Zhao Xu agreed very easily, which shows that although he understood the reason, he was still not clear about the interests involved.
The ancients never attached much importance to technology and never forced it. There was only one way to manage finances in ancient times: recuperation and rest. The emphasis was always on distribution and production.
He certainly could not have imagined the changes this technological innovation would bring.
This is not to say that Zhao Xu was dull and didn't understand this. In fact, except Zhang Fei, no one understood this, including Wang Anshi and others.
Although Wang Anshi's new policy also touched upon the edge, the focus was still on financial management, and tax currency was very much to Wang Anshi's liking.
But in fact, this is the top priority, because the ultimate goal of developing industry and commerce is to promote technological progress, thereby promoting productivity progress, and social wealth will increase.
The public security, procuratorial and judicial organs can play a complementary role in this regard.
Now that the platform has been built, it is time to build up momentum and wait for a big boom one day.
Having said that, if it wasn’t very important, Zhang Fei wouldn’t be so anxious. He hasn’t rested for even a single day this time.
Of course, Zhao Xu would not draft this bill, and he entrusted it to Zhang Fei.
...
...
For Zhang Fei, this bill was very easy and was drafted quickly.
After Zhao Xu read it and found no problems, he directly submitted it to the Legislative Council.
The name is even simpler and more straightforward, it is called the "Incentive Act".
Since the promulgation of the interim law, the imperial edict actually no longer exists, because the interim law has included the imperial edict and integrated it into regulations. That is to say, if the emperor wants to make laws in the future, he must go through the Legislative Council.
Of course, this is not stated explicitly, and the interim law does not explicitly abolish the decree. Currently, everyone is still maintaining it through tacit understanding.
Fu Bi was stunned when he suddenly received such a bill. A bill handed over by the emperor himself must be of great importance. However, it turned out to be to encourage merchants and craftsmen. This was not something that the emperor would do, as he was using a butcher knife to kill a chicken.
But upon closer inspection, this sounded very much like Zhang Fei's rhetoric. After asking Sima Guang, he knew that this must be related to Zhang Fei, so he immediately called Zhang Fei over.
When he met Zhang Fei, Fu Bi asked him as usual what he had inspected in the past six months.
Zhang Fei explained it again helplessly.
This is really difficult!
Fu Bi could understand, "Yes! The interim law has just been promulgated not long ago. It may be more effective if we inspect again in a year or two."
Zhang Fei said hurriedly: "But I'm probably not the best candidate."
He thought he had done a good job, but after coming back, he found that he still lacked experience.
Fu Bi just smiled and asked again: "Yesterday the government suddenly sent an incentive bill. Is this related to you?"
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "It was me who suggested that the government legislate on this."
Fu Bi asked, "Should we trouble the government for such a small bill?"
Zhang Fei said: "This is about reward. No one is more suitable except the emperor."
Fu Bi nodded quickly and said, "That makes sense! That makes sense!"
Zhang Fei added: "And this is not a small bill."
Fu Bi immediately said, "I'd like to hear the details."
Zhang Fei said: "I talked with Sima Xueshi once before, about the dispute between 'the people are not taxed more and the country has abundant resources' and 'the goods and wealth produced by heaven and earth are limited to this number'. Sima Xueshi combined the current situation and believed that in terms of agriculture, he still firmly believed that there was only this number.
But in terms of industry and commerce, he believes that his ideas may be wrong. "
At this point, he asked Fu Bi, "What do you think, Mr. Fu?"
Fu Bi thought for a while and said, "Jun Shi's words make a lot of sense!"
Zhang Fei shook his head.
Fu Bi asked, "Don't you think so?"
“I don’t think it’s limited to agriculture.”
Zhang Fei said: "The rice production in our dynasty is far better than that in the Tang Dynasty. How do you explain this?"
Fu Bi stroked his beard and said nothing.
Zhang Fei said: "Actually, agriculture and industry and commerce are the same thing. Both can increase wealth, provided that relevant technologies are developed.
When I was at Qingzhou College, I read some of Mr. Ouyang’s writings on peony cultivation techniques. Through the college’s research, some of these techniques have been used in other crops and have achieved impressive results.”
Fu Bi said: "So this law is used to encourage craftsmen to develop technology?"
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "Yes."
Fu Bi asked: "But why is the deadline only five years?"
