With the highly pragmatic request to cancel all in-kind taxes except for grain and cloth, the court meeting finally reached a rare consensus. Even officials from the Xin School had to stand up and applaud this - after all, officials all over the world are "Hongwu type" For the victims of "finance", Gao Wuchen's current actions are completely serving them. Even if everyone usually has different ideas, at this moment they are always standing in the same trench.
After all, interest is the fundamental criterion for deciding whether to be a friend or an enemy.
However, you can cancel it, but how to cancel it, or how to make up for it after cancellation, is very interesting.
Gao pragmatically was extra generous this time, saying that the first step was to cancel all in-kind conversions in official salaries. Officials would only be paid silver taels and copper coins, plus at most cloth no more than 20% of the total salary, and in In five years or so, the cloth discount will be gradually abolished and the salary will be fully and completely monetized.
Regarding this item, although many officials doubted in their hearts whether the Ministry of Revenue had so much cash, at least the answers were very consistent: all civil and military officials praised Gao Situ for being extremely responsible and "the pioneer of new trends in the founding of the country."
The praise from the officials from the Xin School was a bit reserved, but the officials from the Practical School were really bold and boastful. According to them, Shang Yang was unmatched in front of Gao Pingshi, let alone Wang Anshi. It was simply a matter of cloud and mud, and even Gao Situ's farts were better than his.
Of course Gao Pragmatic knew that this was not because of his handsomeness, but entirely because of the charm of money. The Ministry of Household Affairs was willing to spend such a large sum of money to improve their salary problem. Of course they felt that Gao Situ was extremely handsome and was simply a popular idol.
However, everyone will be mumbling about what happens next. For example, Gao Pragmatic not only wanted to convert the physical taxes in various places into silver coins, but also collected all these tax coins to the Ministry of Accounts first, and then the Ministry of Accounts forwarded them to the yamen that needed the expenses. This was extremely controversial.
The Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War were the only two yamen that remained quiet. Among them, the Ministry of Personnel is okay, after all, they are in charge of civil affairs. The power of personnel appointment and dismissal has little to do with physical taxes. The usual expenses are actually average. In addition, the Ministry of Personnel is the headquarters of the Practical School. Of course, everyone does not think that Gao Pragmatism will get in the way of the Ministry of Personnel in the future after having great power. Therefore, It is reasonable for the officials not to speak.
The Ministry of War actually kept quiet, which shows that Liang Menglong managed it well. Of course, Gao Pragmatic's recent resignation from the Ministry of War may also be a key factor.
Why is it so difficult for the Ministry of War to remain silent? This is because the Ministry of War's financial power is actually quite large - all military stations, ordnance manufacturing and other matters around the world were originally directly managed by the Ministry of War, and the most critical financial power among them is the military stations.
How important are military camps? Under the "Hongwu type of finance", Zhu Yuanzhang originally arranged the food problem of the soldiers and horses in the world to be self-sufficient, so the scale of farming in the Ming Dynasty was very large: "from Liaozuo in the east, to Xuanda in the north, to Gansu in the west, to Gansu in the south It extends as far as Yunnan and Shu, and ends at Jiaozhi. In the middle, there are great rivers in the north and south, and it ends in Xingtun."
There were more than 1.8 million military sergeants throughout the Ming Dynasty (this was in the early Ming Dynasty), and the number of military camps was more than 900,000 hectares, accounting for about one-tenth of the country's cultivated land. In border areas, the proportion of military settlements is even higher. In some military towns, military settlements can occupy more than 60% of the province's cultivated land.
For example, during the Jiajing period, the number of military registered households in Guizhou was 140,000, accounting for 51% of the total population in Guizhou. When Gao Jingshi first compiled the "Da Ming Huidian", he had seen records saying that the total farmland in Shaanxi was 310,000 hectares, and the military settlements occupied 160,000 hectares.
The system of military settlements played a huge role in the early Ming Dynasty. In the early Ming Dynasty, the country's financial sources mainly relied on agriculture, and military settlements were the largest source.
For example, in the first year of Yongle, the national tax on grain was 31 million shi, but the grain paid by military fields was more than 23 million shi, which means that the revenue from military fields accounted for a little more than 70% of the national tax on grain.
In border areas, the importance of military fields is even more prominent. In the early Ming Dynasty, the country had 1.8 million troops. By the Yongle period, the number had increased to 2.7 million. At that time, the population of the country was more than 60 million, and the number of troops accounted for 3% of the population.
Such a large army will inevitably require a large amount of finance to supply. In the late Hongwu period, the annual military grain requirement reached more than 32 million shi, while in the later Hongwu period, the annual tax revenue was only more than 30 million shi. Therefore, it can be said that the dynasty's farming system solved the army's huge food supply problem.
"History of the Ming Dynasty: Shihuo Zhi" says: "The land of an army can support enough for a year." This statement was true at the time.
