New policy

"To my shame, I am of limited talent and learning. I have served as the prefect of Xi'an for ten years without making any achievements, and I am not even as good as Xu Tongzhi in the three months he has been here."

Xu Qiu squinted his eyes, "Perhaps... it's because I married a good wife."

Looking at him, Liang Lingfeng realized that this man did not feel any self-respect or pity because of his lowly position and his connection with the Duke of Yingguo. On the contrary, he genuinely respected his wife and was a magnanimous person.

"I am ashamed to say that I cannot match Madam Xu's love and care for all people."

Liang Lingfeng coughed twice, after all, Gu Yu was his subordinate's wife, and it would be presumptuous of him to say anything more.

"By the way, Lord Liang, I have a favor to ask of you. My father-in-law is currently being impeached by some officials. I would appreciate it if you could contact some colleagues and submit a memorial to the emperor on his behalf. It would be even better if there were local officials in the north."

"That's easy." Liang Lingfeng nodded in agreement.

He had not participated in internal strife for many years, enjoying the beauty of nature and maintaining good relationships with most of his colleagues. Moreover, Gu Hanying had not made any major mistakes; it was simply a matter of offering kind words of comfort.

A few days later, Li Shiqin returned with the Emperor's decree.

This time, the confiscated property filled the national treasury, and everyone was rewarded. In addition, Shan Yuan was exempted from taxes for three years.

Upon hearing this, Liang Lingfeng was overjoyed, and Qian Chengbi was also delighted. He helped Liang Lingfeng prepare for the establishment of the Land Office, and convened meetings with county magistrates and prefects more than ten times before the system of the local Land Office was roughly finalized and scheduled to be implemented on the first day of the second month of the following year.

Wei Cong was even busier than other county magistrates and prefects, as he devoted all his energy to the reform of the salt tax system.

The Emperor has granted permission for him to pilot the new salt administration system in Tongzhou, with the Ministry of Revenue and other salt administration officials cooperating.

After Shaanxi exempted the salt merchants from taxes, Wei Cong immediately set the price of official salt in the salt market at five coins, and used the money lost by the salt merchants to offset the subsequent salt tax.

The exemption from salt tax for three years greatly reduced their discontent.

If it weren't for the presence of the Embroidered Uniform Guard as a deterrent, these remaining salt merchants certainly wouldn't have obeyed.

But with the situation in such a tense climate, they were afraid that if they protested, their homes would be ransacked by the Imperial Guards the very next day, so they all behaved themselves like quails.

Even so, several salt merchants who were greedy for money joined together to strike, and were imprisoned by Wei Cong for several months before they calmed down.

The government compensated the innocent people who were slaughtered by Li Dacheng with a considerable amount of silver, and Wei Cong even used his own salary to help Liu Bian's family.

Wei Cong hunched over his desk, wearing only a thin robe, occasionally pausing his writing to cough lightly.

The government has lost too much money, and now not only him, but even his subordinates are tightening their belts to make ends meet.

Zhang Shuqi brought in a pot of hot tea, his face beaming with joy. "My lord, the prefect has allocated silver, saying it's a subsidy from the imperial court for those innocent people who died tragically, as well as a reward for capturing Xu Yunliang and his ilk. It's a total of 100,000 taels of silver."

Wei Cong nodded, "We will make up for the salaries we owe you before, and give you some silver as a reward for the New Year. We will also send back all the compensation we owed you before, and make up for any shortfall in compensation."

"Make a list first, and I'll take a look."

"Sir, the charcoal in the government office needs to be replenished. Otherwise, if you continue to be ill, it will only delay your official duties. Next year, new policies will be implemented, and there will definitely be a shortage of manpower. I will issue a notice to recruit some more constables as a backup."

"And you also need to replenish the servants who take care of and tidy up your back office, sir. These are all customary practices, so please don't refuse."

Zhang Shuqi mentally listed the amount of silver he needed to spend, and no matter how he calculated it, there was still a surplus. Indeed, money makes things easier.

"You're a new official this year and didn't bring many winter clothes. Why don't you use your subordinates' old clothes for now? Your health is the most important thing. If you fall ill, who will implement these new policies?"

Zhang Shuqi sighed. He knew that Wei Cong had given all his meager salary to the Liu family, leaving him no money even for a winter coat.

This was the first time he had ever encountered such a stubborn person. Who would want to endure hardship after working so hard to become the second-highest scorer in the imperial examination?

Clearly, Zhang Shuqi's excuse impressed Wei Cong, who did not want to fall before the new policies had shown any results.

"Alright, thank you for your hard work. You can make the arrangements, Magistrate Zhang."

Wei Cong nodded, drank a cup of hot tea to warm himself, curled his stiff fingers, and then continued to write down the details of the salt tax reform.

The weather in December was so cold that the cold wind blew through the thin windowpanes, carrying the sunlight with it, making one's teeth chatter involuntarily.

