Chapter 6815 The Foundation of the Foundation

To be honest, it was only because this was the third century, the feudal era, that the agricultural population accounted for 99%, otherwise Chen Xi's way of forcibly raising grain prices would never be passed.

After all, there are too many things related to grain prices. Whether it is too low or too high, it will cause fatal problems. And Chen Xi's method of directly collecting grain and raising the market grain price from about 42 wen to 120 wen would not be a problem to directly trigger a war in the future.

However, in this era, Chen Xi proposed such an outrageous plan, but the people present did not directly oppose it, but bowed their heads to think about it.

There is actually nothing to mention about their own losses. A large part of their salary is grain. Take Empress Xiao as an example. Why can she go to Mount Zhongnan to understand the Tao and not engage in production? It is because even if she does nothing, she has a fourteenth-level title and 700 stones of grain every year.

Therefore, the issuance of this decree actually has little impact on Liu Bei's ruling foundation, and it has little impact on the upper-level families. After all, these days, most people eat food grown by themselves. Families that are completely free from production are all immortals and gods, and they don't need to consider this extra expense.

Of course, this is because Chen Xi exists, otherwise this little benefit is enough for this group of people to fight fiercely. After all, whose food to collect first and how to collect it are also huge interests. In the past, these would have to fight fiercely and die a wave of people below before they could be finalized.

But now, the impact is very light. Of course, this lightness is based on Liu Bei is still in office and Chen Xi is still alive. If it were another time, I am afraid that even everyone present now would need to weigh it, because this decree actually gave benefits to the bottom, but in fact it was cutting the meat of the middle and upper classes.

Even if it is not much, as long as it is cut, there will definitely be backlash.

Just like when you kill a chicken, the chicken has only so much strength. As long as you are ruthless and ignore the resistance, you can just kill it and put it in the pot. But if you change it to a tiger, even if you just use a knife to lightly cut its buttocks, the tiger will make a big noise for you.

But again, the release of a little bit of interest from the upper class is enough to bring huge benefits to the lower class, just like the so-called dust of the times. This slight loss of the upper class is directly a grain of gold sand of the times for the lower class, and it will be a mountain of gold if it falls.

This slight increase in grain prices, for the truly unproductive high-class families, is just a few tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of yuan a year, but for the ordinary people who account for more than 99% of the entire Han Dynasty population, it is basically equivalent to doubling their income.

More importantly, after this doubling of income, under the regulation of the state, the overall price of goods has hardly changed, only the various non-staple foods, meat, etc. have been further increased. In this case, even if the consumption habits restrict the consumption capacity of the people, the overall living standard is naturally improving.

By the way, this is also one of the ways that Chen Xi selected after evaluating the output of the second five-year plan to effectively release the development dividend without causing social impact. After all, the government has always collected grain at 150 wen, but now it collects more. A policy that has been implemented for more than ten years has long been commonplace for the people.

"When you distribute rice, remember to give more money as well, as a salary increase for bureaucrats." Jia Xu lowered his head and calculated for a while before speaking. There are seven people in their family, plus housekeepers, servants, etc. The grain distributed by the state throughout the year is completely enough to eat. After all, Jia Xu is also two thousand dan, and the actual grain and salary is 2160 dan, which is enough to eat.

Jia Xu is not short of money, nor does he care about this, but he doesn't care, but someone else does. Moreover, since the sixth year of Yuanfeng, bureaucrats from all over the country have been calling for salary reform because of the falling grain prices. Until now, Chen Xi still pays out salaries based on his mood. There is no clear and formal salary payment instructions with the imperial seal and the seals of the three dukes and nine ministers. The salaries of bureaucrats at all levels are really paid out by Chen Xi.

To be honest, bureaucrats at all levels are satisfied with the salaries issued by Chen Xi. After all, everyone knows that there are only profits and no losses when comparing job levels. However, it has been five years, and no formal reform document has been issued. The bureaucrats are also muttering in their hearts?

So when Jia Xu heard that Chen Xi wanted to raise grain prices, he made a plan in his heart and pushed the boat along. He also brought this up for everyone to comment on. It can be regarded as a blow and a sweet date. After all, most people who buy grain and eat are in Jia Xu's circle of salary recipients, and those who are not in this circle, damn, they are not in this circle. Do you have the qualifications to speak at the table?

Chen Xi glanced at Jia Xu. He knew that if he mentioned this, someone would definitely give him a way out and let him go along the salary reform path. In this way, he could solve the problem together and win twice.

"Salaries should also be discussed at the grand court meeting." Chen Xi raised his eyebrows slightly and looked at everyone present with a half-smile. "After all, such a big thing, if you don't bring people together to discuss it, you can just finalize it. If you send a document with a seal, you don't know what people will say. After all, the grand court meeting at the beginning of the sixth year of Yuanfeng didn't bring this up for detailed review."

