Prime Minister

Chapter 1045 Peasant Woman and Cow (2 updates combined into 1)

April of the first year of Yuanfeng.

The morning light fell on the imperial street outside Xuande Gate. A treasure car came from the imperial gate, accompanied by twenty or thirty people.

Sitting in the carriage was Cai Jing, the director of the Zhongshu Household Office. He was looking at the scenery on Tianjie Street, his eyes piercing through the people on Tianjie Street, and he felt like he was above all living beings.

Nowadays, Cai Jing is powerful as the inspector of the Zhongshu sect. It is really an excellent stage for him who is very ambitious and ambitious.

The treasure car passed through most of Tianjie and stopped at a government office. Cai Jing got out of the car and looked at the government office in front of him.

Here is Sinong Temple, one of the nine temples.

Before the Xining Reform, Sinong Temple, as one of the nine temples, had always been in name only. It was only in charge of Chang Pingcang's affairs, and it could be said that it was an insignificant official with little power.

However, after the three regulations departments were dismissed in June of the third year of Xining, Sinong Temple was responsible for all new laws.

This time, Sinong Temple has changed from a shotgun to a cannon. Originally, the government office was located in the two corridors of Tianjie, but it looked small and small, but now it is different.

Originally, Sinong Temple only had one Changping case, but now it has three bureaus and twelve cases. After adding an accounting department, a new official residence was built.

The official residence was quite spacious, with a pavilion built at the back, and officials waiting for business were standing at the door.

When the officials met Cai Jing, most of them knew him. They all bowed and paid homage, with awe in their eyes. Cai Jing enjoyed the gaze, raised his hand slightly and carried it through the main door and straight into the official residence.

Cai Jing was quick and direct in doing things. He came to Sinong Temple many times and did not ask anyone to tell him. He walked in by himself. The disciples all recognized Cai Jing, and knew that this person seemed easy to talk to, but was actually very difficult to mess with. The master did not dare to stop him, so he had to rush in to report.

At this time, Senongji Xiongmoto and Cai Que were already welcoming them out.

In the past, the officials of Sinong Temple had little weight in judging, but after the Sinong Temple officially took charge of the reform in the third year of Xining, the officials here became very powerful.

It was Deng Wan and Zeng Bu who first judged Sinong Temple. At that time, Zeng Bu was also the author of Zhongshu Dujianzheng, and Deng Wan was the censor of Zhiza.

Later, Sinong Temple was sentenced to Li Chengzhi, Lu Huiqing, Li Ding, Zhang Hong, Zhang E, and Xiong Ben. Cai Que said that Sinong Temple had always been a stronghold for officials who supported the reform. These officials were scornfully called "new youths" by old party officials.

Cai Jing said to Cai Que, "Cai Zhiza is also here today."

Cai Que nodded.

Cai Jing and Cai Que have a close relationship in private, but they still act businesslike on the surface.

After arriving at the official hall and sitting down, the officials immediately served Long Tuan tea.

Cai Jing took a sip of tea and praised the tea, and then said: "The reform of military service law is the first thing to do after Zhang Xianggong joined the government. It can be said to be the top priority."

"However, the revised text of the Exemption from Service Law has not yet been drafted. How long will it take for it to be drafted and then promulgated to the world? I am here to ask on behalf of Mr. Zhang?"

Cai Quedao: "I have been at Yushitai these days."

After Cai Que finished speaking, he looked like he had distanced himself from the relationship.

Xiong Bendao said: "Jianzheng, there are many disputes among the officials below. We still need to coordinate the opinions of all the branches, military prefectures, and county officials in the world, so as not to suddenly promote the law and provoke many people in the world to discuss it."

Cai Jing heard this and said, "Brother Botong, don't tell me this. Just go to Mr. Zhang and tell me."

Xiong Bendao: "If I don't delay, it really can't be done. As you know Cai Jianzheng, the recruitment law was established by the prime minister, and it was added and deleted several times. The state and county officials below are quite surprised that the imperial decree is changed overnight and they are at a loss. Xining After seven years of general suspension, the place has become a convenient place. Now if we change it, I don’t know how many things will happen next.”

