The methods he proposed are actually the more common ways for later generations to deal with disasters, economic depression, and reconstruction. History has proven that this method is indeed feasible and effective, including for the United States.
But there is a prerequisite here: the government must have enough money.
If there is no money, but currency is printed indiscriminately and work-for-relief is implemented, then it is simply courting death and the country will collapse quickly.
The good news is that the court now has money.
The bad news is that we are running out of money.
The situation in the northwest is becoming increasingly tense, and it is just the beginning, so the court has surplus funds to support him in rebuilding the disaster area.
Once the war really breaks out, the amount of money spent will be astronomical. The national treasury currently has tens of millions of strings of cash in deposits, which were saved by frugal living over the past two years in preparation for the war. I am afraid that it will be used up soon after the war breaks out.
Even though Zhao Jun had raided many corrupt officials and many unscrupulous businessmen in the past two years, bringing more than 10 million strings of cash in confiscated property to the court, countless amounts of money were sent to Bianliang.
However, relying solely on confiscating property is like draining the pond to catch fish and killing the chicken to get the eggs, which cannot last long, so conventional means must be used.
"Fortunately, the natural disasters that the Song Dynasty has encountered in recent years have been mostly minor. Even the severe drought in Huainan a few years ago was only considered medium to high-level. A major disaster that would have affected millions or even tens of millions of people hasn't occurred yet."
"I've been working in the local area for almost two years since February of the previous year. During these two years, I've accumulated a lot of experience working at the grassroots level, learned about life at the grassroots level in the Song Dynasty, and gradually found a path for reform."
"First, taxes. The main taxes were indeed light, only 5 to 10 percent of the harvest. But the miscellaneous levies were ridiculously high. No wonder Professor Zhang said, 'Taxes were heavy in the Northern Song Dynasty, and there was little disagreement.'"
"But it was thanks to taxes that the Northern Song Dynasty was able to survive for so long. If tax adjustments and reforms were to be implemented now, the Song Dynasty would likely face severe pressure. It seems that when it comes to alleviating the burden on farmers, we still have to take a gradual approach."
"The Qingmiao Law, like Wang Anshi's, has some merit, but it can only be used as a reference and not accepted wholesale. Also, the reforms of Zhang Juzheng and Yongzheng need to wait until domestic productivity improves before they can be promoted and implemented."
"However, taxation cannot be adjusted for the time being. We can still reform the civil service first. No wonder Fan Zhongyan wanted to address the civil service first. It turns out that only by going down to the grassroots and observing the situation can we understand the reason."
"As for making money, we ultimately need to increase revenue and reduce expenditure, solve the three redundancies, absorb gold and silver from Japan, and actively explore overseas markets and expand foreign trade. This is also the path of the Southern Song Dynasty."
"No matter what, I must find a path that belongs to the Great Song Dynasty. For the sake of the farmers of the Great Song Dynasty, for the sake of all Han Chinese, for the sake of not having the shame of Jingkang, and for the Han people to stand at the top of the world, I must redouble my efforts and not slack off."
At the end of the Xu hour, late at night, Zhao Jun continued to work at his desk, striving for his ideals.
Thanks to my fellow readers for their insightful comments on the last two chapters. I've made some revisions, and I personally think they're more reasonable. You can go back and take a look. Actually, I forgot to include a section in the last chapter, which was about ordinary people selling their children. This lack of foreshadowing made the protagonist's speech seem rather dull. It was my fault, and it didn't make the story feel immersive enough. The protagonist has always lived in a private life, and this journey around the world is meant to make up for this shortcoming. Otherwise, relying solely on empty talk would be a castle in the air.
Many friends have said that the first stage was not so good. One reason is that I was sick this month and it affected my condition. The other reason is that I personally think that the protagonist still needs to go to the countryside to do practical things, so the plot is a little lacking.
Thank you all for pointing out the problems. I will listen carefully to reasonable opinions. As for those who directly curse, I will just pretend not to see them.
(End of this chapter)
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