In mid-July, Yue Ming, the Minister of Finance, approached Liu Yan and reported to Liu Yan the Ming Dynasty's fiscal revenue and expenditure at the Cabinet Office.
"Mr. Qi Zhenge, currently all ministries have summarized the income and expenditures for the first half of the past few years. After the calculations by our Ministry of Finance are correct, the details are as follows."
"At present, the New Deal policies have been fully implemented in North Zhili and Shandong. The military reform policy is being implemented and is nearing completion. Currently, there are more than 11.4 million acres in North Zhili and 2,200 acres in Shandong Province. With more than 920,000 acres, more than 10 million dan of tax and grain and 8.58 million dan of military ration can be paid to the court every year."
Liu Yan nodded with satisfaction. According to the current land tax quota of the New Deal, people who cultivate one acre of land need to pay thirty-five kilograms of tax grain and thirty kilograms of military grain to the court. These two figures are fixed, and the remaining output , no matter how much it is, it all belongs to the people themselves.
In fact, this is the household responsibility system that follows the example of later generations. As the saying goes, "whatever you pay to the country and keep enough for the army, the rest is yours." In this way, people's enthusiasm for production can be mobilized to the greatest extent.
Furthermore, Liu Yan was not very satisfied with the cultivated land area in Northern Zhili and Shandong. According to historical records, the cultivated land area in Northern Zhili alone during the Wanli period reached 49.25 million acres. It is so huge that the area of Shandong is about 50 million acres. Now it seems that the potential for agricultural production in Beizhili and Shandong alone is huge.
"It seems that the Ministry of Agriculture still has to keep working hard!"
"In terms of bank income, in the first half of this year, the scale of various industries in the Ministry of Commerce almost quadrupled. The main output and sales directions are South Zhili and
Jiangnan accounted for more than 60%, Beizhili accounted for more than 20%, and the rest of the Ming Dynasty provinces together accounted for about 10%. In the first half of the year, the Ministry of Commerce’s net profit was 73.77 million taels. "
Liu Yan was determined. It seemed that he could still make money by doing business. With the Ministry of Commerce's support of the New Deal and the expansion of the military reform stalls, he had enough confidence.
"Then there is the Ministry of Finance. Now the banks in charge of the Ministry of Finance have expanded seven foundries to recast the silver taels in private circulation into silver coins. In addition, the banks also have some income through external lending. In the first half of the year, it was 34,700 Fifty-two taels.”
"As for the rest of the tax revenue, because the New Deal has canceled the three major tax increases and exempted two capitals and thirteen provinces from the head tax and other miscellaneous taxes for ten years, the only taxes that the court can collect at present are commercial taxes .”
"Commercial tax is collected by the Ministry of Commerce. In the first half of this year, commercial tax revenue was 3.68 million taels."
Liu Yan calculated that in the first half of this year alone, and in Beizhili and Shandong alone, the imperial court's income was more than 77,484,700 taels, and its grain income was 1,800 taels. Yu Wanshi, such a huge income, has already caught up with the Yongle prosperous era!
Then Liu Yan said: "Next, let's talk about the various expenses of the imperial court."
"yes."
Yue Ming then took out a case file and said one by one: "The salary expenditure of the various ministries of the imperial court and officials in the capital in the first half of the year was more than 1,246,000 silver coins."
"Expenditures of the Ministry of National Defense include more than 16.2 million taels of half-year military salary expenditures for the fourteen corps of the National Defense Forces, officers and soldiers of various corps of the National Defense Forces, and a large number of war horses.
The daily consumption cost is more than 6 million silver coins, and the food consumption is 8.73 million stone. "
"Of course, the current strength of the fourteenth corps of the National Defense Force has only been reduced to 70 to 80%. If all the more than 670,000 soldiers in the fourteenth corps are fully staffed, the court's military expenditures will continue to rise significantly."
"The expenses of the Equipment Department are mainly the research and development expenses of the Firearms Supervision and Armor Supervision Department, as well as the transportation and storage costs of a large amount of equipment. The expenditure in the first half of the year was 4.16 million silver coins."
"The total expenditure of various ministries on the New Deal and military reform is 4.66 million silver coins, and the food consumption is 3.18 million shi."
Having said this, Yue Ming breathed a sigh of relief and concluded: "To sum up, in the first half of this year, the total expenditure of the imperial court was more than 32.26 million silver coins, and the food consumption was 11.91 million shi."
"In the first half of this year, the imperial government had a financial surplus of more than 45.22 million silver coins and 6 million shi of grain."
Liu Yan immediately breathed a sigh of relief. In half a year, the court had accumulated more than 45 million silver coins and millions of grains. If this continues, as long as the New Deal and military reforms continue to be implemented nationwide, the Ming Dynasty will be able to achieve victory within a few years. Turn over.
At least in terms of financial data, it has taken the lead in achieving "revival." What makes Liu Yan even more proud is that the considerable income of the imperial court was not obtained from the people, but directly from the wealthy people of the Ming Dynasty, merchants, gentry, and officials in the form of trade and commercial taxes.
In fact, the Ming Dynasty in the late Ming Dynasty was very rich. Since the Longqing Switch, silver from all over the world began to flow into the Ming Dynasty continuously. Until the Qi and Chongzhen years of the Ming Dynasty, there were silver coins all over the world every year.
About one-third of the silver poured into the Ming Dynasty. This amount is very terrifying.
However, in this wave of silver, the country and the people did not get much benefit. Most of the silver was divided up by merchants, gentry, and local powerful officials and businessmen.
Liu Yan even believed that any of the giant businessmen, powerful men, and gentry in Nanzhili, Jiangnan and other places would have less wealth than the eight Shanxi merchants!
