Short video spoiler history: The beginning of modern warfare

Chapter 49 A whip method

[One Whip Method, this name is not very impressive, but this matter is extremely important]

[Today's words mean that it has epoch-making significance, because this epoch-making Single Whip Law changed the tax system that had lasted for more than 800 years since the Tang Dynasty, and it was a milestone change in China's taxation history.]

[To understand the greatness of the Single Whip System, we must first start with ancient taxation and its drawbacks]

[Since ancient times, it is natural for the state to collect taxes and for the people to pay taxes. After all, the emperors with the surnames Zhu, Zhao, and Li were not philanthropists. They fought for their country and had to have hope for something after all their lives.]

[How taxes are collected varies from dynasty to dynasty, but basically the types of taxes are relatively fixed and are mainly divided into three categories]

[One is the land tax. The emperor fought hard to gain land, so if you planted the emperor’s land, you naturally had to pay money.]

[The second is the head tax. All land under heaven belongs to the emperor, and all people in the world are his subjects. All people in the world are the emperor's subjects. It is their obligation to pay a few cents.]

[The third is corvée labor, which is basically a coolie tax. If you have money, you have to pay. If you have strength, you have to contribute. When it comes to construction projects and receptions, the state not only requires you to pay, but sometimes you also have to contribute. You have to do both.]

During the Hongwu period, Jinling City.

Zhu Yuanzhang straightened his back and looked somewhat solemn.

Taxation is the foundation of a country, and emperors of all dynasties have attached great importance to it.

The three types of taxes mentioned by Tianmu are indeed the main part of the country's taxes.

It has been more than 800 years since the Tang Dynasty, so isn't that about 100 years later?

Tianmu bluntly said that the drawbacks of ancient taxation also include the current tax system of our Ming Dynasty. This accurately aroused Zhu Yuanzhang's interest.

What exactly is the so-called "One Whip Method" that has gained such a high reputation in later generations?

During the Zhenguan period, Chang'an City.

Li Shimin and a group of important ministers all changed their expressions. Tianmu summarized thousands of years of taxation history from the perspective of future generations and stated the defects and drawbacks of the millennium taxation system, which would naturally be beneficial to the Tang Dynasty with no harm at all.

You know, there is no shortage of smart people among emperors and generals in history, and the tax system was improved through the reforms of generations of heroes.

Later empires naturally have much more advantages than previous dynasties. This advantage lies in the fact that later empires can summarize the experiences of previous dynasties, which is equivalent to standing on the shoulders of previous empires and taking one step further on the path they have explored.

Discarding the dross and retaining the essence are invaluable experiences.

Now the Tang Dynasty has the opportunity to listen to the tax system reformed in later generations. It can be said that this is a rare opportunity for the Tang Dynasty in a hundred years.

[What if there are no fields and only mountains? Or what if there are fields but no crops are grown? ]

[You don’t have to worry about this. The country has already thought about it for you. You don’t have to enjoy your rights, but you can never escape your obligations.]

[To put it simply, you hand in whatever you have. If the mountain produces mushrooms, you hand in mushrooms. If the mountain produces wood, you hand in wood. If the field wants to grow apples, you hand in apples. If the field wants to grow cotton, you hand in cotton.]

[It won't go bad for a while if you store it in a warehouse. Some people might ask, what if I'm a fisherman? You don't have a refrigerator, and you can't leave the fish to go bad.]

[The imperial court also has a solution. Can't they just turn it into salted fish and hand it over? You can't escape, kid. The Chinese people have been carrying these three mountains and making a living for thousands of years.]

[To be honest, in Chinese history, the rulers of the unified dynasties, except for some crazy people or those who were in urgent need of money, still attached great importance to the burden on the people. The ratio of land tax was basically 20:1, that is, 5% of the tax, or 10:1, 10% of the tax. If the ratio was 5:1, that is, 20%, it would be considered a heavy tax.]

[In theory, the burden on ordinary people is not too much, and they can basically get by, but unfortunately this is only in theory. It makes sense when it is said, but everything goes wrong when it comes to practice.]

[Because in actual implementation, officials at all levels soon discovered that there were too many loopholes that could be exploited to make money.]

During the Hongwu period, Zhu Biao frowned and thought, hasn't it been like this since ancient times?

What could be wrong with this?
Old hands like Hu Weiyong and Wang Guangyang basically already knew what Tianmu was going to say, so their faces changed slightly.

