Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 680 Fiscal Classification and the Southern Parliament

Shi Kefa's trip to the south this time was not only to take charge of the Nanjing Zhanshi Mansion.

He also had a more important task, which was to vote at the Chuzhou and Hezhou advisory meetings to decide the ownership of the two places.

The source of this matter started when Lu Tunan took office as the Minister of War in Nanjing.

As a staunch supporter of the emperor, Lu Tunan was transferred to Nanjing because Zhu Youjian wanted to strengthen his control over Nanjing and provide more taxes.

Therefore, after Lu Tunan carried out the five-chamber system reform in the Nanjing court and streamlined the Nanjing officials, he began to reform Southern Zhili by imitating the policies implemented in Northern Zhili.

The first task is to implement the tax-sharing system and determine the departure and retention ratios for various regions.

This requires adjustments to the prefectures and counties in Nanzhili and the streamlining of state-level units.

Shi Kefa and Huang Daozhou traveled south by boat and mentioned this incident on the boat:
"State-level units should not exist in the court's new administrative divisions."

"The hierarchical finance system set by the Ministry of Revenue regards the imperial court's finances as the first level of finance."

"The provinces and the prefectures directly under the Northern and Southern Regencies, as well as the important prefectures in each province, are designated as the second-level finances and are directly managed by the court."

"The provincial government is designated as the third level of finance, and the districts and counties under it are designated as the fourth level."

"In this way, the states in the middle will be gone, and the court decided to abolish this level to reduce a layer of fiscal expenditure."

This statement was something Huang Daozhou had never heard of before.

But after thinking about it, I feel that this is indeed the truth.

If the local government is divided into four levels: provincial capital, prefecture, and county, the government offices at the prefecture level obviously need to eat. This will naturally put a greater burden on the people, and the court will get less taxes.

So he stroked his beard and praised:

"Minister Bi is truly a capable official, able to think of this."

"With fewer government offices, the burden on the people will be reduced."

He praised Bi Ziyan highly, thinking that he was a worthy fellow of the Donglin Party.

Shi Kefa smiled and said:
"Although the fiscal classification was presided over by Minister Bi, it was proposed by Your Majesty."

"This is a measure to cooperate with the tax-sharing system. It is done by Minister Bi and other officials of the Ministry of Revenue. It is mainly to formulate the proportion of shipment and retention based on the conditions of various places."

"For example, Suzhou Prefecture's previous autumn grain production was 203 million dan, of which about 18 dan were retained, and the remaining 185 million dan had to be sent to various government offices."

"After the tax-sharing system was implemented, Suzhou Prefecture was designated as a second-tier government, and the highest 20.3% of the grain was shipped to the imperial court. The remaining autumn grain was reduced to % of the total, or shi."

"All fiscal expenditures at the prefecture and county levels must be drawn from this reserve."

"If it is insufficient, a levy can be introduced in Parliament, now known as a local surcharge."

"If the money is not used up, we can even reduce or exempt taxes for poor households."

Huang Daozhou high-fived and said:

"This is a good idea!"

"The 90% starting point is still too high. It should be lower."

Shi Kefa continued to smile and said:
"Suzhou Prefecture's taxes are the highest in the world, so the proportion of shipping is naturally the highest."

"Other prefectures are different. For example, Fengyang Prefecture only has 11 dan of autumn grain, and previously it only shipped 6 dan."

"After the tax-sharing system was implemented, although Fengyang Prefecture and Suzhou Prefecture are both second-tier financial regions, they only need to ship 5% of the goods and pay 5 shi to the court."

"But both of these are special cases. Second-tier governments usually ship 70% to 80% of their budgets, and keep 20% to 30% in the local government."

"For example, the retention rate in Yingtian Prefecture was set at 20%."

"The dispute over the ownership of Chuzhou and Hezhou originated from this."

As he spoke, he dipped his hand in water and drew a simple map on the table, and said to Huang Daozhou:
"Look, this is Yingtian Prefecture, to the north is Chuzhou, and to the north is Fengyang Prefecture."

"Chuzhou and Hezhou can be said to be sandwiched between the two prefectures."

"Now that the imperial court is going to abolish the prefecture level, Mr. Huang, do you think the people of these two prefectures would like to be incorporated into Yingtian Prefecture or Fengyang Prefecture?"

This question caused Huang Daozhou to think deeply.

According to common sense, people from Chuzhou and Hezhou should be willing to join Yingtian Prefecture.

After all, it is located in Nanjing, one of the most prosperous prefectures in the Ming Dynasty.

However, the fiscal retention ratio of Yingtian Prefecture is 20%, which is far less than the 50% of Fengyang Prefecture. From this perspective, it seems more cost-effective to join Fengyang Prefecture.

Huang Daozhou thought that even if he was an official in both places, it would be difficult for him to make a decision.

