The big man has a living father

Chapter 136 (Long Chapter) Everything Will Turn Around
Short-sighted people are easily blinded by what they see.

Huo Hai protected Li Guang not to protect the Li family, but to prevent his family from becoming desperate after Li Guang's death.

After Li Guang left, Zhang Ou walked up to Huo Hai and looked at him meaningfully.

In the upper world, nothing can remain unspoken, except for matters that are deliberately kept secret.

Zhang Ou probably had guessed that Huo Hai knew it was him, but he was not afraid.

Today is the day to set up the stall.

"Are you sure you will win?" Zhang Ou looked at Huo Hai with the same eyes as a benevolent elder.

Huo Hai: "I don't know if I will win or not. Winning or losing doesn't matter to me. But then again, in the worst case scenario, you can't win either."

After a while, all the food in the court was removed.

Many elderly people were walking around to digest their food.

Liu Che: "Let's continue with the next court meeting."

Among the ministers, Sang Hongyang stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I have something to say."

Everyone looked at Sang Hongyang.

Logically speaking, at a court meeting of this scale today, it was not Sang Hongyang's turn to speak, but since he spoke, it was no small matter.

The reason is simple. A new official always has to do something when he takes office.

Sang Hongyang came out and cupped his hands: "Your Majesty, I suggest that the salt, iron, and wine be returned to the imperial court."

After saying this, Sang Hongyang took out a roll of paper, opened it and began to read: "Your Majesty, I have been calculating the salt and iron business for the past two years. According to my statistics, the salt and iron business brings more than 4 billion coins to the Han court each year."

"Although we have only tried iron smelting in a few cities and salt production in a few counties before, the sales channels have been uniformly allocated by the government in the past two years, which has brought great benefits."

"In the past seven years, when we attacked the Xiongnu, the average cost of each attack was more than 5 billion coins. If the salt and iron were not taken over by the imperial court, it would be difficult to support the military expenditure."

"During this statistical process, I unexpectedly discovered that the sales volume of wine in the market is also extremely high. At the same time, because winemaking requires grain, I suggest that, like salt and iron, wine must also be monopolized by the court."

After these words were spoken, the court became eerily quiet.

Liu Che straightened his back and said in a hoarse voice: "Oh, that's your suggestion? Show the results of your statistics to the ministers."

Sang Hongyang bowed and said, "Yes."

Several Yulin Guards came on stage carrying plates, which were filled with rolled-up paper, exactly the same as the one in Sang Hongyang's hand.

Because the bamboo slips used to be in rolls, things used in the court were still rolled up. The old bamboo slips were called a roll of bamboo slips, and the new paper ones were called a roll of book.

Everyone started watching quietly. Huo Hai opened it, took a quick glance and lost interest.

Huo Hai knew very well what was going on with this thing.

There were a total of eight million households registered in the Han Dynasty, and each household needed eight hundred coins to buy salt and iron, so the total amount was 6.4 billion coins a year.

However, it is not ruled out that some people cannot afford it or that the old farm tools can still be used, so the purchase of iron tools does not reach 100%. About 60% of households need to buy new ones and the cycle continues.

That is 3.8 billion yuan.

The extra 200 million is the money for wine.

Of course, Sang Hongyang had just learned statistics and used statistics to calculate the total amount, which was different from Huo Hai's calculation using estimates.

The charm of statistics lies in its ability to convince people.

Of course, sometimes he is very good at fooling people.

Liu Che observed the attitudes of his ministers and asked, "Everyone, what do you think of this proposal?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a censor stood up and said, "Your Majesty! I object!"

"Government-run salt and iron is not good for the development of the country! If these are government-run, how can commercial vitality be improved? Just like Wannian County, it looks dead, while Chang'an County is extremely prosperous."

“Isn’t this because Chang’an County has fewer business restrictions?”

"Nowadays, salt and iron account for a large share of the world's total commercial share. If these are all government-run, wouldn't the whole world become a Wannian County? Wannian County is like this under the feet of the emperor, wouldn't it be even worse in the remote countryside?"

