The first emperor of the Song Dynasty

Chapter 16 Difficult reforms

The Jin army retreated, but Zhao Huan knew that the crisis in the Great Song Dynasty had not been lifted. According to the development of history, Wanyan Zongwang and Wanyan Zonghan would join forces soon, and then make a comeback. He and his cheap father were kidnapped, and the most tragic Jingkang disaster in the history of the Celestial Dynasty happened.

It is absolutely impossible for this kind of thing to happen to him. Zhao Huan sat on the dragon chair in the imperial study, looked at the few core courtiers in front of him, and thought about how to solve the current crisis of the Song Dynasty.

"Li Gang, please do the statistics and reward the generals who have made great contributions in the process of defending the city. The soldiers who died in the battle must be given full pensions. You must personally supervise this matter. If something goes wrong, I will help You are asking." Zhao Huan said to Li Gang, his voice was not very loud, but he was full of energy, with a posture of calm and authority, although he had only been emperor for a day, but Zhao Huan at this time, The body already has the majesty of the emperor.

Li Gang hurriedly agreed.

As a high-ranking person, rewards and punishments must be clearly defined, so as to convince the many generals below who have worked hard for the country. Zhao Huan knows this very well. Now that he has won, it should be time to fulfill his promise.

The Great Song Dynasty was actually very prosperous, but for so many years, Zhao Huan's cheap father was arrogant, extravagant and dissipated. Corruption is too severe. Vigorously develop the economy. Only in this way can the precarious Song Dynasty be saved.

"I have just been enthroned, and it coincides with a war, and the people are suffering. After thinking about it, I decided to amnesty the world, exempt the people from all over the world from taxes for three years, and keep all the palace expenses simple. I call on all my people in the Song Dynasty to be diligent and thrifty!" Zhao Huan Said to the few ministers in front of him.

Hearing what Zhao Huan said, everyone turned pale with shock. You must know that in the history of China, agriculture was the foundation of the country, emphasizing agriculture and suppressing business has been the basic national policy of all dynasties, and the income of the treasury is basically borne by farmers' taxes. Yes, but now that Zhao Huan said that he wants to exempt from taxes for three years, where did the money of the Song Dynasty come from for these three years?
"Your Majesty, I think it's wrong. Now our treasury is already empty. If we exempt taxes for another three years, where will our court's expenses come from?" Zhu Shengfei, the new Minister of the Household Department, remonstrated.

Zhao Huan nodded and said, "I've thought about what you've been thinking about too. This is an immature idea I came up with. Please pass it around and have a look. If you have any questions, let's discuss them. If there are no problems If so, come up with a practical plan.”

Zhao Huan said, and handed the stack of rice paper in front of the desk to Zhu Shengfei in front of him.

Zhu Shengfei took it over and looked at it, and couldn't help frowning tightly. It wasn't that Zhao Huan's writing was so obscure, it was that Zhao Huan wrote too many words that he didn't know.

"What? But is there any problem?" Zhao Huan saw that Zhu Shengfei was a little uncomfortable.

"Your Majesty, forgive me, the old minister is stupid, some of the old ministers really can't understand what your majesty wrote, please let your majesty express it clearly." Zhu Shengfei knelt down and bowed.

Zhao Huan patted himself on the head, and realized that he only cared about writing for himself, and forgot that Song Dynasty still used traditional characters at this time.

Zhao Huan took the rice paper and explained to everyone: "I have decided to encourage the development of industry and commerce. Taxation departments will be established in various places, directly under the leadership of the household department, and will be responsible for the collection of taxes in the state capitals. In the future, the focus of taxation will also shift from agriculture. When it comes to industry and commerce..."

Zhao Huan talked like a machine gun for half an hour, and all the officials below were stunned, as if listening to heaven, they were really shocked, they really didn't expect that their emperor could come up with such a A fantastic theory.

"You mustn't do it!" Li Gang was the first to stand up to object, saying: "Your Majesty, you mustn't do it. Agriculture is the foundation of our country in the Song Dynasty. If you rashly shift the focus to industry and commerce, this is shaking the foundation of the country. Your Majesty, please think twice!"

"Your Majesty, I agree with you that all dynasties have focused on agriculture. Now is the time when our Great Song Dynasty is in turmoil. We must not make troubles at this time." Zong Ze also stood up and said.

"Your Majesty, the veteran believes that the trading behavior of merchants is extremely difficult to control. If the merchants are restructured in this way, it is very likely that we will have no tax to collect." Zhu Shengfei's opinion is more practical, which is what Zhao Huan said. Taxes on industry and commerce are collected, but this industry and commerce does not have an accurate thing to measure. How to collect taxes at that time will become a problem.

The remaining few ministers also expressed their opinions one after another, but Zhao Huan also heard the meaning clearly, that is, they disagreed.

Zhao Huan really didn't expect the voice of opposition to be so loud. As a modern person, he forgot that it took decades for the Celestial Dynasty to get rid of feudal thoughts from his mind. These people have received ideological education since childhood. Even if Zhao Huan is the emperor, it is not easy to persuade them.

Zhao Huan shook his head helplessly. It seems that the reform still has to be done step by step. This kind of matter cannot be rushed, so he can only compromise and say: "If this is the case, then we will discuss this matter later." After a pause, Zhao Huan Then he said: "I decided to set up the Ordnance Department. The level is equivalent to six departments. It is mainly responsible for the research and development of weapons, and it will be advertised to the world. Anyone who thinks they have skills can come to our Ordnance Department to sign up. Once they are selected for research, they will be rewarded!"

"Hiss!" After Zhao Huan said this, everyone gasped. The young emperor in front of him was really powerful, and he actually wanted to form a seventh department in addition to the six ones. Look at it, everyone. I, I looked at you, and found that everyone was bewildered, and then I realized that this must have been something Zhao Huan came up with.

"Your Majesty, I don't think it's appropriate. Three provinces and six ministries have been used in the past dynasties. It is not appropriate to rashly set up the seventh ministry now." Li Ruoshui, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, stood up and said, this old man is a foolish and loyal old man, He attaches great importance to etiquette and law. Now Zhao Huan hastily proposed to establish the seventh department. He thinks it is inappropriate to break the tradition.

Zhao Huan was annoyed, and he asked back with a smile: "Then let me ask you, is it correct to use it in the past dynasties? If that is the case, why did the prosperous Tang Dynasty come to an end?"

(End of this chapter)