Chapter 2765
In the Ming Dynasty, public grain transportation from the south to the north was mainly divided into two parts: sea transportation and water transportation. Starting from the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty, the annual grain transportation volume was approximately 4 million shi, of which 60% came from South Zhili and Zhejiang. In addition to grain, the five prefectures of Suzhou, Songjiang, Changzhou, Jiaxing and Huzhou in Jiangsu and Zhejiang also need to bear the so-called "white grain" specially for the palace and Beijing officials, which amounts to 214,000 shi per year.
The Ming Dynasty stipulated that all grain levies should be levied in full and could not be reduced or reduced. Except in the case of major disasters or water transportation being blocked, they could not be converted into gold, silver or other commodities. Including freight, ship repair fees, personnel consumption, etc., all are borne by the grain households, and are levied according to the increase in normal grain consumption.
As a result, it leaves a huge space for corruption and accumulation of government officials at all levels to operate. There are endless groups of people who charge extra fees in various names, even several times more than the normal payment amount.
Each prefecture has officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Cao Prefecture to take command. At the prefecture and county level, the grain chief is responsible for collection and transportation. Under the grain chief, there are also housekeepers and transporters, who are responsible for transportation tasks in a corvée situation.
However, if the public grain suffers various losses during transportation, or if it fails to pass the government's acceptance due to lack of money to deal with extortion by officials, the losses caused will be fully borne by the carrier. As a result, many people were forced to lose their families and lose their lives, and the entire water transport system became an accelerator for official pressure and popular rebellion.
The grain chief Cao Kun is a typical victim. When he was in his teens, he was forced to inherit his father's position as grain chief. And his father's resignation was not a normal handover. It was because a ship capsized on the river while transporting grain, and thousands of stones of grain sank into the river. His father could not bear the loss, so he simply chose to flee, and he disappeared from the world without a trace.
The person involved ran away, but the debt couldn't run away with him. As the saying goes, the father's debt must be paid by the son. Cao Kun did not want his whole family to go to jail, so he had to bear this debt. From the day he took office, he owed a large sum of money to the government. He could only repay the debt slowly through years of continuous corvee work. He has been doing this for seven years now.
The file does not mention how the Special Liaison Office established contact with this Cao Kun, but inferring from the information between the lines, it is likely that Cao Kun had the intention of actively reporting, and was then transferred to the Special Liaison Office to handle the matter. thing.
The events that Cao Kun wanted to inform Haihan officials were related to water transportation and the expropriation of land and grain.
In 1654, the Ming Dynasty surrendered to Haihan. Although in name the Shanghai Han Dynasty would inherit the dominance of the Ming Dynasty, taking over the management system of such a huge country could not be completed in a short time. Many regions and departments still continued the rule of the Ming Dynasty. mode of operation. In order to achieve a smooth transition, Haihan had to acquiesce in this situation.
The water transport affairs of the Ming Dynasty were managed by the Governor of Water Transport located in Huai'an Prefecture, Nanzhili. The full name of this position is "Governor-General of Water Transport and Admiral of Military Affairs, Governor of Fengyang and other departments and also in charge of rivers." This means that the Caofu Mansion not only manages up to 3,000 rivers Yuli's canal, and also has the power to manage local affairs along the canal.
Under the Governor of Water Transport, there are also civil servants such as Cao Participant, Water Patrol Censor, Langzhong, Supervisor, Punisher, and Supervisor. There is also an army transport establishment, under the jurisdiction of military attachés such as generals and commanders. The total number of civil and military officials is about two to three hundred. people. During the period when the establishment was the largest, there were as many as 120,000 guardsmen under the Canal Transport. Of course, there are many short quotas used to defraud the imperial government's budget, but it is difficult to calculate the true situation.
But even during the Chongzhen period in the late Ming Dynasty, there were still tens of thousands of people under the jurisdiction of the Caofu government including warehousing, shipbuilding, and Cao guards. If you add in the people living along the canal who rely on the water transportation system, then this number will probably increase several times. Once such a huge institution stops functioning, it may affect the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people and trigger social unrest. Moreover, the northern region still needs to import materials from the south through water transportation, so it is necessary to ensure that the water transportation system can continue to operate smoothly.
When Haihan wanted to replace the original system, he obviously didn't want to send a few officials to take over. Changing the yamen signboard would have the effect. Therefore, after Haihan took over Jiangsu and Zhejiang, he has not yet taken any action on the water transportation system. He still allows it to retain its previous establishment and maintain operations as usual.
But precisely because of this, Haihan's attitude may have caused misunderstandings to some people, thinking that Haihan was unable to fully control the water transport system due to various fears, so he could use this extraordinary period to do something to seek personal gain, or to Create some trouble for Haihan.
During a mission to transport grain northward in the second half of last year, Cao Kun discovered that there were many problems on the canal from Suzhou to Huai'an.
The most important problem is the calculation of deductions and losses on the way. Harvesting oil and water in the name of losses during water transportation is nothing new. However, in the past, there were special personnel from the Caofu Yamen to keep an eye on it. Generally, they would not do it too exaggeratedly. Each link would only receive its share of the benefits. That's all, at least 80% of it will be shipped to the north.
But now, before the grain transport ship has passed Huai'an, about 30% of the grain has been secretly cut off in the name of loss. According to Cao Kun, he saw the local guards boarding the ship to unload food in an organized manner in the middle of the night, and was warned not to make any public announcements.
If such a situation had occurred before, the carrier would definitely have to bear the responsibility, and maybe he would have to compensate for the losses like Cao Kun's father did. But now, in order to prevent the incident from being exposed, the person behind the operation has found a better person. A good excuse is to put the blame on Haihan.
The quantity of goods delivered to the north was insufficient because some of them were seized by Haihan on the way. If the payment is not made, the entire water transport may be interrupted, let alone grain. If anyone thinks there is a problem, he should go to Haihan to negotiate.
Although this reason is far-fetched, it is very effective. People who are dissatisfied with this will only listen to the rumors and put this account directly on Haihan's head. Those who have doubts may not have channels to verify whether Haihan has engaged in such behavior.
The Caofu Yamen no longer had the obligation to be loyal to the Ming court, and the Ming court also lost its due control over the Caofu Yamen, and the entire water transportation system became a black hole lacking supervision. So as long as it drags on for three to five months, these losses will become confusing accounts that cannot be verified, and the benefits will naturally flow into the pockets of some masterminds.
The most terrible thing is that even if the officials Haihan sent to these areas to take over administrative affairs discovered something fishy, they had no better way to deal with it and could only pretend to be deaf and dumb. Because once the water transportation system needs to be thoroughly investigated and punished, it will affect the interests of too many people and even affect the normal operation of water transportation. It is said that the food and clothing of millions of water transport workers depends on it. If this affects the livelihood of a large number of people, who will Can you afford such a responsibility?
(End of chapter)