Chapter 265 Argument at the Birthday Banquet (Part 2)
Xu Xuemo's saying that "Each ministry has been added year after year, today more than ten officials will be established, and tomorrow there will be more than ten officials, when will it end?" In fact, it is very characteristic of Chinese imperial courts in the past. The typical idea is to insist on "small government",
No big government.
Small government and big government, in the final analysis, are the differences between limited liability government and unlimited liability government. This issue has been briefly discussed in the previous part of this book and will not be repeated here. According to a highly pragmatic view, it is based on the traditional Chinese ideological system.
In fact, it is more suitable for big government, but that is only from the perspective of the ideological system, and may not be the case in actual operation, because the conditions are limited.
What conditions? Degree of development.
The degree of development is a big word that represents all aspects, whether it is the social system or the level of science and technology, it is all a matter of the degree of development. In addition, there is even the level of national finance.
In terms of national structure, the Ming Dynasty was an absolute monarchy system. In theory, it was completely possible to establish a big government. However, the reason why "imperial power did not extend to counties" in China's past dynasties was that the state's financial resources were insufficient to support "building branches in villages."
system.
Think about it, how many formal officials were there in the county-level yamen in the Ming Dynasty?
There is an original text here to testify: "The county magistrate is in charge of the administration of a county. All taxes and servitudes are levied at the annual meeting, and a yellow book is made in ten years, with a small amount of property as the difference. There are gold, grain, cloth and other goods. The levy is strong and the servitude is hired.
When it comes to servitude, borrowing debts, and servitude from time to time, all should be considered according to the weather, the land is rich and depleted, and the manpower is poor, and the balance is adjusted. If there is a shortage in the year, please ask the government to reduce it. In order to support the elderly, worship gods, and pay tribute, read the law
, showing kindness, showing compassion for the poor, supervising the police, making strict arrests, and listening to prison lawsuits. They all perform their duties personally and diligently. If the property of the mountains, seas, and marshes is enough to support the state, tribute will be paid according to the status.
The county magistrate, the chief clerk, is responsible for grain, horses, and patrol matters. The records of history and documents are transferred to the cashier. If there is no county magistrate, or there is no chief clerk, he will be assigned the duties of the chief clerk. The county magistrate, the chief clerk, and the additions are different. If the household is compiled
Those who are less than twenty miles will be cut off."
In other words, there are only a few officials in a county: one person is the county magistrate, who is the seventh rank; one is the county magistrate, who is the eighth rank; one person is the chief bookkeeper, who is the ninth rank;
This is the official establishment, with a total of four people. If it is a small county, it will be even less. There is no boss or county magistrate, or even none at all. Of course, there are other so-called "officials" in the county, but the official is always
They were not official officials and were not financially responsible for their support. In theory, they were supported by the local "retained" land tax.
Can such a few people manage the affairs of a county well? It will definitely not be possible in future generations, because the governments of later generations will have too many things to take care of, and these few people will not be able to manage even one percent of it, even if they are three-headed and six-armed.
This comparison is very surprising. In the Ming Dynasty, there were only four officials in one county. How did they manage it?
In fact, there are only two, one is to rely on the self-governance of the gentry, and the other is... to ignore as much as possible. This is the so-called "people do not raise officials and do not investigate". As long as no one comes to complain, I will treat this county as a road and not pick up the lost things. As for the world,
How much evil and ugliness there is in private is none of my business.
In addition to the insufficient financial resources of the country to support so many administrative officials, the formation of this phenomenon also has a relatively deeper source of thought, which is the Huang-Lao thought that was very popular in the early Han Dynasty.
In the West, Huang-Lao Taoism is often called "purposeful Taoism" or "instrumental Taoism". In terms of content, Huang-Lao's art inherited and developed Huangdi and Laozi's thoughts on Tao. They believed that Tao was an objective
It exists by necessity, pointing out that "the virtual and the same are one, and the constant is the same", and "everyone uses it, but can't see its shape."
These things are too metaphysical, so it is better to talk about something realistic. For example, in the social and political field, Huang Lao's art emphasizes "Tao generates law" and believes that the monarch should govern by doing nothing, "avoid harsh affairs, reduce taxes and restraint, and do not take away the people's time".
We advocate "justice and selflessness", "respect, frugality and simplicity", "nobility and femininity", and achieve something through inaction.
These ideas, especially the idea of rest and recuperation, had a certain positive influence in the early Han Dynasty, which resulted in the emergence of prosperous times such as the Wenjing Dynasty, and thus had an impact on subsequent dynasties.
However, this kind of thinking also means that the development of this country depends on spontaneity. For example, the emergence of a city does not require planning, it is all formed and developed spontaneously.
In Gao Pragmatic's view, the transition from spontaneous urban development to planning is an inevitable progressive behavior. When the country has the ability to plan, planning is better than no planning. For example, Chang'an City in the Tang Dynasty planned two east and west cities.
