Gao Pragmatic has always believed that the so-called "Zhang Juzheng Reform" is not only too narrowly worded, but only mentions one person when it should be included in the "Jialong Ten Thousand Reforms", and the most critical problem is that it treats the symptoms but not the root cause, which does not go into depth at all and is nothing more than a headache.
Treat head and foot pain. Treat feet.
On the whole, it is clear that from the beginning to the end, we want to keep the country's finances alive, but we don't dare to squeeze out the pustules and apply medicine. In the end, we can only give up halfway.
The root cause of the failure of this operation on the Ming Dynasty, which was already covered with tumors, was not the death of the attending physician Zhang Juzheng, but the decision by the attending physician to only perform conservative treatment from the beginning, without surgical removal of the tumor, or radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
, but give some anti-inflammatory drugs and painkillers and forget about it. Whether you can hold on or not depends entirely on your physique, your will, and God.
As long as there are other ways to think of, fighting luck is never a pragmatic option, so he chose to kill Zhang Juzheng in advance and personally carry out systemic treatment, that is, "deepening reforms."
From the military-industrial system to the post system, from the one-whip law to the mandatory payment of business taxes, from the opening of trade to the gathering of financial power... Gao Pragmatism walked firmly step by step. Although the results were outstanding, it became increasingly difficult.
The grain chief system before him now is an obstacle that will inevitably arise after the reform deepens. In fact, although the grain chief system had many problems when Zhu Yuanzhang first introduced it, it has evolved from something that everyone is flocking to to what it is today.
The inability to avoid it also indicated that the internal problems of the Ming Dynasty were becoming more and more serious, and they were almost terminally ill.
First of all, the continuous annexation of land has led to the polarization between the rich and the poor, and the powerful have ways to avoid taxes, making it increasingly difficult to collect public grains. The Ming Dynasty raised a lot of princes, and as time went by, big Zhu gave birth to little Zhu, and Zhu became more and more
The more. How much land the princes have has been given many examples in the previous article, so I won’t repeat it here.
At the same time, bureaucrats and noble groups are also constantly seizing land by virtue of their power. Xu Jie's story in his hometown of Songjiang needs no introduction again. These powerful people enjoy various political privileges and can reduce or exempt taxes, or even do not have to pay taxes.
Or some eunuchs, because of their overwhelming power, the local officials did not dare to collect taxes from their families, but under Gao Gong's examination method, they had to ensure that the taxes were sufficient, so the officials passed the losses on to the ordinary people in the area.
.
Some of these things have been discovered, and most of them have been punished, but Gao pragmatically knows that what has been discovered is just the tip of the iceberg, and there are countless more that have not been discovered! The root cause of solving these problems lies in the preferential treatment of the gentry, or in other words
It is the "privilege of fame and fame" - and this, for Gao Pragmatic, the Sixth No. 1 Scholar, is actually one of the most inconvenient places to go under the knife.
In short, as time goes by, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. However, most of the rich do not have to pay taxes or only need to pay very small taxes, while the poor cannot afford to pay taxes.
In this way, tax revenue began to decline, but expenditures gradually increased. Especially since the middle and late Jiajing period, under the rule of the Southern Japanese and Northern captives, the imperial court's expenditures were increasing. Under such a situation, the task indicators of the grain chief were increased, but it became increasingly difficult to meet them.
After that, many people had to use their own property to cope with the situation. So as Zhu Guozhen said, "If a family has a thousand gold worth of property, they will become a beggar in one year (the grain chief); if there are more than ten strong men in the family, they will become a beggar in one year."
That’s it.”
Being a grain manager would make you bankrupt, so of course no one would want to do it.
In addition, the prerogatives of the grain chief are also gradually shrinking. When the grain chief system was first implemented, the grain collection from eight villages in ten miles and eight villages was coordinated. Although there were many disadvantages, at least the power was very powerful. Later, the imperial court split the duties and powers of the grain chief, and there was a "prompt order"
The "grain chief", "grain exchange chief" and "long-term grain transport chief" were originally taken over by one person, but became divided into several or even dozens of people. They restrict and supervise each other, and it is relatively difficult to reach out and mess up.
Come.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the system of grain chiefs regularly visiting the capital to report on their duties and meet with the emperor was gradually abolished, and the chance for grain chiefs to see the emperor being praised and awarded officials disappeared.
At this time, people found that being a grain chief not only meant losing money, but also had little power. Naturally, the local tyrants and evil gentry in the village were no longer willing to engage in this loss-making business, so they pushed the grain chief's job back and forth to each other, eventually forming some unspoken rules.
.For example, the position of grain chief is rotated among several large households, so the grain chief has changed from the original "permanent charge" to "rotating charge".
But even so, the big families were still unhappy, so it later became a "pengchong" that the whole village had to share. Even the small families had to be the grain chiefs under the "pengchong" - since
If everyone is unlucky, it seems fair.
