Just because Cao Wenzhen's eldest sister is Gao Gong's concubine does not mean that he himself is very old. In fact, Cao Wenzhen is less than ten years older than Gao Pragmatic. Coupled with the snowballing and crazy expansion of Jinghua Textile under his control over the past few years, Cao Wenzhen has been extremely well-maintained and has a better attitude due to his unusually good career. He looks like a middle-aged scribe with a pale face.
Standing in front of Gao Pragmatic, Cao Wenzhen is wearing a blue Taoist robe, holding a sandalwood folding fan imported from Japan with gold accents, and has a mustache and a long beard. He is indeed the standard for handsome men of this era, and he is not even "greasy". have.
Seeing Gao Pingshi, Cao Wenzhen immediately stepped forward and bowed: "Hearing that his boss was calling, Wen Zhen did not dare to neglect and came to see him immediately. However, he avoided four important ministers' honor guards on the way, so he came a little late... This is polite. ”
Gao Pragmatic smiled and waved his hand and said: "No need to be polite, Mr. Zhidao, please sit down." Zhidao is the name of Cao Wenzhen, which has a similar meaning to "Wenzhen". After all, he was born as a businessman, and he did not dare to take a number for himself easily, lest he be ridiculed by others.
"Thank you, boss." Cao Wenzhen bowed again, this time to express his thanks. Then he half-slumped down on Gao Jingshi's guest chair, his body still slightly leaning forward, maintaining an appearance of listening to the instructions attentively, waiting for Gao Jingshi to speak.
This is a habit he has developed. Even though Gao Pragmatic seemed to respect him quite a bit, his own family knew about his family affairs, and his eldest sister was just the concubine of Gao Wenzhenggong back then. Concubines are not "enemies of the husband", they are almost equivalent to "husband's property", so Cao Wenzhen does not dare to really compare himself to Gao Wenzheng's brother-in-law.
In this case, what does he mean in front of Gao Pragmatism? He is the sixth number one scholar from a family of officials. He is the chief minister of the current imperial court. He is even the Marquis of Nanning who retired with the country. As someone who works for him, Cao Wenzhen is very careful about his status - Gao Pragmatic will treat himself well because of his own reputation, but the premise is that he must be clear-headed and remember not to overstep his dignity.
Sure enough, seeing how sensible Cao Wenzhen was, Gao Pragmatic did not go straight to the topic as soon as he opened his mouth. Instead, he smiled and said: "I heard that Zhi Daogong won the honorary title of Kaifeng Mansion not long ago? It's really gratifying and congratulatory. It seems that I will also I want to be called the Great Master, ‘The Sage of Kaifeng’!”
Although Cao Wenzhen was smiling, he hurriedly held up his hands and begged for mercy: "My boss, please don't harm Wenzhen. Even if this Kaifeng sage follows the rules, he only does not kneel before officials below the fifth rank. In my boss's country, he is the same as the one in the country." What does it matter to Mr. Xiu?"
Honorable Mention, this is a new system proposed by Gao Pragmatic less than a year ago. It is a kind of praise for local good gentry. It is mainly honorary, but of course it also has certain benefits. According to Gao’s pragmatic proposal, the system is roughly as follows:
The first class is given an honorary title and is called a knight. It is allowed to have superior clothes, superior door lintels, superior vehicle driving, and is allowed to build a memorial arch of its own. People below the third rank will not be worshiped by officials. If there are lawsuits and other matters, the yamen must Accepted immediately. This honorary title is not a royal title, has no rank, cannot be inherited, transferred, sold, etc., and will be extinguished upon death;
The second class is to give the name of a wise man in a certain government, such as Cao Wenzhen, the "Sage of Kaifeng". Those of fifth rank and below are allowed to see officials without worshiping them. If there are lawsuits and other matters, the Yamen must accept them immediately. This honorary title is valid for ten years and cannot be transferred, sold, etc., and will be extinguished upon death;
The third level is to give the name of a good gentry of a certain county, such as a good gentry of Qiantang, and allow those of seventh rank and below to see an official without worship. If there are lawsuits and other matters, the Yamen must accept them immediately. This title is valid for five years and cannot be transferred, bought or sold, and will be extinguished upon death.
