Lou Shide said eloquently, he glanced at Chen Zhengtai and observed Chen Zhengtai's joy and anger.

Then he took a deep breath before saying: "Xiaguan thinks about it, the crux of the problem is that the small people are not the children of the world, they are worried about firewood, rice, oil and salt every day, so why should they pay attention to loyalty, filial piety, etiquette and righteousness?" When hard work and thrift cannot make people satisfied, they cannot save money. But I hope that they can know honor and disgrace, this is really a fate of wood and fish, like a flower in a mirror, and a moon in the water. ”

Lou Shide paused, and then said: "What Xia Guan learned is the study of Confucius and Mencius, the mission of Confucius and Mencius, it is imperative, today, after going through troubled times, decades ago, I don't know how many people are kings, how many people are emperors, people kill wantonly, attack each other, talented people, not put their minds on governing the world, but go to the promising monarch to kill. Now...... Finally the whole world is unified......"

Speaking of this, Lou Shide sighed.

When Chen Zhengtai heard this, he seemed to have some enlightenment.

The reason why Confucius and Mencius have a strong vitality in history is that it comes from this.

Although after the Southern Song Dynasty, this Confucius and Mencius were gradually written crookedly, so that in the future, it even went to extremes.

But at the time of the alternation of the Sui and Tang dynasties, it had an unparalleled advantage.

Almost all social elites like Lou Shide and Ma Zhou all worship this doctrine as if it were a god. The fundamental reason for this is that, at least in modern times, people are looking forward to ...... After replacing the ritual with a doctrine, the world is already full of holes and fragments.

Their view is that when people believe in the respect of the strong, people are more willing to use their fists or strength to solve problems.

Happiness and enmity, of course, makes people feel hot-blooded, but those heroes of the Sui and Tang dynasties, how can they not be fascinating?

But behind the heroes, it is often because of the great destruction of society caused by war, a war, that is, countless men are requisitioned, the fields are barren because of this, and the productivity is reduced. When the men fight on the field, one side will always be slaughtered, and the blood will be flowed, and the victorious side will often be plundered in large numbers, so the women and children will become fish on the board and be slaughtered.

This is the root of the problem at hand.

As a result, Confucianism was re-valued, and it was found that this set of moral and etiquette teachings could maintain social stability to a certain extent, so that those who were strong and strong often had to bear a lot of moral pressure and even ...... when they tried to realize their ambitions with the help of their fists Once this concept is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, then the king and hegemony will become disloyalty and filial piety, and even arouse the hatred of the people of the world.

It is better to influence and restrain others with morality and etiquette than to intimidate with a bigger fist.

The establishment of a new order, a moral concept that everyone can agree on, seems to have become the most urgent matter of the moment, and it cannot be delayed, otherwise, when the death of a strong emperor is another war, it is unacceptable to everyone.

Lou Shide looked at Chen Zhengtai and continued: "If the world is unified, will the small people be able to live and work in peace and contentment?" In the eyes of the lower officials, although the world has been set to one person, the Son of Heaven is unable to convey his preaching to the lower states and counties, and the officials who serve as shepherds are often unable to exercise the power granted by the emperor to govern effectively. If you want to make no mistakes, you have to compromise with the local heroes again and again, until later, in collusion with it, on the surface, the emperors of the world have been cut off, but in fact, Gaoyou's Deng family, how can he not be Gaoyou's soil emperor? ”

"The emperor in the Taiji Palace can't call the shots in Gaoyou, but the Deng family can call the shots in Gaoyou. It's just that for the emperor, their actions still need to be reviewed by the imperial historians, and they still need to consider the society of the country, and they still need to be relaxed and relaxed, no matter what they really want, they also need to convey the concept of loving the people. But like hundreds of thousands of people like the Deng family in the world, they don't need to be like this, they can only make their family more prosperous by constantly exploiting them, in fact, the so-called family of good is simply a deceptive ......"

Lou Shide took a deep breath: "Because there are only so many fields in the world, land is limited, and people rely on the land to beg for food, so only the most powerful and unscrupulous family can continue to grow themselves, and they can accumulate more grain in their barns." Only then can we spend money and train more children. Only then can there be more servants and cattle and horses, only then can there be more marriages, and only then can there be more people boasting about their 'merits', so that they can improve their prestige. ”

"Ming Gong...... This is the root of the problem, those who are a little more relaxed, but as long as they are less exploited, what will be the situation? They are starting to be inferior to people little by little, you let the small people get a point, these thousands of small people, you have to let your family have a few less barns of grain every year, your money and food are less than others, cattle and horses are not as good as people, servants are not as good as people, and you can't support more children to study, so who will tout you? Who writes splendid articles for you, can't be thorough in terms of etiquette, and gradually loses the prestige of the county, and who wants to look down on you? ”

