Chapter 319: The Tyrant's Private Soldiers
As soon as the news spread, a large number of ships came directly to do business with the sea-going merchants from Guangnan West Road, and all kinds of goods were transported to Sichuan via Fangchenggang, Guiyang and Renhuai.
As a result, the maritime trade business of Fujian and Guangdong was diverted again, and the maritime trade tax of the pseudo-emperor Zhao Bing dropped sharply.
He discussed countermeasures with Shi's son and asked what to do.
Shi's son was so angry that he said he would send the navy to attack the ports in Guangnan West Road to prevent Zhao Qi'er from making a living by sea trade.
This idea was immediately rejected by Zhao Bing, as he was not crazy enough to go to war with the New Song in Sichuan and Shu. Zhao Bing knew very well that it was just a momentary angry remark by Shi's son. If the navy really went to attack the ports of Guangnan West Road, it would not necessarily win, as the sea route was so wide that it could not be blocked.
Once they take the initiative to provoke a war, the people of Song Dynasty will see them as useless. There will be no need for Zhao Qier to attack Jiangdong, as his court will be in name only and will be finished.
Shi's son said that the King of Lu was still collecting the tribute money. Taxes had been generally collected for ten years, and people in various places were resentful. It was not possible to increase the taxes on farmers.
The only way is to donate to the nobles and wealthy people who own land and property.
However, because Jiangdong lacked money to support the army, they allowed these powerful families to expand their militia. A secret investigation by the Imperial City Bureau found that some large aristocratic families maintained 5,000 or 10,000 soldiers and set up their own courts, running rampant in the countryside, but refused to obey orders to go to the front line to fight the enemy.
This has become a major concern for the Jiangdong court.
Zhao Bing said seriously that the malignant tumor must be removed first. He asked Shi's son to reorganize the army and bring all the troops under the control of the imperial court just like Zhao Qi'er in Sichuan.
Shi's son agreed with his mouth, but he was unwilling in his heart. He used the excuse that he had no money to pay the soldiers. He himself was unwilling to bring the civilian army under the direct control of the court.
Because his family is secretly raising troops. If all these militias are under Zhao Bing's control, he will lose the tool to compete with Zhao Bing. What if Zhao Bing finds a reason to take him down again? Without a shield in his hand, won't he be just a fish on Zhao Bing's chopping board?
The two argued for a long time without any result and returned to the trivial matter of getting money.
Zhao Bing wanted to further reduce the salaries of officials on the grounds that the New Song Dynasty had already done so. The newspapers had even been sent to Lin'an. If the New Song Dynasty could drastically reduce the salaries of officials, why couldn't his authentic Song Dynasty?
Drop it, let it drop sharply.
The second was to collect patriotic donations. When Zhao Bing saw the Chengdu Xunbao report that merchants from the New Song Dynasty handed in their excess money, Zhao Qier's father-in-law Chen Zhongshun took the lead in donating his shares in Wugufeng to the court, and merchants in the jade business also donated a large amount of money.
Why can't these salt merchants, silk merchants and maritime traders in Jiangdong donate money to the country?
The two of them planned carefully...
The next day, Zhao Yulin went to the government office to discuss matters with the officials. The first item made Zhao Yulin very unhappy.
As soon as Hua Yue reported the legal reform, Zhao Yan immediately proposed not to change the law for the time being and to inherit the laws of the Song Dynasty. The reason was that the New Song Dynasty had inherited the court of the Song Dynasty, but the Central Plains and Jiangdong had not yet been unified, and these places were still implementing the laws of the Song Dynasty, so we should continue to use them.
Zhao Yulin felt very unhappy. To continue to use the law was tantamount to recognizing the dictatorship of the feudal dynasty in the past. Of course, this denied the republicanism advocated by the new Song Dynasty.
Lao Cao said dissatisfiedly that we have already declared a republic. Although we have inherited the territory of the previous dynasty, Yulin brother clearly announced in the newspaper that all unequal treaties of the previous dynasty have been abolished. Ding Gong also announced the vision of a new society under the republic. We have long been discussing reforms in accordance with the vision of the new society. Why do we have to go back? Going back to the past?
After Lao Cao mentioned that Ding Gong had announced his new proposal, he could no longer remain silent. The old man immediately expressed his position and said firmly that there was no turning back. Since we have already announced it to the world, how can we change our mind from one day to the next and go back on our word ?
Seeing that Fan Zhong and others did not express their opinions in time, Zhao Yulin was worried about changes, and then said that the Ministry of Justice was too burdened with only Princess Zhao in charge, and suggested that You Gong be the first deputy envoy, Hua Yue and Jiang Ligang be the second and third deputy envoys, to speed up the legal reform.
He looked at Zhao Yan and said that if Lord Zhao was not feeling well, the first deputy envoy could summon all the officials to discuss and consult on the reform in a timely manner, and there should be no further delay.
In a word, first completely eliminate the parts of the previous dynasty's laws that involve the privileges of the royal family and the princes, and ensure that officials and the people of this dynasty are equal and consistent. There are no people outside the law and no place outside the law in the new Song Dynasty.
The gentlemen were stunned by his serious expression and powerful speech. In the meantime, he clearly reminded You Shi that he could directly preside over the discussion on reform without caring about Zhao Yan's feelings, which made everyone think twice.
Zhao Yan's face changed. It was obvious that they were going to strip him of his authority as the Minister of Justice.
After hesitating for a moment, Mr. Ding immediately said that this was a great idea. The new Song Dynasty had already been established and reform was imperative. He would like to thank you all for your help.
