prosperous age

Chapter 1055 1146 Ministry of Revenue Reform

What Wei Guangde mentioned is actually the so-called basis for Portugal and Spain to divide the world during their heyday - the Papal Meridian.

The Papal Meridian is a line established by Pope Alexander VI in 1493 to demarcate the colonial territories between Spain and Portugal.

Under the treaty, Pope Alexander VI divided the world into two territorial regions, belonging to Spain and Portugal respectively.

However, the delineation of the Papal Meridian was not generally recognized by other European countries, especially those that later entered into colonial competition.

In the early days of the Age of Discovery, or the early colonial era, Spain and Portugal gained huge advantages by virtue of their first-mover advantage, making other Western countries covetous but helpless.

However, as these countries gradually went out and competed for colonies, the Papal Meridian was actually abandoned, and many disputes and controversies surrounding the colonies were eventually resolved through other means.

Although the demarcation of the Papal Meridian did not fully resolve territorial disputes and colonial competition, it is still regarded as an important milestone in international law and colonial history.

However, what the Pope of the West defined was actually nothing to the three rulers of the Eastern Empire.

But at this time, Feng Bao and Zhang Juzheng were still more shocked by the fact that the barbarians dared to divide the so-called world than that the earth was round.

Yes, it doesn’t really matter whether the earth is square or round, because the ground under their feet will not change and they will not fall off.

As for the safety of those people on the other side of the earth, it is not within their consideration.

However, they could not accept that the great Ming Empire was actually assigned to the barbarians by a stupid Western Pope.

"Could their pope be greater than the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty?"

Feng Bao hesitated for a long time before finally uttering these words.

When Wei Guangde heard this, he was stunned.

In later generations, the person in the Vatican is generally called the Pope because he is God's spokesperson on earth.

However, it seems that some people translate religious leader into titles such as Pope.

Whether it should be called the Pope or the Pope, no one in later generations has paid attention to it.

Because of the decline of imperial power, there is no real empire anymore. Even countries that still maintain a monarchy are ruled by constitutional monarchy.

A king or emperor is more of a symbol with limited real power.

The situation of the Pope is similar. With the development of technology, although the number of believers has not decreased but increased, the Pope's influence on the secular world has actually weakened.

Wei Guangde did not think it was necessary to dwell on the title, and hurriedly explained: "The title of Pope is the word given by the translator. In fact, his status in the West is a religious leader, such as the Taoist Longhu Mountain Heavenly Master.

In the West, there is a similar title, that is the Pope.

Therefore, there is no need for us to bother with those barbarians."

Wei Guangde's explanation did have some effect. At least Feng Bao's complexion looked much better, although it was still flushed.

Yes, it's just a title. He is the Pope, not the emperor, and has no secular power, but only influence.

It seems that there is really no need to bother with these rude barbarians.

After Zhang Juzheng calmed down, he began to think about why Wei Guangde said those words.

"Shandai, what you mean is that since the imperial court is in financial distress, should we also learn from the barbarians and seize territory and money from outsiders?"

Zhang Juzheng's words reached Feng Bao's ears, and Feng Bao was also puzzled and asked: "Did he say that?"

"Didn't Shandai just say that there is a continent in the east that is covered with gold and silver mines? The silver coins used by the Yi people, or Spaniards, in our Ming Dynasty were mined from that continent in the east."

Zhang Juzheng immediately reminded him.

After listening to Zhang Juzheng's words, Feng Bao nodded slightly, as if thinking about something.

"Spain and Portugal are now powerful countries among the barbarian nations, relying on the huge wealth brought by navigation, which allows them to build more large ships and recruit more soldiers.

With ships and soldiers, they can seize more territory and minerals to enrich the national treasury.

Therefore, their aggressiveness is beyond doubt.

Once there is no place in the world where they can intervene, they will probably turn their attention to those countries that they were unable to conquer before."

Wei Guangde said this with a hint of meaning.

This is actually the history of later generations.

When the world was divided up and a new Western order was established.

The leaders among them naturally turned their attention to regions that they previously thought were difficult to rule, such as India and China.

"So, you also led Ming to this step?"

Zhang Juzheng stared at Wei Guangde and asked word by word.

“Seize important positions to prevent similar incidents from happening again.

At the very least, similar incidents will not be allowed to happen in the vassal states surrounding the Ming Dynasty."

Wei Guangde shook his head and replied, "From the reaction of the Sulu Kingdom, it can be seen that they are not unable to understand the evil ambitions of the barbarians, but they just don't have the strength to fight against them.