Speaking of this, Lou Shide smiled wryly, and then said: "Yes, although people say that a family can prosper, it is because of the results of their accumulation of goodness and study...... But the truth is that the heroes and powerhouses in these state capitals are more than who knows who can exploit the small people, who can squeeze money out of the small people, and who can take the money and grain of the government for themselves through various means. With all this, it is not surprising that a family like the Deng family has appeared. Even Xia Guan dared to assert that these methods of the Deng clan may not be the most powerful among the clans, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. ”

Lou Shide's face became even more solemn: "Your Majesty's extermination of the Deng clan is supposed to be aware of this problem, trying to change it, and exterminating the Deng clan is just to implement the determination." And His Majesty ordered Ming Gong to be the governor of Yangzhou, and I think it is because I hope that Ming Gong will come to be this pioneer. ”

Chen Zhengtai also sighed involuntarily and said, "I only asked you one thing, but you said so much. Yes, that's what Your Majesty intended. ”

Lou Shide said: "Since Your Majesty does not choose to share the world with the world, but chooses to suppress the world. At the same time, he killed the Deng family, obviously wanting the world to know his determination to break his wrist, which is indeed admirable. ”

Lou Shide glanced at Chen Zhengtai: "And Duke Ming called the lower official here, and if you want to come, you also want to know if the lower official has determination, right?" ”

Chen Zhengtai couldn't cry or laugh, this guy is really a little clever ghost.

At this time, Lou Shide stood up, made a long gesture at Chen Zhengtai, and said: "Ming Gong does not need to test Xia Guan, Xia Guan has already worked for Ming Gong, so since then, Xia Guan has shared weal and woe with Ming Gong, and is willing to saddle the horse for Ming Gong, and then die." Ming Gong may not believe these words, but Lu Yao knows that Ma Ma has been in the hearts of the people for a long time, and Ming Gong naturally knows. Ming Gong has an order, and the subordinate officials should serve as dogs and horses. ”

That's it when you talk to a smart person, you say one word, he says ten words, and then he only nods obediently.

Chen Zhengtai nodded, and then said: "Then since I am the vanguard and the governor of Yangzhou, how can I curb these clans?" ”

Lou Shide didn't think much about it, so he said: "It's easy, the foundation of the clan lies in the land and the tribes, as long as they lose these, how are they different from ordinary people?" ”

Chen Zhengtai looked at Lou Shide: "Order the confiscation of these lands and tribes now?" ”

Lou Shide shook his head: "No, if it is confiscated at will, there will inevitably be a greater backlash." Such unrestrained deprivation of people's land and tribes is tantamount to completely ignoring the laws of the Tang Dynasty, and it seems that this can be effective. But how can people obey the law when they treat it as nothing? What Ming Gong wants to do is not to kill people, not to take them, but to take away everything they have, and to punish their hearts. ”

Murder and heart.

Chen Zhengtai thought thoughtfully: "You go on. ”

Lou Shide said: "There is a good situation in Yangzhou, on the one hand, Xia Guan heard that because of the collapse of land, the Chen family has acquired some land, at least in Yangzhou, there are more than 100,000 acres. On the other hand, these rebellious clans have carried out raids and have taken a lot of land. Now that the government owns two to three percent of the total amount of land in Yangzhou, why not attract displaced people due to rebellion and famine? Encourage them to cultivate on government land and enter into long-term contracts with them. So that they can produce with peace of mind, and they do not have to become tenants in the hands of the deceased. As a result, although the clans still have a large amount of land, they can attract fewer tenants, and the tenants will prefer to come to the official land to cultivate, and their fields may become barren at any time. ”

"Although the official land can be cultivated by the tenants for free, it ...... There had to be a long-term plan, there had to be peace of mind, and the government had to make a promise that they would be able to cultivate it for generations, and the land was ostensibly owned by the government, but in reality, it was still owned by these tenants, and they were only forbidden to buy and sell. ”

"Of course, this is only one thing, and the second is to check the tribes of the world, and to implement the tax on heads, which has a large number of tribes who have taken refuge in them, and there are many slaves in their families, but ...... But there were almost no taxes to pay, and those tribes could not even be requisitioned by the government as conscription. Ming Gong, if you are a small people, are you willing to bear the great pressure of taxes and forced labor for ordinary people, or do you devote yourself to the world as a servant, so that you can become a hidden household and be exempted? If it is not possible to achieve fairness, people will naturally try their best to find loopholes and reduce or exempt them, so ...... At present, the most urgent thing in Yangzhou is to check the population, a little bit of check, do not be afraid of effort, as long as all the population, have been found clearly, the more the population of the family, the heavier the tax, they are willing to have more tribes and slaves, this is their business, the government does not interfere, as long as they can afford enough taxes. ”

"Of course, the inventory before the tax is the most important and the most important, if there is no group of people who are strong enough and not affected by the clan, it is impossible to guarantee, the land and population can be inventoried, and there is no guarantee that the tax can be paid in full, in addition, how to encourage people to pay taxes, and to crack down on those who refuse to pay taxes, these ...... are all priorities. ”

Chen Zhengtai probably understood what Lou Shide meant.

