At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty

Collecting taxes in the upstream of commercial operations is tantamount to indirectly drawing a sum from the profits of commercial operations, mainly responsible for the maintenance of roads throughout the country.

As for the toll, it will naturally be passed on to the downstream of commercial operations, that is, the consumers.

However, these days, what merchants travel to sell is basically high-value luxury goods, and the consumption terminals are also local rich and powerful, and have nothing to do with ordinary people.

The necessities consumed by ordinary people, such as food, salt and iron, cloth, etc., do not need to be sold thousands of miles away, and can often be provided locally, and the price generally does not include tolls.

Even if there is, it is minimal, and basically does not harm the interests of the people at the bottom.

Doing so is actually tantamount to extending the imperial court's hand to these fat merchants and dignitaries, touching them, passing through their clothes, and rubbing oil on their fat pork belly, which will damage their interests.

Therefore, when this system was promoted, it was opposed by many local tycoons and some imperial officials who still existed at that time.

Of course, in the end it was forced to go on, and the people who stopped Guo Peng from promoting this policy were either dead or reformed.

As a result, the Taxation Department of the Ministry of Finance has also embarked on the path of a powerful department, but it has not yet mastered the armed forces and cannot be called a male position.

Once this department has mastered the armed forces, and the head is still the emperor's cronies, then this powerful department can logically become the meat-cutting knife in the hands of the emperor, cutting the flesh of the world's dignitaries.

The road control card is relatively calm and orderly, and everyone queues up quietly, neither fighting nor grabbing, neither pushing nor crowding -- mainly because there are armed people watching.

At that time, the country's finances were difficult, and Guo Peng had no extra budget to arm the tax department. He had to ask local armed forces to assist him, and there were several tax corruption incidents involving local armed forces.

Now that Guo Jin has money, he can push the local armed forces out of the tax system and build an armed force that belongs to the tax system alone.

Now it is still local armed forces assisting tax collectors to collect taxes. In the future, well-trained and powerful armed tax collectors will stay here, holding steel knives and crossbows and asking these merchants to collect tolls.

Every time you pass a certain distance, there will be a small checkpoint in front of you, and you will encounter one in about half a day, and the frequency is not bad.

The tax collectors I met were still conscientious, at least they were very proactive in collecting taxes, and their eyes were shining when they saw the passing merchants coming.

According to Guo Peng's understanding, the Taxation Department still has some welfare regulations on the income of tax collectors, such as calculating welfare based on head count.

Every time a group of tolls to and from merchants are charged, detailed records are made, and when the monthly settlement is made afterwards, the tax collectors can get a certain amount of income from it.

The more you collect, the more careful and active you are, the higher the tax collector's income will be.

In Guo Peng's view, this kind of incentive policy still has some positive significance, at least it can mobilize their enthusiasm.

Moreover, there are a large number of toll checkpoints and relatively low fees, which to a considerable extent curbs the motivation of caravans to bribe tax collectors.

With so many tax collectors and such low tolls, you still pay bribes. Bribe one, and the next ten are waiting for you. Do you want to bribe them one by one?

In this way, there will be no motivation to bribe, and everyone will pay tolls honestly, and tax collectors will collect tolls honestly.

This amount of money accumulates little by little, and the seemingly astronomical road maintenance fees are accumulated little by little every year, basically without using the national treasury additionally.

Had it been necessary, it would have surely alerted the Emperor—what was wrong, whether there was corruption, or some military action that had reduced tax revenue.

At least for the moment, the stable internal political and military environment of the Wei Empire and the greatly improved transportation environment have enabled the rapid development of commerce.

The overland Silk Road in the west and the Maritime Silk Road in the southeast sea go hand in hand, resulting in an endless stream of caravans traveling along the two golden routes.

Liangzhou, which used to be desolate, with few people and more chaotic wars, has completely restored peace and order.

If an old Liangzhou native from 20 years ago saw the current Liangzhou, he would definitely not believe that this is Liangzhou, and would definitely say that someone lied to him.