, the commodity economy developed rapidly, and then a new vocabulary using "stuff" to refer to items appeared.
It's just that in ancient society, it was very rare to be able to plan a capital city. It may be beyond our ability to plan more details of the city.
Gao Pragmatic always believes that if you are unable to do so, you should try your best to strengthen this "power" instead of just waiting for this "power" to form naturally - it may one day form, but it will be too slow.
The advantage of Huang-Lao's thought is that it allows the people to develop freely, but the disadvantage is that it allows the people to develop disorderly.
As a time traveler, Gao Pragmatic certainly knows that free development is conducive to improving social vitality, but he also knows the hidden dangers that disorderly development will bring. The system implemented by many Western countries in later generations is free development, but because there is insufficient guidance and
Without restrictions, we often have to bear the consequences of disorderly development - such as economic crises.
Therefore, in Gao's pragmatic view, whether it is a small government or a big government, the key issue is how to maintain social development while maintaining vitality without being like a flood that cannot be dealt with.
The current problem of the Ming Dynasty is largely due to the fact that the civil servants are extremely distrustful of imperial power, and the ruling institution itself is regarded by them as an extension of imperial power. Therefore, even if they themselves serve within this institution,
There will still be doubts about the legitimacy of this organization because of its expansion.
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! This situation seems to shake the truth that "the butt determines the head", but it is not the case, and there is no damage, because the first attribute of most bureaucrats is not
They were not court officials, but landlords, wealthy businessmen or their spokesmen.
The more things your court takes care of, the more my family's status in the hometown will decline. My official position cannot be hereditary. It is obvious that the continuation of the family and family interests are what I value most. How can you, the emperor, be with me?
Grab this one!
Under the influence of this deep-seated thought, Gao Pragmatic's move to take back and expand power will of course usher in opposition, which he had expected. Of course, Gao Pragmatic himself does not want to continue to expand imperial power -
-Even if it seems like this at this stage, in the final analysis, his goal is not this. It's just...it's meaningless to tell others about this now, everything depends on his future methods.
No one would talk about "restricting imperial power". All civil servants would use the common people as a cover when discussing related matters. Just as Xu Xuemo questioned at this time: "The common people in the world support hundreds of officials. If there are endless additions of officials, will it be possible?"
Aren’t you fishing and hunting the common people?”
Faced with this question, Gao Pragmatic retorted with his usual point of view, saying: "There were many people who opposed the opening of the sea before. Now that it has been open to the sea for nearly 20 years, the imperial court can make an annual profit of two million taels of silver from overseas."
Not only that, but I would like to ask, has Kaihai ever brutalized the people?"
When he saw Xu Xuemo opening his mouth to argue, he waved his hand to stop him and continued: "This department has repeatedly stated that the world's wealth is by no means static. It is just like farming. If you plant more, you will gain more. Therefore, what our court should do is to try every means possible.
Let the people "diversify and breed better" to increase the overall output, instead of sticking to the old ways and clinging to the original little wealth.
Suppose my family produced 10,000 jins of grain last year, and this year hired 100 workers to build a new water conservancy. After proper irrigation, the lower fields became middle fields, and the middle fields became upper fields, resulting in a harvest of 20,000 jins. Let me ask the great uncle - can I be considered a waste of money for hiring workers?
Lift it?"
Xu Xuemo frowned and said: "What Situ said seems reasonable, but everything may not go so smoothly. For example, repairing or not repairing water conservancy may not necessarily affect such a large output, and the cost of 'hiring a hundred workers' may take many years."
Payback, not to mention that water conservancy is not a one-time solution, it will most likely require long-term maintenance to ensure use, which will result in higher costs.
Moreover, the people Da Situ compared this to are the newly appointed officials for the reform of the post station. The money earned by the post station does not come from overseas, but from my own country in the Ming Dynasty, that is, from the money purses of the people all over the world. Therefore,
, No matter how Da Situ whitewashes it, it can’t change the fact that the imperial court takes money from the people’s pockets, right?”
Gao Pragmatic smiled faintly and said: "Uncle Da Zong may be familiar with etiquette, but he doesn't seem to care much about finances. I wonder if Uncle Da Zong has read the "Taxation and Use Essay" written before by Honbu Tang? The full name of that essay is "Taxation"
"They take it from the people and use it for the people", which not only discusses the debate between justice and benefit, but also discusses "why taxes are levied".
In this book, Honbu Tang once said: "It is a tax, and it is neither owned by the imperial court nor by your majesty. This wealth is taken from the people and used for the people. The king is responsible for the herdsman of heaven, and the ministers and other assistants."
Your Majesty.
