Chapter 276 The poisonous plan to defeat Yuan (10)
The vassal king rebels? No, Wang Xijue does not intend to really instigate this. Not to mention that today's vassal kings have been raised as pigs by the imperial court for hundreds of years. Not one of them knows how to fight, but at least they have the ability to cause trouble.
It is true that no one can be found who came from a situation as large as a rebellion.
The Ming Dynasty deployed heavy troops in the areas where the vassal kings belonged, and the so-called armies of the vassal kings themselves only had a few hundred guards. Many of these guards were hereditary in name, but more of them were not hereditary for a long time, but were hierarchical.
Subcontractors are generally hired at will, either honest farmers or idle scoundrels. Getting them to go to the battlefield is probably more difficult than getting an old sow to climb a tree.
Is this group of trash worthy of rebellion? No matter how miserable the local guardsmen are, it is not easy to deal with them. Instead of spending your energy and energy on something that has no chance of success, it is better to make some real big news.
The target chosen by Wang Xijue was Cao Gong.
In the early years, the capital of the Ming Dynasty was Nanjing, which was located in the economic center of China. "Tributes from all directions were easily accessible." At this time, the imperial court implemented sea transportation to transport grain and grass to the north, mainly for use as military rations.
When Chengzu moved the capital to Beijing, he was accompanied by hundreds of thousands of troops, central court staff and palace attendants. The food expenditure in the north increased sharply. After several discussions, the court finally concluded that the transportation volume was too small, pirates and Japanese pirates, and the waves ran aground on the rocks at sea.
To solve the problem, sea transportation should be abandoned and river transportation should be implemented.
Although this policy brought stability and convenience to the northern supply in a short period of time, judging from the original historical trajectory, it also became a bad policy that was difficult to reform in the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty, affecting the long-term development of the Ming Dynasty. It was a system that did more harm than good.
The debate on river and sea transportation reached a climax at that time, and how was the decision to stop maritime transportation made? In fact, as early as the sixth year of Hongwu, due to the accident of the Liaoxiang ship in the maritime transportation, Zhongshu still existed at that time
The provincial government reported to the province requesting more farming in the north to reduce shipping.
By the 27th year of Hongwu, the 21st Guards of Liaodong were basically self-sufficient in food and wages, so sea transportation was stopped in the 30th year of Hongwu. In the first year of Yongle, Beijing's grain reserves were insufficient, so the imperial court had no choice but to restart sea transportation, with Chen Xuan, Bo of Pingjiang, as the chief military officer.
In order to manage maritime transportation, the ship set sail from Nanjing.
The bad start came in July of the first year of Yongle, when Yu Xin, Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, proposed the canal grain transportation method, that is, using canal boats to enter the Huaihe River from Huai'an, pass through the Yellow River to the Weihe River, go north to the Haihe River, and then reach Beijing by land. However, due to this,
The route required multiple transfers, and even Zhu Di, who was so happy with his success, was worried that it would be too laborious and costly, so he rejected it.
In August of that year, Chen Xuan transported 500,000 shi of food and salary to Beijing safely by sea, which gave the imperial court the determination to insist on sea transportation. However, the objective environment that sea transportation is too risky has led to suggestions to rebuild the Grand Canal.
In the end, the imperial court employed 260,000 people and spent 6 months dredging the Huitong River 385 miles from Jining to Linqing. At the same time, 38 sluices were built according to the terrain to "timely store and discharge water."
So in the 10th year of Yongle, Song Lili, Minister of Industry, once again pointed out the shortcomings of sea transportation and proposed to adjust the proportion of rivers and seas. Chen Xuan, the Bo of Pingjiang, successfully managed the Huaihe River, which allowed 3,000 canal boats to be dispatched at the same time, carrying 4 million shi of grain, and the flow was smooth.
.
In the thirteenth year of Yongle, after repeated requests from officials in charge of finance and transportation, the Ming Dynasty stopped shipping and switched to water transportation. The Grand Canal truly became the economic artery between the north and the south. In the next two hundred years, although shipping would occasionally restart,
Water transport has always been the mainstream.
