I'm really not doing business

Chapter 1081 All things and methods involve rent collection; national affairs are arduous and the people suffer greatly.

Serving the emperor requires certain things to be known by him, and certain things that eunuchs must understand. When the emperor asks questions, the eunuchs must be able to answer them.

Memory is also a political talent. One person's wisdom is limited, but the wisdom of many is greater. Often, it is important to write down what the ministers say, because you never know when it may come in handy.

Li Yougong gathered a great deal of intelligence in Lingnan, but he only reported less than one-tenth of it to the Emperor. However, Zhang Hong had a clear understanding of Li Yougong's activities in Lingnan. When the Emperor asked him questions, Zhang Hong could not answer them, and since they were not in the memorandum, further investigation would greatly affect the Emperor's efficiency.

Your Majesty is a living, breathing human being. Even with an excellent memory, you cannot be omniscient or omnipotent, and therefore need the assistance of your ministers.

Li Yougong was quite certain that the Ming Dynasty would not be an exception, for example, committing crimes during the opening of the sea.

During the process of opening up the seas, the Ming Dynasty had a moral disadvantage, which restricted some of the court's actions. However, merchants were naturally profit-driven and did some things without any psychological burden.

For example, the trade in foreign slaves was unavoidable. These were tools of production. Developing Southeast Asia required a large labor force. The better the Wanli Reforms were carried out, the less willing the Ming people were to leave their homeland, and the more manpower was needed in Southeast Asia.

When foreign barbarians illegally entered the Ming Dynasty, the government, as a beneficiary of order, could only act according to the rules. However, there were few restrictions on overseas trading companies. Every year, countless foreigners wanted to reach the Ming Dynasty, but some were stopped at the Strait of Malacca, and some were stopped at Luzon.

Very few foreigners actually made it to the Ming Dynasty, but the five maritime trade offices guarded the area strictly to prevent them from entering.

When the interests of the imperial court and the local people are aligned, some government decrees can be implemented. However, when the interests of the imperial court and the local people conflict, the implementation of government decrees will be obstructed in every way. Clearly, in the matter of obstructing the barbarians, the interests of the imperial court and the local people are highly aligned.

Zhu Yijun continued to process memorials. Hou Yuzhao wrote a memorial before the new year and brought it to court. This memorial, unusually, did not discuss the implementation of the Single Whip Law for the Six Ministries under his jurisdiction. The memorial was titled "A Second Discussion on the Urgent Matters of Turning Over and Deepening Turning Over".

In his memorial, Hou Yuzhao summarized the experiences and lessons learned from the policy of returning land to the people and consolidating it, giving the emperor a conclusion that had been tested in practice.

The conclusion is:
Firstly, all the benefits generated by new policies, skilled crafts, and a large population will eventually end up in the fields and be seized by landowners.
Secondly, the interests of local officials and gentry are fundamentally incompatible with the interests of ordinary people, just as ice and charcoal are incompatible.

Thirdly, although the policy of returning land to its original state and equalizing acreage has been implemented, the roots of local officials are deeply entrenched, and they will sprout again after being burned by wildfire, so they cannot be eliminated overnight.

Hou Yuzhao's meaning is very clear: First, all the benefits brought about by reform, technological progress, and population growth will become land rent and be distributed to landowners; second, the interests of the local gentry and the interests of other classes will always be in opposition to each other, like fire and water; third, returning land to the countryside and equalizing land distribution cannot eliminate the local gentry and the class of gentry.

After giving these three conclusions, Hou Yuzhao told a short story he had seen in Hangzhou.

Starting in the thirteenth year of the Wanli reign in Zhejiang, a large number of local gentry and officials lost their land, either voluntarily or involuntarily, and moved into the cities of various counties, prefectures, and autonomous prefectures. They still followed their own logic and purchased a large amount of land and shops in the cities to make a living.

Hou Yuzhao returned to his hometown of Zhejiang with two hundred northern soldiers. These soldiers really liked Hangzhou Pian'erchuan noodles, a type of small noodle dish in Hangzhou, which was topped with pickled mustard greens, bamboo shoots, lean meat slices, and so on.

There were many such small noodle shops in Hangzhou. In the beginning, ten coins were all you could eat at these noodle shops, but you could only have three eggs.

