Emperor Chongzhen did not give an answer right away. Instead, after thinking for a while, he asked Zhang Mingwei: "Then what does the gentleman mean by saying that there are still bitches?"
After hearing this, Zhang Mingwei did not rush him to draw a conclusion, but explained patiently: "Your Majesty, at any time, someone breaks the law. In this case, I think these people are bitches, and we can treat them differently. Others are warned!"
The origin of the humble status actually started from being a humble person, but it eventually became passed down from generation to generation and extended to the humble industry.
After Zhang Mingwei finished speaking, the Wenhua Hall was very quiet, and everyone was thinking about these words.
Seeing this, he added: "As for this bitch, he is actually a prisoner. I would like to add that if he has reformed and redeemed his crimes, or in other words, after the official sentence has expired, he should no longer have the qualifications Use the capital of a lowly person to restore the household registration of good people.”
Finally, Zhang Mingwei added: "No one is born to be a bitch, and no one who becomes a bitch will be a bitch all his life. As for future generations, this is especially true over there. Regarding this, our government is even more There are many examples to prove this, your Majesty may wish to think about it, is what I said true or false?"
When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he looked at Zhang Mingwei and suddenly thought about it.
Emperor Taizu used to be a monk, a beggar, etc., but in the end he ruled the world!
Also, there are quite a few soldiers in the Ming Army today, including senior generals and even those who have been knighted. Weren't they all thieves in the past? When it comes to their origins, aren't many of them also from lowly backgrounds?
However, it is precisely because of their service to the country and their outstanding military exploits that the Ming Dynasty is now prosperous!
…
Thinking of these, especially thinking about the increasing number of people with hereditary low status, Emperor Chongzhen made up his mind and immediately said to his ministers: "I think what you said is right. There is no need for this low status to exist anymore." The people of the Ming Dynasty are all my subjects, how can I treat them so differently?"
When Du Yinxi and others saw Emperor Chongzhen's statement, they looked at each other, but before they spoke, they heard Wang Cheng'en, the eunuch in charge of the ceremonial department, come out first and say: "Your Majesty, I think that by abolishing the humble status, the Ming Dynasty will return the favor to me. There are great benefits!”
"Oh?" Emperor Chongzhen was a little surprised when he heard this. He looked at him curiously and immediately ordered, "Come and listen to me!"
Even Zhang Mingwei was a little curious and didn't know what Wang Chengen had to say, let alone others. They were all looking at Wang Chengen, waiting for him to speak.
Just listen to Wang Cheng'en report to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, these people with low status are mostly dependent on powerful people from various places. As the Duke said, they are often dissatisfied with the imperial court, so they follow the powerful people from all over the country. But if the low status is abolished, , these people who were originally lowly will be grateful to His Majesty and the court. In this way, the court's policies will be implemented much more smoothly in the local area! The simplest example will be reflected in local taxes. It’s even harder to cheat!”
Having said this, he paused, and based on Emperor Chongzhen's expression, he estimated what he was thinking, and then continued: "According to the information obtained by Dongchang, we in the Ming Dynasty reported a yellow book for household registration, but many states and counties levied taxes and grains. Then use the white book, also known as the actual recruitment book, which does not match; some subordinate officials also have private books in their hands, and even the state and county chiefs cannot interfere."
Upon hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen was shocked and immediately confirmed: "Seriously?"
"My servant can immediately send someone to Dongchang to get the relevant files!" Wang Chengen heard this and quickly expressed his stance.
Ordinary civil servants would not uncover this kind of thing. However, Wang Chengen was the head of the inner court and had inconsistent interests with the civil servants. When he heard Zhang Mingwei's start, he had the courage to reveal the matter.
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Otherwise, even the people in the inner court would just muddle along.
In the original history, Emperor Yongzheng of the Manchu Qing Dynasty finally abolished the humble status. One of the root causes was also due to tax issues.
The treasury was empty, and several policies he formulated were not implemented well, so he abolished the low status and won the support of these people in the local area, making the New Deal smooth.
Of course, the reason why Emperor Yongzheng did this was that he also had the largest base, which was the Eight Banners of Manchuria. He has not touched the interests of the Eight Banners of Manchuria at all. Including those with low status belonging to the Eight Banners of Manchuria. Should they be of low status or low status?
At this time, Emperor Chongzhen immediately asked Wang Chengen to go to Dongchang to file. Then, he looked at the chief assistant Du Yinxi and others and asked sternly: "Is there any truth to what the great companion said?"
"It is true that some states and counties do this!" Of course Du Yinxi did not dare to open his eyes and tell lies, "The weaker the court's control, the easier it is for things like this to happen. There used to be many, but now there are less!"
Upon hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen also understood that this had a lot to do with the central authority of the imperial court.
When Zhang Mingwei heard this, he remembered something again and immediately said to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, speaking of this matter, I think the current situation should be changed!"
