I'm really not doing business

Chapter 734 Economic Power is Political Power

"Of course he was castrated." Feng Bao said hurriedly, "No one who has been castrated can leave the Nagasaki Governor's Office. When he arrived in Daming, he was checked again."

"Then use him. There is nothing wrong with what Zhang Ang did. Confiscate the accounts and use them to buy wine and meat and provide additional meals for the construction site. If the money is not enough, I will make up another 200 silver coins. There will be no punishment for the clerk Zhang Ang. By the way, what is the background of this Zhang Ang?" Zhu Yijun made a decision. Since they were using a castrated slave, there would be no problem.

"I am a juren, and my parents are natives of Hangzhou. They had me when they were old, and now they are too old to travel far away, so I have never been to the capital for examination." Feng Bao answered this question quickly. As the Prime Minister, he had to be able to answer the Majesty's questions at any time to be competent for the position. When the Imperial Household Department approved the document, Feng Bao had a comprehensive understanding of the matter.

"I understand." Zhu Yijun took notice of this man and found him to be an honest official who worked diligently.

Feng Bao said with a strange look on his face: "What Zhang Ang said is not false. It is public money and public work. Procrastination is all about money. This has become a catchphrase on the construction sites of some government factories and large construction companies."

"Yes." Zhu Yijun believed that this was true. Local conscripts could not be beaten, scolded, or urged to work harder. The Yongding and Yongsheng woolen government factories had also experienced problems with inefficiency, but the problem was immediately solved when the policy of elimination came out. The recruitment of conscripts as a branch of the Single Whip Law had just begun. We had to prevent recruitment from becoming the corvee of the past, and also prevent recruitment from being inefficient.

The Theory of Contradiction has been used repeatedly since its emergence. In other words, the Theory of Contradiction of the Ming Dynasty is also a variation of the Doctrine of the Mean. However, what makes Zhu Yijun a little helpless is that the two volumes of Class Theory, Class and Distribution, have never been as popular as the Theory of Contradiction. When discussing issues, court officials often avoid the narrative of class.

Zhu Yijun was good at grasping the key to the problem. In the case of Zhang Ang, castration was enough to use him.

In his book "On the Self-cultivation of the Five-Step Snake" on the art of being an official, Wang Chonggu once succinctly summarized it in four sentences: maintain sympathy and concern for the group; maintain vigilance and distance from individuals; strictly follow the system and procedures; and leave traces of everything you do.

If you are unwilling to read the heavy theory on the self-cultivation of bureaucrats, just understand these four sentences and you will not end up in a miserable situation.

We should maintain sympathy and concern for the poor and laboring people, favor these vulnerable groups in policy, pay attention to their needs, care about their lives and deaths, and have empathy, but we should remain vigilant and keep a distance from individuals and specific issues. The same applies to Zhang Ang's corruption case. Zhang Ang cried out for injustice, saying that he could have actually taken money from the big bosses of the Ming Dynasty, but he chose to be a maritime merchant in order to get the job done.

It is obvious that the situation Zhang Ang is facing requires the introduction of some competition to ensure efficiency.

"Your Majesty, I think there should be a regulation to limit the number of Japanese slaves. If the construction site is full of Japanese slaves, it will be a source of trouble. It will be a joke if there is a Japanese invasion." Feng Bao put forward his own idea.

The Japanese invaders can be used, but they cannot be used without restraint. The large-scale construction is the key means for the Ming Dynasty court to allocate resources downward. If they are used without limit, the Ming Dynasty will have to bear the final consequences.

The huge construction projects were distributed downwards, and ended up being all distributed to the Japanese maritime merchants who had no shortage of money and controlled the means of production. As time went on, the resentment in the hearts of the people would boil over.

Zhu Yijun thought for a while and said, "What you said makes sense, but only 30% at most."

Regarding the use of the Japanese, too much will cause chaos, and too little will have no effect. Less than 30% is just right.

In Shen Shixing's memorial, there was not only a problem of Japanese invaders, he also talked about the problem of Ming Dynasty's currency. Although Shen Shixing was still a governor, he had already checked for loopholes and filled in the gaps in Ming Dynasty's new policies.

