PFC Chapter 7052 Proposal
Chapter 7052 Proposal
Chapter 7052 Proposal
Upon hearing this, Chen Xi shook his head. What Yi Ji said made sense, but it depended on one's perspective. Moreover, Chen Xi didn't need to refute it, because half of the governors of the sixteen prefectures of the Han Dynasty were here, and they had already begun to refute it after hearing this.
"I also hope that power will be lost to agriculture. How about this: punish me for dereliction of duty and relocate the agricultural products to Nanyang. I think this place is in the heart of the Central Plains, and the transportation is relatively easy. As for the grain production, I can talk to the governor of Yangzhou about it." Liao Li stood up and said expressionlessly.
Although Liao Li supports Yi Ji in terms of construction, if there is an opportunity to get agricultural products to Jingzhou, Liao Li will be the first to turn against Yi Ji. When it comes to Jingzhou, this man will not talk about friendship at all; he only talks about reality. After all, this is a major event that can benefit the people of the entire state.
If not now, when? Besides, he didn't care about being an official, and he cared even less about being reprimanded for dereliction of duty. As for whether he had the opportunity now, Liao Li, being a smart man, knew that he didn't have the opportunity, but he felt that even if he didn't have the opportunity, he still had to show his attitude.
In a way, this not only helped Yi Ji, but also clarified Chen Xi's thoughts and implied to Chen Xi that if there was an opportunity in the future, and if there were such things, he should also place two in their Jingzhou territory. I, Liao Li, do not care at all about the loss of power.
"What are you saying? Go back and work on your Jiangling Commercial Center properly." Chen Xi waved his hand and said. Regardless of Liao Li's intentions, Liao Li had indeed been purely altruistic for many years and had done an excellent job. Therefore, even if it was just a joke, Chen Xi gave him face.
"But in terms of benefiting ordinary people, the Jiangling commercial center really doesn't benefit farmers as much as it does farmers," Liao Li sighed.
Before the establishment of the Jiangling commercial center, even with Liao Li's efforts, Jingzhou's development was just so-so, belonging to the best of the previous era. With the establishment of the Jiangling commercial and logistics distribution center, the ferry crossing was built, and large-scale shipping was available. Relying on the convenience brought by the inland waterway and land transportation hub, the development speed of the Jiangling area was extremely terrifying.
With various logistics parks, various jobs requiring labor, and various commercial outposts, large wholesale and transshipment companies, Liao Lin was able to create something like Jingjin and successfully seize the market. In addition to the advantages of top-notch weavers, another very important point is that Jiangling is a commercial center, a hub of logistics and transportation, and a distribution center for bulk commodities.
If Zhao Family Village in the north was a logistics distribution center that Gu Xi painstakingly built up through all sorts of trickery and deception, and then seized the opportunity to achieve great success, then Jiangling was the southern commercial and logistics distribution center designated by Chang'an.
Although this place should be Wuhan in terms of its location in later generations, at that time Wuhan was still submerged at the bottom of Yunmengze Lake. It might take several hundred years for it to rise to the surface. Therefore, when choosing a commercial and logistics distribution center in the south, there were only a few options.
Choosing Jiangling isn't the best option, but it's suitable. Backed by the Yangtze River and with a county-level road leading directly from the north, plus the planned imperial highways, it's only a matter of time before this place prospers. But let alone commerce in this era, even in future generations, the number of people it can benefit from is not as great as that from manufacturing!
Especially labor-intensive manufacturing, and agriculture and food are standard labor-intensive manufacturing. Although this stuff is very low-end in later generations, if you can build a brand, it can support an entire province even in later generations. After all, this stuff is, in a sense, a man-made commodity.
Sometimes, without comparison, there is no harm. After Liao Li established Jiangling as a commercial and logistics distribution center, Jingzhou did develop very rapidly. However, compared with Yanzhou, do you understand what it means to have hundreds of thousands of workers directly under management and millions indirectly under management? If you include the personnel who provide services for agriculture and food, this number would need to double again.
