Before the appearance of short hair, even before the emergence of the Ming Dynasty, hundreds of thousands of years ago, it has always been like this. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoThey never knew that in addition to this model of monarchy in which the government reigns supreme, there is also a form of governance called "parliamentarism".

It wasn't until Shorthair presented this model to them and let them experience the wonders of it for themselves that these big and wealthy businessmen were suddenly enlightened: it turns out that there is really a way in this world, and there is no need to worry about being robbed by the government with excuses, and there is no need to be afraid of being framed and ruined at any time, because in this world, the government itself is only a subordinate body of the parliament. And the parliament is made up of these people!

- Is the government their subordinate? This cognition really breaks the basic common sense of large households. But the greatest strength of human beings is the ability to adapt, from disbelief, to trembling, to eating marrow...... It doesn't really have to be too long. A year is enough time for these parliamentarians to fully appreciate the sweetness of power, and if they are to be deprived of this power at this time, there is no doubt that these people will fight to the end.

And Zhao Lide said this, obviously to stimulate their feelings, after these councilors, as well as the landlords who are about to become parliamentarians, expressed their extreme satisfaction and yearning for this identity, Zhao Lide smiled again:

"Since you are a member of the parliament and have the right to know the operation of our government, you should also know a lot of information -- the proportion of non-agricultural population in the total population in our entire jurisdiction of Qiongzhou Island is mentioned in the government work report, right?"

Seeing that those people were all confused, Zhao Lide had to make his words clearer:

"Those who do not rely on farming to make a living are the so-called 'non-agricultural population', and the proportion of the total population determines the scale of the government's need to reserve grain."

"Ah...... Did hear of ......"

Those few finally got their senses, Mo Fatzi touched his head and recalled for a while, and hesitated:

"There seems to be a ...... It's more than 20%, right? ”

Zhao Lide nodded:

"Yes, twenty-seven percent, according to our standards, it is not too high, but it is already one of the best in the Ming Dynasty. It can be compared with a few areas in the south of the Yangtze River...... If we count our Qiongzhou Prefecture alone, it is more than 70 percent, and more than 70 percent of the people eat commercial grain -- out of every 100 people, more than 70 people need to buy grain to survive. Even if they have enough money, the food itself will not fall from the sky, someone has to grow it. ”

Seeing that there was some resentment on the faces of those landlords, Zhao Lide knew that they wanted to fork, so he hurriedly added:

"Who are they - merchants, soldiers, sailors, officials, factory workers, myself - we don't farm, we spend money on food. It is precisely those of us who are free from the shackles of the land that can create more wealth, build up a thriving industry and commerce, and build a strong army to protect our wealth from being plundered by the enemy...... Ladies and gentlemen, you can't make a fortune just by farming, you should know that. ”

"The so-called 'no farming, no stability!'" No work is not strong! No business, no rich! We have posted a lot of such slogans on the streets and alleys, and we have the opportunity to preach them everywhere, and now even a child in Qiongzhou can sing along, and it is estimated that many people are tired of hearing them. But it stands to reason that several of you are involved in industry, agriculture and commerce, and it should be easier to understand this. ”

Explaining this, the faces of those few people showed a sudden look, especially Xu Jing and Mo Dapeng - they are both big landlords and big merchants, and in recent years, they have followed the short hair, and have also invested some money in light industries such as textiles and sugar industry, and they can be regarded as shareholders.

Seeing that they figured it out. Zhao Lide then said:

"So now the question is - since we don't grow our own food, but we need food to maintain the stability of our regime and support the Ming Dynasty in the opposite hinterland, where do we get food? Buying from Annam, Siam is one way to go. Taiwan has also been tuntian, but on this Hainan Island, in the territory of Qiongzhou Prefecture, will we allow those who occupy the land not to pay grain? Let it be abandoned? This kind of destabilizing the regime is something that is done against the government...... Can you say yes? ”

As soon as this sentence was spoken, several people present immediately panicked, and hurriedly shook their hands and pleaded:

"How dare you, how dare you! Mr. Zhao, how dare we go against the government. I just feel that since they are all my own people...... Is it possible to be accommodating? ”

Seeing that they finally showed their fox tails, Zhao Lide laughed:

"Ladies and gentlemen, you are all councillors. If you compare the regime of Qiongzhou Mansion to a business, you are also one of the owners, digging your own corner? Aren't you afraid of bringing down our shop, replacing the Ming Dynasty next door and coming back, and still implementing the old rules, then you can fall well? ”

"This ......"

