Chapter 704 A difficult decision that goes against the ancestral law
Zhu Yijun is very satisfied with the Yao family’s trip to Qiantang. Compared with the right-wing people who only know how to collect rent, Zhu Yijun prefers these emerging bourgeoisie who are profit-oriented. For the emperor, the emerging bourgeoisie was undoubtedly very dangerous, because they would definitely demand social status and political power from the old aristocracy, and the outbreak of conflicts was inevitable.
But for the current stage of the Ming Dynasty, the most dangerous thing is not the emerging bourgeoisie, but the decadent, obsolete, unprogressive rural gentry whose production relations are still dependent on the strong body.
The national and emerging bourgeoisie will definitely sound the death knell of the feudal monarchy, but these rural gentry and gentry will sound the death knell of the Ming Dynasty. Faced with the imminent crisis, Zhu Yijun did not choose the conservative rural gentry. It's not a matter of choice. The logic of politics has always been like this, only focusing on the present.
It’s good to be able to take care of the present, but more often than not, it’s difficult to even deal with the things in front of you.
When Zhu Yijun returned to the West Lake Villa, he summarized the investigation. He suddenly raised his head and said, "Boss Yao is dishonest. He is hiding his secrets."
"He actually dares to deceive the emperor!" Feng Bao Bao's expression changed dramatically, and he said sternly, it's time for Yao Liyan to taste the iron fist of feudal autocracy!
Zhu Yijun said with a smile: "It's far from the level of deceiving the emperor. He was probably too nervous and forgot about it. The stock and individual stocks continued to expand, and the silver stock continued to shrink. In the end, all the workshops he invested in, The problem is that none of them are named Yao. In fact, Boss Yao said that there are benefits to doing this.” The scale was expanded smoothly, and the money back was getting more and more, but in the end, the ownership was lost. Your Majesty actually said it was beneficial?
This goes against common sense, but it’s true.
Zhu Yijun wrote three words on the paper with a pen, and said to Feng Bao: "Yes, the problems that the government factories have, the private factories also have, and without strong means, it will be more serious. I am talking about the problems of the government factories." The factory is deeply ingrained in bloat, rigidity and corruption. ”
“This is actually a problem that will inevitably arise when a workshop expands to a certain scale, but after the workshop expands to a certain extent, it will become a quagmire. ”
There is also a problem of corruption in private houses. When Zhang Siwei took stock of the accounts, he was horrified to find that the actual operators, such as the shopkeepers and accountants, had directly embezzled more than 50% of their family’s profits. Through various means, They were lying on their business to suck people's blood, and they couldn't investigate it. As long as they went a little deeper to investigate, they would find that their wives, concubine's uncle, unsatisfactory younger brothers and sisters-in-law, and even relatives who were beyond their reach were lying on it. Suck blood.
Overstaffing means redundant staff. These shopkeepers, second shopkeepers, and big bosses also have their own relatives and friends, and they will put people in there. Then there are relatives and friends in addition to these relatives and friends. In addition to relatives and friends, there is no empty space. The phenomenon of salary deduction is also common, and it cannot be abolished, and those who are related will not be laid off.
The result is that the more layoffs there are, the greater the proportion of ‘redundant’ employees who are doing nothing.
But these are minor issues in the overstaffing problem.
In order to prevent things like corruption and empty pay, it is necessary to maintain a large administrative staff. This is the hardest hit area with overstaffing. These administrative staff, accounting, personnel, auditing and other personnel are often The number of producers will exceed the number, and the desired results will not be achieved. Instead, these people who are not involved in production will collude, collude, and squeeze downwards together.
Being bloated will lead to rigidity. The boss made a decision on one thing, but a month later, when the boss asked again, the matter had not been done yet, because there was a process, but where did the process go, no one It is clear, and the problems that bloat will definitely bring are nepotism and appeasement. If you have someone above you, there will be no one above me? The internal fighting began.
