Although Chu Ge was prepared that his changes would fail, he never expected that it would fail to such an extent.
The first thing I saw was the memorial of impeachment coming from the Yushitai like snowflakes.
Many of these memorials were directed at other legal provisions. Chu Ge did not read them carefully, because the other legal provisions still followed Wang Wenchuan's original approach. Chu Ge generally knew the content of the impeachment, and there was nothing new about it.
He is more concerned about what kind of repercussions his improved Qingmiao method will cause.
As a result, Chu Ge almost lost his temper when he saw the memorial of these officials impeaching the new youth law.
Some people say that he is "destroying the national treasury to gain personal fame", that is, he is taking the country's money and throwing money around to gain a good reputation for himself.
Some people also say that he is "sacrificing the national treasury to seek cliques", that is, he is taking the country's money and throwing money around like crazy. In fact, all the money is channeled to his own interest groups, conspiring to establish cliques.
Others say that he committed the crime of deceiving the emperor, because the Green Crops Law not only did not bring any revenue to the national treasury, but also caused a large amount of grain stored in warehouses in various places to be consumed, seriously endangering local food security, and may even cause the loss of military rations during wars.
Insufficient, the consequences of insufficient relief food during famine...
And these impeachments by Yushitai are obviously not the most suffocating.
After flipping through these documents hastily, the court meeting followed.
In the court, there was another wave of attacks from officials, and this time their words were even more exaggerated. All kinds of shit basins were thrown at Chu Ge's head like crazy.
It was also mixed with a lot of attacks on his personal ethics.
If it weren't for Wang Wenchuan, who is upright and not afraid of slanting shadows, is honest and law-abiding, has extensive experience in governing at the grassroots level, and has a high original reputation, and if he had changed to someone with a less clean butt, he might have completely lost control of the situation at this time.
Of course, even if Wang Wenchuan's personal ethics were fine, these officials would always find a place to attack him.
What made Chu Ge feel even more chilled was that the emperor's eyes when he looked at him also changed.
Originally, the emperor had great trust in Wang Wenchuan, otherwise he would not have supported his reforms on and off for ten years.
At least in the past two or three years, the emperor's recognition of Wang Wenchuan was very high. After all, the new law had just begun to be implemented. Even if there were some minor flaws, the emperor would think that they could be corrected slowly and would not just fuck Wang Wenchuan.
Come down.
But Chu Ge changed the method of young crops and sent them.
Under the questioning of the emperor and officials, Chu Ge wanted to fight to the death again.
He had acquired the gift of making impassioned speeches. At this time, he defended himself and explained in detail his motivation for improving the Young Crops Law. In particular, he repeatedly stated that his move was a great thing that benefited the country and the people. Those grain loans
Although going out will temporarily reduce national storage, in the long run, it will be beneficial to agricultural development.
In the future, with the development of the economy, these grains will definitely be recovered, thus achieving the goal of "the country will not increase taxes but the people will use them" as promised before.
The talent effect of impassioned speech is indeed useful.
Chu Ge could clearly feel that some officials were speechless by his refutation, and the aloof emperor was also quite moved.
Therefore, the emperor was very moved and immediately decided to dismiss Wang Wenchuan as prime minister.
Chu Ge's first attempt at reform sadly failed in the first year.
…
Back to the original starting point.
Chu Ge was a little doubtful about life.
"That's not right. My plan was perfect. How come the result is not as good as Wang Wenchuan's original plan?"
In Chu Ge's view, his improved Green Seed Law can effectively prevent the problem of forced apportionment by officials, and it should not cause a financial crisis for the country?
What he issued was interest-free loans, not charity.
Since it is a loan to farmers, will the farmers repay it in the future?
How did it become a case of harming the public and enriching private interests?
Chu Ge realized that there must still be huge problems with his improved green seedling method, so after calming down, he calmed down, started from the beginning, and analyzed it carefully.
The best entry point is the attack on oneself by those in Yushitai.
"These officials actually attack me on two points.
