The vendor pleaded with some trepidation, and looked at Liu Hong on the side, Liu Hong frowned, and asked, "What's going on?" Only then did the four or five guards notice Liu Hong on the side, looked at the attendants around him, arched his hand, and said: "This Langjun, don't misunderstand, in Luoyang, there is a small market, and traders are allowed to settle in, but the rest of the territory is not allowed." ”

"These traders are unwilling to pay commercial taxes, so they sell in this place, which violates the Han law, so this is the case."

The trader was also a little discouraged, looked helpless, and began to pack up his goods, Liu Hong frowned, and asked again: "How is this tax calculated?" The pawn replied: "Calculate the price of the goods, one out of ten." ”

"What?" Liu Hong was taken aback and asked, "How much do you say?" 1 out of 10? ”

"He has to pay ten yuan for his car of less than 100 yuan??"

After a pause, he nodded, and the rest of the vendors were also caught by the pawns and began to pack up their things, Liu Hong asked a little angrily: "My Han agricultural tax is only one out of fifty, why is this commercial tax so heavy?" He was a little embarrassed and said: "Yes, I am a Han dynasty and a heavy farmer, and the heavy taxes of merchants are the ones that have been there since the founding of the country."

Liu Hong was silent for a moment, looked at the panicked appearance of the traders around him, shook his head helplessly, and said: "They are all farmers, just selling some small things, merchants", he looked at the middle-aged man in front of him, took off a jade pendant from his waist, handed it to him, and said: "I know the Son of Heaven, I will tell the Son of Heaven about these things, this thing, you can take it, and when you get to the county office, you will show it to Zhou Yi, he will not be embarrassed for you." ”

The man was a little frightened and didn't dare to take it, Liu Hong put it directly in his hand, and said with a smile: "In the future, if your young son enters Taixue, let him take the jade pendant to the Taixue Academy to see the sacrificial wine, and when the time comes, I will personally take care of him!" ”

After speaking, Liu Hong turned around and left, Zhang He and other embroidered messengers followed him away, the vendor looked at the jade pendant in his hand a little stunned, looked at the pawn next to him, and asked: "This week is different, who is it?" The face of the pawn was also a little frightened, thought about it, and said, "It's the Yang Order." ”

When the vendor heard this, he was stunned for a moment, and then came back to his senses before bowing in the direction where Liu Hong had left.

When the guard returned to the county office, he naturally hurriedly reported the matter to the county commander Zhou Yi, Zhou Yi picked up the jade pendant, and under the frightening of the trader, he looked at it a few times, and suddenly his face changed greatly, holding the jade pendant in both hands, and handed it into the hands of this person, and then said gently: "This thing is actually given by a nobleman, so you will take good care of it." ”

The vendor nodded, and Zhou Yi ordered the guard to release these vendors, but he sighed in his heart, it was difficult for Jingguan to do it.

Liu Hong returned to Luoyang, and hurriedly found Wen Ren Attack and He Xiu, he did not hold a separate court meeting, but ordered these two people to go directly to the palace to talk to him, when Wen Ren Raid and He Xiu arrived in the palace, Liu Hong was looking through the business tax records and reports in various places, after they came, they saw that the Son of Heaven was seriously observing the twists and turns, and they did not make a sound, waiting quietly.

After a while, Liu Hong suddenly said: "Master He, there is one thing, I hope Master He can solve my doubts!" He Xiu nodded and said, "Your Majesty, but it doesn't hurt to say it." ”

"Dahan, why do you want to focus on agriculture and suppress business?"

He Xiu looked at Liu Hong with some puzzlement, this is a very simple truth, he doesn't believe that the Son of Heaven doesn't know, but since the Son of Heaven asked, he can only answer, he said: "Nongsang is the foundation of the country, and if the people are businessmen, it will damage the country's capital, Nongsang loses people's hands, and businessmen are profit-seeking, the most treacherous, and the country is not beneficial, not farming, only opportunistic, so they focus on agriculture and suppress business." ”

"Then, Master He, are those traders who come out to sell some small things also be considered among the merchants?"

"Of course."

This time, He Xiu hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he nodded, Liu Hong was a little puzzled, and said: "However, they are not indifferent to production, farming, weaving, and making shoes, isn't it a mulberry?" He Xiu frowned and said: "Making it yourself and using it yourself is naturally considered a farmer, but if you sell it, it is a businessman's behavior." ”

Liu Hong told what he had encountered today, and after he finished speaking, he asked rhetorically: "That person just wants to earn some money in exchange for pen and ink, so that his children can go to school, but the business tax is so serious!" I think that if the people are rich, their lives will be rich, and this is not an evil thing, and the court should not stop it! ”

Wen Renxing nodded and said, "That's true, the people are rich, the country is rich, and the taxes will be more." ”

He Xiu defended: "The people are rich, but the people have food in their homes, not their private property, if the people have money, who is willing to work hard?" The country will not be a country! Liu Hong frowned and said, "Wen Rengong, think of a way!" Hearing this, he said: "There is a precedent for this matter, Your Majesty can separate the merchants from the handicrafts, and the taxes of the big merchants will remain unchanged, as for the small merchants in Your Majesty's mouth, the taxes can be reduced." ”

"Reduce the commercial tax to one in forty."

"It's just that if that's the case, I'm afraid that there are many effective imitation cultivators in the world." He Xiu said on the side, Liu Hong squinted his eyes, and said with some emotion: "The grain in the treasury is piled up, but the people can't afford to buy pen and ink, so how can it be considered a prosperous era?" ”

"The population of Dahan is 70 million, is it possible that some people do textiles and handicrafts, which will affect the grain production of Dahan? I don't believe it, the people in the future will only increase, and the cultivated land is limited, He Gong, you said, only when I am admired and loved by the people of the world, just like the people of Hejian Country, I can be regarded as a Ming Jun, if I don't think about the people, how can I make them love him? ”

Hearing Liu Hong's questioning, He Xiu didn't speak.

There are many shortcomings in Wen Ren's attack, but there are also many advantages, for example, he acted extremely quickly, which even Wang Fu was out of reach, especially when it came to money, he was always extremely fast, at the end of the year, he implemented a new regulation, which was not even discussed with the ministers, he removed the ban on commerce on a small scale, and allowed the vendors to sell.

I have to say that this regulation made the officials of the Han Dynasty immediately criticize him, for the same reason, you are violating the ancestral system of the Han Dynasty, and it is also against the national policy of the Han Dynasty. There was no complete ban on trade when he heard of the attack, and his new policy was only aimed at small craftsmen.

These small handicraftsmen are essentially farmers, because they make textile clothes, silkworms are raised by themselves, these basic handicrafts have not completely left the foundation of agriculture, but the merchants of the Han Dynasty are not stupid, they take advantage of this policy to buy silk and other raw materials from the people at a high price, process them and sell them.

And they use slaves, domestic slaves, etc. for processing, and they don't need to invest too much at all, so they can make huge profits.