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Chapter 415 Context, Accepting Moves, Dealing Cards
Yang Reform was dizzy after hearing Sun Chengzong's revelations. He couldn't see clearly, couldn't understand, couldn't understand, and couldn't figure it out. , become able to understand and figure it out.

Yang Reform pondered for a long time, and finally digested Sun Chengzong's words.

"That is to say, in order to restrict me and prevent me from having too much power, the courtiers deliberately hindered me, prevented me from collecting taxes, and prevented me from adding salt lessons, etc., right? "Yang Reform put aside other things and concentrated on asking this question. This question is the core question of the entire Ming Dynasty. If this question is solved, then all kinds of Ming Dynasty, which is hidden in the dark mist, will gradually fade away." Once you untie it, a Ming Dynasty with a clear context will appear in front of your eyes. Whether you do things yourself or plan your layout, you can follow this context. As the saying goes, it is to follow the prescription.

"Yes and no, it's not aimed at His Majesty, it should be said that the courtiers aimed at the emperor, the unwritten rules spontaneously formed after Taizu and Chengzu... don't allow the emperor to have too much or too strong power, and can even be sacrificed when necessary Some things... If they cannot be suppressed from the front, they will be suppressed from many sides. Anyway, for this purpose, the courtiers will spontaneously give some support..." After Sun Chengzong said these things, his face was relaxed, Not as sad and melancholy as before.

"So, from the burning of Zheng He's nautical charts to prevent navigation; to the later turning of banknotes into silver; to the later literati leading the army; and to the fact that salt lessons are becoming less and less. All of these have something to do with this. ?” Yang Reform asked.

"...It can be said that it is...In short, as long as it weakens the imperial power, the courtiers will always support it spontaneously, it's just a question of how much..." Sun Chengzong said, and he had nothing to say, this kind of absolute taboo , It is definitely something that cannot be said, and it is also mentioned.

Yang Reform finally figured out why there were so many "self-mutilation" and "self-castration" actions in the Ming Dynasty. Among other things, just burning Zheng He's voyage materials is incomprehensible. If it is a normal person's thinking, It will not be burned, even if there is no money for sailing, is it necessary to burn sailing materials?Preserving texts and documents is a fine tradition in China. Before Yang Reform, he didn’t understand it. Now, according to Sun Chengzong’s words, he understands it. It was also burned, and the emperor's thoughts were forever eliminated. Everything was to suppress the imperial power. If you understand this, the rest will be easy to understand.

There is also the matter of changing banknotes into silver. The original Ming Dynasty was already ahead of the world, but it was pulled back by the civil servants, and it took the road of hard currency with the West again. Going on the road, history may be much different.According to the current statement, the level of civilization at that time was not enough, the economy was not developed enough, and the management was poor, so paper money could not be used at that time.In fact, this understanding is wrong. The banknotes issued by the Ming Dynasty and the US dollar issued by the United States in the 21st century have one thing in common, that is, there is an absolute endorsement of force. This is enough. Any economic underdevelopment is far-fetched. , With the absolute endorsement of force, do you dare to say no?No matter how bad the banknotes are, no matter how poor their anti-counterfeiting is, they are still the same as the United States in the 21st century. Even if they are full of debts, as long as they are endorsed by force, you have to buy them anyway.

Yang Reform has always believed that the economy of the Ming Dynasty could not afford to play with paper money. As the textbook said, paper money fooled the common people, and the people were unwilling to use paper money. In fact, if this matter is combined with what Sun Chengzong said, this Things are easy to understand.

The quality of banknotes is not high, can't we use better paper?There is no good paper in the Ming Dynasty?The handwriting is blurred. Could it be that the Ming Dynasty could not print clear words?Is it intentional or do you not have the conditions and ability to make good banknotes and manage banknotes well?The difference between the Ming Dynasty and the United States is that the United States has a relatively good banknote management system. In the Ming Dynasty, except for the emperor, no one wanted to do this well, especially the bureaucrats who actually implemented it. The damage may be greater. According to the saying, dig a hole and bury yourself, so the banknotes must be rotten. Although it is inconvenient to pay with silver, it is not so easy for the emperor to mobilize more resources.

Banknotes are endorsed by the reputation of a country. In the final analysis, it is still relying on the country's force. In the Ming Dynasty, the country's force was restricted by the emperor. That is to say, how strong the force is, how strong the banknotes can be No matter how strong the banknotes are, the emperor can spend as much money as he wants at any time. He has as much energy and power as he has. This is definitely not good for the civil servants. What happened to Taizu back then, so paper money, an advanced payment method that conforms to the historical trend, was obscenely obscene by civil officials, forcing the emperor to abandon the use of paper money and use silver, a backward payment method.