This is why, even though agriculture and food production in Yanzhou are developing in a conservative manner, the average income of Yanzhou residents is still more than two months, or even three months, higher than that of people in other states.
"Forget about that," Chen Xi said, waving his hand. There were necessary and sufficient reasons for the agricultural and grain products to be located in Yanzhou, and relocation was unrealistic. "You should focus on developing your Jiangling Ecological Industrial Park. If you improve the logistics, it's not impossible to make it successful."
After speaking, Chen Xi looked at Yi Ji, glancing at Man Chong out of the corner of his eye. He now understood why Man Chong judged Yi Ji for dereliction of duty. To put it bluntly, Man Chong believed that Yi Ji was able to talk about these things because the agricultural products of Yanzhou had eroded his power, or rather, that he had exchanged power for agricultural products.
To be fair, this behavior isn't exactly right, but if you don't report it, the people won't complain and the officials won't investigate. If you talk to the agricultural and grain authorities yourselves, Chen Zichuan will turn a blind eye. But since you've brought this to this level, I'll deal with your loss of authority first. As for other issues, I'll wait for Chen Zichuan's instructions.
“Governor Yi, from the perspective of the nation, I will not allow local governments to seize the profits of state-owned factories, mines, and workshops, because every penny of this money is planned.” Chen Xi looked at Yi Ji and said very seriously, “The profits from agricultural grain remittances also include a portion allocated back to Yanzhou in the plan. Just as you said, Yanzhou’s development is unbalanced, and as I said, many people in other places still want to live the life of the people of Yanzhou. But regardless of the logic, there are actually funds allocated to Yanzhou.”
Chen Xi is actually reasonable. After Chen Xi has made overall plans and calculations, he will still return a portion of the profits from the agricultural grains handed over by Yanzhou to Yanzhou, even though Yanzhou is already the best-developed major state in fact.
Although the profit returned was relatively small, Chen Xi also considered the feelings of Yanzhou. From a national perspective, what Yi Ji said was indeed not very convincing, but sometimes politics doesn't need to be convincing.
Just like when Kandahar exploded, causing chaos in the sugar fields of Rome's eastern provinces, and Ganassis almost led troops to protect his own sugar mills, only to be forced to submit by Pompiñas, Ganassis flew straight to the Senate and uttered those words: Even though these things are all shady dealings, things they do in secret, you and I are brothers of Rome. Even if we're being unreasonable, you should still lend a hand to our eastern provinces!
In other words, it's like saying, "Even if I'm 99% wrong, things have come to this point, so you have to help me out." This may sound unreasonable, but that's how politics sometimes works: stance takes precedence over right and wrong.
Therefore, even if Chen Xi transfers the profits from Yanzhou's agricultural products to other impoverished prefectures and counties to build roads and promote development, he still needs to return a portion of the profits to at least improve the morale of the people of Yanzhou.
Although Yanzhou Agriculture and Grain Farm essentially belongs to the Han Dynasty, it is located in Yanzhou. However, the workers there are still mostly from Yanzhou. Human beings are a group with self-awareness, meaning they can define what kind of people they are and define their group.
Yi Ji may not have this understanding, but the important reason why Yi Ji is able to bring this matter up is that the people of Yanzhou, who work for Yanzhou Agriculture and Food, are also willing to give up some benefits for Yanzhou.
This is the basis for Chen Xi's willingness to return a portion of the benefits.
“I understand that too.” Yi Ji replied after a moment of silence. Among the payments received by Yanzhou was the profit from agricultural products distributed by Chen Xi. It was precisely because of this that Yi Ji was able to realize just how much profit Yanzhou’s agricultural products had generated.
Although Yi Ji didn't think he was qualified to touch such funds, just knowing that this thing existed made him think about whether he should do something to narrow the gap between ordinary people in Yanzhou and Yanzhou's agricultural products.
