Ming Dynasty: Traveling through the harem, Zhu Yuanzhang was dumbfounded

Chapter 135 The Establishment of the Medal System

“Your Majesty, the central tax revenue is collected by the Ministry of Revenue. Now the Ming Dynasty has twelve provincial governments. If we attack the former king of Yunnan and the Northern Yuan Dynasty next year, the Ming Dynasty will have thirteen provincial governments.

Taxation is directly levied by the provincial governor who is in charge of taxation.

The various departments were responsible for it until the Lijia at the township level finally supervised the grain tax.

Although you have entered the officialdom, Yang Xiaoyou, you should also know that the Ming Dynasty is not only short of official positions, but also short of talents.

If you do as you think, the Ming Dynasty will only become more difficult. You can't conjure up so many people out of thin air for you, right?

But this is not Yang Xiaoyou’s fault. Everyone has a young time, and I was also so naive back then.

The operation of the imperial court is not that simple. It is very difficult to take care of everything.”

Yang Siyi stood beside Lao Zhu, analyzing everything as best as possible, and then explained the reason to Yang Chen.

Since the last court meeting, Yang Chen's name has spread far and wide among the officials. Even officials who are not working in the capital know that a young man has appeared in the capital who is appreciated by the emperor and valued by the prince.

However, Yang Siyi, who never participated in forming cliques, did not pay much attention to it. He only knew of Yang Chen.

The fact that Yang Chen can discuss this with Zhu Biao and the emperor now is enough to prove that the rumors he has heard these days are not false.

His Majesty the Emperor is indeed paving the way for his son, and this way has even reached his face. If Yang Siyi doesn't understand clearly, he will still use the official system of using a higher-ranking official to crush someone else.

I'm afraid he will have a hard time.

"So, Brother Yang, you see, even the Minister of Revenue has said so. Your so-called hands-on approach won't work."

Zhu Biao thought that Yang Chen's method was wrong.

That's why I tried my best to persuade the other party that some things cannot be as naive as he thought.

Faced with the two people's exhortations, Yang Chen did not seem to be affected at all, but wrote down the problems they raised on the rice paper.

“What you are talking about is nothing more than worrying about two issues.

First: too many people were recruited.

Second: The establishment of many redundant officials will increase the burden.

If I propose not to select talents from the hundreds of officials that the scholars already have, then where else can we find people who are loyal to the Ming Dynasty and the court, and who are unlikely to be influenced by corrupt officials?"

When this question was asked, Zhu Biao and Yang Siyi looked at each other, both feeling extremely troubled.

Old Zhu, who was sitting at the top, squinted his eyes and questioned:

"According to what you said, unless they are our death squads, there is no way such people exist. Even if there are, their number is not large enough for you to use."

"That's right, Brother Yang. It's impossible for these people you mentioned to exist in the Ming Dynasty. If they did exist, how could I, Zhu Biao, not have discovered them? The officials would certainly have given them important positions."

"Young friend Yang is still naive. As the ancients said, the most difficult thing to look directly at in the world is not the scorching sun, but the human heart. The darkness of the human heart is unpredictable, and nine out of ten people will fail when testing human nature."

In the eyes of everyone, these people mentioned by Yang Chen are impossible to exist. Even if they do exist, their number will definitely not be that large.

"So, you all think that it's impossible to find such a person? Or there's no way?" Yang Chen said, glancing at Lao Zhu for the last time.

Seeing the other party's confident look, Lao Zhu felt very unhappy.

"Can I find it with the help of a jerk like you?"

"can!"

Hearing Yang Chen's decisive answer, everyone was stunned.

They were not as shocked as ordinary people, with their scalps tingling and eyes full of disbelief, but they were just stunned and ridiculous.

Based on the conditions he just mentioned, it is impossible to find it.

Without giving them time to react, Yang Chen continued:

"I wonder if the prince still remembers the second step I mentioned, recruiting people. What are the best conditions?"

When this question was asked, Zhu Biao frowned and thought carefully, then responded:
"According to what you said, recruiting people requires knowing 500 commonly used characters, which requires not only being able to speak well, but also being proficient in writing.

Secondly, there is no problem with arithmetic in addition and subtraction within 100. Finally, you must maintain your original intention, be honest and incorruptible, and not be a local. Otherwise, if a local person takes office in the local area, it will be easy to appear in the clan filth, which is unfair. "

"Let's not talk about learning to read and mastering arithmetic, let's just talk about the two issues of staying loyal and being in a different place.

