Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 202 The foundation of stability! The tax department's turnaround!

This wave of business war made Zhu Yunhuan earn a fortune.

The Ming Dynasty's Food and Material Reserves Department was also formally established on this opportunity.

By building a large number of government warehouses, food and important materials were stored.

From then on, the prices of food and other materials closely related to people's livelihood became very stable.

This played a crucial role in his subsequent series of reforms.

Storing grain is definitely an unprofitable economic activity.

Because the grain stored in the granary needs to be sold after three to five years before new grain can be replenished that year.

There is no doubt that the price of new grain is much more expensive than the old grain that has been stored for three to five years.

Buying at a high price, storing it for three to five years, and then selling it at a low price will undoubtedly result in a loss.

But even in later generations, countries still spend a lot of effort to store grain, and this is not just to prevent famine.

Economic development will increase the amount of money in circulation, thus causing inflation. This is an inevitable economic law.

If food prices also rise at this time, a situation will be formed in which the faster the economy develops, the more difficult life will be for the lower classes.

As a result, the lower classes, which make up the vast majority of the population, unanimously oppose economic development.

Under such circumstances, forcibly controlling food prices at a lower level is actually allowing the lower classes to enjoy some of the fruits of economic development, thereby ensuring basic social stability.

That is, originally the wages for coolie laborers at the bottom were 500 wen a month. Later, as the economy developed and inflation occurred, the wages for coolie laborers also increased to 5,000 wen a month.

But at this time, looking around, I found that the prices of many things had also increased tenfold, and the salary seemed to have increased by a lonesome amount.

It may even make it impossible to save money.

Because the money saved in the past has become worthless due to inflation.

The effect is that they feel that it would be better if the economy did not develop and they would always get a monthly salary of 500 wen for their work.

But if at this time, you find that the price of food has not changed, the psychological feeling will be completely different.

With the same monthly salary from working for the same month, you can now buy ten times as much rice as before.

This is real benefit.

It is also the biggest benefit for the country to stabilize food prices.

The biggest feature of food consumption is that it has the color of rigid consumption.

That is, no matter what the price of food is, its consumption is actually unchanged.

Because a person can only eat so much food.

No matter how cheap the food is, he can only eat so much.

On the other hand, no matter how expensive the food is, he has to eat that much.

Price fluctuations do not affect food consumption.

This is the special nature of food.

If there must be a difference, it is simply that food prices are cheap, which will cause some waste.

The amount is still limited, and that's all.

Since it is a rigid consumption and is related to the livelihoods of millions of low-income people, artificially regulating its price to a low level is a very low-cost and high-return thing for the country.

People will feel completely different if their salary for one month can buy 1,000 kilograms of rice and if their salary for one month can only buy 100 kilograms of rice.

If we can give people more money and keep the price of staple food low, everyone will feel that life is getting better and better!
Even though this is not actually the case, that is how people feel.

This is the biggest effect of controlling food prices!

Zhu Yunhuan was very clear about this.

The Ming Dynasty can have inflation.

With the establishment of banks and the development of the financial industry, the Ming Dynasty will inevitably experience inflation. This is an economic law.

Even though he was the crown prince, he could not forcibly go against this law.

However, Zhu Yunhuan could take advantage of the rigid and stable nature of grain consumption and keep grain prices stable by collecting, storing and then selling grain.

Prevent food prices from rising with inflation.

As long as food prices are stable, ordinary people will feel that no matter how high the inflation is, they will still feel that they are earning more and more money, and their lives are getting better and better.

Because people are still accustomed to measuring their income by how much rice they can buy with the money they earn in a day.

Of course, the prerequisite is that the grain produced is sufficient for the consumption of the people of the Ming Dynasty, and there must be some surplus to achieve this goal.

Otherwise, even a good cook cannot cook without rice.

The Ming Dynasty today still could not guarantee its food supply by transporting grain from overseas colonies, so the construction of water conservancy projects became very important.

