(2-in-1)

"The reason why Chang Ping did not work was that the imperial court's finances and taxes fell sharply. Closing positions often close high and close low is to benefit the people. But the difference has always been made up by the imperial court. This is understandable, because benefiting the people, stabilizing grain prices, and stabilizing the people's hearts is to stabilize the overall situation of the world, which is what the imperial court should do. This is like raising soldiers in the imperial court, all in order to maintain the stability of the society. However, due to the deterioration of fiscal and tax revenues, the allocation of funds in many departments has become unsustainable. Closing a position is one of them. Without the appropriation of the imperial court, how can such a loss-making institution as Chang Ping continue to operate? This is the reason why half of the positions that are now closed are basically abandoned. Said solemnly and solemnly.

“…… But in fact, this is a choking and waste of food. The more times like this, the more irreplaceable the function of closing positions is. Therefore, the first part of the new law of the Ordinance Department is the "New Law on Regular Liquidation". This new law is to change the old system of regular liquidation. Make it work as it should. Not only can you not stretch out your hand to ask the court for silver, but you can make money on your own, and benefit all the people, which plays a huge role in increasing the court's finances and taxes. ”

Most people were a little stunned, and they couldn't imagine in their minds how they could make Chang Ping, an obviously loss-making institution, survive without the imperial court's funding. It's almost an impossible task. Because in any case, since it is often closed, it is inevitable to buy expensive and sell cheaply, and to make up for the arrears with abundance, it is a loss-making transaction.

Yan Zhengsu unfolded the huge roll of official paper in his hand, and said loudly: "The General Provisions of the New Law of Changping, first, under the Department of Regulations, there is a Department of Changping. Chang Ping is no longer under the jurisdiction of the three divisions of Sinong Temple, and all rights and responsibilities are under the direct jurisdiction of the three divisions of the regulations department. Second, the 23 houses of each road government in the Great Zhou Dynasty were upgraded to the general warehouse, and each state and county needed to set up a sub-warehouse, and its chief official was concurrently served by the local governor of the prefecture and county. Within three years, we must achieve the whole world of the Great Zhou, and the warehouse division will cover ......"

As soon as these two items were announced, the palace was in an uproar. Chang Ping is administratively under the supervision of the Si Nong Temple of the Political Affairs Hall, and financially under the jurisdiction of the three divisions. The first article of Yan Zhengsu separated Chang Ping from these two competent organs and directly became a subordinate agency of the Regulation Department of the three departments, which was a blatant act of seizing power. Some people have said that the Ordinance Department is a 'small middle book'. Now this behavior seems to be verifying that this 'small Chinese book' is encroaching on the big middle book and other institutions of the imperial court. Although Chang Ping is just a chicken rib institution, even if it is a pair of broken shoes, it is someone else's thing, and if you take it, it is robbery and stealing, which is bad in nature. And if you steal a broken shoe today, tomorrow it may be gold and silver jewelry. If you assign your standing position to the Department of Ordinances today, tomorrow it may be another powerful institution. That's the fundamental problem.

Obviously, Yan Zhengsu had expected this, his eyes swept over the hall coldly, and he said in a deep voice: "Everyone, this matter has the consent of the Holy Lord, and it has also been agreed by the chief officer of the three divisions of Deputy Prime Minister Lu Xiangqian. There's nothing wrong with that. ”

"Huh? Lu Xiang actually agreed? The officials looked at Lu Zhongtian, who was standing in front of the train with an expressionless face, stunned.

"Ladies and gentlemen, what Lord Yan said is the truth, this matter has indeed been approved by the Holy Lord, and Lu Xiang also nodded for the sake of the overall situation. Everything is for the sake of the court, so don't be presumptuous. Vice Minister Qian shouted.

