Liu Xu didn't think that this suggestion could be implemented, and if it could really be implemented, Chongzhen would not be finished so quickly in history. He cleared his throat www.biquge.info sighed, and tried his best to show his sense of loss that his opinion was not adopted: "In this case, the students have a second plan: to measure the tax and collect the commercial tax tariff. ”

The emperor seemed to feel a little ashamed to flatly reject Liu Xu just now, after all, he had just sworn that he would be Qin Xiaogong and Song Shenzong, so he said loudly: "Mr. Liu can talk about it in detail." ”

"Back to Your Majesty, our country is based on agriculture, the prosperity of small farmers is the prosperity of the country, the decline of small farmers is the decline of the country, more than half of the country's income comes from small farmers, but today small farmers are tired, the tax base is weak, it is really not a long-term solution! For example, students like to make friends with heroes from all over the world, and there are quite a few people in the rivers and lakes who defect, but now the drought and lack of rain in Shanxi and Shaanxi, the government is increasingly exploiting, and the small farmers have to flee in groups, and although people evade taxes unchanged, it is the people who have not escaped who are becoming more and more difficult, this is the vicious circle that students say! In the long run, I am afraid that the people will rise up one after another, and the traitors will breed, if it is not governed, I am afraid that there will be a spark, and finally it will be eroded and out of control! I have a national policy of "using the wealth of the southeast to raise the horses of the northwest", if you cancel the miscellaneous taxes of Shanxi and collect taxes from the southeast, you can solve the urgent need! ”

"Mr. is indeed a loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty!" Emperor Chongzhen nodded again and again, although he may not think that this plan is feasible, but Liu Xu asked for taxes from his hometown, which is to disregard his reputation for the sake of the country, such a person is not a loyal minister, who is a loyal minister! But he still wondered: "If this is the case, where will the money come from?" The state has four million taels of silver in Taicang every year, and a number of additional salaries are distributed, which is already exhaustive for the people. ”

"How can the Southeast not be supported? The saint can know that this sea trade and textile have several times the benefits, but there has never been a lot of taxes, and everyone in the southeast is full of money, but it is useless in national affairs! If taxes are levied from here, students are estimated to have nearly 10 million in taxes every year! ”

When Chongzhen heard the words "nearly 10 million", his eyes immediately lit up, but he immediately understood that even if what Liu Xu said was true, he could really win so many taxes, and he couldn't get this money - the officials were all spokesmen for the southeast forces, how could they collect their own taxes? He thought about it deeply, Liu Xu's second strategy is complementary to the first, if he really has a group of officials under him who are not afraid of life and death, do not seek fame and fortune, and take the emperor's will as the highest program, this problem is not insurmountable, but he does not dare to touch the interests of the imperial examination officials at all, how can he send people to collect taxes!

Liu Xu didn't seem to see the face of the young emperor, and continued to preach endlessly: "This third article is to eliminate the tired and weak soldiers and form a new army division-"

"Sir, I don't need to say any more, I'm a little tired."

The young man was suddenly a little bored, and Liu Xu laid out one good dish after another for him, which seemed to be full of color, flavor, and taste, but in fact, he couldn't implement it.

He is the Son of Heaven, known as the Ninety-Five, admired by all the people, and returned to the heart of the world; He is the son of Emperor Guangzong, the brother of Emperor Apocalypse, and his bloodline is extremely noble; He is a young genius, just a few months after he succeeded to the throne, he quietly got rid of the great evil, determined to innovate, and unswerving, but he just wanted to show his skills, but he ran headlong into the cold reality!

Liu Xu is an immortal, everyone believes this, but this person can't be used by him - and the reason is not that Liu Xu is unwilling to serve him, but that he, Emperor Chongzhen dare not use it!

It turns out that the emperor also has something to be afraid of, and it turns out that the emperor doesn't just do whatever he wants!

The Emperor was suddenly a little afraid, just as he had been afraid of the ghosts in the palace when he was a child, and they hid in the dark, looking at him coldly, and he didn't know when he would rush out and bite him. And the current Ming officials and gentlemen are not such ghosts in the dark!

He was afraid, he looked at the handsome young man in front of him, looked at his lips rolling up and down, his eyes flashed with wisdom, and suddenly sighed in his heart - how similar we are, you have an ambition to serve the country, you have seen through the shortcomings of the Ming Dynasty, but you can't implement your own strategy, I am a great tomorrow, I get an immortal talent like you, but I dare not appoint you to reform!

It is impossible for him to let Liu Xu be a petty official casually - such a person, if he can't carry out his ambitions, would rather be idle at home for the rest of his life than be a petty official. And let him be a big official, that is, he must be reformed, but do you have this determination?

Does he dare to challenge the entire Ming Dynasty scholars and cut their roots?

He didn't dare.

There are many enemies in front of him, there is an ancestral system, there is a scholar class, there are old-fashioned forces, he is just a lonely person, and the people closest to him are actually a group of eunuchs without roots, and even these people are mostly corrupt and corrupt!

"Oh my God, oh my God, is this really going to kill me?" The young emperor lamented, his eyes glinting with grief and weakness.

It's not terrible to fail, it's terrible to know that you're going to fail before you even try.

Not everyone has the courage to "know what is not to be done", and this is also the great thing about Confucius.

Chongzhen can't be Confucius, he is just a seventeen-year-old boy Tianzi.

Although he is a son of heaven, he is also a young man.

