In the Song Dynasty, there was no law or order.

In the Constitutional Yuan, Zhao Jun first communicated his main reform proposals to everyone.

However, the plans are basically moderate reforms, not as radical as Fan Zhongyan, nor like Wang Anshi, an idealist divorced from practice who was evaluated by great men.

Because his plan was a strategy he decided upon after nearly three years of grassroots research and practice across the country, and after confirming that it could be implemented.

For example, if more consumption is returned to the public and exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes are abolished, basically all the beneficiaries, including the landlord class, will naturally have no resistance.

The only thing to be wary of is that even though the imperial court has canceled so many exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes, there are still local officials who cleverly create excuses to continue to find ways to make money in the name of the imperial court.

This depends on the intensity of supervision.

To raise taxes on the landlord class, the landlord class in the Song Dynasty had to pay taxes. They had no way to resist the court's tax policy. Although there was resistance, it could not make any waves.

It's just that they are likely to pass on the consequences of raising taxes to tenants. For example, the land rent that used to be charged was 60-70%, but now it is increased to 80-90%.

But in that case, the tenant class will definitely not do it. In the past, the tax rate was 60 to 70%, and one could barely survive. Now, now it is 80 to 90%, and it is impossible to survive.

Just like the Cao Wei farming system in history, it was close to collapse in the later period, and countless people in the farming villages rebelled, just because Cao Wei changed the farming rent from the original six to four to eight to two or even nine to one.

Once such a situation occurs in the local area, and the inspection censor and local officials report it, the court can shift the responsibility to the landlords, and then deal with a few landlords with relatively bad circumstances, catch a typical example, give an explanation to the people, and transfer internal contradiction.

When there is a large inflow of Japanese silver in the future, this problem will not be a problem. Because the imperial court had money, it could hire people to dig canals, build canals, carry out infrastructure construction, and launch the first industrial revolution.

By then, local governments may face the problem of insufficient tenants, and landlords will naturally have no choice but to lower land rents to attract people to farm.

In summary, Zhao Jun's method is to temporarily alleviate the conflicts among the increasingly dissatisfied lower class people and shift the conflicts to the landlords first. When the people were oppressed by the landlords and wanted to revolt, the imperial court would come forward to appease them while killing the landlords to seize their fields.

This turned the conflict between the people and the court into a conflict between the people and the landlords. The imperial court could also use this method to reclaim land, just like what Zhao Jun did across the country, killing a group of landowners who behaved badly and had people's lives on their hands, confiscating their farmland, and turning the land into official land. Rent it to the people at a reasonable price.

Economically, we vigorously develop foreign trade to make up for the price difference caused by the reduction of domestic agricultural taxes, and through state-owned reforms, we activate the rigid sales system and accelerate economic circulation, thereby making industry and commerce more developed.

In this way, the economy will grow faster and the agricultural reform will go much more smoothly.

"I have said many times before that the original intention of Wang Anshi's reform was good, but it was a pity that the local governments did not implement it well. And he also ignored that the local governments were robbing the interests of the landlords. Naturally, the landlords and wealthy households must unite with the local governments to implement Officials responsible for Wang Anshi’s reform tried to obstruct it.”

In the Constitutional Yuan, Zhao Jun emphasized again: "But with my set of reforms, although I will further oppress the landlords, I will not compete with them for their interests. They will also be allowed to continue lending, but the prerequisite is that they cannot evade taxes or violate laws and regulations." discipline."

"Farmers have to pay less taxes, and their pressure will also be reduced, so the amount of loans they can borrow from landlords will also be reduced. This can be seen as a disguised reduction in the exploitation of people and land annexation by landlords through loans."

"But similarly, although taxes on landlords and rich peasants are increased, it should not be too much. There is a critical point. If it is too strict, it will inevitably cause uprisings among landlords and rich peasants in large areas."

"According to my research, the regular taxes are indeed very light, only between 5% and 10%. However, a large number of exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes can reach 40% to 50% of people's annual income. This is in an agricultural society, where the annual harvest is It’s not necessarily enough to support the family, but it has to take such a high tax amount, which will obviously trigger social conflicts.”

"So I think it is more reasonable to reduce the tax rate to about 10% to 15% for poor farmers with less than 20 acres per household across the country, while landlords and wealthy households with more than 50 acres of land must maintain it at 20%. % to 50%, the critical point is probably around 50%.”

"But the specific division is difficult, because local officials may not necessarily collude with local landlords and wealthy households, but the officials below are basically locals and have deep involvement with landlords and wealthy households. Once the court issues a policy, different policies will be If different tax rates are imposed on income groups, it will be extremely easy for households and property to be hidden.”

"For example, a landowner with 10,000 acres of land, in order to reduce taxes, will definitely find a way to get local officials to tamper with the size of his land. Some powerful characters may even make themselves a tenant without any land in their name and get the That’s a super low tax qualification.”