"Cai Jianzheng, if you don't believe it, all the officials of Sinong Temple are waiting in the hall today. You can tell them in person."

Cai Jing said to Xiong Ben: "Cai followed Xianggong's order wholeheartedly. You and other Sinong Temple must do what he said whether it works or not."

"You're trying to prevaricate me with this. You obviously don't want to do it."

Xiong Ben said anxiously: "Xiong doesn't mean this. Cai Jianzheng, you might as well talk to them and find out. Xiong doesn't have the courage to incite subordinate officials to violate Zhang Xianggong's wishes."

Nowadays, Kumamoto, the judge of Sinong Temple, is not as good as before. He writes to Zhongzhong every two days or every three days to report something. However, Cai Que, who is also the censor Zhiza, rarely goes with Kumamoto.

Cai Jing smiled and said: "Botong, I don't doubt you. Mr. Zhang knows everything about Sinong Temple."

Xiong Ben breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Xiong is relieved after Mr. Zhang's words. It is indeed not because of my hesitation."

While Cai Jing was talking to Kumamoto, an official outside said: "Cai Jianzheng! I have something to say about the exemption law!"

Cai Jing laughed when he heard this: "It seems they are really waiting for me to come here!"

Just in response to Cai Jing's words, someone outside said: "We knew Cai Jianzheng was coming in the next few days, and we have been waiting for him."

After saying that, more than a dozen officials blocked the door, with the intention of forcing her to go to the palace.

Cai Que laughed secretly, somewhat fearing that the world would not be in chaos.

……

In the political hall, Zhang Yuezheng discussed with Huang Lvzheng, the envoy of the third department, about the postal affairs.

Zhang Yue planned to set up a postal system in Shaanxi.

In the past, the government often sent documents and asked a primary school student to make a special trip to somewhere, walking dozens, hundreds or even hundreds of miles, just to deliver a letter. The travel expenses, food and accommodation were unknown. How much.

From now on, Shaanxi was on the front line against Xixia. In order to facilitate his micro-management before the battle, the officials had fully implemented the gold medal system during the campaign against Jiaozhi.

This postal system will also facilitate the exchange of information in Shaanxi in the future, Zhang Yue and Huang Luzheng discussed it.

This is not actually a temporary decision to slap the butt.

Because of the fluctuations in the price of salt banknotes and Jiaozi, merchants on Shaanxi Road, especially those on Xihe Road, are very sensitive to the price of salt banknotes at the Bianjing Exchange. The Bianjing Exchange is similar to the Shanghai Futures Exchange, and futures delivery prices across the country are watched here.

The Japanese businessman Munehisa Honma who invented the K-line chart established a messaging system.

Because during the Edo period, the Dojima Futures Exchange specialized in delivering rice futures. It was also the first futures exchange in Asia and attracted many merchants from the market.

The Honma Munehisa family itself is a rice producer and businessman.

Because rice prices fluctuate greatly due to seasons, weather, and war.

In order to make profits in the futures market, Homma Munehisa spent a lot of money to establish a message transmission system in his hometown and Osaka Dojima. Homma Munehisa built buildings at intervals, and then used semaphores to deliver messages. And Munehisa Honma never failed to predict the rice market.

The trading profits of Yanchaojiaozi are huge, dozens of times that of Dojima Exchange.

Businessmen in Bianjing have established various channels to understand the news. Their sensitivity to news and their prediction of the situation are always better than those of private businessmen. It is in line with the saying 'You can question the character of rich people, but don't doubt their vision'.

Therefore, Zhang Yue took advantage of the situation and planned to establish a postal system in Shaanxi.

The shortcomings of time-travelling people are that they feel that they use their later knowledge to transform the society at that time. This is actually very blind. Being half a step ahead of the times is a genius, being one step ahead of the times is a madman.