"First, I think I have brought losses to the country. Warehousing in various places is declining rapidly. As a result, once a disaster occurs in the future, there will be insufficient food funds for disaster relief.
"The second point is that I am seeking personal gain for myself. Some people say that I am seeking fame, while others say that I am seeking profits for my cronies.
"Although these conservative officials will try their best to attack me, their attacks should not be groundless and must hit my weak spots.
"The emperor had so much trust in me, but he dismissed me in the first year... This shows that their attack was indeed effective, and the emperor no longer trusted me.
"In other words, objectively speaking, my new young crop law has indeed caused these consequences?
"No, this is an interest-free loan. Why does it cause losses?
"Could it be said that...the 20% interest is essential?"
After Chu Ge thought hard for a while, suddenly a light flashed in his mind and he suddenly became enlightened.
He is a liberal arts student and does not have a deep understanding of economics, so when he came up with the idea of interest-free loans, he did not have any knowledge of economics to support him.
At this time, after some reflection, he suddenly realized that interest-free loans were simply not feasible in this era.
Why must Wang Wenchuan set the interest rate at 20%?
Is it just to make money for the country?
You must know that according to memory fragments and true historical records, Wang Wenchuan had been in the local government for twenty years and had already tried the green seedling method as early as when he was the county magistrate.
Many people say that Wang Wenchuan's reform should be piloted first and then implemented nationwide.
But what they didn't know was that Wang Wenchuan had already conducted a pilot project, and the results were excellent.
It was precisely because of the pilot projects Wang Wenchuan conducted when he was the county magistrate that he became famous, and was able to successfully enter the center of the imperial court, gain favor from the emperor, and initiate reforms.
It can also be said that at the beginning of his reform, he was widely expected.
Chu Ge worked backwards and believed that the 20% interest was the key to the failure of the Qingmiao Law. However, after an in-depth analysis, he discovered that Wang Wenchuan's approach actually had a deeper meaning.
There is a key word here called "risk control".
Chu Ge made an interest-free loan out of wishful thinking, believing that under ideal circumstances, this could promote agricultural development, protect the interests of farmers, and thus indirectly increase tax revenue for the country.
But what if some farmers are unable to pay due to a bad harvest?
As long as there is one farmer who cannot afford it, won’t the country suffer a loss?
For comparison, you can actually consider the interest rates of private loans.
The interest rates on private loans are as high as 100% or even 200%. On the one hand, this is because wealthy businessmen are greedy and want to take advantage of the opportunity to make a fortune. But on the other hand, the risk of such loans is too great and the cost of default is too high.
Take the 20% interest rate offered by the Green Seed Law.
In the most ideal situation, if all ten farmers repay the loan after borrowing, then the government will earn 20%. However, what if one or two of the ten farmers fail to repay due to various reasons? Then this loan is basically
Going up is like wasting your efforts in vain.
In ancient times, the agricultural economy was actually very fragile, and it basically depended on the weather. When sowing, how could farmers be sure that the weather would be good this year?
If the harvest is good, everyone will be happy; but if the harvest is poor, widespread defaults are almost inevitable.
Therefore, a very important reason why the interest rates on high-value private loans are set so high is that too many people default on their loans.
If the interest rate is set low, you will almost certainly lose money. Even if you don't lose money, the benefits of this process are too low, and no one will bother to bother with it.
If the interest rate of the Green Seed Method is set below 20%, the possibility of loss is already high.
Chu Ge has provided an interest-free loan. As long as a farmer fails to pay the government, he will suffer a loss, which is even more troublesome.
He re-researched Wang Wenchuan's previous Green Seedling Method plan and found that Wang Wenchuan had a sense of risk control.
For example, he stipulated that farmers borrowing money should be matched with rich and poor, 10 people would be guaranteed, and the loan amount would be divided into five levels according to the assets of each household. If any farmer failed to pay, then others would also be jointly and severally liable.
In short, the goal is to collect all these grains with profit.
Chu Ge originally thought this was a bad law, because judging from the subsequent implementation, after the officials forced the apportionment, the poor households were unable to repay the Qingmiao Loan, causing the rich households to bear joint liability. In the end, everyone went bankrupt, and they were all forced to pay by the officials.