After the censor finished speaking, many people nodded.

Shi Qing gnashed his teeth. You can give me examples, but why are you belittling Wannian County? The outcome is still uncertain, okay?!

Someone else immediately stood up and said, "Your Majesty, it's not just a matter of commercial prosperity. Before I entered Chang'an as an official, I was the governor of Luling. In these more remote areas, the people are very poor."

"If salt and iron were not a monopoly, but competition, the price would certainly fall. If it were a monopoly, the price would be fixed, and many people would not be able to afford it. To buy salt and iron, they would have to spend all their savings."

Another official stood up and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, nowadays everyone knows the importance of business. If the savings of these people are all drained by salt and iron, they will never be able to accumulate enough capital to start a small business, which is not good for business!"

Huo Hai found it interesting.

The Salt and Iron Affairs Council in history was certainly not like this. Many officials began to find things to say from a business perspective.

In fact, those who are speaking now are basically small and medium-sized officials.

He was neither one of the three dukes and nine ministers inherited from his family, nor a noble prince.

They all felt the benefits of doing business.

Salt, iron and wine are undoubtedly good businesses.

This represents a market worth 4 billion yuan nationwide, and they are smart enough to know that the market will gradually grow. After all, Changan's market was not big in the past few years. What about now?
In the future, the pottery and even wooden utensils used in many people's homes will be replaced by iron utensils, which means that the salt and iron market will continue to grow.

Who can do this business? It's them.
Therefore, once this thing is taken over by the imperial court as a monopoly, it will be greatly disadvantageous to them.

After all, when it comes to opening a restaurant, it depends on who has the best skills and who has the best location. Salt and iron, on the other hand, require capital, as these cannot be produced locally and need to be transported a long way. If you don’t have enough capital, you can’t enter this industry.

Small and medium-sized officials represent precisely today’s new rich group.

One by one, people stood up to oppose.

Among them, people in Qi and Lu were particularly fierce.

The reason is very simple. The place where salt and iron are produced is Qi and Lu.

Both salt and iron are produced there.

As long as this thing is transformed from the current trial-run imperial monopoly to private operation, they can immediately start commercializing it.

Compared with others, they can save half the transportation cost as they go directly to the manufacturer.

Other people doing this business are at best middlemen.

Of course, there are also those who support government-run enterprises, represented by officials from the Qi and Lu regions!
Among them was Wang He, who was listed as a Zhonglang. Huo Hai estimated that no one knew much about the fact that this guy was the Embroidered Uniform Envoy except himself.

Wang He: "I think that salt, iron and wine must be government-run! If the court has no money, how can it fight against the Xiongnu? How can it control the flood? Have you forgotten the flood of the great river? If the court had not become wealthy and had money to repair the river, would the great river have flooded more than once in the past thirty years?"

“Ask yourselves, if the court had not provided financial and manpower support, would the river have nearly overflowed during the flood seasons of the past thirty years?”

"In addition to flood control, where do the salaries of local officials come from?"

Wang He: "In addition, there is another most important point. Over the years, many of the soldiers' weapons have been replaced with iron. If iron is privately owned, doesn't that mean the army will have to buy iron from private hands? In this case, how much dirty tricks will arise and how much profit will be lost and transferred? Only God knows!"

After Wang He said this, many people spoke out about this argument.

Huo Hai was a little surprised.

Logically speaking, Wang He was a typical Dongpingling native, and with his achievements, it was impossible for him not to have connections with his fellow villagers.

Since he stood up to oppose, it means... Tie seems...

Huo Hai waved to Sang Hongyang.

Sang Hongyang walked up to Huo Hai in confusion.

Huo Hai: "Where was the government-run railway policy put on trial operation in the past two years?"

Sang Hongyang: "Dongpingling and Licheng."

Huo Hai suddenly understood.

No wonder Wang He stood against so many of his fellow villagers.

It turned out to be the case.

In fact, whether the salt and iron business was state-run or privately run, the officials in Qi and Lu were the ones who benefited the most.