At the root of all this lies in taxation.

In order to collect taxes, it is necessary to create a strong tax syndicate, which must be guaranteed by force, and at the same time have a strong ability to enforce it, and even need to be completely independent of the world.

With this...... Whoever has more land, more slaves, and more tribes will bear more taxes, and after a long time, everyone will not want to keep more slaves and tribes, and they will not want to own more land.

Chen Zhengtai suddenly felt that he had found his way, and after a moment of silence, he said, "How about establishing a tax camp?" ”

Lou Shide bowed: "It's best to be drawn from the guards, the best person to lead, with a noble status, can act under his sign, it is much more convenient." ”

Speaking of such a person, Chen Zhengtai suddenly thought of someone.

"You mean King Yue?" Chen Zhengtai looked at Lou Shide in surprise.

Lou Shide said with a smile: "Hasn't His Royal Highness King Yue not been sent to the Criminal Department for punishment?" As long as he has not been punished, he will still be His Royal Highness the King of Yue, the son of His Majesty, and the nobleman of Tianhuang, if he can be in his name, it will be even better. ”

Chen Zhengtai was a little hesitant at first, but when he heard this, he snorted and almost laughed out loud.

This Lou Shide is a bit lacking in morality.

Let Li Tai run to collect the taxes of the clan, just thinking about it, it is very exciting.

"This matter is on me, I must tell him about it, move it with affection, know it with reason, and this Yangzhou chief tax officer will hand it over to him, but he is an adjutant...... But you need to do it, this manpower is best recruited from other places, to a good family, oh, I think about it, I'm afraid that there are still a lot of people who can write and calculate, you can rest assured, I will repair the book and go to Erpigou, and immediately mobilize a group of people, in addition to that...... It is also necessary to have a strong tax collector, which is easy to do, these tax collectors, for the time being, will levy 500 people, let my hussars practice, you make a charter first, and I will go to see the king of Yue. ”

Chen Zhengtai seems to feel that he has grasped the root of the problem.

To solve the problem of the clan, you can't just kill the whole family, because it makes no sense, but according to the provisions of the Tang Law, let these guys pay taxes according to the law.

This has a legal basis, but the system of the Tang Dynasty is very loose, many taxes cannot be collected at all, and it is easy to tax the small people, but once it is against the family, the Tang law has become a dead letter.

So how to solve it, build a strong executive body, if it is as strong as the kind that can crush the head snake.

Chen Zhengtai is a man of action who will immediately implement the decision when he makes it, and he goes to Li Tai in a hurry.

Li Tai has been hiding in the study these days, reading obediently.

He is now in despair, knowing that he is guilty of a crime, and sooner or later he will be sent back to Chang'an, but he doesn't know what his fate will be.

At this time, when he saw Chen Zhengtai breaking in, he felt a sigh in his heart, and he knew that something was going to happen, nine times out of ten, his father's will was coming.

His face suddenly darkened a lot, and he looked at Chen Zhengtai and struggled to speak.

But I heard Chen Zhengtai say with a grin: "Read, what else do you read?" Is it useful to read these books? ”

As he spoke, he directly stepped forward and grabbed the book he was holding in his hand and threw it aside.

Li Tai was so frightened that he didn't dare to come out, he now knew that Chen Zhengtai was also a ruthless person, so he said tremblingly: "Senior brother......"

"Don't call me senior brother, I can't afford it." Chen Zhengtai looked at him with a smile: "Now there is one thing to be handed over to you, give you a moment of effort, you choose yourself, do you do it or not?" ”

"Senior brother, this ...... What does this mean? ”

Chen Zhengtai didn't plan to talk nonsense with this guy, so he directly stretched out his finger: "Three...... 2. ......"

Before he could shout, Li Tai hung his head and said, "Do it, you can say it." ”

"Collect taxes on me." Chen Zhengtai couldn't wait to kick this guy's fat buttocks, and now he felt disgusted when he saw it: "You are temporarily acting as the chief tax officer, the general manager of Yangzhou's taxes, and now Yangzhou is in ruins, it is the time to employ people, you know!" ”

"Okay, this is what you said you want to do, since you are in charge, it's not that I want to force you, starting tomorrow, your next royal edict will say that from now on, Yangzhou taxes will be responsible for you, the tax official, let Yangzhou temporarily file their ......own tax returns."

When Li Tai heard this, his face turned white.

How does it feel...... It seems like he was being a bad guy.