Su He looked at the important civil and military officials of the Great China Dynasty meeting in front of the imperial court.
He said in a solemn tone: "This is the first year that we have unified the country.
After a long period of war, the land of China ushered in peace.
I am very scared in my heart. I don’t know if I can give the people a satisfactory answer.
Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty once said that water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it.
We cannot think that after taking over the world, everything will be fine and we can rest on our laurels and enjoy our happiness.
The second generation of Qin Dynasty died, and the second generation of Sui Dynasty died.
When Qin fell, the powerful armies that fought in the six kingdoms were not completely dead.
When the Sui Dynasty fell, the powerful army that the Sui Dynasty unified the world was not completely decayed.
We have a strong army in our hands, which is no reason for us to slack off."
Su He's tone was serious, he was warning some officials.
Some people can only share adversity but not wealth.
They were unable to control their greed, and the speed of their corruption shocked everyone.
Su He struck hard and dispatched the Metropolitan Procuratorate and Xuanwu Guards to clear out the officialdom.
Especially some people who think they are heroes and are extremely arrogant.
But some people can control themselves, and they start to enjoy it.
He can't even do his own job well.
Su He has made up his mind to transfer them from their posts and arrange them to have idle jobs if they obey.
Dahua Dynasty held its second and final Enko in October this year.
A large number of scholars from the southeast actively participated in the imperial examination.
It is not like some people expected that they would boycott the imperial examination.
There are currently three hundred Jinshi, waiting for official positions in the Imperial College.
After that, one hundred and fifty Jinshi will join the officialdom every year.
The Dahua Dynasty no longer lacks officials, and officials who cannot keep up with the times must be eliminated.
Prime Minister Wang Zhongce heard what Su He meant.
Some officials rely on themselves to be heroes.
Their performance has aroused His Majesty's dissatisfaction.
Li Yuanzheng, the censor of Zuodu, heard what Su He said.
He also secretly made up his mind that the Metropolitan Procuratorate's behavior would be even sharper next year.
The Metropolitan Procuratorate is the sword in His Majesty's hand.
Any censor who wants to leave a good name after his death and shows mercy to his colleagues will not be tolerated by the Metropolitan Procuratorate.
Su He saw that the atmosphere in Qianqing Palace was a bit solemn.
He looked at Wang Zhongce and said: "It's the end of the year. The cabinet will brief me on the situation in various places."
Wang Zhongce took out a large stack of information from the table in front of him.
He stood up and reported: "Your Majesty, the governors of each province write memorials to report on the work of each province.
His Majesty asked the Cabinet to sort out the situation.
Let me first report on the information that our cabinet and the General Affairs Department have compiled."
After Wang Zhongce finished speaking, he began to report the summarized information.
"Your Majesty pays attention to the work of dividing the fields.
Now all the provinces within the customs have completed the work of dividing the fields.
The people all have their own land.
Their enthusiasm for growing grain is very high.
The five provinces of Sichuan, Henan, Shandong, Hunan and Hubei.
The combined output of summer grain and autumn grain can reach three times the national grain output during the Ming Dynasty.
The combined grains of these five provinces can allow everyone in the Dahua Dynasty to have two bowls of gruel a day and prevent people from starving to death on a large scale.
We confiscated the land of the gentry, which also aroused strong resistance from the gentry group.
They used the slogan of anti-China and restoration of Ming Dynasty to instigate people to rebel.
This year alone, there have been 1,238 reported rebellions.
Only Wenzhou in Zhejiang and Yanzhou in Shandong were relatively large in scale and alarmed the local garrison.
After the army was dispatched, these rebels were quickly eliminated.
Other rebels were small in scale, and most of them were reported by tenants who had already been allocated their fields.
There were also gentry who could not understand the situation and claimed to be king according to the village, so a few local policemen were dispatched to wipe them out."
When Wang Zhongce told this situation, all the civil and military officials present laughed.
Such people who cannot see the situation clearly have existed in all dynasties.
Wang Zhongce continued: "Now the development of various provinces is very uneven.
Sichuan, Hanzhong, and Guangdong, which have strong industrial foundations, are developing very well.
The local commercial tax is already two or three times the agricultural tax.
The people are generally very wealthy and relatively supportive of the government's policies.
The industrial foundation of other provinces is poor, and agricultural tax revenue still accounts for a large share.
No major events occurred in other provinces, and everything developed steadily.
Both industry and agriculture are progressing normally.
With the establishment of township offices and affiliated yamen.
The imperial power has been transferred to the countryside, and the situation of local gentry and yamen colluding with each other to oppress the people has been alleviated.
Only Baicai, the governor of Zhejiang, and Wei Shiming, the governor of Jiangsu, failed to deal with the agricultural affairs in these two provinces.
Zhejiang and Jiangsu belong to the Jiangnan region. Since ancient times, there has been a saying that they are a land of plenty.
The Jiangnan region has been the great granary of China for a long time.
