On December 15th, the fifth year of Guanghe, Liu Hengxiu had a positive result. A complete set of political, economic, and military reform and development plans had been designed and formed. There were six parts in total:
1. Land reform, 2. Primary industry, 3. 3. implement temporary control and try out new policies; 4. develop business and gradually establish a perfect business network; 5. Carry out a new military system and establish a new army. 6. Carry out the policy of universal education.
On the 16th, the core officials of the three prefectures gathered in Xuantu Prefecture to report the latest situation of the population survey and the training of the prefecture soldiers.
Xun Yu first presented the data."My lord, as of December 10th, the population of the three prefectures is 146396, with 22085 households.
Right Beiping County, 4 cities, 8370 households, 63475 people;
Liaoxi Prefecture, 9 cities, 6621 households, 39758 people;
Xuantu County, 4 cities, 7094 households, 43163 people.
Among them, according to the lord's request, they were divided by age: There were 23256 people under the age of 15, 85562 people between the age of 15 and 45, and 37578 people over the age of 45.”
Gao Shun reported," The three counties have a total of 7,500 soldiers. 4,200 of them were selected after the first round of screening. After that, about 700 of them were eliminated through actual combat tests, such as timidity, collusion, disobedience, and ruffians. The 3,500 main soldiers were stationed in the county cities, while the remaining 4,000 were stationed in the border cities.”
Liu Heng stood up and bowed gratefully. In this way, the two major issues would be resolved, paving the way for the future. The 3,500 commandery soldiers were trained to be ready to fight at any time.”
Liu Heng paused for a moment, picked up a dozen pamphlets beside him, and handed them to Qushou and Gao Shun, who were sitting on the left and right. "Everyone, this is the focus of work for the beginning of next year. This was a handwritten copy. The handwriting was a little bad, but it was all written by Conservation.”
Everyone took a closer look at the booklet." Rules for the Initial Development of Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce in the Three Prefectures ". The handwriting was indeed bad, and it was written horizontally. It was quite awkward to read.
These were the first two steps of Liu Heng's carefully designed and phased implementation of the strategic reform plan after he had integrated the political gains and losses of the past dynasties.
The first step was land reform. The most fundamental reason for the change of dynasties in China was the annexation of land. Large amounts of land annexation caused the majority of farmers to have no land to grow, so they could only become tenants of the big landowners.
In every dynasty, the big landowners had the privilege of paying less or no taxes. In the feudal dynasties, agriculture occupied the main position in the tax collection of the government. The reduction of agricultural taxes directly caused the government to be unable to make ends meet. In order to maintain the regime, they had to increase taxes. The increase in taxes caused more free farmers (who had their own land, just enough for a living) to become tenant farmers. The land accelerated the concentration of the land to the landlord tyrants, which eventually led to the peasant riots and the change of dynasty.
How to solve this problem?
Liu Heng borrowed the strategy of the great leader, Great Ancestor Grandpa." Land reform! Of course, these were all written elsewhere. The booklet that was distributed to everyone only wrote the implementation method.
First, before farming, they would thoroughly check the land conditions of the three counties, register them, and draw a map of the land distribution in the three counties.
It was divided into agricultural farmland, urban land, forest land, water source, swamp land, mountain land, and so on.
This was because the land inspection work had always been met with various obstructions, especially from the aristocratic families who held a large amount of land.
This time, in order to prevent any mishaps, he temporarily didn't touch them. Instead, he focused on the desolate land and ownerless land.
The county government would pay for the farmers to clear out the land near the river that was suitable for irrigation, but the water source and forest land had to be protected.
Secondly, according to the standard of 50 mu per household, the land would be allocated to the farmers for use. An agreement would be signed. The ownership of the land would belong to the county government, and the farmers would only have the right to use it. The agreement would be valid for 50 years every time it was signed. When it expired, both parties could extend it for another 50 years without any objections.
Land can be inherited by heirs or deacons. If there is no successor, the land will be returned to the county government after the death of the contractor.
In addition, the tax rate for the first year was 30%, the next year was 40%, and from the third year onwards, it was 50%.
However, the county government had the right to temporarily increase agricultural taxes according to the environment, and of course, they had to obtain the approval of the relevant agencies.
As the price for using the land for free, the farmers had to plant a certain number of trees on 50 acres of land. When the prefecture needed to take over the land, they could use another 50 acres of land to exchange for it. After paying the corresponding relocation compensation, the farmers had to obey unconditionally.
Third, they would use the opportunity of dividing the land to relocate the people in the county, with the city as the center or along the river.
