As the emperor's royal place for summoning important ministers and offices, the Zichen Hall in the middle of the night is still golden and brilliant, and the lights are endless.

At this time in the past, the empress would have already gone back to Ziwei Palace to bathe and rest, even when the Holy King of Cangming entered the palace to assist the emperor in handling official business.

But now, there was still a lot of people in the Zichen Palace, and the empress wearing a red dragon robe was discussing something with Lu Chen with a serious face.

"Lu Qing, do you mean that in the future, the clan's income will no longer be a fixed amount, and on the premise of not increasing the tax item, it will be changed to half of the revenue of the local government of the fief?"

Lu Chen nodded and said, "That's right, Weichen plans to make their income related to the income of the local people, not like before, no matter how the people live, it will not affect their income." ”

"As the so-called blessings are shared, difficulties are shared, the clan and the country are resting together, and the national fortune is shared with the court, then the responsibility should be shared with the court, for the court, the people live a rich life, the tax increases, and life can be better, on the contrary, if the people are not happy, the court cannot collect taxes, and the treasury is empty, life will be more and more difficult, and the clan should be like this."

Hearing this, the empress suddenly pondered, and her mind continued to analyze the pros and cons of Lu Chen's unprecedented advice.

After all, it is a major event involving the reform of the ancestral system, and it must not be careless if it affects the whole body.

After a moment, her eyes grew brighter.

At this time, Lu Chen said: "At the same time as the reform, the rights and obligations of the clan should also be adjusted, such as lifting some restrictions on employment, strengthening their supervision, restricting their property, reducing the number of guards, at least, not allowing them to have the power of life and death like King Yu, to achieve [the prince violates the law and is guilty of the same crime as the common people], otherwise if they are allowed to harm the people and plunder the people at will as in the past, the reform will have no meaning, but will aggravate their oppression and cunning of the people." ”

As soon as these words came out, the empress frowned again.

The force of this reform will not be too violent

It is necessary to reduce the wealth of the clans, and to reduce their power.

It's going to knock them down with a stick. As for whether they can get up, it depends on their ability

Wouldn't they have to fight desperately?

And the person who made this suggestion must not be regarded by them as an enemy of life and death?

But after thinking about it, the empress suddenly understood why Lu Chen said this.

Indeed, reforming the system of sutrimony will cause their incomes to plummet in the short term, and if they do not weaken their authority at the same time, they may desperately squeeze the people and recoup some of their losses.

There are hundreds of thousands of clans in the world, and not everyone is as rich and talented as King Yu, and most of the clans still have to count on the imperial court to support them.

If it turns out to be like this, it will backfire.

So this proposer.

Thinking of this, the empress couldn't help but think of a figure that had been incomparably reliable from childhood to adulthood.

"Brother Huang. I'll have to trouble you again."

The moment this thought flashed, her heart suddenly relaxed a lot.

"Anything else? Lu Qing. ”

"Of course."

Lu Chen smiled slightly, and continued: "In human nature, things that are easy to get will always not be valued and cherished, since the clan's income is linked to the local government, or the local people, then we have to set up a reward and punishment system, set a standard, and let the half-adult income further float." ”

Hearing this, a subtle look appeared on the empress's face.

"How to award? How to penalize? ”

Lu Chen said: "The people will be rewarded if they are benefited, and the people will be punished if they are killed." ”

Is that really the case?

Lu Qing, as always, has the common people in mind.

The empress couldn't help but sigh in her heart.

"Here's an example."

Lu Chen continued to talk eloquently: "If the local people are not frozen to death and starved to death, an additional coefficient will be increased as a reward, otherwise, a certain coefficient will be confiscated, and unannounced visits will be made from time to time. ”

"Set up Xuanjiwei stations in various places, and ask them to monitor the local people's livelihood, clan income and living conditions, and use photographic notes, gramograms, and even projection symbols to record evidence when necessary, and the imperial court analyzes whether there is a problem between the clan and the local government through the income situation, and if so, once verified, immediately raid the house and ask for guilt."

