Promotion Letter for the Chief Executive

"Actually, you might as well agree to them." Pingan said to Zhao Can, "Anyway, there is no place to arrange them in the country. If you can find a way out by yourself, it's not too bad."

"That's the reason. It's just to operate, but it involves many aspects." Zhao Can said.

They are going to open up a new country, and it is impossible to go there alone. Do you want to bring the army?Do the people want to bring it?Do you want to bring all kinds of tools and talents?

After these people and things are taken away by them, they will naturally not return them.It is impossible to have no influence on Da Chu, and it is a relatively complicated matter to arrange all these.In addition, these sites will nominally be under the control of the Great Chu in the future, but no one can tell exactly how, and if they bite back in the future, the Great Chu will have to guard against it.

Zhao Can is not afraid of these things, it's just that he has to think carefully.

Ping An nodded and said, "That's right. But if you really want to let them go out, you can't do it in a hurry. You need to go through a lot of preparations in advance, and these can be arranged."

First of all, at least after Zhao Jie came back this time and figured out the map and current situation along the road, he could make arrangements based on these conditions.And since Zhao Can was worried that they would dominate overseas, wouldn't it be enough to arrange a few more people in one place?

Anyway... the royal family surnamed Zhao has nothing else but a large population. Sending them all out may not be enough for the whole earth.

Hearing what Ping An said, Zhao Can didn't know what expression to show for a moment.

"Well, what you said is also reasonable. Although the outside world is vast, it is not innumerable. Besides, our country is strong and powerful, and there are many small countries around it. I think the overseas land, Probably about the same." Finally he said.

Anyway, the pre-arrangement will take a long time. How to coordinate these people and let them restrain each other can always be arranged slowly.Besides, they put their minds on the outside, so naturally they will no longer covet their own position, and the country will be able to settle down.

Most importantly, it will take a long time to stabilize overseas.Maybe I may not be able to do it in my lifetime.So even if they develop really well and have the ability to invade Dachu in the future, it will be hundreds of years later.

Although Zhao Can really hoped that Da Chu would last forever, he also understood that this was impossible.

From ancient times to the present, the longest dynasty is only 800 years, and half of it is actually divided, and the princes are in charge of their own affairs.As for other dynasties, Guozuo was only three to five hundred years old.

So hundreds of years later, it is really hard to say whether Da Chu is still around.Worrying about what happened at that time seems unfounded.

After figuring this out, Zhao Can also felt that it would be a good thing to be able to use this method to resettle some clans.Anyway, Da Chu already has enough food now, and in the future it is only necessary to encourage the people to live more.Even if the clans had to take part of the population with them when they left, they would be able to make up for it after 20 years.

On this point, Ping An disagrees.

"Although a larger population means stronger national strength, I think that instead of having more children, it is better to focus on improving tools." If you enter an industrialized society, you will naturally need less manpower.

Although this is also a relatively long process, it is better than blindly giving birth.

For such things as having a child, Ping An still feels that if you can afford it, you will have it if you want to. ——But having said that, in ancient times, it was already enough to pursue more children and more blessings. There have always been only those who want to have more children, and it is rare to not want to have children.It is common for a family to have six or seven children, so there is no need to continue to encourage them, so as not to have too many children and cause too much damage to the mother.

In the end, Zhao Can was persuaded by Ping An.

Therefore, after Ping An, we will focus on two things. The first is the improvement of thermal weapons.With a small population, the number of troops will inevitably decrease. If the fighting methods are not reformed, they will not have an advantage in facing the grassland cavalry.

At this stage, hot weapons naturally have a suppressive effect on cold weapons.After the army is equipped with hot weapons, they will naturally not be afraid of the prairie people.

The second is the study of the steam engine.

Momentum is indispensable to the development of industrial society, or it is a part of laying the foundation.Only with it can the industrial revolution begin, let machines replace people to do some simple things, and free most of the hands to do other things.

In fact, Ping An has been preparing for this matter, but because there are too many things on it, it has been doing things before and after, and did not focus on it.After all, even the industrial revolution requires a relatively stable and peaceful environment, and preliminary preparations are also very important.

Now that most of the groundwork has been paved, Zhao Can has basically completely controlled the country, and with his support, Ping An can finally devote himself to this matter.

Of course, the improvement of population quality cannot be ignored.Since the population is small, everyone will become a very important strategic resource.

