When Zhang Huizan's department and Yao Baolai's department were reorganized into the 47th Mixed Association and stationed around Jingshi University to ensure the safety of the school, Sun Yuanqi completely settled down and finally had time to sit down and think about his obligations as the governor of Sichuan. Fastest update 78 // Since you sit in this position, you have to be a monk for a day and hit the clock for a day, right?

However, as Yang Du said, before Sun Yuanqi was temporarily appointed governor of Sichuan, he had no experience in charge of the military and political affairs of one party at all - not only did he not, but the three generations of his ancestors were not related to officialdom, and all of them were poor middle peasants with good roots. Back then, I was a study committee member at school, and my family showed off outside for half a semester!

Sun Yuanqi tossed and turned in bed and meditated for most of the night, and finally thought of a breakthrough: the problem of agriculture, agriculture and agriculture.

In 2000, Li Changping, then secretary of the Party Committee of Qipan Township, Jianli County, Hubei Province, reported to the premier in the form of an open letter on the issue of agriculture, agriculture and agriculture, which can be summed up in one sentence: farmers are really bitter, rural areas are really poor, and agriculture is really dangerous. Subsequently, there was the "Survey of China's Rural Areas" by Chen Guidi and Wu Chuntao, which completely exposed the harsh problems of agriculture and agriculture to the world, and made countless people re-realize the heavy suffering suffered by farmers.

With the efforts of both the government and the people, the three rural issues have finally taken a major turn, especially in 2006, the agricultural tax was completely abolished, and the rural areas were appropriately subsidized, which fundamentally reduced the burden on farmers and improved the poor rural social ecology. -- This good governance, which has the least criticism and the most approval, has also been hailed as one of the most important achievements of reform and opening up in the past 30 years!

At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, the various taxes paid by the peasants were the most important source of the country's economy, and their pain index was certainly higher than that of the beginning of the 21st century. If we can appropriately reduce the agricultural tax burden and exempt some agricultural taxes, wouldn't it be of great benefit to the people of the three provinces?

Early the next morning, Sun Yuanqi hurriedly found Yang Du, Zhang Shizhao and others, and asked excitedly: "Xingyan, you said that if nothing happens, the funds in our hands now are enough to support three years, right?" ”

Zhang Shizhao was a little puzzled by Sun Yuanqi's sudden concern about the financial situation, but he still replied very simply: "Not bad! ”

Sun Yuan nodded. He also asked Yang Dudao: "Huizi, now that our three provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu are in the same situation, can we ignore them when the central government asks us to pay various taxes in the future?" ”

Yang Du replied cautiously: "Theoretically, we can not pay. Just to make the central government face passable, I am afraid that it will have to pay a little more, and it will definitely not pay the full amount according to the previous amount. ”

Sun Yuanqi slapped his palm: "That's good!" I thought about it all night yesterday and felt that since I was fortunate enough to govern the three provinces, I should always do something practical to benefit the people. Since Jia, Dao, Xian, and Tong, the country has had many troubles, and the land has been ceded and reparated. Internally, there were endless rebellions, spending hundreds of millions of dollars, but every bit of it was exploited from the people. The people tread on the loess under the scorching sun on their heads, ploughing and harvesting hard all year round, and inevitably famine in good years, and starve to death on the side of the road in case of floods and droughts. When it comes to the suffering of the world, who else is more profound than the ordinary people?

"There is a cloud in the Tao Te Ching: 'The way of heaven is to make up for the deficiency when there is more than is lost.'" By chance, we will take over the treasury of Sichuan and Shaanxi provinces. He also seized the tribute silver of Yunnan-Guizhou Jiejing, which was enough for three years. If we still collect land taxes from the people, how is it different from acting against the sky? Therefore, I want to exempt Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu provinces from paying taxes for three years. And appropriately reduce the land rent, so as to alleviate the suffering of the people. What do you guys think? ”

Zhang Shizhao and Yang Du glanced at each other, and each saw the veto in the other's eyes.

