[Red House] A beautiful girl welcomes the spring

In February, the ceremony of persuading the farmers and the ceremony of pro-silkworms were held, but the holding of these two rituals does not mean that the country will be able to have a good weather in this year.On the contrary, mortals rely on God to eat, and if God is unhappy, mortals can only suffer and struggle to live on.

Even though Jia Yan had issued an early warning, and even Qin Tianjian had come up with hydrological predictions on time, but after the Huachao Festival, the emperor's heart was aroused.

There is a saying that spring rain is as expensive as oil, and this sentence is true.The spring rain is pattering, bit by bit, this is the most suitable.If the spring rain is less, the soil cannot absorb enough water, which is not good for the rooting and germination of crops. If the spring rain is heavy, it will easily cause soil erosion, and may even wash away the sown seeds.

Especially the latter, it is simply a disaster.

The seeds and grains of the peasants are all carefully selected in the old year, and they are hung on the beams of the house to dry for a winter.Only the seed grain that has passed through the dry cold wind in winter can grow strong seedlings, and it is more likely to resist diseases, insect pests and wind damage, and it is possible to harvest more grain in autumn.

This is the accumulated experience of people in this land for thousands of years.

The emperor was very concerned about the peach blossom flood this year, and he began to ask the cabinet and the Qin Tianjian at the Flower Festival. He first monitored the hydrological conditions in Gyeonggi Province, and then the land of Qilu and Yuzhou, where the conservative locust plagues raged in the past, and then It's all over the country.

However, the situation reported by the general administration departments in various places is very bad.This year's spring flood situation is very serious, and the water levels of rivers in various places are much higher than in previous years.Not to mention other places, even in Gyeonggi-do, the water level in the moat is about a foot higher than in previous years.

This is a very bad omen, but there is such a stupefied young man who publicly stated at the Jinluan Temple on February [-]th that this is because the reserve position has not been determined, so there will be a warning from God!

After twelve o'clock, the emperor's face was completely dark.

Hubu Shangshu Gu Zhizhang immediately stood up and said: "You don't talk about ghosts and gods. My lord, have you read all your books in vain? Or, after being awarded an official position, you took this sage's words as a stepping stone and abandoned them. ?”

Gu Zhizhang is like this.Sometimes, the emperor even wondered if he hadn't thought about it at all.However, Gu Zhizhang's words today really reached the emperor's heart.

If it is said that natural disasters are irresistible, then, as a king, should he be responsible for the previous two-year locust plague and abdicate?

It's impossible to think with your toes!

Of course the emperor knew where this Lengtouqing was from, either his good brothers, or his two sons, who were inseparable from the natal families of Concubine Wu Xian and Concubine Zhou De.However, the emperor didn't care about these things at all at the moment.For him, the most important thing is the flood that is likely to occur this year, and the harvest that will be affected by the flood.

If this year's harvest is over, it means that this is the third year in a row that the imperial court will not be able to collect taxes in the three provinces and seven provinces of the Central Plains.

This is extremely detrimental to the healthy development of the country's finances.

So, the emperor asked: "Gu Aiqing, do you have any suggestions?"

Gu Zhizhang replied: "Long live, as far as I know, the Marquis of Qingrong, Jia She, and Jia Enhou have hired people everywhere, saying that they want to dig down the rice fields of those villages where they rely on water, and plan to use them to raise fish and shrimps." Plant lotus."

"what?!"

"Hey, what's going on here?"

"A good rice field, so I don't want it?"

……

In the Golden Luan Hall, all the ministers were talking about it.

Immediately someone came out and said: "Long live Qi, I want to impeach Lord Qing Rong, he doesn't care about the land."

Gu Zhizhang said angrily: "It's his own business, how he likes to grow his own field, that's his business, what's your business? As long as he can pay the taxes, even if he's all laying waste to plant grass, I can't say anything !"

This time, the discussion in the Golden Luan Hall became louder.

King Yi couldn't hold back, and said, "Master Gu, this is different from what you are used to."

Gu Zhizhang said bluntly: "Returning to the lord, it is true that the next official is the Minister of the Ministry of Households, but the Ministry of Households is only responsible for land surveying, supervising land sales, collecting taxes, and coordinating the imperial court's money and grain allocation. But how does Qing Ronghou cultivate their family's fields? It's the matter of Marquis Qingrong, and the Ministry of Households has nothing to do with it! It's just that there was a flood this year. The most I can say is that Marquis Qingrong doesn't cultivate rice, wheat, millet and other grains in his fields, so he can't enjoy the state's relief and tax exemption for ordinary people. Or urge the subordinates to watch Qingronghou hand over this year's taxes. This is the only thing a subordinate official can do. As for things like interfering with Qingronghou's mansion to manage its own property, subordinate officials cannot do it."

The emperor said: "Gu Aiqing, you would say that, but the Jia family's taxes were collected last year?"

Gu Zhizhang immediately took out an abbreviation from the inside of the boot, and said: "Long live the report, not only last year, but also the taxes of the Qingronghou Mansion the year before, and the minister also personally watched. The taxes of the Qingronghou Mansion last year and the year before were all Settlement in cash."

Gu Zhizhang's last sentence was full of resentment.

Yes, from the perspective of national law, it is the most convenient to settle taxes with silver, and it is also the one that is least afraid of loss.After all, like rice or wheat, if the weather is slightly humid, or if it is not dried, rice and wheat grains may germinate.

Of course, millet, also known as millet, is the same.

Therefore, the summer grain and autumn grain harvested from various places, no matter how carefully they are preserved, will definitely be wasted in the end.In contrast, paying taxes in silver does not need to worry about these.

The problem is that the country needs food, and the country also needs food reserves.

It's not just the army that needs food. Just like the past few years, the Central Plains has been plagued by natural disasters. If there is not enough food, how can the country help the victims?What's the use of having money?The country has no food reserves. If the disastrous weather lasts longer, the price of food across the country will skyrocket. Who will be directly affected?Or the people of the world?And if the people are extremely hungry, what will they do? Aren’t the dynasties overthrown by peasant uprisings in history books a ready-made lesson?

For Gu Zhizhang, Li Chu?That's a matter for the Ministry of Rites, and it has nothing to do with him, the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs.He only needs to care about taxes and food.

The emperor couldn't help but lift the jade handle away, and said: "Gu Aiqing, what you want to report is..."

Gu Zhizhang immediately took out his chapter, bowed to the emperor and said: "Long live the report, I implore you, please include sweet potatoes in the taxation. Sweet potatoes are easy to preserve, the loss is less than that of grains, and the yield is also large. They are willing to choose land. The common people are not willing to grow crops because sweet potatoes cannot be used to pay taxes. Only when sweet potatoes can be used to pay taxes can the people grow crops, and the country will have enough food reserves to meet all kinds of expenses. Please be vigilant.”

Gu Zhizhang knelt in the center of the Golden Luan Hall, and the left and right servants of the household department, as well as the hall officials, doctors, and masters who were qualified to go to court, knelt down one after another.

The response of the Ministry of Finance was quick, and the response of the Ministry of War was not slow. Shan Ruling, Minister of the Ministry of War, immediately followed suit and knelt down.

As soon as he knelt, the relevant officials of the Ministry of War also knelt down.

Then there are relevant officials of Jingzhao Prefecture, such as the governor of Jingzhao Prefecture and the Shaoqing of Jingzhao Prefecture.

Qi Qian, the left prime minister of the cabinet, and Liang Erming, the right prime minister, came out immediately:

"My minister agrees."

"My minister agrees."

…………

The two prime ministers have seconded, so what can the officials below do?Naturally, they all agreed.