It sounds a bit strange, but if Chen Xi follows the rules, others will agree. After all, this is a resolution involving the salaries of all Han officials. It must be reviewed on the table one by one. Otherwise, if it is really like Chen Xi said, sending a document with a seal and starting to implement it, it will be a bit too grass-roots.

"Is this kind of thing going to be reviewed by the imperial meeting?" Zhang Fei directly expressed everyone's doubts, "Do any bureaucrats feel that their salaries are too high? Even if there are upright bureaucrats who make cuts from the standpoint of the country, they will Let’s be overthrown. Which one is for the collective? In this case, it’s impossible to tell!”

"Because it has been in trial operation for five years." Zhuge Liang pressed his temple and said, "Bureaucrats at all levels have dealt with various salary proposals in the past five years. The deliberation should have been completed by now. Think about it carefully. If you think about it, in the past two years, there have been very few local bureaucrats writing letters about salary issues as before."

Chen Xi smiled when he heard this, "Kong Ming is the one who works the hardest."

"No, you couldn't have really dealt with all the official documents about the salary and salary issues in the past three years." Zhuge Liang frowned and asked with a bit of solemnity. Just reading those official documents requires a lot of effort. time.

"Although it's a little different from what you thought, I did handle it." Chen Xi nodded and said, "There should be very few letters from bureaucrats in the past two years about salary issues. Maybe it's not to their full satisfaction, but In the current social environment, they can still fully accept this level of salary. Of course, they would be more satisfied if it was slightly higher.”

"You actually read it. I don't even know when you read it. There are quite a few official documents." Zhuge Liang looked at Chen Xi with some disbelief and said.

"The high probability is to collect all the official documents related to salary issues, and then divide them according to the states, randomly select some from them, and then process a wave to see the situation. After a while, do it again and process another wave." Fa Zheng crossed his arms. He said with a sneer, he was very aware of Chen Xi's outrageous operations.

"No, no, no, I look at it based on the county." Chen Xi denied it on the spot.

Zhuge Liang couldn't help but cover his forehead. He felt a headache. In addition, he felt sorry for the official documents that the local bureaucrats reported with excitement and enthusiasm. What was even worse was that under Chen Xi's handling, the problems of the local bureaucrats were gradually solved. , and judging from Zhuge Liang's reading of the official documents reported in the follow-up report, those people were even quite satisfied.

Even considering that this type of official document needs to be discounted in terms of satisfaction, it can be said that if you are very satisfied, at least you will not make the same type of request again for many years to come. In other words, according to Chen Xi’s outrageous The handling method may be appropriate and reasonable in the next ten years.

"Who are you kidding? Do you know how many counties there are now?" Fazheng said angrily.

"158 counties." Chen Xi said angrily, "You look down on me too much."

The Han Dynasty itself had 103 counties. The governor and lieutenant of each county were worth two thousand shi. The counties under its jurisdiction had county magistrates for counties with more than 10,000 households, ranging from 600 shi to 1,000 shi, and those below 10,000 households. The county has a county magistrate, with grades ranging from 300 to 500 shi.

After Chen Xi took control of Chang'an, the Han Dynasty annexed the Western Regions, Tibetan areas, and parts of Funan and central and southern areas, adding a total of 55 counties, which also further increased the number of Han Dynasty bureaucrats with two thousand stone.

However, even so, the number of bureaucrats in the Han Dynasty who are more than two thousand shi, including the special female officials in the palace and the concubines who are more powerful than the three princes, is less than 500 positions.

By the way, the less than 500 positions have not been filled so far. In theory, there are more than 2,000 stone positions reserved for the sixth level smelting of the county captain, and there are still a lot of vacancies.

On the one hand, there are a large number of sixth-level smelters waiting in the front-line legions to seize greater benefits. On the other hand, there are some sixth-level smelters who are not suitable for being officials at all and just want to return home rich and wealthy. There are also some sixth-level smelters. The smelting veterans have automatically moved to their own fiefdoms, resulting in the 158 county lieutenant positions not even being filled half yet.

"Hey, you actually know that there are 158 counties. Do you think you can go through them one by one?" Fazheng said in a tone of ridicule or surprise.

"Okay, okay, don't mention this. Anyway, I have sent out all the notices that I should send. In the sixth year of Yuanfeng, I also said that if you have any questions about the salary issue, please reply. I will send out the salary at the current trial level. "After five years of trial operation and multiple adjustments, bureaucrats at all levels are quite satisfied with the current salary system."

