Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 1603 The Argument at the Birthday Banquet (Part [-])
Xu Xuemo’s so-called “every ministry has added more than ten officials in successive years, first set up more than ten officials today, and tomorrow will set up more than ten officials, when will it be the first?” In fact, it is very characteristic of Chinese imperial courts in the past. The typical idea is to insist on a “small government”. No big government.

Small government and big government, in the final analysis, are the difference between a government with limited responsibility and a government with unlimited responsibility. This issue has been briefly discussed earlier in this book, and I will not repeat it here.From a highly pragmatic point of view, China's traditional ideology is actually more suitable for a big government, but that's only in terms of ideology, and it may not be so in practice because of limited conditions.

What conditions?development level.

The degree of development is a big word, which 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 are even national financial levels.

The Ming Dynasty was regarded as an absolute monarchy system in terms of state system. In theory, it was possible to establish a large government. However, there was also a reason why the "imperial power did not go down to the county" in the past dynasties in China. system.

Think about it, how many official officials were there in the county-level yamen in the Ming Dynasty?

There is the original text here to testify: "The county magistrate is in charge of the administration of a county. All taxes and labors are collected at the annual meeting, and the yellow book is made in ten years, and the small production is the difference. There are gold grains, cloth and other goods. Service and borrowing from time to time are all dependent on the weather, the land is rich and the consumption is rich, the manpower is rich and poor, and the balance is adjusted. The yearly apology should be reduced by the government. All those who provide for the elderly, worship gods, pay tribute, and read the law , Showing kindness, showing poverty, guarding the armor, strictly arresting, and listening to prison lawsuits are all dedicated to their duties and diligent and cautious. If the products of mountains, seas, and marshes are enough for the country, they will pay tribute according to their nationality.

The county magistrate and the chief book are in charge of grain horses and patrols.The history of the classics is moved to the cashier.If there is no county magistrate, or no master book, then the post of magistrate will be assigned.The county magistrate, the master book, and Tim Ge are different.If the number of registered households is less than [-] li, those who are registered will be cut together. "

In other words, there are only a few official officials in a county: one magistrate, the seventh rank; one county magistrate, the eighth rank;

That's all for the official establishment, a total of four people.If it is a small county, it will be less, there is no master or county magistrate, or even none.Of course, there are other so-called "officials" in the county, but they are never formal officials and are not supported by the imperial finance. In theory, they are supported by the local "retained" land tax.

Can such a few people manage the affairs of a county well?It is definitely not possible in future generations, because the governments of future generations have too many things to manage, and these few people can't manage even one percent of them.

Then 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 gentry for self-government, and the other is to ignore as much as possible. How much sin and ugliness there is in private is none of my business.

In addition to the lack of national financial resources to support so many administrative officials, the formation of this phenomenon also has a relatively deeper source of thought, that 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".From the content point of view, the art of Huang Laozi inherits and develops the thoughts of the Yellow Emperor and Laozi about Tao. They believe that Tao exists as an objective necessity, and point out that "the virtual and the same are one, and the constant one stops", "everyone uses it." , invisible."

These things are too metaphysical, it is better to talk about reality.For example, in the field of social politics, Huang-Lao's art emphasizes "Tao produces the law", believes that the monarch should govern by doing nothing, "save harsh things, save money, don't seize the people's time", advocate "justice and selflessness", "respect, thrift and simplicity" , "Precious and soft, keep the female", to achieve action through inaction.

These propositions, especially the recuperation among them, had a certain benign influence in the early Han Dynasty. As a result, there were prosperous times such as the rule of Wenjing, which also had an impact on the subsequent dynasties.

However, this kind of thinking also means that the development of this country is spontaneous.For example, the emergence of a city does not require planning, it is all formed and developed spontaneously.

From Gao Pragmatism's point of view, urban development from voluntary to planning is an inevitable progressive behavior. When the country is capable of planning, planning is better than no planning.For example, in the Tang Dynasty, Chang'an City planned two cities, East and West, and the commodity economy developed rapidly. Only then did the new vocabulary of "things" refer to goods appear.

It's just that in ancient society, being able to plan the capital is already very valuable, and it may be really impossible to plan more details of the city.

Gao Yushi always believes that if the power cannot be reached, we should try our best to strengthen this "power" instead of waiting for this "power" to form naturally-maybe one day it will form, but it is too slow.

