Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 2088 "Remedy"

"Although you say that, I guess you won't say that the money will go to Taicang and the officials." Liu Xin shrugged and said: "The emperor must give a share, right? ? This is your habit."

"Hahahaha, congratulations, you have learned to answer quickly." Gao Wushi smiled and said, "[-]% of the [-]% here in Taicang needs to be given [-]% to be counted as the emperor's share. Uh, how should I say it? The extension of imperial power, if the emperor endorses it, it is reasonable to give a piece of silver."

"That is to say, in the end, only [-]% of the treasury got it." Liu Xin thought for a while and asked, "By the way, how much do you think this money can have?"

Gao Wushi deliberately acted a little surprised, and asked back: "You don't really think that I'm pushing this matter because of how much money these third-class foreign nobles can actually earn for the court, do you?"

He was falsely surprised, but Liu Xin was really surprised, and wondered, "Isn't that the main reason?"

"Even if it is one of the several important factors, it must be very low, at least it must be ranked third." Gao Wushi said: "The first important reason is that I want to use this matter to push the court's Formal officials and local interest groups are separated, or at least a gap is drawn between them, which is conducive to my follow-up arrangements.

The second important reason is that I want to use this method to eliminate some major unstable factors in society, and in turn bring these unstable factors into the court system.Therefore, making money is nothing more than cuddling grass and beating rabbits, just passing by. "

"I can understand the first reason, but what does the second reason mean? Why is there a 'social instability factor' involved in this matter?"

Gao Wushi touched his chin, seemed to organize his words, and asked, "Do you know that the Qing Dynasty had a system of donating officials?"

"The official donation system itself will definitely cause institutional corruption. After all, those people spent thousands or tens of thousands of taels to buy an official, and they must find a way to earn it back. This is human nature." Gao Yushi sighed: "But you If you only see this aspect, you will underestimate the Daqing’s ruling methods.”

"How else can you look at this?" Liu Xin asked in surprise: "A group of incompetent people took advantage of their family's little money to sneak into the officialdom by donating officials, and then began to dig three feet, three feet, and one hundred thousand snowflakes." The life of a bastard who crazily scrapes people's fat and people's fat..."

Liu Xin pondered: "You mean, the Manchu Qing court had already completed a high degree of bondage of interests with the Han landlord class at that time, so no matter whether it was Zeng Guofan or Li Hongzhang, they felt that their interests were protected in the court at that time. Yes, so there is no motivation to overthrow the Manchu Qing?"

"To a large extent, it is true." Gao Wushi sighed: "You can seriously think about one thing: why the power to finally put down the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is not the so-called elite Manchurian Eight Banners, but the Han landlords headed by Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang. class.

How should I put it, if Liu Futong and Guo Zixing lived in Daqing, they would most likely not rebel at all, because they would either take the Jinshi exam or the martial arts exam, and if they couldn’t do it, they could still spend money to donate to officials—because both of them were born House of the rich.

Liu Xin stopped asking this question again, and said suspiciously: "Yes, according to your theory just now, it doesn't seem right."

"What's the problem with lifting the feudal ban?" Liu Xin opened her eyes wide and said, "Isn't this a good thing that pleases everyone from any point of view? It's even the best of both worlds! The imperial court has lost its burden, and many clans have also shaken off their shackles."

Gao Wushi laughed and said: "Haha, that's what you think, or it's because I only did half of that thing, so it will take time for the consequences to appear... But if I don't follow up on the policy, Sooner or later, the problems will eventually explode as they pile up."

Gao Wushi shook his head and said, "Of course there are all the problems you mentioned, but I still have to tell you that the system of donating officials really has other intentions."

Then, you can think a little deeper, that is, since they were able to defeat the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom that made the Manchurian Eight Banners helpless with only local team training, it stands to reason that they turned around and wiped out the Manchurian Eight Banners and overthrew the Qing court. wrong?But why, none of them chose to rebel? "

Gao Wushi nodded and said: "This is the main reason. Of course, there are also some secondary reasons. For example, they have their own strengths, and they doubt whether they can make the entire Han landlord class stand by their side, and the society's admiration for loyal ministers, The disdain of the 'rebels', and even their own age when they gained greater power, etc., are more or less one of the influencing factors.

"Really?" Liu Xin obviously didn't believe it.

