Liu Xiang was very busy, governing four states and five counties, more than 400 counties, and a population of more than 13 million. He had just returned from the expedition, and there was a lot of government affairs piled up, which was so much that it bored him.
So after having a conversation with Yuan Pang, he said goodbye and went back.
He still needs to think carefully about how to use the Imperial Seal to increase the cohesion of his subordinates. He can't hold a banquet and then show it to the public, right? This is not a good idea.
In the short term, he has no intention of proclaiming himself emperor. It is best not to be too public and just show it to a few core members in private.
There is no need to worry about the Yuan Cong line. They will support them whether they have the national jade seal or not. After all, they started as a rebel. They are equivalent to their own generals. The soldiers of the Central Army and the Fourth Army are their own private troops. Once they are spent, they can all
It is supplied by the government.
The garrison corps of each state are officially supported.
After all, land taxes are low and commercial taxes are not heavy. Raising an army of 20,000 to 30,000 men per state will not place a great burden on the people.
Speaking of taxation, Liu Xiang was a little worried. In the past two years, the world has been in chaos and warlord rule. In addition, the currency system was completely destroyed by Fatty Dong. Ping An Tongbao has not been popularized throughout the Han Dynasty. Foreign trade has been difficult to do, and commercial taxes have become more and more expensive.
The lower it gets.
It used to be that overseas bulk trade accounted for the majority, but now the internal market dominates. Some commodities have already experienced overcapacity, white porcelain being the most common. There is a serious backlog of porcelain. The porcelain firing kilns in Yuyang County have been cancelled, leaving only
Xing Kiln and Ci Kiln.
These two places have begun to produce low-cost stoneware to open up the low-end market, which inevitably squeezes out the sales share of pottery and lacquerware. He has begun to reduce the number of pottery-burning kilns and convert them into brick kilns and cement kilns.
The production capacity of the lacquerware workshop is also being reduced. After all, porcelain is the future, and raw lacquer is in short supply. Armor and weapon workshops are both large consumers of raw lacquer. If the furniture could not be replaced with porcelain, he would have wanted to close down the lacquerware workshop.
.
Food, clothing, housing, transportation, firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce and vinegar, these livelihood industries, due to the increasing population under the rule and the increasing purchasing power of the people, have flourished, become more and more prosperous, and have become the mainstay of business.
In particular, the emerging industry of coal industry has spread to every county. Due to the demand for greenhouse seedlings, honeycomb briquettes are more durable than firewood and charcoal. Coal, a new fuel, has been completely accepted by the people.
Is this considered the development of new energy? Liu Xiang is not sure.
In winter and spring, coal smoke envelopes every county town and village pavilion. There is less firewood to be cut and the damage to the forest is slowed down. I don’t know whether it should be regarded as pollution or environmental protection?
Coal mines have become the most profitable mineral besides gold mines, and silver mines cannot catch up with them.
Except for salt, which was not considered a mineral under his rule.
Except for the salt ponds in Yanmen and Hedong, all the salt fields under his rule are sea salt. There are hundreds of salt fields in Jiaodong Peninsula in Qingzhou, Yuyang County and Liaodong County in Youzhou, and the southern Lelang Peninsula.
It’s the same as planting land, one crop after another produces salt.
There was so much salt under his rule that dried salted fish could be sold casually. All private salt dealers in the territory had changed their profession. The price of salt was not much higher than the price of grain, so there was no money to be made.
The large-scale production model and the use of coal have reduced the fuel consumption of cooking salt and greatly lowered the cost. Yanzhou, Yuzhou, and Xuzhou have become his dumping grounds, and private salt dealers in these places are almost disappearing.
In other words, the caravan under his rule became the largest private salt dealer in other states and counties.
This incident proves a truth: some people do the business of beheading, but no one does the business of losing money.
While Liu Xiang was thinking about commercial tax matters, he read the submissions from various places with the help of Tian Chou and Zhuge Jin.
Tigers eat people in this county, it rains in that county, a child prodigy is born in this county, a filial son is born in that county, etc., important or not, a lot of bad things.
If a tiger eats people, recruit hunters to kill it. When it rains, check the flood situation. If a child prodigy is born, let him be his prodigy. If a filial son is born, let him be his filial son.
