Daming Town Haiwang

Chapter 944, finance is the control of the national economy

"The control of military power lies not only in the control of the system, but also in the control of ideology. At the same time, the control of the source of military expenses can only be truly controlled by the three-pronged approach. There will be local separatist forces or generals seeking to usurp the throne."

Liu Jin finished speaking in one breath. Regarding the research on this aspect, experts and scholars of later generations have already studied it very thoroughly.

Throughout the history of ancient and modern China and foreign countries, the control of military power is the most important. Whether it is in the history of China or foreign countries, there are too many, too many cases of military generals conspiring to usurp the throne, and the number cannot be counted. .

As the saying goes, political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.

Therefore, no matter which country and dynasty attaches great importance to the military, the army cannot be easily transferred, and strict procedures must be followed.

"Well said~"

After hearing this, Emperor Hongzhi couldn't help but nodded, expressing his deep approval.

Since ancient times, emperors have always been wary of military generals. As for civil servants, scholars have failed to rebel for three years. As for the control of the army, they have worked hard and come up with many methods.

Like the Ming Dynasty, the army was commanded by literati. In the history of the Ming Dynasty, except for some famous generals at the founding of the country, after that, all the people who were famous in the military were actually literati, such as Yu Qian, Sun Chengzong, etc. etc., are all literati, and literati commanding the army is a major feature of the Ming Dynasty.

In addition to the literati commanding the army, in the army, there were also eunuchs sent by the emperor to supervise the army. The groping of literati plus eunuchs was the way the Ming Dynasty controlled the army.

The advantage of this method is that there are no military generals, so there is no such thing as military generals seeking to usurp the throne. The disadvantage is that laymen guide experts, coupled with the deliberate suppression of military generals by civil servants, the status of military personnel in the Ming Dynasty is considered to be the lowest in all dynasties.

Many times, the desperate efforts to defend the home and the country are often not worth a word from the literati, so that the fighting power of the Ming army is very weak. Even if the emperor has integrity, the emperor guards the gate of the country, and the king dies, but the army is not good. The waist is naturally hard Can't get up.

After listening to Liu Jin's words, Emperor Hongzhi immediately understood what Liu Jin had done in the military system reform. To be promoted, not like before, although obedient, but the five scum of war.

The compulsory military service system was implemented, and soldiers were recruited from all over the Ming Dynasty. This was to prevent too many people from joining the army in a certain place and form a small regional group.

Unified disruption management and unified training of recruited soldiers not only enhance combat effectiveness, but also a means of controlling the army.

The establishment of the Royal Military Academy of the Ming Dynasty and the training of generals were not only a means to enhance the combat effectiveness of the Ming army, but also instilled the idea of ​​loyalty and patriotism in it. This was tantamount to ideological control, and in the end it was to strengthen the control of the army.

"The talent of the sky, the capable minister who governs the world!"

After thinking about this clearly, Emperor Hongzhi couldn't help but sigh in his heart. He always didn't understand the deep meaning of what Liu Jin did before, but now he understands it all at once.

Only then did he have a deeper understanding and understanding of Liu Jin's talent.

Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, Zhang Mao, Xie Qian and others also nodded one after another. After listening to what Liu Jin said, everything was clear and clear.

"Compared with political and military centralization, financial centralization may be the most neglected place in all dynasties."

Liu Jin slowed down, took a breath, and then continued to speak slowly.

"As the old saying goes, it's easy to do things with money. This is true for a country as well as for the imperial court."

"However, since the past dynasties have paid attention to light taxation and light taxation, rest and recuperation, so in terms of taxation, both the emperors of the past dynasties and the officials below are very cautious. When collecting taxes, they are afraid that they will collect more taxes. The water is hot, and the people are in dire straits."

"However, whenever money is really needed, those in power will recklessly expropriate and extort money. Coupled with the intensification of officials and bureaucrats below, there will be the phenomenon of extortionate expropriation and disregard for the life and death of the people as mentioned in the history books."

"But in fact, if you can fully understand taxation, you will understand that taxation plays an extremely important role."

"During the tax reform, I have already explained to Your Majesty and the princes the important role of this tax. In the final analysis, this tax is collected from the people and used for the people."

"The imperial court and the state need to compulsorily expropriate part of social wealth to maintain the daily operation of the country, build major projects, relieve disaster areas, resist foreign invasion, etc., and also need to achieve the purpose of mediating the country's economic development through tax collection."

