Chapter 41 Heavy Debt Burden
After He Xi announced the entire railway construction plan, almost the entire country was shocked. In general, most of the following proposals were approved as long as they were not too unreliable.
Such a huge plan makes people at the top and bottom feel that it is unreal. It was almost like a dream.
Anyone who can come to Dingguo is not a fool. With a simple calculation, they came to the conclusion that He Xi's plan will add a heavy debt burden to the future Ming Dynasty.
It's the kind of thing that is simply unclear.
But, what does this have to do with them?
Yes, what does it have to do with them?
For most powerful people selected from local areas, their first consideration was never the imperial court. Yes, of course some of these people still have feelings for their family and country, but not many.
Not much really.
After all, the first thing he has to consider is not what will happen to the country? But what will happen to myself? Under such a policy of the imperial court, what benefits does it have to oneself? After all, there is a large group of people underneath each of them.
If the people below are not settled well, they themselves will not be better off.
Power holders are only responsible for the source of their power. These people may not have understood this truth yet, but they are already thinking in this way when considering the problem.
Where do they buy their power? It's not the Ming Dynasty. It's about their own strength. They were invited by the imperial court because they had the strength, not the other way around.
Their first need is to preserve their strength, not the other way around.
If you have strength, you have status. As long as he comes up with policies from the imperial court that are good for them. As for whether the court can contain it, is that something they need to think about?
The power of bureaucrats comes from above, so it is easy for bureaucrats to ignore the interests of the lower class people in order to please the above. But for these people, whether they are congressional representatives or congressmen, their source of power lies at the lower levels. It seems that they only need to be responsible to their own supporters, but their supporters are not equal to the vast majority of the people.
There is a natural tendency to split.
Therefore, party disputes were the most taboo in ancient China, because once party disputes broke out, the bureaucracy would be responsible to those below, not those above. Then the national system is torn apart within itself.
This is also the reason why He Xi thought about it over and over again, why he wanted to strengthen the imperial power.
Because apart from the imperial power, it would be difficult for He Xi to find a way to operate power that best suits the interests of the people. As far as the royal family is concerned, as long as the emperor is wise, he will know that his interests highly overlap with those of the people at the bottom.
The same goes for a family that grows bigger.
China is too big. As a result, some local interest groups have to exist in various places, and if the central government does not crack down on these interest groups. These interest groups can form a new political power. This foundation exists everywhere. After all, there are many separatist regimes in China.
In other countries, perhaps only a few parts make up a country. It's like France, only Paris. This is natural and inevitable. The French themselves divide France into Paris and the rest.
This situation is not new today, it happened a long time ago.
And China has allowed local power to grow, which means that there are several new countries, and I don’t know how many people are kings and how many are emperors.
Therefore, the Han Dynasty determined the policy of cracking down on powerful powers and created a true unification.
The political system of ancient China was simply too sophisticated. Many things you think of have already been thought of by the ancients for you. This is why He Xi ultimately rejected the parliamentary system.
The Chinese people don’t understand why after so many years, the United Kingdom is still the British Isles and still has internal divisions. In fact, this power logic between the central and local governments is one of the problems.
So, what is the future of the Dingguo Parliament? They all must be the opposite of the cabinet system and exist as checks and balances on the cabinet system and on the administrative system. The administrative system seems to have lost its decision-making power on some major matters. But in fact, they are the core of the Ming Dynasty system.
However, this is not without its benefits.
At the very least, the new emperor will be generous and the whole world will celebrate. The powerful people in these places have benefited from the imperial court and want to favor the imperial government's policies. Naturally, he must support the imperial court.
They can represent the vast majority of local people, the so-called public opinion.
With their support, there will be no trouble in the local area.
When He Xi implements the reform of the entire administrative system at the local level, it will be much smoother.
Of course, replacing the old system with a new system will not be smooth sailing.
He Xi has done a lot for this reform. The reform from the central to the local governments was not only a reform, but also the Communist Party's purge of the original Nanjing regime. It is the elimination of old ideas by new ideas. It is not just He Xi himself who has to do this, but also everyone from Beijing.
And they are now the core of the Ming Dynasty.
Therefore, in this invisible battle, He Xi is unlikely to lose. However, this reform also has some impact on local powerful people.
