Everyone in this room should be aware of the burden that pastoral methods have placed on the people.
But no one dares to change the importance of war horses too much. If the people are not suffering, the country will have no horses, and the country will have no horses. Who dares to bear this crime?
So in the end, the people have to suffer a little more.
"In the fifth year of Hongzhi, Ma Wensheng, Minister of the Ministry of War, also intended to improve the horse administration. He ordered that from now on, the officers and soldiers under his command would lead the horses and set a seal, and the book would be inspected three times a month. Those who are fat and strong will be classified as first-class; Those who are emaciated will be classified as the second class. If they are all thin after three inspections, and the horse collapses in the future, they will be ordered to buy supplements to avoid the disadvantages of the soldiers who are not willing to feed carefully. If they are fat and healthy three times and the horse collapses due to acute illness, they will be exempted from the disease. Pursue compensation."
This method is to mark the military horse, and then check whether it is fat or not after a period of time.
If he has always been fat and suddenly dies, he will be exempted from compensation.
In fact, it is to refine the horse compensation situation and make it more humane.
It's kind of useful, but only a little bit. Because it is recorded whether it is fat or not, which easily breeds corruption, and the person who gives money will naturally be fat.
Zhu Houzhao listened to Liu Jian's speech for a long time, which confirmed two thoughts in his mind.
First, it is true that after some people took the horses back, they were unlucky enough to raise them to death, and not just one or two.
Secondly, it shows that the harm of Ma Zheng is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
Otherwise, Ma Wensheng would not have to make this improvement.
"You are all loyal ministers of the imperial court. According to what you said, if the way of herding people continues as it is now, will the imperial court still receive enough horses?"
Wang Yue heard bad signs. Didn't His Highness want to reduce the number of horses?
What would the Ministry of War do without Ma Ke?
"Your Highness... the national situation is difficult. Although the imperial court wants to alleviate the people's difficulties, the horse administration is also an ancestral system. It may not be a good thing to change it easily."
"Ancestor system?" Zhu Houzhao murmured: "I remember Emperor Taizu Gao once said that a country is based on the people. If the people are tired because of horses, it is not good governance."
These are Zhu Yuanzhang's original words, and several bachelors present must remember them.
Zhu Houzhao also remembered the great uprising of Liu Liu and Liu Qi.
And it’s not that long from now.
Once the peasants revolt, they will actually not be able to survive. Otherwise, the Chinese people would not rebel easily even if they eat one meal a day, let alone three meals a day.
Rebellion is by no means a romantic word.
This is to punish the nine tribes.
Zhu Yuanzhang even became a monk and never thought of rebelling.
"...I don't understand one thing very well," Zhu Houzhao planned to ask clearly. "In the eleventh year of Hongzhi's reign in Datong, there was an incident of merchants and Tatars trading contraband. One of the reasons for interfering was that Datong There is a shortage of horses, so they have to buy horses from the Tatars. So, since you can buy horses from the Tatars, why can't you buy horses from the people of the Ming Dynasty in the imperial pass? Is it because it is not suitable to raise horses in the pass, and Tatar horses are better? Or is it because even if we purchase all the horses in the country, it won’t be enough?”
"Your Highness," Han Wen said, "I can answer this question, Your Highness. The horses on the grassland are tall, and the horses in the south are short. This is true. But think about it, Your Highness, even the northern horses have high-grade horses and low-grade horses. Difference, will the Tatars sell us their best horses?”….
Zhu Houzhao nodded. Among these ministers, Han Wen was relatively capable.
Wang Yue basically didn't have a good life for a long time, so he was used as the face of the Minister of War.
"It makes sense, keep talking."
"I heard that there is such a joke on the grassland. It means that the Tatars leave the pony at the foot of the mountain after it is born, and tie the mare to the top of the mountain. If the foal can jump up from the foot of the mountain, Next to the mare, this is a good horse, keep it for your own use,"
"If a horse jumps halfway up the mountain and then climbs up to find the mare, it is classified as a meat horse, which means it is killed for meat."
"And those who are too cowardly to jump up will be sold to Ming Dynasty."
This was the first time Zhu Houzhao had heard of this kind of thing.
So I'm very unhappy'
Huh, let out a cry.
But it actually makes sense when you think about it. Horses are an important strategic material. Do you want to buy good ones with money? Human beings in the 21st century are not civilized to that extent.
"As for whether there are enough war horses from all over the country, it depends on the development of the war. If hundreds of thousands of troops go on an expedition, millions of horses will be needed from war horses to transportation. Our Ming Dynasty currently has no more than 500,000 horses in the country. One horse is naturally not enough."
Zhu Houzhao probably understood, "Then the horses we usually use don't need such a large number. Can we buy them from the common people?"
Han Wen answered: "In the sixth year of Hongzhi, Ma Wensheng, then Minister of War, went to the imperial court and decided to turn the people's horse-raising tasks into taxes and hand them over to the imperial court, with the border towns mainly purchasing their own horses. After the sixth year of Hongzhi, many people in the south The provinces all have similar requests, hoping to raise horses to raise money instead.”
