Luo Jian and Liu Lan discussed for a long time, calmed down and analyzed, the consequences of the forced cessation of the new deal were not as serious as imagined, and the most headache was the financial problem.

The new policy, such as the separation of military and government administration, the disclosure of officials' assets, and the practice of promoting science, has not yet been implemented, but it has no impact on the situation, but the most influential is the tax policy.

Some of these tax policies have been in place for several months, such as the collection of industrial and commercial taxes, and if these policies return to the policies before the Ming Dynasty, Yangzhou's finances will immediately be tightened, and there is even a possibility of collapse.

In the Ming Dynasty, the share of taxes on industry and commerce was surprisingly low, and the policy of 30 taxes and one tax stipulated by Zhu Yuanzhang, Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, has been continued. This was not too much of a problem in the predominantly agricultural era, where the share of industry and commerce was already extremely low, and the tax revenue was low, and the impact on the economy as a whole was not great.

But Yangzhou is currently vigorously developing industry and commerce, according to Luo Jian and Liu Lan calculations, by next year, the proportion of industry and commerce in Yangzhou will exceed agriculture, the rapid growth of industry and commerce, the government in order to cope with these emerging industries, will also open new management agencies, expenditures will inevitably increase accordingly, if taxes do not increase, where is the money to set up institutions? Not to mention some infrastructure.

And next year, all divisions in Yangzhou will be reequipped, all equipped with new rifles, if the fiscal and tax policy goes back to the past, I am afraid that this change of equipment will not be able to talk about it, and the cost of all firearms troops is not comparable with cold weapons at all.

Last night, Luo Jian and Liu Lan discussed for a long time that they wanted to solve the financial problem, and the problem of taxation should be solved at the root.

Luo Jian regretted that he was impulsive, he had to vote on something, and in this situation, if he wanted to solve it, it was much more difficult than before, and the two discussed it for half a night, and they didn't come up with a good solution.

Luo Jian went to Shi Kefa's mansion early in the morning, and planned to discuss with Shi Kefa, Ren Minyu and Yuan Jixian again to see if there was any solution.

After drinking a big glass of wine last night and staying up late, Liu Lan got up a little late, and when she got up, Cui'er came to tell her that a woman from outside the house came to look for her.

Recently, there were a lot of women who came to look for Liulan, and Liulan didn't pay much attention to it, so she was led into the house and taken directly to the restaurant.

The women who came in were wrapped in headscarves and wrapped themselves tightly, leaving only one pair of eyes outside.

The woman entered the restaurant and didn't speak, but just looked at Liu Lan, her eyes meaning that she had something to say to Liu Lan alone.

Liu Lan put down the bowl and led the woman into her study, leaving Cui'er to guard the door.

Only then did the woman take off her headscarf, and Liu Lan saw that she knew Aunt Liu, who opened a restaurant on the right side outside the house gate.

"Aunt Liu, why are you so tightly packed, are you afraid that people will recognize you?" Liu Lan asked with a smile.

"Miss Liu, it's not like that, I'm afraid that people will recognize me." Aunt Liu is not restrained here in Liulan, obviously not the first time she has come.

"Oh, Aunt Liu, what's new for you?" Liu Lan asked, she had already told Aunt Liu that her restaurant was full of people, and she could get a lot of news, so please come over and tell her if there is any situation.

"Oh, Miss Liu, I heard about the vote yesterday, why didn't the new deal in Yangzhou pass, I know that the majority of the governors are for the good of our people, why are these people unwilling?" Aunt Liu said.

"I said Aunt Liu, you didn't come today to tell me this, did you?" Liu Lan said with a smile.

"Miss Liu, I'm going to say, after I heard the news yesterday, I couldn't figure it out, I paid attention at dinner in the evening, when two people entered my small restaurant very proudly, saying that they were voting representatives, looking at their proud appearance, I was a little angry."

Aunt Liu didn't talk for a long time, and Liu Lan was not in a hurry, she knew Aunt Liu's personality and slowly waited for her to finish speaking.

"These two people ordered a lot of dishes when they ate, and they also asked for wine, and when they drank too much, they talked a little bit out of the door, although their voices were very small, I still listened to a real thing, I heard someone say that he got fifty taels of silver, which was worth his income for two years, and another person said that he got sixty taels, and the man was not convinced, saying that everyone is the same, why did he get ten taels more?"

When Liu Lan heard this, she became alert, and her attention was all focused on Aunt Liu.

Later, I heard from the man who had received sixty taels of silver that he had received ten taels more because he had contacted another person, and the man in front of him regretted it, saying that he could also contact several people, and that in that case, he would not have to work for several years. When I heard this, I felt that something was wrong, everyone voted, who gave them the silver? I thought about it all night and didn't figure it out, so I came over and told Miss Liu that I was also afraid of accidents, so I wrapped myself tighter. Aunt Liu smiled a little embarrassedly.

"Aunt Liu, thank you! This news is so important to us! But for the safety of your whole family, I can only wronged you, I Liulan remembers your affection! Liu Lan said gratefully.

"Miss Liu, what are you talking about? Since you came, you have saved the lives of all our Yangzhou people, and then everything you did, others don't know, I can understand in my heart, you are not for yourself, for the good of our people, who wants to harm your business, I don't agree, Miss Liu, I'll go back, I'll tell you what the situation is. After Aunt Liu finished speaking, she wrapped herself in a headscarf and hurried out.

