Chapter 161: The linkage between the industrial revolution and political reform
Su Boheng said: "The imperial court directly manages the common people. It is not that such things have never been done. The Qin Dynasty did it, and what was the outcome? The former Song Dynasty also did it, with redundant troops, redundant government, and even redundant officials. The former Song Dynasty paid taxes far away from the dynasty. , and then can use taxes, but it is far inferior to this dynasty."
"Suppose there are 11,000 households in a county. If the imperial court directly manages each household, then 110 households will be one li. Ten thousand households will be 100 li long. There will be a six-room book office and yamen servants. As for the servants needed by the Yamen Academy, according to a rough calculation, there will be at least more than a thousand people, or even more than a thousand people. And in such a small county, according to the current situation, there are only 11,000 households, but There are only 40,000 to 50,000 men and women. Children are not included. Even the lowest official can count as ten shi of food a year. It cannot be less. A person needs to eat two or three shi of food a year. Not to mention. Everyone They all belong to the family. They support the family. It is hard to say whether ten shi of grain is enough to feed and clothe a family. According to such statistics, the salary to support a small county costs about 10,000 shi. And among the expenses, the salary is only part of it. In addition to salary, there are other expenses. And how much tax does such a small county pay to the Ministry of Household Affairs in a year? There is a gap between the north and the south. It is roughly 20,000 shi in the north and about 30,000 shi in the south. Of course, Jiangnan Gaozizhi Land is not among them. It can be said that according to your majesty's method, after supporting local expenditures, there are very few places in the world that can pay taxes to the court. It should be noted that there is only one county government in the county, but there is a government in the government. Yamen, Tongzhi, and there are three divisions in the province. When it comes to the imperial court, there are more yamen, and the salary is higher. In a word, the imperial court governs the local area and entrusts the gentry outside the county seat, not because of trust. It is not because of indulgence, but because It’s a last resort.”
"Even in the Han Dynasty, when people's livelihood was valued, it was just the three elders. Today's grain chiefs and squires are now the three elders."
"If you really follow your majesty's idea, the imperial court directly manages every household. Here I mean every household, not one. It would be unbearable. Your majesty checked the yellow book and found many secluded acres. But in reality The census register is even more unreliable. There were no births, old age, illnesses or deaths that year, but not every old man who died went to the yamen to register. In all likelihood, the number on the census register did not match that of each person. . But in this case, the court does not have much control. It only needs to be long enough to ensure that every li can be dispatched on time. But according to the new management model, it is impossible to raise all the funds for the dispatch. "
He Xi said: "In the final analysis, it is a problem of money, and sooner or later, it will not be a problem."
Upper decision decided by the economic background. This sentence couldn't be more correct.
If there had been no industrial revolution, Zhu Yuanzhang would have been seeking death by doing this because the administrative costs were too high. And it is also very difficult to manage. It was impossible for an agricultural society to provide such officials, and He Xi felt that the time was not ripe at first.
In He Xi's heart, it must be not too late to launch Liaodong's industrial production model after it spreads across the country.
But since Zhu Yuanzhang had this idea, he had to shoot the arrow. In his heart, He Xi was ready to carry out political reform and the industrial revolution together.
Su Boheng sighed and stopped talking.
In essence, Su Boheng was against doing this. At this moment, Su Boxheng already had a thought deep in his heart, and that was: "It's better to go back."
Xie Jin said: "Since His Majesty has made up his mind, he has naturally thought everything through. So we only need to think about what to do."
He Xi nodded and said, "Yes, that's right. This is the top priority."
Xie Jin said: "Students think that today's matter must be released first to win the hearts of scholars in the world. Students can bear this matter."
Xie Jin also has some reputation in the newspaper industry, and he can be regarded as a world-famous person created by newspapers, an emerging media. He is very capable in this matter.
He Xi said, "Then I'll leave this matter to you."
Yao Guangxiao said: "Sir, this matter is very important. First of all, we must know one thing, who supports and who opposes it? Only by knowing who supports and who opposes can we prescribe the right medicine."
