Chapter 283 Zheng Guoben (9) Ming people dont tell secret words
The Ming Dynasty did have a tradition of using the small to control the big, but as far as the central court was concerned, using the big to control the small was also a tradition that must be adhered to. Gao's pragmatic approach was undoubtedly to use "the big to control the small" to suppress "the small."
Make it big".
Why can this be achieved? Because in the process of doing things, we must always pay attention to the matter-of-fact discussion and pay attention to the question of "who is responsible".
This is just like how no matter how much you emphasize the importance of "using small to make big", when important matters arise in the court, it is often inevitable to set up a temporary manager to take charge of everything.
The current situation is very similar: since you want to participate in supervising the investigation of Yikun Palace, and it is in parallel with Dongchang, then there must be someone who can rival the Dongchang Admiral in terms of authority to preside over it, in order to ensure that the outer court does not
In turn, he will become Dongchang's little follower.
Although the two section chiefs of the Sixth Section can use the small to make the big big, this is only at the supervisory level after all. They will definitely not be able to compete with the East Factory Admiral in terms of voice. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify the "investigation team" of the outer court.
The Censor of Zuodu is the leader. As one of the Seven Ministers, the Censor of Zuodu is a high-ranking official of the second rank, and with the support of the cabinet behind him, he can stand upright and speak in front of the factory governor.
In recent years, the Ming Dynasty has been victorious in foreign wars one after another, and these victories are obviously the result of the Outer Court. Therefore, the Outer Court today will never tolerate its own voice being inferior to that of the Inner Court, so it is inferred that the Zuodu Yushi will be the one of the Outer Court in the investigation.
Representation is very necessary.
At the same time, since Zuodu Yushi is here to represent the entire outer court, naturally the two section chiefs cannot - at least they should not oppose him. From this, Zuodu Yushi Xiao Daheng has the "big control"
The rationality of "using small to control small", and at this time, the priority of "using big to control small" will inevitably override "using small to control big".
Xiao Daheng is an official of the Real School, and Zhong Zhaodou is a disciple of Zhao Zhigao who has just abandoned the dark side and turned to the bright side. Both parties must be in the same trench at least on this matter, so what kind of trouble can the remaining Qian Menggao make?
It’s true that you are the section chief, and it’s true that the Sixth Section has a special status, but Zhong Zhaodou is also the section chief. If your opinion is opposed by Zhong Zhaodou, and the two sides are tied one to one, who has the final say at this time? Of course
It's Xiao Daheng.
As a result, Gao Pragmatic completed the actual control of the investigative power of the foreign court. Shen always had a gloomy face, but he could not come up with any good countermeasures. At this moment, he finally felt a hint of despair.
Gao Pragmatic is indeed young. He is eyeing to be the first minister, but he is not yet forty years old. However, his power in the court is really too terrifying. It is really like a tree with deep roots and luxuriant branches.
There are his people everywhere.
For a moment, Shen Yiguan suddenly felt as if he was against the entire imperial court, which made him even feel a suffocating pressure. It was not overwhelming, but it was like putting a person under the sea of thousands of feet, no matter what he said
No matter how much you cry or roar, the response to yourself will always be deep silence and pouring sea water.
Even a person like Shen Yiguan would inevitably have some regrets at this time. Was it really as Zhao Zhigao hinted that he should not have taken the road to death?
However, you, Zhao Zhigao, are old and sick and pose no threat to Gao pragmatism, so if you raise a white flag and seek refuge with him, he may indeed let you go. However, can I, Shen Yiguan, do the same?
No way! I, Shen, always have a great body and a good diet, and have long been recognized by many people as the only candidate in the Heart School who can compete with Gao Pragmatism. How can I vote for him? Even if I am willing, he will not accept it. !
Of all the arrangements I had made before, he was very pragmatic and knew all of them, at least he had already noticed most of them. At this time, I went to him and told him that all the things I had done before were just a joke and told him not to take them seriously. This is not even for a three-year-old child. Can you believe it, let alone be highly pragmatic?
In addition to these, Shen Yiguan also has a more fundamental principle that he cannot abandon: Gao Pragmatic's understanding of the imperial government's finances is absolutely unacceptable to him - not only him, it should be said that the entire Jiangnan Chaebol Group cannot accept it.
