You need to understand it with emotion and move it with reason.
Liu Che smiled slightly and picked up a thick stack of memorials from the imperial desk.
Give it to Zhou Yafu, Chao Cuo and other ministers for reading.
"Please see, gentlemen, these are the blood-soaked memorials of the elders in Hongnong counties!"
A total of three to four hundred copies were submitted, and when piled up, they were almost as thick as a book.
The names on these memorials all sound like thunder to my ears.
"Old minister Lin, the former governor of Hongnong County, weeping and bleeding, went to this memorial and died without knowing it..."
"The barbarians in Xin'an despise Chen Guang, bow their heads and bow a hundred times, and die ignorantly to commemorate..."
"Therefore, the old minister Shen Mei, the captain of the capital of the capital, died to commemorate..."
The names of local celebrities and well-known scholar-bureaucrats appeared in front of everyone.
Many of these people know each other, but most of them have never even heard of their names.
However, among the people who presented the petition, the one with the lowest status was also a village elder.
Those with high status, even related to concubines!
Together, they constitute the entire ruling class of Hongnong County.
They are synonymous with fathers!
Who can remain indifferent to the tears and tears of the elders?
Are the people in Guanzhong going to tell their neighbors about your life and death?
People in Guanzhong have always been generous, righteous and chivalrous.
There is no way such a thing can be done!
What's more, over the years, marriages between the gentry in Guanzhong and the landlords and literati in Hongnong, Hedong, Taiyuan and other places have been very frequent.
The two parties have long been related to each other.
As for your question, how did Liu Che mobilize so many Hongnong and Hedong elders?
Isn't this simple?
Just send a few ministers to visit each house with the Emperor's Day and the list.
After entering the door, without saying anything else, I just want to ask: Today I want to widen the gate to solidify the foundation, but I am worried that the people may be inconvenienced, so I ordered my ministers to collect opinions from everyone and return to the capital to hear about it! The boss is of high moral character and high esteem, so I hope you will return.
Don’t hesitate to say it!
Guanzhong wants Guangguan.
Everyone along the road, regardless of class, of course raised their limbs in support!
This is just like the imperial capitals of later generations said they wanted to swallow up Hebei, the magical capitals raised their forks and wanted to eat Songjiang, and Nanjing looked at Ma'anshan and said don't stay in Anhui, come to the brother's bowl.
Even more exaggerated than these examples.
Now, the special policies and special treatment of the people of Guanzhong are the envy of all the counties in the world.
Even in the past, people all over the world were flocking to the Guanzhong household registration system.
Otherwise, the old Liu family would not have the shame to forcefully move the world's powerful men to the side of the imperial mausoleum.
As for now, the Guanzhong household registration is already more valuable.
Since the emperor came to the throne, many policies are currently only implemented in Guanzhong.
For example, the food price protection policy.
For example, the promotion of new agricultural tools and farming techniques.
What's more, the people in Guanzhong have always had the lightest burden in the world.
Moreover, if you have a Guanzhong household registration book, you can also be selected with priority into the main ace units such as Huben, Yulin, the Northern and Southern Armies, Xiliu Camp and the Bashang Army.
This is a huge temptation for the northern landowners and scholar-bureaucrats who believe in "using force to conquer everything"!
Almost no one objects to Guanzhong’s proposal to expand to their own doorstep!
In fact, most of the local celebrities thought about it for a while after the envoy left, and thought that if their stance was not firm enough, the matter would go wrong.
I'm afraid the elders from all over the country will tear themselves apart.
Therefore, many people almost immediately used their privileges and wrote petitions.
The three elders of the Han family and local celebrities had the privilege of writing to the king and commenting on current affairs.
For example, in the later years of Emperor Wu, three elders, Linghu Mao, wrote a letter discussing Prince Liu Ju's rebellion.
Of course, whether the emperor listens or not is another matter.
So, there is this scene now.
………………………………
Looking at these envelopes in front of me, each one is signed with the memorials of local celebrities, three elders, officials who have served as officials with a thousand stones or more, or nobles with the title of king or more.
Zhou Yafu and Chao Cuo were both silent for a while.
Even, deep down in my heart, there is still a trace of uneasiness and shock.
Today, without saying a word, he took out a petition covering almost the entire Hongnong County, and even some elders from Hedong County.
But before that, the two of them, as the Third Duke, knew nothing about it and were kept in the dark.
Does this mean that there are many more things today that are done on their own without going through the prime minister and the imperial censor at all?
