In view of the difficulty of implementing the new currency in some towns and remote areas, Qin Dong decided to implement tax and conscription reforms to protect the circulation of the new currency in the market.

Qin Dong first summoned several key officials to discuss, and Zhong Hui, Peteaus, Felton, Cao Charlie and others were all notified to come over to discuss the matter.

The four of them sat facing each other in pairs, talking nonchalantly, and after Qin Dong came over, the four of them stood up and saluted: "Participate in the king!" ”

Qin Dong smiled and nodded and raised his hand: "It's all free, please sit down and drink tea."

"King Xie!"

The four of them sat down, each took a sip of the teacup and put it down, although Qin Dong asked them to drink tea, but they couldn't really hold the teacup and drink it all the time, just the meaning.

Qin Dong took a sip and saw that the four of them were looking at him, so he put down the teacup and said: "Okay, since you don't drink tea, then let's get down to business, after the issuance of the new currency, the people in several major cities agree with the new currency, and the social response is very good, the new currency has replaced the currency of the Roman Empire in these major cities and began to circulate, but these major cities only occupy a small territory in the area we can control, most of the population is sparse, and the small towns and remote mountainous areas with many ethnic groups cannot circulate the new currency, This is not possible, we must do our best to make the new currency circulate in all the regions where we can control it, I don't know if you have any way? ”

The four of them had known about this matter for a long time, but they didn't think of any good solution for a while, so they didn't take the initiative to come to relieve Qin Dong's worries, Zhong Hui, Peteaus, Felton and others all buried their heads in hard thought. Only Charlie Cao stood up and saluted Qin Dong and said, "King, there is a way for the old way, but this method will have to wait for a while before it can take effect." I'm afraid it's very difficult in a short period of time, and there is a lot involved in this, and I don't know whether to say it or not! ”

As long as there is a way, of course Qin Dong is willing to listen, as long as this method is really effective, he is also willing to accept it, and immediately said: "Say." Say it as long as it's useful, say it quickly! ”

"Yes, King!" Charlie Cao said: "That's what the old Tao thinks. Since ancient times, there have been hierarchies in China, and the lower-class people desperately want to keep up with the upper-class people, as long as the upper-class people like something, the lower-class people will surely follow suit. And among the upper classes of the population. If the king orders the abolition of the payment of the salaries of all the current officials in kind, and the salaries of all officials are issued in new coins, then the officials must use the new coins to buy food and daily necessities in the market if they want to support their families and themselves. Moreover, if the new money is used to buy food and daily necessities, those merchants will not be able to accept it. Because the king has ordered the new currency to circulate in the market, the merchant does not accept the new currency is tantamount to disobeying the king's decree, and Lao Dao thinks that no merchant should dare to disobey the king's decree, right? ”

After Charlie Cao finished speaking, Qin Dong's eyes lit up, but he remained silent, but first looked at the reactions of the other three, at this time Felton said: "What Lord Cao said should be feasible, but if the matter of abolishing the payment of salaries in kind to officials and changing them to new dollars as salaries is a big matter, we don't know what other officials think, if the king orders this, so that most of the officials are dissatisfied, this is probably not good for the king, and the officials think that they should ask other officials what they think before making a decision!" ”

Felton did not explicitly oppose this practice, only to say the possible consequences of doing so, but Qin Dong could tell from his tone that he was not in favor of abolishing the payment of goods to officials as salaries and adopting the measure of issuing new coins.

In fact, Felton was also scared in the past, he used to use the coins of the Eastern Roman Empire, and the salaries of officials were the coins of the Eastern Roman Empire, but later after the Eastern Roman Empire issued new coins and banned the circulation of old coins, so that the officials under Qin Dong could not sell things with the coins of the Eastern Roman Empire, the officials unanimously asked the financial institutions to issue physical goods as salaries, at least so that they would not go hungry.

Felton's concerns, Qin Dong also understood, but he couldn't open his mouth to persuade Felton to agree to this plan, because he was the superior, how could the superior put down his position to persuade his subordinates to agree to his political measures? This is detrimental to his own prestige, and if he wants to do this, he must be done by a minister like Charlie Cao.

