To the east of Jinling Mansion, there is a courtyard that is not small, but not luxurious either.
Song Qiqiu looked at the few servants and maids who were packing their luggage. While sighing softly, his eyes always looked in the direction of Jiankang Palace in the distance.
The heir Song Mojie saw that his father Song Qiqiu had been looking around, and couldn't help but stand on tiptoes to look.
It has been more than half a year since the Sage took over the Southern Tang Dynasty. Many officials of the Southern Tang Dynasty, big and small, have been reused, but Song Qiqiu, as the iconic official of the Southern Tang Dynasty, has not been reused, let alone summoned.
Song Qiqiu was already in despair, but more than ten days ago, the saint summoned Zha Wenhui, which ignited some expectations in Song Qiqiu's heart.
However, the greater the expectations, the greater the disappointment. Even a veteran like Song Qiqiu, who has been in the political arena for decades, can't help but feel like he's feeling overwhelmed by the feeling of waiting.
"Erlang, here is a box of jewelry given by the saint in the past. Brother Jie will pawn it later. Let's wait!" Wei gently held Song Qiqiu's arm and said softly.
The Song family was actually in quite a difficult situation, because at this time, Song Qiqiu had once again been defeated in a political struggle due to personality problems.
Later, in order to maintain his reputation and pomp, he did not hesitate to spend a lot of money to win over so-called talented and learned people, creating the appearance that he, Song Qiqiu, was still an opinion leader in the Southern Tang Dynasty.
Such an action to build momentum is undoubtedly very expensive, and Song Qiqiu's little income from food in Qingyang County, Jiuhua Mountain has long been exhausted.
These days, more than thirty members of their family have been forced to wait in Jinling Mansion. Most of the valuable items that can be sold in the mansion have been sold out.
However, what Song Qiqiu's family didn't know was that these days, for the sake of face, the strange merchants they secretly asked their servants to take rare items to sell outside the city were all spies pretending to be Jin Yi's personal guards.
The emperor had already found out the financial situation of Song Qiqiu's family clearly, and was waiting for him to fall into complete despair.
Inside the door, Song Qiqiu slowly shook his head, looked back at Wei, whose color had long since faded, and said with a wry smile: "That's it, that's all! Leave this little gold and silver, and let's go back to Qingyang County to work hard at farming. It's just that From now on, life will be hard.”
Song Qiqiu could eat the land tax of Qingyang County. This was a special courtesy given by Li Jing to him, the greatest contributor to the founding of the Southern Tang Dynasty. When Zhang Zhou arrived, it was naturally impossible to give it again.
Now Song Qiqiu has spent all his family property, leaving only a hundred acres of thin farmland in his hometown. He said he would go back to live a hard life, but he was not just talking about it, but he really wanted to go back and endure hardship.
Song Qiqiu is already sixty-three years old this year, but judging from his appearance, he is more energetic than many people who have just turned fifty. To be a powerful traitor who monopolizes power, he must have a good body.
But after saying this, he seemed to have aged ten years, returning to the senility he should have at this age.
The heir, Song Mojie, had even more despair in his eyes. He was still very clear about the difference between the son of a first- and second-rank official and the heir of an old farmer in the countryside.
"Is this the residence of Song Zisong in Qingyang?" Just as Song Qiqiu sighed, a voice of inquiry suddenly came from outside the door.
When Song Qiqiu and his heir Song Mojie heard this, they immediately rushed from inside to outside the door. Song Qiqiu, who had just entered his sixties less than a quarter of an hour ago, instantly flashed back to when he was around fifty years old.
There is a small official in green clothes, two rows of golden-armored guards, and in front of more than ten tall horses, there is also a peach horse that rich people use for transportation. It has a beautiful body but can't run fast.
Song Qiqiu's eyes lit up. This was the standard match for a saint to summon old ministers of the Southern Tang Dynasty to perform a duel!
"Are you Song Qiqiu, the former secretary of the Southern Tang Dynasty?" Although the lieutenant's tone was not very respectful, Song Qiqiu didn't take it seriously and raised his hand, "This old man is Song Qiqiu."
The lieutenant general nodded, "The saint has an edict and orders Song Qiqiu to enter the palace immediately to meet the saint."
Beside Song Qiqiu, people had long expected that Song Mojie would slip down as soon as his knees softened. Song Qiqiu had indeed gone through the storm and had completely calmed down at this time.
"This eunuch will wait a moment, allowing the servant to bathe and change clothes."
