The ruthless emperor in the late Ming Dynasty forced Chongzhen to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 186 The cabinet must learn to spend money

Following the issuance of official documents from the Ministry of Households to the prefectures and counties, the prefectures and counties issued notices again according to the list, causing a sensation in the entire south of the Yangtze River. This time, the crowds were really outraged.

Landlords and gentry saw that the court had really calculated that whoever did not pay and who would pay less would really have to pay twice the fine. They were shocked and angry, and immediately united and went to the Yamen to appeal for grievances.

But apart from reporting this matter, the local yamen can’t make the decision at all. The civil officials tried their best to persuade the landlords and gentry to pay taxes early and stop delaying, otherwise the next time it would not be twice but five times.

Landlords and gentry from all over the country were naturally unwilling to pay double the tax for nothing. Seeing that they went to the yamen to communicate with no results, they united to strike the market and organized servants and servants to go to the yamen to make trouble, hoping to make things big and force the court to compromise , to cancel the penalty.

If it were other emperors in ancient times, facing the collective threat and resistance of the landlords and gentry in the entire south of the Yangtze River, they would definitely choose to appease and calm the hearts of the people.

But Zhu Cihong directly ignored their city strike and protest, no matter how fierce the riots were, he remained indifferent.

Anyway, there are imperial stores that sell salt, grain and cloth, and all the places are going to stop the market, so let them go.

It’s okay to go to the gate of the yamen to protest and swear a few words, but you can’t use weapons, you can’t attack the government office, and you can’t attack officials, otherwise you will directly suppress it with rebellion.

The mastermind ransacked the family and killed the family, and the servants were killed.

For this reason, [-] soldiers and horses were withdrawn from the newly recruited [-] new troops, and sent to various prefectures and counties to strengthen the garrison.

The gentry and landowners from all over the world were frightened when they saw that they were making such a violent noise, not only did not allow the court to compromise, but instead attracted more soldiers and horses to settle in.

I also understood the emperor's determination and no longer had any illusions. Some landlords and gentry who paid less tax went to the bank to make up for it with precious banknotes.

But as the date approached, more and more landlords and gentry chose to compromise, honestly paid twice the agricultural tax, and all of them regretted it.

Although it was also concentrated in the last three or four days this time, there was no congestion, because all the gentry and landlords had exchanged the treasure notes in advance, so the tax payment was very fast.

Obviously, although the gentry and landlords from all over the place are making trouble, but if they really want them to unite and rebel and fight the emperor's court to the end, no landlord or gentry is willing to do it.

After this incident, the treasure banknotes have been completely circulated in Jiangnan, and they have been recognized by almost everyone.

Because no matter the commercial tax or the agricultural tax, only precious notes are collected.

Of course, with such a huge amount of data, no matter whether it is the bank, the Ministry of Household Affairs, the Ministry of Agriculture, or the Ministry of Commerce, it is impossible not to make mistakes.

If there are too few, naturally they secretly rejoice and show off everywhere. If there are too many, they can only yell at bad luck, and put the situation statement into the iron box with doubts, hoping that the tax will be deducted in the coming year.

The most terrible thing is that he has already paid the tax, but his name is still on the list for the second time, and he is fined twice.

In this case, the civil servants have already informed how to deal with it.

That is to take the certificate issued by the bank when paying taxes, go to the bank again, and ask the female shopkeeper to declare again.

Because of this situation, either the female shopkeeper missed the report, or the account department made a mistake in the accounting. As long as it is reported again and there is a reminder, the account department can correct it in time and will not be affected in any way.

At the end of November, the second tax payment was finally completed, and when the household department checked it, Ma Shiying and the ministers were so excited that they couldn't believe it.

Such a complex tax collection system has actually been completed, with more than 2000 million mu of mulberry fields, more than 4000 million mu of paddy fields, more than 1000 million mu of dry fields, plus more than 1000 million mu of barren hills, woodlands, orchards, and mines.

The agricultural tax that should have been collected was more than [-] million taels, and the commercial tax was more than [-] million taels, a total of more than [-] million taels. Now the actual collection is more than [-] million taels, which is a full thousand more. More than seven million taels.

Moreover, all those who should pay taxes have paid taxes, and no one has paid less. This is simply a miracle in all dynasties.

Although he knew what was going on, Ma Shiying felt as if he was in a dream on the way to the imperial study for the extra money.

In the imperial study room, Zhang Yan and Princess Kunxing were also dumbfounded when they heard that the fine alone was 700 million taels.

Only Zhu Cihong was calm, with an expression that had been expected. After reading the report, he handed it to Zhang Yan, then nodded at Ma Shiying and said: "Everyone has already paid the tax, and the third tax will be paid." No need, there is still one month before the end of the new year. The next task of the household department is to calculate the bonuses from various places, the maintenance bank, and the funds for next year, and let the banks distribute them on their behalf. These are the specific regulations and standards.

