In the past month since Wang Fu took office, he has handled government affairs in an orderly manner and handled things fairly, which not only convinces the people of the Marshal's Mansion, but also wins a good reputation among the people of Xuzhou. Zhu Hao also sent some young people who had read books to help him in order to cultivate reserve forces.

Seeing that the government affairs work was also on the right track, taking advantage of the fact that there was no major war now, Zhu Hao asked Wang Fuzhi to discuss how to reform, so that he could build his jurisdiction into a stable base step by step.

"And agriculture, since ancient times, there have been four positions of agriculture, industry and commerce, if you want to fundamentally change the status quo of my Ming Dynasty's decline, you have to start from these four aspects, where do you think you should start first?" Zhu Hao actually has a draft and wants to test him.

"Dashuai, these four positions have always been based on scholars, and the scholars control the power of the country, so if you start with scholars, I am afraid it will cause a lot of waves. The two are involved in a wide range of areas, so the younger brother thinks it is safer to start with the industrial reform first. Wang Fuzhi thought for a while. Since he officially served as Minister of State, Wang Fuzhi has changed his name to call him handsome, although Zhu Hao has said many times that there is no need for this, but Wang Fuzhi's meaning is obvious, that is, I can't be special.

"And the agricultural analysis is good, in line with common sense, but have you thought about it, it is precisely because the class of workers is the weakest that there is no need to make great efforts to reform, and the current workers can meet our needs, one of them; Since ancient times, industry and commerce have not been separated, if the business is reformed, the work is self-reformed, and the second is it, do you understand? Zhu Hao said patiently.

"What does Da Shuai mean to start with business first?"

"Yes, what do we need most at the moment? Strong Finance! Only by gaining the support of businessmen can we accumulate sufficient financial resources and provide a foundation for the next step of reform! ”

"Dashuai has a point, but why not start with agriculture? You must know that most of the people are peasants, and if you can get the support of the peasants, it is equivalent to having a strong heart, and those who win the hearts of the people since ancient times will become a great thing. Wang Fuzhi asked.

"It's also good that you can think of this, but our Central Plains has always emphasized agriculture and suppressed business, and the peasant issue is, to put it bluntly, the land issue, and with the current situation, the contradictions on the land issue are very acute, and we must not be in a hurry, we can only take it step by step. Anyway, now our jurisdiction is still stable, there is nothing wrong, and when there is a war, then we have value, and the resistance to land reform will be greatly reduced, of course, it is not ignorant, at present, there are countless displaced people and wasteland in Yanzhou, and it is a big problem to appease and reclaim the famine as soon as possible, as long as this problem is done well, then there will be an example for land reform in the future. Zhu Hao explained meaningfully.

Wang Fuzhi is not a stupid person, he understood the truth as soon as he heard it, the implementation of land reform in a stable state is tantamount to taking the lives of those landlords and squires, and it is strange that they don't come to you to fight hard!

"There is another reason, you are your own person, I don't have to hide it from you, as long as the business is done well, the land problem will naturally be solved, which is the inevitable result of the development of productive forces and production relations!" Zhu Hao accidentally threw out the theory of later generations.

"What productive forces and relations of production?" Wang Fu asked confusedly.

"Well, this one, I can't explain it clearly for a while, and I'll explain it to you slowly when I have time another day." Zhu Hao was a little embarrassed, he didn't want to say it but didn't know where to start, could he tell him that capitalism was budding?

However, the Western bourgeoisie took advantage of the rise of industry and commerce to naturally squeeze out the feudal landlord class. In China, although the workers are a special class, but the industry is in the same vein as commerce, now most of the Jiangnan businessmen are also workers and merchants, Xuzhou land boundary also has a lot of long-term vision of landlords and businessmen began to devote themselves to the handicraft industry, the feudal land system is facing disintegration, this is an unprecedented risk and challenge, as long as the scale and policy, recognize the situation, can ensure that China ahead of the West on the road to capitalism!

The two discussed for a while, and finally reached an agreement, that is, to start with business, but how to grasp the principle is a big problem, because businessmen are generally profitable, and the commercial tax in the Ming Dynasty is too low, Zhu Hao wants to maintain normal operation, the tax rate must be at least three percent or more, although he now has the right to tax the territory, but how to move these businessmen who pick the door is a problem.

Suddenly, Zhu Hao thought of an experience of later generations: relying on the poor middle peasants, uniting the rich peasants, winning over the enlightened elements of the landlord class, and isolating the die-hard elements finally solved the land problem.

