"Your Majesty, is this inappropriate?" Chief Minister Xue Guoguan was the first to raise objections. "Although the court has some money now, this is just a one-time deal. If even this kind of thing costs money, If so, the money probably won’t last long!”
Lu Xiangsheng, who was on the side, listened and responded: "Your Majesty, once this matter is revealed, what will happen in the future? What will happen to the other officers? I think the chief minister's concerns should be considered."
Sun Chuanting was also there, and he also stood up and objected: "Your Majesty, this is not just the case in our Ming Dynasty, but also in previous dynasties. Why should we make an exception?"
Seeing that several of his close ministers were opposed, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but lower his head and think for a while, then raised his head and said to them: "What you dear friends are right is reasonable. That's good. I will take a step back. The craftsmen used by the royal family are just You can do what I say, and the rest should be done as before, is that okay?"
Just now, he proposed to his confidants that the current labor system, including craftsmen, should be abolished. Instead of asking people from all walks of life to work for the government for free, it should be changed to a salary system.
Since ancient times, the burden of the people has been divided into two parts, one is taxes and the other is labor. It can even be said that sometimes levies have a greater impact on people's lives than taxes. Because this kind of service, no matter what it is, escorting food, building roads, constructing water conservancy projects, or even working as a government servant and other low-level errands, it is all a type of service. If it is your turn, you must do it for free.
For some large-scale labor tasks, such as building the Great Wall, many people never came back after going there. Even if the Great Wall is not being built, as long as the government is not careful, it will be difficult for many people to return home safely.
However, after Zhang Juzheng's whipping method reform, everything can be converted into money. Including servitude, too. As long as you pay the money, you don't have to serve.
But no matter what, this thing is a big mountain pressing on the people. The operation of the government depends on the two legs of service and taxation. But now, Emperor Chongzhen suddenly proposed to abolish this unpaid service and replace it with a salary system. For future generations, this may not be too ordinary, but for people at this time, it was a very shocking thing.
Therefore, even his closest officials, including Xue Guoguan, Lu Xiangsheng and Sun Chuanting, unanimously expressed their opposition.
Emperor Chongzhen actually expected this. But he was a little unsure about the attitude of the ancients, so he tried to put it forward. If he could accept it, that would be the best. If he couldn't accept it, then he could take a step back.
The reason why he thought about it for a while before answering was because he originally wanted to answer Xue Guoguan's question.
If free service is abolished, all the pressure will be on this tax. According to the understanding of people of this era, it was impossible to support the operation of the court through taxes alone. But for Emperor Chongzhen from later generations, it was not a problem at all. As long as we vigorously develop commerce and communicate with each other, we can greatly promote the productivity of various places. As long as the total amount of business increases, the increase in business taxes and local industrial tax revenue driven by business development can make up for the exemption. Even the plans he had planned could bring him enough profits to support the operation of the court.
However, Emperor Chongzhen finally considered that it was still a bit difficult for the ancients to explain these things. Instead of wasting words, it is better to do a pilot first and use this to promote it, and the resistance encountered should be greatly reduced.
Otherwise, no matter how good the policy is, after it is implemented at the local level, the wisdom and wisdom of the Chinese people will be able to interpret it and implement it in a crooked way that you would never imagine.
This has been proven many times in history. Especially the larger the country, the more difficult this kind of institutional reform will be.
At this time, hearing that Emperor Chongzhen had given in, Xue Guokang looked at Lu Xiangsheng and Sun Chuanting, made eye contact, and then said to the emperor: "Your Majesty, must this be done?"
It seemed that they still wanted to persuade the emperor again.
After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen had no choice but to explain: "I ask you, are the people enthusiastic about the hard work that they have been doing? Can they take the initiative to do things? Or do they have to rely on the supervision, whipping, and pressure of the government to complete the task? Did something happen?"
There is no need to answer this matter. The several frontier officials present naturally know what the answer is. They also understand the truth. Only when it is related to the vital interests of the people, their enthusiasm will be higher. For example, when it comes to building water conservancy projects, local people will be much more active than those in other places. Of course, lazy people also exist. This is actually the principle of eating in a big pot.