As a staff member in charge of finance, Zhang Shizhao first replied: "The benevolence of adults and sympathy for the people's feelings are really a blessing for tens of millions of people in the three provinces, but the policy of exempting taxes and reducing land rents is not advisable!" ”

"Why?" Sun Yuanqi hurriedly asked.

Zhang Shizhao said: "First of all, why can't you be exempted from taxes." We estimate that the treasury will be used for three years, which is based on the continued payment of taxes by the three provinces. As long as the people continue to pay taxes, they will sell a large amount of grain every year in exchange for money to pay taxes, and the price of grain in the market will naturally be low. Once there is no need to pay taxes. The people will not be in a hurry to sell their grain, and the price of grain will rise.

"We now have four associations and 15,600 men in the army alone, and we consume countless amounts of grain and grass every day, and any increase in the price will lead to a significant increase in expenses. In this way, the treasury bank will not be able to support it for three years at all! At that time, we will face a dilemma: if we levy taxes, we will break our promises and break our promises, and if we do not levy taxes, we will have an empty treasury and insufficient use. ”

Yang Du added: "Throughout ancient Chinese history. Only in the event of major disasters such as floods, droughts, locusts, and soldiers will the people be exempted from money and food, and except for special circumstances such as the emperor's hometown and the reclamation of famine, they are generally only exempted for one year. Now that Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu provinces have not suffered major disasters, we have exempted taxes for three years in one go, which is obviously a bit unjustifiable. Moreover, the arbitrary exemption from taxation can easily make the people resist. To give an inappropriate example, if you borrow a large amount of money from someone and don't ask for it for three years in a row, and one day you suddenly come to the door to seek it, will that person simply repay the loan? ”

Zhang Shizhao nodded his head: "What Brother Hui Zi said is extremely true!" The hearts of the people are like horses on the plains, easy to let go and difficult to harvest, so it is best not to start this easily. ”

Sun Yuanqi frowned a little: "There are wars in Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu provinces this year, can't it be a reason to be exempted?" ”

Yang Du said: "Those prefectures and counties that have suffered from the severe damage of the war can be exempted alone. However, regardless of whether the disaster is affected or not, and the severity of the disaster, all of them enjoy preferential treatment, which is inevitably a bit too broad, and it is also a big injustice. If you really want to be exempted, Gansu and northern Shaanxi don't pay much in the first place, so you might as well exempt some prefectures and counties to show benevolence; Southern Shaanxi and Sichuan have always been wealth-endowed areas, so it is necessary to reduce the number of places to ensure stable financial resources. ”

Sun Yuanqi asked again: "Then why is it not advisable to reduce the land rent?" ”

Zhang Shizhao said: "I know that the adults reduce the land rent to improve the people's livelihood and benefit the people, and the intention is very good. It's just that the land rents in various provinces and localities are not uniform, and it is difficult for us to adjust them uniformly. Moreover, these rents were negotiated between landlords and tenants over hundreds of years and gradually stabilized, the so-called 'ordinary people are content with old customs', both landlords and tenants have long been accustomed to it, the two are like Zhou Yu beating Huang Gai - one is willing to fight and the other is willing to suffer. If we forcibly intervene in the process, not only will it not help, but on the contrary, we will only cause trouble if we do not end up in the middle! ”

Yang Du also said: "The problem of land rent is the most complicated, and all dynasties have regarded it as a problem, and we have just arrived. I didn't have any experience in dealing with civil affairs before, and if I hastily changed it and offended the local gentry, it was easy to cause a big mess. Let's be still! ”

Sun Yuanqi was greatly defeated: I thought about it for half a night last night. Thinking that he had thought of a good way, he rushed to find someone to discuss early in the morning, and in the end this was the result! It seems that I really am not a politician.

