I'm really not doing business

Chapter 807: Not Loyal Enough
The interpreter provided help to the best of his ability, not out of kindness, but because of the traditional thinking of the scholar-officials and their obsession with the right to interpret scriptures.

The cultural context of the West was not controlled by the literati of the Ming Dynasty, which made them somewhat confused.

After all, wherever the Ming Dynasty looked, Chinese was used, and the power to interpret the scriptures was completely in the hands of the literati.

The masters of the Ministry of Rites did not expect these Westerners to learn Chinese. They just hoped that Western Latin could be more standardized to avoid the trouble of translation.

This kind of spelling, an unfamiliar phrase, can only be associated through the context. If you really can't think of it, you have to ask Westerners to explain it. If it can be standardized, it will be much better.

"Thank you very much. I heard from Special Envoy Legazpi that Ming Dynasty has made very in-depth research on Latin. Thank you for sharing." Marion sincerely thanked the interpreter for his help.

She stared at the seashore and said, "The prophet once said: Thoughts are more powerful than weapons. The opponents of Taixi can kill my body, but they cannot destroy my soul."

"From a long-term and one-sided perspective, if I die on the battlefield, the contribution I bring to the Great Light Church will exceed all my past efforts."

“May wisdom always be with everyone, may there be no suffering and oppression in the world, and may you, me and everyone have a bright future.”

The interpreter stopped answering. He always felt that these fanatics were a little weird.

Zhu Yijun received a memorial from the Ministry of Rites three days later, which described the conversation between the interpreter and Marion word for word. If it weren't for the fact that the Great Light Church was somewhat special, this little matter would not have been put before the emperor.

Zhu Yijun briefly summarized the conversation and said, "Want to ignite the entire West with the fire of freedom?"

"The flame of freedom ignited by life will never be extinguished and will illuminate the path for those who come after you."

"Ideas are more powerful than weapons?"

"Your Majesty, Marion is still in Songjiang Prefecture. Should we have her killed?" Feng Bao said worriedly, "If this Westerner becomes wise, wouldn't this create a powerful enemy for the Ming Dynasty?"

"I don't know what you are worried about." Zhu Yijun laughed as he saw Feng Bao planning to kill the envoy.

Feng Bao's worries were completely unnecessary and a bit groundless.

Zhu Yijun said with a smile: "You can't grow peaches on a pear tree. The way of thinking of the people of the Ming Dynasty is completely different from that of the Westerners. This is the result of thousands of years of blood taxes. Since the third generation of the French Empire and since the beginning of the Jiedi Tiantong, the Central Plains has been trying every means to prevent people from being influenced by religion."

"The Great Ming narrative was distorted after being translated and spread to the West. It became even more strange after being alienated by the Great Light Sect."

"Apart from chaos, the Great Light Church cannot bring any fundamental changes to Taixi. Even if the Great Light Church achieves an incomparably glorious victory, after a while, the Great Light Church will only become a sinner. Taixi people need to solve the problem of God first."

“Peaches grow from peach trees.”

From myths to legends, the Chinese have always been unwilling to give gods absolute power over humans. The starting point of myths and legends is often humans, not gods, which is completely different from the West.

Apart from those myths and legends, the earliest struggle can be traced back to Zhuanxu's Jiedi Tiantong.

As for the West, from myths to legends, to real politics, the game between all classes is full of traces of God, which is not something that the Great Light Church can eliminate in a short period of time.

Even if one knows about suffering, one will eventually return to the original narrative of divine grace because of experience.

"Your Majesty is wise." Feng Bao thought for a long time before he felt that what His Majesty said made sense.

The theory of contradiction, the theory of public and private, the theory of production diagram, and the theory of class all originated from the Ming Dynasty. It is like exchanging markets for technology, but in fact, no technology can be exchanged at all.

The few volumes that Marion took away seemed to be copies of some Ming Dynasty thoughts, but in fact, she just took a few books.

Zhu Yijun was not optimistic about Marion. Antonio gained recognition through war and became king, but he was still widely doubted.

Even if Marion joined the Dutch, she would only be widely opposed and disappear due to the fierce conflicts and more deaths.

A more explicit statement is that the Great Light Sect, which is based on Ming culture and alienates the Ming narrative, has its core value system derived from the Ming, not from the native culture of the West.

