Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Leaving aside Zhang Zhao's worries for his friend, Gu Yong, who had just boarded the 'Yizhou' ship, felt a great sense of novelty.

As Li Ji's right-hand man, Gu Yong naturally knew of the existence of the shipyard.

However, this was Gu Yong's first time setting foot on a large seagoing vessel built by Wu Commandery. Standing on the deck and gazing at the sea, a feeling of elation arose spontaneously.

As the third commandery-class seagoing vessel of the shipyard, the 'Yizhou' had undergone considerable improvements compared to the original 'Kuaiji', and was more suitable for long voyages. Moreover, it was guarded by five county-class seagoing vessels, forming a small fleet in the true sense of the era.

In essence, both the 'Kuaiji' and the 'Wujun' were experimental seagoing vessels. Gan Ning continuously sailed the seas, collecting and summarizing a large amount of sailing experience to feed back to the shipyard.

The shipyard then used the 'Wujun', which had been docked in the shipyard, to make improvements, and then created the 'Yizhou', which had improved many shortcomings.

To ensure the safety of the voyage, Jiang Qin, who had accumulated considerable experience, led the navy to navigate the 'Yizhou'.

However, the novelty of being at sea only lasted for a while. A large wave surged over, and Gu Yong suddenly felt his chest churning.

If it hadn't been for a soldier's quick eyes and hands, Gu Yong would have almost fallen headfirst off the edge of the deck and into the sea.

And there were quite a few 'Yizhou soldiers' who were in the same situation.

Especially the Yue people, who had never been in contact with ships before, almost a third of them experienced symptoms similar to seasickness.

However, Jiang Qin had anticipated this situation and had the medical school prepare herbs to relieve seasickness in advance.

But even so, Gu Yong felt as if he was being tortured, and could only hope to arrive at Kuaiji Commandery as soon as possible.

Finally, after nearly two days of sailing, the fleet finally arrived near Shanyin, the seat of Kuaiji Commandery.

When Gu Yong disembarked, his steps were light, his face was pale, and his eyes were red…

Finally… finally arrived!

Finally ending the days of drifting at sea made Gu Yong feel a burst of relief, and he vowed that he would never board a seagoing vessel again, no matter what.

Gu Yong glanced around and immediately noticed Guo Yi, the governor of Kuaiji Commandery, waiting for him not far away.

This made Gu Yong's heart rise with excitement, and he quickly walked towards Guo Yi, cupping his hands and saying.

"What virtue or ability do I have to actually have the honor of being greeted by the Lord Governor himself, I…"

However, before Gu Yong could finish speaking, his chest, which had already been churning, could no longer withstand such intense exercise, and he immediately interrupted himself with a "哗" sound and vomited directly.

This uncontrollable change in Gu Yong made Gu Yong's somewhat delicate face instantly turn red.

Both discomposed and impolite!

This made Gu Yong's heart cry out, and he quickly thought of various possible remedies.

However, Guo Yi was originally still hesitating whether to use Gu Yong's left foot or right foot to disembark as an excuse to demote him to Yizhou.

Now, Gu Yong's gaffe relieved Guo Yi of his entanglement.

Guo Yi said coldly. "Gu Yuantan, do you have such a big temper? Or is this governor so ugly that you can't stand it?"

"No, Lord Governor Guo, please hear me out," Gu Yong quickly wanted to explain.

"No need!"

Guo Yi waved his hand, then gave a look to the attendant beside him. Immediately, the attendant came to Gu Yong with a tray in his hands, on which lay the seal and official robes of the Assistant of Kuaiji Commandery.

"This is the condition of the transaction between this governor and Li Zikun. Since I have promised you to be the Assistant of Kuaiji Commandery, this governor will naturally not go back on his word."

"However, Kuaiji Commandery cannot accommodate someone as noble as you. Since you vomit when you see this governor, then this governor will not make things difficult for you. You might as well continue to follow General Guan overseas."

After saying that, Guo Yi did not give Gu Yong a chance to speak at all, and directly left with a flick of his sleeves, leaving Gu Yong in a daze on the spot.

This made Gu Yong's face flush red, and in a moment of anger, he fainted directly.

Looking at Gu Yong fainting on the spot, the carriage that Guo Yi was riding in lifted a corner of the curtain, revealing Jia Xu's face with a hint of sympathy, as if he said with some unbearable emotion.

"Gu Yuantan, don't blame me for this, this is all Li Zikun's order."

As for Guo Yi, who had just flaunted his official power in front of Gu Yong, he was now sitting in the same carriage with Jia Xu, but he was as well-behaved as a little quail.

Jia Xu glanced at Guo Yi and said. "You did well just now. Tomorrow, an extra piece of meat will be added to your meal."

"Yes, yes, yes, thank you for your reward, Mr. Wenhe."

Guo Yi replied with a look of ecstasy.

When Gu Yong woke up again, he opened his eyes in a daze and found himself in the familiar cabin of the 'Yizhou'.

