"Although you say that, I guess you won't say that the money will be divided fully between Taicang and the officials." Liu Xin shrugged and said, "The emperor must give a share, right? ?This is your usual technique."
"Hahahaha, congratulations, you have learned to answer quickly." Gao Pingshi smiled and said: "The 70% in Taicang needs to be used as the emperor's share. Well, how should I put it, after all, things like titles are For the extension of imperial power, it is reasonable for the emperor to endorse it and give him some money."
"That means that in the end, the treasury received only 60%." Liu Xin thought for a while and asked: "By the way, how much do you think this money will be?"
Gao pragmatic deliberately acted surprised and asked: "You don't really think that I promoted this matter because of how much money this third-class foreign knight can really earn for the court, do you?"
He was pretending to be surprised, but Liu Xin was really surprised and asked curiously: "Isn't this the main reason?"
"Even if it is one of several important factors, it must be very low, at least ranked third." Gao pragmatically said: "The first important reason is that I want to use this matter to bring down the imperial court. Separating formal officials from local interest groups, or at least drawing a chasm between them, will facilitate my subsequent arrangements.
The second important reason is that I want to use this method to eliminate some major unstable factors in society, and in turn draw these unstable factors into the court system. Therefore, making money is nothing more than hunting rabbits and taking things along with you. "
"I can understand the first reason, but what does the second reason mean? Why is this matter related to 'social instability'?"
Gao pragmatic touched his chin, seemed to organize his words, and asked: "Do you know that the Qing Dynasty had an official donation system?"
"Of course I know. I've seen it in many TV series." Liu Xin replied.
"So, what do you think of this system?"
"How else can this be seen?" Liu Xin said in surprise: "A group of incompetent people relied on a little money at home to sneak into the officialdom by donating officials, and then began to dig three feet into the ground to "clean up the prefecture in three years and earn a hundred thousand snowflakes of silver". A bastard life of frantically plundering people's wealth and wealth..."
Gao Pragmatic waved his hand and interrupted: "I know this, but what I'm asking now is, from a system perspective, what do you think?"
"System? What a bastard system..." Liu Xin said angrily: "The officials who donate their offices in this way have no quality, and they are all shameless. In addition to making the country a mess, they also have What's the use? Let me tell you, this is another manifestation of the Manchu ruling class' arbitrary exploitation and bullying of the Han people."
Gao pragmatic shook his head and said: "Of course there are all the problems you mentioned, but I still have to tell you that the system of official donation really has other purposes."
"Really?" Liu Xin obviously didn't believe it.
"The official donation system itself will definitely lead to systemic corruption. After all, those people who spent thousands or tens of thousands of taels to buy an official position must find a way to earn it back. This is human nature." Gao Pragmatic sighed: "But you If you only see this side, you would be underestimating the Tatar rule."
"Yeah, like?"
"For example, on the other hand, the official donation system also allowed the Qing Dynasty to absorb a large number of social elites who could not enter the bureaucracy through the imperial examination - of course it can also be said that they are social unrest forces and even potential rebels - into the Tatar Empire The Qing’s ruling system thus reduced the possibility of social unrest.”
Gao Pragmatic paused for a moment and said: "What I want to tell you is that in fact, the imperial examination - at least the current imperial examination - often cannot select real talents. Zhu Yuanzhang said when the imperial examination was suspended in the early years of Hongwu, the imperial examination Those selected through the examination are a group of mediocre people who only know how to talk.
In fact, there are two real purposes of the imperial examination: on the one hand, it is to absorb social elites into the system; on the other hand, it is to create a social atmosphere in society that "emphasizes civility over martial arts."
Note that the 'social elite' I am talking about is very simple, that is, the landlord class with a certain financial strength, because often only people with wealthy families are more likely to study for so many years without producing anything - people like me.
Of course, you may say, there are still many students from poor families who get Jinshi in high school? Yes, there are quite a few. However, if you really look at the statistics, you will find that the proportion of such poor students who are admitted to high school is still very low, and their final achievements are often relatively limited. There are very few chosen ones who can break out of this shackles. [Note: This data has been discussed in Volume 1 of this book. ]
Let's talk about "absorbing social elites" first, and then let's talk about "valuing culture over military affairs". You think, is it a rich man who wields swords and guns with guests in his own manor every day, and is proficient in bowing, horse riding, and shooting, who is more harmful to the court, or is it a scholar who memorizes the Four Books and Five Classics in his own manor every day, who is more harmful to the court? big?
