The predecessor who was scumbag by me was the emperor

The business tax reform proposed by Feng Qiugui caused an uproar in the court. As for the newspaper, everyone has long forgotten. Compared with a few pieces of paper, tax is of course more important.

"Why do you want to change? The Ministry of Households has frequently changed the precedent recently, but is dissatisfied with the ancestors? Or do you think that you can change the court regulations if you want?" Xu Shoufu was very angry, and Shen Jia was fine, after all, he was young. People who have just entered an official position always have lofty ambitions and the support of the emperor, but who is this person surnamed Feng?

Feng Qiugui was questioned by the chief assistant of the court, and cold sweat broke out immediately. He walked forward quickly, knelt down and said, "My Majesty, this is the result of my minister's research and careful consideration for many years. It is not intentional to break the precedent. It is for the sake of the prosperity of the Great Jin Dynasty.

The commercial reform drafted by the cabinet before was only a minor change, and it did not have much effect. The minister thought about it day and night, carefully calculated, and finally came up with such a commercial tax. Taxes are bound to double. "

When everyone heard that the tax revenue would be doubled, the previous resistance became less in their hearts. After all, the treasury revenue was closely related to their interests, and everyone hoped to collect more taxes.

"Master Feng, right? Get up and talk about the content of this memorial in detail. I understand the form, and I understand what you wrote, but I still teach you a lesson, so that all lovers can understand your thinking."

Feng Qiugui stood up excitedly, bowed his head and promised, but he didn't notice that Zhao Zhang above looked at him with eyes as cold as ice knives, that was his angry look.

He knew that Shen Jia was going to submit this plan to others. After he was transferred to the household department, he was too much in the limelight. If he was involved in taxation again, Zhou Qing would not be able to tolerate him. But he didn't expect that today's The memorial will be proposed by Feng Qiugui, and he keeps saying that it was written by him.

Feng Qiugui had already prepared his belly draft, and this was the first time he played in front of the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty, although he was nervous.But he still spoke eloquently.

Those who understand will understand it as soon as they hear it, while those who don't understand will only feel that they are listening to heavenly scriptures.

Many officials raised questions on the way, Feng Qiugui was clever, and he answered everything he could answer, and said that he was still working on what he couldn't answer. After all, this memorial was just a proposal, and the emperor and the cabinet had the final say on whether it could be passed.

People who can speak eloquently in the hall are all brilliant. At this moment, not only low-level officials are looking at Feng Langzhong with admiration. After this time, Feng Langzhong may be promoted.

"In your opinion, this business tax is based on the profit, so don't you have to check the profit of each merchant?"

"Exactly, this is what Shen Langzhong of our account department has been doing all the time. It was also Shen Langzhong who inspired me. He unified the way of recording accounts across the country, and also matched the accounts one by one. In this way, It is much easier to verify the profit of the merchant.

The income earned by merchants from selling goods or providing labor services deducts their expenses, and [-]% of the profit goes to the national treasury. In addition, many previous tax items can be cancelled. "

When Feng Qiugui said this, he bowed to Shen Jia. Seeing that Shen Jia was stunned, he winked at him, fearing that he would rush out and say that he wrote the plan.

But he has no evidence, Feng Qiugui thought comfortably: God helped me, the manuscript in Shen Jia's hand was torn up by the juniors in the family and thrown into the lotus pond to feed the fish, otherwise he would not have dared to take it out so quickly .

He felt that his plan did not belong to Shen Jia, but just borrowed his ideas. Even if Shen Jia stood up, he would not be afraid to confront him.

But Shen Jia didn't stand up from the beginning to the end, but had a gloomy and cold expression. After the court was over, he waited for Feng Qiugui behind the door. Seeing him surrounded by several high-ranking officials, a sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth.

Of course Feng Qiugui saw him, but he didn't immediately pay attention to it. In the past, he was the one who watched Shen Jia surrounded by people, but now it was him, and his vanity was greatly satisfied.