Gao Pragmatic has controlled financial power for so many years, and his most basic financial management idea is actually "everyone pays taxes." However, for Shen Yiguan and his likes, "everyone pays taxes" is unacceptable, not to mention Gao Pragmatic's "people pay taxes". "Everyone pays taxes" does not mean "everyone pays the same tax."
This issue has been discussed a lot before, so I won’t go into details. In short, the highly pragmatic concept is: everyone pays taxes, but the poor pay less and the rich pay more.
This is completely the opposite of people like Shen Yiguan, and they are irreconcilable. In the eyes of these people, whether we are studying or serving as officials, aren't we just to benefit the whole family and be kind to our descendants? We The most basic right is not to pay taxes, or at least to pay less tax. How come you are doing the opposite?
If I have to pay more taxes, then why should I study and become an official? To govern the country and bring peace to the world? Are you kidding? This country is not my country, and this world is not my world!
Oh, I help the emperor govern the country and help him bring peace to the world. After that, I have to pay more taxes. Why? Why do I have nothing to do but have enough to eat?
As Gao Jingshi knew before the reform, this kind of thinking is difficult to change, because the rule of Jia Tianxia can hardly inspire internal unity.
Emperors, officials, gentry, common people, etc., all have their own classes. They are inherently unequal, and everyone thinks that this inequality itself is not a problem because it "has existed since ancient times."
Therefore, what people living in the upper class of society strive for is to ensure that they will always stay in the upper class, while people at the bottom of society desperately strive to be in the upper class. When they cannot make it to the upper class, they will usually become numb, but if they find that they are unable to make it to the upper class at this time, At the same time, even life and even survival are threatened, so what are you waiting for? We have no choice but to do the opposite.
So, what is the upper class? If you throw away the complicated definition, it can be said that in a feudal dynasty like the Ming Dynasty, those who can oppress and exploit other people are actually at the upper class.
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! The emperor is of course the upper class among the upper class, needless to say. The emperor and the scholar-bureaucrats share the world, so the "scholar-bureaucrats" are also the upper class, and the local gentry are often an extension of the scholar-bureaucrats, so they are also counted The upper class. Since they are the upper class, they naturally believe that they are inherently nobler than those at the bottom, and oppressing the bottom is their natural logic.
The ancients often used the word "mu" to describe the relationship between the emperor and the people. In fact, this is very intuitive. The emperor's herdsmen - the people are nothing more than cattle and sheep. They are wealth for the emperor and his subjects to enjoy. But now it is better, we clearly understand
We are also subordinates, you are so pragmatic and you actually treat us like cattle and sheep?
Although the highly pragmatic tax reform almost always bleeds itself first and harvests its own industry, the Jiangnan chaebols do not think that this means being highly pragmatic and selfless. On the contrary, their mentality has a famous saying in later generations.
The movie lines can be compared to: The wealthy gentry's money will be returned in full, and the common people's money will be divided into 30 and 70.
Of course, here they regard themselves as common people and officials of the highly pragmatic and pragmatic school as gentry.
In their view, although Gao Pragmatic is the first to pay taxes every time, he has won the emperor's trust for this. In essence, it is just an exchange of interests. How can it be considered selfless? After all, as long as he has the emperor's trust, Gao Pragmatic
You will have more power to make more money, which is "repaying the full amount".
But they are different. Not only did they not get more holy favors, but they also had to pay more taxes than before. It was not cost-effective in any way, so naturally they were not willing to accept it.
It’s okay if he can’t compare to Gao Xiang, who is the emperor’s childhood classmate? But other officials of the Pragmatic School and the nobles in the capital, why can they be regarded as "gentry"? Just because they got to Gao early.
Is that the pragmatic boat?
There is no love without reason in the world, and there is no hatred without reason. Hate often arises from the uneven distribution of benefits.
Shen Yiguan walked out of the meeting hall silently after the meeting. Zhao Zhigao came out from behind. Shen Yiguan looked back at him and said calmly: "Is the Duke of Shuyang so in love with the scenery of Shenjing that he has forgotten the soil and water of his hometown?"
Brother Shuyang became Duke Shuyang, and his alienation was palpable. Zhao Zhigao could also hear what he meant, which was that he was greedy for power and even forgot his origin.