The conflict between value systems will bring too many disasters, eventually leading to destruction and becoming sinners.

Shen Shixing described it very clearly in his memorial about how although Zhou was an old country, its mission was to reform. The old and new value systems were cyclical progress, and the core value system of the Great Light Religion abandoned the narrative of God, which was incompatible with the Western value system.

"Didn't the former Zhejiang governor Wu Shanyan die? The Hangzhou prefect Yan Shixuan supported the Luo Muying mutiny, so how come there is another memorial about him?" Zhu Yijun asked with a strange look on his face as he picked up the memorial.

Feng Bao shook his head repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, I don't know what to say. Your Majesty, just take a look."

Zhu Yijun carefully read the memorial in his hand, which was written by Yan Shixuan, the prefect of Hangzhou.

The Governor of Zhejiang was Shen Shixing. When Shen Shixing was in Songjiang Prefecture, Yan Shixuan basically handled all the affairs in Zhejiang. During the process of investigating old cases, he discovered an old case from the tenth year of Wanli.

In the tenth year of Wanli, Ningbo Ocean Trading Company wanted to go to Yanxinglou Trading Company to sell a batch of tickets as a large bill to raise funds for building ships, etc., but it failed to pass the meeting in the end. After going through all the procedures, it was vetoed by Wang Qian.

Wang Qian keenly felt that something was wrong. There was something wrong, and it was a big deal.

But Wang Qian was in the Northern Yamen, and he was unable to handle the affairs in Zhejiang, so he sent an official letter to Ningbo, Zhejiang, inquiring about the problems of the ocean-going trading companies, and requiring the general manager, general manager, co-manager, agent and other managers of the companies at all levels to come to Beijing to be questioned.

The Ningbo Ocean Trading Company responded to the inquiries of the trading company, but the managers at all levels did not come to Beijing to answer the questions. In the end, the Ningbo Ocean Trading Company was never able to obtain the status of a big bank, sell their tickets, and raise enough silver.

Since the case was shelved in the 10th year of Wanli, the court has been criticized countless times. Zhejiang people don’t understand why among the five major Maritime Customs Offices and five ocean-going trading companies, only Ningbo Ocean-going Trading Company could not pass the review. This is a kind of differential treatment! The court is deliberately making things difficult for Zhejiang because it doesn’t like it!

Before Zhu Yijun's southern tour, this hatred towards the imperial court had turned into hostility under the shaping of some people, and the imperial court was regarded as an enemy. It was not until the emperor ordered the return of land in the 13th year of Wanli that the people of Zhejiang knew clearly that His Majesty had me in his heart!
In the entire country, only the prefectures, counties and cities where the five major maritime customs offices were located began to return the land. Later, Zhejiang was added. Moreover, some of the severe punishments were cancelled after the land was returned. It was indeed a bit uncomfortable to compete with the Koreans and take the imperial examinations together.

Your Majesty has Zhejiang in your heart, so who created this hostile mood and atmosphere?
It was not until the 15th year of the Wanli reign that Yan Shixuan, the prefect of Hangzhou, finally thoroughly investigated the old cases that had accumulated during the 10th year of the Wanli reign.

Ningbo Ocean Trading Company was charged with several very serious crimes.

False Operation: Ningbo Ocean Trading Company was the only one among the five major trading companies in the entire Ming Dynasty that did not make money from maritime trade. The main business of this trading company was lending money for green rice. When the people did not receive the yellow rice, they had no food to eat and had to borrow money at high interest rates.

Zhu Yijun remembered that he had issued an edict to implement the land return policy, requiring households with more than 100 hectares of land to return the excess to the court. Throughout Zhejiang, everyone celebrated and even set off countless firecrackers.

Because Your Majesty has become their debtor, the high-interest loans no longer need to be repaid, because the creditors have all become exiles.

Tax evasion: An investigation by the Songjiang Prefecture Tax Inspection Office revealed that during its 14-year operation, Ningbo Ocean Trading Company had evaded a total of 1.4 million silver coins in taxes and had bribed the relevant tax inspectors and tax officers of the Ningbo Tax Inspection Office. The circumstances of the crime were extremely serious.

