Everything was packed and the sun was already setting in the west. The soldiers set up a table in the courtyard, served wine and food, and welcomed Wang Ruohai.
Wang Xiaolie raised his glass and said, "It's been a few months since I set up the headquarters. In the past few months, Counselor Chen has put a lot of effort into it. But it's not suitable for this matter, and I haven't thought clearly about it. Today It is up to Counselor Wang to do it. In the future, the daily management of the army, marching and fighting, will mainly come from here to issue orders, which is extremely important. Counselor Wang must work hard and really do this well."
Wang Ruohai didn't dare to say anything, so he raised his glass and drank it down with Wang Xiaolie.
Putting down his glass of wine, Wang Xiaolie said: "When I come back this time, both military and civil affairs will undergo major changes. The biggest change in military administration is command. In addition to the establishment of headquarters, there are other corresponding changes. The changes in civil administration, in simple terms The first is to streamline, including political affairs and officials. The other is to select, not only select officials, but also select officials. In the past, government officials often used servants to serve as officials. Will it save money? This will not be the case in the future. Yes. The servants are just servants, and their scope is limited. For example, rural soldiers, flood control, guarding village warehouses, and so on. Officials are officials, they are hired by the government, and they must be paid."
Chen Qiudao said: "If you give me money, it will be a lot of money. Where can you get so much money in a short time?"
Wang Xiaolie said: "The officials are dedicated to working for the government. If we don't give them money, where will their food and clothing come from?"
Chen Qiudao said: "The selected government officials are all from high-class families, and their families have money. The government's money is temporarily insufficient, so it is considered as a public aid."
"Then why not just collect taxes to hire people?" Wang Xiaolie shook his head. "One of the provisions of Jinggong's reform is labor money, isn't that what it means? Of course, it makes no sense to collect labor money from the people, and we won't accept it. If the government doesn't have money, then make money. Our government has a lot of money to make. Ways to do it. Now the big ones include supply and marketing cooperatives, banks, restaurants, shopping malls, and in the future there will be various factories. These all have to make money. If they can’t make money, the officials in charge will be punished. punish!"
Chen Qiudao said: "Tea is a forbidden item. We can't make much money in many years, let alone these?"
Wang Xiaolie said: "The tax on tea is low because officials are corrupt and connivant. The money goes to the tea merchants, and there is still a lot of old tea rotting in the warehouse. Why is this? There are no inspections and few punishments. There are many reasons. . If the government wants to make money, these industries must be strictly inspected, and rewards and punishments must be strong. We will talk about this later. In short, if the government is short of money, it will make money! There is no reason that the people can make money, but the government cannot."
Seeing that several people looked disapproving, Wang Xiaolie said: "You don't believe it? That's why I said that in the future, officials must be selected. In the future, all officials must pass examinations. Officials have official examinations, and officials have official examinations. The content is not Likewise, the yamen they preside over are also different. Of course, their incomes are also different. The income of officials is relatively high, and they must be allowed to live a decent life with their salaries. The salaries of civil servants are relatively low, and they must be allowed to live a decent life with their salaries. Being able to support my family and live a normal life.”
Chen Qiudao couldn't help but smile bitterly after hearing this: "Who doesn't want the clerks below to get more money? But the government's income is always fixed."
Wang Xiaolie said: "It is said that there is a fixed number, but where is the fixed number? The government spends too much money, and it will increase donations and taxes. How can it be collected? It's just that we no longer rely on donations and taxes, but have to earn it ourselves. . If you really can’t make money, borrow money first. The regime has all the power and can’t even support its own officials. What’s going on with this regime? You don’t have to worry about this, I have my own opinion.”
Wang Xiaolie finally figured this out a few days ago. A political power that holds all the power in society. In this case, if it cannot earn enough money to support its officials, this kind of regime should feel ashamed. Officials are carefully selected, and people can make money. These officials have sufficient financial support and policy conveniences. Why can't they make money? Either there is a problem with the government or there is a problem with the officials.
Some people say that the government should collect taxes because it is short of money. Some people advocate collecting money from the poor. Because there are many poor people, it is a big figure because each person does not receive much. Others advocate collecting it from the rich. Because the rich have money, collecting their money can also subsidize the poor.
Wang Xiaolie believes that if the tax amount is set, it should not be overcharged. Whether they are rich or poor, making money is their responsibility. Don't blame anyone if you can't make money. Of course, the rich created by various subsidies and policies are not included in this list. In this case, the official who made the decision should be checked first. Whether it is due to policy needs or the official's personal decision, just find out.
In the previous life, there was a very popular word called taxpayer. Others like to say that the government is supported by taxpayers and should serve taxpayers. It is written on the big wall of the Chinese government agencies that it serves the people. What does it mean to serve the taxpayers? If he doesn’t pay taxes, the government won’t serve him? If someone pays more taxes, should they enjoy more government services? It doesn't make sense in China.
Once upon a time, there was a short story in Chinese newspapers and magazines. It was said that in Northern Europe, I forgot which country, an old lady was stopped by the police. Wang Xiaolie didn't remember the specific matter, and it certainly wasn't important. The important thing is that after being stopped, the old lady scolded the policeman. Why? Because she is a taxpayer, the police have to serve her. This story was reprinted by many newspapers and periodicals and spread widely. After reading this story, many people suddenly felt that they also pay taxes and are taxpayers. Why can't this be the case?
