"Three feet of ice is not as cold as one day. I also know that my country, the Song Dynasty, used it very hard but did not spend it. When encountering sudden natural disasters, it was somewhat powerless. I have asked the ministers for advice many times.
, there are many suggestions, but very few are feasible. I think that the theory of "three redundancies and three fees" written by Song Zijing at that time was a very pertinent opinion; but we, the Song Dynasty, have followed the ancestral system to this day, and we are tolerant of scholars.
Moreover, because it is a country of etiquette and does not want to abolish it, now it has become an irreversible trend and cannot be changed even if it wants to."
Zhao Zhen was speaking from his heart. Since Taizu founded the Song Dynasty, he had granted the imperial clan of the Zhou dynasty, rewarded them with fertile land and food, and treated them with generous salaries. In the eyes of the world, they had naturally gained a good reputation.
, it is said that Taizu was kind and forgiving, and the officials of the Song Dynasty were humane. This caused subsequent dynasties to imitate it, and gradually formed rules; so that there were more officials, more soldiers, more expenses, but they could not get rid of this burden for the sake of this good reputation.
It is not that there are no wise people in the court. The three redundancies and three expenses mentioned in Song Qi's letter hit the key point. However, it is difficult to change this old habit. As soon as it is changed, it will be changed.
A large group of people wanted to write a petition to those who had vested interests and made endless noises. Some even went to the palace to hang themselves, weeping bitterly and recounting how the late emperor was doing and what he is doing now, which made Zhao Zhen extremely annoyed.
Zhao Zhen was an emperor who didn't like killing people. His political philosophy was to rule by doing nothing, and he never wanted to cause anger and resentment. As time went by, after this matter was repeated several times, no one mentioned it again, so it was settled.
Su Jin understands the truth here. Have you never eaten pork and seen pigs running away? In later generations, he is also in a century of great changes. The government is also engaged in reform and opening up, but many reform measures sound beautiful.
But once implemented, it will be reduced to a piece of paper and nothing else. If it touches the nerves of those with vested interests, they will be collectively boycotted.
"Your Majesty, I can understand what you are saying, but I think since it is difficult to advance forward, why don't you think about it differently?"
Zhao Zhen opened his eyes wide and asked, "How can I change my mind?"
Su Jindao: "These current problems are fundamentally caused by problems with the fiscal and taxation system. According to my observation, the emperor has always pursued a policy of light taxation and light corvee, and wants to hide wealth from the people. Isn't this the case?"
Zhao Zhen nodded and said: "Sure enough, you can guess my thoughts. I always believe that only when the people are rich can the country be strong, so what I have adopted is the policy of light taxation, reducing the people's taxes so that the people can become rich."
Su Jin said: "The emperor's idea is right, but the effect is very mediocre. The people have not become rich, but the corrupt officials have become so rich that when disaster strikes, the people have no ability to protect themselves."
Zhao Zhen sighed: "I am also very puzzled, what is the cause of this?"
Su Jindao: "Wei Chen believes that the root of this problem lies in the emperor's fiscal and taxation system for official purchases. Every year in the Song Dynasty, the official purchase of materials exceeds tens of thousands. In addition to the transportation of money, all the materials for food, clothing, housing and transportation are not included.
All were purchased by the states. The imperial court allowed the state governments to withhold the purchase funds and purchase them locally, and then allocate them to the places where they are needed. This, in the eyes of the minister, is both provocative and inappropriate. To put it crudely, it is like taking off your pants and farting, which is too much.
Troublesome."
Zhao Zhen did not blame Su Jin for his disrespectful words, but asked with interest: "Why do you see that?"
Su Jindao: "For example, the soldiers in the northwest change their uniforms twice a year. Not to mention the armor of the soldiers, they generally cannot change their uniforms once every two years. The minister said that the military uniforms inside the armor are left to Shandong and Hebei every year.
As well as the various cotton-producing prefectures withholding money and taxes for procurement, I don’t need to ask for proof, but I can guess that these two batches of military uniforms are purchased every year, and the various cotton-producing prefectures must be fiercely competing with each other.”
Zhao Zhen said: "If that is the case, is there anything wrong with this? They are actively competing to purchase for the imperial court, is there anything inappropriate about it?"
Su Jin almost thought Zhao Zhen was an idiot. The emperor probably lived in a honey pot since he was a child and was unaware of the thoughts of those guys. This surprised Su Jin.
Su Jin decided to destroy Zhao Zhen's childhood and ruthlessly reveal the reality to him.
"I don't think they are vying to serve the imperial court. I think they are vying to make money."
"How could it be? The money that is withheld every year has to be reconciled and audited after the purchase, and it was not spent in vain on them."
