Deng Ming's words made Liu Jinge and Ren Tang feel energetic, and they straightened their chests and looked at Deng Ming.

"First of all, I have to blame you, your government is doing too badly." Deng Ming deliberately kept it a secret, hoping that Liu Jinge would not do such a thing that oppressed farmers in the future.

"Yes, I'm forgetting my roots." Liu Jinge showed some shame when he heard this. He had heard many tragic stories about farmers from his parents since he was a child, but after becoming the chief clerk here in Chengdu, Liu Jinge's priority was how to ensure the military supplies in Chengdu and how to maintain the interests of the chief clerk.

"I'm not saying you forget your roots, I'm saying that the government's office is no different from before. Isn't it just collecting grain and making boards if you don't pay the grain? Who can't do this? Anyone can do it. Will I ask you to take care of the affairs of the capital?"

These days Deng Ming has inquired about the situation of the people around Chengdu. In his opinion, Liu Jinge and his actions are no different from traditional government officials. Of course, if there are earth-shaking changes, Deng Ming should think that Liu Jinge is also a future person who travels to this world.

Liu Jinge nodded in shame, but Ren Tang refused: "Sir, what is wrong, anyone can do it? The county magistrate must be competent for the imperial examination."

"Is there anything strange about Jinshi? If you don't pay the grain, you will still beat the board. When you are trying the case, beat the suspect first. If you can't find out the result, you will catch another suspect and beat the board." Deng Ming smiled and shook his head, "This method has too low technical content. You don't need a Jinshi. Even people who are ignorant of their ignorance will learn it in two days."

"Sir, it's better if you can't even be a Jinshi." Ren Tang felt that Deng Ming was humiliating the scholars, and shouted angrily: "Didn't the gentleman just now say there is a good way? Can you collect taxes and collect food? I'll listen carefully to the humble position."

"If I can't say it, I'm sorry, you won't accept it." Deng Ming laughed and took out a few pieces of paper from his arms. These pieces of paper are rectangular, with different patterns on them, and the same numbers are written on the four corners. These are all his drawings in recent days: "This is an IOU, with a maximum face value of 100 yuan and the smallest one yuan. This time, I can't afford to pay back the excess grain collected by Brother Liu and Liu Shuai, so I can only owe it first. I immediately find someone to make woodblocks and print such IOU."

"How many IOUs do you want to send, sir?" Liu Jinge was shocked when he heard that Deng Ming was actually going to print the IOUs.

"Is this treasure money?" Ren Tang's reaction was much faster than Liu Jinge, and he had already noticed Deng Ming's intention: "How to convert this 'yuan' with silver?"

"Similar to treasure banknotes, but different, this yuan is not exchanged with silver, but with grain. For every stone of grain given by farmers, I will give him 100 yuan. Every farmer with ten acres of land will pay me a 100 yuan protection fee every year. From then on, I will try not to collect grain as much as possible, and collect such IOUs. Aren't people always saying that there will be losses when transporting on the road? Well, in the future, farmers don't have to give grain, and give a ten-yuan IOU per mu of land. I'm not afraid of wear and tear, right? I can recognize it even if I get a little bit of corners."

Considering the literacy rate issue of this era, Deng Ming carefully considered what patterns should be used on IOUs with different denominations. He first asked Ren Tang to carefully look at the patterns on the IOUs with 100 yuan, which was one stone of rice; next was an IOU with 10 yuan, which was a bucket on it, and a millet for one yuan; fifty yuan means half a stone of rice, which was a hundred yuan pattern cut neatly from top to bottom, leaving only two halves. The IOUs with different denominations also have different colors.

"Mr. I mean, you can use IOU to pay taxes in the future." Ren Tang said thoughtfully: "In this way, one hundred yuan will always be equal to one stone of grain, and it will not turn into waste paper like treasure money. However, the IOU we are going to give farmers this year is enough for them to pay taxes in many years in the future, right? If this is done, wouldn't we not be able to get one stone of grain in the next few years?"

"This is just a tax, but farmers may exchange part of the grain in their hands for IOUs. In addition to seed grain and life-saving grain, as long as they think IOUs are more useful than grain, they will continue to exchange grain for IOUs." Deng Ming has always believed that issuing paper money is one of the important sources of wealth for modern countries, and at least it is a considerable pot of gold.