Even, if you think deeply, the emperor can bypass the prime minister and the imperial censor and take care of the elders of a county by himself.
Does that mean that if he needs it, he can start a new business on his own without abandoning the three ministers?
Judging from the existing information, it is really possible!
Apart from other things, Lantai now has a team of more than 500 ministers.
At the same time, in order to serve the ministers of Lantai, there are also thousands of middle and lower-level officials from various yamen of Jiuqing who deal with business with Lantai ministers all year round.
In other words, the current Lantai may actually take away the jobs of the Prime Minister's Mansion and the Imperial Censor's Yamen!
Thinking like this, Zhou Yafu and Chao Cuo looked at each other and took a deep breath in their hearts.
For two people who are familiar with history, they know very well, in essence.
Whether it is Prime Minister or Yushi Dafu, they are all official titles invented by the king to rule the world more conveniently.
In particular, the official position of Yushi Dafu appeared only a hundred years ago. It was set up by Qin Shihuang to check and balance the power of the prime minister.
In other words, if the emperor feels that the system of governance by the prime minister and the imperial censor is uncomfortable to use, he can indeed adjust it at any time.
"Is this a warning or a deterrent?" Chao Cuo thought in his mind.
As a Legalist bureaucrat, he knew very well that if a Legalist minister wanted to succeed, he must rely closely on the king.
Since Li Kui, the success of all Legalist ministers has depended on the trust of the king.
In the same way, once they leave the king's trust, they will fall into hell.
Zhou Yafu had another idea.
The prime minister has a high position and has too many responsibilities.
Since becoming the Prime Minister, he has discovered that unless he has three heads and six arms, he alone is completely unable to smooth out the affairs of the entire Prime Minister's House.
Of course, he can learn from Xiao He and Cao Shen and delegate power to his subordinates.
However, after practice, Zhou Yafu had to give up.
Although he thinks he is as capable as Xiao He and Cao Shen.
However, when it comes to understanding and employing people, he is far behind.
Moreover, the situation in the world today is completely different from that of Xiao He and Cao Shen.
When Xiao He and Cao Shen came to power, the world had just emerged from war, and people generally longed for stability. Moreover, because of the existence of the land grant system, social conflicts were extremely close to zero.
However, now, the world has been at peace for a long time, and the household registration and land have increased more than twice as compared to the early days of the country.
In many places, the poor have no place to stand, while the rich live in vast distances.
Moreover, the current territory of the Han Dynasty is also larger than that in the early days of the Kingdom.
As for the project...
During the reign of the late Emperor, apart from the Wu-Chu Rebellion, only the imperial mausoleum project required attention.
What now?
Including the Longshou Canal project that has just been completed and put into use, there are four large-scale water conservancy projects in Guanzhong alone!
Just these four large-scale projects have almost exhausted his energy in the past few years.
Not to mention, as the prime minister, he also has to take care of the military, civil affairs and economy.
There are three hundred and sixty-five days in a year, and at least three hundred days there is no time to even breathe.
Therefore, as for the emperor's instigation of Lantai to seize power, he did not care too much that he was too busy. If anyone was willing to help, he would of course be very happy.
only……
"If Your Majesty wants to change the government, I will definitely not agree!" Zhou Yafu thought in his heart.
He is a stubborn donkey, and even eight horses can't pull him back from something he is determined to do.
For Zhou Yafu, the current national system and political system are already very good.
If the emperor wants to follow his own temper, he will attack the country's system.
Then he would have to use his prime minister's privileges to refute it.
National affairs are not a child's play, and cannot be acted upon by the emperor's own whims.
Even in the history of the Han Dynasty, all the prime ministers who had refuted the emperor's edict did not end so well.
With this in mind, Zhou Yafu and Chao Cuo glanced at all the petitions.
Then, they discussed with other princes and nobles and exchanged opinions.
Finally, Zhou Yafu came out to pay homage and said: "I hope that your majesty will be nourished by rain and dew. I can all understand this!"
"It's just a matter of great importance. Your Majesty, please explain it in detail!"
Zhou Yafu looked at the map. On the map, Shang Shulang had already marked the boundary of Guanzhong after the Emperor Guangguan.
"Your Majesty, your Majesty Guangguan, benefiting thousands of miles of Guan, and hundreds of millions of people, I dare to ask Your Majesty, where did the cost of Guangguan and its construction come from?" Zhou Yafu raised his head, looked straight at Liu Che, and asked.