Zhao Zhigao didn't want to quarrel, so he smiled sadly and sighed: "My husband has traveled a long way, and a wanderer loves his hometown. How can Zhigao dare to forget his roots?"
"Really?" Shen Yiguan curled his lips and smiled: "I think I was stupid and didn't notice it."
Zhao Zhigao hesitated to speak, and after a moment of silence he said, "Do you dare to ask Brother Jiaomen to come and check in with me?"
Shen Yiguan originally planned to refuse outright, but after thinking about the current situation, he finally swallowed the words that came to his lips and nodded silently with a cold face.
So the two pavilion elders came to Zhao Zhigao's room and waited for the Jinshi Guanzheng to serve them tea.
Zhao Zhigao sighed and said: "Brother Jiaomen, a foolish man can bend and stretch..."
"Hold on." Shen Yiguan only heard the beginning and then stretched out his hand to stop him, and said calmly: "Although Yi Guan is stupid, he doesn't bother Duke Huiyang to teach him these principles. Otherwise, Yi Guan will have to use the words 'A gentleman does something and doesn't do something'."
Come and repay the favor."
Zhao Zhigao suffocated and planned to talk from another angle, so he said: "Brother Jiaomen mentioned his hometown just now, but Zhigao has a question: Since Gao Rixin has been responsible for finance, have the people in Zhejiang become rich or poor?"
Shen Yiguan frowned slightly, paused and then said: "Youdao is 'Qiantang has been prosperous since ancient times', Zhejiang is rich, what does it have to do with Gao Rixin?"
"Is it really irrelevant?" Zhao Zhigao shook his head and said: "I know that all the people in Xiangzi think that commercial tax is an evil tax, but the poem about Liu Sanbian that Brother Jiaomen just recited came from the Song Dynasty... I want to ask about the Song Dynasty What about business tax?”
Shen Yiguan was stunned for a moment, then fell silent.
Well, when it comes to the commercial tax of the Song Dynasty, it's a bit of a slap in the face.
Commercial tax revenue was an important source of finance for the Song Dynasty. During the two Song and three hundred years, commercial tax collection increased day by day, which not only affected the social and economic development, but also caused major changes in the country's fiscal structure. In this process, the Song Dynasty seriously Established and improved its own commercial tax system.
At the beginning of the founding of the Song Dynasty, it attached great importance to the collection of commercial taxes and formulated commercial tax regulations. Chen Fuliang once said: "When my ancestor was founded, he first established the commercial tax regulations, and it has been a family law since then."
The "rules" here are the regulations and provisions on taxation of commercial activities. It broke the local business taxation system of various countries in the era of separatism and replaced it with national, unified business taxation regulations. The regulations to a certain extent Promote the circulation of goods, limit tax collection, and protect business travel.
Of course, the specific implementation situation must be carefully analyzed, and the content of the commercial tax regulations has also changed before and after.
The regulations formulated in the fifth year of Chunhua (994) of Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty stated: "Everything including silk utensils, incense, treasures, sheep and hogs, folk pawnshops, shop houses, horses, cattle, donkeys, mules, camels, and merchants and traders Take it all with salt.”
It can be seen from this that the regulations only list the names of taxable goods at first. In terms of specific tax rates, the overtax is calculated at 2% of the price of the goods and the residence tax is calculated at 3%, but there is no amount of tax on various goods.
In order to promote the implementation of commercial tax regulations, the Song Dynasty government also adopted the method of posting lists and making them public, and ordered governments at all levels to write the names of taxable commodities on the walls of taxation offices, government offices, and transportation thoroughfares. There is a document analyzed by the minister, and it is promulgated to the world. It is posted on the board and placed on the wall of the official house to abide by it."
This system has a certain positive effect in restricting local governments from privately increasing excessive taxes and protecting the interests of businessmen.
After that, in the fifth year of Chongning (1106), the content of the regulations was updated, adding the amounts of various goods taxes to avoid private tax increases, and it was also stipulated that the regulations should be updated every ten years to ensure that property taxes consistent.
By the Southern Song Dynasty, due to frequent wars and rising commodity prices, it was difficult to fix taxes. In the fifth year of Shaoxing (1135), the imperial court ordered the two Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces to transfer to the various road transportation departments, "obtain the rules of taxable goods on this road." For example, in order to take into account the increase and loss of market price, we must order "appropriate", and we have begun another revision of the commercial tax regulations, and at the same time, it is stipulated that the tax regulations should be adjusted every six months.