And they can only rely on our Ming Dynasty and yearn for the protection of the Ming Dynasty.

We can give these to him.

However, at the same time, they also have to shoulder their responsibilities towards the Ming Dynasty. It is not about asking them for money or resources, but about completely opening up the Ming Dynasty market so that our merchants can go there to do business.

The imperial court collected taxes and obtained financial support for protection, and they could also obtain the Ming Dynasty goods they coveted. "

In fact, there were no international business rules in this era, and they were all made by local rulers themselves.

No matter where merchants come from, they must accept the various regulations of the local rulers.

Not only do you have to pay taxes, but you also have to supply designated goods. It doesn't mean that you can sell goods casually and only consider the market without considering anything else.

In some religious countries, some goods cannot be sold.

In some cases, restrictions would be placed on trading ports, and foreign merchants could only trade in designated port cities.

These undoubtedly affect the interests of businessmen.

Because the more restrictions there are, the more limited the possible profit margins for foreign merchants will be.

This is also why many colonial wars were initially launched on the pretext of opening trading ports.

By opening more trading ports and bringing more merchants into contact, demand will increase and their profit margins will be improved.

The Ming Dynasty now has the confidence to open only Yuegang and impose heavy taxes on the goods circulating here, which is actually a manifestation of this right.

"The Ming Dynasty must not only return to Southeast Asia and regain control of the Southern Ming Sea, but also enter the Western Ocean and reach all the places visited during the Yongle period. It must also continue to expand trade routes outward and sell Ming Dynasty products to more distant places.

The fact that foreign merchants would travel thousands of miles to buy Ming Dynasty products and bring them back to sell shows that Ming Dynasty products will only have higher profits overseas.

It’s not wrong for merchants to pursue profits. As long as there is a higher profit, they will go to great lengths to deliver goods to your door.”

Wei Guangde made a cold joke and said, "As for what my uncle said before, it is actually very simple to enrich the national treasury, it is not just about raising taxes.

I remember that I had read an article titled "The Great Way to Make Money" written by my uncle some time ago. In fact, the article had already said that it was nothing more than increasing revenue and reducing expenditure.

In the past, it was difficult to increase revenue, but since the previous emperor had lifted the ban on sea trade, there were naturally new ways to make money. The Ministry of Revenue could also consider cooperating with maritime merchants and participate in the process to gain profits.

As for saving money, my uncle has already said everything that needs to be said in the article, and I don’t have any other ideas.

But I sent a letter to my family in Jiangxi a few days ago, but I didn’t expect that no merchants would return in the past few days.”

At this point, Wei Guangde looked at Zhang Juzheng and said, "Although I can use the imperial post station to send letters home, and even send a servant to make a special trip.

But this incident still gave me some other ideas.

The Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War jointly managed the court's post and courier services, which were usually used to deliver official documents, welcome incoming officials, and pass on battle reports during wars.

But usually, these couriers don’t actually have much to do, which is really a waste.

Shandai felt that it would be entirely possible to formulate a regulation to allow the post station to accept the task of delivering letters from the people.

There is generally no such demand within the county, as letters are mostly delivered across prefectures or even provinces.

However, depending on the distance, the post would charge a certain amount of money, and this money would naturally offset the court's expenses on the post.

It can be said that this is an increase in revenue, or it can be considered as a way to save money for the court.”

"hiss"

Hearing Wei Guangde's words, Zhang Juzheng took a breath.

To be honest, Zhang Juzheng had not expected Wei Guangde's proposal, because the post station system had been implemented since the founding of the Ming Dynasty and had a history of nearly two hundred years.

No one had ever suggested that the post station system needed to be changed, so it was naturally ignored by officials because they could benefit from it.

But in fact, Zhang Juzheng knew from the bills that the Ministry of War submitted to the Ministry of Revenue every year that the annual expenses of the post office were actually very huge, so huge that it was difficult for ordinary people to imagine.

An expenditure of three million taels.

How many people in later generations knew that the Ming Dynasty’s annual investment in communications such as post stations and express delivery shops was so huge?

The bulk of the three million taels of expenditure was not on the postmen, but on the reception and seeing off of officials, the repair of post houses, and the purchase of horses and carriages.

Of course, only a part of it needs to be subsidized by the Ministry of Revenue, but several hundred thousand taels or more than two million taels of silver are actually distributed among the local miscellaneous taxes.