Only then did the officials truly believe that this was the truth. I couldn't help but think in my heart: "It seems that Lu Xiang is also polite to Yan Zhengsu now." He endured such a rude act of Yan Zhengsu, and it was a foregone conclusion that the reform faction would succeed. Lu Xiang is so obscure, let's keep a low profile. ”

For the second one, it is necessary to open the open position for the whole week. The officials' speculations were largely unanimous. Yan Zhengsu has explained the benefits of regular liquidation before, so what he means must be to increase the number of permanent liquidation, and further expand the role that permanent liquidation can play, precisely for the purpose of appappeasing the people and increasing fiscal taxation as previously proposed. But the problem is, he has a big tone, but how can he spread out such a big stall. What will happen to the money and materials required and the future operation maintenance? Could it be that this has become a large financial institution? Isn't that counterproductive?

Moreover, the last two sentences of the second article say that the chief officials of the prefectures and counties should concurrently serve as the chief officials of the standing liquidation, is this another disguised act of meddling in government affairs?

In the palace, Yan Zhengsu continued to proclaim: "Article 3 of the General Provisions, after verification, the grain stored in the regular closed positions in various places is converted into cash silver at the market price, and its amount is 8 million taels, and it is exchanged for 8 million taels of cash with the Transshipment Division. In addition, the Ordinance Department will allocate 7 million taels of silver, and this 15 million taels is the total capital of the Changping Division, and from then on, the imperial court will no longer allocate payments. Within three years, Changping Division must be responsible for its own profits and losses, and be responsible for the expenses and manpower expenses of the sub-warehouse start-up. Fourth, take advantage of the regular liquidation of positions and practice the law of official loans, so as to prevent the common people from borrowing usury to merge and exploit the wealthy families. ”

Sensitive people immediately focus their attention on the fourth, and they are keenly aware that this one is by no means as light as it sounds.

"Details...... First...... Second...... Third...... The ninth ......"

The solemn voice echoed in the hall, and every detailed rule was the result of the debate and deliberation of the Ordinance Department for more than half a month, including the details of the operation of the procedural liquidation and various necessary control measures and rules and regulations. It can be said that everything is detailed and thoughtful.

"Tenth, the detailed rules of the law on the permanent liquidation of official loans: where the first month of each year is in May, farmers can apply for loans in summer and autumn. You can ask for summer materials in the first month, and you can ask for autumn materials after repaying the principal and interest of summer materials in May. At the end of October, the principal and interest will be repaid. People need to pay two cents of interest to borrow from the standing position, and the principal and interest can be repaid. If the loan is not waived and the bank is not repaid, five or ten households will be combined into one guarantee to guarantee each other. or a third-class or higher account as a guarantee before borrowing. Only half of the money and silver are allowed to be used as loans for regular liquidation, and the other half needs to be used as a regular position to make up for the arrears with abundance and provide relief ......"

As soon as this crucial tenth article was said in a solemn and solemn mouth, there was a voice of surprise in the temple. Everything is so direct and naked. It turns out that the secret to maintaining the operation of standing positions is so straightforward. The official loan is often closed, and it is twice a year, and the interest rate is as high as two cents, and if it is calculated twice, it is a usury official loan with four cents. Although this is different from those usury in the world that often roll over at 8 cents and 15 cents, it can be regarded as a kind of usury.

But when you think about it, this new law can be described as painstaking. Since the people want to borrow usury, why not let the government lend money and collect interest. On the face of it, it is always better than borrowing 8 cents and 15 cents from a rich landlord. At a time when there was a shortage of money, the people got loans to make ends meet and develop production. To some extent, the bankruptcy and displacement caused by borrowing from others for usury have been avoided. However, I always feel weird, and I always feel that something is wrong.

"Humph! Where is this benefiting the people, this is a move to benefit the people and exploit the people. It is simply a shame that Yan Zheng Su Fang Dunru read the books of the sages in vain, and actually came up with such a method of profiting from the people. ”

"That is, this is not an official business, where is the system of the imperial court? The chief officials of various states and counties have since become businessmen and fishermen, what kind of bullshit new law is this? ”

"The gentleman is ashamed to talk about profit, and my Great Zhou Dynasty established the country with Confucianism, and the style of benevolence and generosity prevails. Until now, they have to do such profitable things. It's a joke! ”

In an instant, many officials began to shout loudly. The order in the temple was instantly chaotic.

