Lin Fan didn't care about what Wang Ziliang was thinking, and he didn't answer his question directly.

Instead, he asked rhetorically: "Do you know how much benefit the camps in Shenzhou had to collect from those big households every year?" ”

Speaking of money, Wang Ziliang was also more interested, so he no longer bothered with the idea just now, and asked, "How much?" ”

"I learned from a scribe that the sixteen families in Shenzhou together cost more than 10,000 taels of silver every year just to deal with the original few generals, which made them turn a blind eye to the big households' encroachment on the army's fields."

"And those big families are willing to pay such a big price to buy the generals in the army, then they will only get more from it. Officials are greedy for ink and big households are encroaching on money, which should have belonged to the imperial court, but they quietly entered the pockets of private individuals. Lin Fan said.

What does this mean? With so much silver in front of them, it's human nature for them to feel tempted, right? Even if it were you and me, it might not really be exempt from vulgarity! Wang Ziliang is not a person who has never seen money, he knows how attractive tens of thousands of taels of silver will be in front of him.

Wang Ziliang knows very well that the breeze on his sleeves is easy to say, but it is extremely difficult to do.

If someone says that he doesn't care about money, let alone bribes, it must be that he is not in that position, let alone that much silver.

No one in this world will be disgusted with a lot of money, even if a person is rich, when he is faced with the temptation of more money, it is difficult to resist the desire to be possessive.

He may be able to stick to his heart and not take the money in the end, but it is almost impossible to say that his heart is not shaken at all.

A man's eyes are black and silver is white, and it is very difficult for anyone who sees so much silver, whether he is greedy for money or not, to open his eyes.

"Yes, I wasn't unmoved when I heard those big families waiting at the door with a lot of silver tickets." Lin Fan echoed.

"Then why did Lord Lin refuse again?" Wang Ziliang asked interestingly.

"Because it's not worth it!" Lin Fan cut the railway.

"Oh, tell me what's wrong with it?" Lin Fan's words made Wang Ziliang more and more curious.

Lin Fan said: "Your Excellency should know that each soldier in each battalion in Shenzhou can receive 20 acres of land, and then he must hand over 12 stone of grain every year to raise soldiers in the local area. ”

Although Wang Ziliang is not familiar with military affairs, as the governor of a state, he still knows these things. So he nodded and motioned for Lin Fan to continue.

"But as the acres of land in the military cantonment were gradually occupied by those big households, the grain handed over by the battalions also decreased year by year. As I said earlier, all the money and food went into the private pockets of the generals and the big families. At present, the grain handed over every year is not enough to support the soldiers, but on the contrary, it is necessary to transfer money and grain from the military department and the household department every year to make up for the shortfall. ”

"After I took office, they still planned to use the money I had to pay for the generals. So I did the math and found that it was a bit uneconomical. ”

"According to the amount they give, the total is more than 10,000 taels of silver every year, and I will give a considerable part of this to the other two generals and other military attachés in the battalion, large and small. Even if I take the lion's share, what can fall into my hands at the end of each year is only a few thousand taels of silver. ”

"But what if I take these fields from the hands of the great families and give them to the people of the land? The people have to pay one stone of grain per mu every year, and twenty mu is twenty stones. This is eight stone more than the original soldier handed in, and the share of 3,600 men is 28,800 stone. ”

"In addition to these grains, also

There are taxes, and it is true that the people are planting the land of the officials, but I have no right to exempt these people from paying taxes, and the people still have to pay the taxes they should pay. In this way, the imperial court can collect a large amount of additional taxes from these people every year. And whether the big households who occupy the land will pay taxes or not, and how much they can pay, I think adults also know in their hearts. ”

Speaking of which, Wang Ziliang also understood a little: "But let the people pay so much food every year, are the people willing?" ”

Lin Fan laughed: "The people are naturally very willing. The people in those territories, a family with less than a dozen acres, more than a few tens of acres, this is too little, I can't wait to receive more. ”

"Why? Knowing that they have to hand over food, how can the people be willing? Wang Ziliang asked again.

Lin Fan explained: "Although a lot of grain has to be handed over every year, it is still cost-effective for the people. When the local paddy fields are in good years, each acre of land can produce more than two stones of rice in one season, and two seasons a year, that is, four to five stones; Even if the second year is fallow for one season due to fertility reasons, the ploughing season can still harvest three stones of grain. There will be less when there is a year of arrears, but as long as it does not encounter a major natural disaster, resulting in a year-round harvest, the rest of the food after the delivery of grain can also take care of the rations of the whole family. ”

"The people only need to pay one stone of grain a year for one acre of land, which is less than 30% of the annual harvest on average, so that the people can not only eat enough at the end of the year, but also have some grain left over for emergencies."

"Compared with renting the fields of those big households, more than sixty or seventy percent of the harvest has to be paid as tenant rent every year, and the people work hard all year round, and the whole family has to endure hunger and hunger, I don't know how strong it is, how can the people not want it?"

As a local official, it is Wang Ziliang's job to persuade farmers in spring and autumn every year, so he is not ignorant of farming. It's just that he didn't think about it before, and he reacted when he heard Lin Fan say this.