I have always believed that the Tatars had a high probability of conquering the Central Plains with a small number of people, so they put special emphasis on absorbing and winning over the forces of social instability. This is actually worth learning and thinking about.
Not to mention the liberal arts examination, the number of people admitted to the Tatar and Qing martial arts examinations over the years was many times that of the Ming Dynasty, and the prospects for candidates under the Taqing and Qing martial arts examinations were very good. As a wealthy person or the son of a wealthy person, if you still can't do it after getting here, that's okay, because you can still donate your official position.
How can I put it, if Liu Futong and Guo Zixing lived in Taqing, they would most likely not rebel at all, because they would either take the imperial examination or the martial arts examination. If not, they could still spend money to donate to the official position - because both of them were born in the Qing Dynasty. The house of great wealth.
So you see, although Taqing society is more conducive to the accumulation of wealth and resources than Ming society, few of the rebels in Taqing society came from big landowners or wealthy businessmen. Seriously speaking, Wei Changhui, the Northern King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, may have the best family conditions, but he is still just a low-level landlord who can only afford a hundred taels of silver to donate to supervise children.
But if you think about it the other way around, even if Wei Changhui is the lowest landlord in Taqing, what will happen if he is in Ming Dynasty? He must have been oppressed and exploited by the local government, because although he had a small fortune, no one in his family was an official, not even a government official.
But it was different in the Qing Dynasty. He spent money to donate money for the treatment of a juren, so the local government did not dare to exploit him too much. Wei Changhui's early troubles in their local area were mainly due to being oppressed by local landlords because of his Hakka identity. It can be said that if Hong Xiuquan and others had not come to the city with troops, I think Wei Changhui would most likely not have chosen to rebel. "
After hearing this analysis, Liu Xin couldn't help but think deeply, and said: "So according to your opinion, it is very important for those who have money but lack official status to have a channel to obtain upper-class status in society, and it can even influence people." One of the great things that will bring stability to the world?"
"To a large extent, it is true." Gao Pragmatic sighed: "You can think about one thing seriously: why the force that finally pacified the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was not the so-called elite Manchu and Mongolian Eight Banners, but the Han landlords headed by Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang class.
Then, you can think a little deeper, that is, since they were able to defeat the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which left the Eight Banners of Manchuria and Mongolia helpless, with local regiment training alone, it stands to reason that they can easily defeat the Eight Banners of Manchuria and Mongolia and overthrow the Manchu and Qing Dynasty. wrong? But why didn't they choose to rebel? "
Liu Xin pondered: "You are saying that the Manchu Qing court had already completed a high degree of interest binding with the Han landlord class at that time, so whether it was Zeng Guofan or Li Hongzhang, they felt that their interests were protected by the court at that time. , so there is no motivation to overthrow the Qing Dynasty?"
Gao pragmatic nodded and said: "This is the main reason. Of course, there are also some secondary reasons, such as their own strength and doubts about whether they can get the entire Han landlord class to stand by their side, as well as the praise of loyal ministers at the social level, and the The disdain of the 'rebels', as well as their age when they gained greater power, etc., are all factors that influence this.
But I still say the same thing, class interests are protected and even satisfied, and this is the main reason. As the famous saying goes: Politics is to use more of your own people and less of the enemy's people.
These words hit the nail on the head, because at that time, the power of the landlord class was really the greatest. And only that great man could bring together the power of almost all the people through revolutionary organizations, surpassing the seemingly most powerful forces such as landlords and capitalists... This is really like a miracle, and I will definitely not be able to do it. , so we can only settle for the next best thing. "
Liu Xin nodded and said: "Let me summarize, your main point is: the upward path of social class must remain open, because it is the basis for social stability. As for how to rise, even if it is just the simplest flower There’s nothing wrong with the money.”
“That’s not to say there’s nothing wrong with it, I can only say it’s the lesser of two evils.” Gao pragmatically mused: “In fact, in feudal society, many of the court’s policies had unexpected duality.
For example, at that time, many people exaggerated the Juzheng Reform at first, thinking it was the key to extending the life of the Ming Dynasty. However, it didn’t take long before many Ming historians, such as Professor Mao Peiqi, believed that it was Zhang Juzheng who laid the foundation for the reform. The whip method accelerated the demise of the Ming Dynasty.
