Great Song Super Scholar

Chapter 715
Fan Ning was slightly taken aback, it turned out to be Cai Jing, when he was serving as an overseas economic envoy in Quanzhou, he had sent someone to find Cai Jing, only to learn that he had gone to Beijing for a study tour, he did not expect to meet here at an unexpected moment.

Fan Ning said with a smile, "Then Captain Cai, what do you think, will the Young Crop Law be implemented?"

"We were discussing this issue just now, and we have different opinions. I personally think that the Baojia Law is the basis of the Green Crop Law. If the Baojia Law is not implemented, the Green Crop Law will be difficult to promote. But everyone does not understand why the Baojia Law is the basis of the Green Crop Law. ?”

Fan Ning nodded, "The function of the Baojia Law is to organize the common people. Ten households are the Jia, and the ten Jia are the protection. It was implemented as early as the Shang Yang Reform. It is more focused on military warfare, but we are more focused on farming. Every guarantor must have a middle peasant, and every family must have a rich peasant. Why do we have to arrange this? This has found a guarantor for the implementation of the Young Crops Law.”

Seeing that everyone was listening intently, Fan Ning continued: "The original intention of the Green Crop Law is that farmers have no money to buy seeds during spring plowing, so they have to borrow usury loans. In the end, they can't repay the usury loans, lose their land, and become destitute people. To be honest, this problem has been around for hundreds of years, and it has not been properly solved. It was the most serious in the middle of the Tang Dynasty, and finally triggered the outbreak of the Anshi Rebellion, so Wang Xianggong wanted to solve this problem through reforms. What should I do if I give the money to the peasant but the peasant can’t pay it back? At this time, the Baojia Law comes into play. The rich peasant in the co-guarantee guarantees that if the peasant cannot pay back the money, the rich peasant will repay the money on his behalf. Then the rich peasant asks the peasant for the owed money There is no risk for the government, and the risk is passed on to the rich peasants.”

"What if the peasant who owes money refuses to pay back the money to the rich peasant?" Cai Jing asked.

"That's the problem. When Wang Xianggong formulated the Young Crop Law, he thought that since he was a fellow villager, everyone would save face and would not borrow money without repaying it. At most, they would delay it. Rich people would not care about the money. If not, even if the rich help the poor, it is also a good moral thing, but during the pilot operation, there was a situation where one household mainly provided guarantees for fifty or sixty households.

Everyone thinks that if others don't pay it back, why should I pay it back?The end result is that no family is willing to pay back the money, and the owner of this household does not have the money, and finally goes bankrupt.

In just ten counties, there were more than 300 cases of this kind of situation, and more than 300 small landlords or households went bankrupt and became impoverished overnight.Or the whole family fled without a trace, which is why the Green Crop Law has been strongly criticized. "

There was a murmur of discussion in the lobby, and Fan Ning's frank and straightforward description made everyone finally understand the essence of the Young Crops Law: 'Equalization of the rich and the poor' will bankrupt a large number of small and medium landlords, shake the social foundation at least, and lead to rebellion at worst. Danger.

Cai Jing asked again: "May I ask Mr. Fan, since the peasants have suffered for hundreds of years during the spring plowing, if the young crop method does not work, is there any other way to solve this problem?"

Fan Ning smiled slightly, "In fact, there is a solution now. The great development of industry and commerce requires a large amount of labor, and overseas land reclamation and mining also require a large amount of labor. They absorb rural labor and feed back the rural areas by earning money. The money in the hands of every household There are too many, as long as you are a little frugal, you will definitely have money to buy seeds during the spring plowing season.

For example, in Wu County, my hometown, rural girls have to find ways to work as maids in rich families when they grow up to eleven or twelve years old. This is almost the only way for them to earn money.

But now they go to the city to work in large textile workshops, spinning, weaving, silk, etc., and can earn three to four pennies a month, which is twice as much as they do as maids. Forty or fifty pennies, isn't it enough to buy seeds during spring plowing? "

At this time, another scholar said: "Now we are talking about a problem, saying that there is too much overseas grain, which has caused the grain to be very cheap in the market now, a bucket of rice costs [-] cents, and farmers do not make more money growing grain than before. What about this problem? manage?"