. . . .
In Jiankang Palace, Song Qiqiu's heart suddenly skipped a beat before he could clearly see Saint Zhang in the distance.
Because he saw Zhou Xian, Zhou Zong's daughter, kneeling at the emperor's desk, polishing ink for the emperor.
Song Qiqiu and Zhou Zong have been political enemies for more than 20 years.
When Zhang Gao saw Song Qiqiu coming, he still stood up and walked a few steps forward, giving a symbolic greeting. He said that given his age, he could still receive a little preferential treatment.
"Servant Song Qiqiu, pay homage to the saint!" Song Qiqiu bent down and bowed.
Zhang Gao also slightly raised his hand in return, and the servant in the palace immediately brought a brocade stool to Song Qiqiu.
This is not a preferential treatment, but before the Song Dynasty, prime ministers and ministers over sixty years old could have a royal stool to sit on.
Later, when I got to Brother Chongba, I could only stand and answer. When I got to Daqing, I took it a step further and knelt down.
"Song Weng, please sit down. I have a difficult problem today that I want to talk to Song Weng." Zhang Gao had a lot to do and didn't want to test it anymore, so he just went straight to the point.
As he spoke, he waved his hand, and Zhou Xian and the servants who were waiting around him all retreated.
"Although my servant is dull, he knows everything he knows." Song Qiqiu was also stunned for a moment before adapting to Zhang Gao's rhythm.
"I heard that in the past, Silla, Baekje and other countries, even though they were thousands of miles away, wanted to pay tribute to the great dynasty. When the Central Plains was in chaos, they went to Wuyue Kingdom.
But today, it has been forty years since the Wang family established Goryeo, but they have never paid tribute. They are quite disobedient. I intend to challenge it. What does Song Weng think? "
Song Qiqiu was really shocked, what kind of rhythm are you doing? Although the Sui and Tang Dynasties both had expeditions to Goguryeo, they were after recuperation!
After hesitating for a while, Song Qiqiu decided to persuade him. Maybe the emperor was testing him with this question.
"Sage, Goryeo is far away from Haidong. The current dynasty has not yet been unified and has to march thousands of miles away. I think it should be..."
When Song Qiqiu said this, he suddenly got stuck because he suddenly remembered something. During the Lantern Festival this year, Murong Nobunaga, the king of Liaoyang County who was far away in Liaodong, sent Dongzhu and Liaoginseng. The saint was very happy. , Murong Nobunaga was given the surname Zhang and the given name Zhang Yue.
The prince of Liaoyang County had great achievements and had been the adopted son of a saint for more than ten years. His mother was still a noble concubine. It was normal to give him a surname, but it was not normal to give him a name. It was still a single word next to gold.
Because there is a habit at this time, that is, after the prince ascends the throne, he will change his name to a single character.
For example, Li Jing was originally called Li Jingtong. After inheriting the throne, he changed his name to Li Jing. Qian Yue's third king was originally named Qian Hongzuo. After he ascended the throne, Hong was removed and Zhicheng Qianzuo was named.
Moreover, Zhang Zhounai was a symbol of gold, and Murong Nobunaga was given the single character "金" next to "金", and the word "yue" means "Jie Yue", which is a very symbolic character. Song Qiqiu's imagination suddenly opened up.
"The saint wants to take over Goryeo as the king of Liaoyang County?"
Bang bang bang! Zhang Hao clapped his hands with satisfaction. Sure enough, it was Li Min who once made Xu Wen so jealous that he wanted to kill him. He immediately thought of this place that ordinary people would not think of.
"The land of Liaodong has always been a serious problem for the great dynasties, from the Han Dynasty to the Sui and Tang Dynasties. The previous emperors Taizong and Gaozong spent all their treasury to destroy them. Now China has been in chaos for more than a hundred years, and another king has appeared. Shi.
I don’t care whether his name is Goguryeo or Goryeo, or whether they are the same group of people, I cannot tolerate this Donglu taking root in the old lands of the four Han counties. "
Different from the impression of Goryeo in later generations, many people in later generations felt that this small peninsula could not pose any threat to the Central Plains due to the submissiveness of Lee's Joseon.
Although this is indeed the case, the reason why Goguryeo is difficult to deal with is that it is based on the rich land of Liaodong and relies on the natural danger of Daze in western Liaoning.
However, the peninsula is a bitter cold land with mountains everywhere, which cannot produce a few grains of food. There is no convenient water transportation, and it really cannot make any big waves.
