Qiao Huaili, the chief secretary of the State Buzheng Cao Economic and Commercial Division, was divided by Qin Gu, the chief of the political department, in the evening. This is the last day of the Cold Food Festival, and it stands to reason that he should be able to rest at home, but Lao Qiao knows that Qin Gu has been in charge of the department for the past few days, and he has not rested for four days, and his boss is still like this, so he naturally has no complaints as a subordinate. When he came to the Political Bureau, Qin Gu was arranging the next day's public field meeting, and talked with Wang Chong, the chief bookkeeper of Gao Shaoyuan Sinong of Yan'an County, in the inner hall. Qiao Huaili waited under the porch for a while.

Since the beginning of the year, the meeting on Gongtian has been held eight times, and there have been eight meetings in the early two months, but there has been no definite result so far. Qiao Huaili has also heard of this, in fact, everyone in the Government Administration knows that this year's number one government affairs in Yanzhou is extremely difficult to handle, which involves the fundamental interests of the major families in Yanzhou, and it is intertwined and involved, not to mention that it takes two months, it takes a year and a half, as long as it does not end up fighting each other, it is considered luck to roll up the bloody storm in Yanzhou.

After a while, Qin Gu sent the two officials out, Qiao Huaili and the two of them looked at each other, and hurriedly made a gesture, Qin Gu had already seen him, and said, "Master Qiao's book will be later, and he will walk back quickly!" ”

Qiao Huaili was wondering, and before he could figure it out, the young political director had already put on a robe and walked out: "Master Qiao is going with Ben Cao." ”

The two of them did not ride horses or cars, so they walked out of the government office in a safe car, walked a dozen steps along the official street, turned onto the main road in the city, walked more than ten steps, and stopped in front of a grand mansion.

Qiao Huaili is a native of Yanzhou. No matter how confused he is, he knows the words "Eighth Route Army Festival Mansion" on the halberd in front of the door and the plaque, not to mention that the two sentry posts with guns on both sides of the door are eyeing him.

Suddenly coming to the highest military and political office in this state, Qiao Huaili was surprised and felt quite worried, and he didn't know what Qin Gu meant by bringing himself here.

Qin Gu knocked on the door, the door opened, and an officer walked out from inside, and when he saw Qin Gu, he hurriedly gave a salute: "Qin Buzheng is here, my lord is waiting in the living room!" ”

Qin Gu nodded slightly, and led Qiao Huaili into the mansion under the guidance of the officer. At this point, Qiao Huaili had vaguely guessed the purpose of this trip. Nowadays, almost everyone in Yanzhou officialdom knows that civilian officials occasionally call each other "adults" when they meet, but there is no other person who mentions "adults" in Yanzhou, especially referring to Li Wenge, the supreme governor of Yanzhou Domain. Shogunate officials and county magistrates below Qin Gu are generally referred to as official positions, just like Qin Gu or "Qin Chief" or "Qin Buzheng", while Qiao Huaili is called "Qiao Chief" or "Qiao Jingshang", even for Li Bin, the head of the Yanzhou civil officials, who has now been prominently promoted to Pingzhangshi. It is only called "Li Xianggong" or "Li Chengxiang".

My lord, it is the exclusive name of Li Wenge in the Yanzhou army, and this practice has a tendency to gradually spread in Yanzhou officialdom.

However, Qiao Huaili was secretly surprised, didn't Li Wenge go to Beijing to meet the Son of Heaven? Could it be that he has returned? But the return of the marshal to the domain is such a big event. The county officials didn't have time to inform them, but it was quite strange that even the officials of the state Cao didn't notify them, and General Li came back. The officials of the state administration went to the city gate to hold a welcoming ceremony, which was always necessary for the etiquette.

Suspicious. He followed Qin Gu into the main hall. But I saw a young man with a thin body and a bad face pacing in the hall, and he did not wear a veil. But that purple robe revealed his identity. In Yanzhou, there are only two people who are qualified to wear purple robes at the moment, and judging from their age, this person is obviously not Li Bin.