It has to be said that Zhao Jun has thought very carefully. It is completely unlike Wang Anshi who did not take into account the phenomenon of local officials colluding with landlords and turning a good policy into a bad policy.

Basically, all of Zhao Jun's strategies have already thought of the worst results, and he has also adjusted his response methods.

Listening to his analysis, everyone felt that it was comprehensive. Lu Yijian couldn't help but ask: "Since you have thought of the possible problems, is there any solution?"

"The first is the intensity of supervision! The second is the intensity of punishment. Needless to say, the intensity of punishment. Once discovered, we must deal with it severely and confiscate all the hidden land and property to serve as a warning to others."

Zhao Jun said: "As for the intensity of supervision, I think the three-party supervision is the most important. First, supervision by local administrative officials, which must be included in the assessment standards. Second, supervision by the censor. In each state and county, there must be inspections by the censor every month. , verification. The third is the supervision of the Imperial City Division. Starting from next year, the Imperial City Division will be stationed across the country!”

The Imperial City Division is stationed across the country?

Everyone looked at each other with helpless expressions on their faces.

Zhao Jun wanted to do this a long time ago, but they were held back by the fact that the court had no money.

There is indeed no money.

At present, the imperial court's money is temporarily used to supply the army. Even if the treasury is still relatively rich, it cannot be used for other things. Xixia and Liao will be solved first.

If the Imperial City Division were to move out at this juncture, even if only based on the number of 150,000 imperial guards in the country during Zhu Yuanzhang's Hongwu period, it would be a huge expense. It would cost millions every year. .

By then, if the imperial court needs to provide money and food for the war again, wouldn't this be a case of picking up sesame seeds and losing the watermelon?

So Wang Zeng also immediately advised: "Should this matter be slowed down? There is a war now, and countless money and food are spent every year. If the Imperial City Secretary is sent out now, I am afraid it will cause the treasury to be empty."

"We can't wait any longer. The Imperial City Department is an important part of the supervision process. It will be more convenient for future reforms to be settled in the local area as soon as possible."

Zhao Jun shook his head and said: "Besides, I predict that the war will end next year at most, and there is good news. We have established business channels in Japan. It is expected that Japanese silver will flow in starting next year."

"Oh? The war will end next year?"

Everyone was surprised.

Zhao Jun smiled and said: "This kind of large-scale military confrontation costs countless dollars every month. We in the Song Dynasty can afford the energy consumption, but the Liao Kingdom cannot afford it. It will only last for a year and a half at most, and Yelu Zong will really have to fight. , or withdraw the troops. Lao Fan should be able to come back by the second half of next year at the latest.”

"That's true."

Wang Zeng nodded in agreement and asked, "What's the situation in Japan?"

"I sent someone there the year before last. This person's name is Song Cai. He has a friend named Daiken Saburo, who is a nobleman in Japan."

Zhao Jun explained: "Japanese officials took pictures because of the power of the Liao Kingdom, and chose to be pro-Liao and have a cold attitude towards the Song Dynasty. However, the Japanese people highly respected the Song Dynasty, and the porcelain, tea, and silk of the Song Dynasty were also very popular in Japan. Song Cai I came back last year, and now I have established my own power there, supporting the local nobles, and found a silver mine in the Iwami area. "

According to records in historical books such as "Nihon Shoki" and "Jilue", beginning in the Jianlong period of the Song Dynasty (960-963), there were Song Dynasty merchants conducting trading activities in Japan.

In the Northern Song Dynasty, with the prosperity of the southern coastal economy and the expansion of maritime trade, the number of Song Dynasty merchants in Japan gradually increased.

It is estimated that by the Southern Song Dynasty, there were hundreds to more than a thousand Song merchants engaged in trading activities in Japan.

It can be seen that the private trade exchanges between Japan and the Song Dynasty were still very frequent.

It’s just that the Song Dynasty at that time mainly lived in Kyoto, Tottori, Yamaguchi and other places, and the Iwami silver mine was only discovered in the 16th century AD.

Before the discovery of the Iwami Silver Mine and the Sado Gold Mountain, Japan was actually a barren island country and was not favored and valued by the merchants of the Song Dynasty.

For example, during the Southern Song Dynasty, the goods imported by the Song Dynasty to Japan included copper coins, tea, ceramics, silk fabrics, books, the Four Treasures of the Study, spices, medicines, paintings and other products.

The only goods that Japan could import into the Song Dynasty were copper, sulfur and other minerals, as well as wood produced in the west, Japanese swords and other handicrafts.

Therefore, compared with the Silk Road on the road and the Silk Road on the sea, which can bring a large amount of gold, silver and copper to the Central Plains dynasty, Japan has not been the main trade partner of the Central Plains dynasty, at least before the Ming Dynasty.

But now that the Iwami Silver Mine has been discovered, it will completely change Japan's destiny.

From then on, Japan stood up and finally became rich, and went to the Song Dynasty to buy and buy, and a large amount of silver flowed into the Song Dynasty.

