Master Kong Zhongni

Chapter 189 Zai Yu and Ran Qiu Debate (5K6)

In Tuqiu's government office, Zaiyu sat at the main seat, asking questions to Ran Qiu, who was holding documents and counting repeatedly.

"I heard from Zi Zhou that many people from the mountains and fields have joined us these few days, and now the number of households in the whole town is more than five hundred?"

Ran Qiu opened the account book and answered meticulously.

"There are 170 savage households, plus 63 households of blacksmiths from Qi State, 590 households of carpenters previously donated by the Meng family, and [-] households of merchants and farmers who settled down in Tuqiu over the past year. Accurate It is said that the current number of households in Tuqiu is [-].”

With 590 households, the population of Tuqiu nearly doubled in just one year.

This made Zai Yu feel more confident.

And Ran Qiu also suggested in a timely manner: "Nowadays, the number of households has increased greatly, and most of the areas in the city have already been planned, and the people in the mountains are mixed with Yi and Xia. In the inner city, prevent disasters.

After the autumn harvest is completed, it may be time to consider expanding the Wai Guo.

In doing so, one is to increase the available land in the city and expand the types of industries in Tuqiu.

Previously, there were merchants who wanted to buy land to build industries, but because of the shortage of land in the city, I did not agree to their request.

If the expansion of the Outer Kingdom is completed, part of the land in the inner city can be given over to merchants. This will not only increase the income from the land, but also increase the annual market tax.

Secondly, it is also possible to relocate the savages who originally lived in the suburbs to live in Wai Guo. This is not only convenient for governance and management, but also serves as a defense against enemy attacks.

The recent development momentum of the city is indeed good, but I think that perhaps there should be some changes in the policy of granting land and housing..."

Jae Yu heard this and asked, "Oh? Why do you want to change?"

When Ran Qiu heard this, he hesitated again and again, but still gritted his teeth and replied.

"Although the number of private households in Tuqiu has nearly doubled this year, correspondingly, in order to attract these private households, more than 1 mu of public land has been granted.

According to the existing decree, Tuqiu's loss of land tax due to this is more than tens of thousands of shi every year.

If the decree is not adjusted, the annual land tax income may not be enough to support daily expenses in the long run! "

In fact, Ran Qiu discovered this problem early on. The reason why he didn't bring it up was because he was worried that he would be labeled as 'unkind'.

Because as disciples of the master, the education they received when they were studying has always been to be lenient to the people, and Ran Qiu always thought so before.

But when he actually took over the practice, he discovered the contradiction between being lenient to the people and strengthening the fiefdom.

Tuqiu's annual output is only so much, and the tax revenue is too much for the people to bear, and the tax revenue is small, and they cannot make ends meet.

Zaiyu came to Tuqiu to take office for one year, but during this year, not only did he not get any benefits, but he often had to subsidize the local area with money from his own pocket.

Zaiyu may not care about the money, but Ran Qiushen, as Tuqiu Yizai, cannot turn a blind eye to it.

After all, what he eats is Zaiyu's salary, which is the so-called loyalty to the emperor. If Tu Qiu keeps asking Zaiyu for subsidies, what's the use of him as a magistrate?

Ran Qiu has always felt uneasy about this, but recently, because people from the countryside have come to join him one after another, Tu Qiu's administrative expenses have increased a lot due to this.

Seeing that Tu Qiu's financial deficit was about to break through the sky, Ran Qiu finally couldn't sit still, that's why he said this.

Zai Yu looked at Ran Qiu's aggrieved face, and saw the entanglement in his heart, so he couldn't help laughing.

"Yeah! Why can't you understand this truth?"

Ran Qiu heard the words, took off his hat, stepped forward to plead guilty, and said: "My son, you follow the teachings of your master, treat the people with kindness and benevolence, and don't want to increase taxes in vain, I can understand this.

But as the governor of the city, I assisted you in managing Tuqiu for a year, but I couldn't even maintain the local balance of payments.

Not only that, it even made you have a reputation of violating etiquette.

So many mistakes have been caused, all of which are due to my lack of ability as a magistrate.

Ran begged for food in vain, please punish him. "

After finishing speaking, Ran Qiu bowed down in front of Zai Yu.

When Zaiyu saw it, he hurried up to help him up.

Zaiyu said in relief: "The balance of income and expenditure cannot be maintained. This is not your fault, but my decision.

I have heard that there are three grades of governance.

The key to the king's government is to use benevolence to influence the people.

The key to the overlord's government is to use power to subdue the people.

The key to the government of the strong is to use force to coerce the people.

Each of these three kinds of politics has its own method of implementation, but the best way is to use benevolence to influence the people's kingly government.