There was a man in cloth sitting on the side seat in the hall, with his two eyes and eyelids lowered, and a cynical look on his face, but he didn't know who was able to sit peacefully in front of a marshal domain.

"Huairen, I brought Master Qiao's book!" Qin Gu was not polite, and said to Li Wenge as soon as he came up. Judging from the tone, he had obviously met this section marshal beforehand.

Li Wenge turned around, his two eyes turned on Qiao Huaili, nodded, and arched his hand: "It's disrespectful to summon the master book at night." Under the Li Cultural Revolution! ”

Qiao Huaili hurriedly saluted and said, "I've seen the general in my humble position!" ”

Li Wenge nodded: "Master Qiao doesn't have to be polite, please sit down!" ”

Then he stretched out his hand and introduced: "This is the son of the old general Han of the Beijing Forbidden Army, who is secretive, and is currently temporarily living in the curtain of the Cultural Revolution!" ”

Several people saluted each other, sat down on the side of the master, and Li Wenge said straight to the point: "Qiao's master book revised the law of trade and trade, the Cultural Revolution has already read it, and today I invite the master book to come over in order to discuss this matter in detail." ”

Qiao Huaili arched his hand: "Please advise the general!" ”

Li Wenge smiled: "I don't dare to advise, Qiao's master book is recommended by Zijian, and he knows a lot about business." Zijian deeply agreed with the proposal of the two cities of Yanzhou to build the east and west cities respectively, and the proposal of the directors of the two cities of Yanzhou was deeply agreed, and the law of salt and iron monopoly was customized since ancient times. This negligent discussion can be called decent. ”

Although he was polite, Qiao Huaili immediately understood that this festival marshal did not fully agree with his place, and could even be said to have relatively large reservations. Although he believed that he had a deep understanding of this way, he still bowed his hand very humbly: "The general has something to say, but it is said that this proposal has not yet been finalized. ”

Li Wenge nodded and said, "There are a few questions, discuss with the main book!" ”

"General, please speak!"

Li Wenge said: "The East City in Fushi County has been quite large-scale, there is no objection, but the West City still needs to be created from scratch, and the main book proposes to set up a West City in Yan'an City, but I don't know how much the construction cost of this West City is?" In addition, since there is already an East Market, why do businessmen still have to go to the West Market to make a living and open shops, the Cultural Revolution has thought about this matter for a long time, but I don't know the essentials, please master the book for me to solve my doubts! ”

Qiao Huaili pondered the words and said: "General Yu, since the Tang Dynasty, business and trade have been frequent, and the profits are not shallow, so it began in Chang'an to set up the east city and the west city, and the ether government has jurisdiction over it, and then Jiuding moved eastward, and the Luoyang city system is different from Chang'an, so it is divided into the south city and the north city. Later added to the west of the city. The idea is nothing more than to designate a place for merchants to set up shops to buy and sell goods, and the government will extract taxes from them to enrich the people and enrich the country. The two cities of Yanzhou Prefecture are opposed, and the wealthy families in Xicheng are the majority, and the people who buy and sell in the market are the majority, and the luxury things are the majority; There are many poor households in Dongcheng, and most of the traders are cheap things, so they are divided into two cities and have a director. It can be clearer. Otherwise, there is only one East Market, and the procurement of large households in Yan'an needs to be involved in the city, which is too far away and inconvenient. Moreover, the poor people in the east city came and went, and the scholars did not like to be among them, so they set up the west city in Yan'an, just for this matter. As for Fei Mo, he is consulting Gaoming Mansion to prepare a budget these days, and he will have a result in a few days. Roughly estimated, it should not exceed 5,000 guan ......"