After thinking about a lot of things, Yang Reform was thoughtful.

"I understand a lot after listening to Master Sun's words!" Yang Reform said with a smile, "I have gained a lot today, haha, but according to Master Sun's words, these maritime merchants and the bureaucrats representing them should limit my That's right! Why would you seek my support? Don't you know that once I have mastered the power of the sea, their life will not be so easy, and I will collect taxes. This point, I can't figure it out .” Yang Reform had figured out a lot of things, but on this point, he became confused again.

Sun Chengzong became more cheerful, not as melancholy as before, and said: "Does your majesty think that they don't pay taxes now? Does your majesty think that their life is easy now? In the past few years, they have fought against the barbarians. There have been many battles, and the pirates have been suppressed endlessly. This is enough to explain the problem... It stands to reason that they should participate in suppressing His Majesty, but the old minister also said that it will be mixed in the future. The more self-interest, it stands to reason that the suppression of imperial power is the suppression of imperial power, and one should not joke about the fate of the country. The salary that should be paid by the border customs should be paid. Under the guise of restricting imperial power, many people put salt tax, customs duties, other taxes, etc. into their own pockets. For self-interest, this rule is getting weaker and weaker. Therefore, they talked to His Majesty in the morning Speaking of this, it is not surprising..." Sun Chengzong became more relaxed as he spoke.

"..., can you elaborate a little more? I don't seem to understand it very well." Yang Reform's mind was filled with too many things at once, and he couldn't understand so many things at once.

"...Your Majesty, originally, in order to limit the imperial power, the courtiers would not let His Majesty know too much about maritime affairs, let alone mention shipbuilding to His Majesty. Even the water transportation has to go inland. What about sea ships?... As I said, what is more important now is profit, and money. Nowadays, those sea merchants who walk on the sea have to pay taxes to the barbarians, otherwise they will be robbed by barbarians. Or they are robbed by pirates, so their life is not easy. They need a safe sea, so they must find a reliable backer. His Majesty recruited into Beijing, His Majesty appeases this pirate with such a high standard, and even asked Zheng Zhilong to write down all kinds of things about the barbarians. All these made the sea merchants feel that His Majesty cannot be fooled by matters at sea. If they can’t be deceived, it’s better to take the initiative to seek refuge with His Majesty in order to obtain His Majesty’s protection. It’s better to give money to the barbarians than to give it to His Majesty. At least His Majesty’s reputation is more reliable... Only after the sea is peaceful can they earn more Only the money can be used in life..." Sun Chengzong spoke more and more quickly.

"...In addition, His Majesty's previous large-scale warship building and the recruitment of global warriors, all these things made those maritime merchants feel that they could not deceive His Majesty. Since they could not deceive His Majesty, then they turned around and took refuge in His Majesty...with His Majesty's experience at sea. In terms of strength, it is easy to wipe out pirates and barbarians, and His Majesty's reputation is much more reliable than barbarians and pirates, so those sea merchants are desperate, so they have to turn to test His Majesty..."

After listening to Sun Chengzong's words, Yang Reform realized the strangeness in it. There were many twists and turns in it, and he thought about how he built the warship in the first place?In what name did the courtiers agree?Think about it, it seems that the Japanese are still used as an excuse to describe the Japanese as vicious, gold and silver are everywhere, and they only want to attack Ming Dynasty. Based on the impression of the Japanese people in the Ming Dynasty, one is the Japanese pirates that have lasted for decades. The second is the war to aid Korea, which is fierce except for its brutality.With the threat of hundreds of thousands of vicious Japanese pirates, the ministers reluctantly agreed to build a large warship. Now it seems that it is really an excuse, otherwise, it is absolutely impossible to pass.

"Hehe... After listening to Master Sun's words, I seem to understand a little bit, that is to say, in the Wenhua Palace today, that guy represents a group of maritime merchants in the south of the Yangtze River, and wants to stand by my side?"

"Return to Your Majesty, yes." Sun Chengzong agreed.

"So, isn't the united front of the courtiers that restricted the imperial power collapsed? There is a gap?" Yang Reform figured out the ins and outs of this matter, and said with a smile.

