March 29, 1682, moderate rain.

The carriage sent by the Tax Department stopped lightly in front of the Dongfang Hotel, and a policeman from the Ministry of Internal Affairs politely invited Cho Chuyan and his attaché to board the carriage and gave them a set of rubber rain boots.

The construction of the Ministry of Finance building was not very good, and the site was heavily waterlogged, so people always need to wear rain boots on rainy days. Fortunately, the East Coast now has two major sources of rubber at hand – the rubber plantations on New Huaxia Island and the part imported from Portuguese Brazil – and vulcanized rubber technology is becoming more and more mature, so that rubber products such as raincoats, rain boots, solid tires, pillows and containers of all kinds are produced in large quantities, and have now become an industry that cannot be ignored, highlighting its great economic significance, which also shows that rubber is indeed a very good material.

Zhao Chuyan and others looked at the valuable rubber rain boots in their hands, and they were quite emotional. In the Joseon Kingdom, when it rained and muddy, only two classes of nobles could walk in densely sewn leather boots, like Chinese or commoners, but only straw sandals, and even if they had leather shoes, they were reluctant to wear them, because the price was not cheap.

But in this eastern country, the first time he heard of the material has brought great convenience to the people's lives, although its price is still slightly high, resulting in folk clothes, oilcloth raincoats and so on are still very marketable, but the application has been more extensive, at least the army, tolerance has been applied on a large scale, I heard that they are still expanding the area of rubber plantations, this future in a larger range of promotion, should not be able to run.

The Treasury building was soon there. After checking the documents at the gatekeeper, the carriage continued and stopped at a large square, and then the group got out of the car and walked to the location of the tax office. Zhao Chuyan observed while walking, this so-called Ministry of Finance should be the Ministry of Households, and it is not uncommon for the Kingdom of Korea to have the only way to exercise levy and support respectively. It's just that their building looks more magnificent, and the one in Hanyang City is much inferior, this is the real gap between the national strength of the two countries, thinking of this, Zhao Chuyan sighed a little. But then he suddenly had a spirit, Zeng Zi tried to save his body three times, so that he could be alert, not confused by foreign objects, and hit the territory of the Dongguo people, did he sigh more often?

Zhao Chuyan was a little puzzled and a little frightened about his current situation. I am even more anxious about the increasing number of words of the Easterners in my daily language, whether I have deviated from the avenue and begun to think more and more according to the thinking mode of the Easterners-Ah, the thinking mode is the vocabulary of the Easterners-In time, will I slowly transform into a utilitarian and profit-seeking barbarian? It must be known that the word "etiquette" runs through the entire Chinese society, and the Dongguo people do not follow the famous teachings and do not understand etiquette (this does not refer to superficial things such as politeness, but things related to social order, personal dependence, and code of conduct such as the Three Principles and Five Constants), if they are slowly assimilated into a shameless person who does not understand human etiquette and does not follow the Three Principles and Five Constants, then it is better to wipe their necks.

Huang Hanhua personally greeted Zhao Chuyan and his party at the door of the conference room, and then ushered everyone into the conference room and officially started the talks. At the beginning, both sides talked in generalities, mainly Huang Hanhua was talking, Zhao Chuyan was listening, and they did not speak to ask questions. Huang Hanhua talked about the new round of tax reform that is now being vigorously carried out on the East Coast, and talked about the meaning of taxation, the classification of taxes, the principles of setting tax rates, the collection of taxes, and the reaction of the people.

Later, he talked about the tax system of the overseas colonies, such as the tax system of the three feudatories in the Far East, which were very familiar to the Koreans, and talked about the economic development of each colony and the ability of the common people to pay taxes. At this time, Zhao Chuyan, who had been listening for most of the time before, suddenly spoke, only to hear him ask: "How heavy is the tax in the Eastern Dynasty?" ”

"It's not heavy!" After pondering for a while, Huang Hanhua replied truthfully: "It can even be said that it is a bit light, because our government's revenue sources are diversified, and we don't point to the little things in the fields. Of course, agriculture, fishery, and animal husbandry are the foundation, and the people regard food as the sky, and only when these foods are greatly enriched can they develop business with more peace of mind. Our eastern republic is not low in agricultural productivity, the inshore fishery resources are abundant, the catch of seafood is very large, and the huge bison resources in La Plata, so our country is very rich in food supply. When there is more surplus food, industry, commerce, and waiters can develop, and the government will naturally collect more taxes. The fundamental aspect of this is the improvement of the level of productivity. ”

