Chapter 29: The Way to a Strong Nation "That's right, but we still can't let our guard down. Prepare more supplies, increase patrols and door-to-door visits, and avoid problems." "The distribution of materials must be fair and reasonable, and the loan issue must be explained clearly. They can work to pay off the debt or repay the debt during the autumn harvest next year. If they can't pay it back, send them to mine to pay off the debt. We can't keep lazy people like this." Tian Ze couldn't help but nodded after listening to Chen Gong's report. After his verification, he felt that the Chen Gong in front of him should be more like the one in the novel. He was loyal, and his ability in domestic affairs was even better than his strategy. His talents were also more suitable for government affairs. Perhaps it was because in his original trajectory, he followed Lu Bu and wandered around, and had little chance to display his talents. In his mind, Tian Ze had already positioned himself as Xiao He, and just needed to focus on domestic affairs. Jia Xu, Cheng Yu and others would do Zhang Liang's work. "What are the work arrangements for the people in winter?" "Due to the cold weather, most of the work in agriculture and animal husbandry and some factories could not be carried out, but ironware factories and textile factories were still operating normally, and most of the young and strong people in Daqing River and Changxing Island worked in them during the day." "In addition, for the elderly and children who stay at home, Gong also tried his best to arrange some simple weaving, polishing and other jobs so that all the people have something to do," said Chen Gong. His master was good at calculation and planning, and always stressed the need to maximize the use of resources, especially human resources. Even children had to do some chores within their capacity after studying, so that no one could have any free time. However, in contrast, a lot of money and grain were given, so the people were very motivated and there was no idle person in the entire Wen County.
The soldiers in the army still maintained high-intensity training in winter, and the expenses for medical care and food rose sharply. He repeatedly wanted to suggest stopping this. Cheng Yu asked him for supplies such as 800 kilograms of beef today and 1,000 kilograms of mutton tomorrow, hoping to fatten the soldiers. This really gave him a headache and they had several quarrels during this period. "That's right, but you have to pay attention to time allocation. We have to focus on daily training for the young and strong among the people. If nothing else, if they encounter barbarians and bandits in the future, they should at least have a certain ability to protect themselves." Tian Ze said. Money and food are our confidence. Tian Ze, who owned a large amount of fertile land, had no intention of saving and just worked hard. There are no disadvantages in training young and strong people of appropriate age, and it will also be relatively convenient to expand the army in the future. "In addition, the teaching work should be rolled out comprehensively to cover all the people, especially the Hu people. Mandarin must be popularized as soon as possible, and basic words and phrases must be taught. More attention should be paid to the education of teenagers and children of appropriate age, as they are the future talents of officials." Tian Ze said. Communication problems have always been extremely serious, especially as the number of refugees under Tian Ze's command has become larger and more diverse. The dialect varies from place to place, making communication difficult, let alone management, so Chen Gong put a lot of energy into this aspect. "But we don't have enough scholars," Chen Gong said. "Then let the veterans in the army help teach after training. Just spare one or two hours every day." Cheng Yu frowned slightly, but after thinking about it, he felt relieved. The two hundred old soldiers that Tian Ze started with were all treasures. They were elite troops that had been trained over several years and were also one of Tian Ze's strongest resources. The reason why their army is so powerful now is mostly due to the support of these two hundred veterans. Transferring this group of veterans to teach is indeed capable of doing the job given their abilities and qualities, but the training time would be relatively less, so Cheng Yu was naturally unwilling to do so. But for the sake of the overall situation, we have to do so. People’s will comes first! Tian Ze had repeatedly emphasized to them that literacy is of great significance, as it can better gather the people's hearts and strength, improve the quality of the people, implement policies, promote development, and achieve justice. Especially at this moment, they must reserve a large number of talents to prepare for future development and growth to avoid the problem of lack of management.
These people are the sparks, just like the two hundred veterans now. Jia Xu, Cheng Yu and Chen Gong were all outstanding people, so how could they not see Tian Ze's ambition? The path Tian Ze wants to take is extremely difficult, and it can almost be said that he is at odds with all the powerful families. In this era, this is equivalent to having the whole world as your enemy. This is a dead end. But in Tian Ze, they saw the possibility of success. It is not only because of Tian Ze’s great talent and strategy, but also because of the black soil that grows at an astonishing rate, the terrifying yield per mu and the epoch-making technology. The material base determines the superstructure, and the material base under Tian Ze's command is too abundant. When it comes to development and military expansion, no one can be Tian Ze's opponent. It is entirely possible to succeed by taking this path, and it can maximize Tianze's development capabilities, turning almost all of the output into Tianze's own strength, rather than the petty cash of the aristocratic families. this point is very important. Liu Biao went to Jingzhou alone, but he was never able to completely control it; the Sun family of Jiangdong had gone through three generations and was first-rate in defense and third-rate in expansion. The power of a vassal and the power that a vassal holds are completely different concepts. Many vassal states seem to be in a good position but are helpless and have to make some seemingly incomprehensible decisions. According to their deduction, as long as Tian Ze can keep his composure and as long as the chaotic times come as expected, this method will allow Tian Ze to completely control his own power and the possibility of success is extremely high. Once it has passed the most difficult starting stage and accumulated enough foundation, this road can gather extremely terrifying power. It is completely capable of swallowing up Youzhou with the power of one county, competing with Hebei with the power of one state, and dominating the world with the power of Hebei. To take a step back, even if we fail, at least holding on to Liaodong will not be a problem. Tian Ze came from the future, and he was eager to seek immortality, so he didn't have too many obsessions with his family, country and the world. As long as he has the support of the people and can provide him with sufficient spiritual energy, it doesn't matter if the country changes hands in the future. Therefore, although he knew that this unprecedented road was extremely difficult, he still chose it resolutely. "My lord, we have abundant grain production under our rule, but we must discuss the taxation issue." Chen Gong said. High grain yield per mu is a good thing, but how to collect taxes is a big problem. "My lord, the standard you set before was to collect 30% tax and cancel all other taxes and corvee. It's okay for ordinary land, but based on the per-acre yield of black soil, this tax rate is too low." Chen Gong said. After saying this, Chen Gong himself felt something was strange. In the past, when he was in the Central Plains, he always lamented the heavy taxes imposed by the government and the miserable lives of the people. However, not long after arriving in Liaodong, he took the initiative to point out that the taxes were too low. But this is normal. The people in the Central Plains were unable to get enough food, but the people in Wen County had enough food and clothing. The gap between the two was too huge. "Isn't it good to have low taxes? We don't rely on this little land tax for development." Tian Ze asked. "My lord, this is the case now, but what about the future?" Chen Gong said. "Agricultural taxes are the foundation. Our current source of income is mostly from trade with the Central Plains. It is not a problem to earn money from the wealthy families in the world to support a county."