If benevolence influences the people and cannot change them, then you can use power to subdue them, and if you subdue them with power, you cannot change them, then you can coerce them with force, and if you cannot change them with coercion, you can finally punish them with punishment. .

As for the use of punishment to punish, it is not the method advocated by the king.

Therefore, a wise ruler always first uses benevolence to educate the people, and only then uses punishment as a last resort.

They set the standard of honor and disgrace, announced the precautions and prohibitions to the world, paid attention to the use of etiquette and righteousness to educate the people, and despised the money and money to change the people.

Organize internal affairs, rectify internal etiquette, and draw boundaries between right and wrong, so that no one will not envy the glory of etiquette and hate the shame of corruption.

Now, you assist me in carrying out the king's government in Tuqiu. The people in Tuqiu have ample food and clothing, and there are few bandits in the territory. What kind of achievement is this?

As for those rumors that I violated etiquette, you don't have to pay attention to it at all.

Didn't the Master teach us before?

Rituals are born because of people. Human beings have desires. If desires are not met, resentment will arise in the heart. If anger does not stop, it will lead to fights, and if there are fights, disasters will arise.

The ancient sage kings hated disasters, so they formulated etiquette to nourish people's desires and meet people's needs, so that desires would not be restricted by material shortages, and materials would not be lacking due to excessive desires.

Things and desires complement each other, so rituals are born.

Therefore, the essence of etiquette is a method of recuperation.

Rice and millet and other grains are used to feed people's mouths.

Pepper, orchid, and fragrant Zhicao are nourishing for the nose.

The sound of bells, drums, and various orchestral instruments nourishes the ears.

Carved patterns are eye-catching.

A spacious house, as well as beds, rugs, tables, and mats, are for nourishing one's body.

Nowadays, people in Tuqiu must have five grains for food, pepper orchids for worship, music for learning, texture for clothing, and beds for living.

If managing Tuqiu in this way can be called a breach of etiquette, then let them call me an breach of etiquette.

Besides, these accusations of violating etiquette, in my opinion, might not be a bad thing! "

When Ran Qiu heard this, he was surprised and said, "Someone criticizes you, how can this be a good thing?"

Jae Yu laughed and said, "I have! Have you forgotten?
The master taught us before: the wish of the country is the thief of virtue.

A good old man who doesn't distinguish between right and wrong is a moral destroyer.

Only such a good old man will be praised by everyone, but even if he can be praised by everyone, how can such a good old man help the world?

That's why the Master said: A person who is liked by everyone is not necessarily a good person, and a person who is hated by everyone is not necessarily a bad person.Only when good people like him and bad people hate him, such a person can say with certainty that he is a good person.

Because the people who everyone likes him are either good at disguising and smooth, or they don't know right from wrong and are dishonest.

And the person who everyone hates him, there must be something in him that everyone doesn't understand, otherwise why would even the bad guys hate him?
Once upon a time, the Marquis of Qi ordered Yanzi to govern Dong'e.

Three years later, Marquis Qi heard many bad rumors about Yan Zi.

So they called him back and told him about his mistakes.

Qihou said: "It turns out that I think you are capable, so I sent you to govern Dong'a."Now that you are in a mess, I will punish you twice. '

Yanzi said: "I ask you to allow me to change the way to govern Dong'e. If you still can't manage Dong'e in three years, please execute me." '

Qi Hou agreed to Yan Zi's request.

As a result, in the second year, Yan Zi brought the booklet of tax revenue and reported it to Marquis Qi.

Qihou was very happy after seeing it. He went out of the city to meet Yanzi, and congratulated him, saying: "Now you have managed Dong'e very well!" '

Yanzi replied: "I used to govern Dong'e, and I didn't ask for favors or bribes.

All the fish in the fishpond were shared by the people. At this time, none of the people was hungry, but the king blamed me instead.

Now that I am in charge of Dong’e, favors are accepted, bribes are everywhere, taxes are increased, treasury funds are reduced, and all the money I get is used to bribe the king’s servants.

The fish in the fish pond were all taken by the rich and powerful. At this time, more than half of the people were starving, and the king welcomed me and congratulated me.

I'm afraid I won't be able to govern Dong Ah anymore.The ministers ask the king to preserve my bones and let me go back, and choose a worthy gentleman to govern Dong'e. '

After Yanzi finished speaking, he bowed and said goodbye.

After hearing this, Marquis Qi hurriedly apologised, saying: "It was the widow's fault in the past. Please continue to govern Dong'a, Master. Dong'a is your Dong'a. I will not interfere any more." '

Now some people in the country accuse me of violating etiquette, but the people of Tuqiu can have ample food and clothing. This shows that what we are doing is exactly like what Yanzi did in Dong'a!

