Implementation

Wen Yanbo's interpretation is a new approach. Human temperament is really difficult to predict, so it is better not to have a fake Duke of Zhou.

Today's scholar-bureaucrat class, after decades of unremitting enlightenment by Su You's group, especially after the vigorous promotion by the politicians after Lu Gongzhu, has gradually gained a consciousness of "how politics should be played."

Politicians at the highest level, such as Gao Taotao, are deeply aware of this in practice.

"The conclusion can only be made by closing the coffin." Gao Taotao said with emotion: "Both Duke Zhou and Mr. Long have lost their reputation as sages."

Wen Yanbo bowed deeply: "Thank you, the Empress Dowager, for your praise."

This is a thank you for the teacher.

Gao Taotao continued to ask: "Master, I have to take good care of myself while I'm here. I wonder if there is anything else I can teach my grandson and me?"

Wen Yanbo said: "How dare I, veteran? Now the government is on the right track, the rise of the Song Dynasty is unstoppable, the ministers in the court are in proper positions, and the peace and war in the world have stopped. This is all the result of the Queen Mother and Your Majesty's rule."

"However, with Su Mingrun's recent memorial, the court's decision was delayed for too long. It not only delayed the four-pronged measures, but also caused quite a shock in the court and among the people."

Gao Taotao asked: "In the opinion of Etai Master, what do you think of Su Mingrun's suggestion?"

Wen Yanbo said: "The Ding tax in our dynasty actually began with money calculation in the Han Dynasty. Men from the 23rd to the 56th year of the Han Dynasty were required to perform military service. Those who did not serve were required to pay a service fee. This is the origin of the Ding tax. "

"When this law reached the Jin Dynasty, it was stipulated that those aged from sixteen to sixty years old were the first ding, those between 13 and 15, and those between 60 and 65 were the second ding. Taxes were based on the first and second dings."

"In the Sui Dynasty, those over eighteen years old were called Ding. In the Tang Dynasty, those over twenty-one years old were called Ding. Each Ding received millet and cloth for service every year. Those who did not serve would have to fold silk and transport it."

"According to the law of the Tang Dynasty, when a male reaches eighteen years old, the state will grant him 100 acres of land. Twenty acres of this land is called Yongye Field, which can be passed down to descendants. Eighty acres of land is divided into subdivision fields. After he reaches the age of sixty, he must return it to the state."

"Based on this, we need to pay two stones of millet per ding per year. However, the veteran discussed it with Mingrun. Mingrun once pointed out that the farming methods in the Tang Dynasty were extensive, and the land in Guanzhong needed to be cultivated through rotation. Therefore, even though it was a hundred acres, it could only be cultivated for fifty acres a year. An acre will give you a hundred stones of grain."

"Fifty tax per tax is quite low."

"But this was only possible because people's livelihood was in decline in the early Tang Dynasty. The population was less than three million households, which was two-thirds less than that in the Sui Dynasty. This was only possible because a large number of fields were deserted."

"In fact, it is the continuation of the land equalization system of the Northern Wei Dynasty, which distributed land to the people and despised corvee and low taxes. This was the wisdom of Taizong and the foundation of the rise of the Tang Dynasty."

"However, there are still two burdens for the people. One is the 'tune'. Each household has to pay two feet of silk, three liang of cotton or two feet and five feet of cloth and three pounds of hemp every year."

"This burden is not light."

"In addition, there is Yong, which is corvée. In the Tang Dynasty, one person was required to serve twenty days a year. If it was a year without service, he needed to pay three feet of silk, or three feet, seven inches and five cents of cloth every day. The full payment was twenty days. Stop. This is called 'losing the mediocre and replacing the servants'."

"If in a year of heavy service, more than 20 days of service are required, households with an additional 25 days of service will be exempted from transfer, and households with an additional 30 days of service will be exempted from transfer."

"At the same time, the state also stipulates that each household's additional labor service must not exceed thirty days per year."

"Sixty feet is six feet, and one horse is four feet long. This is one and a half horses. For a family of five, two dings are calculated. In the first year of the Tang Dynasty, taxes were collected. If converted to today, it would be half a horse of silk, which is equivalent to 500 fen. , the four stones and two strings of grain are eight hundred coins, and the average household average is four stones and three hundred coins."

"Under this system, everyone was willing to serve and reduce taxes, and a strong Tang Dynasty was born."

"However, it could not last. After the mid-Tang Dynasty, wars broke out frequently in the country, the population increased, and mergers were fierce. As a result, the service was heavy, mediocrity was unavoidable, and the people were burdened heavily."

"After Dezong, we had to go back to the old ways of the Han Dynasty, merge taxes, mediocrities, and taxes into one, and switch to two taxes."

"However, the biggest problem with the tax system is that after it is levied, when the country needs to serve again, the government should pay for it and hire people to serve."

"However, in fact, the mediocrity has been eliminated and the service remains as usual. This is a double taxation."

"If you serve for more than thirty days, you will be exempted from all rent and labor. The importance of labor service can be seen from the tax law in the early Tang Dynasty."

"The same is true in our dynasty. Since the Liao and Xia military affairs, corvee service has been even worse than in the early Tang Dynasty, and almost at the end of the Tang Dynasty. This is why Prime Minister Wang Anshi's original intention was to implement the exemption law."

"However, this does not mean that the burden on the people has disappeared, but that the service has been converted into free money."