To be honest, if the work of Guangguan is completed, after Zhou Yafu's death, there will inevitably be a paragraph added to the final conclusion of the coffin: "Support the emperor, Guangguan thousands of miles, and conquer Yongzhou."
But Zhou Yafu is not the kind of person who would disregard people's livelihood for the sake of political achievements.
If only Hangu Pass was moved eastward, Zhou Yafu would have no objection.
There are only two new fortresses on the left and right, and the money and food consumed is at most the cost of one Longshou Canal.
With today's ability to find money, this little money is just a drizzle.
But now, the Guangguan Project is so huge.
Moving Hangu Pass eastward not only requires re-establishing passes at Xin'an and Luhun.
It is even more important to re-select a military fortress in Guanzhong that can adapt to the development of the new era.
The same is naturally true in other directions.
Even if we only count the amount of the Hangu Pass eastward transfer project, in order to Guangguan, the Han family needed to build at least ten new large-scale military fortresses to protect the middle of the pass and block the inside and outside of the pass.
Where does this money come from?
You can't just come out of the emperor's small treasury, right?
Most of the emperor's private money has been lost over the years to build channels, train cavalry, and pay subsidies and subsidies to frontier troops and officials as well as officials from all over the world.
Especially the Battle of Mayi.
On the surface, the Han Dynasty made a lot of money.
In fact, the real profits, those livestock, were not realized at all, but were kept in horse farms all over the world.
As for the captured Hun prisoners of war, they can be used as free labor.
But they also eat and drink.
These all cost money!
Today, although I am very good at making money, I have many ideas.
However, Zhou Yafu knew very well that the profits from coining money and salt and iron had basically been invested in horse farms and the army.
Otherwise, last year, Qilu Confucian scholars clamored for Zen status, and the emperor might have made the trip.
From Zhou Yafu's point of view, the old Liu family has always been a show-off.
If economic conditions allowed for such a thing as Feng Chan, wouldn't it be possible today?
The treasury savings left by Emperor Taizong Xiaowen and the late Emperor Taizong to the current emperor should actually be constantly being consumed.
Then here comes the problem.
Suppose the emperor's small treasury is not enough to support this Guangguan.
What does he use to gain publicity?
No doubt about it!
It’s definitely a tax increase!
The first thing to bear the brunt is probably to restore the land tax to 15% and 1%.
But Zhou Yafu was firmly opposed to doing this.
The life of ordinary people is not easy to begin with, especially in the Kanto region, where the burden on homesteaders is very heavy.
Chao Cuo made it very clear when he wrote to Emperor Taizong.
The total income of a peasant family per year, even under the most rational circumstances, is only a few thousand dollars.
After deducting all expenses, a normal family with one husband and five people covering hundreds of fields would still owe more than a thousand dollars.
Therefore, people often choose to help others during slack periods, or their wives and children raise silkworms, weave cloth, wash clothes, and harvest forage to supplement the household income.
If the burden is further increased, will the people still live?
Should the stability and prosperity of the world since Taizong be maintained?
In Zhou Yafu's view, if the emperor forcibly increases taxes in order to expand his base, regardless of the life and death of the people,
The consequences may be unpredictable.
Zhou Yafu, who once served as a county guard, knew the temper of the officials below him very well.
If the emperor increases taxes by one cent, it will become two cents when it reaches the county, and it will become four cents when it reaches the county.
Local officials have plenty of ways to break people's bones and suck out their marrow.
To depend on the rise and fall of the world to serve one person, this is ****!
And **** will definitely lose the world!
"Prime Minister, you don't have to worry about this problem..." Liu Che said with a smile: "I will impose additional sea tax and gold tax, both of which will be fifteen to one!"
"This income will be used to pay for Guangguan!"
"Sea tax and gold tax?" The officials were all confused. When did this tax exist?
"Yes!" Liu Che nodded and said: "I have issued an edict to General Lou Chuan. All merchants, civilians, gentry and officials who go out to sea to hunt whales must obtain a 'whaling permit'. This is a matter of Lou Chuan, and I don't have many
As I said, this sea tax is based on whaling!"
"As for the gold tax, all gold mining income in Huaihua County and its surrounding areas must be taxed!"
Liu Che then introduced his tax policy to the ministers in detail.
After hearing this, all the ministers were stunned and their eyes were straight.
Before today, they had no idea that taxes could be collected like this!
However, the emperor's statement is indeed very feasible.
But, can I receive enough fees for this promotion?
Everyone has a big question mark in their hearts. (To be continued.)
