Great Song Super Scholar

Chapter 568

"Your Majesty, my minister's attitude is very obvious. Wang Anshi's other reforms, such as the construction of water conservancy, the reform of the government system, the reform of the Taixue, the reform of the army, etc., the minister does not object to it, and even supports it. However, the minister firmly opposes the Baojia Law. It will greatly increase the burden on the people, become a tool for the county government to exploit the people, intensify the contradictions at the bottom, and become the root cause of the rebellion of the bottom people. As for the young crop law, it can be implemented, but it is not led by the local government, but by the court.”

Zhao Xu cheered up, "How do you say that?"

"The establishment of the Dasong Gold Savings Bureau is equivalent to the money shop run by the imperial court. It spreads to all counties and directly belongs to the Ministry of Households. When there is no demand, farmers can borrow money from the Gold Savings Bureau. The Savings Bureau implements low interest rates, small amounts, and no guarantees. .”

"What if there is no guarantee and the money is not paid?"

"It is possible to sign an agreement that if they fail to repay the loan for three consecutive years, they will be converted into overseas households and go overseas to develop, and their debts can be forgiven."

Zhao Xu pondered for a long time, and finally shook his head, "As Ai Qing said, overseas development has greatly improved the imperial court's finances, eased the contradictions at the bottom, and restrained land annexation. In fact, the basis for implementing the Baojia Law and the Young Crop Law has disappeared, but the imperial court The chaotic bureaucracy, huge army and sales system need to be reformed, and I will support it.”

"Your Majesty, overseas expansion ensures food security. In addition, a large amount of corn is planted to provide feed for pigs, which will greatly increase the amount of meat in the market. Cotton and cotton trees are widely planted, and cotton and cotton are used to weave cloth. Enriching cloth and silk is a good thing that benefits the country and the people, Your Majesty may wish to pay more attention to these aspects, you can read more newspapers, and understand the people's livelihood and the people's conditions."

The conversation between Zhao Xu and Fan Ning really put him in a good mood, he smiled and said: "A few days ago, the officials of the third department were still complaining to me, saying that a large amount of cotton was sent from overseas, it was difficult to peel the seeds, and they couldn't spin the cloth, so they had to It doesn't make much sense to stuff bedding and winter clothes."

Fan Ning smiled slightly, "It's because they are ignorant. If they can't weave cloth, where does the cotton cloth from Lingnan come from? In fact, Wei Chen went to Chenliu County yesterday and visited the loom set up by the Zhu family. The institute specializes in the development of various advanced looms, and they have already produced machines for peeling cotton seeds and weaving cotton, which will soon be popularized on a large scale, and cotton cloth and cotton cloth will soon enter thousands of households.”

"This is what Aiqing said about technology changing Da Song."

Zhao Xu praised: "Yesterday, I and the emperor's grandmother specially took the soft-wheeled carriage presented by Ai Qing. It was very comfortable, and the speed was doubled, which made the emperor's grandmother full of praise. She used to like to take a sedan chair instead of a horse-drawn carriage. Just because she is afraid of the bumps, today she likes the carriage, and I have a court meeting in the morning, even if I come out in a carriage, I also like it very much, and it will be more convenient to travel in the future."

"Your Majesty is right. All major workshops are developing various new technologies. The Chai family invented hydraulic spinning, which increased the spinning capacity by fifty times. The Zhu family is also developing a more advanced technology. Looking for machines to replace animal power, especially suitable for navigation, once invented, Da Song's overseas development will reach another level."

"Then I will wait and see."

Speaking of overseas development, Zhao Xu thought about what happened in the morning, and he asked again: "Today everyone asked to let the people buy islands, and even the emperor's grandmother agreed. It seems that this is the general trend. What does Fan Aiqing think?"

Fan Ning said with a slight smile: "Your Majesty, this is a matter within the responsibility of this official. Of course, this official supports it. However, this official supports the private overseas purchase of islands. In fact, there are more far-reaching considerations. What this official considers is exchanging wealth for wealth. "

"What is exchanging wealth for wealth?"

"Your Majesty, when Da Song sells islands to the people, he must first provide a large amount of wealth. The overseas land is vast. An island is at least a hundred miles in size and has hundreds of thousands of acres of land. One mu of land is one tael of silver. Tens of thousands of taels of silver, if the family does not have enough money, you can also use land to replace it. For example, one mu of land in the Song Dynasty is exchanged for ten acres of land overseas. To buy a family, at least tens of thousands of mu of land in the Song Dynasty must be provided. All these wealth and land belong to the imperial court. So, is it possible to use them to solve the resettlement problem of retrenched soldiers, and even rent them out to landless farmers at a low price, thereby solving the problem of land annexation.”

Zhao Xu nodded again and again, "In this way, will there be a large number of wealthy people rushing to buy land overseas?"

"The purchase of land must be differentiated. To purchase an island, you must have a sufficient title, such as a county prince or above. However, when buying land in the New World, you don't need a title. An ordinary businessman can do it."

