Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 303: Rule by the Emperor and His Ministers
The national conditions are naturally changing over time, and right now everyone is just trying to figure out the deeper meaning of the emperor's words.

Wang Yingjiao didn't care about that. He thought the emperor was right and what he said was true.

"If there is a difference, I think the biggest difference is the good water conservancy policy! When I was the governor of Tianjin, the fields were overgrown with weeds and the local people said it was saline-alkali land and could not be cultivated. I thought it was due to lack of water. Then I led the people to reclaim 5,000 mu of paddy fields. Although the yield per mu was only 4 or 5 shi, it was better than leaving it barren. After I was transferred to Baoding, I petitioned the garrison to reclaim wasteland and obtained 7,000 hectares of land. The military pay in Tianjin was greatly reduced."

It sounds like he is bragging, but what Wang Yingjiao wants to point out is the basic point that Zhu Changluo said: learn to apply, the emperor and all officials should realize that the existence of the country is to serve the people first.

"This good water conservancy policy has made the grain production of the Ming Dynasty much higher than that of the Wanli period. But I think the amount is still not enough." Wang Yingjiao's eyes sparkled, "If the Ming Dynasty had water conservancy everywhere, with the diligence of the people, why would we worry about the shortage of land and the large population? Why would we worry about financial planning?"

After saying that, he bowed to He Shengrui and said, "The Ministry of Works should continue to work hard. Previously, we only cleaned up and rectified some rivers, lakes and ditches in various prefectures, states and counties, which has been of great use. If we can achieve greater results, we should think about which places can be like Dujiangyan, and if they are built, they can benefit thousands of miles of water conservancy projects."

"This is a good point, and we can make plans." Zhu Changluo expressed his approval, and then added, "We all know that water conservancy is beneficial to the country and the people, but why couldn't the monarch and his ministers govern the country in a planned and phased manner in the past? It costs money to build water conservancy projects, and the court cannot allocate special funds every year to build water conservancy projects. If the water conservancy projects are not built well, taxes will not increase, and the court will still have no money."

He looked at everyone and said slowly, "When I first came to power, I did not mention tax exemptions, but later I strictly implemented preferential tax exemptions and commercial tax exemptions, just to increase revenue and reduce expenditure, so that I could have more money on hand. I never shirk responsibility when I need to borrow from the treasury, but I must have a say on where the money should be spent. This is all for the purpose of being a good emperor and changing the difficult financial situation bit by bit."

Finally, he looked at He Shengrui and said, "Now that Wang Sinong said that, the Ministry of Works is naturally in a difficult position. The annual revenue is limited, and the large-scale water conservancy projects cost a lot. It is still difficult to escape the four words of financial planning."

He Shengrui nodded: "I think the Minister of Agriculture has also thought about how to open up the source again."

He was good at managing expenditures and projects, but how to increase the court's revenue was not his area of ​​expertise.

Wang Yingjiao proposed the water conservancy as an entry point, but he wanted to point out another difference: "If there is another difference, it is that the officials and gentry strictly implement preferential treatment and exemption. If we talk about increasing revenue, this is naturally the largest source of revenue. I am willing to risk the disapproval of the world and request to revise the preferential treatment and exemption rules, but I cannot avoid the worry of disasters. I am stupid and can't think of a good way."

Mr. Xiao couldn't help but look at the Minister of Finance in his own Executive Yuan... He is so bold.

But what Zhu Changluo most hopes is that someone can point out this difference.

The greatest achievement of the Taichang Dynasty so far, of course, is to put a brake on the expansionary trend of preferential treatment for officials and gentry.

To achieve this, the price paid was a massive increase in the number of officials and their salaries.

If Wang Yingjiao dared to say here that he was willing to petition for this matter, he would certainly become "enemy of the whole world" if it got out.

But what he said about the possibility of disaster and chaos is also true.

Everyone was thinking about the military operation that was going on at the time. The emperor wanted to establish his prestige in preparation for this matter.

Is Wang Yingjiao taking sides in advance?

"To put it bluntly, it's all about money." Zhu Changluo smiled, "Let's not talk about how the court increases revenue. Small farmers are the people, and officials and gentry are also the people. The country wants the people to live better and better, and the officials and gentry cannot be excluded from the people. Gentlemen love money, but they get it in a proper way. There is no need to avoid this point. As for officials, the court will naturally ensure that everyone can do their job well through salaries and treatment. What about gentry? Let's talk about how they get money."

The gentry took the money...

All the ministers looked at the serious emperor and felt that they were going to discuss many issues thoroughly today.

How can the gentry make money? There are basically two ways: one is that someone in the family is an official and gets money through corruption, and then further purchases land, shops and houses, and makes more profits through preferential treatment; the other is that they rely on their status as gentry, have extensive connections and a respected position in the local area, and can always find ways to make money in local affairs, big or small, and can easily organize manpower and material resources to handle these affairs.

For example, the situation has been relatively stable in recent years, except for local water conservancy projects, roads and bridges. In the end, many of these projects were earned by the gentry and wealthy families who took away the silver that was reserved by imperial decree from various places.
Zhu Changluo led the discussion with the aim of diverting the topic to industries other than agriculture.

Annexing land and obtaining land output at a lower cost by relying on the status of gentry still requires monetization.

This monetization has already entered the business field.

In every place, the basic source of wealth for the gentry and wealthy families can be said to be grain trade. With grain, they can first allow the children of the whole family to study, and then have the initial capital to participate in more profitable industries.

