Chapter 141 Although Zhou was an old state, his destiny was restored
"Is the portion taken by the Production and Construction Corps based on a fixed proportion or a fixed amount? What happens if there is a lean year?"
It has to be said that although Cheng Wen was born into a wealthy family, as the left minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, he was able to see the key to the problem at a glance. Although the "Household Responsibility Contracting System" that was specially implemented in the military villages of Beijing Camp seemed to be everything.
All are good, but there are two keys to its current good performance: first, this year’s weather seems to be good, with abundant rain, sufficient sunshine, and a rare normal climate; second, the part of the “land rent” taken away by the Production and Construction Corps
Since it is set with high pragmatism, it seems that it must be set with a low level of pragmatism.
But in this case, if there is a problem, it can only be caused by variables in these two points. For example, if a disaster occurs and it becomes a "bad year", it means that the harvest will be reduced. If you are lucky, it will be a small drop, if you are bad, it will be a big drop.
If you have bad luck, it is possible that you will get nothing.
This involves "land rent", that is, the part taken by the Production and Construction Corps. If this part is high and pragmatic, it will be a fixed amount, that is, I don't care how much food you produce, I will get a fixed amount. For example, I will get a fixed amount for one acre of land.
It doesn't matter if you harvest fifty catties, whether you produce three hundred catties or four hundred catties, it doesn't matter to me. I want these fifty catties anyway.
When the quota is not high, this system looks good and is very convenient to operate - the Corps only needs to measure the size of the land clearly, and it is very easy to calculate.
But Cheng Wen knew that things could easily go wrong. For example, in a famine year, this military household was unlucky and had no harvest. At this time, if his family contracted ten acres of land, they would have to pay 500 kilograms of grain output.
What did he give him? A head?
If you look at it this way, it would be more "humane" to charge proportionally. For example, a military household originally produced two thousand kilograms of grain every year, and he needed to hand over four hundred kilograms. However, this year he was unlucky and encountered a famine, and the reduction in production cost
If he pays one thousand catties, he only needs to hand over two hundred catties.
Although unlucky is still unlucky, it is at least better than the previous one. Because even if he encounters an extreme year, at least he does not have to pay when there is no harvest.
However, the news Gao pragmatic told him did not seem so kind, because Gao pragmatic said: "It is a fixed amount."
Cheng Wen immediately looked worried, and Hu Zhili became more direct, frowning and saying: "In this case, if there is a famine or military disaster, the farmland is destroyed and there is no harvest, then these military households will inevitably have to sell their sons and daughters again.
Even fled the world..."
"No." Gao Pragmatic shook his head and said: "This regulation has supporting measures. For example, this quota is not static, but will be adjusted according to the actual situation in different regions every year. The adjustment dates are in
Half a month before the collection is completed.
At the same time, there are also standards for the amount of this adjustment, that is, the 'fixed upper limit system' - in good years, the maximum shall not exceed 30% of the approximate yield per mu of the current year, in disaster years, and in famine years, the maximum shall not exceed 20% of the approximate yield per mu of the current year, and in major disaster years or
The lowest price in the region may even be waived.”
Then Gao Pragmatic explained to them how to classify disaster years in disaster years and famine years, as well as how the "rough yield per mu" he mentioned was obtained and other details.
These details are not decided by Gao Pragmatic sitting at home and patting his head. These are all the people of Jinghua - especially the data provided by his farmers in Sanshenyuan based on his many years of experience, and then compiled into Jinghua, and then
It was arrived at through Gao Qingjing’s own detailed calculations.
As a grassroots cadre in the townships in his previous life, Gao Pragmatic was almost in his element in doing this. The problems that might arise were all ones he had encountered in the past or at least heard about. He was more confident in doing this than in fighting.
The systems he has set are so detailed that the new Minister of Rongzheng does not have to interfere much, and the scope of adjustments they can make is not large - to be honest, Gao Pragmatic has considered the issue of resigning sooner or later, so that's why he is like this
Do it to prevent future monks from reciting the sutras incorrectly.
After hearing this, not to mention Cheng Wen was so impressed that even Hu Zhili was filled with emotion, saying: "In the past 40 years since I have been an official, I have never seen good officials who pray for the people. But even at that time, Haigangfeng,
I can't come up with such a kind and practical solution.
When I think about it, I think that although Hai Gangfeng is dedicated to the people, his methods are not strong after all, and his approach is nothing more than 'robbing the rich and giving to the poor', which may seem fair, but in fact it is not sustainable at all. Because there is a lot of wealth in the world, and the poor are poor.
If you take more, the rich will definitely take less. However, behind the rich, there will be relatives and friends serving as officials in the government..."
When Hu Zhili said this, he realized that he had gone too far, and immediately changed the subject: "But Situ is not like that. The key to Situ's governance is never to wait for useless actions such as taking more and taking less, but to first take this
The "wealth of the world" turns from one into two, from two into three, and it goes round and round, never ending.
