I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Chapter 45 Zhu Youxiao’s Thoughts

It was approaching noon, and Zhu Youxiao did not let the three of them go back, and stayed to have lunch together.

Even if he complains to the cabinet that he is short of money, money for farming, ship repairs, and shipping will still have to be provided.

Zhu Youxiao had no choice but to reluctantly agree to reserve more than 130 million taels of stolen money collected by Wei Zhongxian to the cabinet in advance for use in farming and ship repair.

It seems that Wei Zhongxian needs to speed up the progress, fight more against corruption, and confiscate more houses, otherwise there will not be enough money.

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After lunch, Zhu Youxiao took a nap for a while, and when he woke up, he drove to the Wenhua Hall to listen to Japanese lectures.

Recently, he has been giving lectures and banquets every day. Such a studious attitude earned him high praise from the courtiers.

Today's trial lecturer, Ding Shaoshi, still lectured on "Da Ming Huidian", but under Zhu Youxiao's special instructions, Ding Shaoshi gave a brief explanation of the current financial situation, system and origin of the imperial court, which greatly benefited Zhu Youxiao. .

The financial system of the Ming Dynasty was extremely complex and decentralized. There was no unified financial statistics and no unified financial institutions like the three ministers of the Song Dynasty.

Each of the six ministries has its own taxing power. The emperor also has his own small treasury with funds dedicated to the emperor, 24 yamen in the inner government, etc. The local government will also withhold part of the tax revenue.

This leads to the fact that the data held by the Ministry of Household Affairs is not necessarily accurate. When unified dispatching is carried out, various departments shirk their duties, and each department is unwilling to contribute money, resulting in extremely slow administrative efficiency.

At the same time, the collection also includes true form (paying in kind), folding color (exchanging the kind thing into silver), and expropriating not only physical objects, silver, but also banknotes and copper coins, etc. The problem is so complicated that it would take days and nights to explain it clearly. .

Therefore, it is very difficult to achieve complete reform of such a complex financial system, and we can only do it step by step.

Zhu Youxiao is very clear that what needs to be done now is to increase revenue and reduce expenditure under the existing financial system. To put it bluntly, it means collecting more taxes and spending less.

But collecting more taxes and how to collect them cannot be achieved by just relying on one's own edicts, nor can it be done by simply confiscating homes. This is just drinking poison to quench thirst. Water must flow slowly, taxes can be collected, and financial resources can be widely opened.

But what kind of tax to set, how to collect it, and who to collect it from are all problems.

There are too many interests involved, resulting in too many opinions, and even the opinions within a so-called party are not unified.

For example, in history, some people in the Zhejiang Party wanted to levy land tax instead of commercial tax; some people in the Eunuch Party, such as Cui Chengxiu and others, also suggested abolishing the land tax and opposed commercial tax; fellow Donglin Li Banghua and others also insisted on raising land tax. wait.

However, some people in the Donglin Party, such as Ye Xianggao, Wang Yingjiao, etc., instead suggested increasing commercial taxes.If the courtiers have different opinions, they will naturally hinder each other in doing things and cannot persist for a long time.

This is still just a question of what tax to levy.

Everyone has their own opinions on how to collect taxes. For example, many people say that Donglin is opposed to raising taxes. In fact, this is not the case. What they oppose is the system of direct tax collection by the central government.

For example, Shenzong sent eunuchs to collect mining taxes, but they strongly opposed it and criticized Shenzong for plundering people's wealth and anointing.It was advocated that taxes must be collected by local governments first and then handed over to the court.

Therefore, it is necessary to hold a court discussion on this matter. Zhu Youxiao asked the courtiers to put forward their opinions and discuss it together. He also knew that there would be all kinds of buck-passing in the middle, and he would be the final decision-maker.

Once the decision is made, it will be implemented immediately. Whichever faction's suggestions will be implemented by that faction. If the effect is not effective, he does not recommend sending eunuchs to handle it. Get the work done first, collect the money, and then talk about other things.