"First of all, support it in the DPRK and oppose it in the opposition."
"This matter is essentially an expansion of the power of the imperial court. The power of officials who are dependent on the imperial court has greatly increased, while those who do not occupy a position in the imperial court, their reputation in the countryside depends on the popularity of their relatives, such People will be suppressed.”
"They will naturally object. It's just that when the Ming Dynasty was first established, the army and horses were strong, and small local things were not something to be afraid of. These people would only hide it, and changing the laws of the Ming Dynasty was invisible and intangible to them. However, if the implementation of the new law is not successful and the world is in a state of uproar, it is these people who do it.”
"Secondly, scholar-bureaucrats. How does Neo-Confucianism govern the world? Etiquette and law. What is the use of etiquette and law? They are just equal to the noble and the humble, and do not respect the inferior. All equality under your majesty's imperial power is naturally a good thing for the people, but for the scholar-bureaucrats, it is a debasement. These people will definitely object. It is simply a joke to make them equal to Mudlegs."
"That's the biggest resistance."
"It's just that this aspect is not a problem. There are not many people in the world who dare to be strong in front of His Majesty. As long as Your Majesty is willing, this is not a problem."
"but--"
Yao Guangxiao suddenly fell silent.
He Xi asked: "But what?"
Yao Guangxiao stood up, wandered for a few steps, and finally sighed and said: "Sir, the affairs of the world are inside and outside, and the same is true for the reform. The failure of Wang Anshi's reform was certainly due to the difficulty and opposition of the old party, but if If nothing happens to the new party's policies, they will not give up. If the benefits are not enough, the law will not change. The current things are actually trivial matters, and they are just tricks. What we really need to pay attention to is how the law changes, and the world's major affairs in the minds of adults. How to spread it? That’s the most important thing.”
Yao Guangxiao got to the point.
With Zhu Yuanzhang's authority, he could do almost anything he wanted. Don't talk about changing the law and not changing the law, it is just going against the grain. Who in the world can stop it?
Historically, Zhu Yuanzhang went on a killing spree in his last few years, and there was not necessarily any resistance from the court. Even though there were many hidden dangers and problems in what Zhu Yuanzhang did, they finally broke out after Zhu Yuanzhang's death.
This is also the case with today's reform.
Machiavellian tactics are all trivial.
The real battle for the avenue has just begun.
To be honest, He Xi didn't expect that the reform issue would come to light so quickly. He had no specific idea for a moment. However, one thing is for sure, haste often makes waste. Although the banner of reform can be raised high today, the reform must be done one by one. The momentum must be big, but the pace must be steady.
He Xi said: "What Mr. Yao said is absolutely true. In my opinion, today's change to the Ming Dynasty Law is just to make what is already being done in the light. In fact, the reform is not in Nanjing, but in Liaodong."
Yao Guangxiao's heart moved and he said, "Liaodong?"
He Xi said: "First start in one place, and then spread it to the whole world. Therefore, there is no place more suitable than Liaodong."
Yao Guangxiao pondered for a moment and said: "Sir, this method is good. You can advance to attack and retreat to defend. The most important thing is that it is controllable. If you really come to Nanjing to implement the new law, I am really worried. But if you do it in Liaodong, there will be a lot more Yes. As your Excellency said, Liaodong has actually started reforming the law a long time ago. Once again, the name was not justified before, but it is also very good to correct the name today. But there is one thing that cannot be postponed. "
He Xi said: "What's the matter?"
Yao Guangxiao said: "The establishment of a province in Liaodong and the implementation of new laws, one prefecture and one county, have no effect at all. The impact on the world is limited, not to mention that His Majesty has already raised this matter to the public. You can't keep a low profile. Yes. Therefore, the establishment of a province in Liaodong is just in time. It can be used to implement the new policy in one province, and at the same time, it can also accommodate the people below."
Yao Guangxiao left the accent in the last sentence.
He Xi understood and understood Yao Guangxiao. Because no matter why Zhu Yuanzhang did this, today is different from the past. There are some things that He Xi must pay attention to.
