Chang Zuoqing, Chang's father-in-law, lit a charcoal fire in the imperial study.

He looked at the memorials piled up on the Long Case, and suddenly remembered that when the late emperor was in power, in the first few years, there were many memorials that needed to be dealt with on the Long Case.

But later the late emperor went to Changle Palace.

Apart from the Four Treasures of the Study, there has never been a memorial placed on this dragon case.

The young man finally came here a few days ago, and he sat on the dragon chair behind the dragon case!

It was here that he summoned several ministers.

But he didn’t announce his enthronement as emperor!

Instead, he calls himself the regent!

After that, he began to get busy, sending the memorials gathered in the political hall to this desk every day. The young regent would go there and annotate them very carefully.

He had a good look. He was a little unfamiliar for the first two days, but then he seemed to become more relaxed.

What a great talent!

Not only poetry and articles, he also seems to have extremely profound insights into the governance of the country!

Thinking of the scene when he welcomed the regent into the palace for the first time, Chang Zuoqing touched the banknote still in his sleeve pocket, and a smile appeared on his old face.

This regent is very good.

young.

Vibrant.

Be energetic.

Diligence.

Also approachable.

He doesn't have the airs of a regent at all, nor does he have the arrogance and arrogance of suddenly having great power.

He is still the same boy as before.

Here, I discuss national policies and formulate plans with the six newly appointed ministers, and they also argue with each other, and even argue with each other over a certain point of view until they become red-faced and thick-necked.

But he doesn’t hold grudges.

He would even apologize in person after he realized he was wrong!

In this way, he was liked and loved by the ministers, and the atmosphere in the court took on a new look.

Although the number of officials has dropped by more than half than before, these officials today are more dedicated and more efficient than when Ji Tai was in power.

This is Mingjun!

It's a pity that he is not Jun.

If he were the king, it would only take three to five years for Ning Guo to regain its vitality and even be reborn.

Why……!

Eunuch Chang sighed, walked to the door, and saw the heavy white snow. After a moment, someone came out of the heavy snow.

Not the regent, but Li Wenhou, the Minister of Household Affairs.

"Good morning, Mr. Li!"

"The regent hasn't come yet?"

Eunuch Chang bowed his hands and said, "It's too cold today. The regent is young after all. Please come in first and wait, Mr. Li."

Li Wenhou still had that stern expression on his face. He walked into the imperial study, sat down in front of the coffee table unceremoniously, put a memorial on the tea table, thought about it, and cooked a pot for himself.

Tea.

Before the tea was boiled, Li Chenan came.

Li Wenhou raised his head, his eyes cold, "It's the end of the hour!"

Li Chenan grinned: "We have to change our working hours...don't do this to me, I'm doing it for your own good!"

After saying this, Li Chenan sat opposite Li Wenhou and said, "Second uncle,"

Li Wenhou glared at Li Chenan: "This is the royal study, the official office! Please call the regent Li Shangshu or Mr. Li!"

Li Chenan shrugged, "Second uncle, have you calculated the tax and grain data for the five Ningguo roads, except Jiangnan Road, for the other four roads?"

Li Wenhou had nothing to do with Li Chenan. He twisted a handful of tea and threw it into the teapot. He handed the book on the table to Li Chenan and said:

"Northern Desert Road lost a large area of ​​territory including Jiuyin City due to the invasion of deserters."

"The Great General of the Northern Desert, Xia Houzhuo, has written a letter long ago, asking the court to keep this year's taxed grain from the Northern Desert in the Northern Desert to be used as military rations in order to resist foreign enemies."

"Jitai agreed."

"So the tax grains from the Northern Desert have not been transported to Kyoto."

"Annan Road, because Wu State has stationed troops outside Wuya Pass, and the general of the Red Flame Army, Yan Jinong, has already written to Ji Tai, so the taxes and grain from Annan Road have not been transported to Kyoto."

"The taxes and grain of Jiangnan Road were robbed, leaving only Shuzhou Road and Lingdong Road."

"The tax grains from these two provinces have been put into the warehouse, totaling 2,128,672 dan of grain, 2,253,483 taels of silver, and 163,000 taels of silk.

One thousand, seven hundred and sixty-two horses."

Li Chenan frowned slightly and asked, "How many people and households are there in Ningguo?"

"The registered population of the five seventy-two states is roughly 36 million, with about 7.2 million households."

Li Chenan pondered for a moment. After preliminary understanding over the past few days, he already knew that the main types of taxes in Ningguo include land tax and capitation tax, which are collectively called taxes and levies.

The so-called land tax refers to the collection of food or money per acre.

The capitation tax is distributed according to the head of the labor force or converted into physical goods or currency.

The human tax is a bit complicated. Anyone who is a adult must perform corvee service. If the family is well off, they can use money and food instead.

The population of Ningguo is not large. Among them, the most prosperous Jiangnan Road accounts for 30% of the population. That is to say, Jiangnan Road has a population of tens of millions. Shuzhou Road and Lingdong Road are the two roads with the worst environment and the poorest in Ningguo.

The total population of Tao is only tens of millions.

These 10 million people are roughly 2 million households, but they paid 2,128,672 jin of food... On average, each household paid more than 1 dan, which is 120 jin per stone.

That’s nearly 130 kilograms of grain!

In this era, the land in the south of the Yangtze River with the highest rice yield per mu was only about 200 kilograms, while in places like Shuzhou and Lingdong, the average rice yield per mu was bound to be halved.

Therefore, the burden of taxes has become unbearable for the people.

But even so, the taxes and grain collected were still not enough to cover the court's expenses.

If there is a war or a disaster year, this will simply make things worse!

He flipped through the book without going into details, but turned to Li Wenhou.

"I think Ningguo's national policy should change next!"

Li Wenhou's hand holding the teapot suddenly froze, "Change the national policy? How to change it?"

"Heavy industry, heavy business!"

Li Wenhou's eyes widened immediately, "Food is the first priority for the people! Farmers always come first!"

Li Chenan raised his eyebrows: "But Ningguo's agriculture is limited by unfavorable ground conditions. Until the seeds and fertilizers are improved, it will never be able to increase production! In agriculture, Ningguo does not have the land advantages of Yue and Wu!

"

"The population of these two countries is larger than that of Ning State, and there are also many flat and fertile fields in the country, which are more suitable for the growth of food!"

"What I mean is not to give up on agriculture, but before crops can find higher yield categories, we need to give priority to boosting handicrafts and prospering commerce!"

Li Wenhou didn't pour the tea. He put down the tea cup and said, "Nonsense!"

At this moment, he showed off his second uncle’s majesty:

"Scientists, farmers, industry and commerce, this is the order of a country, and this is the truth that has not changed for thousands of years!"

"Farming is the second largest, the country relies on scholars to govern, and agriculture relies on agriculture to survive!"

"Industry and commerce are just the icing on the cake!"

"The so-called handicraftsmen are just some grotesque skills! They are meaningless to the country!"

"The so-called businessmen are a group of profit-seeking villains. They do not engage in production and rely on buying and selling, which is of no benefit to the country!"

"This idea of ​​yours is unacceptable!"

Li Chenan's eyes widened, and the two of them just stared at each other.

"You are wrong!"

"The boost to the handicraft industry will improve equipment and increase the output and quality of goods! It can even improve the efficiency of agriculture!"

“When the output and quality of goods improve, the price of goods will be reduced. Only when the price of goods is low can they be competitive and make business more prosperous!”

"When commerce prospers and merchants make money, commercial tax will inevitably surpass the current agricultural tax and become the mainstay of Ningguo's tax revenue!"
To be continued...