This is not the only story like this. There is also an old American lady who bought a house with a loan. By the time he died of old age, the mortgage was finally paid off. There was an old Chinese lady who worked hard all her life and finally saved enough money to buy a house. She bought a house before she died. Then the old lady in the United States said, we all save our whole life to buy a house. I have lived in this house all my life, but you have not lived in it for a day. The following story is familiar. China began its real estate reform.
It's not that China's real estate reform is wrong, but that it's wrong to use this method. As a political power or as a scholar, we should not be so clever. People who act smart have no future and will bring disaster to the country and the nation.
From the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China until the next 150 years, China sent countless government-sponsored students abroad. The government hopes that these international students can bring back advanced foreign experience and serve China. During these 150 years, China has learned a lot and society has made great progress. But in many aspects, what I learned is not enough. Especially regarding political power and social governance, it also brought back many things that are not suitable for China.
Many political powers in Europe and the United States came from bourgeois revolutions. They brought the regalia down and the citizens took to the stage. This kind of revolution has never happened in China, nor has it happened in many parts of the world. Because Europe originally had a kind of city that did not belong to the royal power. As long as the citizens paid taxes, the citizens were self-governing. Many of the subsequent political systems in European and American countries were derived from this. China has never been like this. Even if it is a grass market, it is still under the rule of imperial power. China's social management should of course be different from that in Europe and the United States.
To put it bluntly, Chinese students studying abroad have not brought back enough knowledge in terms of ideology and social governance. Most of the time, they just translated what they learned from Europe and America into Chinese, or even brought it back to their motherland without translating it. In China, it is basically unclear which of these knowledge are appropriate, which are inappropriate, and how to correct the inappropriate ones. What should I do if it’s not suitable? Change China into what they learned and fully westernize it. Not only the social system needs to be changed, but also people's thinking and culture must be changed. Even Chinese characters, some people think, need to be changed. Not only in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China when China was poor and weak, but also decades later, when computers appeared, because Chinese characters were not suitable for computers, romanization of Chinese characters was included in primary and secondary school textbooks as a formal national policy direction.
Since China was opened to the outside world by Europe and the United States, its people have been bullied. For nearly two hundred years, China has been reflecting on why it fell behind. It's just that Chinese literati, even after two hundred years, haven't come up with an answer. This question has been asked and there are many answers. Because of ideas, culture, and even race, the words get louder and louder. But if they are asked to explain clearly, who can explain it clearly?
For two hundred years, the Chinese people have been looking for a way to save the country and the people. But after two hundred years, Chinese culture has not even figured out why it fell behind in the first place, so what solution can be given? When asked, some people said that I think it should be like the United States, Europe, or Japan, but they just don’t know what China is like.
When talking about Chinese history, I just follow what I learned from Europeans and Americans, and arbitrarily cut and even altered the history. Many people don’t know what happened in Chinese history and what it means, and they don’t want to know. When talking about history, they prefer to talk about Heroes, what Westerners were like, and what they were like later. Look at how developed Westerners are now.
If we go back to ancient times, how can we change the poverty and weakness of China in later generations? Someone must answer and destroy Confucianism. Why? Because this is China's mainstream thinking, and mainstream thinking has brought China's backwardness.
Does it make sense? If this makes sense, things in this world are too simple, simpler than children's games. Not to mention the brilliant achievements in Chinese history, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty who only respected Confucianism makes this statement ridiculous. Others say that although China conquered east and west during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Confucianism was passed down, causing its backwardness two thousand years later. In addition, there are Confucianism that restricts thought, Confucianism that suppresses science, Confucianism that collaborates with the enemy and betrays the country, and so on.
Wang Xiaolie could only say, you are so smart. Having said so much, why not criticize those who restrict ideas, those who suppress science, and those who collaborate with the enemy and betray the country? China is backward, so why not criticize the regime when it was backward?
After coming out of knowledge and recalling the knowledge and memories of his previous life, Wang Xiaolie understood that what they said was unreliable. It's like a child being beaten by a stronger child, without reflecting on why he was beaten, and saying that there was a hydrogen bomb in his home. What can be relied upon is that the founding of New China pulled down the destiny that was so high in ancient China and replaced it with the people.
Selected Officials. How to select? Choose the smart one? Or choose the moral one? There was this problem in ancient China, selecting the talented and the capable? Ancient times had ancient standards and had their own methods. Of course Wang Xiaolie also had to have his own methods. But no matter what method is used, there must be criteria for evaluation. The ancient standard of judgment was destiny, which was also the source of the loyalty of ministers to the king. Loyalty to the emperor is due to destiny, not to a specific person. Only in the Song Dynasty did Fan Zhongyan say that the emperor should be loyal to the emperor. If Wang Xiaolie wants to replace destiny with the people, he will naturally have different standards.
Carefully selected officials are valuable talents needed by the government. Of course, talents cannot be treated harshly. What Wang Xiaolie has to do is to increase the salaries of officials. The government's money is not just tax collection or monopoly sales. It needs to find ways to earn it.
