Short video spoiler history: The beginning of modern warfare

Chapter 116 Zhang Juzheng's Reforms and Silver Monetization

[Speaking of Zhang Juzheng's reforms, the most famous one is the Single Whip Law. In fact, the Single Whip Law is only one of the reforms. Zhang Juzheng's reforms involved all aspects, mainly 5 points, corresponding to the drawbacks mentioned in his "On Current Affairs" during the Jiajing period]

[On Current Affairs says: The biggest problems are the arrogance of the royal family, the lack of officials, the inertia of the government, the lack of border defense, and the great financial losses. These are the royal family problem, the talent problem, the official problem, the border defense problem, and the financial problem.]

After Zhang Juzheng came to power, he first implemented the performance evaluation system to rectify the administration of officials. He carried out performance evaluation and supervision on officials, clarified responsibilities, clearly distinguished rewards and punishments, and strictly enforced them. He promoted officials who performed well and demoted those who did not, greatly improving the efficiency of various departments.

[Secondly, he advocated taking money in moderation and spending money in moderation, opposed extortion and extortion, cut all useless expenses in the palace, and cleared out vacant population in the royal family, etc.]

[Third, we will survey the land throughout the country, investigate and measure the land that has been seized and concealed by private landlords and tyrants, so as to increase the state's fiscal revenue, thereby achieving the goal of not increasing taxes on the people but filling the treasury.]

【Fourth, the Single Whip System was implemented throughout the country, which was actually the merging of taxes and labor services. The land tax and various corvées were collected together. Except for the necessary rice and wheat, the rest were converted into silver. Taxes were collected according to the amount of land owned. The government collected and transported the taxes.】

[The Single Whip Law directly changed the extremely chaotic tax and corvée system at the time, restricted the corruption of clerks, and greatly reduced the pressure on the people at the time]

[Fifth, in terms of military, Qi Jiguang was stationed at Jimen and Li Chengliang was stationed at Liaodong. More than 3000 enemy towers were built on the Great Wall from Shanhaiguan in the east to Juyongguan in the west, strengthening the defense in the north. A mutual trade policy was implemented in the border areas, which kept the border areas politically and economically stable.]

[From the beginning of the Wanli period to the tenth year of the Wanli period, it can be said that Zhang Juzheng's reforms in these ten years did indeed pull the Ming Dynasty back from the brink of collapse. The performance evaluation system changed the lazy and corrupt style of the bureaucracy, while at the same time eliminating redundant officials and appointing talented people; militarily, it stabilized the northern border defense.]

[The land survey and the One Whip Law directly solved the financial problems of the court and filled the treasury, but it also left some hidden dangers. Some people even claimed that Zhang Juzheng was the cause of the court's demise and the One Whip Law, which is a reverse causal analysis based on the situation during the Chongzhen period.]

[We know that any policy has its historical limitations. It is good enough if it can solve the current problems. No one can predict what will happen decades later. If we want to blame someone, we can only blame the Wanli, Tianqi, Chongzhen and the subsequent cabinet for being too incompetent. Without Zhang Juzheng, the Ming Dynasty would not have survived until the Chongzhen period.]

In front of the Fengtian Hall, Zhu Yuanzhang concentrated and held his breath, not daring to miss a single word.

Tianmu mentioned the content of Zhang Juzheng's reforms many times, including the royal family issue, the Single Whip System, and the relationship with Wanli. Now, looking at it from an overall perspective, although there are only a few words, Zhu Yuanzhang still knows how difficult it is to carry out reforms in such a situation of internal and external difficulties.

Whether it was the performance evaluation system to rectify the administration of officials, or the reduction of useless expenses in the palace, the cleaning up of the royal family, and the stabilization of the northern border, they were all excellent policies. What's more, there were also land surveys and the implementation of the "One Whip System" to relieve the heavy burdens on the people.

It can be seen that although Zhang Juzheng abused his power and acted presumptuously during his ten years in power, he also did a lot of practical things.

The question is whether the promotion and implementation of land survey and the Single Whip Law was too fast. In the middle and late dynasties, land occupation and concealment were often very serious, and the relationship between local gentry, landlords and officials was complicated. It took less than ten years to clear and measure the land and implement the Single Whip Law.

Especially the problems such as land occupation and concealment, and the mess in local relations.

Zhu Yuanzhang did not know the exact difficulty, but he thought it would not be that simple. When registering households and conducting a population census last year, the court specifically avoided this sensitive area and only roughly registered the number of acres of land owned by the household head. As for whether the land was fertile or barren, its shape, its location, or whether there were any hidden fields, all of these were omitted.

Did he not want to?
Of course not, it's just that the imperial court was not sure it could accomplish this without provoking local uprisings. Now that the Ming Dynasty was newly established, the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty in the north were eyeing it covetously, and the southwest region was not yet pacified, the imperial court did not want to create any more trouble.