Seeing that Ren Tang and Liu Jinge had suspicious expressions on their faces, Deng Ming knew that they still didn't believe that the people would exchange real food for the IOU in their hands, so he asked a heuristic question: "Think about it, how can the people willingly exchange food for the IOU?"

Ren Tang and Liu Jinge both racked their brains to figure it out for a long time, but in the end Ren Tang couldn't think of a solution. Liu Jinge believed that there was no way except to use a board, and using a board could obviously not be called willing.

"It's really a rotten wood that cannot be carved." Deng Ming seized the opportunity and attacked the two of them. In his understanding, the so-called "sending generals is worse than agitating generals" means: "I heard that some Yunnan people from Jianchang have relatives in the King of Qingyang. If they want to redeem their relatives, they need to transport fifty stones of grain to Jianchang to replace them, right?"

"Yes." Liu Jinge also heard of this.

"If I say, give me an IOU of 5,000 yuan, I will help you get the person back?" Deng Ming chuckled: "How easy is it to transport fifty stones of grain to Jianchang alone? Are there any animals that pull a cart? How many big carts are needed to pull it away? There are also losses on the road, blackmailed by officials along the way, and there is no one who can get seven or eighty stones to get it? The people know this, and they have no way to bargain, so they can only say as much as Jianchang says. Brother Liu is different. The Dufu can bargain with Jianchang, which can completely lower the price to thirty stones per person, or even less. Moreover, the food transported by Dufu has much less loss on the road, so who dares to take advantage of it?"

"Thus, I earned twenty stones of food." Liu Jinge's eyes lit up.

"Yes, and you have to say that as long as IOU is not allowed, you don't have food. Those who want to redeem their relatives will raise food by themselves, and exchange the grain for IOU to ask you to help redeem people." Deng Ming further inspired Liu Jinge, "Some people may not be able to make up so many IOUs now. It doesn't matter. I can lend you first, for example: lend you five thousand yuan IOUs. After you redeem people, you will pay me back one thousand yuan IOUs every year and pay it back in ten years. One thousand yuan is just the output of a few acres of land. Is a diligent man afraid that he can't make it? His brother can also help him, not to mention that if it encounters a disaster year, I can postpone it for you." Deng Ming may not ask the farmers so much, but in order to convince Liu Jinge, he would say more.

"It's wonderful." Liu Jinge laughed as he heard it: "Lending to the IOU, you don't even have to pay for food. This is a business without capital."

"But Jianchang wants food," Ren Tang said: "If you ask Jianchang for someone, even if you redeem a person with thirty stones, you have to exchange food for it."

"Oh." Liu Jinge thought it was reasonable, and his mood suddenly became depressed again.

"When Jianchang wants the people to redeem their relatives, they pay 50 stones of grain at a time. That is to bully the people without the ability to resist and dare not bargain. If they annoy Jianchang, they will force the grain you transported away and they will not return it to you. What can you do? But the Dufu is different. The Dufu can say that I will borrow this person for a few years first. Anyway, he will help you earn about three stones of grain in the year of your rule. I will give you five stones for ten consecutive years. This person is mine. Will Jianchang not agree to this kind of thing? Even if they think it is too little, they can continue to bargain." Deng Ming's words immediately aroused Liu Jinge's emotions again.

"That's right!" Liu Jinge slapped his thigh: "I'll pay 1,000 yuan a year, and I have to exchange ten stones of grain from the government for the IOU. We only give Jianchang five stones. We can earn five stones of grain, even if there is any loss on the road."

"There are many other ways, such as beating wolves. They were originally a good thing, but they were furious by you. According to the principle of voluntary action, if you submit the IOU, you will send someone to patrol your doorstep. There must be many people who are willing to do this. This kind of thing should not be done by Liu Shuai. It is obviously a job that the government can make money." Deng Ming casually said some ideas: "The government can provide many services that ordinary people can hardly solve by themselves, and these services are charged. The government is the easiest business to make money, but Brother Liu, you have no other way except to hit the board. It really disappoints me."

Liu Jinge's face turned red and white, and he secretly made up his mind to dig out more paid services. While Ren Tang was impressed, he also called himself stupid in his heart. How could he forget the style of Admiral Deng in Nanjing and Huguang so quickly?