He smiled and said: "I see, no wonder I heard that in just two days, those people robbed the army tuntian." ”

"The benefits of this are not only here, in addition to the people, it is also of great benefit to the local government and the imperial court." Lin Fan said again.

"Come and see?" Wang Ziliang said.

"First of all, for the Shenzhou locality, this move can not only solve the problem of military rations in the camp, but also make thousands of households near Shenzhou no longer have no land to cultivate. With food, the people are no longer willing to make trouble, let alone be any thieves, and after the existing thieves are eliminated, there will not be too much chaos in Shenzhou in the future. ”

"Then for the imperial court, not only does the imperial court not need to transfer grain to Shenzhou to make up for the deficit here, but in addition to the overcharged taxes, Shenzhou can also pay more than 20,000 stone of grain to the imperial court every year, even if it is damaged for various reasons, at least 20,000 stones. And if the money and grain owed to the court by those big families over the years can be recovered at one time, it will not be a small amount. ”

After saying this, Lin Fan took a sip of tea before saying leisurely: "Finally, it's an adult!" ”

"Me?" Wang Ziliang was a little surprised.

"That's right, it's good for adults as well."

"My lord, think about it, you have just taken office, not only rectified the chaos in Shenzhou, but even the money and grain side have solved a lot of trouble for the imperial court. Although the money and grain saved is not too much compared to the deficit pulled down by the states and counties in the world, it is precisely because of the deficit everywhere that your political achievements in paying money and grain to the imperial court here are conspicuous enough. When your achievements are displayed in front of the eyes of the world, you will be able to gain great prestige whether you are in the court or in the opposition. ”

"In fact, not only you, but the evaluation of officials at all levels in Shenzhou can at least be raised to a higher level."

When Lin Fan said this, Wang Ziliang's eyes lit up, he kept tapping the table with his fingers with one hand, and hesitated for a while before saying, "Since this is the case, can you?" ”

Lin Fan knew what Wang Ziliang wanted to say, it was nothing more than wanting to collect more food from the people to make a political achievement.

He shook his head: "There is no need, the key to this matter is the attitude of paying money and grain to the imperial court, as for whether the specific amount is more or less, it is not very important." ”

Wang Ziliang thought about it for a while, and felt that what Lin Fan said was also reasonable, it was too much, if he persecuted the people too much, there would be problems, so he didn't mention the matter anymore.

In fact, it is not impossible to let the people pay more food, if Lin Fan's heart is ruthless enough, he can completely let the people hand over two stones of grain, half of which he can put into his own pocket.

Only then will the people go hungry again. This lost Lin Fan's original intention, so Lin Fan was unwilling to do this.

"After talking about it for a long time, Lord Lin still didn't say what good it would do you to do this?" Although Wang Ziliang had already agreed with Lin Fan's approach in his heart, he was not so easy to fool, and he soon discovered the problem in Lin Fan's words.

Lin Fan had been consciously changing the topic all the time, and did not answer his original question positively.

Lin Fan said with a smile: "In this way, there will be food for raising soldiers every year, how can it be said that it is not good for the lower officials?" ”

"This is a benefit to the Shenzhou army, not to Lord Lin!" Wang Ziliang said meaningfully.

"Well, in that case, I'll get straight to the point! By distributing the land to the people, the Shenzhou army could get a total of 72,000 stone of grain every year, and in addition to the more than 28,000 stone to be handed over to the imperial court, there were more than 44,000 stone left. ”

"Now it is not as expensive as in the peaceful years, the price of grain has doubled, and even a stone of brown rice can be sold for two, two, three to four dollars of silver."

"The price of polished rice is more expensive, it can be sold for three twenty-one or twelve yuan, and the highest price can even be sold for four taels of silver and one stone, which is still priceless, only if you have grain in your hand, you are not afraid that you will not be able to sell it at a good price."

"In this way, the total value of 44,000 stone grain will never be less than 100,000 taels. With so much money, as long as a little bit leaks into my hands, it will be much more than the ones given to me by those big families. And this money and food are all up to me, it's better than eating the leftovers of those big families, right? ”

As soon as Lin Fan said this, Wang Ziliang immediately believed it, in his opinion, this reason was a hundred times more reliable than the so-called for the court and the people.

In this way, Lin Fan used his fame and fortune to persuade Wang Ziliang, the governor of Shenzhou. Shenzhou officialdom leans to his side, and it will no longer be a help for big households.

Lin Fan was unwilling to use such a method, but he could only use such a method. He knew in his heart that the current officialdom was terrible.

From the time the two talked, Wang Ziliang's performance Lin Fan knew that if he didn't do this, he directly said that he did it without any selfishness, just for the sake of the people's better life and the rectification of the atmosphere in the camp.

This Lord Zhizhou, known as a capable minister, would never believe that this was his sincere words. He either thought Lin Fan was joking and took what he said as a joke; Either he took Lin Fan himself as a joke.

Not to mention the other officials in Shenzhou, who either regarded Lin Fan as a madman who acted arbitrarily or as a hypocrite who deceived the world and stole his reputation.

No matter what the outcome is, it will be difficult for Lin Fan to continue this matter.

Only by using interests can he tie Wang Ziliang to himself, and with the support of the local political chief, it is possible to get things done.