Fan Ning nodded, "This is indeed a big problem. The imperial court is also paying attention to it. There are also ways to do it. For example, the government will discuss the sale of grain, and the government will collect grain from farmers at a high price, and the government will sell it at an appropriate price. Grain merchants can only buy grain from the government. This is one way. The second is to expand corn planting and encourage farmers to use cheap corn to feed pigs. Farmers make more money raising pigs than growing grain. There are as many ways to earn money as possible, and we can’t just make a living by growing grain.”

The atmosphere in the lobby was very lively, and everyone rushed to ask questions, and Cai Jing once again grabbed the qualification to ask questions.

"Young people support the reform, but I heard that Fan Xianggong firmly opposes the reform, and even confronts Wang Xianggong in the newspaper. Does this mean that Fan Xianggong is a conservative?"

"Lieutenant Cai Xian is wrong. The one I confronted in the newspaper was not the reformist Wang Xiangguo, but the conservative Sima Xianggong. However, I am not a reformist, but I am not a conservative either."

"Xiao Fan is a reformer, we all know it." Someone cut the conversation, and everyone in the hall laughed.

Fan Ning smiled and waved his hands, "Everyone may have a misunderstanding. They always think that the reform is good. They always think that the Song Dynasty is now conservative and rigid everywhere, dragging down the court and the people. It must be completely smashed and changed. That's why young people support the reform. , but let me tell you that reforming the law may not be a good thing in many cases.”

"Can Mr. Fan give you an example?" asked a young scholar next to him.

Fan Ning nodded, "Let's take the Baojia just now as an example! Ten households are the Jiabao, a hundred households are the Baojia, three hundred or five hundred households are the big Baojia, and the capital is Baozheng. After the experiment in ten counties, almost every township There is a new yamen, Baoya, with dozens of Baoding under it. Then I ask everyone, where do Baozheng, Baoya and Baoding come from for their expenses?
The imperial government's financial expenditure only goes to the county, so where is the income of Baoya?Facts have proved that all the expenses of the Baoyamen were apportioned to each household. If they did not pay, Baoding went to lead the sheep and cattle. The people sued the county, but the county refused to accept it.Do you know the reason? "

There was silence in the hall, and Fan Ning said slowly: "Since the founding of the Song Dynasty, financial control has been very strict. Almost all counties have no money left, the county government is dilapidated, and there is no money to repair it. Integrity, but with the Baoya, the county officials have a source of income. The Baoya pays tribute, the Baoya distributes ten taels of silver to the farmers, and the county government takes four taels. In this way, the county officials are all fat. Everyone was smiling and raising their hands to support the reform, so the officials who resolutely opposed the Young Crop Law were basically in the court, but there were not many voices of opposition in the counties below. Do you know the reason now? Can you say that the reform is a good thing, and conservative is a bad thing?"

There was silence in the lobby, everyone was deep in thought, and Fanning taught them a profound lesson today.

The scholars all knew that the teacher was going to invite his son-in-law to dinner, so everyone left one after another.

Cai Jing stepped forward and bowed to salute, "Excuse me, Mr. Fan, do you still have the preferential treatment you used to have when you go overseas as an official?"

"Which kind of preferential treatment does Lieutenant Cai refer to?"

"It's about turning positive?"

Fan Ning said with a smile: "Now the new system of the imperial court stipulates that imperial examination officials can become regulars within five years, but there are indeed preferential treatment for overseas officials. If you go overseas to become an official, you can become regulars in three years. Could it be that County Lieutenant Cai is interested?"

Cai Jing nodded, "The lowly position is this year's Jinshi, and it will take nearly five years to become a regular official. If you can go overseas as an official, you can become a full-time official as soon as possible."

Fan Ning said with a smile: "Even if your application is approved now, you will not be able to go to sea until spring. You will stay overseas for three years. In fact, you will only become a full-time employee one year in advance. Besides, the shortest term of office overseas is five years. You have to pay attention to the gains and losses in this." Think it through."

Cai Jing hesitated for a moment and said: "Humble staff thinks that going overseas to be an official can better exercise their abilities."

Fan Ning nodded secretly. This Cai Jing did have vision and courage. Knowing that overseas officials would have better qualifications, Fan Ning said with a smile: "Now the Southern Continent mainly needs officials. If you want to go overseas to be an official, you can only go to the Southern Continent. , if you want, I can help you mention it to the Ministry of Officials, so that your application can be approved as soon as possible!"

"Beiqian is willing, this time I am coming to Beijing for this purpose, I will submit the application as soon as possible, thank you Mr. Fan for your help!"

Cai Jing bowed deeply, then took his leave and left.

(End of this chapter)