Chapter 653: Political Consultation
Chapter 653: Political Consultation
The detailed report on Jing County from the Internal Security Bureau and the Ministry of Justice had been sent to Xiao Xia's desk two days ago. The presence of bandits hiding in the mountainous area was an accident, but what Xiao Xia was concerned about was the fate of the Chen family.
The loopholes exposed here made Xiao Xia think deeply. One was the property rights of the wasteland, one was the irregularity of the contract, and the other was the issue of going to Beijing to file a complaint.
That morning, Xiao Xia convened a meeting of the council of ministers. Two days before, Xiao Xia had ordered people to copy all the materials to the six council of ministers.
In the meeting hall of Prince Jin's office, everyone took their seats. Now, people in the Jiangnan Province General Administration Office no longer knelt, but sat on low soft chairs with backrests and armrests on both sides. The table was also slightly higher than before, just enough for legs to fit in, and the space under the table was separated by boards, giving everyone just enough space.
Not only the General Administration's Office, but also county offices throughout the Jiangnan Road began to adopt this type of tables and chairs, and many large and high-end restaurants also used this type of tables and chairs.
After everyone was seated, Xiao Xia smiled and said, "In a few days, we will move back to Jiangdu. Today is our last meeting in Jingkou. After arriving in Jiangdu, everyone will have their own official room and subordinates. If you need to find information or something, you can ask your subordinates to do it."
Everyone understood what the Prince of Jin meant. He wanted to upgrade the level of advisory meetings to that between the aides and the prime minister, which made everyone very excited.
In fact, this system is the Grand Secretary system that was later started by Emperor Zhongzong of Tang.
Xiao Xia coughed lightly, the hall became quiet, and the meeting began.
Xiao Xia then slowly said: "I believe everyone has read the materials sent. The Chen family is a typical example. Although there are other reasons, we don't need to worry about them. Let's just consider the Chen family's experience. In fact, my intention of resettling refugees is to develop the south and increase the population in the south, especially on both sides of the Yangtze River and the Jiangnan Plain. There is sufficient water, fertile land, and the rainy and hot seasons are the same. In the north, it takes 50 acres of land to feed a family of four, but only 10 acres of land in the Yangtze River Basin. I don't want my immigration plan to fail due to institutional reasons. Everyone, please speak up!"
Xiao Xia glanced at Gao Jiong and said with a smile, "Mr. Gao, please speak first!"
Gao Jiong nodded and smiled, "I'll just say a few words to stimulate discussion."
Gao Jiong pondered for a moment and said slowly: "There has never been a system that does not need to be changed from the beginning. The system itself is a process of continuous improvement. When loopholes are found, they are plugged. When better solutions are found, they are modified to adapt. Let me talk about the issue of land deeds for land reclamation. There is no land deed for land reclamation. After the land is reclaimed, it is bought by others. There is indeed a loophole here, but why didn't it happen before?
Because all along, wasteland has to be purchased before it can be reclaimed. Wasteland itself has a title deed. This incident only happened to immigrants from the north. We have preferential treatment for immigrants. After five years of reclaiming wasteland, the land belongs to them. These immigrants do not have to pay to buy it, but the locals have to pay to buy it. There is an injustice here, which is unfair to the locals. Why can't the locals enjoy the benefits of immigration? Once this injustice continues, it will cause confrontation between outsiders and locals over time. Your Highness, first of all, we must solve this injustice. "
Xiao Xia nodded, "Does Mr. Gao have any good ideas?"
Gao Jiong smiled and said, "The solution is very simple. You have to spend money to buy the land, but you can choose the purchase method. You can either pay immediately or use food to pay in installments later. This is fair and takes into account the difficulties of new immigrants who have no money. It is also applicable to poor local families. As long as you work hard, you can own your own land."
Xiao Xia readily agreed, saying that this was exactly the same as financial leasing in later generations and was indeed a good way to encourage land reclamation.
