Gao Pragmatic has long been labeled as a radical of practical reform, and the reform has one of the most basic questions, that is, what is the purpose or goal of the reform.
It is obviously wrong to say that highly pragmatic reforms are aimed at "going overseas". Going overseas is a means and a process, but it is by no means an end.
The goal of reform has only two words, which can form one word, namely: prosperity and strength.
Before the reform, the Ming Dynasty was actually prosperous and powerful to some extent: its wealth production capacity was second to none in the world, and its million-strong army was still second to none in the world.
But this kind of wealth is a kind of ostentatious wealth, with many manifestations of its wealth and external corruption. For example, the people do have money, but the wealth is concentrated in the powerful class, and the gap between the rich and the poor in different regions across the country is very huge - Suzhou,
Any part-time worker in Beijing and other cities can earn between 40 taels and 80 taels of silver a month, but the vast majority of farmers in Shaanxi, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan have probably never touched what a "silver tael" is in their hands.
As for the powerful army, it depends on how you want to compare it. In terms of scale, the Ming Dynasty is indeed invincible. Unfortunately, scale sometimes does not represent combat effectiveness.
Gao Jingshi made an estimate about twenty years ago, during the Longqing period, that at that time the Ming Dynasty had no more than 200,000 troops that were barely capable of conducting field operations, and among them, no more than half, or about 100,000, were truly elite—
Almost all are servants or servant-style troops.
Therefore, from this perspective, the so-called wealth and strength of the Ming Dynasty is ultimately based on the huge size of the country, and is by no means the wealth and strength recognized by Gao pragmatism. To a certain extent, the size is huge but the actual performance is very poor.
, which means that the country’s ability to transform basic national strength is too poor.
In other words, the imperial court had serious institutional problems, so Gao pragmatically chose to reform the system.
The restructuring was aimed at the present, and he also relied on the emperor and the court to be dissatisfied with the current situation to successfully promote those reforms. However, such restructuring only faces the present and does not face the future. In the final analysis, such restructuring is just thinking about the "end".
It does not involve "this".
What is this "origin"? In other words, what is the future? For the Ming Dynasty, which was called the "budding stage of capitalism" by later generations, of course it was industrialization.
What is industrialization? It does not mean that he sent people to open many mines and built iron plants, shipyards and the like that are considered advanced at present. It is considered industrialized. That is too superficial.
The essence of industrialization is to establish a large-scale market, and then establish and develop an industrial ecology on this basis. The word "ecology" needs to be especially emphasized here, which means that these industries need to be systems and have close internal connections. They are a
organism.
However, establishing a large-scale market in future generations will require expensive infrastructure construction, such as building railways and roads to reduce logistics costs. This is actually a huge "sunk cost" and the benefits are not high.
So these are not things that private capital is willing to do.
With the financial resources of the highly pragmatic Jinghua, he almost had to tighten his belt to build a Dingnan city. Wouldn't it cost him his life to expect him to build a highway of this era?
As for the railway, there are not even steam engines at the moment, and the steel production capacity cannot reach that level. It is simply that the basic industry is not up to standard, so there is no need to mention it now. Therefore, at this time, Jinghua’s external expansion and base construction are all based on seaports, that is
This reason - Gao Pragmatism cannot afford such a huge "sunk cost".
According to later economic theories, to establish and develop an industrial ecology, it is necessary to allow real industries to have profit margins for primitive accumulation of capital, and to gain the ability for further development through capital densification, which includes the accumulation of human, financial, and material resources.
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In later generations, the rapid establishment of an industrial ecology through the introduction of complete sets of technologies was also a huge expense. Of course, this generally cannot be considered a sunk cost, because the input-output is still very considerable. After the founding of the Red Dynasty, from the era of teachers to the beginning of reform
The four economic crises encountered are basically related to this.
The situation Gao Pragmatic faced was slightly different from that time, because when the Red Dynasty was established, not only was the economy poor, but there was no external expansion. Of course, the conditions were not met, so it was impossible to complete capital accumulation through the plundering model of European powers.
Fortunately, the situation faced by Gao Pragmatic is much better than that time. He can use the technical advantages of time travelers to complete capital accumulation in the country. He can use his status advantages combined with previous capital accumulation to win over a group of old interest groups, and then form
Together they began to expand externally.
However, for Europe, the purpose of expansion is only plunder, but for Europe, there is a higher need for pragmatism. What it needs is not colonial expansion, what it needs is "the establishment of a base area."
