old attack difficult

Chapter 4

There were two people sitting by the window facing the street on the second floor of the restaurant. One had a sallow complexion and was wearing a royal blue straight dress, with only a cloth scarf on his head; Emerald crown, handsome appearance and coquettish demeanor.

The two sat by the window, and there were some small dishes and a pot of rice wine on the table.

Three days ago, Lin'an sent the injured Bai Feiyu back to the Bai family's ancestral home in Hangzhou. The Bai family's second master, Bai Chenghai, and Bai Feiyu's stepmother, Qiu Lingsu, were the masters of the Bai family's seriously ill house.

Seeing Bai Feiyu come back, his face was full of smiles, and even warmly entertained Lin'an to thank Lin'an for saving Bai Feiyu's life.

Bai Feiyu accepted their love with a smile, and didn't mention the fact that he was killed outside. While doing his filial piety in front of his father, he stayed in Lin'an for a few more days.

Lin'an knew that Bai Feiyu had other plans in mind, and because of Bai Feiyu's kind invitation, he lived in Baifu calmly.

Today, Bai Feiyu and Lin'an went out to buy some of Master Bai's favorite snacks, because Bai Feiyu was still injured and it was inconvenient for them to stand for a long time, so they found a restaurant and booked an elegant room to rest.

Lin'an held up his wine glass and glanced at the busy cloth shop on the opposite street, then drank the wine in the glass in one gulp.

He smiled and said to Bai Feiyu on the opposite side:

"In fact, the changes in the imperial court's policies can be seen from the details of the people's lives."

Bai Feiyu put down the bamboo chopsticks in his hand, took out a silk handkerchief from his sleeve, lightly pressed the corner of his mouth and asked with a smile:

"Oh? How can you see it?"

Lin'an's chin twitched towards the cloth shop downstairs that had a good business:

"My dynasty uses the taxation system of rent, mediocrity and adjustment. Rent, corn levy, mediocrity, labor levy, tune, local products from various places, but my dynasty has always only collected some cloth, silk and hemp. The silk and hemp weaved by each family The cloth should not only be used by the whole family, but also be handed over to the country, but now the shop owner is doing the opposite and selling all the cloth, which is not very affluent, at a low price, so I guess it was suggested by a minister in the court There are some signs of the two tax laws, and the owner of this cloth shop heard something."

Bai Feiyu's curiosity was aroused by Lin'an when he heard it at the end:

"Then Yi Lin'an means that the current tax collection method is beneficial to the common people, or the two tax laws you mentioned are beneficial?"

There was a hint of complexity in Lin'an's eyes, he shook his head:

"Everything has its own advantages and disadvantages. Rent and mediocrity grants land to the people, and during the land grant period, the people are required to pay the corresponding amount of tax. The tax amount in our dynasty is [-] taxes. Compared with the Han Dynasty's [-] taxes, it is much more generous. The burden on the people is not heavy. Life will not be too bitter. In the tax-free year, you can eat a few good meals.

The implementation of the two taxes is bound to stop land grants and allow private purchases of land.As for the collection of taxes in summer and autumn, in the past, labor, corn, and cloth were collected separately in rent and mediocrity, but now they are harvested in a unified manner. After a long period of implementation, the court and central government will forget to add new taxes for the purpose of changing from complicated to simple. This also gave the officials below the opportunity to exploit the people. The minimum land security that the people had in the past will also be taken away by the rich. After a long time, the poor will become poorer and the rich will become richer. "

After these words, Bai Feiyu's face became more and more serious. He tapped the table with his fingers and fell into deep thought.

Seeing that Bai Feiyu didn't speak, Lin'an refused to say any more. He poured himself a drink and looked out the window quietly.

All living beings.The previous ideals and ambitions and the enthusiasm are now all turned into a sigh and gradually hidden in the wine.

He raised his head and poured wine into his throat.

After a long time, Bai Feiyu said again:

"In this way, the two-tax system is actually more unfavorable to the people." After finishing speaking, he made a decision and continued:

"However, the disadvantages of equal land are not small. Land annexation is inevitable. The people sell their land to the rich for their livelihood. Few families can really enjoy the low tax of the court, and the people even sell themselves as slaves. .