If they are privately owned, they can do business nearby.

If it is government-run, who will manage iron smelting and salt production? It must be officials born in Qi and Lu.

The reason why Wang He spoke out is to increase his political leverage. If the company becomes a government-run company in the future, the new people who take this position will thank him.

The reason why he was the first to raise this point was probably because the current iron smelting officials had a close relationship with him.

Because the official iron smelting camp had not been discussed in the court, it was a trial run and was arranged by Emperor Liu Che himself. Liu Che would definitely find someone who could keep it confidential and obey him completely to carry it out.

So...it was carried out by the Embroidered Robe Envoy.

In other words, the officials in charge of iron smelting there were selected by Wang He.

No wonder the Wang family was able to rise rapidly in history; it turned out that they had boarded this train.

With the help of iron smelting and the selection of filial and honest officials, and with Wang Zhengjun's entry into the palace, it was easy for him to weave his own power network, which far surpassed the external relatives of other eras.

The discussion between the two sides was very heated, but most people were in favor of privatization.

At this time, Liu Sheng stood up and said: "I think it is better to run it government-run."

Huo Hai looked over.

There must be a reason why King Zhongshan said this.

Huo Hai suddenly remembered the sentence on the Internet: "If you hit him, you can't hit me."

The King of Zhongshan is probably targeting steel and coal.

Salt and iron are monopolies, but steel and coal cannot be monopolized.

Zhang Ou immediately stood up and said, "I think salt, iron and wine should be privately owned!"

His purpose is the same.

If salt and iron can be privatized, then steel and coal cannot be privatized!

Liu Che pressed his hands and said, "Alright, alright, stop arguing. There will be no result from arguing any more."

"There are so many profitable products nowadays, why is there such a fuss over just salt and iron?"

If we discuss steel and coal at the same time, won't you start fighting?

Liu Che saw that all those who got involved were minor officials or people from small powerful families. None of the representatives of powerful families from all over the place spoke a word.

"Since we're talking about this, let's talk about steel."

After Liu Che spoke, Meihefu walked to the center of the court.

Half a year ago, he was just a small-time punk, but now he is a prominent figure in Chang'an, although in fact he has not been in Chang'an at all during this period.

But did you know that the Tongguan coal mine he controlled had a profit that exceeded the national treasury revenue in one year?!
This is so perverted.

Even if a little bit of something slips out from between his fingers, whoever eats it will be equivalent to eating up the entire year's profit of a county or a city, and can become a fat pig in one bite.

No, eat it in one bite and you will become a fat elephant!

Mehefu bowed and said, "Your Majesty, what I want to propose is the management method of coal and steel."

"I believe that coal and steel can be privately owned, but they must be mined with a license issued by the imperial court. At the same time, these two industries must be heavily taxed."

Impose heavy taxes?
Everyone in the audience focused their attention.

Mei Hefu continued: "I have consulted many colleagues in charge of commercial taxes. At present, the tax collection in Wannian County is arranged by the Minister of Justice Zhang Tang. The estimated tax rate is 15%. However, at present, Mr. Zhang Tang does not collect taxes based on commercial transactions, but on the total amount of property of small merchants. The current method is 130% tax."

In fact, Zhang Tang’s tax collection system was very complicated.

Simply put, the tax on the rich is twice that of ordinary people, while those in the transportation industry such as coachmen and boatmen are taxed based on the number of vehicles and boats.

It's just a rough estimate that the tax rate is 1% in 15 or 1% in 30.

Mehefu: "In Chang'an County, a different tax collection method has been adopted, but this tax collection method has not yet been announced or implemented. It will be implemented next year."

Almost everyone in the court looked at Huo Hai.

The reform in Chang'an County affected the wealth of tens of millions of families.

Almost all the nobles have invested in Chang'an County.

Although everyone has different opinions and positions, they all know that the business started by Huo Hai is too valuable. No matter what, this business must continue. As for who will benefit, we will talk about it after the fight.