Only with large-scale farming can we maintain a huge army across the country. This also enabled the Ming Dynasty to avoid the situation of poverty and weakness experienced during the Song Dynasty. After all, the Ming Dynasty at that time was still using troops against Mongolia, the northeast, the southwest, and the northwest. Without a huge local army, this would not be possible.
Therefore, these farms made a huge contribution to the Ming Dynasty's national defense construction and the stability of border areas. In Liaodong, the farmland system accelerated the development of the Liaodong region, making Liaodong the stronghold of the entire Northeast of the Ming Dynasty. In Yunnan, large-scale farming was the basis for the Ming Dynasty to defeat the rebellion of the Luchuan chieftains; in the northwest, the farming system allowed the Ming Dynasty to control the Hexi Corridor and then establish exchanges with the Western Regions and Central Asia.
In addition, the Ming Dynasty's farming also accelerated the transformation of the southwest region. For example, in the Yunnan-Guizhou region, due to the far distance from the Central Plains, previous imperial courts generally could only implement the policy of restraint. After long-term development, large and small chieftains have formed in the Yunnan-Guizhou region. Although they appear to be subordinate to the Central Plains, they are actually small local kingdoms, which is not conducive to the unification of the country.
After the Ming Dynasty carried out large-scale military settlements, a large number of troops were stationed in Yunnan and Guizhou for a long time, forming a large number of guard posts and firmly controlling the major chieftains. Once the opportunity is ripe, the imperial court can carry out reforms in the southwest.
For example, during the Yongle period, the Sizhou Tian family was eliminated, which directly promoted the establishment of Guizhou Province (Chief Envoy Division).
The reason why Gao Pragmatic was able to move most of the Guangxi chieftains to Annan actually had this premise: Guangxi's military settlements resulted in about half of Guangxi's territory being in the hands of the imperial court, and these areas directly under the imperial jurisdiction would also have a de facto influence on the chieftains. Despite the oppression, the chieftains also wanted to be more "free", so Gao pragmatically deceived everyone, and in the end most of them were deceived by him to go to Annan.
At this time, because the imperial court had enough military camps as a foundation, it could follow up relatively smoothly, occupy and develop those original chieftain territories. All these prerequisites are actually brought by the military camp.
But as Gao Minggong saw when he was in Guangxi, most of the guardsmen were almost "beggar soldiers", which actually showed that the military settlements were gradually heading towards destruction - because the military settlements themselves were actually built on the basis of the military households. Based on cruel exploitation.
In addition to eating the grain produced in military camps, one must also pay "grains from the field". During the Hongwu period, it was stipulated that "people were given forty acres of land, half of which was collected every year, and the remainder was left to feed themselves." That is to say, half of the output of military households had to be handed over. Military households themselves have always been in a state of service, which makes the state's exploitation of military households much higher than that of ordinary civilian households.
If a military household loses its land, it will be even worse, because the military household has to "guarantee compensation for the grain from the farmland." Beginning in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, a lot of land was abandoned due to barrenness, but military households had to "serve as lifelong servants to transport those who were short of food." This situation has been discussed previously in this book and will not be repeated here.
In short, as has been said many times before, the fields in the garrison camps gradually changed from collective ownership to officers' ownership. After the officers took control, they would hide the fields under various names, which ultimately led to the loss of what the Ministry of War could actually obtain. The military rations were reduced year by year until the land was cleared.
In addition to clearing out many civilian fields that had been hidden by officials and gentry, the Qing Dynasty also cleared out a large number of military fields. This is partly why Zhu Yijun frequently exempted people from taxes in disaster areas in the past few years. But even so, because the origins of many military camps cannot be ascertained, the current military camps are still not as grand as they were in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
One of the most fundamental reasons why the Ministry of War was able to suppress internal opposition despite losing such a large amount of income was that Gao Pragmatic made a promise: since the financial power is handed over to the Ministry of Household Affairs, the Ministry of War will control the local guards. The office's expenditure responsibilities were also transferred to the Ministry of Accounts.
In other words, in the past, when the guards were unable to pay military salaries, local officers and soldiers would blame the Ministry of War. But if this happens again in the future, they should blame the Ministry of Household Affairs.
For the Ministry of War, if Gao Pragmatic changes like this, their power will definitely be reduced, but looking back, the corresponding responsibilities will also be reduced. Whether it's a good deal or not depends on what you think.
Not counting the Ministry of Revenue itself, the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War are now considered stable. The problem lies with the other three ministries.
The performance of the Ministry of Rites was worthy of the word "property", at least they did not curse people. They were mainly worried about the lack of supplies in the Ministry of Household Affairs. In addition to daily office work, the expenses of the Ministry of Rites mainly cover three aspects: first, scientific examination; second, sacrifice; and third, reception.
Needless to say, the Ming Dynasty paid the most attention to the imperial examinations in history, and the imperial court was responsible for many of the expenses of the candidates. For example, even after the implementation of "Yi Yi Lu Shu", candidates for the rural examinations and general examinations can use the post for free when rushing to take the exam. The post will provide accommodation, travel and other services to the candidates in accordance with standards, and the money will eventually go to the Ministry of Rites. expenditure.
