Zongze was very excited when he mentioned that Yan Yun had more than three people. He had been an official for so long, and this was the first time he had governed such a golden area. The merchants and farmers were quite developed. Compared with when he was on the southern border,
, it is simply the difference between heaven and hell.----
Zhao Jingyan was curious when she heard this and said doubtfully: "Uncle Zong, there are only a few people but a lot of land. Isn't it possible that there will be no one to cultivate the land? How can there be so much food?"
Before Zongze could speak, Li Qi pointed forward and said, "The reason lies with them."
Zhao Jingyan took a closer look and found that there were many women in the field, and even many girls. These women rolled up their sleeves and looked almost the same as men.
Zongze nodded and said: "In the past ten years, the people in Yanyun have been frightened by wars and poor. Now the court has given them enough land, but they still don't work to death. Now in
In Yanyun, all the people are farmers, all the people are soldiers, and all the people are merchants, so in Yanyun, there are not only three mores, but also three capitals."
"All the people are soldiers?"
Li Qi looked at Zongze in astonishment.
Zongze explained: "There is nothing we can do about it. There are too few people and too much land. Moreover, Yanshan Prefecture is a strategic location and a war may break out at any time. Therefore, I ordered the soldiers to farm in the fields and the farmers to practice martial arts. In the Spring and Autumn Period,
They cultivate and harvest in two seasons, and practice martial arts with the soldiers when they have free time. Of course, the training of the common people is still somewhat different from that of the soldiers. It is just some very basic ones, so that they will not be at a loss if the war breaks out again.
It will make them overworked. When they should do farm work, they still focus on farming. Fortunately, the people here have been influenced by the Khitan people. They become soldiers when they mount their horses, and both men and women can be soldiers. The soldiers only regard farming in the fields as their job.
Daily training, besides, every soldier in the Yanyun area has his own place."
The rest of the people nodded frequently and admired Zongze in their hearts. They were all military generals, but Zongze made a surprise attack on Yanshan Mansion and defeated Wanyan Zongwang north of Yanshan Mansion, which shows his military ability. However, now he has conquered another army that can be regarded as
Yanshan Prefecture, a dead city, is well-governed. The people have enough food and clothing, and their living standards may be a little lower than those of Sijing and Hangzhou. However, Yanshan Prefecture is more balanced, with a small gap between rich and poor. Sijing and Hangzhou are all supported by big landowners.
.Many people in Tokyo are not as good as the people in Yanshan Prefecture.
This was actually Li Qi's original idea. After he recovered Yanshan Mansion, he quickly restored people's livelihood and continued to provide generous policies. Without that series of policies, Yanshan Mansion would not have recovered so quickly.
Li Qi smiled and nodded, saying: "This is the main reason why the imperial court will improve the status of women and encourage women to walk out of that door. This woman does not work at home and has nothing to do, while men have endless work.
You have to protect your family and the country, and you have to support your family. This sounds like a waste. In the future, the Song Dynasty will expand its territory and will urgently need manpower and material resources, and war will definitely cause casualties. So the only way is to liberate women.
Those saints are also human beings. Perhaps they will only consider these issues when they have no food to eat. No matter what, first meet the requirement that everyone has a bite to eat, and then think about other things. You cannot blindly pursue ideas.
realm, while ignoring the reality.”
Zhao Jingyan sighed: "But this is not easy."
"I always feel that interest is the root of everything. When you can obviously have more wealth, but you don't get the wealth you deserve because of insufficient manpower, you can't blame the court. Naturally, this woman slowly walked out
That door to create more wealth."
Li Qi smiled and said seriously: "Prefect Zong, you are about to face your second difficulty. You may be even busier next time."
Zongze chuckled and said, "Could it be that the Privy Councilor is referring to taxation?"
Li Qi nodded and said: "That's right. The imperial court needs money in many aspects. It may be within the ideal range to never increase taxes, let alone never collect taxes. Now Yanyun's tax exemption period is about the same.
We’re here, and the people here already have enough food and clothing. If there are no accidents, taxes will come as promised, so you have to be prepared.”
Zong Ze said: "I believe that as long as the taxes are not too harsh, the people in Yanyun area will still abide by the law."
"I believe that."
Li Qi paused for a moment before saying, "Prefect Zong, if I offend you, please forgive me for saying something, but I am definitely not targeting you."
Zongze hurriedly said: "The Privy Councilor has something to say, but there is no harm in saying it."