The treasury.
However, after Chu Ge canceled these risk control measures, he discovered that the country's interests could not be guaranteed at all.
Moreover, if you look at it from the perspective of the official and the emperor, it can be said that Wang Wenchuan, played by Chu Ge, deserved to be dismissed.
First of all, you keep saying that the new law is to enrich the country and strengthen its military. Does that make the country rich?
The new Young Crops Law provides interest-free loans, and the food put down cannot be harvested, which makes the country poorer. Moreover, once a natural disaster occurs, there will not be enough food for disaster relief.
Secondly, if this interest-free loan continues, who will be the biggest beneficiary?
Since it is an interest-free loan, the profit margin is huge. For example, officials can distribute grain and secretly transfer it to wealthy households through some means, and the wealthy households can then use the grain to make loan sharks.
Under such a grassroots organization, how can we ensure that these grains can be accurately distributed to poor farmers?
If there is 20% interest, then even if the grain is transferred to the hands of wealthy households, they will still have to find a way to pay back the 20% interest. Coupled with the provision of ten households as guarantees, at least it can ensure that the country will never lose money.
But now, some officials have colluded with wealthy households to line their own pockets and use the grain distributed under the New Young Crops Law to lend money. This blame must still fall on Wang Wenchuan, played by Chu Ge.
Therefore, the officials scolded him for using the country's money to buy a good reputation for himself and using the country's money to benefit his cronies for personal gain. It was not really an injustice to him.
Because in the eyes of the people, he probably really has such an image...
Naturally, the consequences of the reform can only be borne by him, the implementer of the reform.
After figuring this out, Chu Ge understood why he was dismissed from his post in the first year.
Although he had the gift of eloquent speeches and spoke righteously in the court, he ultimately found that it was meaningless.
Because no matter how many truths he talks, in the face of the bloody reality, it will only continue to strengthen the image of "a traitor who is as loyal as a traitor".
As for why the emperor resigned from office in the first year? Why did Wang Wenchuan's trust in the emperor's heart suffer a heavy blow in an instant?
You can understand it from the emperor's perspective.
You, Wang Wenchuan, keep talking about enriching the country and strengthening the army, but where is the money? Not only did you not get any money, but you spent it like water.
It’s just spending money, the key is to gain a good reputation yourself. Who knows if those people who harm the public and enrich private interests, and use the grain from Qingmiao Loan to make loan sharks, are your people? Many of them are New Party members, right?
It is harming the national interests, gaining a good reputation for oneself, and making profits for one's new party...
Do you want to go to heaven?
You want to rebel, right?
If the emperor can even tolerate this, then he really has a ghost.
…
After an analysis, Chu Ge felt very frustrated.
Because he found that after trying so hard to make a circle, he went back to Wang Wenchuan's old path.
Although Wang Wenchuan's method was widely criticized all over the world and caused the death of many farmers, it was still persisted intermittently for ten years, and it finally filled the national treasury.
After the treasury was full, he also fought several victorious battles in the northwest and regained some land.
Although these lands were later sent back by the conservatives in power, the money and food in the treasury finally allowed the Qi Dynasty to survive for a while.
And what about Chu Ge?
The operation was as fierce as a tiger, and he was fucked in less than a year, and it did not bring any income to the country, which made it even cheaper for the gang of idiots in the middle.
Maybe the only good thing is that the farmers at the bottom didn't scold him, but... reforms are inherently scolded, so what kind of achievement would it be if he didn't get scolded?
The key is to get things done.
“If we do this, wouldn’t we be trapped in an endless cycle?
“Interest-free loans without performance review will result in a emptier state treasury, and the country’s food will be pocketed by various moths, making it difficult to distribute it to farmers;
“If you set a relatively low interest rate, officials will always find ways to raise it;
“Although the 20% interest rate and some risk control can indeed recover the loans from the Young Crops Law and increase revenue for the country, officials will inevitably over-implement it, causing some farmers to lose their lives...
"No solution!"
