Overlord!

Chapter 94
Faced with the business tax collection method set up by He Kui, Sun Ce asked very curiously: "How can the income city business tax be collected in Wu County alone? The people do not worry about being few, but about unevenness. Wouldn't such a setting lead to public dissatisfaction?"

The people do not suffer from few, but from inequality.

Don't underestimate this sentence.

The scholars and bureaucrats in the Central Plains knew thousands of years ago that there is no work without wealth, and no business without life.

But they still choose to emphasize agriculture and suppress business, and advocate small-scale peasant production. The main reason is that the literati and bureaucrats advocate the concept of not worrying about few, but worrying about inequality.

If you don't suffer from widowhood, you are a small person, as long as you don't starve to death, why are there so many demands?Therefore, suppressing industry and commerce and letting all the common people stay in dozens of acres of farmland as self-cultivators is the good governance most respected by many feudal rulers.

Of course, they are all cultural imprints inherited in one continuous line. Ordinary people in later generations are no better than feudal scholar-bureaucrats, so don't laugh at them.

Because when many modern people in industrialized societies think of the feudal order in later generations, they also have a fixed three-piece suit in their heads.

One is to grant land on an equal basis, the other is to prohibit land circulation, and the third is to suppress mergers.

Sun Ce can almost memorize these three points backwards, even if the order of these two or three points is reversed in any way, it will not affect it. The core is still the way of scholar-officials.

What it admires is the backward classical agricultural society in which every household guards its own dozens of acres of land, where chickens and dogs hear each other, and do not communicate with each other until old age and death.

Let them govern the country, and the economic level will stop at the Spring and Autumn Period. At most, with some technological inventions, they can barely reach the level of Qin State.

The economic level of the Western Han Dynasty was an existence that they could not imagine and understand.Because the Western Han Dynasty has a bug that their theory has no solution at all.

So how did the Silk Road keep going?

All the people are guarding tens of acres of fertile land for average production. Where can they find thousands of caravans to open up the Western Regions?
Even after racking their brains, they barely found a solution, that is, to completely abandon the development of the Western Regions, let the Hu people take away all the wealth on the Silk Road, let the Hu people completely occupy the right to operate the trade routes, and organize caravans to and from the Central Plains.Zhongyuan is only responsible for providing goods.

But the problem still can't be solved. Another more difficult problem is how to provide these caravans with a steady stream of porcelain and silk?
The common people are guarding tens of acres of farmland for average production. It is impossible for tens of thousands of people to engage in industrial and commercial production.

Of course, when it comes to the Maritime Silk Road, I am even more dumbfounded. A merchant ship can carry more than 60 pieces of porcelain. Thousands of merchant ships handle goods in the port every day. Only one port city needs industrial products for a year. The scale is in the hundreds of millions.There may be tens or even hundreds of billions of handmade products that the entire country can produce in a year.

At this stage, it is completely impossible for the small peasant economy.Anyway, according to the small-scale peasant economic concept of equal-field production, this kind of economic level is unimaginable.

But in fact, this is only the first dynasty in the Central Plains that determined not to establish a land system, the economic level of the Song Dynasty.

In fact, Sun Ce passionately hoped that Jiangnan could have the same level of industry and commerce as the Song Dynasty.If the agriculture, industry, and commerce in the south of the Yangtze River can be one-tenth that of the Song Dynasty, Sun Ce can beat the north with his eyes closed.With one percent of the Song Dynasty, he dared to compete in the Central Plains with Boss Cao in the Northern Expedition.

Even if there is one ten-thousandth of the Song Dynasty, with an annual output of millions of pieces of porcelain and silk, he can still secure the position of the Lord of Jiangdong, and even live a more comfortable life than most of the princes in the world.If you have nothing to do, you can take the cloth and go to the north to harvest grain and war horses casually.Anyway, Cao Wei's currency is cloth, which was slaughtered by Sun Ce at will while lying down.

Therefore, Sun Ce is extremely concerned about this decree set by He Kui, worrying whether he will destroy Guan Zhong of Jiangdong, and the commercial atmosphere that Zhang Zhao has just revived.

That's right, only the business atmosphere.All industries in Jiangdong are waiting to be flourished, and now I am not qualified to talk about the revival of handicraft industry. The biggest achievement now is to restore law and order, successfully encourage the tyrants, and the common people to go back to the road, and restore a city commodity caused by the war and Dong Zhuo's chaos. economy.And even this burgeoning commercial atmosphere is only limited to Wu County.