The Ming Dynasty used the money system, supplemented by the accounting currency of accepted bills of exchange. The Ming Dynasty did not promote the banknote system, but Shen Shixing saw that there were problems with the Ming Dynasty's money system, and they were big problems.

"I still underestimated this water balance master. Governor Shen is still very capable." Zhu Yijun knocked on the table and said, "He said that the currency system of the Ming Dynasty is a bimetallic standard, with a gold-to-silver ratio of 1 to 16, but gold is not circulated as currency, so gold is not the standard, but silver is the actual standard. Now that the Ming Dynasty has minted a large number of Wanli Tongbao coins, red copper has become another standard."

"The Ming Dynasty is currently in a de facto copper-silver bimetallic standard."

This is completely different from before. The Ming Dynasty had a ban on gold and silver in its ancestral laws, which meant that people were not allowed to use gold and silver and could only use treasure notes, which were anchored to copper coins. The Ming Dynasty itself was a copper standard system, but after the ban on gold and silver was slightly relaxed during the Jingtai period, the Ming Dynasty's fiscal, taxation, and monetary policies entered a stage of disorderly growth.

Now that silver coins are being printed and coins are being minted in large quantities, a de facto copper-silver bimetallic standard has been created.

Feng Bao frowned and said, "Your Majesty, is there any problem with this? The Armour Bureau has printed small-denomination silver coins of one qian and one fen, but the people of the Ming Dynasty do not use them because they are easy to lose. In addition to being inconvenient to use, the silver coins of one qian and one fen are easy to be cut off and worn out. Therefore, most of the silver coins of the Armour Bureau are weighed at one liang."

"The silver coins are large denominations, and the copper coins are small denominations. I think that's fine. The people are also human beings. We can't stop them from using money."

"Feng Daban, let me ask you, how many Tongbao coins can be exchanged for one tael of imperial silver coins?" Zhu Yijun asked with a smile.

"Official price: 700."

"Folk geometry?"

"It fluctuates between 750 and 800." Feng Bao said with his head down.

Zhu Yijun asked again: "So do you want to keep the silver coins or the Tongbao coins?"

"Silver coins." Feng Bao thought for a moment and said, silver coins seemed to be more valuable.

Zhu Yijun took out a silver coin and a handful of copper coins and said, "Yes, when the court forces one currency to be overvalued and another to be undervalued, the undervalued currency will flow out of the Ming Dynasty or disappear due to hoarding, collection, etc., while the overvalued currency will flow into circulation."

"Obviously, people will use Tongbao to exchange for silver coins at the Baoyuan Bureau for storage, and more Tongbao will flow into the market, because the exchange rate stipulated by the court overestimates the value of Tongbao, and we Ming people like to save money. If we have surplus food at home, we will not be worried, and we will have surplus every year to deal with emergencies at any time."

"And now, Daming has built a mint in Nan Ya, with 120 furnaces and 6,000 craftsmen. The number of copper coins is increasing rapidly, but the number of silver coins is not growing as fast as copper coins. As long as the Nan Ya Mint starts working, Daming's silver coins will be emptied out by copper coins."

Shen Shixing reminded the emperor not to just focus on building furnaces, and that the ratio of silver to copper should have a floating exchange rate, otherwise the court would actually lose money by minting copper coins.

"I understand. Governor Shen said that the listing price should change every day." Feng Bao said with some sudden enlightenment: "And according to Governor Shen's estimate, one silver coin is worth one Wanli Tongbao coin, and it fluctuates up and down, which is reasonable."

Zhu Yijun nodded and said, "The victory of copper coins is not the victory of free market competition, but the result of the court's right to mint coins, which forced copper coins to be overvalued and silver coins to be undervalued. Dynamic price adjustments are the means and tools for the court to maintain economic stability."

The method proposed by Shen Shixing was to make dynamic adjustments based on private prices to avoid a complete victory for one side under the copper-silver bimetallic standard. At the same time, it would keep the copper-silver exchange rate within a stable range, so that the people would not have to rack their brains to calculate and maintain a stable life.

This is an important means for the imperial court. A stable silver-to-copper ratio means a more stable economy.

