Nurhachi took the first step in his rise. This should be regarded as a major event worthy of attention in the original history of Gao Jingshi's previous life. When Gao Jingshi just crossed over, if he faced such a situation, he would probably also Quite nervous.
However, the current Gao Pragmatic is not nervous, and is even basically too lazy to pay attention.
More than ten years have passed since time travel, and Gao's pragmatic mentality has changed a lot. Certain things that he thought were important in the past no longer seem so serious now.
After all, whether it is severe or not depends on comparing it with one's own strength.
When he first traveled through time, he insisted in his heart that as long as the Ming Dynasty took care of its internal problems, it wouldn't have to be afraid of the Jurchens. But after all, various movies, TV shows, and even some people in the past life were afraid of Nurhachi. During that period, the Jurchens' combat effectiveness was so great that they seemed to be "invincible if there were not even ten thousand Jurchens". Therefore, in Gao's pragmatic mind at the time, he was still a little afraid of Nurhachi.
However, with an in-depth understanding of this era, coupled with the gradual strengthening of his own strength, especially the smooth progress of the reform of the Ming Dynasty, the sense of oppression brought by the name "Nurhaci" to Gao Pragmatic slowly began to fade, and even Basically disappeared.
He no longer thinks that Nurhachi has the same opportunity in history to develop to the point where he can threaten the Ming Dynasty.
To put it bluntly, if Toyotomi Hideyoshi hadn't caused trouble, how would Nurhaci have any chance?
But Gao Wuji is not too panicked about Toyotomi Hideyoshi's problem now - Monkey is very powerful in Japan. Historically, he was even able to maintain a Japanese invasion force that far exceeded the Ming army's aid force to fight across the sea in Korea. He also defeated North Korea easily and fought with the Ming army for several years.
However, that Ming army did not have his high pragmatic time travel BUFF bonus, and behind it was the Ming Dynasty who also did not have a high pragmatic bonus.
As for the Ming Dynasty, it was very difficult to maintain an army of 70,000 in North Korea - this can be seen from Li Rusong's choice to take the initiative to strategically retreat when he had the advantage - Li Rusong is not an easy person to deal with, if not for logistics There is a serious problem with the guarantee. With his character, he will definitely choose to attack directly.
This shows how bad the financial system of the Ming Dynasty was in the original history, and how poor its war mobilization and support capabilities were.
But today’s Ming Dynasty is not the Ming Dynasty that was strong from outside but worked hard from within. Today’s Ming Dynasty’s annual fiscal revenue has reached twice that in the original history. Although expenses have increased and tax exemptions have increased, this is not necessarily the case. bad thing.
After all, although expenses have increased, a lot of them are spent on military construction and support, including ordnance replacement, military salary increases, border wall construction and other aspects;
In terms of tax exemption, in fact, after Gao Gong presided over Longqing's opening of the sea, due to the substantial increase in port tax revenue, Zhu Yijun reduced agricultural taxes in some poor and disaster-stricken areas in recent years, and these agricultural tax reductions, in turn, also Reducing the dissatisfaction among the people is good for the stability of the domestic political situation of the Ming Dynasty.
To use the vocabulary of later generations, this tax reduction is equivalent to being used to "maintain stability."
Under this situation, as long as we keep an eye on Nurhachi in the next few years and prevent him from finding opportunities to fight this or that, there is basically no need to worry too much. If the Imjin Japanese Rebellion is still inevitable, it doesn't matter. Gao Pragmatic has a more vicious idea.
As for whether these ideas can be implemented smoothly, Gao Pragmatic doesn't think it's a big problem, because according to Zhu Yijun's plan, if nothing happens, he will definitely be the governor of Liaodong in the next few years, and there will be plenty of opportunities to deal with Nurhachi's problem. Preparatory work for the Imjin Japanese War can also be prepared in advance.
Not long after Gao pragmatically shifted the focus of his work back to the construction of Liaonan, new news suddenly came from Beijing - a series of personnel changes:
Wang Guoguang became an official in his old age. Zhang Xueyan, the Minister of Household Affairs, was appointed as the Yushi of Zuodu. Wei Xuezeng, the Minister of Industry, was appointed as the Minister of Household Affairs. Then Liang Menglong, the governor of Jiliao, had meritorious service in the Liaonan War (although it was fought in a pragmatic manner, the governor must have (for his leadership), he was transferred back to Beijing and served as Minister of the Ministry of Industry.
Since Liang Meng and Longliang had merit in forming the army, Zhou Yong and Zhou Fu also certainly had merit, so Zhou Yong took advantage of the situation and was promoted to governor of Ji Liao.
These are all changes that come one at a time, which is not uncommon. The ministers who have been transferred are all sufficient according to their seniority.
However, the next appointment was more shocking: he was promoted to the inspector of Shandong, and he was responsible for rectifying the military affairs of Jin, Fu Haigai and other departments, preparing troops and farming. He was also the Minister of Yuanmasi Temple in Liaodong. .