“I know that agriculture and food are eroding authority; it’s an inevitable process. When large state-owned enterprises expand, they naturally pursue internal management. They will actively connect with the judiciary, administration, and so on, and then form their own security forces and management organizations,” Chen Xi said expressionlessly, looking at Yi Ji. “But this thing also exists in each state!”
The model of large state-owned enterprises did not face resistance in this era. Besides being profitable, another very important reason was that the military authority, management capabilities, judicial power, and so on that state-owned enterprises demanded were normal occurrences in various states during this period.
To put it bluntly, it's because of the efficiency of information flow that the state has to delegate some military authority, management capabilities, and judicial power to the county level. This is also why Chen Xi was qualified to try to adjust local laws back then, because these things are allowed to be delegated to the county level.
On the contrary, at the state level, because the scale is too large, the country is worried that it cannot manage it. After all, a large state with financial power, military power, and political power is just a vassal state.
Essentially, this is also why the abolition of the governorship and the establishment of the provincial governorship is considered the beginning of the collapse of the Han Dynasty. Because the provincial governors had financial power, could embezzle local finances, and had military and political power. Therefore, as long as the provincial governor stayed in the local area for a long time, that area would definitely no longer belong to the country.
So after Yuan Feng, Chen Xi took down all the governors one by one. There are still a few governors with honorary titles, but it is no longer possible for them to control military, political, and financial power all at once. In the future, there are only two places that may be similar to governors: one is the middle and lower reaches of the Ganges River, and the other is Xinzhou.
The situation in the middle and lower reaches of the Ganges is self-evident. Given the circumstances there, not granting military power would cause trouble, so it was inevitable that it would be given. This is also why Zhong Yao is likely to become one of the Three Dukes in the future. Compared to giving military power to the governor, it is better to give Zhong Yao the title of one of the Three Dukes, so that having some military power would not be conspicuous.
Below the prefecture level, which is the county level, the situation still exists where the county governor holds all the power and the county commandant holds military power, although the central government has imposed certain restrictions on their financial and judicial powers.
In this context, it was perfectly reasonable for large state-owned enterprises like Yanzhou Grain to possess certain military and political power, as well as financial power, to people of that era.
After all, the amount of grain produced according to rank was about two thousand shi (a unit of dry measure), so it was normal to have this treatment. At most, this position was more inclined to make money and produce, while military power and management were secondary.
“But the financial resources that county-level officials can provide for local areas are far less than those for agriculture and food.” Yi Ji said with great exhaustion. Yi Ji suspected that the profits generated by agriculture and food in Yanzhou might be greater than those in the entire Yanzhou. Although this sounded absurd, Yi Ji’s speculation was actually not wrong.
Although Yanzhou Agriculture and Grain is named after Yanzhou, it actually serves the entire country, and the resources it can utilize and the volume of its shipments are truly staggering.
If Chen Xi hadn't required Yanzhou Agricultural and Grain to provide social welfare to other state-owned enterprises and hadn't used a special accounting method to eliminate this portion, Yanzhou Agricultural and Grain's profit output would definitely have been greater than Yanzhou's.
After all, this part of social welfare is an expenditure that takes money directly from Yanzhou Agriculture and Food Co., Ltd., without any profit; it is a pure expenditure item.
“The wealth of agriculture and food should be gathered in Chang’an and then distributed to various places by Chang’an.” Chen Xi shook his head and said, “Every penny of money in agriculture and food also has inflows and outflows. Moreover, compared to the average score of 70 points in Yanzhou, the money spent on agriculture and food in the 30-point areas can bring greater improvement. After all, it is easier to improve from 30 points to 40 points than from 70 points to 80 points.”
There are many places in the world that Chen Xi considers to be only 30 points. Although the people in those places don't feel that they are in a 30-point situation, from escaping hunger, to having one meal of dry food and one meal of porridge a day, to having two meals of dry food a day, and now being able to eat meat and other dishes, etc., they consider it a prosperous age.
But for Chen Xi, these are all places that need to be modified. Two meals a day is absolutely not acceptable; he has to eat three meals a day!
