During the feast, a thousand people were arranged around the mountain, and they could not participate in the military and political meetings, but they were able to participate in this kind of feast, and these people were already grateful for Fang Yuan's concession.

The most nervous are the officials and wealthy businessmen in Nan Zhili, in addition to Jing Jie and Qin Zhan, who already know the inside story, as well as Xi Benzhen, Xu Hua and others, the rest of the people are all looking at the reform measures that Fang Yuan may announce today.

Fang Yuan raised his glass and laughed and said, "Yougong has been waiting for a long time!" Since the imperial court has been reformed, we naturally can't afford not to change it, but ......"

He looked around and said with a smile, "We have to take its essence and remove its dross, and we must absorb what is beneficial to the reform of the imperial court; If it's unfavorable, you can't stick to the rules, right? ”

Most of the people were silent, and Xi Benzhen, who was standing on Fang Yuan's side, opened his mouth and said, "Governor Fang said that it doesn't matter, change and change are meant to be discussed." ”

Wang Bingjian, who was promoted to the governor of the two prefectures by Fang Yuan, also stood up, "The two prefectures of Zhenjiang and Changzhou are the only governors of the two prefectures. ”

Fang Yuan smiled and said, "There are three main points in the new deal of this reform. First, the Salt Transportation Division and the Weaving Bureau were abolished, and from now on, the operation of the salt industry and silk cloth was bought and sold by the wealthy merchants of the industry. The rest of the porcelain, wood lacquer, wine and other industries, with reference to the salt industry, silk cloth and silk industry, were also decentralized. ”

"The imperial court no longer participated in the operation and management of these industries, and the levy of all industries was abolished. The major business gangs can buy and sell and operate freely, and how to occupy the market and broaden sales channels is completely in the form of free competition. ”

He completely abolished the monopoly of salt, silk cloth, porcelain, wood lacquer, and wine, and even abolished the levy that was supposed to be paid to the imperial court. This policy was like a shock, throwing a huge splash on the calm surface of the lake.

Those who participated in the meeting, whether it was the Dongting Merchant Gang, the Hui Merchant Gang, the Shanxi Merchant Gang, or the Suzhou Merchant Gang of the big official businessman Xu Hua, and even a few big businessmen from Nanjing applauded in unison.

Fang Yuan's eyes looked around, and then said slowly, "However, the cancellation of the monopoly is the cancellation of the franchise, and the commercial tax of these industries must be paid truthfully according to the thirty taxes." The total amount of commercial tax paid by various industries shall not be lower than the amount at the end of last year. If any industry is not paying enough taxes, I will arrange for Jinyiwei and an independent accounting team to come to the door to thoroughly count the accounts, and a fine of 100 will be owed. ”

"There are also prices of goods in all walks of life, especially the prices of salt and silk cloth, which can only be lower than the prices at the end of last year. If there is a special reason to increase the price, the reason must be attached to the government to declare, and the government can only increase the price after the government has reviewed the facts and passed the review. ”

"I reiterate once again, I will always keep the petition mailbox open, and the channels for people to petition will always be open. The so-called gentleman loves money in a good way, and if any merchant gang forces the salt households, workers, and employees of Sannong and ordinary people to petition, they will have their own brocade guards to come to the door. ”

With the increase of the population of Nanzhili and the development of the economy, the commercial tax paid must be increasing year by year. Fang Yuan only collected commercial tax according to last year's fixed standard, which was a concession to the merchant gang. If even this bit of commercial tax had to be discounted, it would force Fang Yuan to send a brocade guard to go berserk.

The merchants are well aware of this, and all of them are smiling and claiming to be yes, which can be regarded as expressing their support for the new deal.

Fang Yuan's gaze fell on the seat of the government officials sitting around again, and said lightly, "The second reform plan is to delegate the power of the city department, the department of each department, and the banknote department to the state capital. Taxes are collected by the state capitals and then turned over to the treasury. ”

The prefects headed by Chen Hongmi and Wang Bingjian glanced at each other, and they could see the joy in each other's eyes.

The right to collect taxes in commercial tax is a fat difference, Fang Yuan directly delegated the right to collect taxes, and the cat in the middle is greasy, these old foxes who have been in the officialdom for many years already know it when they hear it. But after all, they are officials of the imperial court, and when they read the books of the sages, they must not follow the example of those businessmen who put excitement on their faces and lose the dignity of the imperial court.

Fang Yuan continued, "I have only one condition, the commercial tax of each department and the ship tax of the banknote customs are compared with last year's standards; The city tax, after I destroy the Zheng family and open up the sea trade, will be paid according to the proportion of 50% of the actual overseas trade volume. The rest is at the disposal of your state capitals. ”

His conditions are not harsh, the taxing power is decentralized, and he only needs to pay the standard of last year's fixed amount. In addition to the commercial taxes that should be paid, government officials can go to those merchants privately to scrape oil according to the actual amount of tax revenue, and the extra money can go into the pockets of officials.

