Chapter 83: Only when you have power can you do things
"Not to mention, even Lin Zexu, the man who made such a great feat of eradicating opium in Humen, became a comrade of Xu Naiji after he was transferred to the governor of Shaanxi Province. He changed from a strict anti-smoking party to a supporter of local cultivation.
Opium sect?”
At that time, Xu Naiji, a young minister of Taichang Temple who did not agree with Lin Zexu's strict anti-smoking measures, was the first to propose giving the local opium cultivation industry a living space. In his view, opium cannot be suppressed after all, and it would be better to legalize the opium trade.
In this way, the government could not only profit from taxation, but also formulate a series of policies to regulate the opium trade, such as bartering only and strictly prohibiting officials from taking opium. Xu Naiji was later demoted from a fourth-grade official to a sixth-grade official, becoming "
"Traitor"; Lin Zexu, whom he opposed, became a national hero because of his firm ban on smoking.
However, in 1847, Lin Zexu, who had been transferred to the governor of Shaanxi Province, completely changed his "views on opium" and became "comrades" with Xu Naiji. In a reply to his friend Wen Hai, Lin Zexu said this: "Despise is also planted in the mainland.
The opium poppy will do no harm to the matter, but what I hate is that the people in the mainland prefer foreign cigarettes rather than local cigarettes."
At this time, Lin Zexu believed that if local opium was "better than foreign opium", people would naturally be willing to buy domestic opium and stop buying foreign cigarettes. In this way, silver would only circulate within the country. "If a person is full of blood, how can he
Is there any hindrance?" Of course there is no problem. I am just afraid that those who are used to smoking foreign cigarettes are not patriotic and cannot change their minds to support domestic products. "Secondly, I am afraid that such people who smoke cigarettes may not change their hearts!"
At that time, Xu Naiji was reviled by both the government and the public and had no escape, and finally gained notoriety. Times have changed, but now the anti-smoking faction is panicking and afraid to speak. Xu Jue, a famous anti-smoking scholar in the late Qing Dynasty, wrote to Zhao Erxun, the then governor of Hunan.
One letter stated:
"Jue has been asking for tax increases on foreign medicines for two years, but he has not dared to say a ban. Because if he said ban, everyone would think it was a roundabout idea and would ignore it. If he said raising taxes would still be beneficial to the finance, some people might hope to adopt his idea.
.”
The anti-smoking celebrities are so reduced that they dare not talk about the ban easily, otherwise they will risk being regarded as pedantic and ridiculed. This shows that the trend of the trend is quite powerful.
If officials are like this, how can they still blame the common people?
"Is this opium really forbidden?" Wang Hengyue said to himself after he calmed down.
"How to ban it?" Deng Xia said with a sneer: "Last year, the imperial court wanted to ban smoking. But as soon as the smoking ban started, local provinces felt that there was a serious disconnect between fiscal revenue and expenditure. The governor of Shanxi reported that 'this province's money will be used to start the business on its own.
According to the tax system, one item of medicinal products suddenly lost 200,000 to 300,000 yuan. With the ban on cultivation this year, there is no more tax revenue to be collected. Withdrawals are increasing day by day, while incoming funds are decreasing. In the past thirty-three years, we have lost 700,000 yuan of silver.
, the loss will reach one million in thirty-four years. This year, the navy's founding funds will be increased. It is promised to pay 150,000 yuan every year and 50,000 annual funds. The provincial tribunal and consultative bureau's funds will total about 100,000 taels. By the end of the year, it will be
We need to lose 1.4 million in silver.' Shanxi complained to the court, but the court also had no money, because for so many years, the court had also been relying on opium finance to live."
"It's very, very good for the country to harm the people for profit." Wang Hengyue sneered again and again: "Use local opium to drive away foreign opium, and then find ways to ban local opium. It's a pity that once this opium becomes the most important financial
Income, it is not that easy to abstain from opium. If it were me, I would never allow opium to continue to be rampant."
Yu Lei suddenly said from the side: "When you have the power in your hands, you can naturally ban whatever you want. But now, you can't cross Rong County, even if there is a county magistrate in Rong County."
Wang Hengyue was startled by these words.
Yes, opium is deeply hated by people, but why should I ban opium? I can't even hold back what I say in Rong County, let alone in Sichuan or across the country?
A small helper who wants to ban smoking is really out of his mind.
What's more, even if you really have the power one day, you can't just ban opium. After all, there are too many interests involved in it!
Yu Lei carefully observed the expression on Wang Hengyue's face: "What you have to do now is to firmly control Rong County. Even the common people know that you must have a home first, and then you can do things."
Wang Hengyue nodded silently, and suddenly laughed: "We are just out for fun, how can we care about the court's affairs? What we said here about banning smoking and smoking, when others heard it, they just thought that we were all crazy and left.
,Let’s go to Leshan!”
As he spoke, he rode his horse forward.
The subordinates were a little confused when they saw the master being angry and laughing. But Yu Lei suddenly smiled lightly: "The master has figured it out."
The Leshan Giant Buddha is located on the east bank of the Minjiang River in Shannan, next to the Lingyun Temple, near the confluence of the Dadu River, the Qingyi River and the Minjiang River. The Giant Buddha is a seated Maitreya Buddha with a height of 71 meters. It was excavated in the first year of Kaiyuan of the Tang Dynasty and completed in the 19th year of Zhenyuan.
It lasted for about ninety years. The real official name is the Maitreya Stone Statue of Lingyun Temple in Jiazhou.
This was the first time for Wang Hengyue to see the Leshan Giant Buddha with his own eyes. It is majestic and spectacular. What is even more amazing is the drainage system of the Giant Buddha.
The Leshan Giant Buddha has a very ingenious drainage system. The two ears and the back of the head of the Leshan Giant Buddha have a cleverly designed and invisible drainage system, which plays an important role in protecting the Buddha and preventing the statue from being eroded by rainwater.
After hearing the introduction, Wang Hengyue marveled: "The ancients were so ingenious in their thinking, but today, they may not be able to carve such a majestic Buddha."
"It's not easy to get this giant Buddha." Yu Lei, a local, introduced on the side: "Where the three rivers of Gule Mountain converge, the Minjiang River, Qingyi River, and Dadu River converge at the foot of Lingyun Mountain. The water is quite fierce, and Zhou Ji is often overturned at this point.
Whenever there are summer floods, the river water rushes directly into the mountain wall, often causing tragedies of shipwrecks and fatalities. Seeing this, a monk named Haitong decided to dig out a statue of Maitreya Buddha on the cliff. He wanted to rely on his boundless power to create a safe current and reduce the flow of water due to violent waves.
, Yongzhen Fengtao. As a result, Zen masters traveled all over the country, raising money in the Jianghuai and Huaihe lakes to dig out the giant Buddha. After the construction of the Buddha statue started, local officials came to ask for bribes to fund the construction. Master Hai sternly refused, saying, "You can gouge out your own eyes, but Buddha wealth is rare."
The local officials took advantage of the situation to bully others and instead said: "Try the future". The navy commander calmly "judged his own eyes and held the plate to give it to him". The officials were shocked and ran around praying for regrets. The navy commander's dedicated and forgetful behavior inspired everyone.
Finally he fulfilled his ambition."
Wang Hengyue was filled with admiration after hearing this. It didn't matter how majestic the Buddha was, but Zen Master Haitong's spirit was really rare.
"A monk can carve such a big Buddha, let alone a grown-up?" Yu Lei said thoughtfully.
Wang Hengyue smiled: "I can't carve such a big Buddha, but you can't know everything I'm thinking!"