Therefore, although the situation was not as bad as it is today when Zhang Juzheng was carrying out the reforms, the difficulties and obstacles he faced were the same. This is also what Zhu Yuanzhang could not understand, as everything seemed to be going too smoothly.

In addition, Zhu Yuanzhang and a group of important ministers repeatedly considered and discussed the Single Whip System, and they all agreed that there was absolutely no problem with it.

In fact, the One Whip System was the inheritance and development of the Two Tax System of the Tang Dynasty. The imperial court collected summer and autumn taxes, generally in kind. But sometimes, such as when the treasury was full, it would generally levy other items instead. They could also be converted into silver at the discount rate set by the government.

The Single Whip Law expanded this scope to include corvée labor, which was uniformly collected in the form of silver.

Why did Tianmu say that the Single Whip Law had planted a hidden danger? What was the hidden danger? Why did it involve the fall of the Ming Dynasty?
Hu Weiyong, Liu Ji and others also listened attentively. They learned from the sky that the Single Whip Law was a successor to the Two Tax Law and the later system of allocating land tax to each household. It was an extremely important node in the "ancient" tax and service reform.

Compared with today's system, the Single Whip System only expanded the scope of the Two Tax System to include corvee labor, but it did effectively limit corruption and exploitation by clerks and solved the problem of heavy burdens on the people.

The burden of corvée labor was particularly heavy, which was a multiple injury. The corvée labor, which was assigned according to household conditions, and the miscellaneous labor that was temporarily required required the taxpayers to provide their own food, which was a heavy burden. The lack of an adult male in the family and the lack of labor force was another heavy burden. In addition, the families of the taxpayers had to pay the land tax in full, which was another heavy burden.

[First of all, we should start with the land survey. The land survey has a profound social background. After the middle of the Ming Dynasty, royal relatives, meritorious officials, nobles, etc. took advantage of their favors and petitioned for land. In name, they petitioned for "wasteland", but these were actually wastelands reclaimed by the people.]

[The gentry and landlords fanned the flames and occupied a large amount of farmland, which led to a frenzy of land annexation across the country. By the Hongzhi period, the amount of land in the country had been reduced by nearly half, and Huguang, Henan, and Guangdong lost the most.]

[These people who own large amounts of land do not have to pay taxes or serve as officials. Officials are also exempted according to their ranks. The families of officials are generally exempted, which results in many treacherous people relying on powerful families. Those who are not exempted collude with local officials, hide their land or register their land with other weak families. Those whose fields stretch across miles are exempt from all taxes, and those whose houses are as big as hanging bells are all exempted, causing the tax base to gradually collapse. The remaining people can no longer support themselves and flee one after another.]

[For example, at the end of the Jiajing period, the Jiajing Emperor issued some decrees to curb land annexation, including abolishing the "imperial farms"; prohibiting nobles and relatives from petitioning for land; prohibiting the people from donating land to the rich and powerful; and reducing the number of farms owned by distant relatives of the royal family. He sent the censor to Shenyang to clear out more than 16000 hectares of hidden farms and return them to the people.]

[Against this background, Zhang Juzheng began to survey the land. In the sixth year of the Wanli reign, the project was piloted in Fujian. In November of the eighth year of the Wanli reign, the project was promoted nationwide. By the tenth year of the Wanli reign, it took less than three years. It should be noted that during the Hongwu reign, Zhu Yuanzhang's land survey took twelve years from the fourteenth year of the Hongwu reign to the twenty-sixth year of the Hongwu reign.]

[Is Zhang Juzheng more efficient than Zhu Yuanzhang, who was holding a butcher's knife? How is that possible! If you look at the performance evaluation system, you will know that doing well is your duty, and if you don't do well, you will be demoted. It's not like being a worker in the workplace, where you can just fool around. So although the land survey found 2.8 million mu of land, it is unknown how much water there is in it and how much manipulation there is between local governments.]

In front of Fengtian Palace. "Damn termites!" Zhu Yuanzhang cursed angrily, veins on his forehead throbbing, knowing that everything was right.

The royal family already has a large population and owns so much imperial land, plus they receive monthly salaries. It is hard for the court to sustain its supply, but unexpectedly they are still so greedy that they occupy land, causing the court's financial problems to become increasingly serious!
There are also nobles, royal relatives, local tyrants, and even court officials, all of them are parasites!
They eat and take from the Ming Dynasty, and then they poach the Ming Dynasty's people. Zhu Yuanzhang's face was gloomy, and he wished he could kill these bastards who were lining their own pockets with one knife!
With land encroachment so severe, the time for land survey was too short and too hasty.

What could be achieved in less than three years? Zhu Yuanzhang had no confidence in this, and it was obvious that Zhang Juzheng deliberately bypassed the royal family, nobles, relatives of the emperor, and court officials, turning a blind eye and only targeting small and medium-sized local landlords.

Zhang Juzheng's move was just scratching the surface and did not touch the real core.

