Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 279 - 211: Attempting Improvement_3

Chapter 279: Chapter 211: Attempting Improvement_3

The officials in charge of the new law quickly exceeded the upper limit by changing the annual interest rate of 20% to 20% per season, which equates to a staggering 40% per year. Many officials even set the rate higher, reaching up to 100% interest like those in private lending.

As for the "voluntary participation without suppression," it was basically not implemented. It was impossible to determine which were voluntary and which were enforced contributions.

After enforcing the contributions, the officials could easily claim that the households were lying about being unable to repay their debts, alleging that they were forced to contribute.

Moreover, to ensure the effectiveness of the new law, Wenchuan would inevitably need to set targets for these officials.

How much was accomplished under the Green Seed Law would become one component of the officials’ evaluations.

From a motivational perspective, performance evaluations were certainly necessary. Otherwise, how could one determine which officials were genuinely working and which were merely feigning compliance?

Those from the old party practicing non-violent non-cooperation and not implementing the new law could only be exposed through performance evaluations.

However, the problem was that once evaluation took place, officials would inevitably keep adding more layers. Since the performance was assessed based on the gains from the Green Seed Law, officials would surely enforce contributions and subtly raise the interest rates to appear exceptionally productive.

No matter the set interest rate, these officials always found ways to exceed it.

So, could the evaluation criteria be changed? Not simply based on revenue but also consider the accuracy of the law’s enforcement, public reputation, and other factors holistically?

Clearly, this was entirely unfeasible.

After much reflection, Chuge finally reached a conclusion.

The 20% interest rate made no meaning, no matter how much it was reduced.

Because even if the interest rate was set at 1%, officials would always find ways to raise it to 100%. And from hindsight, Wenchuan had no effective solutions and could only turn a blind eye.

This was also a significant reason why the new law eventually failed.

Hence, after much consideration, Chuge decided to adopt more decisive measures.

"Since the interest rate could be raised covertly by officials no matter how low, I might as well make it mandatory to issue interest-free loans!

"There are at least three benefits to this:

"First, without any interest, officials would not be able to blatantly collect interest, which would greatly prevent them from ’misinterpreting the law.’ Thus, there would be no civil unrest, nor would it generate negative public opinion that could lead to Wenchuan being dismissed.

"Second, many from the old party impeached Wenchuan, accusing him of ’competing with the people for profits.’ No matter the set interest rates, they would regard it as ’competing with the people for profits.’ Now, with interest-free loans, it can’t be seen as ’competing with the people for profits,’ right? This turns it into a fully charitable act. How it’s implemented is another matter, but at least it stands morally justifiable.

"Third, though interest-free loans aren’t profitable, if the Green Seed Law is successfully implemented, it would greatly increase its prestige among the ordinary households, creating favorable public opinion in support of the new law. Additionally, if households can smoothly get through the lean periods, field yields would progressively improve, which would naturally increase the food contributed to the national treasury.

"Let’s go with this!"

After thoughtful consideration, Chuge still decided to take a bold approach first and see how it goes.

He realized that even with centuries of wisdom and considering the social reality of the time, there was no perfect solution.

Every solution carried risks.

But being a player, his greatest advantage was the ability to restart multiple times. So he could afford to be bold and experiment. If things didn’t work out, he could always start over, unlike Wenchuan, who had to be cautious.

With this thought, Chuge amended the regulations of the Green Seed Law.

During lean periods, the government would provide interest-free loans, meaning no interest was charged.

In the evaluations of officials, the quantity of Green Seed loans would no longer be a criterion.

Chuge did consider looking for another evaluation standard, but after much thought, there really was no way to evaluate.

So, it might be best not to evaluate at all!

Chuge knew one of the key reasons Wenchuan’s reform failed was improper personnel usage.

On one hand, many opportunists looking to rise swiftly infiltrated the ranks of the new party, while on the other, the overly eager evaluation system provided these individuals with opportune chances.

Assessing officials based on the Green Seed loans would eventually lead only to the selection of those who seek quick successes and profits.

Suppose there were two officials—one closely followed Wang Wenchuan’s methods, not imposing forced apportionment, while the other secretly imposed levies and raised interest rates.

What would result is certainly that the latter’s performance would appear better and he would be more likely to receive a promotion.

Over time, the entire new party from top to bottom would become officials who, for the sake of performance, wouldn’t hesitate to tear down houses and forcibly impose apportionments on farmers for loans.

Therefore, Chu Ge simply waved his hand and decided not to assess them at all!

Without mandatory requirements and performance evaluations, these officials would likely slack off, but no matter what, when farmers came seeking loans, they would not completely ignore them, would they?

As long as they did a little work, it would be an improvement over before.

Reform, after all, does not need to be achieved in one step; as long as it’s a bit better than before, that is progress.

Of course, Chu Ge was also well aware that he too was theorizing on paper, and to claim that he could resolve issues that predecessors had grappled with indefinitely by a mere stroke of inspiration was most likely impossible.

But this was the Trial Illusion; even if he failed, it wouldn’t really matter—why not give it a try and see the results?

Besides, Chu Ge could foresee the future and knew that a severe drought would soon hit the country.

The drought would further amplify the negative effects of the Green Seed Law, giving the officials a reason to criticize the new law and hastening its failure.

If the original Green Seed Law ended with the enrichment of the state coffers at the expense of both wealthy and poor citizens, Chu Ge’s modified Green Seed Law was purely to improve the common people’s lives directly, with the state treasury undertaking significant risks instead.

He thought it quite simple: first and foremost, ensure the people were well-fed.

Originally, the reform managed to offend every strata, including the masses who suffered great losses. That is why the displaced commoners had fled to the capital to oppose the law.

Now, however, Chu Ge felt that pacifying these lower-class citizens first and getting them to appreciate the benefits of the new law was crucial.

This way, the new law could at least withstand a bit longer, right?

After contemplating, Chu Ge finally decided, and implemented his own modified version of the Green Seed Law.

...

The mist was dense; then it gradually dispersed.

A system notice appeared in Chu Ge’s vision.

[Distance from the Battle of Niu Zhu: 8 years]

"One blink and a year has passed...

"Looking at it this way, under the most optimistic scenario, I have ten attempts to improve the new law.

"This is reasonable, since legislation, from drafting to implementation and seeing results, always needs some time.

"After ten attempts, if it still hasn’t achieved the intended effects, then it’s back to square one.

"Of course, ten attempts is the ideal scenario; it’s also possible that I might be removed by the emperor midway and all my previous efforts wasted.

"Hmm... Let me first see how the new Green Seed Law is being implemented."

The system did not allow Chu Ge to view the situation across the entire country from a god-like perspective; instead, it answered him through various documents.

These included reports from officials across the country as well as criticisms from political opponents opposed to the new law.

Chu Ge’s way of gathering information did not exceed the range of Wang Wenchuan at the time.

He casually opened a document and examined it carefully.