Nineteen years of Jian'an, the first month. In the early morning, the morning sun is rising.

"The gifts that were sent to the door these days will be returned today."

Huo Jun, who was about to set off, told the foot trainer and said: "My husband is in a high position, and now I am ordered by the king to participate in the military affairs of Hanchang National School, and the family should not be publicized." ”

The foot trainer arranged Huo Jun's collar, revealed the gold phoenix ring with his white fingers, and said: "That is the case, the concubine should make the family simpler, so as not to make people talk about it." ”

Huo Jun smiled, held the hand of the step trainer, and said, "Most of the wealth is given by the king, and he has a clear conscience. If the trainer is dressed simply, won't it make people laugh? ”

"Today, people are withdrawn, mostly because of the military in the Senate, and the generals have no choice but to go up and give gifts when seeking official positions, and at this time, I am afraid that they will be subject to others."

Which gifts should be accepted and which gifts should not be accepted, Huo Jun also has an account in his heart. Like Jian Yong, Sun Qian, Mi Fang, Mi Zhu, and Zhang Fei, which are purely gifts for closer relationships, they should still be accepted. Like the gifts that the generals gave to them for promotion, Huo Jun couldn't accept them.

After all, Huo Jun's family is really not short of money, and since the Battle of Chrysostom, Fengyi and Shiyi have long made the Huo family worry about food and clothing.

As for Liu Bei's opening of the country, the salt field given to him was flattering to Huo Jun. Whether it is an agricultural society or an industrial society, the importance of salt is undoubted, Liu Bei gave Huo Jun a salt farm, there is no doubt that it is a golden rice bowl, ensuring the wealth of the Huo family for several generations.

As for how rich Huo Jun is now?

If the step trainer is willing, the ring on her hand can not be the same all year round. The entry and exit clothes of Big and Small Qiao are comparable to the main room of an ordinary high-ranking official's house.

There are as many as two or three hundred servants in the house, and Huo Jun has fifteen acres of land under his name, which is still a product of Huo Jun's conscious control. If Huo Jun indulges, I'm afraid it will be far more than that.

Of course, Huo Jun's servants and acres are not outrageous, such as the Mi brothers, there are thousands of servants and maidservants; Zhang Fei and Guan Yu each supported hundreds of servants, and Sun Qian and Jian Yong had slightly fewer servants, but there were dozens and hundreds.

"Master of the house, it's time to go!" The squire shouted.

Huo Jun saw that it was almost time to participate in the morning meeting, and said: "I have put Huo Chen in charge of the salt field given by the king, and Madame doesn't have to worry about it." ”

"Good!"

The step trainer bowed slightly, watched Huo Jun stay away, and said, "The husband walks slowly, and the concubine is waiting for the husband in the house!" ”

Huo Jun left the mansion, boarded the car, and headed towards the Hanchang Palace.

Since Liu Bei became the queen of the country, according to normal speaking, Huo Jun needs to return to Jianghuai to sit in town. However, Liu Bei wanted to integrate the army under his account and innovate the Chinese army system, so he left Huo Jun behind to help him build the army system. This is also the core reason why the generals are vying to give gifts to Huo Jun first.

Wuhan, once a county of E, belongs to a small county. But with Liu Bei's entry, Daxing infrastructure has made a big difference. Not only was the palace moved to the northwest suburbs of the county seat, but even the residences of a large number of high-ranking civil and military officials were also moved to the vicinity of the palace.

With the rapid increase in population, it is difficult for the old county town to meet the current population demand. Under Liu Bei's approval, in the northwest of Exian County, that is, with the Hanchang Royal Mansion as the core, a large number of civil works were built to build Wuhan New City.

Along the way, it can be seen that the people responsible for building the new city have already gotten up early and are building under the supervision of the officials.

Soon, Huo Jun and Zhongqing Wenwu almost arrived at the same time, greeted each other, and everyone entered the palace.

Huo Jun took off his sword, handed it over to his attendants, and walked into the hall with everyone, ranking as the chief general. Among the generals of the Quartet, Guan Yu went to Jiangling to sit in the town, Zhang Feitun soldiers in Jiangzhou, so it was Huang Zhong who sat behind Huo Jun.

After Huang Zhong, there were military generals such as Gan Ning, Zhao Yun, and Chen Zhi.

After a while, I saw Liu Bei enter the hall in the king's clothes, yawning in his mouth, and seemed to be quite tired.

Seeing Liu Bei's mental outlook, Huo Jun couldn't help but maliciously speculate, I don't know if it was Xinna's Du family and Wu family who were too beautiful, so that Liu Bei was infatuated for a while.

