Yang Gao and Jiang Tang hurriedly bowed.
Jiang Tang then continued, "In addition to these corrupt officials, the merchants and landlords involved in the case have also been arrested. Here is the list."
As he said this, he handed over the document in his hand.
Zhao Jun took it and glanced at it. In the Huainan corruption case, officials were responsible for embezzling grain, while merchants were responsible for driving up prices and selling the grain at high prices, with the proceeds divided into a 30% and 70% split.
Seventy percent of the profits belonged to the government officials, and the merchants could only get thirty percent if they looked at the moods of Yang Chongxun, Huang Wei, Sun Mian and others.
certainly.
Even so, these guys are not good people.
Because strictly speaking, if businessmen want to make money, they must have their profits.
For example, officials embezzled grain, and due to the impact of the disaster, the price of rice, which originally cost 200 wen per dan, increased fivefold to 1,000 wen per dan.
Then the officials would definitely give certain discounts to the merchants who collected grain. For example, if the market price was one thousand coins per stone, the officials would give the merchants seven or eight hundred coins.
However, merchants would naturally not be satisfied with this small profit, so they continued to drive up prices, raising the original market price of one thousand coins per stone to two thousand coins per stone, making a huge profit.
This is also why historical records often show that once a famine occurs, the price of food in the disaster area will often skyrocket several times or even dozens of times.
In addition to the market fluctuations themselves, merchants who hoard goods and raise prices are also the main culprits.
Since Zhao Jun got involved in this case, it was naturally not just about cracking down on corrupt officials.
These landlords and businessmen must not be let off either.
Therefore, long before arresting the officials, Yang Gao was asked to continue following the clues and catch all the landlords and profiteers in one fell swoop.
"Yeah, well done."
Zhao Jun glanced at the list. The crimes, including how they bought grain from officials and how they inflated prices, were clearly written. He nodded with satisfaction and said, "We must give the people an explanation for this matter."
"yes."
The two people responded.
Zhao Jun added, "Local landlords who commit serious offenses will be beheaded, and those who participate in such crimes will have their property confiscated and exiled. You can decide the specific punishment, but I hope they will receive the punishment they deserve. In addition, the land under their names will be taken over by the local government."
"Reclaim it from the government?"
Yang Gao was a little surprised. He thought Zhao Jun would distribute it to the people, but he didn't expect Zhao Jun to confiscate it directly. He asked curiously, "Minister, will all of it go to the local county government?"
"Well, yes."
Zhao Jun nodded and said, "This will become a regular practice from now on. All landowners who violate the law will have their land confiscated and the land will be returned to the local county government. The higher-level provincial government and the road administration department will supervise it."
Jiang Tang wondered, "What should we do with the confiscated land?"
"It's simple. When renting land to the people for farming, the rent in local areas is generally between 50% and 70%. Even those who only pay 50% rent are considered good landlords. How ironic. However, when ordinary people lease land from the government, they only need to pay around 20% after deducting normal taxes."
Zhao Jun said, "This is done, firstly, to slow down land annexation. Secondly, it is to put pressure on local landlords. As long as the government and the self-cultivating people own enough land, even if it only accounts for 20% to 30% of a county, most people will prefer to rent from the government rather than become tenants of the local landlords. The landlords will be forced to lower their rents, which will benefit the people."
"Great."
Yang Gao flattered him, "If this happens, won't the government collect even more taxes?"
"Um."
Zhao Jun said, "The 20% tax collected from the local government could actually be retained as a salary for the clerks. This would also help alleviate the situation where the clerks have to extort bribes to make a living."
"The prefect is truly a god."
Yang Gao gave a thumbs-up and said, "This is a really good idea. It not only solves the people's difficulties, but also benefits the local officials. It's truly a good solution."
Although Zhao Jun knew that Yang Gao liked to curry favor with the powerful and to please his superiors, for some reason, he did not feel disgusted. Instead, he felt quite comfortable facing Yang Gao's flattery.
Perhaps this is why Zeng Tai, the licking spirit in "Detective Di Renjie", was able to rise through the ranks from a small county magistrate to become rich and soon became a deposed envoy.
"It's a lie to praise the Dao. I can't say it's a panacea. I can only say it's a helpless act."
Zhao Jun listened to Yang Gao's flattery, smiled and waved his hand, saying, "There are also some drawbacks here, which is also a troublesome matter."
"Disadvantages?"
Yang Gao wondered, "Such a brilliant plan, does it have any drawbacks?"
"Of course, rules are made by people, so they can be broken. Sometimes, the government's policies are well-intentioned, but when they are implemented at the local level, they are distorted by the local authorities and become bad policies that harm the people."
Zhao Jun thought of Wang Anshi's reforms and said, "For example, the land under the county government's jurisdiction could easily be rented out by the relatives and friends of clerks. There might even be cases where landlords would use trickery to rent out the land, then sublease it to ordinary people at 50% rent, pocketing the 30% difference in profit."
"this"
Yang Gao was dumbfounded and looked at Jiang Tang, who was also very surprised.
They really didn't think that much.
Like Wang Anshi, the idea is good, but unfortunately the executors are the clerks of the world.
It is impossible for these people not to consider their own interests.
It is reasonable to give priority to relatives and friends when distributing these government-owned lands.
"So this requires the provincial government and the four government offices to play a supervisory role."
Zhao Jun concluded, "Local county magistrates must personally distribute the land owned by the county magistrates, distributing it to the people in need rather than to the relatives and friends of the clerks or local landlords. This can be considered a political achievement and included in the assessment process. With oversight from the provincial and four government offices, the results may be much better."
"Yes, I understand."
The two men immediately understood and bowed in greeting.
Zhao Jun nodded.
The Huainan corruption case has basically been dealt with, and the aftermath can be left to them. It is time for him to continue his southern tour and go to other places.
(End of this chapter)
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