In other words, Cao Wenzhen's title of "Kaifeng Sage" is still a limited-time title. If there is no "special contribution" within ten years after obtaining the title, the honor will "expire and become invalid."
Of course, Gao Pragmatic was not afraid that people would let it "expire" when he started this trick. Although it is true that you have to make a lot of "special contributions" to get this title for the first time, the method of obtaining it is also more troublesome - it is recommended by the local government, inspected by the censor, and then submitted to the cabinet. The cabinet then votes and submits it to the emperor for approval. Only those who will be awarded "honorary title".
However, as long as you get it for the first time and do not commit serious violations during the validity period of the title, then "extending the limited-time title" is much simpler. There are many ways to do this, but the simplest is... donating money.
Yes, Gao Pragmatic gave a long list of ways to extend the honor, including but not limited to building roads and bridges in the local area, constructing water conservancy projects, investing in helping to eliminate banditry, building and renovating schools and examination venues, etc., but in fact It doesn’t matter if you really find this troublesome, you can just donate money and it will be done.
Of course, there are standards for donating money, and it is actually not high: in the area where the honor is awarded at the same level, those who donate more than the "150" of the local "central tax" last year - that is, 5% - will directly receive the honor. The extension is extended to the same period as before.
For example, if Cao Wenzhen is a "Sage of Kaifeng", then he cannot donate according to the level of "a good gentleman of Mi County", but must follow the standard of "five percent of the central tax paid by Kaifeng Prefecture last year".
There is a new concept here, namely "central tax". "Central tax" is naturally compared to "local tax". This "tax sharing system reform" is undoubtedly highly pragmatic. Even the name is directly copied from the Red Dynasty before time travel. After all, as a township cadre, he is very familiar with this model. familiar.
Of course, copying and copying, after all, the two eras are hundreds of years apart, and the gaps in productivity, organizational capabilities, infrastructure, etc. cannot be measured. Therefore, the "tax sharing system reform" of the Ming Dynasty is not completely the same as that of later generations, but this is too complicated. Not detailed here.
But in any case, "central taxes" and "local taxes" are divided into two different types of taxes. It is important to rationalize the distribution relationship between the central and local governments, mobilize the enthusiasm of both central and local governments, strengthen tax collection and management, ensure fiscal revenue and strengthen macroeconomics. The control ability has all played a positive role... Well, that's what it means in a word.
According to the current taxation of the Ming Dynasty, after thirty years of reforms by the Practical School, the total of central and local taxes nationwide reached approximately 34 million taels last year, far exceeding that before the reform. Among them, Henan Province accounted for 9.21%, or 3.1314 million taels. Looking specifically at Kaifeng Prefecture, since Kaifeng Prefecture is a key investment area of the Gao family (Xinzheng is also under the jurisdiction of Kaifeng Prefecture), it accounts for about 37% of the province's tax payment. Therefore, the total tax amount of Kaifeng Prefecture last year was 1.1586 million taels.
At present, the ratio of central tax to local tax is roughly 7:3, so the actual central tax paid by Kaifeng Prefecture last year was 811,000 taels. In other words, if Cao Wenzhen relies on donations to extend his honorary title for ten years this year, he will have to pay 40,500 taels of silver.
Is this ratio high? It's actually a bit high, but Gao Pragmatic has his own opinion on this: If you build bridges and pave roads, you really don't need to spend 40,000 taels, but what about the trouble and risks involved?
For example, if an accident occurs while you are building a bridge and the craftsman who built the bridge dies, then someone sent by the court will investigate to see if you failed to take safety precautions or even deliberately harmed others - for example That person once contradicted you, and now you deliberately arrange for him to do dangerous work in order to make him die - etc., etc., etc., there will be a lot of trouble.
