Royal study room.
Wang Mang is handling government affairs.
The court was in urgent need of manpower, and even the emperor had to work diligently to set an example.
When Gu Dan came here, Wang Mang was thinking hard.
What he is dealing with is matters related to Yuzhou.
When the source river bursts its banks, countless silt produced by the source river every year will flow into the plains along the breach, blocking the river channels, submerging fields, overflowing lakes, and blocking transportation and shipping.
The impact was by no means limited to Yuzhou, not even Yangzhou could escape.
And every year during the flood season, the water from the source river will overflow and backflow, submerging the farmland. After the flood, there will be a locust plague. Sand dunes are everywhere, and the surface of the land is abrupt and concave, making it impossible to cultivate at all, causing extremely serious damage to agriculture.
If it weren't for the strong material support from the four countries, it would have been less than a year for the Xia Dynasty to have enough to eat, let alone establish a country.
But the Xia Dynasty cannot place all its hopes on the materials sent by the four countries. Of course, those materials are good things. In addition to the large number now, there will be a steady stream in the next few years. Even if the quantity will be reduced, it will still be enough to support them. Xia Dynasty.
However, sitting on a mountain and eating nothing is by no means the foundation of a country. This kind of external support cannot truly be regarded as its own national strength.
If Gu Dan had not been born and put an end to this troubled times, the people of the Xia Dynasty at this time would have said that they could not have enough to eat, which was a kind of praise, and they were afraid that they would have started to change their sons and eat.
Relying on personal force to take everything is indeed a shortcut, but Gu Dan has already shown his attitude and did not even show up at the founding ceremony.
It is obvious that he has decided to leave everything in the future to them to handle on their own.
This is a huge challenge. When the Xia Dynasty was founded, it relied on the names of Mo Qiu and the Mohist family to win over the people. It was destined to embark on a different path. It must not be ignored like Da Yue.
Otherwise, it would not only be a betrayal for the predecessors, but also completely unaccountable for future generations, for myself, and even for Gu Dan.
It is difficult to conquer the world, but it is even harder to sit in the world.
Nowadays, the people of Xia Dynasty do not have much recognition for Xia Dynasty, especially after the death of Mo Qiu was announced.
Wang Mang can only do his best and do his best, including but not limited to accepting various political affairs from the first day of the founding of the country.
Gu Dan looked at it silently for a while as before. When Wang Mang went to get a document, he coughed lightly.
Wang Mang immediately turned his head, his eyes shining with surprise, "Brother Gu!"
Seeing Gu Dan, Wang Mang seemed a little excited, "I thought you wouldn't come today."
"Now that you are the emperor, you have the final say. You don't have to expect anything from me."
Gu Dan shook his head gently and poured cold water on his face, "If you want to conquer the world, personal force does have some effect, but if you want to control a country, relying solely on force will undoubtedly quench your thirst. You have to understand this."
"I know."
Wang Mang nodded repeatedly, "I just feel that if Brother Gu doesn't come, there seems to be something missing."
Without Gu Dan, the Xia Dynasty would never have stabilized at this time, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that he deserves the most credit.
It's just that Gu Dan refused to be exposed in front of others, and the people who really knew him were at the top. This credit was also given to Mo Qiu, and the reputation of the Mo family was even further improved.
The common people knew the Mohist family but did not know the emperor.
Wang Mang had no complaints about this. After all, he was unknown before, and if he suddenly ascended to a high position and couldn't bear even a little abuse and slander, he would be too petty.
"I'm here this time because I have two policy matters that you need to do. This is not a discussion, but a necessity."
Gu Dan said seriously.
"Brother Gu, please tell me."
Wang Mang's expression also became focused.
He was very familiar with Gu Dan and understood Gu Dan's character very well. He rarely said such unquestionable words. Once he said it, it was a decision that could not be changed.
"The first one is about taxes."
Gu Dan said: "In the past, there were many kinds of taxes, and they were assigned layer by layer. After the people under officials at all levels did their work, they were able to create clever names and even rob them by force. When the Xia Dynasty was first established, there was no shortage of supplies. In recent years, Mo It’s time to collect taxes again. We should take advantage of this period to understand the situation among the people and implement new tax policies.
I call it 'spreading a small amount into an acre'. "
Taxes!
As soon as he heard these two words, Wang Mang's expression became more solemn.
For a country, taxes are the real lifeblood.
Whoever can control taxes controls a country, and all the money in the treasury comes from this.
Therefore, any reform on taxation has always been done with caution.
Previously, the "poll tax" was used as the main basis for tax collection. The harm of this method was to reduce the enthusiasm of people to have children, and even lead to the emergence of various illegal households with hidden household registrations.
But this kind of head tax is actually extremely unfair. The poor get poorer, the rich get richer, and the polarization is extremely serious.