Zhu Yuanzhang saw the expressions of all the civil officials. He was not an emperor who grew up in the deep palace and was out of touch with the world. He had suffered greatly since he was a child. Naturally, he also knew the disadvantages of taxation that Tianmu was talking about at this time. It can be said that his harshness towards officials all originated from his unfortunate childhood experiences.

So at this moment, the body trembled, the eyes lit up slightly, and there was some anticipation.

If we can solve this thousand-year-old disease, it will benefit the people and be a meritorious deed of immeasurable magnitude!
[For example, if you hand over apples, he can pick and choose one and say that this one is small and counts as half an apple, and that one has a worm hole and doesn’t count.]

[If you hand over cotton, he can say that the quality of the cotton is not good and you can only go home and take it back]

[Another example is the famous Linjiantihu. Every time the people went to pay the government grain, they had to put the grain into the hu to weigh it. The grain had to be piled into a pointed shape in the hu, so that the pointed part would extend beyond the wall of the hu.]

[At this time, the petty official who was skilled in kicking would suddenly aim at the hu and give it a fierce kick, and the grain that was beyond the hu wall would fall to the ground. When the common people went to pick up the fallen grain, the official would not allow them to do so, saying it was a waste.]

[This is still the lightest problem. The biggest trouble is the kiln service, because the land tax and head tax can still be paid in kind, and officials cannot shirk their responsibilities.]

[It’s hard to say what corvée labor is. Repairing riverbanks, working at post stations, and repairing roads are all corvée labor. Completing the tasks is considered completing corvée labor.]

[Then who will judge whether you have completed the task? The local officials are like the weasel watching the chickens. If they meet someone with a good conscience, they will record the truth. If they meet someone with a bad conscience, they will take some benefits. If you don’t have money, they will just wave it and not do it. Do you have any objections? I have the final say on this matter. If I say you didn’t do it, then you didn’t do it. What can you do? ]

[The facts have proved that at that time, except for a small group of people with good moral character, most of the court officials were not honest and trustworthy. It was a bit too much to ask them not to take advantage of loopholes and not to make money. In short, they would play you without negotiation.]

[Countless common people were ruined in this way. The imperial court got no benefits, as all the work was done by the local governments.]

"How can this be possible!" Zhu Biao naturally did not know much about the issue of private taxation, so he was greatly enlightened, but this was followed by anger.

"This is a bunch of deceiving parasites!"

These are just the ones listed by Tianmu. I’m afraid there are many more tricks and means to exploit the people that have not been listed.

And the common people kept repeating this kind of life in the cycle of dynasties!

Damn the corrupt officials! Bastards who enrich themselves and exploit the people!

Hu Weiyong also stood up at this time and righteously accused this group of parasites who were enriching themselves!
A number of civil servants also spoke up for justice, showing heroic spirit in eliminating harm for the common people.

Jinling City, Hexing Tea and Snack Shop.

A group of people had their memories stirred up by the sky curtain and were filled with anger, telling each other about similar experiences.

In fact, what Tianmu said was still very mild. In reality, officials are even worse, almost like robbery. And they are standing to argue. It is really unjust death and there is no place to complain.

During the Zhenguan period, Chang'an City.

Cheng Yaojin and other generals were stunned. Damn, there are so many tricks.

It is true that it is easier to deal with the King of Hell than with the little devils.

Li Shimin's eyes were obscure and unclear. This meant that this tax system was really full of loopholes and leaks from all directions.

Moreover, local officials and clerks often represent the imperial court. How can the exploited people distinguish between the imperial court's will and the local officials' selfish desires?

Not to mention the common people, even the scholars probably don't know the truth and can only be at the mercy of others.

If this continues, the people will accumulate resentment and dissatisfaction, and the court will inevitably lose the support of the people. When this resentment and dissatisfaction accumulates to a certain extent, and when the local people can no longer survive, there will surely be another big riot, until the world is turned upside down.

As for the imperial court, he may have done nothing, but he took the benefits and was blamed for everything!!!

So, how to solve this problem?

[In addition, this tax collection system has many problems, because the collected items are all kinds of things and they are in various forms, and it is not convenient to use them.]

[For example, Jiangsu and Zhejiang collected a lot of grain, but the capital couldn’t eat it all, but the locals didn’t lack it.]

[I heard that there is a shortage of food in the northwest, so let's transport it there. After calculating the price of the food, it is still not enough to cover the transportation fee, so don't bother, just leave it in the granary to feed the rats.]

[What’s even more troublesome is that although various places have handed over a lot of things, in addition to food, there are also various local specialties, Chinese medicinal herbs, etc., but they don’t have much nutrition.]

