The five hundred and fortieth chapters imperial commission to govern
Returning to the inner courtyard and seeing the gold and silver treasures in the wing room, Wang Ying couldn't help but asked Fang Yingwu: "What do you plan to do with so much property? Do you really have the guts to steal it all? This is not the case.
Good thing..."
Fang Yingwu thought about it for a while and then replied: "This property is enviable. I don't know how many people are staring at it. You must not be tempted to take it for yourself."
I will take some time to sort them first. I will collect all the antiques, calligraphy and paintings, and send them to the palace in the future to be used as tribute for this mission. No one will dare to think of paying tribute. As for the tens of thousands of taels of cash, I
It has its own uses..."
When Wang Ying was about to ask further, Fang Yingwu said first: "Send someone to deliver a message to Hangzhou and ask Wang Kui to come over quickly. I have a big deal for him to do!"
This Wang Kui was also from Huaxi, Chun'an. He settled in Hangzhou with his brother Wang De and made some silk weaving business. Originally he could only be considered a middle-class family.
But since Wang De's daughter Yu Jieer gave Fang Yingwu as his concubine, the two Wang family members have been supported by Fang Yingwu several times. Now they specialize in trade between the northwest and Zhejiang, and are also famous wealthy businessmen in Hangzhou.
Jia.
Wang Ying agreed and went to find someone to do it. At this time, another scribe from the government office came over and submitted a set of rosters to Fang Yingwu.
A few days ago, the government office received an order from the imperial envoy Fang Yingwu to compile statistics on households with more than one hundred acres of land in the government. Today, they had a summary of the results and hurriedly sent it to Fang Yingwu.
Fang Yingwu flipped through a few pages at random and smiled at the clerk: "A month ago, I asked the government office to count and register the large households with more than 100 acres. The result was delayed. Now the government office is very fast.
, the roster was sent to me in just a few days."
The clerk seemed to be afraid of the imperial envoy. He replied cautiously: "It was the same at that time. At that time, Prefect Li was sitting in the government office."
Fang Yingwu closed the roster. He nodded with satisfaction. What he was satisfied with was not the quality of the roster, but the attitude. "You can teach me! Go back and send a message to the government officials to come to the mansion tomorrow to discuss money and food."
Things!"
By the next day, all the government officials who were in good condition showed up at the Imperial Envoy's Mansion on time. This made Fang Yingwu even more satisfied, and secretly said that the military spirit was ready!
After inviting all the bureaucrats to sit down, Fang Yingwu said, "I've invited you here today. It's all about money and food. This is the biggest errand of the government at the moment!"
All the bureaucrats looked at their noses and hearts, and all of them remained silent, continuing to listen to the words of Imperial Envoy Fang Da.
Fang Yingwu was not polite and continued without hesitation: "In the past two years, Suzhou Prefecture has been facing difficulties in money and food. According to my speculation, there are two external reasons. The first one is last year's flood, which has had an impact that continues to this day."
This year; the second one is that Suzhou’s population has multiplied in recent years. Rice consumption has increased day by day. As one goes, the ability to transport rice to the outside world will inevitably be lower than before. However, the taxation rules of the imperial court cannot be changed, and grain collection is still the main method.
host.
As for the internal reasons, there are still two reasons. The first is that the official land in Suzhou is heavily endowed. Tenants who rent farmland, especially those who rent official land, can easily make ends meet. If there is a slight disturbance, they will be unable to pay for the food.
The second reason is that the grain chiefs are mostly held by wealthy families, but wealthy families are accustomed to living comfortably. Many are unwilling to take the effort to transport money and grain. After all, transporting large quantities of rice grain to other places is a hard job.
The above-mentioned reasons were mixed together. In the past two years, Suzhou Prefecture had difficulties in collecting grain and serious arrears, which directly affected the operation of the court!
I have been ordered to serve as the imperial envoy to supervise the food supply. Not only must I fulfill the two million dan of rated tax and grain, but I must also make up for the arrears of at least 400,000 dan of food and grain over the years. Only in this way can I have an explanation to the court!
