"Your Majesty is aware of this! I believe that Mr. Zhao's suggestions may have good intentions, but they are a bit whimsical and unrealistic. The people's farming habits have been going on for hundreds of years, and now they are just slightly short of food, like this year.
Frequent natural disasters of this magnitude cannot happen every year, so why go to war and forcefully change people’s farming habits?”
"Your Majesty, Mr. Zhao's suggestions seem to be very good, but they involve many sensitive points. Farming by the people is the foundation of the country. The most important thing is to be extremely cautious and never change it easily. Once something unexpected happens, I'm afraid it will
It will shake people's hearts and breed civil unrest! I hope Your Majesty will learn from it!"
"I believe that farming is the foundation of the world. Once it changes slightly, it will cause social turmoil. Once it changes slightly, it will have far-reaching consequences. Lord Zhao's suggestions are a bit taken for granted. The matter of farming is far more sensitive than commercial taxation.
, unless it is absolutely necessary, you must not change it at will!"
"Your Majesty, I believe that most of the irrigation measures in various parts of our country have been perfected. Even if they are small in scale, they are sufficient. There is no need to invest a large amount of money in new construction. The money turnover of the court has improved slightly now. Those who need money
There are still many places, so there is no need to waste too much money on these unimportant things."
After a while, hundreds of officials came out one after another, and they all firmly opposed Zhao Junchen's proposal.
When the officials expressed their stance, they all expressed their selfless attitude, serving the country and the people. They also spoke of being mature and upholding the country, and they were impassioned, as if their stance was entirely based on public motives and did not involve any personal involvement at all.
Benefit.
But only they themselves know what the actual situation is.
The so-called "superficial" means that you only need to stand on the moral high ground. It doesn't require any technical content, just a good face.
For a time, Zhao Junchen became the target of public criticism for his proposal of agricultural reform!
However, the officials still remembered Zhao Junchen's action to punish Guo Tang some time ago, and they still had lingering fears about Guo Tang's tragic end. Therefore, although they spoke out against it one after another, their words were still mild.
How to oppose Zhao Junchen's suggestion, do not forget to add the sentence "Zhao Junchen's idea is good" in front of it. Obviously, he is worried that he will offend Zhao Junchen badly and end up like Guo Tang.
When the officials objected one after another, Zhao Junchen remained expressionless, not too surprised in his heart. He just looked coldly at the officials' impassioned speeches with a sneer on his lips.
The fierce opposition from the officials was originally expected by Zhao Junchen, and it was also something Zhao Junchen was happy to see happen.
In fact, Zhao Junchen does not expect that his agricultural reform proposal will be passed quickly. Zhao Junchen knows very well that this proposal involves too many sensitive areas and damages the interests of too many people. It must take a long time.
It took time, debate, and compromise to make it possible for the officials to reluctantly accept it, and even if it was reluctantly passed, I'm afraid it would only be an abridged version without any changes.
This is also a matter of course. Regardless of ancient and modern times, at home and abroad, most policies in the officialdom are often not "the best policies", but "policies that are acceptable to most people."
The interests of other people will inevitably encounter opposition, obstruction and stumbling blocks from countless people. In this case, no matter how good the policy is, it will eventually be messed up. Wang Anshi's reform is the most obvious example.
Therefore, Zhao Junchen will not insist that his proposal can be passed without any changes. As long as the fundamental nature of this agricultural reform proposal does not change, it can alleviate the food crisis of the court and reduce the disasters caused by the "Little Ice Age" in the future, then
Zhao Junchen could barely accept it.
All in all, taking this opportunity, Zhao Junchen really wanted to do some practical things.
Moreover, Zhao Junchen put forward so many controversial proposals in one go, originally to arouse controversy and opposition from the officials. After Emperor Deqing saw that the officials opposed Zhao Junchen, he would also understand Zhao Junchen's power and influence.
Far from being as powerful as imagined, the wariness of Zhao Junchen will quietly decrease. If Zhao Junchen's proposal can finally be passed, then Emperor Deqing will think that Zhao Junchen is asking for trouble. Who knows when
You will fall into trouble, and your wariness towards Zhao Junchen will be even lower!
This is Zhao Junchen’s most important goal!
Therefore, after Zhao Junchen saw the objections from the officials, although he felt a little disdainful and felt that the officials were short-sighted and selfish, he was not angry at all.
After the objections of the officials came to an end, Zhao Junchen refused to give in and spoke slowly again.
Zhao Junchen's expression was solemn. He glanced at the officials slowly with a cold and solemn look, and said with a sneer: "Your Excellencies are not responsible for the court's money and food like the officials, nor do you need to worry about food and clothing like the common people. Naturally, you stand here.
It doesn't hurt to talk! But have you ever thought about it, my lords, natural disasters are happening frequently in various places nowadays. If the court's grain harvest is repeatedly insufficient, the amount of grain stored in granaries in various places is also getting smaller and smaller. However, we and other court officials still turn a blind eye and remain unchanged in the future.
Once there is no food to provide relief to the people, civil unrest will inevitably occur. At that time, who will be responsible?"
You are the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, in charge of the world's money and food. When there is no food to help the people, all responsibilities will naturally fall on you! Even if you, Zhao Junchen, are unwilling to take responsibility, there are His Majesty, the cabinet, and the local feudal lords.
Officials, it has nothing to do with me anyway!
After hearing Zhao Junchen's inquiry, many of the officials had such thoughts.
Of course, they don't express their thoughts.
On the surface, they are still selfless and firm in their opposition.
In the temple, the most difficult thing is often to do practical things, and everyone keeps a respectful distance. The easiest thing is often to find faults, and everyone is familiar with it!
After Zhao Junchen finished speaking, an official came out again and said: "Master Zhao, our dynasty is in a peaceful and prosperous era. Even if we encounter frequent natural disasters, it is only an occasional thing. Next year, the weather may be good, but now it is just a temporary food shortage.
, when the grain harvest in various places is harvested this year, the situation will naturally improve, so why worry about it in vain? Why go to war at the risk of triggering civil unrest? "
The official who refuted Zhao Junchen was named Jin Hong. He was a censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. He was from a landlord family in the south of the Yangtze River and owned thousands of acres of fertile land in the south of the Yangtze River. The tea and cotton harvested from these fields every year could provide
He brought thousands of taels of silver, so when he saw that Zhao Junchen wanted to restrict Jiangnan farmers from cultivating cotton and tea, his opposition was extremely firm!
However, these views of Jin Hong seem reasonable, but they are vulnerable to Zhao Junchen!