Qin Dong didn't speak, he looked at Zhong Hui and Peteaus, Zhong Hui immediately understood Qin Dong's intentions, and he said: "Lord Felton, I think the officials should agree, and it is understandable that some people will not agree to this plan, they are just worried that like last year, they will not be able to buy things with money in their hands, I dare to assert that this situation will not happen again!" ”

"Oh?" Felton asked, "Why is Lord Zhong so sure?" ”

Zhong Hui smiled, took a sip of tea from the teacup, put down the teacup before saying: "Lord Felton, my lords, what happened last year is different from now, before the issuance of new coins, we all used the currency of the Roman Empire, these currencies are varied, the value and purchasing power are very unstable, and the minting technology and issuing power of those coins are controlled by the Roman Empire, so the Roman Empire can ban those coins whenever they want, So at that time, we were always financially constrained, but now it is different, the new currency is issued by the Regent's palace, and the king has also issued a decree to let the new currency circulate in the market, so as to replace all foreign currency, if any merchant in the market does not accept the new currency, it is a violation of the king's decree, and the violation of the king's decree will be arrested and imprisoned, or even killed, I think no merchant dares to disobey the king's decree, so Lord Felton is worried that it is absolutely impossible for the new currency to be unable to buy things, unless the king orders the abolition of the new currency, But would the king do that? Apparently not! ”

"It makes sense, I am in favor of giving officials new coins as salaries, and officials taking the lead in using new coins can also play a leading role for the lower classes!" Pethius duly expressed his views and opinions.

Seeing that everyone had expressed their opinions and opinions, Qin Dong did not immediately take this measure, but said: "In this way, let's not rush to make a decision first, you will go back and send someone to do an investigation to see what the officials below think of this measure and what their attitude is."

"Yes, King!" The four stood up and saluted.

"Sit, sit down!" Qin Dong pressed his hand, and then waved his hand to let the attendant bring a few pieces of parchment, "Send them to a few adults!" ”

"Yes, King!" The waiter handed out several pieces of parchment in his hand to Pethius and the others.

After Zhong Hui and the others finished reading it, Qin Dong asked, "Have you all finished reading it?" This is a plan that the king came up with in his leisure time to facilitate the collection of taxes and forced labor, called "One Whip Law", which generally means that the land endowment, forced labor and other miscellaneous levies of each county are combined into one article, and the gold and silver are collected together, and the payment is paid according to the mu! It has three main contents, the first is to clear the land, expand the area of increased income, so that the tax is relatively equal. The second is to unify taxation and limit the intrusion of harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes, so that taxation tends to be stable. The third is to collect silver per mu, and the official settlement will be resolved, so that the collection method will be more complete. Do you think this plan will have any effect on the collection of taxes and forced labor? If so, what is its purpose? ”

The four of them hurriedly read it, but immediately read it carefully again, and then put down the parchment and looked at each other, Zhong Hui said excitedly: "The king's plan is really good, and the lower officials think that after the implementation of this plan, it can not only simplify the tax system, but also facilitate the tax collectors to collect taxes!" ”

The other three all nodded, obviously agreeing with Zhong Hui's statement.

Qin Dong smiled: "There is another benefit, that is, it has increased taxes!" ”

"Increased taxes? How can this increase taxes? Zhong Hui and the others were puzzled, and they all looked at Qin Dong.

Qin Dong said with a smile: "Is there one of the main contents of a whip law from time to time that is to clear the land?" Think about it, how many people now have the same amount of land as the number registered by the government? This king doesn't need to check to know that many people open up the wasteland without going to the government to report, because they want to save the money they report, and they also want to save the taxes they have to pay every year! However, I believe that the amount of acres concealed by these people is not large, and it is best to deal with this matter as soon as possible, and when the number of acres they conceal is unimaginably huge in the future, I am afraid that some people will not be happy, and they may even do something against the decree! There shouldn't be any of them who hide the number of acres, right? Yes? ”

Zhong Hui and the others looked at each other, their faces were a little embarrassed, Qin Dong sighed when he saw this: "You are sitting in the high position now, do the fields and money still mean to you?" They're just numbers and symbols."

"This ......." The four of them turned red with shame, and they all stood up and knelt down and said: "The lower officials and others are guilty, please punish the king!" ”

Qin Dong got up and helped them up one by one and said: "Forget it this time, it's the first time for you to read you, write down your guilt for the time being, and immediately go to the relevant government office to truthfully report the number of fields after you go back, and return all the fields that exceed the specified amount to the Land Management Department, if there is a next time, then you will be punished twice together, the light one will be removed from the official position, and the heavy one will be directly imprisoned, and it is possible to kill the head, understand?" ”

"Yes, yes, the ministers remember the king's teachings!" The four of them only agreed.

Qin Dong walked inside, and said as he walked: "Tomorrow will convene a meeting of the department-level officials of the various departments of the Regent Palace, and all the chief and deputy officials must be present, Peteaus, tomorrow you will announce Charlie Cao's plan and the plan of this king, and see the reaction of the officials first!" ”

Petheus wiped his cold sweat and said loudly: "Yes, my lord! ”

The next day, when Pethius published the main content of a whipping law and Charlie Cao's construction, almost all the officials expressed their approval, and it was not okay to disagree, and the officials more or less concealed the amount of some fields, since Qin Dong did not pursue it, if they did not go to the Tao, then someone might have to be dismissed, and maybe even die. (To be continued......)