Shen Shixing pointed out that there is a simpler way, which is to destroy the copper furnace and stop producing Wanli Tongbao coins. Instead, the problem will not exist if the copper furnace is destroyed and the Wanli Tongbao coins are changed to a single silver standard. This is like Philip of the West only issuing silver coins. The West can indeed do this, but if the legal currency is only silver coins, there is a problem to consider: what will the people use? Philip did not care about the lives of the common people, so how could the Ming Dynasty not consider it?
In the memorial, the Songjiang governor's opinion was to increase the production of copper coins, greatly increase the issuance of copper coins, and make the exchange rate of copper coins and silver coins approach the ratio of one silver to one guan more quickly.

He had a better solution, a single precious metal standard, but this solution somewhat violated the basic political proposition that the people are the foundation of the country and the country will be stable if the foundation is solid. If he dared to agitate so vigorously, he should forget about joining the cabinet. Zhu Yijun would rather use a mediocre person than him.

The majority of content in this memorial is not about Zhang Ang’s corruption case or the gold and silver bimetallic standard, but rather discussions about the emerging bourgeoisie.

The first volume of the Theory of Class points out that as long as a person exists, whether alive or not, he must belong to a certain class, whether he is aware of it or not; and the essence of class is economic status and social status. Class has never been a false, abstract concept, but an economic entity and social entity.

Under these two premises, Shen Shixing believed that: that is, when an individual or a group obtains sufficient economic and social status, they will inevitably obtain corresponding political status, and will definitely use their political status to obtain more economic and social status, that is, political power is equal to economic power, and vice versa.

"This Master of Duanshui is now so bold that I have to look at him in a new light." Zhu Yijun said that he underestimated Shen Shixing, not that he underestimated Shen Shixing's talent, but that he underestimated Shen Shixing's courage. These words were all said by Mr. Zhang before, but now Master Shen has become even bolder, or in other words, Shen Shixing finally realized that as a member of the ruling class, there are some issues that cannot be avoided and cannot be avoided.

But Shen Shixing also went from one extreme to another.

In his memorials, he was very bold and straightforward, expressing his true feelings, and fundamentally demonstrated a problem: because the Ming emperor had lost sufficient economic status, his political power had shrunk on a large scale, and his status was not actually supreme. This was the fundamental reason why the ruler was weak and the ministers were strong in the decades and even hundreds of years before the Ming Dynasty.

Political power equals economic power. After citing the example of the emperor, Shen Shixing believed that it was inevitable for the emerging bourgeoisie to gain political status.

As a force above all classes, the imperial court had to ensure a certain degree of fairness in this process and use violence to maintain the basic stability of the Ming Dynasty. It had to ensure that the old wealthy who had lost power would not become an obstacle to social development, and that the new wealthy who had gained power would not subvert the country.

This is not a fantasy, but what is happening now as Zhejiang is implementing its land return order.

The old wealthy owners who are unwilling to lose their land are trying every means to circumvent the court's decree to return the land, such as through long-term leases, threats and intimidation, to regain the land. The poor coolies who have obtained the land are trying to defend the land distributed by the court. When necessary, the court needs to intervene with force to ensure that the policy of returning the land is implemented.

For the poor laborers, the only way for them to keep their land is clumsy and simple: have more children.

"Very good, Shen Shixing has completed the task of returning the land to Zhejiang. No one can find fault with him when he returns to the court and joins the cabinet." Zhu Yijun knocked on the table. Zhu reviewed Shen Shixing's memorial, agreed with several of his specific proposals, and wrote hundreds of words to discuss his political science views.

Zhu Yijun gave Lin Fucheng and Li Zhi the title of fifth-rank doctor of the Institute of Things in the hope that they would turn politics into a science that could be discussed. However, Lin Fucheng and Li Zhi failed to live up to the emperor's expectations. It was not because they were incompetent, but because they did not control the power, so they could not have in-depth discussions. However, their views were important supplements. Zhang Juzheng and Shen Shixing, as part of the ruling class, were able to have in-depth discussions, and their views were the main trunk and vein.

