Sima Yan didn't know what Shi Chong and Shi Hui were thinking, he only knew that he was leading Tai Shige. It is a definite fact that the population has doubled in just twenty years since the successful establishment of a new dynasty. He said excitedly: "I heard that when the Han Dynasty was at its peak, the population was more than 50 million......

"Back to Your Majesty, at the peak of the Han Dynasty, there were 12,233,612 households, with a total population, and 14,978 people." Shu Yan still replied without thinking.

Seeing Shu Yan answer so fluently, Shi Hui didn't believe it, he reprimanded: "Don't talk nonsense here, as Shang Shulang, it is your duty that you can understand the affairs of this dynasty clearly, but the data of the previous dynasty, how can it come as soon as you open your mouth, it is obviously a false mouth, do you know what kind of crime it is to bully the king?" ”

"Of course I know what it is to deceive a king. Although I come from humble backgrounds, I never lie to anyone, let alone to His Majesty today. If General Shi doesn't believe it, he can take a look at the books of the previous dynasty. ”

Sima Yan said with a smile: "You don't have to fight, I will immediately order someone to go to the secretary's pavilion to get the book to verify it." If what Shu Yan said is accurate, it is the best; If it's wrong, it doesn't matter, it's not his duty, and it's not a bully at all. ”

Suddenly, I saw a person holding a book to the door of the Taiji Palace, took off his shoes, walked to the front of the imperial steps, and knelt down on the ground and said: "Secretary Lang Shi has to serve the book, please Your Majesty to read it." ”

Sima Yan asked him to get up, and took the book to take a look, sure enough, it was exactly what Shu Yan said, and he handed the book to Shi Hui and the others to read, this time Shi Hui was bored, and stood aside in shame, silent.

Sima Yan said happily: "At the peak of history, the population was only 60 million, and according to our current increase method, it will double in 20 years, and in less than 40 years, my Great Jin Dynasty will be able to surpass the Han Dynasty and create the peak of population in history!"

All the ministers claimed that it was.

Shi Biyu has almost guessed the truth of the matter by observing the words and the words of the monarchs and ministers. At this time, he saw that everyone was trying their best to praise the emperor, but his father was bored and stepped aside, so he wanted to find a topic to cover up for his father. He said: "The Han Dynasty is famous all over the world, but it is relying on the two prosperous eras of 'Wenjing Zhizhi' and 'Guangwu Zhongxing'. In Yichen's view, these two prosperous times cannot be compared with our 'Taikang prosperous era'. ”

"What? Too Kang Shengshi? When Sima Yan heard this, he was so surprised that he couldn't close his mouth. You must know that being able to create a prosperous era is the greatest praise and great honor for an emperor, which not every emperor can achieve.

"Yes, Your Majesty. Since Pingwu changed to Yuan Taikang, in the past six or seven years, the people of the Great Jin Dynasty have been in a great prosperous era. His Majesty is far greater than Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty, and Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty, who initiated the reign of Wenjing, and Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty. ”

Sima Yan listened to Shi Biyu's remarks, and he couldn't sit still on the throne, but he still said reservedly: "How can you see it? ”

Shu Yan wanted to take advantage of the emperor's happiness and suggest to the emperor about reducing the burden on the people, but he didn't want to kill Shi Biyu halfway, so he had no choice but to listen to what this Biyu had to say first.

Biyu was overjoyed when he saw the emperor, and said more energetically: "First of all, although the rule of Wenjing is grander than ours, Emperor Wen of Han and Emperor Jing of Han are both emperors who inherit the throne of their ancestors, not emperors who create a foundation. But Your Majesty, not only is the founding emperor who created the foundation, but also the emperor who created the prosperous era, from this point, they can't compare with Your Majesty; Secondly, let's talk about the Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty, although he created the foundation of the Later Han Dynasty, but he did not submit to the four seas, the Yue people in Lingnan and the Hu people in the northwest rebelled one after another, and even attacked the Central Plains. Look at our Great Jin again, the four seas surrendered, the eight sides paid tribute, and the Hu people came to join one after another, compared with the two, isn't that Liu Xiu far worse than Your Majesty? ”

Sima Yan stroked his beard and nodded when he heard this, and the courtiers also said yes. Shi Hui listened to his son's words, and immediately relieved the embarrassment just now, and immediately recovered his face.

In fact, the ministers all know in their hearts that although what Biyu said is reasonable on the surface, it is not like that in reality. Although the current emperor Sima Yan is nominally the founding emperor of the Jin Dynasty, this Jin Dynasty is the foundation laid by his grandfather Sima Yi, his uncle Sima Shi, and his father Sima Zhao, and he just sits back and enjoys its success. If you talk about it in this way, from the opening of the Han Dynasty to Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty, there were only three generations of four emperors, from Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, and Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty. But in terms of background, Liu Bang is a real commoner, while the Sima Yi family is a wealthy family for generations, so it is much more difficult to start a business in the Han Dynasty than in the Jin Dynasty. Although everyone thinks so in their hearts, they still blindly agree with Shi Biyu's point of view.

