Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 249 Set rules for the world!

Wenhua Pavilion.

During this period, Zhu Yuanzhang was reading memorials here.

Now, on the table in front of him, there was a thick pile of memorials on the right side, and only a few on the left side. The memorials on the right side were submitted by court officials such as Li Shanchang and Xu Ben, while those on the left were submitted by Xia Zhibai, Tian Jing and others.

He has been deliberately suppressing it recently.

The two sides have completely different views and even directly attack each other.

Among them, Tian Jing was the worst.

It was not known whether Tian Jing had guessed something or what, but he was extremely radical in the salt administration, like a mad dog, biting whoever he caught. Whenever there were officials trying to stop the salt administration reform during court meetings, he would immediately submit a memorial to impeach them after he left.

Wei Heng and other salt officials did not submit a memorial at first, but chose to do so in recent days, sharing the same view as Tian Jing.

Just slightly different.

Their words were relatively mild and always left some room for maneuver.

Obviously he doesn't want to fall out with other officials.

Zhu Yuanzhang had no interest in reading the memorials in which these court officials criticized each other on the salt administration. They were full of irrelevant nonsense. Reading these memorials was a complete waste of time. There were only two memorials that he really cared about.

One copy belongs to Xu Ben.

The other one is naturally Xia Zhibai's.

The two memorials have opposite views, but both are in line with the facts.

Zhu Yuanzhang remained silent.

Zhu Biao waited respectfully at the side, looking at the memorials on both sides, and said softly: "Father, the salt administration has been controversial for a long time. I think we should make a decision as soon as possible, otherwise the court will continue to criticize on one issue, which will really damage the image of the court."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded without saying anything.

The father and son were silent for a while. There was no longer any sign of stupidity in Zhu Yuanzhang's cloudy eyes. They even became sharp. Perhaps it was because the emotions he had been thinking about for a long time were completely aroused, and he became completely alert.

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned, his expression serious, and said, "You have read the memorials of Xia Zhibai and Xu Ben."

"I have read it." Zhu Biao nodded. "I think both are right, but they have different emphases. Xu Ben's memorial is more about form, while Xia Zhibai's memorial is more about momentum. Xu Ben's form focuses on local stability, while Xia Zhibai's momentum is more about pursuing future economic power."

"It is just that I am not clear about the affairs of the world, so I dare not make rash judgments."

"I hope my father will forgive me."

Zhu Yuanzhang touched his chin and breathed, his eyes slightly raised up to the sky, and finally fixed his eyes on the golden dragon hanging on the beam. After a little thought, he said: "What you said is not wrong, but you overlooked one point. The situation can be transformed into each other."

"In my opinion, the situation is like the situation when we are conquering the world. We can roughly judge how many enemies there are, how many troops the enemies have, how much territory they have occupied, and their strengths and weaknesses. This is the situation. As for the situation, we need to calculate what to do next and even predict the opponent's actions, so as to accurately take over the opponent's territory step by step."

"I have read Xu Ben's memorial no less than five times."

“He focuses on stability.”

"I think the South is the most economically developed region in the world. We cannot easily cause chaos in the South, otherwise it will affect the tax revenue of the court and disrupt the court's subsequent plans. The salt administration can be delayed, but it cannot be rushed."

Zhu Yuanzhang paused for a moment, then continued, "But Xia Zhibai is different."

“He’s more focused on the future.”

"And the point of view given by Xia Zhibai is actually very novel."

"He did not think that the officials and gentry in the south would obstruct the new salt policy. He even believed that the chaos in the south was not caused by the salt policy itself, but by the confusion of the ownership of benefits under the new productivity provided by the steam engine."

Zhu Biao nodded and said, "Xia Zhibai's words make sense."

"The reason why the salt industry in Kyoto was established was mainly because the imperial court wanted to resettle disaster victims and also to collect more money from it."

"Kyoto Salt Industry is indeed owned by Xia Zhibai now."

"But according to the original agreement, Jingdu Salt Industry will be transformed into a state-owned enterprise in the future. It will be a factory of our Ming Dynasty. Apart from daily expenses, the rest of the profits will go directly to the national treasury. However, it is different in the south. When the local salt factories were established, the court provided a lot of help."

“Not only did they provide sufficient pig iron support to local areas, but they also imposed few substantial restrictions on the opening of salt factories.”

"The court actually gained very little benefit from it."

“Only a small tax on salt can be levied.”

"That's why."

“Once the imperial court wanted to change the salt policy, those who profited from the steam-powered salt production did not want to give up these profits. The imperial court did not expect that local salt factories would be opened so quickly and in such large numbers, and that so many officials would be involved that the power formed by these people had considerable influence in the court.”

Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at Zhu Biao, nodded with relief and said, "If it was only about salt, we wouldn't have such a headache."

"Because the common people have really benefited from it."

"According to the information we have collected from various places, the price of salt has indeed dropped after the local salt factories were opened. Although many salt farmers have lost their jobs, compared to the fact that more people in the world have benefited, sacrificing a few salt farmers is nothing. Our Ming Dynasty is currently a vast land with a sparse population. Are we still worried that there will be no places to employ people?"