Now Dachu can purchase grain from overseas, and domestic grain production is also increasing.In this case, it is very important to reduce the agricultural population and train some of them to do other things.

No matter which one of these things is, it cannot be done in a short time.Therefore, Ping An only discussed with Zhao Can, and the specific matters can only be dealt with slowly.

The most urgent thing to do now is another thing.

The fleet of the imperial court went to sea and brought back countless special products from overseas. These things are very rare in Dachu, so the price is naturally very enviable.Especially in Jiangnan, many big businessmen have already smelled business opportunities from it.

It's just that this is something of the imperial court, and they dare not make any plans.After all, not to mention the current Zhao Can, even the late emperor who had a milder personality in the past could not tolerate someone provoking the authority of the royal family.

But the imperial court eats meat, so it's not impossible for them to drink some soup along with it!

So not long after the envoy's team entered the capital, a memorial was posted on the Jiangnan side, which caught Zhao Can's attention.

The commerce in Jiangnan is well developed, and the merchants are naturally richer than other places.Qian and Quan have always been closely related, and their relationship with the Jiangnan officialdom can be imagined.So the memorial sent by Jiangnan this time is to convey the meaning of these merchants.

"The merchants in the south of the Yangtze River want to organize a fleet and go out to sea with the official ships to do business?" Ping An was a little surprised when he heard what Zhao Can conveyed, but after thinking about it carefully, it was reasonable.

Businessmen have always been the group of people with the keenest sense of smell, where they can make money, there are them.It doesn't matter whether the local area is rich or barren, as long as there are profits anyway.

So this time the court made so much money, it naturally made them jealous and wanted a piece of the pie.

What Zhao Can was concerned about was that the person who opened the mouth was the governor of Jiangnan. It can be seen that these merchants in Jiangnan are so powerful that even the important ministers in his court, the second-rank officials, will be persuaded by them and speak for them.

In fact, Zhao Can was certainly not the first person to notice this point. In fact, the ethos of emphasizing commerce in the south of the Yangtze River has a long history. It was already like this long before the founding of the Great Chu.

Moreover, these merchants are the most cunning. At the beginning, Da Chu started from Luozhou in the southeast, conquered half of Da Chu, and finally established a country. In fact, the flames of war never spread to the south of the Yangtze River, because they saw that they could not do anything, and expressed their submission early.

Therefore, although Jiangnan is also a part of Great Chu, and even half of Dachu's taxes come from Jiangnan, but in fact, even now, the imperial court's control over this side is still not so strong.

For example, Fu Yan's family was unwilling to become an official for Dachu, but they were able to live in seclusion in the south of the Yangtze River, which can be seen.

On the contrary, it is money that touches people's hearts. Many Da Chu officials were attracted by money when they were working in Jiangnan, which opened a lot of convenience for these businessmen.

In addition, the relationship between the big merchants and the aristocratic families in the south of the Yangtze River is also intricate.However, there are many scholars in the south of the Yangtze River, and their status among scholars is very important. Therefore, even if the imperial court wants to make a move, it is still full of worries and it is difficult to achieve results.

At the beginning, Ping An sent Xu Wenmei to go to Jiangnan, and then started from the Liu family in Qinzhou, and made a lot of groundwork in Jiangnan.In the end, he also planned to get Feng Yutang to Jiangnan, in fact, he wanted to solve this problem.It's just that because of the library incident later, I got in touch with Jiangnan Wen's family and started to cooperate, but this matter was not easy to do.So Feng Yutang also returned to the capital to be in charge of martial arts work.

But now, Ping An feels that Jiangnan can become an entry point for many things he wants to do, and there is nothing wrong with keeping it like this.

So when I heard that these merchants wanted to go to sea with the official ship to do business, Ping An felt that it was not impossible.

"The wealth in Jiangnan accounts for most of the world. Is it inappropriate to let them continue to develop like this?" Zhao Can asked.

Pingan said, "Then don't let Jiangnan take the lead. If businessmen from all over the country are willing, they can go to sea with them, isn't that all right? Even if there is no boat, the imperial court can provide it, but they have to pay a sum of money to rent it. "

"I'm just afraid that it's not true that they want to go out to sea with the official ship, but it's true to explore the sea route." Zhao Can said.He also knew the nature of businessmen, and it was impossible to follow the court all the time to pay the rent.It is not difficult for those big merchants to build big ships and set up a fleet to go to sea alone because they have money in their families.

