Chapter 1,750 Liu Fengshi

The ninth month of the first year of Shaosheng's reign was a great harvest.

Including Hebei 4th Road.

Except for the Zhanghe River Basin that suffered disasters, even earthquakes had little impact on Taiyuan.

However, it is precisely because of this disaster in the Zhanghe River that the agricultural structure of Daming Prefecture has been completely changed. Corn and potatoes have become the most commonly planted crops in this area this year.

Li Xinniang's Wujiazhuang is not included in this list. Xinniang is very discerning and has replanted all the crops with sorghum.

Then through the brewing industry, food and money can be earned back.

The reason why sorghum is important to the wine-making industry is that during the fermentation process, sorghum produces some aromatic organic matter that cannot be produced by other food crops, which plays an important role in the mellowness and aroma of wine.

Unlike Dong Fei's Shao Daozi, which is mainly sold to foreign trade and the domestic middle and lower classes, the Wujia Winery's fine wines are mainly marketed in the mainland and the middle and upper classes.

Therefore sorghum is very important.

In addition, sorghum straw also has a high sugar content, and livestock also like to eat it.

The new Minister of Household Affairs Liu Zhengfu reported to the imperial court, requesting that corn and potatoes be added to the national grain tax list. There was only one prerequisite, which was that corn processing plants and starch processing plants must be built in these areas.

This is a measure with endless benefits for the local area, especially for the common people.

It is obviously a good grain with high yield, but because of the shelf life issue, the court will not accept it, and we can only store it for half a year, which results in restrictions on the variety we want to use.

Unless you raise pigs and chickens and ducks.

But after you are satisfied with raising pigs and chickens and ducks, it is impossible to continue to expand the planting area.

The limit for a family to be able to serve five big fat pigs.

Now it's better. After the country helps solve the processing problem, the storage period of the two grains has been changed from half a year to one year. If stored properly, it can be eaten even up to three years, which has reached the level of wheat and rice.

The national commodity grain depot will mainly circulate this part in the future, so the door is open.

This will bring a foreseeable growth period to the country's agricultural tax revenue. Cai Jing, a clever guy, immediately came forward to express his support for Liu Zhengfu's method, and at the same time proposed an enhanced version, and the country officially reformed the tax system!

Deep water area, this is undoubtedly the real deep water area.

The separation of state and local taxes is not only a big problem that has troubled later generations, but also a big problem that has existed since the founding of the feudal dynasty.

The core of the problem is how to divide the tax revenue between the central and local governments.

In another time and space, Cai Jing encouraged Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty to carry out the "Fengheng Henan University", abandoned the national budget system, and engaged in "replacing the old with the new", destroying the salt quota system that had been strong for more than a hundred years, causing the national economy to collapse.

Complete collapse.

Because the "criminal record" was too scary, the first thing Su You did after he took refuge with Xu Caijing was to order him to study Zhang Fangping's "On Finance". He also had to concentrate on studying the tax system of the country and write a decent paper.

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Economics, finance and taxation have always been important topics in the correspondence between the two, which has never been interrupted for decades.

Therefore, Cai Jing in this time and space has become an undisputed national macroeconomic expert from the day "Baoquan Yinzhu" was placed on Zhao Xu's desk.

The taxation of the Song Dynasty was mainly national tax. In name, it was basically national tax. The national wealth was concentrated in the capital. The so-called "tribute from the world was lost to Bianjing".

If there is local demand, a report and application must be made, and only part of it can be withheld after approval.

Although this draining system ensures the stability of the central government, it has severely restricted local economic development.

The country's water ultimately comes from local sources, which leads to a vicious cycle.

The local economy cannot develop, and water is getting less and less. In the end, the country is still in great decline. If we try to pump out water, even the wells will dry up.

Another pain point is that due to insufficient local funds, local officials began to design various exorbitant taxes in a targeted manner, and then added them to the heads of the people under their rule.

If corn and potatoes, two high-yielding crops, are included in agricultural tax sources, it will undoubtedly expand the space for local governments to increase tax revenue. Cai Jing believes that the time is ripe to put the tax reform on the agenda that he and Situ have discussed for many years.

Separation of country and territory.

The core of this policy is to return commercial tax revenue to the state, and divide agricultural tax into two parts, which will be reasonably allocated by the central and local governments in proportion.

After the agricultural tax space is opened, this plan can stimulate local construction of grain processing plants and encourage farmers to plant high-yielding crops. Afterwards, agricultural taxes will increase significantly, and local governments will get more revenue from it, making local officials feel "moisturized" in the short term.

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Because it is in the growth period, the central government will not cause a large decrease in agricultural taxes due to the diversion of agricultural taxes.

This is equivalent to leaving the increase in agricultural taxes brought by high-yielding crops to local governments.