Zhu Yuanzhang sneered and didn't take the kitchen owner's affairs to heart at all.

Zhu Biao nodded.

Of course he knew this.

If the local people really benefited, and the court collected a lot of salt tax, the court could have turned a blind eye, and even my father wanted to pretend that he didn't see it. But the problem was that Xia Zhibai brought up another thing, that is, the productivity improvement brought by the steam engine affected not only the salt industry, but also other industries, such as mining, textiles, and even farming and military affairs.

Once the steam engine had really developed to such a great extent, would the court continue to make concessions and continue to collect only the existing taxes?

The imperial court ignored all these industries? Where was the imperial court's control over the country?
finally.

Everything is back to square one.

The so-called salt administration reform is actually confusing the public.

The real problem facing the salt industry now is who controls the new productive forces.

Some powerful officials in the local government deliberately blurred the concept and attributed all the problems in the south to the management of the salt administration. They tried to confuse Zhu Yuanzhang and make him mistakenly believe that it was really a problem with the salt administration, thus missing the real point.

However, Xia Zhibai pointed it out in his memorial.

The so-called chaos is an illusion.

Ultimately, it was the local officials and gentry who saw the massive productivity provided by the steam engine and the huge benefits it could bring. They did not want to hand over this newly emerging productivity to the court, but only wanted to take it for themselves and use it to enrich themselves.

Once the imperial court lost its ownership of new productive forces, local officials and gentry could easily use this opportunity to grow into powerful tyrants.

The powerful have been severely suppressed in all dynasties.

Zhu Yuanzhang is no exception.

However, even so, people still flock to it.

Xia Zhibai's suggestion to the court was to bring the new productive forces back to the court. The local governments would only have the right to use them but not the right to own them. If the local governments wanted to use these new productive forces, they would have to pay a considerable "usage fee" every year.

Xia Zhibai also boldly expressed a point of view.

Once ownership is determined, local resistance is actually very small.

Because the only ones who are truly affected are the landlords, but under Zhu Yuanzhang's various oppressions, the landlords have long been unable to raise their heads and have no say at all. As for the gentry who are dependent on the government, judging from the current situation in the south, they are not opposed at all and are even happy to accept it.

Because annexing land is too risky at the moment.

By using new productivity and opening factories to make profits, the income will be more substantial.

The reason why Zhu Yuanzhang hesitated was that he was too aggressive.

Zhu Biao thought for a moment and said in a deep voice, "I am also a little worried, but I choose to stick to Xia Zhibai's point of view. The steam engine has already appeared and has been widely promoted throughout the country. Unless the court spends a lot of power to pull the steam engine out of the land, I am afraid the effect will not be good."

"Instead of that, it's better to let go a little."

“But the court must strengthen its control.”

"Otherwise, there will be a situation where 'cheap grain hurts farmers, expensive grain hurts people'. As for steam engines, we should follow Xia Zhibai's suggestion."

"Two points."

“On the one hand, we provide support in the form of state-owned enterprises.”

"On the other hand, we support local development, but the imperial court wants to impose heavy taxes!"

"But the ownership of the 'new productivity' that Xia Zhibai mentioned must be controlled by the court."

"Otherwise the court would have lost too much."

"A heavy hammer is used to beat the drum."

"If the court wants to take back the ownership of the local areas, the local areas will certainly try every means to stop it, and there will be many chaos. However, the court must remain tough. Therefore, I suggest that when the court takes back the ownership, it should severely punish some of the "disorderly actions" and "local chaos" of the local areas."

"The court allows them to earn money while lying down."

"But since it's so easy to make money, don't think you can get rich overnight."

"The imperial court is still like this in the salt industry in Kyoto, so how can they, the imitators, stay out of it?"

Zhu Biao had a determined look on his face.

In fact, he wanted to take over the local salt factory directly.

However, considering that too many officials were involved and the overt and covert pressures were too great, they chose to take a step back. But they could only take a step back. The court could not relax its control over the "steam engine", especially since only a few workers were needed to earn the money that tens of thousands of civilian households could earn in the past. It was too easy to make money.

But if there are really people who are blind and dare to obstruct him, he will not be polite either.

My father will kill people.

He is also not merciful.

Moreover, according to Xia Zhibai's estimation, the steam engine-related industries will be the main source of tax revenue for the Ming Dynasty in the future, and will also become the main source of tax revenue for the Ming Dynasty's future finances. This further strengthened Zhu Biao's determination to take ruthless measures.

Now that the Ming Dynasty has just been founded, the people are loyal to it, the national strength is strong, and the local organizational strength is sufficient.

If we don't collect more financial resources now, won't we be unable to collect money when the court becomes weak in the future?
How can this be done?
this time.

He wants to set rules for the world!
Tell the people of the world clearly that they can earn money, but they should not even think about paying less than a penny of what should be paid to the court!
Seeing Zhu Biao so determined, Zhu Yuanzhang nodded with satisfaction.

This is the heir he wants!

(End of this chapter)