Zhang Fei said: "This is mainly to encourage them to continue to improve. Five years is enough for them to make a lot of money, but if they want to make more money, they must continue to innovate and not just sit back and enjoy the fruits of their labor."
Fu Bi nodded slightly and asked again: "In your law, what the craftsman creates belongs to the employer."
Zhang Fei said: "To be precise, when a craftsman performs tasks assigned by his employer and uses raw materials provided by his employer to create something new, it belongs to the employer."
Fu Bi said: "But wouldn't this be unfair to the craftsmen? You know, the ones who really understand the technology are the craftsmen, not the businessmen."
Zhang Fei said: "Although most of the people who master the technology are craftsmen, the money is paid by the merchants. It is difficult to do it without money. In addition, in general, craftsmen are just completing the tasks assigned by their employers. According to my observation, most craftsmen will not take the initiative to innovate. They will only think of ways when the merchants ask them to. The merchants are the ones who dominate the whole process.
Of course, if the craftsman was originally doing blacksmith work, but he used his own money and time to invent a new type of paper, then this belongs to him personally and has nothing to do with his employer.
But I do not think that artisans will gain nothing from this bill, for it will induce merchants to pay high prices for those skilled artisans, which will be beneficial to all artisans."
Fu Bi nodded and asked, "Why is this authorization required?"
Zhang Fei said: "This is to allow some people to quickly gain wealth. Although he has the technology, he may not have the capital, so he can choose to authorize other businessmen and share the profits.
Then there are officials. Most of their creations are generally not part of their job duties but are extra interests, but they are too lazy to do business themselves. They can also take advantage of these regulations and authorize their inventions to businessmen to obtain the benefits they deserve.
But officials from the business department are not included, which is the same as the relationship between merchants and craftsmen. If a new drug is invented by a hospital, it belongs to the hospital, not to the individual. "
Fu Bi nodded slightly and asked again: "This bill also mentions that if someone uses the same technology to gain benefits, the person authorized by the incentive law can get 50% of the profits.
If this person created the same technology based on his own experience, would that also qualify?"
"conform to."
Zhang Fei nodded and said: "As long as we are sure that it is the same technology, then
Fu Bi asked, "What's the reason for this?"
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "The truth is motivation. If there is no guarantee, the government can't do anything!"
This incentive law is different from the patent law. The patent law requires the technology to be handed over, but the incentive law does not. The technology remains confidential. However, as long as others use your technology, they must give you 50% of the profits, regardless of whether they came up with it themselves or learned it by stealing.
Of course, this share is calculated based on the net profit obtained, so it will not cause a devastating blow to those who use the same technology, as they will still make money.
However, after five years, the technology will no longer be protected, but you can continue to keep it confidential.
However, both authorization and cooperation require the transmission of one's own technology. Zhang Fei is considering the current industrial technology and can only rely on legal protection. It is difficult to keep the technology from being passed on by oneself, unless it is some secret recipe, which can be kept.
Fu Bi just smiled and said thoughtfully: "I never thought that a small incentive would be so complicated if it were to become a law."
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "This is stipulated by our ancestors' laws. No matter how big or small the bill is, it should be carefully considered. Moreover, when legislating, use your brain more so that you can use less brains when hearing cases in the future. For example, the temporary law revised by Mr. Fu is really a benefit to judicial officials, so that they don't have to worry about complicated cases all day long."
Fu Bi chuckled and said, "Don't flatter me here. I am just in charge of the revision, and I am not the one who really uses the brain.
But you are right, I still need to think it over carefully, I will take a closer look and discuss it with others before making a decision."
Not long after Zhang Fei left, Wen Yanbo came to the Legislative Council. He certainly knew about this matter and was very curious about it because it was a bit abrupt and unbelievable.
Fu Bi also told Wen Yanbo the truth.
“Just to inspire others?”
Wen Yanbo said with a hint of surprise.
Fu Bi nodded.
"That's unlikely."
Wen Yanbo was very suspicious and said, "Zhang San has gone to great lengths to ask the government to issue this decree just to encourage the two industries of industry and commerce. Does Mr. Fu believe this nonsense?"
Even Zhao Xu himself felt embarrassed that it would make his reward cheap, so could Wen Yanbo and others believe it?
There must be something fishy going on here.
