The Red Chamber: Starting from Saving Xue Baochai

Chapter 100 Shen Yuan's Rare Guilty Feeling

Shen Yuan thought for a moment after hearing this.

Since he traveled through time, he has participated in bandit suppression many times, first in Aomen Village, then in Liaocheng, Shandong, and recently in Fenghuangling.

It is not wrong to say that he has quite some experience, as he knows very well the source of banditry.

After a moment's hesitation, Shen Yuan said, "Your Majesty, regarding the bandit problem, I think it is better to disperse than to suppress."

This statement surprised Emperor Yuanzhen and his companions.

"Huaizhong continued."

"Looking back over the past thousand years in China, bandits have always been suppressed but never eradicated. The root cause lies in the people. As far as I know, most of the bandits were refugees before they became bandits."

Although these words were a bit sharp, Shen Yuan knew that the emperor was not unaware of this. Sometimes speaking frankly could increase trust between the monarch and his subjects.

"Huaizhong is saying that these people have lost their foundation for survival, so they turn to banditry and commit crimes? But Jiangnan has almost no natural disasters and has always been prosperous, so why did it also breed banditry?"

Shen Yuan did not answer directly, but turned his eyes to Jiang Zhongnian. Obviously, the words of the Jinling Governor would be more convincing on this issue.

Jiang Zhongnian was also the emperor's confidant, so he didn't need to be too shy about deep-seated words. He pondered for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, in recent years, Shandong and Guanzhong have suffered disasters. The north has long been unable to make ends meet. In addition, the border is in urgent need, and military needs are increasing year by year. All of these have finally been passed on to the people in the south of the Yangtze River."

It is true that Jiangnan is rich, but it has to support disaster relief in the north and cover military expenses at the border. Year after year, Nanjing, Fujian and Zhejiang, Huguang and other places have all become heavily taxed areas, and the local people have long complained about this "disaster transfer".

After hearing this, Emperor Yuanzhen understood that he actually knew all these things, but perhaps the only thing he didn't know was...what was the limit of the people's tolerance?

In the past, the emperor and most of the court officials only had the concept of Jiangnan's prosperity, so they thought that adding an extra half a cent or a cent of tax would not be a big deal. In this way, they boiled the frog in warm water, and finally made the people of Jiangnan feel the pain.

It was because Shen Yuan saw this problem clearly that he felt it was better to reduce the number of bandits in Jiangnan than to suppress them.

Those who should be killed are the fat-bellied officials and gentry of the Fu Sheng Society and the brutal and plundering Japanese pirates, but there is no need to do anything ruthless to the fellow countrymen who have been deceived and coerced.

After a long silence, Emperor Yuanzhen sighed and said, "According to Huaizhong's opinion, how should we distance ourselves from him?"

The simplest way is to reduce taxes on farmers in the south of the Yangtze River, but the whole country is like a chessboard. Now the national affairs are difficult and the treasury can hardly sustain. Once the taxes are reduced, I am afraid that the Great Zhou will collapse in an instant.

Shen Yuan said: "I think that the revenue of the national treasury should not be overly dependent on agricultural taxes, but should focus on salt, iron and tea taxes, and even levy commercial taxes."

Salt, iron, tea and other necessities are also necessities, especially table salt. The annual production and sales revenue is not much less than that of grain. The key is that the cost of this thing is not high, but the profit is extremely high.

The reason why the tax contribution was far less than the grain tax was that a large amount of the profits were taken away by officials and gentry at all levels, and another part went into the pockets of salt merchants, and finally very little actually entered the national treasury.

The same goes for other commodities. Most of it goes into the pockets of officials and gentry, and a small portion goes to merchants. Increasing commercial taxes to suppress corruption is more in line with the interests of merchants.

To put it bluntly, the Central Plains dynasty could never be poor in any era, it was just that the wealth fell into the hands of certain specific groups of people.

After hearing this, Jiang Zhongnian's eyes moved slightly. He didn't expect Shen Yuan to be able to think to this point.

