Chen Zhiting is very familiar with rural issues, and he has thought a lot about the causes of poverty in rural areas.

There are many things that are wrong, for example, he believes that most of the peasants are poor now because of the exploitation of unscrupulous businessmen.

The government does not collect agricultural taxes, so it is no wonder that the peasants are poor, so the peasants are richer than in the past, and the reason for this is that the merchants are exploiting, the peasants grow grain, the grain merchants push down the low price, the peasants grow cotton, and the cotton merchants push down the low price, and the merchants sell all kinds of commodities to the countryside to raise the price, and the peasants become poor as soon as they enter and leave.

In an open commercial society, there is a relationship of free competition, and the price of agricultural products is low, which cannot be said to be the exploitation of businessmen, because farmers can choose not to sell, and the price basically follows the law of value.

The government is no longer collecting agricultural taxes, but this does not mean that the peasants really do not pay taxes, because the government collects too many indirect taxes such as transaction taxes, so people think that the peasants do not need to pay taxes, but in fact, the transaction tax costs of grain merchants are finally passed on to the peasants, and the more taxes the grain merchants pay, the more they have to lower the purchase price.

These situations cannot be understood by literati like Chen Zhiting.

Because the indirect tax is hidden, the person who goes to the tax authority to pay taxes is not the person who actually bears the tax burden, so it will cause a serious financial illusion, and it is difficult for the actual tax payer to perceive the actual tax burden, not only does not feel the pain of taxation, but also thinks that he has failed the country, and has infinite gratitude for the country and the government.

This is the perception of the peasants and the doctors who think about the peasants.

However, this illusion is beneficial, that is, because the majority of peasants do not know that they pay taxes, they have a sense of guilt that they have made no contribution to the country, so among all the groups, the peasants identify with the government the most, and the literati who do not understand this issue scold the government for all kinds of problems, and only praise the government for not collecting agricultural taxes.

Thoroughly seen government financial experts will not stand up to refute the rumors on this issue, they will only find scolding after eating too much, and I hope that this beautiful misunderstanding will be maintained.

It's just that Zhu Jinglun didn't expect the businessman to carry this pot, and I heard Chen Zhiting say that the countryside generally understands that every time the autumn harvest comes, farmers and landlords will conflict with grain merchants and be dissatisfied with the price.

Zhu Jinglun also did not correct Chen Zhiting's cognitive bias, but he made a suggestion.

China has a complete grain reserve system, and has distributed 500 million quintals of grain throughout the country, which is an expenditure of one billion yuan based on the current average grain price in the country. But in fact, the investment is not so large, and the management method of granaries in various places is basically changed every three years, one year of new grain, one year of old grain, and the third year of sale. Therefore, only one-third of the grain to be replaced every year, that is, more than 100 million quintals.

More than 100 million quintals of grain, worth 300 million, but this is not a net input. The state has given sufficient policy support to the reserve system, and now the grain depots are directly importing new grain in large quantities from foreign grain-producing countries in a tax-free manner, and the scale of one-time imports is large, plus the tax exemption, the purchase price of the grain depot is basically maintained at about one tael, which is equivalent to 1.35 taels per square meter.

In this way, the total annual procurement investment is only about 230 million taels. However, the sale of old grain can always recover some costs, the price of old grain sold in the market is about two-thirds of that of new grain, and the grain depot sells it in batches to trustworthy grain merchants in the form of wholesale, which is about half price, so the cost lost in the sale link is not large.

The largest net input of the grain depot is the maintenance of the warehouse building, the cost of transportation and the cost of grain decay, etc., this cost accounts for one-tenth of the price of grain, that is, only about 100 million taels, although it is a huge expense, but the financial can support it.

In fact, even if it can't be supported, it has to be supported, and the reserve of grain is used to prepare for famine and war, which cannot be cost-effective.

However, this expenditure was indeed too large, and the household officials who managed the grain and finances put forward various proposals, such as opening various wineries from local warehouses and making wine from old grain. Open a farm directly and feed pigs, cattle and sheep with old grain. There was also a proposal to allow Chang Ping to operate the grain store directly, giving them the privilege of selling the old grain as the new grain.

All kinds of measures are proposed every year, and many of them are passed, and finally they are vetoed by Zhu Jinglun.

Zhu Jinglun knows very well that reserves are reserves, and this is a purely money-losing business, and the investment should be invested. Trying to cut corners will only lead to bad results in the end.

What worries him the most is that in the reserve system alone, in the simple management of grain, there are all kinds of corruption problems, and there are those who collude with grain merchants to sell old grain as new grain, so that there is a one-third price difference. There are funds for the maintenance of the ink warehouse. If there is a false declaration of transportation costs, the freight rate of local grain shall be quoted as the freight rate of grain from other places. Those who do not move their nests and dump their warehouses do not import new grain, but use old grain as new grain, and only make a fuss on the books, so that they can free up a large amount of funds.

All kinds of problems will be found out every year, and people will be killed every year because of this, which is really a bloody reserve of food.

The reason why this is so is nothing more than because the interests are huge, and now that this is the case, let him enter the economic market, it will be more complicated, there is more room for manoeuvre, and it will be more difficult to monitor. And the reserve is officialdom and is privileged. Once you start making profits, the impact on the market is unimaginable.

