It has been raining in the city for several days.
The rain soaked the earth and brought bursts of coolness.
Ji Heng was very relaxed in the house.
However, the city has not been quiet these days, at least to Ji Heng's ears. There are a lot more sounds of cars and horses in the city, which sometimes even disturb him from taking a nap.
Another hissing sound came.
Ji Heng frowned slightly, walked out of the house, went to the door, and asked the soldiers in the dark, "What happened in the city these days? Why do the horses' hooves keep beating?"
The soldiers did not dare to neglect and said: "This is a local official who came to Xianyang to participate in the 'acceptance'."
"Accepted?" Ji Heng showed a look of surprise, thanked the soldiers, and returned to the house.
"The tenth month of the Qin Dynasty is the first month of the year."
"The above plan should be completed before the New Year."
"It's the first day of the year again. I don't know how many people will be happy and how sad this year." Ji Heng looked at the palaces in Xianyang from afar, with a look of appreciation in his eyes.
In Da Qin, assessments are divided into two categories, 'lessons' and 'plans'.
Classes are for superiors to assess subordinates.
Shangji is when subordinates report work to their superiors.
Ji Heng didn't know much about the Qin Dynasty's plans, but he had some experience with the Han Dynasty's plans. In his opinion, the Han Dynasty's plan system was very standardized and rigorous.
The Han Dynasty followed the Qin system.
Da Qin's accounting system may not be bad either.
The "Shangji" of the Qin and Han Dynasties is actually equivalent to the "Two Sessions" of later generations.
Every autumn and winter, officials at the township, county and other levels must compile the household registration, number of acres of land, taxes, grain import and export, etc. within their jurisdiction into an "accounting book" before the year, and report it to each county's accounting department. The 'supervisor' at work.
The county will then convene a 'Shanghai Accounting Meeting' to review the data and make arrangements for the next year in accordance with the regulations of the court.
In fact, it is equivalent to the local 'Two Sessions'.
After the local "Shangjihui" is over, almost at the end of the year, the "Shangjili" in each county will lead the relevant accounting officials to Xianyang, loaded with "Shangjibo" and various reference materials, to attend the meeting held by the court. National 'Shanghai Accounting'.
But the standards of this meeting are much higher.
The work report was Jiu Qing's "History of the Internal Affairs of the People's Government", and the person who reviewed the data was the "Yu Shi Dafu" who was ranked among the three Dukes. When the data was finally verified, the emperor would personally attend the planning meeting and "accept the planning" in person.
Listen to data reports from various places, comment on the merits and demerits of each county and official, and make instructions for the work in the coming year.
Think of this.
Ji Heng had a hint of sadness in his eyes.
He still remembered that when he first attended the Shangji meeting, he stood like a slave and was pointed and commented by officials at all levels of the imperial court, but he did not dare to utter a rebuttal.
Now that I think about it, I can't help but smile.
Ji Heng whispered: "The Qin Dynasty was founded not long ago, so I shouldn't be too harsh."
"Otherwise, the officials in the desolate counties, who traveled over mountains and rivers to Xianyang for this new year, will only be presented with a miserable political performance list. Not only will they receive a blank stare and scolding, they may even be dismissed from their posts on the spot. Daqin It shouldn’t be so short-sighted right now.”
Ji Heng chuckled lightly, looking quite emotional.
immediately.
He frowned.
He thought of one thing. The court was running a clock, which was basically the busiest time for the court. If the officials were busy reviewing the work done before, who should be allowed to do the 'money grabbing' thing?
soon.
He put the matter behind him.
This is what Fusu is worried about. Why should he bother others?
the other side.
Fusu moved directly into the study room.
He has read all the contents of Guan Zhong's reforms.
Fusu closed the bamboo slips and exclaimed: "Guan Zhong's ideas on governing the country are really extraordinary."
“A lot of the ideas have merit.”
"Business!"
"However, the situation between Qin and Qi is very different. Some things are not suitable to be copied. For example, the biennial agricultural tax proposed by Guan Zhong will not work in Da Qin."
"Qi's main source of money and food is taxation, while Da Qin's main source of money is renting taxes at the moment."
"The state reserve system is indeed feasible."
"Hoard enough grain to control the fluctuation of market grain prices, achieve a balance between abundance and hunger, and control grain price fluctuations."
"In those days, the price of rice in Guanzhong soared to 1,600 yuan per stone. If there had been a national reserve in Guanzhong at that time, it might have been able to avoid the sharp rise in food prices, and there would not have been so many deaths from starvation at that time."
Fusu sighed softly.
He finally understood why Ji Heng admired Guan Zhong so much.
Some of Guan Zhong's ideas were very creative.
However, what worries Fusu most is not these, but 'Guan Shan Hai'.
Salt and iron franchise!
The policy of opening salt ponds to allow private production and then unified purchase by the state not only controlled the sales and output of the salt industry, but also controlled the price of salt, making the court very profitable.
Taxes are included in the price.
Take it from the invisible, so that people will not be angry.
This method of storing taxes in goods is simply a stroke of genius.
Fusu couldn't help but be amazed.
Moreover, "Guanzi·Haiwang" says: "Let the salt rise and increase the strength... Thousand bells two million... Yu Cezhi... The country of ten thousand chariots is exactly nine million. The monthly salary is thirty coins. , the money is 30 million. Now I am not the prince and my son of the nationality, but I have 60 million of the nationality of the two countries."
If the imperial court had a monopoly on salt.
If the price of salt is increased by two cents per liter, nine million people will receive an additional $60 million.
And Da Qin has more than 20 million people.
This would collect too much additional tax.
However, the idea of raising the price was abandoned as soon as it flashed in Fusu's mind. The people of Daqin were already in dire straits, so raising the price of salt would be like drinking poison to quench thirst, and would only result in more losses than gains.
Da Qin Ruo specializes in salt.
There is no need to raise the price at all, and it can even be reduced.
Because after Da Qin's monopoly, there are no middlemen to share profits, so even if the price of salt is reduced, it will still be more than the current commercial tax.
"Seeing the form of giving but not the reason of taking away, this is the brilliance of Guan Zhong." Fusu exclaimed, then frowned and said: "As Mr. Ji said, merchants took too much profit."
"And today the world is tired, and it's time for merchants to give up their profits."
Fusu stood up from the table.
He paced back and forth in the study, thinking about the feasibility of a 'salt and iron franchise', and finally nodded firmly.
"The imperial court specializes in salt and iron, which can not only significantly improve finances, but also reduce the burden on the people. Although it is not intuitive to pay money, it is an invisible burden reduction."
"This method can be said to benefit the country and the people!"
immediately.
Fusu frowned.
If he remembered correctly, Ji Heng did not fully admire Guan Zhong's views.
Fusu thought deeply: "Does it mean that there are big disadvantages in specializing in salt and iron?"
"Moreover, the Qi State implemented Guan Zhong's method, but it only flourished for one lifetime. Such a brilliant strategy should not have died so soon. There may be many ways in it, but I can't detect it yet."
"That's all."
"I'll look for Ji Heng tomorrow and ask."
"The situation in Da Qin is difficult, and we need to break the situation as soon as possible."
Fusu stood still, gave instructions outside the study, and sat back on the table again.