At the end of the year, the boss looked at everyone’s exam scores, all of which were rated high, but when he looked at the bank account, they were all empty.
The dilution of Yao Liyan's silver stocks has effectively avoided the harm of this "big workshop disease". It is not that this disease has disappeared, but that Yao Liyan has already made enough money during the rising period. Run away!
This is an invisible benefit of Yao Liyan's Shenquan method. In fact, the paper mill in which Yao Liyan initially participated has exposed similar problems. The great craftsman who ran away with Yao Liyan and set up the paper mill has already The paper mill formed cliques, but Yao Liyan no longer had any silver stocks in that paper mill.
The silver stocks are continuously diluted and finally sold at a suitable price. This is Yao Liyan's play style in recent years. What he pursues is profit maximization, rather than the so-called long-term inheritance and big factory disease. , unable to catch up with Yao Liyan's escape speed.
It’s bloated, rigid, and corrupt. The workshop is no longer mine. I don’t care what’s wrong with you.
This disease is actually very simple. One monk carries water to drink, two monks carry water to drink, and three monks run out of water. Yao Liyan ran away before the three monks ran out of water.
“And Boss Yao seems to have forgotten to mention one thing. His money is not just his own money. The merchant gang under his name also has the money of many other Zhejiang merchants. The money in his hand , there are at least seventeen, including Songjiang Mansion and Nanya." Zhu Yijun also looked at part of the general ledger and discovered Yao Liyan's other identity. He was still the broker and comprador, and the business gang he controlled was also powerful. Be bold and right.
The source of all discrimination, the main reason why Yao Liyan was ostracized by the right-wing forces in Zhejiang. His identity is still that of a humble businessman, broker and comprador. He wants to eat at the table even though he is a loser?
Yao Liyan only wanted to make money, instead of cultivating and studying rituals and music to pass down his family. He was instinctively rejected by the rural gentry, the powerful and the right-wing.
"It can't get any bigger. If it gets bigger, he will die. Let's limit his scale." Zhu Yijun answered the question originally raised by Shen Shixing. Should we slightly limit Yao Liyan's scale? Zhu Yijun gave got the answer.
If the scale of Yao Liyan's business gang continues to expand, I'm afraid someone will pick the peach. The stone drum in front of Yao's house is the most obvious one. Is there anything Yao Liyan hasn't seen yet? The deeper level of Lei is unknown. Obviously, many pairs of eyes are waiting to harvest him. It is not necessarily the emperor who kills pigs to celebrate the New Year.
Yao Liyan should have some understanding of his situation, so Yao Liyan cried with joy when he got the Ming Emperor's cloak and handwritten royal letter. It was basically a talisman.
"This survey will be a great inspiration for the next investment." Zhu Yijun finally finished writing this Yao family business research report and said with great conviction: "In the investment of Ming Dynasty's internal funds and national funds, the proportion of silver stocks must be To exceed 51%, this is non-negotiable. Dynasty investment is different from Minfang investment. Minfang investment is profit-oriented, while Dynasty investment is mainly oriented towards power and supplemented by profit.”
Zhu Yijun determined the basic principle of investment by the emperor and the court. Power = obligation. Obtaining power means assuming obligations and responsibilities. Official factories and imperial villages have to bear social responsibilities and social obligations, but Yao Liyan’s investment is still very good. Inspiring.
Because Yao Liyan’s investment method conforms to the basic logic of industrialization.
The basic logic of industrialization is clustering: large-scale production to obtain cheap goods, and then using cheap goods to attract more people to join in, further generating scale effects, obtaining cheaper raw materials, increasing production, and obtaining more commodities, eventually forming a cluster effect, completing the establishment of large-scale free employment production relations, and ultimately completing industrialization.
All the workshops that Yao Liyan invested in did not emphasize strong personal dependence. Many former shopkeepers and big bosses left to start their own workshops, but Yao Liyan not only did not stop him, but even provided help and even invested. Because larger scale means more profits.