During Guo Peng's journey, not every official in every place will meet, but some officials will be selectively selected to meet.

For example, Ma Bo, the prefect of Zhangye County, was born in the first imperial examination. The Ma family came from a small scholar family in Yanzhou.

Guo Peng met him, asked him about his achievements and style of work, and then talked with him about the changes that had taken place in Liangzhou over the years.

According to his description, the four counties in Hexi and even the whole Liangzhou developed mainly after [-] years in Yande.

When a major corruption case broke out in Liangzhou, a large number of old bureaucrats fell in Liangzhou. Afterwards, a large number of new bureaucrats selected by the imperial examination went to Liangzhou to take office, restoring the chaotic administrative order in Liangzhou.

Later, Mao Jie, the governor of Liangzhou at the time, put forward a new policy, calling on all counties to learn from the policy of Zhuge Liang, the prefect of Dunhuang County at that time, focusing on commerce and supplementing agriculture.

He called on everyone to pay attention to urban construction, relax restrictions on the operation of catering and accommodation in the city, and encourage the opening of more catering and accommodation stores.

And encourage them to place orders with Tuntian farms in agricultural areas outside the city, buy more surplus food, dishes and poultry raised by farmers from Tuntian farms, and supply them to catering stores in the city, so as to make the catering and accommodation industries bigger and stronger .

At the same time, it can also bring an extra income to the farmers in the Tuntian farm, and everyone who has money can earn it together.

Mao Jie also asked counties and counties to pay attention to service quality, attract more merchants to settle in the city instead of sleeping in the wilderness, and earn more money from them to increase people's income, so as to drive the development of Liangzhou, which lacks economic vitality. develop.

This started the process of Liangzhou moving towards a new development path.

"I knew about this matter. Later, Mao Jie's remarks caused an uproar in the court. Many people accused Mao Jie of forgetting the ancestral motto of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing business. They said that Mao Jie was engaged in the way of subjugation. Mao Jie's melodies are piled up so high."

Guo Peng made a gesture over his head, which made Ma Bo laugh happily.

"At that time, I remember that many Shangguan were very afraid, thinking that Mao Shijun was risking the world's disgrace by doing so, challenging the ancestral precept of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing business, and trouble would soon come.

At that time, many people were discussing in private when Mao Shijun would be arrested and held accountable by people from Luoyang, so apart from Dunhuang County and Wuwei County, no other county could keep up, and everyone was waiting and watching. "

Ma Bo recalled the weird political situation in Liangzhou at that time.

Guo Peng nodded.

"At that time, I also considered the overall situation and the people's hearts, and felt that I could not openly support Mao Jie. I felt that the few frontier states with inhospitable climate were indeed not suitable for the development of agriculture, and it did not matter to engage in business.

If other inland agricultural states are encouraged to do the same thing, it will be a waste of money. The inland states have fertile land, suitable climate, and do not develop agriculture, but are envious of the high income of a few states in developing commerce. They will follow suit. Sooner or later Everyone in the world will be hungry. "

"The Supreme Emperor is farsighted."

Ma Bo slapped a lot of flattery, and then said with a smile: "The Supreme Emperor naturally thinks far-reaching, but many people don't think so. Later, the court came to investigate Mao Shijun, and many people were waiting to see Mao Shijun. In the end, I feel that the governor of Liangzhou is going to be replaced."

Guo Peng nodded, lost in memory.

"At that time, Gu allowed the three divisions to form a joint investigation team to investigate Mao Jie in Liangzhou. It was because of this consideration. If Mao Jie wanted to risk the world's disgrace to engage in business, he must stand the test. If he had problems himself, then If you do it, you won't be able to stand at all.

At that time, if someone is jealous of him and wants to frame him, there is no need to make any charges. As long as the third division investigates him according to the formal procedures, a small charge can ruin his Liangzhou New Deal, and also destroy the courage of countless newcomers.