Liu Lan pondered for a long time, and she didn't bother to go to breakfast anymore, so she hurriedly went to the Governor's Mansion.

Luo Jian was sitting in the superintendent's mansion with Shi Kefa and the others at this time, relatively speechless, just now a few people had been discussing for a long time, but they didn't find any good way, and they were worried.

"Brother Luo, Inspector, this vote will not count!" Liu Lan rushed in in a hurry.

"How can it not be counted? If we say it, if it doesn't count, it won't work to say anything in the future. Shi Kefa said helplessly.

"Hey! I'm not talking about this, this vote is a big problem! You're all in the dark. Only then did Liu Lan tell Aunt Liu what she had told her just now.

"Is this the case?" When Luo Jian and Shi Kefa heard this, they all stood up.

"Haha! I'm worried, Miss Liu, you're such a good person! Yuan Jixian laughed, and Lu Zhenfei was completely sad.

"Why are you still happy?" Shi Kefa looked at the two of them suspiciously.

"Arrange for someone to investigate thoroughly! If this matter is not investigated, we will never give up! Luo Jian was also in good spirits, he thought about it all night yesterday, he had already figured it out, compared to the invisible things, it is the most important thing to drive the Tartars out of China first with most people.

This thin veil proved to be of no protective effect in the face of a real machine of violence, and the investigation quickly yielded results.

The matter was done by more than a dozen officials sent to Yangzhou by Ma Shiying.

After learning that the new policy would be decided by a vote, they began to join forces, and that's not all, they paid their own money, and found some people to participate in the discussion, most of them were scholars and peasants from relatively poor families, and each paid fifty taels of silver for them to vote against.

In this era of less than twenty taels of silver per year, fifty taels of silver is a real huge amount of money for ordinary families, and almost no one can resist this temptation of the people they found.

Three days later, the meeting was held again in the small square of Yangzhou, this time no longer to vote, but to announce the results.

The dozen or so officials who participated in the series were all dismissed, and the voting representatives who received the money were recorded, and they were never allowed to participate in politics and discussion in the future, and the new policies were all issued and implemented in the name of the Metropolitan Governor's Office.

"Xinghua, I don't know what you've experienced there, but you can't copy everything!" Shi Kefa pointed to the sky and said to Luo Jian.

"Alas, Brother Xian, I also know that I am wrong, let's concentrate on driving the Tartars out of China, let's talk about it, how to go in the future, we can't finish it all, future generations have the right to choose." Luo Jian also said with a sigh.

"Yes, Xinghua, I remember reading in a book, one step ahead is a genius, two steps ahead is a saint, ten steps ahead is an anomaly, let's not be an anomaly." Shi Kefa said with a smile.

The "Yangzhou Semi-Monthly" made a panoramic report on the voting incident, and many people wrote articles expressing their indignation at the final incident, and even Mr. Liu Zongzhou and Mr. Liu Lao also wrote articles saying that he never dreamed that this would be the result, which shows the extreme importance of the officials' "cautious independence."

Gu Yanwu wrote a commentator's article in the "Semi-Monthly" magazine, in which he ruthlessly criticized some people for their own personal interests, regardless of the overall situation, and in disregard of the interests of the majority of the people.

The aftermath of the voting incident lasted for a long time, and finally slowly faded as the New Year approached.

After the voting incident, Luo Jian took Yi Bangcai and a group of staff officers from the General Staff Department plus the literary and artistic propaganda team of the Red Lady to the army to inspect the work, and the first stop was Anqing Mansion.

Liu Xiongwu, the commander of the Sixth Division, didn't know that Luo Jian and others were coming to check, and when Luo Jian and his party arrived at the city gate, he received a report from the city gate guards, saying that the Metropolitan Governor was coming.

"Welcome to Anqing, if you miss the distance, please forgive your sins!" Liu Xiongwu stepped forward and saluted and said.

"Division Commander Liu, you are scolding those troops along the way in your heart, blaming them for not notifying you in advance, right? Don't blame them, I won't let them tell you. Luo Jian returned the salute and said with a smile.

"Oh my God, Metropolitan Governor, you are really a god, you even know what Lao Liu thinks in his heart?" Liu Xiongwu said exaggeratedly.

"You guys are careful, we don't understand yet, I notified you in advance, you got a bunch of welcome ceremonies, how do you look at the troops?" Luo Jian said with a smile.

"Along the way, most of the governors ate with the soldiers in the barracks, and it's the same when you come here, Lao Liu, if you are not afraid of being repaired by the governor, you can have good wine and good food." Yi Bangcai also said with a smile next to him.

"I said Chief of Staff, you can blame Lao Liu, my Lao Liu has always regarded the Metropolitan Governor as an example to learn, don't believe you to inquire, my Lao Liu has done something special in Anqing?" Liu Xiongwu shouted Qu.

"It's almost the New Year, the chief of staff and I went to the army to see the soldiers, there is no other meaning, and the stay here will not be very long, you can live your life with peace of mind." Luo Jian said with a smile.

"Chief of Staff, what are these girls doing?" Liu Xiongwu looked at the literary and artistic propaganda team following a group of staff officers suspiciously, and quietly pulled Yi Bangcai aside and asked.

"I said Lao Liu, don't think crookedly, this is the literary and artistic propaganda team, it's the New Year, the Metropolitan Governor took them to perform for the soldiers, it is also a kind of education, these people are precious, the Metropolitan Governor treats them as if they were treasures, don't treat them slowly." Yi Bangcai said solemnly.