This is what the Ming Dynasty should learn from when investing. For the Ming Dynasty, scale was also more important, and profits must of course be pursued appropriately.
"Let's go to Songjiang Mansion." Zhu Yijun set foot on the road to Songjiang Mansion on July 17, the thirteenth year of Wanli. This time Shen Shixing accompanied him. As the governor of Songjiang, because Zhejiang There were so many things to do that I never went to Songjiang Mansion.
There was an episode. Shen Shixing was the governor of Songjiang and the governor of Zhejiang. He had been the governor for a long time. He hoped that the court would send someone to take away the post of governor of Zhejiang. This It should be, it is an emergency arrangement.
Zhu Yijun asked the official department of Zhang Zhang, but no one accepted it, and there was no recommendation. Neither the Jin Party nor the Zhejiang Party recommended it. Even Zhang Juzheng did not provide any backup candidates for the emperor. Everyone's opinions were surprisingly unanimous. , since Shen Shixing is capable, let him continue to do it and not replace him.
The land of Zhejiang is somewhat evil. How many people in Zhejiang have had troubles while in office? Each family and faction has sent out capable generals. If it fails, there will be huge losses but not much benefit will be gained. Instead, they send out mediocre people. , and sealed two pigs together. In a dilemma, he simply let Shen Shixing do it.
After Shen Shixing heard the news, he felt like crying without tears. He actually wanted to say that after the mutiny of Zhejiang Jiuying and His Majesty's thunderous methods, the ground in Zhejiang has been very clean and broken. After that, there is Dali, Zhejiang. No matter who takes charge, there will be no trouble.
Yan Shixuan was ecstatic, because Shen Shixing was different from Wu Shanyan. Shen Shixing had the right choice. He was a man from heaven, and with Shen Shixing there, the road leading to Nanya, Suzhou, and The canal in Ningbo will be much smoother. If someone else comes in and joins the local trend, the Chidao and the canal will not be repaired. How many heads can he, Yan Shixuan, lose?
This is also true. In Shen Shixing's list of actions, there is no choice to collude with the local Jin gentry.
Zhu Yijun's car arrived in Suzhou in a leisurely manner, and then went for a walk in Taicang. Instead of going to Songjiang Prefecture to govern Huating County, he went to Shanghai County because Yan Zihao Restaurant opened in Shanghai. County, not Huating County. When we arrived in Shanghai County, it was already August.
Due to geographical reasons, Shanghai County has gradually become the economic center of Songjiang Prefecture.
Originally, according to the expected plan, Emperor Ming should be on his way back to Beiya at this time. Because he was delayed in Zhejiang, his return to Beijing was postponed for a month.
"Why is the situation in Spain so bad?" After Zhu Yijun stayed in Shanghai County, he began to deal with state affairs. There was always more news in Shanghai County than in the mainland, and the time of Zhu Yijun's arrival was very unfortunate. It rained four times a day in Shanghai County and typhoons were as punctual as meals, so he could only read some newspapers from Songjiang Prefecture to pass the time.
The sources of these reports are very complex. Some are searched by the coastal defense patrols, some are passed on by word of mouth from maritime merchants, some are personally asked by sailors on sailing ships, and some are witnessed by Ming Dynasty Global Trade. However, these news They all corroborate each other and can basically be confirmed to be true.
And Daming needs to react to these messages.
Felipe II was in a very difficult situation. On the one hand, the rebellion in the Netherlands caused Felipe's prestige to plummet. People were tempted. Felipe urgently needed a big victory to consolidate himself. status.
It is a pity that Felipe failed. He formed an expeditionary force with only ten ships and only 800 people. It set out from the leased port of Porto and headed for England in a tentative attack.
When the fleet entered the English waters, it encountered the English navy. The heroic eight hundred warriors defeated the Queen's army, and then lost to the violent waves of the Atlantic. Three of the ten ships returned, although there was no The entire army was wiped out, but the losses were extremely heavy.