The household registration of the registered population in my dynasty is changed every three years, and the "account" of the registration of strong men for forced labor is changed every year, and each locality makes three copies of the household registration account book, one for the household department, one for the county government, and one for the state. , The registration and bookkeeping is cumbersome, and it is easy to slack after a long time. There are many files that have not been read for decades, and many fields granted have not been taken back.These are questions that can be said. "

Speaking of this, Bai Feiyu's brows became more and more wrinkled, although his eyes were still calm, but also cold:

"Land consolidation does not solve the problem of the common people, so the real equalization of land cannot be obtained. However, the dignitaries, businessmen, Shixun, and noble families of our dynasty are really hard to shake. Wang Mang of the Western Han Dynasty was not because the land reform touched the interests of too many people. I lost my fortune."

Bai Feiyu thought that most of the ministers in the court came from famous families, and there was a force behind each of them, which one of those forces had not accumulated a lot of wealth and owned countless lands, and which one could be easily shaken!

The fingers that were playing with the jade walnuts under the table were tense, and the veins on the back of the hand were protruding.

Lin'an looked out of the window and turned his gaze to Bai Feiyu. Although he smiled on his face, he was a little surprised. He was born as a prince. As a child from a merchant family, it is rare to have such insight.

"Withdrawing the right to sell salt and iron tea to the state, the amount of tax that needs to be paid for private land resale has been greatly increased and the private purchase and sale of land has been reduced. When I sell goods to merchants, or when the rich family's land reaches a certain amount, the annual tax amount collected by the imperial court also increases. It is necessary to increase substantially, to make the tax revenue greater than the benefits brought to them by the land, and to make it a burden for them to own too much land! Only in this way, the court will come forward to buy the land in the hands of the rich and powerful merchants, and anyone who sells the land to the court They will only be tempted if they can get the imperial court to prosecute their ancestors to dismiss them or exempt part of the tax."

Bai Feiyu is a smart man. Lin'an's words made him see another possibility. When the income brought by the land is less than the tax set by the court, the land becomes a burden. When the court proposes to sell the land to the court, it can not only exempt the tax but also Those families who have used too much land for rewards from the imperial court will definitely consider it carefully.Especially for merchants, the views of merchants in the country are always ambiguous. It is very helpful for them to improve their social status if they can sell some land so that their ancestors can be honored by the court. Loose officials who have been awarded by the imperial court will also be interested.

Lin'an continued to say to Bai Feiyu:

"The land bought by the imperial court can be registered in the household department and managed by the prefecture and county where it is located. It can send people to supervise and manage each prefecture and county. It will be inspected every three years and once every five years. Once it is found that the land in a certain place is missing The local prefectures and counties were responsible. Officials who caused land loss to warn the world, exiled Yazhou for three generations." Speaking of it, it was full of blood. The way to be brave and invincible is to punish and reward heavily!After speaking, Lin'an's eyes were filled with cold light, and his hands were clenched into fists.

Lin'an's words made the air in the house more dignified. People's livelihood is a major issue, not to mention that if you want to benefit some people, you must lose the interests of others. If you can't solve the contradiction between these two people, Either side could bring bloodshed.

The role of the imperial government is to reconcile the contradictions between the two, like dancing on the tip of a knife, the first to be destroyed by a slight carelessness will be the imperial court.

Lin'an's words were like a sharp knife, cutting off the white cloth that Bai Feiyu had covered before, he suddenly realized that there might be new problems in the reform process, but he believed that these problems would definitely be resolved.

Thinking of Bai Feiyu like this is indeed extremely complicated, Lin'an has such a great talent, he can't tell whether his emotions are jealous or disappointed.

Bai Feiyu realized that the current atmosphere was too heavy, so he eased his cough:

"Seeing that Lin'an also has the ambition to build a peaceful state and establish a country, and his knowledge and insight are not bad, why don't you go to Beijing and ask Da Zhongzheng to choose you as an official in the court."

Lin'an's face suddenly changed when he asked this question, he raised his eyebrows and remained silent, it's not that Xueyi can't always show his emotions and anger.

There seemed to be the sound of rain in his ears, and Xue Yi's indifferent face flashed in his mind. Since that rainy night three years ago, all his ideals and ambitions have become bullshit. No, his life has been one from the beginning. joke.

The author has something to say: The most content in this chapter is the discussion between the two protagonists about the important affairs of the government, including the political system and taxation.The rent-yong reconciliation and equalization of land mentioned in it were the Tang system, and the two tax laws were used from the end of the Tang Dynasty to the Ming and Qing Dynasties.The contents of this chapter are all taken from Chinese history, and Chang'an's views on government affairs are all Aunt Thirteen's own thoughts.For those who are not interested in this aspect, you can skip directly to the next chapter without affecting the overall plot! (???_??)?