"United front?... This... yes, Your Majesty, there is a gap, and there are more than one. Originally, this restriction on imperial power was a spontaneous rule, which was acquiesced by the courtiers, and it will not be broken easily. More and more people are mixing their self-interest into it. For example, some people took the salt class that was supposed to provide the frontier army's salary into their own pockets, so that the frontier army was declining day by day, and Liaodong brought about great changes. Joking about the fate of the country, some people have long been dissatisfied with these people, but because of this relationship, they can't say it clearly... I won't say anything else, the rules that limit imperial power have long been broken, so some people don't abide by this The rules are also expected, what's more, His Majesty's understanding of the sea far exceeds these people's expectations, building warships, hiring barbarian fleets, recruiting powerful pirates, understanding the situation of barbarians, and so on, so, for the benefit, Some people are naturally unwilling to abide by this already dilapidated rule, so there is also the matter of asking His Majesty for money... It depends on what Your Majesty thinks and how to do it..." Sun Chengzong explained the ins and outs of this again Analyze it carefully.

Yang Reform finally understood, no wonder, these sea merchants had nowhere to go, so they "greeted" to him in the early court, using such a covert method, yes!For profit, everything is for profit!For the sake of profit, the interests of the country can be abandoned, and the salaries of the border troops can be emptied. For the sake of profit, the united front of this offensive and defensive alliance will naturally no longer be observed.

"Hehehe, interesting, that is to say, the courtiers and the forces behind them are not monolithic?" Yang Reform quickly caught something.

"Returning to Your Majesty, that's exactly the case. The courtiers have never been monolithic. For their own interests, they fight with each other and tear down the stage. This is commonplace. Even a certain party or faction has constant struggles within a certain party. It's just to limit the imperial power. It's all about becoming one again..." Sun Chengzong said.

"Interesting, that is to say, if I can recruit a faction and fight another faction, what I want to do will be much easier?" After clarifying the inside story of the Ming Dynasty, Yang Reform realized that there are quite a lot of things he can use , not as tragic and pessimistic as I thought before.

"...Your Majesty, in fact, there are already a group of people around His Majesty, not to mention those nobles, many people in the court still support His Majesty, among other things, Shi Shoufu, veterans, Xu Zixian, etc. They will definitely support His Majesty; there are also people like Lin Qian who are not very powerful but have a good reputation, they are also optimistic about His Majesty; for another example, in fact, there are still many people who bought His Majesty's stock, at least not too much. Against His Majesty... Now, with the addition of this group of Jiangnan merchants, there will be even more people on His Majesty's side..." Sun Chengzong analyzed.

"..." Yang Reform didn't expect that he still has so many people supporting him. Calculated in this way, his odds of winning are, in fact, quite high.

"Among them, you are the more reliable ones; Xungui's side is fine, and they have money to make, so they naturally follow me; Lin Zhi's group of people are considered middle-of-the-road, and I can use education investment such as the library to tie them down. If they live with them, at least they won’t object to me; as for those who bought stocks, it’s hard to say, maybe they follow me to make money and scold me at the same time, hehe, but I’m afraid that when the time comes, I will announce that Liulizhai will take over a certain place in the south of the Yangtze River. I’m afraid that they will hate me for not buying enough stocks and scold me, forget it..., let’s stop the sea merchants who greeted me first and then talk..." Yang Reform said with a smile, clearing things up. Looking at the context of the court, Yang Reform is extremely refreshing, and he feels quite comfortable.

"Your Majesty, if this group of Jiangnan maritime merchants and the people behind them join in, then Jiangnan will undoubtedly open up a hole, and it will be much more convenient in the future when doing things." It will undoubtedly be more convenient to do a bloody storm if people from inside Jiangnan are watching.

"Then, now is how to win over this group of people." Yang Reform said.

"It's all up to His Majesty to decide..." Sun Chengzong said.

Yang Reform began to use his brain to think about how to win over the group of sea merchants who asked him for money with a reasonable excuse. Since others "greeted" and "played cards" to him, he must accept the trick and draw cards. .

"Master Sun, let's see if this works." Yang Reform thought for a long time, and finally felt that there was a good way to accept the tricks handed over by this group of people.

"Your Majesty, here is my minister."

"This is what I think. Since those guys want me to pay for their shipbuilding, or part of the money to build a ship, why not do this? Simply, I will give him an invoice. If there is an invoice, I will give him [-]% , or even [-]% of the money to build a ship..." Yang Reform thought about it and came up with this method.

Sun Chengzong was obviously taken aback, and said: "Your Majesty, what is an invoice?"