The waves of the Atlantic Ocean, the divine wind of the Pacific Ocean.
Since England and Japan dare to offend the major land powers, there must be a reason.
This was a tentative attack. Felipe had to seriously consider the opinions of the Ming Emperor and investigate the hydrology before attacking. Felipe's idea of solving the problem is fine. The problem in the Netherlands needs to be solved by England as a troublemaker before it can be completely solved. However, when implementing it, we cannot pursue a decisive victory in one battle.
There is another reason why Felipe is upset. He fell out with the Holy See. It was not because of Galileo. Galileo was not even the trigger. Felipe, the apologist, fell out with the Holy See. The reason is that Felipe wants to completely take back the governance power of all Inquisitions in Spanish territory.
The Inquisition was a religious court established by Pope Gregory IX in 1231. Since then it has been in the hands of the Dominicans. The Dominican monks are a sect in the church who claim to be the Lord's seers. The main duty of a guard dog is to exterminate heresy and ignorance.
The Dominican faction controlled the Inquisition. In this era, it was still a very strong force. The Inquisitions all over the Spanish territory were in the hands of the Dominicans. Felipe in Wanli Thirteenth At the beginning of the year, it was suddenly announced that the widespread opposition to Spanish rule in the Netherlands was due to the cruel oppression of the Inquisition. The Dominicans were responsible for this. As king, he would take back all the governance powers of the Inquisition.
This was the first decision Felipe made after hearing about the Legas 15th Talks.
This was not Felipe’s impromptu idea, nor was it that he suddenly got excited after hearing the Ming Emperor’s deeds. If the Ming Dynasty can do it, I can do it too, so he will push it forward. It is a move that has been planned for a long time. The inventor of the Spanish Grand Phalanx and the father of soldiers , the Marquis of Santa Cruz, the founder of the navy, immediately chose to respond to the king's call, loudly supported and took action.
Alvaro de summoned all the nobles in Madrid. In front of the Plaza de la Rey, with his old body and a firm tone, he said to everyone: Spain was once the Spain of the pagans (Arabs). It was the Spain of Isabella (Queen of England), and later the Spain of God (the Holy See). It was never the Spain of the Spaniards. From today on, Spain belongs to the Spaniards!
The deafening slogan of the Marquis of Santa Cruz inspired everyone and made the nobles, businessmen, and civilians recognize it. The process of taking back the power of the Inquisition went smoothly beyond imagination. Soon after, Feli Felipe II promulgated the law, called the Felipe Code.
After Xu Fan got the new code, he immediately scolded Felipe as a thief, simplified and modified several articles of the Ming Code, and then used it directly! There is no repetition of a sentence, but there are shadows of the Ming Dynasty law everywhere. For example, if you enter a house at night, the owner will be killed immediately, and Felipe will copy it.
“I don’t understand. As the king, Felipe announced that he would take back all legal authority within his territory? Is this also something worthy of celebration? Those maritime merchants were all delighted. This Isn't it natural?" Zhu Yijun frowned and looked at the newspaper in his hand, asking the great uncle Wan Shihe.
For questions about etiquette, of course, ask Ben Li Wan Shihe.
Zhu Yijun was puzzled by this newspaper. He continued: "I may not understand what I mean. What I mean is that before this, Spanish law has always been controlled by the Holy See. To be precise, Is it in the hands of this group of priests called the Dominicans? Is the king just playing house? "
Instead, the laws of the Ming Dynasty are in the hands of lamas, monks, and Taoist priests. This is really too much. It's outrageous. Zhu Yijun can't accept it no matter what. The magician controls the law? That would be such a disaster!
