Ming politicians

After Yang Sichang spoke, Su Tiancheng did not expect that the next speaker would be Zhang Pu.

After accepting the task, Zhang Pu and Wu Weiye continued to participate in the discussions on the establishment of the government and the salaries of the officials. , or ability problems, which made Su Tiancheng's idea impossible to realize, so after serious thinking, Zhang Pu also raised his own doubts. In fact, the doubts he mentioned were already mentioned by Yang Sichang earlier.

"His Royal Highness, the ministers also have some doubts. Your lords have discussed the increase of officials' salaries, which has led to a substantial increase in the court's expenses. As for the specific monthly salary of each official, Your Highness will finally determine it. However, there is one thing that all of you adults agree on. In Shangxian County with a household of more than 40, the number of government officials should not exceed 30; in Zhongxian County with a household of more than 20, the number of government officials should not exceed [-]. In the lower counties below, there are no more than [-] officials in the government office. The purpose of this move is to save expenses. As for the state government, like the setting of the county, the number of officials in the government office is not allowed to exceed a hundred, so the number of officials is very small. If On top of that, setting up the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the Ministry of Punishments, and branches of the Dali Temple separately will probably increase a lot of expenses."

"The responsibilities of the Metropolitan Procuratorate are different. The establishment of a separate branch office is not a big problem. The duty of the Metropolitan Procuratorate is to supervise and investigate corruption. Therefore, there is no problem with the establishment, but the situation of the Ministry of Punishment and the Metropolitan Procuratorate is different. They are set up separately from the prefectural and county yamen. The number of people is too small. It's too much."

"It is the main function of the prefectural and county yamen to decide the matter of the prison. Every chief official has to spend a lot of energy. Except for the taxation, almost all of them consider the matter of the prison. The minister once The difficulty of serving as a magistrate or even suing a prison requires the cooperation of all aspects and consumes a lot of manpower and material resources."

"Based on these opinions, I feel that it is somewhat difficult to set up separate branches of the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple. My suggestion is that the matter of litigation and prison is still one of the main responsibilities of the prefectural and county yamen. The Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple can Supervise and urge the prefectural and county yamen to judge the case carefully, not to be hasty, if there is a lawsuit that is not handled well, the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple can directly suggest that the chief officials of the prefecture and county should be dealt with..."

Zhang Pu’s opinion is actually to return to the previous setting. From the Qin Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty, the system of lawsuits and prisons has been continuously improved. It should be said that the current system has been determined according to the actual situation.

However, Su Tiancheng made up his mind. He knew very well that with the development of the economy, the role of law will become more and more important. By the time everyone understands its importance, it may be too late. Strict restrictions, this is also for the need of high salaries to support honesty. There are too many people, and the court law supports them, but some money must be spent. Even if a huge price is paid, we must persist and maintain the dignity of the law. one.

Fan Jingwen and others also expressed their opinions one after another. Fan Jingwen's opinions have a good effect. When talking about the branches of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, he suggested that there should be two to three people in each county. For a separate office, it is enough to have two or so houses in the county office. The state office is set up in the same way. As for the two levels of the provincial government, the province can set up a special agency to work independently. The current model is also the same. The mansion can also be set up separately, with the number of people limited to less than ten, and Fan Jingwen also proposed a suggestion that Su Tiancheng hadn't thought of for the time being, that is, the officials of the branch offices of the Metropolitan Procuratorate should be rotated regularly every year. The local time does not exceed one year, which is also to prevent the officials from being too familiar with the local area, so that they cannot be investigated and dealt with impartially. [

Xu Eryi added some comments, which were similar to what Fan Jingwen said.

However, neither of them talked about the Ministry of Criminal Justice and the branch of Dali Temple. It seems that they focused on the power, responsibility and rights of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and it was difficult to consider other things.

Yang Sichang also made a supplementary speech at the end, which was about the amendment of the Daming Law. He believed that even if the Daming Law was to be revised, many officials who were familiar with the Daming Law needed to be called together to discuss it. Only by taking charge of it personally can Su Tiancheng do it well.

The next thing to discuss is the matter of taxation. To increase the salaries of officials, there must be a source, otherwise everything is empty talk, and no one dares to make promises that cannot be fulfilled. Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the implementation of The policy of returning wealth to the people, it should be said that the establishment of this policy is reasonable and appropriate. This is also because Zhu Yuanzhang was born in a peasant, and he deeply understands the suffering of the peasants. From the perspective of caring for the peasants, he established the basic national policy.