"But what if the situation changes in the future and we can no longer earn enough money from the world's noble families?" Tian Ze hesitated for a moment after hearing this, then shook his head and said, "This matter is not difficult to resolve. In the future, we will focus on developing handicrafts, manufacturing, and commerce, and commercial taxes will be the bulk of the money." "In addition, we can discuss the construction of a bank later to gather wealth for development. I also know a place with a large amount of copper mines that can be mined, but the time is not yet ripe." When everyone heard this, they were all shocked. They didn't expect that Tian Ze could actually think of a way to deal with it. Cheng Yu stood up and said, "My Lord, even if we can solve the income problem, it is not a good thing for the people to be too rich!" "Why?" Tian Ze frowned. "My Lord, have you ever read The Book of Lord Shang?" Tian Ze understood immediately after hearing this. Although the Book of Lord Shang was listed as a banned book, in fact, many of them were circulated privately by aristocratic families. Tian Ze had also read it, but he only glanced at its contents and was not very interested. The core of "The Book of Lord Shang" is to strengthen the country and weaken the people, but Tian Ze wants the hearts of the people, which is contrary to it, so naturally he is unwilling to study it in depth. “Although The Book of Lord Shang contains the way to govern a country, it is the way of hegemony rather than the way of the king, and it is not the only way to govern a country.” Cheng Yu said in a deep voice: "But if there is a change in the world, I am afraid that the kingly way will be difficult to achieve. The hegemonic way is much smoother than the kingly way." Tian Ze was naturally aware of this. As people's lives improved, their willingness to join the army would decline to a certain extent. Even if this could be compensated by improving treatment and strengthening publicity, the cost of maintaining troops would increase greatly. But he had no choice, and this way of strengthening the country by making the people harsh was not what he wanted. "Everything depends on human efforts! I want to enrich the people and strengthen the country, and follow the kingly way. I will never do anything to exhaust or harm the people. Please remember this, everyone." Tian Ze said in a sonorous and powerful voice. When everyone heard this, a surge of warmth suddenly surged in their hearts, and they all exclaimed in admiration: "My lord is so kind!" Even Guan Yu's eyes no longer showed the slightest sign of strangeness. At this point, everyone understood what they needed to understand without Tian Ze saying anything. They all felt deeply the corruption of the Han Dynasty, with corrupt officials running rampant and people's livelihood in decline, and many of them even suffered greatly from it. The current prosperity of Wen County is in sharp contrast to this. Looking at the people who had enough food and clothing, even if they had been loyal to the emperor and patriotic before, that loyalty slowly faded away during this period of time. Even though Tian Ze's words seemed to be presumptuous this time, no one cared. "The way to make a country strong is to make its people strong. It is a good thing for the people to be prosperous. I know what you are worried about, but you must know that enriching and strengthening the people is the fundamental way to become strong." "Weakening the people and strengthening the country is just a temporary solution. It can only protect itself. If it encounters a strong enemy, it will be like cutting off its own limbs." At this point, Tian Ze couldn't help but think of the humiliating history of modern times. Although the eggshell is a protection, it is also a restraint. Once the chick cannot break out of the shell, it will eventually become food. "When the people are rich, they will create new demands. They also want to eat meat, study and become officials, wear fancy clothes and build new houses. As long as there is demand, there will be motivation." "The road is made by people. Since there is no way forward, then make one!" Cheng Yu sighed slightly in his heart. He had guessed Tian Ze's choice from the beginning.
This was also the reason why he was hesitant about joining Tian Ze at first, but now that he has chosen his master, he has no worries. "Since the lord has made up his mind, we will follow him closely. If the predecessors could blaze a trail and open up a new path, we can do the same! We also want to see the scene that you described, of a prosperous people and a strong country." Cheng Yu said loudly, his eyes full of determination. "We are willing to go with our lord!" everyone said in unison. After understanding Tian Ze's ambition, they admired him and could not help but become more vigilant. The path chosen by Tian Ze is the strongest yet the most difficult one. They can already imagine the pressure they will face in the future. The Han Dynasty has nurtured scholars for four hundred years, and the power of the aristocratic families is unimaginable. Now they have to be prepared to fight alone and face the aristocratic families directly. (End of this chapter)