Zheng Lang carried the Ping Rong strategy and came to the capital hall with the ministers. After the restructuring, if there is the biggest change, it is nothing more than that the division of labor is clearer, the government decrees have become smoother, the efficiency has been improved invisibly, and unnecessary floating expenses have been saved one by one, but there is another change, that is, the number of metropolitan meetings has increased, more ministers have entered the decision-making circle, and many major national affairs have been drafted in the metropolitan hall.

This change has increased the difficulty of reform for Zheng Lang, but it will play a huge benign role in the future, as long as this system can exist for a long time and truly become a system, if Cai Jing and others appear again, it is unlikely that they want to be autocratic.

Zheng Lang waited for everyone to sit down, and said to Zhao Ji: "Your Majesty, the minister has two plays." ”

"Please play."

"In order to improve the people's livelihood, the ministers should advise that in the future, when counting households, etc., they shall not count any poultry and livestock raised by the people, including cattle, horses, sheep, camels, donkeys, mules, pigs, fish, shrimp, deer, roe deer, rabbits, chickens, ducks, geese, and so on."

Wang Qi asked puzzledly: "Can rabbits also be raised?" ”

"Yes, cattle, horses, sheep, and other livestock are all wild, and finally trained by humans to breed, and gradually trained into poultry and livestock. Rabbit fur can make the best leather collar and make a brush, in fact, the common people began to raise rabbits a long time ago, but Wang students don't know. ”

Wang Jue really doesn't know.

This is not important, and he said hesitantly, "In that case, the household will go down further." ”

"Yes, Master Wang, have you seen any changes in the people's livestock?" Zheng Lang asked lightly. In the past, when tax collectors collected taxes, they often regarded all poultry and livestock as the property of the people, and then arranged the household hierarchy, and some of the petty officials were harsh, causing some people to prefer to hire cattle rather than raise cattle. Hiring cattle to plough the land is very expensive, but the tax can be higher. As a result, there has been a shortage of large livestock across the country.

Zheng Lang's large-scale development in the south once made the price of a high-quality cow rise to ten yuan.

The main reason is that there are too few large livestock.

OK. Han Qi and Ouyang Xiu did not destroy this system. This is about Han Qi and Ouyang Xiu. The difference between him and Cai Jing is that although he has corrupted the country, he can't bear to attack the people. However, if it is a peaceful development for five or ten years, in order to solve the financial crisis. What will the two do? It's hard to say.

With proper policy protection, it is unlikely that a large number of large animals were bought from the Western Xia and Khitan, and it was impossible to expect to buy many good horses. But the animals are used to pull carts and plough the land, and there is not much of a problem. It is still in the north, and now the large livestock in the north is increasing day by day, and it cannot meet all the needs of pulling goods and arable land, but at least three-quarters of them are satisfied, and there is not much shortage. The second is the south, by the end of Renzong's life, the price of cattle has gradually fallen, and now the price of a cow has returned to the price of cattle when Zheng Lang went down to the south of the Yangtze River. A very good cow only costs four or five yuan, and an ordinary one only costs three yuan. It is still lacking, but it can meet at least more than half of the demand, or even close to two-thirds.

This refers to the number of livestock, and the benefits are immediately visible. With the smooth implementation of the government decree, although there are still disasters this year, the price of rice in the capital once fell below 60 yuan per bucket. The price of the valley in the south of the Yangtze River once fell below 300 yuan per stone. Once a large number of people are freed from heavy labor and engaged in agricultural production, food prices will fall.

If the price of grain is cheap and the people have something to eat, the country will be stable, the profits from the annexation of land will not be much, and the momentum of annexation will also decline.

Wang Qi's forehead, he is also a conservative, and he is somewhat disgusted by the commotion caused by Zheng Lang's changes, but he has to admit that Zheng Lang is a first-class good official.

Zheng Lang looked at Ouyang Xiu again and said, "Uncle Ouyang Yong, do you still remember our debate for the new commercial tax?" ”

It's actually an argument.

In order to have more people participate in supervision, Zheng Lang proposed a clause, that is, a reward and punishment system that encourages reporting. Ouyang Xiu wrote a recital, impeached Zheng Lang for learning Wu Zetian, and encouraged the house slaves to slander their masters, which led to a lot of people in the world.

Zheng Lang did not argue with Ouyang Xiu at the court meeting, and if he didn't get it right, it would become a court dispute, and now it is not worth fighting Ouyang Xiu, not that he is reluctant to hold the position, and there are still a lot of affairs that have not been resolved. Then argue with Ouyang Xiu in the capital hall.

