Li Congxian soon realized the most important problem, if according to Yuan Zhen and Li Deyu's ideas, then the grain shipped to Bai Yujing will definitely decrease, and how should the people of Bai Yujing deal with themselves at that time?

"Originally, I wanted to send less food over, and I couldn't die if I drank a few more bowls of porridge?" Yuan Zhi said with a reactionary consciousness: "If it weren't for the purpose of transporting less grain to Bai Yujing, what would we do with so much waste and help those merchants get rich?"

"Guanzhong is now lacking in land resources, and so many people in Bai Yujing are actually beyond the carrying limit of the imperial court, which is why His Majesty moved the elite of the forbidden army to Luoyang. Li Deyu then explained: "Cutting some of the population is good for the country and the people. ”

Li Congxian didn't have anything to say for a while, after all, these two people were very right, and it was the righteousness of the court to open and close their mouths. It is true that it is not a big deal for the small people to drink a few meals of porridge, but one of the meanings of the existence of the imperial court must be to let the people of the world have enough to eat. 、

"Look up enough to serve your parents, you can save your wife, you will be happy for life, and you will be free from death in your fierce years. This has always been the governance model advocated by Confucianism, and in this cold world, Confucianism, which advocates that it is the duty of the monarch to make the lives of small people happy, is the most humanistic and caring idea in the world.

"Your Majesty's policy is indeed very good, but in this way, the people of Bai Yujing will have to drink porridge when they can eat. "Li Congxian was very unfortunate to meet Li Deyu, a standard pragmatist.

"The dry rice in the bowl of the people of Bai Yujing was originally exchanged for porridge from the people of other places. Li Deyu clearly pointed out that the people of Bai Yujing have enjoyed a lot of hidden benefits, such as Caoyun, which has always been a burden on the heads of the people in the world.

"It's just," Yuan Zhen pondered for a moment, "If I collect a large amount of Lu money, such as 10,000 stones, and then take it to Lianzhou to exchange for grain, it is impossible for Lianzhou to exchange so much grain for Xiazhou." ”

The basis of the existence of Lu banknote is credit, and if there is no credit of the imperial court as a basis, then its existence is meaningless.

"Ten thousand stones, where is it so easy to get. Li Shen shook his head and said: "The officials registered in my Dayu Officials Department, even counting the nine grades, are only more than 4,800 people in total. The first-grade Lu rice is only 650 stone a year, and the fifth-grade official is only 180 stone, not to mention that only the Beijing official changes the Lu banknote. There are not too many banknotes in circulation. ”

The reason why Li Xu dared to implement this policy was because Dayu, as a feudal dynasty, had really few officials, and in order to limit the power of officials, the status of senior officials was actually low.

For example, Pei Du, he is the governor of Shangshu Province, and his position is Shangshu Left Servant, this position is actually the deputy position of Shangshu Province, and the governor of Shangshu Province is Shangshu Ling, in order to limit the power of officials, he deliberately vacated Shangshu Order, and ruled Shangshu Province with Shangshu Left Servant.

This Shangshu Ling is the official of the second grade, and the left and right servants of the Shangshu are from the second grade.

The governors of Zhongshu Province and Menxia Province are even worse, they are all three-quality control, such as Hangang's Zhongshu Order, which is actually the third grade.

However, for these high-ranking officials, they do not live on their salaries, and most of the money in their hands will be used for commercial purposes with knives.

"It is too difficult to maintain credit, because the promotion has been for a long time, there will be more and more Lu banknotes on the market, this year the imperial court will issue 30,000 stones to officials, next year will issue 40,000 stones, ten years later it will be 300,000 stones, once there is a catastrophe, or someone maliciously runs, or even someone forges Lu banknotes, there will definitely be pressure on grain acceptance. Li Deyu frowned.

"Indeed," Yuan Zhen also realized the problem. "If Lianzhou can't redeem so much grain, it's still good, and if Luoyang, Yangzhou, and Yizhou can't redeem it, it will be fatal. ”

Li Xu smiled, the officials of the feudal dynasty always believed that wealth came from the land and the countryside, which is indeed a truth, because under the natural economic conditions, the materials produced by the land are the main source of wealth for the whole society, and they are also the stabilizer of all problems.

