Under Yan Jiaoran's expectant eyes.
Qin Yuan pondered for a moment, then slowly said, "Madam, let's propose solutions based on the three issues of corvée labor, grain, oxen, and seeds."
"Let's talk about the solution to the first point first."
Hearing this, Yan Jiaoran pricked up her ears, perked up, and listened attentively.
As the emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty, she naturally made decisions about the relationship between public opinion and corvee labor.
She didn't want the Great Zhou to be in turmoil because of excessive corvee labor.
When Qin Shi Huang built the Great Wall to prevent foreign invasions, his greatest reliance was actually the cheap manpower that Qin had obtained through the war of unification. He could use harsh laws and a powerful Qin army to suppress the laborers of the six states and squander the people's power without restraint.
However, after the Qin Dynasty unified the six kingdoms, it had not yet fully achieved the goal of "completely repairing all the Great Walls". Because of "the shouting of the garrison soldiers, the Hangu Pass was raised", the Great Wall became a scorched earth.
Later, the state system was inherited by the Chu State of Xiang Yu, the King of Western Chu, and the founding Qin State eventually ended up being destroyed.
Now that the internal troubles of the Great Zhou have been swept away by that bastard Qin Yuan, the national strength is growing day by day, but if it wants to be as invincible as the Great Qin, it is still a long way off...
Therefore, Yan Jiaoran was looking forward to whether this bastard Qin Yuan could come up with a long-lasting solution to the corvee problem.
I only heard Qin Yuan say:
"For a self-cultivating farmer, bringing their own food to perform corvée without pay not only delayed their farm work, but also exposed them to slavery and extortion during their service. They could even offend officials and be deemed unqualified for corvée, leading to losses that could bankrupt them..."
"That's not all. The worst thing is that my wife and children might be bullied because I can't take care of the family!"
Yan Jiaoran fell silent after hearing this.
Although this sounds unpleasant and miserable, it is the reality that the people at the bottom of society encounter.
Corvée labor is ten times more painful than taxes!
However, after Qin Yuan bluntly exposed this fact, he did not speak out his solution, but instead asked:
"My lady, have you ever thought about why the imperial court established the corvée system?"
"Of course it's because the government is short of staff and needs all kinds of laborers to complete the tasks that need to be done." Yan Jiaoran answered righteously.
Qin Yuan frowned and continued to ask:
"Then, my lady, have you ever thought about why the government is short-staffed?"
"Is it because there's no one to hire?"
Hearing this, Yan Jiaoran seemed to be hesitant to speak.
It’s certainly not because there’s no one to hire.
It was because the court could not afford to hire people.
Although the court doesn't want to...
But how can I say this directly?
Qin Yuan saw that his wife was silent, so he asked again: "What's wrong, my wife? Why don't you say anything?"
"You don't know, or you don't dare to say it?"
Yan Jiaoran replied helplessly: "Of course I know the reason!"
"Then tell me about it." Qin Yuan pressed.
"It's just that the court doesn't want to spend money!" Yan Jiaoran replied.
However, Qin Yuan just nodded and did not give her a direct answer. Instead, he asked inquiringly:
"So is it the imperial court that doesn't want to spend money, or is it the local government that doesn't want to spend money?"
Yan Jiaoran was a little hesitant and didn't know how to answer for a moment.
After a moment of silence, he made a difficult decision, threw all the blame on others, and said bluntly:
"That must be because the local government is unwilling to spend money!"
Qin Yuan did not refute, but slowly said: "In this case, my lady, can we give a definition of 'corvée'?"
"Corvée labor emerged because maintaining public services required collective labor."
"From a cost perspective, the government's optimal solution is to conscript civilians into service without compensation."
"So the essence of corvee labor is actually an economic calculation."
Qin Yuan began to summarize, no longer waiting for Yan Jiaoran's answer, but talked incessantly.
Then, he sat up straight, and his tone was as loud as iron and stone!
"When the tyrannical Qin Dynasty imposed forced labor, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang angrily declared: 'My brother has ordered my mother to be beheaded, and there are already sixteen or seventeen dead in the garrison. Why not launch a major campaign to punish the tyrannical Qin?'"
"When the Sui Dynasty imposed forced labor, Zhishilang composed the poem 'Not Going to Liaodong to Die': 'If I were to die in Liaodong, what harm would it do to be beheaded? I'd rather be a bandit in the mountains than a Liaodong official!'"
"The suffering of corvée labor is ten times worse than taxes!!"
"If you don't believe me, why not go to every town and city in the country and ask, which male head of household, if there is a possibility of not going, would be willing to abandon his wife and children to perform corvee labor?"
After hearing these words, Yan Jiaoran remained silent for a long time, then suddenly looked up and asked quickly.
"How can we solve this problem?"
As she spoke, she also sat up straight and said angrily:
"The imperial court doesn't have the money, and the local government isn't willing to spend it. Someone has to do the work!"
"If we don't make the people suffer, what else can we do?!"
Qin Yuan looked at his wife and said word by word: "Why should the people suffer?!"
His wife's words suddenly reminded him of a "golden age".
A group of numb trackers were pulling the luxurious and spacious ship like zombies.
The imperial court gave too many gifts to the Western delegation, and many pigs and poultry were killed in collisions on the road. The Westerners then threw these smelly animals overboard.
The boat trackers, their eyes turning green with hunger, jumped into the water like crazy, immediately picked up the dead animals and ate them.
They don't care whether there are bacteria or whether they will cause disease.
Because if they don't eat, with the meager daily food supply and high-intensity physical labor, they will die within two or three days.
When we got near the city, we saw many abandoned babies in wooden basins floating down the river like river lanterns.
Such a "prosperous age" is nothing more than a prosperous age for the rich and powerful.
Perhaps, he could do something for future generations to make the Qing Dynasty, which "would rather give to friendly foreign countries than to domestic slaves", completely obliterated in history and never appear again!
An idea suddenly flashed through Qin Yuan's mind: Should I submit a memorial to that stupid woman?
He actually didn't want to get involved in such trouble because it would mean he would be the enemy of the entire class.
As the saying goes, it is easy to dodge a spear but hard to guard against an arrow from the dark. He really can't stand it.
But when he got to this point, all his blood started boiling.
If we do nothing and just watch history go through one reincarnation and cycle after another, it would be very frustrating!
It's time to find someone to take the blame and outsource this solution.
Who is suitable?
Qin Yuan was searching for a suitable candidate in his mind.
Then, a face with starry eyes as clear as autumn water, enchanting and charming, and full of charm appeared in his mind.
This person is very suitable in terms of identity, status, and work ability.
It's a good opportunity to find her something to do so that she doesn't have to keep an eye on me every day.
It’s her!
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