The goal of maintaining low food prices can only be achieved by ensuring that food production is not affected or is less affected by floods and droughts, and by ensuring that food supply is absolutely sufficient.

Otherwise, if there is a one percent gap, food prices will immediately get out of control.

Food production will always be greater than food consumption; this is the basis of everything.

This is still the case even in later technologically civilized societies.

Not to mention the current Ming Dynasty.

After this battle, the evil gentry and profiteers were severely damaged, but their basic base was still there, they just had to lie dormant for the time being.

At this time, the adjustment of government clerks was in full swing, and its impact was greater and more far-reaching.

For a long time, it has become a customary tradition for local gentry to control local power.

The imperial power does not extend below the county level, and all counties are self-governing.

In fact, even the county government itself has a unique system of autonomy.

That is the rule of clerks.

The county magistrate may come and go, but the clerks remain forever.

It is difficult for officials who are transferred from other places and take office to understand the actual grassroots situation in a county. They can only rely on clerks who have worked in the yamen for many years to control the county administration.

In many cases, it seems that the county magistrate is issuing orders, but in fact, the clerks have already submitted the results. Most of the time, the county magistrate just follows the clerks' opinions on what to do and how to deal with it.

For example, when a homicide occurred and a suspect was arrested, the constable would first take the suspect to the police station for interrogation. After the interrogation was complete and the confession was written, it would be submitted to the county magistrate.

Later, the county magistrate went to court to try the case, which was just a formality.

The same goes for everything else.

The clerks actually controlled the power of the county government.

However, as the military restructuring and disarmament continued, batches of retired soldiers and grassroots officers were transferred to become yamen runners, and this power structure was quickly broken.

Unlike later generations where yamen runners were clearly divided into different classes and could not be promoted throughout their lives, yamen runners in the early Ming Dynasty could be promoted and given important positions.

In the early Ming Dynasty, some yamen runners were even promoted all the way and eventually were promoted to positions as central ministers.

This is unimaginable in later generations, but it was not uncommon in the early Ming Dynasty.

With the possibility of promotion, the yamen runners would naturally be more motivated to work hard and seize power.

This is especially true for retired soldiers and grassroots officers.

For the county magistrates, because the yamen was completely controlled by local clerks in the past, if they wanted to discipline those clerks who were deeply rooted in the local area, it would cause chaos and mismanagement in the county yamen, affecting their own political achievements and future.

Therefore, many times, although the county officials were dissatisfied with the actions of the clerks, they had to turn a blind eye and allow them to do as they pleased in exchange for a safe and peaceful tenure.

Anyway, I will be transferred somewhere else in a few years.

But now, with the joining of retired soldiers and officers, the county magistrate suddenly found that he had found someone who could deal with the original clerks.

The two sides hit it off immediately and began to seize power from the old clerks who originally controlled the county government.

Taking advantage of the opportunity of the reform, many clerks were driven out of the government office.

This phenomenon is common in government offices across the country.

After all, which official would really not want to control power in his own hands?

In the past, I was afraid of causing trouble and just wanted to get through my three-year term safely and smoothly.

Now that the situation has changed drastically, they are of course happy to take back the power.

Those who were demobilized or retired from the army and assigned to work in government offices were also not satisfied with having no power.

In this way, with their joint efforts, the power structure of the original county government office changed rapidly.

The associated impact was that in the past, government offices generally did not support the Commissioner of Taxation in collecting taxes and did not cooperate with the Commissioner of Taxation.

But now, the county magistrates and the new recruits who had retired from the army saw that they could use the taxation department’s taxation to crack down on the former clerks, and their attitudes immediately changed 180 degrees.

The Commissioner of Taxation went from being an "enemy" to an "ally" overnight.

After all, the original old clerks are the biggest "enemies" of all parties.

This immediately reduced the pressure on the Tax Commissioner.

The memorials submitted by officials from all over the country to impeach the Commissioner of Taxation also turned into memorials to impeach local clerks.