Zhao Yulin didn't wait for Zhao Yan to speak and followed up with his proposal:
The first one was about tax sharing. Zhao Yan objected as soon as he finished explaining it.
Zhao Yanna said that taxes have always been collected by the imperial court after being approved by the Ministry of Revenue of the imperial court. The needs of local prefectures and counties can be transferred after being approved by the Ministry of Revenue and agreed upon by the Central Council. Diverting taxes to local areas will not only be troublesome to manage, but will also breed corruption.
Damn, I met someone who is trying to argue with me.
Zhao Yulin didn't expect that it was still his home, and Zhao Yan would confront him.
He patiently and meticulously explained the benefits of tax sharing and then talked about strengthening management, believing that even without tax sharing, local corruption would still occur. In the future, the New Song Dynasty would set up an independent auditing agency to regularly review local accounts and eliminate corruption from the perspective of institutional construction.
Moreover, after the founding of the New Song Dynasty, various expenditures have been increasing. What the New Song Dynasty needs is to mobilize the enthusiasm of the entire society to develop the economy and cultivate tax sources. How can it do this without allowing the prefectures and counties to flourish?
The gentlemen spoke one by one, some supported and some opposed. Those who opposed believed that Zhao Yulin was spending extra money and increasing unnecessary expenses by setting up an audit agency for supervision after the tax sharing.
It was Lao Cao who spoke up again. He believed that the tax sharing that had already been done in Hanzhong and Guanzhong was very good. The extra taxes collected would not only make up for the part distributed to the local governments, but would also promote the local governments to expand their tax sources.
Establishing an auditing agency can supervise local expenditures and reduce unnecessary losses. Why not do it?
Seeing that the two sides were deadlocked, Zhao Yulin said that rules are made by people, and we should use things that are beneficial to social progress. He suggested that we try it for three years first, and do it in one year. In the second year, we will see, and in the third year, we will naturally determine whether the tax-sharing system is good or not.
If it's really not good, we can change it back.
At this time, Ding Gongcai expressed his support. He believed that the effect of increasing revenue after tax sharing in Xuzhou, Jiading and Hanzhong was obvious, but the simple one-size-fits-all approach of the Ministry of Revenue in the past still had its advantages, so he decided to give it a try within three years.
Zhao Yulin then talked about the second item, which was to allocate special funds for road construction to the garrisons on Guizhou Road, Guangnan West Road and Jinghu South Road.
He said that only by opening up the Zero Canal could the benefits of the fast water transportation of the Xiang River and the Li River be brought into play. At present, sea trade would be opened up by building a road from Guizhou to Fangchenggang on the Guangnan West Road. Silver would also have to be transported to these two places. The land route from Luzhou to Fangchenggang on the Guangnan West Road would be repaired, and a standardized post station would be established.
Building water and land routes will not only boost trade along the routes, but also concentrate idle labor in the private sector to complete these two strategic routes. With easier roads, the people along the routes will create more and more wealth, and our tax revenues will increase quickly.
Moreover, if anything happens in Lingnan in the future, our army and supplies can quickly reach the seaside and effectively control the border.
As soon as Zhao Yulin finished speaking, Zhao Yanna opened his mouth to object again.
He believed that Chengdu's current expenditures were huge and it could no longer sustain any more expenses. It would be better for local governments to raise funds for bridge and road construction according to the old rules, and to postpone it if they did not have money.
What's more, Jinghu South Road has not yet been incorporated into the financial and administrative control of our new Song Dynasty. Simply put, it is a losing business.
This time, Ding Gong carefully followed Zhao Yan to ask Zhao Yulin. He also felt that the current expenses were huge. The relocation of Jinguan City alone was an astronomical expense, and we are still sending troops to Tubo.
Seeing that the two giants held different opinions, it was even more difficult to comment, so the gentlemen all picked up their tea bowls and drank tea, looking around .
Zhao Yulin said that the construction of Jinguan City would not be completed in one year and would require annual investment; the use of troops against Tubo was already a year-round norm and was all within the plan, so there was no need for you to worry.
He proposed to divide the donated money into three parts and send them to Guizhou, Jinghu South Road and Guangnan West Road for emergency response. After the deputy transport envoy Ma Ling came back and carefully calculated the money, he would discuss allocating money for road construction to these three places.
With this arrangement, the officials had nothing to say. Lord Ding then ordered that 500,000 strings of silver be transported to each of these three places.
Zhao Yulin proposed that the Ministry of Revenue take the lead in establishing an organization called "Heart to Heart Charity Hall" to absorb donations from caring private individuals and use them for charitable activities that the country is currently unable to invest in.
The charity hall was managed by caring private individuals and supervised by officials sent by the imperial court to ensure that the donations were used effectively and to monitor the use of every penny.
This proposal was supported by Fan Zhong, who said that the Ministry of Revenue had received a lot of donations during this period, and the court should supervise and manage the donated materials and funds.
Zhao Yulin believed that several nursing homes could be established in Chengdu to concentrate the elderly and widowed people in the nursing homes for care, and the donations and supplies from the charity hall could be put to good use.
The gentlemen immediately agreed with his opinion, but Zhao Yan said sourly that the charity funds had just been transferred by the commander to build roads, so where would the charity funds be left to support the elderly?
Lao Cao was unhappy and said coldly that the fundraising was still going on. The Ministry of Revenue was busy preparing for the charity hall, and the site selection and construction of the nursing home were proceeding simultaneously. All matters were followed and reported in the Chengdu Weekly to let the people know. There must be enlightened gentlemen who donated money.
Seeing that the topic had gone too far, Mr. Ding stopped talking and just let it be.