Because returning farmland to the fields affected some of the grain supply, grain prices in Hangzhou rose briefly. Since Zhejiang grows more rice than wheat, the price of flour also increased. The small noodle shop where the soldiers often ate started to raise its prices, from three eggs to one, and from ten coins to fifteen coins, and from all-you-can-eat to just a bowl of noodles.

However, as the land was returned to its original state, the supply and demand relationship was restored to balance, and the cost of materials decreased, but the prices of small noodle shops did not return to normal.

The soldiers initially cursed the owners of these noodle shops for being heartless, saying that the prices of rice and wheat had already dropped, but the noodle shops were still charging such high prices.

Soon, Hou Yuzhao learned that it wasn't that the noodle shop owner had lost his conscience, but rather that rents in the city had increased, causing the noodle shop owner's profits to decrease rather than increase significantly.

The extra money didn't become the store owner's profit or the employees' wages; instead, it went into rent.

All the efforts—decorating, hiring people, training apprentices, working from dawn till dusk to make toppings, sourcing goods, and so on—have become reasons for rent increases.

If a shop owner chooses not to rent, years of hard work will go to waste, and it will be difficult to bring a stable customer base to a new shop. Moreover, even if he doesn't rent, there are plenty of other people who will. In such a prime location, shop owners can only accept rising rents.

These local gentry and elders who moved to the city had a very common tacit understanding about when and by how much to raise prices. In particular, the brokers and compradors in the city who made a living by renting would constantly tell these local gentry and elders that prices should be raised and by how much.

If the shop owner chooses to close down, the landlord can immediately rent the shop to the next dreamer through these brokers.

Hou Yuzhao soon discovered that it wasn't just the food industry; 99% of the 152 trades in Hangzhou were in this state.

These shopkeepers weren't doing business; they were working for the landlords. Their hard work and struggles turned into land rent, which was then distributed to the new local gentry and elites.

For example, the Zhejiang Textile Bureau was established in Hangzhou, a city with a population of over 2.2 million. The bureau had 24,000 weavers. Before the bureau built its own official residence, it provided silver to the craftsmen every month so they could rent houses to live in.

Meanwhile, landlords in the vicinity would constantly inquire whether the wages of weavers and weavers had increased, and by how much, and how much the subsidies provided by the weaving bureau for renting houses to artisans had increased, in order to raise rents.

In other words, the wages of the artisans in the weaving bureau were transferred to these landlords through land rent.

When the Bureau of Textiles was building residences for artisans, a civil unrest broke out. The Bureau of Textiles built four Wanjia Gardens to house weavers and weavers, but as soon as construction began, people kept going to the construction site to cause trouble.

Hou Yuzhao adopted a very decisive approach, arresting all the idlers who dared to cause trouble and the landlords who instigated the disturbances. Nanyang was short of people, even whip-wielders, so they were all exiled there, and only then did no one dare to bare their teeth at the Hangzhou government.

There are far too many such cases, such as the construction of the Zhejiang East Canal and the Hangzhou-Songjiang Highway. Hou Yuzhao is a person who views issues based on his own stance. Anyone whose stance is completely contrary to his own and who is judged as an enemy of the Wanli Reform will be dealt with by Hou Yuzhao without any mercy.

After implementing the policy of returning land to its original state and consolidating its restoration, Hou Yuzhao observed the economy of Zhejiang and came to three conclusions.

Advances in agricultural technology, improved road and bridge construction increasing the flow of goods, and the ability of agricultural surplus to be exchanged for more commodities lead to an increased supply of grain. However, the price of grain does not decrease accordingly; in fact, in densely populated areas, grain prices may even rise due to supply and demand.

The benefits of agricultural technological progress are swallowed up by land rent, storage fees, and other charges.
The basic necessities of life—clothing, food, housing, and transportation—are all closely related to land rent, and the living standards of artisans have actually begun to decline.

Craftsmen are always thinking about this problem: as their work experience becomes richer, their production efficiency increases, their wages increase, and they have more money, it seems that the money is getting less and less effective. On the contrary, they are facing troubles everywhere in life. This is not because the craftsmen are not working hard enough.
For workshop owners, the artisans' demands for increased wages are perfectly reasonable. However, this means increased costs, which in turn leads to higher prices for goods. Higher prices inevitably result in lower sales, and the profits may even be less than when prices were lower.