Those who dare to risk the disgrace of the world must first be clean enough to withstand any investigation, and then they can gain a foothold on key issues, so as not to be brought down because of personal morality. "

chapter 1527 one thousand four hundred and forty-seven devastating effects

Anyone who wants to implement policy innovation must either be the emperor himself, or he must be a powerful minister with sufficient power and himself invulnerable.

When the policy needs to be reformed, there will inevitably be many [water workers] who rely on the policy to survive, and they are the natural enemies of the reform.

Even the emperor would have a headache if they touched their interests.

Because as long as you are human, as long as you are willing to give up your life, you have the right to rebel and overthrow the table.

Except for the founding emperor, Rongma, who held power throughout his life and was not afraid of any challenges, the other emperors had to weigh whether the power in their hands was enough. If it was not enough, it would be difficult to say the result.

And if it is a powerful minister, it will be even more difficult. In addition to gaining the emperor's trust, he also has to face unlimited firepower from interest groups and endless frame-ups and slanders.

It is said that you are corrupt, that you are corrupt, that you are disregarding human life, that you are lawless, that you are lustful, that you are greedy for alcohol, that you have a problem with your sexual orientation, that you have an improper relationship with your relatives, and so on.

Even if you die, you won’t be spared. Anyway, if you open your mouth, they will frame you up in the middle of the night to commit adultery, and then go back to lie down and die on the spot. Isn’t it just a mouth anyway?

So if you are not strong enough, clean enough, or neat enough, then don't try to promote reform.

Even if it is only a small reform, it is necessary to have a passionate confrontation with the [Water Workers].

The greater the number of water workers, the more difficult the reform and the higher the probability of failure. When the number of water workers reaches a certain level, it cannot be solved by reform.

Want a revolution.

Although Mao Jie had no subjective sense of reform, what he did was only for his own future, but objectively, he led the first innovation action of the Wei Empire.

In addition to the traditional agricultural economy, a certain commodity economy should be developed on top of the agricultural economy, injecting economic vitality into areas with underdeveloped agriculture, and loosening the constraints on commercial development in a certain sense.

This is the original state of a development model tailored to local conditions.

Therefore, what Mao Jie challenged was not an interest group in the general sense, but a rigid thinking.

A kind of conservative thinking that puts emphasis on agriculture and suppresses commerce to the extreme, and despises commerce so much that it does not allow any new things to appear.

The strength of this conservative force is not only reflected in the economic level, but also in the political and cultural levels. It exists not only in reality, but also in people's hearts. It is more difficult to deal with than interest groups.

Therefore, if Mao Jie is not clean enough, he will be overthrown in minutes, criticized, killed as an example, and warned the latecomers severely-don't think about innovation.

Only when Mao Jie is clean enough can he resist the first round of the old school's offensive, otherwise he will not even be able to survive the first round.

After understanding what Guo Peng meant, Ma Bo said he was taught.

"So Mr. Mao survived the crisis unharmed and continued to insist on the new policy and asked counties and counties to follow suit. Wang Can, Minister of the Ministry of Finance, made a statement. He said that Liangzhou's new policy is quite far-sighted. If you can try it, you may have unexpected gains.

The news spread to the governors in Liangzhou before they breathed a sigh of relief. They felt that they would not be criticized for doing so, so they really went ahead. Except for Dunhuang County and Wuwei County, the rest of the counties also began to implement Mao Shijun's plan.

After that, all the counties have established a policy of commerce as the mainstay and agriculture as the supplement. They set up restaurants and hotels in the city, and ordered a large number of agricultural products from the farms outside the city to provide them to merchants, so as to increase income. Over the years, it has indeed paid off. Quite abundant. "

Guo Peng laughed.

"Gu knows, that's why Wang Can was asked to come forward and Wang Can came forward to support. Without the approval and support of the people in the court, those brains in Liangzhou would not dare to really do it.

This matter involved too much, and Mao Jie couldn't handle it alone. If something went wrong and he was investigated and liquidated, everyone would be unlucky, and they were reluctant to bear their official positions. "

"The Supreme Emperor is wise."