Shu Yan was silently listening to everyone's admiration for the "prosperous age", and the topic disrupted his train of thought. He was a little anxious in his heart, everyone was singing praises for the prosperous era, how could he change the topic without knowing the times? He silently recited "Shengshi", and suddenly had an idea, and thought of a turning point from the word "Shengshi", just to be able to continue the topic he had just had, and said: "We are indeed in a prosperous era that has not been seen in a hundred years, and we are now not only doubling the population, but also doubling the taxes, and the treasury is becoming more and more abundant." ”

Sima Yan listened to such festive words as "the population is increasing and the treasury is full", and he was overwhelmed and said, "Tell me about it." ”

Shu Yan said: "Your Majesty thinks, since you formulated the system of land occupation and household regulation to the present, the number of households in the whole world has increased by about one million compared with the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, and the number of fields has increased even more. If calculated according to the payment of four pieces of millet per household, three horses of silk, and three catties of cotton, the imperial court will receive an extra four million pieces of corn, three million horses of silk, and three million catties of cotton every year. Even if we take a step back, among the 1 million new households, excluding the households that do not pay the fields and some households with women and half men, there are also two or three million corns, two million horses of silk, and two million catties of cotton. ”

Sima Yan nodded. Shu Yan continued: "This is only an increase in one year, so what about ten years, twenty years? Moreover, with the gradual increase in the number of households and fields, the taxes of the imperial court will increase exponentially. The total amount of taxes continues to grow, but at the same time, some people bear a huge burden. So I beg Your Majesty if you can reduce the allowance for this part of the people! ”

"Reduction?" Sima Yan was on the rise, but Shu Yan suddenly came to such an unexpected argument.

"That's right, minus! As Secretary Lang said, we are in a prosperous age, so we should reduce the tax. Facing the incomprehensible and doubtful eyes of the emperor and the ministers, Shu Yan generously stated, "All prosperous times are the result of resting with the people, so all prosperous times without exception must reduce the burden on the people, just like the rule of Wenjing, which once reduced the tax in the early Han Dynasty from 'fifteen taxes one' to 'thirty taxes one'." Not to mention the prosperity of the ancients, even Cao Cao during the war, the taxes he stipulated were only four liters of land per mu and two horses of silk and two catties of cotton per household. If our Dajin can be called a prosperous era, we should also implement tax reduction measures. ”

Sima Yan immediately put away his smile, "For which part of the people?" How to subtract? ”

The officials were silent when they heard Shu Yan's discordant arguments that suddenly appeared. Biyu sneered: "Now the treasury has just been filled, and you are clamoring to reduce the tax!" What makes sense? ”

Shu Yan ignored Biyu, but continued to say to Sima Yan: "The reduction of the levy that the minister said does not need a general reduction, but wants to reduce the endowment for all the orphans who have lost their parents in the world. ”

"Reducing the amount of money for orphans?" Sima Yan asked.

"Yes." Shu Yan said, "According to the current laws and regulations of our Dajin: men and women between the ages of 16 and 60 are regular, and they need to pay taxes in full; Thirteen to fifteen years old, sixty-one to sixty-five years old, to pay half of the tax; Under the age of 12 and over the age of 66 are old and young, and are not taxed. That is to say, orphans who have lost their parents have to pay half of the tax at the age of thirteen, and at the age of sixteen, they have to pay the full amount of the tax like an adult. ”

Biyu said: "This is normal, is there any problem?" ”

"Problematic, quite problematic. I believe that the imperial court should amend the decree to raise the minimum age limit from 16 to 20 years old, and the upper limit from 60 years to 58 years old. Raise the minimum age from 13 to 16 and lower the upper age from 65 to 63. ”

"What do you mean is that orphans don't pay taxes according to the standard until they are twenty years old, and they pay taxes according to the standard at the age of sixteen, and the old ones pay according to the standard at the age of fifty-eight, and they are exempt from all ...... when they are over sixty-three" Sima Yan stroked his beard, lowered his eyes and smiled faintly at Shu Yan, "It's easy for you to say this, but do you know how much the imperial court's annual income will be reduced if this happens?" ”

"The tax will definitely be reduced, but as the minister just said, now the number of households and the number of fields in the world is increasing year by year, and the minister has already roughly calculated, and the millions of millet and silk and cotton that have increased can completely offset the tax reduction and exemption for orphans!"

The officials were in an uproar, they couldn't imagine that this little Shang Shulang would dare to say such a thing at the risk of being a monarch and a hundred officials.

Sima Yan saw that Shu Yan said righteously and awe-inspiring, and he really thought about the people of the world, he was very puzzled, so he asked: "I want to know, why do you want to reduce the allowance for those orphans?" ”

Seeing the emperor ask like this, Shu Yan looked at Shi Biyu, who was ignorant of the world but arrogant and arrogant, and said, "Your Majesty, the secretary Lang was born in a wealthy family, where do you know the suffering of ordinary people. Although the minister and the secretary Lang were in Ruyin back then, and they were the same age, they had completely different childhoods, and the two of us were typical representatives of the wealthy sons and the poor orphans. His family has extensive fields and slaves, and is the home of Zhong Mingding's food, although he is rich and talented, but by virtue of his family status, he does not need to pay any taxes; And Wei Chen, I, who lost my parents at the age of thirteen, had to bear the family independently, tasted all kinds of hardships, and according to the regulations, from that year onwards I had to bear all kinds of taxes, but fortunately I was taken care of by the local pavilion chief, and was exempted from several years of forced labor. The reason is that my parents died from the flood protection berm. Although the ministers are taken care of, how many thousands of people in the world are orphaned like me? Their parents died for various reasons, and their lives were already difficult, but they also had to bear a huge burden of taxes at a young age, and most of them were unlikely to have any relief. If they encounter floods and droughts, or man-made disasters, they may face bankruptcy, sell their land, and even become slaves of others with their families. The minister was born in a poor family, so he was deeply touched by this. This is not groundless, my hometown to Hongnong County, the minister has witnessed many such things, not just one example. Therefore, please amend the decree to raise the age of adulthood, so as to show compassion for orphans and save them from fire and water. ”