Chapter 17 Liu Ji, Governor of the East China Sea (1)
The second one-on-one interview was with Liu Ji, the chief envoy of eastern Zhejiang.
Liu Ji, courtesy name Zhifu, was born in Danling, Meizhou (now part of Sichuan). He was a Jinshi in the fourth year of Shaosheng (1097). He was first appointed as the manager of Hezhou, promoted to an official by the Wuxin Army, and later changed to Xuandelang. He was appointed to Yanling County, Kaifeng Prefecture.
He then moved to serve as the Prime Minister of Youzhou in Luzhou, the Zhizhou of Puzhou, and the Zhizhou of Cangzhou. His political achievements during his tenure were outstanding, especially the severe attack on the Buddhist and Taoist temples, which offended the Buddha and the Three Qing Dynasties. Later, during the Ping-Liao War, he was appointed as the Zhizhou of Cangzhou. He transported baggage, organized rural soldiers, and patrolled the border. He was commended by the former enemy headquarters many times.
Xun Gong was moved to the post of deputy envoy to the left in eastern Zhejiang Province. At the beginning of this year, the county governor Ding You was in charge of the system, so he temporarily assumed the post of county governor.
Zhao Si recited Liu Ji's resume in his mind while looking him up and down.
He is a bit like Zongze, upright and upright, but a little less pedantic and a little more resolute like Zhang Shuye.
"Zhifu, the change from rice to mulberry you mentioned in the conference room the day before yesterday has become more and more serious and has endangered the food security in eastern Zhejiang. This matter is not a trivial matter. Today you can explain it in detail in front of me."
"It's Your Majesty." Liu Ji said slowly and calmly.
"Since His Majesty made the revitalization of industry and the expansion of commerce a national policy, the demand for silk from eastern Zhejiang by overseas merchants has increased year by year. Especially after the opening of direct sea routes to Thailand, Spain, and Persia, the price has doubled. .The silk merchant promised to buy the silk cocoon with a huge profit."
"The people in eastern Zhejiang have switched from rice to mulberry in order to make huge profits. In the past, eastern Zhejiang was a major grain-producing county, but starting from the seventh year of Tianqi, the grain output has been decreasing year by year. By this year, it is expected to be five points less than the seventh year of Tianqi. 2."
Liu Jiyue became more and more excited as he spoke, "Your Majesty, food is the most important thing for the people. Previously, there was little food in eastern Zhejiang, and merchants mostly trafficked food from overseas places to supplement it. The local officials, common people and gentry also took it for granted and thought that changing rice to mulberry would make more money. It's a matter of course. I'm just worried that if there is a harvest failure in overseas places and food cannot be received, or if the sea route is blocked due to natural disasters**."
"Your Majesty, food is what the people need to eat every day. As long as a county is short of food for a day or two, it will cause panic in the county. If a county panics, a state may panic, and a state panic can spread to the whole county. Everyone We are all afraid of food shortage, so everyone is grabbing food. However, it will be difficult to transport food from overseas or from other counties in a short time. I am worried that it will lead to a civil unrest."
Zhao Si nodded, "I understand Naofu's worry. The 10% shortage of food is not as simple as raising the price by 10% or 20%, but it has to increase until 10% of the people cannot eat food. 10% of the people suffer from hunger. They won't sit still and wait to die if they starve, and then all kinds of troubles may occur."
Liu Ji was shocked and thought these words were unbelievable. But when he thought about it carefully, he found it very reasonable. Food was completely different from cotton, sugar, etc. The clothes were old, but he could still wear them if he endured them; he did not eat sugar for ten and a half months. , and no one will die. But if you don’t eat for a few days, you will really die.
"Zhifu, you have discovered a problem in eastern Zhejiang. Have you thought about how to solve the problem?"
"In reply to Your Majesty, I have discussed with my colleagues in the Chief Secretary and have taken the following measures. First, the Chief Secretary has drafted a document to set an upper limit for the purchase price of silk cocoons. Anyone who exceeds it will be regarded as disrupting the market and must be strictly dealt with; second, dredge the two rivers and the two rivers. Huai, the silk cocoon passage from the two lakes to eastern Zhejiang; third, the Chief Secretary issued a document to the branch and the minister to reduce or reduce the property tax and transaction tax on silk cocoons imported from eastern Zhejiang from other counties..."
Zhao Si nodded approvingly.
"Well, you are encouraging silk cocoons from other counties to be imported into eastern Zhejiang. As long as the supply is sufficient, the purchase price of silk cocoons in eastern Zhejiang will decrease. When the price of silk cocoons comes down, it will be unprofitable to convert rice to mulberry."
"But don't do the first one. If you suppress the purchase price of silk cocoons in eastern Zhejiang, the silk cocoons shipped from other counties will be unprofitable and will not come. When the time comes, the quantity of silk cocoons needed by maritime merchants will not be reached, and the price
It will continue to rise, and the transformation from rice to mulberry will become even more intense."
Liu Ji thought, yes, that seems to be the case.
"I obey the decree."
