Chapter 884: A Centennial Plan (Part 2)

The prominent feature of the fiscal system of this dynasty is that the annual income of the Ministry of Revenue is not as good as that of a southern province, and it is a strange thing that has never been seen in history. The reason is also attributed to the Emperor Taizu who founded all of this. If the emperors of all dynasties were to be ranked, Zhu Yuanzhang's military and political level could be among the top three. But his economic mind was undoubtedly at the bottom.

For example, he believed that after the people paid taxes, they should first send them to the capital and then distribute them to various military units. It was really unnecessary, and they gave officials the opportunity to profit from it for nothing. Based on the principle of efficiency first and avoiding corruption, he asked the people to pay taxes in kind without entering the warehouse and directly supply them to the families of the soldiers, and the soldiers would no longer pay military salaries. It was also stipulated that several tax-citizens should be dispatched in Yingtian Prefecture to match the 5,000 soldiers from the Jinwu Guard. After a year of experiment, Zhu Yuanzhang believed that the achievements were good, so he ordered the whole country to implement them.

This method was detached from reality and fantasy, which was a complete regression in history, and also destined to be a flawless fate, and disappeared within a few years. However, Zhu Yuanzhang still arranged the financial system of his empire based on this idea. The most iconic one was that the delivery and reception of materials were completed by local governments. It was very common that a county magistrate had to pay more than 30 different institutions every year, and the total amount was no more than 10,000 taels of silver.

The Ming Dynasty was almost all like this. The whole country was covered with short-distance supply lines, which had no structure or supervision. This low energy and inefficiency directly led to insufficient blood supply in the country and heavy burdens on the people. It only enriched those corrupt bureaucrats who were full of personal pockets. It can even be said that this practice of maintaining the backward agricultural economy and unwilling to develop commerce and finance is an important reason why China gradually fell behind in the world's nations from the advanced Han, Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties.

If the Ministry of Revenue can be re-issued, the government will no longer have to pay for inefficient corruption. It can truly control the national finance, national defense and economic problems, and will be solved, and the benefits to the country will be obvious... This is the benefit Zhang Juzheng saw.

Silence has more knowledge than him for five hundred years, so he can naturally see more. If it is changed to a general collection and general distribution, domestic transportation and communication will inevitably make great progress accordingly. The banking and insurance industries will arise in accordance with objective needs, and commercial organizations and laws will also develop. Moreover, since each region has communicated with each other, it will naturally divide the work and cooperate, and each develops its production technology according to its unique local conditions. With the historical knowledge learned by Silence, Western European countries have already moved in this direction two hundred years ago, and Japan was the same at the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate. The fiscal and taxation system of this dynasty was out of touch with the development of the private economy, unable to promote each other and prosper together, but instead suppressed and hindered the latter.

If this fiscal system is not reformed, the development of the country's commodity economy will always be deformed and non-mainstream. It will not only not become the driving force for the country to take off, but will also in turn hurt the country's finances and stability. These have been proven by history, and the lessons are also painful.

Even Zhang Juzheng's one-whip method objectively stimulated the mobility of population, the development of commerce and finance, while creating a prosperous scene, it also accelerated the demise of the Ming Dynasty. This is the reason.

Zhang Juzheng fully agrees with the silent proposal to sort out local financial plans.

Now his eyes changed when he looked silent. It was a passionate, comradely gaze: "If this matter can be done in office and it will be over, it will be a death without regrets!"

"But this matter is really difficult than the sky!" Chen Si sighed and said, "If it is completely reformed, the accounting system must be re-determined and the financial control method must be implemented in the middle and higher institutions. This will inevitably re-transform the power structure of the court and the local government, and it is destined to cause an uproar..." Chen Si sighed and said, "Also, if the one-whip method is not to be a formality, it is necessary to clear the land of the whole country. Compared with these two items, the difficulty of promoting the law of the article is really not worth mentioning."

"..." Zhang Juzheng also understood Chen Si's words at once. This was clearly to let him take the thunder. After understanding this, he felt at ease... No wonder Chen Si would let him go by surprise, it turned out that he wanted to take on this burden!

It’s not that he is proud. Although there are many talents in the world, only two of them can achieve their goals for Chen Mo. One is Zhang Juzheng, and the other is Gao Gong... However, Gao Gong can no longer come back, so Chen Mo can only ask for help from him.

Silence really means this. Now it is clear, whether Zhang Juzheng will accept it or not? He is really unsure... If Zhang Juzheng had not known that he could have been the prime minister of peace for the rest of his life, and was comfortable in power and enjoying happiness, and then retire and continue to enjoy happiness, he would have to work hard to make reforms and offend all the people in the world. During the coup, he would definitely kill this dangerous guy without leaving any trouble!

However, he needs a strong helper too much. Even if the helper's ability is stronger than himself, he may backfire in the future. Siren is willing to take a gamble and do things first. If you still want to fight me, I will accompany you at any time!

Looking at the silence with anticipation, Zhang Juzheng smiled, smiling extremely happily, driving away the haze that had been over half a year.

After laughing, his face gradually calmed down. Looking out the snowy window, his eyes were deep and far away: "Do you remember when I first entered the pavilion, did I invite you to have a drink in Houhai?"

"Yeah." Silent nodded, sighing with some emotion: "In a blink of an eye, it has been more than six years, but it seems to be yesterday."

"Do you still remember what I said?"

"Yeah..." Silent nodded.

"A man should be like white dye soap when he is alive." Zhang Juzheng said lightly: "I don't need to say it for the second time."

In the early autumn six years ago, in the winery in Houhai, Zhang Juzheng said a few loud words in a strong wine:

"I'm not the kind of person who is unwilling to be inferior. I just hope to do something real! If I have a like-minded person, what if I'm a pawn?"

