stubborn thief

Within the main hall.

"Your suggestion about paying the full salary is spot on, but as an official of the Provincial Administration Commission..."

Liu Shizi looked at Zhang Jinyan with great interest: "How did you come up with this idea?"

When Zhang Jinyan heard the words "official of the Provincial Administration Commission" come out of Liu Chengzong's mouth, he wanted to laugh.

But I held it in.

Very serious.

The Marshal's Mansion was known as the powerful Northwest government that swept across three thousand miles and had a fearsome reputation.

The Provincial Administration Commission sounds like a powerful government office that is in charge of important provincial administration.

But in Zhang Jinyan's view, the Provincial Administration Office of the Marshal's Mansion was nothing more than a sign that "the Marshal's Mansion is doomed."

Indeed, after six months of experience guarding the gate of the Provincial Administration Office, Zhang Jinyan felt that he understood the Marshal's Mansion better than the Minister of Rites.

Leaving aside the fact that the Provincial Administration Office of the Marshal's Office did not have key officials such as the Chief Provincial Administration Commissioner, Councilor, and Councilor, let's just talk about the position he held in his experience.

The position, ranked sixth grade, was responsible for facilitating the exchange of documents between superiors and subordinates; essentially, it was the same as being a mail clerk in the Provincial Administration Commission.

The task was to collect official documents from all prefectures, states, and counties in Shaanxi and submit them to the Provincial Administration Commissioner. The Provincial Administration Commissioner would then compile the provincial documents of Shaanxi and forward them to the Office of Transmission, which would then submit them to the Cabinet.

This is a complete five-level official document transmission system, from the county level, prefecture level, province level, Ministry of Justice, to the central government.

But the Marshal's Mansion has absolutely no need for this.

Although it does occupy the three provinces of Shaanxi, Gansu and Qinghai.

However, nine-tenths of Qinghai's land is either uninhabited, or if it is inhabited, strong winds and heavy snows prevent contact for eight or nine months of the year.

Those who could be contacted could not be reached for several months due to their nomadic habits.

It is essentially equivalent to autonomy.

Gansu is even simpler. It has the population of just one large county, and most of them are military households, so there is no government administration at all.

Ninety-nine percent of government affairs are handled in Shaanxi.

Shaanxi was an attached city to the Marshal's Mansion.

The powers of the Provincial Administration Commission and the Military Government overlapped.

There's actually no problem with that. Given that Liu Chengzong conquered Shaanxi last year, the Marshal's Office shouldn't have established the Shaanxi Provincial Administration Commission.

Unfortunately, Liu Chengzong set up the position and even included Zhang Jinyan and four gatekeepers in it.

This meant that Zhang Jinyan had no chance to shine in the Marshal's Mansion; instead, he was overworked and exhausted by mountains of paperwork.

The political chaos within the Marshal's Office was exemplified by the Provincial Administration Office where Zhang Jinyan worked.

Not only do various prefectures and counties in Shaanxi send official documents to him, but Gansu does too, and Kangning Prefecture in Qinghai has also started using him as a mail clerk since last month.

In fact, the journey to Kangning Prefecture started four months ago, but the typhoon blew away the boat that was being used as a pontoon bridge at Huangyuan Post Station, causing a two-month delay. By the time the typhoon passed and the Tianhou (a mythical monkey) headed north, the bridge was repaired, and the official documents for the spring were finally delivered last month.

Zhang Jinyan wasn't actually averse to meaningless paperwork... what he was truly worried about was that others shouldn't have put the documents in the Provincial Administration Office in the first place.

The fact that no one is taking action precisely illustrates the chaotic state of officialdom within the Marshal's Office.

He composed himself slightly, bowed to Liu Chengzong, and said, "Reporting to the General, I am a lowly official in the Provincial Administration Commission, in charge of official documents in Shaanxi. Having observed the administration of the General's office, I can only say that it is appalling."

“The various brigades of the General’s army are stationed in various places, raising their own military expenses and provisions, like a country within a country. They follow the example of the warlords, enclosing land for hunting, herding sheep and horses, and monopolizing salt, grain and mineral resources. The General himself is only concerned with conquest and ignores them. If this continues, I am deeply afraid that the country will perish one day.”

Zhang Jinyan spoke these words with genuine feeling.

In the Marshal's Mansion, Zhang Jinyan was one of the few officials who feared the mansion would fall apart.

Really scared.

