Gao Pragmatic has long been labeled as a radical of practical reform, and the reform has one of the most basic questions, that is, what is the purpose or goal of the reform.
It is obviously wrong to say that highly pragmatic reforms are aimed at "going global". Going global is a means and a process, but it is by no means an end.
The goal of reform has only two words, which can form one word, namely: prosperity and strength.
Before the reform, the Ming Dynasty was actually prosperous and powerful to some extent: its wealth production capacity was second to none in the world, and its million-strong army was still second to none in the world.
But this kind of wealth is a kind of puffy wealth, with many manifestations of its gold and jade but its external failure. For example, there is indeed money among the people, but wealth is concentrated in the elite class, and the gap between the rich and the poor in different regions across the country is very huge - any part-time worker in cities such as Suzhou and Beijing can earn between four and eight taels of silver per month. The vast majority of farmers in Shaanxi, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan have probably never touched what "silver coins" are in their hands.
As for the powerful army, it depends on how you want to compare. In terms of scale, the Ming Dynasty is indeed invincible. Unfortunately, scale sometimes does not represent combat effectiveness.
Gao Jingshi made an estimate about twenty years ago, during the Longqing period, that the Ming Dynasty had no more than 200,000 troops that were barely capable of conducting field operations, and among them, no more than half, or about 100,000, were truly elite— Almost all are servants or servant-style troops.
Therefore, from this perspective, the so-called prosperity of the Ming Dynasty was ultimately based on the huge size of the country, and was by no means the prosperity that Gao Pragmatic recognized. To a certain extent, the size is huge but the actual performance is very poor, which means that the country’s ability to transform basic national power is too poor.
In other words, the imperial court had serious problems with the system, so Gao pragmatically chose to reform the system.
The reforms were aimed at the present, and he relied on the emperor and the court's dissatisfaction with the current situation to successfully advance those reforms. However, if we only face the present but not the future, such restructuring will only focus on the "end" rather than the "base".
What is this "origin"? In other words, what is the future? For the Ming Dynasty, which was called the "budding capitalism" period by later generations, it was of course industrialization.
What is industrialization? It’s not that he sent people to open a lot of mines and built iron plants, shipyards, etc. that are considered advanced at present, which counts as industrialization. That’s too superficial.
The essence of industrialization is to establish a large-scale market and then build and develop an industrial ecology on this basis. The word "ecology" needs to be particularly emphasized here, which means that these industries need to be organized into a system, have close internal connections, and be an organism.
However, establishing a large-scale market in later generations will require expensive infrastructure construction, such as building railways and roads to reduce logistics costs. This is actually a huge "sunk cost" and the returns are not high, so these are not things that private capital is willing to do.
With the financial resources of the highly pragmatic Jinghua, he almost had to tighten his belt to build a Dingnan city. Wouldn't it cost his life to expect him to build a highway of this era?
As for the railway, there is no steam engine at the moment, and the steel production capacity cannot reach that level. It is simply that the basic industry is not up to par, so there is no need to mention it now. Therefore, at this time, Jinghua's external expansion and stronghold construction were all based on the seaport. This is the reason why Gao Pragmatism cannot afford such a huge "sunk cost."
According to later economic theories, to establish and develop an industrial ecology, it is necessary to allow real industries to have profit margins for primitive accumulation of capital, and to gain the ability for further development through capital densification, which includes the accumulation of human, financial, and material resources. .
In later generations, the rapid establishment of an industrial ecology through the introduction of complete sets of technologies will also be a huge expense. Of course, this generally cannot be considered a sunk cost, because the input-output is still very considerable. After the founding of the Red Dynasty, the four economic crises encountered from the teacher era to the beginning of reform were basically related to this.
The situation Gao Pragmatic faced was slightly different from that time, because when the Red Dynasty was established, not only was the economy poor, but there was no external expansion. Of course, the conditions were not met, so it was impossible to complete capital accumulation through the plundering model of European powers.
Fortunately, the situation faced by Gao Pragmatic is much better than that time. He can use the technical advantages of time travelers to complete capital accumulation in the country. He can use his status advantages combined with previous capital accumulation to win over a group of old interest groups, and then form Heli began to expand externally.
However, for Europe, the purpose of expansion is only plunder, but for Gao, there is a higher need for pragmatism. What he needs is not colonial expansion, but "the establishment of a base."
This means that he cannot just plunder, he must assimilate the local aborigines and use the "naturalized household registration system" to transform the aborigines into "Han Chinese" who can serve as the basis for rule. It also means that he needs to build the local area instead of just using the local area as a "single raw material production base".
