“Previously, in the reform of the official system of the New Government, township offices and village-based magistrates were set up, and government governance was brought down to the village level. It was piloted in more than a dozen states and counties, but it was found that it was too difficult and costly, but it only addressed the symptoms but not the root cause. There are many problems in rural areas.
The shortcomings still cannot be solved. In the end, the officials stopped this reform and only retained the establishment of township/town offices in prosperous towns and rolled out joint rural security inspections and prevention systems..."
Zhao Si listened quietly to Changsun Moli's words.
"Later, I tried agricultural mutual aid groups and other initiatives, and finally came to the conclusion that the best way to govern the rural grassroots is self-government. But in this way, it is easy to be controlled by clans and landlords. When I was in Yanyun and in charge of the Liang Liao Dynasty,
Drawing on the experience of the agricultural reclamation corps, farms and ranches, and agricultural mutual aid groups, we made an attempt to organize an agricultural association."
"... Taking the county as a unit, it sinks down to each village. The main functions are self-governance and dissemination. Autonomy means solidarity and mutual assistance... In addition to conveying the court's measures to benefit the people, upstream and downstream also promote the popularization of science and technology.
, the promotion of cash crops, well, these measures can be summarized as promoting agriculture through science and technology.”
"Technology promotes agriculture?" Zhao Si was stunned, you coined this word? Could it be?...
"Yes, Guanjia, you have mentioned before that science and technology will be used to promote industry, and then the country will be strong and the people prosperous, and science and technology will rejuvenate the country. I will now apply what I have learned..."
Oh I got it.
Zhao Si smiled, it turned out that it was because of his own influence.
"In addition, in addition to assisting in paying taxes on land output, agricultural associations should also unite. Only with large quantities can we have certain bargaining power when selling cash crops and avoid being squeezed too hard by trading companies.
...After development reaches a certain level, financial support can also be provided. The improved Young Crops Law in the New Deal can only be implemented by agricultural associations..."
Zhao Si listened quietly, and the more he listened, the more he felt that the agricultural association run by Chang Sun Moli was very similar to the Japanese Agricultural Association in another world.
The semi-official and semi-private Japanese Farmers Association aims at "Farmers invest, farmers manage, farmers utilize, and farmers enjoy."
In addition to providing guidance and advice on the agricultural management, production technology and daily life of the association members, it also carries out joint purchase of production and daily necessities, joint sales of agricultural products, and joint establishment and utilization of agricultural production and living facilities.
It also handles credit businesses such as savings and financing for members, as well as various other businesses and activities such as insurance.
The agricultural association run by Changsun Moli is not as high-end and has such wide coverage, but it is clearly moving in this direction.
"Xuan Ming, how did you come up with the idea of setting up this agricultural association?"
Hearing the hint of support in the official's words, Changsun Moli quickly sat up straight and leaned forward slightly.
"When officials and ministers summarized various rural reform measures, they found that rural governance does need a grassroots organization to lead, but the conditions are limited and can only be autonomous. Since the power of the government cannot be used to dominate this organization, why not use economic power to do so?
Where’s the guidance?”
"After thinking about this, I have everything figured out. After thinking hard for a long time, I selected forty-six villages, seven towns, and three counties in Luanzhou, Jizhou, Jinzhou, Shenzhou and other places for trial implementation.
An agricultural association was established. Farmers with land can join voluntarily and conditionally withdraw, and planting and animal husbandry should be separated..."
"Later, the associations of villages and towns were unified into county agricultural associations, and five more counties were added as pilots. Then four counties in the same state were unified into state agricultural associations... Tried carefully and improved repeatedly,
I tried it for three years in Liangliao and Yanyun, and finally gained enough experience to formulate a complete agricultural association charter."
Zhao seemed to be fascinated by what he heard.
How did Changsun Moli come up with this method?
I am very smart and have strong ability to govern the country, and then I often discuss with myself and be instilled some new ideas intentionally or unintentionally. Over time, this is the result?
Use economic means to guide. For this alone, Changsun Moli surpassed this era.
Moreover, Zhao seemed to be able to hear that Changsun Moli still had some things to say about the other functions of the Agricultural Association. Maybe he felt uncertain, or maybe he felt that this was not something that a minister should consider.
He didn't say it out if he had concerns, he said it for himself.
"Xuan Ming, after listening to your words, I thought about it and felt that this agricultural association should have some benefits that benefit the country and the people. For example, in the current industry of the Song Dynasty, a large part of the raw materials come from agriculture and animal husbandry.
.And after twenty years of support and development, industry and commerce are very developed and very strong. Especially when individual farmers face them, they have almost no say."
"Only by organizing agricultural associations and uniting hundreds or thousands of farmers can industry and commerce not bully them and have enough say. In the economic field, checks and balances are also needed."
Changsun Moli nodded repeatedly.
Don't think that in the current environment, industrial and commercial people are bound by the benevolence and morality of Confucian culture and are all good people. They are essentially pursuing profit and will strive to maximize the profits they can obtain.
In this kind of game, whoever has a strong voice can gain the most benefits, and whoever has a weak voice can only be squeezed.
"Xuan Ming, I have a suggestion for you. Should this agricultural association be organized by industry or region, or both? Also, the land tax in rural areas is still very heavy now. The agricultural association should not evolve into a tool to assist the government in paying land tax. Then
It will lose its greatest significance...You must think carefully about these issues."
"Xuan Ming, this is a good move. When the agricultural associations develop to a certain extent, the general councilors of the Zhongshu Provincial Council and the reviewers of each county review bureau can allocate part of their quota to absorb influential and prestigious agricultural associations.
Let the speaker go in."
Changsun Moli was overjoyed, and the official's words were unmistakable support.
This was great news for him. These days, in order to promote the Agricultural Association, he battled wits with most of the cabinet elders. He worked hard and made a lot of concessions before speaking at the cabinet meeting.
At the meeting, a resolution was passed on the pilot project in two counties, six states, and fourteen counties.
Now that officials have expressed support, this is undoubtedly the final word.
With the current power of the official, whatever he says will cause turmoil in the cabinet. What he supports will definitely be passed and implemented; what he opposes will quickly disappear without a trace.
Therefore, today's officials will participate in many important meetings, but they will not express their stance easily, especially on a specific matter. Because his stance means the highest decision, even if it is approved by the entire cabinet, it will be overthrown and started again.
This will seriously affect the normal operation of government affairs.
The officials have good intentions.
Throughout the dynasties, emperors with such power and prestige have long been arrogant, thinking that they are right in everything, acting recklessly, and in the end they are in danger.
Only the officials are becoming more and more cautious. Even if they have any opinions, they will be conveyed tactfully and skillfully through the secretary, provincial general affairs department, Shi Zhongyu Wenxuzhong, and individual conversations.
Only when major national policies are being discussed but are not decided, and delays are delaying things, will we speak out publicly and use far-sighted language to point out the direction and stop there.
Changsun Moli always lamented that it is not easy for an official family to establish such great achievements, but it is even more rare to be so cautious after establishing achievements that will last forever.
At this time, Zhao Si spoke, and Changsun Moli raised his head when he heard the sound.