There is no demand among the people. If you try to create demand, there will be a problem of subjective over objective.

However, if people have needs and do not solve them, then the subjective will lag behind the objective.

If there is no need for commercial information circulation, why establish a postal system?

For Zhang Yue, everything is done according to the situation, and when the situation is right, he just pushes him.

Regarding the postal transfer, Zhang Yue’s government-owned and private shareholding model was a successful precedent for the introduction of the Exchange.

At this time, someone outside reported that Cai Jing, Xiong Ben, and Cai Que were bringing dozens of officials from Sinong Temple to seek an audience outside the political hall.

Yuan Jiang on the side burst into a smile when he heard this. It was obvious that Zhang Yue wanted to reform the labor law, but he encountered collective opposition from the officials of Sinong Temple.

Zhang Yue glanced at Yuan Jiang and said with a smile, "I asked Cai Yuanchang to invite them to Zhongshu."

As soon as these words came out, Yuan Jiang's faint smile, which wanted to watch a good show, suddenly disappeared.

Since the third year of Xining, Sinong Temple has been responsible for the new law.

The officials of Sinong Temple were extremely arrogant. They directly commanded various transfer envoys to promote the Changping Division to supervise the reform. Except for the emperor, they did not pay attention to the opinions of anyone, not even Zhongshu.

Sinong Temple has three bureaus. Each bureau has one chief minister and one or two bookkeepers to handle official affairs. The subordinate officials of Sinong Temple have extremely powerful powers. They often go to various places in the world to supervise, guide and implement new laws in the name of "inspection, promotion and body measurement".

At that time, Cai Ting's son Cai Tianshen went to Luoyang to implement the new law in the name of Sinong Temple Cheng. The local transport envoy and other officials were very frightened and arranged for him to be in a class alone and did not dare to join him. Sima Guang looked at it and said, "Whatever official position Cai Tianshen has, we should arrange him in the order of his classes, and don't make any special arrangements." This incident made Cai Tianshen extremely embarrassed. However, it is evident that the officials of Sinong Temple are very powerful, no less powerful than the officials of the Ordinance Department of the Three Departments.

It is not nonsense that the officials of Sinong Temple can be called "recent young people". These officials not only support the reform, but they are also young, dare to think and act, and are extremely capable.

When Wang Anshi wanted to implement the Recruitment Law, all states and counties in the world only saw the words on paper and did not know how to implement it. Wang Anshi asked the officials of Sinong Temple to be responsible for the specific supervision. Deng Wan and Zeng Bu drafted the text, and the subordinate officials went to inspect the local areas.

After that, Sinong Temple gave specific guidance on reform matters.

The Road Transfer Department is connected with the Third Department, and the Changping Department is connected with the Sinong Temple. Sinong Temple has the right to report candidates for promotion to Changping officials from all walks of life and conduct assessments at the same time.

The transfer department is in charge of the prefecture, and the next level is the county magistrate or county magistrate. When the Changping department is promoted to the prefecture, there is Changping in charge of the hook officials, and in the county, there is Changping to accept the officials.

This whole system is like an arm moving from center to place.

At the same time, the money to buy Pufangchang River Crossing, the money left over from exemption from military service, and the money for young crops were all collected by the Changping Division of the various departments, forming an independent financial system besides the three independent divisions.

As for Zhang Yue, who is now in charge of financial affairs, he does not manage it personally.

He came to manage Sinong Temple and the Third Division through Cai Jing, the inspector of Zhongshuhufang.

And then through Sinong Temple and Sansi, they manage all the transportation departments and Changping departments in the world, and then manage the prefectures and counties through the transportation department and Changping department.

He wanted to reform the service laws, and he also wanted to carry them down from level to level, and finally to the prefectures and counties. Zhongshu Jianzheng Cai Jingben was Zhang Yue's confidant, and the third envoy was changed from Li Chengzhi to Huang Lu, and Kumamoto Cai of Sinong Temple also changed from previous opposition to neutrality or limited support now.

