Chapter 518 A Dream of Youth 50

Xie Wangzhi took the exam for three days, and they ate out for all three days. Xie Qi only ate out for one day because his holiday was over, and the next holiday would be on the Double Ninth Festival.

However, on the last day, the exam was on current affairs. After reading the questions, Xie Wangzhi quietly began grinding ink. The last question asked how to resettle displaced people, which was very relevant to current affairs.

The refugees outside the city haven't been properly resettled yet. Relying solely on government relief isn't enough. Moreover, there's another crucial point: powerful families are vying for people.

Because the imperial court did not intervene in land ownership, that is, it did not curb land annexation, this led to powerful families, officials, and gentry "frantically" seizing land and amassing wealth.

Therefore, the imperial court and government offices did not have enough land to settle the refugees, nor could they provide much welfare. Thus, it was better to sell oneself into servitude to a wealthy family or rent land and become a tenant farmer than to be a law-abiding citizen.

Therefore, the imperial court could not collect taxes because there was no one to pay them.

Taxes that should have flowed into the imperial court ended up in the hands of wealthy gentry, while the national treasury continued to suffer deficits.

Xie Wangzhi pondered for a while before putting pen to paper. Given his low rank and limited power, it was better for him to remain an observer in the face of these intangible struggles.

The imperial court has already promulgated new laws; he will see whether these laws, which suppress powerful gentry, will be effective and how long they can be enforced.

This question can be answered according to tradition. Xie Wangzhi chose to follow half of the traditional answer and half of his own idea. One of the measures was to open up the mountains, marshes, forests and ponds for the people to use as they wish.

Otherwise, how would they obtain food if they had neither money nor land?

Another approach is to provide work relief instead of taxes. This was inspired by Xie Wangzhi's newly revised tax law, and there are also precedents. The Guanzi (a Chinese classic text) states, "If there is a year of famine, drought, or flood, and the people lose their livelihood, then palaces and pavilions should be built. Those that have no dogs in front and no pigs behind are considered 'compensated.' Therefore, building palaces and pavilions is not for the sake of pleasure, but for the purpose of stabilizing the country."

Sometimes, the construction of palaces and pavilions was not for the emperor's enjoyment, but rather to implement an economic policy of national investment in construction to restore people's livelihoods.

However, Xie Wangzhi felt that the construction of "palaces and pavilions" could be changed to some public works projects, such as water conservancy projects, school renovations, and city defenses.

In addition to government grants and donations from wealthy households, the funding also came from state apportionments...

As he wrote more and more, Xie Wangzhi finally stopped at the topic of systems. He didn't write about systems, even though he knew their drawbacks, but it wasn't appropriate to bring them up here.

That's enough.

Seeing that Xie Wangzhi had written quite a lot, which made some candidates who were struggling to write two lines after biting their pens for a long time quite envious, they thought that this person looked really calm.

Is this one of the advantages of being older?

Xie Wangzhi, who was secretly criticized for being too old, carefully revised and added to his draft after lunch. After confirming that there was nothing to add or subtract, he began to copy the contents of the draft onto the exam paper. After checking for any mistakes, he handed in his paper after the gong sounded, looking relaxed.

He stood out from the other dejected candidates.

Outside, the noise was deafening. Xie Ning, holding Chen Shi's hand, had just caught a glimpse of Xie Wangzhi when they were swallowed up by the crowd.

Some were happy, some cried, some were worried about the students' relatives and servants, and there was a student who leaned against the courtyard wall and wailed, probably because he did not do well on the exam.

The crying started and then increased.

The atmosphere here is really not very good.

Suddenly lifted up, Xie Ning instinctively kicked him. The person grunted, then laughed, "Bao'er, you're really strong. I almost fell over."

Xie Ning awkwardly withdrew her foot; she had thought it was a human trafficker.

"Ahem, Father, Uncle has prepared a banquet at Wangjiang Tower. He said he'll go there as soon as you come out."

"Hold a banquet? The exams have just finished. We should wait until the results are released before we talk about it. If we don't pass, it will be even more embarrassing to hold a banquet."

Madam Chen retorted angrily, "Why can't it be set up? Even if it doesn't work, you've still worked hard and deserve to relax for a while!"

The group went out for drinks, and even Xie Qi came running over after school.

Chen Yin had just returned from a trade trip with his eldest son two days ago. They had traveled to the Western Regions and brought back a considerable amount of spices, gems, and pearls.

He collected the pearls on the way back by boat; they were of excellent quality, so he kept a small box of them.

"This ruby ​​is the best. I'll set it on Bao'er's forehead ribbon. And these pearls, I'll make some beaded flowers for her hair..." Madam Huo carefully introduced the pearls and gems she had selected to Madam Chen.

Xie Ning kept her head down and ate her rice, and no one told her that the food at Wangjianglou was so good!