If Zhu Yunxuan's request was to exempt all Ming people from taxes for one year, Lao Zhu would not be shocked.
Most likely, he would agree directly.
Anyway, there is a lot of money and food in the national treasury now, so it is nothing to exempt the world from paying taxes for a year.
But exemption from corvee?
Or is it permanent?
If Zhu Yunzhen hadn't said it twice in a row, Lao Zhu would have suspected that his ears had heard it wrong.
People in the Ming Dynasty generally did not have to perform military service.
Because serving as a soldier and fighting in a war is a matter for military households and has nothing to do with ordinary people.
But transporting grain and grass also requires recruiting people.
Of course, this is only a small part.
Other types of corvee are the bulk.
For example, there are 110 households in a li, and a li is divided into 10 jias, each with 10 households.
So there are a hundred households in total.
The extra 10 households will serve as the head of the Jia, and one person will be elected as the head of the li.
They are responsible for the real estate affairs of their own people, assisting the government in arresting fugitives, serving as servants at the Yamen, delivering materials, and are responsible for general miscellaneous expenses, such as sacrifices, construction, banquets, etc.
The uniform corvee refers to the regular servants sent by the Yamen at all levels, with differences in strength and silver.
The handymen are non-recurring and temporary local errands.
From cutting salary, carrying firewood, building roads, building rivers, building cities, transporting materials and even warehouses, gates, officials, soldiers, postmen...
All in all, the government at this time had very few staff.
The other unestablished personnel were all conscripted personnel serving as corvees.
The state does not pay wages.
Not only do you have to work, but you also have to prepare your own food.
The government will not be held responsible for anyone who dies due to various reasons while serving.
anyway.
For some relatively good positions, you can often get a decent salary.
For example, Zaoli and the like.
Depending on the customization, you can get paid for this type of position.
This is for personnel stability.
Because the money is distributed, ordinary people cannot grab it.
And more corvee workers don't have a dime, and they have to eat their own food.
It's okay to collect and distribute occasionally.
Anyway, during leisure time, idleness is idleness.
Only when it comes to major projects such as building rivers, roads, and cities, will the people be overwhelmed.
"Grandpa Huang, your grandson is serious. Do you think that you should exempt the people of the world from all corvées?"
Lao Zhu yelled, stood up, and said, "Nonsense!"
After he finished speaking, he glanced at Zhu Yunxuan, then slowly sat down, his breath slowly calming down.
In Lao Zhu's impression, Zhu Yunzhen was not a willful person.
When he said this, he must have his own thoughts.
It's just that Lao Zhu still can't understand it.
But he was willing to listen.
"Tell me, why is this? Without corvees, even the government cannot function normally. If you want to build a project, how should you build it?"
Lao Zhu is really a little confused.
How can it make sense to talk about a large-scale construction project and at the same time to exempt the people of the world from all corvee labor?
"There is enough money in the national treasury." Zhu Yunzhen said: "In the future, if the country needs corvees, then just spend money to hire them. The state will only collect taxes and no longer force people to do corvees."
He raised 100 million taels of silver as reserves and planned to print as many as 500 million taels of RMB, totaling 500 billion yuan.
But so far, only 100 million taels have been spent.
The remaining 400 million are still lying in the treasury.
How to spend money is not an easy task.
Reward heroes and generals, princes and marquises?
That can only cause the poor to become poorer and the rich to become richer.
Money must be distributed to the hands of the people.
But how to send it is a university question.
All modern countries in later generations will suffer from this headache.
Water is constantly released, but the money is not invested in the real economy.
A lot of money is idle, inflation is rising, and people's wealth has not grown.
This has caused many social problems.
It has also become a hot spot in economics research.
But today's Ming Dynasty has a simple economic structure, and the problem of spending money is much easier to deal with than in later generations.
The way Zhu Yunxuan came up with was to spend the money on major repair projects by paying labor remuneration.
In this way, the projects needed by the country are built, and the money printed is distributed to the people.