Bribery and rent-seeking: In addition to bribing the Ningbo Tax Inspection Office, he also bribed the Ningbo prefect, Hangzhou prefect, Hangzhou Governor Wu Shanyan and others, with a total bribe of more than 3.2 million silver coins.

Wu Shanyan promised to entrust the construction of the East Zhejiang Canal to the brother-in-law of the merchant bank's president.

"Wu Shanyan actually owns 200,000 shares in Ocean Trading Company? And he bought them at the price of one cent per share?" When Zhu Yijun saw this line of words, he wished he could use the resurrection spell to resurrect Wu Shanyan immediately, throw him into a grinder, grind him again, and mix it into feed for pigs!
Zhu Yijun's mouth twitched, and he said sternly: "What the hell is this! Do you treat the affairs of the Ming Dynasty as a joke? This Yanxinglou Trading Company was originally established so that everyone can become a shipowner. Even Li Yashi has bought some ship tickets and has already recovered his investment, and even made a profit!"

It's obvious what they want to do.

Fortunately, Wang Qian vetoed it, otherwise, once Ningbo Ocean Trading Company successfully obtained the "License for Trading in Valuable Instruments" from Yanxinglou Trading Company, Wu Shanyan could immediately sell his 200,000 shares at the price of five silver coins per share.

Once the market has a bullish sentiment, Wu Shanyan will make more profits!

"Your Majesty, there's more." Feng Bao carefully reminded His Majesty that this account was very large, and Wu Shanyan was just the tip of the iceberg.

Many powerful people in Zhejiang joined in the event, including many shipowners of ocean-going trading companies. Most of them bought shares for one to three silver coins, waiting for the meeting to raise the price and sell them. Even the silver for the increase was ready.

In addition to the powerful and wealthy, there are also local celebrities and gentry, as well as bureaucrats at all levels. The long list has all purchased shares at low prices and is waiting to cash out. It is truly shocking!
Wang Qian deserved to die! He had blocked the way for five years on his own and had not allowed these people to succeed. Otherwise, the Ming Yanxinglou Trading Company would have become a complete joke.

Zhu Yijun said solemnly: "Submit a petition to the Censorate and ask the Chief Inspector of the Sea to check the other four ocean-going trading companies to see if they have engaged in such behavior."

"Your Majesty, I have checked it. It is precisely because of this that I dare to report it to Your Majesty. Here is Hai Rui's memorial." Feng Bao found Hai Rui's memorial and spread it out in front of Your Majesty.

It is normal to have problems, and it is also normal for everyone to have problems. It mainly depends on the scale and depth of the problems.

If they were all of the same size, it would be very dangerous, as it would mean that the emerging bourgeoisie had already completely fallen before gaining a political foothold. This would also represent the complete failure of the Ming Dynasty's new policy of opening up the sea while pursuing both land and sea efforts.

Feng Bao whispered, "The four major ocean-going trading companies all have some problems, but Ningbo Ocean-going Trading Company is the only one as big as it is."

How could the officials, merchants, powerful people, and gentry in this world be so clean? Hai Rui had only fourteen plain-clothed censors.

As long as you investigate, you will find trouble everywhere. Hai Rui put in a lot of effort and turned the four major ocean-going trading companies upside down.

Even the former Songjiang governor and current Minister of Works, Wang Daokun, was investigated, and a total amount was finally obtained: the four major ocean-going trading companies had engaged in various forms of bribery and rent-seeking, with a total scale of 2.43 million silver.

A lot, a lot. But considering the four ocean-going trading companies and going back ten years, this number is really small.

Less than three years after Wu Shanyan took office, he had already raised a huge sum of 3.2 million silver coins.

Hai Rui's suggestion was to return the stolen money within a certain period of time, which was already the smallest punishment Hai Rui used in his fight against corruption.

Considering the trade throughput of major ocean-going trading companies, this amount of corruption is really not worth mentioning.

"No one lobbied Wang Qian? I don't believe it." Zhu Yijun put the two memorials together and said with a frown, "Wang Qian actually resisted corruption and lobbying?"

"He has money." Feng Bao said concisely.

Zhu Yijun was stunned. Wang Qian was a minister, so when Zhu Yijun was thinking about problems, he often ignored his identity as the second richest man in the capital.

"That's true. He is richer than me now." Zhu Yijun sighed. The treasury was empty and no longer as wealthy as it was when it had accumulated 35 million silver coins.

