Chapter 31 Eat the Zhu family's meal and use the Zhu family's money
After sending Zhu Chongba away, Zhang Ximeng immediately got busy.
Until this moment, he realized how difficult it is to do things...especially at the beginning of starting a business, there are so many things to worry about. Just like Zhu Chongba, he is first and foremost the head of the family, and doing what he does is the most important thing.
So he immediately went to recruit troops and bring in fellow villagers to prop up the facade.
The rest of the mess, such as registering money and food, writing rosters, formulating some rules, arranging division of labor, maintaining daily operations, and even shitting and peeing, are all the responsibility of the big housekeeper Zhang Ximeng.
You can imagine the pressure on your shoulders. The first thing you need to support your troops is food.
"My lord promised to give Guo Zixing 10,000 shi of grain in exchange for 2,000 shi of salt. According to the news, there is a lot of food and a shortage of salt in Huaiyuan. If you send the salt there, you can earn a lot more food. My lord is also foresighted. This matter is very urgent.
, let’s leave it to General Tang.”
Tang He readily agreed, "Sure, I'll go right away."
Tang He agreed happily. Once he left, Fei Ju was left. He had to lead people to patrol around the town, guard the prisoners, and prepare for sneak attacks... He was also in a hurry and exhausted.
Moreover, Zhang Ximeng calculated again. It seemed that less than 10,000 shi of food could last long. Not to mention the 18,000 people, there were thousands of war horses to build trenches, and there were also strong civilian laborers... The food consumed in one meal was
Like a hill.
Therefore, as Zhu Chongba's chief steward, he must find a stable way to make money and ensure food supply, so that he can develop and grow.
Zhang Ximeng thought over and over again and decided to go to Ma for discussion. If he could talk to Ma, he could talk to Lao Zhu.
He hurried over, only to find that Ma had gone to Jia Lu's side.
At this moment, Lao Jia took the medicine and felt much better. I don't know whether it was because the medicine was powerful or because the burden had been lifted. Anyway, his body was stronger than before and he could sit on the pillow for a while.
"Sir, I'm just a prostitute and don't understand the truth. If the young gentleman wants to ask about finance and taxation, please bother me."
Jia Lu nodded and smiled, then turned to look at Zhang Ximeng, with expectations and a hint of test in his eyes.
"Money, food, and taxation are the foundation of a country. How to collect taxes is a big question. If you don't do it well, it will only lead to endless troubles!"
Zhang Ximeng said with a smile: "There are not too many soldiers and horses at the moment, and the money and food needed are not too much. The first thing is to attack those beasts who have committed heinous crimes!"
When he heard the words "heinous crime", the corners of Jia Lu's mouth twitched unconsciously, and the old man's whole body felt bad.
"What constitutes a heinous crime?"
"Of course they are those who colluded with the Yuan Dynasty and brought trouble to the people. Especially those wealthy merchants who collected taxes for the Yuan Dynasty must not be let go. In addition, Han landlords like Li Siqi formed Xiangyong,
Helping Yuan Ting suppress the Red Turbans and massacre the martyrs, these people are even more abominable and must be severely punished!"
Jia Lu listened silently and had to say that what Zhang Ximeng said was reasonable and reasonable.
Even if he were an official in the Yuan Dynasty, he would not let go of those powerful men who imposed excessive taxes and oppressed the people.
As for those who have formed Xiangyong to fight against the Red Scarf Army, there is no need to be polite.
"What are you going to do with it?"
"The leaders, who have committed the most heinous crimes, must be killed. Their families will be forced to serve as hard labor according to the severity of their crimes and the number of canes." Zhang Ximeng said: "Their free wealth will be collected and used as military supplies. Their fields, houses, and livestock will be distributed to the people.
.”
"How to divide?" Jia Lu asked suddenly, his tone was urgent.
"Equal share!" Zhang Ximeng answered simply, "It doesn't matter whether you are a man or a woman, as long as you are an adult, you will get an equal share."
"No!" Jia Lu said immediately: "How can a woman be like a man? You are talking nonsense!"
Ma, who had been silent at this time, suddenly said quietly: "I think it's very good... As long as a woman goes out to work and sweat, why can't she get a share of land?"
Jia Lu was stunned for a moment, but still couldn't accept it, and shook his head vigorously, "No, no! How can a woman's family have acres of land? The land has always been collected from men, so naturally they have to allocate acres to men. We can't mess with the rules!
"
He kept objecting, but Zhang Ximeng just smiled and said nothing.
If you say one more thing, I will lose.
When it comes to policies, the initial design is very important.
Lao Zhu's current territory is not large and the population is not large. He can actually grant land to men and women equally without much resistance.