But thanks to Goguryeo, people at this time were still very wary of the regime in Liaodong.
Seeing that the emperor in front of him had made up his mind, Song Qiqiu didn't say much. As an old minister from Jiangnan, how could he dare to comment on such a major matter.
After thinking for a while, Song Qiqiu asked: "I dare to guess that the saint specially summoned his ministers, whether he wanted to build large ships from Jiangbei and Jiangnan provinces and attack the old Silla with naval forces just like Emperor Gaozong of the great dynasty did when he conquered Goguryeo." place."
"Not bad!" Zhang Hao nodded and admitted, "I invited Song Weng here just to ask if the money and food in this old land of the Southern Tang Dynasty can support the imperial court to build warships and train at least 50,000 naval troops to cross eastward."
Song Qiqiu nodded, "Yes! The saint must have known that the hidden population of wealthy families in the Southern Tang Dynasty and the wealthy families in various places is no less than three million. If we can add this part of the people to Wuyue , enough to support.
But this matter is extremely difficult. King Wensu wanted to do this in the past, but in the end he still lacked the courage to carry it out. If the saint wanted to correct this matter, he was willing to risk his life to do it. "
In the end, Zhang Gao did not allow Li Min to enter the ancestral temples of the emperors of the Tang Dynasty, because this would involve a lot of troublesome procedures, and even if Zhang Gao did, the three Li Jing brothers would not dare to do so. It would involve too much.
So after the three brothers finally submitted a letter, Zhang Gao issued an edict to abolish Li Min Liezu's title of emperor and change his posthumous title to Wensu and call him King Wu Wensu.
Zhang Yan naturally knew about Song Qiqiu's past, and he also knew what Song Qiqiu wanted to do when he volunteered.
Maybe he can really help Zhang Yan push this matter forward, but it will definitely be mixed with a lot of retaliation against political opponents, which does not meet Zhang Yan's requirements.
So I, Zhang Shengren, shook his head and said, "I will arrange for other people to do such secular affairs. What I really want to ask Song Weng for advice is the tax collection in the old lands of Southern Tang and Wuyue."
A trace of disappointment flashed in Song Qiqiu's eyes. If he were in front of Li Min, he might immediately jump out and lose his temper. But with Zhang Yan, he didn't have the face to do so, so he didn't dare to do this. .
In the previous Southern Tang Dynasty, Song Qiqiu designed a very special land tax collection system, which was to abolish the previous land tax that only collected enough money, which was easy to be manipulated by officials and merchants, and to collect cloth, grain, etc. .
When the people paid land taxes, the grains and cloth they handed over were priced at three or four times the market price.
In other words, the land in your name originally required a tax of 2,000 cash, but you happen to have silk cloth at home, and the market price is 500 cash per piece, so you need to pay four pieces of silk.
But when the court levies the tax, it will quadruple the silk cloth you paid. In other words, one piece of silk cloth in your family is worth two thousand cash in the field tax. You only need to pay one piece of silk cloth. .
This move is very powerful. It seems that the country has collected less taxes, but considering that these are troubled times, and the population of Jiangnan is newly imported, there is a large amount of land that can be reclaimed into farmland.
The top priority is not how much tax to collect, but to expand the base of rule, which seems very appropriate.
Song Qiqiu's move brought great benefits to the Southern Tang Dynasty more than ten years ago. This land tax policy made the Southern Tang Dynasty unique among the countries in the world. The common people were attracted, and the enthusiasm of the domestic people to reclaim wasteland also doubled. Even Jiangnan began to prosper in the Song Dynasty, which was the solid foundation laid by this policy.
According to historical records, after the implementation of this policy in the Southern Tang Dynasty, the country's open land was cleared, there were no idle fields, the fields were full of mulberry trees, and the people's households were prosperous. This laid the foundation for a prosperous and powerful country in the southeast. Afterwards, Li Jing and Li Yu's periods also benefited from this policy. brings abundance.
But now, because Li Jing was determined to prepare for war and also wanted to pay tribute to Zhang Gao, this policy has been cancelled.
Since Song Qiqiu has made great achievements in the economy, Zhang Yan naturally wants to discuss these issues with him. This is also for Pei Yuan's convenience.
Because what can I say about Zhang Shengren's white gloves? He is good at conspiracy, political struggle, and even leading troops to defend one side, but he is a little less good at economics, so Song Qiqiu can fill the gap.