I would like to ask, where in the Ming Dynasty are there so many people who are absolutely loyal to the Ming Dynasty court and come from all corners of the country, so that they can be considered foreigners when they are transferred to other places? ? "

As soon as he finished speaking, Lao Zhu wanted to sneer subconsciously and say, "Hasn't this gone back to the same old path?"

But his other son suddenly spoke up, making him swallow his words.

"Military forces!"

Everyone looked at Zhu Di at the same time. Zhu Biao, who originally had a very negative opinion of Yang Chen, showed a hint of disbelief in his eyes.

The two words Zhu Di said kept echoing in my mind.

"Yes! The military! There are many people who are loyal to the Ming Dynasty and willing to fight for the court until death. Isn't this the military?"

"That's right! Yongle got it right!" Yang Chen smiled and gave Zhu Di a thumbs up.

Facing everyone's gaze, Zhu Di now seemed a little uncomfortable, and said awkwardly:
"Ahem. Well, actually, I suddenly thought of the three Yan army guards around me. The commander who is in charge of leading the three Yan army has always obeyed my orders. When I heard Brother Yang's description just now, I thought of them."

"Fourth Brother, you are really good! I didn't expect that you would guess Brother Yang's inner thoughts at this critical moment. I underestimated you!"

Zhu Biao patted Zhu Di on the shoulder and praised his younger brother without hesitation.

However, before he could say a few more words, Yang Siyi, who was standing next to Lao Zhu, started to pour cold water on him.

"Brother Yang, according to your idea, if we let this group of soldiers wearing armor and carrying swords be independent and form a Ming public service center, we can let them collect taxes instead of the Ministry of Revenue.

I'm afraid this will lead to a reappearance of the tragedy of the late Tang Dynasty, the Five Dynasties and the Ten Kingdoms. If a rough man takes a knife to manage money, the world will be in chaos!"

"Boy, do you know that the garrison system we have established is to keep the soldiers in their garrison positions forever? If we really want to follow your suggestion, we will transfer some of the troops to the newly established organization.

They are simply not qualified for the job. Every soldier who can serve in the army is a rough man. Not to mention knowing numbers, I'm afraid they can't even write their own names. How can they manage the decrees we issue and how can we bring our imperial power to the countryside?"

Old Zhu still maintained his skepticism towards Yang Chen's opinions and directly pointed out the most fatal flaws.

On the other hand, Yang Chen remained calm and composed.

"Don't be impatient, Your Majesty. Allow me to explain slowly.

As far as I know, the Ming Dynasty has an army of one million. According to the laws of the Wei Suo system, all soldiers incorporated into the military must live in the place where the military is registered forever.

Regardless of where they are from, I will not talk about the drawbacks of the Wei Suo system first, but will talk about the military status first.

As they were implicated in the military, they could no longer return to their hometowns after they had served as soldiers in the Ming army. This caused a lot of psychological trauma, which greatly reduced their combat effectiveness, and these people frequently suffered defeats on the battlefield.

Many people were injured during the melee and ultimately lost the opportunity to fight the enemy with knives in a life-and-death battle.

These veterans can neither fight nor do heavy work, so it is better for them to retire directly than to linger on in every place.”

"These veterans have experienced the hardships of the battlefield, and some may have been seriously injured or have hidden diseases and cannot fight again.

It can be seen that those who have seen blood are different from ordinary scholars. They do not have so many intrigues and only know to obey the orders of the court.

Therefore, in addition to being from other places, they have one more advantage than ordinary scholars: they are smart and capable."

In ancient times, military discipline was countless times stricter and more cruel than the concept of equality for all in modern society!
Yang Chen once asked Chi Lin.

This guy used to be a captain guarding the border and had seen too many life and death scenes.

No matter who you are, as long as you arrive at the frontier and go to the battlefield, you can be considered a veteran after some hardships. Those who can survive ten battlefields are definitely the elite among the elites.

Anyone who can survive a hundred times can at least become a centurion.

Chi Lin once told Yang Chen that no one can violate military discipline.

The classic example is "If the drums don't move forward, the rear team will kill the front team."

Killing a chicken to scare the monkey and serve as a warning to others often happens.