In April of the 40th year of the Wanli reign, Zhu Yijun received some bad news while he was busy. Shaanxi Governor Shen Yikuan and Suiyuan Governor Pan Jixun submitted a memorial to the emperor, stating that serious drought had occurred in northern Shaanxi, Suiyuan and Gansu this year. Precipitation in various places had declined. The most serious decline in precipitation was 20% lower than last year, while in the best places, precipitation decreased by %. It was expected that the summer and autumn taxes would face extremely serious harvest shortages.

"This is extremely dangerous. The wheat seedlings planted in the spring will die without this little water. The wheat will be empty shells without this little drizzle. Add to that the successful hatching of locust seedlings caused by drought. The locust plague will definitely become the next disaster. It can be said that the less rainfall, the less grain harvest. This year, Suiyuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu will definitely be short of food." Zhu Yijun looked at the memorial and said immediately, "Summon the assistant ministers to Tonghe Palace immediately."

This is an issue that must be taken seriously. Without considering water conservancy projects, ditches, dams, wells and other human resources, the reduction in grain production and precipitation is in an exponential relationship. The more precipitation decreases, the greater the scale of the reduction in production will be, and even the result may be a total loss of grain.

"Your Majesty, I think we should send the imperial guards to investigate and confirm the truth of the news." Zhang Juzheng finished reading the memorial and said with a frown, "Some places report drought every year, and the court needs to allocate food and grass to provide relief to the victims every year. However, after a long time of relief, the imperial censors found heavy rain when they passed by."

"This kind of tax exemption is often used by local officials and local gentry to empty the government treasury. I think we should be more cautious."

"Sir, you are absolutely right. I will send the imperial guards to Suiyuan to investigate. However, judging from the reports from various places, there will be no mistake. Shen Yiquan is a bit addicted to power, and Pan Jixun is even more loyal to the emperor and the country. If Pan Jixun really wants to use his power for personal gain, he will not go to a remote place like Suiyuan." Zhu Yijun certainly knew that Pan Jixun might lie, but it was unlikely that Pan Jixun would lie.

Pan Jixun volunteered to go to Suiyuan, a thankless place where the people were tough, conflicts were fierce, infrastructure was incomplete, and even the abandonment of land was much more serious than in the hinterland. Pan Jixun volunteered just to control the Yellow River.

In the 46th year of Qianlong's reign, a major case that shocked the entire court broke out. Wang Danwang lied about the disaster, and the local officials in Shaanxi were unanimous in lying about the disaster, reporting that there had been severe droughts for years.

As a result, when Agui and Governor Li Shiyao arrived in Shaanxi, they found that there was no drought at all. The most terrifying thing about this matter was that Wang Danwang had turned Shaanxi into an iron plate.

"Your Majesty, what you said makes sense." Zhang Juzheng was sufficiently wary of local officials, and personally, he was inclined to believe it was true.

Wang Guoguang flipped through the memorials and said with a frown, "We need to urgently allocate some grain to Suiyuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu to prevent the drought from turning into famine. Henan's Changping Warehouse has 1.4 million dan of grain. I think half of it can be transferred to Chang'an Prefecture and Gansu Prefecture. The capital currently has 12 million dan of grain reserves, half of which can be mobilized and transported to Suiyuan via the expressway, and then to Gansu in Shengzhou."

"This way, there will be 6.4 million shi of grain in reserve to deal with the situation. In Shaanxi, the drought will not spread and turn into famine."

The imperial court had money and grain, and because the Ministry of Revenue adopted a conservative economic policy and refused to go into debt, the imperial court had a surplus every year rather than a deficit. Originally, these money and grain were to be used on the Korean battlefield, but in the short term, Korea would not need them. The donations from the coastal areas were enough to support the Ming army for one and a half to two years.

Work-for-relief is the best solution, but you have to have enough food to fill your stomach before you can use it. Otherwise, how can you use work-for-relief when there is famine and there are refugees everywhere?

Not all of this grain was transferred to Suiyuan and Shaanxi, but was delivered to Long in batches depending on the severity of the disaster to ensure that disaster relief work was carried out in an orderly manner.