Obviously, how to take care of this only seedling is not an exaggeration, why would the city gate tax be levied on Wu county alone?
Zhu Zhi explained with a smile: "This is not unfair, on the contrary, it is a unique preferential treatment for Wu County."

"Oh? What's the explanation?"

Zhu Zhi said: "This is also the result of the city captain He Duwei personally inspecting Fangshi after he took office. Wu County used to have a market in the city. Commercial taxes are collected in front of the entrance of the market. But "Guanzi" said As Wu County prospers, all the tyrants, caravans, and the capital of Guizhou carry their goods to the city’s market with chariots and horses, so that the market is congested, and it is impossible to squeeze so many trade caravans, and it is even difficult to walk. Heavy."

Suddenly, Sun Ce's eyes flashed brightly, and he looked at Zhu Zhi with an extremely eager expectation.Could it be...

Zhu Zhi was completely unaware of Sun Ce's surprise and expectation, and said calmly, "After Captain He's inspection, he ordered the relaxation of restrictions, allowing the powerful to continue trading near the wall of the market. The merchants are allowed to continue to extend from the inside of the market, and place them along the street. Sell. Captain He also discussed with the county government yesterday to tear down the high wall of the market and expand it outside. Therefore, there is no way to collect commercial taxes next to the market, but at the gate of the city.”

"However, I thought about it all night, and I still feel that it is not appropriate. With the prosperity of business, is it to be demolished and rebuilt every year? Why don't we build another market in the city, and call it the East Market and the West Market. In the future, we can build the South Market and the North Market. "

Sun Ce laughed excitedly for a moment, and it really appeared!The transaction broke through the market and appeared outside the market.

This really deserves to be the unique and generous treatment given to Wu county.

It's just that these ministers all feel that breaking through the market is only an expedient method. In the future, a high wall will be built to limit commercial transactions within this high wall.

Sun Ce waved his hand and said directly: "I think this expedient method is the best policy. Didn't Mr. Zhu think of using the entire city wall as a high wall for the market? Within the high wall, merchants can trade in any place." .”

No matter what Zhu Zhi said, he was also a capable minister. He immediately realized and asked, "General, you mean to completely tear down the walls of the market? Let the merchants sell along the street?"

"It's not necessarily to sell along the street. They can be allowed to open shops along the street to expand their business."

While the two were talking, the little official reported: "General, Captain He has arrived at the county mansion."

Sun Ce immediately said: "Please come in with Captain He, and then go and invite Mr. Gu."

Opening shops along the street, which is a very common thing in the eyes of later generations, is not easy at present, and it can even be called shocking.

Because this will involve a complete change of the Fangshi system, which separates the commercial area from the residential area, encloses each residential area with a high wall, and prohibits business in the residential area.

Reasonably speaking, this system is still somewhat useful in the north where people escape seriously.But in the south where refugees from the north are constantly being received, especially in Wu County, where order has been restored and it is almost impossible to fight again, it is a waste of land to build square towns like small towns within the city walls.

What do you think he means?There is also a point, that is, the people are actually separated, and at night, they are like prisons, forming a situation of mutual non-interference, which is actually convenient for the ruler to manage the people.

But there are a lot of shortcomings, which not only cause great troubles to the daily life of the people, but also seriously hinder the development of industry and commerce.

Sun Ce is extremely tired of the ruler's idea that the people do not interfere with each other and do not interact with each other.The greatest human achievement is the ability to work together and communicate.Ideas progress in the collision of ideas, exchanges enhance understanding, and only sparks come from collisions!
So after He Kui saw the ceremony, Sun Ce smiled and said, "Captain He, take your seat. I heard about your expedient method when I entered the city today. Allowing people to trade near the market is a great breakthrough."

He Kui is eight feet three inches tall, and his great-grandfather He Xi is eight feet five inches tall, which is more than two meters tall. They are both typical northern men.

So dignified and courageous, after hearing Sun Ce's praise, he solemnly bowed his hand to Sun Ce and replied, "I have long heard of General Sun's ambition to help the world and heal the dangers, but Kui is only doing his little to help the general restore the peace of Wu County. "

Sun Ce couldn't help laughing. This really shows one thing, that is, the necessary qualities of a prince in troubled times are to behave in a low-key manner and do things in a high-key manner.

Not much to mention about being a low-key person. A corporal is a quality that every prince and even a hero must have.

But doing things in a high-profile way can have too much impact.

At least it was because of this that He Kui changed his historical trajectory and fled directly from Qianshan to Jiangdong.

The most high-profile thing about Sun Ce is undoubtedly that since the day he founded the army, he has been declaring that he wants to save the times and help the same kind, that is, Chen Gang establishes discipline and saves the people.

