Chapter 13 Establishment of Parliament
It goes without saying that the red tape surrounding the establishment of the meeting is complicated.
There's not much to say.
He Xi came forward and granted more than 300 people the status of members.
However, this is also a small-scale economic survey.
Among these three hundred people, there are about fifty or sixty people from the Noble Sect. There are about a hundred people in the Liaodong faction and about twenty in the state-owned faction. The rest of them had everything. If we talk about it in detail, it should be the local factions that make up the most. In many places, a group of businessmen raise money just to get a position here.
For nothing else. Just for the various treatments that members receive, they can be considered an official when dealing with the government.
When something happens, they are not the last to know. Of course, the Liaodong faction seems to be a local faction, but in fact, it has far exceeded the strength of some local factions.
Really speaking, the Xungui Sect is the most powerful, but the problem is that none of these family leaders are here, even though He Xi has enacted the law and has emphasized the equality of everyone. But most of the shopkeepers who run the business here are domestic slaves.
Buying an official position for these domestic slaves is not what their nobles want.
The reason why they came here was simply because they didn't want to cause too much trouble with the Beijing court.
Just some blood.
The Liaodong faction is actually weaker than the Xungui faction, but the Liaodong faction has the most money and is the most willing to pay. This is also a business issue. To be honest, the Liaodong faction has developed rapidly in recent years, and the biggest help is actually He Xi.
After He Xi assumed a high position, he cleaned up those industries that the imperial court could not manage, and the imperial court made large-scale external purchases. The implementation of various policies, opportunities for merchants accompanying the army, etc. were all brought by the Liaodong faction.
There was no need for He Xi to come out to say hello. When He Xi formulated policies, he put fairness first. However, the Liaodong faction in business and the Liaodong faction in politics were two sides of the same coin. Many of them are classmates. Those who have good academic performance become officials. Only those with bad grades go into business.
They were so well-informed about each other that no bribes were necessary. When the imperial court issues a policy, these people treat their classmates to a few meals, and they can figure out the logic behind the policy and some of He Xi's ideas.
Others are still hesitating. What does the court want to do with this new policy?
This group of people are already on board. Even borrowing money dares to move forward.
This is the reason for their rapid expansion during this period.
As for the parliamentary matter, the Liaodong faction also figured it out. Although the parliament is now just a money-making institution of the imperial court. But that may not be the case in the future. No matter what, it is good to occupy a position now.
Therefore, the position occupied by the Liaodong faction exceeds their strength, which is a bit of a shame.
As for the state-owned faction, it goes without saying. That is the leader of all industries in the country. These people are the most obedient. To be honest, they have a lot of assets. It's just that the scale of the company is too big.
In fact, for these people, they prefer to have other official positions, such as doctor in the Ministry of Industry.
However, He Xi firmly opposed it.
Without him, these companies would be almost like a government office. All kinds of bad things, I don’t know how many. It's just that these industries are too important, and He Xi must master them. It can only be tolerated. Then add more posts to these chief officers. Then these departments have really turned into yamen.
How is it different from some previous workshops?
There will be no internal fluidity or innovation.
Recognition of a certain social status can only be given in this way.
Of course these people are trivial. The real big deal is the fight for the Speaker, which is the real fight between dragons and tigers.
Although it is said that He Xi and Zhu Xiongying have already finalized their relationship. But it is impossible to tell the people below.
Therefore, Xie Lun went all out and directly purchased 3 million yuan in treasury bonds. And Zhang Youzhi was not used to Xie Lun, so he directly bought out five million in national debt.
When Xie Lun saw this, he knew it was impossible to win.
Without him, Jie Lun’s family is Jie’s money, and
Zhang Youzhi's money was the court's money, and Zhang Youzhi's personal wealth reached one million. It's even a fixed asset. The money from the imperial court will definitely be given to the imperial court. If we don’t sell national debt, we will use other methods.
Xie Lun could only give up, and even if he gave up, it was impossible to get back the money he paid.