Li Qidao: "Everything has two sides. Interests can promote human progress, but at the same time, there are also many dirty things hidden under the interests. Flesh will attract flies."
Zongze frowned and said, "Could it be that the Privy Councilor is referring to embezzlement and bribery?"
"Exactly."
Li Qidao: "Because Yanshan Prefecture is currently tax-free, so although the people are wealthy, the local government office may not be very wealthy yet. Once taxes start to be collected, the local finance will definitely increase sharply. If there is too much money, it will attract a lot of flies.
Although the current emperor has been severely punishing this phenomenon, Yanshan Prefecture is high in the mountains and the emperor is far away, and the imperial power may be difficult to intimidate. Of course I believe in Zong Zhifu, but once the hands of those court ministers reach out, Zong Zhifu may not be able to stop it.
"
After Zhao Kai came to the throne, he issued many policies to deal with this phenomenon, so the ministers in Tokyo would not dare to move. Then these ministers would most likely extend their hands to local governments far away from Tokyo, so Li Qi had to guard against this.
.
As he spoke, he glanced at everyone and said: "In addition, as for the army, although you are all generals, I have to say it bluntly. The geographical location of Yanshan Mansion is very critical. It is on the border with the Kingdom of Jin. No matter how developed the merchants and farmers are, the army will not
It must be a symbol of the entire Yanyun area. These troops are stationed here. Once the time goes by, those generals are likely to be inactive and get some oil and water. This is bound to happen, and military generals are different from civilian officials.
The troops and horses they have in their hands will be very troublesome for the court to deal with, so they must be prepared for the future."
These generals were sweating coldly after hearing this. Li Qi was obviously warning them that sometimes it is not a good thing to be still and restless.
Zongze pondered for a long time and said with a look of shame on his face: "The Privy Envoy's words are reasonable. I really haven't thought about this." Now he just wants to manage Yanshan Mansion and prevent the Jin army from raiding, but he doesn't have such long-term plans.
Li Qi shook his head and said: "It is no wonder that the Zong Zongzhifu is not in his position and does not seek his government."
Zongze sighed and said: "But this phenomenon has existed since ancient times. Just like the Three Cardinal Guidelines and the Five Constant Rules, it has almost become a tradition and it is difficult to completely eliminate it."
Li Qi snorted and said, "I understand that, but we must at least work hard. Corrupt officials can't help harming the people, but also directly threaten the country and the country. This is why the emperor hates corrupt officials so much."
Zongze asked: "Then I wonder if the Privy Council has any magic method to prevent this phenomenon."
"I can't talk about the magic method, just some ideas. First of all, military and government affairs must be separated in the Yanyun area. The military cannot interfere with local management. In this regard, the prefect is still the biggest, but---."
When Li Qi said this, he paused for a moment and said: "Although we do not trust those who employ them, we do not trust those who doubt us, but putting aside some subjective feelings, I do not believe in any politician, because people have selfish desires.
Enough temptation, no one can guarantee that they will not take risks. If you want to put an end to corrupt officials, you have to look at who is the victim of corruption. Enemies with good moral principles are particularly jealous when they meet. Corrupt officials harm the country and the people. They harm the interests of the people, but at the same time
Officials represent the country. If they protect each other and the emperor is too weak to punish them from the perspective of national governance, then the rest will be the common people."
"People?"
Zongze frowned slightly, looking a little confused.
Niu Gao said carelessly: "Privy envoys generally use officials to bully the people, but I have never heard of people governing officials."
Li Qi said angrily: "I told you to read more books, but you just didn't listen. Haven't you heard that water can carry a boat and also capsize it? If you want to punish corrupt officials, it is difficult to do it by relying on officials.
, as long as you rely on the people, because the people are the direct victims, they also have the most direct stake in corrupt officials. The court does not know, but the people have no reason not to know how much their own interests have been lost. Not to mention putting an end to it, if you want to reduce corruption and bribery
phenomenon, we must rely on the people."
Han Shizhong was a little puzzled and said: "But how can the common people govern the officials?"
Zhao Jingyan said: "There wasn't one before, but now there is one, and that's the Legislative Yuan."
"That's right." Li Qidao: "The day of tax collection in the Yanyun area is when the Legislative Yuan arrives, because now all tax laws are issued through the Legislative Yuan. The Legislative Yuan has three major characteristics. First, the Legislative Yuan is not under the control of anyone, even the emperor.
