Wang Bo was the first to speak.
"Your Highness, there are many people in favor of opening up the Silk Road."
"It's hard to promote commerce in the state. The merchant market has already formed a fixed structure.”
"Now that His Highness wants to increase the number of people on a large scale, there are many people who oppose it.”
"Your Highness, please give me your opinion, or reconsider the plan to promote commerce.”
Hearing this, Li Xiao's expression paused as he pondered.
Li Xiao had started the commercial reform from the beginning, and the Tang Empire was still carrying out the traditional emphasis on agriculture and suppression of commerce.
They adopted very conservative business laws. Even in the city, there was a curfew at night, and the people were not allowed to go out on the streets at night.
In the eyes of Li Yuan and Li Shimin, merchants were not engaged in agriculture and had a lot of wealth. If they were not controlled, it would be very dangerous.
The foundation of rebellion was money. With money, there would be soldiers. Therefore, if the merchants became richer and richer, it would be the source of unrest!
Li Xiao wanted to open up commerce, activate the economy of the people, lift the curfew, let the people walk the streets freely at night, and create a new night market economy.
In the field of social circulation, other than the monopoly of salt and iron, all other commodities were opened up. The government only did macro regulation and no longer interfered deeply.
Only in this way could the economy of Bingzhou and the surrounding areas develop in an all-round way, and it could also cooperate with the dredging of the Silk Road. It was killing two birds with one stone!
However, everything was difficult at the beginning!
The business reform had yet to start, and they had already encountered difficulties.
Wang Bo held the business reform strategy written by Li Xiao in his hand. With a depressed face, he bowed and said,
"Your Highness, in my opinion, should we slow down the business reform? Let the Silk Road open first? After all, agriculture is the foundation of the country. I think we should thoroughly investigate the total amount of land in the whole state and formulate a more detailed royal grain strategy.”
Before Li Xiao could speak, Wang Bo agreed,"
"Your Highness, I think what Brother Sightseeing said is true. We don't know much about business reform.”
"If we open it recklessly, I'm afraid…I'm afraid it will cause the other officials to be at a loss.”
Wang Bo and Luo Binwang were both talented poets, but deep down, they looked down on businessmen.
In their understanding, the status of merchants was far inferior to that of farmers.
This wasn't just their limitation, but the understanding of all the officials, including Li Shimin.
After hearing their conversation, Li Xiao laughed.
He didn't argue with them. After a tolerant smile, he said,
"This king knows what you two are thinking. To this king, agriculture is the foundation of the country."
"However, commerce is also the foundation of the country, just as important as agriculture.”
"Without the development of the circulation field, there will be no greater development. Instead, we will be stuck in our own way, closed off from the outside world, and the economy will become rigid."
"Only when business is lively will the people's initiative be stimulated.”
"You have to know that the creativity hidden in the hearts of the people is endless!”
"The people can be made to do as they wish, but they cannot be made to know. This king is very opposed to this sentence and is very disgusted!”
"If all the people are settled in the farmland, what can the Great Tang Empire do?”
"Perhaps you don't know, but under Xu Wenjun's inaction, there was not a single silver in the huge treasury of Bing Province. Where did the money go?”
"Xu Wenjun's embezzled money was taken out, and it's not even proportional to the money that Bing Province should have.”
"There is only one truth, and that is corruption is one reason, and economic stagnation is another reason. This king now needs a lot of money to develop the state's economy.”
"If the two of you have other ways to get a lot of money, this king can consider your opinions.”
How could Wang Bo get money?
Wang Bo was a scholar who knew nothing about daily necessities. Naturally, he did not have any suggestions.
After the vigorous G Storm, the money that should have been obtained had already been obtained.
He couldn't dig it out anymore. The big rats had been killed, and there wasn't much left.
Furthermore, they could not cause chaos among the lower-level officials. Otherwise, who would implement the various reforms?
It was even more impossible to reach out to Li Shimin. Li Xiao had seized the 100,000 wen tax that Bingzhou had handed over to the court, and Li Shimin was already being magnanimous by not pressing for the debt.
No matter what, there were only two paths now. One, tighten your belt and live a hard life. Two, you had to change when you were poor!
This was Li Xiao's motivation to push for business reform.
"This king wants to start a business reform. This cannot be changed. There is no room for negotiation.
The two of you should stop persuading this king to give up on the business reform. Instead, you should start thinking of ways to reform from now on. Work hard in one place. This king wants you to give a satisfactory answer!”
Wang Bo bowed and said,""Your Highness, I will do my best, but…it's too difficult!”
"Not everything needs to be pointed out by this king. Otherwise, what would I need you for?”
"No matter what method you use, This King only wants to live financially."
"Help this king think of a way. This king wants to reverse the fate of Bing Province. He wants Bing Province to have a bumper agricultural harvest, prosperous commerce, and sufficient state treasury to support a powerful army!”
Li Xiao looked at Wang Bo and Luo Binwang. Both of them had high intelligence, but they lacked practice.
Even if they did badly and made mistakes, they had to do it.
This way, they would use their brains and improve.
Fighting alone was far from being able to achieve great things. Li Xiao understood the meaning of one man helping three people.
After giving the order, Li Xiao waved at Wang Bo and Luo Binwang.
The two of them had no choice but to leave slowly. When they left the government office, their expressions were not good.
If they had known that this would be the result, they would have rather not come. This was their current mentality.
After fighting two battles and implementing various reforms, the state treasury had no money.
Now, they were going to implement a business reform that they did not like. Wasn't this making things difficult for the two of them?
Wang Bo and Luo Binwang looked at each other and smiled bitterly.
"Sightseeing brother, what do you think? What should we do?" Wang Bo asked.
"What else can I do? If I knew what to do, I wouldn't be at a loss.”
"I also…don't have any big ideas, but I do have some small ideas.”Wang Bo said.
"Eh? Zian, what can you do? Tell me." Luo Binwang hurriedly asked.
Wang Bo looked around and said softly,
"Brother Sightseeing, since His Highness said that we don't care what method we use, then it's easy. We can sell some power to the people.”
"For example, water transport can sell the management rights to the wealthy families, but what is sold is the management rights, not all the power.”
"Let's set a time. When the time comes, we'll take it back. What's the big deal if we don't know?”
"I can explain everything. What do you think? Sightseeing brother."
After hearing Wang Bo's words, Luo Binwang slapped his thigh and said,"
"Zian, you're too smart. Why didn't I think of that?”
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