Zhao Chuyan silently chewed the meaning of Huang Hanhua's words, and found that the more he chewed, the more flavorful it became. According to their words, the level of agricultural productivity in North Korea is low. Thinking of this, he sighed and said with a wry smile: "Compared with the kingdom, this tax in our country can be described as heavy, and the people suffer a lot from it. I have a group of people, ploughing 100 acres of land, the most abundant in the year is seven or eight taels of silver, grain, cloth, (North Korea has a huge inflow of silver and copper money in recent decades, and has gradually begun to reform the original method of collecting taxes in kind, and adopts a monetary system of silver, money, and silk at the same time, so this will Zhao Chuyan talk about the people who plough the fields pay taxes with silver calculation), and if not, two or three taels. Well, if you plough 100 acres of land at a large rate, you will receive 200 Hu in one year, and more than 100 Hu in the next year, and even only 60 or 70 Hu in the hungry year. Only a family of ten can be self-sufficient. In addition, there are miscellaneous labors, such as cattle, donkeys, livestock, building cities, building roads, cutting wood, raising garden horses, paying tribute, etc., and there are many colors. The poor can still support themselves in a good year, but in the event of a natural disaster, they can only sell their daughters to pay for it, so the people complain. ”

To be honest, Huang Hanhua's previous words made Zhao Chuyan a little shocked. Because in his opinion, the tax burden of the people on the East Coast is too light, incredibly light. They had nice brick houses, big livestock, enough food to make wine (a ban on alcohol was enacted every time in the history of North Korea was poor), a lot of fish and meat, and the standard of living was even comparable to that of the Chinese in Korea. You know, the status of the Chinese in North Korea is not low, they are generally doctors, fast catchers, musicians and other professionals, and their income levels are in the middle and upper class, and the result is similar to that of ordinary people on the east coast, at least near the capital, what kind of factors are at play?

Yes, Director Huang also said that there are a lot of fish and shrimp in their coastal waters, and there are also many ownerless cattle in the wasteland to the south, so the people live a rich life. But is there really no other reason? Zhao Chuyan wanted to say no, but what he had seen and heard over the past few days told him that no, there were other factors! For example, the seeds of the Dongguo people are good, and the wheat that grows is full and the yield is more. In addition, they have a lot of livestock, and a lot of useful machinery, so that one person can plough as much as thirty acres of land, which ensures that there is enough food surplus. At this point, no matter how industrious the people of the DPRK are, they are far from comparable, not to mention that the tax burden of the two countries is very different, which is destined to the difference in the living standards of the people of the two countries.

"The rest of the country is troubled, and the people are unbearable. When he was young, he sent an envoy to Yanjing to see the current situation of the Qing Dynasty, and found that it was the same, and since then it has been said that it is the same for all countries. Zhao Chuyan picked up the teacup in front of him, took a sip, and said with a wry smile: "Until today, Yu only knows that the heavy tax patients are not the same all over the world, but the kingdom has practiced the saint's love for the people. ”

In fact, Zhao Chuyan even found that in the article "the people are precious, the society is secondary, and the monarch is light", Dongguo people seem to have done a better job, but he never dared to talk about this in public. Today, Zhao Chuyan also has a certain understanding of the political system of the Dongguo people, knowing that there is no so-called emperor in this country, and the head of state is called "chairman of the executive committee", which seems to be elected through the gentry meeting, and all official positions at all levels can also be held.

At this point, isn't it true that the people of the East of Mencius practice this sentence better, while the Koreans, although they recite it every day, do not actually take the idea of the sage seriously? It is no wonder that some scholars on the East Coast have written that Confucian scholars in China, North Korea, Vietnam and other countries have been poisoned by Cheng Zhu Lixue, and that the scholars have only learned the surface and are superficial, but it is the East Coast people who keep their promises and treat the people well, the people live and work in peace and contentment, and the people are not suffering from the turmoil of the troubled times. Although there is a suspicion of bragging about this in the face, and the country has no king and no father, it is difficult to say whether it can be consistent, but for now, it seems that it is not bad, at least better than the Kingdom of Korea. At this point, no matter how thick-skinned Zhao Chuyan is, he is embarrassed to say that North Korea or China is better than the people of the East in practicing Mencius's "royal way" thought and building a royal society.