Liu Wenjing also smiled and said, "I fully agree with Mr. Gao's plan. I would like to add a little bit. Farmers need to sign a contract with the government to reclaim wasteland. They cannot just do it whenever they want. This kind of arbitrary reclaiming of wasteland itself has no guarantee. After signing the contract, the government should issue a land deed to the farmer. This kind of land deed is different from the formal land deed. It can be called a temporary land deed or a land deed for reclaiming wasteland. It must be reviewed every year. If the wasteland is not moved within two years, or the wasteland cannot be turned into fertile land within three years, the land deed will be invalid.
With a temporary land deed, there will be no situation where the land is successfully reclaimed but someone else buys it. All the grain required to purchase the wasteland is paid in full, and then the temporary land deed is replaced with a formal contract. "
Zhang Yunqiu also said: "I think there is another important issue that will become a hidden danger if it is not handled properly. I have inquired and found that in many places, the price of wasteland per mu is only one string of money. I am afraid that after the farmers have worked hard to transform it into good farmland, the price of good farmland will become ten strings of money per mu, a price difference of ten times. This will inevitably lead to the mentality of local officials. He will use the excuse that the previous price was incorrect to refuse to reissue the formal land deed, and even ask the farmers to pay more.
I believe that if this issue is not handled properly, it will definitely cause big problems in the future.
In addition, after someone gets wasteland, he does not cultivate it himself but pays others to cultivate it. After it becomes fertile land, he sells it and makes a huge profit in the process.
Or merchants can just plant some crops and then turn the deed of the wasteland into a deed of arable land. The prices of the two types of land are completely different, and it is inevitable that many businesses will emerge to specialize in this business. As long as you seize the loophole, you can make a fortune. "
Zhang Yunqiu's words made everyone realize that once one loophole is plugged, a bigger loophole will appear. So how to solve this problem?
Xiao Xia nodded and said, "Everyone has their own reasons. I'll share my thoughts as well. First of all, we need to make sure that wasteland is not ownerless land. If it is not private land, then it is government land. Every piece of wasteland has a title deed.
Secondly, who is eligible to apply for wasteland reclamation? In the past, refugees could apply, and the per capita area could not exceed 30 mu. In the future, this will be changed. Only soldiers are eligible to apply for wasteland. There should be no temporary land deeds. As long as it is a soldier's land, it is a permanent land. People are profit-seeking. If a soldier gets wasteland, he will definitely cultivate it into mature land. Each soldier will have 50 mu of permanent land, but he can only retire at the age of 50. During his military service, he is exempt from all taxes. "
"What about the wasteland that was previously granted?" Pei Wen'an asked.
"In the past, the land granted had to be used for military service. If one refused to join the army, it would be regarded as renting official land. In addition to paying land tax, one had to pay official rent. If one was willing to join the army, the land would be permanent land. The only son could be a county soldier. If one had brothers, one of them could be a regular soldier and the other a county soldier. The tax burden for county soldiers was halved, and the tax burden for regular soldiers was completely reduced."
Xiao Xia's plan won unanimous agreement from everyone. This was the core of the equal-field system, exchanging land for military service.
The second proposal was about the contract issue. Xiao Xia came up with a plan. It was how the Song Dynasty solved it. All contracts were standard contracts formulated by the government. Private individuals were not allowed to formulate contracts. They had to apply to the government and pay the deed tax before the government would hand over the contract to the private individual.
This involves the second issue, the issue of agents. Not everyone can apply for a contract officially. It must be applied for by an intermediary, who is called a broker.
This is actually an industry that was born when the commodity economy developed to a certain point. It already existed in the Sui Dynasty, but it was far from being as prosperous as that in the Song Dynasty.
Of course, the purpose of the Song Dynasty to formulate official contracts was to collect deed taxes, but Xiao Xia was considering the problem that most people in the Sui Dynasty were illiterate. With official contracts, contract fraud could be prevented, and unfair contracts could be signed by taking advantage of the other party's illiteracy, especially land and house contracts.
(End of this chapter)