Ping An said with a smile, "It's a matter of course. I don't expect to make profits from leasing ships all the time. Maritime trade is lucrative, so the imperial court will naturally set up customs and collect tariffs."

What the government has to do is naturally not to compete with those businessmen for business, but to collect various taxes.

So letting these businessmen go overseas to do business is actually a good thing for mutual benefit and good for everyone.

There is no absolute fairness in this world. After so many years of shouting the slogan of common prosperity, isn't it the end that the rich first drive the rich later?

Only when these big merchants exist, the market becomes active, and business develops, will it promote the development of other industries.As long as these businessmen don't intend to treason, but just want to make money, why not agree?Just set up corresponding laws to restrict them.

Moreover, taking a step back, if Zhao Can wanted to interfere in Jiangnan's affairs, he would definitely not be able to stand on the opposite side. At least he had to find a breakthrough.

"This incident is a good breakthrough," Ping An said. "If these merchants can be sided with the imperial court, then the Jiangnan incident will naturally be resolved."

If businessmen want to get benefits, they naturally have to surround the court closely.At that time, the imperial court will take the initiative. Are you afraid that they will not listen to the imperial court's orders?

I'm afraid I wish the court would come up with something new, so that they could share a share of the pie.

Zhao Can naturally knows this set of theories of Ping An, and also knows that Ping An has always followed the route of "sharing the benefits with everyone", and often even takes the initiative to give up the benefits to others, just to make things go smoothly.

So now he has done so many things, but in fact, many people don't know that he is the one behind it, and he is not the one who has gained a good reputation, but Ping An himself seems to enjoy this feeling very much, standing on the side of others in a low-key manner. Behind the scenes instead of going out and showing off.

In the words of Ping An, it is reasonable to keep a low profile and make a fortune in silence.

However, Zhao Can must also admit that this method does have merits.And when Ping An links it with major national events, there seems to be no sense of disobedience.

After all, even if it is a major national event, in the final analysis, the word "interest" cannot be avoided. Since there are interests involved, then Ping An's approach of sharing interests is feasible.

So in the end Zhao Can was persuaded by him and gave Jiangnan an affirmative answer. At the same time, he asked people to publish the news on the Huangchu Daily, and recruited merchants to go overseas to do business.At that time, the news will naturally be transmitted to various places along with the newspapers. If businessmen in other places are interested, they will naturally contact the government on their own initiative.

Of course, the businessmen in Jiangnan may not be very happy after reading it, after all, they originally wanted to eat alone.But at this moment, they did not dare to fall out with the court.

Therefore, even though it was already winter, according to previous arrangements, there should be nothing important to do except the Chinese New Year, but now the whole court is full of enthusiasm, and everyone is busy with going to sea.After all, it is not so easy to form a merchant fleet.

After a whole winter of busy work on this matter, it was finally coordinated.

For the first time to go to sea, the merchants did not prepare their own ships, but rented the big ships from the imperial court. When it comes to shipbuilding technology, the folks are still inferior to the official ones.It was the first time to test the water, and no one knew what the result would be. Even the merchants in the south of the Yangtze River had no intention of making their own ships.

Naturally, the imperial court would not be polite to collect the charter fee and escort fee.After the national treasury had a large amount of income, those who had faintly disagreed with the matter changed their attitudes.

It's just that, after that, the news that Zhao Can wanted to open the customs was spread, and the ministers rushed to get this good job.

After all, who doesn't know now that going to sea is very profitable. If you can get this position, even if you don't pay taxes from the court, you only need to collect some filial piety from the merchants, or you can also prepare some goods yourself and ask someone to take them out for sale. You can earn a lot of money.

However, Zhao Can had already made arrangements for this matter.Such a position is naturally reserved for his own confidants.Otherwise, how can you rest assured if you hand it over to others?

At the same time, the Overwatch Council, which was just established after the reorganization, will also send people to supervise at the same time, so as to avoid any tricks in it.Because it was the first big move after the reorganization, at the beginning of the establishment of the customs, Gu Wenheng would even go to Jiangnan to supervise in person, and then replace it with someone else after the later stage stabilized.

