Seeing that a group of officials were making a big fuss about the local public expenses, Zhang Penghong couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. Zhenwu was well aware of the new policy and his determination to implement the new policy. When the new policy was first proposed, Shangshu had different opinions and debated endlessly. Although Zhenwu did not argue, he turned around and tried it in the whole province of Shanxi. He even sent two Shangshu ministers, plus a close confidant who he attached great importance to, Fang Bao was in charge of Shanxi, which showed that there was no room for maneuver in this matter. It was unwise for the Han officials to strongly oppose it.

He not only lived in the local area for a long time, but also was in charge of the Ministry of Revenue for many years. He knew all about local conditions and local public expenses retention more than changes. He knew that the issue of local public expenses retention was a bad debt left over, and he was confused for a while. However, if Zhenwu did not name it, he was not convenient to say more about his identity.

Although Zhenwu did not know the specific situation of local public expenses, he was well aware of the importance of local public expenses. This not only affects the operation of local government offices, but also the quality of local public utilities and public welfare, and has a great impact on the local economy. This expenditure must be guaranteed.

After thinking a little, he thought of the reform of industrial and commercial miscellaneous taxes, which could temporarily use increased miscellaneous tax revenue to make up for the insufficient local public expenses. To be honest, the Qing Dynasty did not pay much attention to the collection of miscellaneous taxes. The tax rate was too low. As for taxes, tooth taxes, alcohol taxes, slaughter taxes, and business taxes, the imagination was like not levying. For pawnshops with high profits and large quantities, the annual tax payment was actually 2 taels and 5 taels of silver. Once the reform of industrial and commercial miscellaneous taxes was fully implemented, the income would inevitably make up for the insufficient local public expenses, which was also a kind of compensation for the abolition of waste envy.

Seeing Zhenwu pondering and silent, all the officials were secretly happy. Zhang Zhidong, the Minister of Rites, dared to come out and said: "If you start a report to the emperor, if the peace is coming today, the literary style is prosperous, and the scholars are increasing day by day, but the imperial examination career is becoming increasingly difficult. If the scholars are abolished and the advantages of exempting from labor and labor, it will definitely greatly impact the style of learning.

In the past, all the prosperous times have been paid equal importance to civil and military achievements. If the prosperity of civil and cultural education is curbed by the new policy, I personally think that it is not worth the loss. It is not easy for the country to support scholars. I beg me to pray that the emperor will be careful in his decision."

As soon as someone began to attack the idea of ​​officials and gentry paying food as a whole, officials immediately agreed: "I am discussing that there are hundreds of thousands of gentry in the Qing Dynasty, and gentry is a minority after all, so how can we generalize it? I beg the emperor to issue an order to supervise the local academic officials and govern the officials who disrupted the local government to severely punish the officials and households who disturbed the local areas to face the hearing.

The officials and gentry paid food together to serve as a servant, which was contrary to the original intention of the country to support scholars. Moreover, the silver paid was extremely limited, so there was no need to lose the big one because of the small amount. The minister begged the banquet to be careful."

Seeing that a group of Chinese officials refuted the new policy one by one, Zhenwu knew that he could not be silent. Today, these Chinese officials were relatively open-minded. It was probably because of some influence from the debate in Beijing Newspaper, and it might be because of their strong dissatisfaction with the new policy. No matter what the reason was, this trend should still be affirmed. Seeing that there were officials ready to leave the list, he couldn't help but cough lightly.

After hearing this, the officials who were about to leave the list of the proposals quickly stopped their steps. All the officials held their breath and waited quietly. Zhenwu slowly glanced at the ministers and said calmly: "I am very relieved that all the ministers can speak enthusiastically and dare to speak out."

After a slight pause, he continued to whisper: "Since ancient times and the present, the law has been changed, the momentum has accumulated, the things have changed, and the atmosphere has changed. The Qing Dynasty followed the Ming system and should remove the drought and retain the essence and eliminate its disadvantages. How can we keep the old and remain unchanged?

Although the economy is prosperous, trade is prosperous, Dingkou is growing, and the national strength is prosperous, and it is a prosperous scene, we must also be prepared for danger in times of peace and danger. We must see the huge crisis hidden behind this prosperity.

I often say that everything has advantages and disadvantages. Prosperous trade can be said to be beneficial to the country and the people, but it also has its disadvantages. The most direct consequence is the food crisis, the most obvious one is the south of Jiangnan. The original fertile land and the hometown of fish and rice is the main grain-producing area. Now it has become a food shortage. Every year, millions of stones of grain must be purchased from Huguang, Jiangxi and other places. In addition, the disadvantage of the growing popularity of Dingkou is the pressure of land. The Qing Dynasty has almost no wasteland to be reclaimed.

Although the Qing Dynasty is prosperous now, the trend of land annexation has become increasingly fierce. The court has also had concerns that it is not enough to make ends meet every year. The confrontation between officials and gentry and poor people is becoming increasingly serious. These are all factors that led to the fall of the Ming Dynasty. The previous lessons are not far away. How could the Qing Dynasty repeat the same mistake?

The resident is distributed to the acres, and officials and gentry are working together to pay grain. The "Four Great Hengs" lends low-interest loans are all aimed at curbing land annexation, reducing the burden on the people, and easeing social conflicts.