Therefore, the food collection target for this year is 2.4 million dan! Please do your best to help me, I will not hesitate to reward you, and I will naturally recommend you to the court!"
All the officials thought to themselves that this imperial envoy was not a fool, he had summed it up very thoughtfully, and it seemed that he had worked hard to understand it.
After Fang Yingwu judged the situation, he began to arrange official duties: "The situation is complicated, and the government has a lot to do. After much thought, I have found that there is no magic formula that will work. Several methods must be adopted and multiple management
It’s better to work together.
The first is persuasion and guidance! Your government office will re-issue a notice to advise wealthy households in the territory to take the initiative to donate food to their hometowns to tide over the current difficulties!
At the same time, we also want to warn the rich households that if they sit back and watch the poor households in the countryside go bankrupt and ignore them, they will have no time to regret it when the poor households in the countryside flee one after another and the population decreases! Without the poor households, who will be their sharecroppers? Who will be their cattle and horses?
?
I also know that what I can get from pure donations may be a drop in the bucket, but it is better than nothing. It can be tens of thousands of dan. The most important thing is that it can stabilize the hearts of the poorest people and avoid major disasters.
A mass exodus occurred.”
Ma Tongzhi, who was acting as the prefect for the time being, asked in a low voice: "What do you mean by the imperial envoy, is it our government office that will come forward?"
Fang Yingwu said clearly: "Yes! I am just making arrangements. As for the specific affairs, they will be handled by your prefecture and county. If they cannot be handled, it will be your responsibility! Did I make it very clear?"
The first level of officialdom is overwhelming... Ma Tongzhi shrank back and stopped talking.
Fang Yingwu glanced at everyone and continued: "The second guidance is to persuade large households with more than 100 acres of land to use money to purchase rice grains in Huguang and then transport them to Guazhou warehouse, and then the tax can be paid.
If you are still too lazy to move, you can directly hand over the money to the government, and the government will go to Huguang to purchase rice and grain. Of course, you will have to pay a little more, and one stone of taxed grain is equivalent to two taels of silver. As long as the rice grain enters the Guazhou warehouse, you will receive it.
If you take the receipt back to the county government office, it will be regarded as a tax payment certificate!
This point is aimed at large households who are doing business while farming, or large households who are struggling as a grain farmer. I think there are many such people in Suzhou Prefecture. They have money in their hands but are unwilling to give up the land. They can solve the problem with money.
The problem is, nature is the most comfortable."
This method is to use a flexible method to change the original grain tax into a discounted silver tax, which is more in line with the reality of Suzhou's developed industry and commerce. However, some people questioned: "Your Majesty's foresight is beyond my reach! Traveling far across the rivers and lakes to Huguang
Buying grain was something few people had done before..."
Fang Yingwu left no room for doubt: "How can we solve the problem of insufficient money and food in Suzhou without new methods? What the court wants is not inedible silver, but rice! In recent years, land reclamation in Huguang has led to bumper harvests year after year. There is enough rice and food. It can definitely be done."
Go buy it as tax food!
Precisely because few people have done it before, we need to guide it. In the next two months, I will set an example for you and the people in the government to see!"
All the officials secretly commented in their hearts that these two ideas are feasible, not too drastic, and can be considered peaceful and drizzle. If they are more optimistic, the whole government can collect an additional one or two hundred thousand dan.
Coupled with the money and food collected under normal circumstances, even if the total does not reach the target of 2.4 million, the book figures will not be too ugly.
Of course, Imperial Envoy Fang Da was very ambitious and would never be satisfied with just "the book numbers are not ugly." After everyone had digested their thoughts, he coughed again and said again: "The foundation of money and food lies in the land. There are some things that can be guided.
But some things cannot be guided and must be implemented by government decrees!"
All the officials couldn't help but tremble, foreboding that the main event was next. Sure enough, they heard Fang Qin say: "The first is to equalize the losses, and the second is to clean up the hidden fields!" (To be continued...)
ps: I fell asleep.. When I woke up, it was already dawn. I posted quickly. I want to cheer up!!