According to Deng Ming's memory, it seems that issuing currencies with a gold standard is the mainstream of the world in the future, and China seems to be able to consider the silver standard, but Deng Ming does not have so much gold and silver now, so he finally decided to adopt the food standard system.

"Do you want to announce your new law to the people of the capital immediately?" Liu Jinge was already a little eager to try.

"Of course, I plan to announce it immediately, but due to your outstanding work, it is hard to say whether the people of the capital will believe me." Deng Ming found an opportunity and mocked Liu Jinge. He did not intend to pursue Chengdu's unauthorized taxes, so he hoped that Liu Jinge would reduce the possibility of ingeniousness in the future: "Maybe there will be many people who think that what I said today will not count next year, so they should give them more things so that they don't feel that they are at a loss."

On that day, Liu Jinge mobilized soldiers from the Excavated Office to count the grain data of the excessive expropriation from house to house. Deng Ming said that it would be fine to give more. When conducting statistics, the soldiers gave a temporary IOU handwritten and counted with the word "positive". After pressing the handprint, they can be used as a credential for exchanging the official IOU in the future.

Next is the work of policy propaganda. Originally, Liu Jinge planned to post a list at the city gate according to previous practices, and then read the list to the people entering the city, and spread the new policy through word of mouth. However, Deng Ming was afraid that there would be some leaks in the middle, so he insisted on explaining to the people himself. Anyway, it is now the slack season, so the soldiers can be left to the guards to do.

So when counting the debts, the soldiers notified the people and designated a batch of gathering points to listen to Deng Ming explain the policies personally before the prescribed time.

After Li Yanpeng and his neighbors received the debt certificates given by the soldiers, several people were very excited at first, thinking that the government might have to return the food, but more people were not expected to do so. All meeting places were designated nearby, and Li Yanpeng and others felt that it was not far away anyway, so it would be okay to go and listen. Besides, there were not many opportunities to watch big people up close.

The next morning, Deng Ming arrived at the meeting point in advance. When he arrived, Li Yanpeng and other nearby residents had gathered in front of the newly built platform. After seeing Deng Ming arrive surrounded by several guards, the people at the meeting point knelt down on the ground and bowed to Deng Ming who was slowly climbing to the podium.

After getting on the podium, Deng Ming did not waste time. He put a tin soundtrack in front of his mouth and began to loudly talk about the policies he and Ren Tang and Liu Jinge had said.

After hearing that the official IOU can be used to pay all the government fees, Li Yanpeng was still skeptical. Deng Ming admitted that he could not pay back the food and apologized for it. This left a good impression on the people, but the people present did not have enough confidence whether the government would keep their promises next year. However, this gave the people a hope. Li Yanpeng touched the IOU in his arms and felt that the value of this thing had increased a little.

"I will try my best to redeem the IOUs in your hands. If you can't redeem it for two years, you will have three years. But before you can redeem it for all, you will be my creditors." Deng Ming took out his carefully prepared killer move. This killer move is not simply used to deal with farmers. He believes that it will also have a huge effect on the Chengdu official. Although Deng Ming had already thought about this killer move, he did not disclose it to anyone in advance. He believed that it would shock the Chengdu government and the people: "In order to thank you for lending me food, I will give the scholar a fame and honor to all my creditors!"

The originally quiet stage reminded of a buzzing sound, and the people below were whispering to each other, confirming that their ears were not wrong, while Ren Tang, who was standing behind Deng Ming calmly, opened his mouth in extreme surprise.

"Any creditor, as long as he has a one-yuan IOU, that is, a liter of food, he will have the fame of a scholar. Whether this IOU is on his body or at home." Deng Ming repeated his tone: "People with fame of a scholar have the right to not worship the officials. From then on, no creditor needs to bow to any official; people with fame of a scholar cannot be corporal punishment, so from now on, any creditor can be imprisoned in the territory of the Ming Dynasty, but cannot be beaten, pinched sticks, paraded on the streets, or stand shackles..."

When Deng Ming said this, Liu Jinge was also shocked. Although he had heard Deng Ming say that he would give more things to the people to make up for the Chengdu government without trust, it sounded too much.

"If corporal punishment cannot be used, then why should the person who owe the imperial grain but refuses to pay it?" Liu Jinge rejected it himself as soon as this thought came out: "The third prince said that an official who only knows how to beat the board is an official who has no ability."