No wonder the emperor sent Shi Kefa south to set up parliaments in the two places and let the local people vote.

Thinking about the emperor's move, Huang Daozhou admired:
“People have always talked about public opinion, but no one can clearly explain what public opinion is.”

"Your Majesty has established a parliament and allowed the four classes of people to elect representatives to vote. This can truly be said to be respecting public opinion."

"I admire Huang very much for opening the National Assembly!"

This was the aspect that he most agreed with among the emperor's various reforms.

It was after he encountered public boycott that he began to reflect on his own reasons.

As an aspiring Confucian scholar, he could not ignore public opinion.

If his actions conflict with the public, he should reflect on whether he has done something wrong.

With this in mind, he certainly agreed with the current emperor's decision to set up a parliament. He even thought that the pace of local proposals was too slow and should be accelerated:
"Chuzhou and Hezhou need advisory meetings, but don't other places need them?"

"I think Suzhou is the one that needs it the most. It has 200,000 dan of autumn grain left, which is almost equivalent to the autumn grain of two Fengyang Prefectures."

"It is necessary to establish parliamentary supervision to prevent Suzhou officials from taking the money for themselves."

Shi Kefa smiled and said:
"The Suzhou Prefecture Parliament should indeed be established."

"But the most urgent task now is to hold the Chuzhou and Hezhou advisory meetings."

"The ownership of these two places cannot be delayed any further."

"Otherwise, next year's examination will be very troublesome."

Huang Daozhou was puzzled at first, but after thinking about the division of the examination papers, he suddenly understood:

"The three prefectures of Fengyang, Luzhou, and Anqing in Nanzhili, as well as the three prefectures of Chu, Xu, and He, were ranked in the middle volume in the imperial examination."

"If the two states choose to belong to Yingtian Prefecture, the scholars in the two places will have to change their divisions."

Talking about this matter, Huang Daozhou sighed:
"In this case, the scholars of the two places should be inclined to belong to Fengyang Prefecture."

"Not only will more taxes be retained, but they can also be kept in the middle volume."

"Otherwise, if the division of Yingtian Prefecture is assigned to the Southern Volume, I don't know when I can pass the exam!"

Compared with the middle volume, the southern volume is much more stressful.

There is another reason why Chuhe and other states chose to belong to Fengyang Prefecture.

Shi Kefa nodded and said:

"The scholars in both places tend to belong to Fengyang Prefecture, but the merchants may not necessarily agree."

"If they belong to Yingtian Prefecture, it will be more convenient for them to go to Nanjing for business. Even ordinary people will be able to travel from Nanjing more conveniently." "Officials from both places also want to become officials of Yingtian Prefecture. It can be said that everyone has their own ideas and they are arguing fiercely."

"Minister Lu's previous plan to assign the two places to Yingtian Prefecture has not been implemented. We can only ask the court to make a decision."

"Your Majesty believes that public opinion should be respected, so he appointed me to the two state advisory councils. He asked me to use the experience of Zhuolu District to establish the two local councils."

This is why he was suddenly transferred to Nanjing even though he was doing well in Zhuolu District.

Whether this matter can be done successfully is related to whether the parliament can be established in the South, and also to his future.

Shi Kefa attached great importance to this and told Huang Daozhou about it in the hope of gaining his support.

As a famous scholar in the Ming Dynasty, Huang Daozhou had considerable influence in the Jiangnan area.

Moreover, his teacher, Zheng Sanjun, served as the Minister of Justice in Nanjing.

As an official of the Three Judicial Departments, Shi Kefa certainly could rely on him.

Huang Daozhou, who understood Shi Kefa's meaning, naturally would not refuse.

As a backbone of the Donglin Party, he should indeed introduce the younger generations to the older generations.
-
Shi Kefa and Huang Daozhou, who were traveling south by boat, talked about state affairs and enjoyed the sights and sounds of the mountains and rivers along the way.

The reform of the military garrisons in the capital is still progressing in an orderly manner.

After confirming that the hereditary officials of each garrison had begun to move into the alleys and count the households in the jurisdiction, Zhu Youjian knew that the reform of the garrison in the capital was a successful first step.

Even though some hereditary officials may still have resentment in their hearts, most of them can be said to have accepted their fate. They are integrating into the new system and finding their own place in it.

In order to help them adapt to their new work more quickly, Zhu Youjian asked Yuan Keli after a court meeting:
"How are the labor services for those officials who caused the trouble?"

"Are you dissatisfied with the court's decision?"

Yuan Keli hesitated for a moment and replied:

"There will always be dissatisfaction, but most people are still obedient."

"They all hope that after their labor service is over, they will not be sent to serve as border guards."

This is the most common demand. These hereditary officials who originally served in the garrisons in the capital generally do not want to serve in the frontier garrisons.

Zhu Youjian sneered at this, knowing that these people were useless.

But even so, he decided to give them a chance.