This means that he cannot just plunder, he must assimilate the local aborigines and use the "naturalized household registration system" to transform the aborigines into "Han Chinese" who can serve as the basis for rule. It also means that he needs to build up the local area, rather than just
The local area is built as a "single raw material production base".
Why are most of the countries that became independent after World War II unable to complete industrialization in the end? Because their economic foundation is a "single raw material production base", which is not comprehensive and cannot form its own industrial system. There is no such thing as an industrial chain.
All their production is actually arranged by the Emperor of the United States, and is part of the Emperor of the United States' own world empire system. As long as the Emperor of the United States is dissatisfied with their performance, or when it is time to cut the leeks, the Emperor of the United States can
It can easily get stuck in their throats, and they can only be slaughtered.
The reason why the Red Dynasty was able to get rid of this most tragic situation was that after the Korean War, known as the War of Founding the Republic, the Red Dynasty almost became an orphan in the world, but it persisted and did not collapse, and it was successfully completed.
In order to "de-attach", it formed its own complete and independent industrial system.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! As for the subsequent collapse of Mao Xiong, the Red Dynasty used great strategic wisdom to hide its capabilities and bide its time...
But that model obviously couldn't last long, so ten years later... everyone knew it.
The situation Gao Pragmatic faced was much better than that of the Red Dynasty at that time. At least he did not have to face a real overlord-level opponent, nor did he have to compromise because he could not challenge for the time being. Behind him, Ming Dynasty still owned the world
The most massive size, and he is able to utilize this size to a great extent.
However, due to concerns about the distinctive politics of the Ming Dynasty, it was difficult for him to fully integrate his power with the Ming Dynasty. He needed to have his own more independent power, so the concept of "Southern Xinjiang" emerged.
The emergence of the concept of Southern Xinjiang does not mean that Gao Pragmatic believes that Southern Xinjiang can be separated from the Ming Dynasty system. Not to mention that such a huge market as the Ming Dynasty is irreplaceable. Just look at the proportion of Han population in the countries in Southern Xinjiang.
I will never accept any "grant to the country" and serve as the Protector of Dingnan now.
Fortunately, the emperor did not really intend to do this now, so after the emperor and the cabinet reached a compromise, Gao Pragmatic breathed a sigh of relief. You know, Jinghua's rule in southern Xinjiang seems to be stable now, but there is more than just
Beijing's own military force is at work, and the Ming Dynasty's "millions of heavenly soldiers" itself are a powerful deterrent to the countries in southern Xinjiang.
The original Ming Dynasty did not interfere in the affairs of other countries in southern Xinjiang. If it really interfered, which country's people thought they could really resist it? Therefore, although Jinghua's current rule cannot be said to be a fake and a tiger's power, it is true that it uses power to bully others.
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However, the emperor's move also reminded Gao Pangshi. He felt that since he had already attracted the attention of the emperor and the queen mother, and was probably also concerned by officials from other factions in the court, it seemed that continued military expansion was not possible for the time being. Even if it was necessary,
To expand, we can only find other ways.
He discussed it with Huang Zhiting, Liu Xin and Gao Mo, and all three of them put forward some suggestions.
Huang Zhiting's suggestion is interesting. She thinks that local militias can be formed to suppress bandits. Most of the ruling systems of the countries in southern Xinjiang are based on Chinese dynasties, and they are also of the "imperial power does not extend to the county" style, so private tycoons and tribal bandits are quite common.
Therefore, Huang Zhiting suggested that it would be the best of both worlds to select selected soldiers and send them as the main force to suppress bandits to eliminate some local forces. This can not only strengthen Beijing's rule over various places and allow the ruling power to penetrate into the roots of various countries in southern Xinjiang, but also can be used in these small-scale wars
Cultivate advanced elements among them, let them obtain the status of "naturalized Han people", and strengthen the basic base of the ruling power.
Liu Xin may have long considered that Huang Zhiting would be more inclined to make proposals on the military side, so her proposals focused on the political and economic aspects. She had three suggestions:
First, they took advantage of the emperor's influence to release the news that the emperor "almost" appointed Gao Jingjing as the Protector of Dingnan, so that all the countries in southern Xinjiang would be mentally prepared. Then Jinghua quietly began to establish a unified administration in southern Xinjiang.
System - the name can be smaller, but the actual power needs to be laid out. In short, the framework of the "Dingnan Protectorate" must be set up in advance. When the emperor really canonizes the title in the future, Southern Xinjiang can directly become the Dingnan Capital.
Protect the mansion without wasting a moment.
Next is the construction task. Since it will become the "Dingnan Protectorate" sooner or later in the future, which means "southern Xinjiang integration", it can also be planned in advance.