After answering everyone's questions, Feng Qiugui walked towards Shen Jia, pulled him outside, and said in a low voice, "Brother Shen, something is wrong with me today, let's discuss it privately."

"What's there to talk about? It's in vain that I trust Brother Feng. I didn't expect Brother Feng to repay me like this. If you just want this plan, I can give it to you. But you haven't even asked me." Treat it as your own, how is this different from stealing?" Shen Jia asked angrily.

Feng Qiugui hurriedly dragged him to the corner. It would be fine if someone else heard about it. It's not that he didn't think about telling Shen Jia first, but what if he disagreed?And now that he doesn't even have the manuscript, who will believe it even if he tells it?

"Brother Shen, is it mine? I was inspired by what you said last time, and I couldn't help but make this plan when I went back. I don't know how similar it is to yours. If you think I have taken your credit, so I will tell the emperor to add your name to it."

Shen Jia snorted coldly, and said arrogantly: "If you want to tell the emperor, I can go by myself, but what's the use of this credit for me, I'm just angry."

"Then... tell me, brother, what do you want? As long as I can do it, you can tell me."

Shen Jia rolled her eyes, leaned in front of him and said with a half-smile: "This matter is nothing to begin with, but Brother Feng will always make it up to me, otherwise I will always think about this matter, and I will have regrets in my heart."

Feng Qiugui secretly laughed, he thought Shen Jia was noble, but he was also greedy for money, it's good to have shortcomings, otherwise he was really afraid that Shen Jia would make trouble with the emperor because of his unwillingness.

Although he has no evidence, the emperor must have favored him.

"Then how much compensation do you think is appropriate? You also know that being a brother is relatively tight and you can't afford much money."

Shen Jia was noncommittal, and said: "If this plan is approved, then Brother Feng will be the benefactor of the world's merchants, and I'm afraid it won't happen in the future..." He squeezed his eyes, and said in a low voice: "Winter is coming soon, my wife I want to go to Xishan to soak in the hot springs, but unfortunately, my Shen family has little money and no contacts, so I can't afford the hot springs in Xishan, why don't Brother Feng lend me one?"

Feng Qiugui's expression turned ugly, he suspected that Shen Jia did it on purpose, he only bought a hot spring village last year with the money he had accumulated for so many years, what did Shen Jia ask for, in fact, he wanted him to give it away?I didn't expect Shen Jia's appetite to be so big.

"This... To be honest, my family does have a hot spring village, but it is your sister-in-law's dowry, and I dare not use it. Why don't I invite your family to visit the Zhuangzi one day?"

Shen Jia sighed, "Brother Feng, you are being unkind. The benefits you will get in the future are more than just a hot spring village. I don't want you to spend money, but besides this, what else can you give me?"

Feng Qiugui actually felt that what he said was very reasonable, but he was unwilling to let him pay for a Zhuangzi like this.

"Brother Shen, how about this, I'll write you an IOU, 1000 taels of silver, how about paying you back 100 taels every year?"

Shen Jia lowered her face and said unhappily: "1000 taels? Are you a beggar? Is my plan only worth 1000 taels? And with this plan, you might be promoted. Do you think 1000 taels Can I buy a promotion?"

Of course it is impossible, upgrading from the fifth rank to the fourth rank is a hurdle. He has spent more than 1000 taels in favors in the past ten years. If the price is clearly marked, he is willing to pay even 1 taels.

"But, my brother really can't afford that much money." Feng Qiugui was still dying.

"Then there is nothing to say." Shen Jia turned around and walked towards the palace. Feng Qiugui knew that it was the way to the imperial study.

He hurriedly stopped Shen Jia, and said with a heartbroken face, "Don't! I'll give it, can't I give it?"

Shen Jia laughed immediately, patted Feng Qiugui on the shoulder and said, "Then thank you Brother Feng, when the weather gets cold, please go to Zhuangzi to soak in the hot spring!"

For the first time, Feng Qiugui felt that Shen Jia's handsome face was so hateful, and all the good feelings he had had before dissipated, he snorted coldly: "You must remember to keep your word!"