Zhang Shizhao saw that Sun Yuanqi was a little depressed, so he comforted: "We now have a relatively abundant treasury, in fact, we can collect money and grain as usual, and after the collection, the government will provide relief to the old and weak, the widows and orphans, the disabled, and the poor. It seems that it is easier to see results than reducing land rents. I wonder what adults think? ”

Yang Du shook the paper fan and said: "The idea is good, but it is too difficult to implement." Again, we are new to the country, and we have no previous experience in dealing with civil affairs, as long as the officials of the prefecture, Daozhou, and county do their own thing, the money and grain will be filled by them, and not a penny will fall into the pockets of the poor. Therefore, the most important thing for us now is to familiarize ourselves with the officialdom of the three provinces. Replace a group of their own people who are both obedient and able to do things, and the implementation of the new policy in the future will get twice the result with half the effort! ”

Zhang Shizhao sighed and said, "My lord, why didn't you set up the Department of Law and Politics when you founded Jingshi University? If established. Why do we have no one at hand now? ”

Sun Yuan scratched his head: "At that time, I didn't think that I would be the governor!" ”

Yang Du and Zhang Shizhao laughed when they heard this.

In fact, there is a deeper reason why Sun Yuanqi did not study political science and law at Jingshi University, that is, science and engineering students naturally despise and reject politics. For example, Tsinghua University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology and other universities have set up Marxist colleges and have first-class authorized disciplines for doctoral degrees in Marxist theory.

Yang Du smiled and said: "The so-called 'remedy, it's not too late', Baixi can be set up in the school now, anyway, you, the governor, will have it in the future." Maybe one day he will sit on the throne of the president, how can he succeed without his own team? Yuan Weiting relied on the Beiyang Army, Sun Yat-sen relied on the Alliance, and what you should rely on in the future is the large group of students from Jingshi University. ”

"I'll seriously consider this proposal!" Sun Yuanqi also laughed, and then said: "From ancient times to the present, the most fundamental problem in China is the land problem. In order to eradicate the suffering of the people, it is necessary to solve the problem of land distribution. Now that we have more money in our hands, can we gradually buy up the landlords' land and then rent it to the landless peasants at a low price in the name of the government? ”

Yang Du and Zhang Shizhao shook their heads at the same time.

Yang Du said: "Difficult! Hard! It's very hard! First of all, land is the most important means of production and the most valuable family property, and ordinary people will never sell it easily. As the saying goes: 'If you divorce your wife and sell your land, you will not be able to grow old.' This shows the importance of land in life. Second, even if someone is willing to sell, how much can we buy? Less, a drop in the bucket won't help; Too much, and we may not be able to afford it! Thirdly, when we use low land rents to attract landless peasants, we will certainly offend most of the gentry in the country, and it will be difficult to do things in the future. ”

Sun Yuanqi secretly thought in his heart: No wonder it is called "agrarian revolution"! It seems that without violent revolution, it is really impossible to take land from the landlords.

Of course, Sun Yuanqi does not have the kind of grandfather Tai Grandpa, "fighting with the sky, the fun is endless; Fighting with the ground, the fun is endless; Fighting with others, the fun is endless", and they dare not knock all the rich and bad right to the ground, step on one foot, and let them never turn over. After thinking about it for a long time, I had a vague idea: since the land cannot be taken away from the landlord, why not try to let the landlord take the initiative to get away from the land? But I couldn't figure out exactly how to do it for a while.

In the end, Sun Yuanqi said: "Although it is not advisable to exempt from taxes and reduce land rents, we must do something to let ordinary people taste the sweetness." Today, I will arbitrarily do it: Sichuan Province will exempt all the money and grain next year, reduce it by half in the following year, and collect it in full in the third year; Shaanxi and Gansu provinces will be exempted from the first and second two years, and the full amount will be collected in the third year. ”

Originally, Sun Yuanqi was the final decision-maker, Zhang Shizhao and Yang Du just helped to make suggestions, and it was not a big plan to get free money and food, and they could also have a good reputation, so they saw that Sun Yuanqi was rare to be good at it, and they didn't stubbornly hold their own opinions... )