But cities are the real source of wealth. All the countryside can provide is food, livestock, melons and fruits, which provide the foundation for the prosperity of a society. And how can the handicrafts and commerce of the city provide more wealth in the true sense of the word?

With the existence of the natural economy and the stability of rural society, the officials of the feudal dynasty were under financial pressure to demand money from the countryside that was not their main output on the one hand, and on the other hand, they could also let go of the cities.

It's like Li Xu did this in Bai Yujing, because the influence of the city is very limited for the entire empire. Bai Yujing, a city with a population of one million and the largest city in the world, is only a part of the twenty-one counties of Jingzhao Mansion in Li Xu's heart.

It's not a big deal for the citizens of Baekokkyung to drink porridge, and the farmers of Gyeonggi Province can't eat, that's the fatal thing.

Therefore, Yuan Zhi and Li Deyu are now a little retreating, in the emperor's opinion, the main thing is that young officials still lack the wisdom and courage to reform, mainly the lack of reform courage.

Without the courage to turn around and deny people, what kind of reform can be carried out?

"Someone came to the government with 10,000 stone of grain and asked for an exchange for food, what's the big deal. Li Xu frowned and looked at Yuan Zhi and Li Deyu: "Could it be that the knife in his waist is fake?"

Li Xu watched a movie in his previous life, and it was a classic. There was a bandit disguised as the county magistrate who took office, and the local tyrants were very strong. The bandit county magistrate took the official seal and asked the master, can this make money? The master said yes, but he had to kneel. The bandit magistrate then took the gun and asked the master if he could make money, and the master said yes, but he had to go back to the mountains.

Then the bandit county magistrate took the official seal and the pistol and put them together, and asked if these two things were put together, could they stand and earn the money? The master asked seriously, daring to ask where the big brother of the nine cylinders is sacred. Apparently convinced.

Li Xu feels that he now holds the biggest seal handle in the world, and the knife handle is also one of the best in the world, what money can't be earned in his hand?

"Ten thousand stones, that's one million catties of grain. Li Xu Zhenzhen said: "A person has nothing to do with the court to receive a million catties of grain, what is this called, at least this is speculation, at worst it is to destroy the social and economic order, against the government, against the court." ”

"This kind of person, you have to resolutely suppress it, what kind of credit do you tell them?" The emperor slowed down, looking at the confidants and courtiers below who looked confused because they didn't understand what they called "speculation", "destroying the social and economic order", and "confronting the government", Li Xu felt that it would be better to throw out the next knowledge point later.

Looking at the four still circled faces below, Li Xu still had to give them a little more in-depth explanation.

"People who have a lot of money in their hands must be rich. The emperor pointed out one of their blind spots to the four courtiers: "The so-called people who have constant property have perseverance, and they have a big family and a big business, can they not know not to make trouble for the government easily?"

"Didn't the people say that the county order of the broken family and the history of the assassination of the door. Li Xu said: "If such a big family wants to raise grain, our government can reason with them." ”

"Words are not credit. Li Xu then raped the nerves and logic of Li Congxian and others: "The court should be trustworthy to the small people, and if one person comes to exchange one stone of grain or two stones of grain, then they must be exchanged." Which turtle grandson wants to come in exchange for 10,000 catties of grain, then we have to reason with him. ”

"There was a man who came to the door and asked for food. Okay, for a thousand catties, that's to eat at home. Can we understand, what about him in exchange for 10,000 catties? Did he gather a large number of Ding Zhuang with bad intentions and prepare to rebel? Otherwise, what would he do with so much food?" Li Xu thought that for the small people, printing handles was enough. But in the face of large households, it is not enough to print the handle, and the knife handle must be prepared. "Then give him a few thousand catties of grain." ”

"What's more, the amount can be limited, for example, each person can only redeem a maximum of ten stone of grain per day, and if it exceeds ten stone, you must apply to the government a month in advance, and the government will review it. During the audit, you can call someone over to discuss in advance to see if he is going to be a traitor and plot to do wrong. ”

"You can also charge a large amount of exchange fees, he can exchange 10,000 catties a day, but we can save 500 catties of grain if we draw five cents of the exchange fee. ”

Yuan Zhen, Li Deyu, and Li Congxian frowned, this knowledge came too quickly, and they were still digesting the famous sentence "Words are not credit".