Emperor Chongzhen didn't need them to answer, and continued: "Not to mention anything else, I was very dissatisfied with the craftsmen who inspected the military warfare bureau before. What kind of craftsmen are they! To put it bluntly, they are a group of craftsmen. Eating and waiting to die, wasting time waiting for the craftsmen's service to be completed. Needless to say, you should also know their level. Those craftsmen with superb skills are paid to work for them, so they will not come to the craftsmen's service. "
Seeing that Sun Chuanting seemed to want to speak, he expected it, so he looked at Sun Chuanting and said: "Then we should strictly control them, punish them severely if they dare to be lazy and cheat, and use supervision, whipping, severe punishment, coercion, etc. just like other laborers? "
"Yes, this may allow them to complete what they want to do, but that's all." When Emperor Chongzhen said this, he looked at the three courtiers in front of him with a serious face and said, "But Bingzhan Bureau manufactures ordnance. Armor, in this kind of thing, there is no best, only better. You have said it yourself, Jianlu’s armor is better than my Ming’s. But if it’s the other way around, my Ming’s is better than Jianlu’s. Will that greatly improve the combat effectiveness of the army?"
Sometimes, the truth of the matter is actually very simple, but based on inertial thinking, we will not think about it in depth. But if someone mentions it, it will make people think that this matter is actually like this and is easy to understand.
"Your Majesty, isn't it okay to give him a reward?" Lu Xiangsheng said again after hearing this.
Emperor Chongzhen nodded. Rewards and punishments were clearly defined, especially the ministers who led the troops could understand. However, he still added: "It is possible, but it is really not a one-time deal, but a system that will be passed down for a long time. Think about it, if you don't even have a basic guarantee of life, how many people would be willing to How about fighting for a reward? Therefore, my idea is to give them a salary so that they can have food and clothing without worries, so that they can invest more energy in the creation of ordnance and armor. And on this basis, give them the necessary Rewards to increase their enthusiasm for innovation. In this case, I don’t believe that with the manpower of my Ming Dynasty, I can’t build more sophisticated and powerful ordnance and armor?”
After hearing this, Xue Guoguan was the first to betray his position and immediately supported him: "Your Majesty is wise, I think this is the same as your Majesty's salary increase for Ming officials!"
Lu Xiangsheng and Sun Chuanting glanced at him, then looked at the emperor, and both expressed that they had no objection.
Regarding armaments, the two of them definitely have more feelings than any other ministers. If the Ming Dynasty could overwhelm the Jianlu in the sophistication of their ordnance and armor, then the pressure on a governor of Baoding and a governor of Jiliao would be greatly reduced.
Unexpectedly, Emperor Chongzhen was not finished yet, and continued: "After my innovation is announced, I will be able to summon the smartest craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty and let them have food and clothing. There is another purpose, which is to prepare them to use what they have learned." Record it down to form a complete set of records of apprenticeships, and pass on this experience and craftsmanship to others..."
"Accepting a disciple?" Xue Guoguan couldn't help but interject after hearing this.
Perhaps only Xue Manzi would interrupt out of surprise.
"Yes, that's right!" Emperor Chongzhen didn't take it seriously, but nodded with a smile, "But this apprenticeship is not a private matter for the craftsman, but a matter for the government. For now, it is the royal family who comes forward. You can understand It is similar to the county school, but instead of teaching the Four Books and Five Classics, it teaches the craftsmanship of making weapons and armor! In this way, the craftsmanship can be passed down without worrying about being lost."
What he said is something completely new again. The royal family came forward, similar to the county school, which did not teach the Four Books and Five Classics, but only taught craftsmen crafts and passed them down from generation to generation?
This kind of thing has not happened since ancient times. Even in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the professors of various schools of thought were the actions of their respective people, not founded by the government, let alone the royal family.
This brand-new point of view, once spoken by Emperor Chongzhen, was another shock to Lu Xiangsheng and others. They felt that why the emperor's ideas today were so strange one after another, but they seemed to make sense?
