People in the Song Dynasty were lawless

Chapter 320 Zhao Jun will only be more ruthless

The fifth round of New Deal implemented by Zhao Jun is comprehensive, covering various fields such as economy, education, military, science and technology, culture, construction, transportation and so on.

The most important one is to stimulate the economy through the government increasing public expenditure, which is his large-scale infrastructure plan.

This plan had a scientific name in later generations, called Keynesianism.

Similar to this doctrine are Roosevelt's New Deal, and later Mao's efforts to boost the economy through the government's increase in military spending.

Mao’s military industry jobs alone increased by 52.

Many labor forces have been robbed by the military industry, and in order to prevent labor from being robbed, other industries in the country have to increase wages to retain more people.

Therefore, as long as the government increases public construction and expands basic investment, it will significantly boost the domestic economy.

This also applies to our country in later generations.

But there is a prerequisite here, that is, the national treasury must have money.

Roosevelt finally achieved his goal by running a fiscal deficit, exploiting Jewish rich people, issuing large amounts of national debt, and cracking down on monopoly giants to withdraw funds.

For example, if you have raised more than 30 million yuan in agricultural taxes this year, in fact, this is not money, but food equivalent to the average price of grain this year reaching more than 30 million yuan.

And not only food, but also cloth, gold and silver, spices, wood, copper and iron, etc., are all considered part of the tax.

This is actually not impossible.

There are several reasons for the decrease.

So why can't it be done in one go?

They want to see trains and train stations next year.

At least for the Song Dynasty court, the crazy depreciation of prices must be bad news.

Because now steelmaking and steam engine technology have reached standards, and raw materials are on the way.

What can be done?

Only limited industrial construction can be done.

During the Northern Song Dynasty, financial expenditures ranged from tens of millions to hundreds of millions of dollars. This did not simply refer to that much money, but was calculated based on the grain collected.

Next year we will see steamships.

But if the price of grain plummets, the harvested grain worth more than 30 million guan will depreciate to 20 million guan. The total financial revenue of the imperial court will also fall accordingly, and the revenue will plummet.

Because it requires too much money to complete it at one time, it does not require tens of millions of guan, but billions of guan.

Although it may take a few years for the rubber to grow.

Now after several rounds of the Qingli New Deal, fiscal revenue remains at 80 to 90 million yuan, with little change. Even in the early stages of reform, revenue dropped significantly.

First of all, of course, a large number of exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes were cancelled, resulting in a lot of revenue loss.

If the price of food soars during a war, the grain worth more than 30 million guan may even become worth 60 million guan. When calculated into the total fiscal revenue of the imperial court, it can exceed more than 100 million guan in an instant.

Under this circumstance, the actual amount of cash the court had was relatively limited, and the cash collected every year was only about 30 million guan.

After our country was reformed, its economy took off, goods were sold all over the world, and a large amount of US dollars in foreign exchange was harvested.

The current fiscal budget, excluding expenditure, is only enough to meet certain targets every year.

The reason is simple.

As for building trains, railway stations, ships and shipyards, forget about it.

Secondly, food prices fell, leading to depreciation.

For example, building steel plants, cement plants, and schools.

Next year, steel factories, textile factories, and schools will be spread all over the Song Dynasty.

But the fleet can harvest a large amount of rubber in South America and bring it back, and there will be no problem in making hundreds or thousands of steam engines.

Therefore, this is one of the main reasons why the Song Dynasty has been trying to increase food prices over the years and has not allowed food prices to fall all the way to tens of cents per stone.

For example, in the first year of Jingyou's reign, there were more than 78 million guan, and in the eighth year of Qingli, it reached 100 million guan.

Da Mao, on the other hand, is rich in oil and natural gas resources. If Europe and the United States don't buy them, people will buy them, so they don't have to worry about not being able to sell them with hard currency.

Zhao Zhen and Lu Yijian hope to see results within a period of time.

The human resources of the Song Dynasty are currently the richest in the world, with a population of 100 million.

So does Song Dynasty have that much money to complete Zhao Jun's plan?

The answer is yes, but not many.

During the reign of Jingyou, the fiscal revenue of the Song Dynasty remained at about 80 million yuan.

For example, Guangzhou now allows people to pay a certain amount of cotton as taxes.

