As long as we conscientiously study the great virtues of leading the elite and continue to consolidate and fish in the lake.

Maybe it will even be possible in our lifetime!

The ministers listened, their eyes shining.

They easily thought of Confucius's description of the Utopia, which is what countless people pursue throughout their lives: the journey of the great road, the selection of talents and talents...the old are supported, the young are educated...the widowed, widowed, lonely, and disabled all have something to offer.

keep.

The emperor simplified it into: people have careers, people have homes, old people have support, and children have education.

Will initial results be seen in ten years?

The ministers were a little excited when they thought about it, because ten years is not too far away and they should all be able to see it.

At the same time, I had some doubts.

Can it be done? How? On what basis?

Although the scholar-bureaucrats do not admit it with their mouths, they know in their hearts that this world is material.

Rice costs money, cloth also costs money, houses and land cost even more money.

Naturally, providing jobs to people requires money.

Big, big money! And so much money spent month after month, year after year.

Where can officials go to find this much money?

It should be noted that although the Song Dynasty now has an annual income of more than 60 million yuan, more than 70% of it is spent on military affairs.

The remaining three melons and two dates are not only needed to support the huge bureaucracy and satisfy the appetites of the upper and lower ranks, but also to support the royal family, nobles, and relatives.

This is due to the increase in fiscal revenue brought about by Wang Anshi's reform.

Otherwise, the Song Dynasty would have been forced to withdraw from the war with the Western bandits due to financial collapse.

Zhao Xu met the gazes of the ministers. He smiled and said softly: "I know that this matter is difficult. If I want to do it, I must make it beneficial to the people and be united with the world! Therefore, I want to make an appointment with you today! From now on!

From now on, I will only treat my subjects with benevolence. What is benevolence? Benevolence means loving others! Therefore, from now on, all palace expenses and all royal expenses will be paid out of the palace money and silk, which will be sold to the world, and the state, county and government will spend it.

, consumption should also be disclosed to the people, and from now on, local officials are strictly prohibited from privately increasing taxes without the approval of the capital."

The first element of capital development.

Private property must be protected.

At least, it must be protected legally and institutionally!

Today, the emperor's decree or the government's order cannot allow the people to sell their precious properties at cabbage prices or even obviously unfair prices - such things are common in the Song Dynasty, and can even be said to be countless.

Endless.

You can't. Tomorrow, if the emperor or a high-ranking official wants something strange, they can conscript the people to collect it for free, and create some sort of flower, stone, or birthday guide.

Let alone the day after tomorrow, local officials or emperors slap their heads, temporarily levy a miscellaneous tax item, and wantonly exploit the people and merchants.

So, who is playing with you?

Everyone makes money, or they just try to save it.

Store it under the bedside, store it in the cellar, or even bring it to the coffin without having fun with your emperor.

Or they will just use it to buy land and farmland, turning wealth into land.

What inputs expand production and what promote technological progress?

Don’t even think about it!

No one is stupid.

Of course, if you take a big step, it will be easy to lose your temper.

Therefore, Zhao Xu pays great attention to propriety.

Everything he does now will only operate within Confucian thought and values.

At best, it's just a side shot.

Therefore, the legal content of this treaty, or oath.

In fact, it is just a verbal gentleman's agreement, and will not be written into any legal provisions, nor will it become any specific edict.

But it will become an invisible constraint.

After the banquet, the officials bowed their heads excitedly and worshiped: "Your Majesty, you are wise!"

At this moment, the boundaries between the new party and the old party disappeared.

For scholar-officials, especially idealistic scholar-officials.

What they fear most is the scene in The Charcoal Seller, the emperor's extravagance and the massive construction projects in the palace.

Because this will lead to a terrible result - political corruption and chaos.

The scholar-bureaucrats knew this well.

They remembered the troubled times of the late Tang Dynasty and Five Dynasties very carefully.

At that time, the streets of Tianjie trampled all the bones of the princes, and the inner treasury was burned to ashes.

What kind of scholar? What kind of civil servant?

Cut them all down!

And the emperor is willing to restrain himself and make an agreement with his ministers.

This is really amazing.

The ministers looked at Zhao Xu excitedly, and Zhao Xu also gave them appropriate positive feedback.

He looked at each other one by one with the ministers, and then said the second thing he wanted to do: "In addition, I should also promise to you and others that within this year, I will abolish the city entrance tax at the gates of Bianjing."

"Merchants from all over the world can enter the city without tax!"

This made the banquet officials couldn't help but prostrate themselves and worshiped again: "Your Majesty, you are wise!"

Even the companion readers are now excited: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"

The previous fair transactions no longer require forced expropriation, forced purchases, or restrictions on local taxation.

In fact, we are far away from these people.

Because these things are not the worries of the nobles and their relatives.

They are just the worries of ordinary people.

After all, to be honest, except for a few stubborn local officials, most bureaucrats would not dare to increase taxes on the transactions of relatives and servants of high-ranking officials from Bianjing, let alone force them to buy and sell.

If you file a complaint, you can file it directly to the Yushitai, Dali Temple, or even the capital hall or palace.

What fool is willing to risk his own future to offend others?

The local bureaucrats had no time to curry favor with the relatives and servants of the big shots from Bianjing.

Now on the Grand Canal, the ships of high-ranking officials and their relatives have been exempted from inspection for a long time.

Even ordinary scholars and officials are taking advantage of their status to carry goods across states and counties to make profits.

Those tax cards are always for common people.

Therefore, the businessmen of the Song Dynasty would spare no effort to support their children and even the children of their families to study.

However, within this year, the tax cards at various city gates in Bianjing will be cancelled.

But it was a benevolent policy that truly benefited all of them.

Because the Song Dynasty was famous for its high taxes.

Every county has a tax card, and every state and every road has its own tax inspector.

When doing any business, you have to pay taxes.

The city gate tax in Bianjing City is even more painful for countless people.

How terrible is the city gate tax in Bianjing?

Even if you only bring copper coins in and out, you still have to pay a tax!

For every one hundred cents, you have to pay six cents, which is called case money.

What is this money for?

Those who support the tax collectors who collect taxes at the city gate!

Not only that, now even if you don’t bring anything with you and just go through the city gate with your clothes on, you may still have to pay taxes.

Why?

Because the clothes you are wearing are also commodities!

In order to facilitate tax collection, Kaifeng Prefecture built guardrails outside Nanxun Gate so that pig dealers could herd pigs together so that they could count and collect taxes.

For Zhao Xu, he had long wanted to abolish the city gate tax in Bianjing.
To be continued...