"In this way, don't rush to set a policy, you first check how many large and small businesses in our jurisdiction, what industries they have, which people have good conduct, which people are open-minded, and which big households are more influential. And then judge. Zhu Hao thought for a while.

"Okay, I'll arrange it immediately."

Young people are highly efficient, Wang Fuzhi mobilized a large number of personnel, and it took 20 days to finally grasp the business situation of the two counties of the three prefectures, roughly centered on Xuzhou, the more north the business is more depressed, and the south is prosperous.

A total of 13 extraordinarily large merchants and 75 inferior merchants were found on the register, and there were more than 500 ordinary merchants at most, while the hawkers and shops along the streets were not counted.

Among them, three extraordinarily large businessmen expressed their enthusiasm for Zhu Hao, and the other five were waiting, and these eight were relatively enlightened. The rest were not very interested, and businessmen of other ranks generally looked to these wealthy people.

After Zhu Hao generally knew the situation, he began to think about how to get these more enlightened businessmen to support him, if his business policy can be implemented smoothly, it is estimated that he can collect 15 to 2 million taels of silver in taxes every year, although it is not as good as his own family property, but it is also a huge development, and more importantly, to establish a good business system.

Headache! Although he has a lot of ideas to make money, he is a bit lacking in business communication and alliances. Thinking of the various economic aspects of later generations, I gradually had some ideas.

After figuring it out, Zhu Hao ordered Wang Fuzhi to bring his name card to invite the eight more enlightened businessmen to the Marshal's Mansion, intending to have a long talk with them.

Within a few days, the eight families came to Dashuaifu almost at the same time, including one in Yanzhou, five in Xuzhou, and two in Huai'an. It seems that his prestige in Xuzhou is not bad, most of them are Xuzhou merchants, and the eight families control a quarter of the commercial capital of the three prefectures.

These eight are Yanzhou Cheng family, Xuzhou Wang family, Zhang family, Yu family, Ma family, Huai'an Lu family, Hu family, among which the Wang family and the Hu family are the most powerful, plus the Lu family, these three are the merchants who clearly support Zhu Hao.

Coincidentally, most of the eight people have business dealings with Zhu Hao's family, especially the Lu family and the Ma family have the strongest relationship with the Zhu family, and Zhu Hao estimates that these two people are not a problem.

Zhu Hao politely invited everyone to the conference hall and sat down as guests. Zhu Hao didn't talk nonsense and directly explained his intentions.

"I invite eight gentlemen to come today, mainly to discuss the business problems in our Xuhuai area, several of you are the most influential big families in the local area, and some of them are officials in the family, this Shuai wants to reform the current system, and please give your support."

"If you have any ideas, just say it, let's listen to it." The Cheng family is the head of the family.

"That's the case, inherit the emperor's trust, let this marshal act as the civil affairs of the three governments, in my opinion, commerce is the foundation of a strong country, so I plan to start with business first." Seeing that several people were staring at him, he continued: "Starting this year, the commercial tax will be set at three percent!" This number is something I've thought about for a long time, so it shouldn't be a problem for you, how about it? ”

"Dashuai, with all due respect, the court's consistent tax rate is fifty taxes and one percent, that is, two percent, Dashuai does this, isn't it right? Of course, if the marshal forcibly implements it in the name of the government, it is not good for us not to abide by it. The head of the Yu family said bluntly.

"Of course, although I raised the tax rate by a point, it is always a change in the country's policy, but extraordinary times are very policy, now the country is in crisis, the country is prosperous, it is the responsibility of the husband, only each of us can contribute to get through the difficulties, the country has long-term stability, you can prosper the family business, right? As for whether it is forcibly promoted, Ben Shuai has no such meaning, please rest assured, I will elaborate on this issue later. ”

"I'm afraid this is the superficial words of the handsome, everyone you said knows that we also understand the truth that there is no country and no home, but I want to ask a few questions." The head of the Ma family is an old man in his sixties, although he has a good relationship with Zhu Shouyi, but he is old and refined, and he was not fooled by Zhu Hao's words.

"Mr. Ma, please speak."

"First, how can Dashuai ensure that the collected finance and taxes can be used for Xuzhou's official affairs 100%? Second, the handsome also knows that businessmen are profit-heavy, and this old man doesn't need to blush, so what benefit do you have for us? The old man looked at the young man with burning eyes.

Sure enough, it was the old fox, and one sentence made the point.