Which gentry didn't engage in business? How many gentry didn't run small workshops and earn some money to pay for public works in exchange for labor service?
And the characteristic is that the more gentry families participate in industry and commerce, the faster they accumulate wealth than those who rely solely on farm output.

It can even be said that this is a criterion for distinguishing between truly powerful families and ordinary local gentry.

Everyone also heard the direction the emperor wanted to guide. Xiao Daheng said: "Your Majesty, if you want to start with this commercial tax, I'm afraid it will be difficult. The difficulty lies in the Ministry of Personnel and the Censorate."

Chen Jian and Zhu Guozuo both looked at him. Zhu Changluo nodded again in agreement: "What Governor Xiao said is very true. Even if everyone knows that this is a much larger source of revenue than taxes and corvee, it is not so easy to audit and collect. After all, taxes and corvee are based on the Fish Scale Atlas and the Yellow Book. What about industry and commerce? Now it's just that some are collected from shops, and some are collected from checkpoints in places with prosperous commerce such as the Shibo Bank and the Chaoguan."

Even in later times, which Zhu Changluo understood very well, this part was still a difficult problem.

Not to mention this era where there is a lack of competent authorities, accounting standards, slow information communication and backward management methods.

Covering up each other, falsifying accounts, bribing local officials to evade taxes...there are too many ways to think of.

That’s why Xiao Daheng said that the difficulties lie in the Ministry of Personnel and the Censorate.

Zhu Yijun sent out mining supervisors and tax collectors, starting with keeping an eye on private mines and then moving on to local tax collection. Didn't that just cause "God's wrath and people's resentment"?
There is no way. There is no standardized basis for taxation. In addition, local tax supervisors have inflated greed. So don't they just rely on the emperor's support and directly give the local governments the numbers to pay?
Too rough.

In this regard, Zhu Changluo said: "We can't not do it just because it's difficult. We have to do it. Otherwise, the common people will always bear the burden of taxes and labor service. Although the gentry and the wealthy need to be exempted, the profits of industry and commerce can be used to cover up and evade taxes. It's unfair to enjoy both tax exemptions and the profits of industry and commerce. Why don't the monarch and the ministers discuss what to do in this regard? Let me first say that it is not the goal to remove the exemptions for officials and gentry. The goal is to make the people live better than before, have a way to make a fortune, and the court has ample finances."

At this point, he had made it clear that there should be exemptions, but he also said that he did not want to fleece the gentry and wealthy families.

The goal the emperor wanted to achieve was too difficult, and his ministers looked at each other in confusion.

How is it possible to make officials and gentry feel that things are better than before when all the preferential treatment and exemptions are gone?

Zhu Changluo saw that they were all silent and didn't take it seriously.

Even if there are wise ministers who are willing to serve the country and the people, they may not have enough vision and courage to come up with good solutions due to the limitations of the times.

There are too many issues involved here, and it is by no means as simple as encouraging industry and commerce while strictly enforcing commercial taxes.

Zhu Changluo himself did not have a comprehensive method that would necessarily be effective, but as he said, this thing had to be done.

After all, the efficiency of pure agriculture in creating wealth has a ceiling. If a country wants to expand its financial resources, it must start with industries with higher profit margins.

"No one is talking, so I will." Zhu Changluo asked Liu Ruoyu to open the screen. "It is difficult for the people to audit and collect taxes, so let the government collect taxes. If the local gentry says that this is competing with the people for profit, then it is better to join the government. In short, I said that the country is still based on military force. The principle of changing with the times is applicable everywhere. When I say that the people can live better than before, I only mean most of them, not all of them. Even a saint cannot do such a thing. After all, there are always people who are unwilling to change, and there are always people who don't understand the principle of changing with the times."

Looking at them one by one, Zhu Changluo said solemnly: "But you all need to remember that if the people are loyal, the country will be stable, and the monarch and his subjects can continue to share power, fame and wealth. Those officials who do not understand this truth and forget the country for the sake of their families are also inappropriate. My will is to make it. If the officials are willing to follow and the gentry are willing to change, then everything will be fine. I will open a new world for the Ming Dynasty. Otherwise, I will use war again to let the gentry understand that the foundation of the country is force."

Everyone's heart was shaken, but their eyes were fixed on the screen.

The emperor said it very honestly today. The emperor and his subjects rule the world together. The background of the throne and the imperial power is force and blood red.

Of course, that was a last resort. Under normal circumstances, there should be a proper mechanism so that everyone can be supported by taxes and the people can be loyal and feel that the court is implementing good policies.

Now, on that screen is the answer given by the emperor.

The first thing everyone noticed was the position second only to the emperor.

There are also three additional positions parallel to the one-bedroom and four-courtyard arrangement.

There are also several rows that touch the local areas but lead directly to the central government offices.

There are also some government offices and official positions that sound unfamiliar, but they can guess their meaning by reading the literal meaning of the words.

"Let me explain in detail." Zhu Changluo first pointed to the position just below him, "With the vastness of the Ming Dynasty, we cannot just rely on the emperor's wisdom. Civil affairs are the foundation of the country, and in the future we must have a prime minister who is truly in charge of civil affairs."

Ye Xianggao and Zhu Guozuo both stared at that position, looking at the huge executive council below that position. Shi and Zhi, the difference between the two words, have completely different meanings.

Is this what the emperor meant by co-governance between the monarch and his subjects?

(End of this chapter)