"At present, the Iwami Silver Mine is mainly occupied and divided by the government officials and nobles in the Iwami area of ​​Japan. Of course, our Song Dynasty also occupies a certain proportion of it."

Zhao Jun continued: "Now Japan is in the Heian Era, where local warlords are divided and the internal chaos is in chaos. The control of the national ministers in various countries is not strong at all. For example, the previous national minister of Ishimi country was protested by two domestic county ministers against his bad governance. He led 270 peasants to attack the government and killed the official. The news about the emergence of silver mines in Iwami might be coveted by the nobles and powerful men from the surrounding countries of Japan. When the time comes, they would send troops to rob them, which would inevitably cause us losses. If the Song Dynasty could station two or three thousand troops in the Shijian area, it would probably be able to suppress any situation. "

"Speaking of which, we really don't know much about Japan. What are these national and county secretaries?"

Yan Shu couldn't help but ask.

"The country is the administrative agency of Japan, which is equivalent to our road. Japan was still ruled by the emperor during the Heian period, and the country was divided into more than 70 countries. Each country has several counties. For example, Izumo Country has Anon, Imama, and Naga. , Yizhi, Luzu, and Mino counties, the national secretary is an official sent by the emperor to take charge of a country, and the county secretary is often held by local nobles and wealthy families. "

Zhao Jun explained: "It's just that the local nobles and powerful people have overtaken the national power in the local area, so the actual management power is in the hands of the local nobles and powerful people. The power of the national government is much smaller, or even completely ignored, resulting in Japan's domestic The division is very serious.”

"I see. This country sounds like it has a big name, so I thought it was one country."

Lu Yijian smiled.

"His country is no different from our county."

Zhao Jun smiled and shook his head and said: "Japan is not strong now. Not only is the emperor's control severely lacking, but the local areas are also very chaotic. Attacking each other and fighting among themselves are normal. Moreover, their army is pitifully small. In the past few years, they There was a "Tairacho Rebellion", which was a rebellion by local wealthy families, but do you know how many people were sent out by the emperor to pursue it? "

"How many?"

"Less than three thousand people."

"That much?"

"That local wealthy family named Ping Zhongchang has only a few hundred people who dare to rebel. What do you think?"

"All right."

Lu Yijian was speechless.

Japan is really too weak.

"Later during the Kamakura Shogunate period, Japan was somewhat more centralized in power. However, in the face of the Mongolian attack, even if the whole country was called upon, they could only muster a force of 20,000 to 30,000 people. It was only with the help of hurricanes that they could repel the Mongols."

Zhao Jun continued: "In the Ming Dynasty and the Warring States Period in Japan, warlords fought with each other, and the scale of the war ranged from a few thousand to tens of thousands. So at least Japan is indeed very weak at the moment. The Song Dynasty only needs to be able to By stationing several thousand people in Ishimi, Japan can guarantee our interests. The only thing we have to worry about is the Liao Kingdom."

"Um"

Everyone pondered, and Song Shou said: "Yes, the Liao Kingdom is strong, and Japan is also pro-Liao. Now that Japan is weak, it is afraid that the Liao Kingdom will interfere."

“But by next year, all problems will be solved!”

Zhao Jun made the final decision: "As long as Fan Zhongyan defeats the Liao Kingdom and defeats the arrogant Liao Kingdom and flees back to the north. Then he can rely on the power of breaking Xixia in the west and resisting the Liao Kingdom in the north to stabilize the situation at home and abroad."

"Domestically, after defeating Xixia and Liao, the news will be quickly spread throughout the country and inspire people's hearts. Conflicts among the people will be temporarily alleviated, which will help promote the development of reforms."

"Externally, even the Liao Kingdom was defeated. Japan, Goryeo, Dali, Tubo and other neighboring countries and tribes would look at the Song Dynasty in a different light and no longer dare to have official contact with the Song Dynasty because of the prosperity of the Liao Kingdom as before. ”

"As long as Fan Zhongyan defeats the Liao Kingdom next year, a large amount of Japanese silver flows in, we have money, and the external world stabilizes, then we can calmly reform, reform and strengthen our country, and strengthen our national strength!"

Zhao Jun finally looked around at everyone and said in a deep voice: "Everyone, I hope to establish a united front. In this matter, no one is allowed to hold me back and raise any objections. As long as everyone works together and is united, we can complete our reform." Tuqiang’s ultimate goal, do you hear it?”

Hearing Zhao Jun's serious words, even though he was a young man and everyone was an old man with half a foot in the coffin, everyone still became solemn. After looking at each other, they all stood up and cupped their hands, saying in response: "Yes. !”

They are united by their common secrets and share common interests by the power of the Constitutional Yuan. But this does not mean that apart from power, their other interests are the same.

But now, under the common program of reforming to strengthen the country and building the Song Dynasty, and in the name of righteousness.

No matter whether it harms their own interests or not, in order to maintain their own power and maintain their promises in front of the officials, they must stand together, support Zhao Jun, and form a new interest group!