Su Jin shook his head and said: "Your Majesty, it's time for you to go down and take a walk. Nowadays, these people have various methods, and the money they withhold is used for purchases, which is good; the court audits are also based on market prices, which is no problem;
But after these people won this job, they used too many tricks in the local purchasing process; the most common one was to buy at a low price to earn the difference; the market price was consistent, and what they bought from the people was probably only 500 Wen.
, it is better to be in charge now than to be an official. As soon as the notice came out, the officials threatened like wolves and tigers under the banner of purchasing from the imperial court. Which common people dare not to sell to the officials obediently? As a result, the price difference occurred, and His Majesty’s wealth was hidden in
The policy of the people has come to nothing."
Zhao Zhen was stunned, lowered his head and thought for a while and said: "It makes sense. If this is really the case, it would be really difficult to verify it unless the people report it."
Su Jinshai said: "Which commoner has nothing to do to sue an official? Moreover, in order to show the authority of the official, the imperial court has stipulated an unwritten rule. No matter whether the people sue the official, whether it is justified or not, they will first give fifteen big blows. Whoever is full and full will run to send him away.
Spanking others? And winning the lawsuit won't do much good. The most it can do is compensate for the losses, and the accused officials will be dismissed from their posts. However, the people will have a reputation of suing officials and causing trouble. After the next official takes office, he will have good results.
Do you want to eat? Even the local people can't tolerate him; in short, the cost of suing an official is too high, no one will do it, and those who occasionally do it will end badly."
Zhao Zhen felt sweat dripping from his forehead and said angrily: "There are still these ways. Why didn't I know about them?"
Su Jindao: "There are many methods. In addition to exploiting the people to make profits, they also collude with government officials and businessmen to make profits."
Zhao Zhen said: "This is impossible. Buying from merchants at low prices is called exploiting merchants. How can they collude with each other?"
Su Jin smiled and said: "Your Majesty, my family is a merchant from Luzhou. There are ten grades of cloth sold by my family from the second to the best. The first-grade cloth weavers print and dye with the best raw materials. One piece costs thirty guan, and the lowest ten-grade cloth."
The price of a piece of cloth is only one piece, and the price of cloth of the same color varies thirty times. When the court purchases military uniforms, if it is purchased at the official price of a piece of five pieces, I will treat two pieces of cloth as a piece of sixth grade.
Sell him five guan of cloth, and I can make a huge profit of more than three guan for each piece; then I will only take 500 guan from this huge profit, and who do you think I will give the remaining two 500 guan to?"
Zhao Zhen took a breath and said, "For the local government office that purchased it?"
Su Jin asked again: "Will the government hand over this extra money to the court?"
Zhao Zhen was speechless, shook his head, and gritted his teeth and said: "So, I was kept in the dark, but no one from the civil and military officials in the court told me that it was unbearable to let these people do whatever they want.
"
Su Jin waved his hand and said: "Your Majesty, you have misunderstood them, and they actually don't know. Do you think that every year, people from the Third Division and the relevant yamen go to inspect the procurement matters, why can't the audit come out? It is not ruled out that some audit officials have been bribed.
For reasons, but every year several groups of dozens of people go out to audit and reconcile the accounts, it is impossible for them all to be bribed; if the audit comes out, is there any reason not to report it? And Yan Sansi, Lu Xiang and others are also diligent and loyal ministers, so what?
They will conceal this matter; the truth is that everyone is kept in the dark, and these people are absolutely clever in their deception."
Zhao Zhen nodded and said: "That makes sense. It must be to make a fuss about the official purchase receipt, and the goods must be checked and accepted. After all, the local government is still responsible for the shipment after the acceptance. They can just change it back."
Su Jin discovered that Zhao Zhen was really a good student, and he got the hang of it so quickly; it can be seen that it is difficult to learn well and everyone can learn to be bad.
"The imperial court purchases more than just military uniforms every year. It also purchases grain, oil, grain, cloth, livestock, wood, stone, and medicinal materials. In short, at least a huge amount of money is intercepted by the local government every year. And what percentage of this money will eventually become equivalent in value?
I don’t even know about the goods.”
Zhao Zhen was about to burst into tears. He was filled with anger that could not be vented, and his breathing became heavy.
Seeing this, Su Jin quickly poured him a cup of tea, helped him drink it, and comforted him: "Your Majesty, don't be anxious. Since you know these things, there are only ways to deal with them."
Zhao Zhen took a breath and suddenly asked: "How did you learn about this?"
Su Jin smiled and said: "Didn't the minister just arrest a prefect? The prefect of Luzhou, Zhu Shiyong, is a veteran. When he was arrested, an account book was found in his home. The private accounts listed on it were clear.
Based on this, the truth will be made known to the world. Based on this, I draw inferences and arrive at the above results. There may be small errors, but there are no major differences."dd