"Does your Majesty want to continue to act recklessly until the people's power is exhausted, and the Qi Dynasty will eventually die in the second generation like the Qin and Sui Dynasties?"
Liu Zhaosun held his face in both hands and did not immediately answer Kang Yingqian's question.
The dim whale oil lamp illuminated the Emperor, casting a huge shadow on the floor of the Taisho Palace.
Outside the Dazheng Palace, it was dark at night. Kang Yingqian, a skinny figure, stood in the huge shadow, like a mandrill emerging from the ground. He carefully looked at the demigod in front of him and continued to speak in a loud voice:
"When the Holy One expelled Chen and Qiao Yiqi, and appointed the ruthless official Sun Chuanting Ma Shiying, he should have thought that today, although Sun Chuanting started his career with Confucianism, he claimed that Confucianism was not enough to correct and had to be governed by Shenshang Law. Although they had such insight, But they were all restless, rash and arrogant. They had no plan to harm Shang Yang, but they wanted to assist His Majesty in the matter of applying for Shang. Once the edicts were issued from Liaodong, no one carried them out. The provinces followed the rules and disobeyed them, and most of the petty officials working under them were still former officials. As an old man from the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court forced the prefectures and counties, and the prefectures and counties oppressed the people, how could they remain undefeated?"
The Supreme Emperor spread out his hands, picked up a cup of hot tea from the imperial desk, and handed it to Kang Yingqian. Old Kang took it fearfully.
"There are not many people who can tell the truth in front of me now. Kang Jianjun is one of them."
"I have heard Zhang Dong and others mention the ills you just mentioned before, but I didn't expect them to be so serious. I used to always think that the land system and personnel arrangements are good, as long as reliable people are sent to do it, Then there would be no problems, so I left the civil affairs affairs to Sun Chuanting, Ma Shiying, Xie Yang and the others. I never thought that the remnants of the previous dynasty were so deeply entrenched that they killed one after another, but could not kill them all."
As a time traveler, although he has lived in this time and space for almost twenty years, and the blood of modern people still flows in his bones, Liu Zhaosun has never thought about the profound impact of thousands of years of traditional culture on the ancients.
"Excuse me for my unreasonable opinion, but the "Qi Dynasty Land Acquisition System" formulated by Your Majesty, Sun Chuanting and others has been extremely difficult to implement from the beginning."
Kang Yingqian coughed twice and finally got to the point.
In the first few years after the implementation of the land-acre system in the Qi Dynasty, the number of fields increased and the population skyrocketed. This is a reality that everyone can see.
"Why did Kang Jianjun say this?"
Kang Yingqian put down his teacup and responded calmly:
"Your Majesty, what I saw in Jize County is that Daqi prohibits money transactions, abolishes private property, and all food, cloth, and medicine must be purchased with tickets. However, most of the supplies of the imperial court are used to supply the army. The people live in poverty and cannot rely on the government. Then We can only rely on the black market.”
"black market?"
The Supreme Emperor was slightly startled. From the information provided by Zhang Dong and others, he had never heard of this existence.
It's no wonder that most of Zhang Mazi, Liu Xingzuo's attention is focused on official corruption, defection, etc., and they pay less attention to the living conditions of the people at the bottom.
"Your Majesty has invested too little manpower in the provinces and counties within the Pass. Many of the real powers have fallen by the wayside or fallen into vacancies. Naturally, other forces will take charge of places that Daqi cannot take charge of."
Liu Zhaosun nodded thoughtfully.
Of course he knew such a simple truth, and power did not allow a vacuum. He originally planned to solve surrounding military problems within three to five years and use war dividends to feed back the country. Unexpectedly, the gold-eating beast of the army was more terrifying than he imagined. More than ten years later, it only occupies half of North Korea and a smaller half of Southern Ming Dynasty. Investment and income are completely out of proportion.
"Lecturers in schools in various places are mostly former scholars and young students. These people do not have the ability to practice their studies to convince the people, but they also seek fame and reputation. They are pampered and suffer from reading books and just wait for promotion. These school inspectors should be the ones to teach the people. He teaches the people the laws of the imperial court, but these people are still living without any knowledge. The people do not know the laws of the imperial court, and the remnants of the previous Ming Dynasty took the opportunity to counterattack..."
Seeing that Kang Yingqian was going too far, the Supreme Emperor reminded him:
"Continue to talk about the black market in Jize County."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The black market in Jize County exists almost entirely in the open.
