Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 1402 Dispute over financial rights
With the high-practical request to cancel the submission of all in-kind taxes other than grain and cloth, the court finally reached a consensus, and even the officials of the Xin School had to stand up and applaud for it-after all, all officials in the world are "Hongwu type" The victims of "finance", Gao Wushi's current practice is completely serving them. Even if everyone has different ideas at ordinary times, they are always standing in the same trench at this moment.

After all, interests are the fundamental criterion for deciding whether to be friends or enemies.

However, cancellation is okay, but how to cancel, or how to make up for it after cancellation, is very interesting.

Gao Yushi was extraordinarily generous this time, saying that the first thing to do is to cancel all the in-kind conversions in official salaries. Official salaries are only issued with silver taels and copper coins, and at most cloth that does not exceed [-]% of the total salary will be added. In five years and so on, the cloth will be gradually canceled, and the salary will be fully and thoroughly monetized.

Regarding this point, although many officials doubted whether the Ministry of Household Affairs had so much cash in their hearts, at least the answers were very consistent: all civil and military officials praised Gao Situ for his great responsibility, "the pioneer of the founding of the country."

The praise of the officials of the Heart School is a bit reserved at least, but the officials of the Real School really have the guts to brag about it.According to them, Shang Yang was far behind Gao Yushi, not to mention Wang Anshi, it was a veritable verdict, Gao Situ farted better than him.

Of course Gao Wushi knew that it wasn't because of his good looks, but because of the charm of money. The Ministry of Household Affairs was willing to pay such a large sum of money to improve their salaries. Of course, they felt that Gao Situ was so handsome that he was like a popular idol.

However, everyone will be muttering about the next thing.For example, Gao Pragmatism not only needs to convert local taxes in kind into silver, but also collects all the tax and silver to the household department, and then the household department forwards it to the yamen that needs the money. This is extremely controversial.

The Ministry of Officials and the Ministry of War are the only two yamen that remain quiet.Among them, the Ministry of Officials is okay to say, after all, they are in charge of civil affairs.The power of personnel appointment and dismissal has little to do with tax in kind, and the ordinary expenses are actually average. In addition, the Ministry of Officials is the headquarters of the School of Practical Studies. Of course, everyone does not think that the high-level practical power will be stuck in the neck of the Ministry of Officials, so It is reasonable for the officials not to speak.

The Ministry of War has remained quiet, which means that Liang Menglong has a good management. Of course, Gao Yushi's resignation from the Ministry of War may also be a key point.

Why is it so difficult for the Ministry of War to keep silent?Because the financial power of the Ministry of War is actually quite large-the military settlements and ordnance manufacturing all over the world were originally directly managed by the Ministry of War, and the most critical financial power is the military settlements.

How important is the military station? Under the "Hongwu-type finance", Zhu Yuanzhang had arranged for the feeding of soldiers and horses in the world to be self-sufficient. Therefore, the scale of farmland in the Ming Dynasty was very large: "From Liaozuo in the east, Xuanda in the north, Gansu in the west, Gansu in the south As far as Yunnan and Shu, as far as Jiaozhi, the central principle is the north and south of the Dahe River, and it is in Xingtun."

There were more than 180 million soldiers in the field of the Ming Dynasty (this was the early Ming Dynasty), and the number of army stations was more than 90 hectares, accounting for about one-tenth of the country's cultivated land.In border areas, the proportion of military settlements is even higher, and military settlements in some military towns can occupy more than 60% of the province's arable land.

For example, during the Jiajing period, Guizhou had 14 military registered permanent residences, accounting for 51% of Guizhou's total population.When Gao Wushi first compiled the "Da Ming Hui Dian", he saw a record that the land in Shaanxi totaled 31 hectares, and the military settlements occupied 16 hectares.

The system of military settlements played a huge role in the early Ming Dynasty. In the early Ming Dynasty, the country's financial source mainly relied on agriculture, and military settlements were the largest source.

For example, in the first year of Yongle, when the national tax and grain amounted to 3100 million shi, the grains paid by the military fields amounted to more than 2300 million shi.

In frontier areas, the importance of military land is even more prominent.At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the country had 180 million troops, and by the Yongle period, the number had increased to 270 million.At that time, there were more than 6000 million people in the country, and the number of troops accounted for 3% of the population.

Such a large number of troops will inevitably require a lot of finances to supply.In the later period of Hongwu, the annual military food needs amounted to more than 3200 million shi, while the annual tax and grain in the later period of Hongwu was only more than 3 million shi.Therefore, it can be explained that the garrison system of the dynasty just solved the huge food supply problem of the army.

"Ming History Shihuo Zhi" said: "A field for an army is enough for one year." This statement was valid at the time.

With large-scale farming, it is possible to maintain a huge number of troops across the country.This also allowed the Ming Dynasty to avoid the situation of poverty and weakness in the Song Dynasty.After all, Ming Dynasty was still using troops against Mongolia, the northeast, the southwest, and the northwest at that time. Without a huge local army, this would not have been possible.