Because compared to some hereditary officials of the garrisons who are holding back their resentment, the demands of these punished hereditary officials who caused trouble are now much lower.

Zhu Youjian could easily satisfy them and let them intimidate other hereditary officials:

"The Ministry of War has been complaining recently that calculating merits for officers and military households is too complicated. Many hereditary officials have objections to the merit values ​​and need the Ministry of War to recalculate them."

"You ask the Ministry of War to sort out the merit calculation method and provide training to those officials who are causing trouble."

"As long as they can calculate well, let them calculate their merits and no longer have to do labor."

"If they can reduce the ten false claims through calculation, they will be allowed to be granted hereditary positions according to their ancestors' merits without lowering their ranks."

"If there are vacancies in the hereditary officials of the capital's guards, we can allow those with outstanding performance to stay in the capital's guards."

"This is the last chance for them to behave well."

This order undoubtedly caused these troublemaking officials to fight each other and direct their spearheads at the officials who remained in the capital.

Zhu Youjian believed that under the temptation of staying in Beijing, some of these hereditary officials who were unwilling to go to the border would work hard to learn arithmetic and pull down those false hereditary officials.

Yuan Keli, who wanted to clean up the abuses, naturally agreed with this.

He wished he could demote all hereditary officials to the rank of trial centurions to ease the pressure on the court to distribute land.

So he suggested:

"Most of the Jinwu hereditary officials are descendants of scholars, and some of them are more talented and learned."

"I think the Jinwu hereditary officials can also do this, and they can lead and train the hereditary officials who cause trouble."

"If someone does a good job, they can be appointed as guards and sent to various guards to be in charge of logistics."

The General Staff and Logistics Departments were institutions commonly established after the reform of the garrisons, responsible for military commands and military administration respectively.

In the future, the logistics department will be responsible for the finances, ordnance, farming, labor, etc. of the rear post.

The training and operations of the garrison guards are under the jurisdiction of the General Staff Office.

After the hereditary officials of the garrisons were made into titles and the commanders and thousand-householder positions were no longer actual positions, the hereditary officers of each garrison, apart from having a higher status, had no power to interfere in military orders and administration at will.

Only officers serving in the General Staff and Logistics Departments can participate in the affairs of the two agencies.

The officers of the General Staff Office were mostly selected from the local hereditary officers of the guards. The officers of the Logistics Office were mostly selected from civilian officers. They were connected to the Guards Department and belonged to the Guards System.

Yuan Keli's proposal was to prepare sufficient talents for the logistics departments of each health department.

Zhu Youjian nodded in agreement and let him do it.

He did not dare to let the hereditary officials of the garrisons manage the military households, for he was worried that these hereditary officials would treat the military households as serfs again.

However, the rights and interests of the officials also need to be protected, so he reminded:
"The hereditary officials and retired officers of each garrison can form an officer committee."

"Its role is mainly to safeguard the rights and interests of hereditary officers and hereditary sergeants, and to supervise logistics and finances."

“The military attachés for the local councils should also be selected from among them.”

"I will ask the Five Military Commands Office to formulate a charter to determine the election method and term of office of the Officers Committee."

"There are also regulations for the residents' committee in the family quarters of the garrison that need to be finalized."

“Rules must be set for how much land and property each officer is allocated, how much they can purchase, and how much they can reserve for their descendants.”

"You are responsible for the heavy work as the Privy Councilor. Don't be afraid of making it too detailed."

Yuan Keli nodded one by one, discussed the details of the reform of other garrisons, and then said goodbye and left.

After he left, Zhu Youjian returned to the harem. When he was thinking about what gift to prepare for the queen's birthday, he learned good news:

That is, after months of hard work, the queen finally becomes pregnant and is about to give birth to a legitimate son or daughter.

Zhu Youjian was naturally very happy when he heard the news.

What surprised him most was that the Queen once again proposed to select a lady for him:
"Your Majesty has never chosen a lady since he ascended the throne."

"The palace is now full of old people, and many of them were released two years ago."

"I am not feeling well now, please allow me to select a group of them."

This was something the Queen had proposed when she released the palace maids the year before, but Zhu Youjian did not agree to it because he had just ascended the throne.

At this time, the Queen proposed again. Zhu Youjian considered it and did not directly reject it. Instead, he linked it to the current reform of the guards and said:
"The selection of ladies must be based on the system."

"According to what was agreed upon when the palace maids were released, a group will be selected every three years. The next time will be the fourth year of Chongzhen, which is the year of the imperial examination."

"This year we will hold a small selection, and select a few concubines from the officers and households of the capital's garrisons to enter the palace."

"It also shows that I love the hereditary officials of the guards and will not treat them unfairly."

It was decided to hold a small-scale selection, specifically selecting officers and military households from the garrison, to use them to draw closer to the garrison officers and soldiers and appease their hearts.

(End of this chapter)