Gu Xiaomao's dream was so simple, so simple that Li Zexuan only needed to move his lips to help him realize it. But at the same time, his dream was so difficult, so difficult that even if an ordinary person spent their entire life, they would not be able to achieve even a small goal in his dream ~!
"Xiaomao, I have a long-term task here. The more you are unwilling to do it, the more you are unwilling to do it ~?"
Li Zexuan did not directly give Gu Xiaomao a large sum of money to let him realize his dream, nor did he leave him to fend for himself. As the saying goes, give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a day. He intended to give Gu Xiaomao a shortcut to success.
Gu Xiaomao was stunned and then said excitedly, "Boss, please say it ~! I'm definitely willing to do it ~! "
Li Zexuan could not help but laugh. "You agreed so decisively. Aren't you afraid that I'll ask you to commit murder and arson ~?"
Gu Xiaomao grinned and said, "Hey ~! Boss, you're such a kind person. How can you ask me to commit murder and arson ~? "
Li Zexuan laughed and said, "Haha ~! Since that's the case, I'll tell you about this task ~! Yanhuang College will have more and more students in the future. Xiaomao, you can open a snack shop in the college. Ah, no, open a snack shop. The monthly surplus will definitely be enough for you to realize your dream ~! "
…
In Taiji Palace, the morning court was in progress.
"Your Majesty, now that the autumn harvest is over, according to the situation reported by the counties near Chang 'an City, this year's harvest is not good ~! Most of the harvests have decreased by about 20%. In some places, the harvest has decreased by 30% to 40% compared to last year. In this way, after the people have finished their grain, I'm afraid that the remaining grain in their hands will not last until next year ~! "
Fang Xuanling stood in front of the team and bowed to Li Er to report.
As soon as his voice fell, there was a buzz of whispers in the court. In this era of relying on the sky to make a living, grain was the lifeline of a country. This was a fragile and sensitive nerve that no one would ignore.
Li Er, who was sitting at the head of the table, could not help but feel his heart sink. At the same time, his mind was reminded of Li Zexuan's locust plague language!
Li Er found it hard to imagine what kind of calamity would befall the Great Tang if it hadn't made preparations in advance!
"Then order all the provinces and counties to exempt citizens from 20% of their taxes!"
After a moment of silence, Li Er instructed in a deep voice.
"Your Majesty, you mustn't!"
An old man in his fifties hurriedly stepped forward and retorted, "Your Majesty, although this move can relieve the pain of the people, it is no different from drinking poison to quench thirst! If the various regions follow His Majesty's decree, it will cause the official storehouses of the various provinces and counties to be filled with rations. Once there is a famine or natural disaster, the various provinces and prefectures will face a situation where they have no food to use and can only wait for the imperial court to rescue them! "
The person who spoke was Xiao Yu!
"Your Majesty, I also feel that this is inappropriate!"
As soon as Xiao Yu finished speaking, Wei Zheng also stepped forward and clasped his hands together. "Forgive me for speaking bluntly, Your Majesty's move can only solve the problems of a small portion of the citizens. Most of the citizens rely on the rich and powerful. If Your Majesty reduces taxes, they won't feel any gratitude ~!"
Clearly, Wei Zheng had already noticed some loopholes and shortcomings in the Tang Dynasty's equal-field system. However, he could not come up with a more perfect and reasonable land system.
"This subject agrees ~!"
"This old subject also agrees ~!"
Not long after, two or three officials stepped forward to express their agreement.
Li Er frowned and said, "This is not drinking poison to quench thirst, but weighing the pros and cons ~! You may have all forgotten, but counting the days, the fleet that went south should return with a full load within a month. At that time, with the food brought back by the fleet, the Great Tang Dynasty will no longer lack food ~! "
All the ministers were shocked. They had really forgotten about this!
"But Your Majesty …"
Fang Xuanling thought for a while and felt that it was not reliable to rely on a fleet with an unknown harvest. He opened his mouth and wanted to refute, but Li Er waved his hand and interrupted him.
"Minister Fang, there is no need to say more. I have made up my mind. Instead of collecting more food and causing famine and the imperial court to allocate more food, it is better to keep it for the benefit of the people and save a lot of trouble and waste ~!"
Just like that, Li Er made the final decision to reduce the tax rate by 20%. When the news spread, the whole country cheered.
…
"Oh ~? 20% tax reduction ~? What is Your Majesty thinking ~? "
Li Zexuan, who was in Yanhuang College, received the news in the afternoon. Like Fang Xuanling, he also felt that Li Er's move was tantamount to drinking poison to quench thirst ~!
The land tax system had existed in China for more than two thousand years, and it was only abolished fifty years after the founding of New China. From this, one could see how deeply the ruling group relied on the land tax. Given the current economic level of the Great Tang, reducing the land tax by twenty percent was akin to cutting flesh and playing with fire!
What gave Li Er the confidence to do this ~?
"This … I can't guess Your Majesty's intention ~! But this move can alleviate the urgent needs of the people, but it is a test of the ability of the various provinces to withstand disasters ~! "
Ma Zhou sat opposite Li Zexuan and pondered.
"Forget it, let's not think about it ~! By the way, Brother Ma, how is the expansion of the workshop going ~? "
After thinking for a long time, Li Zexuan still couldn't think of anything (after all, this guy had forgotten about the large number of ships going south). He suddenly thought of the new workshop, so he asked.
In order to expand the workshop, Li Zexuan had originally planned to move the workshop to Plum Village. But because of the construction of the Academy, money was tight, so Li Zexuan had Faubert temporarily suspend this plan. Later on, with the introduction of the Immortal Mirror and the glass utensils, Li Zexuan had made a fortune, and the financial crisis was quickly alleviated. Only then could the expansion and relocation of the workshop be restarted. Ma Zhou and Faubert had been busy for the past few months.
"Lord Jue, the site for the new workshop has been arranged. It was built on the riverside according to your wishes ~! Everything is basically ready and can start production at any time ~! "
Ma Zhou replied with a smile.
"Mm ~!"
Li Zexuan nodded, his heart calming down a little. He had been too busy these past few months, so he definitely couldn't take care of everything. Fortunately, the people around him could often take care of things on their own.
"In that case, Brother Ma, I'll have to trouble you in the future. You have to take care of Datang Daily and the Academy ~!"
Li Zexuan sighed with emotion.
Ma Zhou smiled bitterly and said helplessly, "Lord Jue, I've told you before ~! I'm not cut out to be a teacher, but you … "
…
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