"This is just a notification!" Li You looked at Chen Xi speechlessly and said.

"The problem is that I really tried it for five years and listened to the opinions of senior bureaucrats such as Jia Wenhe, Guo Fengxiao, Fa Xiaozhi, etc. Oh, I also listened to your salary suggestions for technocrats last year." Chen Xi When he said this, although his face was still expressionless, there was already a smile between his eyebrows, which made Li You speechless.

"If you think about it carefully, Zichuan even listened to my suggestions on subsidies for the staff who were running errands. It's really..." Mi Zhu looked at the beams with a hint of helplessness. This guy really listened to my opinions and carried out the plan. Trial run verification.

"I even listened to the Huotou Army's subsidy suggestions." Zhao Yun recalled it, and then compared it with his own memory. It was a little weird. Co-author Chen Xi was really doing the deliberation alone.

"Rotation subsidies for the Royal Guards and field subsidies for the Palace Guards." Man Chong also quickly realized the emergence and adjustment of something.

"In short, I listened carefully to the opinions of bureaucrats at all levels, and reconstructed the rank and salary based on these opinions. After five years of trial operation, the fairness and rationality of the new rank and salary were guaranteed." Chen Xi said with a smile, "So when I review it, I will bring all the information."

"Okay, the next topic, these two have passed together, we have nothing to say, I am quite satisfied with the current salary, but considering Zichuan's situation, it will probably be slightly increased when it is announced when everyone is at a fairly satisfactory level." Jia Xu said that you have come to this point, what else to say, of course it is passed, and we are absolutely satisfied with the review!

"It is completely irrefutable, this is indeed Zichuan's idea." Liu Bei also nodded and said.

"Can I ask a question?" Hua Xiong raised his hand and said, Chen Xi glanced and knew that Hua Xiong was held by Zhang Fei and Xu Chu and was forced to ask.

"Ask." Chen Xi said happily.

In the correct version of Yiyi!

"What exactly will the slight improvement be?" Hua Xiong glanced at Zhang Fei and Xu Chu and hinted to Chen Xi, indicating that it was these two guys who asked him to ask.

"That's boring." Chen Xi said with a smile, and then gave an answer without waiting for Zhang Fei to ask, "For those below 600 dan, in addition to the salary during the trial period, coastal areas will receive a cured goose, inland areas will receive two yellow croakers, and those above 600 dan will receive an additional 10 kilograms of cured beef."

"How many officials and formal clerks below 600 dan are there?" Liu Bei looked at Li You and asked. There was actually no problem with giving these to those above 600 dan, because there were not many people at all. In the Han Dynasty, only counties with 10,000 households had more than 600 dan, and a county generally had only one or two counties that reached the level of 10,000 households. The rest were senior bureaucrats in the county. All of them added up, there were less than 3,000 people.

"About 16,500 people." Li You said almost without thinking.

"We have a population of over 80 million now, and there are 20,000 bureaucrats." Liu Bei looked at Chen Xi with a frown. In Liu Bei's impression, during the reign of Emperor Ling, the people were living in poverty, and the ratio of officials to civilians was about 1:7,000. How come it is now more than 1:4,000, and has increased so much?

"Because many professional and technical personnel have been included in the bureaucracy. After all, the official-oriented system has always been the most convincing, and there is no shortage of salary anyway. Moreover, most technical officials rarely appear in front of people. Their value lies in technology. For example, the dozen or so official positions of Xiangli clan with 300 stones and the rank of 1,000 stones are mainly reflected in contacting other people for supplies..." Chen Xi explained with some distress. He actually did this to save trouble.

After all, being an official in this land is the fastest ladder to be respected, and being an official can effectively reduce the difficulty of communication. Therefore, in order to save trouble, Chen Xi also gave ranks in comparison with later generations when he was engaged in the industry. The highest, such as Jiang Qi, Liu Ru and others, were directly compared with 2,000 stones.

Although a low official-to-civilian ratio is a good thing, which means low expenditure, fewer feedback layers, and high efficiency, it does not mean that a ratio as low as 1:7,000 is a good thing. Chen Xi thought that he could afford it, so he hired a lot of technical bureaucrats. This is also the reason why many senior technical personnel from state-owned factories, mines and workshops in Yanzhou and Qingzhou were able to move to Jizhou to become officials. To put it bluntly, it was because they really had a rank.

"This is not good." Liu Bei frowned. He had not paid much attention to the changes in the official-to-civilian ratio before, and the old soldier would not mention this in front of Liu Bei, because the number of local bureaucrats and clerks did not increase. The increase was mainly technical bureaucrats, and the technical bureaucrats were pressed by Chen Xi in factories, mines and workshops to work hard for the country and consolidate the foundation of the country. They generally did not appear in front of people.