If Zhu Yijun competed with Wang Qian in wealth, he might not be able to beat Wang Qian.

This is actually very dangerous. If you are richer than the emperor, then wouldn't that tell the emperor that you are fat and can be killed for the New Year? But Wang Qian is very safe. The money in Wang Qian's family is not obtained through corruption. Feng Bao smiled and said, "If Wang Cifu and Wang Yushi are willing to donate, Your Majesty will not accept it, right?"

The total investment in opening up the sea has exceeded 1712 million silver taels, and the Shanxi merchants led by Wang Chonggu have invested a total of more than million silver taels. Wang Chonggu has made several requests to reduce dividends. Taking silver from the emperor is really too hot to handle.

The emperor disagreed.

This is what Feng Bao said, he was willing to donate, but the emperor refused to accept it.

"If I take it, I will break my promise to others." Zhu Yijun shook his head. He was poor because of the high investment. If he reduced the investment in sea development, roads, mining, and education, and reduced investment across the board, he could save another 30 million silver within three years.

There's just no need for that.

"Your Majesty, there's more." Feng Bao reminded His Majesty that the evil deeds done by Wu Shanyan and his gang of good men were not limited to these.

Zhu Yijun finished reading the entire memorial and fell into some confusion. He said blankly: "This Yan Shixuan is deceiving me! Is he running the prison as a business?"

Prison and business, these two words put together, made His Majesty the Emperor a little confused and his cognition encountered a huge challenge.

It's probably the commercialization of prisons.

Yan Shixuan found out that Ningbo Ocean Trading Company owned thirteen prisons in Zhejiang. Anyone who could not pay the debt would be arrested by the yamen runners and taken to these prisons to do hard labor to pay off the debt. The term of the prison sentence was the number of years for which the debt had to be paid.

The most outrageous thing is that after serving his sentence, he still owes a lot of debts. That's right, food, clothing, and depreciation and damage of production tools are all debts. You also have debts when you are in prison. You continue to pay off your debts after you are released, and if you can't pay them off, you will continue to stay in prison.

It is true that I am trapped in an eternal cycle and will work until the day I die.

Yan Shixuan's memorial was so outrageous that Zhu Yijun felt that Yan Shixuan was deceiving the emperor.

"Isn't this forced by your Majesty?" Feng Bao said hurriedly: "Your Majesty abolished the status of lowly slaves. If the rich and powerful, the local gentry and nobles want slaves, they can only let people bear the debts."

"The Northern Pacification Office is holding some criminals. If your majesty thinks Yan Shixuan is talking nonsense, this man has all the evidence and documents."

"Your Majesty, to be honest, I don't really believe it either."

"Go to the Northern Pacification Office. I want to see it with my own eyes!" Zhu Yijun didn't stop for a moment. He stood up, got on his own train, and went straight to the Northern Pacification Office.

His Majesty rushed in hurriedly. After Zhao Mengyou learned the news, he brought the imperial guards to welcome the emperor. He knew that His Majesty would definitely come after Yan Shixuan's memorial was presented to the emperor.

Zhao Mengyou knows His Majesty. His Majesty likes to enjoy the fun and does not trust his subjects. His Majesty always personally inquires into outrageous cases to prevent himself from being deceived.

An hour later, Zhu Yijun stared blankly at the file in front of him and said, "Yan Shixuan is still very conservative. He did not directly state these crimes in his memorial, for fear of polluting my eyes."

"This is not a prison, it's clearly a devil's den."

"I was surprised before that there were so many people going out to sea from Zhejiang. Fujian is poor, and Guangdong has only become rich in recent years. I never expected that so many people in Zhejiang would abandon their homes and jobs and go to the towns of Han."

The crimes committed in these commercialized prisons are simply too numerous to list. Cruel abuse and murder occur frequently, and death is as common as eating and drinking. To be imprisoned in these places, death is truly a relief.

Zhu Yijun thought he was very indifferent, but when he saw the numerous crimes, he became somewhat anxious. The prosperous Zhejiang province was almost turned into a living hell by these bastards.

It is a typical manifestation of the collapse of the core value system, the shattering of the moral narrative, and the complete transformation into a narrative of interests.

This is an evil thing that the imperial court must strictly guard against and must never happen.