Therefore, these farmlands made great contributions to the national defense construction of Ming Dynasty and the stability of border areas.In Liaodong, the Tuntian system accelerated the development of the Liaodong area, making Liaodong the stronghold of the entire Northeast of the Ming Dynasty.In Yunnan, the large-scale garrison was the basis for Ming to defeat the chieftain rebellion in Luchuan; in the northwest, the system of garrison enabled Ming to control the Hexi Corridor, and then communicate with the Western Regions and Central Asia.

In addition, Daming's garrison of fields also accelerated the reform and return of land in the southwest region.For example, in the Yunnan-Guizhou area, due to the distance from the Central Plains, the previous imperial courts generally could only implement the ruling policy of confinement.After long-term development, large and small chieftains have formed in the Yunnan-Guizhou area. Although they appear to submit to the Central Plains, they are actually small local kingdoms, which is not conducive to the unification of the country.

After the Ming Dynasty carried out a large-scale military settlement, a large number of troops were stationed in Yunnan and Guizhou for a long time, forming a large number of guards and firmly controlling the major chieftains.Once the opportunity is ripe, the imperial court can carry out land reform in the southwest.

For example, during the Yongle period, the Tian family of Sizhou was eliminated, which directly promoted the establishment of Guizhou Province (Chief Minister).

The reason why Gao Yushi was able to move most of the chieftains in Guangxi to Annan actually had this premise: the military settlements in Guangxi led to the control of about half of Guangxi's territory in the hands of the imperial court, and these areas directly under the imperial court will also form a de facto situation for the chieftains. The chieftains also wanted to be more "free" because of the oppression, so Gao Yushi fudged one by one, and most of them were fooled by him to go to Annan in the end.

At this time, because the imperial court has enough military bases as a foundation, it can also follow up relatively smoothly, occupying and developing those original chieftain territories.The prerequisites for all these were actually brought by the army.

However, as Gao Wu saw when he was in Guangxi, most of the soldiers in the guards were almost "beggar soldiers". based on brutal exploitation.

In addition to self-food, the grain produced in the army must be paid as "Tuntian grain".During the Hongwu period, it was stipulated that "people are given [-] mu of land, half of which is requisitioned at the age of year, and the rest is self-sufficient", that is, half of the output of military households needs to be handed over.The military households themselves have always been in the state of service, which makes the state's exploitation of military households much higher than that of ordinary civilian households.

If the military households lose their land, it will be even worse, because the military households have to "compensate for the grain of the farmland".Since the middle of the Ming Dynasty, many lands have been abandoned due to barrenness, but military households had to "serve for life to transport those who are not enough".This situation was mentioned earlier in this book and will not be repeated here.

In short, as I have said many times before, the fields in the Weisuo army have gradually changed from collectively owned to owned by officers, and after the officers have mastered them, they will hide the land under various names, which eventually leads to what the Ministry of War can actually get. The military rations have been reduced year by year until Gao Gong cleared Zhang Tianmu.

In addition to clearing out many private lands hidden by officials and gentry, Qingzhang Tian Mu also cleared out a large number of military lands. This is part of the reason why Zhu Yijun did not hesitate to exempt the disaster area from taxes a few years ago.But even so, because there are many military fields whose origins cannot be traced, the current military villages are still not as grand as they were in the early days of the founding of the country.

One of the most fundamental reasons why the Ministry of War can suppress internal objections despite losing such a large amount of income is that Gao Pragmatism made a promise: since the financial rights are handed over to the Ministry of Accounts, the Ministry of War will be responsible for the defense of all regions. The responsibility for the expenses of the institute was also transferred to the Ministry of Accounts.

In other words, in the past, the guards were unable to pay the military salaries, and whether it was local officers or soldiers, it was the Ministry of War that they blamed. If this situation still happens in the future, they should blame the Ministry of Households.

As far as the Ministry of War is concerned, their powers must have been reduced if Gao Pragmatic changed in this way, but in retrospect, the corresponding responsibilities have also been reduced.Whether it's worth it or not depends on what you think.

The Ministry of Households itself is not counted, and now the Ministry of Officials and the Ministry of War are considered stable, and the problem lies in the other three ministries.

The performance of the Ministry of Rites is still worthy of the word "li". At least they did not curse people. They are mainly worried that the Ministry of Households will not be able to provide enough.In addition to daily office work, the expenditure of the Ministry of Rites mainly has three aspects: one is scientific research; the other is sacrifice; the third is reception.

Needless to say, the imperial examinations in Ming Dynasty may be regarded as the most important in the history of imperial examinations, and many expenses of the examinees are the responsibility of the imperial court.For example, even after the implementation of the "Shu Yi Lu Shu", candidates for the provincial and general examinations can use the post for free. The post provides accommodation, travel and other services for the candidates according to the standard, and the money will eventually go to the Ministry of Rites. expenditure.