If we call the net proceeds from development the surplus, then land rent constantly competes for the distribution of the surplus through various means, taking away the portion of the surplus that should belong to the workshop owners and artisans.

Hou Yuzhao used small examples to illustrate the current state of various industries in Hangzhou Prefecture, and then discussed the various struggles surrounding the construction of official workshops and residences for artisans, in order to prove his three points.

Why do the progress and changes of the times, and the struggles and efforts of individuals, ultimately turn into land rent, flowing into the hands of these unproductive local gentry and nobles?

Hou Yuzhao believed that land ownership was equivalent to sovereignty.

Land rights are a differentiation and refinement of sovereignty. Sovereignty is the exclusive political power of a state or court to implement policies within its own territory. As a branch of sovereignty, acquiring land rights means acquiring a portion of sovereignty.

"All things and laws involve collecting rent; national affairs are arduous and the people suffer greatly." Zhu Yijun wrote this annotation after reading Hou Yuzhao's memorial.

In the Ming Dynasty, officials and scholars were inseparable, especially when it came to political science. This kind of thing really requires practical experience to gain a more concrete understanding. Hou Yu Zhao was in charge of the economy. Through his memorials, he explained to His Majesty the serious harm that local gentry and rent-collecting economy posed to development.

Taking Hangzhou as an example, land rent in Hangzhou generally increases by 5% every year. In just fourteen years, the price of land rent will double. In many places, the increase in land rent is not just double, but several times.

If the workshop owners make a profit, they may try to expand production, such as purchasing iron horses from the imperial court to increase the number of mechanical workshops and improve output.
If artisans receive sufficient compensation for their labor, they can have more children, attend artisan schools to improve their skills, and have spare money to realize their creative ideas and advance technology.

However, the landlords in the city, once they received the money, would only use it to buy more shops, land, and so on, thus driving up land prices in Hangzhou and consequently, land rents.

Not all landlords make a fortune. Some people blindly join in, easily believing the hype and empty promises of others. After blindly buying property, they find that the property lacks sufficient customer traffic, the property is overpriced, and they owe large sums of money to lenders. In the end, they often end up with a mess and lose everything.

These people have all become cannon fodder in the land price gouging, accomplices of the real profiteers.

When these cannon fodder, accomplices, and henchmen left, rentiers began to acquire their properties at extremely low prices. The properties themselves were not expensive, and the holding costs were also low. They only needed to wait for the right opportunity. The Ming Dynasty was developing, and there was not a single piece of land in Hangzhou Prefecture that was cheap.

But the truly powerful and influential right-wing individuals have a higher risk tolerance and a lower opportunity cost.

When Hou Yuzhao was in Hangzhou, he was helpless in dealing with this phenomenon and could only severely crack down on breaches of contract.

During the years Hou Yuzhao was in Zhejiang, it was the time when local gentry and officials entered the city. These guys were lawless and liked to ignore the laws of the court. They were also fond of breaching contracts. Even though they had signed lease agreements, they never followed them.

There are many cases of rent increases three or four times a year. All Hou Yuzhao can do is crack down on these behaviors of not following the contract and changing rents in breach of contract.

This memorial analyzed the phenomenon, the problem, and the cause, but did not provide a clear solution, nor did Hou Yu Zhao have a good solution.

The essence of this contradiction is that the means of production belong to the meat-eaters, while producers who do not own the means of production can only access them and engage in labor and production under the control of the meat-eaters.
In this way, the means of production became the most important means for the powerful to exploit the poor and laborers.

To solve this problem, the exploitation of the people must be eliminated. Hou Yuzhao could do very little. The most important task of the Wanli Reform was to redistribute the means of production and change the relations of production.

Zhu Yijun wrote his comments on Hou Yuzhao's memorial, expressing his own views. Although the memorial did not involve specific government decrees, it was still very helpful for the emperor to understand the various economic phenomena in the development of the dynasty.

The Ministry of Works reported both exciting and bad news: fifty-one official factories in northern China had been successfully completed and recruitment had begun, but out of caution, the Ministry of Works suspended the second batch of fifty-four official factories and did not continue the project.

