pity that they understood this truth a little later.

Of course, as long as you understand this truth, you can figure it out slowly.

The aristocratic family has never been short of time.

You just need to plan from scratch.

While Xiao Cheng won a complete victory, he could only make peace with the scholar-official class.

What Xu Xiangqi likes to see most now is Xiao Cheng's frowning face in order to raise money.

In the past, the taxation and money of the Song Dynasty were only part of it, and there were messy things such as silk, rice, fodder, etc., but everything the country needed could be collected as taxes.Collecting these things is another business. I don’t know how many people live on this and make a fortune!
But with the new tax system, there is only one thing left for tax payment: copper coins!

After putting away the copper coins, go to the merchants and common people to buy what they need.

The structure has been simplified, the process has been simplified, and the opportunities to gain benefits from it have been greatly reduced.

The tax office of the household department is obviously his subordinate, but it has always only listened to Xiao Cheng.

According to their calculations this year, the tax revenue of the imperial court next year should reach 8000 million guan, and the next year it will exceed [-] million guan. Xu Xiangqi did not understand their calculation method, but thinking about it himself, this is absolutely impossible.

It is estimated that Xiao Cheng instigated them to come up with this figure, so as to trick the court into agreeing to his massive military expansion.

Next year, if the annual income does not reach this much money, then they can counterattack.

Let's see how Xiao will end up making money.

The army is a double-edged sword. If you have no money to meet the needs of the army, will they still obey you like that?
Looking at Xu Xiangqi's constipated face, Xiao Cheng sneered in his heart.

You guys want to see my jokes, hum, I'm afraid you will be disappointed by then.

As long as the new decree can be implemented smoothly, next year, the imperial court's revenue will definitely be worth billions. According to the calculations of the tax office, it will still be slashed by itself.

The implementation of several new laws this year has been relatively smooth, and there will be new laws to be implemented next year.

Take it slowly and step by step, never rush it.

There used to be an old gentleman who was called Mr. Yi, but because of his haste and improper employment, he ended up in the wrong place!

How could Xiao Cheng repeat the same mistakes!

And what's different from this stubborn gentleman is that Xiao Cheng is holding a knife in his hand!
(End of this chapter)