In all fairness, the treatment of Dayu officials is still very good.

Bai Lotian was a grassroots cadre and a county lieutenant below, and he also wrote a poem saying, "There are 300 stone in the ranks, and there is surplus grain in the year." ”。 One stone of grain is about 100 catties, and a petty official like a county lieutenant can also earn more than 30,000 catties of grain a year, with an average of more than 80 catties of grain a day.

The income of Dayu officials is mainly divided into rice, manpower, vocational fields, and monthly miscellaneous payments, of which Lu rice is the grain distributed to officials in annual units according to the tradition of the Qin and Han dynasties.

Manpower is to distribute the slaves and maids under the control of the government to the officials for use, and the higher the rank of officials, the more slaves and maids are allocated by the imperial court.

Vocational fields transfer the income of public fields according to their positions. The final monthly miscellaneous items include meat, spices, sauce, vinegar, onions, ginger and other condiments.

This system gradually evolved from the Qin and Han dynasties, and such generous treatment ensured that the best talents in society tried their best to squeeze their heads into the ruling system of the imperial court. Bai Letian's "three hundred stones" is an approximate number that counts all the income together.

Of course, high treatment is good, but high treatment also has a drawback, that is, the burden on the imperial court is too great, a county lieutenant needs at least 30,000 catties of grain to support, and the entire imperial court calculates, I don't know how much food to raise to support these officials.

Therefore, after Hangang reformed the salt administration and collected salt as an official camp, he often used salt instead of grain to distribute food to save expenses.

Grain is no better than copper coins and gold and silver, it does not decay slowly, and there is inevitable wear and tear in the process of transportation.

Li Xu remembered his previous life, the tax reform of the Ming Dynasty since Jiajing was because there was too much grain in Taicang, so he explored a whip tax reform.

This is because the Ming Dynasty did not have the black technology of the Sui Dynasty that kept grain fresh for more than 70 years and could still be left for Li Shimin to eat, and millions of catties of grain were rotten every year. For the emperors of the feudal dynasty, this must be an intolerable large-scale loss of state-owned assets.

Therefore, the pilot project was gradually opened, and the reform of the tax system was explored, and finally it was thoroughly promoted by Zhang Juzheng to the whole country in the early years of Wanli.

The development of things is probably like this, if you are poor, you will change, and if you change, you will be successful.

Li Xu's idea was to build a national grain stamp and change the income of the officials' rice to be distributed in the form of grain stamps. In the past, Lu rice was distributed to officials by the imperial court at one time, and the imperial court faced huge food pressure, and Caoyun also became the lifeline of the imperial court.

"This banknote is the grain banknote, I have asked Ouchi to make engravings, make some paper tickets with the tribute paper of Shudi, and the paper tickets are marked with convertible numbers, and this kind of paper will be issued in the future. ”

"What's the benefit of this?" Yuan Zhen was a little puzzled: "The palace has spent manpower and material resources, and there will not be a single grain of food that should be given to hundreds of officials." ”

"How can there be no good. Li Xu replied: "Now a third-grade official, Lu rice costs 400 stones, that is, nearly 40,000 catties of grain." It is customary to distribute rice twice a year, once after the summer tax and once after the autumn tax. He received 20,000 catties of grain at a time and kept it at home, how much of it was gnawed by mice, blistered, and stolen? I changed it into paper and sent it to him, and when he needed it, he went to the imperial court's treasury to collect it.

"Then the treasury must prepare enough food, Weichen thinks that after His Majesty's Lu money is launched, the amount of grain that needs to be spent on the ministers should be less, but it may not be able to save much. ”

Yuan Zhi replied that he had realized the saving attribute represented by this Lu banknote, and having such a piece of paper in his hand meant that he did not have to worry about the food in his house being eaten by rats or stale, because only the real grain in the granary of the imperial court would have these losses.

"Nearly a million people in Bai Yujing, their mouths are placed here, and in addition to the output of Guanzhong, many of the food in their mouths is actually from the Lu rice of the ministers. ”

Yuan Shu explained that although the rice itself was not monetary in itself, a considerable part of it was sold by officials to grain merchants in exchange for copper coins and silk silk, and then the grain was diverted to the homes of the citizens of Bai Yujing.

The essence of Caoyun is to provide for the huge population needs of the capital, and as long as the population is placed here, the basic contradiction between supply and demand will not be resolved.

Yuan Zhen's explanation made Li Xu shake his head, this Yuan scholar is still too feudal and lacks the long-term vision and courage for reform.

"Moreover, I will also order that the state capitals other than Guanzhong and not along the border must accept the grain exchanged for these Lu banknotes. ”

The emperor's words made Li Deyu and Yuan Zhen frown, and they realized what it meant.

First of all, this money can save a lot of money for the imperial court.

Li Deyu's eyes lit up, and he clapped his hands and praised: "Wonderful." ”

"Definitely. Li Shen nodded and said, "If it were me, I would exchange silk and copper coins for the money in the hands of the officials." ”

"What kind of money do you make?" Li Congxian was a little confused, in the eyes of the general, this was simply useless.

"Taking out a hundred catties of grain in Bai Yujing is definitely easier than pulling it from Henan, why should I pull it from Henan to Bai Yujing? Can't I just go to Bai Yujing to get it?"

"I see. Yuan Zhi listened to Li Xu's supplementary use of this Lu banknote and nodded. "It's true that a lot of businessmen flock to it. ”

Li Congxian looked at the three people who were shaking their heads, and suddenly felt a little incomprehensible.