However, with the development of the silk industry in the Jiangnan region, a large amount of raw silk was needed.
If you want to obtain a large amount of raw silk, you must raise silkworms on a large scale.
During the growth process, silkworms need to consume a large amount of mulberry leaves.
This will inevitably lead to the planting of a large number of mulberry trees in the Jiangnan area.
Especially in the late Ming Dynasty, driven by the southeastern gentry, the Ming Dynasty introduced the policy of converting rice into mulberry.
The gentry could obtain a large amount of money from the silk industry through sea trade smuggling.
After changing from rice to mulberry, food prices will inevitably rise sharply.
These gentry can also control food prices and harvest the people at the bottom.
At that time, officials wanted to implement the policy of converting rice into mulberry.
He directly indulged the government officials and destroyed the rice fields that had just been planted.
They directly opened the river dam and flooded the rice fields.
At that time, officials of the Ming Dynasty used various means.
They succeeded in converting rice into mulberry in the Jiangnan area.
After the people divided their fields, many mulberry farmers suffered from high food prices for a long time, and they became frightened.
When the land was divided, it was already past the spring planting season.
After the autumn harvest, many mulberry farmers want to restore their rice fields and grow food again.
Their silkworm cocoons cannot be sold at a high price, so they have to buy food at a high price.
These farmers are already suffering terribly.
Some farmers have cut down the mulberry trees in their fields.
The disappearance of mulberry fields has a great impact on the textile industry.
A large number of textile industries were built in the Jiangnan region.
These companies have recruited a large number of weavers.
These female weavers who mustered up the courage to come out of their homes are likely to lose their jobs.
After they lose their jobs, there is a high probability that they will be tied to their families for the rest of their lives and will not have the courage to continue working.
The two governors Baocai and Wei Shiming saw this situation.
Write a memorial to ask for guidance from the imperial court.
They said that their abilities are limited and they can only maintain the status quo for the time being, and are not equipped to deal with this complex problem.
Our cabinet, after many discussions, has found no solution that has the best of both worlds."
Su He smiled when he heard other situations described by Wang Zhongce.
When he heard about the situation in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the smile on his face gradually disappeared.
If this kind of thing is not handled well, it can easily lead to civil unrest.
He ordered: "The current situation is because the local government has not done a good job and the farmers still do not trust us.
The most important thing in this matter is to regain farmers' confidence in the government.
They are afraid that food prices will skyrocket and the silkworm cocoons in their hands will be worthless.
Only if they are protected will they reconsider.
Let Zhejiang and Jiangsu form related companies to directly exchange farmers' cocoons for food next year.
In the simple values of farmers, the ancient method of bartering is very effective.
The cabinet must also do a good job in industrial guidance and food distribution."
Su He could only think of this solution for the time being.
Other simple and effective methods require the cooperation of the people.
Su Que, director of the State Administration of Taxation, saw Wang Zhongce sitting down.
He reported excitedly: "Your Majesty, all the tax revenue received by the State Administration of Taxation this year, except for the tax revenue in December, has been calculated.
Including December last year, our tax revenue for the whole year was as high as 57.38 million taels of silver coins.
Among them, agricultural taxes amounted to 11.36 million taels of silver coins.
Among commercial taxes, the taxes with the highest proportion are commercial tax and salt tax, followed by customs duties from the shipping department.
Our State Administration of Taxation predicts that next year’s shipping tariff will exceed the salt tax.”
Su He smiled happily when he heard the total tax collected by the State Administration of Taxation.
The Great China Dynasty had huge tax revenue, and only when the country had money could it do great things.
This is just taxation. The Dahua Dynasty also has another source of finance and taxation, which is the profits paid by the companies under the Shaofu.
The agricultural tax of the Dahua Dynasty was levied in a unified manner, which was not considered excessive and miscellaneous tax, but was only slightly higher than that of the Ming Dynasty.
But in the Great China Dynasty, all people who farmed the land needed to pay taxes.
In the Great Ming Dynasty, more than 90% of landowners did not pay sufficient taxes to the court.
Some apportionments and additional payments can only be imposed on small and medium-sized landowners.
The Great China Dynasty exempted areas severely damaged by war from taxes.
Many places were only slightly affected by the war, resulting in reduced food production.
Suhe directly gave them tax exemption.
Even so, the court also collected a huge agricultural tax.
Su He said happily: "Very good, the State Administration of Taxation has done a good job and will continue to work hard next year."
The imperial meeting continued to discuss promotion arrangements for officials, water conservancy projects of the Ministry of Industry and many other matters.
The imperial meeting ended, and the civil and military officials were preparing to leave.
Su He said: "Since we have decided to accept North Korea, we will go through a complete process.
It just so happened that during this time, the parliament had been formed.
Let North Korea join the Great China Dynasty and become the first item of parliament."
Civil and military officials are still relatively unfamiliar with the new government office of Parliament.