"Nightmare… nightmare?"

Gu Yong recalled the seemingly real experience in his dream, and only felt that his half-hanging heart was completely relieved.

However, Gu Yong's gaze turned, and he suddenly found the seal and official robes of the Assistant of Kuaiji Commandery placed in a corner of the cabin, and only felt that his eyes, which had just opened, darkened again, and he almost fainted again.

Good news: I became the Assistant of Kuaiji Commandery;

Bad news: I was exiled overseas by Guo Yi!

…

When Li Ji received Jia Xu's reply, confirming that Gu Yong had successfully taken the right path, he felt sympathy and compassion for Gu Yong in his heart.

Lord Gu, this journey is vast, and I don't know when you will return to Wu Commandery.

While Li Ji was deeply saddened, he pondered how to explain to his father-in-law that his proud disciple had been tricked by him to farm overseas.

However, Li Ji did not have time to mourn Gu Yong in vain, and refocused his energy on the current government affairs.

As Wu Commandery truly began to vigorously reclaim new fields, the new fields registered in this spring plowing alone increased threefold.

However, a problem has now emerged.

That is, if these new fields were to truthfully require the people to pay a large amount of grain in accordance with the tax requirements of the Great Han Dynasty, then Wu Commandery would be almost equivalent to working for nothing in a certain sense.

Once this is done, then Wu Commandery will inevitably stand out among the more than one hundred commanderies of the Great Han.

Moreover, outstanding political achievements may attract the attention of the emperor. In addition, Lu Zhi was demoted to the Wu-Kuai area, and Liu Bei could hardly make any sound in the court, which may lead to the transfer of Liu Bei's official position.

Therefore, Li Ji was thinking about how to make the accounts perfect and beautiful, so that while the new fields in Wu Commandery increased, the taxes submitted to the court could still be maintained at a stable and inconspicuous state.

It is naturally impossible to make false accounts blindly, so we can only think of ways to solve the problem from the policy level.

First of all, according to the laws of the Great Han, the newly reclaimed fields can be exempted from taxes for three years. This is irreproachable, and it is also a policy that the court has always implemented in the past to encourage the people to reclaim farmland on their own.

As for the problem of Wu Commandery's money and grain income, it is maintained through the loans generated by the government's construction of houses for refugees, allocation of land, and distribution of tools, etc.

When Li Ji completely perfected this policy and then handed it over to Zhang Zhao, asking him to be responsible for promoting it, Zhang Zhao's eyes could not help but have a few more strange looks when looking at Li Ji.

"But is there anything you don't understand?" Li Ji asked.

Zhang Zhao said sternly. "This official only has one question. In this way, wouldn't those people be equal to not reducing any taxes? They are just changing the name and recollecting them."

Li Ji was a little surprised that Zhang Zhao was still a straight minister.

If it were Gu Yong's pretending to be confused nature, even if he understood the key to it, he would only promote it as if he didn't know it.

"Zibu, do you know the tax system of the Great Han?" Li Ji asked.

"Mr. Zikun is underestimating this official by saying this. If I don't even know the tax system, what face do I have to stand in the government office?"

After a pause, Zhang Zhao began to say it as if he were reciting treasures, saying.

"The taxes stipulated by the court mainly include three types: first, land tax, one tax for fifteen; second, head tax, twenty-three coins per person per year for children aged one to fourteen; third, calculation tax, one hundred and twenty coins per person per year for adults."

"Not bad!"

Li Ji nodded, expressing his approval.

These three types of taxes are the main taxes of the Great Han, and can mainly be divided into two parts: land tax and population tax. This does not include the more onerous "replacement tax" that must be paid to exempt from corvée.

In addition, the land of the Great Han is allowed for farmers to buy and sell on their own, which has also led to many farmers having to choose to sell their land to pay taxes in years of poor harvest.

This is also the main reason for the phenomenon of land annexation in this era, which is seriously alarming.

"Since Mr. Zikun also knows everything, why do you still want to promote such a policy that will arouse public resentment?" Zhang Zhao asked in a deep voice.

"Oh? Why do you think that it will arouse public resentment, Zibu?" Li Ji asked again.

"Even if the people are temporarily exempted from land tax for three years in the name of reclaiming new fields, if the people are required to repay the loans, the number will definitely be higher than the land tax of one tax for fifteen, plus a series of head taxes and calculation taxes."

After a pause, Zhang Zhao slowly said his judgment. "In this way, I am afraid that those refugees who have just settled down will have to abandon their fields and flee in three to five years."

Li Ji glanced at Zhang Zhao, narrowed his eyes, and said. "Since Zibu knows that they are refugees, where do the head tax and calculation tax and a series of population taxes come from?"

In an instant, Zhang Zhao suddenly reacted.

No head tax?!

Indeed, Zhang Zhao suddenly realized a loophole that he himself didn't seem to have noticed: these refugees hadn't formally been registered in Wu County yet.

(End of Chapter)