In fact, Ma Hu paid a sum of money to settle the matter.
This is a bottom-up policy change, which shows that the people at this time were extremely disgusted with raising horses and would rather pay money than raise horses.
"If Your Highness wants to expand the scale of his purchase, I think it is feasible. But in the end, the horse households will still have to pay taxes, so I cannot guarantee that it can really alleviate the people's poverty."
"What if Ma Hu is not required to pay this 'horse redemption tax?'"
"If you don't pay taxes, the money used by the court to buy horses will have no source."
Zhu Houzhao said: "No, the poor people can no longer take care of farming because of raising horses. If the court does not allow them to raise horses and farm instead, then the court's taxes will increase. I can ask my father for help. Purpose, all the increased taxes in Hebei can be used as the cost of purchasing horses."
"this……"
No one spoke. This is the truth.
But... from Hongwu to Hongzhi, more and more land has been reclaimed across the country, and the population is increasing. How come the annual income is still decreasing?
Therefore, the prince's method is effective. It will indeed increase taxes, maybe even a lot, because the people in Hebei have suffered greatly from farming. If they really go back to farming, they will be motivated to produce.
Therefore, tax increases can be achieved in three years, five years, ten years, or even longer, twenty years.
But what about thirty or fifty years later?
Everything is back to square one.
Fifty years from now, people will look back and see that your reform was all in vain. You could still have a few horses, but now the horses are gone and the taxes are gone.
"What's wrong?"
No one spoke.
Korean explains this truth. He had to explain the future problems to the prince clearly. ….
"...Perhaps by then, the imperial court will have neither taxes nor good horses."
Zhu Houzhao thought to himself that it will be decades later. In a few decades, the country may be like what it will be like. Maybe the big voyage will come.
And within a few decades, he would take back all the seized horse ranches. When the number of official and animal husbandry increased, the situation would be different.
"Has Shangshu Han ever thought about it, if such bad policies persist and remain unchanged, the people will be poor, miserable, and trapped, and maybe my Zhu family will not have a successor for future generations!"
All the ministers knelt down and said, "I ask Your Highness to punish the ministers for their ineffectiveness in assisting the administration."
It seemed like they had no problem with it.
But such a major matter cannot be implemented hastily.
"It is a definite fact that horse administration is not good governance, but the court needs horses. I also know that if it is canceled easily, the impact may be unknown. Moreover, if all the horses entrusted to the people by the court are suddenly taken back, where will so many horses be put? To raise them? Or to kill them on the spot? These all need to be considered. So it’s better to act with both hands.”
Zhu Houzhao's original thinking was not very clear. He gradually found a feasible method through discussions with his ministers. "One is to select one or two counties in Beizhili as a pilot project and eliminate the need for horse owners to raise horses. According to the policy of people and animal husbandry, the imperial court took back the horses that were given to the people, and then gave them to Liang Chu and asked him to send them to Yang Yiqing. He, the Taipusi Minister, cannot stay in the capital every day."
"Mr. Liu Ge, you need to select capable people to serve as magistrates of these two counties."
"yes."
"Your Highness." Xie Qian raised a question at this time, "What if this case is repeated and when it comes time to use troops, the imperial court cannot buy horses even if it has money?"
Zhu Houzhao replied: "The elimination of horse households from raising horses does not mean that there is no need to raise horses. If the court instead uses money to buy horses from the private sector, it will be profitable for the people, and people will naturally be willing to raise horses. The key to this is whether there is enough money. .”
"Han Shangshu, the Ministry of Revenue should focus on tax growth data in pilot counties. I will see this detailed data one year later. If the increased taxes can cover the silver needed to buy horses, or even if there is a shortage, there will not be much shortage. The imperial court will If you can afford it, then you can consider expanding the pilot program. If you find that there is not much increase in taxes, or the silver needed to buy a horse is too far away, then I and you gentlemen will have to find another way out. In short, Focus on stability and make progress while maintaining stability.”
Mr. Xie Ge found this statement interesting, "His Highness's summary is very concise."
"If the pilot counties are cancelled, there will be no going back. Mr. Xie Ge, this is not fun."
Xie Qian: "..."
"yes."
If you cancel, of course you can't go back.
Because the people were extremely disgusted and finally relieved, you let him go back? Don’t you know that it is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but difficult to go from luxury to frugality?
"Secondly, in counties where there is no pilot program, I have decided to instruct six ministries and commissions including the Cabinet, the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Punishment, the Ministry of War, Dali Temple, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate... Oh, no, it is the six of you who will jointly carry out a special rectification activity. "
The ministers did not quite understand this.
Liu Jian cupped his hands and said, "Your Highness, please give me your instructions."….
"Have you ever thought about it, none of the imperial system is meant to push the people to a dead end, but why are Mahu's lives so difficult and they have to sell their sons and daughters during the country's peaceful years? How many corrupt officials are involved in this? Officials, big and small, use their hands to oppress the people!"
[A book-chasing book recommended to me by an old book friend I have known for ten years, @
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