In this way, since the world's wealth has doubled, the distribution of the amount is no longer so sensitive. It doesn't matter whether it's more or less. Situ, the official suddenly remembered your imperial examination policy in the eighth year of Wanli - "
The greatest trouble lies in poverty."
"Oh?" Gao Pragmatic didn't expect that he would suddenly mention his controversial policy paper back then.
Hu Zhili seemed to be so excited that he stood up and chanted loudly: "The biggest problem in the world today is poverty: poor officials will lead to arrogance, poor people will lead to thieves, poor military will lead to trouble, and poor countries will be weak.
In ancient times, when talking about poverty, the first thing to say is not being frugal. It is believed that being frugal will make you rich, and being rich will make you safe. I don't think so.
The so-called poverty means that for small people, their production is not enough for self-sufficiency, and their trade (trade) is not enough for their own use. Looking at the source of this, it is nothing more than insufficient production and poor transactions.
The so-called poverty means that for a country, its annual expenditure is less than its annual income, and its expenses far exceed its annual income. Officials have low salaries but want to live, so how can they not be greedy? Common people have low income but want to live, how can they not steal? Military pay is insufficient but want to live, how can they not be greedy?
Don’t make trouble? How can we not be weak when our country has a bad harvest and still wants to survive?
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! For this reason, if you want to prevent officials from being greedy, you must first increase their salaries; if you want to prevent ordinary people from stealing, you must first enrich their income; if you want to prevent soldiers from causing trouble, you must first increase their salaries.
; If you want your country not to be weak, you must first enrich its treasury.
Your Majesty may ask: These are all expenses. Since the state is not enough, why should we use them? If we levy the taxes, the officials may have enough salary, the soldiers may have enough pay, the country may have enough treasury, and the people will be in trouble?
I have heard that taxation in past dynasties was less than this dynasty. In the former Song Dynasty, when they crossed to the south and settled in a corner of the south of the Yangtze River, their annual income was tens of millions. In this dynasty, there are two capitals and thirteen provinces, and dozens of tributary countries. It is far away from the Han and Tang Dynasties, but the annual income is less than five.
One million ears. China has been rich since ancient times, so why is this dynasty so poor?"
Hu Zhili recited the first part of Gao Jingshi's article word for word, then sighed deeply, and suddenly bowed deeply to Gao Jingshi, saying: "When this article was published in the past, Zhili could not fully understand its meaning.
I once slandered him privately, thinking that this decision would be difficult to implement.
Now it seems that the strategy in Situ's mind is far beyond what Zhili can measure. In the past, all the things were just tricks and inscriptions in the Confucius Temple. It is really shameful to teach Zhili... Please forgive me, Situ."
Gao pragmatic stood up quickly and helped him up, saying: "Mr. Yazhai, please don't hurt the students. You are a senior scholar. It is a blessing for students to criticize late students' articles. Why is it wrong? Why do you do this?"
When Hu Zhili saw him, he immediately took two steps back, bowed his hands and returned the salute solemnly. His heart felt happier and he said with a smile: "When Situ was young, some people used to joke about him as 'Xiaoge Lao', although he didn't know if this was true at the time.
But now it seems that Situ has the bearing of a prime minister."
Gao Pragmatic naturally didn't dare to say anything, and the two sides exchanged a few polite words. After sitting down again, Hu Zhili got down to business again and asked: "Situ just said why the Production and Construction Corps has such benefits, but I don't know
Why are they willing to hand over such a large amount of money to the Ministry of Accounts? In addition... well, I would like to ask more, if this amount of money has arrived at the Ministry of Accounts, can the Ministry of Accounts make some use of it?"
This is the real drama. Why the Production and Construction Corps has so much money is not the key. The key is how they are willing to pay it and whether we can use the money.
Gao Pingshi smiled and said: "There is indeed some reason for this..." Then he told the nobles' concerns again, hiding almost nothing.
Cheng Wen couldn't help but frown after hearing this: "These people... are really good at calculating. In order to preserve the results of Beijing camp's restructuring, Situ has to protect them from wind and rain?"
Gao Jingshi hadn't spoken yet, but Cheng Wen continued: "In my opinion, I can help, but it's not a small job, and it's not reasonable to help for free." After saying this, he didn't look at Gao Jingshi, but instead looked at Gao Jingshi.
He looked at Hu Zhili.
Of course Hu Zhili knew what Cheng Wen meant, but he agreed, so he said: "Yes, the official also thinks so. Situ, the Ministry of Revenue is in a hurry to spend money now. Since the Production and Construction Corps has such a large sum, but
They won’t need it for a while, so it’s okay to use the household department for a while, right?”
Gao pragmatic smiled and simply replied: "Okay."
Um?
Cheng Wen and Hu Zhili were both in a daze. It was so simple and so easy to talk about?
It’s not surprising that they were surprised. In fact, in the eyes of outsiders nowadays, in the Beijing camp, regardless of whether it is the Imperial Guard or the Production and Construction Corps, they all have the word "Gao" on their foreheads, saying that they are direct descendants of Gao and pragmatism.