"After the fact, the income from the confiscation can be used as part of the funds for the operation of the site and the additional bonus of Xuanjiwei in addition to the money, and those who have made great contributions will be rewarded with additional rewards."

One plan after another came out of Lu Chen's mouth.

In short, there is a purpose, to guide the clan as much as possible, to directly link their interests with the interests of the people, the people are better, the clan is better, if the people are sad, the clan will follow the hard life.

At the same time, because it is a fixed share of expenditure, no matter how many Zhenguo generals, auxiliary generals, or Fengguo generals there are, all of them can only be divided into half of the local revenue.

If there are more people, everyone will get less, and if there are fewer people, everyone will get more points.

No longer affects court tax revenue.

"Of course, in addition to this, there is a more critical problem that needs to be solved, if this problem is not solved, my Great Xia will still be unable to escape the doom of overturning."

Hearing this, the empress's expression suddenly became extremely solemn.

After thinking about it for a while, she understood what the problem Lu Chen was talking about.

"Is there a problem that the clan and the gentry do not pay the grain tax?"

"That's right!"

Lu Chen nodded heavily, and said in a deep voice: "Any citizen of Great Xia has the obligation to pay grain tax, and there must not be a situation where they only enjoy their rights and interests without needing to pay. ”

"Since the founding of Emperor Taizu Hongwu, it has been nearly a thousand years, the world of Daxia is no longer the era of people's livelihood withering, cultivators withering, and frequent spiritual disasters thousands of years ago, today's Daxia, the monks have exceeded one million, with the national policy of monks not paying food, I don't know how many people take the initiative to donate land to monks, these people continue to annex land through various means, almost mastering more than half of the cultivated land in Daxia, but not a single point handed over to the imperial court, this is simply plundering the wealth that should belong to the imperial court and belong to the world!"

"The people who need to pay taxes have fewer and fewer fields, and the state treasury becomes more and more tight, and their burden becomes heavier and heavier, which further leads them to donate their land, intensify annexation, and further reduce their income, forming a vicious circle......

"Your Majesty, at that point, when the imperial court cannot function normally, can this world still be the world of Great Xia? Therefore, the disadvantages of the tax system have reached the point where they have to be reformed. ”

The Empress was silent.

At this time, Lu Chen suddenly shook his head and sighed.

"What Weichen saw and heard in Yu and Sui Prefectures was shocking, local officials or flies camped dogs, or slacked off on political affairs, devoted to Xuanxiu, laissez-faire to the locality, selfishness comparable to Mount Tai, there were few competent people, and the people were miserable under the governance of these selfish and self-interested mediocre officials, and these two states were medium-sized state capitals, and the people's livelihood was already so difficult, I really dare not imagine what kind of human purgatory the inferior state capital should be."

"In Weichen's view, the situation of the people in the two states can almost be regarded as a microcosm of Great Xia, if there is no reform of the big sword and axe, the prosperous era that His Majesty is looking forward to will always be a castle in the air, no matter how hard he tries, the so-called Zhongxing will only be as short-lived as the first emperor."

Hearing this, the empress finally spoke slowly.

"I am not ignorant of the evils of the tax system, but this matter is of great importance and involves a wide range of things, and the slightest carelessness will lead to great turmoil, and we must think about it slowly, not in a hurry."

The empress's reaction was expected by Lu Chen.

It is impossible to do something as big as tax reform in the first place.

After all, if you want to reform the tax system, you must face the entire gentry class, and the ministers and officials who are intricately linked to the gentry class.

This is the elite class of Great Xia.

And the matter of changing the law has never been a simple matter.

To get rid of the old malpractices, we must replace them with a new system, and the implementation of the new law requires the help of officials at all levels, and a solid and reliable team is needed.

Her roots are still too shallow.