Moreover, Zhu Jinglun has no confidence in the efficiency of the government-run industry, if they are allowed to open a farm and raise livestock and make no money, they will ask for permission to operate slaughtering and processing leather, and if they can't make money, they will say that they will open shops, and in the end I am afraid that they will only be reduced to relying on privileges to speculate on real estate and other industries for profit.

Because of its huge scale, the government can only allow this industry to snowball step by step, even if it is inefficient.

Compared with the net investment of 100 million yuan per year, Zhu Jinglun is worried that letting the reserve grain depot operate the industry may have greater side effects.

Now we can fine-tune that the reserve is mainly to directly import cheap grain from abroad, rice is imported from the South Seas, and wheat is imported from Russia and the United States. Generally speaking, one-third of the annual grain is imported, and even though only old grain is put on the market, it still gives grain traders the opportunity to lower prices.

If we can transfer grain reserves from abroad to China, even though the purchase price will be higher. But with the elimination of one-third of the tax-free grain, domestic food prices will rise, ultimately benefiting farmers and agriculture. From an economic point of view, it is actually just reducing imports and protecting the domestic industry.

Strategically speaking, domestic food self-sufficiency is very important, and always relying on imports is not always the solution.

As for the reserve system, after the reserve system began to purchase domestic grain at protective prices, first, domestic grain prices rose and peasants took bribes, and second, small and medium-sized grain merchants, who originally relied mainly on domestic grain operations, could only raise prices. In the short term, it will lead to a decrease in imports, and over time, large grain merchants will still change to the role of the national grain bank in the past, and they will begin to import directly from abroad.

As a result, the National Reserve System has shifted its acquisition targets from abroad to domestically, making it more controllable and secure. There is also more room for choice, once this kind of conversion is passed, so that domestic grain production can meet the requirements, grain imports from abroad can be restricted, and tariffs can be raised. If it cannot be satisfied, 500 million quintals of grain reserves are enough to maintain food security for one year. There is sufficient buffer time.

Another consequence is that the reserve system will no longer import grain directly from abroad, and the cost of procurement will rise significantly, and this part of the cost is the farmer's handiwork. The cost will be passed on from the fiscal expenditure to the whole people, so to speak, the whole people will subsidize the farmers.

Of course, after reducing imports, there will be trade frictions with foreign countries, but there is no less trade friction with Russia and the United States, after the war with the United States, the Americans continue to manipulate the issue of tariffs, although they do not dare to increase import tariffs on Chinese products, but it is still possible to reduce tariffs to specific countries, for example, they have greatly reduced Japan's tariffs on raw silk and tea, resulting in a sharp decline in China's exports to the United States. Russia has continuously raised tariffs on industrial products, China's silk imports to Russia have declined, and it has also competed with China for the Mongolian and Northeast markets, and through various privileges, the Jin merchants have been squeezed out of these two markets, and Chinese products have been squeezed out of these two markets. Russian cotton cloth and woolen products have monopolized the Mongolian market and Heilongjiang.

Coupled with the fact that sooner or later China will have to go to war with Russia, it is essential to reduce its dependence on Russian grain.

As far as Chen Zhiting is concerned, he can use this as a name to play the banner of enriching the people, and the political benefits are very great, which will allow him to quickly gain a firm foothold.

What is missing now is to make Chen Zhiting's comeback.

Shang Shuling is Hurd, it is not easy to let Hurd give way, even if his foundation is very unstable, but after all, he is Shang Shuling, and there are still intricate relationships in the officialdom, under the current system, it is a big political move to move officials at this level.

So Zhu Jinglun decided to talk to Hurd first.

After a long conversation with Zhu Jinglun, he understood that the emperor wanted him to resign smoothly, and even if he did not agree, he would only be deposed in the end and bring humiliation upon himself. From the moment Chen Zhiting came to Nanjing, he knew that his Shangshu order had been achieved. At that time, he thought it clearly, and if there was no confrontation, no one would benefit except for some political turmoil. Take the initiative to back down, so that he can go with honor, even if he returns to the UK, he will return home.

But Hurd is still a little reluctant, he is a person who is greedy for power, or greedy for power. Fortunately, Zhu Jinglun left him leeway, specially appointed him as China's political general adviser, and gave him the power to make suggestions on any matter, and it was conveyed directly to the emperor's ears, without having to be reviewed by anyone in the process.

The position is still higher than that of the three provinces, and he will continue to be paid according to the position of Shang Shuling.

So soon there was a dramatic situation, Hurd suddenly submitted his resignation to the emperor, on the grounds that he was old and in poor health, and the emperor repeatedly retained, and after a "deep talk", it was difficult to refuse the sincerity of the emperor's corporal Lixian, Hurd reluctantly agreed to continue to serve the Chinese government, but only accepted an adviser status, and did not intend to continue to participate in politics.

So everyone rejoiced, and then Chen Zhiting was urgently reinstated, as if because Hurd left suddenly, the emperor could not find a suitable candidate.

After Chen Zhiting came to power, he immediately announced his purpose of governance, which was to enrich the people.

Not to mention his program, his own ascension to power alone was enough to win the support of a large number of scholars and doctors. Public opinion has shown more support for him than expected. Let Hurd can't help but sigh, he has tried his best, and still can't make people accept that he is a Chinese.