Also, starting from next year, the auditors will audit the use of funds by government agencies at all levels, including the Eight Departments of the Cabinet, to prevent unreasonable expenses. This is the standard and scope for the use of funds by government agencies at all levels. "

While talking, Zhu Cihong took out two booklets one after another.

Zhu Cihong decided to divide them into five grades for raising money, bonuses and expenses.

The first grade is Class A, with the city as the unit, and the business tax must exceed 10 taels to meet the conditions.

It is estimated that only Nanjing, Yangzhou, and Suzhou can meet this standard.

The second grade is Class B. To meet the conditions, the business tax must exceed 5 taels. The bonus and the maintenance silver are respectively [-]% of the official salary of the official for a year.

The third level is Class C, which requires 1 taels of business tax to meet the conditions. The bonus and the maintenance silver are respectively [-]% of the official salary of the official for a year.

The fourth level is the D level. To meet the conditions, you need to meet the business tax of 3000 taels. The bonus and the maintenance silver are respectively [-]% of the official annual salary of the official.

If the annual business tax does not even reach 3000 taels, it will be grade E, and the bonus and the maintenance silver will be unified into [-]% of the official annual salary of the official.

The yamen of the six ministries of the cabinet are based on the city of Nanjing.

This kind of division must mean that the bigger the city, the better it will be, but there is no way around it.

After all, it is impossible for you, a small remote county town, to provide you with money and bonuses that are comparable to those in Nanjing.

In this way, according to the classification, although the gap is large, if it is calculated according to the proportion of business tax collected by each city, the gap will only be even greater.

For example, there are many shops in Nanjing City, and there are many brothels and painting workshops. The annual business tax may be as high as hundreds of thousands, while the remote small counties may only have a few hundred taels. It is simply a big difference.

But according to the classification, the gap is limited, after all, the regular salaries of officials are all unified.

"Ma Aiqing, I have done a rough calculation. Even if the funds and bonuses from all over the country are distributed and the regular salaries of all officials in Ming Dynasty are included, the household department should still have a balance of 2000 million taels. How does the cabinet plan to deal with so much money?"

After Zhu Cihong finished asking, both Zhang Yan and Princess Kunxing were puzzled. In their view, so much money had to be handed over to the internal treasury, which was safer. However, although the two women were full of doubts, they both Resist not to ask.

Ma Shiying was also a little surprised. He didn't understand what the emperor meant, so he had to answer honestly: "Your Majesty, how dare the cabinet dispose of such a huge sum of money without authorization? Naturally, it must be handed over to the internal treasury."

Ma Shiying really wanted to say, although the money is nominally in the account of the household department, is it actually in the bank's warehouse?
"No, Ma Aiqing is wrong to think so. The money is tax collected by the imperial court, not the royal family, so it doesn't need to be handed over to the internal treasury. It doesn't need to be handed over now, and it won't be used in the future. Instead, it should be handled by the cabinet. "

Zhu Cihong waved his hands and explained.

"Brother Huang..."

Princess Kunxing became anxious when she heard it, and she forgot the rule of not being involved in politics, so she cried out.

"Imperial Sister, I asked you to come to the Imperial Study to listen to politics, not to discuss politics, so talk more next time, and don't blame Brother Huang for not letting you listen to politics."

Zhu Cihong taught with a straight face.

"It's the emperor, my sister knows I'm wrong." Princess Kunxing lowered her head and admitted her mistake in a low voice.

"Your Majesty, this..." Seeing His Majesty looking at her again, Ma Shiying didn't know how to answer for a while.

"Ma Aiqing, from now on, the royal money and the court money must be completely separated and cannot be confused. The taxes collected by the court belong to the public and are handled by the cabinet.

The money earned by the royal family is my personal property and is handled by the royal family. I don't want subsidies from the court, and the court doesn't ask me for money.

For the time being, the military expenses of each army will be paid in advance by the royal family first. In the future, except for the Imperial Forest Army, the military expenses of the other armies will also be allocated by the cabinet. Do you understand? "

That is to say, but it is impossible for Zhu Cihong to control the military expenditure of the army by civilian officials and the cabinet.

However, in some important industries such as salt and iron in the future, the imperial government will definitely hold a large share, and the dividends from these shares will be used as military and scientific research funds.

"Your Majesty is wise, the old minister understands."

Ma Shiying bowed to the end and replied sincerely.

"You actually understand, so let's talk about the money, what is the cabinet going to do with it?" Zhu Cihong nodded and looked at him again.

"With His Majesty's trust, such a huge sum of money must be deposited in the bank for emergencies." Ma Shiying thought for a while and replied.