When Zhao Lide said this, the faces of those landlords really showed shame. Zhao Lide's metaphor of "doing business" is very appropriate for them. As far as the name of the company called "Joan Navy" is concerned, shorthair does make up the lion's share. But in all fairness, they ate a lot of meat, but they didn't forget to let everyone drink thick soup. Although the rules of speaking and making suggestions in that council are relatively large, as long as they meet the procedural requirements, they can indeed play a big role.

However, except for Xu Jing and Mo Dapeng, the two chairmen and vice presidents, the faces of the others were not so convincing - these big families are all very practical old rich people, and just in the name of a "parliamentarian", it is obvious that they cannot completely give up their small abacus and follow the pace of shorthair wholeheartedly.

Next, he listened to Zhao Lide unhurriedly, and continued to smile:

"Do you think that there are so many channels to buy grain anyway, and it is nothing without you?"

These words even hit the hearts of those people, and several people looked at each other, and they all smiled bitterly - to put it bluntly, they just wanted to make some money. But this kind of thing is easy to think about in my heart, if I really want to say it, it will be embarrassing in front of the people in charge of Qiongzhou Mansion.

However, Zhao Lide did not accuse them, but calmly leaned back on the back of the chair:

"The election process for our parliament is open to the public, and the qualifications for running are also open and transparent. Anyone who meets the criteria can participate. For the first time, many people had no idea about it, or they still had doubts about us, and they didn't dare to join rashly. But after more than a year of running-in, I believe many people have understood that there will be another election next year, and I believe that there will be many people participating in the election this time. ”

"As soon as there are more people, the difficulty of being elected will definitely be greatly increased. We have long explained the requirements for running for election, and the conditions are also open and fixed, and we will not deliberately set up obstacles. But in the course of the election campaign, it is inevitable that the competitors will find fault with each other, and this is inevitable - all of you here are old experts, and this kind of thing was not much in the past, but it will become the norm in the future. You should be able to imagine what it will be like. ”

"And if at that time, you are suddenly proclaimed that you are a member of parliament, or you want to be a member of parliament, but you try to do everything possible not to pay taxes and food...... Even if you can find a reason, even if we don't pursue it. But for the campaign itself...... What do you think will happen? ”

As soon as Zhao Lide's words came out, those big families suddenly woke up, and a stubble of white hair sweat broke out all over their bodies.

-- The Qiongzhou Prefecture Council is elected every two years, and one-third of its members are replaced each time. The term of office of the members of the Council is six years, but in the first term, the term of office was divided into two years and a short-term term of four years through voluntary registration and drawing of lots.

Because everyone didn't take this identity too seriously at that time, this division was quite smooth. Many of them voluntarily opted for a short two-year term - they felt that this was just a face-saving gesture for the short-haired hair. At that time, the children's parliamentarians may have to bear the additional burden of food and labor, and leaving office early can be regarded as giving up a burden.

However, after more than a year of practical experience, after experiencing first-hand the duties and powers of parliamentarians, the degree of regret of these people is probably better than that of those who resigned on the spot. Naturally, they also made a fuss with Shorthair, but the answer was the same - Shorthair said in a polite but extremely resolute manner: Welcome to continue running, can you fight for re-election?

It is conceivable that next year's election for parliamentarians will definitely not be as easy as the first time, and among the several big families here, the chairman and deputy speaker will definitely have been in office for six years, so there is no need to worry about this for the time being. The old man who drew lots for a four-year term and felt that he was unlucky not to be drawn for two years - and now he still feels unlucky, why didn't he draw the maximum term of six years!

As for the remaining two members, Zhang and Li, they didn't catch the shuttle at that time, and now they are working hard to make up for the previous shortcomings in the election a year later. Therefore, when they heard Zhao Lide link the two things of paying grain taxes and running for parliamentarians, they immediately changed their previous attitude, stood up and took care of everything, and ensured that they paid taxes in full and in sufficient amount!

And those big people who have already sat in the seat of parliamentarians also patted their chests again and again, saying that they will resolutely support the government's grain reserve plan and will definitely do this to the fullest!

So the banquet finally broke up, and Chi Zhengjie sat next to him to watch the excitement, and deeply admired Zhao Lide's eloquence and ability to control the scene. However, when he returned to the dormitory with Zhao Lide after the banquet, Chi Zhengjie hesitated again and again, and finally said what was in his heart to the other party:

"I can't imagine that we have finally chosen this path - the parliamentary system, I am afraid that sooner or later it will still become the ruling instrument of those gentry class."