Zuo Zongtang received his salary. Zuo Zongtang's name was written on the thick envelope, as well as the date and month. January salary. The seal of the person in charge of property was stamped on top.
For this former Zhejiang Inspector, it was a wonderful thing to start receiving salary from the new government. After hesitating for a while, Zuo Zongtang mustered up his courage and tore open the envelope. Inside was a stack of colorful money. The paper used to print the money was very special, and it felt a little rough on his fingertips. However, it did not feel uncomfortable at all. Most of the salary was in denominations of ten yuan. From an exchange point of view, ten yuan was equivalent to one tael of silver.
There were pictures on both sides. On the front was a picture of workers, peasants, and soldiers standing side by side. The symbolism was that the workers, peasants, and soldiers were united to fight for victory. Therefore, this money was also called "great unity." Other than the salary, there was also a salary slip inside the envelope. On it was written Zuo Zongtang's basic salary and allowances.
With a salary of nearly 120 yuan, Zuo Zongtang did not know whether his salary was high or low. In the ninth year of the Kangxi Emperor (1670), it was stipulated in the third month of the Kangxi Emperor's 9th year that the capital's vanguard, guards, and commanders (Kush, equivalent to soldiers) were paid 4 taels per month, and the horse soldiers were paid 3 taels per month. The average annual salary was 46 bushels (23 stone). The infantry commanders were paid 3 taels per month, and the infantry soldiers were paid 1 tael and 5 coins per month. The average annual salary was 22 bushels (11 stone). In the Qing Dynasty, a seventh-ranked official's salary was 45 taels per year, and 22 stone 5 bushels of rice per year. An eighth-ranked official's salary was 40 taels per year, and 20 stone per year. In other words, an ordinary Eight Banners cavalryman's salary was basically the same as a ten-year scholar.
The new government did not distribute grain, and grain was purchased from state-owned grain stores. One jin of rice was priced at 50 cents. During the Manchu Qing era, one jin of rice was about 180 jin. 20 jin of rice was 3600 jin, which was about 1800 yuan. Adding another 40 taels of silver, it was 2200 yuan. According to Zuo Zongtang's monthly salary of 120 yuan, his annual income was 1440 yuan, which was much lower than the Manchu Qing officials.
However, from another perspective, the Manchu Qing officials needed money to support their staff. The new government didn't have any advisors, and all income belonged to the individual. At the very least, Zuo Zongtang himself would not be able to eat 3,600 jin of food in a year. The money saved was not a small amount.
"Jin Liang" instinctively began to consider the characteristics of the new government's finances. The new government's seemingly cruel policy of eliminating the landlords was, in the context of the new government's financial system, Zuo Zongtang began to understand the cruel reason.
In Vézé's concept of 'agricultural population' and 'non-agricultural population', apart from feeding themselves, the agricultural population also had to provide food to feed the non-agricultural population. The landlords wanted to profit from the food they obtained, which was a complete contradiction to Vézé's system. The new government has a real need for food. Food was not a means for the new government to profit, but a means for the new government to maintain the current system.
From the perspective of the new government, the landlords' profiteering from the grain was the same as digging up the meat of the new government. With soldiers and guns in hand, Zuo Zongtang could not see any reason for the new government to allow the landlords to profit. Vézé's attitude was very simple. Since the Restoration Party did not rely on the landlords to maintain the political power of the Min dynasty, then there was no reason to maintain the existence of the landlords.
As a bureaucrat, Zuo Zongtang might not have any real feelings for the landlords. Therefore, Zuo Zongtang admired Vézé more and more. Not only did Vézé have ideas, but he also had supporting systems and policies. The landlords and gentry were the mother of the cultural class. When Wei Ze abandoned the landlords and gentry, he forced the soldiers and workers who followed the Restoration Party to receive full compulsory education. These people came from the military industrial group and were the absolute supporters of the Restoration Party. With such a group of reliable people as officials, Vézé was not afraid of the country being controlled by the landlords.
Thinking of this, Zuo Zongtang suddenly felt that the stack of "Reunion Festival" names in his hands was very good. The workers, peasants, and soldiers were united. The workers and soldiers were all members of the Restoration Party. Through the dividends released by the land reform, the peasants received tangible benefits. Therefore, the workers, peasants, and soldiers were united around the Restoration Party with Vézé as the core. In the front line of the Liberation Army, the landlords were scum. In terms of industry, the military industry held huge investments, complex and advanced technology and equipment. The landlords were powerless to resist. In terms of numbers, the peasants outnumbered the landlords by dozens of times. One against dozens, wasn't it obvious that they were looking for death? No matter how dissatisfied the landlords were, they couldn't do anything to the Restoration Party.
Just as Zuo Zongtang was sighing, the accountant came to find Zuo Zongtang. "Secretary Zuo, do you want to apply for social pension insurance?"
"Social pension insurance?" Zuo Zongtang was very puzzled.
The accountant handed over a document with a red header. On it was written the method of applying for social pension insurance. This insurance required a monthly payment. After 55 years of age for men and 50 years of age for women, one could receive a pension from the national social pension insurance department.