What’s so fussy about this kind of thing!
Is it worth delivering the report to myself quickly?
But he is the shepherd of Youzhou. There are still several counties in Youzhou that have not appointed prefects, and submissions from many counties have to be sent. Zhen Yi, who is not the master of Youzhou, passed away, and Yuan Huan, who was engaged in governance, was transferred, so he could only handle it personally.
The most annoying thing is the county magistrate of Hunu. Hunu is his hometown, and the county magistrate is Yuan Cong who followed him in the rebellion. In recent years, he has learned how to read, and the way he writes the petition is called diligent.
Liu Xiang looked at his submission this time. The words were as scratched as an old hen, and there was a lot written. The translation was just one sentence: Lord, how are you?
I'm not good!
So annoying!
Resisting the urge to throw it out, I picked up a pen and wrote back: "I'm fine, keep home."
This man's name is Liu Shun. He has no Han ancestry. He submitted the document so diligently just to have a sense of presence in front of him. His mood is understandable, but his ability is limited. It is difficult to manage a county, so he cannot mention it.
High position.
Thinking of this, I added another sentence: "Continue to study and practice calligraphy well."
Nowadays, many scholars have joined the army, especially those from poor families. The number of people is quite large. Zhuojun Fuxue and Shucheng's academies are also vigorously cultivating talents. The vacancy of officials in the county has long been filled. Old people like Liu Shun are not as capable as they are.
If he is not strong, many people can replace him.
Whether they want to get promoted or feel threatened, their hearts are not stable.
So if I want to hold on to the friendship from the past, I have a lot of submissions here, and I guess there are also a lot of letters from Cui Yi and Yan Rou.
In fact, there is no need to panic. Those who are capable have been promoted long ago. There is still a shortage of talents in high-level official positions.
Those who are not capable enough but can still complete their duties will not be replaced by Liu Xiang as long as they do not make too big a mistake. Their loyalty is guaranteed. Removing them at will will chill the hearts of the Yuan Cong family.
He also relied on the noble clans who joined after Yuan Cong suppressed him.
The scholars in Jizhou have become a trend, the scholars in Yingchuan are about to take the stage, and the scholars in Yanzhou are also showing signs of surrendering. Liu Xiang not only wants them to check and balance each other, but also needs the Yuan Cong line to suppress them.
He knew that party strife was not good, but the phenomenon of rural party unions could not be eliminated, not even in modern times. It was even more serious in the Han Dynasty. He could not make all his subordinates feel like one family, nor could he do so.
If the ministers are all in the same spirit, then their leader is not far away from wearing a yellow robe. What should I do?
There are few people in this world who can treat the Lao Chai family as kindly as the Lao Zhao family.
This issue can only give a general direction, and specific things can only be analyzed in detail. Just take it one step at a time. There is no point in worrying about it.
"Come here, it is said that Liu He, the chief minister, is here to see you."
Liu He has been recruiting teachers for almost half a year. He does not expect him to be able to recruit them all at once. With one or two hundred, he can start the elementary education plan.
There were many scholars under his rule who were literate, but not many were willing to teach. The prospects and salaries of those who were taught by Meng Xue were not very good.
There are also a large number of literate people in the army, but they cannot pass the elementary education.
It is very important to educate children. It must lay the foundation for subsequent learning. It is necessary to read serious books, express elegance, and use fables and allusions to cultivate children's moral character. Those rough men in the army cannot do this.
Liu Xiang did not want the next generation under his rule to chop off their hands, feet, and heads as soon as they opened their mouths.
Can't stand this.
It's okay to be martial, but you can't resort to force.
I don’t know how Liu He’s progress is, and this guy doesn’t know how to report a negative review midway. He’s not a good person.
Thinking of Liu He, I simply called his father over, just in time to show them the imperial seal.
Liu Yu was the first person to support his clan, and he was also one of the few clan members around him.
Now he is the real leader of Jizhou scholars.
I don’t know how Ju Shou, Tian Feng, and Guo Dian got together and made Liu Yu, a member of the Xuzhou clan, the leader of Jizhou scholars.