Xun You was stunned for a long time when Liu Bei said these words.
He suddenly remembered that Liu Bei had persuaded him many times to join the Xun family and take charge of the Xun family.
He immediately regretted it.
Xun Su was a mediocre man who could strategize but not make decisions. Although Xun Yu had the characteristics of being soft on the outside and firm on the inside, he lacked the decisive means to act and knew what to do. He always lacked the necessary force in the process of execution. Some courage.
He knows what to do, but he always does it incompletely. Non-violent non-cooperation seems to be the only thing he can do.
Neither of these two people are the most suitable candidates for the clan leader.
If I were allowed to do it myself, even if I wasn't as decisive as Cao Cao, I could at least catch up with Zhen Yan's progress, but it's a pity...
Thinking like this, Xun You suddenly had a bold idea.
While it was still too late and there was still hope, he decided to make a request to Liu Bei.
"Your Majesty, I have a request."
"explain."
"If I can persuade some Xun clan members to obey His Majesty's orders and put His Majesty's request first in everything, then can Your Majesty allow these Xun clan members to join me in establishing another Xun clan in Yin, Henan?"
After Xun You finished speaking, he looked at Liu Bei nervously, worried that Liu Bei's hatred for Xun could no longer be contained, so he decided to kill Xun.
But it turned out that his worries were meaningless. Liu Bei obviously cared more about his emotions and hoped to exchange them for his further loyalty.
So Liu Bei smiled.
"I have had such expectations for you a long time ago, and I have been waiting for you to take the initiative to say it out, but you have never taken the initiative to say it out. I thought you were not here. Isn't it good now? I am willing to cooperate, If you stay with you and are unwilling to cooperate, I won’t hold back. Isn’t this the best of both worlds?”
Xun You was immediately moved.
“Your Majesty’s consideration for me is deeply appreciated by me!”
"Gongda, you have done so many things for me and relieved me of so many worries. It is natural for me to do something for you."
Liu Bei smiled and held Xun You's hand, and did not let go for a long time.
Xun You couldn't hold back his tears and burst into tears in front of Liu Bei.
So the two formally agreed that Xun You would look for collaborators within the Xun family who were willing to cooperate, while the others would be given up by Liu Bei, and Xun You would not care about them.
As for what choice Xun Yu will make, it depends on Xun You.
Liu Bei will leave this matter entirely to Xun You. How Xun You treats Xun Yu will determine how Liu Bei treats Xun Yu.
Xun You knew that this was the greatest degree of trust and concession from Liu Bei. If he could not resolve the matter, he could resign and take the initiative to be exiled to Liaodong or Lingnan.
So Xun You quickly took action and gave full play to his subjective initiative. While Xun Yu was still trying to persuade those die-hards, he took the initiative to contact the minority people who he thought had a softer and more open-minded attitude.
When he meets people, he gets straight to the point and puts his words on the table.
"This is your Majesty's attitude. The attitudes of the major families have also become clear. What your Majesty needs is a family that obeys orders, not a family that opposes him everywhere. The Xun family has violated too many taboos. This is the last chance. If you miss it, it’s gone.”
"If Xun had not supported His Majesty early and had been of great help to His Majesty, Your Majesty would not have spared Xun again and again. Not everyone can have so many opportunities. I hope You can think carefully about the current situation."
"Cao family, Xiahou family, Zhen family, which one of them doesn't have more land and property than Xun family? Didn't they still meet His Majesty's request? They have a long-term vision and don't care about the small profits in front of them, and I, the Xun family of Yingchuan, Are you going to lose everything just because of petty gains?"
"His Majesty is different from the previous emperors. Never compare the past with the present. What you must understand is that the past Emperor could not command an army of 300,000 people, but the current Emperor gave an order. An army of three hundred thousand can destroy everything for him.”
"The situation has completely changed. There is no coming back from the past. This is your last chance. Don't miss it."
For three days, without telling Xun Yu, Xun You secretly met with tribesmen he felt were reliable and conveyed his wishes to them. Under the pressure of the ultimatum, twelve tribesmen chose to "surrender" to Xun You.
They decided to join Xun You's newly formed "Henan Xun Family" and follow Xun You into the next era. Even if they had to pay enough taxes for it, it didn't matter.
As long as you can survive, live well.
But other persuasion had no results, and more branches that Xun You didn't even touch naturally had no results.