When he said this, Zhang Juzheng didn't expect that today would be the same, but his attitude was still the same - I, Zhang Juzheng, just wanted to do things, whether to do things under whom, or to be the boss himself; whether to live in seclusion without leaving a name behind the scenes, or to charge and be cannon fodder, it doesn't matter. What's important is that no one can restrain me, so that I can let go of my work and live up to this great life!

"Brother Taiyue..." His silent throat was a little astringent, and he also said excitedly: "I will definitely not let you be attacked from both sides!"

"I believe your words!" Zhang Juzheng nodded, and said a little Xiao Suo: "Actually, you and I know very well that sometimes the top-ranking person is not suitable for doing things drastic, which will give people the impression of being authoritarian and domineering. If the people below arouse public anger, he can reconcile and save them, but if he arouses public anger, he can only stand up to death, either dictatorial to the end or unable to stand down. At the beginning, Gao Gong did not understand this principle, and insisted on driving away everyone around him and taking over his own power. Now, Mr. Shen, you understand this principle, and I will hand over my back to you. I hope you will notify me before you make any decisions, so you don't let me die too ugly."

"How could you take it alone?" Chen Shu said emotionally: "I will support you to the end. Let's do it together! Let those prodigal sons play by themselves!"

"Haha..." Zhang Juzheng smiled and said, "If Yuan Fu has this determination, what else can I worry about?"

"If you have any requests, just ask." Silent nodded.

"Of course there are requirements." Since he was going to take the thunder for him, Zhang Juzheng would naturally not be polite and said: "First, I am fully responsible for the financial reform, and no one can point fingers."

"Does it include me?" asked silently with a smile.

"Of course, it doesn't include Yuan Fu, but I hope that if there is anything, you can talk to me openly and let's discuss it before making a decision."

"Yes." Silent nodded.

"Second, since Yuan Fu has added people to the Ministry of Revenue, be generous and the organization should be at least in line with the Ministry of War." Zhang Juzheng continued: "I want two ministers and four ministers. In addition to only four doctors, the number of officials and officials in charge should also double. In addition, I have to choose this group of graduates who have graduated from the prison. There is also a list, and all the people on it must be arranged for me."

His appetite is really great, but it is insignificant than the responsibilities he has to bear. He nodded silently and said, "Yes."

"There is the last one." Zhang Juzheng said: "If I set off firecrackers, you have to beat gongs. You can't be quiet all over the place. Just my side is lively. Why don't you drown me directly that day?"

"Don't worry about this, I already have a series of arrangements." Silent smiled.

"Tell me," Zhang Juzheng insisted on making things more stable before he was willing to hand over the hundreds or dozens of kilograms.

"First, Wanli has changed its era and celebrated the whole world. According to the rules, you can add Enke once. After the New Year, it will be another year of the imperial examination." Silent raised his index finger and said, "This is a year of great competition for two consecutive years. Do you think the scholars in the world still have the skills to discuss current affairs?"

"What a big deal..." Zhang Juzheng nodded and said, "But this is not just to cover me, right?"

"Of course not," Chen Si was not hypocritical, nodded and said, "You said just now that it is not recommended to add institutions. I agree, but I don't agree." After a pause, I explained, "When you mention adding officials, it is like adding redundant officials and redundant officials to increase the burden on the people. Anyone must have a degree. There are only 20,000 officials in the Ming Dynasty, including one-tenth of the capital. There are 18,000 people left, and there are too few people to manage the two capitals and thirteen provinces and more than one thousand, one hundred counties. In fact, it is impossible to manage at all. There are still a large number of officials who are not in the office to barely maintain operation. This number is 300,000."

"Even in the capital, there are a large number of officials." After drinking a silence, he continued: "There are too few official officials in each yamen and often mobilized frequently, so he lacks experience. He has to hand over most of the power to the minor officials who stay in one yamen and one position for life. If the officials are not smart and capable enough, they will often be led by the clerks, and the power will fall into the hands of these people. This is especially true in the local area, the county magistrate, the county magistrate, the chief clerk, and the historical. This is the official staffing that manages tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people. These people have to manage local cultural and educational taxation, public security and theft, the training of the river troupe, industrial and commercial construction... and have to hand over most of the power to let the clerks do it. So someone said that the real management of the Ming Dynasty was not officials but officials!"

"What about these clerks? One is not formally organized, two is not paid a salary, three is not allowed to go up, and one is not allowed to work for a lifetime. When officials are doing things, they have to think about their promotion, honor, gifts, and retirement. But the clerks do not have these, they can only pursue money! They either seek rent or ask for bribes, and use all means to do everything. They are even more unprincipled and shameless. For their own interests, they ignore the country and the court, and the officials and the people are suffering."

"Yes..." After hearing the silent words, Zhang Juzheng nodded and said, "These minor officials are low-ranking and have no concerns, they are bold and can do anything. I have been in the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Personnel, and I have a deep understanding of this."

"They are just little men who copy texts, send letters, and handle process matters. Where do they have any power?" Silent pointed out the reason: "It's just that because there are too few official officials and have to hand over a lot of power to them, this situation occurs."

"But we can't cut them all off, Yishui will replace them with officials?" Zhang Juzheng said.

"Of course not, just add officials to each yamen." Chen Shu replied: "Refine the division of power, and everyone will take care of it. Then use Brother Taiyue's examination and supervision, are you still afraid that the officials will not stare at the power in their hands?"

"Yes." Zhang Juzheng nodded and shook his head again, "But in this way, the national officialdom will undergo earth-shaking changes. Officials will naturally welcome them, and scholars will also welcome them. But once they need to change back in the future, the world will be in chaos immediately!"
Chapter completed!