"Oh?" When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he immediately showed great concern and said quickly, "Sir, please speak!"
Before, he thought that the country and the people were now peaceful and prosperous as never before, but he didn't expect that there were big problems hidden behind the prosperity.
Therefore, when Zhang Mingwei suggested that there was another status quo that was best changed, he really wanted to know what it was.
Just listen to Zhang Mingwei say to Emperor Chongzhen: "Since the Qin Dynasty unified the six kingdoms and the Great Unification, the world has been governed at the three levels of provinces, prefectures and counties. I thought this model was going to change!"
Although there are some differences in different historical periods, this is generally the case.
When Emperor Chongzhen and others heard this, they couldn't help but wonder, why did Duke Xingguo take the topic so far? And this has been done this way since ancient times, why should it be changed suddenly?
Thinking of this, Du Yinxi suddenly had a flash of inspiration and asked immediately: "Is it possible that the Duke's intention is the Xuanwei Division or something like that? But now that the Xuanwei Division has been abolished under the reform of the country, the Xuanwei Division has been cancelled!" "
After hearing this, Zhang Mingwei smiled slightly at him, shook his head and said: "When I talk about changes, of course I am not talking about the Xuanwei Department. What I want to say is that we should add another level of government office, that is, set up another administrative office under the county. Levels are used to govern places!”
At this point, without waiting for them to ask questions, Zhang Mingwei explained: "In the past, because of the population, I thought there was not much wrong with going to the county level. But now, with the increasing population, the county government The villages and towns under the country have an increasing population. Especially in the south, many towns have a scale and economy that have never been seen before. For example, in Nanxun Town, where silk is produced, the annual silk trading volume reaches tens of millions of taels of silver..."
Although the example of Nanxun Town is a bit extreme, there are actually many similar cases like Nanxun Town in Jiangnan.
It can be said that the population of Ming Dynasty was much larger than that of previous dynasties. Although after the wars in the late Ming Dynasty, the population lost a lot. However, the base is here. Nowadays, the country is peaceful and the people are safe, especially since cowpox can be vaccinated, living conditions are getting better and better, and the court encourages childbirth, the population will only increase.
Naturally, both Emperor Chongzhen and the senior officials of the Ming Dynasty in the hall were well aware of these matters. Therefore, after hearing Zhang Mingwei's words, they all looked thoughtful.
Zhang Mingwei looked at Emperor Chongzhen and said seriously: "A county government only has a few officials, the county magistrate, the county magistrate, the chief registrar, and the historian. It was no problem when the population under its rule was small. But now, can they manage it? Under the governance of the county government, there will no longer be a lower-level government office to take charge of the affairs, and the court's control over the local area will be much weaker, and various problems that the court cannot foresee will arise, such as local powerful fish and meat villages, deceiving the court, etc. "
"This is not alarmist!" Zhang Mingwei said seriously at the end, "As the population increases, the possibility of this situation becoming more likely!"
Looking at Emperor Chongzhen, he raised his voice and emphasized: "Your Majesty, times have changed. In the aspects I mentioned today, we should take precautions, move what should be done, plan what should be planned, and change what should be changed. !”
After Zhang Mingwei finished speaking, Dongchang's files were retrieved.
When Emperor Chongzhen went to see the archives, the officials below began to whisper.
"What the Duke said makes sense. The transactions amount to tens of millions of taels of silver a year. How can it be without government control?"
"But you can't say that. Look at the counties in the north, especially those lower-class counties, how small their population is. There is no need to add more first-level yamen!"
"What about the superior counties? There are many in the south, including along the coast. It is necessary to add a first-level government office!"
"In this way, it cannot be generalized, but it can be set according to different levels of states and counties!"
"..."
Zhang Mingwei naturally did not participate in the discussion, but just listened to their conversation.
While they were chatting, they naturally paid attention to Emperor Chongzhen's movements. Seeing that Emperor Chongzhen seemed to have finished reading Dongchang's files, he consciously silenced his voice.
After Emperor Chongzhen confirmed it, he already recognized Zhang Mingwei's proposal in his heart, and ordered the cabinet and the Supervisor of Ceremonies to take the lead in continuing discussions and coming up with specific plans for Zhang Mingwei's suggestions.
The same is true. What was originally just a matter of revising the etiquette system suddenly became involved in a wider range of matters. It was not until a few days before the end of the year that the plan to revise the etiquette system, reform the household registration and add government offices below the county level received Zhang Mingwei's support. Approval, approval of Emperor Chongzhen.
Among these innovations, the modification of etiquette is already very eye-catching. The other two items involved tens of millions of people and also caused a huge shock.
At this time, there were already telephones, and the transmission of messages was many times faster than before. Therefore, this decree soon spread across the Ming Dynasty from north to south and east to west.