Kill two birds with one stone.
In addition, people will buy things only when they have money, which will also greatly stimulate the prosperity of the commodity economy.
One more thing.
Because they had to perform corvee labor, there were actually physical restrictions on the people.
Many corvées are not allowed to pay for the service.
People must stay in their place of origin and cannot leave the place, otherwise they will be deserting.
Population mobility and economic development often complement each other.
Restricting population mobility actually restricts economic development.
Fifth point, without having to perform corvee service, the burden on the common people will be greatly reduced.
Everyone will be grateful to the court.
This is the best way to win over people's hearts.
Sixth, corvee service was the responsibility of local clans.
The so-called imperial power does not extend to the county.
The government relied on local clans to govern and allocate people to serve as corvees.
This in turn resulted in excessive power of local clans.
On the one hand, it is not conducive to the governance of the country, and on the other hand, it also creates greater oppression on the people at the bottom.
Without the need to perform corvee service, the power of the clan will be greatly weakened.
Moreover, because local clans are responsible for recruiting free corvees, they are also responsible for managing them.
Including many daily tasks.
Be under the control of others and obey their orders.
These people are under the management of local clans and naturally obey the orders of local clans.
As a result, local clans became powerful and national management was weak.
Once these people become recipients of the state's salary and are paid by the state, they become "civil servants."
They only obey the orders of the country and not the orders of local clans.
The situation where the imperial power does not extend to the counties will be completely reversed.
Grassroots governance will undergo radical changes.
The most important thing in governing the country is county governance.
County governance is based on the administration of officials.
But if most of those "officials" are people who have no official establishment, do not receive salary, and are not under the jurisdiction of the court, how can they be governed?
It is not a good thing for the emperor and his subordinates to rule the world together!
The official structure of the feudal dynasty was very streamlined.
But it was temporary, and too many people were recruited.
The seventh point is that investing a large amount of money into national construction will greatly stimulate the development of the national economy.
As a result, new interest groups were formed and their rule was further consolidated.
Another point is that through large-scale construction projects and payment of compensation, it also plays a role in disaster relief.
As long as the desperate people are willing to contribute, they don’t have to worry about not having enough to eat.
As for spending too much money...
Once the economy develops.
The taxes levied will be perfectly covered, so there is no need to worry at all.
…
As mentioned above, there are many advantages to abolishing corvee.
Therefore, in modern countries, except for the fact that military service is still compulsory, there is basically no concept of corvee.
In fact, even for compulsory soldiers, most of them have nominal obligations, and the country will still pay a lot of money and provide benefits in various aspects.
Zhu Yunzhen explained the benefits of abolishing corvee to Lao Zhu in detail.
Lao Zhu seemed to understand but he understood at least two points.
First, the abolition of corvee can effectively reduce the burden on the people.
Second, the court has enough money and can afford it.
"You have to think clearly, there is no turning back when you shoot."
"Although there is a lot of money and food in the national treasury, once the corvee is abolished, the court's expenditure will also increase sharply."
Lao Zhu still felt uneasy.
This is something that has never happened before.
Once the decree is issued, the world will be shaken.
"My grandson has long known that after the corvee is abolished, tax revenue will increase significantly, enough to cover expenses."
Zhu Yunxian is full of confidence.
"Abolition of corvee, abolition of corvee..."
Lao Zhu murmured to himself, still a little hesitant.
"Grandpa Huang, please trust your grandson and abolish the decree." Zhu Yunxuan implored.
"That's fine."
Lao Zhu picked up the wine glass and drank it all in one gulp.
"You govern the country in an orderly manner, and the Ming Dynasty is prosperous. Now you have a lot of money and food, and the people praise you. It shows that your governance ability is far superior to mine."
"You have such a heart, and you love the people so much. Now that you have made up your mind, why should we not allow it?"
"Then we will issue a decree that starting from next year, corvee will be abolished in Ming Dynasty!"
(End of chapter)
