Chapter 114 Zhu Yuanzhang’s brand of power! (Please subscribe)
A long while.
Zhu Yuanzhang put down his account books.
Indeed, as Xia Zhibai said, he sends monthly reports to workers every month.
If calculated evenly, the monthly salary of these workers is higher than that of many subordinate officials in the Ming Dynasty.
Under this kind of expenditure, Xia Zhibai can still make a profit of 4,000 taels. Although these 4,000 taels are not common, it also shows the profit.
But it is absolutely impossible to create a precedent for ‘official business’.
It is absolutely impossible for the government to do business.
Xia Zhibai knew that Zhu Yuanzhang could not be moved by these alone.
Zhu Yuanzhang would not accept it either.
To a certain extent, Zhu Yuanzhang had a strong "exclusivity" and deeply hated everything left over from the Yuan Dynasty. A major feature of the Yuan Dynasty's governance was the tax farming system and the very evil collusion between officials and businessmen.
For businessmen.
Zhu Yuanzhang was disgusted from the bottom of his heart.
Allowing a businessman to live is already a great gift. It is absolutely impossible for him to take the initiative to recognize, promote "business officials" and allow officials to do business.
Xia Zhibai said slowly: "To your Majesty, money and food are just numbers. Whatever the court lacks, it will be collected from all the people in the world. As long as it is not exhausted, the court does not have to spend so much time and risk. Due to the influence of official corruption, the gains outweigh the losses.”
Zhu Yuanzhang was silent.
He actually agrees with this statement.
I have always disapproved of the so-called business.
Xia Zhibai said: "And this is a big problem exposed by your majesty in governing the world, which is that you don't know how to run the economy." , known to all the world.”
"He is also revered and admired by scholars."
"But in my eyes, your Majesty actually 'doesn't study'."
"It is true that your Majesty is familiar with all kinds of historical records in the world, and each He is familiar with the books of sages and sages, and he is very familiar with military strategies. He is very familiar with the successes and failures of many dynasties in history. He even constantly draws lessons from them in an attempt to prevent the Ming Dynasty from repeating the same mistakes of history. Your Majesty can be said to read everything, but in my case It seems that your Majesty has missed something."
"It is the science of economics!"
"The economic base determines the superstructure."
"There is a proverb among the people, it is difficult for a clever woman to make a meal without rice."
"Money is not everything, and nothing is impossible without money. Your Majesty hated the tax farming system of the Yuan Dynasty, so the tax farming system was abolished at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty. But is it really abolished?"
Xia Zhibai sneered, his eyes full of disdain and ridicule.
Zhu Yuanzhang frowned.
"No." These people charge contract fees, but the contract fees charged by the Yuan Dynasty were very high.”
"The wool comes from the sheep."
"Officials or businessmen responsible for certain taxes will ask for higher money and food from the people."
"The fixed tax system implemented by your Majesty in the world . ”
“Isn’t it an alternative ‘tax farming system’? ”
“Your Majesty is still implementing a quota system throughout the country. The imperial court stipulates how much iron and salt should be produced every year. If there are too many, the mines will be closed, just to keep the world in a certain stable state, but can the world really remain the same as your Majesty thinks? "
"Impossible."
"Just like your Majesty cleaning up corrupt officials."
"How many corrupt officials have you killed since your Majesty raised the army?"
"Is there any absolute ban on corrupt officials in the world?"
"And in the "Imperial Imperial Edict" promulgated this year, His Majesty said these words."
"Your Majesty heard that the emperors and ministers of ancient and modern times shouldered the important responsibilities of the world, cared about the people's livelihood, and formulated laws and regulations to benefit the people. It can be said that the emperors and ministers were of the same heart and had the same aspirations. The emperor and the empress were moved, and the world also agreed with the county magistrate. As a result, the weather was smooth, the grain was abundant, and the family had enough food. . ”
“But in the Ming Dynasty, the situation was completely opposite. ”
“Officials always handled government affairs more selfishly, and corruption and perversion of the law were endless, and they eventually committed crimes. ) is as deep as the sea and as heavy as a mountain. Before the corpses of the previous batch were cleaned up, the next batch of death row prisoners were sent to the execution ground. Countless corrupt officials fell in the sea of corpses and blood. "< br>
“Your Majesty even raised a question.”
“Wow! Is it because your Majesty is incompetent, or is it because of the pollution of previous generations?”
Hearing Xia Zhibai speak the contents of the "Imperial Imperial Patent" in public, Zhu Yuanzhang's face turned dark, and his eyes were filled with anger.
He understood what Xia Zhibai meant.