"Your Majesty, the chief tax inspector and three tax inspectors of the Ningbo Tax Inspection Office have been bribed. How should this be handled? The Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple cannot make a judgment." Zhao Mengyou talked about the specific handling of this case.

The Tax Collectors were under the jurisdiction of the Northern and Southern Pacification Offices. They were the emperor's minions and running dogs, and their disposal had to seek the emperor's opinion.

The late summer wind was no longer hot, and even a little bleak. Some yellow leaves fell in the courtyard, dancing in the wind. No one in the courtyard spoke. Zhao Mengyou was waiting for His Majesty's decision, while the emperor stood motionless under the tree. Although his expression was calm, it was obvious that the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was hesitating.

Zhao Mengyou took a deep breath, bowed his head and said: "Your Majesty, they are disloyal. Thirty percent of the tax revenue from the tax collection office remains in the local area. They have enough compensation, but they have betrayed your majesty's trust."

"Moreover, they indulged in the smuggling of opium. Ningbo Ocean Trading Company paid a large sum of money as a bribe in order to make the tax office turn a blind eye to the huge amount of silver from unknown sources."

As the commander of the tax bureau, Zhao Mengyou gave his own opinion. The Tax Inspection Office is very special. The biggest requirement for this office is loyalty, loyalty to the people of the Ming Dynasty, loyalty to the dynasty, and loyalty to His Majesty.

The tax inspectors in Ningbo's tax inspection office are disloyal.

"Behead them in public. If there is no punishment, I'm afraid more imperial guards will become like this. If all the imperial guards become like this, it would be better for me to close the Tax Inspection Office." Zhu Yijun stood in the courtyard of the Northern Pacification Office and was stunned for a long time before answering this question.

The tax inspectors were selected from the garrison commanders and coastal defense inspectors and sent to the North and South Pacification Offices. They were further selected from the North and South Pacification Offices and sent to local areas.

Zhu Yijun was very sad that these elite Ming soldiers who had been through thick and thin were once loyal, but had been alienated to such an extent because of silver.

"Reward and punish, encourage and prohibit. If we can only encourage but not prohibit, the country will slide into the abyss." Zhu Yijun said solemnly: "Those wealthy families who bribed the tax collectors, let them be buried with them, and their families should be exiled to Coconut Sea City in Java to enrich the Han townships in Coconut Sea City."

Zhu Yijun took the most severe action.

"I obey your order." Zhao Mengyou accepted the order. The Northern Pacification Division itself is a military judicial department, and it is their duty to make judgments.

The Ming Emperor returned to Tonghe Palace and continued to deal with memorials from the court.

The Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Revenue, and the Dali Temple jointly wrote a letter stating that the compilation of the tax law had been preliminarily completed and that the tax law should be implemented on a trial basis, requesting the emperor's approval.

"Those with an annual income of less than 12 silver taels do not have to file a tax return; those with an annual income of 15 to 20 silver taels and two children are exempt from tax;" Zhu Yijun shook his head and said, "Look, the Ministry of Revenue is very opposed to it because this clause is too vague."

The reason why the Ministry of Rites opposed this provision was very simple. According to this standard, most farmers in the Ming Dynasty would not have to pay land tax.

If land tax is not collected, it means that the imperial court has completely given up its governing power below the county level, which means that the real imperial power will not extend to the countryside, which will cause more chaos.

The countryside outside the county town no longer pays land taxes, which means that the court will no longer pay attention to them. There will be a power vacuum. When there is a power vacuum, someone will govern on behalf of the court, and the slave system of forced personal dependence will surely make a comeback.

Feng Bao said with a bit of gloating: "Your Majesty is wise. Because of this tax law, the officials of various departments almost fought each other. The Ministry of Justice wanted to directly exempt less than 12 silver coins, so that there would not be so many cases of anti-taxation to handle;"

"The Ministry of Rites was partially opposed, believing that land tax should still be collected, and worried that the slave system would make a comeback;"

"The Ministry of Revenue is firmly opposed to this, because if this happens, there will only be about 780 million people paying taxes. Your Majesty, there are only about this many people with an annual income of more than silver coins."