Artisans are detached from agricultural production and do not farm. Too many artisans entered the government factories and became resident artisans, which required sufficient agricultural surplus. Obviously, the agricultural surplus in the north was not enough to meet the needs of artisans, while Liaodong, which had a relatively abundant agricultural surplus, did not have enough population to support the artisan population.

The Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue jointly submitted a memorial requesting a halt to the construction of fifty-four government-run factories.

Zhu Yijun did not issue a vermilion edict on the memorial. Instead, he ordered that the Grand Minister of Works Zhang Xueyan, Grand Minister of Agriculture Zeng Tongheng, and Junior Minister of Agriculture Xin Zixiu be summoned the following day to inquire about the details before making a decision. He was already inclined to temporarily halt the construction of the remaining official factories. Technological advancements in agriculture also required time, and taking too big a step could easily lead to problems. Moreover, if problems arose from the construction of official factories in the north, it would become somewhat difficult to resolve conflicts overseas.

Wang Qian and Hu Junde engaged in a heated debate over the six million strings of cash that should belong to Luzon. Wang Qian wanted to reclaim the cash belonging to Luzon, while Hu Junde said that the cash had long belonged to Songjiang Prefecture and should not even be considered.

A total of four million strings of cash remained in Songjiang Prefecture, while Luzon only had a paltry two million strings. In Luzon, hard currencies such as tobacco and sugar were used as general equivalents. The Ministry of Revenue gave specific suggestions that more cash should be issued.

"I cannot store that much gold. The Ming Dynasty's gold sources are limited, with only two places, Jinshan and Jinchi. The amount of gold we can obtain is finite, and the amount of paper money we can issue is also finite. We have already over-issued three times the amount." Zhu Yijun looked at the memorial in silence for a long time. Finally, he approved Wang Qian and the Ministry of Revenue's memorial, issuing an additional four million strings of paper money to Luzon.

The reason given for the targeted issuance of additional shares to Guangdong is the same: if he doesn't issue banknotes, the Guangzhou government will issue sugar promissory notes, and the powerful and influential people in Guangzhou will issue private notes. In the short term, this is a temporary measure, but in the long term, it will naturally breed rebellious thoughts.

Zhu Yijun's job was to earn more real money from overseas and make everyone believe in him and that he could redeem these precious coins.

It's a very strange thing. In fact, most of the powerful and wealthy people knew that the imperial court's official post station didn't have enough silver to cash out all the paper money, but everyone tacitly avoided talking about it.

If people avoid talking about it, His Majesty will still refuse to issue currency. If they spread rumors and public opinion, His Majesty will be even more unwilling to issue currency.

Xu Bangrui from Dianbai, Guangzhou, once said something that expressed their feelings: "After the Wanli Reforms, even if His Majesty used straw paper to print money, we could only accept it. But if His Majesty didn't use straw paper and used cotton-spun banana-fiber paper, that would be a great act of imperial grace!"
The gold and paper money represent a debt that Your Majesty has secured for the court with your own credit, borrowing from the people of the world.

Given this fundamental fact, His Majesty has used his own credibility to try every means to revitalize the Ming Dynasty's economy and solve the problem of the money shortage. This is the fundamental logic behind His Majesty's boundless grace.

The reason these private notes were able to circulate was that the people of Guangzhou believed they could be exchanged for sugar and tobacco;

The reason why the gold and paper money could circulate was because His Majesty's reputation was beyond reproach. Even when Empress Dowager Li's family members sabotaged the gold and paper money project, His Majesty punished them severely.

Your Majesty bears the weight of the sun and moon on your shoulders and the fate of the nation rests upon you. Your willingness to stand up and act as a pillar of strength is already a sign of a wise and virtuous ruler. Count the four hundred emperors in history, how many have had this kind of responsibility and commitment?

All the powerful and wealthy merchants knew perfectly well that His Majesty had no need to do these things, just as they never wanted to assume any social responsibility.

These meat-eaters actually admire one thing: after so long, the Ming emperor has not been completely corrupted by power. This perseverance is somewhat terrifying.

The harm caused by the cash shortage far outweighs orderly price increases and inflation, which can be considered one of the results of the great debate during the Wanli Reforms.

