Li Mu took a deep breath, and just when everyone thought that he was going to continue to talk, he suddenly looked at Gao Gonggong very earnestly, and said, "Can you make a pot of tea to drink, my throat is a little dry." ”

Gao Gonggong was stunned, he lived so big, he was a eunuch in the palace when he was in the previous dynasty, and he had never seen anyone drink tea during the court, so he really regarded it as his own home?

"Get it for him!" Li Shimin glared at Li Mu, and said angrily: "If there is anything you want, I will say it and bring it to you, so that you don't have to grind, hurry up and finish it for me in one breath!"

"No, the minister is not hungry." Li Mu pursed his lips and continued: "This new system is about forced labor! This is the minister's personal experience, since the minister arrived at the Ministry of Industry, he found this problem. As we all know, the craftsmen of the Ministry of Industry are all conscripts sent from all directions, and they can be assigned to Chang'an, which means that their craftsmanship is good, but when the minister first arrived at the Ministry of Industry, he found that their efficiency was very low. The minister felt strange in his heart, and watched from the side of them, trying to find out what the problem was. ”

After observing for a few days, the minister found the reason. These people are all playing tricks. The work they do, if you want to say that they are slacking off, they are also busy, but they are not efficient. Why is that? Because their conscription is time-limited, and every day they delay is a day, and if they work more and exert more effort, they will not get anything. Why are you so tired? ”

In order to reverse this situation, the minister implemented a reform in the Ministry of Industry, and after the reform, everyone saw the efficiency of the Ministry of Industry. Now there are several construction sites in Chang'an City at the same time, and everything is proceeding in an orderly manner. Although the Ministry of Industry has also paid a lot of wages, it is not worth mentioning compared to the value created. ”

Li Mu faced everyone and said, "I don't tell this story to flaunt myself, I want to tell the princes how to create greater value." Can the exploitation of the people create value? It is undeniable that it can, because it has been done for thousands of years, but this kind of squeezing is counterproductive and inefficient. Again, don't be too greedy. This is the case in everything, and the more benefits you get, the less risk you have. It's nothing more than earning less, and the big head is still in hand, so that you can get twice the result with half the effort. Isn't it better for me to give a portion of the profits of the factory to the craftsmen, who do their best for me and multiply their efficiency? ”

"Forcing them to work, not to mention how fast or slow they do, the main thing is to delay time. Now everyone knows the meaning of the order, an order, completed in three days, can make ten orders a month, but if it is completed in six days, five orders will be made in a month, and fools know that ten orders earn more! ”

"The same can be said for forced labor." Gonggong Gao brought the tea over, Li Mu picked up the teapot and took a big sip, and continued to speak: "The former conscription of the Tang Dynasty is still the old road of the previous dynasty, just like before the reform of the Ministry of Industry, with more conscription time, forcing the people to work, which is very inefficient. However, conscription cannot be abolished, because it is an obligation of a common man of the Tang Dynasty, and when His Majesty ascended the throne, he promised to pay too lightly. Now that the new policy has abolished the poll tax, the land rent, except for the contracted land, is already a thin levy compared to before, so the forced labor has also been reduced. ”

"Therefore I recommend that Your Majesty reduce the conscription by half. It was changed to 12 days of conscription per year for each male, with an average of one day per month, plus one day in leap months, which was regular service. If the imperial court does not need him to serve, he can pay 100 wen per day and pay the amount of 12 days on his behalf. In order to increase the punishment for evading conscription, if the imperial court needs its conscription but does not want to serve, it is necessary to pay ten guan per day, pay twelve days, and add one day in leap months, and also add more consistently. "Losing the mediocrity". The money paid can be used to hire craftsmen to serve in their place. Under special circumstances, if the imperial court needs his additional service, he will be compensated 300 wen for each additional day of service. The annual limit of conscription does not exceed thirty-six days, and I have calculated according to the records of previous years, even if it is a disaster year, thirty-six days of conscription is sufficient. ”

After everyone heard this, they all analyzed it in their minds. Li Mu's move was ostensibly to reduce forced labor, but it fundamentally changed the 'mediocre' system. Because in the past, the rich did not want to be forced to do it, but only had to pay a little silk cloth, and the forced labor they escaped was shared equally among the poor. But under the new policy, the cost of the rich to escape from forced labor has greatly increased, and the money for one day can be hired ten according to the current price of labor in Chang'an City! The extra 900 wen, needless to say, is the income of the imperial court again.

