Chapter 166 A wake-up call

Chapter 166 A wake-up call

Chapter 166 A wake-up call
Worse than shit...

In the private room, Han Zhou's expression froze.

At this moment, even with his "gentlemanly demeanor", he could hardly suppress the anger that suddenly surged in his heart.

No one could accept that the "Ten Strategies" that one had painstakingly worked on for several years and compiled for several months, and which were praised by the Grand Master of the time, were denigrated to this extent by a military man.

"Lord Zhao, may I ask why Han's strategy is so unacceptable to you?" said Wang Anshi of Dayu.

Zhao Duan looked at his reaction with great interest and said calmly:
"You think my evaluation is too low? It's unacceptable. If that's the case, don't come out and ask for a review."

Han Zhou took a deep breath, calmed himself down, and said seriously:

"Han has lost his composure. It's not that I can't stand bad comments, it's really..."

"First," Zhao Duan didn't bother to listen to his explanation and went straight to the point:
“Governors should adapt to local conditions and any strategy should be based on the current situation.

There is no policy that will never change. Otherwise, there would be no need for Your Majesty to plan new policies. You must understand this simple truth.

Then I want to ask, what do you think of the current situation of the Great Yu Dynasty? Is the foundation solid?
The imperial power is dispersed, the clans are numerous, the internal factions are constantly fighting, the opposition of the second prince is resurrected frequently, and the Eighth Prince is eyeing them covetously...

Although there have been great improvements in the two years since Your Majesty ascended the throne, the time is too short after all, and outside the capital, there are always doubts from the people...

In this situation, how can we withstand drastic reforms? Your ten policies are too radical. "

Han Zhou was not surprised to hear this.

Because this point is also what the other scholars in Xiuwenguan are worried and questioning about.

Too radical.

It was completely within his expectations that Zhao Duan would raise this question.

He immediately said sincerely:

"What the envoy is worried about is indeed a drawback. However, in an emergency, the envoy has to act on his duty in the imperial court and does not know the local area well.

In fact, the imperial court is now in a financial deficit. The capital is the capital of the Great Yu State and the richest place. At a glance, it still looks magnificent, but outside the capital, it is already shaky and the treasury is empty. The imperial court needs a huge amount of money every year...

My Lord, this matter is urgent. There are indeed softer strategies, but how can we wait?

You said that the current emperor has only been on the throne for a short time and his foundation is not yet stable. This is the truth.

But on the other hand...ha, I am risking my life to say something disrespectful today, how can you be sure that if you continue to allow the finances to deteriorate, things will get better in a few years?

By the time the imperial court is unable to pay salaries and food, it will be too late!
Now, Your Majesty, with the momentum of ascending the throne, may be able to push forward the new policy. But when the disease is really terminal, even if you want to operate, it will be impossible. "

As he spoke, Han Zhou's tone became a little excited.

He took another breath, stared at Zhao Duan, and said sincerely:

"Sir, everything has a price. I know the ten policies are radical, but we should choose the lesser of two evils... Besides, I have also said that the implementation of the new policy will not be radical, but the strategy will be radical, but the means will be gentle..."

Zhao Duan sneered and shook his head:
"The strategy is radical, but the means are gentle... The scholar is taking things for granted. I'm afraid he has stayed in the Imperial Academy for too long and is no longer aware of the suffering of the people below."

Han Zhou said excitedly: "I am not from a noble family, and I have lived in poverty..."

"But you're not now,"

Zhao Duan interrupted him, holding the wine cup, and pointed to the elegant private room:

"This kind of restaurant."

He pointed at the food and drinks on the table:
"These kinds of dishes are not something that ordinary people can afford.

I have experienced hardships in my life, and I also believe that you have the ambition and courage to do something for the world.

But I still say that the bachelor has been in the noble position of Hanlin for too long. Even if he visits the local areas, what he sees is not the real grassroots people.

In this way, your ideas have long since transcended the mundane world."

Zhao Duan sneered:
"Gentle means? Oh, you can control this degree, and some of the people you are looking for may also be able to control this degree, but...how many people can they?
The implementation of the new policy will inevitably require countless low-level officials and even clerks from the nine provinces and eighteen prefectures to take charge! To execute it!

Do you think they can still hold this line?
I dare to make a statement that the moment the new policy left Xiuwenguan, it had already changed!

The further you go down, the more the pressure will be. A grain of sand you throw out in the capital will become a mountain by the time it reaches the heads of the people!"

Han Zhou blushed and tried to defend himself:
"We can introduce supervision. Each local government office will have supervisory officials, and we can also send out imperial censors to patrol..."

Zhao Duan sneered:
"Supervision? How to supervise? Well, even if you can find enough obedient supervisory officials and send them out to ensure that the new policies are passed on to local government offices without change, what will happen next?
Do you believe that the people below have ten thousand ways to turn the new policy into a way to make profits? "

He held the chopsticks, pointed to a plate of stir-fried green sprouts on the table, and said:

"Let's take the first of your ten strategies, the so-called Spring and Autumn Tax System, as an example. You said that whenever there was a shortage of food, the court would borrow money from the people to buy grain seeds..."

Han Zhou was also provoked and raised his head and said:

"Yes. I have visited the people. Whenever there is a shortage of crops, the people can only borrow money from the landlords or merchants to survive. After working hard for a year and paying back the money, the remaining money is only enough to fill their stomachs.

If there is a disaster, they can't even pay it back because of the high interest rates charged by the people! If the court borrows money, the interest rate can be kept low, preventing thieves from exploiting the people. Isn't that beneficial to the country and the people?"

He spoke with confidence and passion.