Zhang Ju didn’t pay attention to it before, but now it’s different.

Now that Wei Guangde proposed ways to increase revenue, or to reduce expenditure, for the post office, Zhang Juzheng suddenly felt that the expenses of the post office seemed a bit too high.

The post station system during the Ming Dynasty was a huge communication and transportation network, which was of great significance to national governance and military communications.

The operation and maintenance of the post station requires a large amount of funds, which mainly come from national finances and taxes from local people.

The funding for each post station is generally based on the size of the post station, the number of staff and carriages, and is used to replenish the post station's supplies, improve and maintain the infrastructure, and pay the postmen's wages.

In addition, the post station reforms and system adjustments in the Ming Dynasty, such as the increase in horse food intake and changes in staffing, would directly affect the operating costs of the post stations.

"Shandai, I'm afraid your business is not making money, but losing money."

Just as Zhang Juzheng was thinking about the post affairs, Feng Bao suddenly interrupted.

Wei Guangde looked at Feng Bao, somewhat puzzled.

“Although there is a demand for letters among the people, how much is it? Most relatives live in one place, so there is a need for correspondence there.

As for those who need letters, that is, officials and merchants, they have plenty of channels to deliver letters.

As for you this time, it just happened that there were no merchants coming and going."

Feng Bao explained.

In fact, what Feng Bao said is not wrong.

The current system of the Ming Dynasty confines the people to their hometowns, and generally there is no need to deliver letters to other places.

However, the Ming Dynasty also insisted on immigration, and as a result, many clans were scattered across the country.

Therefore, Wei Guangde shook his head at Feng Bao's words and told him about the branches of the Wei family, one went to Liaodong and the other went to Datong.

"Through the help of the Ministry of War, we have found news about the relatives who went to Liaodong, but we have lost the information about the Datong branch due to the war in the early years."

Wei Guangde said, "If there is correspondence, they can just write a letter to Jiangxi, and they won't have to go through the trouble of searching.

Brother Shuanglin said that there is no such demand among the people. It is true that there is little demand, but it is not necessarily absent. "

"What Shandai said is absolutely right."

Zhang Juzheng continued, but at this time he was not considering Wei Guangde's proposal to develop private post services, but was thinking about reforming the post services and reducing operating costs.

"In the past, the imperial court sent immigrants to Liaodong and the west to open up new land. Many of these people have lost contact with their families for many years. If the imperial post can provide convenient communication, I think they will still need it."

Since Zhang Juzheng had said so, Feng Bao naturally had nothing to say, and just nodded with a smile.

"Shandai, the postal delivery you mentioned is a good direction in my opinion.

Who would have thought that the annual expenditure of the postal service would exceed three million taels of silver? "

"what?"

This was the first time that Feng Bao knew that the imperial court's post service cost so much money. Three million taels was not a small sum.

The total annual revenue of the imperial court was only equivalent to tens of millions of taels, and the postal service accounted for almost one tenth of it.

Of course, Feng Bao also knew that the imperial court borne less of the burden, and the bulk of the burden still borne by the local governments.

But this expenditure is also incredible.

Wei Guangde didn't know that his idea of ​​opening up private postal services to facilitate communication between people had actually turned into a reform under Zhang Juzheng's operation.

In the early Ming Dynasty, the use of the imperial post stations was very strict.

But by now, huge corruption has emerged.

Although Zhang Juzheng was still drunk at this time, he was already planning to formulate a new "Regulations for Post Stations", which stipulated new rules for the issuance and management of Kankou and the use of post stations.

  Seeing Zhang Juzheng asking Wei Guangde for advice, Feng Bao's eyes turned and he also asked in a low voice: "Shandai, do you think the twenty-four government offices in the inner court should also be changed?

The outer courts all say that the inner court is used to spending money but never giving change, but the inner court is supposed to serve His Majesty, so how can it be run to make money? "

After hearing what Feng Bao said, Wei Guangde shook his head and said, "Brother Shuanglin should find a way to solve the inner court's affairs. This is not something I should interfere with."

"You, you."

When Feng Bao heard Wei Guangde say this, he could only point at him with his finger and didn't say anything more.

"Shandai, besides the post office, is there anything else that can be changed in the Ministry of Revenue?"

At this moment, Zhang Juzheng also asked following Feng Bao's words.

"The Ministry of Revenue and the Treasury Department can be abolished or used for other purposes."

Wei Guangde said without even thinking.