As Liu Zhiguang said, the charity fund system can be implemented in Junshan, but it is a bit reluctant to extend it to the entire county. As for continuing to extend it to the entire Long'an Prefecture, it will definitely not work without changes. In addition to the great resistance to implementation,
In addition, Zhao Ran always pays for the interest difference personally. What is going on?
Those who know the inside story might praise "Abbot Zhao is compassionate", but those who don't know the inside story would be frivolous to scold him for being careless. If he has ulterior motives, I'm afraid Zhao Ran will have to suffer the consequences and walk away.
So what is the root cause of the bad Qingmiao money administration? The imperial court set the interest rate of Qingmiao money at 4%. These 4% were used by the court to subsidize the government's expenses in operating Qingmiao money. However, in actual implementation, the subordinates who handled Qingmiao money would
They lent money to the gentry and wealthy businessmen at an interest rate of 20%. The young crops loaned out were five times the original interest rate. Eighty percent of the proceeds were handed over to the public and the majority was pocketed.
The gentry and wealthy businessmen did not need to advance money at all. When they received requests for loans from farmers, their left hand lent the money at an interest rate of 20%, and their right hand lent it directly to the farmers with an interest rate increase of 10%. The interest paid by the farmers increased from the original amount.
Four cents became 30%!
Eight cents of the money earned from young crops was divided between the Taoist clan and the government, and 12% was taken away by subordinate officials. The remaining 10% was enjoyed by the gentry and wealthy businessmen. Among them, the gentry and wealthy businessmen were interested in the remaining
Rather than money and interest, they value the land of a large number of bankrupt farmers.
To put it more vividly, it means that the jungles of the ten directions of the Taoist sect, the government, subordinate officials, and wealthy merchants of the Jin gentry all share the feast of young crops, money and interest.
If we want to reform, what should we do? It is undoubtedly to cut interest rates.
According to Manager Li’s years of experience in implementing the charity fund system, farmers’ tolerance for interest rates is actually not bad. The interest rates they can bear should be about 10% or 20%.
Therefore, the interest rate on young crops’ money should be directly reduced from the current 30% or even 40% to 12%.
How to reduce it? Just kick the subordinates off the table, and then reduce the number of gentry and wealthy businessmen who can share the feast!
Rearranging the list of people serving dinner is the essence of all reform.
In this reform, the Taoist Yuan and the county government cooperated closely. Liu Zhiguang and Kong Xianzun reached a consensus. First, they should withdraw the subordinate officials from the task of handling young crops' money, prevent them from interfering in it, and directly deduct the money of the subordinate officials.
Partially cutting it off will give them no chance to put money into their personal pockets. With this cut, the money interest rate can be reduced by about 12%.
The second step is to divide and disintegrate the gentry and wealthy businessmen, and bring in the stronger ones to share the money and interests, further reducing the resistance to reform. That is, the young crop money is subcontracted to several powerful large households, and these large households will
Responsible for lending money to young people and entrusting subordinates' work to them.
The specific method is to lend the young crop money to several powerful gentry and wealthy businessmen in the name of four cents interest. This can avoid the legal risks of the court. The large households that borrowed the money adopt the method of dividing the territory, and one family is responsible for the fixed
A piece of land is lent to farmers at an interest rate of no more than 12%. Four cents of the collected interest is paid to the Taoist temple, four cents to the county government, and the remaining four cents are used as their handling income.
Farmers borrowed money for young crops within their affordability, and Taoist temples and county governments also received their share of profits. Several large households obtained stable income that could flow steadily, and only the remaining gentry and those who could not intervene were harmed.
Subordinate official.
So how to ensure that the interest rate on the money borrowed by Jin Shen is not higher than 12%? The suggestion given by Manager Li is to conduct public bidding in the county. The highest interest rate in the bidding is set at 12%, and it depends on who quotes the lower price. In the quotation
On the basis of this, we also evaluate the comprehensive strength of the large households participating in the bidding, and select large households with relatively clean family backgrounds, relatively good reputation among their neighbors, strong strength, and wide influence to subcontract young crops.
As a supervision measure, charity funds will continue to be distributed in parallel, but the interest rate will be set at 13%. Once a farmer is found to borrow charity funds, we will immediately investigate which jurisdiction of the large subcontractor the farmer comes from and why he cannot borrow money with interest.
Lower young crop money. Once verified, the subcontracting qualification will be cancelled, and the qualification will be transferred to others.
As a result, the Charity Hall founded by Zhao Ran has transformed from an implementer to a supervisor, and the youth money system can truly benefit farmers.
This is a watered-down Qingmiaoqian reform, which is gentler than the original method and creates fewer enemies. There will certainly be problems during the implementation process, but through a two-step approach, it will first be implemented in the Junshan Trail Area, buffered and adjusted
The period is also guaranteed.
It is not known who this plan came from, but Liu Zhiguang pretended not to know, which is tantamount to taking as much responsibility as possible on himself in the future.
Zhao Ran was very pleased to see such a good supervisor. But he was pleased because he could not transfer his merits to Liu Zhiguang, so he refused firmly, saying that of course he, Zhao Ran, would bear all the blame.
After talking about the green crop money, it’s time to talk about the second item, the large-scale construction of roads and ditches throughout the county.
Liu Zhiguang was very well prepared and took out the map of Guyang County. The roads that needed to be repaired, the canals that needed to be dug, etc. were marked on it.
Among them, two new roads, totaling 80 miles, and four renovated roads, totaling 170 miles. The construction period is expected to be five years. According to Zhao Ran's requirements, they will be placed in the slack period. It is expected that after the renovation, the traffic situation in Guyang County will
It will be greatly improved and travel will be more convenient.
In addition, 18 large and small canals will be excavated, with an estimated total length of 30 miles, and 32 canals will be renovated, with a total length of 70 miles. This project is not large, but it is very complicated, fragmented, and very labor-intensive. Liu Zhiguang
It is expected to be completed in three years. Once completed, the farmland in Guyang County will basically be fully covered by water canals, and grain output will surely reach a new level.
One for five years, one for three years, Zhao Ran was definitely not satisfied. He told Liu Zhiguang directly: "Three to five years is too long, let's seize the day. Let's do this. The people in Junshan area have a lot of experience in digging roads and canals in the past few years.
We have specially recruited two hundred people from the Junshan area to be fully responsible for this project. There is no need to distinguish between slack farming and slack farming, and the work will be started all year round. Farmers in other places do not need to participate, and it will not waste people and money."
Liu Zhiguang hesitated and said: "Two hundred people? Is it too few? How many years and months will this work last? And if it is not in the form of forced labor, the Taoist temple will cover the wages of these two hundred people, I am afraid it will be a bit unsustainable."
Zhao Ran said: "To tell you the truth, I am a Taoist practitioner. I have a way to recruit free labor, and all of these laborers are capable. Each one is worth a hundred!"
Liu Zhiguang suddenly realized: "I see, is the abbot going to perform magic? It's really wonderful. I will definitely go and see him when the time comes."
Zhao Ran smiled and did not explain, and continued: "As for the two hundred laborers recruited from the Junshan area, I will pay for the money. It is my heartfelt tribute to the people of Guyang County."