At this time, Yue Ming said to Liu Yan with a smile: "Mr. Ge, now that the court has money and food, life will be easier in the future."
Liu Yan shook his head and said: "Don't be too quick to be happy. I am also preparing to comprehensively implement tax reform in the two capitals and thirteen provinces. Like Beizhili and Shandong, we will cancel the three major levies and assessments and other miscellaneous taxes." , collect business taxes, develop workshops and commerce, collect rent arrears, etc.”
"Of course, these are all part of the New Deal policies, but now the implementation of the New Deal is blocked in various places. In my opinion, Your Majesty should issue a special edict to order civil and military officials in various places to implement the New Deal and military reforms!"
In fact, Liu Yan knew in his heart that nothing could be solved by an edict alone. Although the internal and external troubles of the Ming Dynasty had been temporarily eliminated, the control of the central government over the local areas of the Ming Dynasty was inevitably greatly loosened.
In addition, the New Deal and military reforms implemented by the imperial court have greatly shaken the fundamental interests of local civil servants and generals. Resistance is expected, and an edict will have little effect.
According to Liu Yan's intention, in order to thoroughly implement the New Deal and military reform policies at the local level, the best way is to directly send troops to the local area to intimidate
, the imperial court organized "inspection teams" to local areas to ensure the effective implementation of the New Deal and military reforms.
However, doing so requires two necessary conditions. One is that all fourteen armies of the National Defense Force must be reorganized. After Liu Yan deployed the defense of the capital and left enough troops to fight against the Manchus, the remaining troops were They can be deployed to various parts of the Ming Dynasty to suppress opposition forces.
Another condition is an opportunity, which can also be said to be the reason to send troops to the local area. Liu Yan knew that rashly sending troops to the local area is likely to cause civil war in the Ming Dynasty. Although Liu Yan was confident of sweeping away all hostile forces, the civil strife If it can be avoided, it should be avoided.
"Let's wait a moment. It's better to test it with the edict first."
Then Liu Yan came to the imperial study, where Emperor Chongzhen was reading Zizhi Tongjian.
Nowadays, all government affairs have been taken over by the new cabinet. Today's cabinet is very efficient, which is in sharp contrast to the previous cabinet that pushed each other and had constant party disputes. Most government affairs can basically be handled by the cabinet itself.
Therefore, when it came to Emperor Chongzhen's affairs, there were not many affairs anymore. There were only some matters related to the Ming Dynasty's political policies. When an edict was needed, Liu Yan would lead the thirteen ministers to report.
"I pay my respects to Your Majesty!"
Emperor Chongzhen glanced at Liu Yan, said calmly, and then said: "I think, in the future, we might as well give Mr. Liu Ge the right to enter the palace without any hesitation, praise without name, and go to the palace with swords and shoes, so as to avoid these red tapes." ”
Liu Yan knew that this was Emperor Chongzhen complaining. If he really wanted these privileges, he would be covered in yellow mud, which would make him shit.
Not really
Liu Yan doesn't care about reputation, he just doesn't want to create difficulties for the implementation of the New Deal and military reforms.
"Your Majesty is joking, how can I have such qualifications?"
Emperor Chongzhen said: "I have an audience with Mr. Liu Ge today. What is the important matter?"
Liu Yan then hoped that Emperor Chongzhen would issue an edict to urge local governors, civil servants and generals to promote the New Deal and military reforms.
Emperor Chongzhen was silent for a while after hearing this, and then said: "I think the New Deal and military reform policies should be implemented in Beizhili and Shandong for a few years, and then we can discuss the promotion of the world. Now there is resistance everywhere, Liu Ge Is it impatient to insist on pushing forward the New Deal and military reforms?"
Liu Yan understood that Emperor Chongzhen still viewed the matter from an "old perspective" and he did not have time to talk to Emperor Chongzhen, so he directly took out the data that Yue Ming, the Minister of Finance, had just reported to him.
When Emperor Chongzhen heard that in just half a year, there was a surplus of tens of millions of taels in the northern provinces of Zhili and Shandong. This was something that Emperor Chongzhen could not even dream of before!
"how come!"
Emperor Chongzhen couldn't understand why the imperial court could still gain so much when it had already canceled so many taxes in Beizhili and Shandong. The poll tax, the apportionment of the three major levies, etc. were all canceled or suspended. ?
Liu Yan explained briefly. In general, the New Deal was to collect money from the rich in the Ming Dynasty and let ordinary people farm and pay for the food, instead of squeezing all the money and food from the people!
Emperor Chongzhen was also a smart man. He was silent for a long time, just sighing in his heart that Liu Yan's behavior would not last long. Why didn’t Emperor Chongzhen know who had all the money and food in the world?
In his hands, Emperor Chongzhen had no choice but to take it away by force. Regardless of whether he would take it or not, the world would be in chaos, and his throne would not be secure!
After a long time, Emperor Chongzhen said: "Since Mr. Liu Ge is so sure, I will issue this edict. But if the implementation of the New Deal and military reforms stirs up the local area and leads to chaos in the world, has Mr. Liu thought about the consequences? "
Liu Yan sneered in his heart. He wished that all the local opposition and conservative forces would jump out one by one, so that he could eradicate the old forces one by one. Such a Ming Dynasty would be purer and the future would be brighter.
But in this case, Liu Yan would naturally not tell Emperor Chongzhen, but just said: "I have already prepared a complete response plan, please rest assured, Your Majesty."
"Ah That's good!"
On that day, Emperor Chongzhen issued an edict, ordering the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty to implement the new policies of the imperial court and military reforms, which shocked the world for a while.
