From then on, Xu Xian would chat with the old man for a while when he had time. The two of them chatted quite happily, and they felt as if they had met each other too late.
The old man said that he had forgotten his name a long time ago, so he could be called Diaosou.
Although Diaosou was fishing on the Broken Bridge in West Lake, he was thinking about national affairs, and his topics all followed the reform.
Chu is poor.
It’s not that the Chu State’s GDP is on the verge of collapse, but that the court needs to spend money in many places, resulting in financial shortages.
Chu State inherited everything from the Later Zhou Dynasty.
Whenever a country is inherited, the price of obtaining land and power for free is that it also inherits the diseases of the previous dynasty.
You can't just take advantage of it without paying the price, right?
Zhao Kuangyin established Dachu after the "Chenqiao Mutiny" and inherited the territory and officials of the Later Zhou Dynasty for free. This is equivalent to nothing changing, except for the replacement of an emperor.
Officials from the following weeks stayed at their posts and continued to work hard. In order to reduce resistance during the unification war, most officials from the ten southern countries also stayed.
Not only are there prime ministers, privy envoys, Jiedu envoys... but there are also many Tuan Lian envoys and governors. In addition to the newly established Tongpan, Zhizhou, etc., there are all kinds of officials.
At this time, the Chu court was a hodgepodge.
The long-standing disadvantage of "redundant officials" existed since the founding of the People's Republic of China.
Wen Yanbo said: "Rule the world not with the common people, but with the scholar-bureaucrats."
How can we govern the world with scholar-bureaucrats?
It’s nothing more than sharing benefits.
In Chu State, as long as one person is an official, the whole family can benefit.
From the prime minister to the doctor, all are qualified to let their descendants and relatives serve as officials.
Cao Bin, the founding hero of the People's Republic of China, passed away in exchange for the qualifications of more than 20 people in his family to serve as officials. When Li Jilong died, he also sheltered dozens of people.
Coupled with the expansion of imperial examinations, the sale of officials and conferring titles, and the conferment of officials by businessmen... the number of officials in Chu State expanded rapidly.
During the reign of Chu Zhenzong, the number of officials was more than 9,700, and during the reign of Chu Renzong, the number increased to more than 17,000.
These are only formal officials with high levels, and there are countless others who are waiting for their posts or on the waiting list.
More importantly, the imperial court paid high salaries to officials.
The average monthly income of workers and farmers in Chu State is 1,800 yuan, which is only enough to make ends meet for a family. The salary of a ninth-grade official can reach 12,000 yuan.
The prime minister is even more exaggerated. His monthly salary is 400,000 yuan, not counting other subsidies and benefits.
It is said that Chu State is a paradise for scholars, right?
However, the scholars and officials of Chu who enjoy high welfare have become malignant tumors that threaten their health.
Compared with redundant officials, redundant soldiers are also a big problem.
In the early years of the Chu Dynasty, the Liao Kingdom and Xixia were making trouble in the border areas. The imperial court had to station heavy troops in the border areas. In addition, there was no danger to defend the Central Plains, so it could only increase the number of forbidden troops to defend Bianliang.
In order to prevent peasant uprisings, the imperial court would recruit troops to the disaster areas every disaster year. The young and middle-aged people have been pacified so that no one can be found if they want to revolt.
The Chu State gradually formed three major military areas: Liao State, Xixia, and Bianliang.
How many people are there? More than 1 million.
During the reign of Emperor Taizu of Chu, there were 370,000 soldiers in the country, including 190,000 forbidden troops.
Just a few decades later, this number had tripled. During the reign of Chu Renzong, there were 1.25 million soldiers in the country and 820,000 forbidden troops.
Food, logistics, subsidies, equipment for 1.25 million soldiers... It is a gold-eating beast in any era, and in an agricultural society it is enough to bring down a country's finances.
The redundancy comes from the extravagance and waste of emperors and officials.
The emperor should marry his daughter or daughter-in-law with style, should he hold dances and banquets to celebrate the peaceful and prosperous times, should various departments conduct frequent inspections and travel?
Except for formal officials, those "officials" such as clerks and section staff are not paid, but they still have to support their families, right? The only option is to rely on corruption and bribery.
No matter how developed Dachu's economy is, it cannot afford to do this.
Dachu's expenses were high, but his income was limited.
In 780 AD, Prime Minister Yang Yan suggested that Dezong implement the "Two Tax Law", abolish the "renting tax", and only collect local tax and household tax.
Taxes are paid based on land holdings and property size.