"Your Majesty, this is already a huge victory." Wan Shihe said with a smile: "Others say that Antonio is not suitable for the king because personal grudges drove away the Cardinal Archbishop of Portugal. Perhaps he is indeed motivated. But at that time, he had just conquered Lisbon, re-entered the palace, and became king. Should he be kind to the enemies who had exiled him in the past? "
"Antonio can accept it, but his group of pirates cannot accept it either. ”
"He seems to have many choices, but in fact he has no choice. If Portugal is to belong to the Portuguese, then the red archbishop must be expelled. Fortunately, Xu Fan is a very good storyteller. He told the story of the Great Light Sect. The story, and more people, complete the story. "
Wan Shihe thinks that Antonio is quite suitable to be the king. If you don't take this as a king, what kind of king will you be? Regardless of his intentions, Antonio made the decision that required political determination to expel the archbishop, so he was very suitable to be king.
“So, Felipe introduced the Great Light Sect and let religion deal with religion.” Zhu Yijun spit out his breath. The development of Taixi surprised Zhu Yijun, especially the emergence of the variable Great Light Sect. The speed of expansion of the Great Light Sect far exceeded Ming’s imagination.
After Felipe took back the governance power of the Inquisition, changed its name to the Inquisition, promulgated a new code, he immediately announced that it was not illegal to believe in the Great Illuminati and would not be tried as a heresy.
This is a set of combination punches that sneaked into the Holy See. The Inquisition is an important force in fighting heresy, and Felipe's announcement that it is legal to believe in the Great Illuminati Sect means that the priests of the Great Illuminati Sect can act openly. were active in all Spanish territories.
The reason given by Felipe is: In order to obtain the goods of the Ming Dynasty, we have to re-examine and evaluate the harm of restricting the Great Light Sect. If it arouses the anger of the Eastern Emperor, we will have to pay too many unnecessary prices.
Translation: No one has trouble with money. In order to do business with the Ming Dynasty, they can only reluctantly allow the spread of the Great Light Sect.
"Your Majesty, this is a wise decision." Wan Shihe quite agrees with this method. As a mature politician, he must use all the power he can use to achieve his own goals and unite all those who can. United people, seeking common ground while reserving differences, will free Spain from the prison of religion.
Chinese Buddhism has become very mild, but there are still iron bar initiations and the evil custom of artificially making gold bodies and raising Buddhas.
"Your Majesty, the Great Guangming Sect is not a religion. There is no concept of God in its teachings. Wisdom belongs to heaven and earth and to everyone." Wan Shihe was not sure why the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty expressed his disapproval of the Great Guangming Sect. Such resistance, in this era when culture and education are not particularly prosperous, religion is an effective tool of governance.
Da Guangming Sect is a narrative constructed with Ming culture as its core, the theory of contradiction as its skeleton doctrine, and Ming methodology as its flesh and blood. It is a narrative that most people can understand and depicts Ming's way of thinking and logic of doing things.
Zhang Juzheng was a little over-exerted. His Majesty regarded all religions as heretics from the bottom of his heart. If those saints were not willing to pay 50,000 taels of silver each to go to the Ming Dynasty for pilgrimage, the Ming Emperor would never have allowed this. The so-called pilgrimage of the saints.
But sometimes, we still have to look at problems in a contradictory way. This depends on productivity. In some places, barrenness, wilderness, and real suffering make it impossible for people to get rid of religion.
Zhu Yijun waved his hands repeatedly and said: "What nonsense, the Holy See and the Great Light Sect are not allowed to spread in the Ming Dynasty."
"I obey the decree." Wan Shihe said in this matter The emperor could not be convinced. The spread of the Great Light Sect was illegal in the Ming Dynasty. His Majesty was very insistent in this regard.
"The Queen of England announced that she would continue to issue privateering licenses, and Spain and Portugal immediately responded by issuing more privateering licenses. Robbery is not a crime?" Zhu Yijun slapped the table and was very angry.
