The first assistant of the poor family

Chapter 417 Xie Shen's Reform Model

Merchants were not miserable in the Ming Dynasty, but it has been difficult to obtain top-level resources.

If Xie Shen can give them this resource, merchants may not fall into Xie Shen's arms.

This resource does not refer to being an official. The Ming Dynasty did not stipulate that merchants could not be officials afterward.Zhang Siwei, a scholar of the cabinet, is not the same as the chief assistant of the cabinet after Shanxi merchants?

The resource Xie Shen wants to give merchants is to set up factories and develop industries.

In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, there was a sprout of capital, but the reason why it was stifled was because of its own system problems.

Precisely because the imperial court did not prohibit merchants from taking the imperial examination later, once their children passed the imperial examination, they would suddenly become officials and gentry.

With fame and official position, you can lie down and make money, who wants to work hard day and night.This is the real reason why the budding of capital is stifled.

But if merchants are given the right to set up factories and start businesses, they will consider the pros and cons.

It is not impossible to rank first in the imperial examination, but it is indeed too low.

Instead of pinning our hopes on this, it is better to expand and improve our strength by setting up factories and doing business.

After all, this is different from ordinary business. It is a trump card in hand, and others have to be more cautious even if they want to bully.

At present, there are a lot of capital and technology input in the five-port trade of the Ming Dynasty, and there are many industries that can be run in the future.

Even if you don't consider the future, there are still many businesses that can be run right now.Such as weaving mills, paper mills, weaving and dyeing factories, wineries, and so on.

In fact, the difference between a factory and a workshop is not in scale, but in the ability to standardize and institutionalize management.

For example, weaving has existed in Jiangnan since ancient times, and there are countless workshops with dozens of looms. However, the reason why we can't develop into a weaving factory is because we can't carry out standardized management and there is no institutional thing.

Xie Shen is going to open an opening for these merchants, and those with foresight will see the prospect and join in.

Once these merchants have strength, they can be used as a sharp edge against scholar-bureaucrats, changing the situation where Daming values ​​morality rather than ability.

Xie Shen once thought about the possibility of reforming scholar-bureaucrats.In the end, he found that it was impossible for these scholar-bureaucrats to take the initiative to change without some external pressure.

Only by establishing a strong opponent can these scholar-bureaucrats be afraid and take the initiative to seek change.

Reform is definitely painful, but after all it is just labor pains.If there is no reform, Daming will surely follow the old path and eventually perish.

It is only the middle of Ming Dynasty now, Xie Shen can completely follow the ancestral system, be a good old man and enjoy peace for the rest of his life.

But he couldn't bear it, he couldn't just watch Daming ruined by the system.

If the system is flawed then change it, it's a coward to leave it alone!

Zhang Juzheng's whip method is very good, but it is not enough alone, because there is no external pressure against the officials and gentry, and the pressure from the top will soon rebound.

Once Zhang Juzheng died, wouldn't his Wanli New Deal be abolished immediately?
There will always be such problems in top-down reforms, and it will be much better if merchants are given benefits and used as the driving force for reforms.

It's not just top-down or bottom-up but both.

In other words, this is Xie Shen's attempt to reform Ming Dynasty.

At least you have to do your best to make it through this experience in vain.

It's not that he hadn't thought about supporting Xungui, but Xungui of the Ming Dynasty couldn't support the wall with mud since the Tumubao change.

Prior to this, the nobles could still stand against the civil servants.But after that, honor has completely become synonymous with eating and waiting to die. It is better to count on merchants than to expect them to fight against officials and gentry.

Of course, merchants also have their own shortcomings, that is, they are almost crazy about profit, which can be adjusted through taxation.

Xie Shen has always believed that the business tax of the Ming Dynasty was too low.Even in such a rich place in the south of the Yangtze River, the business tax is only thirty one, and there will never be a tax increase.This is too terrible. Originally, business was profiteering and taxes were not allowed to increase. The result was that the merchants became rich and the court was poor.

Xie Shen has a condition to support businessmen to start businesses, and that is to increase taxes.

Of course, in order to avoid the backlash from being too strong, the tax increase can be gradually planned. At the beginning, the tax will be increased to one out of ten taxes, and then a step-by-step tax will be formulated according to the response.

However, Xie Shen does not intend to change the agricultural tax except for replacing the tax in kind with silver taels.One is that compared with the commercial tax and agricultural tax, it is really not enough, and the other is that agriculture is the foundation of Ming Dynasty, and mistakes cannot be tolerated.The life of the peasants is already very miserable, and even if the tax is increased, it will not be able to increase the landlord's head, but the ordinary people will suffer.

Therefore, Xie Shen's reform model can be summed up in one sentence, that is, small reforms in agriculture, major reforms in commerce, and confrontation with officials and gentry.

This reform method seems to be very radical, but it is actually a chain of links, which will not make people feel too abrupt.

Of course, this is just Xie Shen's idea, and it is stored in the draft at most, and it needs the approval of the court council and His Majesty the Emperor if it is to be implemented.

Of course, before that, Xie Shen hopes to communicate with Li Dongyang and Xie Qian to see their opinions.

After listening to Xie Shen's long speech, Li Dongyang was silent for a moment and sighed: "Siming, your method will really hurt Daming."

Xie Shen said indifferently: "It's better to be injured than to be smashed to pieces. I'm afraid the boss also knows that some things are already sick to the marrow."

Xie Qian nodded and said, "Brother Xiya, I agree with Siming."

Li Dongyang sighed: "How about this, Siming, you should draw up a charter first, and briefly describe your ideas. After the old man reads it, he will decide how to proceed."

"it is good."

Of course, Xie Shen didn't expect to change Li Dongyang's opinion right away, freezing three feet doesn't happen overnight.Li Dongyang himself is an official, gentry and landlord, and of course it will take time for him to see through the problem.

The ancients were often no more stupid than modern people, and the reason why many problems cannot be understood is because of historical limitations.

And if Xie Shen breaks through this limitation and opens this window for Li Dongyang, he believes that Li Dongyang's political wisdom can be enlightened.

After chatting with the two elders, Xie Shen only felt a lot hungry, so he laughed and said, "Do you two elders want to eat in the cabinet?"

Xie Qian stroked his beard and said, "Your Majesty has given you a meal, so Siming should come and taste it too."

"Dare to obey!"

Although the food in the palace is not to Xie Shen's taste, but right now, he doesn't care about filling his stomach first.

Plates of hot dishes and cold dishes were served just like that, and the three cabinet scholars ate the meals given by the emperor in the duty room under the service of the clerk.

After sacrificing to the Temple of the Five Viscera, Xie Shen burped contentedly, and found an excuse to leave the cabinet early.

He is going to see my mother again.According to the prescription prescribed by Li Yanwen, my mother has already taken several doses, and I hope her condition will improve.

(End of this chapter)