Now, is Chang'an County going to start collecting taxes?
If Chang'an County started collecting taxes, the business prosperity would not be as high as it is now.

Although no one said it, almost everyone in the court was smart and knew it very well.

Liu Che: "Just tell me directly. Chang'an County will be announced soon anyway."

Mehefu cupped his hands and said, "Currently, Chang'an County has planned five types of charges, namely, road maintenance fees, garbage fees, small shop operating fees, medium-sized shop taxes, and large shop taxes."

“The road maintenance fee is mainly levied on drivers.”

Zhang Tang was disdainful. What's the difference? I thought he could come up with something special.

Mehefu: "If you transport goods on the roads built by the court, you need to pay a road maintenance fee. The fee is set on the road and the fee is fixed. After the fee is collected, it will be used in full to build new roads and repair damaged parts of old roads in the same jurisdiction."

When these words were spoken, everyone in the audience was surprised.

Zhang Tang couldn't help but look back.

Zhang Tang took the money in order to exploit them.

To exploit someone, you need to find someone who is rich. How can you find someone who is rich? Who is poor if he has a truckload of goods? If he has goods, he must be rich.

So, direct vehicle and vessel tax.

This vehicle and vessel tax is completely different from the vehicle and vessel tax in later generations. It is just a case of plucking feathers from passing geese. Whoever's vehicle or vessel passes through Wannian County will be charged a fee in proportion to the cargo.

This money is withdrawn and paid to the central government.

And Huo Hai actually wanted to keep the money he collected and spend it locally!

Liu Sheng to Xiao Guang: "Write it down, it's worth learning."

After Xiao Guang cooperated with Liu Sheng, he had promised Liu Sheng to serve as prime minister for one year. This was of course an exchange of interests.

Xiao Guang: "I have memorized it. I will learn it word by word."

Mehefu continued: "The so-called garbage fee means that every shop under the jurisdiction of Chang'an County must pay a garbage fee. Because garbage will affect environmental sanitation and street traffic, it needs to be transported away every day, and the lieutenant's office will be responsible for arranging people to clean up and transport the garbage, and ensure that it is transported away once a day." Xiao Guang lowered his head and thought for a while, then wrote it down.

"The so-called small shop operating fee refers to the fact that all small shops in Chang'an County can operate by paying a fee. No matter how much their turnover is, they do not need to pay taxes in proportion. They only need to pay operating fees according to the type of business they operate."

"This operating fee will be set by the Second Lieutenant's Office."

"The tax rate for medium-sized shops is similar to that of Wannian County. Taxes are collected proportionally, but Lord Huo seems to have promised the shops that not all the taxes collected will be turned over, but a portion will be kept for the development of Chang'an County."

"As for the tax collection on large shops, it means that there are certain types of businesses that can only operate after obtaining the qualifications issued by the Second Lieutenant's Office. The tax is also based on a proportion, and the specific tax amount for these industries is determined by the Second Lieutenant's Office."

"Like the tax on medium-sized shops, Lord Huo has also promised to keep a large portion of this fee in Chang'an County to develop Chang'an County."

Everyone was thoughtful.

Huo Hai must have his reasons for making the rules this way.

Liu Che: "Oh? How much are they exactly?"

Mehev: “Not high.”

Since Meihefu said it is not high, it means it is lower than Wannian County?

Many people are wondering why these three taxes exist.

Soon someone understood the mystery.

Businessmen and businessmen cannot be generalized.

How can small merchants compare with big merchants? The reason why small shops charge operating fees instead of taxes is to lower the entry standards and let them pay less.

When one is poor, he will think of ways to change. When a person runs a small shop and has capital to a certain extent, will he expand the scale?
If you expand, you start paying taxes.

If he doesn't want to make this money, there are many people who want to make this money.

Zhang Tang's method was to collect taxes on everything. Although there was a difference, one was 15% tax and the other was 30% tax, but many people could not even reach that threshold and did not dare to start a business at all.

Huo Hai's method will not suppress others' desire to do business, while still allowing him to receive money.