"Ma Aiqing, you are wrong again. Have you ever thought about it? If you deposit all your money in the bank and deposit 2000 million this year, after the new policies are implemented in the southern provinces next year, you may have a surplus of 4000 million.

And after the New Deal is implemented throughout the country, the annual balance may reach tens of millions. If accumulated in this way, in ten years, the wealth of the world may be owned by the imperial court. "

Zhu Cihong shook her head, and explained slowly again.

This time the expressions on the faces of the three people became even more puzzled, thinking that it would be bad if all the wealth in the world belonged to the imperial court?

"Have you ever thought about it? If all the money ends up in the hands of the court and is not spent, it will be a pile of stones and a string of numbers, meaningless.

Moreover, the imperial court has saved all the wealth, and it is getting more and more year by year, which will cause the wealth of the people to decrease year by year, so that it will eventually dry up.

Therefore, the cabinet must not only learn how to increase taxes, but also learn how to spend the money reasonably. Not only can it not have a balance every year, but it will also run a deficit. It is best to borrow some money from the bank to make ends meet every year. "

The three of them were dumbfounded, and they couldn't help but think in their hearts, how could it be possible to spend all the money and borrow money to spend it, isn't this a prodigal?
Obviously, Zhu Cihong's set of economic theories was too advanced, so that the three of them couldn't understand it for a while.

Ma Shiying even asked directly: "The old minister is dull, please tell your majesty how the cabinet money will be spent?"

"Most of these taxes come from the rich. The cabinet should spend money according to two principles in the future. The first principle is to spend money for the purpose of increasing taxes. Of course, the tax increase here refers to expanding the tax-paying group, not Raise taxes indiscriminately.

The second principle is to spend money for the benefit of ordinary people. This is to take from the rich and use it to the poor. I hope the cabinet will firmly remember these eight words. "

Zhu Cihong saw that he seemed to understand, so he could only rub his forehead, and said again: "I will give you two examples, such as harnessing the Yellow River, and now the Yellow River seizes the Huaihe River, causing lakes and swamps everywhere in northern Jiangsu, and the people suffer greatly. If the imperial court can allocate funds to reintroduce the Yellow River into the north and into the sea, it will allow the northern Jiangsu area to reclaim a large area of ​​fertile land, and the imperial court can collect more agricultural taxes.

Second, the diversion of the Yellow River is a huge project that requires countless people to work on. The imperial court can organize people from all over the country to go to work during the slack season and pay them wages.

In this way, with spare money in the hands of the common people, they will buy more commodities and promote the prosperity of business, and then the court can collect more business taxes. In this cycle, the tax revenue of the court will only increase, the common people will only become richer, and business will become more and more prosperous. "

"In addition to harnessing the Yellow River, we can also expand canals, renovate official roads, facilitate commodity transportation, build water conservancy, and promote high-yielding crops. Increasing food production means increasing people's income. When people's income is high, commerce will flourish in the end."

"Your Majesty, the old minister dares to say, as your majesty said, the prosperity of commerce and the high taxation of the imperial court will definitely drive a large number of people to do business, and then abandon farming.

And agriculture is the foundation of the country. Once the grain production is reduced and the people in the world can’t even eat enough, everything will stop, and no amount of money will be in vain. "

Ma Shiying was obviously really thinking about Daming's future, he gritted his teeth and said all the words in his heart, and knelt down on the ground after speaking.

"Ma Aiqing is right. Agriculture is the foundation of a country. If there is no food to eat, no matter how good the economy is, it is useless. However, there is no contradiction between promoting business and emphasizing agriculture. Both can be achieved.

As for the prosperity of commerce, everyone goes into business instead of farming, which is simply ridiculous.

Because once there are more people doing business, they will naturally not be able to make money. If they can’t make money, they will naturally go to farm, so there is no need to worry about this, just let it develop. "

"Your Majesty, there is still one thing I don't know. As Your Majesty said, if the cabinet spends all the money every year, what should I do in case of war or a catastrophe?"

"Didn't I just say that? Isn't it simple? Naturally, I would take a loan from the bank and pay back a little every year."

After Zhu Cihong finished speaking, Princess Kunxing's eyes lit up suddenly, she couldn't help but nodded with a smile, and said to Ma Shiying, "That's right, Mr. Ma Ge, since the imperial court is short of money in the future, just come to the bank to borrow as much as the princess wants... "Halfway through speaking, he quickly covered his mouth.

Zhu Cihong didn't blame her for talking too much this time, but nodded, looked at Ma Shiying and said, "Ma Aiqing, do you have any questions? Just speak freely and don't have any worries."

"Thank you for your majesty's instruction, the old minister will know what to do in the future."

(End of this chapter)