Zhao Xu walked a few steps with his hands behind his back, and asked again: "Will the self-proclaimed emperor Han Xianggong talk about happen?"

Fan Ning shook his head, "Your Majesty, there will definitely be self-reliance, but it is impossible to become an emperor. In fact, on the overseas islands, he is a de facto island king. Whether it is the county or the country, it is just a matter of title. No one would be so foolish as to be punished by the Song Dynasty for the title of emperor. If he had made great contributions to defending the territory of the Song Dynasty, managed the island well, and provided abundant supplies such as food to the Song Dynasty, he might still have a chance to be crowned King of Overseas. It needs to be established by law, it may not be fixed now, but it can be gradually improved in the future, but regardless of whether he is under the jurisdiction of the court, the prerequisite is that he must be loyal to His Majesty and be His Majesty's servant."

Zhao Xu pondered for a moment and said: "You are right. There are two key issues here. One is under the jurisdiction of the court, and the other is subject to the Song Dynasty, but not under the jurisdiction of the court. How do you distinguish?"

"Your Majesty, this is the problem of the positioning of overseas lands. The first type is Kunzhou, Ryukyu Prefecture, Luzon Prefecture, Danzhou, Baozhou, etc. They are all overseas states of the Song Dynasty, which are no different from the inner states of the Song Dynasty. One is the mainland, which is managed by the imperial court, but it is a little loose. It mainly pays taxes to the imperial court. The third is the small and medium-sized islands, which belong to the territory of the Song Dynasty. , just like the Tang Dynasty fetter state."

"Then how do you distinguish between the mainland and the island?"

"It's very simple. The mainland is more than a thousand miles away. We believe that the current South Luzon Island, the Middle Mainland, Boni Island, the Eastern Mainland, and the Southern Mainland, these five are the mainland, and the rest are small and medium-sized islands."

South Luzon is Mindanao, Boni Island is Kalimantan, the eastern mainland is New Guinea, the middle mainland is Java, and the southern mainland is Australia. This is the official name of Song Dynasty.

The two talked more and more deeply, and the time passed slowly. When Fan Ning came out of the Hall of Encouragement, it was already past noon.

Fortunately, the palace also provides lunch, which is of good quality and cheap, and officials above the fifth grade can enjoy it for free. However, there is no drink, which can be regarded as a kind of welfare provided by the court to officials. After a hasty lunch, Fan Ning slipped his feet Arrived at Zhizheng Hall,

It was indeed time for him to come to Zhizhengtang. Before he was in Quanzhou, he received a letter from Zhizhengtang, asking him to enter Beijing as soon as possible.

In fact, Fan Ning also vaguely guessed why Zhizhengtang urged him to go to Beijing. It must be that Xiangguo wanted to talk to him about Baozhou and immigration. Han Qi had already revealed that there were too many overseas immigrants. The number of people growing grain in the Song Dynasty decreased, and the wasteland increased day by day.

This is not the fault of overseas immigrants. It is clearly due to the low food prices, the unprofitable growth of food, and the rise of large-scale industry, which has recruited a large number of workers, which has led to the reduction of rural farmers.

When Fan Ning came outside the main hall of the Zhizheng Hall, he heard Fu Bi's voice from inside, "Of course there must be a threshold. You can't just go and buy islands. You must be qualified."

Fan Ning walked into the lobby, and saw the seven ministers discussing casually, probably discussing the formulation of regulations for private purchase of the island.

"Everyone, why don't you ask me?" Fanning walked in and smiled.

"Master Fan is finally here!"

Fu Bi laughed, "We thought you were left for lunch by the officials."

Han Qi said solemnly: "We want to hear the opinion of the envoy."

Fan Ning was not polite, walked into the lobby and said, "I have two suggestions, which I discussed with the emperor in the morning. First, firstly, we should classify the overseas land, which can be divided into three categories: the state directly under the imperial court, and the land under the imperial court , where the imperial court doesn’t care.”

The Xiangguos were very self-restraining and did not interrupt him, letting him finish his sentence.

Fan Ning continued: "Second, set up thresholds, what are the conditions for buying land under the jurisdiction of the imperial court, and what are the conditions for purchasing land that the imperial court does not care about. If these two points are clarified, the thinking will be clear. In addition, I will add one more point, It is best to allow the exchange of the land of the Song Dynasty for overseas land, such as one mu for ten mu, which will help the land return to the imperial court and solve the problem of land annexation."

The prime ministers looked at each other, and Han Qi asked anxiously, "What is the jurisdiction of the court, and what is the land that the court does not care about?"

"The jurisdiction of the imperial court refers to the mainland. After the purchase, it is similar to a farm and needs to pay taxes to the imperial court, but it is a little looser than the directly-controlled state capital. The purchase qualification can be looser. The imperial court refers to small and medium-sized islands, which have autonomy and are loyal to the big Song Tianzi, but not under the jurisdiction of the imperial court, similar to the fetters of the Tang Dynasty, the purchase of islands requires strict qualifications."

(End of this chapter)