He was a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) and an official of the Ming Dynasty, with a promising future. Sooner or later he would return to the capital to serve as an official, and after a few years of service in the provinces, he would eventually rise to the rank of a sixth-grade official.

The county magistrate was only a seventh-rank official. In the civil administration system, a sixth-rank official, although not as powerful as a prefect or governor, was still the level of a department head in one of the six ministries.

A stomp within his authority could cause a slight tremor throughout the province.

However, having served two terms as a county magistrate in Shaanxi and then surrendering to the Marshal's Office was considered treason and defection, making him a traitor in the eyes of the people.

Of course, Zhang Jinyan didn't care that much about whether he was cunning or not.

His fate was placed in Shaanxi during Liu Chengzong's eastern expedition, leaving him no other choice.

In this catastrophe, every official in Shaanxi either died or surrendered; there was no other outcome.

After all, even if he lost his official position and fled back to the Central Plains, he would still be imprisoned and sentenced to death.

However, seeking death was not among Zhang Jinyan's choices.

Zhang Jinyan was one of the top scholars in the Henan provincial examination in the first year of the Tianqi reign (1621).

In the provincial examinations, questions on the Four Books were mandatory, while questions on the Five Classics were optional. Candidates could choose a classic as their primary text and would only be tested on that specific text.

The five first-place winners of the Five Classics were the top scorers in this provincial examination.

Zhang Jinyan's specialty was the Book of Changes (I Ching).

Yi means change.

The sixty-four hexagrams and three hundred and eighty-four lines, each with its own symbolic text, serve as a code of conduct to guide nobles in responding to changes and surviving properly in different environments.

The core idea is already explained in the image commentary of the first hexagram: "The movement of heaven is strong; the superior man makes himself strong and untiring."

Objective laws do not change according to human will, but people can still understand, utilize and transform them.

All the principles Zhang Jinyan learned taught him to be upright and strong in accordance with the times, to be patient and wait for the right opportunity when facing danger, and not to seek death.

But if the Marshal's Mansion falls apart soon, it will make his choice seem foolish.

The most crucial issue lies here: no matter how you look at it from afar or up close, the Marshal's Mansion seems destined for an extremely short lifespan.

However, when Liu Chengzong heard this, although he seemed to be listening attentively, his leaning back and slight pursing of his lips showed that he did not take it seriously.

I even... wanted to laugh.

The Marshal's Mansion is a place for regional warlords to establish their own power bases. Do we even deserve to be called that?

“Each brigade has military and financial power, and most of them are unruly people. Do you think they will become warlords?”

Liu Shizi nodded slightly: "Very reasonable."

Zhang Jinyan understood the implication and asked in surprise, "Doesn't the Commander-in-Chief worry about such things?"

Liu Chengzong laughed nonchalantly: "I can keep things under control for three to five years."

Zhang Jinyan never dreamed that Liu Chengzong would give such an answer: "Then, what about three or five years from now?"

"Isn't that enough? Five years ago, we were sleeping in dugouts in Qinghai and only dared to think about what would happen three months from now. Now we dare to say we can last three years."

Liu Chengzong waved his hand, no longer saying anything about it. After all, Zhang Jinyan had joined him in Xi'an Prefecture. He was from Henan and had never been to places west of Qingyang Prefecture, so he lacked experience.

He had never seen a deserted Gobi Desert where only birds and beasts defecate.

He also couldn't empathize with the overwhelming fear of hunger that gripped the Marshal's army. Zhang Jinyan couldn't understand his expedient measures.

The Marshal's Army has always had sufficient supplies, and in fact, it is not lagging behind any other army in terms of supplies.

The only problem is money.

Liu Shizi's job is to engage in secondary distribution; he doesn't produce wealth, he's just a wealth transporter.

To put it bluntly, they grabbed whatever they could and distributed whatever they could. Without a sufficient population, they never had enough precious metals to pay the army their full salaries.

In the past, tens of thousands of troops were stationed in the Hehuang region, and the policy of supplying them with goods was very effective. However, now that the army is widely distributed throughout Shaanxi and stationed in various prefectures, relying on the supply of goods for military needs is not a long-term solution.

It's not that there's a shortage of supply. Although transporting grain is time-consuming, the current supply from Shaanxi's requisition system isn't a major problem.

The key issue is whoever pays the army; that's who owns the army.

Since the Marshal's Army took control of the various prefectures in Shaanxi last year, the actual controller of the garrison brigades has no longer been Liu Chengzong, but the individual brigade commanders.