But it is obvious that if you do big business here, the taxes will definitely be very high, probably much higher than Wannian County.

Otherwise, after all this work, the tax revenue would be lower than that of Wannian County. Wouldn’t that be a joke?

The reason why everyone is concerned about the issue of taxation is that if they go out to serve as a local official or take charge of something on their own in the future, they will have to rely on collecting taxes to prove their strength.

If you can't collect the money, even if you brag about it in your memorials, will others believe you?

Even if you develop your county to be as prosperous as Chang'an County is now, if you can't collect taxes, how can you convince the emperor by talking? Will the great emperor personally go to inspect a remote county of yours?
So, if the taxes on Zhongda shops are super high, why would anyone want to open a Zhongda shop in your area?
Just like Chang'an Wannian, why don't others open it in Wannian County?

But when you think about it here, everyone will understand.

Can a large store be opened in Wannian County?
How could the people of Wannian County afford to spend money? They didn’t even have small shops, so how could they afford big shops?
Among the ministers, the smartest one was Xiao Guang. Xiao Guang whispered, "After we go back, we can't sell our shops and houses."

Hanzhong King Liu Sheng turned around and said, "Hmm?"

Xiao Guang: "Because of policy reasons, the house prices in Chang'an County are going to increase, and the house prices in Wannian County are going to plummet. If you own a house in Wannian County, you'd better sell it as soon as possible."

Liu Sheng still didn't understand why.

Xiao Guang said in a low voice: "Lord Huo collects taxes based on shops in Chang'an County, not on people, while Wannian County collects taxes based on people."

"That is to say, if someone does business in Chang'an County but lives in Wannian County, they will be taxed twice! They will definitely have to sell their house and move to Chang'an County."

"Once this trend starts, wealthy people will move to Chang'an County in large numbers, and housing prices in Chang'an County will naturally rise, while prices in Wannian County will naturally fall again and again."

Liu Sheng suddenly realized: "I understand."

Liu Che: "Okay, everyone should understand the difference in taxation between Chang'an County and Wannian County. Tell me your suggestions on coal and steel."

Whether it is Zhang Tang’s or Huo Hai’s, they are all new tax laws, and voting with feet has already begun.

But this thing has not yet produced any results. Before the actual results come out, everyone can only imagine.

Based on these two points, Mehefu also has his own suggestions for coal and steel: "I suggest that coal and steel can be privately owned, but local governments should set taxes based on their own conditions."

"And the amount of tax is not just decided by the local government, but also needs to be reported to the imperial court for judgment."

"The imperial court can decide whether to impose heavy or light taxes based on the situation of the place, and decide whether the local tax revenue should be mostly or only a small part."

Seeing that the ministers were puzzled as to why he said that, Mehefu continued: "For example, in the Tongguan coal mine, most of the taxes from this place must be paid, because apart from the various mines, there are no large plains, which is not suitable for a large population to survive."

"In this case, it is superfluous to develop people's livelihood here. At most, it can save some money to develop roads to facilitate the transportation of minerals."

"But if coal mines also appeared in places like Luoyang, Chengdu, and Xindu, then of course a considerable portion of them would have to be kept in the local area, because in addition to coal mines, there are many Han people in these places, and they also have the possibility of developing commerce like Chang'an County."

"If the money from the coal mines is kept in the local area and the business is developed, that would be even better, because after the development, one sum of money can be used to collect two taxes. Why not do it?"

The biggest problem with everything is money, transportation will cost money.

Of course it would be best if you could make money by staying in one place without moving.

Because during transportation, the more things are transported, the less the loss.

If the money is too little, the court might have to pay for the transportation if it wants to send the goods to the imperial court. The imperial court would not even think of caring about such a place. This is the situation in the northern grasslands today, so no one has built a city in the desert since ancient times.

No benefit.

Mehefu's words made many ministers think.

This is indeed interesting.

It is not based on a unified taxation system, but rather on a taxation system tailored to local conditions.

If it is a remote and poor area, it is difficult for people to go mining and transportation is also troublesome. If you set taxes too high, who would go mining?
If taxes in such places were lower, there would be room for development.