It is a pity that this so-called fairness itself is unfair. For example, Huang Shiren asked Yang Bailao to collect taxes. Yang Bailao obviously did not dare not to pay, and he had no choice but to give Xi'er away if he could not afford it. But if you in turn asked Yang Bailao to ask Huang Shiren to collect taxes, he Yang Bailao would
Can it be harvested?
As a result, the grain chiefs who could not receive taxes or gold and silver had no choice but to "resign" and run away with their buckets.
In fact, due to the practical learning reform, the situation of contemporary grain managers is somewhat better than that in the late Jiajing years. However, just as the previous criticism of Zhang Juzheng's reform was superficial, the practical learning reform, as a top-down reform, has so far failed
It has not yet penetrated into the local system, especially at the grassroots level of society. Therefore, in the Ming Dynasty when "imperial power did not extend to counties", the problem of grain production was still one of the representative phenomena of serious problems in the vast rural areas.
Since the problem exists, it is certainly impossible for Gao Jingshi, the Minister of Household Affairs who is regarded as a radical reformer, to ignore it. However, the incident broke out so suddenly that it is difficult for Gao Jingshi not to suspect that there is fraud.
Where does the fraud come from? This requires reverse inference, which is also an idea that Gao pragmatism has always been good at. For example, the grain chief system originally caused many grain chiefs to run away with buckets. A big problem was the transportation costs of grain chiefs to transport grain to the capital.
The grain grower needs to come up with it himself.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! After Chengzu moved the capital to Beijing in the Ming Dynasty, the southern grain chiefs originally only needed to transport it to Nanjing, but then they actually had to transport it to Beijing. This is really a loss to my grandma's family.
But since the One Whip Law was widely implemented, the land tax and grain can be converted into gold and silver and turned over. The grain chiefs, except for the part retained by the local yamen, can directly take the money to Beijing with the remaining part that needs to be turned over to the central government.
It can be "consigned" to Jinghua, which is a hundred times more convenient than escorting a large amount of ready grain.
But this matter is not completely resolved, because even in the south, not all provinces have changed to a whipping method. In the southwest, there is only one Chengdu Prefecture that collects cash, and all other regions still collect grain.
In addition, Jinghua's "consignment" was not as widespread as the express delivery industry in later generations of the Red Dynasty. It was not available in many areas, or even if it was available, the coverage was not large.
For example, in most areas in the south of the Yangtze River, Jinghua may have a shipping agency similar to Cainiao Station in one county. However, in many areas in the southwest, not even one prefecture may have one, but there are often two, three or even three or four prefectures.
Share a shipping agency.
This is where private capital is inferior to state-owned capital, even if it is highly pragmatic. The same situation is like the difference in network coverage between the later Red Dynasty and the Midi Empire. Although the Midi Empire is a so-called developed country and the largest brother in the world,
In rural areas with small populations, network coverage is much lower than that of Hongchao.
Some people get excited when they say that the average Internet speed of some developed countries is higher than that of the Red Dynasty, but they keep silent about the reason why their Internet speeds are so fast because these private network providers only cover "key areas", while even the Red Dynasty
Even if there are only a few households in a certain village, they must ensure that they have continuous access to the Internet. (The same goes for electricity and other systems.)
So can this be compared? Who cares more about the interests of the people?
However, now that Jinghua is also privately owned, it is impossible to ignore losses and roll out grain tax and gold, flower and silver shipments across the country. If, if the grain chief system is really completely abolished, the future tax, grain and gold, flower and silver transportation will appear.
For this problem, he, the Minister of Household Affairs, must be to blame.
If in order to avoid such chaos, Gao Pragmatic would have no choice but to roll out Jinghua's shipping business in an orderly manner at all costs, which would inevitably put great financial pressure on Jinghua itself.
You must know that Jinghua's consignment business today mainly "walks on two legs": one is in the south, mainly relying on river water transportation, and eventually turning to sea transportation north to Tianjin Port; the other is in the north, mainly relying on Jinghua's growing horse team, responsible for
The region is mainly located along the Nine Borders and adjacent inland provinces, while the Yellow River Basin can also be supplemented by water transportation, but it is not the main force.
Under such a plan, it was difficult for Jinghua to carry out business in the southwestern mountainous areas and even the southwestern part of Huguang, which later became the western part of Hunan. There are many local water systems, but the hydrological conditions of many rivers in the local water system are very complex, especially
As an upstream area, the rivers in some areas are wide but shallow, and in some areas the water is deep enough but the river channels are narrow and the flow speed is fast. In short, it is not very convenient to establish a unified system.
The model that Jinghua likes is that a ship does not need to be transferred in the middle from loading to unloading. For example, it departs from Wuchang and sails directly to Suzhou for unloading (the regional division of Suzhou Prefecture at this time is different from modern times. Changshu County and Jiading County near the Yangtze River Estuary are both
Belonging to Suzhou Prefecture), this can save time, effort and cost.