"So in terms of financial centralization, the country's financial region must always be in the hands of the imperial court, and this power cannot be delegated to local feudal officials, let alone a few tribal leaders in remote areas should be allowed to hold financial power."

"Currently, in the Western Regions, Grasslands, and Uzang, there are still many tribal leaders who have the power to expropriate the finances of their own tribes. The minister thinks that they should be cracked down and banned, and this power should be returned to the court. This way, over time, these tribesmen know that the tax is paid to the current court and not to their tribal chief.”

"As for the tribal leaders who lost their financial power, they also lost the possibility of becoming the chieftain of the Southwest. No one would follow a poor man to dawdle."

"Ok!"

After hearing this, Emperor Hongzhi nodded solemnly again.

In the past, he was fooled by civil servants, thinking that the best way to govern the country is to lighten the tax, to recuperate, but in fact, the court has no money, and neither does his internal money, so he can do everything no.

Not to mention building cement roads, bridges and roads, river lifts, reservoirs, etc. in all parts of Daming, there is no money to repair the palace. It is conceivable that under such circumstances, even if Emperor Hongzhi had the heart to govern the country , I am afraid it is also powerless.

It's different now. Through Liu Jin's tax reform, the Ming treasury collected more than [-] million taels of tax money each year. It is estimated that the tax money in the fifteenth year of Hongzhi may even exceed [-] million taels.

If it is counted as expropriated goods, such as grain, cloth, tea, etc., the treasury has never been so full, and everything can be done very smoothly and generously.

As soon as the construction of the north-south and east-west concrete roads started, several concrete roads could be built as soon as the Western Regions and Hezhong were brought under the rule of Ming Dynasty. New towns were built on the grasslands; Heti was built on both sides of the Yellow River, etc.

All these things were done with money. Without money, how could the imperial court do these things?

If it weren't for these huge projects, would Daming be able to control the northern grasslands?

The fifteen years of Hongzhi have really been smooth sailing?You must know that in summer, the river water on both sides of the Yellow River surges. In the past, it was not known how many fertile fields would be submerged, but because of the construction of the river, no floods occurred.

And if it weren't for the money, the imperial court could have moved millions of people to Liaodong, Western Regions, Hezhong, and Nanyang?

Therefore, financial power is really important, and it is easy to do things with money. Emperor Hongzhi has a deep understanding of this.

Don't be fooled by others, otherwise you will think that if you don't collect taxes, the country will really be better.

You must know that when taxes were not levied before, the silver was not buried in the ground by those merchants, landlords and gentry, and it did not play any role at all.

As for the common people, how could they leave a few copper coins in their hands?
"The imperial court's financial power is related to the imperial court's ability to regulate and control the entire country's use of economic means, because only the imperial court has money, and it gathers a part of the country's wealth and uses it for state affairs."

"Whether it is immigration, building bridges and paving roads, or building reservoirs, river lifts, etc., these are all major events that benefit the country and the people, and they cannot be implemented without money."

"Only if we have money can we maintain a powerful army of hundreds of battles, and we can continue to fight against the outside world, continuously expand our territory, and rob more living space and resources."

"So financial power must be centralized, and it must not be relaxed or decentralized to give opportunities to those tribal leaders."

Liu Jin also gave a systematic summary of later generations on finance and tax collection. After all, this financial power is related to the imperial court's ability to control and regulate the economy of the entire country.

Of course, in ancient times, due to inconvenient transportation and poor information, the emperor collected one copper coin from the people below. Through these layers of price increases and squeezes, the common people may eventually have to pay a tax of five copper coins.

Therefore, in many cases, it cannot be said that it is completely unreasonable to have light corvees and poor taxes, and to recuperate. The emperor does not collect taxes, and the officials and officials below are naturally not easy to collect taxes.

But sometimes, even if the emperor above does not levy taxes, the officials and officials below will still levies and extort money in a clever name. There are so many exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes. In many cases, they are not formulated by the emperor above, but are made by the officials and officials themselves. invented.

The situation is a bit different now, because the Ming Morning Post has been spread all over Daming. Even the most distant Golden Continent in the empire, there are regular Ming Morning Posts. With the operation of horse-drawn carriages and sea-going ships, the communication and contacts between various parts of Ming Dynasty will become more and more convenient.

Naturally, this aspect of taxation still needs to gradually change to the taxation system of later generations to adapt to the advent of the capitalist era and the colonial era.

(End of this chapter)