Zhao Jiu's memories poured out like water that opened a floodgate, and many thoughts appeared with it... But it is worth mentioning that what flowed out after the gate was opened was not considered a flood, but at most a stream of water.

This is also something that can't be helped.

This year is the seventh year of Jianyan. In other words, Zhao Jiu has lived for a total of twenty-seven years up to this year. And during the twenty-seven years, the experiences of the last seven years gave him the feeling that they accounted for a larger part of his life.

Look.

As for the first twenty years... Not to mention that he was relatively carefree at that time, he didn't have much ability to think deeply before he entered high school? Even after that, he didn't have much time to effectively acquire knowledge, let alone mature.

Cognition and practice.

In addition, there is actually the pain from being slapped in the face.

Let's say that after Zhao Jiu fell into the trap, he was influenced by some low-end games and high-end online articles. It is not that he never tried some so-called golden finger ideas, but his ideas were often disgraced by the ruthless reality and harsh conditions, and in the end he was defeated.

These things stop at the idea stage:

First of all, the impact of the war. Every time you open or close your eyes all day long, it is a matter of life and death. How could you really think about doing this until Yaoshan?

Then there is the fact that personal knowledge is not systematic at all, and piecemeal knowledge cannot form a breakthrough and promote the systematic industry.

Finally, the Song Dynasty was a country with a population of more than 100 million, and its urbanization was relatively in-depth. It had reached a certain extreme beyond productivity in this medieval heyday.

Zhao Jiu said a lot of things, but it turned out that others had already had better practices, but it was just because of lack of money or war that they had to reduce the scale or suspend it... The most representative of these is the medical system.

In a sense, this also includes the financial issues this time.

Back to a few days ago, at the beginning of this month, after Lin Jingmo, the Minister of Revenue, submitted the heavy document, there was actually a letter that followed quickly. In the letter, Lin Jingmo had already planned to issue specific Northern Expedition treasury bonds.

, proper anti-corruption, and even including taxes that directly rob the rich and give to the poor (stock property tax, if the family's property exceeds a certain amount, they must pay tax), were all laid out in front of Zhao Guan's family.

As Lin Jingmo, since he posted this note, it means that the so-called Zhang Deyuan faction behind him has reached an internal consensus and is ready to fight for the Zhao Guan family.

However, whether it was a good thing or a bad thing, Zhao Guanjia himself shrank in comparison to these confidants who were brought out by him, influenced by him, and dared to do anything.

There are certainly reasons to be afraid:

The large-scale issuance of Northern Expedition treasury bonds requires the whole country to have full confidence in the Northern Expedition. Once the confidence of the whole country is not as high as the court thought, and too many are issued, the treasury bonds will become unsaleable, causing officials and people to in turn have a negative impact on the situation through treasury bonds.

The Northern Expedition lost confidence.

That's not all. The most terrible thing is that according to Zhao Jiu's experience, once something goes wrong, it is very likely that the government will deceive the superiors and the inferiors and forcibly apportion the money. At that time, it will not only be a matter of frustration among the people, but also the issue of issuance at the end of the year.

And it will grow steadily, and then the conventional government bond market, which has huge financial adjustment significance, will also be affected.

It might even lead to greater political fluctuations.

As for anti-corruption.

This is a commonplace question...but it is a bit far-fetched, because at this time, the majority of the national finance is on military expenditures, and the imperial army is still under the military system of generals commanding large corps. Under this situation, from

From the commanders down, the officers at every level are almost openly embezzling military funds.

To put it bluntly, if Zhao Guanjia does not completely eliminate corruption in the army, then why should they go to other places?

As for eradicating corruption in the army, it is not impossible, but in that case, the balance of the army must be broken, some generals who can conquer and fight are punished, and some people may even join forces to resist, forcing the court to carry out a vicious routine...