Zheng Lang first said that the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty emphasized military force and light literature, and once spread its territory to most of the Goryeo Peninsula, and the northernmost place in the northeast was the Guiyi (the tribe of the Kamchatka Peninsula, who had sent envoys with Tang Gaozong to Mount Tai to seal Zen and express surrender, of course, this really can't be taken seriously), north to the north of Xiaohai (Lake Baikal), west to most of the river, Persia (as far as eastern Iraq), south including Dali, all of Jiaozhi. But could the Song Dynasty learn from it?

Ouyang Xiu said that most areas are bound to themselves, and they will not benefit and hurt the people's financial resources.

Zheng Lang also said that it was right, what to do with such a large territory, it could not be completely ruled, although the false name was good, but it did not gain real benefits, but hurt the financial resources of the people of the Central Plains. But that's the case, the Tang Dynasty west of the Green Mountains can control it most of the time, Jiaozhi can control it all, and the coastal areas of eastern Liaodong to the north of the Han River can be controlled, right? At least not a small party member can threaten.

This is also a fact, compared to martial arts, can the Song Dynasty be compared with the Tang Dynasty?

Zheng Lang also said, this is the short of my dynasty, but the long of my dynasty is to emphasize internal governance, and the people are rich and peaceful, and this people are not scholars, but all the people in the world. Because of the importance of the people, so the abolition of the trilogy system, the abolition of the human trafficking system, in the Tang Dynasty can talk about the slave to sue the master, in our dynasty, who can be called a slave, is it that Chen Zhizhong's little maid died, should be killed? Why are officials impeaching Chen Zhizhong? The golden mean is not only the way of balance and control, but also the way of tolerance and tolerance. If I have the heart, why don't I calculate it from the source in units, pieces, pieces and branches, and when selling, I must hold two tax bills in units of sheets, pieces, pieces and branches to the customer, so who dares to evade taxes again?

It is not possible for ordinary commodities, such as grain, is it really a pound to weigh, or a grain to count, but for luxury goods can be done, just like tea, not the fried tea of later generations, now there is fried tea, and the fried tea of later generations is not much different, but people do not like to eat, are tea cakes, tea cakes can be used as a unit, specific to each unit, and then the color, shape, size of the standard goods, sold to guests, must be sold with a specific tax bill, it is more difficult to evade taxes. While it may be cumbersome for officials, it will certainly be worth it to increase the commercial tax by more than half as a result.

Zhao Ji asked very strangely, why?

Zheng Lang replied that just like that, there will be people who evade taxes. Truly powerful guests may not dare to report it. If you report it, it may not be considered by the officials. Even with the Department of Supervision, it can't be done. On the contrary, there is no power and no power, but it is easy for some Xiaoxiao to be framed. The so-called reward reporting system is still mainly able to warn. Punishment is supplemented, tolerance is the mainstay, punishment is supplemented, and the space is deliberately left. Reduce the resentment of the wealthy and powerful, and let them cooperate a little. I used the word slightly. The same is true of the system, no matter how strict the system is, it is still people who implement it, and as long as it is a person, there are loopholes to be exploited. The more cumbersome and the more loopholes there are, the more troublesome the people will be, and the more they will be reformed, the more bitter they will become. Therefore, reform must be simple and easy. Even if it has loopholes, it can't be dragged into the cumbersome. It can also be said that it is a compromise. It can also be said that it is a tolerant and inclusive way.

This controversy is very famous and widely circulated among the people.

Some followers of Zheng Lang even see it as an important difference between Zheng Lang's Confucian reforms and Shang Ying's Legalist reforms.

Ouyang Xiu didn't answer.

Zheng Lang said: "In fact, this is the way of tolerance. Although the law on exemption from military service has brought many practical benefits and conveniences to the people, it is not effectively enforced, and there are often many phenomena of concern for the people. Since its implementation, there have still been debates, and this is exactly the case. For first-class households, although there is a slight amount of levy, but the actual collection is not much, and the main force that really collects the exemption money is the second- and third-class households, including most of the fourth-class households. What happens if all poultry and livestock are removed? ”

Zhao Ji immediately said: "Zheng Gong means that in the future, only fourth-class households can be levied? ”

"Your Majesty is wise, that's exactly what you mean," Zheng Lang said. In the past, property was counted, mainly houses, workshops, shops, and fields, which were the bulk of the head, as well as livestock, poultry, trees, and utensils in the family. Some of the people were so cruel that they cut down the trees together, and did not raise poultry, cattle and horses, and used them to "lower" their property. Livestock does not matter to the first- and second-class households, but it is very important for the fourth-class households, just a few chickens, it becomes the fourth-class household exempted from military service, and without those few chickens, it becomes a fifth-class household exempted from taxation and exempt money. Now that they are not included, then only households of the fourth class and above can have the ability to pay the exemption money.