In other words, Chen Xi relied on urban-rural isolation and the dual-track system to isolate the two systems, so that although the bureaucracy increased, you could not feel this increase.

"Give the Wang family of Kuaiji 600 shi and ask them to arrange someone who can repair the Lei Jitai to work. Lord Xuande, guess how many counties are willing to spare one." Chen Xi lowered his head and thought for a while. He felt that he should use a simpler way to explain to Liu Bei, and then he found a suitable situation very smoothly.

"It's all over the map." Li You answered on behalf of Liu Bei, "It's just 600 shi. I'll write him a stack. As long as he can find ten more people who can repair the Lei Jitai this year, it's okay for all the Lantai censors to make room for them. Who here thinks it's unreasonable?"

Among the things Li You did in his life, one of the things that made Li You really regret more and more was that when he saw the Wang family of Kuaiji using the Lei Jitai to strike down their own dandies, more than a dozen of them were struck to ashes. At that time, Li You was just shocked. Now think about it, damn, these are all good animals who understand Lei Jitai, and most of them can repair Lei Jitai with a little effort!

The crimes committed by those dozen or so playboys are nothing. The highest level is bullying men and women, bullying the people, being arbitrary, and taking human lives. This is already the worst of the dozen or so big animals.

The problem is, if you want to reform this level of bad guys, can you reform them with Li You's ability? Of course, he can, too! If I had known that this kind of bad guy could repair the Lei Jitai, I would definitely not send him to the Lei Jitai. I would have let him repair to death and atone for his sins!

It was also this incident that made Li You fully understand what Chen Xi meant by "human heads are not leeks, they can grow after being cut." Damn it, at that time, the Wang family of Kuaiji was so happy to attract thunder that half of their own population was blown up. As a result, so many years have passed, and the population that was blown up has not grown back. Li You was speechless. Why didn't you say earlier that your family was so useful? I really believe in making up for one's crimes!

It can be said that if the Wang family of Kuaiji said that they would give you one more person to make thunders, Li You could clear out the Lantai Yushi today and get a stack of six hundred stones.

As for the current extremely amazing grain output, the grain price has fallen so much that it seems that the Wang family of Kuaiji is not that important, it's all an illusion. Anyone with a little bit of brains knows that grain is the cornerstone of national strategy, the foundation of industry, and the foundation of animal husbandry. There has never been such a thing as enough grain output!

To put it simply, what should be fed to large livestock such as cattle, sheep, and pigs to make them grow quickly? Feeding grain, bone meal, and grass will take several years to develop.

Enough grain? What a joke, if there is enough food, won't we feed livestock?

Even in later generations, the best breed of beef cattle needs to eat six to eight catties of concentrated feed to grow one catty of meat. The best breed of mutton, when it is a lamb, eats six catties of concentrated feed to grow one catty. After growing to the level of a big sheep, it may take ten catties to grow one catty. This is why most of the sheep seen in later generations are mainly 30 catties, because the cost will explode if they are bigger. For pigs, according to the growth rate at different times, the current better breeds of pigs can basically guarantee that they grow one catty by eating three catties.

This is also the reason why the current meat price of pork is lower than beef, and beef is close to or slightly lower than mutton. It's just a simple cost issue.

Considering the transformation of various non-staple foods after the increase in grain scale, and as industrial materials, how to say it, there is no such thing as enough grain. There are only two options: almost enough, and I will open a new consumption outlet. Enough? How can it be possible?

In later generations, 90% of the soybeans imported by China were used as feed, and local grains that were not very delicious but had high yields were also used as feed. More than 30% of the country's total grain output was used as feed. As a result, the cost of beef and mutton was still much higher than that of foreign countries. What this means is self-evident.

Basic agriculture is just like this. If the output is not enough, it is not enough! Even if Chen Xi pats his chest and says that it is enough to eat, it really took ten years to meet the supply of food!

And food is only the basis of food security. Although it can guarantee this, let alone in the third century, it is something that only the top powers can do in the 21st century. But if it is just at this level, it is really a joke.

Chen Xi will continue to collect grain, collect grain from the Han Dynasty, collect grain from Southeast Asia, and continue to collect grain to thoroughly establish the animal husbandry group, and then gradually lower the price of meat to a suitable range. If rice is twelve coins per dou, then meat should be around ten coins per catty. This is reasonable.

So even though Li You's words were a bit extreme, everyone present agreed. After all, they were not stupid. Even Xu Chu knew that pork elbows were delicious, and if pigs wanted to grow fast, they had to eat grain!

The author has not been feeling well recently, so he can't be online every day. If you have any materials, please send them to me for krypton gold.