If it is inland in the southwest, it is possible that even the same river must be divided into sections. Some places in the middle need to be changed to land routes or even water routes for a while, and land routes for a while. The cost will rise all of a sudden, and it will also be very inconvenient in terms of management.
The above are just various cost troubles. In addition, Gao Pragmatic also believes that there are other possible conspiracies.
For example, the national land tax, whether it is in kind grain taxes or gold, flowers and silver, is uniformly shipped by Jinghua. Just saying this makes people sleepless and sleepless. What if Jinghua suddenly takes the money and runs away, what will the Ming Dynasty do next year? Officials all over the country
Do the soldiers and the army have to be hungry? The officials may not be so hungry that they rebel, but if the soldiers are all hungry...who can bear this responsibility?
Once Jinghua really masters such huge power, according to the attitude of "not hesitating to speculate with the greatest malice", Jinghua can use this to force the imperial court to make various concessions to it.
Maybe Gao Pragmatic would not think this way at all, but if others want to speculate this way, Gao Pragmatic cannot prove his innocence. After all, I am not saying that you will definitely do this, I am saying that you have the ability to do so - just in case.
Woolen cloth?
When Gao Budang thought about this, he was really startled and broke out in a cold sweat. If this move was really deliberately designed by someone, then this plan is really too vicious!
If Gao Pragmatic is not a time traveler but is really a bureaucrat of this era, I am afraid it will be difficult to refuse the power that once successful can force the court to compromise. The temptation is too great.
There is a saying that "the emperor has no shortage of hungry soldiers." If whether the Ministry of Revenue's money and food can be received depends on Jinghua's face, it is conceivable that Jinghua will have many ways to influence the government. Considering Gao Pragmatic's own political status, even "
Replacing "influence" with "control" is not necessarily an exaggeration.
Can the emperor allow this situation to occur? Obviously not! As long as the emperor is not confused, it is impossible to tolerate such a situation, even if that person is highly pragmatic.
However, the current trend has set off, and Gao Pragmatic, as a banner of the "radical reformists", cannot allow him to retreat in terms of political influence.
Fame can bring huge influence to a leader. With this as a backing, he can unite people's hearts and accomplish great things that others cannot do. However, on the other hand, fame can sometimes force people to do things that go against their true intentions.
Making the right decision at the wrong time.
Gao Panggang still didn't know who the designer of this conspiracy was, but he knew that this person had made a good move.
What is so ruthless about this plan? The ruthlessness is that if you don’t see through it and step on Gao Pragmatic’s foot, you will suffer big losses not only economically but also politically; and even if you see through it and don’t step on this foot, the economy will suffer a lot.
If you don’t suffer a loss in the political arena, you will still suffer a loss politically.
There is no need to explain the economic aspect, only the political aspect.
The former disadvantage means that if Jinghua takes this job, it will inevitably be remembered by the emperor, and the worst result may be "unnecessary"; the latter disadvantage means that if Jinghua does not accept the job, then the reform in Gao Pragmatic's hands will be
The flag will no longer be held firmly, and he will be forced to surrender the political initiative. The political power he has at his disposal, "with the support of three generations of Yuanfu", may be severely shaken.
What a plan, what a plan!
However, since you think so highly of me, how can someone like Gao disappoint you?
I am a practical scholar who appears and exists to solve problems. I am highly pragmatic and can be where I am today, but it is not just because of the kindness of my father’s three elders! I was able to become the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue less than ten years after I became an official. You really
Do you think you are just relying on the Holy Family?
Then you are wrong, I rely on solving the problem every time!
Gao pragmatic had a plan in mind, but he was not in a hurry to take action. Instead, he remained silent for a while, patiently waiting for the "abolition of the grain chief" incident to continue to ferment.
By mid-August, things were already getting into trouble. Halloween happened to be August 17th (Zhu Yijun’s birthday), and the emperor felt that there had to be an explanation for this matter first, otherwise he would not be able to live a happy life, and he would just watch all kinds of things every day.
Zou Shu is talking nonsense.
Some say that the system of grain chiefs has long been hopeless and must be abolished. Some say that it is the ancestor's system and how can it be relaxed? Some say that even if the grain chiefs exist, they must be more responsible. Some say that this is an old disease that needs to be cured.
Should be slow.
The emperor read the memorials for half a month, most of which talked about this matter, and finally his head was as big as a fight. As he could not wait for Gao Pragmatic's reaction, he also knew Gao Pragmatic's embarrassment, but the matter could not be delayed any longer.
Therefore, he had no choice but to personally send a handwritten edict to the Hubu Yamen, asking Gaobu Tang in a tactful tone what he thought of the recent debate over the existence and abolition of the grain chief system.
"If you have any suggestions, dear sir, don't ask anything else. Just come straight to the point. I will look into it carefully."
Gao Pingshi looked at the handwriting and found that it was actually an imperial handwriting. He couldn't help but smile and thought: The heat is enough.
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