This situation existed until Gao Gong was in power. Due to the continuous flooding of the Yellow River at that time, it was not feasible to block the canal movement without moving, which seriously threatened the food security of the capital and the nine borders. Therefore, the "river and sea parallel" strategy was forced to be re-implemented.
The characteristic of this strategy is not to abolish water transportation, but to strengthen sea transportation.
Essentially speaking, Gaogong was "mainly transported by water and supplemented by sea transport". As for the actual proportion of grain transportation, it was roughly that water transport accounted for about three-fifths and sea transport accounted for about two-fifths.
During Guo Pu's period, Xiao Gui and Cao Sui followed, and the situation remained basically unchanged; during Zhang Siwei's period, there was basically no adjustment, but the types of maritime materials were further strengthened, and many physical tributes from the south were also included in maritime transportation. For example, the royal tribute from a certain place in Jiangnan
Tea, silk, etc. In this way, although the total shipping volume does not increase significantly, the transportation value will obviously increase greatly.
During the period of Shen Shixing, he faced serious entanglements because there was a regional dispute within the Xin School about this matter.
The areas north of the Yangtze River in South Zhili, including Yangzhou, Huai'an and other places, firmly demanded that Shen Shixing increase the proportion of water transportation; the areas south of the Yangtze River, including Nanjing, Hangzhou and even the hometown of Songhu, strongly requested that Shen Shixing increase the scale of sea transportation, especially requiring Shen Shixing to ensure
High-value products are transported by sea rather than by water.
Why does this kind of dispute occur? In fact, it is not difficult to explain, it is just about interests. However, here we still need to explain how the Ming Dynasty's water transportation system operated, so that this dispute can be explained clearly.
The water transport system was initially regarded as a military project, and the personnel who transported food and wages were all soldiers. Chen Xuan, the former governor of maritime transport, served as the chief water transport officer. He has held this position for thirty years.
In the fourth year of Yingzong's orthodoxy (1439), the imperial court took Jining as the boundary, and set up a minister in the north and south to manage water transportation. The following year, a civilian governor of water transportation was set up to coordinate matters, and his military management functions were greatly reduced. The governor of water transportation did not have a fixed office
Location: irregular inspections to the canal transportation bureau offices in Linqing, Jining, Xuzhou, Yangzhou and other places.
After Xuande, the water transport power of military attaches was replaced by civilian officials, and a dual-track civil and military system was implemented. However, in fact, as the governor of water transport with super power, his status was much higher than that of the general water transport soldier. By the Wanli period, due to the rise of maritime transport, it accounted for two-fifths of the total.
The Water Transport General Corps was abolished, and all matters were placed in the hands of civilian officials.
The status of the governor of water transport is extremely high. In the original history of the Ming Dynasty, there were 99 officials who served as governors of water transport, and more than 30 of them later joined the cabinet to worship the prime minister.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Due to the poor design of the Ming Dynasty's fiscal system, the vast majority of national tax revenue comes from land tax, and at the same time, the agricultural tax rate is low, so the national fiscal revenue is basically insufficient.
It will exceed 30 million (when physical grain taxes are calculated in equivalent terms). Of these 30 million, 12 million were withheld by local governments. The 8 million turned over by the north were directly supplied to the Nine-Border Army, and the remaining 10 million were collected in the south and transported via water transport.
8.2 million to Beijing.
The water transportation method has undergone many reforms. From the 13th year of Yongle to the 5th year of Xuande, the "Water Transport Law" was implemented. After the cessation of sea transportation, grain was only transported through canals. However, the transportation capacity of canals was limited, so the imperial court required various places to transport grain.
The turned-over grain and wages were transported to Huai'an for storage, and then transported to Beijing in batches. You see, why Huai'an asked for an increase in the proportion of water transportation? This is the main part of the answer.
The "Transportation Law" was implemented from the fifth year of Xuande to the seventh year of Chenghua. At this time, the imperial court seemed to realize that the burden of long-distance transportation on the people was too great, so it promoted the direct transportation of grain by the army, but the people had to bear the losses themselves. In practice, the result
It didn't lighten the burden.