Zhao Duan sneered and said:
"It's a nice idea. If I were a local clerk, I would just wait for the peasants to borrow money from the government, then I would collude with the merchants and use gambling houses, wine shops, brothels, etc. to lure them to spend the borrowed money.

A considerable number of farm children had money in their hands, which they could neither refuse nor keep.

In this way, it does not violate the court's laws, and all the court's funds are divided up. I ask you, can the censors monitor this?"

Han Zhou was speechless!

He was stunned for a moment, and wanted to say, how could all the officials in the court be as bad as you...

But he didn't say this, because he thought of the appearance of the rural clerks he saw when he was poor... Well, those low-level officials were indeed capable of doing such things.

Zhao Duan continued:

"No, no, no, this method is not even clever enough.

As far as I know, wine is also the business of the court, right? Then all we need to do is to use the money we give out to entice those young men to spend it on the wine sold by the court.

In this way, the money went around in a circle, and every level of officials in the middle could make some money. Even the officials in charge of selling wine could use this to make the account numbers look good and ask for credit from their superiors..."

Han Zhou was speechless, shocked by this fancy operation that he had never imagined.

This was beyond his comprehension.

But Zhao Duan knew that these outrageous operations actually happened in history after the implementation of the Qingmiao Law.

There are even more extreme ones than this.

Zhao Duan hadn't finished yet. He picked up his chopsticks and pointed to another dish of meat on the table. He said:
"Besides, your exemption law is even more ridiculous."

Han Zhou argued:
"The people suffer from corvée labor. Now, as long as those who were supposed to serve in the past pay a certain amount of immunity money, the government can use this money to hire others who did not serve in the past. In this way, isn't it a way for everyone to get what they need?"

Zhao Duan sneered:
"Everyone takes what they need? Let me ask you, what about the rent and labor service tax?"

The so-called "zuyongdiao" is a general term for various taxes levied on the people by Dayu, which is a kind of taxation regulation.

According to the history that Zhao Duan was familiar with, it was also practiced during the Sui and Tang dynasties.

Zhao Duan said:

"Your Ten Strategies only mentioned exemption from military service, but did not abolish Dayu's tax collection method. The "yong" in the rent, labor and tax system originally required the people to perform corvée labor.

On one hand, you demand payment to be exempted from military service, while on the other hand, the tax system remains unchanged.

In this way, wouldn't the people who are supposed to serve be taxed twice? They have to perform corvée labor and pay money to be exempted from corvée labor... It's ridiculous!"

Han Zhou broke out in a cold sweat when he heard this.

This was indeed an oversight on his part.

The real reason was that Dayu's tax laws were a mess, with various taxes mixed together. Han Zhou had never worked in the Ministry of Revenue, so he had never thought of this.

Then, Zhao Duan mercilessly refuted the various shortcomings of his ten strategies one after another, leaving Han Zhou unable to respond.

Finally, Zhao Duan stared at him with a stern tone:

“However, what I said above is not the key point.

The real core problem is that your ten policies, seemingly for the country and the people, are actually nothing more than using various means to get all the money of all people into the hands of the court, just like a mosquito sucking blood!

what is this?
It's nothing more than four words: competing with the people for profit!"

Zhao Duan sighed. This was also the most touching thing for him when he looked through the history of feudal dynasties in his previous life.

Throughout the dynasties, it has always been a group of people who have divided up the limited wealth, with the strong becoming richer and the weak becoming poorer.

These ten strategies are nothing more than trying to get the imperial court to take down the most ruthless party in the division and exploit everyone outside the imperial court.

This will achieve the goal of filling the treasury in the short term.

Wang Anshi's reforms were essentially a set of methods whose sole purpose was to make money.

Zhao Duan concluded:
“To compete with the people for profit is to push everyone to the opposite side of the court. Once the ten strategies are successfully implemented, the national treasury will certainly be quickly filled, but at the same time, the people of the world will regard the court as an enemy and Your Majesty as a robber!

Instead of being stable, the country will become increasingly unstable. At this time, as long as the rebel party of Kuangfu spread this matter and make the people hate Your Majesty, the Eighth Prince can take out some benefits and distribute them to the people under his rule to win over the hearts of the people.

"When the time comes, who do you think people will agree with as the emperor of the Great Yu Dynasty? Your Majesty who exploits them? Or the thief who buys people's hearts?"

Zhao Duan pressed his chopsticks heavily on the table, looked down at the number one talent in front of him, and said coldly:

"So, I say this is a policy that will harm the country and is worse than dog shit. Am I wrong?"

Is there anything wrong?!

At this moment, Zhao Duan's calm voice sounded like thunder to Han Zhou's ears.

The brain of this scholar, who had been in the limelight in Xiuwenguan today and had the potential to become a prime minister in the future, went blank and his back was soaked with cold sweat!

An indescribable fear came over me.

In front of Han Zhou's eyes, he seemed to see that after the ten strategies were implemented, people all over the world were exploited and money flowed into the capital like a river.

Along with it, there were countless pairs of hateful eyes, unfurled flags, burning beacons and wolf smoke, and the blood that soaked the Hunhe River.

At this moment, he seemed to be hit by a bolt from the blue and his face turned pale.

He suddenly woke up from his mysterious self-confidence and his body shook.

long silence.

He suddenly picked up the wine cup in front of him, raised his head, and drank it all in one gulp.

Shit?
It seems...right.

Han Zhou closed his eyes painfully, then opened them again, exhaled a breath of alcohol, and said self-deprecatingly:
"Listening to your words is worth ten years of reading. I will learn from your great talent. I will learn from you!"

Thanks to godess-moon for the 1500 points reward!



(End of this chapter)