Moreover, the East Coast government also allows the people to criticize themselves (whether it is useful or not), and there are small meetings of the local gentry at the county and township levels, which meet every year to discuss the national economy and people's livelihood. Some of these suggestions or criticisms from the grassroots of society will be accepted by the government, which makes Zhao Chuyan feel very emotional: "The elders of the people regard Li Shu as stupid and extravagant in it. As everyone knows, although the people are foolish and divine, their right and wrong are out of public intentions, and there are those who can not be powerful and subdued. ”

Of course, Zhao Chuyan's "people" here does not necessarily refer to ordinary people, but to local students and gentry, who think that they love and hate clearly, and speak mostly out of public intentions, which is more direct than the "meat eaters" in the court. Therefore, after realizing the existence and role of the East Coast Local Political Consultative Conference, he was very emotional, thinking that it was a relic of antiquity, although he was a little dissatisfied with the mandatory ratio of ordinary peasants, craftsmen, merchants, and martial artists among the delegates to the conference.

It's just that this kind of understanding can only make Zhao Chuyan's thinking more confused. The current East Coast is extremely complicated in Zhao Chuyan's impression, first, their courses are crazy, they do not respect famous teachings, do not learn classics, do not pay attention to great gifts, the people chase fame and fortune, and the whole country is a fishy and impetuous wind; The second is that they are good to the officials, to the people (even the disabled have a certain welfare, although pitifully few), the country is rich and strong, everyone lives and works in peace and contentment, fully embodies Mencius's idea of benevolence and love for the people, and at the same time has a little shadow of the "Datong society" in the mouth of the sage - they do not learn the Confucian classics, do not inherit the Chinese Taoist system, but what they do is implicitly in line with the classic ideas of the ancient benevolents, and the goal of construction is also to go to the Datong society of the Confucian sage, which is not better than those who recite the study of Confucius and Mencius every day. In fact, is it strong to do the cannibalistic rites and do bad things under the pickle? Just as the people of the East Coast said when they criticized Cheng Zhu Lixue, it is not wrong to have a collection of etiquette, social order, philosophy of doing things, etc., but if this point is overemphasized and raised to the level of religion, then it will inevitably become ossified and then crooked, and eventually bring about serious negative effects.

At this time, Zhao Chuyan's forehead was already slightly sweating, and he didn't dare to continue thinking about it. Because if you think about it again, the question will come, that is, who really inherited the concept of the ancient people and inherited the Chinese tradition? This question is difficult to answer, if he Zhao Chuyan can choose, he thinks that the two can be combined into one, integrating the strengths of the East Coast and China, of course, it is mainly based on Confucianism and supplemented by Eastern Studies - in fact, even Zhao Chuyan did not realize that under the subtle influence of the East Coast these days, his thoughts have unconsciously produced a great deviation, you must know that at first he was very repulsed by everything on the East Coast, even until a few days ago, He was also angry at the criticism of Cheng Zhu Lixue, which was very popular in Korea and the Ming Kingdom, but now he has undergone such a transformation, and his thinking has completely fallen into chaos, which makes people feel sorry for this middle-aged man who has been repeatedly reshaped his three views.

Zhao Chuyan finally left the tax office and returned to the hotel completely preoccupied, and did not even participate in the next three days of classes, but let his subordinates study, while he himself hid in his room to clear his thoughts and write articles. Every bit of this trip on the east coast was recorded in a collection of anthologies called "Records of the East Journey" diary, and he took it out from time to time to read it and think about it seriously. He didn't know what kind of impact this "Dongxing Lu" would have if it was printed and published after returning to North Korea, he only knew that after coming to Dongguk, the whole person's mind and soul were greatly impacted, although he did not fully approve of the things of the Dongguo people, and he still hated some of them, but this could not hide many good aspects of others. He only hopes that after returning to North Korea, more people can participate in the debate and think, which may be of great benefit to the future of North Korea - of course, he is not the kind of saint who can sacrifice himself for the sake of the world, and some content that may cause great criticism and be unfavorable to himself also needs to be deleted and modified, so as not to suffer an unjustified disaster, this is Zhao Chuyan's idea.