Because in their view, this kind of thing was too trivial and not worth mentioning. It was really just a piece of paper. Wang Anshi presented the paper as a tribute, and Wen Yanbo did not say anything. He did not care much about it. But Zhang Fei made such a big fuss about it, which made it hard not to arouse speculation.
There must be some unknown secret behind this!
Fu Bi said: "I have also asked him this question, but he believes that technology is the key to the growth of national wealth. In his view, this is not a trivial matter, so he will beg the government to draft this bill."
Wen Yanbo asked with a smile: "How much wealth can this increase?"
Fu Bi said: "That is unknown, but he did have a point when he used the rice planting technology as an example."
Wen Yanbo really couldn't understand, so he asked, "What is Mr. Fu's plan?"
Fu Bi said: "This is just a small matter, and it was ordered by the emperor himself. If it is delayed for too long, it may cause displeasure to the emperor and lead to losing the big picture because of the small. Therefore, I will try my best to pass this bill quickly."
They knew very well that the emperor had made great concessions, but they should not be ungrateful. They themselves thought that this bill was not worth mentioning, and if they still made irresponsible remarks, it would be really arrogant.
Ministry of Revenue.
"It's just a piece of paper, but they are trying to stop it. I think they just want to teach us a lesson and let us know who has the final say in the court."
Deng Wan said to Wang Anshi angrily.
Xue Xiang on the side said: "I think this is an opportunity."
Deng Wan asked: "What opportunity?"
Xue Xiang said: "In fact, what Zhang San said coincides with your idea. In this case, why don't we incorporate this statement into your idea and continue to innovate.
For example, who will enforce this incentive law? It is definitely not the procuratorate or the imperial court. They have no right to manage this matter. This should be the responsibility of the Ministry of Revenue. We can let the Ministry of Revenue or the Ministry of Works set up an official office to specifically enforce this incentive law, so as to integrate this matter with the prime minister's philosophy. "
After hearing this, Deng Wan was even more furious and said, "Sansishi, what are you talking about? They are bullying people, but you choose to compromise. If our Ministry of Revenue can't even decide on a piece of paper, what else can we decide? What's the point of this office?"
Xue Xiang said: "This is an order issued by the emperor himself. In the court, the emperor has the final say. This is not shameful."
Deng Wan said: "But that was only because we did not fight for it, so Zhang San got the upper hand. There are many people in the court now."
"Okay."
Wang Anshi interrupted Deng Wan and said, "Since the emperor has issued an order, let's not talk about it anymore. We just need to pay more attention next time. Anyway, this is not a big deal."
Deng Wan was still unhappy and kept silent.
He was the one who initiated this matter, and it had previously been recognized by Wang Anshi and Xue Xiang. However, as soon as Zhang Fei came back, everything changed. He felt very embarrassed!
After leaving the Ministry of Revenue, Wang Anshi said to Xue Xiang: "What you said just now is very right. Whether it is useful or not, if you bring this idea here, it will at least gain the support of craftsmen and merchants, which is not a bad thing."
Xue Xiang said: "But Minister Deng is short-sighted and doesn't understand the current situation at all."
He is becoming more and more unhappy with Deng Wan, who only knows how to fight with him every day. The problem is that the other person doesn't want to fight with him now!
Wang Anshi said, "Ji Fu will be back soon, so don't bother with him."
Although he had written to Lu Huiqing half a year ago, Lu Huiqing was in charge of the Hebei Transportation Bureau, and he had to finish all the matters on hand before he could come back to report, which would take at least until the end of the year or the beginning of next year.
soon.
This incentive bill was passed by the Legislative Council.
It’s not that everyone agreed with it, but many judicial officials didn’t care. They thought it was just a small matter. What’s more, it was an imperial decree, so Fu Bi didn’t need to remind them. Everyone thought that they should not make trouble.
They only discussed the bill for half a day.
It was not like the previous tax bill and liquor bill, which caused endless quarrels.
However, once this bill was enacted, the commotion it caused in industry and commerce surprised these legislative officials.
Those industrialists and businessmen were ecstatic and told each other about the event. Even shops of all sizes offered huge discounts, and each guild also stated that they would offer discounts on this day every year to express their gratitude for the great favor.
This immediately triggered a consumer storm, and the matter instantly attracted everyone's attention.
Fu Bi, Sima Guang and others were all dumbfounded.
So what?
As for!
