Xinshun 1730

Chapter 1075 Afterimage of the Evil Dragon ([-])

Just as using literature to control military affairs is the afterimage of the evil dragon of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.

Nowadays, the many afterimages of the many magical dragon postures in the late period of the previous dynasty are the mainstream thinking of Dashun at this time.

Of course, this afterimage is very beneficial to the implementation of some of Liu Yu's policies.

That is, the status of fellow travelers can be borrowed.

For example, the reform of the salt administration this time, and the related industrial and commercial development policy, although there are loud voices of opposition from the DPRK and China, there are still supporters after all, etc., which also originated from the reflection on many issues in the late Ming Dynasty.

It's just that Liu Yu is using this kind of reflection to do things that have little to do with reflection.

For example, he does not think that abolishing quotations and changing votes is a creative reform, but he wants to take advantage of the opportunity of the reform of the salt administration by reflecting on the situation at the end of the Ming Dynasty to carry out the reform of Huainan reclamation that he thinks is meaningful.

And his method of drying salt in Dachang was basically supported by the reformists in a compromised way, which originated from some ideas of reflection on the end of the Ming Dynasty.

Still take Wang Fuzhi as an example.

His views on the land issue have actually influenced many people.

And the essence of this view, in the words of Lao Ma, is that "the most experienced leaders of the ruling class always strive to increase the number of small private owners."

As experienced thinkers among the landlord class, many reflectors in the late Ming Dynasty came to a very simple conclusion.

Owner farmers and small farmers are the pillars of the stability of the empire.

All reforms should be based on protecting the stability of the owner farmers as the best choice.

So, what is the conclusion to be drawn from this?
The conclusion drawn from this is that the state should control the salt industry, and according to the national budget, after controlling the production of the salt industry, it should be apportioned on the price of salt according to the budget, so as to complete the taxation at the production end.

If state spending is fixed.

Then, the tax levied on salt does not need to be collected from the hands of the farmers, thus protecting the small farmers.

When the empire was crumbling, it was not the tenants and miners, nor the honorable gentry and merchants who stood up to protect the empire, but the stable homeowners who could really stand up, if there were any.

Although it seems quite difficult to understand, do you think there is a difference between adding taxes to salt and directly collecting land taxes?

In fact, there is still a difference, because the self-cultivator here specifically refers to the definition in the Six Classics and ancient books-a farmer with a field of [-] mu to [-] mu.

In this era of two and a half acres of land per capita, it is actually more suitable to be called small and medium landlords.So this is the same as the "tax by mouth" pursued by Wang Fuzhi. This is an idea that is beneficial to a certain class.

And here, we have to talk about the interpretation of the sages by Confucian scholars in Dashun on the issue of salt tax.

Looking at the salt tax alone, it seems that the ideas of the sages are fragmented and even contradictory.

On the one hand, during the time of Emperor Zhaodi of the Han Dynasty, the literary virtuous wanted to cut salt and profit and return to the people as a lenient government.After all, the place where salt is produced is far from the place where salt is eaten.If the country monopolizes it, although it is harsh, at least there is a limit.But if merchants come, they will inevitably drink the blood of the common people and there is no limit at all.

Therefore, we must not let the benefits of salt be "moved to the bottom", and the official mountains and seas must be used to benefit the world.

On the other hand, he turned around and said that Guanshanhai is really a bad government, making the people unable to eat salt at all.If it is handed over to the market and the merchants are in charge, then everything will be fine.

The so-called lack of a phase and tend to it, the winner will get it, the blunt will blame himself for his clumsiness, and there is nothing to complain about.However, there is no punishment for smugglers, and there is no reason to fight for robbers.It is also among the people, here is the shortage to increase the price, and the other has come, and I am afraid that the enemy will not be the first, and the harm of the expensive will be eliminated.

It is best for the government to do nothing, so that the price of salt will be stable.If it is too high, there must be businessmen running to stabilize the price; if the salt monopoly is completely banned, then there will be no illegal salt.

This is a bit like later generations, while praising the vigorous development of capitalism in Ming Dynasty, it will inevitably transition to a constitutional monarchy, and at the same time think that Ming Dynasty should strengthen the imperial power, continue to increase taxes in the south of the Yangtze River, and attack the Donglin Party. It is a bit similar.

Out of respect for thinkers in the late Ming Dynasty, Confucian scholars in Dashun made a lot of interpretations on this.

In the end, I finally came up with a fairly round interpretation of the past, that is to say, the tube mentioned here refers to the tube production end.

The production end should be managed.

The sales side should put it.

That's why this seemingly contradictory statement appears, but it is actually not contradictory.

Interpretation from this perspective has also led to many disputes over the reform of the salt administration.

Because, what Liu Yu has been working on is the reform of the production side, and he thinks that the sales side is just reforming the sales side in the name of reforming the production side.

Because of this, Lin Min and other salt government reformers did not think much about the reform of the production side from the very beginning. They only considered the abolition of the hereditary system of salt introduction and changed it to a free circulation system within the salt area.

It is also for this reason that the Confucian scholars supported by salt merchants in Yangzhou engage in essays and associations to make suggestions. They cannot focus on salt introduction and reform, but can only focus on protecting the interests of the small people in the salt households.

Of course, the emperor, including some loyal and patriotic people in the court who really cared about the country and the imperial power, including Lin Min and others, compromised and supported Liu Yu's salt reform policy. The final conception of the salt government under the reflection of the end of the Ming Dynasty:
That is, [officials in the hometown of salt, collect and vend in Shang.All in all, it is enough for Yuguo to use it.Officials have the ability to cook salt, and the people have the benefit of circulation.Once you get into a merchant's boat or cart, don't ask whether it's east or west, whether it's expensive or cheap.]

