After Li Shimin left, Chu Zhen sat back at the computer.
Li Qingzhao wanted to bring him the three Hu Weiyong articles, but Chu Zhen waved to her and said no.
"What do you think of Hu Weiyong's memorial?"
Zhu Yuanzhang leaned comfortably on the back of the soft sofa, like a chairman of a listed company sitting in his home office, holding great power, and asked Chu Zhen to comment on his "subordinates".
Chu Zhen smiled and looked at Li Qingzhao and Lin Daiyu, "What do you think?"
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at them through the curtain, and couldn't help but wonder in his heart, was he trying to please the two little girls, or did he not mind "interfering in politics in the harem" at all, and even asked women's opinions on such state affairs.
"Speak confidently and boldly!"
Chu Zhen encouraged them, "It's not about asking about politics in the court, it's just a casual chat."
Lin Daiyu may not have read many books because she was still young, but Li Qingzhao has been familiar with various history books and has her own opinions on important court affairs.
The two looked at each other.
Lin Daiyu first said: "Uncle Chu is too flattering. How can I learn to comment on the prime minister's article? I just saw that when he wrote this article, he was sincere and fearful. He was careful to propose a reform plan and was afraid of offending others. There were many compliments in the memorial. Emperor Wu."
"Haha, the little girl is so smart, she saw that Hu Weiyong is afraid of me."
Zhu Yuanzhang laughed. How could he care about a little girl?
Lin Daiyu pursed her lips and smiled and asked sister Qingzhao to speak.
"Um...uh."
Li Qingzhao hesitated for a while, then said sheepishly: "After reading it, I feel that it is not as good as the Recruitment Law and the Farmland Equalization Tax Law."
Zhu Yuanzhang sat up straight at once, "The little lady is talking about Wang Anshi's reform of the Song Dynasty to exploit the people for profit?!"
"It's too much to exploit people for profit!"
Li Qingzhao refuted his words and explained the original intention of Banshan Gong's reform and the reasons for its failure.
Chu Zhen was not surprised at all. Starting from the Southern Song Dynasty, or from the time Wang Anshi was forced to resign, all dynasties had negative evaluations of him, believing that the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty was closely related to the Xining Reform.
"Heaven and earth generate wealth to support the people. When you are an emperor, you must take raising the people as your top priority, pay low taxes and collect taxes, and do not harm others...Song Shenzong used Wang Anshi to manage finances, and villains competed for advancement, causing turmoil in the world!"
Zhu Yuanzhang argued with Li Qingzhao and expressed his views on Song Shenzong and Wang Anshi.
Financial management is not a modern term, what Wang Anshi does is financial management.
Chu Zhen looked at Li Qingzhao. This talented woman immediately refuted Emperor Hongwu:
"Private lending has been around since ancient times. People farm more and depend on God's will. In good years, the grain will be cheap, and in famine years, the opposite will happen. People can't save money, so they have to borrow money and grain from wealthy families at high interest rates every famine year. Once there are consecutive years of famine, If the people can't pay back the money, they have no choice but to flee, and the Green Miao Law of Banshanggong is exactly to stop big families from exploiting the people!"
“If the Green Seed Law is good, why was it abolished?”
"This is because the officials below force the apportionment..."
Li Qingzhao didn't just say it verbally, she also took out an article she had written and said:
"This is the summary of Xining's reform that I just wrote after Chu Langjun asked about the recruitment law last time. I went back and asked my father and some people for advice... Chu Langjun, please read it!"
She stood up, walked over and placed the "Xining Reform Chronicles" in front of Chu Zhen, with an expression like "I want to fight for the justice of Banshan Mountain".
Chu Zhen couldn't help laughing.
The Li family is neither the new party nor the old party, but they have many connections with the old and new parties. Li Qingzhao is concerned about government affairs, so it is not surprising that she wrote this article.
"I won't look at it yet."
Chu Zhen handed what Li Qingzhao had written to Zhu Yuanzhang.
"..."
Holding this reform plan, Zhu Yuanzhang looked strange.
Who is this lay scholar Yi An from the Song Dynasty?
To be able to write such an article.
At a glance, he found that the records of the reform were very detailed, including officials who were in favor and opposed. After reading this article, he could have a deeper understanding of the reform in the Song Dynasty.
"Let me tell you my opinion."
Chu Zhen finally spoke, "According to the course of history, after the commodity economy achieved a certain degree of prosperity, the Qingmiao Law came into being in line with historical development. With its current name, it should be called the National Central Bank."
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at him.
"Central Bank? The name is easy to understand." Li Qingzhao smiled.