For industrialists and businessmen, they believed that the previous prosperity was just brought about by the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, and was not specially prepared for them, so they were still very uneasy in their hearts. But after this bill came out, they believed that the emperor was paying attention to them and caring about them, and that the court's policies were also leaning towards them, and their industrial and commercial status was improved.
This gives complete peace of mind to those businessmen who are expanding their production scale.
This kind of incentive for industry and commerce may be the greatest in history.
How could they not be excited.
Li Jian, the inventor of Hsinchu Paper, and Xie Liangjing, the founder of Huanhun Paper, became the first lucky ones to be favored by the incentive law.
Li Jian was so happy, this was truly a blessing in disguise!
There is a constant stream of printing shops coming to us seeking cooperation, and it is really a good way to make money without any preparation.
For Xie Liangjing, that was even more wealth. He had never cared about this matter before because he was just making cheap paper and the court would not consider his paper fair.
However, this incident also attracted the attention of many wealthy businessmen to this resurrection paper.
Many businessmen hope to cooperate with him or ask for his authorization.
Xie Liangjing's strength was far less than Li Jian's, but he was not stupid. He knew that if he could not monopolize this kind of cheap paper, the profit would be very low. After all, waste paper was limited. Only by taking on a large number of tasks could he increase his profits. So he chose to cooperate with Huang Can, the largest paper merchant in Beijing. This was also
Bian Jing Law Firm.
I saw that all the wealthy people in Beijing gathered here. This bill was really crucial to them, so they had to find out more about it.
"Sanlang, according to this law, as long as it is confirmed that it is the first time on the market, it can be rewarded by the incentive law. But maybe I just didn't bring out this technology, and it was stolen by others. According to the incentive law, who should be credited with it?"
Huang Can asked curiously.
Zhang Fei said: "Whoever uses it in the market will own it, because this incentive law is to reward those who bring convenience and wealth to the country through technological innovation. If you have technology but you hide it and don't use it, it is the same as having nothing for the country and the government, so why should we reward you?"
Fan Yong asked again: "Can this new wine be stimulated?"
"That's two points."
Zhang Fei said: "Purely new wine is not available, because delicious wine is only beneficial to you personally, but has no benefit to the country or the government."
At this point, he changed the subject and said, "However, if you apply for winemaking technology, you may get it. If this technology is a breakthrough, it can be used in other areas.
This is written very clearly in the bill that the incentive law is for technological innovation, not the newness or oldness of the goods.
Take the resurrection paper for example. If you sell the resurrection paper, it does not violate the incentive law. However, if you use the resurrection paper technology to produce resurrection paper, it is a violation of the incentive law. "
Huang Can said: "This is unfair. As we all know, the materials for papermaking are mostly produced in the south. Merchants there have an inherent advantage."
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "The court didn't say that you can't open a shop in Jiangnan. Besides, there is no way that resurrection paper can be produced in Jiangnan. This is not a reason."
Chen Maoqian asked: "I wonder who should I go to apply for protection under the incentive law, the Imperial Court or the Procuratorate?"
Zhang Fei said: "This matter is not under the jurisdiction of our public security, procuratorate and courts. Let's see if it is the Ministry of Works or the Ministry of Revenue."
"ah?"
A group of businessmen looked at Zhang Fei anxiously.
Merchants would trust anyone except the government.
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Don't worry, although the people in charge of this matter will definitely not be the public security, procuratorate or court, but if it violates the incentive law, then it falls within the jurisdiction of the public security, procuratorate or court.
In cases like this, you can entrust Erbi or Chashiren to apply for it and preserve the evidence. If you encounter any problems, you can go to the procuratorate or the royal court to file a complaint.
The rule of law will protect your legitimate rights and interests.”
This is the role of the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs. Without them, this incentive law may become a mere formality. Those officials or powerful people can directly turn your technology into their own technology, and you will have no way to stop them.
The public security, procuratorial and judicial organs make many policies feasible.
On the other side, after weighing the pros and cons, Wang Anshi decided to hand over the incentive law to the Ministry of Works for implementation, because he believed that the Ministry of Revenue already had enough power and was too busy to handle everything. On the contrary, the Ministry of Works was currently more relaxed, and the Ministry of Works was also closely related to technology.
In order to announce this news, he also wrote an article. First of all, he expressed his support for the incentive law and said that the Ministry of Industry would set up a special office to implement the incentive law.