Song Qiqiu talked with Zhang Xi for a long time, and gradually understood the emperor's "context", and understood that the emperor wanted him to develop the economy of the entire Jiangnan, Jiangxi, and Jiangbei rivers, and at the same time raise a huge amount of wealth to supply Liaoyang County Wang Murong Nobunaga conquered Goryeo and even Japan.
Because judging from the current situation, Andong Province has a sparse population and it is difficult to support tens of thousands of troops to go south to conquer Goryeo.
At the same time, there are many mountains in the northern part of Goryeo, so it would be more difficult to attack from the north alone. It would be much easier to attack from the sea and capture the southern part of Goryeo first.
So Song Qiqiu raised his hand and asked Zhang Yan whether he could return to the old tax policy, that is, the policy of one-for-four people paying taxes.
"If it is a short-term plan, the sage should not resume this policy, because most of the land that can be cultivated in the Southern Tang Dynasty, except south of Hongzhou, has been cultivated.
Now that this benevolent government was abolished by King Wu, all the resentment lies with the Li family, and the sage just goes along with it.
But for a long-term plan, it is better to implement this land tax policy for another 20 to 30 years, because the troubled times have not yet completely ended, and Dingkou has not returned to the dynasty.
If you choose to follow this strategy, it will not only allow the court to win the hearts of the people of Sanjiang immediately, but also quickly restore the people's power. "
Zhang Hao nodded and thought about it for a while. Song Qiqiu was right. Both strategies have their own benefits.
If we don't recover, we can raise material resources to conquer Goryeo in a short time.
Restoration can quickly win the hearts of the people, gain the foundation of popular support to fight against powerful powers, and quickly restore the population in the next 20 to 30 years.
"Thousands of years ago, Emperor Ji Han Zhaolie said that major affairs in Fuji must be based on the people. If I blackmail the people in order to conquer Goryeo, it would be unkind. It is better to think about it in the long term."
Song Qiqiu fell to the ground and praised him. He really saw that the emperor in front of him lacked some tactics, but he was indeed a benevolent king.
Well! If Pei Yuan and Feng Dao were here, they would definitely sneer at Song Qiqiu's knowledge.
It's not that Zhang Zhi is unkind, but that his benevolence is selective. If the benefits of blackmailing the people outweigh the harm at this moment, he will definitely do it.
Zhang Yan chose to take a long-term view because the most important thing in his plan for the Xia king and the Yi people was population. Implementing this policy could restore the largest population in the shortest time. Compared with this plan, attacking Wang's Goryeo could That's a little later.
Seeing that Zhang Gao had made his choice, Song Qiqiu continued: "Since the sage has a long-term focus, restoring the population should be the first priority. The servant suggested not to completely copy the strategy of King Wu Wensu's period, but to look at Dingkou to implement it." .
For example, if the family only gives birth to one child, the price will not be increased. If there are two children, the price will be doubled. If there are three children, the price will be doubled. For five children, the price will be increased three times. For seven children, the price will be increased four times. For nine children, the price will be increased. If the above is increased by five times, as long as it is implemented for thirty years, Sanjiang Province alone will be able to increase its population by millions. "
"Song Weng is indeed a great talent!" Zhang Hao rubbed his hands excitedly, "But I still didn't get enough.
I am determined that if a couple gives birth to five children, the increase will be four times, if they give birth to seven, the increase will be five times, and if a couple gives birth to nine or more children, it will be completely tax-free!
I will implement it for thirty years, and I will not only implement this policy in Sanjiang, but also promote it nationwide. "
However, Zhang Yan felt a little melancholy as he talked, because his idea of moving some people from Shuofang, Ningxia, Hedong and Hanzhong Prefecture to the Central Plains was not implemented well.
The first four are due to ecological problems, and the local yield per acre is extremely low and it is not cost-effective to grow them.
The latter is because the population is too dense, and a large number of people are struggling to survive in the mountains, while no one is cultivating good fields in Shangqiu, Xuchang and other places in the Central Plains.
Song Qiqiu rolled his eyes and paid attention, "I thought that the sage could implement the new land tax policy in other provinces at the same time, and set the tax amount for the upper, middle and lower third-class fields according to the fertility of the land, while Shuofang, Ningxia, Hedong will collect it according to the old tax."
There was a very strange thing about the field tax at this time, that is, no matter what kind of field it was, the court would collect a field tax of one bushel of grain.
This thing makes the tax rates extremely uneven for people everywhere.