"Hey, what about invoices? Let's not talk about this. In fact, it's okay to ask me to pay for them to build ships. I actually welcome this kind of thing. After all, the more ships, the more workers are needed, and the number of immigrants that can be accommodated is also large." The more it is, the more it will be beneficial to alleviate the impact of natural disasters, and I am willing to do whatever is beneficial; moreover, the greater the maritime trade, the more I will charge tariffs in the future, and the more I will collect, right? I intend to follow the The size of the ship will be subsidized to them respectively. Small boats start at [-]%, and the bigger the ship, the more I will subsidize. Even if it is [-]%, I am willing..." Yang Reform fell into deep thought, while he was thinking deeply, while explaining himself plan.

Sun Chengzong was already confused. The emperor really had too much money to spend. For immigration, he shouldn’t spend such money. The shipbuilding in the south of the Yangtze River is beyond the imagination of the north. The size of the ship is scary. If the emperor is really willing Give them 10% of the silver to build a ship for them. I am afraid that they will dare to build a treasure ship. According to the emperor's way of spending money, those people in the south will not use their brains to build new ships?I'm afraid it won't be enough for a few [-] taels of silver every year.

"Your Majesty, is this too high?" Sun Chengzong felt that the way the emperor spent money was different, and the emperor's thinking was also different.

"Uh...not high, not high." Yang Reform said with a smile.

"However, Your Majesty, in this way, His Majesty will give you [-]% for every ship built. What if the ship gets bigger and bigger?... Besides, how does Your Majesty know if it is a newly built ship? Isn't it a bit of a promise to make such a promise?" ..." Sun Chengzong couldn't directly mention it to the emperor. You are too loud. According to the corruption capabilities of the officials, you don't have a million taels of silver every year. I'm afraid you won't be able to handle this matter.

"Hehe, it's okay. I'm free to do whatever I want. The bigger the ship, the more I like it. I will never break my promise. As for the money to lie to me, didn't I just say it? I want to make an invoice. Every time a ship is built, the shipyard will pay for it." Issue an invoice based on the shipbuilding cost, and then take the invoice and go to the tax supervisor I set up in the south of the Yangtze River to exchange [-]% of the silver..." Yang Reform said with a smile, invoices are undoubtedly a good way to deal with tax evasion, death If you fight hard, you can't even shake it off.

"This..." Sun Chengzong listened freshly: "But, Your Majesty, who will issue this invoice?"

"Hehehe, this invoice, of course, has been paid by my tax supervisor, and only the registered shipyards will have it. Hehehe, now, only the Nanjing shipyard family has registered and paid taxes in my tax supervisor. Naturally Only this family can issue an invoice, and with Zheng Huaizhong's ability, nothing bad will happen..." Yang Reform explained with a smile.

"Great plan! Great plan..., Your Majesty, in this way, you can block the mouths of those sea merchants and let them see His Majesty's methods. Naturally, you will be convinced. In this way, you can build a ship; Be deceived by the people below; and let those sea merchants get the money; the most amazing thing is, Your Majesty, you can do this business in your own home again..." Sun Chengzong looked at the emperor in surprise, why did the emperor think of such a thing? What about a whimsical way?

"More than that, subsidies are given only when there are invoices. Those shipyards who want to build ships must want to get invoices. Of course, they have to go to the tax bureau to register and pay taxes. Hehe, anyway, this is a good start, and it will be paid later. The tax has become a custom, and there will be no big obstacles if I go to collect business taxes..." Yang Reform said with a smile, this invoice is a real thing, and it will also be a thing with Chinese characteristics in the future world, very suitable for China China’s national conditions are even more of a threshold. Those who do not register and pay taxes are of course happy, but they are doomed to be weak if they cannot issue invoices. If they are not big, they must be bigger and stronger.In the same way, in the Ming Dynasty, if you want to get your own [-]% subsidy, it is impossible not to register and pay taxes. When registration becomes a scale and tax payment becomes a habit, tax collection will come naturally. No one forces you to pay taxes. If you cannot issue an invoice, you will naturally not be able to enjoy a lot of treatment, and naturally you will not be able to do some business.

"Your Majesty is wise, Your Majesty is wise..." Sun Chengzong looked at the emperor with astonishment. No wonder the emperor insisted on carrying out this kind of tax supervision in the past. He also said that he would pay taxes voluntarily and never force him. What he planned, the depth of this strategy, is really a genius.

"Hehe, it's nothing. Those sea merchants and the forces behind them want to join me. At that time, I can't just write them off with empty words. Hehe, paying taxes is a good excuse." Yang Reform laughed.

(End of this chapter)