Xia Zhibai does not agree with what he said in the "Imperial Imperial Edict".
He thought it was his own problem as the emperor.
Hearing Xia Zhibai say such treacherous words, Zhu Biao was also shocked and broke into a cold sweat.
If someone else had read this passage, he would not have been so uneasy, but this was what Xia Zhibai said. Xia Zhibai had always been strongly dissatisfied with his father from the moment he appeared in front of him.
Zhu Biao was worried that Xia Zhibai would say something outrageous again, so he quickly stopped him and said: "Stop, how can you allow you to criticize the "Imperial Imperial Patent" written by your Majesty?"
"Your Majesty has made it very clear in the preface to the "Imperial Imperial Edict"."
"What corrupted the world and corrupted the integrity of scholars was the 'Ninety-Three Years' Rule' of the Yuan Dynasty. "
"Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, my father has been open to these scholars. He not only allowed them to enter the court as officials, but also reused them. However, after these scholars with corrupt moral integrity entered the court, they were still not allowed to do so. Wanting to make progress, one by one, "privacy trumps publicity", His Majesty had no choice but to raise the butcher's knife and kill these scholars with corrupt moral character. "
"This is cleaning up the remnants of the evil government of the Yuan Dynasty!"
"This is the fact. It cannot be argued or slandered!"
Zhu Biao's attitude is extremely determined.
Xia Zhibai sighed softly and had to shake his head.
Today's imperial edicts only include "Da Gao" and "Imperial Imperial Edict". If he remembered correctly, Zhu Yuanzhang would write several more books as supplements in the following years, but these books were not published in Xia Dynasty. From Zhibai's point of view, it's ridiculous.
From beginning to end, it is discussing one thing.
The previous generation couldn’t do it, and the officials in the Hongwu Dynasty couldn’t do it. Later, due to the frequent Northern Expedition, local people rioted one after another. They wrote another book saying that ‘the people can’t do it’. Finally, after killing Lan Yu and other generals, they were unwilling to give in. When Zhu Yuanzhang came, he said, "The military attache is not good enough." Zhu Yuanzhang scolded everyone in the Ming Dynasty.
Only he refuses to admit that he has a problem.
Xia Zhibai raised his head, his eyes were like stars, without any dodge.
He looked directly at Zhu Yuanzhang and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty wants the officials in the world to be able to shoulder the important responsibilities of the world, care about the people's livelihood and suffering, and formulate rules and regulations to benefit the people, but has your Majesty given them such an opportunity?"< br>
One word fell.
Zhu Biao's face changed suddenly.
Zhu Yuanzhang’s pupils were also filled with anger.
Before Zhu Yuanzhang could get angry, Xia Zhibai spoke out on his own.
“No.” “Don’t talk about officials and government affairs.”
“I am currently a business official, and my main business is the salt market, so I will take salt administration as an example.”
“I have talked about it with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince before.”
“There are big problems with the salt administration of the Ming Dynasty.”
“The current salt administration of the Ming Dynasty is the old system of Xunyuan.”
"This system is mainly aimed at kitchen households, requiring kitchen households that produce salt to pay taxes based on salt as the calculation unit, and the household as the basic unit for taxation."
"At this stage, it is obvious that The thing is that some Zao households have a large population and some have a small population. However, regardless of the population, each household needs to pay a salt tax of 30 yuan. This system obviously has serious drawbacks. However, in the eighteenth year of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, , but no one proposed modifications."
"But I can tell your Majesty clearly."
"Even if your Majesty tells the officials of the Ming Dynasty about the shortcomings of the salt policy, they will give it. The suggestion is still just patching things up and not really caring about the people."
"The reason is simple."
"Your Majesty will not allow much change."
"The current framework of the country, under the compulsion of Your Majesty, has already taken shape."
"And no changes will be allowed."< br>
“In this situation where there are not many changes, the officials of the court can only make some repairs to the Ming system in a very limited space, and then work hard to achieve the requirements that His Majesty wants. As for whether it will increase No one cares about the burden of the people at the bottom.”
“They can’t take care of it.”
“I want to take care of both ends.”
“The simplest way is for me to set up a salt enterprise, which is beneficial to both the top and the bottom, and can also take into account people’s livelihood. But I can do this because of your Majesty’s support. Franchise, there are many systems to make way, but the officials do not have this right, and His Majesty does not allow the officials to have such rights."
"They don't even have the courage to speak."
“I really don’t dare.”
“If we make other changes, it will definitely consume a lot of energy and time, and will also use a lot of officials. It is even possible to make major changes to the salt policy. , who can guarantee that after the changes, it will be better than before?”