After reading this, Xun Yu was very puzzled. He asked," My Lord, if we do this, although agriculture will be restored and the farmers will gradually become rich, how will the prefecture operate without this large tax?
Could it be that only merchants paid taxes? Moreover, the commercial tax of the three counties only accounted for 10% of the tax revenue. Without the agricultural tax, the county government would definitely not be able to maintain it! Please reconsider, my lord."
" You don't have to worry about that, Duke Xun," Liu Heng explained." As for taxes…I have my ways." As for the farmers, they were intentionally making them rich. The ancients said: granaries full, know etiquette and music!
When farmers had extra money, they would buy clothes, shoes, hats, and other household items. These were all sold by merchants, and merchants had to pay taxes when they had income.
In other words, farmers still had to pay taxes to the prefecture, but in the past, they were forced to do so. In the future, they would be willing to do so. Haha! This was the same as reducing exorbitant taxes.”
The second step was to establish a basic handicraft industry.
Liu Heng requested the three prefectures to recruit as many carpenters, blacksmiths, bricklayers, potters, and other craftsmen as possible from the You, Ji, and Bing prefectures with various resources. He promised the prefecture government to give them a generous compensation and compensation to recruit them to Xuantu Prefecture. The specific work would be arranged in detail after the plan was implemented.
In addition, Liu Heng specifically instructed Zhao Feng to find out about Master Alchemist Zheng Hun." After knowing his whereabouts, send someone to tell him that if he wants to know how to increase the temperature of the furnace, he should immediately go to Xuantu in Youzhou."
If he wasn't willing…she could just kidnap him! I'll explain when the time comes."
Zhao Feng nodded and thought, My lord is ruthless! If you don't want to come, then kidnap me. Fortunately, I took the initiative to join you back then. Otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable!”
Everyone left to arrange their work. It was almost noon. Liu Heng came to the backyard. Several old carpenters had been waiting for a long time, but they had yet to recover from the initial shock.
After learning that the prefect had invited them, the few of them were scared for a while. Although the new prefect had a good reputation, who could say for sure…
Pushing the door open, Liu Heng was the first to speak,""It was rude of me to call you here before the new year. If you have any complaints, please forgive me!”Then, he cupped his fists and bowed.
The carpenters were shocked. They had never seen such an official in their lives, let alone the prefect of a county. "Plop","Plop", the few of them knelt down and kowtowed continuously."It's the honor of a commoner to be invited by the prefect. I can't wait to be happy, so why would I complain?”
Liu Heng smiled and helped them up." I was just discussing government affairs in the front hall and was delayed for some time. Unknowingly, it's almost noon. It looks like you guys didn't eat when you left.
If you don't mind, let's have lunch here. It's my treat.”After saying that, he asked Wu An to prepare before they could refuse. They were so touched that tears welled up in their eyes, not knowing what to say.
Liu Heng gestured for them to sit down. He took out more than ten blueprints from the inner room and handed them to them."The instruments drawn on these drawings are for the prefecture's immediate use. You are the most skilled carpenters in the prefecture.”
These were the drawings of early spinning frames and looms that Liu Heng drew from memory.
The few of them held the map and looked at it repeatedly. Some of them frowned, while others had solemn expressions.
At this moment, Wu An brought over the lunch that he had prepared. "Let's eat first, then we'll study it slowly."”
The few of them respectfully placed the blueprint by the table. Lunch was served one after another. Although the food was simple, there were still meat dishes. The main course was two pancakes.
Seeing such a lunch, the old carpenters cried again. This was treated by the prefect of a county. If word got out, the neighbors would definitely be envious!
The few of them ate while looking at the blueprint. Although the food was the most sumptuous they had eaten in many years, it still could not stop their eagerness to understand the blueprint and repay the prefect.
Suddenly, an old man in his fifties looked happy. He put his bowl and chopsticks aside and picked up the blueprint to look at it in detail.
"Can you make this?" Liu Heng asked hurriedly.”
The old man suddenly raised his head and said excitedly,"Governor Liu, I went to Yangzhou when I was young and used to make looms there. When I thought about it, I felt that the picture was similar to the loom, but it was much more exquisite and complicated.”
"So it can be created?" Liu Heng said excitedly.”
"It shouldn't be difficult based on experience, but it might take some time." The old man nodded.”
"It's good that you can make it," Liu Heng said happily. Take these blueprints back after dinner and make a prototype as soon as possible. The rest of the carpenters in the county are at your disposal. However, no one is allowed to tell outsiders about the blueprint and the things you will build in the future. If the prefecture finds out…"
"I'll keep the secret for you!" He won't say anything even if he dies."
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。