Even people from the factory and merchant guilds waiting for the yamen will walk to the black market to buy things after leaving the yamen.
The Emperor asked when the black market started.
Kang Yingqian thought for a while and said, "Five or six years ago, when the imperial court mobilized grain and grass from the provinces of Northern Zhili for the eastern expedition to Korea, Jize County was recruited with 300 soldiers and 50,000 shi of grain. From then on, the people had no food and clothing. So, I have no choice but to put my hope on the black market.”
"Of course, you can't enter without a special way. Most of them are people from the chamber of commerce. They keep an eye on each other and are wary of each other. At night, a group of people gather in the south of the city carrying various bags, and ordinary people go there to buy things."
Liu Zhaosun asked with great interest: "What do they sell?"
"They have everything Daqi Chamber of Commerce has."
The black market sells a variety of materials, and the trading methods are all kinds of strange.
"There are money transactions, barter, and labor exchange," Kang Yingqian said eloquently.
A black labor market has even formed in Jize County. These refugees who sell their labor in exchange for food and cloth have a special nickname called "Scattering Pole".
The reason why they are called casual poles is because according to the laws of Daqi, the chamber of commerce has transportation cooperatives and labor cooperatives, and those refugees who do not have cooperatives and can only do odd jobs in the black market are called "casual workers".
"There is a saying in Jize County, "If you have something to do, you will scatter the pole; if you have nothing to do, you will scatter the pole," which means idleness.
The Supreme Emperor frowned: "These refugees, if they are not under the jurisdiction of the government, will be a disaster sooner or later."
"The black market and the flesh business."
Liu Zhaosun gritted his teeth: "Daqi ordered that prostitution be banned!"
Kang Yingqian wrote lightly: "It is mainly relatives of some veterans. Because their deceased husbands or fathers' pensions were deducted by local officials, in order to survive, they did a period of flesh and blood business to support their children."
When Kang Yingqian said this, he emphasized: "After all, people have to live."
Liu Zhaosun looked shocked. He glared angrily, and his fists the size of sandbags could smash the imperial case in front of him at any time.
Kang Yingqian drank tea and said calmly: "Your Majesty, you asked me to take charge of the brothels all over Liaodong. I tell you that this brothel and this flesh and blood business have never disappeared and will never disappear."
Yes, the history of these three professions, prostitutes, beggars, and soldiers, is longer than any civilization or any religion.
Looking at the long history, whether it is the Ming Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty, or the Qi Dynasty, they are just a small wave, extinguished in an instant, and the profession of prostitutes will always accompany mankind until the destruction of the earth.
Thinking of this, the traveler suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of relief.
It is similar to Gautama Buddha's enlightenment under the bodhi tree, Sir Newton being hit on the head under the apple tree, and Wang Yangming's enlightenment in the Dragon Field.
"Kang Jianjun, I understand what you said. Daqi and I are just passing clouds. How can we turn things around if we rely only on me? Unevenness everywhere will eventually turn into unevenness everywhere. Keeping warm will only lead to poverty in the world. In that case, let's make a compromise. Restoring some old systems in exchange for maintaining order in Daqi."
The sun will eventually burn out and the sun will finally set. But he was dreaming of establishing an immortal empire once and for all.
This is the greatest ignorance and arrogance.
A prostitute can make the empire on the sand collapse.
Kang Yingqian was overjoyed. He was going to continue talking about what he had seen and heard in Jize County over the years to persuade the Supreme Emperor to change his ways. He did not expect that Liu Zhaosun would be persuaded by him so quickly.
Liu Zhaosun stood up slowly, leaned over to look at Kang Yingqian, who was much shorter than him and looked like a mandrill, and said softly to this old friend:
"Kang Jianjun, in the past, I didn't listen to your best advice, but this time is an exception. Except for disarmament, we can do everything else."
"You have to know that the army is the foundation and the capital for you and me to live and work. It must be firmly grasped in our hands. There are countless people in the world who want to kill us. Tomorrow, the cabinet will recommend that you become the Great Qi Yuanfu again, and Lu Xiangsheng Qian Qianyi and others are planning a big plan, and the specific measures will be discussed in court later!"
Kang Yingqian burst into tears and held the Emperor's big hand tightly with both hands:
"I will fulfill my mission and die with all my heart!"
Lewen
