In the mansion of Ruan Dacheng, the Minister of Rites, several cups of Huangshan Usnea tea exude the delicate and ever-changing fragrance. Ruan Dacheng, who had returned to the Donglin Gentleman camp long ago, was dressed in Taoist robes, sitting leisurely on the couch, waving a paper fan, and chatting with his old friend Ma Shiying, whom he had not seen for many years, looking a bit romantic.
Historically, he was a notorious eunuch, and Ma Shiying also became an eunuch after being implicated. Later, he fell into the water and became a traitor. But with Zhu Cixiang, a wise king who could educate treacherous ministers into loyal ministers, Ruan Dacheng also met the fate of being a loyal minister and a gentleman, and no one regarded him as an eunuch anymore...
Moreover, the main line of party struggle in the Ming Dynasty is now the "North and South Party", and no one cares about the Eunuch Party and Donglin anymore. For example, the two "big Donglin" Shi Kefa and Hou Xun and Qian Qianyi, the leader of the Donglin, are not the same party. Ruan Dacheng, the Minister of Rites, a former eunuch, was from Tongcheng, so he was very close to Qian Qianyi. Both of them were leaders of the Southern Party.
Ma Shiying, a native of Guizhou, and Zeng Ying, a native of Sichuan, were originally outside the party struggle between the north and the south... because the party struggle between the north and the south mainly revolved around tax collection. The Northerners controlled most of the army and wanted to seize the land in the north through the Northern Expedition. Of course, they had to squeeze the scholar-bureaucrats and businessmen from Fujian and Guangdong in the four rivers, two lakes and Fujian.
The Southern People's Party represents the landowners and businessmen from Fujian and Guangdong in the four rivers and two lakes, and of course they don't want to pay more taxes.
Because the occupied areas in Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan were too large, there was no tax to collect. Therefore, the exiled Sichuan gentry and bureaucrats did not object to the imperial government squeezing the Fujian and Guangdong provinces in the four rivers, two lakes, and Guangdong... as long as the Sichuan-Guizhou army they controlled could benefit from it. Just spread it out a little bit.
However, the Ministry of War and the Military Advisor's Office controlled by the Northern Party and the Ministry of Household Affairs controlled by the Southern Party have always been stuck in Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan and are not very willing to pay.
And Zhu Cixiang was an "atypical wise king" who ran the country as a company. They are simply unwilling to spend 100 million to pacify Yungui Sichuan, and then collect more than 1 million every year - this amount is not even enough to maintain a garrison of 100,000 people in Yungui Sichuan! To maintain a garrison of 100,000 troops, at least more than two million troops a year...
It is equivalent to asking Emperor Zhu to spend 100 million to buy a company that loses 1 million a year!
Of course, Emperor Zhu would sometimes do this kind of loss-making business. For example, his investment in the northwest would not be profitable. And if he plans to spend 200 million to secure the Qing Dynasty's investment, there won't be a high rate of return. After all, this is the Little Ice Age, and it is not an era of industrialization. The coal and iron resources in the north are not of much value, and the natural economy is subject to the climate. Loss or small profit is normal.
But the situation in Sichuan is really different!
Although Sichuan and Chongqing had fiscal deficits in later generations, that deficit only occurred when the central and local governments divided taxes. The central government had already taken away the bulk of the tax revenue... while Sichuan in the Ming Dynasty handed over 100 Multi-million is the total tax amount!
The northwest is losing money and the north is making a small profit, and Zhu Cixiang also admits it. Sichuan, the land of abundance, is going to suffer. Can Zhu Cixi still be worthy of being emperor?
So before the war to regain Sichuan began, Ma Shiying and Zeng Ying had become "comrades-in-arms" with the Southern People's Party... Today Ma Shiying brought Zeng Ying to visit, just to find out the imperial court's trump card from his old friend Ruan Dacheng .
After Ruan Dacheng and Ma Shiying finished their pleasantries, they finally started talking about business. Then I saw Ruan Dacheng with a serious face: "Brother Yaocao, the bandits are robbing at least 15 million taels a year in Sichuan, and the people can still live in peace and quiet... How about you just follow this number!"
Fifteen million...taxes increased tenfold!
"Too many!" Ma Shiying shook his head, "It's too much..."
"Is it a lot?" Ruan Dacheng shook his head, "Yao Cao, when you take over the job of the governor of Jiangnan, you will know what it means to be too much... Now Jiangnan turns over as much as 20 million yuan in silver each year. And Jiangnan Province doesn’t include Yingtian Mansion! Sichuan is so big, is fifteen million too much?”