Later, because it was impossible to count family property and could only focus on visible land, the "Two Tax Law" gradually only levied land tax.
In order to expand financial resources, the imperial court established a salt and iron monopoly system. Entering the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, various warlords further developed the monopoly system in order to raise military expenditures.
All this was inherited by Da Chu.
Anyway, the tax is based on land. As long as someone works on the land, they can receive money, so there is no need to do anything like splitting up the land. This is also the origin of the national policy of "not inhibiting mergers".
But the problem is: there are a group of people who don’t need to pay taxes.
Those tens of thousands of officials, relatives, and friends took advantage of Dachu's dividends without having to pay a single price, and they were also the vanguard of land annexation.
In the early years of the Chu Dynasty, farmers who paid local taxes accounted for about half of the population. By the end of Chu Renzong, only one-third remained, and 70% of the cultivated land did not pay local taxes.
According to the principle of "ruling the world with scholar-bureaucrats", local taxes can only be reduced, never increased.
Fortunately, there is still a monopoly system.
In addition to salt, wine, tea and other products that were urgently needed by the people, the imperial court also incorporated alum and spices into the monopoly system, either directly monopolizing them or looking for agents, as long as they could make money.
The benefits of monopoly are huge. After Dachu developed the monopoly system to the extreme, the revenue once accounted for 60-70% of the total fiscal revenue, and local taxes only accounted for a small part.
Dachu's wealth and commercial prosperity probably originated from this.
But in that era, there was no industrial upgrading and technological transformation. Once the monopoly was reached to the extreme, the potential of monopoly would be exhausted.
When the dividends disappeared, it was roughly the last year of Chu Renzong.
A few years later, Chu Shenzong succeeded to the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, but faced a bleak situation:
The land tax has long been exhausted, and it is no longer easy to maintain it. It is unthinkable to allocate land to local tyrants.
There is no growth point in the monopoly system, and the dividends have come to an end.
But the court's expenses are constantly growing: the bureaucracy is getting larger and larger, the court is becoming more and more extravagant, and military expenditures sometimes account for 80% of fiscal revenue...
It is said that "a hundred years of accumulation only leaves an empty book."
Such a big Chu is really poor.
In this situation, Zhuge Banshan stepped onto the stage of history.
In the Song Dynasty on earth, it was Wang Anshi who initiated the reform.
There was no Wang Anshi in the Chu state of Piao Miao Realm, and it was Zhuge Banshan who presided over the reform.
At that time, under the existing situation of depleting local taxes and unable to grow monopoly sales, Zhuge Banshan found another way and proposed the concept of "financial management".
We want to find a new balance point and growth point that does not increase local taxes to harm farmers, but also increases fiscal revenue. That is, "the people do not increase taxes, but the state uses resources."
It sounds complicated, but it’s actually simple.
Square field equalization tax law:
We should conduct an inventory of land ownership and take action against vested interest groups so that those who occupy more land will pay more taxes and those who occupy less land or have less land will have less burdens.
Green crop method, market change method, equal loss method:
These are all old tricks used by previous dynasties. The imperial court took out the grain and money in the warehouse and directly participated in the market economy, which not only facilitated the people but also made money.
The method of protecting the armor and the method of protecting the horse:
Establishing a strict grassroots organization can recruit a large militia team when necessary, and delegate poorly managed state-run horse farms to grassroots operations.
Immunity Law:
Pay money to be exempted from labor, and the government will hire people to work.
Zhuge Banshan hoped to use state power to influence the market and ultimately achieve a balance between civil and imperial power.
Although not as ruthless as Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, who caused "all middle-class families to be destroyed", it was enough to continue the life of the empire.
The reform has indeed brought huge dividends.
After the reform was rolled out, the "Young Seedlings Law" could bring in nearly 3 million guan in revenue every year, and the exemption law could also bring in nearly 4 million guan. The combined income from various reforms eventually accumulated wealth that could be used by the court for 20 years.
In the sixth year of Shenlong, the Northwest Army regained 5 states and expanded its territory by 2,000 miles.
But that's as far as it goes.
The "Dragon Reform" touched the appearance of interest groups, but it was far from touching the soul.
At that time, Xu Xian had not yet traveled through time and did not have the advanced ideas of the 21st century on earth, but he had a unique understanding of the reform, which made Diaosou full of praise.
Xu Xian now has the memory of the 21st century. Standing on the shoulders of giants and watching Zhuge Banshan's reforms, he has a different understanding.
Xu Xian expressed his opinion again.
Marx once said: "For 100% profit, capital dares to trample all human laws; for more than 300% profit, capital dares to commit any crime."