There are still some local officials who will come to the government, but the whole exemption money is balanced, and the state has never expected to get the exemption money. This point is very important, and it has become the biggest essential difference from Wang Anshi's reform.

Once all poultry and livestock are not counted, then the property of fourth-class households, especially fourth-class peasant households, will seriously "shrink" and they will escape this exemption money. Of course, there are many benefits, then the breeding industry will be more developed, it is impossible to expect what pig farms, chicken farms, technical constraints, large-scale breeding industry, the biggest problem chicken fever swine fever can not be solved in the first place, although the use of lime disinfection methods has been promoted since Zheng Lang went to Taipingzhou. But many families will raise a few pigs and dozens of chickens to subsidize their families, and there are more people who raise them, and the price is cheaper, and there will be more people who can eat them. In any case, it was still in the Song Dynasty, and the common people were rarely able to eat meat, so that many people suffered from blue eyes, that is, the disease that could not see things at night.

Zheng Lang continued: "The reason why the minister proposed this proposal is that a large number of errand soldiers have been laid off in various places, including van soldiers, all kinds of archers, volunteers, and strong men, and they will be released and let them engage in agricultural production again. Originally, I wanted to add some exempt state capitals again, to expand the border to the poorest state capitals, so that the exempt law could benefit more people in the state capitals. However, due to the opposition of the ministers, the number of layoffs was reduced, and the plan could not be carried out. Therefore, the minister simply proposed that all poultry should not be counted as property, so as not to allow the people to rest and recuperate. A good government is taken from the people and used by the people. ”

It is estimated that most of the time it is unreasonable for Zhao Ji, but it makes sense for Zhao Ji, Zhao Ji thought for a while and said: "Yes, take it from the people and use it for the people, so that the country can be stable, Zheng Gong, and the quasi-play." ”

Zheng Lang said again: "The second minister, ask Sima Guang to lead some officials to go down to investigate the hidden fields in Bazhou. ”

"It's not proper, now that the army has been restructured again, the world is turbulent, and there is no way to do it again," Ouyang Xiu retorted.

"Uncle Yong, wait a minute, please finish reading my recital, and I'll explain it to you." After Zheng Lang finished speaking, he presented the fold in his hand to Zhao Ji, and after Zhao Ji finished reading it, he handed it to Zeng Gongliang.

Pass them on one by one.

There are not only Sima Guang, but also more than 500 officials, but looking at the list of these officials, everyone feels suspicious, and only a few extremely smart ministers can guess Zheng Lang's intentions. Because the more than 500 officials are not bad officials, but all of them are official officials, and some of them have made small mistakes in the past, and they have been sent to various academies or served as errand officials in various places for most of the past six months. Or some well-behaved officer-in-waiting.

Zheng Lang said: "Some vacancies have appeared in various places. From the capital to the place. Some of the prisons have been filled, some have not, and now there are more than 400 vacancies. I came home the day before yesterday. I heard from my family that I deliberately allowed the vacancies to increase in order to further reduce the number of officials. I'd like to have this idea, in order to reduce controversy. did not intend to do this, the former ministers in the Zhongshu deliberately left these shortcomings, did not hand over to the Ministry of Internal Liuquan and the Three Yuan for review, it is for this investigation, most of the officials were reduced, the resentment was very heavy, and they were the most vocal opponents of reform. This time, I selected some major entities, performed well, and a small number of outstanding officials to go down to investigate, supplemented by the inventory. The main thing is to fill these more than 400 vacancies together to reassure all the elected officials. ”

The successive increases do not want to be effective. Only by adding a few hundred officials at once like this can it have a sensational effect.

Fu Bi said worriedly: "This intention is not bad, you can use the inventory of Yintian as one of the assessment of political performance, and there will be controversy." ”

"There is controversy, but the phenomenon of hidden fields in the country is still very serious, I estimate that at least more than 3 million hectares of various cultivated land have been hidden, this is to further consolidate last year's inventory of hidden fields, and next year, the number of hidden fields will further decline, and this year we still cannot take it lightly. But Yan Guo, why did I propose that Sima Guang lead them to investigate with the various supervision divisions? ”

"Why?"

"Junshi is steady, slightly conservative, even more conservative than Fan Chunren, led by him, it is destined that this investigation will be loud, but the action will not be intense. Yan country, like the strange weather in June, only thunder, but no rain in the sky. If you don't even dare to hit a few thunders, will you watch the country's politics corrupt? ”

"The golden mean?"