When Chenxi Village merged with other villages, it solved the problems of food and housing. Later, traditional Chinese medicine also solved the basic treatment problem. However, this was based on the logic of relying on the mountains for sustenance. If it wanted to continue to develop, it could not avoid the reality that it had to go out and seek new development.
Or to put it more plainly, each region has its own resources, but a single resource can rarely bring about a prosperous life. However, when multiple resources are combined, all involved parties can benefit. So the question is, how to optimize resource allocation, how to combine resources from different regions, and how to form a series of industries to integrate all resources.
The first thing we do when we get these things done is build roads!
Indeed, compared to other issues related to chanting scriptures, in the context of the Central Plains, the first thing to do to integrate resources and balance development across different regions is to build roads.
Why is Sun Qian the strongest elder after Chen Xi? To put it bluntly, it's because Sun Qian has been working on this since before the Yuanfeng era, and now he's become an unassailable force. It's a group composed of hundreds of thousands, even millions, of young and strong men, involving the livelihoods of millions of households across the country. If you include the profits generated by the roads and the resource circles he's connected with, then Sun Qian is essentially driving the development of the entire country.
The only problem is that road construction itself does not generate profits; it is purely an investment.
Why doesn't Chen Xi dare to release his real accounts for auditing? Because if he did, a fatal flaw would be discovered: a certain elder statesman spends more money each year than the country supports its army, while earning virtually nothing.
To be honest, Chen Xi wouldn't dare let a certain elder make money. If they really used transportation, logistics, and road transport to make money, they could make a fortune. But would Chen Xi dare to do that?
dare not!
Yanzhou's agricultural products are nothing compared to the profits from transportation, logistics, and road transport. That's enough to make money from the entire country. So Chen Xi has never handed over the real ledgers. He always uses the Chang'an Bank to transfer funds to certain elders through internal accounts.
In other words, the elder statesman's side didn't have money; all they had were various supplies—cement, coal, steel, and whatever else Chen Xi needed, he would directly transfer from state-owned factories and mines.
Talking about money is out of the question. If a loophole appears when discussing money in this matter, the problem will be enormous.
Sun Qian may not have realized this before, but after all these years, if he still doesn't realize it, then people are treating him like a fool.
Moreover, the fact that Sun Qian was able to tell Chen Xi about Yi Ji's problem makes it self-evident whether Sun Qian was aware of it or not; he definitely had!
"The only thing I can say to Governor Yi is that if Governor Yi thinks this is not good, he can try to rely on the agricultural and food industry of Yanzhou to build an agricultural and food industry that belongs to Yanzhou. I don't care about the competition between local industries and agricultural and food industries in Yanzhou," Chen Xi said very directly.
Chen Xi would definitely refuse to give Yanzhou a larger share of the money, but that didn't stop him from pointing out a way for Yi Ji: the Yanzhou government could develop its own local industries. These industries would belong to Yanzhou, and they could do whatever they wanted with them.
Of course, the government will definitely keep an eye on the auditing process, but if you want to keep half of the money you make from this industry, that's your own business. But you can't keep the profits from agricultural products.
“Although Yanzhou’s agriculture and food industry is developing very well, there are still some shortcomings. Governor Yi can try to have Yanzhou’s industries supplement these shortcomings. I can give Yanzhou some authority to do such things,” Chen Xi said calmly.
It's hard to say about collusion between officials and businessmen, but Chen Xi has already said it, and others really can't refute it. After all, with the national agricultural and food security as a priority, it's not really a problem for the local government of Yanzhou to do something small.
“But the government will be watching the policy biases and the boundaries of certain behaviors. Yanzhou Agriculture and Grain has not oppressed the common people in Yanzhou, nor has it acted recklessly. If the local enterprises built by the Yanzhou government cross this line, then don’t blame me.” Chen Xi looked at Yi Ji very seriously and said that this was bound to happen sooner or later.
Staying home with the baby...