"Of course, both money and goods are equal, and everyone in business knows that."

Feng Qiugui left angrily, Shen Jia looked at his back and smiled happily, then turned and went to the imperial study.

In the imperial study room, the ministers were discussing the business tax reform, Shen Jia didn't go in, and went back to the household department first, and asked He Yan to go to Feng's mansion to get the land deed after he left the office.

During dinner, Shen's father and Shen's mother saw their son smiling, and curiously asked him what happened and why he was in such a good mood.

Shen Jia made a fool of herself, "You will find out in a while."

Sure enough, He Yan soon came back with the land deed. Shen Jia put the land deed in front of his parents, and said triumphantly: "This is the land deed of Xishan Hot Spring Village. I don't know where it is. Let the housekeeper lead the people tomorrow." Hand over in the past, and take care of Zhuangzi by the way, and when winter comes, we will go to Zhuangzi to soak in the hot spring."

Mother Shen asked in surprise, "Where did this come from?"

Shen Jia looked at Liu Yanwan the same way, touched her nose, and said awkwardly: "It was given by someone else, don't worry, it's an exchange of equal value."

"My darling, how much does this kind of Zhuangzi cost? What did you get for it? Could it be that you sold the family heirloom?"

Shen Jia had long forgotten what heirlooms were, so she shook her head and said, "Don't worry about it, it's not corruption or bribery anyway, so you two can keep it at ease."

Liu Yanwan knew more about the twists and turns in the officialdom than they did. There was still an emperor living in their family, and since Shen Jia said that the Zhuangzi could be accepted, he would definitely be able to accept it.

In fact, if she had to tell her that even if Shen Jiazhen did something criminal, she would still be safe with that person covering her. Shen Jia could resist the temptation and not amass a lot of money. In Liu Yanwan's opinion, this was already a very noble character.

At night, Zhao Zhang came over and told Shen Jia about the result of today's cabinet discussion, "Most of them agreed to do a pilot project in Chang'an and see the effect before deciding whether to implement it nationwide. Since this matter was proposed by Feng Langzhong, Then let him do it, who else do you think should be sent together?" Come.Put your bags at home.

Shen Jia said with a smirk: "Mr. Wang, although the two are responsible for different things, they also involve taxation. It is definitely not enough for such a big project to be in charge of a fifth-rank doctor. Two are almost enough."

Zhao Zhang pinched his face, laughed and scolded: "You scheming ghost, if two people work together like this, why don't you fight?"

This is what Shen Jia wanted. Although Wang Langzhong usually ignored him and never offended him, Shen Jia really felt that his ability to handle affairs was a little lacking, and that he would occupy the latrine, but his identity Putting it there, it would be perfect for him to deal with those merchants.

Moreover, these two people usually take Wang Langzhong as their main role. Now that their roles have been switched, I don't know whether Wang Langzhong can still maintain a peaceful mind, and I don't know whether Feng Qiugui can still follow Wang He's lead as before.

Shen Jia told him again that she won a hot spring village today, and even told Zhao Zhang the ins and outs, as if waiting for praise.

"Are you taking bribes? It's a loss to change a hot spring village with an idea. From now on, businessmen in the world will only know Feng Qiugui but not you, Shen Jia. Do you think this is out of balance?"

"You're thinking about the most ideal situation. I'm not in charge of business and taxation. I'll offend people if I act rashly. At that time, let alone a good reputation, I might not even be able to keep my official position."

"With me here, who would dare to touch you?" Zhao Zhang asked with a stern face.

"I can't rely on you all the time. If someone presents evidence, the emperor can't insist on defending me against the disapproval of the world. It's no different from a faint king."

Zhao Zhang didn't expect him to think this way, he was happy and sad, Shen Jia's character was trustworthy, although he was a little clever, but he was never ambiguous in front of big right and wrong, if such a person was killed by the court's intrigue, Then he would cry to death.

"By the way, Mr. Wu has already published the first issue of the newspaper. First, get me a copy and let me review it. If there is no problem, it will be sent to the emperor before the case. Do you want to read it first?"