Zhu Yuanzhang was in mixed feelings. Previously, he felt that Zhang Juzheng was autocratic and had acted in an inappropriate manner. Now he felt that he had not done enough. However, this might also be related to the fact that Zhang Juzheng knew that he did not have much time left.

Royal family issues
Zhu Yuanzhang took a deep breath and felt a little overwhelmed. He had only wanted his descendants to at least have enough food to eat, but he didn't expect that this generous decision would bring such a huge disaster in the future.

To change this situation now is a huge challenge for the provision of future generations.

Hu Weiyong and Liu Ji sighed deeply in their hearts. Given the situation during the Wanli period, any normal person would have chosen to keep out of trouble. This was no longer an empire that could be saved by a powerful official.

From top to bottom, the emperor felt that he was monopolizing power and tyrannizing the country. The royal family, nobles, and relatives hated him for meddling in other people's affairs and cutting off their financial resources. They wanted to kill him. Then officials from all levels were suppressed by the Kaocheng Law and suffered terribly. The interests of local powerful families were damaged.

There are very few people from all walks of life who agree with him, so one can imagine how great the resistance to his reforms will be.

Logically speaking, this example of loyalty to the country should be honored in the ancestral temple, but the fact is that he was forgotten and his body was almost opened and mutilated after his death, and his eldest son was forced to commit suicide.
In the Ming Dynasty, we have always been harsh towards loyal and righteous people.

"Why bother?" Wang Guangyang sighed inwardly, feeling helpless and disappointed.

[Secondly, the Single Whip Law was converted into silver. We should know that my country has always been short of gold, silver and copper. Using silver as legal tender is equivalent to what we now say, directly losing the country's monetary sovereignty. In other words, whoever controls silver controls the Ming Dynasty.]

[Just look at the tragedies of those countries that were directly linked to the M yuan, and you will know that there are many ways to rip you off. This problem also appeared when a large amount of silver was concentrated in the hands of merchants, and it continued until the Ming and Qing dynasties, so the One Whip Law was also called the One Whip for Cruel People at that time.]

[This can’t actually be blamed on Zhang Juzheng. After all, he is just a man, not a god, and he has never studied modern economics. The only thing to blame is Zhu Yuanzhang’s greed, who printed treasure notes excessively and ruined the Hongwu treasure notes.]

[Since the lifting of the maritime ban during the Longqing reign, frequent trade with European countries has led to a large influx of silver into the Ming Dynasty, and the market was once prosperous. Therefore, it was natural to use silver as currency. As for the fact that the European civil war reduced trade a few decades later, which led to a significant reduction in the inflow of silver, it can only be said that no one could have predicted it.]

[Another reason is that the regional differences are too great. The economically developed coastal areas are suitable for the Single Whip System. In areas like the Northwest, due to inconvenient transportation, they only grow grains, there are no handicrafts to trade, the market is not active, and there is little silver, which naturally leads to the appreciation of silver. When grains are exchanged for silver to pay taxes, they are exploited by middlemen. Therefore, there is a reason why the Northwest region rebelled first during the Tianqi and Chongzhen periods.]

[Finally, there is the issue of fire consumption. Tax laws require silver to be paid, and the silver smelting process produces so-called losses. There is nothing that can be done about it. For example, Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty mentioned that "fire consumption should be returned to the public", which means that the court should bear this part of the loss. This is considered to have solved the problem of fire consumption.]

Tang Dynasty, Chang'an City.

Li Shimin and others listened quietly to Tianmu's analysis. Combined with the previously known Little Ice Age of Ming and Qing Dynasties
We have to admit that the Ming Dynasty was indeed a tough nut to crack. Despite constant natural disasters, internal and external troubles, it was able to hold on for so many years.

"Monetary sovereignty." A group of people kept repeating this sentence and realized that this was just like controlling the food in the disaster area during a natural disaster, hoarding it and raising the price, and then making huge profits.

"This businessman is so hateful!"

"The lack of monetary sovereignty is the problem. It is ridiculous to pin the life and death of a country on human nature."

Li Shimin was amazed. He did not expect that there were so many tricks hidden in such a small currency. This is also the reason why later generations saw this outcome and used paper money?

"But using paper money can also lead to various problems due to the indiscriminate printing of banknotes. How can we control this degree?"

"."

These were the questions in Li Shimin's mind, but no one could answer them.

As Tianmu said, any policy has its limitations. Zhang Juzheng died in the tenth year of Wanli. If he had remained in power, with his insight, he would have been able to correct problems in remote areas in a timely manner.

As for the problem of fire consumption, Tianmu has pointed out the solution, so this is not a problem.

Li Shimin thought about the problems mentioned by Tianmu one by one. The lack of transactions and silver in remote areas was a problem that could not be solved in the short term, so it would be relatively better for these places to maintain the original taxation in kind.

(End of this chapter)