Chapter 78 The government engages in business and establishes state-owned enterprises! (Please subscribe)
Zhu Biao was not surprised that Xia Zhibai asked for an audience.
Xia Zhibai said it so sincerely in Fengtian Temple, and he said it so righteously. He would never give up so lightly, and he would definitely do it.
The side hall.
Zhu Biao and Xia Zhibai sat facing each other.
Zhu Biao asked someone to make a pot of tea and scolded him in a cold voice: "Xia Zhibai, you are so brave, do you know what you are doing today?!"
Xia Zhibai was silent.
Zhu Biao snorted coldly, with anger and displeasure flashing in his eyes: "My father works hard for the world and only sleeps two or three hours a day. How can I tolerate you pointing fingers?"< br>
“You are a useful talent.”
“I agree.”
"But that's all."
"My Ming Dynasty dominates the world. We have tens of millions of people. We have no shortage of talents, and you are not irreplaceable."
"People must be self-aware!"
Zhu Biao looked at Xia Zhibai and said: "My Ming Dynasty has a strict household registration system. People are people, craftsmen are craftsmen, and merchants are merchants."
" Only when everyone performs his duties can genius be at peace.”
"You read the book wrong."
Zhu Biao criticized without saving any face, and he did not need to save face for Xia Zhibai. Xia Zhibai repeatedly provoked Zhu Yuanzhang, which made Zhu Biao feel Very annoyed and dissatisfied.
Xia Zhibai listened quietly.
But he seemed absent-minded, and poured Zhu Biao a cup of tea with great interest, as if he was worried that Zhu Biao's voice would be affected if he talked too much.
Zhu Biao glared at Xia Zhibai.
His face became more angry.
Xia Zhibai pushed the poured tea in front of Zhu Biao and said calmly: "I can understand and understand your highness's kindness."
"I just forgive me for not obeying your order."< br>
Seeing that Zhu Biao was about to get angry, Xia Zhibai still said calmly: "Your Highness, please don't get angry in a hurry. I naturally have my own reasons for doing this."
"Business It is imperative.”
"Your Highness has lived in the palace for a long time and has not really experienced the life of the common people for a long time. Does Your Highness know how much a pound of salt sells for now?"
Zhu Biao frowned.
He sneered, with a cold look in his eyes. He had indeed lived in the palace for a long time, but it was not that he did not understand the local situation.
He understands.
And know a lot.
As Zhu Yuanzhang's son, he had no choice but to understand the local reality. This was what Zhu Yuanzhang had repeatedly requested since he took office.
You must know the local reality.
Zhu Biao said calmly: "A pound of salt in Yingtian Mansion costs about fifteen cents. In other provinces in the world, the highest is twenty-five or six cents, and the lowest is only seven or eight cents."
Xia Zhibai nodded.
He took a sip of tea and asked: "How much will the salt tax be in the next year?"
Zhu Biao frowned and looked at Xia Zhibai suspiciously, but did not speak. He naturally knew how much salt tax the Ming Dynasty could collect in a year.
But how can we say it externally?
"Why do you ask this?" Zhu Biao looked at Xia Zhibai solemnly, trying to get some clues from Xia Zhibai's face.
“More than 1.2 million.” Xia Zhibai said.
Zhu Biao was shocked.
This data is actually very close. The Ming Dynasty's salt tax has been very stable over the years, just over a million. But how did Xia Zhibai know?
Xia Zhibai added: "The Ming Dynasty implemented a salt production system. Each time the salt was introduced, two hundred kilograms of salt were introduced. The government was responsible for production and marketing."
"The government collected salt from the people and then passed it through Salt is bought to merchants in exchange for grain, ironware, horses, silver, etc. "
"The government sells salt to merchants for six cents, but the merchants sell it directly for four cents. Two or five cents.”
“Almost eight times!”
"The tax collected by the government is one out of twenty."
"I'm not wrong."
Zhu Biao nodded and said solemnly: "This account cannot be calculated like this. In fact, the court He is not responsible for sales, only for collection and export. "
"The final sales fall on the merchants."
"You only saw the sharp rise in salt prices, but you ignored one thing. It’s the cost of transportation. Merchants are looking for profit. If there is no profit, how can they sell it for the court? ”
"And the imperial court also benefited a lot from it."
"In remote areas, the imperial court relied on the Kaizhong method to exchange salt for grain to ensure the daily supply of border soldiers and the demand for ironware."
< br>"None of this can be reflected by numbers."
"You don't understand."
Xia Zhibai shook his head and said coldly: "It's not that I don't understand, but that His Highness Mrs. The profits are underestimated.”
"One or two and a half cents is enough for a family of three to live for a year, and a pound of salt sells for more than ten or twenty cents. This is too huge a profit."
"It seems that the court took advantage. Not only did they get the resources the court wanted, but they also handed over the cost of sales and transportation to the merchants."
"But in fact, both the court and the people suffered losses."
"It only enriched the merchants. "
"The status of merchants in the Ming Dynasty is indeed low, but the current system of the Ming Dynasty is rent-seeking for power everywhere, selling the power of the court to merchants through these 'tickets'. .”
"Let the merchants exercise power on their behalf!"
Zhu Biao's face changed slightly.
Xia Zhibai continued: "Merchants have been making a fortune silently, and the reason why the Ming Dynasty can still maintain a certain degree of purity."