Those with capital are often vested interest groups.
Unlike the West, there are basically no religious wars in the East. Reforms and rebellions in the East were almost always aimed at redistributing benefits.
Zhuge Banshan calls himself "financial management", but in fact he is robbing the rich and giving to the poor.
In his ideal, the common people do not need to pay more, but before industrial changes, the world's wealth is fixed. Since we don't ask for money from the people, we can only rob interest groups.
There will never be things that are good to you, good to me, or good to everyone.
In the process of reform, it is necessary to meet challenges and attacks. At this time, a strong person is needed to support Zhuge Banshan.
Unfortunately, Chu Shenzong was not a good leader.
The civil and military officials of the entire dynasty and the wealthy people in the world are all beneficiaries of the old system. Now that Zhuge Banshan has appeared, how can we tolerate you?
As a result, everyone opposed the reform in real name.
Sima Guang publicly criticized Zhuge Banshan: "This won't work."
Han Qi wrote a letter denying the reform, Fu Bi resigned, and even Su Shi almost died because of the "Wutai Poetry Case"...
Facing such an attack, Chu Shenzong couldn't bear it.
Looking at it from the perspective of Chu Shenzong, we can actually understand:
"How should we choose between all the important officials in the court and Zhuge Banshan? In fact, it is not difficult to do."
Not everyone has the courage to sacrifice themselves for the happiness of future generations.
If there is the support of a strong monarch, can Zhuge Banshan succeed?
At least part of it doesn't work.
The content of the "Shenlong Reform" is different from that of Shang Yang, Yang Yan, and Liu Yan.
They either cut off vested interests or rebuild financial sources.
As long as there is strong monarch support, it can be done.
Zhuge Banshan uses the market to regulate.
According to the experience of modern business, if you want to be completely market-oriented, you need to have a complete financial institution.
If you want to deposit money and get a loan, go to a bank and have insurance for loss compensation, right?
According to the content of the reform:
Laws such as the Green Crops Law, the Market Change Law, and the Equalization of Transmission Law should be implemented by banks and state-owned enterprises. They have professional knowledge and credibility and serve as an intermediary between the government and farmers.
Even buying and selling requires the cooperation of prosperous and developed industry and commerce.
Part of the reform is essentially business behavior.
But Dachu was an ancient dynasty after all. It had no advanced financial institutions, other than monopolies, and no prosperous industry and commerce. It could only be left to officials to enforce laws.
The use of executive orders to directly guide business practices often results in corruption, brutality, and forced apportionment.
For example, under the Young Crops Law, how can officials know who needs a loan?
If farmers who need loans hadn't taken the initiative, even if they searched each household, officials wouldn't know who they were lending money to. Coupled with the quota allocation, just find a few people to pull them down.
Those who need it can’t borrow money, and those who get it don’t need it.
There is really a lack of virtue.
In the final analysis, this part of the law is too advanced and is not compatible with the social organization of Dachu.
Just like a computer from the 1990s, it’s already outdated. You have to use it to play Honor of Kings and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds with the highest configuration... It’s weird if it doesn’t crash.
Hearing what Xu Xian said, Diaosou was confused and asked:
"Who is Marx? What religious war? What computer? What King of Glory? What is a crash?"
Xu Xian was quick to talk for a moment and said something that was beyond the times, so he had to explain it in a random way. Regardless of whether Diaosou understood it or not, he continued talking for a while and said:
“Without the support of a strong monarch and without financial institutions, whether it is local taxation or financial management, there is no possibility of success.
Zhuge Banshan was not wrong, he was just born in the wrong era. "
Xu Xian evaluated Zhuge Banshan's Shenlong Reform as seven points of merit and three points of fault. These three points of fault were due to the tested truth. When it came to the actual implementation, there were deviations.
Diaosou said:
"All of these have formed the Heavenly Way of Da Chu. It guards the established laws since the founding of Da Chu. No matter who wants to resist, they will be met with crazy backlash."
Xu Xian finally said:
“There is no need to fear the way of heaven, the laws of our ancestors, and the words of men.
As long as these three points can be achieved, reform is actually not difficult. "
Xu Xian's views on the reform have surpassed this era. Diaosou looked shocked and said:
"In just a few months of not seeing each other, my understanding of the reform has changed dramatically!
Listening to what I said was like an enlightenment, making the old man suddenly enlightened! "
After a pause, Diaosou asked:
"Brother, given the current situation in Da Chu, how can we break the ancestral law and reverse the way of heaven?"