"Who dares to take responsibility in His Majesty's hands?"
"And the changes in the salt policy will inevitably involve spending money."
"The Ming Dynasty's tax revenue is so much in one year, and the court itself Even if it doesn't work out, even if His Majesty agrees, if he loses money, His Majesty's attitude of "clear love and hate" will probably kill these officials immediately for corruption."
"In this case. , How much "real talent" can officials show? "
"It would be good if we can satisfy His Majesty's requirements as much as possible and make some repairs if conditions permit. "
"The reason why I can stand in front of His Majesty so openly today and speak out about the shortcomings of the salt policy is not because I am brave and not afraid of death, but because I have indeed achieved profitability within three months and I have indeed given the salt industry The change in politics provided a new direction.”
“Even so”
“In my eyes, there are only four thousand left. "Two."
"Your Majesty is still thinking about the fifty thousand taels you lent."
"Your Majesty only sees the immediate benefits, but cannot see the long-term benefits after the change."
"Perhaps in your Majesty's eyes, businessmen are only interested in profit. Since you are doing business, you must see results quickly. It is best to achieve immediate results and see the money back immediately. Even if you go out with 50,000 yuan and come back with hundreds of thousands, it will not be considered a loss. , but everything has a development process, how can it be so easy to achieve overnight? "
"Just like planting crops, you need to cultivate the land, sow and fertilize, and it will take several months to cultivate it before you can get the harvest in the autumn. "
“Your Majesty knows farming well, but is unwilling to invest patience in other aspects.”
“It seems to have safeguarded the interests and authority of the imperial court.”
“In fact, it only More losses.”
"The gain outweighs the loss."
Zhu Yuanzhang looked indifferent and did not take these words seriously.
Can Xia Zhibai clearly see and understand the system he established?
Xia Zhibai looked away, glanced at the main hall, and said with a smile: "Economy is the basis of politics, and war is the continuation of politics."
"When I was in Kaifeng, He has conducted some research on the taxation system of the Ming Dynasty. ”
"Under the institutional system, His Majesty is very outstanding."
"He is also very pioneering."
"His Majesty does have the heart to benefit the people."
"From the beginning, we have implemented low tax rates for agricultural taxes and commercial taxes to realize His Majesty's idea of benefiting the people."
"With such low tax revenue, Ming Dynasty's fiscal expenditures can still be guaranteed, and even It’s amazing to be able to achieve a certain amount of profit.”
"It's just that all this is at the expense of the working people! It is supported by heavy corvee."
"Your Majesty has used measures such as equalizing time, taking turns to serve in the army, cutting down on corvee, and avoiding farming time. The corvee was evenly distributed to the people. "
"Your Majesty is very foresighted. He knew that such a high intensity of corvee would be difficult for the people to support."
"So he established a low-level system. After the tax system was established, His Majesty immediately set out to establish a complete set of supporting security systems to save tax expenditures, such as the government land system with high rental rates such as military villages, civilian villages, Zhuangtian, and vocational fields.”
“His Majesty is also active. We cracked down on local tyrants and restricted the annexation of land. We implemented the household registration system for hereditary descendants of military, craftsmen, and kitchen servants throughout the country. There was also the atonement system for convicts to serve in prisons, and the salt law opened the middle system for merchants to export millet to military towns. The allocation system of transportation taxes and grains, etc. ”
"."
Listening to Xia Zhibai's detailed explanation of the tax system he formulated, Zhu Yuanzhang's expression completely changed.
This system was created by him who was familiar with history and fully absorbed historical experience and lessons.
He has always been proud of it.
Because this system is complete and perfect, there is no need to make any changes.
In the past, officials in the DPRK and China did raise criticisms.
But he has always been dismissive, even scornful, because these officials have no idea how complete the system he created is, nor how much effort he has spent on it. Read How many books have I read and how many historical records have I read?
I don’t even know that this is the eternal foundation he created for the Ming Dynasty.
Xia Zhibai sighed in his heart.
Zhu Yuanzhang is actually a genius.
He built such a huge empire from scratch, and single-handedly created such a huge tax system, but all of this came at a price, and this price was endless exploitation and oppression.
Xia Zhibai said with a complex expression: "In my opinion, the core point of this system created by His Majesty is just two words."
"Power."
"Again Be more complete. ”
“It is to use the power of the imperial court to occupy the people’s labor for free, or to rob the people’s production income at a high price, and to obtain a large amount of ‘non-tax income’ from the people to supplement the low tax income. , resulting in financial shortfalls.”
"Is that what I said right?"
(End of this chapter)