Reform is actually a process of fighting against the bureaucracy.

The level of the third division and the chief officer of Sinong Temple was opened up, but the subordinate officers of Sinong Temple seemed unwilling to comply. They were all the backbone of the new law, and they also regarded Zhang Yue's purpose of reforming the labor law as a kind of bureaucracy.

……

Yuan Jiang immediately returned to the viewing hall and the officials entered.

The officials immediately laid out the case.

When Huang Lu visited just now, Zhang Yue withdrew the case and sat down to talk with him in east and west directions. This was a first-class courtesy.

Generally, only when officials from the two governments or the previous two governments arrive at the Government Hall to discuss matters, Zhang Yue will withdraw the case and sit down for talks. After all, Huang Lu was still half a step away from being in the fourth position, but Zhang Yue treated the other party with courtesy and described the etiquette of guest and host. This is called a case.

Now that Kumamoto, Cai Que, and Cai Jing have come to report the matter, they have re-arranged the case.

Zhang Yue sat facing south, while all the officials sat facing north.

Facing south or north is a clear distinction between up and down. When officials reopened the Tianzhang Pavilion to pay courtesy visits to Zhang Yue and Han Jiang, they sat facing east and west, with only the imperial portrait of the late emperor facing south. This was the emperor's intention to respect the prime minister.

In the main hall of the Hanlin Academy, no one dared to sit facing south, but there was only a vacant chair in the center. This chair was originally occupied by Emperor Taizong, so no one but him could face south, so all the officials sat opposite each other as equals.

The same example also appeared in the Ming Dynasty. After the Ming Dynasty established a cabinet, the power of the chief minister was far greater than that of other cabinet ministers. Therefore, in order to prevent this situation, a statue of Confucius was placed where he sat facing south. Except for him, the chief minister and other cabinet ministers could only sit on the left and right opposite each other to show that everyone had equal status.

This is because the Ming Dynasty was not allowed to have a prime minister.

In the political hall today, Han Jiang Wang Gui was not present, and Zhang Yuelun held the seal.

He can then sit south openly, which is a huge psychological advantage.

The officials of Sinong Temple wanted to make trouble with Cai Jing today, but unexpectedly, they were directly invited by Cai Jing to the political hall to face Zhang Yue's majesty as prime minister.

People have a psychological advantage at their home court, but suddenly their momentum declines when they are away from home.

Besides, what kind of place is this?

This is the political hall!

The officials of Sinong Temple looked at Zhang Yue holding the seal in his hand, and they felt uneasy in their hearts. Even Kumamoto and Cai Que had to face Zhang Yue to the north.

Zhang Yue looked at the crowd and said: "Although you haven't spoken, I have already guessed it. I originally only passed it on to Cai Yuanchang and Xiong Botong about the imperial court's reform of military service. But you don't believe what they say and question Zhongshu. Decided, well today is here, I will tell you personally."

Hearing this, everyone swallowed their saliva in unison.

"Tell me first, why don't you agree to the reform of the service law?"

After everyone looked at each other for a while.

An official stood up. This person was Shudan, the Prime Minister of Sinong Temple. This man was very courageous and was a young man in the new party.

The other party reported: "I am reporting to Mr. Zhang. Previously, Lu Jifu wanted to change the labor law and implement the manual method and the land recruitment law in the world. They were compiled and written in advance, implemented in the local area for a period and then dismissed."

"As for the reform of the labor law in just two years, this does not leave the world at a loss. I believe that both the practical method and the land recruitment method are good laws. If the court wants to restore these two laws, we have no objection!"

Zhang Yue didn't speak, and Cai Jing stood up and said, "I won't tell you about the quality of the tactics. The method of recruiting land is for the court to use the leftover money from the exemption to buy local acres, and then use the land to recruit people. But now The money from the service is used for the imperial military expenses in the west, so how can you buy land? Or should you tell your majesty to disband the hundreds of thousands of Western troops?"