The advantage of Huang Lao's thought is to allow the free development of the people, and the disadvantage is to allow the disorderly development of the people.

Gao Yushi, as a time traveler, is of course very clear that free development is conducive to enhancing social vitality, but he also knows the hidden dangers that disorderly development will inevitably bring.The system implemented by many Western countries in later generations is free development, but because there is not enough guidance and restrictions, they often have to bear the consequences of disorderly development-such as economic crisis.

Therefore, from Gao Pragmatism's point of view, whether it is a small government or a big government, the key issue is how to keep the social development alive while not being out of control like a flood.

The current problem of the Ming court is largely due to the fact that the civil servants do not trust the imperial power extremely, and the ruling institution of the imperial court itself is regarded by them as an extension of the imperial power, so even if they themselves serve in this institution, The legitimacy of this institution will still be doubted because of its expansion.

This situation seems to have shaken the truth that "the ass decides the head", but it is not true, and it does not destroy anything, because the first attribute of most bureaucrats is not court officials, but landlords, wealthy businessmen or their spokespersons.

The more things your court takes care of, the more the status of my family in the hometown will decline?My position as an official cannot be hereditary. Obviously, the continuation of the family and the interests of the family are what I value most. How could your emperor compete with me for this!

Under the influence of this kind of deep-seated thinking, the highly pragmatic move to collect and expand power will of course usher in opposition, which was already in his expectation.Of course, Gao Yushi himself does not want to continue to expand the imperial power—even if it seems to be the case at this stage, but in the final analysis his goal is not this.It's just...it's meaningless to tell others about it now, everything depends on his future methods.

No one will talk about "restricting imperial power". All civil officials will use the common people as a cover when discussing related affairs, just as Xu Xuemo questioned at this time: "If the people in the world support hundreds of officials, if these officials are endlessly added, can it be Isn't it fishing and hunting people?"

Facing this question, Gao Wushi refuted it with his usual point of view, saying: "Before, there were many people who opposed the opening of the sea. Now that the sea has been opened for nearly 200 years, the imperial court can earn more than [-] million taels of Kuping silver from overseas every year. , May I ask whether Kai Hai has ever abused the common people?"

Seeing that Xu Xuemo opened his mouth to argue, he waved his hand to stop him, and continued: "The hall has repeatedly discussed that the wealth of the world is by no means static. It is like farming land. If you have more varieties, you will reap more. Therefore, what my court should do is to find ways Let the people "variety and excellent species" to increase the total output, instead of following the old ways and clinging to the original possessions to calculate.

Suppose my family produced [-] jin of grain last year, and this year hired hundreds of people to build new water conservancy projects. After proper irrigation, the lower field turned into a middle field, and the middle field turned into an upper field, so I harvested as much as [-] jin. How can I ask Uncle Da Zong——The cost of my labor can be regarded as a prodigal lift? "

Xu Xuemo frowned and said, "The words of Da Situ seem reasonable, but everything may not be so smooth. For example, whether the water conservancy repair or not may not affect such a large output, and the cost of 'hiring a hundred people' may take many years to recover." Payback, not to mention that water conservancy is not done once and for all, and it is likely to require long-term maintenance to ensure use, which will cost more.

What's more, Da Situ compared this to the newly appointed officials for the reform of the post station, and the money earned by the post station did not come from overseas, but from my own country of Ming Dynasty, that is, from the pockets of the people all over the world.Therefore, no matter how Da Situ whitewashes it, it cannot change the fact that the imperial court takes money from the people's pockets, right? "

Gao Wushi smiled lightly, and said: "Da Zongbo may be said to be familiar with etiquette, but he doesn't seem to care much about financial management. I wonder if Da Zongbo has read the "Take and Use Book" in the previous chapter of this department hall? The full name of that book is called "Taxation "What is taken from the people and used for the people", which not only discusses the debate between righteousness and benefit, but also discusses 'why taxation'.

In this booklet, the Benbutang once said: "It is a tax that is neither owned by the court nor owned by your Majesty. This money is taken from the people and used for the people."The king is the herdsman of heaven, and the ministers and others assist the king.

Taxes are applied to the ruler only to enable the ruler to serve the herdsmen without being constrained by expenses; taxes are used to the ministers and so on, only to enable the ministers and others to serve the ruler effectively and not be forced by food and clothing.Grains of rice and half millet, every needle and thread, are all used by the herdsmen to support the people, so what is the harsh government? '

Nowadays, it seems that the imperial court needs to spend some money to set up some new officials for the post station reform, but how much does the imperial court need to spend on the post station every year?Although the money was originally spent by the local government, did the local money come out of thin air?In the final analysis, the money originally came from the pockets of the common people. "

Xu Xuemo shook his head and said, "Since the changes are all at the expense of the common people, then why should they be changed?"