Not an exaggeration.
After all, who else but Gao pragmatism can fix the mess in Jingying? Have you not seen that Jingying has been restructured so many times, and every time it is too muddy to hold the wall up, always looking like it is death or death, that is, Gao pragmatism's restructuring this time
The effect is the fastest and almost immediate.
But what follows is that Gao Jingshi himself has a huge influence on it, which is almost irreplaceable - not only are all the personnel of the Imperial Guard selected by Gao Jingshi, but they also rely on the financial supply of the Production and Construction Corps, and the Production and Construction Corps
To be able to supply, we not only rely on various regulations set by Gao Pragmatic, but also rely heavily on cooperation with Jinghua.
After turning around, the rope is still in Gao Jingshi's hand. So, how could others not think that Jingying is actually Gao Jingshi's direct descendant? At least, unless the emperor has a purpose, his influence is unparalleled.
In this case, isn't it surprising that Gao Pragmatic was willing to let the Ministry of Accounts misappropriate the money?
His promise made Cheng Wen and Hu Zhili a little less confident. They looked at each other, and finally Cheng Wen, who proposed the topic, spoke first, saying: "Well... Situ, after all, this money is related to the stability of the capital.
The annual treasury money of the Ministry of Household Affairs is basically fixed. If the Production and Construction Corps uses this money to fill other holes, if it cannot be replenished on time, the Production and Construction Corps may..."
What are you afraid of? It’s just that the Production and Construction Corps can’t pay for the Imperial Guards, and then the Imperial Guards will raise their wages!
The 60,000 people of the Imperial Guard are not the Beijing camp, the 12th regiment camp, the 10th regiment camp, and the three major battalions in the past. The combat effectiveness of these 60,000 people has been beginning to take shape since the suppression of the Northwest Rebellion. I am afraid it will not
Compared with Xuanda and Jiliao, the border troops are weaker. If such a large army deployed in the capital is in trouble and does something to "shake the capital", who can afford the consequences?
I dare not say that there are too many. I'm afraid it won't be a big problem if Hubu loses a few heads.
But Cheng Wen and Hu Zhili knew what they were doing, and Gao Pragmatic's heads were very stable, because when that time came, the emperor would probably have to ask him to intervene in order to calm down the imperial guards. But their heads were quite unstable.
Yes - you two sang together and proposed to "move"!
Gao Pragmatic couldn't help but feel funny when he saw this, but his face was very serious. He shook his head and comforted: "Don't worry, firstly, all the money must not be misappropriated, and secondly, part of the misappropriation is only for emergency purposes temporarily. I will use it soon."
There will be another way to get a sum of money to fill this hole."
The two were greatly surprised. Everyone had a rough idea of how much money the Ministry of Revenue could put into the treasury every year, because it was all fixed long ago under the regulations of the country. There were only so many acres in the world, and the Qingzhang had already been completed.
, even if the whole world is blessed by God this year, and everything is going smoothly, there will not be much money left.
At this time, the Ming Dynasty basically did not have much national-level disaster relief capabilities, so they would not have paid more for this. On the other hand, when the weather was good, it would just be more money that had to be reduced or exempted as usual.
It breaks the sky at 300,000 taels every year - it can be seen that there are really not many growth points in the agricultural tax, unless Zhu Yuanzhang's ancestral system is changed, but that is impossible, because the farmers are poor not because the emperor collects more, but because the emperor collects more
The middle class of bureaucratic landlords received much more.
Gao Pragmatic saw their confusion and said: "Don't be surprised, you two, the money is indeed secured - the headquarters has decided to crack down on profiteers on a large scale this year and strictly investigate tax evasion."
When mentioning tax evasion, the first thing the two ministers thought of was land tax, and they almost tried to persuade them together. But they soon realized that Gao Pragmatic had never cared much about land tax. He just mentioned 'fighting profiteers',
So the phrase "strictly investigate tax evasion" is not aimed at landlords, but at wealthy businessmen!
The number one "rich businessman" in the world is Gao Pragmatic himself, but the amount of taxes he pays every year is terrifying. This blow will definitely not come to him, so...
Cheng Wen and Hu Zhili suddenly felt a sense of depression, as dark clouds were threatening to overwhelm the city.
As one of the important figures of the Practical School, Cheng Wen was a little better. It was just another fight with the Heart School, no big deal.
However, Hu Zhili had to worry about big changes in the court, and said quickly: "The matter of commercial taxation did not exist in the early days of the country. Although it is gradually promoted now, after all, the time is limited. If it is suddenly strict, the lower officials will worry..."
"Can't the system at the beginning of the country not be changed?" Gao Pragmatic said solemnly: "Although the Zhou Dynasty was an old state, its destiny was to renew it. If the country is not governed in the same way, the country will not follow the ancient rules. Since the old system is insufficient, it is time to change the new system as soon as possible. If everyone
If I don’t dare to say something, I don’t dare to do it, what do people in the world want me to do as an official like my parents?”
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