So in the spring of the second year, when the fleet went to sea, the basic prototype of the customs was already in place.These ships have to pay taxes according to the goods they carry when they leave and come back. There is really no waste at all.Although the merchants hated it deeply, they had to pay the money.After all, no one wants to lose such a great opportunity.

For the time being, no one is clear about the profit of the sea trade, but the famous merchants in the whole Dachu have gathered on the ship, and no one wants to fall behind others.At this time, even if the court oppresses them, they can only accept it, not to mention that the court only collects taxes according to the rules?

Seeing that Haimao still doesn't know what happened, but another sum of money has been credited, and the whole court is very happy.

At this time, Ping An discussed with Zhao Can and improved the tax system.

Originally, Dachu's taxation was actually mainly based on agricultural tax.But in the future, industry and commerce will definitely be more developed, and the proportion of taxation in this area will increase. Therefore, Ping An believes that the tax system must be formulated in advance to avoid being exploited when the time comes.

In addition, since the national treasury is still full and has other income, there is no need to charge such high taxes to ordinary people.

You know, even if the weather is good today, the tax is the lowest in the past, but in fact it is still a high proportion of ten taxes.

Of course, this tax rate will not make people unable to afford food. However, there is still a serious problem of land annexation. The land is owned by the landlord’s family.In addition to paying taxes, at least [-]% of the income must be paid to the landlord, and the rest is naturally not enough to live on.Some landlords are taxed more heavily, and the life of the tenant is more difficult.

There are also some lands that do not need to pay taxes because they are in the names of scholars, but they still have to teach these scholars [-]% to [-]% of filial piety, which is no different from collecting taxes.

Ping An actually wants to cancel this tax-free policy.But he is very clear that at this time, he hastily moved the interests of the ruling class and touched the nerves of the officials. It is not appropriate.

Therefore, at present, the agricultural tax can only be temporarily reduced or exempted.Ping An's goal is to gradually reduce or even cancel the agricultural tax within a few decades.By that time, I am afraid that no common people will be willing to rent other people's land to plant. ——The country no longer collects taxes, but the landlords want to collect so much grain. Who would agree?

And with the development of business, the attention of officials will also shift to this.After all, compared to buying land, renting out and collecting rent, it is much faster to make money from doing business.In later generations, you only heard that the relatives of officials were engaged in business. Have you ever heard of them going to the countryside to contract land and farm?

Coupled with the fact that the land is gradually unable to be rented out, and the rent cannot be received much, they will naturally stop paying so much attention to the land by then.

At that time, it is the best time to carry out land reform.

Ping An has set this goal in his own lifetime, and it will take decades to spend, and he believes that he will be able to wait for it.

So in this first step, Zhao Can reduced the tax on farmland to [-] per cent.

Because the national treasury has just received a large sum of money, it was completely tossed out by Zhao Can, and reducing taxes, light corvee and light labor itself is the biggest pursuit of every court, and there is no reason to disagree.So this proposal was passed smoothly without any splash in the court.

In addition to taxes, Ping An also has some ideas about corvee.

The government's collection of corvees is nothing more than building rivers, roads, transporting materials, etc., and civilian labor is needed.But now that the cement roads are starting to roll out, there is no need for road repairs.Others can be replaced by workers, and the government will pay for the people to work. This will not only mobilize the enthusiasm of the people, but also prevent them from getting into trouble because their strong laborers are taken away from their families.

However, when this idea was proposed, it was not approved immediately when it was discussed in the court.Many courtiers believed that local people could also benefit from doing these things. It was a matter of course for them to work hard, and there was no need for such trouble.

In fact, Ping An didn't know until after hearing the arguments of these people that the imperial court recruited strong men to do these things, not to mention the wages, and even the rations were required to be brought by them, and the government didn't care!

Sometimes he really felt that the ancient ruling class treated the people like cattle and sheep. It is already a grace to let you go out to eat a few mouthfuls of grass. How can you ask for more? ——This is even the cognition of many officials, even those officials who came from a poor background and finally earned the official position by their own ability, many people actually think so.

Therefore, ordinary people can only be exploited arbitrarily, which seems to be a great grace.

This incident made Ping An feel very bad.

But these things cannot be left alone.Because if he doesn't do it, no one will do it.

Since Ping An came here, he has been trying to bring his thoughts closer to these ancient people, so that when he does things by himself, there will naturally be fewer constraints.This is the first time he is soberly aware of the difference between each other.