, and can only intervene in some special matters. Therefore, the Legislative Yuan does not need to fear any ministers. Only ministers fear the Legislative Yuan. Secondly, the Legislative Yuan is in charge of all laws, and the law is the only one that puts the officials and the people on the same level. The law can govern the people.
, can also govern officials. Thirdly, the real power in the Legislative Yuan is not the legislative president, but the people, because the Legislative Yuan is composed of the people, and the members of the Legislative Yuan in each place are composed of local people.
Although the Legislative Yuan cannot interfere with the judicial department, everyone has the right to sue, and the members of the Legislative Yuan are also common people, so they can rely on their own characteristics to sue anyone directly through the Legislative Yuan.
You can file a lawsuit directly with Dali Temple, thereby achieving the goal of ruling the officials by the people."
Zhao Jingyan said: "But even so, it still requires evidence. Dali Temple is all about evidence."
Li Qidao: "This requires the Commerce Bureau. Although the Commerce Bureau is not in charge of finance, it is in charge of economic power. How much land is there in each place, how much food is produced every year, the increase in land prices and sales, etc. Everything is what the Commerce Bureau must do.
For homework, the Commerce Bureau must count all of this. This white and black text cannot deceive anyone. In addition, the Third Division will also have the statistics of the Third Division. The difference is that the Third Division will make statistics based on real money.
, and the Bureau of Commerce makes statistics based on economic growth. Many of them are fictitious, but they are of great reference value. Corruption and bribery are basically hiding a fortune that originally belongs to statistics, and those two data are
It's like a complete plate. If a piece is suddenly missing, how can you not find it?"
Han Shizhong chuckled: "In fact, just relying on the bureau of commerce, the Legislative Yuan, the Judicial Yuan, the Legal Temple, the Third Division, the Military Region, and the government offices, if an official wants to commit corruption, it is really not an easy task. He will either do it
If it's perfect, you have to bribe these people, but these yamen are in opposition to each other in the court. I, Han Wu, have a headache just thinking about it. Even if I want to be greedy, I don't have the brains!"
Zongze burst out laughing.
Zhao Jingyan asked curiously: "Uncle Zong, why are you laughing?"
The others also looked at Zongze curiously, but Li Qi looked a little embarrassed.
"I understand, I understand."
Zongze looked at Li Qi with a smile and said: "The Privy Council wants to take away my power, and I have to let me clap my hands and praise you!"
Zhao Jingyan suddenly realized and understood that in the previous system, the prefect was the top leader of the place and held great power, and Yanshan Mansion was a special place. The power in Zongze's hands was very great. You must know that the military power was also in his hands.
, if he were someone like Yaoshi Guo, he could definitely become a local emperor.
However, once the yamen like the Legislative Yuan arrived, the power of the prefect was greatly weakened, not just a little bit, but more than half!
Li Qi did not deny it, and said bluntly: "In fact, after the emergence of the Second Court, the prefects in many places were very unhappy. If this had been the case during the reign of the Supreme Emperor, it would have been impossible. Thanks to the current emperor who holds all the power in his hands.
Here, the prefects had no choice but to give in, but I think they must have felt uncomfortable. To appease them is what we, the people, should have done.
I just want to explain clearly that the arrival of the new law is not aimed at a certain person, but that our Song Dynasty needs this brand new system. Of course, I fully believe in Zong Zhifu, everything in front of me has been well explained, so I want to take advantage of the opportunity
When Zong Zongzhifu was here, he popularized this system in Yanyun. The predecessors planted trees and the descendants enjoyed the shade."
Zhao Jingyan chuckled and said: "This can't be said to be planting a tree, but to build a big guillotine. It depends on which descendant dares to stretch this end."
Zongze laughed and said: "Privy Councilor, please rest assured. I am not an old fool. How could I not understand? On the contrary, I very much agree with your suggestion. Anyway, I am already over fifty years old. What else is there to be afraid of? It's okay to be afraid."
Others are afraid of me, so it is perfect for me to do this. Even if those officials want to settle accounts with me in the future, I may have already been buried, and they can only shout a few words."
Li Qi smiled and said: "If Zong Zhifu can think like this, it would be the best."
The cooperation between the court and local governments is a very difficult issue. How to get local governments to strictly implement the court's policies is quite difficult. Li Qi is also afraid that Zongze will think that the court is doing something wrong by creating so many rules and regulations to restrain him.
He didn't trust him, so he didn't say it clearly at the beginning, but first explained the benefits of this system. He also knew that Zongze would understand. (To be continued...)