When the country's financial difficulties are slightly alleviated, what he really needs to do is to unify the finances and attribute all the court's revenue and expenditures to one organization, such as the Ministry of Revenue or an organization similar to the Three Secretaries of the Song Dynasty, unify the national revenue and expenditures, and unify the transportation finance. , improve efficiency and reduce losses.

At present, this is just an idea and needs to be slowly planned and constructed.

The first step is also the most important step: open source, find more financial resources, and overcome the current difficulties.As a descendant, he probably knows where the source of wealth lies.

But after traveling through time, he discovered that the wisdom of the ancients, especially those who could pass the imperial examination, was no less than that of modern people.

This made him wonder, couldn't these scholars see the problem?Why is it that now that the people are wealthy but the court is running out of money, the court has so little money, where has all the money gone?Is it because I can't collect taxes or something?

So while the lecture was over, Zhu Youxiao asked Ding Shaoshi this question.

Ding Shaoshi thought for a moment after hearing this, and then solemnly bowed to Zhu Youxiao.

"Your Majesty, this is a very big question, and I dare not answer it rashly. However, according to historical records, the army in the Song Dynasty was ten times that of today, and there was no shortage of it. Those who benefited from tea, wine, salt, mines, and seaweed, and these benefits, Although the imperial court existed, it was far inferior to that of the Song Dynasty.

Just because many princes, nobles, gentry and landlords are involved in these industries, most of the dividends belong to the local gentry and powerful people. They are intertwined and intertwined. If you want to innovate and reform, it will affect the whole body, and there will be a lot of resistance.

Therefore, every time the court mentioned the creation of financial resources, someone wrote a letter saying that it was not possible to amass money and not to compete with the people for profit. This was true for sea development, salt and iron production, tea development, etc.

The ministers are familiar with history books and naturally know the key points, which makes many people dare not do easier things.Court officials are also afraid of ruining their reputation and attracting the resentment of others.

Even though many officials are not afraid of offending others, they have to worry about their reputation, which makes them afraid or unable to do something.

If you want to expand your financial resources, this may be easier said than done.

It all depends on whether His Majesty can be firm in his determination to serve the world and the country, overcome chronic diseases, and remain unwavering. He must choose tough people who are not afraid of rumors. "

Zhu Youxiao also understood after listening. His brows relaxed and then tightened. He took a deep breath, slapped his thighs and stood up, bowing to Ding Shaoshi.

"Thank you teacher for your guidance and clearing up the confusion. I know how difficult this matter is, but now I am forced to do so.

I will definitely set an example, be more diligent and frugal, and less extravagant, for the benefit of the country, and I will also have more supervision from my teachers. "

Compared with the monarchs of the Ming Dynasty, there are very few emperors who can say this. Ding Shaoshi was very moved after hearing this, and silently praised and admired this young emperor in his heart.

This is actually Zhu Youxiao's idea.

In any political power or social organization, there are three types of people: the first type, those who have the ability and willingness to make some achievements; the second type, those who don't care about themselves and just go about their lives; the third type, Those who value self-interest over justice and only want to benefit from their own pockets.

In the early dynasty, there were more people of the first type and fewer people of the third type.By the late dynasty, there were many people of the third type and few people of the first type.

Then what he has to do is to improve his reputation, be more diligent and frugal, and less extravagant. After all, no matter how frugal the emperor is, how far can he go?Diligence, as Zhu Youxiao, who has experienced blessings such as 996 and 007, believes that the current workload is really not heavy.

After your reputation is known, and you act like you are dedicated to the Ming Dynasty, you can get more people of the first type to reuse you. At the same time, you can block the criticism of the second type of people, and then kill the third type of people ruthlessly. of meat. ,

Then let the first type of person benefit and form a new interest group with him as the core.

　This chapter is a bit long-winded, but it contains some of the protagonist’s plans and ideas for the future.

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(End of this chapter)