back to ancient times to be emperor

Chapter 589

Su Shi's eyes dimmed. He had been mourning for three years since his mother Cheng's death.Because I was in a bad mood, I went out to play and saw a lot of people's ways of the world along the way.The place he went to was not the bustling Central Plains, but the sparsely populated and overgrown Jiangnan.The most affluent place in the south of the Yangtze River is even the coastal area.Like Yangzhou and Suzhou on Huainan East Road, it is already the most prosperous area in the south of the Yangtze River.

But the rest of the Huainan West Road and other places are still barbaric places, which are jokingly called Nanman by the Han people in the Central Plains.Indeed, the folk customs in the south of the Yangtze River are tough, and there are often acts of disobedience to Wang Hua.Most of the officials exiled by the imperial court are in these places.

After telling his own experience, Su Shi concluded: "The folk customs in the Jiangnan area are tough. If the imperial court controls them, I fear they will not accept it. If you anger these barbarians, is it not worth the loss? Furthermore, Your Majesty wants to bring the culture of the Central Plains into the south of the Yangtze River. I think that this is as difficult as going to the blue sky. People in the south of the Yangtze River are dissatisfied with Wang Hua, and their accents are different every ten miles. What's the matter? Time-consuming and labor-intensive, it will only increase the burden of the national treasury."

Lu Chengqi nodded first, and then asked: "Can Su Qing's conclusion be supported by data?"

Su Shi was taken aback for a moment, and said, "Reporting to Your Majesty, what is data support?"

Lu Chengqi talked eloquently: "Data is to make the problem concrete through the counting method. For example, if I want to develop Jiangnan, how much will it cost, how many years will it take to see the results, how many years will it take to recover the treasury Expenditures, etc. Could it be that Su Qing has no data, but only draws conclusions based on her own experience?"

Su Shi's face turned red, this change has already fallen into Lu Chengqi's eyes.I saw him openly admitting: "Reporting to Your Majesty, what I said was indeed derived from my speculation. If you follow Your Majesty's method, I'm afraid I'll spend my whole life, and I won't be able to come up with an accurate number..."

Lu Chengqi smiled and said: "Why should I care about the exact figures? As long as I am sure, it is right to develop Jiangnan, and it can increase the tax revenue of the treasury. Why should I care about the income? I am the Son of Dashun, and the land of Jiangnan occupies half of the land. It’s a country. Could it be that the Zhongyuan people are my people, and the Jiangnan people are not my people? This doesn’t make sense, if I treat one more than another, the world will not be in chaos.”

Su Shi blushed and said: "Your Majesty's words are very true, and my minister is lying..."

"No, Su Qing's views are very unique, and I have been negligent. It is said that one person counts the shortcomings, and two people count the strengths. I am not perfect, how can I make a perfect plan? Su Qing said that the Jiangnan area does not obey education. It is indeed a stubborn problem that the dialect is hard to change." Lu Chengqi pondered for a while, and then said, "If you want to bring Jiangnan back to you, you need cultural identity. Cultural identity requires fair imperial examinations. Fair imperial examinations require education. Su Qingyi This has awakened me. The development of the south of the Yangtze River is not a one-day achievement. I am a little greedy and aggressive, which is a big taboo for the king."

Su Shi said bluntly: "Your Majesty, this matter must be taken slowly. Although the national treasury has received a lot of taxes recently, there is also a lot of land to spend. The development of Jiangnan is a huge waste. It is not for twenty or thirty years, and the treasury expenditure cannot be recovered."

Lu Chengqi waved his hand and said, "Su Qing, you can't calculate accounts like this. Let me ask you, why did the treasury revenue increase and the people's lives improve after I started the commercial tax? Have you ever thought about this issue?"

Su Shi was taken aback for a long time before he said: "My humble opinion is that Your Majesty banned the rest of the redundant taxes as commercial taxes. Merchants have no worries, and they will flourish..."

Lu Chengqi shook his head, and said: "Su Qing is thinking about it. The reason why business develops is indeed related to commercial taxation. But commercial taxation is my will, which is equivalent to policy. So the most fundamental thing is the support of policies. Since I encourage business development, merchants naturally dare to invest in it. This is the advantage of the policy. Those who can see clearly and understand have become wealthy gentry. Coupled with my promise, merchants will also Being able to obtain fame is even more reassuring. The truth is the same, if you want Jiangnan to develop itself, you can't tie its hands and feet, but you can't let it be restrained."

Su Shi didn't understand, and asked honestly: "Dare to ask Your Majesty, how do you say this?"

Lu Chengqi said with a smile: "The reason is very simple. The country cannot fail to stand. As long as there are places where policies can be relaxed, there are places where they can be tightened. My request is very simple. As long as it is a legal business, I welcome it; as long as it does not reclaim land around the lake, I will allow you to cut forests and create fields; as long as the people of Dashun reclaim land, I will guarantee that the land will be used for them, and I will let you have as many fields as you can reclaim and plant.”

Su Shi was surprised: "Your Majesty, this..."

"I know that annexation of land is already very serious in the Central Plains. I hope to use this gentle method to encourage the landless people in the Central Plains to develop in the south of the Yangtze River. In this way, the more advanced technology from the Central Plains will be introduced to the south of the Yangtze River. With the population flowing into the south of the Yangtze River, why not be afraid that the development of the south of the Yangtze River will fail?" In Lu Chengqi's words, a blueprint has already been outlined.

Su Shi was shocked. He had never seen such an emperor dare to use such a policy.Su Shi knew that once this policy was promulgated, it would be difficult to resist the southward trend.The Chinese people have a strong sense of land, and this kind of temptation alone is enough to make people leave their homes.On the surface, Lu Chengqi's policy is fine.But a few years later, ten years later, the development of Jiangnan is completed, and some people still enter, so what should be done?
Lu Chengqi seemed to understand Su Shi's concerns, and said with a smile: "The policy is not static, but changes according to the actual situation. When I make an order, I will stipulate that this policy will only take effect for five years, and those who have disputes will all be disqualified from obtaining land. "

Su Shi finally understood that the young emperor in front of him had been thinking about this matter for a long time, otherwise, how could he be so careful?

"Well, what I have always been worried about is that the economy has developed, but the culture cannot keep up! I admire "Guangyun", but there are very few people who know it, and even fewer teachers who can teach it. If Jiangnan wants to Consolidating the achievements of development requires talent to keep up. The national treasury is overwhelmed at this time, if there is another education expenditure, I am afraid..." Lu Chengqi stopped talking and dared not continue.

Su Shi also knew that the tax revenue in these years was good, but natural disasters never stopped.A few days ago, news came from Yazhou in Sichuan and Sichuan that there was an earth dragon turning over (earthquake), causing many casualties.The governor of the local prefecture saved people overnight.However, the Changping warehouse has not yet been built, and food cannot be delivered, and many people still starved to death.Even if Lu Chengqi asked the Supervision Department to rush to Yazhou with food, the distant water could not relieve the near thirst.

The Yellow River was also not very calm. The continuous heavy rain made the river swell rapidly and almost burst its embankment.Fortunately, Li Jie was able to control the water well, so the danger was barely avoided.But Li Jie didn't dare to relax for a moment. If he broke his mouth, not only his black hat would be lost, but his conscience would also be condemned.

In addition to food and salary expenditures, salary expenditures, and various expenditures, the national treasury is about to tear down the east wall to make up for the west. The Minister of the Ministry of Households, Lin Zhenzhong, has mentioned this matter more than once, and Lu Chengqi is also very headache.Money, money, or not enough money!

(End of this chapter)