"Naofu, do you remember that in Donghai County, the government-run Zhejiang East Grain and Oil Corporation controls the largest amount of grain?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"You can have a meeting to discuss when you go back. Ask the Zhejiang East Cereals and Oils Corporation to purchase a large amount of grain trafficked from overseas. At the same time, we can reduce or reduce taxes on the grain trafficked into East Zhejiang from other counties."
"Zhifu, you must be careful. Food prices cannot rise too high, otherwise the people will not be able to eat. Silk cocoons must not drop too low. If silk cocoons are cheap, the farmers will be hurt in the end."
Liu Ji looked troubled and hesitated.
Zhao Si smiled, "Naofu, isn't this a bit complicated and complicated, and it's a dilemma? And it will go wrong if you are not careful? There is no way, now is not a small country with few people a thousand years ago, which can be governed by inaction. The government must make adjustments.
Only then can we avoid bigger problems. Let me ask you, who are the main people who are converting rice into mulberry?"
Liu Ji thought for a while and replied: "They are from a local gentry family. They own a lot of land and have no shortage of food. They all want to make more money."
"Yes, these are the people. The granaries are full of grain, and the fields have been cut off for three years without starving them. So they don't care about the price of grain. They just want to make money by growing mulberry and silk. They don't care about the price of grain, but ordinary people
People care. Ordinary people only have a few or a dozen acres of land, and the food they produce, excluding the land tax, is barely enough to fill their stomachs. Most ordinary people don't have the guts to take the risk and change rice cultivation to mulberry?"
"Your Majesty is wise, and what you said is absolutely true. Ordinary people, even if they plant rice instead of mulberry, they will not produce much silk cocoons, and the risk is very high. Maybe the silkworms will get sick and die, and they will not be able to produce silk, and the whole family will be affected."
Have to starve to death."
"So on the one hand, you use market means, and on the other hand, you also use administrative means to fight against the powerful and local powerful people. You can formulate the Donghai County cloth based on the "Laws for Protecting Land" and "Laws for Promoting Agriculture" promulgated by Zhongshu Province.
The Government Secretary and County Order states that the rice fields in the fields under each household’s name must be more than two-thirds. Otherwise, taxes will be increased on the mulberry fields that exceed the regulations, and all the money they earn from growing mulberry and silk will be coughed up.”
Liu Jixian's face was full of joy. He liked fighting wits and courage with the powerful and local powerful. He was born in a poor family, and he had studied Confucianism before. In his heart, he had the feeling of a scholar-bureaucrat who suppressed the strong and supported the weak.
Then he showed hesitation.
"Your Majesty, does this go against the Sunnah of free competition and full marketization that Your Majesty often mentioned in newspapers and magazines?"
Zhao Si laughed and said, "Zhifu, the essence of self-owned competition is that the weak will prey on the strong. The result of full marketization is that the strong will be stronger and the weak will become weaker. Overseas, we, the Song Dynasty, are the strong ones, so of course we must have our own competition.
If the market is fully market-oriented, whoever does not follow it will be given the opportunity by my navy to learn the rules."
"But it doesn't work in the country. Although the people are large in number, they are scattered and have little power and wealth, so they are naturally weak. Although the powerful families have few people, they are connected with each other, powerful and rich, so they are naturally strong.
As the Great Song Dynasty, as a neutral party with all the civil and military officials, I naturally have to be balanced. I suppress the strong and support the weak, and cannot make the strong stronger and the weak weaker."
Liu Ji understood immediately. The powerful families were already powerful. If they forced the people to think they were vassals and became more powerful, wouldn't the officials and the government become their puppets?
"Zhihu, don't be afraid. I and the imperial court are behind you, and there are hundreds of thousands of Song Dynasty soldiers supporting you. What are you afraid of?" Zhao Si encouraged.
Liu Ji suddenly realized that before he came to the throne, the officials had begun to reorganize the army and built it into a closed self-system. In this system, the Privy Council and the Xuanhui Yuan checked and balanced each other; the Privy Council subordinated the national army, and the border guards and the garrison
To contain; Xuanhui courtyard is divided into four elephant flags, each with its own set.
Under such circumstances, even if a powerful family had connections with the civil service group, it would be difficult for them to infiltrate the military generals group - Xingning Marquis Bao Lingdan was severely stopped by the officials as soon as he showed any signs of doing so.
This kind of plundering of nobles and nobles was really nothing before the Han, Tang and Tianqi years. But the officials took measures - on the surface, the officials looked at Bao Lingdan as a meritorious official and let him go.
He did. But how much of a blow would it be to the nobles to be demoted or even removed from the rank?
The title you have earned through life and death will be taken away in an instant as long as you dare to associate with someone you shouldn't associate with.
There are many smart people among the military generals. Liu Fa, Zeng Baohua, Changsun Moli, Yao Lin and others can understand the official's intentions, and then secretly warn their colleagues to take warning.
By this time, Liu Ji understood the intention behind the official's series of actions from Chuzhou to Yancheng and then to Jiangning City.
You are a genius, remember in one second: Red Oasis: This chapter has been completed!