Chapter 49 Confrontation
Overseas in this era are basically barbaric lands, not to mention that the fire of Western civilization has not yet been ignited. Still in the middle of the long night of the Middle Ages. Simply speaking, the concept of the Celestial Kingdom existed in the minds of the Ming Dynasty. Unless absolutely necessary, I would never want to go overseas to make a living.
Not to mention. The place where Guo Huan is located is Hangzhou, where there is heaven above and Suzhou and Hangzhou below. It can be said to be one of the best places in Daming.
How could Guo Huan be willing to go overseas?
When the time comes, he may not be able to enjoy what he enjoys now no matter how much money he has when he is in the company of savages.
But, things have come to this point.
Guo Huan was desperate.
Not to mention, Guo Huan knew that if he committed something, it would be exposed to the world. His fate is death, and a miserable death. Or the options of life or death. Not to mention, sometimes the person who wants his death may not be Zhu Yuanzhang, but some people behind him.
After all, he was not responsible for such a big thing. But many people hope that Guo Huan will bear it alone.
Living people may not be able to, but dead people cannot speak.
Guo Huan only had this path in front of him.
Hongwu's early sea ban policy was not strict. Not to mention, where is Zhejiang?
It was one of the maritime trade bases in the Yuan Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty was only a dozen years old, and the maritime trade in the Yuan Dynasty was not yet extinct. Guo Huan can naturally find the right candidate. But this determination is not easy to make.
Guo Huan also hopes for better news to come.
But he was delusional.
After waiting for three days, there was no news at all.
Guo Huan couldn't bear it anymore. So I packed up my gold and silver, took my family with me, and prepared to board the ship from Hangzhou, first to Ningbo, and then to the sea, where I would rest on a deserted island in the sea. Don't know yet.
Just when Guo Huan wanted to leave the city. Suddenly a servant came to report. What evening will Sir He come to visit?
Guo Huan was shocked and asked quickly: "How many people did he bring?"
The servant reported back and said: "I only brought two companions."
Guo Huan stood up, wandered back and forth, called his close associates, and said, "Go to Mr. Wang immediately and say this."
The confidant immediately got up and left. Guo Huan then straightened his robes and went out to greet him.
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He Xi had already been drinking tea in the living room. Xu Baoer and Wang Qianli stood behind He Xi. Xu Baoer still had some palaces, and his expression remained unchanged, but Wang Qianli was very nervous, with his hand pressed on the waist knife, and veins popped out on the back of his hand. He seemed calm, but in fact he had exerted force.
Guo Huan's voice arrived first before Guo Huan arrived. Hearty laughter came from behind the house. Said: "Master He, haven't you already returned to Beijing? Why did you come back again? But is there anything you forgot to explain?"
Guo Huan came in from behind and greeted He Xi. Fluency in action. Nothing unnatural at all. He Xi couldn't tell from Guo Huan's face what he wanted, such as fear and uneasiness. Worry or something like that.
This alone makes Guo Huan admirable.
If He Xi hadn't known about Guo Huan through Mao Xiang's intelligence system, he would have oiled his feet. He probably couldn't tell.
He Xi said: "Master Guo, don't you know why I go and come back?"
Guo Huan said sincerely: "I really don't know, please give me some advice from Mr. He. If Guo did something wrong, please forgive me. Or if there is anything that needs to be done to be promoted to the capital, please ask Mr. He to point out something." The connection?”
"That's right. Mr. He went and came back. Is this really the reason for this?"
He Xi was silent for a while and said, "I heard that Mr. Guo is planning to move?"
Guo Huan said: "Yes, I have been in Hangzhou for many years. It is worth tens of thousands of dollars to break the family. To be honest, there are many things that I can't bear to part with. This is not to go to the capital. I will leave the things here to the next generation. It is estimated that no one wants them, so I will I want to send these stupid, bulky things to my hometown in advance. I will pack lightly and go to Nanjing."
He Xi said: "Is that really the case?"
Guo Huan said: "Don't you think so, Master He?"
He Xi no longer wants to have a confrontation with Guo Huan.
In fact, both people know what the other person knows. The reason why He Xi came here was actually to drag Guo Huan off.
After all, Guo Huan has been operating in Hangzhou for so long, and he has probably brought down the city of Hangzhou long ago. This is the reason why He Xi and Mao Xiang stayed outside the city. Waiting for someone. Mao Xiang is waiting for the arrival of thousands of Jinyiwei from Suzhou. And He Xi has someone she wants to wait for.
At this time, Guo Huan showed signs of running away. So that they have to take action in advance.
He Xi felt that he came to see Guo Huan, while Mao Xiang acted in other ways.
He Xi's original intention was to waste time with Guo Huan by talking about this, but after a few words, she felt something was wrong. On the one hand, Guo Huan meant something in his words, but on the other hand, he didn't quarrel with each other and seemed to be stalling for time.
He Xi changed her mind and said: "Mr. Guo, I respect you as a person. There is no need to say that you are talking in circles. In fact, I have met Mr. Guo several times. But I believe one thing, Mr. Guo He really has the talent of a minister of household affairs, no, he has the talent of a prime minister. It's a pity that he has reached this point."