Why are most of the countries that became independent after World War II ultimately unable to complete industrialization? Because their economic foundation is a "single raw material production base", it is not comprehensive and cannot form its own industrial system. There is no such thing as an industrial chain.
All their production is actually arranged by Emperor Mi, and is part of Emperor Mi's own world empire system. As long as Emperor Mi is dissatisfied with their performance, or when it's time to cut the leeks, Emperor Mi can It can easily get stuck in their throats, and they can only be slaughtered.
The reason why the Red Dynasty was able to get rid of this most tragic situation was that after the Korean War, known as the War of Founding the Republic, the Red Dynasty quickly faced isolation from the two major power groups, Eagle and Bear, and almost became an orphan in the world. , but managed to hold on and did not collapse. As a result, it successfully completed "de-dependence" and formed its own complete and independent industrial system.
As for the subsequent collapse of Mao Xiong, the Red Dynasty used great strategic wisdom to hide its power and bide its time to join the Midi system. While silently enduring double exploitation, it pretended to achieve the so-called "strategic complementarity" with Midi, so that Midi Financial Group was excited at the time. To openly declare what "Chimerica (Note: Chimerica, also translated as the Sino-American Community)" and what "G2"...
But that model obviously can't last long. It's impossible for me, the Red Dynasty, to be responsible for making money and you, the Midi Emperor, to be responsible for spending money. So ten years later... everyone knows.
The situation Gao Pragmatic faced was much better than that of the Hong Dynasty at that time. At least he did not have to face a real overlord-level opponent, nor did he have to compromise because he was temporarily unable to challenge. Behind him, Da Ming still has the largest size in the world, and he can also utilize this size to a great extent.
However, due to concerns about Ming Dynasty's characteristic politics, it was difficult for him to fully integrate his power with Ming Dynasty. He needed to have his own more independent power, so the concept of "Southern Xinjiang" emerged.
The emergence of the concept of Southern Xinjiang does not mean that Gao Pragmatic believes that Southern Xinjiang can be separated from the Ming Dynasty system. Not to mention that such a huge market as the Ming Dynasty is irreplaceable. Just look at the proportion of Han population in the countries in Southern Xinjiang. I will never accept the "grant of the country" and serve as the Protector of Dingnan now.
Fortunately, the emperor didn't really intend to do this now, so after the emperor and the cabinet reached a compromise, Gao Pragmatic was relieved. You know, Jinghua's rule in southern Xinjiang seems to be stable now, but it is not just Jinghua's own force that plays a role. Ming Dynasty's "millions of heavenly soldiers" itself is a powerful deterrent to the countries in southern Xinjiang.
The original Ming Dynasty did not interfere in the affairs of the countries in southern Xinjiang. If it really interfered, which country's people thought they could really resist it? Therefore, although Jinghua's current rule cannot be said to be a fake one, it is true that it uses power to bully others.
However, the emperor's move also reminded Gao Pangshi. He felt that since he had attracted the attention of the emperor and the queen mother, and was probably also concerned by officials from other factions in the court, it seemed that continued military expansion was not possible for the time being. Even if we want to expand, we can only find another way.
He discussed it with Huang Zhiting, Liu Xin, and Gao Mo, and all three of them put forward some suggestions.
Huang Zhiting's suggestion was interesting. She believed that local militia could be formed to suppress bandits. Most of the ruling systems of various countries in southern Xinjiang were modeled after Chinese dynasties, and they were also of the "imperial power did not extend to the county" style, so wealthy people and tribal bandits were quite common.
Therefore, Huang Zhiting suggested that it would be the best of both worlds to select selected soldiers and send them as the main force to suppress bandits to eliminate some local forces. This can not only strengthen Beijing's rule over various places and allow the ruling power to penetrate into the roots of various countries in southern Xinjiang, but also cultivate advanced elements in these small-scale wars, allowing them to obtain the status of "naturalized Han people" and strengthen the basic base of the ruling power.
Liu Xin may have long considered that Huang Zhiting would be biased towards the military aspect of her proposals, so her proposals focused on the political and economic aspects. She has three suggestions:
The first is to use the emperor's influence to release the news that the emperor "almost" appointed Gao Pingjing as the Protector of Dingnan, so that all the countries in southern Xinjiang can be mentally prepared for this. Then Jinghua quietly began to establish a unified administrative system in southern Xinjiang - the name can be smaller, but the real power must be laid out. In short, the framework of the "Dingnan Protectorate" must be set up in advance, and so on In the future, if the emperor really canonizes the throne, Southern Xinjiang can be directly transformed into the Dingnan Protectorate without any delay.
Next comes the construction task. Since it will become the "Dingnan Protectorate" sooner or later in the future, which means "southern Xinjiang integration", it can also be planned in advance.
