84. Adding or Not Adding Tax

Prefect Yin was also a little surprised. After not seeing him for a few months, his impression of Bai Gui was a little vague. However, he still remembered that although Bai Gui was not a weak young man at that time, he was not as strong as he is now. Reading

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People with insight can tell at a glance whether he practices martial arts or not!

For example, scholars generally have slumped shoulders and bent backs, which is unlikely to be the case for martial artists!

"This man has read Western history, and his questions are very organized. He is a priest of the Chongli Cult, and Mr. Nichols, a reporter from the New York Times, also praises him very much..."

Prefect Yin's eyes flashed, and he did not dare to answer directly, but said in a different way that Bai Gui had real talent and knowledge. What he said was useless, but these foreigners praised him, so his vision would not be bad.

"Oh?" Governor Fang nodded, "It seems that this man is both civil and military, a good young man!"

Ordinary scholars will not be praised by him.

But scholars who are both civil and military, no matter who they are, will be worthy of others' attention.

Martial arts, is a plus point!

Chen Xuezheng smiled along. Although he was the equivalent of an "imperial envoy" and had a low position but great power, he was not good enough in front of Governor Fang. "Governor, how about calling him up to ask questions?"

"No need." Governor Fang shook his head. "Now is the time for the students to take the imperial examination. It would be inappropriate to ask questions rashly."

Although Bai Gui deserved his special attention, that was all. There was no need to ask questions.

As for other candidates, such as the heads of Tongzhou Prefecture, Fengxiang Prefecture, Yulin Prefecture, and Hanzhong Prefecture, he only looked at them a few times and then stopped. Compared with the heads of the provincial capital, the gold content of these prefectures is inevitably lower...

Soon, the candidates entered the Imperial Examination Hall, and the yamen runners at the Imperial Examination Hall began to lock it.

At this time, the yamen runners also withdrew, and the soldiers who were filling the word "soldier" began to patrol. These were transferred from Long Province to prevent cheating between local yamen runners and local candidates.

Bai Gui also took the opportunity to take a few glances and found that there were quite a few old students among the students who entered the Imperial Examination Hall, accounting for at least 30% to 40%, which was much more than the old Confucian scholars in the county and prefectural examinations.

This is also a feature of the Imperial Examination.

The clerk held up a sign.

The first test of the Imperial Examination was also different from the past. It was five political and historical essays.

The first political essay topic was: "If the country's funds are sufficient without increasing taxes, the harm is greater than the theory of increasing taxes."

The Imperial Examination has always attached great importance to the first round.

This historical and political essay question made some candidates present a little bit of an uproar. This question talked about the ancestral law set by Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, "Never increase taxes."

What does it mean?

Is this national policy of never increasing taxes more harmful to the country than the national policy of increasing taxes? !

These are some unlearned candidates.

Bai Gui shook his head. This sentence can not only be linked to the national policy of "never increase taxes" set by Kangxi, but also to Wang Anshi's reform: "Those who are good at managing finances will not increase taxes and the country will have enough money."

How can a historical topic attack the rulers and expose people's past.

So this historical topic is best explained here by Wang Anshi's reform. Anyone who dares to discuss that the policies of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty are wrong will not only end up with being dismissed, but also lose his head...

But it is also wrong to answer this historical topic like Sima Guang.

Sima Guang said: "The wealth and goods produced by heaven and earth are only this number. If it is not the people, it will be the officials: for example, if it rains, you will catch fish in summer and there will be drought in autumn. If you do not increase taxes and the country has enough money, it is just a way to secretly deprive the people of their benefits, which is more harmful than increasing taxes. This is what Sang Hongyang said to deceive Emperor Wu of Han, and Shi Qian wrote it down to show that he was not clear."

This... is the source of this historical topic.

If a scholar who is not good at forcing himself to remember and does not know the source and origin of this question, and writes something randomly, involving Kangxi's policy of never increasing taxes, then he will really die miserably.

However, how should this question be written?

It is definitely not Sima Guang's opinion!

"Economic Specialty!"

Bai Gui breathed a sigh of relief. It is really not easy to become a scholar, especially in the late Qing Dynasty.

Chen Zhongfu and Jiang Menglin once had a conversation. Once, Jiang said to Chen: "You are a scholar, and I am also a scholar. There are two types of scholars. One is a scholar who entered during the eight-part essay exam. After the eight-part essay was abolished, the policy essay exam was changed, and it was called a policy essay scholar. Although the policy essay scholar has a bit of foreign style, it is not as valuable as the eight-part essay scholar."

Chen laughed and said: "Then you are not valuable as a scholar. I am a scholar who entered during the eight-part essay exam."

That being said, the subject knowledge that a policy essay scholar needs to master is really a lot, and there are more things than the eight-part essay scholars in the past.

Therefore, if you want to answer this political history question well and brilliantly, you must start from the perspective of economics.

Another thing to note!

Wang Anshi is a "traitor" in the public opinion of history books, and we must never turn the page on Wang Anshi.

"The people are not taxed more, and the world is rich, and all goods are evenly distributed. This is the foundation of a small peasant country, which cannot be shaken. Therefore, Wang Jinggong's Qingmiao Law brought disaster to Zhao Song. Today, the world is gradually changing. There are foreign countries such as the British who have opened up the South Seas and America. The benefits they have gained are much greater than those of small peasant countries. The people are getting stronger and stronger, far surpassing our people... This is the benefit of capitalist countries."

"Laws change with the times. Now we want to surpass Western countries. Sticking to the old laws and not increasing taxes will cause disasters, so changing the economic laws is in line with the will of heaven."

Bai Gui wrote as soon as he wrote.

It is not easy to answer whether increasing taxes or not increasing taxes will cause disasters. Saying that increasing taxes is in line with Sima Guang's statement, and there is also the suspicion of attacking Kangxi. If we don't increase taxes, we will become Wang Anshi's traitors...

So he answered directly from an economic perspective, avoiding historical arguments. He said that this is the difference between a small peasant country and a capitalist country. A small peasant country emphasizes agriculture and suppresses commerce, so Emperor Wu of Han created the equalization law to prevent merchants from making profits and endangering the country. This is correct.

Later, Wang Anshi carried out this reform and brought disaster to Zhao Song, which is wrong.

"The people are not taxed more, but the world is rich" comes from Sima Guang's "Zizhi Tongjian".

But he also said that the times have changed now, and the Western countries outside have opened up Southeast Asia, America and other places just to make profits, which refutes Sima Guang's statement that the wealth of the world is fixed. You can't make money from your own country, but you can make money from foreign countries!

Finally, this argument is summarized in one sentence. The economic law is to respond to the time of heaven!

Heaven, earth, monarch, parents, and teachers!

The time of heaven is more important than the law of ancestors!

Of course, the most important word is "stable". He did not directly say whether the economic law should be changed or not, but said that to catch up with the Western countries, changes should be made according to the time...

Writing articles, leave three points of room!

Scholars who are good at imperial examinations are often unknown. They are not necessarily inferior to those great talents, but their articles are extremely smooth and flawless.

More than a thousand words.

Bai Gui combined some economic knowledge he had read during this period with Western historical materials to provide evidence for his argument.

Finished work, exhaled, and stopped writing.

He learned calligraphy from Yan style, and practiced martial arts during this period. His Yan style calligraphy is powerful and condensed, with ups and downs. Unlike the past, his calligraphy at this time cannot be said to be first-class, but among the students present, it is also a leader.