Chapter eight hundred and thirty second elected officials
In a tile-roofed house in Renhe County, Hangzhou, the seats were full at this time, and many people were even standing.
This tile house was the most common entertainment venue in the Song Dynasty. Most of the people who performed here were people with special skills. This is also evidence of the prosperity of the Song Dynasty. Will it be provided only if there is demand? Everyone has a lot of money to spend.
If everyone has endless work to do and is exhausted every day, then ghosts will come here.
This restaurant can be said to be the largest in Renhe County and is very famous throughout Hangzhou. The people who come here are usually slightly affluent people, similar to the white-collar workers of later generations. People from the lower class rarely come here.
But today, the people sitting here are really a mixed bag. There are talented people, young masters, hunters, farmers, and even turtle masters. In addition to prisoners, there are people from all walks of life.
If others didn't know this, they would think that a big shot was here to attract so many people.
However, this is not the case.
But there were two young men dressed as scholars standing on the stage. Both of them were good-looking. The one on the left was shorter and older, about 27 or 28 years old, while the one on the right was only about 20 years old.
There was another person standing among them. This person was none other than Ouyang Che. He first pressed his hands to silence everyone. After the audience calmed down, he asked the person on the left: "Brother Wen Jing,
I wonder how you think we can revitalize Renhe County and let the people of Renhe County live a prosperous life."
The young man named Wen Jing faced everyone and said calmly: "Agricultural taxes. Our Renhe County has fertile land and sufficient water. This is our advantage. However, recently, the cultivated land in our Renhe County has been continuously decreasing.
However, the number of hungry people continues to increase. Even if there is no natural disaster, I have to say this. This is a very strange phenomenon. It is not that there is no land to farm, but that no one is willing to farm. Why do those hungry people prefer to suffer
Are you hungry and unwilling to pick up the acres of abandoned farmland again?
Is there anything in the world that is more painful than hunger? Yes, it is exorbitant taxes. It is these extremely unreasonable taxes that make the people in Renhe County unwilling to farm because they will starve if they don’t farm.
Starving is the next best thing, and you may still owe debts. Many people even lost their families because of farming. The root cause of all this is those taxes. In addition to the Dingkou tax and the two taxes of the court, there are many, many more.
Unknown taxes are all added by corrupt officials themselves. Not only that, but what is even more chilling is that those corrupt officials collude with big landlords. On the one hand, they raise the tax price of farm tools and force the people to borrow usury from big landlords.
, if you can't afford it, you have to mortgage the land to the big landowners. However, in order to hide the land, the big landowners rent the land to the people and let the people bear the tax, so that many people are afraid of the land.
Therefore, if we want to make the people of Renhe County rich, we must lift these exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes. Encourage farmers to work in the fields, severely criticize the big landowners who use usury to persecute farmers, investigate and deal with unnamed farmland, and prevent them from annexing farmers' land by illegal means.
It is the foundation of our farmers. Wen Jing hereby assures you that if he can become the county chief, Wen Jing will definitely assist the county magistrate and give the people of Renhe County a bright future."
"good!"
"Well said!"
Bang bang bang!
As soon as he finished speaking, the audience immediately clapped their hands and applauded, and the cheers became louder and louder.
"Thank you, thank you for your support." Wen Jing raised his hands to express his gratitude.
After the applause dissipated, Ouyang Che smiled at the man on the right and asked, "Brother Shui Qing, what do you think Wen Jing said?"
The man on the right smiled and said: "I think Wen Jing is right. Food is the most important thing for the people, so the agricultural tax must be rectified. However, I wonder if you have ever thought about why successive county magistrates have focused their attention on this."
Agricultural taxes? That’s because the rest of the taxes in Renhe County are too low, especially commercial taxes. Therefore, in order to highlight their political achievements, successive county magistrates have tried their best to increase agricultural taxes. Our Renhe County not only has fertile land and sufficient water, but also has land and water.
The transportation is very convenient. It can be said that it extends in all directions. This is also our advantage. We should seize this advantage. The convenience brought by transportation is business. You must know that even if agricultural taxes are reduced, we can only achieve self-sufficiency.
, This is far from enough. We in Renhe County should never be satisfied with this, otherwise we will live up to God’s gift to us. We should obtain more wealth. If we want to do this, we can only focus on agriculture and supplement it with business.
It also coincides with the economic construction of the economic mission."
Ouyang Che smiled and said: "Since Brother Shui Qing mentioned the economic construction of the Economic Envoy, I am also a member of the Commerce Bureau. I would like to ask you how to develop Renhe County's business?"
Shui Qing cupped his hands and said: "I don't dare, I don't dare. I have been staying in Renhe County since I was born. This is my advantage and my disadvantage. The advantage is that I dare to say that my understanding of Renhe County is no better than that of sitting here."
There are only a few of you, so the disadvantage is that I have never seen much of the world and don’t know the prosperity of Tokyo. Fortunately, today I am not electing Tokyo officials.”
Everyone burst into laughter immediately.
Shui Qing added: "I know that our current strength in Renhe County is limited and we cannot afford a lot of money, so we must rely on the financial resources of outsiders. This has to mention the transportation advantages I just mentioned. We can focus on development
In this aspect, whether going south or north, there is not only one road. Pedestrians choose the road closest to them. How to attract those pedestrians to our Renhe County, then I must provide them with convenience, what?