Ma Bo cupped his hands and said, "Liangzhou's commerce is booming now, and some of the money has been invested in the farms outside the city to help them reclaim more wasteland and expand the scale of production. Now the agricultural production of Liangzhou's counties is higher than that of Yande. Eight years ago there was a big improvement."

"This is the benefit, the benefit of commercial innovation visible to the naked eye."

Guo Peng picked up the tea bowl and took a sip, and said slowly: "If more people can benefit, a virtuous circle will be realized. Business development will feed back agriculture, agriculture will also develop, and farmers will also earn money, but..."

"but?"

Ma Bo looked at Guo Peng.

"Everything has two sides. There is no absolute thing. A thing has a good side, but also a bad side. It must be viewed dialectically."

Guo Peng put down his tea bowl and looked at Ma Bo: "The development of Liangzhou, including the Western Regions, is almost entirely due to commerce. The large number of merchants and the large number of goods ordered have supported the development of the Western Regions and Liangzhou. Can drive the development of Yongzhou.

But you have to be clear, the reason why these merchants appear in large numbers is because the Kushan Kingdom and the Anxi Kingdom in the west need our goods, and their dignitaries and wealthy merchants order our goods, so there will be so many merchants. to here.

It seems that everything is fine, but once something happens to Guishuang Kingdom and Anxi Kingdom, something goes wrong inside them, and those wealthy and wealthy merchants who are willing to buy our goods disappear. Tell me, what will happen to us here? "

"…………"

Marble was stunned for a while.

He really didn't think that far.

"Your Majesty, will this... have a big impact?"

"It can even be devastating."

Guo Peng's face was serious: "If those rich and wealthy merchants themselves are gone, and what happened in Guishuang Kingdom and Anxi Kingdom, such as what happened in our place at the end of the former Han Dynasty, do you think there will be so many merchants coming from the west and going to the west? ?

They don't come, and there is no money to send over. Whose business is our store doing?Who does the wine shop sell wine to?Who will live in the hotel?Who will eat the food?Who will buy silk, lacquer and porcelain tea? "

Ma Bo thought for a moment and was startled.

To be honest, his level does not allow him to think about these issues at the national strategic level, and he himself did not take the initiative to consider the connection between the two.

He just looked at the present and continued to guide the developed merchants in the city to sign agreements with the farms outside the city to sell the surplus agricultural products outside the city to the city, so that the farmers could make more money, and the merchants would sell more and pay more taxes.

With his identity and status as a county magistrate, and with his own reputation as his responsibility, he called on everyone to sit down under his auspices, talk face to face, be kind and happy, and signed the agreement.

Then those who should pay should pay, those who should deliver goods should deliver goods, and those who should do business should do business.

With money, farmers can take the initiative to reclaim wasteland and expand production scale. With money, merchants can also expand the size of their stores. The government can provide more public services with more taxes. Three aspects achieve healthy development.

Then officials can let the court pay attention to their political achievements, so as to give themselves a chance to improve.

I don't think about it, and I don't have time to think about it.

He travels to and from various counties and farms every day, discussing with them, matching them, and witnessing their cooperation.

He is definitely a diligent prefect, but he has never thought about this issue.

Once there are not so many business travelers coming, whose business will the restaurants and hotels in the city be doing?

Who are the surplus agricultural products in the Tuntian farms outside the city to sell to?

Who can afford this part of the transaction amount?

Obviously, something is going wrong.

He absolutely could not have imagined how much this kind of world-wide economic connection would bring to the export-oriented economy, because he had never experienced it, and this link did not exist in his consciousness.

This situation will even span thousands of miles of sea and more than ten years, bringing about a butterfly effect.

For example, the Battle of Bozhou, one of the three major Wanli expeditions in the late Ming Dynasty.

One of the important reasons why the Yang family in Bozhou rebelled was that the Spaniards who had been sending silver to the Ming Dynasty at that time were finished.