But it has to be exchanged for commercial tax.

Most places in the Song Dynasty were still dominated by agriculture. This was actually an exchange of the long-term benefits of commerce with the short-term benefits of agriculture.

In another ten years of development, industrial and commercial taxes will far exceed agricultural taxes. Only then will local officials be able to discover that the "good assets" under their jurisdiction have been "cheated" by the court in this way. They have gained sesame seeds and lost watermelons.

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But how many people have such foresight? Or even if there are, who can refuse the benefits that can be obtained immediately by the local officials who turn around every three years?

Of course, the steady inflow of gold and silver from overseas every year also gave Cai Jing such confidence.

If this reform can be successful, it is conceivable that it will make the Song Dynasty more prosperous, and Cai Jing's status in the hearts of the people, local officials, courtiers and His Majesty will definitely rise significantly, and he will definitely be known as a virtuous prime minister.

Gotta die.

However, Cai Jing did not dare to act haphazardly. After all, this was Situ's proposal. The two had discussed policies for many years, but it just happened that during his tenure, the timing was ripe.

So Cai Jing wrote a long letter to Su You. What he meant was that he wanted to get Su You's support. He also said that he was not trying to gain credit. It was indeed the Song Dynasty that needed such a policy.

After Su You received the letter, he couldn't help but laugh. It was impossible for an old boy like Cai Jing not to have his own plans, but who said he was lucky?

So I wrote back to Cai Jing, Chief Yuan, just go ahead and do whatever you want, I will wave the flag and cheer for you from the outside. Hebei Fourth Road is your vanguard in implementing tax reform!

Cai Jing couldn't help but be overjoyed and petitioned Zhao Xu to implement tax reform and separate tax types.

Zhao Xu knew this topic. Su You had long told him about the contradictory relationship between economic development and economic policy.

But the most fundamental thing is to untie the local economy, let the economy develop first, and ensure that there is more and more water in each well, so that the country can finally reap the benefits.

If you want to eat meat, you have to kill the fat pig instead of scraping the legs of mosquitoes, otherwise it will be a lot of trouble and will not be appreciated.

The country is also like a workshop. If the production efficiency of the workshop is not enough to pay wages to the workers, this is called input-output inversion, and the workshop will collapse.

So Zhao Xu Zhunzhuo and Xu Caijing first implemented it in Bianjing, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Hebei. After summing up experience and learning lessons, the second phase was extended to Lianghuai, Ningxia, Hexi, Guangdong, and Nanhai, and then it was implemented nationwide.

At the same time, the Ministry of Household Affairs was ordered to prepare a national fiscal revenue budget after the restructuring, as well as the amount retained by local governments;

The Ministry of Punishment should formulate relevant laws and regulations on the use of local taxes, and at the same time formulate penalties for local officials and private increases in tax sources.

The Ministry of Personnel must provide training for local officials, and these contents must also be included in the Ministry of Personnel examination.

This is a change in the way we work. In the past, government orders were often just one sentence. Local officials could not even find the official government office with that sentence.

Now, all departments are focused on a central policy, and everyone must contribute their own ideas and efforts. Everyone has to figure out what work to do for the implementation of this policy within their own one-third of an acre.

The happiest person is Prime Minister Cai Jing. During this process, his power as prime minister has been strengthened. With his ability and sufficient support, he is absolutely sure to produce a good dish.

What did Situ say that he always said? Hello everyone, that's really good...

…

Su You is actually a little troubled this year, mainly because Wang Yanbi left and he has more work to do.

Zhang Dun finally arrived. He had just taken care of Dingzhou, but in the blink of an eye he was sent to Taiyuan again.

But the good thing is that Liu Fengshi, who succeeded Zhang Dun, was far less radical than Zhang Dun. In the year of the Yuan Dynasty, the political theme of seeking stability was correct.

Liu Fengshi was a great upright official. Now Hebei Fourth Road and other places had accumulated enough resources to support two wars. However, because of the unfavorable geographical conditions in Dingzhou, Su You arranged to stockpile what he needed for four wars.

With more capital, the requirements for officials to be honest must be higher. Zhang Dun was relatively loose in this regard, but Liu Fengshi was different.

When he took office, he had a serious attitude and severely punished several officials. Later, he visited various states with punishments and prosecutions, which meant that problems would be dealt with as soon as they were discovered, and the process would be completed with signatures on the spot, never staying overnight.

I was frightened to learn that the states were trembling with fear, and the atmosphere of the officialdom along the way suddenly changed drastically.

Liu Fengshi was a great conservative and the last of the famous "Three Lius of Mozhuang". He was a famous historian, criminal law expert, and writer, but his personality was humorous, similar to figures like Dongfang Shuo and Liu Luoguo.
Chapter completed!