After all, this is not simply a new law replacing an old one. It is a complete reshuffle and redistribution of interests. The interests of local powerful people will also be affected.
It’s hard to say whether it’s just a good influence or a bad influence.
Ding Xian's approach has been told to He Xi. Rabbits will bite when they are anxious. Jiangnan, where the folk customs are so weak, can cause bloodshed, let alone other places.
So you can’t push people to a dead end.
This large-scale investment is essentially a redemption. He Xi would also like to thank Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang has already gnawed the hardest bone, which is the land issue.
Although Jianwen has made some setbacks in the past three years, the foundation is still there. Matters regarding land taxation and servitude can be left unchanged for the time being and will all follow the old rules. Just build a new system. There is not much exposure to the interests of local powerful people. But still a lot.
The construction of railways in these places brings not only convenient transportation, but also a large number of benefits, whether it is other benefits that arise due to convenient transportation or the benefits brought by the construction of the railway itself.
It is enough to bribe some prominent local figures to get them to cooperate with the new law, which is also a good thing.
At least make the implementation of the New Deal smoother.
But the price is high debt, and even more money spent on implementing the New Deal than on war.
It's just that He Xi has made a lot of calculations. I think this is the best way.
He Xi's implementation of the New Deal from the two capitals to the local areas is essentially an act of expanding the market. After all, there were too many behaviors that hindered business in the original prefecture and county system.
It is impossible for foreign businessmen to do business on the ground. There are many ways to make foreign businessmen die without anyone noticing. Even the locals don't do business well.
In any business, wouldn't it be faster to grab it?
What does it mean to be the king of the mountain? This is the case in many places. Except for a few business channels, material distribution is not carried out in a commercial manner at all. Money can buy things. It is an illusion created by later generations after commercial development. Many people mistakenly believe that it has existed since ancient times, but they are completely wrong.
And He Xi has no idea how much effect it can have after local reforms. At least one thing is certain. That is the establishment expenses of local governments, many of which are based on commercial taxes.
In other words, if local governments cannot collect taxes, they will lay off employees. Layoffs represent a reduction in the power of local officials.
This is something they won't allow.
Industry and commerce will also become one of the assessment indicators for every local official.
He hoped that in the future, businessmen from the Ming Dynasty would come from other places and do business locally, so they would naturally need to visit the dock. But after worshiping the dock, you can do business normally. that's enough.
As long as the railroads can issue specialized bonds, of course. Then there is a way to convert national debt into railway debt, and the railway business will be profitable for a long time.
This railway debt cannot be said to be fully capital-protected. But there is a high probability that you will not lose money.
From this benefit, the national debt was offset.
When He Xi steps down, I will definitely be able to
Keep good accounts. Of course, He Xi will also work hard to repay the national debt. Pay off this debt as much as possible.
After all, he didn't want to leave a mess for the next one.
But the problem is, it's hard to say. It wasn’t until the last moment that I knew if it would work.
This is the cover-up mechanism that He Xi wants.
Accounting is also a very magical profession that can turn decay into magic. He Xi's understanding of accounting is far inferior to that of some of her peers. However, He Xi is confident that this kind of project conversion can still be completed.
And isn’t it still a few years away? Just take your time.
After the railway issue has been settled, the Dingguo Conference has come to an end. The issues that need to be discussed have already been discussed. The legitimacy of the imperial court has been established. All participants were also very satisfied.
At this time, the last question came up.
That is to retain Dingguo.
There is no need for He Xi to send someone to support this opinion. Someone came forward on their own. After all, the influence of Dingguo Society is too great. The power here satisfies many people.
He Xi did not pass directly, but showed great hesitation.
The people below are very concerned about this matter. Almost everyone wants to keep this meeting. Of course, they also want to keep their status as participants.
But the latter one has to wait until Dingguo can retain it.
He Xi and Zhu Xiongying delayed for a long time before Zhu Xiongying issued an order to discuss and finalize the bylaws of the National Assembly.
Thus, the final climax of this country-defining meeting appeared. Countless people were involved in this matter.
It's just that He Xi is very concerned about this matter. In the Dingguo Council, there have always been many people belonging to the He Xi camp. So although the entire charter discussion was intense, it was all under He Xi's control. The entire charter also reflects He Xi's will and ideas.