Zhao Zhang nodded. He was very curious. He didn't know what Wu Haiqing would make the newspaper. He had seen the template Shen Jia made before. To be honest, he didn't like it very much, but he felt that what Shen Jia did was right. of.

Shen Jia went to show him the newspaper. There were eight pages in total, and each page had the size of an A4 paper. Because the double-sided printing technology was not up to par, they were all printed on one side.

Because it is for the purpose of the emperor, the first few newspapers printed are made of high-quality rice paper, bound with thread to form a thin booklet, at least at first glance, it looks much more beautiful than the one Shen Jia gave him at the beginning .

Look at the content again, each page is a special topic, the first page is the new government decree issued by the imperial court, including interpretation, the second page is literati essays, and the notes on the Four Books are written. Although there is not much content, they are all learned by ordinary students. The essence that can’t be seen, the third page is a story... The last page is the learning of commonly used characters that Shen Jia said. Careful.

"I don't know how much it costs to print such a newspaper." Zhao Zhang read it over and over again, and couldn't put it down. In fact, the content of each piece was nothing new, and he had read it before. Here, it is much more interesting to read. When I read the first page, I want to read it quickly so that I can see what the second page is about.

"According to my previous practice, the cost of a newspaper is only one penny, and the sales price can be set at two pennies. If the government is going to give some subsidies, it can also be set at one penny. Mr. Wu is definitely more than that, and the cost is estimated to be two to three pennies money."

Two or three copper coins are not considered money in Zhao Zhang's opinion, but he also knows that the common people may not be willing to take out two copper coins to buy a few sheets of paper. The students are definitely willing, but the whole newspaper is useful to them The only ones are the first and second pages. If you are a student living in poverty, you may not necessarily buy a newspaper.

"Do you think your previous design was better?"

"Of course, the content alone is twice as much as Mr. Wu's."

Zhao Zhang said in a low voice: "But the characters are too small, it's too troublesome to look at."

Shen Jia rolled his eyes at him, "Ordinary people have very good eyesight, can't you read characters of that size clearly?" He really hadn't noticed Zhao Zhang's short-sightedness before. I always pay special attention to protecting my eyes, because I am afraid that if I am short-sighted and cannot match glasses, I will be blind when I open my eyes.

"I can see it, but I'm too lazy to read it. The characters are small and many."

"That's the way to save costs."

Zhao Zhang knew that what he said was right, so when Master Wu submitted the newspaper the next day, he raised this opinion at the court, and selected a cheap rice paper, and asked Master Wu to print it. Print [-] copies first, and see how the market responds.

Master Wu regretted not listening to Shen Jia, it seems that the favored minister has an advantage in trying to figure out the holy will.

He went back and re-added the content, but he was not satisfied after the addition, and felt a little boring, so he ran to ask Shen Jia again, "This is the first issue, and I don't know what to publish anymore. Once a month, what should I do?"

Shen Jia smiled and said: "Master Wu can collect manuscripts from all over the city, like the story on your third page, you can let everyone contribute, and the selected manuscripts can pay the author's manuscript fee, the same is true for other pages, and the content of the pages can be For example, talk about the weather today, talk about beauty tomorrow, talk about cooking the day after tomorrow, as long as the content is positive, anything can be published.”

"Calling for papers? Open to everyone? This... is this too troublesome? And how much talent can ordinary people or scholars who have not won the exam have? What profound things can they write?"

"It doesn't have to be advanced, I think there are a few pages that can be spared to post some interesting people and things, such as travel notes, such as supernatural stories, so that the people in the north can know where there are places in the south and where things are produced. Interesting and knowledgeable?"

In Shen Jia’s last life, the Internet was very developed, but the differences between the north and the south still existed. Everyone would be curious about how people in the distance live. This is especially true here. People in the south don’t know that it will snow in winter in the north, and they don’t know What people eat as their staple food is all too normal.

"Is this really possible?"