"Huai Zhong's words make sense. Using the salt, iron and tea taxes to ease the pressure of agricultural taxes is something your majesty and I have the same considerations about. However, the salt business affects the entire system. Although the court has sent important officials to the Yanghuai area to reform the pros and cons, the results will not be seen in a short time."

Shen Yuan knew that the important official sent to Yanghuai by Jiang Zhongnian should be Daiyu's father Lin Ruhai, who was also the emperor's confidant. He was currently serving as the Imperial Censor of Salt in Yangzhou, rectifying the salt affairs in the south of the Yangtze River.

Emperor Yuanzhen said no more, but his eyes became more determined.

Simply imposing heavy taxes on farmers is like drinking poison to quench thirst. If this continues for a long time, the Great Zhou will surely fall into chaos.

Today, Shen Yuan reminded him that he would have to intensify the rectification of salt, iron and tea, and take drastic measures to cure the stubborn disease. After talking about the affairs in Jiangnan, Shen Yuan talked about the purpose of coming to see the emperor.

"Everything for the military parade is being prepared in an orderly manner and will be ready within a month. When will it be held? Your Majesty will decide."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Yuanzhen's eyes lit up, and the haze brought by the Jiangnan incident just now dissipated for the most part. He smiled and said, "Okay, Huaizhong really acts like the wind, faster than I expected. So, let's set the date for June 5th."

Jiang Zhongnian and Shi Ding were both surprised when they heard this.

Shen Yuan cupped his hands and said, "I obey your command."

Sure enough, Emperor Yuanzhen had actually set the time long ago. Fortunately, Shen Yuan arrived in time. If it had been delayed any further, the emperor would have been disappointed.

The fifth day of June this year happened to be Emperor Yuanzhen’s 48th birthday, and it was also the most suitable day to show his majesty to his subjects.

Shi Ding smiled and said, "Thanks to your majesty, I have the honor to observe the new army formed by Huaizhong."

He and Jiang Zhongnian went to the capital to pay homage, not only to report on their work, but also to wish the emperor a happy birthday.

Emperor Yuanzhen was in a good mood when he heard this.

Shen Yuan, Jiang Zhongnian and Shi Ding were invited by Emperor Yuanzhen to have lunch together.

After dinner, the three of them left the palace together.

On the way out of the palace, Jiang Zhongnian pondered and said, "I heard that Qiu'er is now living in your house. Uncle has only one daughter like this, you must not bully her."

Although he had been in Beijing for two or three days, he had either been preparing to meet the emperor or attended Shen Yuan's wedding yesterday. He had not yet met Jiang Fan and Jiang Qiuer alone.

These words obviously had a hidden meaning, which made Shen Yuan stunned for a moment. He felt like he was being warned by his future father-in-law.

"Uncle, rest assured. My wife and she have been like sisters since we were in Nanjing. I will never let her suffer any injustice."

Shen Yuan's expression remained unchanged, but he felt somewhat guilty. After all, he had hugged and kissed Qiu'er, no matter who took the initiative, it was a fact.

In addition, he used Baochai as an excuse in the hope of lowering Jiang Zhongnian's vigilance, but he always felt something was wrong.

Baochai and Qiu'er are as close as sisters now. If they really become sisters in the future, I wonder who will be embarrassed?

At this time, Shi Ding also imitated Jiang Zhongnian's tone and said in a playful manner: "I heard that my daughter Yun is often with your wife. You must not bully her."

Shen Yuan: “.”

The young man, who was always righteous and gentlemanly, was speechless at this moment. It was because he felt guilty.

"Are you two uncles free to come with me to my house for a gathering?"

Shi Ding's lips moved slightly, but before he could say anything, he heard Jiang Zhongnian say, "Forget about it today. I'll come another day. Ask Qiu'er to come to see me at the West City Posthouse."

Seeing Jiang Zhongnian said so, Shi Ding changed his tone and said, "I will visit you with Governor Jiang another day. Today, I still need to go to Rongguo Mansion to pay my respects to the old lady."

Grandmother Jia is Shi Ding's biological aunt and the person in charge of the Jia family. Logically, he should visit her first.

Shen Yuan didn't say much. He said goodbye to Jiang Zhongnian and went to Ningrong Street with Shi Ding.

(End of this chapter)