...And this is likely to lead to a large-scale rebound in the previous situation where the nobles were noble and the military was low, causing the Zhao family to completely lose trust in the military, leading to the collapse of the military's combat effectiveness.

In short, in the long run, eradicating corruption will certainly help maintain the military's combat effectiveness, but in the short term, the result will be a rapid decline in the military's combat effectiveness.

But isn't what Zhao Jiu pursues just to maintain combat effectiveness in the short term to ensure that he can make the Northern Expedition at any time?

And this is why Zhao Jiu can only properly clean up some of the troops in the imperial camp under his nose. Most of the time, he has to give instructions time and time again, through imposing on a dozen commanders and dozens of commanders.

Influence, in order to control the problem of corruption within the military.

Of course, to be honest, Zhao Guan's family and the imperial court are really not white lotuses.

After the victory at Yanling, the imperial court immediately balanced the strength of the various armies, and then took the opportunity to send a large number of Jinshi with the army after the Great Enke that year. After the victory at Yaoshan, Lu Yihao immediately wrote a letter requesting to rectify the chaotic situation of the previous "envoys", and then the Zhao Guan family took advantage of the situation.

From Han Shizhong to Yue Fei to Li Yanxian, I picked up all the managers, administrators, governors, governors and so on.

This in itself is an anti-corruption move above all others.

As for raising taxes by robbing the rich to give to the poor, let alone the counterattack and resistance that would arise from having two cows in the family.

Moreover, this kind of specific behavior targeting the wealthy class, combined with the brutal governance methods of the feudal era, is likely to turn into uncontrolled, even expanded, or even misplaced bad governance.

You said that your family's property is not within the tax limit, so I think it's true! If you don't believe it, why don't you ask us to search it?

This has nothing to do with Mr. Wang being the in-laws of Mr. Wang in the county! Mr. Wang is poor, but you are rich! The clay pot in your house is more valuable than the porcelain from Mr. Wang’s house next door!

Oops, my hand slipped, but it doesn't matter, your door is only worth three cents, I'll pay you!

That cow of yours was a sick and dying cow when we went to fetch it. How can it be counted as a live cow?

You have the final say, I have the final say? Didn’t you know that Zhao Guan’s family was planning the Northern Expedition? Are you a Jin spy?

History has proven time and time again that in a state where auditing methods are all manual, this kind of wool-picking behavior that seems to only target the wealthy class will often turn into a cruel persecution of middle-class families.

On the contrary, the real powerful and wealthy will avoid these.

How could Zhao Jiu dare to agree so easily?

However, Zhao Jiu's hesitation and hesitation does not mean that he really rejected these suggestions. He was actually prepared to take these strong measures as a last resort.

He also believed that in this war-torn state, under the purge of the court that had gone through the Baima-Shaoxing Incident, and under the suppression of the powerful imperial army, both the truly wealthy and the middle-class families would be able to endure.

In fact, this official has a dark intention to carry out major crimes and targeted robberies against some powerful and wealthy people in Tokyo, Nanyang and Yangzhou when necessary.

However, the problem is that those are all final options chosen only after having to do so.

As a ruler, Zhao Jiu hopes to maintain some bottom lines, and hopes to use more detailed, clever, and slick means to amass wealth for the Northern Expedition... This is why those contents appeared in the latest issue of Di Bao.

But back to the present, this time, following Xu Jing's words, the Zhao Guan family really felt like they were opening a harmless golden finger.

Because he has realized that the universality of these things he just remembered comes from some institutional innovations in the period before the Industrial Revolution and after the end of the Middle Ages... These things do not need the powerful productivity after the Industrial Revolution as a foundation.

But it definitely goes beyond the scope of the Middle Ages, and is mostly an institutional innovation.

Therefore, these ideas happened to be good things that could have a counterproductive effect on the Song Dynasty at the height of the Middle Ages.

However, as Zhao Jiupu is an ordinary engineering dog, even if he knows a little about similar matters, he certainly doesn't know much.