Xun You doesn't have much wealth and can't spend much money to make up for everyone's losses. What he needs is a group of rational people who are absolutely easy to talk to.
He had never thought about what he could do to those people who were difficult to talk to.
Xun Yu used so many benefits to seduce people who were unmoved, but he knew that there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.
Just like what Liu Bei said, give up the plot of helping others and respect the fate of others. Anyway, the Xun family is still there and there are fewer people. The remaining people will not change their surname Xun for this reason.
As long as the Xun family's bloodline is passed down, it will be regarded as the right ancestor.
Three days later, Xun You completed his planned plan, made a list and gave it to Liu Bei, and reported to Liu Bei. After Liu Bei learned about it, he was very happy with Xun You's performance.
"Gongda, you have done a good job. If you had taken control of the Xun family earlier, I don't think the Xun family would be where it is today."
Liu Bei said with emotion: "But fortunately, the Xun family can be preserved. The Xun family's ancestors will definitely feel gratified because of your efforts."
Xun You sighed, not knowing whether he should be happy or sad.
A few days later, Xun Yu visited Liu Bei again and informed Liu Bei of his "results", saying that he had persuaded another tribesman to cooperate with Liu Bei. As long as he had a little more time, he would be able to persuade the entire Xun family.
Liu Bei comforted Xun Yu again and reiterated his opinion, but if Xun Yu wanted to continue, then so be it.
It doesn’t matter anymore. The Xun family in Yingchuan is destined to have no future. The future belongs to the Xun family in Henan.
He didn't say this, but it was a bit hurtful to say it in front of Xun Yu. Liu Bei was not a devil after all.
Afterwards, Liu Bei no longer cared about this matter, but began to plan the entire operation to conquer the fields.
In his preparations, Dutian must follow the order of Jiangbei and then Jiangnan, because his ruling foundation in the Jiangbei region is more solid, while his ruling foundation in the Jiangnan region is not so solid.
Moreover, no military group outside of orders still exists in the north. There is no organized armed force that can resist Liu Bei's order to conquer the fields. Individual and scattered resistance has no effect at all.
The south is different. There are a large number of foreigners in the southern part of Yizhou, the same is true in the southern part of Jingzhou, and the same is true in the Yangzhou area. Mountains are rampant, but on the contrary, there are very few good people.
If the Dutian Order is promoted simultaneously in these places, I am afraid that it will put a lot of pressure on Guan Yu and Liu Sheng, and it is unnecessary.
Therefore, following the principle of first north and then south, Liu Bei prepared to take the lead in conquering the Jiangbei area.
In terms of specific operating methods, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. In terms of agricultural tax, everyone pays the tax together, but different amounts of land will have different levels of tax.
According to the family as the production unit, if a family only owns less than 500 acres of land, the tax revenue will be very low.
Five hundred acres to one thousand acres is considered a level, and the tax at this level is not high.
One thousand to three thousand is considered a level, and the tax for this level will be raised a bit.
Three thousand to five thousand is considered a level.
Five thousand to ten thousand is considered a level.
For land above 10,000 acres, 10,000 to 30,000 is considered a grade, and 30,000 to 50,000 is considered a grade. For land above 50,000 acres, the harvest will be based on the maximum tax rate. It will charge you 40% to 50%, which is not excessive at all. .
Leaving aside other aspects of taxation, Liu Bei mainly wanted to protect the interests of homesteaders as much as possible, reduce their taxes, and enable them to save as much as possible and have the resources to withstand various disasters. Ability.
Allocating more taxes to high-income earners, collecting agricultural taxes from them, and using them to subsidize the state and adjust tax distribution will, in a certain sense, equalize the wealth and the poor.
On the basis of comprehensive taxation, formulating new tax laws in accordance with such tax rules, paying a new round of taxes, and reversing the underlying logic of taxation, this is something Liu Bei feels he can spend decades to accomplish.
In the next few decades, he will devote part of his energy to this field continuously and for a long time. As long as it can be successfully implemented, he will feel that he has achieved great results as an emperor.
No matter whether this policy can be successful or how long it can be maintained, as long as it continues to be implemented, it will always have results.
Correspondingly, Liu Bei also began to make some requirements for the taxation department of the Ministry of Household Affairs, asking them to set up eight different taxation groups for these eight levels of basic agricultural taxation groups to divide the national taxpaying groups.
