The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

Chapter 400 Volume Selling Official Positions and Titles
"Business tax?"

Liu Xie really didn't expect that Zhang Ji had already set his sights on such huge profits.

Commercial taxes have existed since ancient times.

For example, customs tax and mountain and lake tax are the two most important ones.

Compared with agricultural taxes, official taxes are undoubtedly more profitable and will also gain a good reputation among the people.

After all, according to current theories, businessmen are not people who are not worthy of being in the public eye, but at least they are a group of parasites who only know how to "pursue personal gain".

As the saying goes, "scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans."

"Scholars" are a solid class that maintains national rule and are of course ranked first.

"Agriculture", "industry" and "commerce" are divided according to the social wealth they create.

According to the ancients’ understanding, “merchants” are a group of bad and festering things, just like leeks, who should obediently wait for the sickle of the imperial court to mow them down.

But in fact...

Well, even based on the facts, this group of "businessmen" deserve to die.

After acquiring the original accumulation, the first thing these businessmen did was most likely to go home and become landlords, and then start lending money to the surrounding farmers. After one or two generations, they would provide a scholar descendant to become an official, and then hide under his protection and become a local aristocratic family...

Therefore, Liu Xie did not think that Zhang Ji's suggestion of "collecting commercial taxes" was an injustice to the merchants.

But we can't exhaust all the resources in this kind of situation.

If we really want to collect commercial taxes on a large scale in Chang'an or even Guanzhong, there will be a lot of things to do.

For example, prohibiting the buying and selling of land from the source.

Another example is giving certain benefits to taxpayers.

It can even directly improve the social status of businessmen.

……

Liu Xie had a lot of thoughts in his mind, but he was very concerned about this matter.

"I understand what De Jong means."

"In your opinion, does Chang'an City have to be rebuilt?"

"Exactly!"

Liu Xie thought about the imperial taxes that he had just looked at two days ago and nodded slightly.

"I understand. Chang'an City should indeed be renovated."

"But this money cannot be paid by the imperial court, it must be paid by the government."

Zhang Ji was about to retort, but was interrupted by the emperor.

"The court has a lot of money to spend right now. Building Chang'an City may be an important matter, but in my eyes, it is definitely not the most important thing."

"It's just like before I launched the Battle of Hebei, at that time even if you, De Jong, put this reason in front of me, I would definitely not be moved and continue to prepare for the war."

"You can see that the documents on my desk have piled up like a mountain!"

"The reform of the central government positions is one."

"The trade of Beiting Protectorate is one."

"Another reward for the military supplies of the soldiers from various places!"

"In addition, for example, Yang Fu, the governor of Dunhuang, sent a document saying that some of the Xianbei and Qiang people who migrated from the west were looting and killing caravans traveling between the Central Plains and the Western Regions. Another example is Zhang Yi, the governor of Qianwei, who also submitted a document saying that the southern barbarians have been acting very strangely recently and asked the court to send troops to help... Which of these things do you think should take priority?"

Zhang Ji's face flushed, and he obviously didn't know how to refute.

"I once realized a truth when I was studying the art of war - that is, we must grasp the main contradiction."

"What is the principal contradiction? It is the contradiction that, compared with other contradictions, dominates and plays a decisive role in the development of things. This contradiction is called the principal contradiction."

"What do you think the main contradiction in the court is now?"

Now, even Zhang Ji, who had a lot to say, had to admit: "The most urgent task for the court now is to reform the official system and reorganize the administration of officials!"

If the central government does not have a reasonable, stable and efficient administrative body, no matter how beautiful the words are, they will not be implemented.

At this moment, Zhang Ji seemed to finally understand why the emperor insisted on doing this. He immediately lowered his head, feeling a little guilty.

Seeing Zhang like this, Liu Xie's evil taste was restrained a little.

“But the main contradiction is not static.”

Turn around.

"The matter of the poison that De Jong just mentioned is harmful to the people, but it is much more important than many other things."

"If a large-scale plague really breaks out in Chang'an, how can I have the energy to rectify the administration and reform the official system?"

Liu Xie stacked the three documents Zhang Ji presented and placed them on top of a pile of documents next to him: "So, building a new Chang'an is indeed a very important matter."

At this moment, Zhang Ji was already confused by the emperor.

He didn't know whether the emperor would repair Chang'an City or not...

"So, what I said just now about not using the imperial treasury was true, but the new construction of Chang'an was also true."

Liu Xie paused for a moment before saying:

"Therefore, I will prepare the money for the construction of Chang'an as soon as possible!"

When Zhang Ji heard this, his eyes widened!

That's the money used to build the entire Chang'an!

If you really calculate it, even ten thousand kilograms of gold can't stop it!

With such a huge amount of money, even if you sell the Weiyang and Changle palaces, they wouldn't be worth that much money, right?

"In addition, I have also agreed to De Jong's suggestion to abolish the state-level government."