In addition, steel plants and cement plants must be equipped with supporting transportation facilities. Various constructions are carried out step by step. It is estimated that it will take 20 to 30 years to achieve results.

If expenditures for soldiers, officials and other government expenditures are excluded, then of course only 20 million dollars will be left among the various funds that can be used for construction.

Including paying salaries to officials and soldiers, they are often paid with copper coins, rice, and silk. For example, current salaries are often made up of rice and silk, and performance is the copper coin, so as to stimulate the enthusiasm of officials.

With today's financial situation, the limit is only 20 to 30 million dollars a year.

Some people may think that depreciation in prices is not a good thing?

With incomes rising and prices falling, wouldn’t people’s lives be better?

The truth is this, but it’s also different.

And this could also cause problems as prices fluctuate.

Therefore, a large part of the fiscal revenue of the Northern Song Dynasty was not actual copper coins, but equivalent items. In terms of military expenditures, these equivalent items are also considered part of the redundant army.

As long as technology, raw materials, and population meet the standards, it will not be difficult for them to see all this happen.

The only problem is money.

This is the same as a game. Once the game is made and your character account is created, there are only two ways left to become stronger.

One is slow liver and the other is krypton gold.

Therefore, in order to speed up the progress, it was time for Zhao Jun to start targeting wealthy landlords.

After the implementation of the New Deal, the imperial court sent inspection censors many times, cooperating with local censors and the Imperial City Department to urge local officials to quickly complete the target task of dividing the land into acres.

For a time, poor people all over the Song Dynasty rejoiced.

The wealthy landowners are complaining so much that many are planning to sell their land to reduce costs.

Under normal circumstances, the greater the output, the thinner the cost will be spread.

But this refers to industrial products.

The costs of non-industrial traditional agriculture are there.

Don't look at the fact that the imperial court only doubled the tax this time, bringing the tax rate to 20%. Plus the commercial tax on sales, it basically fluctuates between 20% and 25%.

However, the remaining 75%-80% does not mean pure profit, but also costs of land rent, transportation, employment, etc.

In addition, the continued decline in food prices is also a great harm to them.

The land rent alone may cost 30% to 50%. In addition, you have to sell the harvested grain and hire long-term and short-term workers to carry it. In the end, let alone making money, it is considered good not to lose money.

Therefore, conscientious landowners who charge low rents from their tenants cannot bear it at first and have no choice but to sell their land.

The government took the opportunity to acquire them and turned them into official fields.

The unscrupulous landlords who charge relatively high rents may still be able to bear the burden, but the tenants will soon give up.

Because after the government took over the official land, it lowered the land rent again, for example to 30% to 40%, which was much lower than the 50% to 70% collected by the landlords.

In addition, the government will also provide certain means of production, such as seeds, farm tools, etc., to attract a large number of young and strong labor forces to work for the government.

In accordance with the instructions of the imperial court, local governments would hire these young and strong laborers to plow the land during busy farming periods, and to repair water conservancy projects, reclaim rivers, and build ponds, dams, reservoirs and other water resource regulation facilities during slack farming periods.

Under the national macro-control, in October, less than four months after the New Deal was promulgated, a large number of landlords and tenants left and fell into the arms of the government.

If from the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Sui and Tang Dynasties, when aristocratic families were in power, these tenants would be slaves of the aristocratic families and would not be able to escape.

However, the Song Dynasty severely cracked down on the slavery system and did not allow restrictions on personal freedom, and did not even allow the word "slave" to be mentioned. As a result, if a tenant wanted to leave, the landlord was not only unable to stop it, but even did not dare to stop it.

Because in the past, the government was on the side of the landlords. If the tenants wanted to escape, the government would send people to catch them. Moreover, the landlords also had scoundrels who would physically harm, imprison, or even destroy the tenants.

But in the Song Dynasty, four generations of Zhao Kuangyin, Zhao Guangyi, Zhao Heng, and Zhao Zhen abolished the hard work system. Even if you beat the tenants, you will be sentenced by the government even if you are imprisoned.

Especially in recent years, Zhao Jun has placed more emphasis on the right to personal freedom and strictly urged local officials to strictly investigate similar incidents.

If you fail to report the information, help the landlords and wealthy households to hide it, or if a serious accident occurs in your jurisdiction, losing your official reputation will be considered a minor matter.