"It is not because of the perfection of the system."< br>
“It’s just that your Majesty’s methods are too cruel.”
"Let the local officials not dare to be too blatant."
"But can the imperial court really always have such strong control over the local area?" Touching people. "
"Seeing these merchants making a lot of money and getting fat, do you think the local officials can resist greed? "
“Your Majesty is right to be wary of scholar-officials. Most of the current scholar-officials are morally unworthy and many of them have hidden selfish motives.”
"It is precisely because of this selfishness that many of the Ming Dynasty's systems actually have problems. Now they look very good, just because there is a strong and strict emperor."
"The court restricted merchants ."
"In fact, they have always been giving profits to merchants."
"In the eyes of high-ranking officials, merchants are just like children's treasures, and they will eventually become the private property of officials. Collusion between government and businessmen.”
“Ming Dynasty went in the wrong direction!”
"Your Majesty is wary of all kinds of scholar-bureaucrats, and is also used to drawing lessons from history books, but he has forgotten it."
"Books are dead, but people are alive."
"There are policies from above, and countermeasures from below."
"In the profit-making industry of salt, annual sales reach tens of millions, while the court only makes a profit of one million taels."
< br>“This is not a tax, this is a charity.”
"In addition to salt, tea, grain, etc., all industries related to people's livelihood are actually huge profits, but the Ming Dynasty gave these huge profits to merchants."
"In the final analysis."
“There is something wrong with the Ming Dynasty system.”
“The court was too calculating and in order to reduce the so-called burden on the people, many of the responsibilities that should have been borne by the court were sold to merchants. "
"This is also your Majesty's problem."
"I am only good at calculating small accounts, but I always ignore the real big accounts. I am fooled by those shrewd officials without even realizing it."
Xia Zhibai sneered, feeling quite helpless.
Zhu Yuanzhang became a commoner when he succeeded, and he became a commoner when he failed.
He was prepared to take precautions, but he didn’t know how to take precautions. In the end, he arbitrarily chose to cut across the board and formulate policies based on his understanding of business.
The situation after implementation is not considered at all.
Zhu Biao's eyes were cloudy and uncertain. He looked deeply at Xia Zhibai and said in a solemn voice: "Can you speak more clearly?"
He still didn't understand.
Xia Zhibai said: "Since the Song Dynasty, commerce gradually flourished. Merchants could take the imperial examination and officials could also do business."
"At that time, the collusion between officials and businessmen was very serious."
< br>“His Majesty learned from the experience and lessons of the Song Dynasty and chose to cut across the board, completely suppressing the status of merchants to the lowest level, and at the same time strictly prohibiting officials from doing business.”
"What's the problem with this?" Zhu Biao wondered.
Xia Zhibai took a sip of tea, moistened his throat, and continued: "Yes, and the problem is big, because before the Ming Dynasty, there was the Yuan Dynasty." Tax system. "
"It's basically like being a hands-off shopkeeper. As long as the fixed amount of money is paid on time, the Mongolians basically don't care about local affairs."
"This also means that the collusion between government and business is more serious. .”
"It has been more than ten years since the Ming Dynasty expelled the Tartars and restored China, but the scholar-bureaucrats in this land have long been preyed upon by the Yuan people."
"They are currently greedy for money and profit."
“This is why, after the Ming Dynasty drove away Emperor Yuan Shun, so many scholars in the world cried out for the Yuan Dynasty, and so many scholars criticized the Ming Dynasty.”
“Because the Mongols gave them, Daming can't give it, and he won't."
"They are dissatisfied."
"When the Ming Dynasty asked such a group of scholars to formulate policies, it can be imagined that the results must be biased in their own favor."
"Many of them are more or less interested, so how can they get it?" Give up the interests?”
“The more blocked and defensive the court is, the more it reassures these vested interests, because the court has no chance to know the truth.”
"What the imperial court sees is what they want the imperial court to see, and what they hear is what they want to tell the imperial court. But what is the real story? The imperial court cannot find out at all."
"Because there is no way. Under the control of the imperial court.”
Zhu Biao's face changed slightly.
He thought of something. The salt tax collected by the Ming Dynasty over the years was indeed too stable, just like the tax quota of the Yuan Dynasty.
Even so.
There are still officials complaining.
There is too little salt produced and the price of salt remains high. Merchants are unwilling to buy salt and want the government to further lower the price of salt.
Think of this.
A sharp look flashed in Zhu Biao's eyes.
Immediately, Zhu Biao showed a hint of confusion. Since blocking or letting go would not work, what else could the court do?
We can’t just watch.
He looked at Xia Zhibai and asked with some humility: "In your opinion, what should the court do?"
Xia Zhibai smiled.
He said: "We will go further on the basis of the Song Dynasty, strengthen supervision, gather power, and take back the rights delegated to merchants one by one."
"This is also the purpose of my trip. "
"Government business!"
"Impossible." As soon as Xia Zhibai said it, Zhu Biao directly denied it.
The government's business is too harmful to the world.
It is impossible to open this hole.
He can’t drive either.
Zhu Biao looked at Xia Zhibai coldly and said, "Xia Zhibai, I know you have many ideas, but I will never agree to this."
Xia Zhibai Zhibai said: "Your Highness, do you really listen carefully and carefully? I am not talking about officials doing business, but government doing business."
(End of this chapter)