"Li Zhongcheng." Unexpectedly, the next person to confront Li Guang was Prime Minister Zhao Ding. "The governor mentioned this matter today for a specific strategy, not just to flatter... First of all, the vacant land you mentioned is indeed hard to find around the capital, but along the Yellow River, due to the previous military tensions, few people are willing to settle there except for the military and civilian settlements designated by the government, so there are still a lot of vacant land available. Even in the Central Plains and other places that have experienced war, there may be vacant land available in just three years."
Hearing this, not only Li Guang, but also Emperor Zhao was slightly moved, and then he remembered the ice-breaking thing mentioned by Zhang Rong again.
"Secondly, as for Li Zhongcheng's argument about costs and taxes, it is a bit too demanding. Just ask, is this design more clever and convenient than planting mulberry trees, raising fish, and feeding chickens? If so, it is more economical than many farms at present, rather than forcing a comparison with the harem." Just when Emperor Zhao's mind was wandering, Zhao Ding had already continued to follow. "Moreover, since it is implemented along the Yellow River, if there is a surplus of chickens and fish after self-use, it can be sold to the military camp to improve the army's food and strengthen the soldiers. I think there are many retired soldiers in the military settlements, and the land granted to meritorious soldiers is also there. The military camp should not rob them."
"If that's the case, it's not impossible if we can limit it to the area along the Yellow River and around military and civilian settlements." After being refuted by Zhao Ding one by one, Li Guang chose to back down at the right time. He had realized that this matter was probably led by Emperor Zhao and Zhao Ding, and Liu Ji and Yan Xiaozhong were just the frontmen and executors.
"Besides, whether it's the province or the government, how can anyone be as bold as the Zhongcheng? They definitely don't dare to promote it directly along the Yellow River." Li Guang just thought of Yan Xiaozhong, and the short Yan Xiaozhong suddenly interrupted with a sneer. "It's clearly stated in the memorial that it should be carried out from Kaifeng Prefecture, and it should be a pilot project first. If Kaifeng Prefecture succeeds, then go to Zhengzhou and Huazhou. If Zhengzhou and Huazhou succeed, then go to Luoyang and Jingdong... Moreover, if it starts from Kaifeng Prefecture, the government can come forward and directly issue low-interest or even interest-free green seedling loans here in Xuande Tower, just like selling national bonds, so that the military and civilian settlements along the river can come according to the settlement villages and use them for a unified loan! Why does Zhongcheng Li have to find fault with it?"
Li Guang was ready to give up the argument, but when he saw Yan Xiaozhong's attitude, his old habit came back. He immediately resisted and retorted: "If the special loan is mainly for the village, then this kind of thing should also be done mainly for the village. How can we know that there won't be cunning officials and bullies who will profit from it?"
“That is indeed a concern.”
The Emperor Zhao, who was sitting over there, interrupted again at the right time. "But the military and civilian settlements along the river are mostly villages that were uniformly settled after the court returned to Tokyo in the second and third years of Jianyan. There are many soldiers in them, but there are fewer bullies. And compared with this concern, these settlements are basically all of various surnames, and there has never been any clan activities. There is no place to go for annual ancestor worship and Mid-Autumn Festival grave visits. This is not a good thing. At least the vegetable-eating demon cult often takes the opportunity to invade, which leads to disasters. So, what I mean is that if this can be accomplished, we will lure them with no interest, allow them to decide for themselves, and see if they can imitate the clan property in the south and set up some village properties with this kind of mulberry pond and fish pond..."
As soon as these words came out, everyone in the upper and lower levels seemed to be thinking about something. Li Guang also suddenly came to his senses, but he forced a smile and said, "If that's the case, then I haven't thought it through! I think this is feasible, and the Censorate can send two censors to patrol along the river to monitor this matter."
Zhao Jiu nodded with satisfaction.
By the way, what Zhao Jiu mentioned at the end was what really hit the nail on the head for these bureaucrats - that is, the collective property of the village and the corresponding collective activities of the village.
It should be understood that no matter how rapid the urbanization progress of the so-called Song Dynasty was, the Song Dynasty at that time was still a typical medieval imperial society based on agriculture. Moreover, like all other places, due to problems of productivity and organizational advancement, the peripheral structures of imperial power could hardly reach the grassroots people, which is the so-called meaning of "imperial power does not go to the countryside."
And this situation will breed problems.
First of all, the fragility of the small peasant economy makes the grassroots people defenseless in the face of usury and rent exploitation, and this fragility will allow religions such as Manichaeism, which has a self-help insurance business for the poor, to take advantage of the situation and move in, which is impossible to stop. In the end, people live in poverty, cults are rampant, and finally they rise up in rebellion.
But at the same time, another absurd reality is that if imperial power were to force its way into rural communities, it would instead cause greater chaos and damage - because in the era of imperial power, compared with the government, monks, Taoists, and landlords were simply white lilies!
In fact, the reason why those monks, Taoists and landlords were able to exploit the people and suck their blood out of them was largely because of the evil deeds they did after relying on the imperial power.
This situation will be difficult to change even after another eight hundred years.
At this time, a moderate grassroots organizational form is needed that can both obey the rule from above and play a calming role to the people below.
Historically, this position has been occupied by none other than clan.
If a clan wants to play a practical role, it must have an economic foundation to a large extent. Therefore, the role of clan property is unquestionable.
So who invented the system of clan property?
The answer is Fan Zhongyan.
After Fan Zhongyan invented clan property, it was immediately strongly recognized and promoted by the Song Dynasty court, and quickly swept throughout China, subsequently rapidly expanding clan power in small villages and communities.
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