PFC Chapter 339 Why do modern people have to be tortured by KPI, but ancient people can’t?
Chapter 339 Why do modern people have to be tortured by KPI, but ancient people can’t?
"Your Majesty, the following is mainly about tax reform!"
"I believe that there are many problems caused by taxation at present!"
"What needs to be addressed urgently right now are corruption and transportation losses. The emergence of empty seal documents is mainly due to these two sources!"
"Local officials' payment of taxes demonstrates their ability to govern and is a key criterion for their promotion. They don't want to work diligently their entire lives only to end up worse off than others who have served three generations in office..."
"It makes some sense!"
Emperor Xia nodded slightly.
Now it was just a dialogue between the emperor and his minister, and he didn't want to emphasize anything empty or pretentious.
It is human nature to seek fame and fortune. He can't deny the officials just because they have selfish motives, right?
Seeing that Emperor Xia agreed with this view, Gu Jingzhi continued, "Putting aside the fact of corruption, the use of empty seal documents itself is still beneficial. At the very least, it can improve the efficiency of communication between the local governments and the imperial court..."
Emperor Xia's eyes fixed, and Gu Jingzhi immediately felt a sense of danger.
He quickly said, "Your Majesty, I am not speaking for them!"
"Ah!"
"Then I would like to hear Mr. Gu's opinion!"
Emperor Xia said in a deep voice.
It was obvious from his tone that if Gu Jingzhi really didn't speak well, old man Xia Di would probably get angry!
Gu Jingzhi pursed his lips and said, "Your Majesty, I'm sorry to say something disrespectful. Corruption has been going on for a long time. Some people are born bad, some are motivated by pure desire to undermine the foundation of the country, and some are coerced into it..."
"In short, this corruption can never be fully investigated or eradicated!"
Xia Di narrowed his eyes: "Do you know what you are talking about?"
"Your Majesty, please don't be impatient..."
Gu Jingzhi said calmly, "Most of the officials in Daxia come from aristocratic families. Aristocratic families focus on the interests of their clans. This is an unchangeable fact. If there were no aristocratic families controlling the situation behind the scenes, even if there was corruption in the matter of the empty seal, it wouldn't be so serious!"
"Your Majesty, think about it. The empty seal incident has been going on for so many years. Why did Your Majesty know nothing about it, and why did the local authorities never file a complaint?"
"Daxia has the Internal Guard to monitor the area, so why is there still such a big loophole?"
Gu Jingzhi asked a few questions, and Emperor Xia frowned subconsciously.
It is understandable that he doesn't know. After all, as an emperor, he can't be in charge of such details. As for why the Inner Guard doesn't know, it is actually very simple, because the people in the Inner Guard don't know how to govern!
Gu Jingzhi looked at Emperor Xia and directly stated the answer: "The reason why these problems have not been noticed is that everything the aristocratic families do is greedy within the scope of the rules they set."
"Local officials are well aware of the situation regarding the taxes they pay to the imperial court. The reason there are no problems is because the aristocratic families already have a strict set of corruption procedures in place!"
"Corruption procedures? What does that mean?"
Emperor Xia was a little puzzled.
Gu Jingzhi said, "I will give Your Majesty an example. Suppose a place pays 10,000 dan of grain in tax this year, and the court stipulates a minimum of 60,000 dan!"
"In other words, as long as the Ministry of Revenue has 60,000 dan in its account, the local officials will pass the assessment!"
"The aristocratic families are corrupt, and they will only distribute the 40,000 stones. In this way, the aristocratic families get what they want, and the local officials are also evaluated as qualified. This creates a situation where everyone benefits, but the court suffers!"
"Humph!"
Emperor Xia snorted coldly, and he also understood what Gu Jing said next!
The reason why the imperial court is not good is that it cannot find problems, and if there are no problems in the evaluation of local officials, they naturally will not report them.
The more important point is that if officials really feel that there is a problem, they will report it to the court, but the memorial must go through certain procedures before it reaches the emperor.
The emperor certainly cannot see these memorials!
At that time, just say that you have no background and no connections... and you can basically get rid of them!
In this way, not only the hidden danger of corruption was resolved, but it also served to hint to those officials and gain support for the aristocratic families or powerful people.
As for those who don't want to go along with the crowd, just wait. Whether you can get promoted depends on luck!
This is the truth, but Emperor Xia was very unhappy. He said coldly: "Then I wonder what good plan Gu Qing has!"
"Have!"
Gu Jingzhi's tone was calm, but it left no room for doubt!
"I have a complete set of methods that can reduce corruption year by year!"
“Decreasing year by year?”
Emperor Xia was slightly stunned. Isn't it going to be solved in one go?
Gu Jingzhi saw the Emperor Xia's doubts and immediately said, "Your Majesty, even if the Empty Seal Case is over, the influence of the aristocratic families in the officialdom cannot be ignored!"
"Even if Your Majesty punishes them vigorously, it is impossible to eliminate them all at once!"
"Well!"
"Then tell me your countermeasures!"
Emperor Xia knew in his heart that any policy implementation would be unable to withstand the protection of officials against each other, which was a fatal flaw!
Gu Jingzhi said: "My method is very simple, it is nothing more than supervision and motivation!"
"Supervisor, I understand. What is motivation?" Emperor Xia was a little confused.
Gu Jingzhi smiled and said, "Your Majesty, please don't be impatient! Let's talk about this supervision first!"
"Your Majesty already understands the reason for the empty seal document. The reason for such a major omission is mainly due to the lack of important procedures and lack of supervision... or perhaps it is because those people do not want supervision!"
"After much thought, I have found a way to complete the process!"
Emperor Xia asked curiously, "What good advice do you have?"
"Your Majesty, the old tax collection process was that officials from the tax-paying areas would bring the tax to the provincial capital. Then, before the tax was deposited into the treasury, they would fill in the actual amount in a blank seal document. This cycle continued all the way to the Ministry of Revenue, repeating itself over and over again!"
Emperor Xia nodded slightly: "And then?"
This is the solution to asking Gu Jingzhi.
Gu Jingzhi smiled and said, "But what if we change the method? In the same document, for example, in the same document, the first page is the county document, and the actual amount of tax delivered is clearly marked, and then stamped with the official seal!"
"The second page is for the capital city. How much was actually received in the capital city, and how much was shipped out. The same operation is repeated. This way, there's less room for manipulation in the account. In addition..."
Gu Jingzhi also used Qi Fengzhang's trick, and Emperor Xia's eyes lit up when he heard it.
but……
He suddenly thought of a question.
"Gu Qing, what you said is indeed effective, but as you said, what if officials at all levels collude to conceal it?"
"Your Majesty, this is easy!"
Gu Jingzhi smiled and said, "When the counties in various places pay taxes, they should issue two documents, one for the normal tax payment process, and one to be sent to the capital. By comparing the data on the two documents, we can know whether they are true or false!"
"As for the mutual concealment between superiors and subordinates and the delivery of false figures to the capital, this is related to the incentive system I just mentioned!"
"Incentive system?"
Emperor Xia was a little confused!