The disadvantage is not that no one can see it, the question is how to correct it?
"To put it simply, taxes are collected directly from the land. With the land as the main basis, taxes will no longer be collected from people who do not have land. At the same time, the control of household registration will be relaxed and the people at the bottom will be allowed to migrate."
Gu Dan said seriously.
Dividing a small amount into an acre is extremely simple.
But its effectiveness is extremely powerful.
Compared with the burden of the poll tax on all the people, the landowners who share the land with each other will kill the landlord class with rich land. The richer they are, the greater the harm will be. To a certain extent, it can indeed suppress the problem of land annexation.
"Everyone spreads his land over an acre."
Wang Mang thought about it silently, and soon he could think of the various benefits of this. This method can indeed effectively prevent the accumulation of wealth among the people, and can also share the tax burden on ordinary people.
The only problem is that in order to do this, the property must be thoroughly investigated!
This is a huge demand for low-level officials. It is no wonder that Gu Ge said that in the first few years, taxes can be temporarily waived. Obviously he also understood the difficulties Wang Mang faced at this time.
Strictly speaking, the Xia Dynasty was not a bottom-up resistance. There were even many silverfish from the previous dynasty still remaining in Dayue, still sucking blood tirelessly and had not yet been completely eliminated.
The people were not really forced to the point where they could not survive unless they rebelled. At this time, the founding of the country could certainly stop the suffering and prevent it from worsening, but it had not really done enough to cleanse the various powerful people and landlords among the people.
This method is used to target that group of people.
"No problem, I will do my best."
Wang Mang nodded seriously. It was not difficult to understand the idea of dividing a small family into a family, but it was difficult to execute it.
But the advantage of mastering the upper-level force became apparent at this time.
The Four Kingdoms are about to send five masters to Otsuki to help out. Wouldn't this be useful?
Are you joking about your power as a master? !
It depends on whether you dare to kill someone or not!
"The second thing is corvee service."
Gu Dan said again.
When Wang Mang heard this, he became more cautious.
Taxes, corvee.
These are truly two big mountains weighing on the heads of the people.
In any previous era, there was no escape.
The taxes may be something that richer families can afford, but even poorer people can just scrape by and survive.
But corvée is not an option.
Unless you have a great reputation, even if you have a thousand taels of gold, you still have to go and participate in the corvee. Even if someone secretly colludes with you, the share of the corvee you should have will only be borne by one person, but you will never be able to truly escape.
If taxes are a sword, corvee is a rope.
A sharp sword may hurt someone, but a rope is used to kill someone!
At this time, the Xia Dynasty palace was built by mobilizing hundreds of thousands of people to do corvee work. The blood, sweat and bones were countless, which directly led to the rise of civil rebellion.
It is said that future generations will grieve without taking note of it. The question is, what can we do if we learn from it?
At least Wang Mang did not think of this answer, nor did the extremely smart officials in the past dynasties. They could only continue to follow the old system.
"From now on, all corvées can be paid off with money. The money used to offset them can be used to hire people to do things."
Gu Dan said a good strategy that has been tested by history.
Why is there corvee?
Because the country is short of money, but it must build something.
Continuously increasing taxes is not an option, and tyranny is more powerful than a tiger.
So another corvee came.
It is impossible to rely on the government to pay for employment, so the people have to suffer again.
We also know that you have no money, so let your people come over and do the work!
But after all, corvee is actually another form of tax!
It's just that the previous money has been replaced by people themselves.
Wang Mang, who had previously been very supportive of the idea of sharing the land with a small family, frowned deeply at this time and even had to say, "In this way, those local tycoons and landlords can escape from the corvee forever through this method! In the end, it was those who The people at the bottom who can’t afford money have to stick to the old system!”
"So, the first rule is to divide the land into acres! After we have measured the number of domestic fields and the land controlled by the rich families and gentry, we will divide the money required for corvee work into the acres. The more acres there are, , the more taxes there will be! When this law is truly implemented, corvee service can even be abolished!"
Gu Dan said without any hesitation.
What's the point of suffering the common people?
Give me a hard time for aristocratic families, gentry and powerful people!
You like land annexation, right?
You like to buy and sell by force, right?
People like to suffer, right?
You see if I can handle it or not, that's it!
If any national policy is not implemented by the founding fathers, it will be unimaginably difficult for future generations to implement it.
Gu Dan once said that he wanted to make the people of the world live a better life.
These two things must be done from the beginning, and even become a real iron rule.
Wang Mang did not immediately answer Gu Dan's words, but seriously thought about whether this method was really feasible.
The more I thought about it, the more excited I became.
Why doesn't this method work?
It will definitely work!
Is the Xia Dynasty short of supplies now? Short of money? No, what is lacking is just enough officials!
When there are enough officials, why can't we carry out drastic reforms?