Lin Jue also stood in the crowd dumbfounded, not knowing what to feel in his heart. The previously announced clause of the permanent liquidation loan is exactly what Lin Jue has been trying to delete in the past ten days. Prior to this, Lin Jue had already realized that this "Changping New Law" was exactly the same as the "Qingmiao Law" performed by a person named Wang Anshi in another time and space in the Great Song Dynasty in that parallel time and space. This discovery made Lin Jue feel both worried and happy at the same time.

Worryingly, Wang Anshi's changes eventually led to a series of problems and failed. He himself was infamous by later generations. Therefore, if these are two identical things that evolve at the same time in different planes, then there is a risk of failure. Because from the perspective of the guiding ideology of Yan Zhengsu and Fang Dunru, it has the same effect as Wang Anshi and others.

But happily, he knew the drawbacks of that change, so Lin Jue thought that he was at the right time, and he might be able to use his known experience to rest the direction and steps of the change, and not let it slide to the brink of failure. Therefore, Lin Jue argued for the sake of the terms, and he asked to delete the terms of the loan bank, because he knew that it would inevitably lead to criticism and a series of follow-up troubles. But how could Yan Zhengsu and Fang Dunru agree. In a situation of almost stubbornness and turning his face, Lin Jue proposed an alternative clause, that is, the loan bank once a year, the interest was reduced to one cent, and the clause was required to indicate that the loan was free and could not be mandatory.

However, now it seems that his efforts have come to naught, and when the final draft was finalized last night, perhaps to avoid quarrels and debates, Yan Zhengsu agreed to his proposal, but now it seems that it was just an expedient measure, fooling himself. The terms announced by the temple today are not at all the terms agreed upon last night. Not only did Lin Jue's opinion not be adopted, but the content of mutual insurance was added. In the summer and autumn loans, the terms of the interest split have not changed at all. Lin Jue was a little stupid.

Also stunned was the new science detective Du Weijian standing on Lin Jue's side, in the process of formulating the "Changping New Law", Du Weijian was undoubtedly the most attentive one. He is very enthusiastic about what the new law aims to achieve. Therefore, he is also the one who quarrels a lot with Yan Zheng Su Fang Dunru. The point of his argument was whether or not he should profit from the people by closing the position, and he, like most scholars, thought, that such a change based on the benefit of the people was immoral. Du Weijian believes that in any case, there can be no such obvious exploitation of the people.

Another important point he made was that if the implementation of the new law was included in the performance of officials, it would be up to local officials to enforce the new law. Once enforced behaviour is introduced, a series of problems arise. For example, the people do not need to borrow money at all, but the government forcibly appropriates the tax in order to complete the political achievements, which increases the burden on the people. This is even more odious than usury, which at least is only borrowed by individuals, but the lending of this new law has become the norm for the people, which is a disguised act of tax increase and exploitation. This view was also supported by Lin Jue. This is also a rare common denominator between the two people in their previous unpleasant relationship.

"Silence! Quiet! Above the court, noisy and shouting, what kind of system has it become? Fang Dunru suddenly shouted with disgust.

His voice frightened Guo Chong, who was sitting on the dragon chair, and he was shocked. The officials below who were talking about it also shut up in fright.

"What are you all yelling about? You know that you have a sharp mouth, and you know how to talk about big truths. The old man only asks you one sentence, the Liao people want to tear up the Yanyun Alliance and attack my Great Zhou, what should we do? Surrender is naturally impossible, it can only be fought to the death with them. Then I ask you again, where does the money come from? Do you know how much silver you spent on the victory in Youzhou? A small war cost more than three million taels, if the two countries fought to the death, how much silver would it cost? Who will give this money? Do you who have a sharp mouth donate your possessions? If you are willing to donate all your net worth of silver, and you are willing not to give you the rich money that the court gives you every year, then this new law will not change, because the court will be very rich. It's a pity that the court gives you less than a tael of silver, and you all have to quarrel endlessly, fighting? Do you fight with your mouth? Who doesn't understand the truth? But what the imperial court needs now is to have money and food to deal with the crisis immediately, and if anyone likes to talk, please ask him to come up and tell the emperor what to do. ”

Fang Dunru reprimanded mercilessly, and everyone in His Highness was suddenly silent.

