Great Han Empire

Chapter 998 Chapter [-]
December 25, Chang'an, Prime Minister's Mansion.

Prime Minister Li Wei paced slowly in the study with his hands behind his back.

Da Sima Xu Rong, Taiwei Zhang Yan, Da Si Nongqing Tian Yu, Shang Shuling Tian Chou, Prime Minister's Governor Shi Jiakui, and Sima Wen Hui sat around the brazier with serious expressions, each contemplating.

"His Royal Highness's attitude is very firm." Tian Chou coughed, breaking the silence in the room, "His Royal Highness cannot accept such a subversive adjustment to the national policy suddenly. She wants us to convey it on her behalf, please be sure to come before New Year's Eve Go to Liyang and explain the matter clearly."

Li Wei stopped, looked up at the candlestick in the corner of the room, and didn't speak for a long time.

"Zhong Yuan, have you drawn up a preliminary plan for the specific method of adjusting the national policy?" Xu Rong asked.

"I invite you to come here, just to hear your opinions." Li Wei nodded, walked to the table and sat down, "I want to know how much military funds will be needed to counter the rebellion in Northern Xinjiang next year? number?"

Zhang Yan smiled, "If you don't ask me, I will tell you that after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the army for the northern expedition to the desert will be assembled one after another. I need money urgently. According to the preliminary estimate, the army for the northern expedition will need about 40 billion yuan in military funds. If If the war drags on until next year, at least another 20 billion will be added.”

"60 billion." Li Wei smiled wryly, "60 billion again. This year's expedition to Liangzhou has already cost 60 billion in military funds. Including appeasement and relief to the counties in Xiliang, we have spent a total of 65 billion in Xiliang. , if you count the consumption on the battlefield in northern Xinjiang, the figure is even more astonishing."

"75 billion yuan." Tian Yu sighed, "75 billion yuan in total. The total expenditure of the imperial court this year is 110 billion yuan, of which 35 billion yuan is used to rebuild Chang'an and other expenditures. The cost of fighting is too great , the imperial court can’t hold it anymore.”

"How much is the imperial court's wealth and income this year?" Xu Rong asked, "The above calculation is basically over. Have you come out with the specific figures?"

"Come out." Tian Yu smiled bitterly, "The land rent is converted into about 14 billion yuan, and the grass and draft (collection of farm feed, straw, etc.) is converted into about 30 million yuan. The total is about 17 billion yuan, and the zi (zi, that is, property tax) is about 62 billion yuan, and the sum of the above items is about [-] billion yuan. This is the total income of the imperial court this year, and it is the highest income since we implemented the New Deal. year."

"So many?" Xu Rong, Zhang Yan and others were pleasantly surprised.

"The reason why the imperial court's wealth has grown so fast is firstly due to the fact that the promotion and implementation of the New Deal in Yanzhou and Qingzhou has entered a bumper harvest stage, and secondly because the imperial court has recovered Yuzhou." Tian Yu explained, "If it wasn't for last year After recovering Yuzhou, the imperial court’s wealth this year will not increase to 62 billion yuan anyway. From the 62 billion wealth income, we can see that the imperial court does not actually levy land, because the land rent and grass, The manuscripts are all "tax per hectare", which is actually collected by "mouth". Except for the property tax of 17 billion, the rest are poll taxes. The larger the population, the higher the tax, which is the same as the early days of this dynasty The taxation system of 'registered households and the people' implemented in [-] is very similar."

"The imperial court's wealth has increased, but the imperial court is unable to make ends meet and is in a serious deficit. This year alone, it has lost 48 billion yuan." Tian Yu shook his head helplessly. To put it bluntly, the imperial court is now living on borrowed money."

"What about the Shaofu?" Xu Rong asked, "If the income of the Shaofu also increases, the wealth crisis can be alleviated to a certain extent."

The income of the Shaofu was used by the emperor, mainly for court consumption and rewards to his ministers.Since the eldest princess came to power, because of the needs of ZTE, the money from the Shaofu was basically transferred to the treasury.