Of course, you may want to say, there are still many poor students who are high school scholars?Yes, there are indeed many.However, if you really go to the statistics, you will find that the proportion of high school Jinshi for such poor students is still very low, and their final achievements are often relatively limited. There are very few chosen children who can break out of this shackle. [Note: This data was mentioned in Volume [-] of this book. ]
Let's talk about "absorbing social elites" first, and then talk about the matter of "emphasizing literature over martial arts".You said, is it a local tyrant who is proficient in shooting, horseback riding and archery in his manor every day with his guests, is a great danger to the court, or is it a scholar who memorizes the four books and five classics in his manor every day? big?
I have always believed that the high probability of the Qing Dynasty is because they ruled the Central Plains with a small number of people, so they especially emphasized the absorption and win over of social unrest forces. This point is actually worth learning and thinking about.

Liu Xin nodded and said, "Let me sum it up. Your main points can be summed up as follows: the channel to ascend the social class must be kept open, because it is the basis for the stability of the society. As for how to ascend, even if it is just the simplest flower There’s nothing wrong with money.”

Liu Xin was very surprised: "Wipe your ass for the previous reforms? How do you say that? Aren't your previous reforms very cautious and successful?"

Not to mention the civil and military examinations, the number of people enrolled in the Daqing military imperial examinations over the years is many times that of Ming Dynasty, and the prospects of the candidates under the Daqing military imperial examination system are still very good.As a local tyrant or the son of a local tyrant, if you still can’t get here, it’s okay, because you can still donate an official.

"So, what do you think of the system?"

In fact, the real purpose of the imperial examination was twofold: on the one hand, it was to absorb the social elites into the system, and on the other hand, it was to create a social atmosphere in which "emphasis was placed on literature over martial arts."

“For example, on the other hand, the official donation system also enabled the Qing Dynasty to absorb a large number of social elites who could not enter the bureaucracy through the imperial examinations—of course, it can also be said that they are social instability forces, or even potential rebels—into the Tatars. Qing’s ruling system, thereby reducing the possibility of social unrest.”

"The system? What a bastard system..." Liu Xin said angrily: "The officials donated like this, the officials have no quality, and they are all shameless. In addition to making the country a mess, they also have What’s the use? Let me tell you, this is another manifestation of the Manchu ruling class’s arbitrary exploitation and bullying of the Han people.”

This can be compared with the Yuan Dynasty. Although the Yuan Dynasty had looser social control than the Ming and Qing Dynasties, because the Yuan Dynasty failed to solve the problem of the ascendant class of the landlord class, the result was the local tyrants and landlords such as Liu Futong and Guo Zixing in the late Yuan Dynasty. , simply find a way for yourself. "

Note that the 'social elite' I'm referring to is very simple, that is, the landlord class with certain economic strength, because often only those with a rich family background are more likely to study for so many years without doing anything productive-such as me.

Liu Xin became even more curious, and asked, "What is it?"

But it was different in the Qing Dynasty. He spent money to donate a juren treatment, and the local yamen did not dare to oppress him too much.Wei Changhui's troubles in their local area in his early years were mainly due to being bullied by local landlords because of his Hakka identity.It can be said that if it were not for Hong Xiuquan and others coming to the city, I think Wei Changhui would not choose to rebel with a high probability. "

Gao Wushi laughed dryly, and said: "Then let me ask you, the Ming Dynasty was actually the same as the Yuan Dynasty, it also did not solve the problem of the ascending channel for the big landlords, but why didn't many big landlords revolt broke out, and in the end they did die in the peasant uprising— —Of course there are Manchus taking advantage of the fire?"

But I still say that the main reason is that class interests are protected or even satisfied.Just like the famous saying: Politics is to make your own people more and more people, and make your enemy's people less.

After listening to this analysis, Liu Xin couldn't help but fell into deep thought, and pondered: "So according to your opinion, it is very important for those who have money but lack official status to have a channel to obtain a high status in society, and it can even influence One of the major events for the stability of the world?"

Gao Wushi paused for a while, and said: "What I want to tell you is that in fact, the imperial examinations—at least the current imperial examinations—often fail to select real talents. Zhu Yuanzhang said when the imperial examinations were suspended in the early years of Hongwu, the imperial examinations Those selected by the exam are a group of mediocre people who can only talk about it.

"Of course I know, I watch a lot of TV dramas." Liu Xin replied.

So you see, although the Daqing society was more conducive to the accumulation of wealth and resources than the Ming society, among the rebels in the Daqing society, there were very few who were born as big landlords or wealthy businessmen.Seriously speaking, Wei Changhui, the northern king of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, might be considered as having the best family conditions, but he was just a low-level landlord who could only donate 100 taels of silver to the prison students.