"What's even worse is that after the people paid the exemption fee, the service was not reduced, and the imperial court continued to send service to the people."

"This is equivalent to the people of our dynasty having to endure twice as much as the war laws of the late Tang Dynasty. It is unspeakably cruel. This is the root of the decline of Shaanxi and Hebei!"

"In the final analysis, the country is in a difficult situation, the state resources are empty, there is no money to hire servants, and foreign enemies are constantly invading. We must resist it. In the end, we can only suffer the common people."

"This situation was not until the death of Xianggong Anshi and the late Emperor Shenrui, who worked hard to reform the system, use his body and save resources, eliminate redundancies, expand financial resources, promote various industries, strengthen the army, and achieve victory in all four battles, that the country was able to get rid of the long-standing shortcomings and move forward.

Yue Han and Tang dynasties.”

"The late emperor's posthumous title is God, which is not an exaggeration in the slightest. He is truly an emperor for a thousand years and a wise king for all ages. He truly deserves his name!"

Gao Taotao couldn't help but shed tears, and Zhao Xu's face was filled with tears and his heart was agitated.

To give such an evaluation to my father, Master Wen is a great person!

Just listen to Wen Yanbo continue to say: "The tax law of our dynasty was inherited from the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties. The Ding tax was a very important tax source for our dynasty at the beginning of the founding of the country."

"However, there are some unreasonable features in the establishment of the Ding tax. The most important point is that it is collected according to the Ding mouth. Those who have Ding and have no property are also included in it."

"A famous official in our court has long been aware of this problem. During the Ming Dynasty when Kuizhou was under rule, he wrote poems and essays, saying, 'If you live in ten miles and hundreds of households are cold, who will share the mountains and rivers in the city?'"

"At that time, there were three out of five people in Kuizhou who had no property and lost the tax of Ding. Because the taxes were too heavy, they all went to farm with the barbarians."

"Actually, how much is my imperial tax in total?"

"Old minister, let me calculate the accounts for Your Majesty. Our dynasty now has a population of 160 million, with half of them being men and women, and 80 million of them are men."

"Among them, more than 20 but less than 60, are counted as Dingkou, and then one of the three is removed, and the total is 53 million."

"I pay a tax of one penny a day, which is three hundred and sixty-five yuan a year. If I make a full calculation, there will be a difference of twenty million yuan."

"But my current annual income has reached 260 million yuan, and my income from Ding tax has dropped from one-fifth of what it was during the Xining period to one-third."

"And I would also like to remind Your Majesty that when Ningxia's four-way tax exemption policy expires next year, the annual income will increase by more than 50 million yuan."

"In other words, next year's annual income will exceed the 300 million mark, and the proportion of Ding tax income will drop to one-fifteenth."

Zhao Xu suddenly said: "Now the gold and silver shipped from Dongsheng in the New Song Dynasty every year amounts to nearly 30 million guan, so this small tax should be waived for the people! At worst, the palace does not want this gold and silver!"

Gao Taotao coughed lightly: "Guan family, let's hear what the Grand Master has to say first."

Wen Yanbo couldn't help but burst into tears, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty has such a loving heart, which is really a blessing to all the people in the world. Sir... I am really overjoyed. Sir, congratulations to the world, and congratulations to the Emperor and Song Dynasty."

After bowing to Zhao Xu, he said: "But no."

Zhao Xu was stunned: "Why?"

Wen Yanbo said: "Your Majesty, governing a big country is like cooking small dishes. There is no need to be impatient."

"Huang Song's annual income has been budgeted before, and everything has a place to go."

"With the sudden reduction of 20 million yuan, many planned things cannot be done."

"So even if His Majesty has this intention, he can only do it slowly."

"What's more, if a new policy is not implemented on a trial basis first, it is difficult to see the pros and cons. Aren't Anshi's laws made by Anshi Xianggong back then with great fanfare before they were implemented? What happens afterward?"

"Therefore, Prime Minister Lu Gong has a saying that I think is really the most reasonable thing. He said that the key to government is not to go too far."

"Today, the most urgent affairs are none other than Hebei, and the most urgent affairs in Hebei are none other than military affairs."

"But the population of the Fourth Road is not prosperous, and the tax revenue is not large."

"So whether it is exempted or not, it will have little impact on the imperial government."

"Exempting the Ding tax will definitely be beneficial to population growth, but it will take a long time."

"Mingrun said that it can be effective in the short term and can also solve service problems. The benefits cannot be seen immediately by veterans."

"But since Mingrun is confident, we might as well let him give it a try."

"However, the matter has been delayed for a long time, which has led to heated discussions among the people. It is better to have Mingrun work on all four roads, not just one."

"This is a larger scope than what Mingrun requested. Firstly, it can show the world that the court loves the people and does not do nothing, so as to calm public opinions; secondly, it can test the minister's political ability and the wisdom of the ancestors."

"With Mingrun's talent as a supervisor, if the pot is too small, it will be difficult to cook; and with Mingrun's understanding and sensitivity, he will definitely not stop at the disadvantages and make big mistakes."

"The imperial court can also wait and see its effects slowly before deciding what to do."

Gao Taotao smiled: "When Su Mingrun was Prime Minister of Lu Gong, he often said in front of me, 'Having an old man in the family is like having a treasure.' Today, I listened to the Taishi's analysis, and I really learned the lesson."
Chapter completed!