However, Wei Cong lowered his head and lowered his eyes. His hands, which were frozen and bluish-purple, were stiff and straight. Under the dry and cold ink, he wrote neat small regular script.

He seemed completely unfazed by the surrounding cold, his entire being seemingly immersed in the thin sheet of white paper. When deep in thought, his brow furrowed slightly; when relaxed, his pen flew across the paper...

Zhang Shuqi glanced at him and went to make the purchase. Some people could move people's hearts just by sitting there, and he was afraid that if he looked at them for too long, he would shed tears.

He and Li Fang and the others discussed contributing some money to buy Wei Cong a new winter coat, and the charcoal servants in the government office were gradually replenished.

When Wei Cong realized that he could drink hot tea with just a reach, have hot dishes and soup when he was hungry, have a bright charcoal fire burning in the room, and wear brand new winter clothes, he noticed the changes around him.

By this time, his new salt tax policy had been fully implemented.

Now that Shaanxi is exempt from taxes for three years, the salt merchants face the least resistance, making it the best opportunity. That's why he's been working day and night to perfect the details, afraid of missing this golden opportunity.

Fortunately, his efforts paid off, and he finally made it in time. The land administration system was to be piloted on the first day of the second lunar month, and his new salt tax policy could also be implemented at the same time.

He took the newly compiled salt tax policy with him and rushed to Xi'an Prefecture to continue discussing and revising it with Liang Lingfeng, Xu Qiu, and others.

He gave the new salt tax policy a more fitting name: "on-site salt ticket system".

The core of this system lies in on-site taxation and the opening of salt by ticket.

The policy of levying taxes on-site meant abolishing the previous practice of salt merchants paying exorbitant prices to the Ministry of Revenue to purchase salt permits in advance, allowing them to purchase directly from local salt ponds.

Salt prices were set by the imperial court. At that time, the salt price would include the taxes that the imperial court would collect, which would be about 20% to 30% of the salt price. The price was set annually according to the financial situation of the imperial court.

Once salt merchants paid taxes when buying salt from the salt ponds, they would not have to pay taxes again at the checkpoints when transporting salt to various salt-producing areas, allowing the cost of salt for salt merchants to be monitored by the people.

According to this method, the imperial court's quota system would be abolished, and salt merchants would no longer be quota merchants. Without hereditary succession, there would be no more salt merchants bribing for their quotas.

The opening of the salt ticket system is an improvement on the salt ticket system proposed by predecessors. It abolishes the current salt certificate and replaces it with salt ticket. The fixed quota of the previous salt certificate is abolished. The salt ticket only represents the qualification to pay taxes and transport salt in that year, and the drawback of salt certificate backlog will no longer occur.

Any merchant can receive salt coupons as long as they pay the full amount of taxes.

Local salt-producing areas need to establish price-stabilizing warehouses to regulate salt prices. If salt prices are too high, the government will intervene and release low-priced salt to prevent salt merchants from driving up prices.

The control of smuggled salt can be gradually addressed later. If the price of official salt is no different from that of smuggled salt, the number of people buying smuggled salt will definitely decrease over time. At that time, civilian anti-smuggling teams can be increased to gradually eliminate smuggled salt.

Finally, there are the salt producers in the salt ponds. Salt merchants must pay in cash for their purchases; they cannot delay payment or lower prices. Salt producers are also allowed to sell any excess salt they produce to salt merchants who have salt coupons.

The salt tax levied on salt producers is a tax imposed on them and is adjusted annually based on the salt trading situation of previous years; it cannot be increased excessively.

Even with the addition of many detailed rules, there are still many loopholes in the ticket system, which can only be gradually filled as it is implemented.

The smuggling of salt has always been a difficult problem; it can only be addressed gradually and cannot be rushed.

After Wei Cong learned that the Land Administration Office was proposed by Xu Qiu, he finally understood why Emperor Shengyuan had chosen him as the top scholar.

What does Dasheng lack most right now? Money, of course.

If his reform of the salt tax was merely a patchwork of Dasheng's tax revenue, then the Land Administration Office, with the support of imperial power, opened up a difficult but promising path to wealth for Dasheng.

Although this path to wealth, to put it bluntly, is essentially robbing the powerful and wealthy, it is indeed a lifesaver in times of emergency.

He wanted to implement his new policies, but he could only do so gradually when the national treasury was full. Therefore, he needed to establish a land administration department before he could implement his on-site salt ticketing system.

As for the conditions for setting up the Land Bureau, it was naturally to confiscate the property of various powerful and wealthy people, so that most of the land could fall back into the hands of the emperor and be redistributed.

Wei Cong always felt that Xu Qiu's trip to Shaanxi was solely for the purpose of confiscating property, and that this approach would continue.

Could it be that Emperor Shengyuan allowed the officialdom to become so corrupt for so many years just so that he could confiscate their property? He dared not think about it any further.

But this road has damaged too many interests. How could those people in Shengjing and Bianjing be easy to deal with? He always felt that some earth-shattering events would happen later.