But it's so unreasonable, you can't say anything. Who made you disobey the conscription? The original Datang law also stipulates that every male must serve as a servant, you don't want to work, what's wrong with some money? If you don't want to pay, just go to work, there's nothing unreasonable.

In the past, the people worked for free, so they complained. But now, not only has the upper limit of conscription been set, but also the salary of 300 wen is given for one more day of conscription. This price is three times that of Chang'an City laborers, which is basically equivalent to the price of technicians. In the local area, it is impossible to reach this price, it is conceivable that as soon as the new deal comes out, conscription will no longer be a nightmare for the people, and perhaps in some places, the people will rush to serve the conscription, after all, it is 300 wen to do a day's work!

"If there is a serious natural disaster such as floods and droughts, the harvest of the people will be reduced, and it will be too difficult for them to pay taxes. His Majesty governs the world with benevolence and righteousness, and should relieve the difficulties of the people, so the minister suggested that His Majesty should be exempted from rent when the disaster loss reaches 40%, 60% will be exempted from adjustment, and 80% will be exempted from servitude, and the grain for the next year will be given by Changping. If the harvest is lost, you can borrow grain for one year and return it in the autumn of the following year. ”

"And for some special people, special care should be given. Those who are 50 years old are exempt from conscription, military merit is exempt from conscription, and those with disabilities are allowed to serve in lieu of service, which can be converted according to a minimum of 100 wen a day or hired to serve on their behalf. ”

"As for the government military system, the minister thinks that as long as the standard of military merit rewards is set and can be properly implemented. Then, the new policy will not have a negative impact on the government military system. There is a saying that under the heavy reward, there must be a brave man. The minister believes that as long as His Majesty does not hesitate to reward and show his merits, the soldiers will fight bravely to kill the enemy and serve His Majesty. ”

Li Mu finished speaking in one breath, bowed deeply to Li Shimin, and said: "This is some immature little suggestions that the ministers came up with in a hurry, and I ask Your Majesty and the princes to correct the omissions." ”

The two ceremonial halls are quiet.

It's already so detailed, where is it immature, and it's a fart?

No one believed that Li Mu came up with it in a hurry, today's scene was obviously planned by him a long time ago, maybe from the time the assassin appeared, Li Mu had already begun to lay out, and today was the time for him to close the net.

He is fully prepared to deal with today's 'unexpected situation', in this case, who can contradict him? With such a detailed and tight logic, even if you want to refute it, you won't be able to find a flaw in it for a while!

Li Shimin's eyes roamed around the faces of the ministers, his smile became brighter, he clapped his hands, and praised: "Although Li Mu is in a hurry, these suggestions are by no means untargeted. I have truly seen your talent today. The new deal is very good, and after listening to you, I am more confident. Go back and write a note, I will take a look at it again, and then hand it over to the Hedgehog Courtyard, and strive to announce it to the world before spring ploughing. ”

"Your Majesty, the minister has two more requests."

Li Shimin was in a good mood today, waved his hand, and said: "Aiqing is worried about me, I naturally have something to reciprocate, you say, what request, I will answer." ”

"Your Majesty, the minister's first request is to ask Your Majesty to make arithmetic independent in the regular examination of this year's imperial examination. Because the minister's internal affairs office, no, not only the internal affairs office, but even the Ministry of Civil Affairs, statistics under the new policy taxes, etc., need a large number of arithmetic talents, so the minister asked His Majesty to give permission, this year the permanent department of independent arithmetic a subject, the number of recruits is not limited, let the minister come up with the question, as long as you pass the exam, you can take office, the low score is the official, the high score is the official. ”

Li Shimin frowned and said: "There must be a number, if you follow your tricks, hundreds of people, thousands of people are also possible, can I let them be officials?" ”

Wei Zheng also said: "Your Majesty think twice, the imperial examination is a national talent, not a child's play, the person who asks the question should be the Ministry of Rites, how can you let the Hou of Zhulu make the question." ”

Li Mu sneered and said, "Old Wei, don't get involved in this." When it comes to arithmetic, now in the Tang Dynasty, I, Li Mu, am called second, and no one dares to call it first! If any one can surpass me, he will give you my head. If you don't believe it, go and ask Li Chunfeng, who can match my Li Mu's arithmetic skills in ancient and modern times? ”

"What arrogance!"

When the imperial historians saw that their boss was scolded, they all stood up and accused. Li Mu had an expression of being beaten up, crossed his waist and quarreled with the imperial history, and he didn't fall behind at all.

