In fact, while Gao Pragmatic was talking to Gao Gong, he was thinking secretly in his heart: Why did San Bo talk to him about the importance of national financial management?
He didn't think that Gao Gong took such high-level political matters to discuss with an eight-year-old child just because he took a glance at his nephew, because Gao Gong was confident enough in his own talents; nor did he think that Gao Gong wanted to discuss it in advance. Cultivate your ability to handle government affairs so that you will avoid detours in the future, because in the eyes of their elders, now is the time to lay a good foundation for knowledge, and you should try to avoid being distracted; of course, he will not feel that Gao Gong is simply looking for him. Chatting, because he is a high-ranking and well-established imperial master, Zaifu, and time is very precious. How can he be so leisurely?
As he thought about it, his little brows wrinkled.
Gao Gong also noticed Gao Pragmatic's change, but he still kept smiling and asked: "What are you thinking about?" Then he paused for a moment and then said: "Let me guess... you are thinking, San Bo asked me to tell you What are the intentions of these?”
Gao Pingshi hesitated for a moment, then said with a dry smile: "Sure enough, Third Uncle... this, I can see thousands of miles away."
Gao Gong's right index finger gently tapped the armrest of the Grand Master's chair, squinted his eyes, and asked: "I can see thousands of miles? I really don't dare to take it seriously... For example, when you made that soap, I didn't know you. I thought it would be a big deal, and I didn’t expect you to mass-produce it.”
Gao Pingshi was really surprised and asked hurriedly: "How did you know?"
"Oh, you have caused such a big fight in the house. If I still don't know anything about it, I'm afraid you will demolish the house one day and I won't know... Your third uncle, I am very poor. Although this house is not big, But it also cost me seven or eight years of savings. If it burned down, then we uncle and nephew would have to live in Chongfu Temple." Gao Gong rarely looked serious, but smiled. He looked at Gao Pragmatic with a non-smile: "But if you think about it carefully, if it really burns down, it's just me going to live in a temple. After all, you still have a villa in the west of Beijing. I heard that not only is the courtyard big enough, but it's even nearby." And there’s such a huge mountain forest? Well, it’s a good place to study and learn, much better than the noisy place like a temple with Zen chanting and bells ringing.”
Gao Pragmatic became more and more embarrassed: "Third Uncle..."
"There is no need to explain so much." Gao Gong gradually stopped smiling, but his face was still calm, and asked: "I have been watching you all day long in the past two years, and I still understand you somewhat, and I also know that although you are young, , but I understand a lot of truths, but sometimes my ideas are a little weird... That's all, tell your third uncle about your plan."
Gao Jingshi opened his mouth. He originally wanted to explain, but after looking at Gao Gong's face, he finally decided to go with the truth - honesty is an important requirement for any elder to the younger generation. As long as Gao Jingshi still needs Gao Gong's golden signboard , you can’t lie to him. And judging from the current situation, Gao Pragmatic feels that confessing may actually have a chance to be lenient instead of sitting in jail.
"Uncle San, this is a long story. Can you let me think about where to start?" Gao pragmatic hesitated and finally said.
Gao Gong seemed a little surprised this time, but he still nodded, stretched out his hand to pick up his tea cup, and said calmly: "Okay, you can think about it before answering."
Gao pragmatic himself also picked up his already cold tea cup and drank slowly while frowning and thinking carefully.
After a while, he suddenly raised his head and said, "Uncle San, I think many systems in the Ming Dynasty are no longer suitable for this era."
Gao Gong raised his head in astonishment and almost poured out the tea he was holding. He hesitated for a moment and frowned: "You have been thinking about it for a long time and just want to say this? Does this have anything to do with the fact that you came up with that soap and planned to mass-produce it?"
Gao Pragmatic put away the childlike innocence that he usually pretended to do, and said seriously: "You were talking to your nephew about financial management just now. In fact, there is a question that my nephew has always wanted to ask: How much will I earn in the Ming Dynasty? How much will I earn in the Song Dynasty? Why did the Ming Dynasty The finances are so difficult, but the treasury of the former Song Dynasty was so full? Is the Ming Dynasty really so poor? "
Gao Gong held the tea cup and remained motionless. He found that he didn't know where to start. After a long while, he said: "I, the Emperor Taizu, was born in a poor family, and later received a great treasure. Whenever he thought about the hardships of the people, he composed the Great Edict. Light corvee and small fortune..."
Gao pragmatically interrupted his uncle unreasonably this time: "Actually, the Ming Dynasty may not be poorer than the Song Dynasty."
Gao Gong was stunned for a moment: "Why do you say that?"
Gao pragmatic stood up and walked: "But our territory is wider than that of the Song Dynasty, and it has not cost much in the past hundred years. In the Song Dynasty, there is no so-called suburbs, annual coins, temples, and salary. The most expensive thing is Zonglu, raising soldiers and Yinzi'er." , however, Yinzi only served in military positions, and there were only a few civil servants. The ministers were examined by the officials, and the people in Hongwu were 1,652,870 households, and the cultivated land was 8,496,523 hectares, the tax and grain are 29.44 million shi. Although the number of household registrations is slightly equivalent to that in the Song Dynasty, today's farming is far beyond that. The income is much, but the expenses are less than that. This is suitable for the country. The accumulation is several times that of Song Dynasty... Moreover, today's prosperity and wealth are unparalleled by those of Song Dynasty." (Wufeng's note: From Qiu Jun's "Focus on the Use of the Country".)
After Gao Pingshi recited Qiu Jun's words, he added: "Also, according to my nephew's research, the annual production of iron during the reign of Huangyou in the Northern Song Dynasty was 7,241,000 kilograms, and in the early Southern Song Dynasty, the annual production of iron was 216 kilograms. 12,144 kilograms, and the Ming Dynasty produced 18,476,026 kilograms of iron every year in the early years of Hongwu. The output in the early years of Hongwu was nearly three times that of the Northern Song Dynasty, and equivalent to that of the Southern Song Dynasty. More than eight times that of the early years. In the early years of Yongle, the production was obviously damaged by the Jingnan War, but the pig iron output of the official iron smelting was still maintained at 18,474,000 kilograms, and by Xuande Jiu In 2006, even excluding government-run iron smelting, the pig iron output of private iron smelting alone reached 27,662,000 jins. From the Jiajing period of the late Emperor to the present, it has reached about 90 million jins. It can be seen that in terms of iron smelting alone, Our Ming Dynasty has grown about eight times more than the previous Song Dynasty.” (Wufeng’s note: The data here actually only refers to the amount of taxes levied by the court. The real production volume is much higher than this. Of course, here is a comparison between the Song and Ming dynasties. All are taxable amounts.)
Gao Gong frowned and said: "You say that Song Fuming was poor, and at the same time you cited the huge gap in iron smelting production. Isn't this a paradox?"
"Third uncle, this is exactly what my nephew wants to say." Gao Pragmatic said with a serious expression: "First of all, I must coin a term: gross national product."
"Gross National Product?" Gao Gong frowned and pondered for a moment, then hesitated slightly and asked, "You mean... the wealth produced by the people of the entire Ming Dynasty?"
"Uh...that's pretty much what it means." Gao Pingshi said, thinking: This is much worse, but now I can only explain it this way.