Seeing how they were meditating, Emperor Chongzhen added: "The following matter must also be based on salary. Not only can we have enough food and clothing, but we can even get some other things, such as being able to see officials without paying homage. Even those who have made great contributions can be knighted..."
Hearing this, Xue Guoguan and others couldn't help being shocked, and quickly tried to dissuade him. It's shocking that a mere craftsman should be knighted!
However, Emperor Chongzhen did not give them a chance and explained first: "Of course, this is my preliminary idea. This title is not the title I already have in the Ming Dynasty, but something similar to the military merit title of the pre-Qin Dynasty. Create a set of craftsman's titles , giving them the corresponding status and wealth. In this way, I believe that not only will they be very motivated, but they will also take the initiative to create new weapons and armor, and they will also be willing to teach what they have learned to others!"
Of course, what he said was a general situation. After all, there are exceptions to everything. No matter how good the conditions offered by Emperor Chongzhen are, there will still be people who cherish it.
Hearing Emperor Chongzhen's explanation, Xue Guoguan and others couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief. Fortunately, fortunately, that was granted the title of Duke by the craftsman. What should Han Chuang do to the scholar who studied hard?
The example cited by Emperor Chongzhen is a war situation, which is related to war. After Lu Xiangsheng and Sun Chuanting considered it, they had no objection. However, Xue Guoguan, as a representative of scholars, is still a little hesitant. I heard him tell Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, craftsmen should be awarded titles, even if they are similar to those created by the pre-Qin Dynasty. Otherwise, not only the scholars but also the common people who work on the land will have objections to the menial work of craftsmen." …”
"Xue Qing still thought too badly!" When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he smiled and shook his head and said, "If I tell you that if craftsmen can build a flying car that can take people to the sky, you think it is still a rough job. Do others still have opinions? If you build a car, boat, etc. that can move automatically, do you think it will still be a rough job? What if you can build a musket that does not need to change ammunition like now, but continuously fires lead bullets... …”
Listening to his rhetorical questions and examples one by one, not to mention Xue Guoguan, even Lu Xiangsheng and Sun Chuanting beside them were all dumbfounded.
A car flying in the sky? Self-propelled cars and boats? A musket that can continuously fire lead bullets?
This...how is this possible! Your Majesty, did you listen to someone talking nonsense like this or did you dream about something?
Thinking of this, Xue Guoguan said a little awkwardly: "Your Majesty, this... this is impossible!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Sun Chuanting, a straightforward man, also followed suit, "Other ministers don't know, but this fire blunderbuss must not be fired continuously."
At this point, he thought of something and added: "Wei Chen cannot understand that even if it is a three-eyed gun or a five-eyed gun, it is only a few times, and it is absolutely impossible to fire it continuously!"
At this time, Ming Dynasty already had three-eyed guns and even five-eyed guns. In his understanding, he imagined based on Emperor Chongzhen's words, how many blunderbuss would be needed? Like a honeycomb? But even so, it still can't be done continuously. Each preloaded lead bullet will be gone after being shot!
Although Lu Xiangsheng didn't say anything, he was pretty much the same. He couldn't imagine that what the emperor said was possible!
Unexpectedly, when Emperor Chongzhen faced their doubts, he smiled again and said: "Sun Qing can change his mind. What if today's fire blunderbuss is the same as the Folangji, which does not load lead bullets from the mouth of the blunderbuss, but from the rear?" ? Or load it from the side. And it is not ignited by a match rope, but by a percussion shot. The lead bullet is not just a lead bullet, but is packed with propellant, so it can be loaded automatically quickly?"
At this time, there were actually flintlock guns. With the knowledge and experience of Lu Xiangsheng and Sun Chuanting, they naturally knew it. However, they still couldn't imagine what the emperor described.
But what the emperor said seemed to be well founded. For example, for firing and ignition, a flintlock gun is used, and for breech-loading lead bullets, a Franco machine is used. Lead bullets and propellant are used together, which is what the military does. Just bite the wrapping paper when loading, pour in the gunpowder, and then load the lead bullet...
In each case, there seems to be examples to follow. However, everything is so incredible!
For a moment, they were all stunned by Emperor Chongzhen's imagination.
