Chapter 103 One drink after another
Hai Rui was stunned by Gao Gong's words. As a Hainanese who came to Beijing for the first time, his understanding of Beijing's political ecology was still very limited.
And coupled with his personality, he doesn't like to cling to powerful people. In addition, he is poor and can only live alone. Apart from being introduced to Gao Gong, he didn't even have a single friend in this huge capital.
Hai Rui hesitated for a moment and asked, "Why is this? Doesn't the imperial court support bureaucrats?"
Gao Gong laughed again, "Let's go, talk as we go."< br>
Gao Gong took Hai Rui out of the Hubu Yamen, and the two went to a nearby small restaurant.
This small restaurant seems to be like the canteen of the Ministry of Revenue. As soon as it is meal time, many sesame officials wearing green robes will come here to eat.
Of course, this is not free, and there is no subsidy. You still have to pay according to the price.
So Gao Gong and Hai Rui also ordered a few side dishes and a small bottle of wine according to their abilities.
When the food and wine were all served, Hai Rui bowed slightly and poured a glass of wine over Gao Gong, and also poured a glass for himself.
Hai Rui looked at Gao Gong with curious eyes. Gao Gong took a piece of fried tofu and enjoyed the wonderful taste of this simple side dish. He picked up a glass of wine and took a sip.
Then Gao Gong moved his chopsticks again and said, "Eat it too, it will be cold later."
Hai Rui picked up a peanut, ate it in his mouth, and then He then asked: "The bachelor has not yet solved the problem for the subordinate, why can't the imperial salary be paid in time?"
Gao Gong glanced at the wine glass again, and Hai Rui poured a glass for Gao Gong with a look.
Gao Gong took another sip of wine happily, laughed for a while, then put the chopsticks in his hands aside and started to analyze the situation for Helicoptin.
Gao Gong said: "In different places in the capital, outsiders all know that the capital officials are noble, but there are not many truly noble officials. For example, those capital officials like me who don't have much actual power seem to have more face than the local officials. But in fact, their lives are not as good as theirs.”
“Local officials in even the poorest counties will have some unwritten support from the local government and within the yamen in addition to their salary. I still get a thousand taels of silver. But for low-ranking officials like me, except for my salary, my other income is almost zero."
"And the capital's supply has always been dependent on it. The canal is used to transport grain from the south of the Yangtze River, and the supply of grain is limited by the canal's transportation capacity. This is okay in peacetime, but if there is a disaster or the canal is not smooth due to other reasons, the grain cannot be supplied in time. Capital. "
"At this time, the imperial court will try its best to save expenses, and the easiest way to save expenses is to stop the salary, which usually lasts for three and a half months until the imperial court's financial situation. Only when there is a slight relief, one or two will be paid. "
"So in recent years, almost all the officials in Beijing have been working without salary. Just like me, I have been able to survive with the help of my hometown in Xinzheng. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to stay in the capital.”
Gao Gong's words made Hai Rui take a breath of cold air. He never expected that being an official in the capital would be so difficult.
Hai Rui said: "Can the imperial court think of ways to solve this problem?" Gao Gong sighed, "The imperial court has also tried its best, but the Ming Dynasty has already put the Ming Dynasty under control since Emperor Taizu. The financial framework has been set. The court can only collect general land taxes and money from the salt road and tea horse road. As for other money, even if the court wants to collect it, it has to consider the consequences. "
“Furthermore, once disasters such as drought or flood occur in the local area, the imperial court must not only find ways to provide disaster relief, but also reduce or reduce local land taxes. Therefore, under the pairing of these two aspects, the imperial court can collect as much as There are even fewer land taxes. "
"There are also clans, gentry, etc. who all have names and do not have to pay land taxes. Moreover, they are greedy to annex the land and embezzle the source of the court's tax revenue, and they still want to do so. It is really difficult for people to pay salaries on time. ”
After saying these words, Gao Gong drank another drink.
Obviously, Gao Gong has long been dissatisfied with the current situation, but now that he is in a humble position and unable to change the current situation, he can only take a sip of wine and complain to Hai Ruifa.
Hai Rui silently poured Gao Gong another glass of wine, and he said dullly: "Then why doesn't the imperial court re-clarify the world's fields and formulate new tax standards?"
Gao Gong Gong snorted, "It's easier said than done? It's easier said than done to clarify the world, but do you know how difficult it is to do it? With your upright nature, if you go to the local level, you may be able to clarify and measure the land of a county and a prefecture, and formulate a new plan. Rules. But how big are the two capitals and thirteen provinces in the Ming Dynasty? And people have selfish intentions. How many people can you control?" I don’t know how much skin has been peeled off, but what will be the final result? So, there is a long way to go to change this! ”
Hai Rui also picked up the wine glass and took a sip. When Hai Rui drank this sip of wine, he didn't feel it was spicy, only bitter.
It turned out that when he was in Qiongzhou, he looked at the Li problem in Qiongzhou and thought that this was a real problem, so he wrote "Pingli Policy", hoping that the imperial court could build cities and counties on Hainan Island. Set up guards and raise troops to suppress the Li people on Hainan Island by force once and for all.
But after contacting that young master, and now after listening to Gao Gong’s words.
Hai Rui then realized how ridiculous his "Ping Lice" was.
His "Ping Li Ce" seems to be a method of imperial establishment to frighten and restrain the Li people who disobey the king's rule, but in fact it still does not change the problem of poverty in Hainan.
If the barren state remains unchanged and the court continues to interfere with administrative and violent means, Hainan may become the second Cochin Administrative Envoy.
The reason why the Government of Jiaozhi Chengxuan was abandoned was because the cost of governing there was too high. The imperial court invested decades of energy and countless wealth there, but still could not completely conquer it. On the contrary, it caused irreconcilable hatred and conflicts between the local aborigines and the Han officials sent by the imperial court, causing them to rebel continuously.
So during the Xuande period, as the Ming garrison was once again defeated by the local aboriginal rebellion, Emperor Xuande also lost patience with the barren and useless old land of Jiaozhi.
Then he heard the news that Wang Tong was secretly suing for peace, and San Yang, who was assisting the government, followed the trend. In the third year of Xuande, he prompted Emperor Xuande to formally issue an edict to abolish the Jiaozhi Chengxuan Political Envoy Department.
From then on, the Fourteenth Chief Envoy of the Ming Dynasty became the Thirteenth Chief Envoy.
Although the current Jiaozhi became the Ming Dynasty's Annan capital commander in the 19th year of Jiajing, it still had no actual ruling power and was still a "lawless land"!
(End of this chapter)