Dividing a small family into an acre will benefit the country and the people!
It is no longer the suffering of the common people, but the suffering of the rich and noble families. The burden that the common people at the bottom need to bear is transferred to the aristocratic families!
"Okay, okay!"
After thinking about all this, Wang Mang's eyes burst out with brilliance, "With this strategy alone, Brother Gu can become a saint!"
If the previous peace of war was a great kindness to the people who were suffering at this time, then after these two brand-new national policies, or even a national policy directly simplified into one, are implemented, thousands of people will benefit from them!
It is no exaggeration to boast that the two big mountains of taxation and labor have been solved in one go.
The name of a saint is deserved!
"These things need to be done by you and the entire imperial court, and the credit belongs to you too. If you want to be an emperor for eternity and leave a name for yourself, you must complete great deeds that others cannot."
Gu Dan patted Wang Mang on the shoulder. This long and long way to go, and even the extremely complicated affairs were all on Wang Mang's shoulders, so he also made his promise, "If there are people who can't be solved, you can Call me."
He doesn't need to be a nanny, but he does help out when necessary.
"With Brother Gu's words, I feel relieved."
Wang Mang laughed.
Dividing a small amount into an acre is very simple. It is just a matter of changing the method of taxation.
But civil resistance is by no means as easy as it sounds.
The aristocratic families, landlords and gentry who suddenly find that it is their turn to suffer will do everything they can to resist the new national policy and even incite the people at the bottom.
These things are not likely to happen, but they will definitely happen!
When your own interests are threatened, never expect that group of people to have any decent consciousness. They will only do everything possible to shirk or even cheat.
Any good policy will be nothing but empty talk if it is not implemented in place.
"Leave this matter to Gong Shang. Qin Lisheng will lead the Mohists to review it. What does Brother Gu think?"
Wang Mang seemed to have a candidate in mind.
There is no doubt about Gong Shangguo's ability to establish the Mo family together with Mo Qiu.
Qin Lisheng raised the banner of Mohism at this time. To the extent that the Xia Dynasty respected the Mohism, this national preceptor was also a first-class big shot.
Reviewing this matter in the name of the Mohist family will undoubtedly minimize the resistance. Being killed by the Mohists will definitely be stabbed in the spine more than being killed by the government.
Coupled with Wang Mang's full support, it can be said that he has exhausted all his strength.
"Can."
Gu Dan nodded immediately without hesitation.
If this method can be truly implemented, it will benefit the present generation and its merits will last forever. It is reasonable for many people to devote themselves to it.
The world that relies on personal power is indeed very unstable, but when you really want to do something, it can be a lot more convenient - as long as you are the strongest.
No matter how difficult it is for those aristocratic families to raise a grandmaster, even if one is lucky enough to be born, how can they compete with the top figures at this time?
Not to mention that the grandmaster doesn't care about the slightest benefit at all. He can make up for it in other ways. Why go against the national policy?
As long as enough wealthy families are killed, the implementation of this method is not as difficult as imagined.
As long as these two things are truly implemented, no matter what, the lives of the people of the Xia Dynasty will definitely be much better than the previous Dayue!
In this way, Gu Dan can also fulfill the promise he once made.
The people living on this land will live a better life.
A room.
The former emperor of Dai Viet held a handful of elixirs with uncertain eyes.
He has already tried this elixir. After swallowing one, he seemed to be several years younger and his body had strength again!
How could he give such a miraculous medicine to seriously ill people?
Are they worthy? !
This thing deserves to be enjoyed by yourself!
The nights are long and there are many dreams. Once the news gets out, I don’t know how many people will be interested in this elixir.
Wang Mang was generous and distributed the elixir directly to them.
But it’s better to make others easier than to make yourself easier!
What does it have to do with yourself whether others can survive?
Thinking of this, he quietly swallowed another pill.
Sure enough, the familiar force of vitality began to swim through the limbs and bones, and the familiar, extremely exciting feeling of vitality was brewing in the body!
In the bronze mirror, some of the original white hair of the person reflected became shiny again, and some of them even turned black!
It's almost like returning youth, a magical elixir!
The eyes of the former emperor of Dai Viet burst out with clear joy, "You are really lying to us when you say that eating too much has no effect! The Xia Dynasty controls such a sacred object, does not know the hidden truth, and maintains its own force, but dares to show it in front of others , this kind of temptation makes people gamble their lives, so what?"
Witnessing his own changes with his own eyes made him overjoyed.
He swallowed one pill after another, swallowing five or six in the blink of an eye.
Strong vitality radiated from the inside out, making him feel unprecedented warmth. His whole body seemed to be soaked in the most comfortable hot spring in the world from the inside out. How could the word "beautiful" be used to describe it!
The so-called attainment of enlightenment and becoming an immortal is nothing more than that, right?
Once the beast in your heart is let go, there will no longer be any restraint.