What's more, Ma family will definitely support it, so Zhang Ximeng is already in an invincible position.
"Let's wait until the lord comes back to decide!"
Zhang Ximeng interrupted Jia Lu's words casually... At this time, the old man was also alert. The person who made the decision was Zhu Chongba, so he simply shut up.
The purpose of allocating land is not only to give the people a piece of land, but also to obtain a stable land endowment.
Jia Lu remembered that Zhang Ximeng had previously disclosed the method of taxation, which seemed to have some tricks.
"Historically, land tax has been paid directly to a hundred people... But you have to let the people keep enough food rations first. What's the rationale for this?"
"It makes no sense, it's just for fairness."
"Fair? Wouldn't it be more fair to pay the land tax equally?" Jia Lu asked in confusion.
Zhang Ximeng smiled and said, "What I think is fair is that no matter whether you are rich or poor, you can ensure basic food and clothing, and you will not starve or freeze. On top of this, the more surplus grain you have, the more you pay, the more acres of land you pay, the more you pay as land tax."
...In a word, we don’t tax the poor, but the rich. The more money we have, the more we pay! This is what I think is fair!”
"This..." Jia Lu was shocked. He suddenly said: "Zhang Ximeng, if you do this, aren't you afraid of forcing the world's powerful forces to join forces and go against General Zhu? You are harming General Zhu!"
Zhang Ximeng held his head high with a sneer on his face, "Mr. Jia, I advocate this. When the poor people in the world are on the side of the lord, I'm afraid it's hard to say who will win and who will lose!"
Jia Lu was speechless again. He could understand what Zhang Ximeng meant, and it seemed to make sense. However, this idea was completely different from what Jia Lu had learned throughout his life.
If you want to achieve great things, shouldn't you first win over people's hearts?
Especially those gentry and wealthy families, they have great influence and have a lot of money. As long as they have the support of these people, it is easy to change the dynasty.
Why not take such a clear path?
"Zhang Ximeng, I advise you not to have any whims! I think it is right to grant land to the people so that they can live and work in peace and contentment. But if you still want more land and more land and pay more land tax, I'm afraid you will be in trouble.
Bag."
Zhang Ximeng still had a smile on his face and said calmly, "Sir, I'm still saying the same thing. I just wait for the master to come back and let him make a decision."
Jia Lu calmed down for a moment, then suddenly laughed at himself... He was still a half-prisoner now, why was he arguing with Zhang Ximeng?
"It's up to you! I need to rest."
"Don't be busy!" Zhang Ximeng stopped Jia Lu and said with a smile: "Sir, do you know who the first powerful person I am going to deal with is?"
Jia Lu was slightly startled, "Who is it?"
"It's Lu Anmin!" Zhang Ximeng said with a smile: "I have found out clearly that the Lu family is a large family with quite a lot of land, and by virtue of being an official in the court, they have done countless bad things in the fish and meat village. Thank you.
When the father-in-law comes back, he’s going to have surgery on their family!”
Jia Lu was stunned and suddenly wanted to laugh. In order to survive, Lu Anmin kidnapped himself and escaped from the military camp. Then he ran all the way to Linhuai in search of a ferry. As a result, before they could cross the river, Fei Ju came to kill them and captured them.
Now according to Zhang Ximeng's method, the Lu family must be punished and the Lu family's property must be divided... It can be said that it is a clean and tidy approach.
Maybe Lu Anmin should regret that he didn't die early in the military camp, but he had to watch his family ruined and his family destroyed. This punishment was really cruel enough.
Lao Jia could even imagine the scene where the people were shouting, the mountains roared and the tsunami threatened to eat the Lu family... Suddenly Jia Lu shuddered, maybe Zhang Ximeng was right, the poor people would support them, and once
With countless poor people on their side, I can’t even imagine what will happen!
Jia Lu leaned on the hospital bed and wrapped the quilt tighter.
In the past few days, Zhang Ximeng worked hard to formulate the next strategy, waiting for Zhu Chongba to come back to decide... Five days later, Zhu Chongba, surrounded by a group of people, arrived in Linhuai just in time for noon.
town.
At this moment, on the outskirts of the town, the peasants digging trenches were gathering to receive lunch.
Each of them had a bowl of vegetable soup and two large steamed buns. They had to eat dry food if they were doing physical work.
That's it. The most surprising thing is that after getting the food, everyone stood together and shouted together before eating.
"Eat the Zhu family's food! Use the Zhu family's money! Be a loyal minister and good general of the Zhu family!"
He shouted three times in a row before lowering his head and taking a big bite of the steamed bun... The fellow villagers who were following Zhu Chongba were confused. What kind of idea was this?