The officials remained silent and did not dare to speak.
Gu Zhengchen picked up the tea bowl, glanced at Yang Xiu, and said, "You are an upright official. Could you tell me, is the imperial salary set too low?"
Yang Xiu was so frightened that he stood up quickly and said: "The salary of the imperial court is decided by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and it is decided by His Majesty. It will not be lower."
"If you don't tell the truth, Wang Zhen, you tell me."
Gu Zhengchen then called the names.
Wang Zhen's face turned pale and he naturally spoke to Yang Xiu.
Anyone who dares to criticize the imperial court will be more than a slap in the face of the emperor and criticize the emperor.
Gu Zhengchen blew the tea and shook his head: "I don't dare to say it because I am afraid of losing my life. You should have heard about the Integrity-raising Silver issued by the Quanzhou Prefecture. Since I am the prefect of Quanzhou, this Integrity-raising Silver naturally cannot only exist in the government." Among the yamen, we should also push it to the county yamen. Now you are all saying that the salary set by the court is not low, and I don’t think there is any way to raise honest money."
"this……"
Yang Xiu was a little dumbfounded.
Wang Zhen was also stunned.
Relying on the meager salary from the court, he was indeed living a miserable life.
Yang Xiu has been an official for many years and has been able to live like a breeze with two sleeves. In the end, he has become a breeze with two sleeves. On weekdays, he can't even carry three copper coins in his sleeves.
To say that the salary is not low is to say something against one's heart.
Hou Shiju, the chief registrar of Anxi, swallowed his saliva, stood up and said: "Master, it is not because we are disrespectful to the imperial court. For now, the salary set by the imperial court is limited. For the magistrate, it is only enough to support the magistrate's family. For the Lord, In terms of books, records, officials, etc., it is only enough to support oneself..."
Yongchun County Cheng Cai? Seeing someone starting to speak, he also followed up and said a few words.
Gu Zhengchen knocked on the table: "This matter ends here. From today on, all the government offices in Quanzhou Prefecture will set up the Integrity Bank. Officials and subordinates will be paid three liang a month, and servants will be paid two taels a month. These Integrity Bank offices will receive money from the government treasury. I will give you 60% of the money, and the remaining 40% will be withdrawn from the county government treasury. You don’t need to worry that raising honest silver will be considered corruption. This matter has been approved by the emperor."
Yang Xiu, Wang Han and others were pleasantly surprised.
With this kind of money, I can finally live a stable life without having to be poor like a beggar.
"The ugly words are spoken in front of you. If you raise honest silver, you will raise integrity. If someone holds honest silver in one hand and stolen money in the other, I will be happy to see him at Caishikou. When you go back, spread this message clearly, word for word. .”
After Gu Zhengchen said the first thing, Yang Xiu, Wang Han and others lost their initial restraint and relaxed.
"The second thing is people's livelihood. Food is the first priority for the people. Quanzhou Prefecture must expand agricultural reclamation and mention the number of acres of rice planted next year. Especially in Nan'an County, Dehua County, Yongchun County, Anxi County, etc. The land is suitable for growing rice. In this winter, people need to be urged to reclaim wasteland. The newly reclaimed fields will not be taxed for three years in accordance with the court's policy."
Quanzhou Prefecture is surrounded by mountains and faces the sea, with undulating mountains, hills, valleys, and basins scattered throughout. There are indeed not many places suitable for growing crops here, but the problem is that Quanzhou Prefecture's current population is very small, and there are still many barren fields suitable for farming.
Gu Zhengchen stood up and looked at Yang Xiu and others: "In the past twenty years, Quanzhou Prefecture has suffered a lot. Countless people have not had enough to eat and cannot wear warm clothes. I hope that at least part of the food problem can be solved next year, and there will be no starvation." Human scenes. To this end, we have three months to urge people to cultivate wasteland and prepare for farming next year."
