This was the second time that Wei Zheng was robbed by Changsun Chong. After all, he was still a junior. He contradicted him in front of so many people. Wei Zheng couldn't help but feel angry and yelled: "You have no place to speak here!"
Changsun Chong was not afraid and said: "Wei Gong, I don't mean any disrespect by this junior, but my mentor taught me that every man is responsible for the rise and fall of a country. Changsun Chong is not only a common man, he also has the responsibility of the director of the Imperial Property Bureau of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
, both public and private, everyone has a say!"
Wei Zheng was choked again and was so angry that he couldn't speak. Changsun Wuji felt very uncomfortable when he heard Wei Zheng scolding his son. At this time, he stood up and said: "Your Majesty, although the dog is shapeless, he still obeys the master's orders.
, to perform my duties, I thought that what Duke Wei said was inappropriate."
Wang Jingze took a look at the situation in front of him, stood up and said: "I think what Duke Wei said is true! On the contrary, what the uncle said was inappropriate. Changsun Chong is the son of the uncle, so it is unfair to protect him!"
Someone else stood up: "I thought..."
"Shut up, everyone!"
Li Shimin interrupted everyone's "thinking", stood up and pointed at the officials, saying: "Everyone of you, what do you think this is, what you think is that? You all only care about your own selfish interests, and don't think about the country or the country at all.
I don’t want to think about how difficult it is for the court now! They only talk about words and don’t do anything in practice! Can’t you learn from Li Mu? Look at what he did!”
Wang Jingze praised him at the right time: "What do you mean by your Majesty's words? Apart from being arrogant and domineering and showing off his money, what has Li Mu done?"
"Ha!" Li Shimin sneered and said: "Besides, if you are not blind, go to Dongcheng after retreating and take a look. This huge factory was built entirely with money advanced by Li Mu. An investment of nearly 200,000 guan.
In the future, it will be used to produce the weapons and armor needed by the Tang army. Why don’t any of you step up and do this?"
"Li Mu has been in Chang'an for nearly a year. He has built factories, repaired Chang'an city lanes, etc., and has already paid more than half a million yuan for me! If I had more ministers like this, would I still need to reorganize the system? Each of you can earn it.
The pots are full, but even a little tax has to be pushed back. I want to reform the system, and you give me an example of the previous dynasty. I really don’t know what your intentions are! From today on, anyone who talks about holding back will get out of here.
Go home and reflect, and figure out whose bench you are sitting on, and why you are an official before you come back. If you don’t understand, then you will die in peace. One more is not more, one less is not more!"
Such words are already very serious, and they have implications. According to common sense, if Wei Zheng, who was the first to take the responsibility, wanted to save face, he should file a petition at this moment, but Wei Zheng did not. He knew that the power of the clan was already very weak. If he continued
Withdrew, there was no one left who could stand up to the Lieutenant General. Although Wang was considered a figure, he had a soft personality and would be doomed when faced with a tough challenge. Although Wang Jingze was a backbone, his foundation was weak and he would be doomed when faced with a tough challenge.
When big things happen, he doesn't have a chance to speak.
Wei Zheng pursed his lips and said: "Since Your Majesty is so decisive, I have nothing to say, but I want to know the specific details of the so-called new deal. Whether it is feasible or not, we need to discuss."
Li Shimin looked at Changsun Chong, who said: "The Imperial Property Bureau has prepared a specific plan. Please take a look at it."
As he said this, he took out the prepared memorial from his sleeve and presented it to Li Shimin. Li Shimin waved his hand and said, "I don't need to read it. You can tell it directly in front of all the officials. If there is anything wrong, we can brainstorm ideas."
"This..." Changsun Chong hesitated for a moment and then agreed.
He opened the memorial and said: "The first article of the New Deal is that the land within the four seas is not the royal land. All the land in the world belongs to the imperial court and belongs to His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty. His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty has the final power of disposal."
This is what Li Mu said, and no one among the ministers had any objections.
"Article 2 of the New Deal: Abolish the land equalization system and replace it with the contract system. Land is divided into three categories. One is grain land. There is no distinction between men and women. Land is granted at birth, with an average of ten acres per person. Land is returned after death. No tax is required. No
Buying and selling. Second, renting land. The maximum per capita is 40 acres, and 10% of the income is collected as rent. The court sets the price to purchase 20% of the income as "public grain", and the remaining can be used at will. Rented land can be sublet, and it needs to be registered with the government.
After renting, the original tenant no longer enjoys the land rental preferential treatment. Thirdly, contracted land. Grain land. In addition to rented land, it can be contracted land, and qualifications must be verified. Requirement 1. The contracted land can only be used for farming and cannot be used for other purposes.
Requirement two: The contracted fields have a minimum yield. Those who fail to meet the yield will be fined. Those who fail to reach the yield for three consecutive years will be revoked. Requirement three: Contracted fields are different from taxed fields. In addition to collecting the income, it becomes a tax.
"In addition to purchasing 20% of 'public grain' at a fixed price, the imperial court needs to pay 10% more tax and collect 10% more public grain."
The amount of information in this paragraph is relatively large. As soon as Changsun Chong finished speaking, Wei Zheng raised a question: "The original land equalization system was 20 acres of permanent land per capita and 80 acres of farmland per capita. The New Deal reduced it by half. This is a reflection on
How are the people?"
Changsun Chong had obviously thought of the possible doubts, so he did not panic at all and answered calmly: "In the past, under the equal land system, the government only granted land to men after they were twenty years old. There was no land for the previous twenty years. And
Women are not allowed to own land, which has many disadvantages. For example, if a family does not give birth to a son, it means that the family has no land. If the head of the household dies, leaving a widowed old woman and several daughters, all of them are faced with landlessness.
The dilemma. Many people even gave birth to daughters. Because they could not be allocated fields and had to feed them, they strangled these daughters to death. If the yin does not last long, the yang does not give birth. Over time, there will be more boys and fewer girls. How to reproduce the offspring?
?”
"The new policies of my mentor have greatly improved such problems. Now, after experiencing the chaos of the late Sui Dynasty, successive years of war, and floods in the two rivers, the civilian population has reached a low point. If you want to recuperate, without a population, everything is empty talk.
So, how can we stimulate population growth? The teacher gave a solution. Mortals, regardless of male or female, are granted land at birth. In other words, as long as one more child is born, they will have a share of land. Although it is only ten acres, it is enough.
Don’t forget about food rations. There is no tax on these ten acres of land. When children are young, they cannot eat so much food. The extra food can be used to subsidize adults and wealthy families. And when the children grow up,
, men rent fields and women get married, and they don’t have to worry about not having enough food and clothing." Changsun Chong said, and couldn't help but admire: "Only my mentor could come up with such good governance!"
Wei Zheng asked again: "What about the public grain? How to determine the so-called 10% tax? How to say that the crops grown are different?"