If your family is unlucky enough to work in the fields and can only produce one stone per acre, it will be equivalent to a high tax of 10%.
And his family's field can produce two or three stones, so the field tax is equivalent to the thirty tax that was only available in the early Han Dynasty.
The most direct result is that wealthy families occupy resources such as water conservancy facilities and cattle, and pay thirty taxes per one, while ordinary people pay ten taxes per one, which is extremely detrimental to population growth and the reclamation of wasteland.
Moreover, this was obviously the result of laziness and inability to control the actual situation of the country by the warriors of the Five Dynasties. It was later inherited by the Northern Song Dynasty and became one of the important factors that prevented the Northern Song Dynasty from equalizing land.
However, this one-size-fits-all land tax law is not without its benefits. For example, it can now be used to drive away those people who cut down the only vegetation on the slopes of Ningxia and Hedong to plant fields, and drive them to better fields. come up from the plains of the earth.
"Song Weng's suggestion is very good!" Zhang Yan praised it for the second time. After he returned, he planned to summon the governor, the household department, the transportation department and other yamen to discuss the implementation.
As for Song Qiqiu, Zhang Gao gave him 300,000 yuan on the spot, which was three hundred guan, and then promised that he would soon be appointed as the chief envoy of Jiangnan Province and the transit ambassador to Jiangnan and Jiangbei.
Song Qiqiu was also very satisfied and left after thanking him profusely.
After Song Qiqiu left, Zhang Hao tapped his fingers on the table. Zhou Xian and the guards who had just left returned.
Zhou Xian pursed his lips and looked at Zhang Yan with some displeasure, "Sage, that Song Qiqiu is a traitor. He likes to slander and harm others. How can the saint reuse him?"
Zhang Hao didn't speak, but turned to look at Zhou Xian with cold eyes.
A little girl of thirteen or fourteen years old could not withstand the power of a hero like Zhang Yan. Within a few seconds, she knelt down in panic and stopped talking.
"Stretch out your hand!" Zhang Hao shouted, then picked up a small bamboo stick.
Da Zhouxian tremblingly stretched out her white and tender hands, and then the bamboo stick hit her hands heavily. She squealed in pain and tears rolled in her eyes.
"It is the exclusive right of the queen, noble concubines and wise concubines to express opinions on the affairs of the harem. If you are still young and have not experienced much of the world, if you dare to say these things again, you will not be beaten once, but five times."
I, Zhang Shengren, don’t care about political interference in the harem. You can’t control this stuff even if you want to, and it’s not necessarily a bad thing.
But if everyone in the harem had something to say, it would be chaotic. So here, only the Queen Nineteenth Lady, Lady Cao Sanniang and her aunt could have something to say about political affairs.
Da Zhouxian, who was slapped on the palm, didn't even dry his tears, and began to sort out the documents for Zhang Xuan again.
Contrary to what outsiders think these days, the great Zhou Dynasty queen in history is not here as a beauty to accompany the emperor, but is undergoing a series of special training.
Chemistry, geography, mathematical geometry, all the things that Zhang Hao could barely remember but soon forgot, he instilled in Zhou Xian and asked her to record them in a book.
I, Zhang Shengren, touched my chin and looked at this busy little figure. It was a pleasure that I had developed enough.
Moreover, could he not know what kind of character Song Qiqiu was?
His ability is definitely good, but he has a high desire for power and likes to form cliques for personal gain. Those who depend on him will be protected by all means, and those who don't will use all means to attack them.
It sounds like he is indeed a traitorous official who will cause great damage to the country.
But but! Song Qiqiu's future immediate boss will be Pei Yuan, a shady thief like Jia Xu and Cheng Yu. In terms of the reputation of treacherous ministers and the actual ability of shady people, Song Qiqiu can't even catch up with him, and the difference in status is too big.
Where Song Qiqiu can be used and where he can't be used, Pei Yuan must be well versed.
When anyone disobeys the new policies of the imperial court, it is natural that Song Qiqiu and their party members should be blamed.
Finally, I took a step back and said that if Song Qiqiu recruits comrades and controls every link, he is not afraid of it, because they are civilians without military power. In any era, in the end, the gun will speak.
If Song Qiqiu was not too knowledgeable, he might be able to enjoy his old age in peace
If you are not wise, you can wait until he gets fat and then kill him for meat. In this way, I, Zhang Shengren, can get a big blood bag without exploiting the people with my own hands. It is perfect.