If it is a place with a large population, many people cannot support their families. The main problem that mining in such a place can solve is not taxation, but making the locals rich and then driving business development.

How much tax to collect requires study and discussion.

If there is a place with few people and rich people, why not open a feather mine there? Just impose heavy taxes on it and let the people there take the money out.

Such a means alone is almost a great tool, and its effect is almost the same as that of the previous tool of corvee labor, or even stronger.

Many people think this is feasible.

But at this time, Zhang Ou stood up and said, "I object!"

Everyone looked at Zhang Ou.

What's there to object to?
Cao Xiang stood up and said, "I...also object."

Chen Zhang: "I object."

Chen Zhang, although he is a member of the Chen family, is actually a relative of the Huo family. Does he also object?
Then, one by one, the great nobles, almost all the people who were given titles of nobility, came out and said, "Oppose."

The small and medium-sized officials are all confused.

why?
After a large group of people stood up to oppose, Zhang Ou finally spoke: "What I oppose is not the tax adjustment, nor the method of deciding how much money to keep for local development based on regional conditions. This is a very good method, very powerful. Lord Mei's proposal is really powerful. Lord Mei's great achievements will surely be recorded in history books and passed down for generations."

“But I am against the privatization of coal and steel.”

"Coal has much higher returns than salt and iron. Steel can completely replace iron and do many things that iron cannot do, including new carriages. I don't know if you have seen the bridge being built on the Beichi Road. A lot of steel is also used in it."

“This means that the future fiscal and tax potential of steel may even be higher than that of coal!”

"If that's the case, why should private individuals be allowed to make coal and steel? All coal and steel must belong to the court."

"Imagine, let's take this example again. Luoyang has also discovered coal mines. They can open mines and allow private individuals to do so. Even if they collect heavy taxes of one-fifth, they can create 3 billion yuan, and the court can receive 600 million yuan."

"Six hundred million is used to develop the steel mill and Luoyang City. It seems like a lot."

"But if the coal mines belonged to the imperial court, the imperial court would open the mines and the 3 billion yuan would all belong to the imperial court. The imperial court would use the 3 billion yuan to collect 1.5 billion yuan to fight the Xiongnu, and the remaining 1.5 billion yuan would be used to develop the steel mill and Luoyang City. In a few years, Luoyang City would be able to catch up with the prosperity of Chang'an today."

"If we change to a worse city, such as Wuyuan County, it will only take ten years at most to catch up with today's Chang'an."

“Why should such a huge amount of benefits be taken away by private individuals?!”

At this time, all the small and medium-sized officials in the court were confused.

Although salt and iron have not been discussed specifically, they have been discussed to some extent in the court in recent years.

At the beginning, all the senior officials held the opposite view!

All high-ranking officials were against the imperial monopoly on this thing and believed it should be privately owned.

Nowadays, steel and coal have replaced salt and iron as the most profitable businesses.

All the senior officials, however, thought that these things should be a monopoly of the imperial court and not privately owned?

Why? ! ! !

Many people don't understand.

Huo Hai understood.

it's actually really easy.

The extremes must be reversed.

In the beginning, salt and iron were matters of great interest. Officials believed that their families could also run salt and iron businesses and make a lot of money. So they naturally resisted the court's monopoly and supported private salt and iron businesses.

And now?

Steel and coal are too important and represent too great a stake. Officials are well aware that with their size, it is impossible for them to engage in steel and coal, or to expand them and occupy a dominant position.

The only one who can produce steel and coal is Liu Che himself.

In other words, the so-called steel and coal that were allowed to be privately owned actually went into Liu Che's private warehouse.

What if it is government-run?

This money will go into the court budget.

May I ask, who is managing the court’s budget?
Imperial Censor!

Zhang Ouguan.

If coal and steel were all state-owned, based on the current situation, after a few years of development, it would not be a problem for the whole country to make a total of hundreds of billions of dollars, right?