For example, the chaotic road system between countries in southern Xinjiang can be unified planned and a suitable road transportation network built.
Both she and Gao Pangshi grew up under the red flag, and of course they knew that to get rich, build roads first. In addition, she was a general in this life. She had personally led troops to fight in southern Xinjiang, and she was very familiar with the situation in southern Xinjiang.
They were familiar with it, so they quickly planned out several "backbone road networks" on the map for the Gao Pragmatic couple's reference.
Gao pragmatic asked her what to do with the funds, and she even proposed a plan that was incredible at first glance, but amazing upon closer inspection. She said: "Why does Jinghua have to pay for the construction by itself? Doesn't building roads prove surrender?
Is it a form of declaration that you yearn for naturalization?
In my opinion, we can allow those large and small forces that have taken refuge with us to obtain things such as 'naturalization points' through road construction. As long as they pass the acceptance of our Jinghua infrastructure, points will be recorded for them. When a certain number of points are accumulated,
Then you can obtain the qualifications of naturalized Han people according to the standards."
Gao Pragmatic's eyes lit up, but he quickly thought of a question and asked: "But the number of naturalized Han people a family needs is always limited. For example, for a local noble, he may only need a few or dozens of members of his family to obtain it.
There is no need for the serfs under his command to be naturalized as Han people. This does not require too many 'naturalization points', so naturally he does not need to build too long roads."
Liu Xin said: "This is not the case. Under the naturalized household registration system, the tax collection rates of various countries in southern Xinjiang are not unlimited and can be reduced according to households. We can adjust it to many levels. For example, if the head of the household is a naturalized Han Chinese, the tax will be reduced by 150 (
5%), and if there are 100 serfs in his family, they can obtain the status of naturalized Han people - of course, naturalized Han people cannot be slaves, they must at least be promoted to tenant farmers - at this time, based on the proportion of these 100 naturalized Han tenant farmers,
If we give him a hundred percent (1%) reduction, how can this aristocratic head of household not be happy?"
This was such a good idea that Gao Pragmatic agreed immediately. However, Gao Pragmatic also proposed an addition, that is, the proportion of "naturalized Han tenants" required for this proportional reduction must be incremental, such as an additional reduction of 1% -
5% is based on 100 households per jump. When it reaches the 6%-10% level, it will be increased to 200 or even 300 households per jump.
At the same time, two restrictions were added: one is that the maximum reduction rate is 15% of land tax, and commercial tax is additional and is not included; the other is that the household registration of Han tenant farmers can be changed freely, which means that tenant farmers can leave on their own.
For the original head of the household, the head of the household will not enjoy the reductions and exemptions brought to him by this tenant in the year following the separation. As for the specific methods for voluntary separation, Nanjiang will formulate guidance.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Liu Xin’s third suggestion is to reconstruct the economic structure of southern Xinjiang, especially the "emerging industry" structure - that is, Gao pragmatism in the Ming Dynasty
According to Liu Xin, those built within the country are because sooner or later they will be self-contained, so they should be built in advance now and cannot always rely on the mainland of the Ming Dynasty.
Not only that, she also suggested that Gao pragmatically think about it and ask Jinghua Porcelain to send people to inspect various places in southern Xinjiang to see where there is high-quality kaolin suitable for making porcelain bases and establish southern Xinjiang's own porcelain industry. The same is true for textiles, take a look
Can we set up a "sub-center" in southern Xinjiang outside the Ming Dynasty?
However, Gao pragmatically only accepted the first half of this series of suggestions for the time being, and the second half was the porcelain and silk part. Gao pragmatically said that it still needs to be carefully considered, but he agreed with the part of establishing a cotton textile and linen textile base.
When Gao Mo made his suggestion, he said that his wife had mentioned before that Portugal might be forced to hand over the city of Malacca. Once this was really successful, Southern Xinjiang might be able to use the Ming Dynasty's original influence in Nanyang to enter Nanyang without the use of force.
Rather than fully occupying the archipelago immediately, we can at least secure a few bridgeheads first.
This idea is highly pragmatic and he appreciates it. He himself has thought about this method before, but due to the rapid expansion of Jinghua, he could not think of a suitable general to take charge of the Nanyang Islands strategy, so he did not take the initiative to propose it.
Gao Mo had a suggestion at this time. He believed that the early stages of the Taiwan strategy had been basically completed, and the rest were basically construction tasks. Therefore, the fourth master (Gao Wujian) could be transferred to the south and be responsible for the Nanyang strategy-Nanyang and Taiwan.
There are quite some similarities, and Fourth Master's relevant experience can just come into play.
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