At the beginning of the new dynasty, a hundred ruins are waiting to be revived.

After the central center of the imperial court and the local system were preliminarily determined, the survival of the common people became the next focus.

After some deliberation by hundreds of officials, Song Xuan issued a will.

All miscellaneous taxes and fire consumption are exempted, and farmers only need to pay agricultural taxes on time every year. Later, the imperial court no longer forcibly apportioned forced labor, but instead paid recruitment.

In terms of commerce, according to the tax rate of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, commercial tax is levied nationwide, and anyone who engages in business activities must pay taxes in accordance with the law.

In order to ensure that the tax collection work can be successfully completed. The Ministry of Finance has set up a tax bureau and set up an independent tax army to suppress all petty lawbreakers!

In the Wu Dynasty, there is no distinction between superior and inferior people, but if you dare to evade taxes, you are an inferior person, and you have to be prepared to be picked up by violent organs.

Song Xuan issued a lot of decrees in a row, and then, when it came to education, the officials in the court had disputes.

The reason was Zhu Yuanzhang, the first military attaché, to give advice on education.

I have to say that Zhu Yuanzhang, who was born as a cattle herding baby, although he is a military attaché, he cares more than anyone about how the people are doing.

According to Zhu Yuanzhang's suggestion, at least one enlightenment school should be established in each township, at least one county school in each county, and at least one institution of higher learning in each province.

Boys over the age of six, supervised by the local government, must attend the Initiation School free of charge and complete five years of basic education.

This move will be used as a rigid indicator for the annual evaluation of officials, and those with a poor completion rate of enlightenment education will be dismissed from all posts from village to township to county.

Zhu Yuanzhang's suggestion, to be honest, really offended the civil officials of the Manchu Dynasty.

In this era when the troubled times have just been calmed down, those who can stand on the court and be officials must be learned people.

And the learned person, which family has poor conditions?

No matter how bad it is, it is also from a poor family, and the so-called cold family is also the decline of the ancestors.

The emaciated camel is bigger than the horse, and even if it is a poor family, it is not comparable to the people who spend all day digging in the fields.

The civil officials of the Manchu Dynasty, to put it bluntly, were actually still the gentry class.

The reason why the gentry class can rise to the top is because they have a large number of scholars, and they can train and sponsor them to study, so that they can become the spokesmen of the gentry, landlords, and merchants.

Zhu Yuanzhang's proposal to popularize enlightenment education throughout the country and even give various preferential policies is even more ruthless than when the imperial examination system interrupted the family's monopoly on officials.

In the short term, it will naturally not affect the gentry class, but after a long time, the foundation of the gentry class to monopolize officialdom through reading will have to be cut off!

Regarding Zhu Yuanzhang's suggestion, many civil officials expressed opposition.

The reason they gave was that the financial expenditure for the popularization of enlightenment education throughout the country was bound to be extremely large, and the Wu Dynasty had just been established, and every penny had to be spent.

Such a huge expenditure at the beginning of the founding of the country is very likely to plunge the empire's finances into crisis.

In this regard, Song Xuan looked at Hu Qian.

He wanted to know what the attitude of this Minister of Finance, who was born in a big family in Jiangnan and could be said to be a typical representative of the gentry class.

Seeing His Majesty the Emperor's gaze fall on him, Hu Qian's expression froze, he straightened up, and then slowly walked to the center of the hall.

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Then, facing the expectant eyes of many civil officials, he said solemnly: "Your Majesty, rest assured, if the treasury is insufficient, even if the ministers smash the pot and sell iron to scatter the family wealth, they are willing to solve the problem of enlightenment and education of the people!" ”

As soon as these words came out, there was an uproar in the court.

You, a speculator from a big landlord and a wealthy gentry, are not greedy for money and have begun to play close to the people, what are you doing?

Song Xuan glanced at Hu Qian with deep meaning, and I have to say that this old boy has a vicious vision, and he has never been on the wrong side in terms of key positions.

This kind of person may not be a good official, but he is definitely the favorite courtier of the superiors.

No way, worry-free and sensible, which emperor is on the throne, will you not like it?

At the same time, Liu Bowen also spoke.

"Master Hu doesn't need to scatter all his wealth. This official was in charge of taxation before, and how much money our Wu Dynasty has knows better than anyone.

In a word, my Wu Dynasty is not bad for money! ”

It is indeed not bad for money, as an emperor, Song Xuan knows this better than anyone.

Ordinary people can't imagine how much tax Liu Bowen led a team of firecrackers to collect from the gentry and powerful in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

Hundreds of thousands, millions, and even a family that has collected more than 10 million taels of silver.

It is precisely because of the money that Song Xuan was able to create an invincible firearms army in just a few years, sweeping all kinds of disobedience and dominating the world!

The three giants of civil officials have already stood up and expressed their support for the popularization of national enlightenment education, and the civil officials in the main hall who originally spoke out against them have all wilted.

Although Li Shanchang has not yet expressed his position, everyone knows that this is an old fox, he does not scatter eagles when he sees rabbits, and it is impossible for him to express his position directly before the emperor reveals his intentions.

Sure enough, when Song Xuan asked Li Shanchang for his opinion, the chief official of the Ministry of Civil Affairs did not directly express his position.

"Your Majesty, universal enlightenment education for all is a great gift to the people. But again, there are pros and cons.

The positive side is naturally that in the future, our Wu Dynasty will produce many talents, and there will be no headache for the lack of talents.

The disadvantages are also obvious, after the popularization of enlightenment education, the people have opened up the wisdom of the people, and I am afraid that it will be much more difficult to manage in the future.

In fact, all dynasties and dynasties have essentially implemented a policy of ignoring the people. The less the common people know, the more easily it will be to rule if the pattern is fixed on their own one-third of an acre.

And if the wisdom of the people is opened, the common people know more, understand more, and the desire in their hearts continues to improve, for the officials of our Wu Dynasty, how to govern the people will become a big test!

Whether to open up the wisdom of the people, or to follow the policy of the previous dynasties, the ministers and others dare not speak in vain about this matter, and it should be decided by His Majesty's cadres, in a word! ”

The words fell, and the court was silent.

Many people looked at Li Shanchang and couldn't help but admire it.

The policy of fooling the people, this matter has been tacitly understood by all dynasties, but who dares to take the initiative to say it in the court.

When these words are spread in the future, they will surely be reviled by all the peoples.

If you don't get it right, Li Shanchang, the head of civil officials, will be a live target for those so-called Qingliu celebrities to brush up their prestige and reputation.

Song Xuan looked at Li Shanchang quietly and said with a smile: "Li Qing is not afraid of rumors and dares to tell the truth in this court, I am very pleased with this. Can you share your thoughts before I make a decision?

Do you want to open up people's wisdom, or don't you want to? ”