If Liu Bei has formulated the crime of defamation, he will give Huo Jun this crime!

"Excuse me!"

Liu Bei raised his hands slightly, signaling everyone to be exempt.

"Thank you, King!"

Huo Jun knelt on the seat, opposite Zhuge Liang, Zhang Zhao and other ministers. Many of the ministers knew the etiquette and sat on their knees, but only one person was quite rude, sitting cross-legged on the seat, which was very eye-catching.

Dare to sit cross-legged in front of Liu Bei, only Jian Yong!

Zhang Zhao caught a glimpse of Jian Yong's sitting posture, with a look of disgust on his face.

Zhang Zhao bowed his hand to Liu Bei and said: "Your Highness, the world is in chaos, the etiquette is broken, and many ministers forget the etiquette. Now that His Royal Highness has been proclaimed king, he should not be the same as before, and he must be solemn in the etiquette of kings and ministers. ”

Although Zhang Zhao's words did not specify who was Yue Li, everyone present knew that Zhang Zhao was criticizing Jian Yong. However, under the eyes of everyone, Jian Yong turned a blind eye and still went his own way.

Jian Yong didn't care, and said lightly: "The lord lies in the heart, not in the outside. Cao Cao's courtesy of pedestrians and ministers, but it caused chaos in the Han family, and it was not loyal. ”

"You~"

Zhang Zhao's face sank, and he wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Liu Bei.

"Ahem!"

Liu Bei coughed and said: "What Xianhe said is reasonable, and the way to be a minister lies in loyalty. Now Cao is operating in chaos in the Central Plains, and Zhuqing should put major events first. ”

"No!"

Zhang Zhao saw Liu Bei standing on Jian Yong's side, although his face was dissatisfied, he could only ignore this matter.

Liu Bei was so protective, Huo Jun was not surprised. Liu Bei, who was born as a ranger, is arrogant, protects his brothers, and does not pay so much attention to etiquette.

It was not the first time that Jian Yong had sat like that. For decades, he has been sitting like that with Liu Bei. Even Jian Yong sometimes occupies the bed alone, with his head resting on his neck, talking to others, even if others are dissatisfied, he doesn't care.

Switching topics, Liu Bei looked at Zhuge Liang and said: "Kong Ming, since the sixteenth year of Jian'an, there has been no war, no year, no year, the people have withered, and there have been many rebellions. Now that the treasury is empty, Kong Ming has been discussing with Zhuqing for a long time, but I don't know if there is a high view of the orphan? ”

The battle of Shu laid the pattern of confrontation between Liu Bei and Cao Cao in the north and south. However, the damage caused to the people of Wu Chu was not small, so much so that it caused a rebellion. Even in order to support the battle of Hanzhong, he also squeezed the grain and grass of the people of Bazhong.

During the war, Qianwei Taishou Li Yan provided a batch of 50,000 stone military rations for the army, and was also appreciated and rewarded by Liu Bei.

After conquering Chengdu, Liu Bei rewarded the troops of Shu. At present, there is no money of grain available in the treasury of Wuhan. At present, Liu Bei needs to restore local production and stabilize the situation in the southern states to avoid regeneration.

Zhuge Liang pondered a little, and arched his hand and said: "The world is chaotic, and there are often Cao thieves attacking. For the thief soldiers, thousands of miles from east to west, Wu Chu soldiers did not fight all year round, resulting in no permanent cultivation of the fields, no permanent residence of the people, and withering of the people. ”

"At this time, the trend of the north and the south has been determined, and the Bashu is under control, and Liang thinks that it should be re-checked and taxed, verify the household registration of Bashu, persuade farming, practice the method of rice and wheat rotation, dredge the canals, recuperate, and accumulate grain for the Northern Expedition."

"Please speak!"

Zhuge Liang sorted out his thoughts and said: "Since the independent unification of Wu Chu, the two states of Su'an have allocated taxes for military use. Liang inherited the old tax grain, exchanged the grain with money, and collected more grain to fill the treasury. However, now, it is possible to order taxes, encourage people to work, and reclaim wasteland. ”

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were many types of taxes, and the central government often collected taxes such as land rent, manuscript tax, mouth money, and calculation of taxes. The tax on land rent and manuscripts is taken in kind, while the money and calculation are collected and can be converted into each other.

The rent of the two Hantian is low, and the two taxes are high, and these two taxes are charged according to the number of heads. After the Eastern Han Dynasty lost control of the grassroots, it was difficult to collect the poll tax, which was nominally collected on a per household basis.