"I've discovered something," Zhu Yijun said, shaking his head as he held Hu Junde's memorial. "I've discovered that once power is distributed, there's no reason to take it back. The four million strings of cash they're arguing about should belong to Luzon, but Hu Junde is being unreasonable and refusing to take it out of Songjiang Prefecture's pocket."

"Your Majesty is wise," Zhang Hong said sincerely. He thought of Sun Kehong. After relinquishing power, Sun Kehong was still a nobleman only because Chen Liuzi, Chen Jingyi, had a conscience.

Chen Jingyi has already gotten what he wanted most, so putting on a show is enough. But Chen Jingyi is even more filial than a biological son.

"Your Majesty, the Master has arrived unexpectedly." A young eunuch rushed in and bowed as he spoke.

"Oh? Please come in quickly."

Zhu Yijun tidied up the memorials on the table. Among them were a few that puzzled him and were difficult to deal with. He would ask Zhang Juzheng about them when he arrived.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects. May Your Majesty be well." Zhang Juzheng bowed respectfully, his brows furrowed as he looked at the pile of memorials on the table.

"Please sit down, Zhang Daban, make me a cup of good tea." Zhu Yijun said with a smile, "It's just in time for you to come, sir. I don't need to make another trip. Please help me make a decision about these memorials."

Zhang Juzheng glanced at the memorials and shook his head, saying, "Your Majesty, I have been retired for a long time and am not very familiar with the affairs of the court, so I will not read them."

When His Majesty is seriously ill, he takes advantage of his prestige to take charge of the situation. When His Majesty is healthy, he doesn't bother with anything. Having been retired for so long, he has long since become lazy.

"Alright then, I and my ministers will think about it some more." Zhu Yijun readily agreed and did not force Zhang Juzheng to work like a slave. Politics is a very time-sensitive matter; if one does not engage in political affairs for several months, one will lose touch with the situation.

Zhang Juzheng did not sit down, but stood upright with his head bowed, saying, "Your subject dares to ask."

"I have come today to discuss something. The chief physician has set a three-month period for Your Majesty, instructing you to rest more during these three months and to avoid getting angry or causing trouble. However, Your Majesty, relying on your youth, has started working day and night. You agreed to the plan of one day off every six days, and you followed it last month. But this month, you haven't had a single day off."

Zhang Juzheng felt that life was truly unpredictable. He had spent half his life advising the emperors Shizong and the previous emperor to be diligent, but now that he was old, he began to advise the emperor to neglect his duties. His Majesty even broke his promise and did not take a single day off out of the six days he was supposed to.

Zhu Yijun smiled and said, "It's the end of the year, isn't it busy? All six ministries need to summarize the events of this year and make plans for next year. With so many things to do, this is the only way."

It's not that Zhu Yijun wants to break his promise; the end of the year is the busiest time. He remembers the promise he made, but sometimes it's indeed not easy to keep it.

"Alas." Zhang Juzheng then sat down and sighed, "Your Majesty fell ill after returning to the capital in September and has not recovered. The entire Ming Dynasty is in a state of confusion and disarray. I urge Your Majesty to take care of your health."

A true ruler is selfless; even the emperor's body does not belong solely to him, but to the entire Ming Dynasty.

In authoritarian and strongman politics, the authoritarian figure, the strongman, is the core of the core. Once the core has a problem, there will be great chaos.

"Then let's take a day off tomorrow." Zhu Yijun finally agreed to Zhang Juzheng's suggestion. He made a special trip, so it seems he was really a little scared.

Zhang Juzheng breathed a sigh of relief and bowed his head, saying, "Your Majesty is wise."

Others couldn't get into Zhang Juzheng's door, but Shen Shixing could. When Shen Shixing discovered that the emperor was working late into the night and not keeping his promise, he didn't dare to say anything to the emperor. He had no choice but to go to the Marquis of Yicheng's residence to ask the old patriarch to come out of seclusion.

The emperor's good and bad deeds are not subject to the constraints of his subjects, especially for a monarch like Your Majesty who wields immense power.

Admittedly, this last month of the year is the busiest time, but His Majesty fell ill in September, and October, November, and December are his months of recuperation. Moreover, His Majesty promised to take one day off every six days, but he refused to rest, which put Shen Shixing in a difficult position.

