Chapter 847: I feel wronged and you come out to help me
Open up your mind?
The officials understood what Zhang Yue meant.
The reform means that the entire premise remains unchanged, but the steps have to be slowed down.
The official said: "I already issued an edict asking for words in March, how do I still need to let go of my words?"
Zhang Yue thought for a while, and there were many ways to let go of his words, such as pardoning Yan Fu and others who were being investigated and questioned when he was sentenced to the Imperial College, and exonerating Zheng Xia from guilt, etc., and Tai Jian made a wave of substitutions, and
Deng Wan, Zhang Hong, and Shu Dan were dismissed, and the old system of Tai Jian and supervision of the government was restored. In addition, there was supervision by public opinion, etc.
However, it is not easy for Zhang Yue to mention these things, because if he mentions them, it is easy for him to have ulterior motives, or cause dissatisfaction with the emperor or the ministers in a certain position. Whether it is specific to personnel matters depends on his position.
Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty has decreed this, and I dare not comment on it."
The officials were also quite dissatisfied with Zhang Yue's caution.
Zhang Yue said: "I heard two stories in the northwest these days. They are quite interesting. I would like to give your Majesty some advice."
The official said: "That's all you say."
Zhang Yue said: "There is a story that I heard from Cong Na. There was a market in Xihe at that time. The market was used for the exchanges between Han and Fan, and the circulation of salt banknotes. As for the local Fan people, they also had markets, but their markets
Ji did not use salt notes but bartered."
"But I, this servant, is a little smart, or has economic talent, and can also talk a lot. He will go to the local market every time, holding a bag of wheat and some salt in his hand. When he leaves the market, his hand is
There is no shortage of wheat and salt in it, but more mutton and beef. Use these to make a tooth sacrifice."
The official smiled and said: "Zhang Qing, you are really a talented servant."
Zhang Yue said: "I think this servant is good at trading. In fact, there are so many goods in the market, but as long as transactions can be carried out smoothly between common people, everyone can get what they need. This is convenient."
May everyone be happy.”
Others were confused by what Zhang Yue said, but to the officials, they understood it immediately.
From the time when the peasants, merchants, and merchants were among the four civilians, merchants were at the lowest status.
Why discriminate against businessmen?
Because from the perspective of the country, businessmen are of no use to the country. The profession of a businessman is to sacrifice the basics for the weak. Businessmen never produce things, but rely exclusively on buying and selling to make money.
For example, Legalism talks about "making a hole for profit", and the people only need to think about farming and fighting.
There was a farmer in the pre-Qin Dynasty who advocated two things. One is that all people, regardless of whether officials are high or low, must farm. Even the emperor must go to the fields to farm. Another point is that there are no two prices in the market. All goods are bought and sold at one price, and there must be no two.
price.
Of course, productive labor comes first, and at the same time, it can cultivate a honest social atmosphere, but trading is also a means of optimizing resources.
The example given by Zhang Yue is that as long as transactions can be conducted freely, it will be beneficial to the people of the country.
Zhang Yue's story is just the beginning.
The official felt that this story seemed to be directed at the Market Change Law, and he asked Zhang Yue to continue telling it.
However, Zhang Yue did not continue, and turned to the second story: "I opened a salt well in Xihe River to collect earth salt. I used this salt to trade with the people to facilitate military supplies and at the same time cut off the profit of Xia State's green salt.
"
The official nodded. He knew about Zhang Yue's digging of salt wells and earth and salt in Xihe River.
"Soil salt is different from well salt. It is grown in alkaline soil. My subordinates use the method of drenching brine to get salt from the salt soil. As for the brine residue after taking the salt, I don't pay much attention to it and just throw it away casually."
"But after a while, my subordinates discovered that all the brine residue he had discarded was missing. He sent someone to investigate the matter and found that it had been piled up in one place by the villagers from various places.
, I originally planned to pile it up and go back to make salt again."
"The brine residue was not worth much, so the official didn't care. One day, two villagers found him. It turned out that another villager saw that the brine residue piled up by the previous villager was left unattended.
So he took it away."
"Another villager spoke plausibly. He didn't say that the brine slag belonged to him, so why couldn't others take it away."
"My subordinates were undecided, so they asked me about the matter. Who should award this brine residue to? Logically speaking, this brine residue should belong to the imperial court, but since it is thrown away, it does not belong to the imperial court. As for the
The first villager said that he had piled the slag in one place, and the other said that the place where the slag was piled was public land and belonged to everyone."
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"My subordinates asked me, I can't help but tell you. How can your majesty break it today?"
The official thought for a while and said with a smile: "This seems to have a meaning, but since the previous villager piled the brine residue in one place, I will award it to him."
Zhang Yue said: "What your Majesty said is absolutely correct, and I think the same thing. Confucius governed the Spring and Autumn Period with small words and great righteousness. How to judge a eucalyptus is also related to the people's hearts."
"There is an old saying that life is about hard work. What can you get if you don't ask for anything? A piece of unclaimed wasteland will be owned by the cultivator once it is cultivated. This is a truth that applies everywhere. If the court does not protect the interests of the people who cultivate the wasteland, no one will
Reclamation."
"The reason why the imperial court changed its laws is because there is no unowned land in the world, and most of it has been occupied by powerful people with clever names. Therefore, it tries to defeat the interests of these annexed families. But for the people who have obtained the land through hard work, it should be protected by law.
"
"Otherwise, everyone would have the desire to peek at other people's property. Why does Mencius say, those who have permanent property have perseverance. If the people do not have perseverance, then the chaos of the Five Dynasties will be restored."
This involves a question, which is whether the cost of theft and robbery is higher or the cost of production labor.
In troubled times, people are inferior to dogs. The wealth you have worked hard for a year will be robbed by the warlords in the end.
In this way, no one thinks about labor but becomes a warlord and robs others.
In times of governance, the cost of crime is high, so people will think about increasing their wealth through labor.
After listening to Zhang Yue's words, the officials felt deeply and said: "What Zhang Qing said speaks to my heart. Nowadays, refugees are everywhere and thieves are everywhere. This is my fault."
The officials heard clearly that the three things Zhang Yue said were vague and general, but there were no specific and clear steps.
The official said: "I am calling you back to Beijing this time to entrust you with important tasks and to entrust state affairs to you."
Zhang Yue said: "I..."
The official said: "You don't have to make any excuses. The two empress dowagers also appreciate you very much. Moreover, Emperor Renzong said to the empress dowager that your talents as prime minister were reserved for future generations to use."
"Emperor Renzong's knowledge of people is unparalleled, and I have always treated him with dignity and respect. Even so, you reluctantly became a prime minister and humiliated you for your hard work over and over again. How about you come and help the world on my behalf?"
The official spoke very sincerely, which also shocked Zhang Yue.
The position of the ruler is what people and ministers hope for. Which emperor does not use it as a reward, but in the eyes of the officials, it means that you come out to help me, okay?
Ps: These two stories are borrowed from Xue Zhaofeng’s economics lecture notes.