Chu Ge felt like he was walking alone at night. He saw a fork in the road and one of the roads said "This road is closed", so he went to take another road, but after walking, he found that it was also a dead end.
"So, what is the crux of the problem?
“No matter what kind of policy, at the end of the day, there will be people who preach wrong policies.
"Wang Wenchuan's original policy was already a very appropriate policy considering all aspects of the situation. If every official could strictly follow the laws and regulations like Wang Wenchuan, then all places would be governed in an orderly manner just like when Wang Wenchuan was the county magistrate.
“Every county has been governed well, doesn’t the new law mean it is a success?
"But there are very few people with character and ability like Wang Wenchuan among the officials in the entire Qi Dynasty. Or to put it more exaggeratedly, he is the only one like him.
"If this road doesn't work, I'd better think of another way."
Chu Ge was very melancholy. After thinking about it for a while, he re-planned two paths.
“To solve this problem, in the long run, we ultimately need to improve the administration of officials.
"No matter how well the new laws and regulations are formulated, if the administration is not clear and clear, the people below will always sing wrong words. As a prime minister, no matter how good the rules are, the people below will always find loopholes to exploit.
“In the end, I have to bear all the blame.
“In ten years, if I can rectify the civil service, eliminate a group of people, and arrange some people with ideals, abilities, and support for the new law to serve as grassroots officials at all levels, then the new law will have a chance of success.
"Wang Wenchuan didn't dig deep into this point at the time. I don't know if it was because he was under the dark light and ignored this point, or was there some other reason?
"Anyway, you can try this one.
"If the road to reorganizing the government does not work, then there is only one last resort.
"That is to follow Wang Wenchuan's old path again.
"Although Wang Wenchuan's method was stepped up by officials at all levels, causing many poor and rich households to go bankrupt, at least the country had money and food.
"This will at least help me win the Battle of Uuzhu ten years from now.
“...I never thought that I would end up becoming the kind of person I hate the most.
"'If the people suffer any more hardships, I will take the blame', right..."
Chu Ge smiled somewhat self-deprecatingly.
He actually despises the second method.
I have watched many historical dramas before, and many high-ranking officials in the court used the excuse that "the people should think about the court" to impose excessive taxes and make the people miserable.
Officials in the feudal dynasty used the rhetoric of "suffering the common people" and continued to do evil one after another.
Of course Chu Ge was critical and opposed to this.
But when it came time to play Wang Wenchuan, he discovered that thinking was one thing and doing it was another.
In this slice of history, what would happen if he couldn't push for new laws?
The result was that the Jin soldiers crossed south. Without Zhao Binfu, even with Yu Jiaxuan there, it was impossible to rely on a poor Qi army to stop the Jin soldiers at Niuzhuji.
At that time, either some poor and rich households will go bankrupt, or the entire Qi Dynasty will be slaughtered.
Thinking of this, Chu Ge started the game again.
This time, he changed his strategy again.
The content of the new law should first be implemented in accordance with Wang Wenchuan's original plan.
The main change in Chu Ge this time is the addition of the provision of "rectifying the administration of officials" in the new law.
The first is to strengthen the performance assessment of officials. Promotions and demotions are determined based on performance assessment, rather than promotion or demotion based on qualifications, years of experience, or background. It is strictly stipulated that to be a Beijing official or an official in a core department, one must have a certain number of years of grassroots work experience.
The second is to reduce the hereditary nature of officials. To be successful, one must pass an examination.
Chu Ge originally wanted to add a few more items, but after thinking about it, it would be good to do these two.
According to what he expected, if it can be implemented smoothly, the entire Qi Dynasty's officialdom will be improved within five years, and a group of officials who can really do things will be selected, then the remaining five years will be spent to implement the Green Seeding Law.
You can also get good results.
Ten years is not a long time, but it is not a short time either.
Chu Ge thought about it and divided these ten years into two five years. The first five years were to rectify the government, and the next five years were to enrich the country and strengthen the army. In addition, Yu Jiaxuan's line would train a little more troops to win the battle of Niuzhu.