From the seventh year of Chenghua to the present, the imperial court has implemented the "Change Law". This law came from the proposal of Teng Zhao, the governor of water transportation in the seventh year of Chenghua, which exempted farmers from transporting grain and allowed the army to transport it directly to counties, but it required additional levies.
fee.
How to put it this way, the intention of this method may be good, but like countless laws at home and abroad in ancient and modern times, the crooked-mouthed monk can always recite the sutra so that no one can understand it, completely deviating from the original intention.
For example, in the 35th year of Jiajing (1556), there is a record in Yangzhou Prefecture. This year, a common person had to bear 1.73 shi of tax and grain, and an additional fee of 1 shi, but the common people needed to use 1.2 taels of silver to offset the additional fee of 1 shi.
, however, in fact, one stone of local grain was only worth 0.7 taels of silver at that time, and the difference became a source of wealth for officials at all levels.
Why Yangzhou also asked Shen Shixing to increase the proportion of water transportation? The answer is self-evident.
However, Shen Shixing's troubles are not the focus of this chapter at this moment. The focus is Wang Xijue's target at this moment: Cao Gong - also called Cao Army.
In the Ming Dynasty, seven years after Chenghua, 120,000 Cao troops were responsible for collecting grain every year. These Cao troops came from 124 guard posts along the canal. The Cao troops obeyed the Governor's Office of Water Transport in terms of work, but the personnel relations remained with the Guards.
original place.
As soon as you hear this system, you will know that there must be a big problem, and this is also true. Water transport officials at all levels withhold military pay and enslave soldiers. For example, if the ship is leaking due to weather conditions or running aground during transportation, the food and pay will be reduced.
, the Cao Army needs to bear 40% of the responsibility.
In order to support his family, Caojun earned income through various methods and formed an interest group to protect his life. The "various methods" here even include smuggling trade - salt is one of them, and even
Main contraband.
You see, things circle back to Huaiyang. Huaiyang is the gathering place of the salt industry. Caojun, or "Caogong Group", has long formed a community of interests with Huaiyang's large and small salt merchants. Caojun needs the salt merchants' supplies.
Cargo and salt merchants also need "duty-free distribution" from Caojun.
Obviously, under this system, the so-called Cao Army quickly lost its combat effectiveness and became an ordinary labor organization, the so-called Cao Gong. It is not unfair to say that they had no combat effectiveness. For example, in the fifth year of Zhengde (1510), Shandong
A group of rebels looted 1,552 ships docked at Jining Port, but the soldiers on so many ships did nothing and allowed the rebels to take them away. How could they be "soldiers" at all?
This incident certainly shocked the entire court. The Shandong Road Supervisor and Censor questioned the Caoyun Yamen: "...but the army has tens of thousands, the generals are in charge, and the generals are in charge, and the generals and commanders are divided. I have never heard of any officer who died or was injured with bravery!" This fully exposed that the so-called Cao Army was completely in name only as an army, and they were completely transformed from the Cao Army into the Cao Workers.
Inland transportation has great disadvantages. First, the canals are narrow and shallow, and they often face the problem of insufficient water sources. Especially in early spring and late autumn, the rivers dry up and require artificial water diversion. Second, as mentioned just now, the Yellow River often bursts, so The sediment carried flows into the canal, and dredging the river channel is very costly.
Therefore, as early as the 23rd year of Chenghua (1487), Qiu Jun, the minister of the Ministry of Rites, proposed to reopen maritime transportation. At that time, he explained the advantages of maritime transportation in detail: "Although maritime transportation is prone to drifting and drowning, each sea boat can carry The grain is more than 1,000 stones, which is equivalent to three times the river boat. It saves the labor of leading the soldiers, the expense of plowing the shallows, and the defense in sequence."
Qiu Jun is the author of "The Supplement to the Meanings of the University". Gao pragmatically was reading this book when he accompanied Gao Gongqi back to Beijing. He believed that Qiu Jun was one of the rare economists in the Ming Dynasty. Unfortunately, no matter how reasonable he said, , the court still did not adopt it at that time, but only praised him. The general idea was that you have worked hard, but things are not easy to handle, let’s talk about it later.