The income of the Ming Dynasty can be roughly divided into eleven levels. The pricing is rather complicated, so we have to take out the "Wanli Accounting Records" to convert the physical objects into copper coins and silver. Later, the Ministry of Revenue thought the data was too messy and reorganized it.

In the end, the court took households as units, averaged the annual income of all families, and divided them into three levels.

They are poverty, subsistence and wealth. The poor's income is less than five silver coins, the subsistence income is five to twelve silver coins, and the wealth income is more than twelve silver coins.

About 50% of the people in the Ming Dynasty were in poverty, about 44% had enough food and clothing, and only about 6% were wealthy enough to have spare money. According to this standard, only 780 million people needed to pay taxes.

This is also the origin of the standard of twelve silvers. 94% of the people do not pay taxes, which is in line with the emperor's consistent taxation policy. Whoever has money will be taxed, and the poor cannot be squeezed out of the money at all!
"What does the Tax Inspection Office say?" Zhu Yijun asked the Tax Inspection Office for its opinion.

Feng Bao whispered, "Of course the tax collectors are happy to do so. Taxing the poor is hard work and they don't have money. This way, most of the people will be excluded, and tax collection will be simple."

Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and said, "It's easy, actually. Just return it. Collect it all first, and then return all the annual income below twelve silver coins. This is the best way."

Feng Bao said nervously, "Your Majesty, the gentleman also proposed this, and then the Ministry of Personnel discussed it, and the Junior Prime Minister Liang Menglong told the gentleman that it was a good idea, but there were not enough officials to implement it. There were too many people coming in and out to touch the silver, and I am afraid it would be a waste of national treasury."

Feng Bao was really afraid that the emperor would slam the table, so he did this.

This distribution method is the only reasonable one that Zhang Juzheng could think of, but it is really impossible for the Ming Dynasty to do so at the moment. It is useless except for wasting national treasury.

Zhang Juzheng had no intention of implementing it, and the Ministry of Personnel did not approve of it. It was obvious that the Ming Dynasty's error correction mechanism was still in effect.

The Prime Minister is indeed authoritarian, but Your Majesty is diligent, and this typical carnivore's wishful thinking can still be corrected.

"I know that in order to realize tax refund, the national treasury must be able to return the money directly to the people. Otherwise, it will be a waste of effort. That's what I said." Zhu Yijun smiled and waved his hand. Feng Bao looked as if he was facing a great enemy.

Sometimes, the harm caused by the wishful thinking of meat eaters is often more terrible than stupidity. You might as well do nothing!
"Oh, cross this one out." Zhu Yijun crossed out this item reluctantly. He really wanted to pass it, but it was ultimately an illusion. Unrealistic decrees would only make the Ming Dynasty worse.

Zhang Juzheng's floating ticket means: this tax law will only be meaningful after the implementation of the Single Whip Law. It cannot be done before the implementation of the Single Whip Law.

"Your Majesty, the Tax Inspection Office does not actually inspect taxes for people with an annual income of less than twelve silver coins. It's a waste of effort and not enough money." Feng Bao reminded His Majesty that the Ming Dynasty was actually actively improving distribution. People with an annual income of less than twelve silver coins did not pay taxes, and the Tax Inspection Office did not urge them to pay, but the money was not enough to cover the cost of the tax.

Zhu Yijun reviewed the memorial and nodded, saying, "I know that the two commanders have reported it many times, but after all, it is just an unwritten rule of the Taxation Bureau, not a written law. What I want to do is to make the law a written law."

There is not much controversy about other details of the tax law, as the tax law has been revised for a long time.

"Your Majesty, the Prime Minister is planning to do something and skip a group of people." Feng Bao looked around and whispered, "From the 26th year of Jiajing to the 41st year of Jiajing, all the Jinshi will be skipped and will not be allowed to enter the Wenhua Hall or the Wenyuan Pavilion."

"Sir, you said that the country was in turmoil at that time. I'm afraid that these people would not only fail to help your majesty, but would become obstacles to Wanli's reform."

"Sir, your reason is simple. You are not loyal enough."

There was no memorial or explicit document. It was Xu Jue and You Shouli who communicated with each other and then presented it to His Majesty verbally to ask His Majesty's opinion. This was an advance communication channel before making any major decisions.

If the emperor agreed, there would be no memorial or explicit document, but artificial limits would be set for these people in the performance evaluation system.

(End of this chapter)