It's a pity that these policies, in the process of implementation, were completely out of shape, and became an excuse for court officials to protect their own interests. When the court really encountered difficulties, officials still put forward the request to hide wealth from the people. In fact, the common people are still very poor. , Need to get relief, the real rich people are those gentry rich households or merchants colluding with government and businessmen. They have taken a huge advantage, and they are still complaining about difficulties, unwilling to take out a copper coin.

A tax that is too low is a great harm to the country, and Su Tiancheng is very clear about the reason behind this.

Taxes are compulsory levied by the state, which is a means to adjust the rich and poor, and is also a necessary means to maintain the country's construction. Taxes must be tilted towards business and trade. It is unrealistic to rely on taxes collected from farmers to support officials. , this country is also developed by law. In the final analysis, taxes must be formulated according to the needs of social development.

The practice of light corvee and low tax established by the Ming Dynasty is a beautiful ideal. In fact, the emperor did not really want to reduce the burden on the people, but the etiquette education for thousands of years made the emperor want To gain the greatest fame and fame, advertise that the emperor is the parent of the people, and has always cared about the people.If it is said that the emperor really understood the principle that the economic base determines the superstructure, I am afraid that he has not yet.

It is not impossible to lightly shake taxes, but only a very developed society can be established at that time. Either the country is extremely rich and powerful, or it relies on plundering the wealth of other countries to maintain its own expenses.

It is a pity that the Ming Dynasty did not have such a foundation.

Although the taxation system of the Ming Dynasty has been studied too much by later generations, after experiencing it personally, Su Tiancheng felt that such a taxation system was too ridiculous. In fact, merchants and scholar-bureaucrats hardly bear any taxes, and they also help to exploit the people. Such a system cannot be maintained for a long time.

So on the tax issue, Su Tiancheng's determination is very firm, and he also knows that this issue is probably the biggest issue, and it is the most difficult for everyone to accept.

Sure enough, during the discussion, everyone was in favor of light corvee and low tax, and raised the reason for this light corvee and low tax to Su Tiancheng's wisdom, showing Su Tiancheng's concern for the people, showing Su Tiancheng's Benevolence.

But then a contradiction emerged. Where did the high salaries of officials come from? If there is no tax support, everything is for nothing. As for plundering the wealth of other countries and implementing external expansion, under the current situation, there is not much. Possibly xng, so if the issue of taxation is not resolved, all the matters discussed above have no foothold.

Zhu Shenxuan, Yang Sichang and the others obviously thought about these issues, so the debate on this issue was the most intense. Zhu Shenxuan completely agreed with it based on the actual situation and because he had more exchanges with Su Tiancheng. In terms of increasing taxes, and the focus of taxation tends to be business transactions, the actual experience of Dengzhou, Laizhou, and Qingzhou has long helped Zhu Shenxuan change his understanding, but it is a pity that Yang Sichang and others have not been able to fully understand this. a little. [

During the debate, Zhu Shenxuan belonged to a typical minority, and those who supported him were Zhang Pu and others.

The discussion lasted for a full day, except for the meal time, the rest of the time was discussed, and the issue of taxation was also the most discussed topic and the most controversial topic, although Yang Sichang and others knew that increasing taxes It must be Su Tiancheng's intention, but since they have become Su Tiancheng's subordinates, they must take a responsible attitude and explain everything clearly.

From this point of view, it is a good thing that there have been so many disputes. If everyone stopped talking and did everything according to Su Tiancheng's request, it would definitely not be a good phenomenon, because everyone could not understand, could not Understand the mystery of it and implement it passively, the effect must be unsatisfactory.

Su Tiancheng has been listening very carefully. For the whole day, he didn't "interrupt" or express his own opinions, but he was thinking about how to say, how to let everyone understand the things he decided. The opinions I put forward above are all the experiences summed up in the process of social progress, which can definitely lead the Ming Dynasty to prosperity, wealth and strength. Unfortunately, it is impossible for everyone at the scene to understand the truth.

Su Tiancheng was still happy when such a debate occurred. The rules of governance came out of quarrels and compromises. Everyone fully expressed their opinions. Based on these opinions, he came up with measures against xng and persuaded everyone. It can make everyone implement it sincerely.

Of course, it is impossible to completely ask everyone to be sincerely convinced. How can it be possible to abandon things that have been passed down for thousands of years in a short time, but the things that have been decided must be implemented, and they must be implemented if they do not understand. Constantly understand in the process of execution. (to be continued)

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