Liu Xu was talking nonsense, while observing the emperor's expression attentively, watching the firmness in the emperor's eyes gradually waver, knowing that occasionally tears flashed, and he couldn't help but be overjoyed in his heart - the emperor was still a teenager after all, his mind was not firm enough, and he had already broken the psychological defense line by himself!

If Chongzhen, who was already in his thirties, had gradually gone crazy, he would not dare to make such a big statement, but now Chongzhen is still a young man with illusions and innovation, and there is a lot of action!

"Your Majesty, the three strategies just now are the best policies, if the emperor thinks that he can't adopt them, the students still have the middle strategies!" Liu Xu accepted it when he saw it, if he really suppressed the emperor's enthusiasm, it would be difficult to do the rest of the matter, so he took out the so-called middle strategy.

"Middle?" The emperor was a little puzzled, but he still had a glimmer of hope and asked, "What about this strategy?" ”

"Back to the emperor, this scholar and doctor are not monolithic. If it is said that the people and jinshi are naturally unwilling to be taxed by the emperor, they must be identified and resisted. But the art of war is cloudy, avoiding the real and attacking the false, and they naturally have weaknesses among them! ”

"Where's the underbelly?"

"Born Soldiers! The Ming Dynasty has only 300 scholars per subject, and only 5,000 people have participated in the imperial examination, but there are as many as 600,000 scholars in the world! Among them, only a very small part of them can be lifted, and the vast majority of people can only be a show for the rest of their lives - can't the emperor's cronies fall from these people! ”

The emperor was still a little puzzled: "Even so, these people are really willing to follow me to collect taxes from the scholars and gentlemen?" ”

"How not! The students have long been dissatisfied with the preferential treatment of the scholars and scholars, as long as the emperor provides them with a way to become officials, this student is called 'room for improvement', how can they refuse to serve our emperor - you know, the only master of this world is my emperor! ”

The emperor seemed to be moved, and his body changed from laziness before to leaning forward slightly: "If you say so, this is not feasible, it's just that where to find them an official position, this Ming Dynasty has 20,000 official positions, and it is impossible to create an official position for them again!" ”

"It's easy to do, this is the method of the 'village council' that the students have been talking about!" Liu Xu did not hesitate at all, and said loudly: "The ancestral system is cloudy, and the imperial power is not lower than the county, but this has its internal situation - when the world was first decided, there were few scholars, where could there be so many scholars to manage the countryside, so I had to stipulate that the county officials were not allowed to go out of the city if they had nothing to do, so as not to disturb the people." However, now that there are as many as 600,000 scholars, if they can be allowed to enter the village management, it can not only strengthen the emperor's jurisdiction over the countryside, prevent fools and fools from ignoring the Holy King's teachings, but also use the way of Confucius and Mencius to influence them, so that cults such as the White Lotus Sect have no room to survive! ”

Emperor Chongzhen's eyes flashed with hesitation, although his psychological defense line had been broken, and his weakness and helplessness were completely displayed silently, but this did not mean that he could make such a decision easily.

This decision will determine the future political direction and social structure of the empire, and any reasonable emperor will listen to his opinions and make a prudent decision, not to mention the Chongzhen who intends to become a wise king.

Liu Xu didn't talk much, he just mentioned lightly: "Your Majesty, although the student has received the favor of my emperor and received the title of champion and first, but the student who fell with the student does not have any reward at the moment. If you can't give them some rewards, I'm afraid that it will chill the hearts of the world's scholars, and the hearts of the people will be scattered, and things will not be easy to do! ”

"This-" Emperor Chongzhen was a little speechless, Liu Xu did not mention his own interests in a single sentence before, and thought about the country in every sentence, so this young son of heaven subconsciously believed that every sentence of Liu Xu was the words of the old man to seek the country, he thought about it carefully, but he felt a little creepy-since these young scholars were able to follow Liu Xu and defeat Wei Zhongxian, who was as powerful as the sun in one fell swoop, if they couldn't give them enough benefits, how could they not turn their guns against themselves?

Who can guarantee that?

No one can guarantee it!

The suspicious Emperor Chongzhen looked at Liu Xu with suspicious eyes, and he suddenly realized that the power of this young man in front of him was too strong - he was respected by the people of the world, founded the new Confucian school, and he responded to the call of the people who ascended to the heights, killing officials was like killing dogs, and he was simply the second emperor in addition to having no military power.

No, this young champion is estimated to have a higher reputation than the emperor in the hearts of the scholars, after all, the emperor has just succeeded to the throne, and he has no kindness to the scholars, and he leads the scholars to a victory with one!

He was first deeply afraid, and then deeply afraid, whether this fear was mixed with a trace of inexplicable jealousy and worship, and the young son of heaven could not tell.

"What a joke, I am rich all over the world and dominate the world, how can I be jealous of a scholar!" The young emperor comforted himself in this way, but his clenched fists and deeply furrowed brow betrayed him.

You are a son of heaven, but you are jealous and envious of a courtier, it is simply a big joke in the world!

Note 1: Gondefrank's "Silver Capital" believes that from the mid-16th century to the mid-17th century, about 7,000-1,000 tons of silver flowed into China (including silver from North and South America and Japan, not counting gold), and this does not include China's original silver reserves, Jiangnan was the economic center of the late Ming Dynasty, accounting for the vast majority of the circulating funds, so it is reasonable to think that Jiangnan had two or three hundred million taels of silver at the end of the Ming Dynasty.