Zhu Yijun said solemnly, "General Pan said in his memorial that he hopes the court will exempt Suiyuan and Shaanxi from 70% of the grain tax. I think that we should follow the ancestral system and exempt 90% in years of disaster, and keep the remaining 10% for local use. We should call on local gentry and landlords to reduce rents and tell them about the "Travels in Baoding Prefecture". If we don't reduce rents in years of disaster, banditry will arise and it will be common for families to be destroyed."

There was no land tax in Gansu as the land was simply too little. In order to allow the local people to farm in peace, the Ming Emperor waved his hand and permanently exempted Gansu from the land tax. In the past few years, the crops had finally grown and there had been some improvement, but when the severe drought came, all of it was ruined. Zhu Yijun had no place to cry.

This is indeed the ancestral system. In the 19th year of the Jiajing reign, Emperor Jiajing exempted Shaanxi from annual disasters by 90% of taxes, and kept 10% for personal use, which was not enough for transportation. Later, it was made a permanent system. The reason for not exempting all taxes was that the places where taxes were collected were the actual counties and prefectures where they were governed. If no taxes were collected, there would be endless troubles if taxes were collected again in the future.

Pan Jixun thought that if the court exempted 70% of the land tax, the country would be able to overcome the crisis of this drought. He was not bragging in front of the emperor. In recent years, Shaanxi and Suiyuan had organized the people to repair ditches and dig deep wells, and had achieved certain results. The reason why Gansu wanted to develop breeding was because the cost of irrigation was too expensive.

"Pan Jixun's greatest confidence comes from sweet potatoes." After reading the memorial, Zhang Juzheng glanced at the emperor. Sweet potatoes are not delicious and eating too much will cause stomach acid, but sweet potatoes are famine relief food. Pan Jixun mentioned in the memorial that due to the drought this year, many regular fields were planted with sweet potatoes, which increased the people's ability to withstand risks.

The emperor was fond of farming and for 14 years he trained agricultural officials and supported the Baoqi Division. Even Xu Zhenming was in Suiyuan, and fire rooms were built in various places to grow seedlings, which brought great changes to the Ming Dynasty.

"As for water and fertilizer, the water and fertilizer from Shengzhou Coal Mine were all given to Suiyuan and Shaanxi. On behalf of all the people, I would like to thank the Xishan Coal Bureau for its contribution." Zhu Yijun looked at Wang Chonggu and once again emphasized the importance of fertilizer. For the Xishan Coal Bureau's provision of water and fertilizer, Zhu Yijun once again solemnly thanked the leader of the Labour Party.

Even an old fox like Wang Chonggu couldn't help but smile, and said quickly: "I am doing this by order, so it is of some use."

"It's harder to get them to reduce rent than to kill them." Wan Shihe sighed helplessly and said, "People die for money and birds die for food. This disaster year is a good time to merge. The court not only doesn't allow them to merge, but also asks them to reduce rent. I'm afraid they are determined to disobey the court's order."

Wang Chonggu said calmly: "If all the people are dead, who will farm for them? What's the point of them annexing the land? If they refuse to reduce the rent, then kill them."

"Ah?" Wan Shihe sat up straight, looked at Wang Chonggu and said, "Shaanxi is the territory of the Jin people."

"I am the leader of the Labor Party. As for the leader of the Jin Party, that is all in the past." Wang Chonggu looked at Wan Shihe and said, "The Labor Party will definitely compete with these landlords for population. This is an inevitable contradiction. If they refuse to reduce the rent, we will kill them. If the court does not kill them, the people who have nowhere to go will gather in the mountains and become bandits. At that time, the people will also kill them."

"If you ask me, it would be better for the imperial court to take action rather than letting the people take action. It would also be quicker and avoid the people taking action, which would cause civil unrest that would be difficult to deal with."

Wang Chonggu believed that the court should use violence appropriately, instead of talking about ruling the world with wisdom and benevolence every day. Many things are mutual, and the less the court shows violence, the more people will forget it over time.

He himself is an example. After the imperial court showed violence, their Jin party immediately became obedient.

"The court has exempted 90% of the rent and called on gentry from all over the country to reduce rent and donate. The warehouses in Beijing and Henan have been used to transport grain and fodder to Gansu, and water conservancy projects have been built in lieu of relief. I hope that everyone inside and outside the Ming Dynasty can work together to overcome the difficulties." Zhu Yijun approved four policies to deal with the famine. The drought in Shaanxi will not last for one year, but will continue. The court should have a plan for how to deal with it.