However, the Eastern Han Dynasty central tax has these kinds, does not mean that there is no private tax in the local area, since the period of Emperor Huan, the local state has a history of assassination, too regular private tax items, and fills private pockets.

Since the turmoil of the late Han Dynasty, the five-baht coin has depreciated and the commodity economy has withered. After Liu Bei became the lord of Wu Chu, under the auspices of Zhuge Liang, he converted the mouth money and calculation into grain and cloth, which was used to hand over to the center.

However, the perennial war and the increase of hidden households are not conducive to the play of the old tax. Today, after the stabilization is achieved, the reform of the tax system is to change for the next level.

Liang thought that at this time, the miscellaneous taxes in various places should be abolished, and only land rent and household taxes should be collected. Inherit the old system, light land rent, heavy household tax. Rent and taxation can encourage the people to work, open up farmland, and have more children, thinking that the population will multiply. ”

Zhuge Liang paced in the hall and said: "In addition, when the mountains and seas such as salt, iron, gold and copper in the four states are widely collected, and the positions of Si Jin and Si Yan are set up, and the policies of the mountains and seas are carried out. Shi Liang heard that there is a brocade in Chengdu, named Shu brocade, which is worth a thousand gold, and the world's corporal clan is very happy, but the official Shu brocade can be sold in the world, so as to fill the army. ”

In the chaos of the world, agricultural taxes alone are inevitably not enough to support military expenditures, and only by using the government-run economy to include the sale of the people's necessities into the income can we support the wartime economy.

Liu Bei stroked his beard and said: "As Kong Ming said, the new tax law today is not like Cao Cao's taxation, collecting four liters of land rent, and giving two horses of silk and two catties of cotton. ”

"Exactly!"

Zhuge Liang bowed down and said: "Although Cao Cao is evil, his tax system is quite commendable. The amount of income per mu is fixed, and the tax is collected by households, regardless of the number of people, and the line is counted by the number of households. If the tax rate remains unchanged, the people under the rule will be encouraged to cultivate more acres of land and have more children. ”

Cao Cao's military and political abilities are commendable. The modulation of rents in the Sui and Tang dynasties can be traced back to Cao Cao's innovative household modulation.

Cao Caohu's innovation in modulation was purely forced by helplessness. As the war progressed and the people were displaced, it was difficult to collect the poll tax, so the only way to start was the number of household registrations.

The household tax remains unchanged and the land rent is low, so the tax system is conducive to the common people to reclaim a large amount of wasteland. After all, if the money and grain collected remain unchanged, it can motivate the people to actively cultivate land and have more children.

"Liang thinks that under the rule of the main public, it is feasible to 'equalize' the law, according to the division of the rich and poor households, the number of acres of land, the mu of a bucket of income, and then adjust the household tax."

Zhuge Liang bowed his hand to Liu Bei and said: "The law of peace, the rich pay more, and the poor pay less. The policy of the government and the mountains and seas, the taxes are more, and the treasury can be enriched for military funds. ”

Equalization is the key to the household survey system. That is, to verify the amount of assets of the people, according to the gap between the rich and the poor, divide the family assets of the lower, middle, and upper people, and the rich will receive more, and the poor will receive less, so as to reach the point of cracking down on the strong.

Of course, the tenant system is only a part of Zhuge Liang's tax system, and Zhuge Liang's containment methods for the powerful and the noble clan are more clever, such as the Shu brocade that Zhuge Liang emphasized before.

Shu brocade belongs to the luxury goods of the Three Kingdoms period, and the ordinary people can't afford it, only Huo Jun, Mi Zhu, Guan Yu and other military nobles, or local tycoons and wealthy businessmen can afford it.

The official camp of Shu brocade means that Haoqiang buys luxury Shu brocade, and it is to pay high taxes to Wuhan in a different direction without harming ordinary people.

This is the biggest difference between Zhuge Liang and Cao Cao, and it can also be said to be the difference in the political ideas of Qi Legalism and Qin Legalism.

Qi Fajia was mild and used economic means to obtain profits for the country, such as Guan Zhong opening a brothel and Zhuge Liang state-owned Shu brocade.

The Qin Legalists used brutal methods, using administrative power to emphasize agriculture and suppress business, forcing the people to pay taxes, or splitting household registration.

Of course, Zhuge Liang's nationalization of Shu Jin is destined to offend the scholars and heroes of Shu. However, these are all trivial matters, there are gains and losses, additions and losses, this is the law of nature.

(End of chapter)