"There's good news," Zhu Yijun told Zhang Juzheng. "Our mushroom factory's penicillin brine is sufficient for use by the prefectural-level public pharmacies, and our quinine is also sufficient for use in the malaria-prone areas of the south and north."

There were four official brine factories in the Ming Dynasty, responsible for producing old brine, which is an antibiotic like penicillin. These factories were located in the capital, Liaodong, Wuchang, and Songjiang. These four official brine factories supported the supply of old brine, and medical school graduates who went to various parts of the Ming Dynasty were no longer helpless without ingredients.

Previously, the main things these medical school graduates could do were prevention and popularizing hygiene knowledge. However, the expansion of old brine production gave them another powerful tool.

The Wanli Reforms and the magnificent golden age were all pieced together bit by bit from small puzzle pieces, creating a dazzling spectacle.

Zhu Yijun and Zhang Juzheng talked for a long time about the preparation of old brine. The Ming Dynasty was also gradually improving the technique of preparing old brine, searching for new bacteria, increasing production, determining the amount of old brine to use for different ages and weights, and so on. These things were being perfected little by little.

The Ming Dynasty is getting better.

The mushroom factory does not only prepare old brine; it also produces all the microorganisms needed for fermentation, such as wine, vinegar, soy sauce, and fresh salt.

Because the old brine is involved in human lives, it's not easy to sell it at a high price, meaning the profit margin isn't high. However, other products are very profitable. Therefore, the mushroom factory can not only be responsible for its own profits and losses but also hand over its profits.

Just like the Xishan Coal Bureau, coal was not actually that profitable due to government decrees, people's needs, and other reasons, but steel products were indeed very profitable.

"Your Majesty, is Shen Shixing a treacherous minister who plotted to harm Your Majesty?" Zhang Juzheng asked solemnly. This was the first time Zhang Juzheng had discussed this issue with the emperor since the emperor recovered from his serious illness.

Zhu Yijun stared at Zhang Juzheng in utter shock, and said blankly, "Ah? No... I'm ill, and you returned to the cabinet to guard against Shen Shixing?"

"It's to guard against him." Zhang Juzheng replied very solemnly, "The only people who can plot against His Majesty are within three zhang of him. He is the Grand Secretary, not him. No one else has that ability."

As early as the first year of the Wanli reign, during the Wang Jinglong assassination attempt on the emperor, Zhang Juzheng had told His Majesty that there were only a few people capable of plotting against the emperor, and after Gao Gong was expelled, there was no longer any ability to send people into the palace.

When the emperor was seriously ill, Zhang Juzheng briefly returned to public service and served in the cabinet, his purpose being to guard against Shen Shixing.

"Indeed, it was my fault for not following the doctor's orders, and a minor illness turned into a major one. No one wanted to harm me." Zhu Yijun gave a very affirmative answer, seriously underestimating the impact of his serious illness.

Not only the elite soldiers of the Beijing Garrison couldn't accept it, but even Zhang Juzheng couldn't accept that something had happened to the emperor, and even Shen Shixing was a suspect.

For the sake of the world, we must take good care of our health.

"Isn't that so?" Zhang Juzheng sighed and said, "I've searched for so long but haven't found any evidence. Could it be that there was a mistake in the reception of the emperor by the Jinan Prefecture?"

For the past three months, he has been investigating everything that happened during the period when the emperor returned to the capital, but he has not found anything wrong.

“It’s not him, of course there’s no evidence! Jinan Prefecture is also very respectful.” Zhu Yijun waved his hand and said, “It’s just that he didn’t follow the doctor’s orders. It was made very clear during the Grand Court Assembly.”

"Is that so?" Zhang Juzheng thought about it carefully and finally accepted the result. His disciple always believed in an eye for an eye and would not compromise himself for the sake of the so-called big picture.

His Majesty the Emperor was the authoritative figure of the Wanli Reforms; he himself was the embodiment of the overall situation.

"Report!" A special cavalryman rushed into the imperial study and shouted, "Great victory at Thang Long City in Jiaozhi! Liu Ting and Luo Shangzhi have captured Thang Long City and taken the usurper Zheng Song prisoner!"

(End of this chapter)