"The mountains and forests (including iron), sea rivers and pools (including salt), public land, gardens, vegetable and fruit gardens controlled by the Shaofu, the rent and tax of the commercial market, and the profit of water balance casting money are about one billion yuan." Tian Yu Said, "In the past two years, in order to build the Weiyang Palace, His Highness not only spent all the money of the Shaofu, but also borrowed more than 30 billion yuan on credit..." Tian Yu smiled bitterly, "Your Majesty and His Royal Highness the Eldest Princess are also heavily in debt now. Ah, two paupers."

Several ministers in the study looked at each other in blank dismay, not even in the mood to smile wryly.In order to attack the Central Plains and regain Luoyang, the imperial court spent all it had and borrowed a lot of money on credit.Now that the army is going to pacify the western and northern borders again, the old debts have not been repaid, and new debts are coming, and life is getting harder and harder.

"Where is the money?" Li Wei suddenly slapped the desk hard, and said angrily, "Where is all the big man's money?"

The ministers all know where the money is, but it is difficult to get the money back.

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Where is the big man's money?In the princes and nobles, in the powerful families, in the bureaucratic scholars, and in the families of the rich and powerful.

The richest people in the Han Dynasty, apart from the emperor, are the princes and nobles.Princes and nobles include kings, princes, princesses, Guanneihou and other prominent dignitaries.Kings, princes, and princesses all have fiefdoms (countries or euphemisms).Although Marquis of Guannei is only a noble title, generally speaking, the family background of those who can get this title can be imagined.The income of nobles with fiefs is divided into two types: public expenses and private support.The public expenses are land rent and household tax (each household pays [-] yuan per year), which are mainly used for things like meeting the emperor and offering sacrifices to ancestors.Private service refers to the possession of fields, slaves and maidservants in the fief, as well as the collection of gardens, business taxes, etc., for private enjoyment.

The public income of princes and nobles is limited. In order to meet their own needs, they must find ways to increase private support. The more common method is to annex a large number of lands, and use a large number of tenant farmers, hired farmers and slaves. Another method is to lend a large amount of money through merchants or simply in person , Doing usury business.More powerful aristocrats, such as Quyang Hou Wanggen in the Xiaoai Dynasty, built a mansion in the capital, built two cities privately in the mansion, and opened business.Kong Guang, the prime minister of the Xiaoai Emperor's Dynasty, once planned to implement the policy of restricting land and slaves to prevent princes and nobles from harming the country, but they met with strong opposition from the princes and nobles and failed.

There are both nobles and bureaucrats in the powerful family.

In this dynasty, from the prime minister to the small officials in counties and counties, they all belong to bureaucrats of different levels.There are too many means for bureaucrats to collect money, and it is too easy. Its nature is profiteering and tyranny, and it has been like this since ancient times.Of course, there are still many clean bureaucrats.When Emperor Xiaozhao built the mausoleum, Dasi Nongtian Yannian hired 3000 private bullock carts to transport sand and soil, each of which cost [-] yuan.Another example is Zhang Yu, the prime minister of Emperor Xiaocheng's dynasty. He was a famous Confucian, and he bought up to [-] hectares of high-quality land in violation of the law.There are also many powerful bureaucrats who are secretly engaged in business. In their eyes, the law is simply a pile of broken bamboo.

High court officials are greedy, and small officials are no exception.If a prefect of a big county dies in office, he can get 1000 million burial funds according to the law, and there is such a high pension after death. It can be seen that the benefits of being an official are not only a monthly rank salary, but also infinitely more. Calculated hidden income.

Merchants are divided into two types, one is merchants with city registration, and the other is merchants without city registration.

City registration is a necessary condition for merchants to do business in the city, and they pay rent and taxes according to the regulations. They are mainly small and medium-sized retailers with low status. .

Big salt and iron merchants, big traffickers, big money family (loan usurers), big hoarders, generally not in the city, they have a high status and strong economic power, and many very influential people are "official merchants" "Scholar" as a whole, concurrently operating patents, and dominating one side. (The so-called concurrent business is to see the convenience of the business, not to specialize in one business; the so-called patent is to store goods and monopolize market prices. The merchant charged two-tenths a year, the hoarder at least three-tenths, and sometimes ten times as much.)
In the counties and states of the Han Dynasty, the largest group of rich people is the powerful.