The government directly collects taxes through the production side. After the taxes are collected, merchants can sell them as they like.

Of course, there are also a few small patches made by Liu Yu, such as readjusting the salt area, developing Sichuan well salt to cover Hubei, official bulk transportation to specific locations to reduce the possibility of merchants hoarding goods, and official control of a certain amount of salt for price regulation.

In the end, the court, including the emperor, supported such a reform of the salt administration.

The way of thinking has nothing to do with the improvement of productivity in this way.

It's purely the idea of ​​"officials have the freedom to cook salt, and the people get the benefits of circulation".

It is mainly a large number of small salt households, and it is really troublesome to control, and it is impossible to control them at all.Moreover, the problem of the cost of salt in Huainan has been completely solved, so that even if a part of the tax is added, it can still maintain a certain advantage over private salt.

Therefore, thanks to some policies of the previous dynasty, as well as the many reflections on the policies of the previous dynasty by the ideological circles, under the shadow of the evil dragon of the previous dynasty, the reform of the salt administration, including the fundamental plan to build a large salt farm, is one of the few that Liu Yu Reforms that conform to the mainstream ideas of the ideological world.

As for the issue of Yanhu and land enclosure, as well as the reality that Yangzhou students are now chanting the slogan "for the benefit of Yanhu", Lin Min actually felt like he was watching a joke.

Although it is not as ridiculous as Liu Yu said, waving people's begging bags but hanging feudal coats of arms on their buttocks, but they have their own laughs.

Lin Min felt that this was the authentic "those with plausible words but not the truth of benevolence and righteousness".

As for whether the petitions of these students are likely to be supported, anyway, it is actually very unlikely that the court will receive support from outside the interest groups.

This, using a paragraph in Lao Ma's "Committee Report to the Alliance", is actually very easy to explain clearly.

[They (petty bourgeois, small peasants, small bourgeois) ... demand the elimination of the oppression of small capital by big capital, the establishment of a state credit institution, and the promulgation of decrees against usury, so that they and the peasants can get money not from capitalists but from the state Get a loan on favorable terms]

The problem lies in this loan.

According to this set of assumptions made by these students, purely government-run government revenue, according to the model of collecting all official prices before the emergence of the Daming surplus salt system, is definitely not acceptable.

No need to think about it.To manage and control small salt households with a population of tens of thousands, it is necessary to ensure government revenue, ensure that there is no smuggling, and ensure that salt households voluntarily turn in the salt or force it to be turned in... no matter which one is, it is too difficult.

With the buy-in system, there are lazy and hard-working people in Yanhu, unforeseen circumstances, and people are still sick and healthy. There are bound to be some people who cannot survive and cannot support production.

If merchants are not allowed to enter the market, then the national credit institution must issue small loans to these salt households, right?
The interest rate cannot be high, otherwise it will not be repaid at all.Moreover, there is no mortgage from Mao, even the ownership of Caodang and Zaokeng is owned by the imperial court, and Yanhu only has the right to operate.

To make low-interest loans to such people, does the imperial court have money and no place to spend it?
Pay a high price to raise a group of small salt farmers whose salt production cost is about 15 times that of the Huaibei Salt Field?
Then why, don't use the low-cost money earned from the big saltworks, raise an army, and directly slaughter the rebels?This is more cost-effective.

Those who really know how to settle accounts in the imperial court will do so.

As for the enclosure of cotton itself, there is more to say.

Although it was said that Dashun recognized the Yongjia and Yongkang Schools of learning, but the system was not established after all, but some words in it were still helpful to Liu Yu's enclosure movement.

For example, Mr. Shui Xin, Ye Shi, specifically talked about this issue:
[The rich are the foundation of the state and county, and the people who depend on it]

Why do you say it depends on the up and down?Of course there is an explanation.

Let’s not talk about the above reasons. In theory, of course, it’s more convenient for officials to find rich people to collect taxes.

And what's next?

One: the small people don't have land, they rent it from the rich, and the rich support the small people.

Second: What if there is land but no money to cultivate it?You can borrow usury from the rich.

The third: In case of a disaster year or something, the time is urgent, please ask the rich.

Fourth: If you really can't get along, and sell yourself as a slave, you can only buy it for the rich, and the poor will definitely not be able to afford it.

Fifth: Handicraft workers, singers and dancers all have to rely on the rich for food.

Of course, the rich here refers to the big landlords.With a slight change, it can be confused whether a person who grows cotton by enclosing land is a big landlord or an agricultural capitalist.

It is due to the previous dynasty's excessive collection, the corruption of the subordinate staff, and the collapse of the grassroots. In the reflection on the previous dynasty, there is also such a famous theory.

[Big Jia Fu Min, Commander of the Country! 】

The imperial court had poor control over the grassroots. The emperor, like the colonists, knew to collect tax money to support his family and relatives, and there was little relief in case of natural disasters. At this time, big businessmen and wealthy households had to come forward to lend usury.

If it weren't for these people to lend usury, how many people would starve to death?

Moreover, these big businessmen and rich people are also responsible for the huge role of "flowing gold millet". The circulation of wealth and currency, whether wealth or currency or commodities, has to flow to be meaningful.

Although this theory is unrealistic to implement in places with fragile and poor economies, it is likely to be taught by Liu Zongmin, Li Zicheng and others.

However, here, in Huainan, a special place where the power of small farmers is the most vulnerable, it is still available.

Relying on the knowledge of the Yongjia Yongkang School that Dashun's official prosperity has failed, and relying on the remnants of the evil dragon of the previous dynasty, it is really not a big deal for Yangzhou students to oppose the land enclosure.

At least morally, it can really be rounded up.

(End of this chapter)