So, how can this be said to be a bad thing? "

Speaking of this, Zai Yu turned around with a smile and picked up the physalis on the table, and said to Ran Qiu.

"Ziyou, why don't you join me in a toast?"

When Ran Qiu heard this, he felt a little better.

Still, he has sympathy for the mounting deficit.

He asked: "But...if this continues, I'm afraid it won't last long?

Now there are less than [-] households, and you have used up most of the land you recovered from the big clan. Is it really worth it? "

Zai Yu took a sip of Physalis and replied: "It depends on the angle from which to consider the problem.

Ziyou, I don’t know if you have heard of a saying called: those who have no permanent property have no perseverance.

There is no fixed income but a fixed moral concept, which can only be achieved by scholars.

As for ordinary people, if they don't have a fixed income from property, they don't have a fixed moral concept either.

And once there is no fixed moral concept, they can do anything, whether it is crooked ways, lawlessness, or misconduct.

Therefore, in order to govern the people well, it is far from enough to establish township schools and educate them with etiquette and righteousness.

In order for the fiefdom to have a stable environment, it is also necessary for the people under the rule to obtain a constant industry.

Now in order to recruit the people, give them fields, and reduce their taxes, it seems that they have paid a lot.

But once the people have savings, they will carefully weigh the gains and losses when facing treacherous affairs, and try to restrain their desires as much as possible so as not to violate the prohibition of punishment.

And if they don't have these fields, their annual income from labor is not even enough to feed their families, then things like killing people and stealing goods will gradually increase.

Guanzi once said: "The granary knows the etiquette when the warehouse is real, and the honor and disgrace are known when the food and clothing are sufficient."

This is what it says.

Son yes, you remember a sentence: If you save people and lose land, all people and land will survive.If you lose your land, you will lose your land. "

Jae Yu has said so much, but there is only one core point of view.

That is, in all ages, nothing has been more destructive than the proles.

This is not only Zaiyu's personal view, but also the common view of Confucian scholars.

The reason why they have repeatedly advocated 'benevolence and righteousness' to the king and repeatedly emphasized the importance of winning the hearts of the people is to warn them not to go too far, or be careful to overturn the car.

Of course, the kings were obviously not interested in the views of the Confucian philosophers.

Compared with Confucianism, which allows them to restrain their desires and distribute profits to the people, the kings still prefer the legalist viewpoint.

A group of "little clever ghosts" of the Legalists, although they also understand that excessive extortion will overturn the car, but they also creatively proposed a solution for the kings.

That is 'foolish and weak people'.

On the one hand, prohibiting the spread of ideas makes them accept the fate of resignation.

On the other hand, they collected the copper and iron in their hands, so that they would have nothing to rebel.

It is also necessary to keep the people in the Schrödinger state of 'may starve to death, but may not starve to death' all the time, so that they have to repeatedly consider whether it is worthwhile to rebel.

Even if they take [-] steps back, even if they really rise up, as long as the scale is not large, with the weapons and equipment in their hands, the kings of various countries can quickly suppress them.

Compared with legalist methods, Confucianism's "benevolence and righteousness" has become weak in an instant.

Because Confucianism requires the king to give benefits to the people, it is generally based on the strong influence of the people of the country.

But when the legalist combination is beaten down, the people of the country become both moneyless and powerless, so their feelings will naturally become irrelevant.

The things that Zaiyu did in Tuqiu were to prevent this from happening.

If you ban the spread of ideas, I will distribute books and open up the wisdom of the people.

You collect copper and iron, and I will mine and smelt iron, and transform existing weapons, so that Tuqiu's armed forces always have a generational advantage and can be deployed to the target country at any time.

You increase the tax and prepare to start the general war mode, then I will make good friends and make oaths everywhere.

In the end, use the strategy of "Three Drivers Weary" that Jin Daogong used to deal with Chu State, and completely drag it down from the inside.

All in all, all these things that Zaiyu did were to plant mines for the country that plans to promote Legalism in the future, and completely kill this "introduction" school among the hundreds of schools of thought in the bud.

Zai Yu said so much, but Ran Qiu was still worried.

"Hey... I know it's wrong to do this, but no matter what, the land tax is also the main income of the whole city.

If there is no way to buy the stored food in the hands of business travelers in the future, and natural and man-made disasters happen, what should we do? "

Zaiyu took a sip of the physalis, and asked calmly, "Ziyou, what do you mean by natural and man-made disasters?"