The central government does not provide military pay, and each brigade relies entirely on local resources for sustenance. This is tantamount to relinquishing financial control, and in the long run, chaos is inevitable.

However, regarding the issue of military pay, for Liu Chengzong last year, the timing was indeed not right after he had just captured Xi'an.

Physical rations can last for a while, but if military pay is issued and the situation changes drastically, the inability to pay pay later will create even bigger problems.

However, with the financial support from the Later Jin this year, Liu Chengzong can be more assertive when it comes to paying military salaries.

He said, “Let’s talk about your views on pay. I remember you were in charge of the Ministry of Revenue. It’s good that the army can be paid the full amount of pay, but once it’s paid, it can’t be stopped. So where does the silver come from?”

As he spoke, he added, "If you're suggesting I mint inferior coins, then forget it."

Bad money is currency that is not worth its value.

This method has been used far too many times in history; it's a money-making scheme that's profitable in the short term but leads to long-term collapse.

Because of the refining technology, the Central Plains has always recognized pure gold. When Emperor Wu of Han reduced the power of the vassal kings, he was referring to those vassal kings who did not pay enough gold.

The biggest consequence of minting bad coins is that it lowers the threshold for minting coins, leading to private minting, and the bad money drives out the good money, which will cause the monetary system to collapse and become uncontrollable.

Such things happened in the Tang Dynasty; beheadings, exile, and collective punishment were used, and it was impossible to stop it.

As for Liu Chengzong, his economy was already on the verge of collapse, built on the basis of barter. If he wanted to cause economic turmoil, he might as well continue using barter.

Despite its primitive nature, it is stable.

Fortunately, Zhang Jinyan's suggestion was not to mint coins. He cupped his hands and said, "General, the silver for paying military salaries should naturally come from taxes. In my humble opinion, the economy of the General's Office cannot do without both military salaries and taxes."

"Previously, the country was short of gold and silver. Fortunately, the commander-in-chief led an expedition to Liaodong, captured cities and fortresses and won a great victory. He brought back a lot of gold and silver, so our commander-in-chief's office had the foundation to pay the full amount of military pay."

Liu Chengzong suddenly realized what was going on and looked at Zhang Jinyan with a smile, saying, "So you've got your eye on what I'll gain from this eastern expedition."

"That's not a problem. However, I've already distributed the silver I have to the soldiers as rewards. Now, all that's left in the treasury are a few thousand gold bars... I'm afraid your plan will fall through."

"I am aware of this matter."

Zhang Jinyan also smiled. It was no secret that Liu Chengzong had brought back gold and silver from his eastern expedition. Even before the army returned, the news that each soldier had a pound of silver had already spread throughout Xi'an Prefecture.

He said, "It's already autumn, the harvest season, and the army needs money. Xi'an Prefecture has huge taxes, so it will be easy to recover the silver."

"This humble servant suggests that the Ministry of Revenue should establish a Taicang Treasury and a Military Pay Office. The Military Pay Office should set up Military Pay Bureaus in each prefecture where the troops are stationed. Each bureau should be headed by an ambassador from the Ministry of Revenue, and a deputy ambassador from each prefecture and military office, to oversee the calculation of taxes and the amount of provisions for the troops stationed there."

"All provisions below the prefectural government level shall be collected in kind and stored by themselves, without any additional loss to the people; the military pay office shall coordinate the military provisions, issue numbered tokens and documents, and each brigade shall transport its rations from the nearest military pay office according to its station location, and any surplus rations shall be transported to the prefectural government's warehouses."

“When the government offices set up markets, part of the grain was stored in the Ever-Normal Granary, and part was sold at the government price to stabilize grain prices. The silver was transported to the military government's treasury and then paid to the various brigades by the Ministry of Revenue.”

Liu Chengzong listened quietly for a moment, and after Zhang Jinyan finished speaking, he slowly nodded.

He understood; it meant giving the Marshal's Mansion's Revenue Department and the Prefectural Governor a massive upgrade.

Earlier, Liu Chengzong had planned to elevate the supervisory power over the collection of substitute service fees by prefectures and counties to the prefects. Now, the prefects are to be allowed to intercept taxes and pay military expenses... Liu Shizi felt that the power of the prefects was too great and inappropriate.

Local officials are like local tyrants who can control everything.

