After saying that, Qin Yuan rested for a moment, and at the same time glanced at Murong Yanran and Yan Jiaoran.
Seeing the two of them with dazed expressions, their eyes were full of shock and stars.
I was immediately satisfied.
Now let’s get to the point.
How to solve the problem without bloodshed and make people remember you for your kindness.
In the previous life, when Emperor Wu of Han implemented the Enfeoffment Order, he held great power and did not need to consider other people's attitudes. If anyone dared to have any opinion, he would be killed directly.
Therefore, he could seize the military power of the princes without any scruples, and after several generations, he could directly deprive them of their status and turn them into ordinary civilians.
So, although Liu Bei had the title of a relative of the Han royal family, he still had to make a living by selling straw sandals.
But the situation faced by that stupid woman Yan Jiaoran is quite different.
Although she was the emperor in name only, she was extremely incompetent and had defeated almost all the people she could have defeated.
However, the local princes were very powerful. If they had not had their own ulterior motives and were not wary of each other, Jingzhou City would have changed hands long ago.
If we follow the example of Emperor Wu of Han and use overly harsh tactics, it will inevitably cause dissatisfaction among some people.
It cannot weaken the power of the vassal kings to the greatest extent.
But if we follow the current plan, the famous pig-raising scene will appear again, just like in the Ming Dynasty.
Therefore, we can only adopt a more gentle method and make full use of human nature.
While making everyone satisfied, it does not bring too much burden to the court.
"Did you both understand what I just said?" Qin Yuan asked.
Murong Yanran and Yan Jiaoran immediately nodded like chicks pecking at rice.
Qin Yuan continued, "Okay, let's continue thinking along this line."
"If you apply this theory to the problem of supporting the royal family that is troubling you, it will be easy to come up with a solution."
Yan Jiaoran and Murong Yanran took a deep breath at the same time, suppressed their throbbing hearts, and stood still quietly, waiting for Qin Yuan to explain how to implement his solution.
"This theory can easily be applied to the current problem of supporting the royal family and come up with a solution."
"First, to avoid the future high cost of supporting the royal family, which would put too heavy a burden on the court and affect the country's destiny."
"Therefore, we must make some changes to the imperial clan system. The ranks and salaries of imperial clan members must be reduced, and their status as imperial clan members must also be removed."
"However, you can't just say you want to cut your salary or remove your royal family status."
“It’s about finding another way.”
"For example, we could keep the current basic salary unchanged, then set performance indicators for the princes, evaluate them annually, and reduce the salaries of the bottom-ranked ones."
"Those who rank high can be promoted if they meet a certain standard for a certain number of consecutive years."
"In this way, within a few years, we can boil the frog in warm water and gradually achieve the goal of reducing salaries."
"When there's nothing left to be done, their royal family status can be removed."
"In this way, even if the population of the royal family increases in the future, it will not put too much pressure on the finances of the Great Zhou."
"Another advantage of doing this is that it will force the clan members to do things instead of just raising them like pigs for support."
"As long as people have something to do, they won't be idle thinking about rebellion."
"Specific instructions for the clan members to take will be given in the second solution later."
Seeing that the two of them were somewhat confused, Qin Yuan cleared his throat and explained:
"Specifically, it means assigning a relatively low basic salary to each level, which is also known as the health factor."
“Then there’s the incentive factor.”
"Every year, the imperial court should give each vassal state a seemingly enormous 'year-end reward'."
"The total amount of this 'year-end bonus' should not be fixed, but should be spent based on a certain proportion of the national budget."
"As for why I do this, I'll explain it later."
"The specific amount of the 'year-end reward package' that a particular vassal state receives is determined by the imperial court based on the results of its inspection of that vassal state."
"For example, we assess the fertility rate of the imperial clan, the stability of the vassal states, and the contribution of the vassal states, among other evaluation indicators, and divide them into three levels: excellent, qualified, and poor."
"As for the specific members of the royal family of the vassal state, the imperial court will not be responsible for the investigation, but will leave it to the royal family of the vassal state to handle."
"For example, the royal family members of higher, equal, and lower ranks will be assessed based on their performance in the five areas of loyalty to the emperor, patriotism, filial piety, love for the people, and dedication to their work. This will determine their specific ranking among the royal family members of the vassal state. If they fail to meet the standards, their basic salary will be reduced, or their title will be lowered."
"There aren't many members of the royal family right now, and most of them have received salaries that are even higher than before, so naturally they don't care."
"But if there are more people, the situation will be very different!"
"That way, even if the distribution is unfair, no one will point the finger at the court..."
"This is the first method I mentioned, saving money!"
To put it simply, it’s the base salary and performance of modern workers.
Turn the princes into workers.
Hear this.
Yan Jiaoran could no longer sit still and could no longer maintain the leisurely posture of leaning against the table with one hand on her waist.
Instead, he stared at Qin Yuan with wide eyes.
At first glance, it sounds like it makes sense, but is it really feasible?
But after thinking about it carefully for a moment, Yan Jiaoran felt that it was feasible.
The more I think about it, the more feasible it seems!
After all, the imperial court now has a clear goal - to reduce the pressure of royal family salaries on the future of the Great Zhou while peacefully reducing the power of the feudal lords.
This is a problem that must be solved, and it must be solved, otherwise there will be big trouble within two hundred years, which will directly affect the national destiny of the Great Zhou.
Originally, Yan Jiaoran had planned to adopt Murong Yanran's method.
That is, after the situation stabilizes, slowly use underhanded tactics to reduce the pressure on the court to support the royal family.
But compared with Qin Yuan's method, it's not very pleasant to say.
It's like heaven and earth apart!
By lowering the basic salary, the court's financial pressure was drastically reduced.
And because of the existence of the "year-end bonus", most people will get more than before, so they will not have any objections.
For them, it's just a different excuse.
But for the imperial court, it was very different.
Expenditure linked to a percentage of the fiscal budget appears to be no different from before.
However, it greatly alleviated the financial pressure on the court.
For example, in years when there is a disaster and tax revenue is poor, less tax will be paid, and in years when tax revenue is good, more tax will be paid.
Unlike a fixed salary, no matter what the court's financial situation is, it has to tighten its belt to spend this money.
In some extreme cases, this will undoubtedly greatly alleviate the financial pressure on the Great Zhou.
Such a fantastic idea is something that only a god could come up with!
And setting different evaluation standards for vassal states and royal family members is even more amazing, and it is the finishing touch!
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