[Putting these things in the capital city takes up space and requires storage fees. If there is a war, you can't let the soldiers eat cotton and take a few taels of medicinal herbs as military pay.]

[Some well-fed ministers inadvertently came up with a bad idea. They said that since there were so many things sitting idle anyway, they might as well use them to pay salaries to officials in the capital.]

[Sometimes it was food, sometimes it was medicinal herbs, and some emperors who were less virtuous would give them paper money, the kind that was randomly printed and worthless.]

[It must be pointed out that this is absolutely not a joke. This is how officials in the Ming Dynasty received their salaries since Zhu Yuanzhang]

[There are also many part-time vendors who go to the market to sell their wares after getting their wages in the morning.]

[The imperial court suffered, the people suffered, and all the benefits went to the bastards in the middle.]

Late Han Dynasty, Nanjun.

Liu Bei, Zhang Fei and others were extremely angry.

"A bunch of bastards who deceive their superiors and subordinates, all deserve to die!"

If it weren't for the fact that Tian Mu made it clear, many people might never think of it in their entire lives.

This is indeed the case. An empire is so large that there are information gaps everywhere.

Such a matter of course as paying taxes can actually lead to so many cases of abuse of power for personal gain.

What is even more terrifying is that this is a matter for the entire country, not just an inhumane act done by a few unscrupulous corrupt officials in a certain place.

The people were exploited and felt resentful, and the court suffered a great loss but was unaware of it.

To put it in detail, this is a dirty trick that will cut off the foundation of the imperial court!!!

Zhuge Liang carefully pondered the tactics Tianmu had mentioned, and was afraid that there might be more sinister tactics that were not mentioned, which were really hard to guard against.

He was thinking about more. On the surface, it was a tax issue, but in essence it was a series of problems caused by the monopoly of the communication channels between the court and the people.

Or there is suspicion of abuse of power, and how to check and balance local officials is also a headache.

So Master Zhang Juzheng decided to change this situation. He drew on local experience and introduced the One Whip Law. The One Whip Law contained many contents, but the most important one was to promulgate unified regulations:

[The national taxation system has changed from in-kind tax to monetary tax. To put it more clearly, we will no longer collect in-kind taxes, but will collect money instead.]

[This is a seemingly simple order, but it has a profound historical significance, because from then on, whether it is land tax, corvee labor, or head tax, there will be a unified standard, and it is no longer up to the officials to decide.]

[Hand over real money, if you have it, it’s yours, if you don’t, it’s not yours, and we will no longer allow officials to fool us]

[Of course, according to the law that officials are bound to be corrupt, Master Zhang also left everyone a way out]

[Because various items such as grain, fruit, medicinal materials, and silk were converted into silver according to regulations and handed over, and although the conversion rate was controlled by the court, there were naturally special circumstances in the local area, and it seemed normal to make a profit from it.]

[So everyone was happy. The court got a lot of money, and the people didn't have to listen to the officials' tricks. They were greedy and robbed. They were ripped off as agreed. At least their lives were better. The officials got less benefits but they still lived well. That's how it was.]

[It has been proven that the more complex a policy is, the more loopholes it has and the more difficult it is to implement. Although the Single Whip Law may seem simple, it is the crystallization of the highest wisdom. As the old saying goes, making complex problems simple is a skill.]

【Then everyone might as well think about it. Considering the actual national conditions of the Ming Dynasty at that time, is there any problem with the Single Whip Law? 】

During the Hongwu period, Jinling City.

"It's Zhang Juzheng again!" Zhu Yuanzhang had remembered this name before. The last time he heard his name was in a video mentioning the royal family system. At that time, it was he who clarified the actual population size of the royal family. Now he is presiding over the tax reform again. It seems that he is a capable man!
"And the solution is so simple?" Zhu Yuanzhang was surprised for a moment, and then frowned again. No, there might be something wrong with the Whip Method.
Although it may be much better than the current tax system, what is the problem with the single whip system?
Why do young people in this later generation always like to speak half of their sentences? They really deserve to be spanked!!!
Zhu Yuanzhang had no choice but to withdraw his thoughts. Maybe he should try out the Single Whip Law and see how it goes!
During the Zhenguan period, Chang'an City.

Li Shimin originally breathed a sigh of relief, but then his face fell again.

Speak half as much and your words will be half as short.

He couldn't help but curse in his heart, what's wrong with the one-whip method?

If there are any traces of previous tax law issues, the Single Whip System is a completely improved system of later generations, with no experience or data to refer to.

It's all guesswork.
Fang Xuanling scratched his head, looking bitter. He didn't expect a good life for the next month or so.

(End of this chapter)