When taxes are used for the emperor, they are only used to enable the emperor to herd the people, without being constrained by expenses; when taxes are used for ministers, they are only used for envoys to assist the emperor, and they are not forced to eat and clothe. A grain of rice and half a millet, a stitch and a thread,
They are all used by herdsmen to feed the people. How can we say that they are being harshly governed?'
Nowadays, it seems that the court needs to spend some money to reform the post station by setting up some new officials. But how much does the court originally need to spend on the post station every year? Although the money was originally spent by the local government, is the local money obtained out of thin air?
?In the final analysis, this money originally came from the people's pockets."
Xu Xuemo shook his head and said: "Since the people have spent money on the changes, what else should be changed?"
"Dazong Bo is ridiculous." Gao Pingshi waved his hands repeatedly and said: "It used to be that the imperial court maintained the post station, and the fees for the post station were collected from the people by the local government. However, the post station did not serve the people, and the court wasted money and food but failed to provide convenience to the people.
.
Now after the reform, the post station is open to the public. Although it has to charge a certain fee, any common people can decide whether to use the inn station. This means that if the people think that it is not cost-effective to post letters or transport goods through the inn station, they will naturally
Won't use it.
On the contrary, since it is used, it must be because it is worth the money and both parties are happy. This is a so-called win-win situation. How can Uncle Zong say, ‘What else should I change?’”
Xu Xuemo was speechless for a moment and couldn't think of how to answer, so he had to stay silent.
Shu Hua, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice, was ill and in poor spirits at this time. In addition, the matter had little to do with him, so he had no intention of discussing it until now. But Shi Xing, the Minister of the Ministry of Works, couldn't help but said: "Da Situ previously said
Take the example of water conservancy facilities increasing field production, but what is being discussed at this time has anything to do with increasing production? Whether it is sending letters or transporting goods, it has nothing to do with production. In the world, the wealth of geniuses has not changed, and the people
But the wealth is earned by the imperial court, isn't it still a matter of competing with the people for profit?"
Gao Pragmatic had a bad impression of Shi Xing, the minister of the Ministry of Industry who switched from the practical school to the heart-free school. Hearing this, he said calmly: "It is said that Da Sikong has recently been supervising the mausoleum (responsible for the imperial mausoleum project)? Da Sikong must have known that some of the stones used in the mausoleum construction
It was produced in the Taihu Lake area in the south of the Yangtze River. According to past practice, this matter should have been written by the Ministry of Household Affairs in Suzhou Prefecture or Changzhou Prefecture, ordering these two prefectures to pay tribute to the stone in Tianshou Mountain.
Although the two mansions are far apart, due to loyalty to the emperor, they should choose suitable stones by themselves and send people to transport them thousands of miles north. The cost is not worth mentioning. However, last year the Ministry of Revenue took over the financial rights. This year, after hearing about this, they
Instead of following this old system, we commissioned the Nanjing Ministry of Household Affairs (Note: because Nanzhili is directly under the jurisdiction of the Sixth Ministries of Nanjing) to purchase stones from Taihu Prefecture, transport them to Tianjin via the cheapest sea freight, and then hire the Production and Construction Corps to do it for them.
Transported to Tianshou Mountain.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Later, the Ministry of Revenue calculated that just transporting this batch of stones cost much less this year than it did during the previous emperors. In terms of the average price
, which is only about 40% of the previous time, saving more than 23,000 taels of silver. It can be seen that although a suitable transportation system may not increase production, it is enough to reduce consumption.
Da Sikong, the so-called financial unity is nothing more than increasing revenue and reducing expenditure. It is beneficial to increase revenue, but isn't it beneficial to reduce expenditure?"
Since Shi Xing became an official, he first served in the Xingren Division, and then was demoted to the rank of civilian after being convicted in the Sixth Section. Soon after his recovery, he was transferred to the Shangbao Division, transferred to Dali Temple, and then to Taipu Temple in Nanjing. He was promoted to Zuo Qiandu Censor, Zuo Qiandu Censor.
He served as the imperial censor of the capital and assisted in the affairs of the academy, and was promoted to the left minister of the Ministry of War. Finally, he switched to the Xin school and became the minister of the Ministry of Industry.
In his long career, he basically did not deal with finance. Therefore, once Gao Pragmatic directly "discussed the matter", he was a little unprepared and did not know how to refute.
Among the six ministers, Xu Xuemo, the minister of the Ministry of Rites, and Shi Xing, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, are serious people from the mind school. Although Shu Hua is also from the mind school, he is not in good health, and it is difficult for him to be a minister of the Ministry of Justice on these matters.
He wanted to speak out, so he made up his mind not to get involved in this matter, so naturally he had no intention of discussing anything.
The table next to the pavilion elder was very close. Just now, although Gao Pingshi couldn't talk about quarreling with the Confucian scholars, he had already explained the two ministers of psychology very well. Shen Shixing and Wang Xijue couldn't help but frown. The two husbands looked at each other.
, knowing that he could only take action in person.
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