Yang Xiu, Wang Zhen and others nodded repeatedly.
The problem of food is the biggest problem. If the problem of food is solved, the people will be stable and local governance will be smooth.
Gu Zhengchen paced the hall: "In addition, Jinjiang, Nan'an, Anxi and other places are particularly suitable for growing sugar cane. Starting next year, people can be encouraged to plant large quantities of sugar cane in places suitable for growing sugar cane."
Nan'an County Prime Minister Wang Han frowned and was a little worried: "Master Fu, planting sugar cane is an old tradition in Quanzhou Prefecture. The output was not low during the Song and Yuan Dynasties, but it is hard to say now. Many sugar canes are not easy to sell after they are grown. . Last year, there were businessmen from Jinling who wanted to buy sugar cane, but they turned around and left again."
Gu Zhengchen frowned slightly.
Hou Shiju, the chief bookkeeper of Anxi, said bitterly: "Yes, I have also heard that there was a shopkeeper named Hu who wanted to purchase a large amount of sugar cane. However, because Quanzhou Prefecture had many tax items and the commercial tax was really high, he gave up. Quanzhou Prefecture’s plan to purchase sugar cane was transferred to Fuzhou.”
Gu Zhengchen stared at Hou Shiju. The shopkeeper Hu he was talking about was probably Hu Dashan or someone sent by Hu Dashan.
White sugar needs to be purified from brown sugar, which can be made from sugar cane.
In order to ensure the production of white sugar, it is necessary to ensure an adequate supply of brown sugar, and the source of ensuring the supply of brown sugar is sugar cane. Hu Dashan indeed opened up the source, but not in Quanzhou Prefecture, but in Fuzhou Prefecture.
Hu Dashan did not mention the difficulties and problems encountered in opening up trade routes. Now it seems that he encountered a lot of trouble in Quanzhou, so he chose Fuzhou as the next best option.
After all, Fujian sugar cane is famous for coming out of Quanzhou.
Gu Zhengchen coughed and said: "I can guarantee that as long as the sugar cane is planted, someone will harvest it. If no one harvests it, the government will harvest it. This can be told to the people exactly."
Wang Zhen and Hou Shiju looked at each other, and Hou Shiju asked uneasily: "Will the government's acquisition violate the regulations of the court..."
Gu Zhengchen waved his hand: "Quan is supposed to buy the people's rice. What's the violation? You just let the people plant it with confidence, as long as the farmland is not occupied."
"With the words of the governor, I think the people will be happy to plant sugar cane."
Wang Zhen felt relieved.
Hou Shiju, Yang Xiu and others expressed their support.
Gu Zhengchen said to everyone: "The tax burden in Quanzhou Prefecture has been quite serious in recent years, especially when the government government asked Jinjiang, Hui'an, Anxi, and Tong'an counties to pay the taxes and grain of seven counties, and asked Dehua, Yongchun, and Nan'an counties to pay taxes and grain. Colored silk. The people in one prefecture and seven counties have lived a miserable life for too long, and it cannot continue."
"From today on, Quanzhou Prefecture has no other exorbitant taxes or taxes of any kind. Farmers only need to pay two taxes. The two taxes are based on the imperial court's standard of thirty taxes and one. It is prohibited to drench the stems and kick the stems, and it is prohibited to charge the common people for transportation losses... …The same goes for commercial taxes, whichever the imperial court sets will be collected…”
Keeping things straight, not messing around, not messing around, and following the court, this is Gu Zhengchen's move to bring order out of chaos.
When Yang Xiu, Wang Zhen, Hou Shiju and others heard about it, they all praised that this move would win the hearts of the people.
Gu Zhengchen always felt that this was not enough, and said worriedly: "This winter, the Japanese officials need to be busy with other things and cannot keep an eye on you to collect autumn taxes. It is inevitable that local officials and government servants will bully the people. Let's do this. Send documents everywhere, Inform the people of Quanzhou Prefecture that anyone who cultivates up to five acres of wasteland before February next year will be exempted from taxes this autumn on all acres of land owned by the household; if the amount of cultivated land reaches ten acres, all acres owned by the household will be exempted from taxes this autumn and next summer."