Commercialization of royal qualifications;

sea ​​flag;

stamp duty;

Northern Expedition Lottery;

Maritime trading company system;

Northern Expedition National Debt;

excess property tax;

Public auction of royal property.

It was still early summer in April, and in the morning, in the stone pavilion of the harem, which was a bit stuffy, Prime Minister Zhao Ding, who had eaten several mulberries so hard that his mouth was stained because of the Zhao family's urging, put down the note in his hand, and then sat there with a complicated look on his face for a long time.

Say nothing.

Not only him, but also beside him were Privy Councilor Zhang Jun, Deputy Provincial Minister Liu Ji, Deputy Privy Councilor Chen Gui, Yushi Zhongcheng Li Guang, Hubu Shangshu Lin Jingmo, and Ministry of Industry Shangshu Hu Yin. The situation was basically similar.

This is not to say that people like Xianggong Zhao don’t understand what these words mean - this is a national matter, and the Zhao Guan family across the way is not here to show off. The latter has already written down the detailed explanations that he racked his brains to come up with.

However, it is precisely because of this that the people on the other side find it incredible.

"How to say?"

Perhaps he was afraid that what he had put together would be rejected for some very naive reasons, so Zhao Jiu rarely lost the calmness of the past, but could not help but urge him.

"Aren't officials just gifted by nature?" Zhang Deyuan, who was sitting on a stone bench, was the first to respond. "Such ingenuity as stamping tax is really amazing, and there is also a lottery..."

Zhao Jiu rarely showed a trace of pride, but soon became habitually solemn.

Stamp tax is actually stamp tax, but the Song Dynasty had a tradition of drawing stamps in addition to stamping, so it was changed to this name that is more in line with the times.

The specific meaning of stamp duty is actually very simple... After private transactions reach the level where a contract is required, whether it is buying or selling a house, property, bulk goods, or private loan, you can ask the court to stamp it and draw a pledge.

But you have to pay tax.

At least it is consistent. If it is more, it will be charged according to the share of the value of the goods, one thousandth, and both parties will pay together.

The beauty of this tax is that it is not a mandatory tax, but a voluntary tax, and it cleverly avoids the poorest people at the bottom.

After all, those who are truly qualified to make these contracts will not be the lowest common people. However, these common people, especially the purchasing party, often take the initiative to ask the seller to come with them to the government in order to ensure the legalization of their property.

Stamp this seal and draw this pledge to ensure the legality of the transaction and avoid unnecessary disputes in the future.

Just imagine, you spent 150 yen to buy a house in Tokyo that you plan to settle down and pass on to your son and grandson. You spent 150 yen and you still don’t want to part with half of the money...According to the market price, it is 3.5 yen.

One hundred and seventy yuan... Are you going to ask for a contract with the official seal to further ensure your ownership of this big house?

So what if I give you a small bribe?

There is a difference in the sense of security between a contract with an official seal and one without, a three-party contract and a two-party contract.

Given the people's superstition on the authority of the government these days, they should be very happy and rush to pay this tax.

It’s indeed an ingenious idea, and it’s absolutely feasible!

On the other side, just when Zhang Deyuan praised the stamp tax, Lin Jingmo, the Minister of Household Affairs, also made a conclusion about the stamp tax in his heart.

However, Lin Shangshu is different from others. He is recognized as an insider. Not only did he make a conclusion on the stamp tax, but he also realized the essence of the piece of paper given by Zhao Guanjia today early, and promptly analyzed the mood of many people present.

There is a guess.

Let's say that Zhao Guan's family has done a lot of fancy things, but in essence they fall into three major categories.

First of all, not only the stamp tax, the Northern Expedition national debt, the sea flag, and the commercialization of royal qualifications are essentially exchanging reputation for money, but the first two are the reputation of the entire court, and the last one is the name of the royal family itself.

The sea flag is a little more complicated, probably due to the common credibility of the court and the royal family.
To be continued...