Liu Xin laughed back angrily: "Aha, that's it? You say this is a genius system?"

Liu Xin was very surprised, and asked, "Is there such a thing? What did Zhu Di do?"

"It can't be said that there is nothing wrong with it, it can only be said that the two evils are the lesser." Gao Wushi pondered: "In fact, in the feudal society, many policies of the imperial court had unexpected duality.

Liu Xin nodded to show her understanding, and said at the same time: "So now you have to open a hole in the ceiling of these people. Although it is different from Man Qing, you can't do it for them to avoid anger, but at least the identity problem can be solved for them, yes Is that so?"

For example, you can see that many people in our time exaggerated Juzheng's reform at the beginning, thinking that it was the key to the survival of the Ming Dynasty, but after a while, many Ming historians, such as Professor Mao Peiqi, believed that it was Zhang Juzheng who fully laid out A whip method hastened the demise of the Ming Dynasty.

Similarly, although the official donation system in the Manchu and Qing Dynasties has been criticized for selling officials and honoring titles, in fact, we must also see that this is only a bad side of it. On the other hand, the official donation system has also absorbed as many social instability factors into the system as possible. This objectively maintained the stability of the Manchu rule.

But if you think about it the other way around, even if Wei Changhui was the lowest-level landlord in Daqing, what would happen if he was in Daming?He must be the target of bullying and exploitation by the local yamen, because although he has a small family property, no one in his family is an official, and even the master Juren can't be found.

Gao Wushi smiled wryly and said: "Because there was Zhu Di in the Ming Dynasty, he may be a genius, or it may be a pure coincidence, in short, one of his measures successfully eliminated - or at least greatly contained - the soil that produced super landlords, This makes the rule of the Ming Dynasty strangely stable, if there is no rise of the Manchus, maybe the Ming Dynasty, which can be called a mess with various systems, can continue to rule."

Gao Wushi waved his hand and interrupted: "I know these things, but what I'm asking now is, from the perspective of the system, what do you think?"

These words hit the nail on the head, because at that time, the power of the landlord class was really the greatest.And only that great man can gather the power of almost the whole people through a revolutionary organization, surpassing the powers that seem to be the most powerful such as landlords and capitalists... This is really like a miracle, and I will definitely not be able to do it , so I can only settle for the next best thing. "

"Well, it's not impossible for you to think so, but in fact, the most direct reason I did this was to wipe my ass for another previous reform."

"Is it, for example?"

Gao Wushi pursed his lips, and said three words that Liu Xin never expected: "Open the feudal ban."

Gao Wushi spread his hands together: "The vassal king moved in, and the clan raised pigs."

Gao Wushi didn't mind her anger, and said with a wry smile, "Don't be angry first! Think about it calmly, if super-big landlords like vassal kings are all over the mainland, have they sucked up all the powerful people around them? The result is Isn't it true that only families that have produced high-ranking officials have the ability to continue to maintain a large industry under the continuous blood-sucking of the vassal king?
Take my Gao family as an example. In the province of Henan, the princes with high status include King Zhou, King Zheng, King Tang, King Chong, King Zhao, King Lu... originally there would be a King Fu.Then think about it, except for families with our status who can avoid being exploited by them, can ordinary landlords without the backing of senior officials be able to withstand their blood pressure?
If you look at the situation at the end of the Ming Dynasty, you will know why the last civil official group that can still form a large force is the Donglin Party?Let me tell you, it is largely because there are no feudal kings with high status along the southern coasts of Nanzhili, Zhejiang, and Fujian! "

Liu Xin gasped, and murmured, "It's because of this...it's like this?"

Gao Wushi sighed, got up and patted her on the shoulder, and said: "But don't worry too much, the feudal ban will still be lifted, I can't tolerate such a large group of leeches sucking Daming's blood all the time; I also want to cut power in the civil society Yes, otherwise this group of privileged classes will be more bloodthirsty than the clan.

However, I have to remedy what needs to be remedied, and I have to guide what needs to be guided... In short, my task is very arduous. It doesn't mean that I will be the chief assistant tomorrow, and these things can be done overnight. "
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Thank you book friend "Cao Mianzi" for your support, thank you!
PS: The driver's license expires, and I will go to the physical examination + replacement card tomorrow, so I will update this chapter first tonight.

(End of this chapter)