"Mr. Yuan Hai doesn't know something," Zeng Ying, the governor of Sichuan and Guizhou Province, shook his head repeatedly. "The foundation of the Sichuan Army is the regiment training of the Sichuan gentry. They fought and died for so many years, and finally they raised taxes tenfold. This, this, this. .....”
Ruan Dacheng spread his hands: "But you can't beat the bandits!"
"But we didn't let the bandits come out!" Zeng Ying said, "If we hadn't been in the west these years, the bandits would have been killed long ago... The court cannot forget the merits and hard work of our Sichuan Army!"
"Why have you forgotten?" Ruan Dacheng was stunned, "A lot of Sichuan Army officers and soldiers have been promoted and made a fortune, right? The imperial court also paid less for the Sichuan Army!"
Ma Shiying said: "Your Majesty said that the land shared by the rogue bandits can no longer be returned to the original owner... Sichuan gentry and meritorious officers will only be able to take land from the military fields of the rogue bandits in the future."
"I see..." Ruan Dacheng thought for a while, "How much land can be allocated?"
Zeng Ying did not answer, but glanced at Ma Shiying, who said: "About 15 million acres."
Ruan Dacheng asked again: "How many are left?"
"At least 35 million acres." Ma Shiying said.
"The total amount is fifty million acres. If you pay the equivalent of three taels of silver per acre, it will be ten million million taels. The current price of rice is two or three dou..." Ruan Dacheng said. , "Sichuan still has a salt tax, three million, right? After deducting the salt tax, it is thirteen million taels. Two buckets of rice per acre is enough.
About 20% of it is used by local governments as tax collection expenses, and the actual payment is only 1,000,000,000 dan. "
Nowadays, the Ming Dynasty's land tax and land rent (military farmland) can be both grain and silver, and do not include fire consumption. People only need to pay it at the county, and the transportation cost is not high.
After the government gets the grain or silver, it will dispose of it depending on the situation, either escorting it to the warehouse or selling it and discounting it for cash. Depending on the road and water transportation conditions in the area, there will be different fire consumption standards. It can be as high as 30%, or as low as half a percent, and 20% is just an average. And if the local government or military affairs department is good at management, they can make a lot of money from it... This is legal income, and there is no need to worry about the censor finding trouble.
Ruan Dacheng added: "In addition, the industry and commerce in Sichuan are now in decline, and the court will not ask for any commercial tax sharing. This revenue will also be given to the local area. In Sichuan, there can be two to three million a year... ..In Sichuan, there are millions of profits a year! Governor Zeng, think about it carefully, can this deal be done?"
"Business?" Ma Shiying smiled bitterly, "Why does this become a trade?"
Ruan Dacheng shook his head, "Brother Yaocao has been in Guizhou for a long time. I don't know that our emperor runs the country as a business...so the officials below must also be able to run it!"
"This, this...how to run it?" Zeng Ying looked embarrassed. Although he had served as the governor of Eastern Sichuan, he was not good at management. Ma Shiying had always been doing the logistics for him.
Ruan Dacheng smiled: "This matter is easy to handle... Let's first calculate how much capital we have, and then think of a solution."
"Capital?" Zeng Ying didn't quite understand.
Ma Shiying didn't quite understand, so he said to his good friend: "Ji Zhi, stop being so secretive and talk about it quickly."
"Okay," Ruan Dacheng said, clasping his fingers, "First of all, the land! There are 15 million acres to be divided... Is this capital?
Next is salt. Now the salt in Sichuan is operated by the bandits themselves. After recovery, it will definitely be contracted to commercial operators. This is another cost.
Again, it’s an official position! Let’s not talk about the prefecture and prefecture levels, but just talk about counties and prefectures. How many counties and prefectures are there in Sichuan? "
Zeng Ying was shocked when he heard this, "Wait a minute, Minister Ruan, what do you mean when you say counties and prefectures..."
"Official positions are also capital!" Ruan Dacheng said with a smile, "This dynasty does not prohibit local officials from being appointed. There are still fewer local officials in provincial and state capitals, and local officials in counties and prefectures are everywhere...Sichuan again In war zones, the situation is even more special, and it is natural for local powerful officials to be appointed. Governor Zeng might as well discuss with Governor Li and Admiral Yang and draw up a charter to use these official positions to raise merit and compensate for the losses of the powerful gentry."
"Using state and county official positions to raise military merits and compensate wealthy gentry?" Zeng Ying always felt that something was wrong. "Isn't the court afraid that they will be corrupt and take bribes, and amass money to harm the people?"
"Don't be afraid," Ruan Dacheng said, "There will be a group of vicious censors coming to interrogate and investigate!"
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