"Can it be regarded as the golden mean, or the weak, Mohist-style golden mean." Zheng Lang stretched his waist and said: "Yanguo, I am too tired of this reform, even my life span will be shortened by ten or eight years because of this reform." But there is no way, as a courtier of the Great Song Dynasty, I don't want to see a brocade country sink down. I hope that for the sake of my hard work, sometimes stand in the position of the country and all the people, and understand. ”

Let's play the sad card.

But in other words, Zheng Lang's physical fitness is really good, and in the past year and a half, he has been like an iron man, changing to others, nine times out of ten, tired and tired.

Those who are slightly against do not speak, they do not speak, and those who are in favor of it echo it.

Zhao Ji took advantage of the hot iron and immediately asked the officials of the two systems to draft an edict.

Zheng Lang said: "Your Majesty, there are three strategies here, please look at them." ”

Present Wang Shao's Pingrong Strategy.

The gist of it is: If the country wants to pacify the thieves in the west, Mo Ruo will first subdue the river with his might; If you want to subdue Hehuang, Mo Ruo first appeases the tribes along the border with a letter of grace. Gai appeases the tribes along the border, so the prestige of the Jiao clan (唃厮啰子) also; Serve the horn clan, so coerce Hexi also. Your Majesty can choose people who are wise and sensitive, and those who know their feelings, so that they can come and go in and out of them, and promote loyalty to caress them, so that they will be admired and happily have the intention of belonging, but if they can get five or seven leaders of the big clans, then the rest of the small species can be driven and used. All kinds are lost, and the Jiao clan dares not to return? Jiao's return, that is, Hexi Li's is in the palm of my hand. If you are in a hurry, you can overthrow its nest, and if you are slow, you can coerce its henchmen, so you can see the other and reap the credit. Today, the Marjan tribes, several of which are willing to be used for Chinese users for a long time, are intended to fake the Chinese lord's order to threaten their inner ears. And the border ministers to Dong Jian, can not be for the country's kindness to caress it, abandon the near aid and make distant friends, greedy and forgetful attachment, so that Dong Jian to get the benefit of the city and invite credit to me, not the benefit of victory. The Marjan tribes are all descendants of the Jiao clan, each of them is knotted, and its grammar is within the reach, the far one is only four or five hundred miles, and the near one is two or three hundred miles, which can be combined and cared for. The ministers thought it was advisable to send people to Hezhou to discuss with Marjan, so that they would settle in Wushengjun or Weiyuan City, which was close to the Han realm, supplemented by Han law. Because one of the elected officials had civil and military skills, he was ordered to live with Marjan, and gradually appeased the Qiang along the border with his kindness, and those who did not obey made Marjan coerce the Han family's decree to threaten him. Its blind conscription and deception of the Bawen people, not only have a share of the land, but also should be a little subordinate to their hearts, so that they can use the Han law, and gradually follow the Han customs, I really have the help of elbows and armpits, and so that the Xia people can not be connected with the Qiang, this system of thieves is also a strategy.

It is not to forcibly attack the Tibetan tribes, fight a part, win over a part, make them submit to the Song Dynasty, and then preach Sinicization and make it Sinicized. Then he sent an official with civil and military materials to deal with the affairs of Tibet together with the Tibetan officials. Who does this method look like? Change the land and return to the stream!

Get Tibet. It's not about expanding territory. Instead, he let Zhuqiang not assist Western Xia and cut off one of his arms. Of course, if it can be retracted properly, it can in turn become an important arm of the Song Dynasty. If you get all the land of Tibet. The west can cut off the Western Xia's rule over the Hexi Corridor, and if the general attack is time, it can launch an attack on the Western Xia from Lanhuiwei and the eastern Fuyan Huanqing Road. Western Xia must be at a loss. After all, compared to the Song Dynasty. The Western Xia army was inferior to the Song Dynasty's army, its wealth was not as large as that of the Song Dynasty, and its weapons were not as sharp as the Song Dynasty. Western Xia is at your fingertips.

If you are alive, you can't do it, and your prestige is too high. Guan Jian died, several sons were divided, and now the Tubo dragons have no leader, otherwise it would be impossible for the Western Xia to expand their sphere of influence to the area of Guweicheng.

After reading it, Zhao Ji said, "Wonderful strategy." ”

He handed it down again.