"How can this save money, and how can it make money?" The general glared at Yuan Zhen: "The place with the highest value of this Lu banknote is Bai Yujing, and the cost of transporting a pound of rice to Bai Yujing is much more than that in Henan." As long as he is still in Bai Yujing to exchange food, then we won't save anything. ”

Yuan Zhen shook his head: "Don't you understand, the general understands, this is a piece of paper." ”

"I know it's paper. Li Congxian looked at Yuan Zhi angrily, our family was taught at the age of three, and we also read the book of sages, don't we be blind, can't we see that this is a piece of paper?

"It's paper, not food. Yuan Zhi explained: "As long as one day it is not exchanged for grain, then it is just a piece of paper." ”

"But sooner or later he will become food. Li Congxian was a little indignant, this Yuan Zhi didn't have the intention to ridicule himself in front of His Majesty, what did he do with the toss-and-turn fighting front, and he was not a monk in the Zen Sect.

"That's right. "Yuan Zhen looks like I've explained it to you clearly. "So he said. ”

"How to save?" Li Congxian was a little incomprehensible.

"If there is one stone of Lu money that has not been exchanged for grain, then the court will save one stone of grain. Li Deyu explained to his own family, who was a little slow to react: "If there is a stone of grain from Luoyang, then the imperial court will save the loss of transportation from Luoyang to Baiyujing." ”

"If there is a stone of grain exchanged from Yangzhou, then the imperial court will save the loss of transporting it from Yangzhou to Baiyujing. Li Deyu explained: "This Lu banknote that Your Majesty came up with is too ingenious, and there is no better way to save money than this." If the grain in the warehouse can withstand the pressure of acceptance and gradually build credit, then I don't know how much grain can be saved. ”

Li Deyu's praise made Li Xu laugh secretly, this national food stamp is a great wisdom that has been tested by time, and the benefits in it are not only this.

That's right, although they are the emperor's henchmen, they are also officials after all.

"Why should I change it in Yangzhou? I just need to exchange grain in Baiyujing. Li Congxian stubbornly replied: "Bai Yujing's grain price is so high......"

"Bai Yujing's grain price is not the highest, Yangzhou, Yizhou and even Luoyang, the grain price is not lower than Bai Yujing. Li Deyu said with a smile: "Bai Yujing's grain price is actually not too high because of the offset of grain every year. ”

Li Xu nodded, every year, a large amount of grain arrived in Baiyujing, in addition to filling the imperial treasury for emergencies, a considerable part of the rice grain was distributed as the ration of the hundred officials and the Shence army, and then finally flowed into the people through the transit of merchants. With this stable supply as a hidden benefit, the lives of the people of Bai Yujing are actually quite okay.

"Yangzhou, Yizhou, and Luoyang, how can the price of grain be expensive there?" Li Congxian pointed out that these places are all areas close to the production area, and the Sichuan Plain, where Yizhou is located, and the Jianghuai Plain, where Yangzhou is located, are all grain producing areas. Henan, where Luoyang is located, is also richer than Guanzhong, and produces more grain.

"Because there is a lot of money and a lot of silk. Li Xu explained: "Copper coins and silk silk are regarded as wealth by the people of the world, and they themselves are circulating all the time. Yangzhou Yizhou and Luoyang are both places where silk silk is produced, and there are many copper coins and silk silk in that place, and there is relatively little grain, so the price of grain will naturally be more expensive than here in Bai Yujing. ”

High prices do not only mean scarcity, but capital intensity itself leads to changes in prices. The cost of eating a bowl of braised chicken in the magic capital is definitely more expensive than eating a bowl of braised chicken in the county seat.

In today's Dayu, because of the prosperity of handicrafts and commerce, the price of grain in the industrial and commercial centers of Yangzhou, Yizhou, and Luoyang is not much cheaper than that of Bai Yujing, and the capital circulating in the market there is much more than Bai Yujing, the capital that served the imperial court and the central forbidden army.

"If I were a businessman, I would exchange it for Lu money from Bai Yujing's officials, and then go to Lianzhou. Yuan Zhi looked at the emperor with blazing eyes: "I exchanged grain from the Lianzhou Prefecture, and then exchanged it for pearls from the local natives." ”

Lianzhou is Hepu County in the Qin and Han dynasties, which is close to the South China Sea and has been a place to produce pearls since ancient times. A fine pearl is worth more than 100,000 yuan in Bai Yujing.

"In the past, when I went to Lianzhou to buy pearls, I needed to bring a lot of copper coins and silk silk, which was very dangerous all the way. Yuan Shu explained: "Now I can go on the road with a stack of papers and hide them close to me." Yuan Zhi smiled and said: "Can't a hundred catties of grain be exchanged for a pearl from the natives? That's just a piece of paper with a stone written on it, and if I hide the pearl close to me, I can make a profit of more than 1,000 yuan when I return to Bai Yujing." ”

"It's the most lucrative and dangerous way to do it. Li Deyu said: "To put it simply, in fact, as long as I take these Lu banknotes, go to Yangzhou and Yizhou to exchange them for grain, and then exchange them for silk silk, sell them to Hu merchants or pull them to other places, I can also make a lot of profits." ”

Li Xu knew that he had made this Lu banknote was actually not a new thing, and it was called a national food stamp in modern times. In ancient times there was also a close thing called the salt induction. There are so many wonderful things about this thing, and the most important thing is that it can save costs for the imperial court.

Saving administrative costs is the most important reform.