Yang Xiu looked at Gu Zhengchen in shock and said quickly: "Master, you can't do this."
"Why?"
Gu Zhengchen asked rhetorically.
Yang Xiu broke into sweat: "There are no natural disasters in Quanzhou Prefecture, and there is no large-scale reduction or failure of crops here, which is not in line with the imperial court's application for exemption. What's more, the exemption requires the court to issue a statement, and the local government has no right to exempt the two taxes."
Wang Zhen was also shocked by Gu Zhengchen's actions, although this kind of behavior was very encouraging to the people and would greatly stimulate their enthusiasm for reclaiming wasteland. But if there is no court approval, then it is not the end.
What should I do if I need money and food from the province?
Gu Zhengchen's eyes were determined and he looked confident: "I will make this matter clear to the provincial government office. What Quanzhou Prefecture needs most right now is to stabilize people's hearts, resume farming, and increase food production. Are there any problems?"
Yang Xiu thought about it, Gu Zhengchen dared to imprison him even for participating in provincial politics, and killed many officials. He is still as stable as Mount Tai. Now that he is exempted from some taxes, it is not a problem.
Once the people who have suffered from heavy taxes hear this news, they will be very excited. Quanzhou Prefecture will usher in a great increase in the number of acres of land.
If a household adds five acres of land, it will add nearly 200,000 acres of land. Including the cultivation of two crops of rice, one acre of land can produce three to five shi of grain a year. Calculated as three shi of rice, this is 600,000 stone!
With such a terrifying increase and the original acres of land, Quanzhou Prefecture can completely solve the food shortage problem within a year.
Yongchun County Prime Minister Cai? stood up and said: "Yongchun County is in the south of Kangshan. Many people live in the mountains and make a living by hunting for generations. Most of the government's policies are for the farming people. What should we do about these hunters? There are also some What about fishermen and craftsmen?”
Gu Zhengchen nodded slightly and admitted frankly: "I only want to solve the food problem, but I have not considered it so thoroughly. Ordinators, fishermen, craftsmen and other common people are limited by their living places and means of living and cannot make a living through farming. Naturally, they cannot borrow They are exempted from taxes in the name of reclaiming wasteland. Let’s just exempt their taxes from the autumn tax and give them half a year to breathe.”
Cai Wei saluted solemnly.
Gu Zhengchen sat down, looked deeply at Yang Xiu, Wang Zhen and others, and said with a serious smile: "I came to Quanzhou Mansion to feed the people. This is the path I have set. I hope you will not do the opposite. People, work together with me to make Quanzhou Prefecture prosper as soon as possible."
Yang Xiu, Wang Zhen and others agreed.
This was a brief meeting, but it was a meeting that changed Quanzhou Prefecture.
After Gu Zhengchen solved the officialdom problems, he finally began to introduce Jurong's methods into Quanzhou Prefecture, maintaining clean banks and stabilizing government offices, reclaiming wasteland to promote agriculture, and sugarcane and sugar manufacturing industries.
But this is not enough, far from it.
If you want Quanzhou Prefecture to prosper, relying solely on internal economic drivers is not enough and will take a long time.
So, Zhang Pei found the boatmen from Jinjiang and Hui'an who were proficient in watercraft, good at maneuvering ships, and had been to Nanyang. They combined 62 people and selected six people to enter the government office to discuss matters. ..??m
At the same time, Zhang He stood in Quanzhou Port and was getting angry. He pointed at Chu Xing's nose and cursed: "Which bastard made you take the initiative and take the big bowl of cannon off the ship? I don't care who you are, I ordered you half Within the hour, put all the big cannons back for me!"