"People who have the fame of scholars can wear weapons except armor and crossbows. This power creditor also enjoys it. Therefore, you can have it in the future and wear swords and firearms." Deng Ming on the stage continued: "In the territory of the Ming Dynasty, those who have the fame of scholars do not need road guides or household registration to live... In the territory of the Ming Dynasty, it is not limited to Sichuan. If you sue the government, it is not considered as a civil servant. If you have the fame of scholars, you do not need to perform labor service. Oh, no, this scholar's fame is exempt from hard labor and errand service. When this national crisis is in trouble, military service cannot be exempted..."

After the initial discussion, the audience became silent on the stage, and everyone listened to what Deng Ming said with all concentration. Until long after Deng Ming ended, the crowd around him remained silent.

"What's the problem with you?"

Deng Ming repeated this question repeatedly, and finally, he saw the first bird to stand out.

"Sir!" Li Yanpeng shouted in the crowd.

"What's your name?" Deng Ming asked loudly.

"Little man Li Yanpeng."

"Are you my creditor?"

"The villain has an IOU." Li Yanpeng carefully took out the IOU in his arms.

"Okay, you can call yourself a 'student' or 'me' in front of me in the future, and you don't need to call yourself a 'villain' anymore."

"Little...Little..." Li Yanpeng stammered for a long time and couldn't speak. He did not dare to defile the word "student", nor did he dare to use the self-proclaimed "I" in front of Deng Ming. As for the self-proclaimed "humble position", "subordinate" and other self-proclaimed are not suitable.

"There will be no scholar who calls himself a 'villain'," Deng Ming waited for a while and couldn't help but intimidate: "Li Yanpeng, are you trying to insult the fame of scholars in the court?"

Ren Tang complained inwardly when he heard this: "Who is insulting the scholar's fame?!"

However, Li Yanpeng's courage became stronger because of this: "I don't dare."

"Okay, I'm sorry you don't have the courage." Deng Ming smiled and said, "What questions does Li Xiucai have?"

"I...I want to ask, will I still have my fame after I will be redeemed?" Li Yanpeng asked.

"Well, that's it." Deng Ming felt that what he gave to the people of Chengdu was basic citizenship, but there was no need to reveal his trump card for the time being: "I haven't thought about it yet, let's talk about it then."

Some other people also asked some questions. After Deng Ming answered them one by one, he saw that the front of the stage was silent again, so he announced: "Okay, let's disperse, I'm going to the next meeting point."

When Deng Mingbu stepped off the high platform, Ren Tang hurriedly approached, but before Ren Tang could object, Deng Ming stopped him first: "Immediately follow the power."

"Oh." Ren Tang settled down and looked for the second best: "After paying off the IOU, all these fame and honor will be deprived."

"I have the same intention, too." Deng Ming didn't want to stimulate Ren Tang too much. Since Ren Shusheng had not participated in the Qing Dynasty imperial examination, he still had no scholar's fame.

After Deng Ming left the podium, Li Yanpeng and other farmers remembered a few more questions, but Deng Ming said that he would no longer answer questions after leaving Taiwan.

"Oh, why didn't you expect it just now?" Many people stamped their feet regretfully.

"It doesn't matter!" A smart man immediately said, "The next meeting point is not far away, we ran over and said hello."

"right!"

After being reminded by this person, hundreds of scholars rushed to the ground. Even if there was no problem, they thought to listen to Deng Ming again to confirm that they were not dreaming.

When Deng Ming climbed to the second podium, the farmers in front of him also knelt down like those in front of the first podium. But at this time, several scud scholars had arrived, one of whom had already squeezed to the front of the stage. These scholars did not dare to insult the fame of the court, and stood up one by one, standing upright among the crowd.

Deng Ming glanced at these people, smiled on his face, and raised his iron microphone to start preaching the policy.

After Deng Ming finished speaking, a large number of scholars had arrived. Under their leadership, the question this time was much more enthusiastic than before. In order to arrive at the next meeting point in time, Deng Ming had to stop asking questions.

One after another, more and more people surrounded the stage, and the proportion of people standing was getting higher and higher. In the end, Deng Ming had to ask the guards to maintain order to ensure that farmers who had not heard of the policy had a place in front of the stage.

Within one day, Chengdu had more than 20,000 scholars.
Chapter completed!