Yan Zhengsu and Fang Dunru were not fools, of course they knew that some things would attract criticism. However, the purpose of the new law is to strengthen the army through financial management, and they naturally need some extraordinary means. And they don't think that this method is to exploit the people, but to take advantage of the situation and be anxious for the needs of the people. Although the two-cent interest rate is slightly higher, it is much lower than the loan shark. Besides, if the interest rate is too low, how can we maintain the operation of regular liquidation? The successful operation of the regular closing position is the focus of this change, otherwise it will be an embarrassing failure.

Regardless of whether it is opposed or in favor, the "Changping New Law" will be officially implemented after it is announced. Guo Chong's attitude explained everything, he ordered the draft decree and announced to the world that the new law would be implemented from now on and must not be violated.

Just when Guo Chong covered the jade seal, there was a sudden click in the sky outside the hall, and everyone in the hall was startled, and then they heard a crackling and dense popping bean-like sound.

"What's going on?" Guo Chong asked in surprise.

"Your Majesty, the sky has rained." Someone shouted.

"It's raining, it's raining heavily. It's been a few months, and it's finally raining heavily. Outside the hall, the cheers of the chamberlains and the guards of the Praetorian Army were heard.

"Is it really raining? Gee, that's great. Rainfall from the sky, rain from the sky. Guo Chong laughed happily.

"Qin Tiansi is right, it is indeed God who needs an opportunity, this new law has just been promulgated and implemented, and the sky will rain down, doesn't this just show that this new law conforms to the will of the people, and God also approves of it?" Someone shouted.

"yes, yes, it really is. As soon as the new law was announced, rain fell from the sky, which is a good sign. This new law seems to be a really good thing. The ministers discussed.

Guo Chong laughed, stamped the jade seal on the holy decree, turned his head to look at Lu Zhongtian who was below the side and said with a smile: "Lu Xiang, it seems that I don't have to go to the heavens anymore, Qin Tiansi's sacrifice ceremony has been canceled, I have to save some silver." ”

Lu Zhongtian bowed down and said in a deep voice: "The old minister obeys the order." ”

……

A torrential downpour poured the streets and alleys of the capital. After months of severe drought, the land of Gyeonggi has dried up and smoked. The water levels of several major rivers and lakes in the city have plummeted, and it is difficult for people and animals to drink water. There was also a sense of panic among the people. At this time, a downpour was really like rain falling from the sky, completely extinguishing the fear in people's hearts.

The rain was so heavy that in just half an hour, there was a stagnant water in the streets and alleys. But the people did not care, and men, women, and children stood in the rain and laughed, allowing the rain to soak their clothes, and refused to go into the house to take shelter from the rain.

For the people in the city, although the rain came a little later, it still made amends. The shipping business, which was almost cut off in the city, was restored, the rivers were clear, commerce could flourish, and there was money to be made when there was business, and there was food to eat if there was money. It's all one and two, and two and three. For the people who are farming outside the city, although the farming time is a little late, the half-dead autumn grain can still get some moisture. Farmers know that crops will mature quickly at the last minute. It's only early August, and before this year's cold spell arrives, there is still time for them to grow some food. Of course, a significant reduction in production is certain, but it will not lead to no harvest.

Therefore, up and down, every industry is rejoicing because of this timely rain. At the same time, strange news is spreading rapidly through the city. Some people say that when the emperor was in the early morning court, the current vice minister and the imperial historian Zhongcheng promulgated a new law that benefited the people. As soon as this new law was promulgated, the heavens immediately rained down on it. It can be seen that this new law conforms to the will of God, and God is happy to congratulate him on the rain.

Someone painted the scene. Solemn and solemn, how the Lord is so strong that it is against public opinion. The Holy One immediately decided. When the sacred jade seal was picked up, dark clouds gathered in the sky, and leaves fell on the ground. The moment the great seal of the Holy One was stamped on the edict promulgated, lightning flashed, thunder and rain poured down. It is said that in the clouds above Ouchi Imperial Palace, someone faintly saw the appearance of a giant dragon churning in the dark clouds. The list goes on and on. The people were extremely curious about the newly promulgated new law, and the topics discussed in the streets and alleys also surrounded them.