I know that the new policy infringes on the interests of officials and gentry, and I know even more that vigorously implementing the new policy will bring countless criticisms and will damage my reputation. But I am not afraid. Since I am the king of a country, I cannot just care about my reputation and put state affairs first in everything!

Not only do I care about reputation, but also about money. The "Four Great Evergreens" only lends low interest rates and lends interest-free disaster relief. I have invested 20 million taels of silver, and will continue to add more. I have to invest 50 million in total in Australia.

What do I do? What do I want to do? What is the long-term peace and stability of the Qing Dynasty, what is the people of the Qing Dynasty live and work in peace, and what is the hope of the Qing Dynasty to develop smoothly and continue to prosper!

Sharing the worries of the king and loyalty to the country is the duty of the minister. I work hard day and night, thinking about the people and understanding the sufferings of the people, can you remain indifferent?”

After hearing the last sentence of Zhenwu, the Chinese men dared to stand upright. Hulala immediately knelt one after another, and everyone was full of bitter faces and complained deeply. Zhenwu was obviously suppressing people with power and would not give you a chance to debate. He was so bad that he pretended to praise two fashionable and enthusiastic words that dared to speak out.

Besides, as the emperor, the whole world is yours. What do you want money to do? We have studied hard for ten years and finally became an official, but we don’t want money to support our family. If we retire, what else can we do? Make words? Establish morality? Or leave a name in history? How many people have established words and morality and left a name in history since ancient times?

Zhang Penghong knelt down and said, "The king was worried about the hard work of his ministers, and the king was humiliated and died. The emperor was planning for the safety of the Qing Dynasty and did not care about slander and praise. How dare the ministers cherish their feathers? They were greedy for things outside their bodies and implemented the new policy. The ministers and others would definitely support them."

Zhenwu glanced at him and said lightly: "Since it is a special person, I have taken action. I have ordered you and others to write articles for the Beijing News to explain the necessity of the new policy, but it is mostly perfunctory. I have ordered Yinfu to send you and other articles to the palace tomorrow. I will read them carefully one by one."

Reading? Zhen Liu actually used the word "reading"? It shows how cruel he was! The officials were shocked and sweated coldly. They immediately thought of going to the Beijing Newspaper to replace their articles with the slander. Those who were agile were secretly complaining. Zhenwu's hand was too dark. This was forcing them to sign their real names to publish articles supporting the new policy in the Beijing News. This is the same as the thieves in the world!

He knocked everyone on a stick and turned around, naturally to give some benefits. Zhenwu glanced at the officials with a pale face, pondered slightly and said: "The amount of local public expenses is directly related to the normal operation of local government offices and local public welfare undertakings. I also attach great importance to the quality of local economy.

It is imperative to abolish consumption and cannot be changed. I plan to implement the reform of industrial and commercial miscellaneous taxes to make up for it. The reform of industrial and commercial miscellaneous taxes has been tried in the capital. Jiangning has been piloted for several years and has received a great response. I have already formulated new standards for collecting miscellaneous taxes, which can be implemented after being published in the Beijing News."

Industrial and commercial tax reform! Replace exhaustion with industrial and commercial tax reform? Isn’t this a loss in the east and a muddy harvest? All the officials were secretly happy when they heard it. The industrial and commercial tax reform in the capital and Jiangning has been in the past few years. They are not very clear about the specific situation in the capital, but they have vaguely heard about the situation in Jiangning. The powder tax on the Qinhuai River is equivalent to a regular tax of a medium-sized province!

Zhang Pengrong frowned when he heard this. This master has always attached great importance to commerce. Will this seriously suppress the development of local commerce? After abolishing the huangxian, these local officials are very likely to take chicken feathers as arrows and plunder local merchants in a large manner.

After a slight pause, Zhenwu continued: "The salary of local officials is low, and the upper part is not enough to maintain decentness and the lower part is not enough to support their families. I also know that I have gradually begun to consider increasing the salary and welfare of officials to change this situation. After this year's salary increase, I will gradually increase the salary of officials. The manor welfare subsidy in Borneo. I will invest a large number of slaves in the next two years, which will benefit you soon.

In addition, I am also considering paying full amounts of the salary and benefits of the official's resignation period according to the original grade. In recent years, a complete system will be formulated so that you can enjoy your old age even if you return to your hometown. I hope to ensure that officials leave their jobs through sound systems and live a decent life after resignation. I hope to prevent officials from embezzling bribery, slaughtering and exploiting the people, etc..”

After hearing this, the officials were immediately happy and worried. Those with low positions and poor living are naturally very happy. In this way, the officials finally felt a little good. As long as they don’t commit any trouble, they will be guaranteed in their lives. Officials with high positions and sufficient wealth are naturally worried. It seems that the court is going to spend a lot of effort to rectify corruption. How can the salary and welfare be compared with filial piety?

Many officials who settle accounts quickly were quite surprised. If officials resigned during their resignation period and after retirement, they would pay full salary according to their original grade, this would be a considerable expense. The amount of money added to the new policy may not be enough to pay for this expense. Then what is the saying that the court's annual income is not enough to make ends meet is simply nonsense.

Zhang Pengchong also frowned in dissatisfaction. Why did this master remember that he had come out one after another? According to his endless innovations, how much money was not enough to make money? He was still worried about the money some time ago. Did he have a better way to make money in the blink of an eye? (To be continued)

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Chapter completed!