Chapter 303: Changes in the Southern Territory, prepare for war!

Chapter 303: Changes in the Southern Territory, prepare for war!

Still following the old rules, the family sat around the dining table and had a meal together. Now, the number of children in the family has increased, and they can already form a small table. Gao Yao even specially ordered his servants to carefully make a set of smaller tables, chairs and benches for the little ones in the family to use.

Lu Zhi gave birth to a son, Lu Su gave birth to a lovely baby girl, Xiaoyue gave birth to a boy, and Yu Shu gave birth to a well-behaved daughter. In this way, Gao Yao can be said to have achieved the real meaning of having both sons and daughters and enjoying the happiness of family.

As time went by and they got along for a long time, Yu Shu had long since abandoned her past complicated and chaotic thoughts, and was content with the status quo and lived in harmony with her family. Xiao Yue was also willing to become Gao Yao's good wife, supporting her husband and raising children, and taking care of the housework. In addition, Gao Yao established an unwritten rule in the mansion: no matter what, the family must gather together for meals.

Among these innocent children, the most favored ones were not the two chubby boys, but the two clever and lovely girls. Especially the daughter born by Yu Shu, the third child, who was now two and a half years old.

Gao Yao personally named this precious daughter - Gao Lingzhen. Although Gao Yao did not stick to many formalities when naming his child, surprisingly, little Gao Lingzhen showed extraordinary intelligence and agility since she was young, which made people love her very much.

Before she was three years old, Gao Lingzhen was already able to express herself fluently, far surpassing the other children of the same age in the Tongling family. More importantly, if she was compared with the four-year-old eldest child in the family, Gao Lingzhen's talent was even more amazing. It was no exaggeration to say that Gao Lingzhen was a rare genius.

When it comes to child prodigies in history, people often think of famous people like Cao Chong and Xiang Tuo. They were extremely intelligent since childhood and showed extraordinary wisdom and talent. However, in fact, there are many other child prodigies hidden in the long river of history that are unknown to the world. Unfortunately, most of them were not lucky enough to thrive. After all, in ancient times, no matter where you are, there is a saying that "a tree that stands out in the forest will be destroyed by the wind." People who are too outstanding often easily arouse the jealousy of others.

Fortunately, there was no need to worry about this in Gao Yao. Including the children born to Lü Zhi, since the children were born, several women in the backyard would take turns to look after these children according to Gao Yao's requirements. Although there was a difference between the biological mother and the non-biological mother, as long as they lived in the same courtyard, everyone would do their best to take good care of the children, even if it was just a superficial effort.

Children have a unique charm. As time goes by, the relationship between them becomes closer. Being with them for a long time naturally develops a deep emotional bond. This is exactly why Gao Yao did this. He doesn't want to cause a fire in the backyard and a family quarrel in the future because of some trivial matters. After all, family harmony is vital to everyone.

As for the fact that the children are currently showing strong interest in certain fields and are eager to learn in depth, since they are still young, the timing is a little too early. However, if they really want to delve into a specific direction in the future, they can be sent to the academy founded by the Four Haos of Shangshan to receive systematic education.

The current Shangshan Sihao Academy not only gathers many teachers with both virtue and art, but even Lu Gong is among them. So far, nearly 200 talents have successfully graduated from the academy and have joined the grassroots jobs in the southern border, constantly improving their abilities and qualities through practical training.

The college founded by Gao Yao not only waives tuition fees, but also has a very low admission threshold, which enables many people to have the opportunity to receive education. The college has a three-month term, and there is a one-month break between each term so that students can adjust their status and consolidate what they have learned.

In addition to the profound knowledge and outstanding talents of the Four Masters of Shangshan, Gao Yao himself was also devoted to cultivating various professional talents. He ingeniously divided the college into three major disciplines: liberal arts, science, and sports.

In terms of physical education, the teaching content covers traditional martial arts skills such as bow, sword, horse, horse, and arrow, while also focusing on cultivating students' strategic thinking ability. Through systematic training, students can not only master the use of various military formations, but also flexibly apply strategies in actual combat to defeat the enemy.

The liberal arts focuses on teaching various artistic skills, such as calligraphy, painting, music, etc., as well as some strategies and wisdom related to civil service. These courses are designed to enhance students' cultural literacy and comprehensive abilities, so that they can be at ease in the future in politics or literature.