In the early years of Jiajing, cabinet minister Gui E proposed to resume maritime transportation. "Ships can sail the ocean without fearing the depth but the shallowness, and not fearing the wind but worrying about the reefs." As soon as this discussion came out, it was quickly opposed by many officials, especially water transportation. The governor's office said directly that the laws of the ancestors are immutable.
By the way, Gui E is the real "father of the one-whip method" and he was the first to propose this method. Among other things, it is not wrong to praise Gui E as a "sighted reformer".
The next step was to reopen shipping. In the sixth year of Longqing's reign, Wang Zongmu, the then governor of water transport, and Liang Menglong, the censor of the capital, jointly initiated the initiative (of course, this was an action after receiving hints). The cabinet was high-profile, Zhang Juzheng immediately expressed support, and the Ministry of Household Affairs was discussing Later, they agreed to trial sea transportation, and in March of the first year of Wanli, the first batch of 120,000 shi of grain and wages successfully arrived at Tianjin Port.
If things only come to this step, or if Zhang Siwei only adds high-value tribute to sea transportation, it won't be a big problem. Even if Shen Shixing hesitates in the early stages of his administration, it doesn't matter. Although water transport was "divided" by sea transport, three-fifths of it was taken away share, but it can still be maintained. In addition, with less grain being transported, there will be more time and opportunities for smuggling. The living standards of the grain workers have actually improved slightly, so it can naturally be maintained.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! However, as Gao Pragmatic was promoted to the Minister of Household Affairs, this beautiful situation soon faced danger, and even soon began to fall into a "catastrophe" in the midst of a great crisis.
After Gao Pragmatic gathered financial power, he established two new departments and thirteen departments, and the crackdown on private smuggling began to become more severe - this "private" actually mainly targeted the salt merchant group.
The reason why the Salt Merchant Group is powerful is not just because they are rich, but because the Salt Merchant Group is essentially a "power and money group", an interest group in collusion between government and businessmen.
In the upstream of the salt merchants were the nobles and civilian interest alliances, mainly from Nanzhili, while downstream were distribution organizations such as the Caogong Group, and even local powerful people from various regions along the canal were involved.
Normally, of course, no one would dare to touch such a large and powerful interest group, but Gao Pragmatism is obviously not within the normal scope. He is also a veteran in officialdom himself. He doesn't care about the collusion between officials and businessmen at all, and directly attacks smuggling. He takes precise measures but never fails.
Not easily involved.
In this way, they not only ensure that their actions are absolutely legal, but also make the salt merchant group, both upstream and downstream, and themselves feel the deep pain. After more than one year and nearly two years of patience, the salt merchant group's community of interests has long been unable to bear it.
After a while, his resentment towards Gao Pingshi went straight into the sky, and he just wanted to get rid of it quickly.
Getting rid of Gao Pragmatic, this task is definitely too difficult at least for now, but using this anger and resentment to make some big news, Wang Xijue thinks it can still be done.
Wang Xijue himself is a high-ranking official from Nanzhili. His wealth, which is the richest man in Suzhou, cannot be cultivated by his family. Even from the perspective of his own interests, this matter must be done, not to mention that now he can kill two birds with one stone, both public and private.
Two bowel movements.
Gao Pragmatic is only cracking down on smuggling. Officials and nobles cannot directly come forward and say no. Although the local tycoons are not weak in overall influence, it is difficult to unite and speak out, and it is not easy to cause trouble. If there is any trouble, they will immediately
will be defeated one by one.
Only the water workers, as the "army" of the imperial court, once hundreds of thousands of people rioted, plus their families and families, it would be a huge riot on a scale of millions. If you are not careful, it may turn into a riot, and the imperial court will never
It is impossible to sit idly by and watch.
What else can you say? Shake Gao Jingshi's position as a capable minister in the eyes of the emperor. The instability in the rear will force Gao Jingshi to return from the front line and make Fa Yuan fall short. This will ensure that Gao Jingshi cannot unify the pragmatic school and then politically stabilize his heart.
The school of thought now all depends on the Cao Gong people.
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