My father is Jiajing

Chapter 103: One glass of wine after another

Gao Gong's words stunned Hai Rui. As a Hainanese who came to Beijing for the first time, his understanding of Beijing's political ecology was still very limited.

In addition, because of his personality, he did not like to curry favor with the powerful and wealthy. Besides, he was poor and could only keep to himself. So, except for that lucky opportunity when he met a young man who was eager to do good deeds and introduced him to Gao Gong, he did not have a single friend in this huge capital.

Hai Rui hesitated for a moment and asked, "Why is that? Doesn't the imperial court support bureaucrats?"

Gao Gong laughed again, "Let's go, and talk while we walk."

Gao Gong took Hai Rui away from the Ministry of Revenue and the two went to a small restaurant nearby.

This small restaurant seems like the canteen of the Ministry of Revenue. When it is time for dinner, many low-ranking officials in green robes will come here to eat.

Of course you can’t eat it for free, and there is no subsidy. You still have to pay for it.

So Gao Gong and Hai Rui also ordered a few side dishes and a pot of wine according to their ability.

After all the food and wine were served, Hai Rui bowed slightly and filled Gao Gong's glass of wine, and also poured himself a glass.

Hai Rui looked at Gao Gong with inquiring eyes. Gao Gong picked up a piece of fried tofu, enjoying the wonderful taste of this simple dish, and then picked up a glass of wine and took a sip.

Then Gao Gong moved his chopsticks and said, "You eat too, it will get cold soon."

Hai Rui picked up a peanut and ate it, then asked, "The scholar has not yet explained my doubts. Why can't the court's salary be delivered on time?"

Gao Gong looked at the wine glass again, and Hai Rui tactfully poured a glass for Gao Gong.

Gao Gong took another sip of wine happily, sighed, then put the chopsticks aside and started to help Hai Ruiko Putin with the situation.

Gao Gong said: "In different places in the capital, outsiders all know that the officials in the capital are noble, but there are not many who are truly noble. For example, officials like me who don't have much actual power seem to have more face than local officials, but in fact, our lives are not as good as theirs."

"Even in the poorest counties, local officials, in addition to their official salaries, will also receive some unwritten support from the local government and the government, and they can still make a few thousand taels of silver a year. But for low-ranking officials like me, in addition to our official salaries, other income is almost zero."

"Moreover, the capital's supply has always relied on the Grand Canal, which transports grain from the south of the Yangtze River. The supply of grain is limited by the canal's transportation capacity. This is fine in peaceful years, but if there is a disaster year, or if the canal is blocked for other reasons, the grain cannot be supplied to the capital in time."

"At this time, the court will try every possible way to save money, and the simplest way to save money is to withhold salaries. This withholding usually lasts for three months or half a year, until the court's financial situation eases a little, and then one or two salaries will be paid out."

"So in recent years, most of the officials in the capital have been working without salary. Just like me, I still rely on the support from my hometown in Xinzheng to barely make ends meet in the capital. Otherwise, I would have given up long ago."

Gao Gong's words made Hai Rui gasp. He never expected that life as an official in Beijing would be so difficult.

Hai Rui asked, "Can the court think of a way to solve this problem?" Gao Gong sighed, "The court has tried every possible way, but the financial framework of the Ming Dynasty has been set since Emperor Taizu. The court can only collect general land taxes, as well as silver from the salt and tea-horse roads. As for other silver, even if the court wants to collect it, it has to weigh the consequences."

"Moreover, when a local area is hit by a disaster such as drought or flood, the imperial court not only has to find ways to provide disaster relief, but also has to reduce or exempt local land taxes. So with these two factors combined, the imperial court can collect even less land taxes."

"In addition, the royal family and the gentry all have excuses for not paying land tax, and they are greedy and annex land, embezzling the tax revenue of the court. It is really unreasonable to expect such a court to pay salaries on time."

After saying these words, Gao Gong drank another glass.

Gao Gong had obviously been dissatisfied with the current situation, but now he was in a low position and had no power to change it, so he could only drink in silence and complain to Hai Rui.

Hai Rui silently poured Gao Gong another glass of wine. He said sullenly, "Why doesn't the court reclassify the land in the country and set new tax standards?"

Gao Gong snorted, "How easy is that? It's easy to say that it's easy to sort out the land of the world, but do you know how difficult it is to do it? With your upright nature, if you go to the local area, you may be able to sort out and measure the land of each county and prefecture and formulate new rules. But the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty are so big? And everyone has selfish desires. How many people can you control their selfish desires?"

"During the reign of Emperor Taizu, his swords were bent because of the case of the empty seal, and I don't know how many people were skinned, but what was the final result? Therefore, if you want to change all this, the road is long and difficult!"

Hai Rui also picked up the wine glass and took a sip. He did not feel the wine was spicy, but only bitter.

When he was in Qiongzhou, he saw the Li people's troubles in Qiongzhou and thought that this was a real problem, so he wrote "Plan for Subduing the Li People", hoping that the court could build cities and counties on Hainan Island, set up guards and raise soldiers, so as to suppress the Li people on Hainan Island by force once and for all.

But after meeting that young master, and now after listening to Gao Gong's words.

Only then did Hai Rui realize how ridiculous his "Plan for Suppressing Li" was.

His "Plan for Subduing the Li People" seemed to be a way of using the court system to intimidate and restrain the Li people who refused to submit to the king, but in fact it still did not change the problem of Hainan's poverty.

If the poverty remains unchanged and the imperial court is expected to continue to interfere through administrative and violent means, Hainan may become the second Jiaozhi Chengxuanzhengshisi.

The abandonment of Jiaozhi Chengxuanzhengshisi was due to the high cost of ruling the place. The imperial court invested decades of energy and countless wealth there, but still failed to completely subdue it. Instead, irreconcilable hatred and conflicts were created between the local indigenous people and the Han officials sent by the imperial court, leading to constant rebellion.

So during the Xuande period, as the Ming defenders were once again defeated by the rebellion of the local indigenous people, Emperor Xuande also lost patience with this barren and useless old land of Jiaozhi.

Then, they heard the news that Wang Tong had secretly sought peace, so the Three Yangs, who were assisting in the administration, went with the flow and, in the third year of Xuande, prompted Emperor Xuande to formally issue an edict to abolish the Jiaozhi Chengxuanzhengshisi.

From then on, the fourteen provincial governments of the Ming Dynasty became thirteen provincial governments.

Although the current Jiaozhi became the Annan General Administration of the Ming Dynasty in the 19th year of Jiajing, it still has no actual ruling power and it is still a "lawless place"!
(End of this chapter)