The former emperor of Dai Viet devoured the elixir almost crazily, and as the vitality in his body became stronger and stronger, he even had the illusion that he would be immortal and youthful forever.
The vitality constantly accumulated in the body continuously washed the body that had been polluted by the world. The unprecedented lightness and beauty seemed to make him return to the time of a child, without any burden on himself.
All he has to do is become an immortal and become an immortal!
After he swallowed more than ten elixirs one after another like a glutton, and was about to greedily swallow a few more, he suddenly felt a feeling of fullness in his body.
The feeling of fullness was not the feeling of a full stomach, but an overwhelm warning that came from every meridian, every piece of flesh and blood, and every bone throughout the body.
However, the vitality accumulated in his body is far from being completely digested.
Before he could find any solution, the already irreparable vitality power didn't care so much. It focused on those bodies that had been completely repaired and were in unprecedented good condition, and poured into them.
Come in droves!
"ah!!!"
In the room, a heart-rending, ghost-like wailing sound came from the room.
The terrifying sound startled the other guests living next door to him, and they rushed into the room without thinking too much.
At a glance, he saw an old man with white hair in front of the bronze mirror!
The old man obviously recognized them, his eyes were full of anxiety, he opened his mouth to shout, but said feebly: "Help, help me!"
As he spoke, his teeth began to fall out like scattered parts.
The changes are not over yet.
At this time, in his body, the journey that was unique to time was proceeding at an incredible speed.
The originally tall body gradually became rickety, and the white hair began to dry up, like the weeds in the last hours of autumn that were about to be used up on the land.
What's even more frightening is that his skin loses its luster at a speed visible to the naked eye, and then becomes saggy, followed by dots of age spots.
From the time they broke into it to seeing it with their own eyes.
In just a short period of time, this person seemed to have undergone decades of changes!
At first, he was still able to ask for help.
Immediately afterwards, he couldn't even utter a complete sentence, and the vitality that had been accumulated to the extreme and had nowhere to vent began to catalyze his body wantonly.
When all the vitality was gone, what stood there was a skeleton that looked like rotten wood. Just looking at the almost stacked skin and wrinkles, no one would dare to believe that the person who stood here before was actually a skeleton. He is a man in his prime!
The strong aura of death lingered on his body, but his unwilling eyes were still wide open.
Things must turn against each other at their extremes, and the overwhelming vitality took away his life.
"This is?!"
Several people who broke into the room looked at each other in shock.
"He swallowed a lot of elixirs!"
The sharp-eyed former emperor Daqing discovered the clues on the spot.
Until his death, this guy still held on to the package containing the elixir and refused to put it down.
Looking at the elixir inside, it is obvious that half of it is missing!
In an instant, an indescribable coldness rose from the bottom of my heart.
There is no doubt that this guy was greedy and swallowed a lot of elixirs by himself, and finally ended up like this!
"Is there any hope for this?"
The former emperor of Dayong swallowed quietly and said cautiously.
Witnessing this person's fate with my own eyes, it's impossible not to be afraid.
Everyone has selfish desires, and the choice of the former emperor of Dai Viet may have been what they had in mind. However, their actions were relatively slow, and they were still in the middle of a battle between heaven and man, but they were lucky enough to save a life.
If they also have a bold idea, it is probably time to choose a suitable cemetery at this time.
Qi Yinglong was still able to remain calm. He walked to the corpse that stood there like a rotten tree, looked at it carefully for a moment, and shook his head, "If you can't die anymore, what can you do to save it?"
"Is this elixir or poison?"
The expression on the face of the former Emperor Daqing, who had taken a pill, changed drastically.
"Perhaps, eating one is an elixir, and eating a few more is poison."
Qiyinglong was thoughtful.
Of course, there is another possibility that after taking the elixir, life or death will be controlled by another person behind the scenes.
Just as terrifying as the legendary witchcraft!
But no one mentioned this possibility.
"This guy is greedy and deserves to die! He deserves to betray the trust of that being!"
The former emperor of Dayong said decisively.
"Indeed! We have never deceived him, and we are loyal to him. We are not the same type of people as him!"
The former emperor of Daqing also immediately expressed his loyalty, fearing that he would be watched by a pair of unsuspecting eyes and suffer such liquidation.
"Why bother with that person who wants our lives? Don't mess up your position, just do your own thing."
Qi Yinglong said this, but was there really no worry in his heart?
I'm afraid I can't even explain it clearly.
But there is no doubt that after witnessing this change with my own eyes, I felt a thorn in my heart.
Since then, several countries have almost followed the Xia Dynasty, and the Xia Dynasty has been hailed as the Celestial Kingdom. The efforts of these few people are indispensable.
Of course, that's all for later.
The wheel of history is rolling forward without stopping for anyone.
(End of chapter)