As for science, it is not limited to the study of arithmetic, but covers a wide range of contents in the scope of the Ministry of Engineering in later generations. Here, students can be exposed to knowledge in the fields of engineering construction, mechanical manufacturing, astronomy and calendar, laying a solid foundation for their future employment in related industries.

More importantly, Gaoyao further divides each subject into three different levels: low, medium and high. Only when students reach the high level are they eligible to apply for practical work. However, Gaoyao does not impose strict restrictions on study time.

If someone is gifted and has outstanding abilities and can complete their studies and graduate successfully within just one year, it is naturally a reflection of their personal strength. This relaxed and flexible school system arrangement fully stimulates the enthusiasm and initiative of the students, allowing everyone to set the most suitable study time according to their own situation.

In terms of commercialization, the commercialization process of the entire southern region has advanced by at least a thousand years compared to the standards followed by the Qin Dynasty. Gao Yao is well aware of its importance and has even formulated relevant laws and regulations for this purpose. It was only after Prince Gao proclaimed himself the King of Qin that Gao Yao had enough confidence and power to completely abandon the original business management system and implement a new, more advanced and reasonable system.

Gao Yao did not deliberately improve the social status of merchants. He adhered to the concept of "merchants are people, people are merchants", believing that there is no essential difference in status between the two. At the same time, he also greatly reduced the original collection mode of commercial tax. In the previous commercial tax system, local governments usually collected nearly 30% to 50% of profits as taxes. This high tax has had a serious inhibitory effect on commercial activities, and this situation has continued. From the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Jin Dynasty, the pressure of commercial taxes has always existed.

Take the Three Kingdoms period as an example. There were many famous merchants at that time, such as Mi Zhu, Zhen Jia and Lu Su. Although they had huge wealth and extensive business networks, in fact, most of them were limited to a certain region, attached to a certain monarch, and carried out business activities within a specific range. It was almost impossible for their business to cover the whole country, and an important factor leading to this situation was the heavy tax burden.

The profit from a single business deal was 100 guan! A full half of it would be taken away directly. Even so, the remaining half would not all fall into the merchant's pocket, because he also had to consider various expenses such as food for people and horses.

And this does not include the risks, damage and wear of goods during the journey. You know, these costs are not cheap! Because of these reasons, it is impossible for the world to have super merchants who travel all over the world. For those caravans engaged in long-distance trade, the situation is even more grim. They often work hard, but in the end they can only earn a few dollars, and even if they are not careful, they may even lose their lives.

It is worth mentioning that under the new business tax policy vigorously advocated and implemented by Gaoyao, the way merchants pay taxes has undergone earth-shaking changes. The previous model of taking almost half of the profits as business tax has become history, and it has been replaced by a method of taking a certain percentage of commission based on the transaction amount.

This change means that the original one-way taxation has now evolved into a two-way collection - whether it is the buyer or the seller, as long as there is a transaction, they will face the obligation to pay business tax. However, fortunately, the total tax rate that both parties need to bear is only 10%.

However, it should be noted that what is mentioned here is not 10% of the profit, but a full 10% of the transaction amount! In this way, merchants will naturally prefer to sell those expensive items, such as silk and wine. Because the profit of such goods is quite lucrative, often reaching more than twice the cost. Even if one party has to bear this 10% fee alone during the transaction, it may have certain disadvantages to the overall development from a long-term perspective.

But for the current southern border, it is undoubtedly a great joy, as it can allow local goods to be sold to other places at a faster speed. After all, in the face of the temptation of huge profits, many merchants are willing to take risks to cross mountains and rivers to engage in business activities even in the face of war. At the same time, Gao Yao also cleverly monopolized almost all food, salt, iron and various mineral resources under his control.

Moreover, the policy of public ownership of land he promoted played a crucial role, almost completely cutting off the potential for the emergence of aristocratic families due to land issues in the future. This forward-looking measure undoubtedly laid a solid foundation for the stability and prosperity of the southern border.

The common people rented land from the government or landlords for cultivation, and the rent of these lands was unexpectedly low. At the end of each year, the government would carefully formulate the land rent standard for the next year based on the grain price situation of the previous year. This flexible and humane system brought great convenience to the common people.