"Your Majesty is wise." Zhang Juzheng and other ministers said in unison.

"Starting tomorrow, I will go to the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests to pray for the three borders of Shaanxi, and observe religious practice for seven days to seek divine protection." Zhu Yijun made another decision. Praying for good harvests was a means to win over people's hearts and a political gesture, which showed the emperor's attention to the matter. Of course, Zhu Yijun also hoped that God would give him a little face and send some rain so that the people would not be displaced.

Since God did not give him face, Zhu Yijun led the people of the Ming Dynasty to overcome the difficulties through human efforts.

Zhang Juzheng said solemnly, "Your Majesty, natural disasters are not to be feared, but man-made disasters are. I think we should mobilize the troops from Beijing to Long. Not many, just one infantry battalion to Shengzhou will do. With an infantry battalion, there is a knife. Local officials will be careful and work hard if they are like thorns in the back."

Without a real threat of force, the Ming bureaucrats were more or less rigid. The emperor's direct armed forces in Suiyuan could avoid human disasters caused by inefficiency in administration due to rigidity, indifference and lack of focus.

Reform begins with governing officials, and the same is true for disaster relief.

"Just as you say, sir." Zhu Yijun agreed with Zhang Juzheng's additional opinion. The threat of force was indeed indispensable.

Zhu Yijun looked at Wan Shihe and asked, "Grand Master, have the pensions for these loyal and heroic people been arranged? If anyone dares to exterminate their entire family again, it will be considered as a serious crime of treason. Liu Chenxiao and Liu Chenming's uncle, who was exterminated, dared to join the lowly scholars in stirring up trouble. I regret not having killed him in the first place."

Wan Shihe immediately said, "Liu Chenxiao's uncle has gone to Java with the humble scholar. I personally asked about the pension for the loyal and heroic, and there is no mistake. Moreover, the widows and orphans are called to the Beijing Camp every year, and the governor of the Metropolitan Government asks them if they have any grievances. Their father is gone, and the Ming Dynasty Beijing Camp is their support."

"Okay, okay." Zhu Yijun said with a smile.

The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty went to the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests to reflect on his life. He would definitely go to the court meetings and military inspections. The rest of the time, Zhu Yijun lived in the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. It was not as comfortable as the Tonghe Palace, but it was tens of thousands times better than living in the open air as a refugee.

During these seven days, Zhu Yijun was not idle. He started writing and finished the third volume of class theory - struggle, which he had been working on for several years.

After Zhang Juzheng finished writing the second volume, he was reluctant to start writing the third volume, so Zhu Yijun wrote it for him.

"When you send it to the Sanjing Factory for printing, just write your name on it." Zhu Yijun blew the ink dry and made sure that the last part contained what he wanted to say. He then gave it to Feng Bao and asked him to print it and distribute it throughout the country.

"Your Majesty, how about asking the gentleman?" Feng Bao took over the last article and said solemnly: "Your Majesty, the gentleman is really not so bold."

The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty is the number one traitor in the world!
The content of this third volume has confirmed a basic fact, that is, the Ming Dynasty is bound to perish.

Zhang Juzheng didn't dare to say this directly, but Feng Bao remembered that after the second volume was written, Zhang Juzheng burned it directly. He came to four natural inferences: exploitation and class are unjust, violent struggle is just, violent struggle is inevitable, and the cycle of dynasties and the inevitability of redistribution of means of production. These justices and inevitabilities ultimately point to the fourth inference: the imperial system will inevitably perish.

The third volume, "Struggle", still states that the Ming Dynasty is doomed to fall.

Zhu Yijun shook his head and said, "No problem. To make Ming great again, it doesn't have to be Ming, it can be China."

"Your Majesty..." Feng Bao bowed his head again and stopped trying to persuade him. Instead, he followed the imperial edict. He, Feng Bao, could not persuade him on this matter, so it would be more appropriate to let Zhang Juzheng persuade him.

(End of this chapter)