Veterans may be arrogant, but they know best what kind of punishment they will receive if they disobey their leaders' orders. Their obedience is definitely better than that of the scholars with eight hundred tricks in their heads.

Yang Siyi frowned and thought deeply. Like Lao Zhu, he still opposed Yang Chen's statement and said:

“Old soldiers may be good at following orders, but how can we ensure their integrity? I used to be a captain who fought many victories under Your Majesty.

I know very well that the rough men in the military camp are greedier than anyone else. It is no exaggeration to say that they are blinded by money and crazy about beauty.

They should go to collect taxes as tax guards of the Ming Dynasty Public Service Center.

If the local gentry can use some tricks to get in touch with them with wine, meat and women, they will definitely indulge in the enjoyment and become someone else's puppet."

Although he didn't want to admit it, Zhu Di also agreed with the temper of those soldiers.

Yang Chen thought for a moment, then sat on a chair and drank tea calmly, then he began to talk:

“What Lord Yang said makes sense. Honesty and integrity cannot rely on people’s hearts. As for how to ensure integrity, I cannot guarantee it for those who have read a lot.

But for these big soldiers, I have three ways to guarantee them.

The first point is salary.

If you want to keep these veterans honest, their salaries don’t need to be too high, the main thing is to keep them long-term.

A relevant punishment system should be established. If a veteran who is working again makes a mistake, his year-end bonus will be cancelled and he will not receive three months' salary, or at most six months' salary.

In the days when there is no money to provide, only basic living supplies are allowed.

There is another punishment, which is their retirement pension. If they make a mistake, their pension will be reduced. The higher the position, the more severe the punishment.

They may not understand politics, but once they see that the cost of making a mistake is higher than the cost of their own corruption, unless they are fools, normal people will definitely not commit mistakes knowingly.

Our original plan was to bring the imperial power to the countryside. Each township would have a dedicated service center. These veterans are from other places, so there would definitely be obstacles in local transportation.

It is simply impossible to swallow up a large amount of embezzled taxes.

Once this money is discovered, it will all be confiscated. If they don’t want to be helpless for the rest of their lives, they will definitely choose to give it up and work honestly. "

By attacking from two aspects, Yang Chen can be said to have completely adopted a strategy of attacking the heart.

This move can definitely be broken by those scholars, but for those veterans.

There is no thought to think too much about this.

Just the fact that they had to change from their previous job where they had to face life and death at any time to this idle position now was enough to make them happy.

How could they have nothing to do and break the law?

"This is just the first step. There is a second step." Yang Chen continued.

“The second point is that a picketing system is needed.

Power is a scourge that must be kept in a cage and supervised, otherwise it will get out of control."

On the rice paper, Yang Chen wrote "light" and "dark".

"Establish relevant institutions. To be precise, we don't need to establish a new one. Your Majesty will definitely find a way to have people do part-time work.

Some of them were patrol teams that came openly, and some of them were conducting secret inspections.

This dual approach can have a certain deterrent effect on these veterans who have left the military.”

“As for the third step, we can use honor plaques similar to those for civil servants. However, while honor plaques may be very exciting for civil servants who like to be literary, they may not be effective for those rough people.

So I propose to establish a medal system."

"What is a medal?" Zhu Biao asked with a puzzled look on his face.

Yang Chen took out from his pocket a gold and jade prince token that Zhu Biao had given him.

Pointing at this thing, he explained:

“This is a prince’s token. You can imagine it as a round medal, or any other shape you like. You can use it as a brooch and place it in a conspicuous place on your chest.

As a symbol of honor, different materials and patterns are used to distinguish different levels, and medals of different styles are customized according to his wartime merits and his contributions to the village.

For example, soldiers who are away on border duty and injured in the line of duty can be awarded a silver hero medal. If they have made meritorious services, they can be awarded a gold-covered silver medal.

As veterans, they are certainly ready to die, and making great achievements is something that all Han people want to achieve. They can leave the battlefield and live with such glory.

They will definitely enjoy some unique perspectives in the Ming society.

The moment all these eyes are filled with "envy", "admiration" and "touching", an invisible responsibility will be placed on them.

Let them realize the importance of this responsibility and resist the erosion of crooked ways. "

When Lao Zhu heard about the medal system, a look of madness suddenly appeared in his eyes.

This is the lowest price to win people’s hearts!

(End of this chapter)