Ran Qiu took it for granted, "Naturally there is a shortage of food, starvation is everywhere."

Zai Yu nodded slightly: "The grain produced by Tuqiu is fixed every year.

The land tax was less, and the grain remained in the hands of the people.The land tax was overcharged, and the grain was left in the treasury.

The two are nothing more than the difference between hiding wealth in the country and hiding wealth in the people.

Do you think that if the government decree to hide wealth in the country is implemented, and in a catastrophe year, there must be more people who are hungry than those who hide wealth in the people?

According to the current situation in Tuqiu, each household holds more than [-] mu of cultivated land, calculated at a tax rate of [-] to [-], even if it is a small household, it is enough to accumulate ten stones of grain in a year.

Therefore, even in an ordinary disaster year, there is no need to carry out large-scale relief, and most of the people can naturally survive with the stored food.

And if there is no disaster year, these people can take out the old grain at home and exchange it for other items.

In this way, it can push up Tuqiu's market trade tax.

The reason why you are distressed now is because the scale of Tu Qiu's market has not yet reached a sufficient level.

In order to increase the income from the market and business tax, on the one hand, the number of households in Tuqiu must be increased, and on the other hand, the people's money must be more abundant.

These two aspects, no matter which point, do not support the increase of land rent.

Food is of course important, whether it is marching or relief, food is inseparable.

But if you want to reserve new grain for the treasury, you cannot collect it from the people by increasing the land tax, but exchange it with them by purchasing.

For example, with iron..."

Speaking of this, Zai Yu suddenly paused, and he asked: "By the way, has there been any progress in iron smelting recently?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly heard a burst of laughter from outside the door.

Zai Yu and Ran Qiu turned their heads to look, only to see Gan Jiang and Mo Xie coming.

The two came to Zaiyu, bowed down and said: "Zaizi!"

Zai Yu saw the two of them and asked, "Who are you two?"

Mo Xie blinked, with a smile on her face, she didn't speak directly, but leaned forward and asked.

"You have always been knowledgeable, so I came here to ask you a question.

Once upon a time, I heard my father say that in the era of Xuanyuan, Shennong and Huxue, people used stones as weapons, picked broken trees to build huts, and when people died, they piled earth on top of their bodies for burial.

These things are not what the people are born with, but the sage monarch teaches them to do so.

In the time of the Yellow Emperor, people used jade to make weapons, consciously cut down trees to build houses, and dug holes for burial after death.

Jade is a magical and supernatural thing, and people didn't know its usefulness at first.

And the reason why it was used later was that it was taught by the virtuous monarch who taught people to do so.

In the time of Yu, copper was used to cast weapons, and tools made of copper were used to dig Yique, dredge the dragon gate, and guide the water of rivers and rivers to the east and flow into the East China Sea.

At that time, the world was smooth and peaceful, so the palace was repaired. Isn't this relying on the power of the wise monarch?

But in this era, the wise monarch ordered to cast weapons with fine iron, and use force to deter treacherous people.

After the people of the world hear it, is there anyone who dares not to surrender?
You are about to gain the supernatural power from iron weapons. I am naturally dull and have little knowledge. I don't know which monarch has the virtue of sage, so I come here to ask you for advice. "

When Zaiyu heard this, he couldn't help saying with joy, "Could it be?"

Mo Xie nodded with a smile, then raised her eyebrows at the general.

Under her instruction, Gan Jiang quickly took off the brand new dagger from his waist and presented it to Zai Yu.

I saw a cold light on the body of this short dagger, and the blade was like autumn frost.

Zai Yu took the dagger and stroked the blade, glanced out of the corner of his eye, and could even clearly see his own pale face from the image reflected on the blade.

"Zaizi, time is short, we don't have time to forge a long sword, so we can only try to make a short dagger first.

Although this iron dagger is still not as good as a famous sword like Tai'a, it is already a bit better than ordinary bronze utensils. "

After the general said this, Zai Yu hadn't said anything yet, Ran Qiu was surprised first.

"Can it beat the copper soldier?"

The go-getter had expected that someone would question him, so he calmly took out a copper dagger of the same type.

Then he held two daggers at the same time, swung his arms violently, only heard a clang, and in an instant, only a spark splashed in the sky.

At this time, looking at the two daggers in the general's hands, there was only a white mark on the iron dagger, while the copper dagger opened a small hole that was neither deep nor shallow.

Jae Yu caressed the gap and couldn't help sighing: "If this is the case, great things will be accomplished!"

　The monthly ticket is whether readers vote for you or not,

　　You can't let go, can't forget those updates.

　　——Excerpt from "Zaiyu's Diary"

　　
　
(End of this chapter)