Governor of Liaodong?
Highly pragmatic?
Wait a moment! He had only been in charge of Jin Fuhai Gaibei for a few months, and he was directly promoted to governor? No need to do anything to participate in politics? The chief envoy and everything else were just skipped?
Not to mention that everyone in Liaodong's officialdom was stunned for a moment. Even Gao Pragmatic himself was stunned: Didn't we agree to take it slow? I haven't made any achievements here in Liaonan yet, so how come I was directly promoted to governor? How did this imperial edict convince the cabinet to attach it and approve it through the six departments?
What happened in Jingli?
Two hours later, the messenger sent by Zhang Siwei finally arrived late due to an accident on the road and rushed to the Bingxian Yamen in Gaizhou, letting Gao Pangshi know the inside story.
To put it simply, this matter is that the Practical School and the Heart School had another round of fighting in the cabinet, and finally reached some "consensus", including:
Pan Sheng, a bachelor, resigned from his part-time job as Minister of Rites to concentrate on cabinet affairs; Xu Xuemo (native of Suzhou, South Zhili) of the Xin School was appointed as the Minister of Rites; Zhao Jin (native of Yuyao, Zhejiang) of the Xin School was appointed as the Minister of the Ministry of War in Nanjing (the most powerful person in Nanjing).
The promotions of Xu Xuemo and Zhao Jin were used in exchange for previous transfers and promotions from the Practical School.
In addition, there are also the transfer and promotion of some lower-level officials from the two factions, as well as the resignation of some older officials.
Zhang Siwei's letter was a bit long. Gao Pingshi compared it carefully for a long time. He realized that the Jiashi School seemed to be at a disadvantage, and he couldn't help but frown.
No, the debate within the cabinet should not be about the pragmatic school being at a disadvantage. Is there anything else going on here?
But he thought about it over and over, but he really couldn't figure it out. Judging from the current situation, except for the fact that Pan Sheng and Pan Ge gave up his concurrent post as Minister of Rites, which was the only loss for the neutral faction, the rest were from the two schools of practical learning and spiritual learning. fighting between them. However, the two consecutive big wins this year were all achieved by himself. The real school should have the upper hand clearly. Why should it suffer a loss instead?
Could it be that it was simply because his promotion was a bit excessive, which caused a strong backlash from the Xin School, and then the uncle made concessions in order to ensure the stability of the cabinet?
But this doesn't make sense. Before he came to Liaodong, Gao Pragmatic had been an official on a daily basis, and his rankings in the Hanlin Academy and Zhanshifu were fairly high. Apart from his age, his official qualifications were actually not that high. Not bad, and with the bonus of six top picks, it stands to reason that even if he stays in the capital and works for a few more years, it wouldn't be unusual to be transferred to a certain ministry.
And now he, the Minister of Yuanmasi in Liaodong, has already reached the third rank, and he is high enough to be transferred to the governor. How could it cause the Real School to make concessions?
People like Gao Pragmatic, who like to calculate everything clearly and clearly, will easily get knotted up in their minds once they encounter such a problem that they can't understand, and they won't even be able to eat well.
It wasn't until the next day that another piece of news came from the newspaper, which finally solved his confusion.
Wei Xuezeng, the newly appointed Minister of Household Affairs, requested a trial implementation of a commercial tax increase project in South Zhili, which was divided into two categories: store business tax and merchant transit tax, with fifteen sub-categories.
Although after Gao Pragmatic read the details, he found that the tax rate was actually quite low, probably lower than the ratio he suggested to Gao Gong more than ten years ago - for example, store business tax, which is divided into luxury goods, ordinary department stores, etc. according to different categories. The three major categories of people's livelihood security are taxed according to "500% tax", "300% tax", and "100% tax" (5%, 3%, 1%), which is obviously very low. tax rate.
In terms of business, the tax rates are roughly the same.
Theoretically speaking, this tax rate is too low in modern society, and it is not high in different "historical dynasties". Especially compared with the commercial tax of the Song Dynasty, this tax rate is not much different from not charging it at all.
But this is the Ming Dynasty after all, and it was the Ming Dynasty that almost did not collect commercial taxes before Gao Gong's reform. This move seems to be of great significance and impact.
The invisible "consortium" behind many civil servants in the Ming Dynasty actually started to pay taxes!
Because the cabinet approved it!
In order to resist the political advantage and public opinion trend brought to the Practical School by Gao Pragmatic after several great victories, and to ensure that their side could still compete with the Practical School in the court, the officials of the Xin School finally gave in a small step this time. It is allowed to start trial collection of commercial tax in Nanzhili!
After more than ten years of reform, after three chief assistants of the Practical School, the reform has finally been pushed into the "deep water zone"!
Although the commercial tax collection is small, the specific amount of money is not important. What is important is whether it is levied and whether it can be levied.