By then, the Grand Censor will be able to control financial power worth hundreds of billions.

Except for the Imperial Censor, almost all the great nobles could control this money.

After the nobles and officials found that it was impossible for them to mine such a large mine, they turned to taking control of the money!

This is why people’s reactions to salt and iron are completely different from those to coal and steel.

It's like five people get together to have a meal, but there's not enough food. If there's a chicken in the yard, it's dead because everyone wants to eat it.

But if these five people still eat together, there is not enough food, and there is a pig in the yard!

So do you want to eat it?

Why eat it? Why not take ownership of the pig, sell it, and keep the money for yourself?

Let's take a step back and say that the money must be shared by five people.

Then who has the right to sell the fat pigs, and how much profit is there?

After the money is taken back, who will be responsible for its use and how much profit is made from it?

Even if they had no intention of taking advantage of the situation, this was a huge amount of money that the five of them had never seen in their lives. How great would it feel to spend this money? How great would it be to have a sense of accomplishment?
However, the petty officials do not see it that way.

What big benefit? Building a huge coal mine like the Tongguan coal mine, with 50,000 young and middle-aged people working? Am I worthy of it?
But I can run a coal mine with 500 employees and make money!

Isn’t that also one percent of Tongguan Coal Mine?

I don't have so much capital by myself, but if I join forces with ten people, that would be one thousandth of the super income of Tongguan Coal Mine!

Even if the tax is extremely high, so high that it has no precedent in history, just collect half of the tax! That is still one two thousandth of the revenue of Tongguan Coal Mine!

After getting it, wouldn't I be transformed from an ordinary person into the richest tycoon in the whole Chang'an?

A minor official stood up and said, "I object to the censor's statement!"

"If the imperial court takes everything away and the people have no money, how can they develop business?"

"The success of Chang'an County is just around the corner. As long as there is capital, any place can develop rapidly. In the future, the Han Dynasty will be ten or a hundred times richer than it is now! That will be a true era of peace and prosperity, and it will benefit the people!"

"If steel and coal are government-run, and all the money goes to the court, the people will still be poor. What good will it do for the people?"

Wei Wei stood up and said, "Really? If the court gets this money and promotes development from top to bottom and builds roads and bridges for the local area, won't it also promote business? Building roads can stimulate business, which is also the result of the experiment in Chang'an County."

"Will ordinary people build bridges and roads if they get the money? Only the imperial court can do this if it gets the money."

Another junior official stood up and said, "I object to this statement!"

"When local commerce is booming, they can naturally start collecting taxes like Chang'an County did, and if a portion of the taxes are retained by the local government, the local government will have money to collect taxes."

Cao Xiang: "What if the local official is a corrupt official and doesn't use the money to build roads, but wastes it? But if the money is managed by the court and allocated to the local government to build roads, wouldn't that be more direct?"

The two sides did not stop at all, expressing their opinions and firing wildly.

It seemed like there was no sign of stopping.

After they started arguing, more minor officials and more great nobles understood why everyone was arguing so fiercely.

After a while, they finally realized which side they should stand on.

Zhang Ou stepped back, looked at Huo Hai, and smiled with satisfaction.

Huo Hai, ah Huo Hai, what can you do?
The team has already stood, and nothing else is needed. The team has already stood. Even without the matter of Marquis Xuanping, the team has still been stood.

Can you think of a way to overthrow all the old nobles and the three dukes and nine ministers, and overthrow the inner court?

Huo Hai shook his head. As expected, money can make people excited.

Everyone is talking about the people, but what they are talking about is not the people's business.

In fact, there is no need to argue about this issue, and Huo Hai doesn't want to get involved.

Logically, the Huo family should stand on the side of the great nobles, but Huo Hai already owns the Tongguan Coal Mine, so how should they stand on the side?

Speak? Huo Hai never thought of arguing with anyone.

Overthrow the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers? Do I need to overthrow them?

Huo Hai did not stand up, and there was not even any change in his expression, which surprised Zhang Ou a little.

He's not in a hurry?
(End of this chapter)