Wen Yanbo said: "Tubo is a friend rather than an enemy, why use soldiers? ”

Zheng Lang smiled. Question: "Kuanfu, do you believe that Tibet is an eternal friend?" They were friends at the time. It was because of the invasion of Western Xia. Subsequently, the Western Xia used troops against our court, and Tubo immediately protected itself and sat on the mountain to watch the tiger fight. Of course, when the Western Xia sent troops to the Shrine Valley, our dynasty was also self-preservation, sitting on the mountain and watching the tiger fight. This is the so-called friend, if that's the case, Kuanfu, after the word spreads, I'm afraid that few people will be your friends anymore. ”

This sentence is a bit funny, and several ministers bow their heads and snicker together.

"Secondly, it is the Liang family, the Han family has been divided too many times since ancient times, resulting in many conspirators. Some people learn the Tao of Master, unite as one, be loyal to the country, be loyal to the people, and be loyal to this nation, but some people are different, learn from the Zongheng family, and take harming their own country and nation as their own responsibility, such as Zhang Yuan and Wu Hao, it is their demagogy that Yuan Hao finally rebelled against our dynasty and used troops against our dynasty. When I heard that the Han woman Liang was in power, I learned that many ministers in the court were moved. No, this woman is a generation of Zhang Wu, in the future, the Western Xia strategy, will be to win over the Tibetans, and our dynasty with troops, my dynasty is the most powerful in the Three Kingdoms, of course, the Khitan is also strong, but their border and Tubo are not in contact, in order to protect themselves, if they do not give oppression, Tubo will turn to the Western Xia nine times out of ten, this is the vertical and horizontal road. ”

"But they have a feud."

"What is a feud? Liu Bei died tragically in the White Emperor City, how did Zhuge Liang do it, is Zhuge Liang disloyal to Liu Bei? ”

"However, if you take Tibet, it will hurt the country even more."

"It's not as serious as you think."

"Xingzhi, if it wasn't for my constraints, I would have thought twice, the Western Xia was so powerful, but it was defeated by Tubo."

"Yes, but it was when he was alive. In fact, our dynasty is not strong, but the cost of using troops is too high, if the wealth is sufficient, in fact, at this time the strategy is appropriate, you can take the river Huang, get the river Huang, not only can get a large number of heroic and warlike Qiang soldiers and horses, but also can obtain the geographical advantage. But don't worry, Kuanfu, I am only presenting this policy as a reference, the financial crisis is not resolved, how can it be possible to resolve Hehuang? I'm not a reckless soldier. The mere reason for this is to see that this person seems to be a manufacturable material. Therefore, please make an exception, first let him serve as the general judge of Linzhou, and then transfer him to Yanzhou to be the general judge, and then let him know the security army, and investigate for two years to see how he is. As for this strategy, it's just an archive for the time being. ”

This is not an overstatement.

is that with the three-house system, Zheng Lang only wants to cultivate one person, do you still want to oppose it?

Few people thought that this cultivation was very crucial, Wang Shao's scope of activities was mostly south of Huanzhou, and he was still not familiar with the north, at this time, it would not be much of a problem if he was allowed to lead the army to attack Hehuang, but if he was in charge of the army and attacked Western Xia, Zheng Lang still had no confidence in his heart. With the re-exploration of Sanzhou, with Wang Shao's military talent, he will inevitably have a further understanding of Western Xia, and in the future, when he attacks Western Xia, he will have another chance to win.

Just like cooking, you have to have all kinds of ingredients, cooking utensils, and a chef.

Whether Guo Kui or Chong Ge, if he wants to take the lead, or as an important staff officer, he lacks something. There is only one person, this Wang Shao.

Even Zheng Lang thought of the reason why Wang Shao got gangrene, as long as Wang Shao was not allowed to get gangrene, not only would the soldiers have important generals in Xixia, but even the sixteen states of Youyun might be able to dream of it.

The last one is to train a general, and the first two are fine-tuning, which is not a reform.

will disperse.

Sima Guang went down, and Wang Shao went to Linzhou.

The New Year is coming, and everyone is waiting for the same important news, the financial statements of the three divisions!

As soon as the report comes out, everyone can see the financial situation of the country.

Zheng Lang continued to run around the two prefectures, reducing troops and rerestructuring some armies, but there were many things and more disputes, which could not be completed this year, at least until the end of February next year. At this moment, the Ordnance Warden presented a strange bow, the strongest bow of the era!

PS: The new month has begun, and today I take a breath of relief, and I still maintain an average of more than 10,000 words per day. When it will end, I only know that it will be soon, and I don't know the specific time. Whether to write a little fuller later, or to finish it early, I have been hesitant in my heart. Alas, let's go on chapter by chapter. (To be continued.) )