With this kind of profit-grabbing between officials and wealthy businessmen, Fang Yuan didn't bother to interfere.

The only thing that puzzled the officials of the state governments was that these pieces of information that should have been confidential to the yamen, why did Fang Yuan say it in public?

Wang Bingjian, who was good at patting on the back, was the first to get up and arch his hand, "Xiaguan is still the old saying, everything is only the head of the governor of the party." ”

Chen Hongmi, Qu Congzhi and other prefects led the government and the governors to get up together, and said yes again and again.

Fang Yuan announced two new policies, tasted Biluochun, and said, "The third new policy is ......."

He coughed and continued, "Set up a cabinet in imitation of the imperial court system, and be responsible for the governance strategy of the state capitals under my jurisdiction, as well as the formulation of policies. This cabinet is slightly different from the cabinet of the imperial court. The cabinet was initially set at five, and it was re-elected every three years, three from the officials of the government, one from the chamber of commerce, and one from among the people. ”

Everyone looked at each other when they heard this, his idea exceeded everyone's expectations, businessmen and ordinary people could still enter the cabinet? In the eyes of everyone, this is simply a fantasy.

Everyone was dumbfounded, Fang Yuan turned a blind eye, and continued, "Under the cabinet, there are two institutions. One is the business association, which is composed of various business gangs, and the candidates for the chamber of commerce are selected by the business association. ”

"One is the people's association, which is recommended by each county among the peasants, workers, doctors, and other people who have self-cultivated land, and who can write and write, and then the people's general association will elect one person to the cabinet."

"In the first cabinet, the candidates for the business association and the people's general association were designated by me first, and the business association was Xi Benzhen of the Dongting businessmen and Xi family; The people will always enter the cabinet to open up the frontier. In the future, you will be responsible for the organization, site selection, and operation of business associations and people's associations. ”

He had communicated these arrangements with Xi Benzhen and Mao Bijiang in private, and the two stood up and gave up their orders.

Fang Yuan ordered the two to sit down, and said, "The three people who enter the cabinet from the government are designated by the governor, and those who are willing to join the cabinet can be recommended by officials above the same governor of the state government." ”

The quota for these three official governments to enter the cabinet was originally without suspense, and it should be Wang Bingjian, Chen Hongmi, and Qu Congzhi, but the premise is that the three of them are willing to take the initiative to apply for admission to the cabinet.

Wang Bingjian thought for a while, and was the first to get up and bow his hand and say, "Governor Fang, I am willing to step down from the post of governor of the two prefectures and join the cabinet to manage the government." ”

Fang Yuan nodded and said, "Okay, your position as the prefect is represented by the two governors." ”

He glanced at Chen Hongmiao and Qu Congzhi, who were silent, he knew the thoughts of these two old foxes, and he was hesitating to stand on Fang Yuan's side.

Fang Yuan, a governor, actually set up a cabinet team that can only be set up by the imperial court, and the confrontation with the imperial court is already obvious. If they don't join this cabinet, when Fang Yuan fails, the court will investigate it, and the two can be said to have been coerced by Fang Yuan and have no choice but to do it. If he enters this cabinet, he is a core member who stands on Fang Yuan's side with a clear banner, and once Fang Yuan fails, he can't even find a reason to get rid of his crimes.

Fang Yuan ordered the officials of the government to express their stance in front of everyone, and he also asked them to openly stand in line, so as not to mix in the cabinet with officials with two hearts, then laugh off the big teeth.

Since the two of them were reluctant, and the acquaintances of the other government officials did not recommend themselves, Fang Yuan did not force it, and continued, "Since there are not enough candidates for the five people, the candidates for the cabinet are tentatively composed of Wang Bingjian, Xi Benzhen, and Mao Bijiang, and Wang Bingjian is the first assistant of the cabinet. ”

"In the future, the formulation of various political strategies, the disbursement of funds for disaster relief, the construction of roads and bridges, and the appointment and dismissal of officials below shall be reported to the cabinet by the government of each government, and then the cabinet will draft a vote and submit it to the governor's office for examination and approval, and it can only be implemented after the governor's seal is affixed."

At this point, Fang Yuanquan handed over the administrative affairs to this newly established cabinet to take care of. This cabinet team, including Wang Bingjian, who has experience in government affairs and officialdom, Xi Benzhen, who is proficient in commercial cost calculation, and the upright and upright preventing the frontier, is really the most reasonable match.

The army was handed over to Jing Jie as an independent line, the Jinyi Guard of the inner court was handed over to Qin Zhan, and the independent accounting group was handed over to Xiao Yuan, and Fang Yuan was only responsible for the affairs of the prime minister and no longer handled specific affairs.

This kind of layout, which was suitable for the internal court and the outer court to contain each other, was finally successfully constructed at this moment, even if Fang Yuan was not in the Governor's Palace, and went out to fight, the affairs of each line could maintain normal operation.