It manages the prefectures and counties under its jurisdiction, promotes education, administers justice, collects taxes and corvée labor, inspects officials, implements the decisions of the court and the three departments, oversees schools, revises and standardizes sacrificial rites, and manages household registration, postal services, horse administration, public security, warehousing, water conservancy, and transportation.

The prefect's power within his jurisdiction was already close to unlimited.

However, after Liu Chengzong considered Zhang Jinyan's suggestion, it was indeed feasible to solve the problem of military pay.

Except for Yan'an Prefecture.

The Marshal's army brigades were stationed in prefectures and counties, but the taxes from Yan'an Prefecture alone, even if collected in full, could not cover the rations of the stationed troops.

Not to mention the remaining grain tax, which could be sold at market price to fund the army.

In Shaanxi, the arable land area of ​​each prefecture is between 20,000 and 100,000 hectares. Even when affected by disasters, each prefecture still maintains more than 9,000 hectares of cultivated land.

Yan'an Prefecture is unique in that, although it is a large place, the mountains in northern Shaanxi make up for the small total area of ​​arable land, which is only 13,000 hectares. The land is barren and it has been the most severely affected by disasters. Today, only 1,800 hectares of arable land remain registered in the area.

This little land is barely enough to feed myself.

However, apart from Yan'an Prefecture, other places were basically able to cover military expenditures and even had a slight surplus.

With the addition of the "Beijing Transport" from the Marshal's Office, which is the allocation from Xi'an Prefecture, the military pay that has been weighing on Liu Chengzong's mind will be properly resolved.

"If that's the case, then the supervision of the substitute service money cannot be handed over to the prefect. It should be transported to Xi'an, submitted to the budget, and then allocated by the Ministry of Revenue. In that case, there would be no need to keep any money in the local accounts."

Liu Shizi is familiar with this matter.

Another memory is of the policy that the Later Jin dynasty implemented after seizing power: the land tax reform.

Ding Yin was always included in the land tax. Their "equalization of land tax and poll tax" brought the land tax retained by the local governments to the central government, resulting in local governments having no money and being unable to carry out infrastructure construction.

Local governments need to find ways to cover expenses and maintain the operation of government offices, which leads to an increase in miscellaneous taxes.

Similarly, there is the "fire loss returned to the public," which is a kind of arbitrary tax levied by local government offices. The reason given is that the imperial court collects silver, but silver does not grow in the land. The government offices collect taxes in kind and hand them over to the imperial court in silver. In the process, there is a 10% fire loss in the smelting process.

Actually, that doesn't exist. The silver in the Ming Dynasty was pure silver, so the fire loss was too high.

But local governments need to cover expenses, so they definitely have to find ways to collect miscellaneous taxes.

The cost of fire tax was also transferred to the public treasury. It wasn't that the cost of fire tax was paid to the public treasury, but rather that the money for fire tax was included in the regular taxes and transferred from local taxes to the imperial court.

As a result, local people had to pay the fire loss tax, and then they also had to pay another fire loss tax to the local government, because the fire loss tax was now paid to the public; what they were paying was not the fire loss tax, but the national tax.

After paying the substitute service fee, there was still corvée labor, which led to the subsequent policy of "gentry and commoners serving and paying taxes together".

If we've already paid the substitute service fee, why do we still have to perform corvée labor and pay taxes?
Because the poll tax was incorporated into the land tax, you paid land tax, not poll tax.

To be exempt from corvée labor, one must pay another amount of poll tax collected by the county.

Of course, in order to promote such a system that would increase national tax revenue and make officials bear a bad reputation and unable to maintain operations, Yongzheng also had a way: he would set aside a portion of the fire loss and service fee paid by local governments and distribute it as the salary of the local officials, which was called the "anti-corruption allowance".

Liu Chengzong did not agree with these policies psychologically, nor did he think it necessary to emulate them, but they were of great reference value.

He can refuse the money and leave it for local operation, but he must know how much the local area collects, that is, he must have the power of supervision in his own hands.

"As for what you said about the military headquarters sending people with the Ministry of Revenue's receipts to the prefectural government to collect grain, that's been changed. It's the prefectural government that uses the Ministry of Revenue's receipts to transport grain to the various military posts."

In short, the power to provide military rations was changed from the prefect's authority to his obligation.

After saying this, he said to Zhang Jinyan, "Go back and organize it into an official document, then submit it to the military government office. Later, it will be sent to the household registration office, and everyone can work together to draft the regulations, which will serve as the future tax law for the military governor's office." (End of Chapter)