The document clearly stated that if one died before retirement, then the full amount of the contributed pension would be given to the immediate family of the contributor. If one died after receiving the pension, and the amount received was less than the contribution, then the state would also give the rest of the pension to the immediate family of the contributor. Of course, if one could live longer, then the money would be earned by everyone.
Originally, Zuo Zongtang felt that the age requirement of 55 years for men and 50 years for women was a bit harsh. In this era where the average age was barely 40 years old, 55 years old and 50 years old were a threshold. But with the provision of pension refund, this pension seemed very humane.
"Who can participate in this …" Zuo Zongtang glanced at the header of the document. "Participate in this social pension insurance."
"Since it's social pension insurance, then everyone can contribute. But in principle, people in the city, especially people from the government, enterprises, and institutions have to participate! "The accountant explained to Zuo Zongtang, the recruit.
In the eyes of ordinary people, the government accountant was also one of the officials. In the eyes of Zuo Zongtang, who had been a bureaucrat before, the accountant was just a small official. Even if everyone in the new government was a civil servant, there was no distinction between officials. Zuo Zongtang would not have the natural reverence for the accountant like the ordinary people. He calmly asked, "Must I participate?"
The accountant smiled and said, "It's fine not to participate, but what can live longer than the country? Even the Manchu Qing government, with such a trashy regime, lasted for more than a hundred years. The Min dynasty government was based on the people. How can it not be compared to the Manchu Qing regime? "
Zuo Zongtang's face immediately changed. This was not only because the pension system implemented by the Min dynasty government was indeed trying to implement the concept of providing for the elderly, but also because an accountant could use the life of the country to explain the problem. Zuo Zongtang had received too many shocks from the new government, but the level of understanding shown by the grassroots personnel was undoubtedly shocking. Zuo Zongtang had not seen many talents, but in the new government he had seen, almost anyone was a rare talent in the Manchu Qing court. Zuo Zongtang felt that he was a frog at the bottom of a well, and now he suddenly saw the sea.
When he saw Vézé, Zuo Zongtang could not help but ask this question. Vézé replied proudly, "There is the ideal of saving the country, but also the means to save the country. This thing can only be done by the system. "
In the space and time of the 21st century, Vézé's mother was the manager of a bank. Among the things that left a deep impression on Vézé, the bank required each department to be proficient in the terms of service. Looking at his mother studying and memorizing the thick documents, Vézé was quite puzzled at the time. Studying hard and making progress every day was a slogan he learned since he was a child, but when he saw his mother actually put this slogan into practice, Vézé still felt strange.
When Vézé led a group of people to do something, he found that the implementation of government was like this. There was an ideology, and the authorities made laws according to the ideology. The administrative agencies made the system, and the staff were familiar with the system. They could answer, explain, and solve administrative implementation problems. Although there were many doorways in the middle, the basic concept and the basic implementation process were easy to understand. Even if the staff did not understand the policy, they had to know how to explain the content of the policy. Therefore, Vézé put this idea into practice in the new government.
Zuo Zongtang carefully asked Vézé about the concept of government. No matter how simple or tricky his questions were, Vézé could clearly explain them. This method of solving problems in the industrial era relied on hundreds of years of accumulation and hundreds of millions of lives as the price. Zuo Zongtang had never seen these things. As a smart man, the more he saw the system established by Vézé, the more he wanted to worship it.
When he heard Vézé talk about the core concept of a modern country, which was to let everyone become a laborer and improve their abilities through labor, it was possible to finally achieve self-liberation. Zuo Zongtang stood there in a daze. After a while, he suddenly got up and knelt down in front of Vézé. Zuo Zongtang said excitedly, "Your Majesty, I did not know the right person. I can't believe I didn't seek refuge with His Majesty earlier. Thinking of my previous days, I really wasted my time! "
Vézé helped Zuo Zongtang up and said seriously, "Comrade Zuo Zongtang, our Restoration Party attaches great importance to the title of comrade. I think a person should have some ambition and some spirit. People in the old society learned to lead beasts to eat people, and they were trained to eat people. I don't agree with this. I think we still need to push society forward a little. I think when people die, they can pat their chest and say how many people they have killed and harmed in their lives. Some people can indeed feel great joy and satisfaction from this. But if I ask myself honestly, I have saved some people in my life and helped society to progress. I think this will give people more satisfaction. According to the old saying in China, I have not wronged my conscience in my life. "
Although Zuo Zongtang was not moved to the point of crying, he could not help but burst into tears at this time. "Your Majesty has such a benevolent heart. I am ashamed to have dared to oppose Your Majesty in the past!"
Vézé asked Zuo Zongtang to sit down. "Comrade Zuo Zongtang, we have talked about 'The Art of War'. You also think that the War Sage has actually seen through war and knows that people must do something wrong. If it's not here, then it's somewhere else. Even if things are done completely according to the rules, the actual results are very different from the imagined results. There is nothing abnormal about you seeking refuge in Manchu Qing, and it is also normal for you to be willing to follow the Restoration Party now. Whether you are pursuing personal glory or social revolution is the most important question. "
Zuo Zongtang could now finally understand why a talent like Kurosawa Tsuyoshi admired Vézé so much. He said excitedly, "I dare not talk about anything now. I am only willing to follow Your Majesty. It is enough to serve Your Majesty! "
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