You are doing these things for a tall and honorable man like the "Sage of Kaifeng", but in the end, you may lose your crotch with yellow mud, which is either shit or shit. Isn't that bad luck?
Therefore, although donating money may cost more, it is more convenient and trouble-free, and has no side effects. Gao Pragmatic believes that this method should be chosen by more knights, wise men and good gentry in the future. Choosing to donate money to extend the Rongjue period is exactly what Gao Pragmatic wants them to do.
Oh, one last thing, the income gained from the "Business" of "Rongjue" is also distributed according to the 7:3 ratio of the central and local "tax sharing system", with the court getting 7 and the locals getting 3. Needless to say, the court is engaged in "honor and jue" itself to make money by taking advantage of the vanity of the rich, and the local government can take 30% to ensure that local officials are willing to cooperate. Otherwise, the court will have a hard time selling "honor and jue". Hey, I'm working with Xiao for free at the place? What's the matter, do you think I'm a licker?
Ah, of course, if Gao Yuanfu can favor me because of this, then this licking dog is not impossible. The question is, there are nearly two hundred prefectures in the Ming Dynasty [Note: There were 163 prefectures in the original history, and dozens more were added in this book due to expansion]. Can Gao Yuanfu survive?
Therefore, a reasonable share ratio is still very important.
Gao Pragmatic doesn't care whether Cao Wenzhen will pay 40,000 taels or 50,000 taels of "extended honors silver" in ten years. Anyway, he can definitely afford it. After all, he has received quite a lot of dividends over the years. Now the average annual dividend should be more than 70,000 taels. In ten years, even if Jinghua Textile just maintains the current profit scale, it will be more than 700,000 taels.
To warm up the atmosphere, Gao Pragmatic turned to the topic: "Zhi Daogong, you previously reported that there was a price war in Jiangnan. How is the situation now?"
Cao Wenzhen raised his eyebrows and thought to himself, "It's really for this matter." Then he said confidently: "Don't worry, boss. I and a group of colleagues have already conducted a careful investigation and research on the relevant families, including their industrial scale, wealth accumulation and even their connections." We have a more detailed understanding of the possible financial assistance.
Generally speaking, within one to two years, the total profit of Jinghua Textile will decline by about 20 to 30%. UU Reading t But this decline is not something to be afraid of, because Jinghua Textile will be able to force it in two years at the latest. They ran out of funds and could no longer maintain their business, so they had no choice but to sell off their assets or go bankrupt and exit.
Boss, as long as you can give me the next two years and dare to take Xiang Shang's head as a guarantee, Jinghua Textile will sweep across Jiangnan, capture 90% of the market, and become the sole overlord of Jiangnan's fabric market! "
Ninety percent? That's not just a hegemon, it's a complete monopoly... After all, there are cloth sellers among the people. They weave their own cloth and sell it to get some money to support their families. If you really achieve 90% market share, you will probably kill not only the Jiangnan chaebol families involved in the textile industry one by one, but the people will also complain. Many ordinary people can no longer sell the cloth they weave, so they can only weave the cloth for their own use... How can this be done? Fortunately, I intervened in time.
At this time, Gao Pragmatic couldn't help but think: Capitalism is so cold-blooded and ruthless. In order to dominate the market, it doesn't care about the lives of ordinary people. As for competitors, they are even more sworn in. No, I don't think this situation is unique to Jinghua Textile. I'm afraid many industries in Jinghua have this tendency. If I don't care about it, something big will happen sooner or later.
I don't know why, when Gao Pragmatic thought of this, a bright and tall street light suddenly lit up in his mind... Ci'ao, my ideal is to prevent China from falling behind, but I don't want to hang up a street light for the sake of reform.
"Then Lord Zhidao, what if I let you reconcile with the Jiangnan Chaebol?" Gao Pragmatic stared at Cao Wenzhen and said seriously: "What method do you have to do this?"
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