Now Gao Yushi wants to collect financial rights. Of course, the Ministry of Rites does not need to convert and sell all kinds of goods that were originally provided to the Ministry of Rites. Who can bear the responsibility for the talent ceremony?

Xu Xuemo, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, did not say anything cruel, but a member of the Xin School of the Ministry of Rites, Wai Lang, mentioned in the memorandum such words: "In the future, if the talent ceremony is limited by the financial difficulties of the Ministry of Finance and suffers setbacks, Is Gao Butang willing to present his head as a token of thanks?"

In case in the future, because your household department can't come up with money, the talent promotion ceremony will be affected, will you, Gao Situ, be willing to sacrifice your head to thank the world?

Compared with the Ministry of Rites' "unlimited elevation" at every turn, the performance of the Ministry of Punishment is very "lawful".He didn't talk about the big reason, and he didn't talk about who should belong to the property right. Shuhua, the minister of the Ministry of punishment, solemnly presented the income and expenditure book of the Ministry of punishment, and offered to provide the details: except for the direct deduction of the tax in kind last year by the Ministry of punishment, the whole department of the Ministry of punishment The final shortfall of the year was seventy-five thousand six hundred and forty-seven taels and four cents of silver.

Shu Butang also stated very rigorously that if the Ministry of Households is willing to make up all the previous deficits of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, he himself fully agrees to hand over the property rights on behalf of the Ministry of Criminal Justice.

As for your question about the total deficit of the Ministry of Criminal Justice over the years?The accounts of Shubutang are very clear, taking out the accounts from the Yongle period (beginning with the emergence of the Beijing Ministry of Punishment) to the 14th year of Wanli, with a total deficit of more than 64 taels.

At the same time, Shu Butang also said seriously and responsibly: A lot of deficits have become dead debts earlier, and even the creditors can't be found, so these can be regarded as part of the debt.But even if these are removed, the Ministry of Households wants to take over the financial power of the Ministry of Punishment, and it must first help the Ministry of Punishment fill a deficit of more than 27 taels of silver.

This leaves the Ministry of Industry.

The Ministry of Industry is probably the one with the loudest opposition this time. The fault is that considering the fighting power of the Gao family members is too strong and there are too many people, even the Baiyulou other courtyard may be beaten by the people from the Ministry of Industry.

As we all know, in terms of the status of the six ministries, the status of the Ministry of Officials, the Ministry of Households, and the Ministry of Rites is relatively high; the Ministry of War is in the middle, but once a war breaks out, its importance will immediately increase; as for the status of the Ministry of Punishment and the Ministry of Industry, they are generally relatively low.

Especially the Ministry of Industry, in the history of the Ming Dynasty, there has never been a situation where the Minister of the Ministry of Industry directly entered the cabinet.Under normal circumstances, the Minister of the Ministry of Industry needs to be promoted to the Minister of the Ministry of Officials or the Ministry of Rites before they have a better chance of becoming a cabinet scholar.Therefore, in terms of status, the Ministry of Industry has the lowest voice among the six ministries.

However, in terms of actual "profit", other institutions are not as good as the Ministry of Industry.Even key departments such as the Ministry of Officials and the Ministry of Households are not as good as the Ministry of Industry in this regard.Because the scope of work of the Ministry of Industry is very wide, and all involve huge profits.

The household department may manage the most money, but it is actually quite difficult for the household department to get some oil and water.Unless the incumbent Shangshu is really strong and directly withholds some money for his own use-then you are an uncle and there is nothing to say.

The money directly managed by the Ministry of Industry may not be as good as that of the Ministry of Households, but it handles various national-level large-scale projects. The price of hired labor is a bit higher, and the buying and selling of materials is a bit more expensive...It’s a lot of money, even you It’s not very easy to investigate: it’s normal for me as a scholar not to be familiar with the market!
The scope of work of the Ministry of Industry is very wide. The construction and maintenance of palaces, the construction and maintenance of city walls, the excavation and maintenance of canals, the construction and maintenance of roads, the construction and maintenance of imperial tombs, etc., are all under the management of the Ministry of Industry.Even the development of iron ore and gold mines (officially operated by the imperial court) is under the management of the Ministry of Industry.

These are very profitable projects, and each project generates a lot of income.The Ministry of Industry is in charge of these projects, and no matter whether it is those big businessmen or local government offices, it is inseparable from the approval of the Ministry of Industry.For example, if a local official wants to repair the city wall, without the approval of the Ministry of Industry, the construction cannot be started at all.

Now Gao Wushi wants to transfer all these financial rights to the Ministry of Households, and only reserves the right of approval to the Ministry of Industry, but does not allow the Ministry of Industry to intervene directly. How can the Ministry of Industry agree?
You must know that Shi Xing, Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry, had been "exposed" last time, and he was a member of the Mind School.
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(End of this chapter)