Taking advantage of the wave of government office reform, the Commissioner of Taxation finally gained a foothold in various parts of the country.

……

Beiping.

Zhu Neng arrived with 3,000 new soldiers more than ten days earlier than originally expected.

The paving of the cement road has greatly increased the speed of carriages and the road will no longer become muddy and difficult to travel due to rain.

In addition, the new army's soldiers are all elite troops, so of course they can march faster.

After resting for a few days in Peking, Zhu Neng decided to lead his troops to war.

Every time we went on an expedition in the past, it was in winter, but this time it was midsummer.

Normally, this period is still the farming season and is not suitable for large-scale military action.

However, the new army was a fully professional, full-time army and was not restricted or affected by farming seasons like the garrison troops.

"Although the new army is composed of elite soldiers, isn't it too rash to lead only 3,000 soldiers to the north?" Before setting off, Lan Yu was puzzled and said, "It is not impossible to charge with light cavalry. Huo Qubing used this tactic when he attacked the Xiongnu in the past."

"But on the one hand, the troops led by Huo Qubing were all elite cavalry, coming and going like the wind, and could advance or retreat."

"And now the new army you lead is mainly composed of horse-drawn chariots and war carriages. Although their marching speed is faster than that of infantry, it is also limited."

"If we encounter a large group of Northern Yuan soldiers and are surrounded by them, we may be completely wiped out."

"What's more, even if we send elite cavalry to attack, imitating the tactics used by Li Jing in the early Tang Dynasty to destroy the Turks, we should also dispatch other armies to cooperate and squeeze the Northern Yuan Dynasty, so that we can kill the king with a sword."

"However, His Royal Highness not only did not make any arrangements, but also ordered me to restrict the troops from leaving the border at will, and only allowed you to go deep into the country alone."

"It's not that I, Lan Yu, don't trust His Royal Highness, it's just that I've never heard of such tactics in my many years of military service."

Zhu Neng was confident: "General, just follow the instructions of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"Military reform and disarmament are the major issues at the moment."

"There are hundreds of thousands of garrison troops on the front line of Peking."

"Only with a great general in charge can there be no chaos."

"As for the matter of annihilating the Northern Yuan Dynasty, just leave it to me and others."

"Don't worry, General."

Lan Yu looked at him, patted his shoulder, and said, "The Yangtze River's waves behind push the waves ahead. I am old now, and the future of the Ming Dynasty can only rely on you young people."

"I have analyzed the wars that His Royal Highness used to wipe out the Japanese pirates, recover Taiwan, and pacify Japan. His Royal Highness's tactics were unconventional and his command was superb. It was like a stroke of genius. He deserves to be called the military god of the Ming Dynasty and is far superior to me."

"Although you are young, you were brought up by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince himself. I trust you."

In fact, he was very worried and felt deeply uneasy.

But when the army set out, all he could say were some words to boost morale.

"I will mobilize the army to gather at Zhangjiakou Fort and wait for your triumphant return."

Zhangjiakou Fort was the important border town that must be passed through on this expedition, and it was also the most important bridgehead for guarding Peking.

Lan Yu dispatched troops to Zhangjiakou Fort, saying that he was waiting for Zhu Neng's victorious return, but in fact he was making preparations just in case.

If necessary, troops can be sent from Zhangjiakou to provide support at any time.

It can also prevent the Northern Yuan Dynasty from counterattacking.

Although Zhu Neng is young, he is also an experienced general and can understand the meaning of the music just by listening to it.

He didn't say much.

The only way for the new army to prove itself is through real achievements on the battlefield.

He immediately bowed to Lan Yu and said, "General, I will lead the troops to the battle."

Immediately, he turned around and waved.

The loud horn sounded.

Three thousand soldiers boarded horse-drawn carriages and marched to the battlefield in a mighty procession.

Looking at the army gradually moving away, Lan Yu murmured in a voice that only he could hear: "Can they really defeat the Northern Yuan Dynasty?"

……

(End of this chapter)