These are long-term and continuous tasks, and if done well, they will be of great use to the country.
Although from the perspective of historical experience, planning is one thing and execution is another, the presence or absence of these two things is a qualitative difference.
At the national level, the tax system is used to implement policies that redistribute wealth and are biased towards safeguarding the interests of farmers. The actual emergence of this policy is itself a great progress.
Moreover, this tax hierarchy system actually has a certain differentiation effect on large wealthy families.
The big family is not monolithic, there are also some who are poor and some who are rich, some who are rich and some are extremely poor, and some who are extremely poor.
Just like Liu Bei's family back then, Liu Bo was very rich and had a lot of wealth, while Liu Bei's family was poor and weaved mats and sold shoes. The two families even had a relatively close relationship.
Different tax levels target different groups of people, and will also divide different groups within a family, making it difficult for them to reach consensus on each other's interests, leading to serious conflicts between personal interests and family interests.
This is conducive to the differentiation and disintegration of wealthy families and wealthy families at the economic level.
Some people don't have much land, low taxes, and can even get some benefits from this new policy. They feel that there is no need to risk their lives for this tax, and they even have some vague expectations for it.
Some people have a lot of land, and the new policy clearly wants to cut off their flesh. They want to fight against the imperial court, but they cannot gather everyone's strength to fight against the imperial court.
For officials, because political reasons are involved, thinking becomes more complicated, especially for an official who grew up under Liu Bei.
Cao, Xiahou and Zhen all made their own choices, and Xun was later helped by a rebellious tribesman to make the choice he should have made.
With such a successful case, Liu Bei believes that the resistance he will encounter in the final choice will not be very strong. Most of them may be local rebellions, but the overall rebellion is unlikely and the local garrison will be enough to cope with it.
After confirming many details of the "Law on Land Acquisition", Liu Bei rubbed his eyes and lay down for a while.
He thought that he had been preparing for Dutian since the sixth year of Zhongping, using the means of eliminating political opponents, but the essential purpose was to reduce the intensity of the all-out confrontation he would encounter when Dutian.
In the earliest days, there were eunuchs, conservatives of the modern literature school, the ancient literature school, the old military faction, and the landlords and powerful people from all over the country. One by one, these power groups were all capable of launching huge forces to resist Liu Bei when he was in the field.
Dutian involves core interests. When Liu Bei's power is unstable, once these interests are touched and the bureaucrats cannot find a strong enough deterrent and a sufficient substitute, it is conceivable to turn into a full-scale confrontation. matter.
In this way, Liu Bei will be the enemy of the world's bureaucrats, and the only thing he can rely on is his army. The probability of his failure will be unimaginably high.
But now it's different. With the continuous use of political struggles to attack political opponents, he has greatly weakened the strength of the forces that can resist him. And as time goes by, the education system controlled by him has also cultivated people who obey his orders. Rather than being a reserve official of a traditional wealthy family.
The resistance forces have nothing to use to control his existence, but he in turn controls the lifeblood of the resistance forces - the power of the world.
Du Tian will definitely win, Du Tian will definitely win.
Liu Bei already had such full assurance.
Therefore, at the farewell banquet after the New Year's Day, Liu Bei told his close subordinates that the field expedition was about to begin in full swing, and the Han Dynasty would face a more severe test. They would also face many rebellions, which required them to use resolute military measures. Respond to it.
"I've never worried that you won't win the battle, and I've never worried that those insects will become a threat to the big man, but this doesn't mean that you can relax completely and ignore everything. That's not the case.
Gentlemen, no matter what kind of enemy we face, we must remain vigilant. It should be noted that no matter how weak the enemy is, there is the possibility of a comeback, and no matter how powerful the army is, there is the possibility of defeat. Since ancient times, there are many examples of defeating more with less. , I don’t want you to become one of the war examples. "
Regarding this point, the feudal officials and generals in charge of the army have all stated that they have understood it, will keep it in mind, and will never slack off. If any losses are caused by slacking off, they are willing to bear the full responsibility.
So Liu Bei let them return to their respective jobs with peace of mind, telling them that it wouldn't take long for his decree to be conveyed to them, and then the real test would begin.
In fact, although Liu Bei's concerns on this matter are not wrong, in a sense, Liu Bei did not fully understand the thoughts of the generals and frontier officials.
To be precise, they were more excited than worried.
(End of chapter)