Xiong Ben glanced at Zhang Yue and echoed Cai Jing: "Indeed, eighteen million a year in exemption money is the main source of military expenditures in the west. Now that the imperial court and Xixia have only a small war, military expenditures are already beyond their means. What if there is a war in the future? "

In the first chapter Yue nodded to Kumamoto.

Huang Yan, the Prime Minister of Sinong Temple, stood up and said: "I report to Mr. Zhang that in the second year of Xining, the court began to implement the official salary law. In the past, official salary was extremely low. Not only the salary of central officials was low, but the salary of local officials was also extremely low. Local officials are also in charge of the country's criminal laws, but apart from food and clothing supplies, they have almost no money. This is also the reason why local officials are rampant in corruption."

"After the Xining Reform, the court increased salaries to support integrity, and used high salaries to combat corruption. Any officials who value high salaries will be punished if they are greedy for even a small amount of money."

"If the fifth-class households are exempted from the service fee, then I dare to ask my husband where the official salary will come from?"

Cai Jing stood up again and said: "Nowadays, the salary of the officials is more than 413,400 yuan, and the salary of the governors is more than 689,800 yuan. The total is only 1.1 million, and the imperial court is With an annual service fee of 18 million, if the service fee for the fifth-class households is subtracted, how can we say that the official salary will be reduced?"

Cai Jing continued: "I heard that since the implementation of the Recruitment Law, there has been strong opposition in the north, but not much opposition in the south."

"The main reason is that the people in the south are rich. As long as the court can avoid adding mediocrity to the mediocrity, it will be convenient for the people."

"But the people in the north are already poor, and the fifth-class households have to pay service fees and 20% to 50% of the leftover money for exemption from service, which will undoubtedly make the poor even poorer."

"Shaanxi is suffering the most, because Shaanxi is on the front line of the war against Xixia. The rural soldiers have to perform military service and are very tired. However, due to the recruitment law, the rural soldiers are not exempted from service and have to pay assistance money and exemption money. , that is, 'the best of the best'. Therefore, the voices from all walks of life in Shaanxi Province are the loudest in calling for the restoration of the Servant Law."

"So this time the imperial court chose Shaanxi and Zhejiang to reform the service law!"

Facing Cai Jing, the Sinong Temple official said a few more words.

At this time Zhang Yue said: "Let me say a few words."

The officials below suddenly stopped talking, and there was silence.

"I would like to ask you, what is a good tax law?"

“Taxation must be taxed in proportion to property, while tax exemptions or reductions must be based on per capita tax reductions.”

"The imperial court levied a tax of one hundred coins per citizen. For the rich, one hundred coins was a meal, and for the poor, one hundred coins was a life. Let me tell you a story."

The story is that a peasant woman accidentally poured pesticide into a bag of flour but was reluctant to throw it away, so she poured out the top layer and made steamed buns with the rest for the whole family to eat. As a result, my husband ate so many steamed buns that he died from eating them.

When a peasant woman came back from burying her husband, she thought that too much flour in steamed buns would kill people, so she used flour to make dumplings and ate them. As a result, her daughter ate to death.

The peasant woman was distraught and thought that something would happen if a person ate it, but not a cow. So she fed the leftover flour to the cow, but the cow died.

The reason why the peasant woman has nothing to do is because she is reluctant to eat it herself and leaves all the flour for her husband, daughter and cows.

To ordinary people, a bag of flour means several lives.

Therefore, taxation should be based on property instead of per capita taxation. Tax reduction should be the opposite, and tax reduction should be based on per capita.

If one hundred liters per capita were subtracted, the situation would be different.

One hundred cents is equivalent to no reduction for the rich, but it is different for the common people.

Dividing a small family into a small family is such a good method.

Zhang Yue replaced the pesticide with arsenic in this story about a civilian woman, and everyone was silent after hearing this.

Zhang Yue said solemnly: "Ruling a country should be based on the people! This is why I want to exempt the fifth-class households from paying taxes!"