Tyrants generally have a scholar loan, and their families are very wealthy. Usually, becoming an official is the main way for them to get rich. If they can't be an official, they can do business or lend money. If they can't do business, they can only bully the weak and use violence Snatched.Ordinary tyrants are weak in dealing with disasters. Once they lose everything due to unforeseen reasons, they will often become the most harmful group that destroys the country. For example, many leaders of the Yellow Turban Army are these people.

Although local tyrants, ordinary merchants, and ordinary officials are rich, they are still vastly different from the wealth owned by princes, nobles, big bureaucrats, and big merchants.

Where is the big man's money?It is in the hands of princes, nobles, bureaucrats and merchants.

If the imperial court wanted to get the money back, it had to deal with them first.Over the past 400 years of this dynasty, there has been a precedent of success and a precedent of failure.The successful precedent is Emperor Xiaowu. He implemented a series of measures, killed many people, and succeeded.The precedent of failure is Wang Mang. When Wang Mang was in power, the big man was already in a deep crisis. Wang Mang also implemented a series of measures and killed many people, but he failed. In the end, the country was in turmoil and the big man was almost destroyed.

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Today's Dahan is in the early stage of resurgence, the world has not yet been unified, and he does not have the conditions to do it at all.

Whether it is Emperor Xiaowu or Wang Mang, they all started to restructure under the premise that the society was basically stable. They have enough strength to promote the implementation of the New Deal, but today's big man does not have such strength. However, today's big man encountered The crisis is far more serious than that of Emperor Xiaowu and Emperor Xiaoai, because if the court does not immediately change the status quo, the treasury will have no wealth, no strength to pacify the world, and no strength to realize the revival of the Han Dynasty.

"If the wealth crisis of the imperial court continues, the result will be obvious. The rich will become richer and the poor will become poorer. When the poor can no longer survive, or as in the Zhongping and Chuping years, disasters will follow one after another. If the common people are hungry and starving, then the world will collapse again. Our efforts over the past ten years will be in vain. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers who died in battle will die in vain, and the big man will never be able to rejuvenate.” , the system must be restructured immediately, and the national policy must be adjusted immediately, otherwise, we will become the sinners of the defeated great man through the ages."

"Dong Zhuo brought disaster to the country, and the world was in chaos. The princes, nobles, powerful families, merchants and wealthy people were hit like never before. This is an important reason why our New Deal can be promoted, implemented and achieved rapid results. At that time, we needed money. We need all people to create wealth, and princes, nobles, powerful families, and rich merchants also need to use our power to recapture wealth, and ordinary people also need to use our power to survive, so the New Deal quickly exerted its power, but More than ten years later, and today, the power of the New Deal is no longer conducive to the rejuvenation of the great man, but seriously hinders the rejuvenation of the great man."

"Let's see now, who is the poorest of the great Han? The imperial court is the poorest, and the common people are the poorest. What is the purpose of the great Han's rejuvenation? It is to make the country rich and the people strong, but if this continues, can the country still be rich? Can the people still be strong?"

"Why did the Great Qin fall after 15 years of unifying the world? Why did the Wang Mang Rebellion overthrow the country 200 years ago? Why did Dong Zhuo's small mutiny push the big man into the abyss of defeat?" Li Wei looked at everyone, He said excitedly, "400 years of history, 400 years of bloody lessons, can't we clearly see the essence of things?"

"The foundation of a country is the land, that is, the farmers who cultivate the land. The wealth of the country and the prosperity of the country all come from these lands, the food on these lands, and the farmers who cultivate the land to harvest food. If farmers cannot own a piece of land, How can the world be stable if the farmers cannot be fed and clothed after a year of hard work? How can the country be revitalized?"