For example, the chaotic road system between countries in southern Xinjiang can be unified planned and a suitable road transportation network built.
Both she and Gao Pragmatic grew up under the red flag. Of course, they knew well that in order to get rich, they must first build roads. In addition, she was born as a general in this life. She had personally led troops to fight in southern Xinjiang, and she was very familiar with the situation in southern Xinjiang. They were familiar with each other, so they quickly planned out several "backbone road networks" on the map for the Gao Pragmatic couple's reference.
Gao Pingshi asked her what to do with the funds, and she even put forward a plan that was incredible at first glance, but amazing upon closer inspection. She said: "Why does Jinghua have to pay for the construction by itself? Doesn't building roads prove surrender and prove that Is it a form of declaration that I yearn for naturalization?
In my opinion, we can allow those large and small forces that have taken refuge with us to obtain things such as 'naturalization points' through road construction. As long as they pass the acceptance of our Jinghua Infrastructure, points will be recorded for them. When a certain number of points are accumulated, they can obtain the qualifications for naturalized Han people according to the standards. "
Gao Pragmatic's eyes lit up, but he quickly thought of a question and asked: "But the number of naturalized Han people a family needs is always limited. For example, for a local noble, he may only need a few or dozens of members of his family to obtain it. There is no need for the serfs under his command to be naturalized as Han people. This does not require too many 'naturalization points', so naturally he does not need to build too long a road."
Liu Xin said: "This is not the case. Under the naturalized household registration system, the tax collection rates of various countries in southern Xinjiang are not unlimited and can be reduced according to households. We can adjust many levels. For example, if the head of the household is a naturalized Han, the tax will be reduced by 150 ( 5%), and if his family has 100 serfs who can obtain the status of naturalized Han people - of course naturalized Han people cannot be slaves, they must at least be promoted to tenant farmers - at this time, based on the proportion of these 100 naturalized Han tenant farmers, If we give him a hundred percent (1%) reduction, how can this aristocratic head of household not be happy?"
This was a really good idea, and Gao Pragmatic agreed immediately. However, Gao Pragmatic also proposed a supplement, that is, the proportion of "naturalized Han tenants" required for this proportional reduction must be incremental, for example, an additional reduction of 1%-5%, based on 100 households, to 6% At the level of -10%, it is necessary to increase the number to 200 or even 300 households.
At the same time, two restrictions were added: one is that the maximum reduction rate is 15% of land tax, and commercial tax is additional and is not included; the other is that the household registration of Han tenant farmers can be changed freely, which means that tenant farmers can leave on their own. For the original head of the household, the head of the household will not enjoy the reductions and exemptions brought to him by the tenant in the year following the separation. As for the specific methods for voluntary separation, Southern Xinjiang will formulate guidance.
Liu Xin's third suggestion is to reconstruct the economic structure of southern Xinjiang, especially the structure of "emerging industries" - those that Gao Jingjing developed in the Ming Dynasty. According to Liu Xin, since it will be self-contained sooner or later, it should be built in advance now and cannot always rely on the Ming Dynasty itself.
Not only that, she also suggested that Gao pragmatically consider it and ask Jinghua Porcelain to send people to inspect various places in southern Xinjiang to see where there is high-quality kaolin suitable for porcelain bases and to establish southern Xinjiang's own porcelain industry. The same goes for textiles. Let's see if we can set up a "sub-center" in southern Xinjiang outside the Ming Dynasty.
However, Gao pragmatically only accepted the first half of this series of suggestions for the time being. The second half is the porcelain and silk part. Gao pragmatically said that he still needs to consider it carefully, but he agreed with the part of establishing a cotton textile and linen textile base.
When Gao Mo made his suggestion, he said that his wife had mentioned before that Portugal might be forced to hand over the city of Malacca. Once this was really successful, Southern Xinjiang might be able to use the Ming Dynasty's original influence in Nanyang to enter Nanyang without the use of force. Rather than fully occupying the archipelago immediately, we can at least obtain a few bridgeheads first.
This idea was highly pragmatic and appreciated. He himself had thought about this method before, but due to the rapid expansion of Jinghua, he could not think of a suitable general to take charge of the Nanyang Islands strategy, so he did not take the initiative to propose it.
Gao Mo had a suggestion at this time. He believed that the early stages of the Taiwan strategy had been basically completed, and the rest were basically construction tasks. Therefore, the fourth master (Gao Wujian) could be transferred to the south and be responsible for the Nanyang strategy - Nanyang and Taiwan. It is quite similar, and Fourth Master's relevant experience can be used just right.
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