After several revisions of commercial tax regulations in the Southern Song Dynasty, in fact, taxes continued to increase, private tax increases became increasingly common, and tax items became increasingly detailed. Merchants were exploited at all levels.
I just mentioned tax and residence tax. In fact, commercial taxes in the Song Dynasty were mainly divided into these two categories. Overtax was a tax levied on business travelers who resold goods, and the tax was 2% of the price of the goods. Merchants who opened shops When goods are sold locally, or when merchants arrive at the place of residence and sell goods, the local tax is levied at 3% of the price, which is called residence tax. The bearers of residence tax also include craftsmen and merchants who produce goods and some part-time workers. Farmers operating cottage industries.
In addition to these two categories, the Song Dynasty also had some special forms of commercial taxes, such as turning taxes. The so-called turning taxes were turning taxes. For example, the Changyin used by Lianghuai tea merchants said, "Waterways are not allowed to pass through Gaoyou County, and land roads are not allowed to pass through."
Tianchang County".
After subsequent changes, those who wish to go to Chuzhou and Xuyi will be paid ten guans and five hundred coins for every twenty-three or twenty-six guans. This kind of payment for changing the place where the goods are sold is called "turning money."
This kind of money transfer mainly exists in the tea business. The "bank note turning corridor" in Yanyan is quite similar to this kind of money transfer, and it is also a special form of commercial tax.
In addition to these types of tax items that were officially recognized and revised many times to exploit increasingly heavy tax items, Song Dynasty officials also violated commercial tax regulations and created new and miscellaneous tax items at will.
To give a few examples, one is Lishengqian, which is a tax levied on ships according to their size. Originally, there was cargo in the ship, so there was an excuse to collect Lishengqian, but even if there was nothing in the ship, the tax had to be imposed.
.Even in some places, as long as the ship docks, you have to collect money, which is called "landed money".
The second is the city's regular money. This was created during Wang Anshi's reform period. After collecting the official tax, an additional monetary tax was levied from merchants on cheap items such as ramie and mountain bean root. The regular tax money is often the same as the city's regular money.
, which is equivalent to doubling the tax. Although it was later exempted, goods above 300 yuan must be levied city regulations and become a custom-made item.
Third, to pay taxes, that is, merchants must pay a one-time tax every time they go through business within a road. From one road to that road, they are also levied again and again. After passing through each road, the government's business taxes
Although there is an increase, once the goods arrive at the destination, only by raising the selling price can the merchant make up for the shipping costs. In the end, it is ordinary consumers who suffer.
The above are just simple examples, there are many others, so I won’t go into details here. In short, it can be seen from these miscellaneous taxes that although the Song Dynasty had unified business tax rules, there were exceptions and there were many cases of creating new names to tax business.
This actually shows that before a unified national market was formed, the feudal and local characteristics of local markets always existed. Even in the Song and Song Dynasties, when the commodity economy was developed and national tax regulations were formulated, the arbitrariness of business collection could not be avoided.
sex.
Relatively speaking, the problem of the Ming Dynasty was that the previous commercial taxes were like playing house. Take Zhejiang, the hometown of Zhao Zhigao and Shen Yiguan, as an example. Before the high-pragmatic tax reform, the tea tax paid by the entire province in Zhejiang was only 27 taels a year.
Silver - Why don't you just stop paying for it? In such a wealthy province, you only get less than 30 taels of silver a year. What a fool?
And even after the highly pragmatic tax reform, because he focused on collecting taxes from wealthy businessmen and relaxed the small taxes on ordinary people, the overall tax collection ratio was actually not high. At least compared to the Song Dynasty, it was still completely
It's all a light corvee and a meager endowment.
When Zhao Zhigao asked, Shen Yiguan was naturally speechless.
But Shen Yiguan was obviously not willing to be passive, so he simply did not answer the question. Instead, he changed the subject and went straight to the core: "Mr. Liyang, if people don't tell secrets, I would like to ask: Does Mr. Liyang think that your son's future depends on it?"
Gao Rixin in a moment of thought?"
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