Chapter 363 The problem of Ming Dynasty lies in too few officials!
Salt paved backyard.
Xia Zhibai has finished a set of Five Animal Fist.
It's not that he wanted to defend himself, he just used it to strengthen his body.
After a set of boxing, he was sweating profusely. Xia Zhibai also felt very happy. He sweated every day and felt much better. He wiped the sweat from his forehead with a towel and then wiped it with warm water. I got up and was about to change my clothes when I heard someone coming to report.
The prince is here.
Xia Zhibai frowned, then quickly relaxed.
He put the sweat towel aside, put on a thick cotton coat, and went to the hall.
In the hall.
Lu Cang has already served the brewed tea.
Facing this Ming prince, Lu Cang was still very nervous. This was the first time he had met such a big shot. He couldn't even just call him a big shot. He was clearly a towering presence. In the past, he had never seen such a person, let alone personally. Even meeting her from afar is a luxury.
Not long after.
Xia Zhibai has arrived.
Seeing the hall, Xia Zhibai said: "I have met His Highness and Duke Cao."
Zhu Biao nodded lightly, without making too many false promises, and said straight to the point: "I came here today because I want to ask you something."
"It's money!"
"You have given me a lot of advice over the years."
"But any reform or any change will cost money and food when implemented."
"And you criticized it at the very beginning. The existing financial system of the Ming Dynasty has huge problems. The government's finances are seriously insufficient. You also advocated the abolition of the existing system and the establishment of a new system. In recent days, Gu Ye has boldly spoken out. After thinking about it, I feel that your idea is feasible. ”
"Just thinking about it for a moment, I ran into difficulties."
"The first thing is money!"
"As the saying goes, a good woman cannot make a meal without rice."
"The reform of the world's system also requires money and food."
"And Ming Dynasty has no money."
"Since you brought it up, I naturally want to find an answer from you."
Zhu Biao looked at Xia Zhibai and waited for Xia Zhibai's reply.
Xia Zhibai did not deny it.
Any change in the system involves money and power.
Even adding a new person or exempting a person will involve money and food.
The Ming Dynasty's system itself could not collect money. The daily agricultural taxes could not even sustain the normal expenses of the court. It also needed tea horse salt and iron to supplement it. However, as far as Xia Zhibai knew, the tea horse salt and iron in the Ming Dynasty were not enough. It can only collect about three million taels per year. Compared with Ming Dynasty's heavy financial expenditure, it is simply impossible to make ends meet.
Ultimately.
You can only add unlimited gifts!
"If Your Highness wants to solve the money problem, you must first clarify what money is?" It was inconvenient, so some people began to use shells and other items as anchors for equal transactions.”
"Then it evolved step by step into copper coins, silver taels, gold, etc."
"Today, the only money recognized by the Ming Dynasty is Hongwu Tongbao, and silver, gold, and even gold are not allowed to circulate."
"Da Ming's eyesight is lacking in copper."
"So from a macro perspective, the Ming Dynasty's economy was depressed."
"Because the circulation of coins is insufficient."
"Therefore, most places still use grain, cloth, etc. as equivalent substitutes. Of course, the Ming Dynasty also has a kind of money, which is the 'Ming Dynasty treasure money' that has become like waste paper. Personally, the economic system of the Ming Dynasty is almost a complete mess." Ruins, just kill, don’t bury, only immediate benefits, no long-term plan.”
"According to the facts."
"The Ming Dynasty has a complete understanding of the world's economic situation." Xia Zhibai's words were sharp and cold.
He did not lie. The economic operation of the Ming Dynasty was indeed very poor. He only knew how to collect taxes and had no idea of the real economic situation. How could the economy of the Ming Dynasty get better under such an operating system?
Li Jinglong frowned and said, "Scholar Xia, are you exaggerating?"
"Serious words? Quite the opposite." Xia Zhibai shook his head. He glanced at Li Jinglong and said indifferently: "What I said was just too light."
"Everyone in the world knows that the Ming Dynasty is short of money, especially copper coins, but the Ming Dynasty has not taken any action in this regard. It has neither searched for copper mines in the world to make up for the shortage of copper coins, nor has it taken the effort to establish a set of countermeasures. The world’s thorough statistical system allows this cancer to exist and grow stronger step by step.”
"This, in my opinion, is simply unbelievable."
"Precisely."
"Officials in the court, in fact, don't know how much copper money the world lacks."
"It is precisely because of ignorance that they dare not act rashly. Even if some officials proposed to let the government open more copper mines to make up for the shortage of copper coins, or to conduct a concrete conversion of the world's grain and cloth, the Ming Dynasty still refused to explain."
"No one cares, no one cares."
"The officials of the Ming Dynasty were all very busy as soon as they entered the political hall, but no one knew or could tell exactly what they were busy with. Anyway, they were busy dealing with various memorials, all kinds of trivial memorials. Not finished.”
“But what really matters is no one mentioning it.”
"The civil servants in the court always take history as a mirror and a warning. They speak the words of saints and shut up their benevolence and morality. However, in the Song Dynasty, the annual silver production reached tens of millions or even hundreds of millions, while in the Ming Dynasty, it was difficult to collect even ten million. The problem Where? ”
"It comes from taking history as a mirror and history as a warning."
"What we learn from are all private schemes, and what we learn from is autocratic power."
"The Ming Dynasty now seems to have all kinds of power gathered in one body, but if you really bend down and look at the world of Nuo Da, you can't see clearly what the world really looks like. There may not even be a few real data. The imperial court has no control over the world. Officials' power over life and death has reached its peak, but their actual control over the world has reached its lowest level."
"The imperial court doesn't know how much copper money the world lacks, nor does it know the real economic situation in the world, nor does it know how to adjust the Ming Dynasty's economy."
“It all depends on the place itself.”
"Everyone in the imperial court only wants to do one thing, which is to collect the money."
"This is to learn from history."
“But what we absorbed was the reference from the Yuan Dynasty.”
"People in the Yuan Dynasty just collected money and ignored the rest."
"Now the Ming Dynasty does not hesitate to make concessions. It takes the initiative to lay off government officials and weakens the government's right to control and know the local area. When something happens, he will hold accountable with an innocent look, as if he is the victim."
Xia Zhibai's eyes were full of mockery.
He said: "Your Highness, if you want to ask me the solution."
"I do."
"But can the existing number of officials in Ming Dynasty support it?"
"If Ming Dynasty wants to make a rough survey of the world's economy, does Your Highness know how much manpower, material and financial resources will be needed?"
"If we take history as a guide, the most convenient way is to imitate the Song Dynasty in setting up border passes or treaty ports along the coast. Many ministers cannot guarantee that the imperial court will get at least several million silver a year, and it will only be more, not less. ”
"But does the imperial court dare to open this hole?"
"Even if His Highness dares to do this, with the number of officials in the Ming Dynasty, can he really manage it? In the end, I am afraid that most of the money and food will fall into the pockets of some corrupt officials. It is easier to do things when there are more people. If there are fewer people, don't try to cover everything. ”
"Not qualified!"
"I don't even have that ability."
"If you want both, you will only end up with nothing."
"Of course, if Your Highness refuses, there is another way to make money, which is to go to sea. I remember reading in an ancient book that not far from the East China Sea, there is a mountain of silver and stone. If the Ming Dynasty can occupy it, it will be worth the Ming Dynasty every year. Provide tens of millions of taels of silver.”
"It's just that the world is short of money, but Ming still doesn't know."
(End of chapter)