"I really feel sorry for Mr. Guo."
What He Xi said was a bit exaggerated, but it was not wrong.
On the matter of corruption, Guo Huaneng settled everything in the officialdom. It can be operated up and down without leakage. If this kind of ability is used in the right way, it may not be impossible to become a minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs. Even being the prime minister may be a bit too much. But not all the prime ministers in the world have outstanding abilities. Guo Huan is always better than those three ministers who are preparing for the throne.
Guo Huan's expression remained unchanged and he said, "It's a pity that the Ming Dynasty does not need a prime minister."
He Xi said: "Can you tell me why?"
Guo Huan said: "Why? For political achievements."
He Xi was stunned. This answer was beyond He Xi's expectation. He thought about it a lot. For example, Guo Huan had a miserable childhood, and he needed money and so on. But He Xi never expected that Guo Huan was doing it for political achievements.
This is simply the opposite.
Who doesn't know Zhu Yuanzhang's zero tolerance for corruption, a man who wants political achievements and promotion. Why such a mistake was made.
This is a joke.
Guo Huan sneered a little miserably and said, "Why don't you believe it? Do you know how many officials there are in the Ming Dynasty?" Guo Huan didn't wait for He Xi to speak and said, "There are about twelve thousand high-level officials in the capital plus localities. People. Do you know how many officials there are in Hangzhou? There are only four or five hundred people in Hangzhou city alone. Is that many? Not many at all. Do you know how many things are going on in Hangzhou city alone without mentioning Zhejiang? Land taxes need to be collected, city walls need to be built, The tide in Qiantang is fierce, and dams need to be built. The streets in the city need to be cleaned, roads repaired, and commercial taxes collected. There are also various lawsuits involving names. As for building water conservancy, encouraging students, etc., I don’t know how many people there are. How many people are needed to handle this? "
"How many officials are there in Hangzhou? And how many are working for the yamen?"
"In the entire city of Hangzhou, there are more than 10,000 white-coated people working for the yamen. This is still the least."
"These people want money."
"Although the imperial court collects taxes and allows them to be retained by various places, this is very limited. Moreover, the transfer of taxes to various places directly allows the county to connect with the various health offices. Or it connects with the imperial court, and the grain chief transports me. The money and grain in my hands are very limited. But If you want to do something, how can you have no money?"
"Where does this money come from?"
"Appropriate it from various places and let big households donate it."
He Xi sneered and said: "But Zhejiang is short of at least one or two million shi of grain, and the accounts you gave to the court are also very empty. Is this the political achievement you seek?"
He Xi didn’t know much about the grassroots level of Ming Dynasty. But he still knew some situations.
Guo Huan is right.
The financial system created by Zhu Yuanzhang was very messy.
The biggest problem is that Zhu Yuanzhang views the development of things as static. rather than dynamic. The distrust of officials is even more extreme. For these two reasons. The fiscal policy designed by Zhu Yuanzhang.
First, it's very stiff. For example, grain taxes in various places are not transported from counties to prefectures, prefectures to provinces, and provinces to the central government. Instead, the county directly corresponds to a certain unit that consumes food, such as a health center. Or a warehouse in the capital. Not through the hands of officials.
In Zhu Yuanzhang's view, this method allows the people to take care of themselves, which can reduce the harm done to the people by corrupt officials.
Secondly, there is no system at all.
Although taxes are retained in various counties. But where is the retention calculated? It is the total amount of various expenses in the county that was originally determined. If the county's various expenditures in a previous year were 10,000 dan, then the county would retain 10,000 dan and use the rest. What's more important is that these ten thousand stones were allocated before. How much is the county government office? The inspection department says yes, how much is the county school and so on?
In other words, there is almost no degree of financial freedom in various places.
Don't talk about the county magistrate. Even the chief envoy doesn't have much money to spend flexibly.
It is simply treating officials as thieves.
Well, in Zhu Yuanzhang's opinion, this official was a thief. More ruthless than a thief. Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang fixed all the money and food as much as possible to reduce the room for officials to manipulate. This is also Zhu Yuanzhang's love for the people.
Because in Zhu Yuanzhang's view, whenever officials are given discretionary power, they will definitely use these discretionary powers to do bad things. Even in modern times, the faces of some local bureaucrats are like this.
However, this also has huge side effects.
Everything costs money. Even when an official wants to make a difference, he still has money. Officials do not have free money. That means nothing can be done. Therefore, what Guo Huan said may not be unreasonable.
but. It makes sense, and this can be regarded as one of the bad policies of the Ming Dynasty. But look at Guo Huan like this. We know that it makes sense for Zhu Yuanzhang to design the system this way. Zhu Yuanzhang had already regarded officials as thieves to guard against them. As a result, a terrible thief like Guo Huan emerged.
If Guo Huan really wanted to achieve political results, he would just have to make up for it with money and food later.
But a few million stone grains were enough for Zhu Yuanzhang to fight another battle at Poyang Lake. Is this for political performance?