Convenience, when outsiders come here, the first thing they have to do is to find a place to stay. This is something that everyone who travels far away must encounter, and it is also the most annoying thing for them. We can start from this aspect
To start, it is like choosing the best location near the docks and roads to build new inns and restaurants, so that merchants who come to our Renhe County will not have to worry about food and clothing, and feel at home. In short, we must provide the best to those merchants.
, when those merchants feel the enthusiasm of the people of our Renhe County, and the absolutely reasonable and convenient hospitality, they will definitely choose to pass through our Renhe County. When more and more merchants pass by, our income will also increase. Once
As our county becomes more prosperous, businessmen will definitely come to do business here. It won’t be long before we in Ninhe County can experience the prosperity of Tokyo. I hope to witness this day with you.
"
Ouyang Che nodded frequently when he heard this. He cupped his hands and said, "Brother Shui Qing, thank you. Ouyang has learned a lesson."
"Don't dare, don't dare."
The cheers below were also continuous and deafening.
In a private seat on the upper left side of the tile house, a handsome young man also stood up and applauded. This man was Bai Qiannuo, who was disguised as a woman. Beside him were Zheng Yi, Qin Hui, and Han Shizhong.
It turns out that this is an election for the position of Renhe County Registrar, and it is also the last debate. Those people are representatives selected from all walks of life in Renhe County. They will vote as soon as the debate is over.
This scene appeared in the Northern Song Dynasty. It is really surprising! Who else could be the manipulator behind all this except Li Qi? Jiangnan was punished so many officials at once. I don’t know if the court sends people to come.
If we have to wait until any year and month, one or two can be ignored, but so many official positions are vacant there. If people are not sent to fill them in time, there will be big trouble. Therefore, Song Huizong, whom Li Qi persuaded, directly
Talents were selected from the local area, and those who applied must be local talents. In this way, the court could also convey a good message to the people in Jiangnan, that is, scholars were still the most valued class by the court, and if you wanted to enter an official career, you still had to study.
Moreover, most of these scholars were famous for writing articles criticizing corrupt officials during the Jiangnan Rebellion, so many people supported them from the beginning.
Seeing how excited Bai Qiannuo was, Zheng Yi smiled and said, "Qiniang, are you cheering for him or the economic leader?"
Bai Qiannuo's face was slightly red, and she said, "If these words were said from my elder brother's mouth, I would feel extremely mediocre. Who do you think I am cheering for?"
"The white lady really hit the mark, Qin thought so too." Qin Hui laughed, stroked his beard, and said to Zheng Yi: "Erlang, I didn't ask you to come to the wrong place, right? If you go to Chen Dong's
By the way, you may not hear Xie Di’s wonderful remarks.”
"Maybe it's more exciting over there." Zheng Yi laughed and said: "I still remember when this novel electoral system just started, when those people came up, they were either Confucius or Mencius, and after talking for a long time, the people said
They didn't understand either, but now it's much more interesting. They all understand that if they want the people to vote for them, they must make guarantees that are beneficial to the people and use the simplest and most affordable language to win the support of the people.
Rather than the words of a saint."
Bai Qiannuo nodded and said: "That's right. If the eldest brother is also a voter, he will definitely not vote for those who often talk about Confucius and Mencius. He is annoyed by this the most."
Qin Hui waved his hand and said: "You can't say that. The words of the saint are to help improve self-cultivation. But now is the time for you to show your talents to the outside world. You take out what you said to yourself and say it to others. This is
It’s extremely inappropriate. You can’t say the saint’s words are wrong, but you have to choose the right time to say it.”
Zheng Yi nodded and said, "What the inspector said makes sense."
Bai Qiannuo smiled and said: "Inspector, if you can convince the elder brother to accept this trick, then I will obey you."
Qin Hui said with great humility: "The White Snake has promoted me, but I don't have the ability. When it comes to eloquence, I am definitely no match for you. I will definitely be the one who is persuaded in the end."
Han Shizhong on the side laughed happily and said: "Han is a martial artist. Although he doesn't understand these big principles, the economy makes this unique electoral system very eye-catching. It has been the case in all dynasties in the past.
When selecting officials, many officials first consider whether the person is helpful to themselves, rather than the country and the people. As a result, many people often bribe high-ranking officials every year in order to become officials. Nowadays, when officials are selected by the people, the people
You also consider your own interests, so if you want to win the election, you must put the people first, not the superiors. This is of great benefit to the people. To be honest, Han really wants to get to know that person.
The famous economic envoy."
Bai Qiannuo felt pleased with himself and said with a smile: "General Han, if you see my elder brother in the future, you will not be disappointed."
Zheng Yi shook his head with a wry smile and said: "General Han is absolutely right. In fact, it is not difficult to see from the debate competition over the past few days that they are all using their brains to think of how to make the people live a prosperous life, so that
Their remarks are becoming more exciting and practical day by day, but unfortunately, this is only a temporary way to fill the vacancy in the officialdom, not a long-term solution."
Qin Hui said: "That's not true. If it succeeds this time, we will have reason to report to the court and use this system in some poorer counties. However, this will not be brought to the table after all."
The reason is simple. In feudal society, it is impossible for this kind of democratic election to become the norm and can only be used as an emergency measure.
At this time, one of Han Shizhong's soldiers came up and saluted: "General, there is a letter from Tokyo." (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian.com to vote for recommendation, monthly vote, you
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