And he, Lu Chen, is too upright, never forms a party for personal gain, and basically has no foundation Okay, the acting county orders in Yuzhou who are chasing ducks on the shelves can barely be regarded as his team, but they have just stepped into the officialdom, and they are too immature to make any waves at all.

As long as the empress is not stupid, she must know that now is not the time to completely change the law.

However, her attitude of obviously planning a long time ago made Lu Chen a little surprised.

"Wechen naturally knows that the tax reform is not easy, and it is impossible to sweep away the disadvantages of the Great Xia millennium, and Wechen does not intend to do it overnight and cause a big mess."

Lu Chen said lightly: "It's just that there are some things that need to be prepared in advance." ”

Hearing this, the empress couldn't help but move her eyes.

"For example?"

"For example, the matter of this sect's offerings."

Lu Chen slowly raised the corners of his mouth, "As long as we find a way to tie up the clan that only has certain privileges but no real power, the people and the local economy, and make it the fundamental interest of the clan, will the clan not violate the river water with the gentry as before, then it is uncertain."

After a pause, he added: "Moreover, the fixed salary will make the clan lose its enterprising spirit, and there is no upper limit, and the floating salary that can be clearly changed through hard work can stimulate the potential of the clan, at least it can create some value for the imperial court, instead of being raised as a pig by the imperial court all day long, except for the sound of dogs and horses, and the extravagance of national fortune, nothing will be done." ”

When the words fell, the empress couldn't help but groan.

"Let the people and the local economy become the fundamental interests of the clan?"

A moment later, a gleam quietly flashed in her bright eyes.

"This is the real shared national fortune"

With a sigh of emotion, she suddenly raised her head, glanced at Lu Chen deeply, and then said softly: "Lu Qingyuzhou and his party have gained a lot more than I imagined." ”

Hearing this, Lu Chen couldn't help but be stunned.

After reacting, he sighed faintly.

"If he could, Wechen would rather get nothing."

As soon as these words came out, the empress's eyes dimmed slightly.

There was silence for a moment before she spoke:

"After Lu Qing goes back tonight, draw up a charter, remember, don't submit it directly to the cabinet, send it directly to me."

Lu Chen nodded.

Seeing Lu Chen's response, the empress suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.

Then she seemed to suddenly remember something, and asked Lu Chen: "By the way, the words, symbols and grids that Lu Qing wrote with charcoal on the manuscript are the methods of counting that can quickly calculate complicated data without relying on calculations?" ”

"Oh, this one."

Lu Chen nodded.

"This is the number that Wechen pondered by himself, as well as calculation symbols and tables, through some methods, it is indeed possible to achieve efficient calculation and co-ordination, if Your Majesty is interested in this, Wechen can teach you."

"Then it's going to trouble Lu Qing."

The empress replied without hesitation.

But it's not difficult to learn.

With that, she stood up directly, walked to Lu Chen's side, and looked at the manuscript on his desk.

"Your Majesty, sit down."

Lu Chen got up and asked the empress to sit down.

The empress said "um", but she didn't refuse, and walked to the place where Lu Chen was sitting just now and sat down.

"Your Majesty, look, this symbol is like a rolling pin, Weichen equates it with one, and this one next to it is two"

"A single number from 0 to 9, a total of ten, no matter how big the other numbers, are composed of these numbers, for example, the 1 and 3 are juxtaposed together, it represents one pick three, plus a 2 in front, that is, 213, also known as two ratios. Ahh It's two hundred and one pick."

Lu Chen took out a blank piece of paper and wrote on it with a pen while explaining it attentively.

Listening to Lu Chen's patient explanation, although most of the empress's attention was on the blank paper in front of her, and her mind was constantly digesting this refreshing knowledge quickly, the warm breath she felt in her ears from time to time still made her lose her mind for a while.

After a while, she exhaled a heavy breath, gathered her mind, and carefully appreciated the charm of this new science called mathematics that Lu Chen had told.

(End of chapter)