"Just try it and you will know. You can set up a mailbox at the gate of the yamen, let people who have read the newspaper express their thoughts on the newspaper, and brainstorm, it will definitely be better and better."

Wu Haiqing nodded to him, and praised with a smile: "Young people's brains are fast, so I will try it."

A thousand copies of the newspaper were printed quickly, because there were no illustrations, so it was easier to print, and this time I chose the cheapest paper, which was rough to the touch, and the printed words were just straight, not at all nice.

Master Wu's eyes were sore after reading it. He counted the time and found that it would take him an hour to finish reading a newspaper. He didn't know that he had published so much content on these eight pages. Sent a few copies to friends and asked them to comment.

Qin Zhangyuan knew about newspapers. Master Wu asked him for a piece of his excellent work, which was placed in the appreciation of excellent works on the fifth page, but it was the first time he had seen the whole newspaper.

After opening it, a strong smell of ink wafted out, but he didn't hate it. Scholars prefer the smell of ink. The ten commonly used words on the last page were all read, and a small mistake was pointed out.

"This newspaper is very good. At least the students will definitely buy it. A thousand copies is probably too little."

Master Wu said helplessly: "Do you know how many copies Shen Jia asked me to print?"

"How many?"

"One hundred thousand! How dare he think? He said that half of the bookstores can be allocated and sold directly to various bookstores. Those bookstores have branches in other places, and there is not much to share. The rest of the civil and military officials will definitely want it." How many copies will each send, and how many copies will be sent by the local governments. First, let the local government take a look at what the newspaper looks like. After doing this calculation, [-] copies is really not much, but the cost is not low. If you can’t get it back Ben, if the court wants to keep subsidizing it, I'm afraid it won't last for a few years before it ends."

Qinzhangyuan also supports sending newspapers to various places, especially in rural areas. Literacy on the last page is of great help to the common people. If a five-year-old child can start listening to newspapers and learning Chinese characters from an early age, he will basically You can read a newspaper by yourself.

This is a completely cost-free learning, as long as it is a smart person, it will not miss this great opportunity.

Qin Zhangyuan thought for a while and said: "I will also send some to the Imperial College, so that every Imperial College student can take a look. Didn't you say that there is still an open call for papers? Their talents and learning should be able to contribute something, and they will If you can get the manuscript fee to subsidize your family, there must be someone willing to contribute."

"You're right. I'll give some to all the private schools near the capital. They are all places to educate people. They will definitely like to read newspapers." Thinking about it, Mr. Wu hurriedly asked the printing factory to print another [-] yuan. Divide, make up [-] copies, and then take them everywhere for disposal.

Shen Jia bought [-] copies from him, and it only cost him a penny in total. Then, he asked his elder brother-in-law's caravan to bring them back to Shuzhou, and sent them to various places in Shuzhou. little contribution.

Other officials followed suit and quickly divided up the first issue of the newspaper. Upon seeing this, Mr. Wu asked the printing house to print another batch before the newspaper was put on the market.

The students have long heard that there is such a thing as a "newspaper", and many of them have already obtained it. Recently, most of the students gathered together to discuss the contents of the newspaper, because it was Master Wu who personally did it, and collected The writing style of the masters such as Qin Zhangyuan, so the gold content of this newspaper is extraordinarily heavy, and the students can't put it down after holding it.

"This commentary on the Four Books is wonderfully written. It is different from the ones I have read before. It is still Mr. Huai'an's essay. I remember that Mr. Huai'an wrote a whole volume of commentary on the Four Books. Unfortunately, I have no chance to get it. See."

"It's great now. We can actually see one of them. I heard that this newspaper is published once a month. I don't know if there will be such an annotation in the next issue."

"Regardless of whether there is one or not, when the time comes, let someone buy it and have a look. A newspaper only costs two cents. I can earn a year's worth of newspaper fees by simply copying a book. This is much more cost-effective than buying books."

"Indeed, the imperial court has really done a good thing for us." The students all praised the imperial court for running the newspaper well and rightly, which even improved Wu Haiqing's reputation a lot.