No matter what other people think about things like Jishi Anbang, even a small lieutenant who laughs at Sun Ce dares to say such wild words, but as long as it is spread, it will be a reputation that attracts people's attention.

There will always be people who pay special attention to Jiang Dong because of these four words, or even look at him differently.

Because as long as it is a political program, doctrine claims, there must be a group of people who pursue this ideal and are willing to fight for it.

Just because of the slogan "There is a field to cultivate together, there is food to eat together, and there is clothes to wear together", it can attract tens of thousands of people to follow.

Sun Ce advertised that "Chen Gang establishes discipline and saves the people." Naturally, there are many heroes who are eager to end the troubled times and restore order.

Those who can finally achieve great things in this troubled world are all such princes. For example, Liu Bei's slogan is to revive the Han Dynasty.

In fact, Cao Cao is the same in theory, but he didn't want to understand it himself, but indirectly achieved the same effect by serving the emperor to order him not to be a minister.Many people chose to vote for him because of the Han court in Xudu.

The surrender of Zhang He, the decisive general, had a very crucial impact on the victory of the Battle of Guandu. However, Zhang He surrendered so quickly without much hesitation. I am afraid that at least half of it was because of the emperor.

Sun Ce was sure that he and the emperor of the Han Dynasty would never stand in the same camp, so to be successful, he must have the courage to break through, contrary to the Han Dynasty, and even strengthened the idea that his rule was at odds with the Han Dynasty.

He said bluntly to He Kui: "But I think your breakthrough is far from enough. I have made three chapters with the elders of Jiangdong. The Han Dynasty suppresses development, and I am the opposite. Since the high walls of the square city lead to merchants and tyrants wanting business If you can’t enter the wall, why not just tear down the wall and allow the shops to continue to develop? I even plan to tear down the walls of each square, allowing restaurants, cloth shops, grain shops and other shops to open along the street. .”

Regarding the forced demolition of the wall of Fangshi, if Sun Ce had a firm attitude, he would definitely be able to do it.

As a city official, He Kui naturally supported the expansion of the store, but he had to ask, "Will Mr. Gu have any doubts?"

The county government office is next to the government office, Sun Ce asked the little official to call the county magistrate, and Gu Yong soon arrived in the hall.

When Gu Yong heard that Sun Ce was going to demolish Fangshi, he hesitated for a while, and asked, "Will this lead to illegal theft and fire prevention? I am afraid that the people will be uneasy and cause public resentment."

Sun Ce was decisive and said, "If someone feels uneasy, they should move from the city to the countryside to see whether the city with the city wall is safe, or the countryside outside the city is safe."

For the people in the city, Sun Ce actually planned to levy a house tax, that is, a real estate tax.

This tax is difficult to collect in future generations, but it was relatively simple in ancient times.The people in the city enjoy the sense of security provided by the city wall and the protection of the army, so they should provide house tax as they should.If you don't want to pay, you can move out of the city and manage the fields like a farmer, and you will definitely not be taxed.

Of course, this kind of thing may take at least ten or even twenty years to think about it.

Everything is now making way for a commercial revival.

Seeing Sun Ce's resolute attitude, Gu Yong, a small county magistrate, really had a hard time objecting.I had to give a compromise and said: "Wu County is short of manpower, and it is impossible to demolish all the high walls at the same time for the time being. It is better to demolish the walls around the shops and the walls of the streets along the streets. There are so many people. If they all move to demolish In the area around the walled squares, the demolition of other squares in the future will also conform to the will of the people. If the people all move to the squares where the walls have not been demolished, then the demolition of the walls will be postponed."

Sun Ce smiled lightly and nodded: "This is a prudent method. It is very good. I will carry it out as Mr. Gu said."

Sun Ce naturally has absolute confidence that the people will spontaneously relocate to this area, which is the law and attraction of economic development.

Then Gu Yong said: "I also heard today that the city's Weisi used the four walls as walls to collect taxes at the city gate. But such an arrangement may seriously delay the people's access to the inside and outside."

He Kui asked, "Then, what suggestion does Magistrate Gu have?"

Gu Yong said: "Since the walls of the city along the neighborhood have been removed, the City Weisi can set up the City Weisi tax cao along the street within the gates of various cities, and the tax collectors are stationed there. The common people can take various roads and turn to other places, so as not to block the city gate."

And this problem obviously involves the renovation or even expansion of the city!

Wu County now has a population of tens of thousands of households, and attracts tycoons and merchants from all over the place to come and go. This city is really too small.

Sun Ce asked, "How many people are there in Wu County today?"

(End of this chapter)