Chapter 640 Imitation and Transcendence
Jizhou, Leling County
In a quiet house, Xie Zhan was looking at the manuscript in Zhang Zhongxian's study that was sent by Fan Yang.
Liao Xuewang was by his side.
Through these manuscripts, Xie Zhan summarized and summarized them himself and finally understood the content of Zhang Zhongxian's tax law reform.
In addition, there are many drafts and ideas about legislation.
Zhang Zhongxian was indeed a talented person, but unfortunately he was taken away by Pingzhou.
Xie Zhan's attention was more focused on tax law reform.
Xie Zhan knew very well that once this tax reform law was implemented, it would be extremely beneficial to the national treasury and the people.
First of all, just surveying the land can directly expand the tax source and thus significantly increase Dali's tax revenue.
Second, unifying taxes and levies can avoid levies and exorbitant taxes along the way, thus reducing the burden on the people.
The third article collects silver based on the acreage, and only collects taxes converted into silver, which not only avoids corruption among local officials, but also avoids the losses caused by it.
Zhang Zhongxian's tax reform is good in every way, the only thing it is unfriendly to is the powerful and privileged class.
However, there is no construction without destruction. Only tax law reform can bring a large amount of wealth to Dali and make Dali revitalized.
Xie Zhan's heart was pounding. He took a big sip of cold tea to suppress his excitement.
"It's been a while since Zhang Zhongxian went to Pingzhou, right? Has there been no major movement in Pingzhou?" Xie Zhan asked Liao Xuewang.
Liao Xuewang shook his head. "I've been asking people to keep an eye on the news from Pingzhou. Pingzhou has indeed not implemented the new tax law."
Xie Zhan frowned slightly. If such a tax reform law is implemented, it will also be beneficial to Pingzhou.
However, Xie Zhan could guess some of the reasons why Pingzhou remained silent.
The new tax law offended the powerful, and Pingzhou had been trying hard to win over the people since its independence. This time, Pingzhou was clearly trying to reap the benefits.
Xie Zhan thought, why not wait a little longer? Pingzhou's practice of not taking any action despite receiving the new tax law always made him suspicious. Is there something wrong with this new tax law?
Xie Zhan's idea was good, but the series of events that followed, led by Pingzhou, would force him to act. In short, Pingzhou could wait, but Dali couldn't.
"However, I heard that Zhang Zhongxian is busy with the legislation in Pingzhou." Liao Xuewang added.
Hearing this, Xie Zhan took out the notes on legislation from Zhang Zhongxian's manuscript.
After he looked through them, he sorted them out one by one and put them together.
Xie Zhan knew very well that he could only implement tax reform first. If these two measures were implemented simultaneously, the people would applaud, but the powerful and wealthy families would definitely have strong objections.
After all, the former has already caused the powerful to bleed, and when coupled with the harsh laws targeting them, they must be furious.
So, we can only do it one by one.
Xie Zhan's eyes fell on what Liao Xuewang brought. "What is this?"
"A new newspaper from Pingzhou."
Xie Zhan took it and opened it, only to find that the paper of this newspaper was very large.
Lu’s workshop should be able to produce such a large piece of paper.
His eyes fell on the very neat font on the newspaper, and he knew at a glance that the newspaper used Pingzhou's unique printing technology.
This technology has existed in Pingzhou for a long time. He asked people to secretly inquire about it for several years before he finally got some accurate information that Pingzhou has a very unique engraving and printing technology.
The four words "engraving and printing" are very vivid. After he got the news, he asked people to experiment. Currently, the workshop under his control can already print some simple books, but the speed is not fast.
He opened the newspaper and read the contents at a glance.
The newspapers contained travelogues by teachers and students from the Liaodong Academy, interesting stories from Pingzhou, stories of heroic deeds by knights, and some daily trivia. There were even small squares in the gaps between the newspapers, containing job openings for workshops in Pingzhou...
Xie Zhan didn't know that the local newspaper in Pingzhou would publish some of Pingzhou's new policies in a prominent place so that the people could know about them.
Xie Zhan read through it and found that the content written in Pingzhou newspapers was all seemingly harmless.
At that time, he hadn't yet realized how easily newspapers could be used to carry illicit agendas. Xie Zhan felt something was amiss, but he couldn't quite place it. But that didn't stop him from targeting it.
“Is this newspaper profitable?”
"Grand Commander, if I were to let my subordinates do this business, the cost would be very high."
"I'll have someone help you with paper and printing."
"That's fine!"
Liao Xuewang continued, "General, Pingzhou has brought forth many new things." Unlike Dali, which is like a stagnant pool of water.
"These new things are very profitable." For example, Pingzhou paper is a big category and sells very well.
"Local officials tried their best to invite those merchants to set up workshops there, but most of them refused. Moreover, the money they earned was not deposited in local banks, but was regularly shipped back to Pingzhou by boat."
But Liao Xuewang also knew that Pingzhou didn't sell everything outside. For example, cement wasn't sold to Dali. Even if Pingzhou locals wanted to use cement, they had to apply for it and be subject to supervision, and the amount they could apply for was limited.
Xie Zhan listened quietly.
Ever since Dali lifted the ban on merchants from Pingzhou, Pingzhou merchants have flocked to Dali to do business, and the wealth they have earned is astonishing.
Although Xie Zhan was mentally prepared before, the current situation was still beyond his expectations.
Lü Songli forced Dali to lift its ban on Pingzhou by selling it large quantities of salt at low prices. Xie Zhan persuaded the emperor to agree to this, not without reason.
He has always been aware that Chinese people have strong imitation capabilities.
Moreover, merchants are profit-driven. As long as they see that the things brought by Pingzhou merchants are very popular, they will invest money to study and make money.
It doesn’t matter even if the imitations are of poor quality at first. As long as the price of the products supplied to ordinary people is cheaper than that of Pingzhou, there will be a market for them.
He had already tested this when he was in the South.
In this way, he can bring more new things to Dali.
It started in Pingzhou and then became Dali.
Bad money drives out good money.
Imitate it, become it, surpass it.
This is the path he planned for Dali.
Xie Zhan thought, "Lü Songli, you didn't expect that, did you? Haha, it's not that easy to take advantage of him."
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