The Ming Dynasty opposed privateering licenses and asked England to withdraw this decree to maintain an orderly maritime trade environment. But now England has intensified its issuance of privateering licenses, and Spain and Portugal have also issued more privateering licenses.
What Ming was most worried about has happened. The problem of widespread piracy has already emerged. In the next decades or even hundreds of years, any ship seen on the sea may be is the enemy.
“This is something we need to pay close attention to. Your Majesty, Davao City in Mindanao and Malacca City in the Old Port have also begun trials to allow armed merchant ships to go to sea and enter the port, but after entering the port, they must We will conduct a comprehensive inventory of weapons and provide a certain amount of weapons for leasing. They all do this. If we don’t respond, Ming’s maritime merchants will not be able to go to sea." Wan Shihe put forward his opinion as the Ministry of Rites.
Allowing merchant ships to be armed is completely different from allowing privateering. This is allowing trade with swords. However, once this decree is issued, it is actually equivalent to legal privateering, because neither the Malacca Strait nor Davao City are actually In the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty, the effectiveness of the law is very low, and the implementation of the same policy will inevitably be deformed.
In the areas outside the Strait of Malacca and outside Davao City, legal privateering has become inevitable, and the activities of armed merchant ships are still prohibited within the Ming Dynasty waters.
As for the weapons leasing provided, it is equivalent to selling weapons to merchant ships.
This is undoubtedly a difficult decision that goes against the ancestral law, but otherwise, Ming merchant ships would be blocked in the Strait of Malacca, making it difficult to move.
“Hey, this stupid pig-like decision-making is really disgusting. The sea is violent enough, and it still needs to be like this.” Zhu Yijun is sincerely worried about the maritime trade environment in the next few decades. Maritime trade The risks are already high, but doing this will make sea trade even more dangerous.
It is impossible to go out during a typhoon in Shanghai. That is to say, the special house Zhu Yijun lives in is strong enough, otherwise the wind can lift the roof. And this is a typhoon that has traveled a long distance and passed through Jilong Mountain and weakened it. , the weakened typhoon is still so crazy, the violence of the sea can be imagined.
The Queen of England made this bad start. After London was captured by pirates, the Queen did not learn her lesson. Instead, she relaxed the threshold for privateering licenses. Portugal and Spain immediately followed up and competed for pirate ships. Now pirates became the most popular. So delicious.
In these newspapers, Zhu Yijun saw four words, demons dancing wildly.
"Just as Uncle Zong said, open the entry of armed merchant ships and provide weapons for leasing." Zhu Yijun sighed. Even the emperor did not have everything going as he wished. Zhu Yijun did not want the maritime trade environment to deteriorate, but things still happened. Unfortunately, the maritime trade environment continues to deteriorate.
The shit-stirring stick is like this. It may not necessarily bring any benefits, but it will definitely make everyone sick to the point of vomiting. It harms others but does not benefit oneself. The main purpose is to muddy the water so that you can find opportunities to fish in troubled waters.
The rest of the news in the Tang newspaper is all gossip, such as some illegitimate children inheriting the title, which lady became whose mistress, and the palace assassination happened again. One thing that worries Zhu Yijun. , is a handicraft workshop in Lisbon, which has more than doubled in size from last year.
"Lisbon's handicraft workshops include textiles, ceramics, metal processing, food, wooden shoes, cheese, shipyards, pewter, etc. The number of these workshops has exceeded 3,000, and the number of craftsmen has reached 50,000. Tsk tsk, It’s very impressive.” Zhu Yijun sincerely affirmed Lisbon’s development over the years.
Last year; there were only 1,500 workshops in Lisbon, and now it has exceeded 3,000. It is not worth mentioning in terms of the scale of production in Ming Dynasty, but it is already a pearl in Thailand. Lisbon ranks Counting the old, weak and children, there were less than 250,000 people, and the business was very good. In the process, the Portuguese made money, and the huge expenditure of the army was balanced for the first time.
Portugal is booming.
(End of this chapter)