"Then can't we still have fifty shi of food left?"
"Why does the Imperial Grandmother think I can't do it?"
At this time, Emperor Jianyuan suddenly became more energetic. Originally, he thought that the final calculation result would be to make ends meet, but there were still fifty shi of food left, which was obviously enough to last for another half a year. Why did it seem that the people were struggling to make ends meet.
"Your Majesty, this is the best result and the best situation. In reality, everything cannot be so perfect."
“The field can only achieve a yield of three stones per mu in good weather years. Once there is too much or too little rain, it is normal for the yield to be reduced by half.
And not all families of five.
Everyone can have hundreds of acres of fields.
Take Lizhuang, not far from Chang'an, for example. The family with the most land has 137 acres, a family of nine, and the family with the least land has only eight acres. There are orphans and widowers. On average, the land per capita is It's less than twelve acres, and this is already considered a good village.
Their daily harvest can be imagined! "
Da Sinong felt quite sad for a moment, and he truly felt that the Empress Dowager was right. Her Majesty really did not know the sufferings of the people, or no one told him.
He couldn't see it himself.
"Hahaha, it's ridiculous. When did you take refuge in the Empress Dowager, and you actually made up such a clumsy lie to stop me? If everything is really as you said, wouldn't the vast majority of people in the world be unable to make ends meet? They should have starved to death a long time ago, and even if I don’t collect more taxes, they won’t be able to survive at all.”
In Emperor Jianyuan's view, if a family of five had one hundred acres of land and only had fifty kilograms of food left over each year, then in a place where each person had only twelve acres of land on average, the people would already be unable to make ends meet and starve to death. How could this be possible? Zhuangzi is still pretty good, but this is obviously nonsense.
I didn’t even draft it in advance.
It still leaves such a big hole.
Therefore, he naturally felt that all this was a trick of the Empress Dowager. Even the great Sinong had no longer been loyal to him, but had secretly taken refuge with the Empress Dowager, so he was talking such nonsense.
At this time, Da Sinong could only smile and shake his head:
"It's not that I have taken refuge with the Empress Dowager. It's because Your Majesty you don't know the public sentiment. When I said that a family of five consumes a hundred shi of food, I mean eating corn. But in fact, most people are reluctant to eat corn for every meal. Yes, they will mix in a lot of wild vegetables and fruits, as well as everything else that can be eaten and digested.
Even wheat rice cannot be eaten regularly.
And the reason why they do this is because if they eat freely, they will indeed be unable to make ends meet, so they can only use this method to save more corn and exchange for more money. Therefore, it is not nonsense, it is just that the people are frugal through eating and spending. , living far less well than the kind of life I just mentioned, only then can we barely survive.
But even so, once there is a natural disaster.
You will still have to sell your sons, daughters, and fields!
The extra ninety cents you charge for each adult is equivalent to saving three more kilos of grain for each of them. This is only if the grain dealer who purchases the grain has a conscience.
If the grain dealer who purchases grain has no conscience.
It is normal to save an extra six or seven stones.
In addition to selling grain, ordinary people have almost no channels to obtain money. At the same time, it is difficult for them to transport grain to places where the purchase price is higher. Yu Chen can even say without fear of offending people that the grain purchase in many areas has been Rich merchants or princes have a monopoly.
Only their people can capture that area.
If you don't sell it to them, you can't sell it.
They also set the purchase price of grain.
Therefore, for many people, if you charge an extra penny, what they actually have to pay is not just a penny worth of food, but more than twice that.
If you don't believe it, you can send someone you can trust, someone who is truly trustworthy and will not speak for Liehou, to go further to understand the situation. "
After saying that, Da Sinong bowed again.
Anyway, the person has already been offended, so it is better to simply say it more clearly, and maybe he can leave a name by directly admonishing him.
Emperor Jianyuan was silent at this time. He really didn't know what to say. He said he didn't believe it, but it sounded quite reasonable. He believed that some princes and wealthy merchants could do such things, but if he said he believed it, how could he believe it? Doesn't it mean that he is wrong, so he can only remain silent at this time.
"Your Majesty, the opportunity is rare now. Wouldn't it be a pity if we gave up the attack on the Huns? If we don't suffer the people anymore, I think as long as there are no natural disasters, the people will definitely understand your Majesty and be able to survive. When Emperor Gaozu was in power, not Nothing happened?
The worst thing to do is wait until after the Huns are wiped out.
Your Majesty will continue to spread benevolence and reduce taxes. "
As a close confidant of Emperor Jianyuan, the Shaofu Order immediately worried about the emperor's urgent needs and hurriedly persuaded Emperor Jianyuan. He not only gave Emperor Jianyuan a ladder, but also gave him a reason to increase taxes.
Suffering the people is not a big deal.
The people during the reign of Emperor Gaozu could bear it.
Now the people can’t stand it?
Emperor Jianyuan must be more inclined to the direction that is beneficial to him, so he immediately looked at the Shaofu Ling with satisfaction and nodded: "You are still sensible!"
"Da Sinong, please step aside first, and you guys can go back and think about how to persuade the Empress Dowager.
Tomorrow, I will go to see the Queen Mother again. "
For Emperor Jianyuan, relatives such as uncles could be sacrificed casually, let alone ordinary people who had nothing to do with him. Moreover, Emperors Wen and Jing had lived with the people for decades, so many ordinary people should have saved their money. Knowing some background, he will not be too fragile.
Moreover, it is not good for the people to be too rich. They have to learn from Shang Yang's method, which is to fool and tire the people and make them run around for their daily livelihood. They have no energy to think about or do other things, so they will naturally be content. .
In addition, Da Sinong has basically put a cross in his heart, and he will have to find an excuse to remove him tomorrow.
It’s already troublesome to have an empress dowager who usually knows how to preach. The ministers dare to preach and say that they should be good to the people. Who doesn’t know how to say that? But can this world be stable just by being good to the people? If you don't have money, what can you do to resist the Huns? What's the use of such ministers?
Although Da Sinong understood his outcome, he also knew that it would be useless no matter how much he said at this time, so he did not say any more nonsense and just retreated with the other ministers.
The difference is that other ministers went back and started thinking about how to persuade the Queen Mother to agree to the tax increase, while Da Sinong went back and started preparing for the handover of work, although he didn't know who Emperor Jianyuan would send to take his place.
But be prepared in advance.
It’s better than being in a hurry when the time comes.
At the same time, Bai Sheng on the other side of Changxin Palace was also thinking about how he should stop it, whether to use force directly or forcefully, or to be more tactful.
It's really not possible to spend 300,000 yuan a year on your own.
Quan should be paying this blessing on behalf of the people.
Or simply point out that this calculation of wealth is unreasonable, and solve the problem of sharing the land thousands of years in advance?
