Zhang Ximeng visits Lao Zhu almost every day these days, mainly to provide Zhu Yuanzhang with some suggestions or to find him some documents from that year.
Human memory will always be biased or even self-modified, and usually, it will change in a direction that is beneficial to oneself.
This is why many times, reading memoirs or oral histories of the parties are unreliable.
If an 80- or 90-year-old man recalls what happened decades ago without referring to the records at that time to verify and compare with each other, there will probably be serious deviations, or even completely different things.
Although Lao Zhu is not confused yet, and the difference between the two is less than twenty years, he still urgently needs someone to testify.
The funny thing is that sometimes when Zhang Ximeng said something, Lao Zhu didn’t believe it, and the two of them would argue with each other. But fortunately, Zhang Ximeng has left too many manuscripts over the years, and even Lao Zhu’s first calligraphy practice was
Hold it in your hand.
This kind of quarrel usually ends with Zhang Ximeng presenting real evidence.
Lao Zhu has been depressed for more than a day or two, but today's Zhu Yuanzhang is different. He is very happy, even a little excited. Letting his son slap his father in the face is definitely a good show, especially if it happens to Zhang Ximeng, it is even more worth looking forward to.
Zhu Yuanzhang resisted the urge to show off his cards directly, but said calmly: "Mr. Zhang, we have been thinking about it for several years. We have been complaining about the huge financial gap and being unable to make ends meet every year... Tell me, did we not think about it at the beginning?
Do you understand, leaving trouble for future generations?"
Zhang Ximeng smiled slightly and said, "My Lord, you only know now?"
Lao Zhu was stunned for a while, what do you mean?
"Mr. Zhang, could it be that you already knew this?"
Zhang Ximeng said: "Not only did I know, I also instructed the province to launch a research project to clarify the relationship between population, land, and land tax. However, I don't know who won this project, and I don't know if there are any results... If
If your lord wants to know, you can ask."
Lao Zhu pondered slightly, so this research was assigned by Mr. Zhang, but he didn't know that the project fell to Fudan School, and his own son also got it...
Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but feel a little frustrated. It seemed that he couldn't make a big fool of himself.
Lao Zhu thought for a while and asked: "Sir, where do you think the problem lies?"
"Of course the population has grown."
Zhang Ximeng said in a deep voice: "According to my understanding, the population is expanding in various places now... Among them, in Huaixi and Huaidong, the average number of children per family is more than seven. There are not a few with more than ten. Shandong, Henan, Huguang and other places
Slightly better, but the number is still quite large. Basically, the sooner it is included in the territory, the more people will have children. Now only Hebei, Shaanxi, Gansu and other places still have large areas of open space. Like Henan, it was said that there was no one out of ten.
, it has almost returned to more than 60% of the original number... Just waiting for this group of young people to get married and have children, in another ten years, it is estimated that the number will exceed the number under Yuan Ting's rule. "
Zhang Ximeng knows these things very well and knows them very well.
It can be said that the ability of population recovery exceeded Zhang Ximeng's expectations.
This is certainly a good thing, as more people are more powerful, but more people means more resources are consumed, competition becomes fiercer, and management becomes more difficult.
This is also the reason why Zhang Ximeng decided to resign and write a book. He hoped to find a way out for the future. Otherwise, if this continues, the future of Ming Dynasty will not be very good.
Lao Zhu lowered his head and pondered. He no longer had much interest in watching the excitement. Instead, he became solemn and whispered: "Sir, what will happen if you look at Tian Fu?"
Zhang Ximeng thought for a while and then said: "I'm afraid the land tax will be reduced a lot. Even if we manage a new land subdivision, we can't use stepped tax rates. We can only adopt fixed tax rates. The situation in the north and the south is slightly different. What is the tax rate?
It’s a matter of final determination. My estimate is that the Ming Dynasty’s land tax will eventually stabilize between 25 million and 30 million guan. In other words, it will be less than 60% of the current level. This is a very big
The gap will soon fall on our heads."
Zhang Ximeng sighed: "When we adopted the graded tax rate, we first wanted to collect more money and food, and secondly, we suppressed large households and achieved the purpose of equalizing land through taxation. Now it seems that the increase in population no longer allows us to do this.
All in all, the next Ming Dynasty will need to make huge adjustments in finance and taxation. To put it bluntly, the national treasury must be replenished so that the Ministry of Revenue can continue to operate."
"Although Li Shanchang also knows how to manage money, his thinking is not good enough and he cannot solve the new problems that arise. He must change talents. Of course, what to do next and how to adjust it requires detailed investigation and up and down work.
, start a big discussion. From the imperial court to the local envoys, land taxes, and commercial taxes, all must be discussed comprehensively, and finally a plan will be come up. Finance and taxation are related to the rise and fall of a country. No matter which dynasty, from prosperity to decline, it is a failure.
We must be extremely cautious when it comes to finances."
…
Faced with Zhang Ximeng's judgment, Zhu Yuanzhang had completely stopped watching the excitement.
He is the master of this world. Facing such a big crisis, even a life and death disaster, it is impossible for Lao Zhu not to be serious.