Similarly, although the Manchu Qing Dynasty's official donation system has been criticized as selling one's official position, we must also see that this is only the bad side. On the other hand, the official donation system also played a role in absorbing as many social unrest factors into the system as possible. role, which objectively maintained the stability of Manchu rule.
This can be compared with the Yuan Dynasty. Although the Yuan Dynasty had looser social control than the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Yuan Dynasty failed to solve the problem of the upward path of the landlord class. The result was that in the late Yuan Dynasty, these rich and powerful landowners such as Liu Futong and Guo Zixing were , just find a way for yourself. "
Liu Xin nodded to express her understanding, and said at the same time: "So now you have to open a hole in the ceiling of these people. Although unlike the Manchu Qing Dynasty, you cannot give them official positions to avoid causing anger and resentment, but at least the identity issue can be solved for them, yes Is that so?"
"Well, it's not impossible if you think so, but in fact, the most direct reason for me to do this is to wipe my ass for another previous reform."
Liu Xin was very surprised: "Wiping the butt of the previous reforms? How do you say this? Aren't your previous reforms very cautious and successful?"
Gao pragmatic laughed and said: "Haha, that's what you think, or maybe it's because I only did half of it, so it will take time for the consequences to show up... But if I don't follow up on the policy, Sooner or later, problems will eventually build up as they pile up."
Liu Xin became even more curious and asked, "What exactly is it?"
Gao pragmatically pursed his lips and said three words that Liu Xin never expected: "Open the vassal ban."
"What's the problem with opening the vassal ban?" Liu Xin opened her eyes and said, "Isn't this a good thing that pleases people from any angle? It's even the best of both worlds! The imperial court has lost its burden, and many clans have also gotten rid of their shackles."
Gao Pingshi laughed dryly and said: "Then let me ask you, like the Yuan Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty also did not solve the problem of the upward path of the big landowners, but why did not many big landowners rebel? And in the end, they did die in the peasant uprising - —Of course there are also the Manchus taking advantage of the situation?"
This question stopped Liu Xin again, and she said suspiciously: "Yes, according to your theory just now, this doesn't seem to be right."
Gao Pragmatic smiled bitterly and said: "Because there was Zhu Di in the Ming Dynasty. He might be a genius, or he might just be a coincidence. In short, one of his measures successfully eliminated - or at least greatly curbed - the soil that gave rise to super landowners. This makes the rule of the Ming Dynasty surprisingly stable. If the Manchus had not risen, the Ming Dynasty, whose various systems were obviously rotten, might have continued to rule."
Liu Xin was extremely surprised and asked, "Is there such a thing? What did Zhu Di do?"
Gao Pragmatic spread his hands: "The vassal king moved inland, and the clan raised pigs."
Liu Xin was extremely angry and laughed: "Ah ha, that's it? You said this is a genius system?"
Gao Pragmatic didn't mind her anger, and still smiled bitterly: "Don't be angry first! Think about it calmly, if super landowners like the vassal king are all over the mainland, have they sucked up all the powerful people around them? The result is Isn't it true that only families with high-ranking officials everywhere can continue to maintain larger industries under the continuous blood-sucking of the feudal king?
Take my Gao family as an example. In our province of Henan, the princes with extremely high statuses include King Zhou, King Zheng, King Tang, King Chong, King Zhao, King Lu... Originally there was also a King Fu. Then think about it, except for a family with our status that can avoid being exploited by them, can ordinary landlords without high-ranking officials and backings be able to withstand their blood-sucking squeeze?
If you look at the situation at the end of the Ming Dynasty, you will know why the Donglin Party was the last civil servant group to form a larger force? Let me tell you, that is largely because there are no high-status vassal kings on the southern coasts such as Zhili, Zhejiang, and Fujian! "
Liu Xin took a breath and murmured: "It's because of this... It's actually like this?"
Gao pragmatic sighed, stood up and patted her shoulder, saying: "But don't take it too seriously, the vassal ban will still be lifted. I can't tolerate such a large group of leeches sucking the blood of Ming Dynasty; I also want to reduce the power of the civil service group Otherwise, this group of privileged people will be more bloodthirsty than the clan.
However, I have to remedy what needs to be remedied, and I have to guide what needs to be guided... In short, my task is very arduous. It does not mean that if I become the first assistant tomorrow, these things will be accomplished overnight. "
——
Thanks to book friend "Cao Mianzi" for your reward and support, thank you!
PS: My driver’s license has expired and I have to have a physical examination + license renewal tomorrow. I will update this chapter tonight.
(End of chapter)