This resulted in local officials not daring to be careless in this matter, and instead of protecting the interests of wealthy landlords, they began to protect the interests of tenant farmers.

If a tenant encounters such a thing, he only needs to report it to the official, and the landowner will be ruined at best, or imprisoned and exiled at worst. This can be regarded as the official's political achievement.

Therefore, under the New Deal, faced with the massive loss of tenants, many landowners suffered serious losses.

Or transfer the land in your name to your descendants to reduce the tax payment per mu. Either they are forced to sell their land, resulting in the dwindling of their land holdings.

In early October, in Mudu Town, Wuxian County, Suzhou, you can see Gusu Mountain in the northwest, and the southwest of the town surrounds the east bank of Taihu Lake. There are thousands of miles of fertile fields. When the late rice is harvested, the golden ears of wheat are swaying gently in the autumn wind.

There is a huge manor in the north of the town. It is the residence of Gong Xu, the landowner of the Gong family, a large family in Wu County.

The Gong family in Wuxian County was a prominent local family. In the Northern Song Dynasty, there were seven Jinshi scholars. During the Southern Song Dynasty, there were also many descendants of officials. For example, the Southern Song Dynasty official Gong Ming, whose grandfather moved to Kunshan, Suzhou, had an ancestor from Wuxian County.

However, the return of the local famous clan to the famous clan does not mean that everyone in the human tribe will live a good life. The fields within the Gong family are occupied by the elders of the clan and the chiefs of the main clan. The other branches and concubines had a hard time. For example, Gong Mingzhi's grandfather was forced to leave his hometown and start his own business.

Many lower-class people became serfs, tenants, servants, etc. of the master's family.

Gong Xu was about fifty, well-born, and wearing silk and satin. He had just returned from the city today, and as soon as he got off the carriage, he heard another piece of bad news.

Several more tenants left their homes and went to the government recruitment office in the city to choose to become government tenants.

This made Gong Xu's face become very ugly.

Just when he returned home and took a short break to drink a bowl of tea, he suddenly heard a servant coming to report that the heads of three big families, Pan, Wang, and Zhang, had come to see him.

Gong Xu had no choice but to invite them in.

"Brother Gong!"

The three of them entered the room and bowed to him.

"Brother Pan, Brother Wang, Brother Zhang, why are you here?"

Gong Xu stood up and returned the greeting.

"What else could it be for?"

The head of the Pan family, named Pan Shi, looked helpless.

"Sit down and talk."

Gong Xu said.

The four of them sat down.

The slaves served tea to them one by one.

After the others left, there were only four of them left in the hall.

"Brother Gong, I heard that you went to the city this morning. What did the county government say?"

Wang Wei, the head of the Wang clan, asked.

"Ugh."

Gong Xu sighed and said: "This is a death order from the imperial court, and even acquaintances from the county government will not use it."

"Pooh!"

Pan Shi took a breath and said, "Then Fan Zhongyan is still from our Wu County, so he is causing trouble to us."

"Have you gone to find the Fan clan?"

"Look, Fan Zhongyan himself paid for the land for their poor clan members, how can they speak for us?"

"I didn't expect that the Fan family would suddenly become so prosperous. It would be better if we made friends early."

"Who could have predicted this?"

"Forget it, let's talk about what to do. This year's autumn tax, my family will have to pay more than 30,000 stone grain and rice."

"My family also has to pay more than 20,000 dan, and not only the food and rice, but also the people are gone. Seventeen households have been gone last month. If this continues, all the people will be gone."

"Isn't that right? In the past four months, more than 40 households have left here alone."

"Who isn't?"

Several people shouted at each other.

These big clan landowners are all extremely wealthy, owning tens of thousands or even more than 100,000 acres of fertile land.

The imperial court came down with a new policy and spread it among them. In an instant, tens of thousands of stone taxes were added.

Who can bear this?

And it’s not just taxes, it’s people.

Although strictly speaking, the number of people under their control is really not that many.

Because the clan regulations in the south are still relatively strict and limited by the clan system, many young people with slightly better family conditions have not left.

Only those families who are extremely poor, so poor that they can hardly live happily, will choose to make a desperate move and break away from the clan to stand on their own.

This phenomenon is all too common in the South.

This happened in later generations when our army launched certain reform plans in the Soviet area. Many young people in the south were constrained by their clans and could not join the army or engage in production independently from their clans.