"But don't do this yourself." "Write a new document and give it to Jia Xu, then have Jia Xu submit it. Do you understand?"

Zhang Ji instantly understood the emperor's meaning.

Cutting down on institutions, especially directly cutting down on the highest level of local institutions, is bound to offend many people.

If Zhang Ji wrote the letter directly, I'm afraid many people would bear a grudge against him.

But it would be fine if Jia Xu took the blame.

Although Jia Xu usually keeps a low profile, everyone knows that Jia Xu still has a high status in the emperor's heart in the Han Dynasty.

Even if the document was presented directly by the Shangshu Ling Jia Xu, it essentially represented the emperor's intention.

With Jia Xu and the emperor helping Zhang Ji to take the blame, Zhang Ji's actions would naturally not be too conspicuous and he could hide behind the scenes.

"I thank you, Your Majesty!"

Zhang Ji was so moved at this moment!
At the same time, Zhang Ji no longer had any doubts about the emperor's decision to repair Chang'an.

even……

"If your majesty can't gather enough money, I still have some silver that I can donate!"

When Liu Xie heard that Zhang Ji wanted to donate money, he was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

"You should save that little money for your retirement! I have no intention of taking out all your coffin money."

Now it was Zhang Ji's turn to become suspicious!

"Your Majesty wants to get a large amount of money to repair Chang'an without paying taxes from the court... What else can you do besides confiscate the property?"

"..."

It seems that Zhang Ji thought that he would raise money by confiscating the property?
Am I that kind of person?
Little did he know that when Zhang saw the emperor shaking his head to deny, his eyes became even more terrified!
"Is your Majesty going to sell official positions and titles?"

Selling official positions and titles...

This is another great feat accomplished by the late Emperor Xiaoling!
Any position from Guannei Hou down to Huben and Yulin under Guanglu Xun can be bought with money!
Even high-ranking officials like the Three Dukes need to pay enough money before taking office!

In the later period, it became even worse. Officials had to pay a sum of money to Emperor Lingdi when they took office or got promoted. This truly made Han officials "pay to work" and allowed them to enjoy the benefits of being the benevolent father of the Han Dynasty!

Liu Xie was naturally speechless when facing Zhang Ji's accusation: "How could I do such a thing?"

"..."

wrong!

Liu Xie suddenly realized, why couldn't he do such a thing?
When Zhang Ji saw the emperor was stuck, he turned pale with fear.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! You must not do this!"

"Don't worry, I know what's going on!"

"Your Majesty! This really can't be done!"

"Don't worry! I understand!"

"His Majesty……"

"I'm sleepy, let's talk later!"

……

As soon as Zhang Ji left, news came from the palace that His Majesty intended to "sell official positions and titles."

Some people are happy that someone is worried.

Some people even rushed towards the Xuanshi Hall with tablets in their hands!
After Cai Yong received the news from the Censorate, he rushed to the emperor immediately to verify the authenticity of the news.

"Yes, this is the news I released..."

Upon hearing the emperor's personal confirmation, Cai Yong's face suddenly turned pale, almost the same color as his beard.

"Your Majesty, please do not do such a ridiculous thing!"

The older people are, the more they understand how harmful selling official positions and titles are.

Cai Yong was puzzled as to why the emperor, who had clearly laid the foundation for the imperial examination, chose to come and give himself a hard kick at this time.

"To be honest with you, Minister Cai, I have actually thought about this a long time ago, but I have always been hesitant."

"For example, Zhang Miao in the past... Although he surrendered the city, he was dissatisfied with his position after surrendering. He thought that the court treated him lightly, so he wanted to rebel again."

"So when I was in Hebei, I promised Tian Feng and others high positions and generous salaries in order to temporarily calm their hearts and prevent the Hebei nobles from causing trouble for me."

"After returning to Chang'an, many people hinted to me through various channels that they wanted to continue to shine in the Han officialdom."

"The person who was able to pass on this message to my ears must be a very well-connected person, and his family must be well-off."

"In this case, why doesn't the court set up a few official positions to exchange for the money in their hands?"

Selling official positions and titles is certainly wrong.

But if some official positions are specially set up and sold, that would be another matter.

Since these official positions were specially established, they must not have any real power.

Releasing these official positions to make some money is a sure-win business no matter how you look at it!
When Cai Yong heard the emperor's explanation, he immediately realized that he had misunderstood the emperor.

But he was still a little worried.

"If this is the case, wouldn't it be easy for some wealthy businessmen to get high positions?"

"If we raise the status of merchants like this, I'm afraid the other scholars will be unhappy!"

To raise the status of merchants?

Liu Xie’s eyes lit up!
If Cai Yong hadn't reminded him, he would have almost not thought of this!
Originally, Liu Xie just wanted to release the news to test everyone's reaction.

But now after hearing what Cai Yong said, Liu Xie felt that he needed to carry forward the "wise policies" of the previous emperor!

(End of this chapter)