At the same time, the article implies that this is all based on my philosophy. I emphasize again that if you want to enrich the world, you must rely on heaven and earth for resources.
Not only that, he also put forward a new idea, managing finances with righteousness and making money with profit.
Managing and distributing wealth requires morality, but increasing new wealth requires interests. No matter how moral or not, new wealth cannot be generated.
This topic caught Sima Guang off guard.
In the past, Wang Anshi emphasized profit, while Sima Guang emphasized righteousness. The contradiction was very sharp, but after Wang Anshi made such a detailed division, Sima Guang found it difficult to refute.
The morality that Sima Guang emphasized is that a gentleman loves money but gets it in a proper way. He cannot exploit the people to gain wealth. Wealth as a whole does not change and is only based on management and distribution.
New wealth is created and did not exist before. This has little to do with whether one’s intentions are right or not.
Even if you have bad intentions, the wealth you gain is newly created and will not harm others.
It can be seen that Wang Anshi was very smart. With the help of a piece of paper, he successfully broke through the bottleneck and made further progress.
His previous New Deal ideas had been greatly weakened, and party struggles had also been weakened as a result.
But now, his new policy ideas are further strengthened because they are closely related to the new official system. According to the reformed official system, political achievements are directly linked to taxation, and taxation is directly linked to the growth of people's wealth. Technological innovation and wealth growth are closely related. This has become a systematic concept.
However, Wang Anshi personally intervened, which immediately sparked public opinion.
More and more people are paying attention to this matter.
This again made the literati very unhappy.
Why not inspire us to write better articles?
We need encouragement too!
What happened to the scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans?
The court is putting the cart before the horse!
There are also some powerful people who are extremely jealous. Our salt and wine privileges were taken back not long ago, but industry and commerce were given privileges. What do you want to do, Emperor?
You can't do that.
This destroys class!
They began to make trouble with the emperor.
When it comes to the feudal class, this small matter becomes a big matter.
Zhao Xu was depressed and quickly called Zhang Fei over.
"Now we've gotten into trouble." When Zhao Xu saw Zhang Fei, he started complaining.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I have already thought of a countermeasure." Zhang Fei said hurriedly.
Zhao Xu asked: "What is the countermeasure?"
Zhang Fei said: "It's very simple, give them rewards as well."
Zhao Xu asked, "How do I give it?"
"article."
Zhang Fei said: "If the articles they publish are beneficial to national construction, the government will directly give them rewards.
Moreover, this article is not limited to governing the country, but also includes astronomy, geography, military finance, academics, etc. As long as their theories are recognized by the court and successful, His Majesty will personally reward them. For example, the training method of the palace commander, I think it can get this reward, or His Majesty will add an additional plaque to show your appreciation for the literati. As for the bonus, it can be paid by the charity foundation. "
"That's all we can do."
Zhao Xu nodded and said, "But let's not talk about Song Shouyue's military training method for now. The people who are making trouble now are the literati. If this is given to the military generals, they will become even more aggressive. So, give it to Wang Jiefu and Sima Junshi first to reward them for their contributions to the reform."
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "That's fine too."
Zhao Xu sighed and said, "I have said before that I cannot give out rewards casually."
Zhang Fei said: "Your Majesty, please stop complaining."
Zhao Xu said angrily: "Why can't I complain?"
Zhang Fei said: "In order to express their gratitude to Your Majesty, those merchants directly stipulated that on the eighth day of the tenth month of each year, preferential treatment should be given to show their gratitude to Your Majesty. Throughout history, all sage monarchs have been no more than this!
Although it was a little troublesome, it also helped Your Majesty win the hearts of the people. When this holy order is issued, the scholars will also be grateful to Your Majesty. Your Majesty will be the biggest beneficiary.
Isn't this more clever than simply offering generous rewards to win people's hearts?
Take Sima Xueshi for example. No matter how much reward Your Majesty gives him, he will not care too much, because he is not interested in material things. But Your Majesty wants to reward his article, which is a kind of affirmation, and Sima Xueshi will definitely be very happy. "
Zhao Xu's eyes lit up when he heard this, and the more he thought about it, the happier he became. But he said, "I'm just saying it, isn't this okay?"
Zhang Fei said: "I am worried that Your Majesty will be worried about his health."
"That's more like it."
Zhao Xu added, "By the way, the Military Equipment Bureau has recently improved its firearms. You can go and have a look with me someday."
"yes."
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