On the contrary, it doesn't matter in the north. The clan's binding force in the north has long been ineffective and almost non-existent under the many attacks of the Five Husties and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.

Therefore, the clan reform plan introduced by Zhao Jun a few years ago has been implemented smoothly in the north, but has not been implemented at all in the south.

But just because his subordinates don't leave much doesn't mean that their interests are not harmed.

The taxes they had to pay increased after they spread their land into acres. This made these large landowners with tens of thousands of acres of land unable to bear it, and they began to discuss solutions.

"Brother Gong, when you went to the county government office this morning, didn't you find out anything?"

Zhang Ruohai, the head of the Zhang clan, asked.

Gong Xu said: "The county government gave us some advice, saying that we should sell the land under our hands to the court and let us build cement plants, steel plants, and textile factories."

"What is this?"

Everyone is puzzled.

"The devil knows."

Gong Xu scratched his head and said: "Besides, it's hard to say whether this thing can be profitable. I've also inquired a little bit about it. The initial investment alone is huge. If it doesn't make money, won't it mean that everything will go bankrupt?"

"Forget it, this land is left by our ancestors, I won't sell it even if you kill me."

Others shook their heads.

"The problem now is that we have to come up with a charter. The county government can't do anything about it. The state government, the Censorship Department, and the Imperial City Department are investigating everywhere."

Wang Wei spread his hands and said: "If it is found that the county magistrate is covering up, he will be dismissed from office. They will not go against the court for us. No matter how much money they send, it will be useless."

"Is the imperial court trying to force us to death now?"

Pan Shi was very angry.

In fact, in the past few years, the court's tax was higher than it is now, reaching 30% at the highest level. However, although they were severely exploited at that time, they could barely survive.

The reason is that the price of food was relatively high at that time, especially during the war with the Xixia and Liao Kingdoms. Even if taxes were high, they still relied on the remaining food in their hands and still made a lot of money through the high food prices.

The second year of Qingli was the best era. Not long after the war ended, food prices did not drop much, even higher than usual. The imperial court also significantly reduced agricultural taxes. If they continue to squeeze the tenants, all three will take advantage of it, and it can be said that they have made enough profits.

Until last year and this year, the price of food dropped from more than 300 yuan per dan in normal years to more than 200 yuan per dan now. But because taxes have dropped, they still have sufficient profit margins. No one will starve to death like them. Big landowner.

But when food prices fell and the court increased taxes, they felt a little uncomfortable. Although the tax rate has still not reached the highest point, but after living a good life, who wants to go back to being charged high taxes like before?

So everyone looked sad and jumped up and down.

In fact, the imperial court had given them a choice at this time, which was to force them to become businessmen, invest in steel plants, textile plants, and cement plants, and join the trend of the times.

If you join in it at this time, it is the critical moment of Zhao Jun's reform, then a pig can take off even if it stands on the wind.

But there are always short-sighted people who miss this opportunity.

He even went the wrong way.

I heard Zhang Ruohai suddenly say: "Everyone, if this continues, we will have to sell our land. For the current plan, I think there is only one way."

"any solution?"

Everyone looked at him.

Zhang Ruohai said in a deep voice: "All our fields are just a corner of Suzhou, the huge Taihu Lake, and the huge Jiangsu and Zhejiang. I don't know how many wealthy households have been ruined because of this. If we can unite them and protest to the court, maybe the court can take back their fame." .”

"Are you crazy?"

Wang Wei asked in surprise: "Aren't you afraid that the court will arrest you and punish you?"

"Don't forget, the law does not punish everyone."

Zhang Ruohai said: "If it's one or two, the court will definitely hit hard. What if it's tens of thousands? We are not the only ones who are affected by the gentry and wealthy households. If they are connected in series, it will be a huge force!"

D?

Several people looked at each other thoughtfully.

Yes.

If they unite together, they may really make the court take a step back.

But what they don't know is.

In the fourth year of Emperor Yongzheng's reign in later generations, the gentry from Jiangsu and Zhejiang protested at the Zhejiang Governor's Office against the diversion of small households into acres, but they were forcefully suppressed by the then Zhejiang Governor Li Wei.

And Zhao Jun.

He would certainly be more ruthless than Li Wei.

(End of this chapter)