Now Gao Pragmatic wants to collect financial rights. Although the various physical objects originally supplied to the Ministry of Rites do not need to be converted and sold by the Ministry of Rites, this expenditure will be collected by the Ministry of Accounts. The Ministry of Rites is worried that if the Ministry of Accounts cannot get it, it will be affected. Talent promotion ceremony, who can bear this responsibility?
Xu Xuemo, the Minister of Rites, did not say anything harsh, but a member of the Xin School, a member of the Ministry of Rites, named him by name in his memorial and said this: "In the future, if the talent promotion ceremony is limited by the financial constraints of the Ministry of Households, it will suffer setbacks. , Gao Budang, would you like to express your gratitude?"
If in the future the Talent Recruitment Ceremony is affected because your Ministry of Revenue cannot come up with the money, would you, Gao Situ, be willing to offer your own head to thank the world?
Compared with the Ministry of Rites, which often engages in "infinite promotion", the performance of the Ministry of Punishments is very "lawful". Without talking about any big principles or talking about who should own the financial power, Shu Hua, the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, presented the income and expenditure book of the Ministry of Punishment in a serious manner, and proactively provided details: excluding the direct deduction of the Ministry of Punishment's in-kind tax last year, the Ministry of Punishment's overall The final deficit for the year was seventy-five thousand six hundred and forty-seven taels and four cents of silver.
Shu Butang also stated very strictly that if the Ministry of Revenue is willing to make up for all the previous deficits of the Ministry of Punishment, he, on behalf of the Ministry of Punishment, fully agrees to hand over financial rights.
As for your question about the total deficit of the Ministry of Punishments over the years? Shu Butang's accounts were calculated very clearly. He took out all the accounts from the Yongle period (from when the Ministry of Punishment appeared in Beijing) to the 14th year of Wanli. The total deficit was more than 640,000 taels.
At the same time, Shu Butang also said very seriously and responsibly: Many of the previous deficits have become dead debts, and even the creditors cannot be found, so these can be regarded as debts that can be repudiated. But even if these are removed, if the Ministry of Husbandry wants to take over the financial power of the Ministry of Justice, it must first help the Ministry of Justice make up for the shortfall of more than 274,000 taels of silver.
This leaves the Ministry of Industry.
The Ministry of Works is probably the government agency with the highest level of opposition this time. This is because they consider that the fighting power of the Gao family servants is too strong and there are too many people. People from the Ministry of Works may even attack Baiyulou.
As we all know, in terms of the status of the six ministries, the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Husbandry and the Ministry of Rites have a relatively high status; the Ministry of War is in the middle, but once a war breaks out, its importance will immediately increase; as for the Ministry of Punishment and the Ministry of Work, the status is generally relatively low.
Especially for the Ministry of Industry, in the history of the Ming Dynasty, there has never been a situation where the Minister of the Ministry of Industry directly joined the cabinet. Under normal circumstances, the Minister of the Ministry of Industry needs to be promoted to the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel or the Minister of Rites first, and then he has a better chance of becoming a cabinet bachelor. Therefore, in terms of status, the Ministry of Industry has the lowest voice among the six ministries.
However, in terms of actual "profit", other institutions are not as good as the Ministry of Industry. Even key departments such as the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Household Affairs are not as good as the Ministry of Works in this regard. Because the work scope of the Ministry of Industry is very wide, and all involve huge profits.
The household department may have the most money, but it is actually quite difficult for the household department to get some money. Unless the current minister is really solid and directly withholds some money and keeps it for his own use - then you are the uncle and have nothing to say.
The money directly managed by the Ministry of Industry may not be as much as that of the Ministry of Household Affairs, but it handles various national-level major projects. With just one stroke of the pen, the price of hiring workers is a bit higher, buying and selling materials is a bit more expensive... That's a lot of money, and even if you still It’s not easy to investigate: As a scholar, it’s normal for me to be unfamiliar with the market!
The work scope of the Ministry of Industry is very wide, including the construction and maintenance of palaces, the construction and maintenance of city walls, the excavation and maintenance of canals, the construction and maintenance of roads, the construction and maintenance of imperial tombs, etc. These are all managed by the Ministry of Industry. Even the development of iron ore and gold mines (operated by the imperial government) was under the management of the Ministry of Industry.
These are all highly profitable projects, and each project generates a lot of income. The Ministry of Industry is in charge of these projects, and both big businessmen and local government agencies are inseparable from the approval of the Ministry of Industry. For example, if a local official wants to repair the city wall, he cannot start the work without the approval of the Ministry of Works.
Gao Wuchen now wants to transfer all these financial rights to the Ministry of Household Affairs, and only reserves the approval power for the Ministry of Works, but does not allow the Ministry of Works to directly intervene. How can the Ministry of Works agree?
You must know that Shi Xing, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, had been "exposed" last time. He was a member of the Heart School.
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