If it weren't for the powerful backing of the Duke of Ying's mansion and the support of the imperial power, the Eastern Depot, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, this man would probably have died without a burial place as soon as he left Shengjing.

He admired Xu Qiu for this.

What audacity! What a vicious idea! If it succeeds, the next hundred years of the Great Sheng Dynasty can be said to be the foundation he laid.

Thinking of this, before leaving Xi'an Prefecture, Wei Cong respectfully bowed to Xu Qiu and said, "Lord Xu, thank you for paving the way so that I can implement my new policies."

"Why be so polite? We're all working for the Emperor and for the people. We're all in the same boat." Xu Qiu said, handing him a bundle. "Oh, right, this is my old winter coat. We're about the same size, so you can wear it. Otherwise, what if you collapse while running back and forth in this cold wind and snow?"

Seeing that he wanted to decline, Xu Qiu said, "Lord Wei, don't be stubborn. My wife bought me a lot of clothes. I don't need these. They are just icing on the cake for you. Don't fall ill in this small Tongzhou. I'm waiting for you to return to the capital with me."

Wei Cong accepted his kindness, thanked him again, and got into the dilapidated little carriage.

The wind was fierce and the snow was heavy. The white snow covered the entire world. When winter came, the vastness of the world always made Xu Qiu feel that the world was much cleaner.

Xu Qiu stared at the carriage as it drove away, and unusually, stood there stunned for a moment.

No matter how pleasing the praise from outsiders may be, he knew that he and Wei Cong were not the same kind of people.

Wei Cong was too pure. No matter how bad things were, he always maintained a pure and clear heart. His purity made even someone like Wei Cong feel ashamed of himself.

"Lord Xu, stop daydreaming. It's snowing, don't catch a cold."

Gu Yu stepped off the carriage, holding a bright yellow oil-paper umbrella. The wind and snow fell softly onto it.

She stood gracefully not far away, her words clearly carried on the wind.

Xu Qiuzhan ran towards her, embraced her, and smelled the familiar fragrance on her nose. She said in a muffled voice, "Madam has come to pick me up. That's so good."

Gu Yu held an umbrella in one hand and patted the snow that had fallen on his shoulder with the other. The snowflakes pressed into his hair and melted into water, which then rubbed onto her face.

"What's wrong, Lord Xu? Are you unhappy again today?"

"No, Madam came to pick me up today, and I am very happy."

Xu Qiu thought to himself, so what if he is clean? He is already very satisfied with Gu Yu by his side. He doesn't care about the infamy or praise behind him.

"New Year's Eve is in a few days. The government office is closed for the holiday, so there's no need to come here tomorrow. I'll stay at home and keep my wife company."

"Did you give Wei Cong the winter clothes I asked you to?" Gu Yu asked.

"Of course I gave it to you. Didn't you see that my hands were empty, Madam?" Xu Qiu pouted. Did she not believe he was generous? Although he wasn't a generous person either.

"Madam, could you please refrain from meddling in other men's affairs? If you even glance at another man again..."

"Then what?" Gu Yu asked curiously.

"Then just break my legs..." he said unhappily, "Otherwise, I'll definitely have to stop the madam."

"Fool," Gu Yu scolded.

He's such a fool, but she knows it's because Xu Qiu likes her that he's gone from being a smart guy to a fool.

She reached out and warmed Xu Qiu's ears, and Xu Qiu smiled and kissed her forehead.

"Let's go back. If we don't go back to the manor, we'll just freeze in the snow and become two fools. Liuyun and Qingfeng have set up a charcoal brazier in the yard and said they're going to roast taro. How about we go and steal their roasted taro?"

Gu Yu's eyes were bright, and there was a hint of excitement in her voice.

Xu Qiu reached out and took her hand. Infected by her joy, he smiled and nodded, "Okay, take them all, let them bake them again."

“A letter came from Father’s side, saying that the affairs in the army have been reorganized and the impeachments in the court have subsided. He will come to see us in a few days, and you can go pick him up then.”

"good."

"My brother will be spending the New Year alone in Shengjing. That's fine. Let him experience loneliness. Who knows, he might come to his senses and get married someday."

"I'll write him a letter, so he won't say I haven't treated you well and that he's always urging you to write..."

Amidst the wind and snow, their murmured voices grew fainter and fainter, eventually fading into the distance.

Seeing the two return hand in hand, Qiuju covered her mouth and chuckled, "Miss and son-in-law have such a good relationship. When will you have a little miss or a little master? That would keep me busy."

Gu Yu froze as the person holding her hand, and hastily withdrew it.

Xu Qiu glanced at her, a hint of sadness in his eyes, but he didn't show it on his face. "Madam is still young, there's no rush for these things. Just take good care of her health and make sure she's healthy."

Qiuju didn't know what she had said wrong that had broken the harmonious atmosphere between the two of them, and she felt a little flustered.