Li Wenge nodded. Qiao Huaili had already thought of this reason for setting up the market in advance, and he smiled slightly when he heard it: "Master Qiao." Zijian must have told you about the state finance. This year, the state government committee did not allocate 5,000 yuan to build the market. I've been to Higashi before. The houses are shabby and dilapidated, and they are indeed not in shape. Your idea of building the West Market is actually not bad, but I am afraid that I will not be able to implement it this year. ”

Qiao Huaili was speechless, these days he and Qin Gu have been arguing and disagreeing about this, according to Qiao Huaili's estimate of the transaction volume of the Yanzhou merchant horse team, the investment of five thousand yuan can be recovered from the commercial tax in one and a half to two years at most, and then it will be a net profit, but Li Wenge has no money now, and he can't say anything, financial constraints are a fact after all. Actually, such as

He was in charge of the government and was willing to attach importance to commerce and trade, and he already felt that he was far-sighted, and he didn't even have the ambition to think about it.

Li Wenge looked at Qiao Huaili and said slowly: "Master Qiao, if you don't know how to set up a bazaar, is it difficult to restrict the trade of Yanzhou only from the law?" ”

"That's nature!" Qiao Huaili smiled bitterly, "If there is no market, there can be no tax collection." The general Mingjian, the merchants made a profit, and the government had no way to investigate, so they could only set up a bazaar, collect the rent of the merchants who opened the shop, and enter the caravan in the place of trading, as long as they paid a certain amount of money tax according to the capitation, they could enter, which was a practice for hundreds of years. If there is no bazaar, there will be no way to collect taxes, so the government will naturally not be able to profit from it. ”

Li Wenge nodded: "I think this is the place, although the ancient law is good, but it is not unfair, although it is easy to collect taxes in this way, it restricts the flow of business, and also restricts the income of the treasury!" ”

Qiao Huaili was very curious about this statement, the trade volume of the Tang Dynasty was not small, and the country benefited a lot from it, and the eastern and western cities of Chang'an had an extremely prosperous and prosperous period, and Li Wenge actually said at this moment that this kind of system and policy restricted the flow of business and limited the income of the treasury, although he disagreed with it in his heart, he said: "I wish to hear the general Gao Zhi!" ”

Li Wenge said: "First, the merchant shop, whether it makes money or not, how much it earns, is according to the size of the shop to collect rent, the monthly profit of 10,000 yuan is consistent money, the loss of 10,000 yuan is also consistent money, the huge profit of the government can not share its profits, and the huge loss of the government can not reduce its burden." Although it seems fair on the surface, it will actually lead to the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer, and in the long run, there will always be a big merchant who will monopolize the entire market, and then he only needs to pay a fixed amount of rent to monopolize the larger and larger market. ”

"The same is true of the merchants in the place of entry and trade, regardless of the amount of goods, only the tax is paid according to the capitation, so that the weak are not supported and the strong are not restrained, and it is really not a good law......

Qiao Huaili listened with a puzzled face: "I don't understand what the adults mean, what does the loss and profit of the merchants have to do with the government?" ”

Li Wenge sighed, this is the limitation of officials in this era, even the officials directly responsible for trade and taxation are difficult to accept this kind of slightly in-depth economic concept, not to mention other scholars and doctors who sit in the court and talk loudly to pay their baht. In his memory, there is the Tang generation, for this kind of accounting work is very despised, the early Tang Dynasty Shangshu Province six departments and twenty-four divisions, willing to serve as responsible for the financial work of the Duzhilang Zhongdi officials almost none, actually worked left servant Fang Xuanling to personally put the straw stick plan plate with the dignity of the prime minister.

He thought for a while and said, "Master Qiao, all dynasties and dynasties have strictly punished and suppressed the annexation of land, what is the purpose?" ”

"Restrain the strong and help the weak, so that the cultivators have their fields and the common people have food, and there will be no rebellion and disorder; If you control too much land, you will become a local tycoon, or even evolve into a feudal town......"

Speaking of this, Qiao Huaili hurriedly shut up, and there was a feudal town sitting in front of him, and he accidentally said the taboo words.