However, He Xi gave him some comfort. Zhang Youzhi was the speaker and he was the deputy speaker.
As a result, after the conference, a total of about 40 million yuan in national debt was collected.
The financial gap caused by the Hejian War was solved at once, which was equivalent to collecting taxes for two years in advance. .
Seeing this, Zhu Xiongying couldn't help but said to He Xi, "In this way, the court can relieve its worries."
He Xi shook his head and said, "Relieve your worries? It's too early."
He Xicai looked down upon the money. After all, He Xi is different from King Yan. When King Yan was in trouble, he fought hard for several years. In fact, he only had a few prefectures around Beijing. The final move south was almost all-or-nothing, and he would die if he won. No matter what the fight was like, King Yan would always advance without retreating, because he knew that without victory, Beijing would be unsustainable.
What He Xi wants to do is a major reform.
It’s not just about fighting.
Reform requires money, and war requires money. Even owing money itself can be an opportunity for reform.
The traditional small-scale peasant economy is very conservative. Thinking of owing money is a heinous crime. The financial expenditure to maintain modern industrialization is astronomical. But in the face of social changes, this change is also necessary.
But the problem is that the people at the helm of the court may not be willing to pay for such huge expenses. If this happens, some functions of the imperial court will be replaced by many capitalists.
This represents a loss of power for the central government.
Although He Xi wants to carry out reforms, the future He Xi wants is definitely not an era in which the central government is incompetent and capital runs rampant. After all, China is too big. Without a strong central government, there is no telling what will happen.
But what if we transform it?
Naturally, the Ming court would first owe a large amount of money. A lot of money. As a result, everyone in the court was thinking about how to pay back the money.
And with the explosive growth of productivity, as long as the Ming Dynasty unified the world, it would be easy to pay back the money.
For example, a national debt of 40 million yuan, if Ming Dynasty were to dominate the world, would only be a year's fiscal revenue, and this would still be without any reforms. It should be noted that after the tax system reform in the late Qing Dynasty, taxes amounted to hundreds of millions of yuan.
Although not all the dollars here are equivalent. But we can also see the financial benefits that social development brings.
Even if the debt is one billion yuan or two billion yuan, if the fiscal revenue is 50 million yuan per year, it is naturally a very scary figure, and even paying it back with interest will be very difficult. But if the Ming Dynasty's fiscal revenue exceeded the Northern Song Dynasty's more than 60 million yuan, reaching 120 million or even 300 million or more, it would only take ten years to get all this money.
Then comes the problem. What should the Ming Dynasty do when its annual income is so large and its debts are repaid?
Let them get their tax refund without even thinking about it.
Bureaucracy is something that is shoveled into the bowl and never thought of being let out again.
This much money was enough for He Xi to reform the entire Ming Dynasty. By spending money on reforms, He Xi will encounter little resistance.
After all, in many cases, even if He Xi has the power, he still has to consider the feelings up and down. Moreover, owing money can also improve the social status of merchants in the Ming Dynasty. Although He Xi doesn't like capitalists. However, if the social status of businessmen, that is, capitalists, is too low, it will not be conducive to business development at all.
It is useless for He Xi himself to advocate improving the status of businessmen. After all, status is something that is often earned by oneself.
Allowing merchants to provide more taxes and wealth to the court, thus making the court dependent on merchants, would naturally improve the social status of merchants. Just like the matter of parliament, Zhu Xiongying would definitely not agree to it if there was peace.
But now, there is no way out.
Not all those who owe money may be uncles, but the court must pay attention to dignity no matter what, and always treat some specially, at least to remove businessmen from all bureaucrats.
Fish meat has become fish meat that can only be used by the imperial court. No one else dares to get involved, and the imperial court will not allow it.
Even so, it is good news for businessmen.
Just like today, some county magistrates and prefects cannot offend any big businessman with a name in the parliament. Naturally, some petty officials cannot come to blackmail people. As for those who have money but are not listed in the parliament, what will happen?
He Xi won't ask. But it’s hard to think about it.
