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After he finished speaking, the emperor said slowly, "I know what the gentleman said!"

Wang Guangyuan sighed and said, "Now that this matter has been decided, let's get back to the truth!"

After a long time, what I just said is not a serious matter. Zhao Xu, the www.biquge.info of the pen "Fun" Pavilion, felt that Guangyuan seemed to be in a better mood than usual, could it be related to what he was going to say next? He asked softly, "I don't know what happened?"

"I know that when I arrived in Qizhou, it was the winter wheat sowing season, and when I visited the suburbs, I found that there were some very poor people who could not even raise money to sow seedlings, and some rich families took the opportunity to give them usury in private. I sent my subordinates to investigate, and this kind of thing is very common in Qizhou, many small households will not be able to repay usury in the coming year, and those rich households let them mortgage their land, thus annexing large tracts of land, and these lands are often empty when the sowing season arrives the next year!"

Zhao Ji slapped the table, shook the tea bottle on the imperial case, and said angrily: "There is such a thing! The people regard food as their heaven, and they have to blackmail even the farmland they cultivate, which is really hateful and should be punished severely!"

Wang Guangyuan smiled in his heart: In fact, there are many cases of private usury in various places, but the officials do not know about it, and they have repeatedly banned it, but they have repeatedly banned it, which shows that there are huge profits in it. He hurriedly said, "Don't be angry, the ministers have brought these people to justice." However, this matter made me come up with an idea!"

"What is the best plan, sir?" asked Zhao Ji. This time he summoned Guangyuan to Beijing, which really brought me a lot of surprises.

Wang Guangyuan smiled faintly and said, "Weichen is bold, I want to ask the official family to promise one thing first." ”

Zhao Ji frowned slightly, and said in his heart: I also sold Guanzi!

"Wechen wants to ask the official family for special permission to pay 500,000 less money in the spring of next year that Qizhou should hand over to the imperial court, and Wechen wants to keep this money as 'green seedling money'. ”

"Qingmiao money?" Zhao Ji showed a slightly surprised look, he had read through the history books since he was a child, and immediately reacted, and hurriedly asked: "What are you talking about, but the 'Qingmiao Qian' that was issued an edict to collect land endowments during the first year of the Tang Dynasty?

"This 'seedling money' is not the other 'seedling money', and it is definitely not the money that is given. Instead, he lent money to these poor peasants at low interest, and 500,000 yuan of silk could not only solve the urgent needs of the people, but also get nearly 250,000 yuan in interest in the coming year. ”

"That is, you want to repay 750,000 yuan?" The emperor's eyes widened, he was a little puzzled, and asked with a frown, "Sir, do you mean that the government will issue usury?"

The government's release of money to obtain interest is by no means usurious, but low-interest. Wang Guangyuan stood straight, facing the emperor, waved slightly, and said righteously: "Don't hide it from the official family, Weichen has tried to distribute a small amount of 'green seedling money' in the name of the government in the jurisdiction this autumn. Whoever borrows ten thousand in the autumn is to be given two thousand within six months. ”

When the emperor heard this, he said in his heart: Guangyuan's talent is really wronged as the prefect of a state. Before he took office, I promised him that "everything can be arbitrary" and that he could "go before and then play". Ten thousand money, which is not much, Zhizhou can completely decide for himself.

Wang Guangyuan continued: "The usury lent by those lawless rich often has an annual interest rate of 50 or 60 cents, and the highest annual interest rate is even 72 cents. And Wechen used 'forty points per year' this time, which is much lower in comparison. Moreover, in the future, the monthly interest rate can be appropriately adjusted up and down according to the poverty situation of farmers in the areas where the 'green seedling money' is distributed. The loan share is divided into five classes, the first class can be lent to fifteen times, the second class can be ten times, the third class can be five times, the fourth class is consistent five hundred, and the fifth class is consistent. If this law is feasible, it can be followed by the Gyeonggi region, and then extended to all state capitals in the future. ”

It is good to say only in Qizhou, if you want to promote it...... Zhao Ji looked a little embarrassed, and said: "I'm afraid this matter will be opposed by the ministers!" Especially for an old minister like Sima Guang, Zhao Ji muttered in his heart; and even what they would say, Zhao Ji thought of it: This is "exploiting the people, is it ......"

"Agriculture, the world's capital. Wang Guangyuan's voice interrupted the emperor's train of thought, "The implementation of a decree, especially this kind of decree related to the lives of ordinary people, needs to be very cautious, otherwise once it is not properly handled, it will lead to boiling public resentment and even provoke civil unrest." If the common people can't eat enough, they will take risks and become mobs. The emperor is familiar with history books, and naturally knows how many times the dynasty has changed because of public grievances. Therefore, I want to implement it in Qizhou first, and the ministers will handle it carefully. If we encounter a problem, we can also pool our wisdom, make adjustments in a timely manner, avoid harm and seek benefits; and only when the ministers have found out all kinds of situations can they be generalized. ”

The "green seedling money" mentioned by Wang Guangyuan was actually the "green seedling law" that Wang Anshi later promoted, and it was the most important reform in Wang Anshi's reform of the law, and it was also the most controversial of his many innovative measures, probably precisely because it involved the foundation of the country -- agriculture! The "green seedling law" later became almost synonymous with Wang Anshi's reform of the law. In fact, it was already very famous in the history books before the Song Dynasty. In fact, the first person to implement the "green seedling money" in Qizhou was Wang Guangyuan, which is probably unknown to many people.

The emperor asked: "It's just that there is a 'regular closing method' now, and I am afraid that the old ministers in the court will make irresponsible remarks about the release of money!"

When it comes to the "green seedling method", it is natural to mention the "Changping method" that prevailed in the Sui and Tang dynasties. Its principle originated from the Warring States period, which was practiced by Li Kui in the Wei State. That is, in a good year, the state buys rice at a higher price, which is called "basketing" rice, to prevent the grain from hurting the peasants, and in the year of famine, the state sells it at a low price to stabilize the market price, which is called "粲" rice. Fan Li and Guan Zi also have similar thoughts, to the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Sang Hongyang developed the above ideas, the establishment of the "leveling law", is to rely on a large amount of money and silk materials in the hands of the government, in Beijing to collect cheap and expensive to stabilize prices.

Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty had a bumper harvest year after year, and the grain price was sold to five dollars a stone, and the land was lost by the loss of blood, and the grain planted after a year of hard work had to be sold cheaply. Around this time, Geng Shouchang, the chief farmer, focused the "leveling law" on the collection and storage of grain, and set up granaries in some areas, and purchased grain with too low prices into the official warehouses to "benefit the people", and this kind of granary had the name of "Changping". Later, this became a formal state system and was fixed.

Then to the Sui and Tang dynasties, in addition to the "Chang Ping", but also expanded the Yi Cang, Guanghui Cang, and Huimin Cang, all of which are benevolent governments for the benefit of the people of Limin, so since there is already a Chang Ping, why does Wang Anshi still want to implement the "Green Seedling Law" with interest-bearing loans?

Therefore, at the moment, Zhao Ji also asked Wang Guangyuan the same question: With Chang Ping, why do you want to put Qingmiao money? )