"Da Zong Bo is ridiculous." Gao Wushi waved his hands again and again, and said: "In the past, the imperial court maintained the post station, and the fee for the post station was collected from the people by the local government, but the post station did not serve the people. .

Now after the innovation, the post station is open to the public. Although a certain fee is charged, any commoner can decide whether to use the post station.This also means that if the people think it is not cost-effective to send letters or deliver goods through post stations, they will naturally not use them.

On the contrary, since it is used, it must be because it is worth the money, and both parties are happy.This is the so-called win-win situation, why did Da Zongbo say 'what else to change'? "

Xu Xuemo was at a loss for words for a while, unable to think of how to answer, so he fell silent.

Shu Hua, Minister of the Ministry of Criminal Affairs, was ill at this time, and his spirit was not good. In addition, this matter had little to do with his Ministry of Criminal Affairs, so he had no intention of discussing it until now.However, Shi Xing, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, couldn't help but said: "Da Situ used water conservancy facilities to increase the yield of the field as an example, but what is being discussed at this time has nothing to do with increasing production? Whether it is sending letters or transporting goods, it has nothing to do with production. As for the relationship, it is said in the world that the wealth of geniuses has not changed, but the wealth of the common people has been earned by the imperial court, isn’t it still a struggle with the people for profit?”

Gao Wushi had a bad opinion of Shi Xing, the Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry, who was from the School of Pragmatism and Heartless School. Hearing this, he said indifferently: "It is said that Da Sikong recently supervised the mausoleum (in charge of the emperor's mausoleum project)? Presumably Da Sikong should know that some of the stone materials in the mausoleum It is produced in the area of ​​Taihu Lake in the south of the Yangtze River. According to the past practice, the Ministry of Household Affairs should write a document in Suzhou Prefecture or Changzhou Prefecture, ordering these two prefectures to tribute the stone to Tianshou Mountain.

Although the two mansions are far apart, because of their loyalty to the Son of Heaven, they should choose suitable stones by themselves and send people thousands of miles to transport them to the north.However, last year the Ministry of Households took over the financial rights. When I heard about it this year, they did not implement the old system. Instead, they entrusted the Nanjing Household Department (note: because Nanzhili is directly under the jurisdiction of the Sixth Ministry of Nanjing) to purchase stone materials in the second prefecture of Taihu Lake. The cheapest way is to ship it to Tianjin by sea, and then hire the Production and Construction Corps to transport it to Tianshou Mountain.

Later, the Ministry of Household Affairs calculated that the cost of transporting this batch of stone materials was much cheaper this year than that of previous emperors.As far as its average price is concerned, it is only about [-]% of the past, saving more than [-] 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 finance is nothing more than increasing income and reducing expenditure. Opening up income is of course beneficial, so isn't reducing expenditure considered beneficial? "

Since Shi Xing became an official, he was first in the Department of Pedestrians, and then he was convicted and demoted to the people in the Sixth Division. Soon after his recovery, he was transferred to Shangbaosi, transferred to Dali Temple, and then transferred to Nanjing Taipu Temple. He was a member of the Imperial Censor of the Fudu, then promoted to the Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of War, and finally changed to the Xin School, and became the Minister of the Ministry of Industry.

In his long career, he has basically never dealt with finances, so once Gao Yushi directly "discusses the facts", he was caught off guard and didn't know how to refute for a while.

Among the six ministers, Xu Xuemo, minister of the Ministry of Rites, and Shi Xing, minister of the Ministry of Industry, are serious members of the School of Mind. Although Shu Hua also came from the School of Mind, he is not in good health, and as a minister of the Ministry of Punishment, it is difficult for him to deal with these matters. To speak up, so he made up his mind not to interfere in this matter, so naturally he didn't intend to discuss anything.

The table next to the old man was very close. Although Gao Yushi couldn't talk about talking with the Confucianists just now, he had already made the two Xinxue Shangshu so reasonable that both Shen Shixing and Wang Xijue couldn't help frowning.The two husbands glanced at each other and knew that they had to go out in person.
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(End of this chapter)