Don't look at the big guys of the Heart School who stand up and talk about the nature of the heart, but talking about the nature of the heart requires material conditions. How can you be as poor as Hai Rui and still have the time to give lectures and travel with people to understand life? When Ren Hairui has free time, he grows vegetables at home!
Therefore, almost all the big guys of the Heart School in the South have large or small accumulation of wealth behind them. Even some big guys who were originally from humble backgrounds did not have enough accumulation, and there are financial backers behind them.
Now they have to collect taxes, which is equivalent to cutting off their flesh. Is the significance comparable to opening up the sea?
When the sea was opened, it only affected some big families who were openly abiding by the law, but in fact secretly went out to sea for smuggling. By analogy, it was equivalent to an "individual strike". But now this business tax collection is a comprehensive strike!
Gao Wuzhen could now understand why the Practical School was so proud this year that it actually gave in to the Xin School in the court - you are going to cut off someone else's flesh, why don't you give someone a sweet date first?
The fault is not that Gao Pragmatism made great achievements in settling the South and the North twice, but now he has suppressed Li Chengliang, a new ally of the Xin School in the Battle of Southern Liaoning, and brought the Practical School to an overall advantage over the court. When will the Southern Zhili Shang be conquered? It’s hard to even talk about taxes when it’s on the agenda!
Presumably, the lives of Mr. Shen Ge, Mr. Yu Ge and others are not easy at this moment, right? You can imagine how much internal pressure they faced.
However, Gao Pragmatic just needs to be clear about this matter and doesn't intend to interfere for the time being. After all, this is the credit of his uncle Zhang Siwei. It can even be said to be Zhang Siwei's first real big deal in governance after he became the first assistant. Let the uncle take credit for this credit and be sure to take full advantage of it.
As for his pragmatic nature, since the decree to serve as governor of Liaodong has been issued, he naturally has to do what he should do...such as refusing to accept the offer.
Well, although this seems very hypocritical, it still has to be done.
Gao Jingshi immediately wrote a memorial and sent it to the capital, and he still wrote it in the name of Yuan Masi Qing of Liaodong. As for the content, it was nothing more than modest remarks about his lack of talent and lack of knowledge, and his lack of morality. It was mainly to show that he did not love power. The meaning of the generation.
This is an old tactic often used by officials who think their tenure may be controversial.
Not long after this memorial was sent up, the imperial court's reply came, divided into two parts, one part was the imperial edict, and the other part was the writing of the cabinet.
The edict part is relatively simple. It starts from more than ten years ago and recounts Gao Pragmatic’s achievements in the past ten years, all the way to the just past Battle of Liaonan. Then the emperor expressed in a very affirmative tone, “Please "If you don't agree," and demanded high pragmatism, "You should be more loyal and diligent, and take up your post immediately. Don't let me down."
By the way, he also "given forty taels of eight treasures of silver, twenty taels of silver leaves, and two imperial tribute inkstones. When the Changchun Palace comes out, the vegetables will be different."
Other rewards were paid off, but this "seasonal vegetables from Changchun Palace" made Gao Pangshi very stunned.
It was common for the emperor to reward ministers, ministers, and Japanese officials with seasonal vegetables. Gao Jingpeng often received gifts when he was in Beijing, but they were only given to officials in Beijing, and most of these seasonal vegetables were purchased from outside. The emperor just gave it to express his concern, nothing unusual.
But why does Changchun Palace still produce seasonal vegetables? This is one of the Sixth Palace in the West. I remember it was still empty when I left the capital. What is the situation now? Who went there to grow vegetables? Besides, vegetables were sent to Liaodong from the capital at this time...can they still be eaten?
Gao Pragmatic really didn't understand this operation, but thinking about it, it shouldn't be a big problem. Maybe Zhu Yijun made a mistake when he was giving the instructions to the Supervisor of Ceremonies, and the Supervisor of Ceremonies didn't dare to change the holy will, so he did it like this Just make the mistake.
He put this matter aside and began to think about when he would take office... This matter was done in a bit of a hurry. Gao Pragmatic himself did not expect that he would take up his new position as governor so soon and needed to organize his thoughts.
However, he was not in a hurry to take office. Someone was in a hurry to take office and passed by him.
Just when Gao Pangshi was temporarily in the government thinking about his administrative measures after taking office, a servant came to report that Zhou Zhijun had returned to Miyun to take up his new post, passed by Gaizhou, and came to pay a special visit.
Gao Pingshi was moved in his heart and ordered: "Where is Zhijun now?"
"About ten miles northeast of the city."
Gao pragmatic nodded and said: "Open the east gate, set up the guard of honor, and I will be here soon after I bathe and change clothes."
----------
Thanks to book friends "Golden Hair 123", "Artisans Traveling in the Three Kingdoms", "soviet2003", and "Xuan Youming" for their monthly ticket support, thank you!