"That's right, if you talk to most people, you are talking about credit, and if you don't talk about credit to a small number of people, it's nothing. Li Congxian slapped his face, as if he had learned something.

"Yes, learn to differentiate. It doesn't mean that having money in your hand means you must be trustworthy. Li Xu gestured: "A person with a small amount of Lu money in his hand must be different from a person with a lot of Lu money in his hand." Everyone hates the rich, and it would be nice to be strict with those who have a lot of money and not affect the vast majority of people. ”

The emperor's attitude made the faces of the four change slightly, and they suddenly realized that as the emperor's henchmen, they could become high-ranking officials sooner or later, and at that time they were "a small number of bullied people who were detached from the masses and held most of the money in their hands."

Li Xu confidently said to the following four people: "We have the final right to interpret, as long as a detailed rule is compiled to restrict these things, then I am ready to fully promote this system next year." ”

"It is estimated that the opposition of the courtiers is very strong, and at the beginning of the implementation, the pressure of acceptance will be very great. Li Deyu pointed out that the imperial court itself has no credibility now, so if the imperial court gets this thing, it will definitely arouse the opposition of the officials.

"It doesn't matter. Li Xu is very confident: "It's good to raise wages." ”

"Your Majesty, what is a wage increase. Li Deyu vaguely understood the move that the emperor wanted to use.

"Well, even if the salary is raised, the average increase is ten and twenty stones per person, and those petty officials who point to the life of Yulu should not object, right?" Li Xu already had a way to deal with it. Then, after the annual payment was changed to Lu banknotes, it was changed from being issued in summer and autumn every year to being paid on a monthly basis like the monthly money. ”

Li Xu remembered that there was an incident in the Shenghou Dynasty, when the Kwantung War was raging, and the military expenses on the side of the imperial court were too great, and a genius prime minister, Doulu Qinwang, decided to suspend the payment of two months of Yulu to the Beijing officials as the cost of military expenses. Then they were besieged by low-ranking officials who had lost their salaries after the next dynasty. The Holy Queen had no choice but to discontinue this policy.

In fact, if Li Xu is replaced to do this, he can play a hand of "delaying the payment of wages", and it would be good to delay the payment of wages for these two months this year until next year. However, after this example, Li Xu did not dare to easily cut benefits from the mouths of those grassroots bureaucrats, "The officials have three hundred stones, and there is surplus food for the year." "On a good day, the emperor is still very supportive.

"This time against the Tibetans, a lot of goods and horses were seized. Li Xu said: "After the change of Lu banknotes, I will send people to buy Lu banknotes in the market, as long as there is no grain, there is still a lot of gold and silver, the main thing is to build up credit first, and then speculate on this market expectation." ”

One of the advantages of defeating Tibet was that in addition to capturing a lot of gold and silver, Li Xu also had a lot of war horses and other livestock.

In this era, horses were used in the military as tanks, and in production as heavy tractors and automobiles, and the added value was very high, but now they are kept in the emperor's stables and in the official herds around Bai Yujing.

After all, horses are not real cars, and even if they are not used, they will cost a lot of green fodder and grain. Li Xu, who picked the door, has always wanted to sell it as soon as possible, and now he has rewarded some of it and sold some of it.

This time, the implementation of the reform of Lu banknotes is just to simply replace all those things with Lu banknotes. After all, horses are only a temporary wealth, and they themselves have to spend grain and grass to raise. Although the banknote is paper, it can really rely on the real wealth of many years when the credit is established.