"Sir, do you have any advice?"
"I don't have many ways, just two ways, internally and externally." Zhang Ximeng said: "Let's talk about external affairs first. This is another reason why I have always advocated the development of industry and commerce and attached great importance to foreign trade. Because land tax not only has an upper limit
, and will decline significantly as the population increases. There is no possibility of reversal. Therefore, efforts based on farming will only treat the symptoms but not the root cause, no matter how you do it."
"Furthermore, I think it is necessary to reform the distribution of finance and taxation. To return financial power to the court, especially the treasury, it must have absolute leadership. In a country as big as ours, if the treasury does not have absolute control, the people below will do their own thing and violate the rules.
The imperial court means. After all, if you can’t get the money, no one will work for the imperial court. This has been the case in all dynasties.”
Lao Zhu listened carefully and then said: "What you said is absolutely true, what are you going to do?"
"My idea is to fix land taxes as local taxes, while the imperial court focuses on commercial taxes."
Lao Zhu thought for a while and couldn't help but said: "Can you explain it more carefully?"
"My lord, although there is an upper limit on land tax, the total amount is not low after all, and it is relatively stable. When it comes to land annexation, the sky is high and the emperor is far away, and most of them are caused by local misbehavior. If land tax is regarded as local income, then the local government has the need to maintain the land.
, they must prevent mergers and ensure their normal supply every year. In this way, coupled with the supervision of the court, we can maintain the foundation of equal land. After all, the longer we maintain it, the more beneficial it is to the Ming Dynasty."
Lao Zhu nodded repeatedly, "Sir, your speech is indeed extraordinary. But we are still worried that if the land tax is handed over to the subordinates, what will happen to the food of the Ministry of Revenue? I'm afraid it won't be possible if the court has no food!"
"So we have to look at King Yan."
"Fourth child? What can he do?"
"Grain companies!" Zhang Ximeng said with a smile: "Right now, in Beiping, Liaodong and other places, a number of large grain companies have begun to prepare. They have large output and can allocate a lot of grain, which will be used as national treasury reserves, safe and secure, and sufficient supply...
…If my lord thinks it’s not enough, we can also choose suitable granaries from other places!”
Zhu Yuanzhang was startled, "The granary you mentioned is overseas, right?"
"Everything in the world is not the king's land, and the shores of the land are not the king's ministers!"
With just this sentence, Zhu Yuanzhang laughed heartily.
This is the true meaning of the ancients, and it is so well said.
Lao Zhu pondered for a few times and then said: "Sir, he has far-reaching plans and thoughtful thoughts. He is indeed unparalleled in the world and the best in ancient and modern times! Next, we have to redistribute acres of land, adjust finances and taxes, deploy troops abroad, and prepare for the construction of overseas granaries... There is no difference.
For easy things, everything requires comprehensive consideration, careful planning, careful argumentation, and pragmatic implementation... With so many things, we really cannot be trapped in complicated government affairs, we should jump out of them."
Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly laughed and said: "Mr. Zhang, this time we understand your intentions. When we conquered the world in the past, it was our monarchs and ministers who joined forces. Now we need our monarchs and ministers to work together to achieve a perfect match. Do you think this is the case?
mean?"
Zhang Ximeng rolled his eyes, can I refuse?
To be honest, I really doubt your ability.
Lao Zhu saw Zhang Ximeng's disgust, and he couldn't help but darken his face.
"Are you very smart yourself? Look, this is a letter from your precious son. I don't think he thinks you are very smart!"
Zhang Ximeng was stunned for a moment before taking it over.
Sure enough, it was a letter from his son Zhang Shuning. He opened it casually, glanced at it a few times, and frowned slightly: So this is what this guy was talking about about the social survey!
Even I kept it secret, this kid has hard wings, especially why are you telling Zhu Di these things?
No, when he comes back, he must learn some tricks to let this kid know how powerful he is!
Zhang Ximeng had a fierce look on his face and gritted his teeth.
Seeing him like this made Lao Zhu very happy. Look, elder brother, don't laugh at the second brother. Everyone is so angry that they fall down.
Zhang Ximeng browsed the content quickly, and when he reached the end, his eyes suddenly lit up.
Regarding the population and land survey, Zhang Ximeng was still within expectations, and there were no surprises. However, in the last part, Zhang Shuning mentioned a few words about his findings.
Due to population expansion, children account for a large proportion, which directly causes problems. The compulsory education law enacted a few years ago is almost impossible to implement.
According to Zhang Shuning's description, he found that in some remote villages and towns, the so-called schools were just literacy classes. Students of different grades had only one teacher, and this teacher may not come to class every day.
This situation is not much better than the previous private school.
Zhang Shuning did not continue writing, but told Zhu Di that his next investigation project was local education issues. Zhang Shuning was more concerned about this than population and land.
He hopes to do this well before he graduates at the age of fifteen, and then use it as the content of his graduation thesis.
Seeing this, Zhang Ximeng showed a happy smile on his face, "Not bad, I finally know how to do something serious. My lord, I'm treating you today. Instead of eating carrots, let's drink wine and eat something good. The sheep outside the mouth is plump and juicy."
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