Da Ming Tai Shi

Chapter 352

Some people say that politics has always been the art of compromise.

According to this statement, life is full of politics.

Because in the process of human society, there has always been the nature of seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages, so it has always been pursuing a win-win situation.

Compromise is necessary for a win-win situation.

Regardless of whether Chen Yunfu admits it or not, he is now more and more like a mature politician. To put it mildly, he is a good official and a good parent who is dedicated to the people.

But the essence will not change. Chen Yunfu has become more mature and familiar in the political field.

He easily shared the cake with others, and at the same time quietly extended it to his own political purpose. On the basis of attracting a group of supporters, he wanted to deprive the interests of another group of people.

Officials belong to scholars, and landlords belong to gentry. Since ancient times, every official family has been a landlord in the local area. Therefore, the gentry class is always firmly bound together.

China's modern history kicked off with the sound of the Opium War. After the emergence of capital, these decadent and degenerate gentry classes gradually evolved into the comprador class, and continued to rack their brains and exhaust their efforts to seize and squeeze national interests and local interests. The blood and sweat of the people.

This is an indisputable fact, although it is outrageous.

But is the gentry class really monolithic?

Chen Yunfu can say with certainty: "There has never been any class that can be monolithic."

There will always be those who betray the class, and there will always be internal strugglers who appear out of interest considerations.

The term of the gentry class itself is untenable. Scholars belong to scholars, and gentry belong to gentry. There is such a clear difference between the two, how can they be confused together and called a class?

Scholars, the holders of power, have the characteristics of exercising state power, so the status of scholars is significantly higher than the three groups of farmers, workers, and merchants.

The gentry, the owners of the land, their root lies only in the output of the land. During droughts and floods, they still look at the sky and cry. If they stand up to the sky, they can be regarded as productive and rich peasants who have certain means of production. Returning to the root, Or peasants, rich peasants.

Officials in ancient times tied gentry and gentry together. In the final analysis, it was a group image symbol shared by the ancients: the land complex.

Therefore, ancient officials generally give people a sense of old peasants.

They grab a lot of land, the more the better.

Because these officials can't think of anything other than land that is eligible to be called a power bonus.

Therefore, anyone who knows modern Chinese history will find that during the decades when the Guangzhou Thirteen Banks were the most prosperous, the officials in Guangdong and the officials in the Wanqing inland were completely in two states.

Officials in Guangdong are like young people in the 21st century. They use fresh Western objects at home, wear suits or various exotic clothes, pursue beauty, lightness and comfort, and can quickly accept new technological products that emerge in an endless stream and iteratively evolve in daily life. It's the goat that farts the sheep, which is both foreign and coquettish.

And Wanqing's inland officials are like old peasants before liberation, ignorant and backward, apart from trying to please the old hag, there is only one who smokes opium to tease the little maid in the mansion.

What Chen Yunfu is doing now is to slowly separate the gentry.

Let scholars, that is, officials, gradually separate from the land, and focus more attention and energy on more and fresher affairs. Even if they are greedy, don't always think about greed for land.

The first step in separating the two is to start with this one body.

When the country is rich, it is a matter of course for the imperial court to increase the salaries of officials. Therefore, to invigorate the economy and enrich the country, the cake will grow bigger and bigger, and everyone will be able to share more and more. This is a very simple reason.

Simple truths are not easy to put into words, and they need to be concretely translated into actions, so Chen Yunfu needs to use policies to guide these corrupt and backward officials to gradually enlighten them.

Some people may say, why not set up a school to directly educate a group of young young people, and then serve as officials, that's all.

The truth is indeed so true, and it sounds right at first glance, but the problem does not lie in this.

Do you still remember Chen Yunfu's conversation outside Luojiazhuang with Cheng Yao, who was then Henan's chief political envoy in Henan?

At that time, the two talked about "Xishan Political Training".

"Xishan Zhengxun" is not a particularly famous classic. It is similar to a book summarizing the way officials are officials. From the contention of a hundred schools of thought to the emergence of capital in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it runs through thousands of years of Chinese history.

Many of the principles of being an official were understood by ancient people thousands of years ago.

Even after thousands of years, why the succeeding officials still can't do it? The problem cannot be solved by changing the dynasty or the system of the country, because it is a human nature problem.

Laziness, laziness, greed, and corruption are human nature. The essence of officials thousands of years later has not changed from those of thousands of years ago. The background of the times is different, and the knowledge learned by the two is different. Aren’t they both still human in essence?

As human beings, we will make political mistakes, and making political mistakes will drag down the country's overall upward policy at the local level.

Therefore, even if Chen Yunfu teaches a group of new students to become officials, who can say for sure what will happen to them after they become officials and come into contact with power.

"The whole country pays food as a whole, which was proposed by Benfu after careful consideration. Now the country seems to have a very healthy financial situation, but there are places where money is used everywhere. It needs money to increase the salaries of officials, and it needs money to support the five armies in foreign wars and open up territories. .

Without money, the imperial court can’t do anything. We can only be confined to one city in Zhongzhou. This point, Benfu hopes that all colleagues can understand, and after understanding, they can work together with Benfu, and everyone will work together to implement this policy. Carry it out, carry it out. "

Everyone understood, especially Sapphire.

Without all-in-one payment, the imperial court's finances can only slowly advance, and it is impossible to make an extra sum in one breath that is enough to support your wars, so the Kyushu plan is nowhere in sight.

If the government has money, I, Chen Yunfu, can fully support you in opening up territories and allowing you to become kings as soon as possible.

So, for yourselves, you have to support me.

The reason is very simple, it is still a routine of pulling a batch to fight a faction.

Lan Yu spoke directly: "I am very supportive of the Grand Master's policy."

The military all opened their mouths to express that they had no objections, and Wang Bi, who was the most irritable, said loudly: "The last general only obeys the order of the grand master. If those rich and heartless evil gentry in the local area dare to object and refuse to pay taxes, the last general will be brought People cut them down!"

All the officials present bowed their heads in silence.

I heard rumors before that the local capital will follow the example of the Guangxi Production and Construction Corps system and set up a tax department to collect taxes by force. Looking at it now, it should be true.

Once taxes are imposed by force, the end of the local landlords will come.

But thinking about the previous increase in salary, a subtle and positive change has taken place in the mentality of officials.

If the country's finances are healthy, won't their salaries also rise with the tide?

Anyway, it's a win-win.

What's more, I am a majestic court official, why should I care about how much food my uncles and uncles will pay this year?
Scholars belong to scholars, and gentry belong to gentry.

As an official, I have many ways to make money, so why worry about the tax on grain.

With this in mind, not many people objected.

The integrated grain payment policy was successfully passed.

(End of this chapter)