Chapter 137: The Defects and Improvements of the Qingmiao Law

After some emotion, the conversation had to continue. The abolition of the Qingmiao Law must have had its flaws, and it could not have been simply because of underestimation of the malice in others' hearts.

There is an old saying that goes, the people who know you best are often your competitors. By extension, the people who are most familiar with the policy flaws of the Qingmiao Law are probably Sima Guang, Su Shi and others.

Li Gang pulled out a book with a yellowed cover from his sleeve, which looked very old. He flipped through the book and handed it to Zhao Huan. "Your Majesty, this is the criticism of the Qingmiao Law by Yang Shi, the secretary. It is basically based on the opposing opinions of Su Shi, Su Zhe and others."

"Yang Shi, why does this name sound so familiar?" Zhao Huan looked at Li Gang. "I feel like I've heard of him somewhere before."

Li Gang said, "Everyone in Bianliang knows about Secretary Yang's deeds. He's smarter than you and works harder than you. That's what Yang Shi was like when he was young. He was a typical kid from a different family."

When Yang Shi was young, he was intelligent and studious, good at writing poetry and prose, and was known as a child prodigy. He studied Buddhism in his childhood and Confucianism in his youth.

At eight, he could compose poetry, and at nine, he could write prose. He was praised by the people. As a child, Yang Shi studied at Hanyun Temple in Jiangle. At fifteen, he gained a reputation for studying in Shaowu. At twenty-one, he took the Ministry of Rites examination. He failed and was admitted as a student of the Imperial Academy.

After returning home, he studied and taught at Hanyun Temple. He also wrote "Notes on Interpretation" and "This Day Will Never Come Again". At the age of 24, he was listed as the top scholar in the Xu Duo list and became a Jinshi.

After passing the imperial examination, he was appointed as a military officer in Tingzhou. He did not take up the post due to illness, but devoted himself to studying Neo-Confucianism and wrote Liezi Jie.

In the fourth year of Yuanfeng, Yang Shi was appointed as the judicial officer of Xuzhou. Later, he devoted himself to the study of Neo-Confucianism under the famous scholar Cheng Hao in Luoyang. He became one of Cheng's four disciples along with You Zuo, Yi Rong, and Xie Liangzuo.

When Li Gang said this, Zhao Huan suddenly knew why he was so familiar with Yang Shi's name, because he was the male protagonist in the story of Cheng Men Li Xue.

Standing in the Snow at Cheng's Door: During the Song Dynasty, Yang Shi visited the renowned scholar Cheng Yi on a snowy day. Cheng Yi sat with his eyes closed. Yang Shi, not daring to disturb him, stood by and waited. When Cheng Yi awoke, the snow was already a foot deep in front of his door. Later, the city of Bianliang began using the phrase "Standing in the Snow at Cheng's Door" to describe respect for teachers.

Zhao Huan took it in his hand and looked at it carefully. The general meaning was:

The Qingmiao Law violated the principle of keeping wealth in the hands of the people. Although the interest rate charged by the Qingmiao Law was low, if 10,000 strings of cash were loaned out, 12,000 strings of cash, including principal and interest, would be collected. This money flowed into the court, and naturally the wealth of the people was reduced.

Although the Qingmiao Law nominally charged a 2% interest rate, in reality it was no different from the interest charged on private loans. Commoners faced financial hardship and were forced to borrow money, often resorting to corruption and extortion by officials.

When one thousand coins were distributed to the common people, only six hundred coins would be paid, but when it was returned, it had to be twelve hundred coins, not a single coin less.

The layers of exploitation by officials and yamen runners directly caused the Qingmiao Law to lose its original meaning, and instead became a tool for officials and yamen runners to exploit the people.

Ten households formed a group, with three upper-class households acting as guarantors for seven upper-class households. Originally, those who did not need a loan were forced to take it. No matter how much they borrowed, they would lose half of it. A small part would be collected into the national treasury, and most of it would be plundered by officials. After a few years, the upper-class households were reduced to lower-class households.

Besides, these lower-class households have upper-class households acting as guarantors for them, so it is a brainless loan and they can borrow as much as they can.

Some of them run away, while others spend their money on wine and women after taking out loans. When the repayment date comes, if the lower-class households cannot pay back the money, the upper-class households will have to bear joint liability. If they meet the wrong person, they may not be able to hold on for even a few years and will be reduced to the lower class again.

Seeing this, Zhao Huan suddenly sighed, the enthusiasm of the middle class was wiped out just like that.

Zhao Huan put down the book, furious. "It's incomprehensible, absolutely incomprehensible. Yang Shi, and even the brothers Su Shi and Su Zhe, are clearly defenders of private usury."

"If they hide their wealth among the people, can they still be called the people?" Zhao Huan slammed his palm on the book, making Li Gang's heart twitch.

Li Gang: This book was borrowed by Yuwen Xuzhong. He repeatedly told me to keep it well. If Your Majesty hits me a few more times, I'm afraid I'll be beheaded and brought to see the Grand Secretary.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, let's talk about the flaws and improvement plans of the Qingmiao Law." Li Gang forcibly changed the subject and drew Zhao Huan's attention to the right path.

"Well! If you have any ideas, please share them. I think you have done a lot of preparation."

Li Gang pulled out another book from his sleeve and said, "During the reign of the Supreme Emperor, there were some improvements to the Qingmiao Law, but they were all relatively minor.

"First, the interest rate under the Qingmiao Law has been lowered from 2% to 1%. Second, the Qingmiao Law no longer forces upper-class households who don't need loans. Otherwise, what's the difference between this and killing the rich to help the poor? Third, the promotion of the Qingmiao Law will no longer be a necessary assessment for officials, preventing them from forcing themselves to complete tasks."

Zhao Huan nodded in agreement, then said, "I think this alone is not enough."

"The third point, directly canceling the assessment, is the simplest and most brutal solution. Assessments have a very good regulatory effect on official behavior. I think the previous assessment direction was wrong."

"The essence of the Qingmiao Law was to help the people get through the difficult period between the harvest season and the harvest season, thereby ensuring a good harvest. As for curbing land annexation and increasing fiscal revenue, I think they were incidental."

"Therefore, the assessment should focus on increasing local grain production. If grain production increases, I don't care how well you enforce the Green Crop Law. As long as every household has a good harvest and all taxes are collected, that's all that matters."

"If the grain production in your jurisdiction is poor this year, I will start asking why the production is low, what difficulties you encountered, whether you used the Green Crop Loan as a remedial measure, and how effective the Green Crop Loan was. You must explain everything to me clearly."

Zhao Huan said to Li Gang, "This kind of assessment method is called results-oriented. When I ascended the throne, I asked officials to sign the performance responsibility letter, which also had the same meaning."

"Performance evaluations are aligned with the smooth flow of supervisory inspections and reporting channels. We have so many officials in the Song Dynasty, why are they all just sitting around in the capital? Send them all out to serve as inspectors for me."

"Let's see who dares to extort from the people, let's see who dares to force their way through. I'll also set up a drum in the city and assign special personnel to guard it, just to see who dares to stop the petition."

"Anything else?" Li Gang wrote quickly, recording every word Zhao Huan said.

On the side, the attendant who recorded Zhao Huan's every word and action stared at Li Gang fiercely: Are you here to steal my business?

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