Chu Zhen continued: "The central bank has several important responsibilities. First, it issues currency, which is similar to the Jiaozi of the Song Dynasty and the treasure banknotes of the Ming Dynasty."
Speaking of this, Chu Zhen couldn't help but said to Zhu Yuanzhang: "Stop those precious notes of yours immediately. If you continue to print them, they will become waste paper!"
Zhu Yuanzhang was about to speak, but Chu Zhen said helplessly:
"Of course, Song Dynasty's Jiaozi will soon become useless paper."
Li Qingzhao covered his face.
She has heard that many people don't need to pay for their children now. The value is too low and the people are unwilling to accept them.
"How come the treasure banknotes that I personally decreed to be circulated became waste paper?!"
Zhu Yuanzhang finally spoke out, looking very excited.
In order to promote treasure banknotes, he changed all the salary silver issued to officials into treasure banknotes, making them popular among the people, replacing copper coins and silver coins that were difficult to mint, and strictly prohibited the use of gold and silver in private transactions.
"If the decree is effective, there will be no corrupt officials."
Chu Zhen's simple words made Zhu Yuanzhang choke immediately.
“The second role of the central bank is to issue government bonds and let the people buy them.
Third, loans and savings. The former is Qingmiaofa, which allows people to borrow money; the latter is a bank, which allows people to save money, withdraw money, and give them interest. "
“There is interest on saving money?!”
Zhu Yuanzhang was full of surprise, hearing about this for the first time.
He hasn't asked yet what a national debt is. This thing doesn't sound like a good thing. How about using the Ming Dynasty to carry the debt? Could it be that he was the one who supported Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang to borrow money from the people? !
"This is to collect the people's spare money and lend it out to earn the difference."
In an understatement, Chu Zhen explained why banks can make so much money.
Li Qingzhao's eyes lit up.
Lin Daiyu looked at Uncle Chu. She seemed to have heard of this method. Rich families made money by lending money at usury, which was more profitable than collecting rent from the fields.
"Isn't this another matter of exploiting the people for profit? I have made a decree to do light corvee and low taxes, how can I do it again?!"
It was impossible for Zhu Yuanzhang to agree to the emergence of such a central bank in the Ming Dynasty.
"Light corvee and low endowment are not necessarily good."
Chu Zhen's words made Zhu Yuanzhang look at him suspiciously, wondering if this guy was a corrupt official. If he were an official, he would definitely exploit the people ruthlessly.
Isn’t it good to do light corvee and receive little wealth?
It is written in any history book that any virtuous king must be considerate of the people and implement a policy of light corvee and low taxes, so that a prosperous age can appear and the people can have enough to eat.
He really couldn't figure out why it was not good to do frivolous corvee and get a small amount of wealth.
“Reasonable, effective and fast, in my opinion, this is a good tax policy!”
Chu Zhen explained: "The premise of light corvee and low taxes is that the country can run, and the imperial edict is to write light corvees and low taxes, but the people in the county government have to eat, the regular taxes have to be paid, and the miscellaneous taxes are theirs, so they will use them in their own way." Various reasons for collecting miscellaneous taxes.
From whom? If the county government can't afford to offend wealthy families, they will naturally take in poor families. Doesn't this increase the gap between the rich and the poor? "
Zhu Yuanzhang fell silent for a moment.
"I dare not say that light corvee and low taxes were the reason why taxes could not be collected in the late Ming Dynasty. However, rich households used similar methods to reasonably avoid the increased taxes allocated, leaving the poor households to bear the burden. This was an important reason for the refugee population. !”
After a long while, Chu Zhen said again: "Give an official one acre of land free of corvee, and they will be able to avoid various miscellaneous taxes on a thousand acres of land, and only pay a small amount of regular taxes, or simply hide the land, what kind of tax?" Even if they don't pay, the tax collecting official knows that this is the land in the name of a certain cabinet minister and a certain minister of the DPRK, but without proof, who dares to investigate carefully and then collect taxes?
The princes of the Ming Dynasty occupied a lot of land, and the officials and gentry also occupied a lot of land. The chief minister of the cabinet could occupy an area of 200,000 acres.
By the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the land measured by the court was only half of what it was during the Hongwu Dynasty, only 400 million acres. "
"..."
"These corrupt officials!!"
Zhu Yuanzhang was furious when he heard this.
The Ming Dynasty was only halfway through, and half of the land used to pay taxes to the court was reduced.
"Everyone is allowed to work on the farm, and the officials and gentry are required to pay for the food. We must continue to implement it!! Anyone who opposes it will be killed by me!"
After listening to Chu Zhen's explanation, Zhu Yuanzhang decided to make up his mind. He must curb the tendency of corrupt officials to annex the land. No matter who owns the land, he must pay taxes to the court!