Li Wenge didn't notice it at all, and said with a smile: "It is precisely this truth, the government and the local law, fundamentally speaking, are designed to restrain the strong and help the weak. It is not easy for the strong to grow bigger, so that the weak do not perish, not only in land and agriculture, but also in industry and commerce. The fundamental purpose of the government is not to set up a city to collect taxes from merchants to replenish the government treasury, but to ensure that the merchant group can buy and sell fairly and trade freely, so that the wealth of the people can be multiplied, and when the people become rich, the government will naturally become rich......"

Ignorant, Qiao Huaili seemed to understand a little, and he hesitated and opened his mouth to say: "The great general means that those merchants who make money are like powerful families, and those traders who lose money are like tenants and outcasts. The law of the shopping mall should be like the change of the mu tax system planned by the general and Qin Buzheng, so that those who make money pay more taxes and those who lose pay less taxes, so that it is in line with the law of heaven? ”

Li Wenge said with a smile: "Master Qiao is a great talent, but one thing is not accurate, it is not to make the loss pay less taxes, people have already lost their heads, how can the government bear to collect taxes again?" Merchants who lose money can not pay taxes, and in the event of floods and droughts in agricultural affairs, the imperial court must always exempt them from taxes or even provide disaster relief, and the same is true for commercial affairs. ”

Qiao Huaili smiled bitterly: "General, this matter is easy to say, but it is too difficult to do, businessmen are villains who value profit over righteousness." The government is like this, who is willing to say that they have made money, and they all say that they have lost money, can I still send people to check the accounts one by one? Besides, the account is just a description, and if people change it casually, making money will become losing money, and every household is like this, and you can also check it, and every household is like this. ”

Li Wenge laughed, but Qin Gu had a straight face: "Huairen, don't laugh, what Master Qiao said is true, and there is no half-truth." Always be pragmatic in doing things, although your ideas are good, they are not realistic! ”

Li Wenge glanced at the two of them calmly, and said slowly: "I just said that the laws of the government are actually set up to make the world balanced, and everything is the same, such as Shinong Industry and Commerce. The so-called no way, in fact, I didn't come up with a good way, I do have an idea, I can say to the two of you to consider, but my method is only a suggestion, not a fate, to know if this method is suitable, just a few of us sit in the official office and talk about it. What I mean is that some merchants from the private sector are invited to come, first invite a few big merchants who make money, and then invite a few merchants who have just lost money in business to consult their opinions, and then revise them in detail, and then choose a trial date, and after a trial period of one year, then determine the final law. ”

Qiao Huaili was taken aback: "The business department is the government office that controls the merchants, and you want to invite the businessmen to discuss politics?" ”

Qin Gu was also stunned: "Huairen, businessmen are mostly villains, what good can it do to invite them to discuss politics and law?" Do you still expect these people to spit out the fat in their mouths? ”

Li Wenge said: "The ancients had the distinction of gentlemen and villains, which illustrates a truth, the world will always be a gentleman and villain, that is, when three generations of holy kings govern things, the world cannot be said to be all gentlemen." The so-called gentleman is righteous, the villain is profitable, it is said to be moral, the gentleman is righteous, but he can't just rely on a few books of sages and sages, he still has to have money and food in the treasury; The villain is very profitable, but in business, it is also necessary to pay attention to honesty and fairness, otherwise there will be no secret existence of guilds from all walks of life. This trip outside the customs has touched the Cultural Revolution a lot, and the most humble brothel in Qinglou also has rules and regulations to abide by. To put it bluntly, not only gentlemen are afraid of chaos in the world, but villains are also afraid of chaos. Since the business department is a businessman, it is a government office dedicated to the villains, as an official, it is the duty of the official to have a sense of righteousness; However, if the ruler of profit and disregard the person who seeks profit, it is tantamount to seeking fish from the wood, and the law will inevitably become rootless water, and eventually it will go in the opposite direction. The government governs affairs, advocates practicality, and does not deal with the governed, how can it be realistic? ”

Qin Gu understood what he said, although Qiao Huaili still didn't agree, he no longer used "villain's words" to prevaricate, he frowned and said: "Since the general insists, please clarify Fang Yuan, and try to convene all parties to discuss it......"