"That's it!" Li Shimin stopped the noise and said, "Li Mu's arithmetic skills, I am clear. Indeed, as he said, no one can overcome him. I had no doubt about that, and I agreed to it. What's the other thing? ”

"Please Your Majesty change the Ministry of Civil Affairs to the Ministry of Households, which is in charge of household registration and taxation. In addition, a commercial tax department has been set up in the household department to collect commercial tax. ”

"Business tax? Household registration? Li Shimin frowned slightly and said, "Reform the Ministry of Civil Affairs?" What makes sense? ”

"Your Majesty, this is also part of the New Deal. In the past, population statistics were often inaccurate and discrepancies. Either a black account that conceals the report, or a fake account that makes a false report. Chancellor came up with a way to greatly reduce the possibility of this happening. ”

Li Shimin returned to the dragon chair and sat down, and said, "Let's talk about it." ”

"Yes." Li Mu said seriously: "This method is also simple, that is, to set up an exclusive number for each person. ”

"Exclusive number?" It was about the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Tang Jian couldn't help but speak up, and said, "Li Mu, how is this possible?" Not to mention anything else, many of the people are illiterate, and even if they are numbered, they don't recognize them! ”

"How is it impossible?" Li Mu looked at Father-in-law Gao again and said, "Please take a pen and paper for Father-in-law Gao." ”

Father-in-law Gao looked at Li Shimin, Li Shimin nodded slightly, Father-in-law Gao turned around and took a pen and paper, and asked the two little eunuchs to bring a table.

Li Mu picked up the pen, wrote down nine Arabic numerals from zero to nine on the paper, showed it to everyone, and said: "Your Majesty, Zhugong, these characters should be familiar to everyone, last year there was a special issue of Datang Daily, which specifically described the 'four operations' method I invented, which are basic characters, representing the concept of zero to nine. Many of the people are illiterate, but these characters are much simpler than words, and they can be easily taught. ”

After that, Li Mu wrote a few more numbers and said: "Now the whole territory of the Tang Dynasty is divided into ten provinces, three hundred and sixty states, and more than one thousand eight hundred counties. We can number it like this, the first two are 'Dao', for example, 01 represents Kannai Province, and the middle two are states, for example, Kannai Province has 27 states, and the original state is numbered as 13, then a person in the original state is 0113, and so on, two represent the county, two represent the county, and finally it comes down to the township. In this way, there will be no duplication, and the statistics are much easier. To see whether a person pays taxes or not, whether he is a commoner or a squire, whether he is granted a field or not, and how many fields there are, you only need to look at his number. ”

When everyone heard this, their faces changed. If it is really like what Li Mu said, let the imperial court implement this numbering method. It is equivalent to that the court has all the information of everyone, and it is impossible to escape from black households and escape households!

Looking at Li Mu's eyes again, it was as if he had seen a ghost, how long was this person's head, such a desperate plan, how could he blink an eye, it was too terrifying!

"And commercial tax will be the top priority in the future." Li Mu Zhengse said: "Your Majesty, the Internal Affairs Office has now assumed many functions, and it is undeniable that the functions and powers are concentrated in the Internal Affairs Office, and it is very convenient for the ministers to do things. But it will gradually lose its constraints, the minister is an upright person, when the minister is the minister in charge of the internal affairs government, His Majesty does not have to worry about anything, the minister will take care of everything, but if one day, the minister is irrelevant, go back to his hometown to farm, His Majesty needs to change another minister in charge of the internal affairs government, but there is no such reliable person as the minister, so the minister suggested to His Majesty that the system should be set up as soon as possible, and gradually divide the authority of the internal affairs office, so that all the functions of the six ministries can be supervised to the internal affairs office, so as to ensure balance and imbalance. Take this commercial tax as an example, this year's order quota of the Ministry of Internal Affairs has exceeded one million guan just after the first month, and according to the 30 tax, there will be about 34,000 guan tax, and hundreds of thousands of taxes in a year, this is only the internal affairs government, so Your Majesty, you must not ignore it! ”

When everyone heard this, although they still hated Li Mu's unbeaten face, they also had to admire that he could say such a thing. Who wants people to divide their authority? But Li Mu did just that. But after thinking about it, I have to admire Li Mu's cleverness, if he doesn't do this, the Internal Affairs Office will sooner or later become a lever for others to attack him, and if he does this, it is tantamount to turning the crisis into invisibility.