"If the big man wants to rejuvenate, he must first let the farmers have enough food and clothing, let the farmers have a piece of land to survive, and let the court have a continuous and stable financial income, but the big man only has so much land, so much food in a year. Only so much money can be minted in a year, and there is only such a big piece of pie. Therefore, if the court and farmers want to become rich, the only way is to grab it from the hands of princes, nobles, powerful families, and merchants. This is the only way. "

"How to grab it? Only emphasizing agriculture and suppressing business. Emphasizing agriculture requires the strong support of the court, and money, where does the money come from? The most effective and fastest way is to run the salt and iron government, taxing merchants and heavy taxes."

"This method is actually the method that Emperor Xiaowu used to increase the court's wealth. We all know the pros and cons. Now the Han Dynasty is in the early stage of rejuvenation. If the court enforces this policy, it will kill people, cause turmoil, and have direct consequences. It is very likely that the country will be overthrown, so we have to think of a more secure method, which can not only increase the wealth of the court, but also allow the farmers to live a life of food and clothing, and at the same time take into account the interests of princes, nobles, powerful families and merchants. Ensure the success of ZTE's great cause."

=

Li Wei picked up a roll of bamboo slips and gently placed it on the left side of the table, "For the farmers, the most urgent task is to increase the price of grain and increase their income. The price of grain prevents famine."

Li Wei picked up another roll of bamboo slips and put them heavily on the right side of the table, "The imperial court wants money, whether it is for the counter-rebellion war or the implementation of the policy of emphasizing agriculture, so the imperial court first wants to get back all the salt and iron. Exploitation rights and half of the management rights ensure the increase of the imperial court's wealth; secondly, the land is limited, and the land occupied by princes, nobles, nobles, bureaucrats, merchants, and wealthy merchants has a fixed amount. Firstly, increase the commercial tax appropriately and gradually to ensure the interests of ordinary wealthy people and merchants; fourthly, implement the policy of "receiving millet and worshiping nobles", allowing merchants and rich merchants to buy millet and transport them to the border, and grant nobles according to the amount they lose. Getting enough food to guard the border and provide relief to the common people can improve the status of ordinary merchants and rich people, and at the same time improve the difficult situation of farmers. In addition, these ordinary merchants and rich people can effectively restrain and attack big merchants and rich people. This is Emperor Xiaowen Chao Cuo’s method, the imperial historian’s doctor, worked well when it was implemented; in the end, a law was promulgated to strictly prohibit the disguised trading of land and sheltering a large number of tenants, farm laborers, and slaves, and those who violated the law will be killed without mercy.”

Li Wei looked at Xu Rong, then looked at Zhang Yan, and said solemnly: "Emphasis on agriculture is fundamental, and it is necessary to curb business appropriately. The specific measures need to be carefully discussed. At present, the most important thing is to get this policy to be approved by the eldest princess and the court ministers." , so I need the help of the two adults."

Xu Rong and Zhang Yan looked at each other and didn't answer for a while.

Li Wei's several strategies directly hit the vital points of princes, nobles, powerful families, and merchants. The debate in the court must be very fierce. Although the support of the eldest princess is very important, in today's situation, The eldest princess may not dare to publicly support Li Wei's restructuring, because the restructuring is not only related to the issue of system adjustment, but also related to the interests of all parties. Once the battle in the court is out of control and leads to an unmanageable situation, the future will not be good Is it over?Who will bear the responsibility?If the eldest princess takes this responsibility, she will give up the power in her hand, but if she firmly supports Li Wei and wins this battle, then the eldest princess will become the enemy of the loser, and the day when she is forced to give up her authority is not far away up.

Does Li Wei have such a deeper purpose?

"Zhong Yuan, this strategy has also harmed the interests of the military class to a certain extent." Zhang Yan hesitated for a long time, and said worriedly, "If our people also oppose it, then the chance of success of this strategy is not great, unless... "

"The general can't come back. When he comes back, things will be difficult." Li Wei sneered. Supported, thanks to the help of the three of them, now we have to take them down to deter others, so these three need us to come forward in person, if they are against us, then don't blame us for turning our faces and denying people."

Xu Rong and Zhang Yan considered for a long time, agreed to Li Wei, and decided to help.

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