The officials followed Su He to the Dahua Parliament outside the Meridian Gate.
The place is no longer empty, there are many people coming in and out of the parliament.
As they walked into the parliament, they heard the quarrels among the members.
"Human traffickers should be executed without delay. Only severe punishment can stop human traffickers."
“I think human traffickers who have returned from their lost ways should be given the opportunity to have their sentences reduced.
All human traffickers are subject to the maximum penalty.
These human traffickers will definitely fight when their whereabouts are exposed."
“The punishment for corrupt officials must be increased.
Why is it that a thief who steals five hundred taels of silver is punished by death, but a corrupt official who steals five thousand taels of silver is not sentenced to death?
His Majesty demands that all people be equal and officials cannot be special."
"The money of the Zongren Mansion cannot be accounted for. I used to be the accountant. It is impossible to hide it from me using such clumsy means."
The overall style of the parliament is that there are multiple rows of semi-circular seats arranged in sequence.
In front of the semicircular seat, there is a high platform.
The construction of the Parliament was based on the construction of the Temple of Heaven.
In this era without loudspeakers, if someone speaks in the room, the sound can be transmitted to every corner of the room.
Su Wuniu, Speaker of the Parliament, saw Su He leading senior officials from the Dahua Dynasty to the Parliament.
He looked at the noisy parliament and immediately rang the bronze bell next to the high platform.
The huge bell rang, and the parliament became quiet.
Members of Parliament saw His Majesty the Emperor arriving.
They all bent down and bowed.
Su He saw that the atmosphere in the parliament was very good, he smiled and said: "Everyone, please continue your previous work.
"Gene Era"
I just lead the officials to visit the parliament and get familiar with your work."
Su Wuniu came to Su He. He was a little stooped and had white hair on his head.
He had felt low on energy before and was unable to cope with the more complex work department.
Su Wuniu was transferred to the Zongren Mansion by Su He to manage some light things.
Now that he has become the speaker of the parliament, he doesn't understand what the speaker needs to do?
His Majesty told him that the Speaker's job was very easy and he would be told in advance what he needed to do.
Only then did Su Wuniu take the job.
"Speaker Su, please introduce the current situation of the parliament."
Su Wuniu has a very clear understanding of the situation in the parliament.
"The Parliament now has 479 members.
The original plan was to have more than 500 people, but due to electoral fraud in some provinces, their quotas for this session were directly cancelled.
There is also a congressman who has been reported and has violated the "Dahua Law".
He was taken away by the Metropolitan Procuratorate for investigation and, in accordance with parliamentary regulations, immediately lost his status as a member of parliament.
The identities of members are very complex, including soldiers, nobles, scholars, businessmen, farmers, and workers.
His Majesty specifically stated that we are extremely strict in reviewing the representatives of farmers and workers.
Farmers must be veteran farmers who have been farming for more than 20 years.
Workers must be frontline workers.
We cannot elect landlords as farmers' representatives, and we cannot elect factory owners and managers as workers' representatives.
In order to ensure the enthusiasm of farmers and workers, the parliament has provided special subsidies for this special group."
Suhe has set very strict entry requirements for members.
An important role of the parliament is to convey the voices of the grassroots to the emperor and the court.
The emperor and the court pretended to be deaf and dumb, not wanting to listen to the voices from the bottom.
We can only wait for them to roar, the princes and generals will have the guts!
When the members no longer belong to the bottom, how can they convey the voice of the bottom? Most of the role of parliament has been abolished.
Su He asked Su Wuniu to formally hold the first vote in the parliament.
Before he came, he had asked the General Secretary to prepare corresponding proposals.
Su He handed over the discussion to Su Wuniu.
Su Wuniu took over these printed proposals.
He sent the proposal to every congressman.
Su Wuniu stood on the high platform of the parliament and said in a rough voice: "North Korea requested to join the Great China Dynasty.
Your Majesty has agreed to this request.
The parliament must represent all the people of the Dahua Dynasty, whether they agree to North Korea joining the Dahua Dynasty, and implement the "Dahua Law" locally."
MPs have practiced this many times before.
But this is the first time they have actually voted on the proposal.
Each member of Parliament issues a card.
There are two options above: Agree and Disagree.
Members only need to stamp their official seals on these two options.
Whichever option is covered means they choose that option.
The voting process in the parliament was simple, and the parliament quickly began counting votes.
In order to ensure the fairness of the vote count, whether each member supports the motion will be made public.
The vote counters were still reciting loudly the names and choices of the congressmen.
Su He quickly waited for the statistical results, and the parliament unanimously supported North Korea's joining the Great China Dynasty.
He took the lead in applauding. This was a moment worth celebrating and represented the arrival of a new system.
Su He knew that under a strong emperor like him, parliament was just a rubber stamp.
But the existence of parliament can effectively confine party disputes within a fixed scope.
A powerful country like the Great China Dynasty would only die from internal fighting, not from external enemies.