Regarding Lin Jing's suggestion, many knowledgeable ministers in the imperial court now strongly agree with it. For example, the cabinet scholar Wu surnamed, and the Minister of War Chen Xinjia. They all believe that the Ming Dynasty's strategy needs to be adjusted.
You should soften your attitude.
However, both of them also knew that it would be difficult for a proposal like this to pass in the court. The reason was that in Qingliu, the word "peace negotiation" was considered treasonous and unethical. In their view, it was tantamount to collaborating with the enemy.
Qingliu officials have always firmly believed that the rogue bandits must be wiped out and the Donglu must be wiped out. If the Ming army on the front line cannot do it, it is entirely because of their incompetence.
This is exactly the same fate as Zhang Ruoqi.
Chongzhen's face was a little complicated and he said: "Does the emperor think that if we abandon the customs, the situation in Ming Dynasty will be improved?"
"That's right."
Lin Jing stood up and said: "The reason why the situation in our Ming Dynasty is getting worse day by day is on the surface because of the defeat on the battlefield, but in fact it is because of problems in the financial policy... If it is not solved in one day,
If there are financial problems, the crisis of the Ming Dynasty will be difficult to solve in one day. Even if there are 'three rates' at the moment, it will ultimately be a strategy to quench thirst by drinking poison."
"Drink poison to quench thirst?"
Emperor Chongzhen snorted coldly, "Don't you think the three-payer tax should not be launched?"
After hearing the conversation between Lin Jing and Chongzhen, the cabinet ministers looked at each other with a wry smile. In fact, for the court officials, they were naturally very familiar with the situation of the Ming Dynasty's treasury, but in the eyes of these people
Come on, the current situation is difficult to solve.
After all, once you have no money, you can only increase taxes if you want to increase revenue. But if you want to reduce expenditures, in the face of the increasing pressure of war, there is no room for expenditure reduction. Even though Chongzhen minimized his personal preferences, he still had
What is it for?
In the process of increasing taxes, the three rates are undoubtedly the largest. It has three names, namely Liao rates, suppression rates and Lian rates.
Among them, Liao pay was naturally due to the fact that the Ming Dynasty wanted to fight Hou Jin outside the customs, so Liao pay was levied to cover military expenses. Later, peasant uprisings broke out in various places. In order to raise military funds to put down the uprising, additional taxes were sent to suppress pay.
Then, in order to deal with the Qing army's southern invasion, the Ming government trained border soldiers, so they sent more training and pay.
In order to ensure the normal operation of the huge state machine of the Ming Dynasty, the amount of the three rates levied every year is as high as 20 million taels, which far exceeds the amount of the regular tax, and basically all of this money is added to the land and mu silver.
It became the biggest factor forcing farmers to go bankrupt and join the rebel army.
"Father, I think that if we can give up Liaodong now, we can officially abolish Liaodong's salary. With the annual military expenditure of 7 million taels in Liaodong reduced, the people will be a little more stable, and I, the Ming Dynasty, can also support it."
Lin Jing did not go all the way to completely demand the abolition of the three-level salary, but first suggested the abolition of the Liao-level salary. It was obvious that this was the result of his careful consideration.
But even so, Chongzhen frowned deeply, and the ministers even expressed their opposition.
"Your Highness, the Liao salary can currently be collected at nine million taels per year. It is not only to supply the Liaodong military, but also an important income to support other soldiers and horses across the country. If the Liao salary is cut off, I am afraid that the Ming Dynasty will not be able to support the country's generals.
country."
The great scholar Wu who supported him just now quickly stood up to oppose it, and the rest of the people also expressed their agreement.
In their opinion, the prince was simply crazy for asking for a name.
In fact, Chongzhen's face turned a little dark. He subconsciously thought that this was the prince's invitation to be named, but he decided to give the prince a chance to admit his mistake and said: "After deposing Liao's salary, what will we rely on for military expenses next?"
Lin Jing said softly: "Your Majesty, although our Ming Dynasty can collect nine million taels of silver, it has also pushed more people into the hands of the bandits, and they have inexhaustible resources.
Our troops have been exhausted, just like those rebel bandits, whether Li Zicheng or Zhang Xianzhong, who were repeatedly defeated by our army, but they were able to pull out a new army every time. The reason for this has to be worth pondering..."
However, neither Chongzhen nor the ministers agreed with this reason. Even Chen Xinjia, Minister of the Ministry of War, came out to deny it, "If the Liao salary is abolished immediately, I am afraid that the current situation will not be able to survive."
Lin Jing calmed down. He knew that no one would support him at the moment, but for the future, he could only continue to say firmly: "If the Liao salary is abolished, it does not mean that we cannot make up for it in other ways. In fact, I still have three strategies.
Can cope with the current situation.”
"explain."
"First, reform the clan system. At present, our clan in the Ming Dynasty has nearly 600,000 people. Some of them occupy a large amount of land, which prevents a large amount of tax revenue from being paid to the national treasury, resulting in a decline in the imperial court's annual revenue. And there are more clans
My children, because of the ancestral precepts, cannot predict the fortunes of the four peoples and cannot support themselves. This is really a bad government!"
Lin Jing sighed slightly. He knew that from today on, those major vassals would definitely have opinions on him, but it didn't matter if they had opinions. Facing the crisis in the late Ming Dynasty, no matter what he did, he would always offend some people.
people.
There was some commotion among the ministers. The clan issue had actually always been a hot topic in the Ming Dynasty. For the civil servants, they also wanted to eradicate this bloated and deformed group.
In fact, as early as the 28th year of Jiajing, Zhang Juzheng once published a memorial "On Current Affairs", in which he put the clan issue first.
"I have heard that today's clan and the ancient princes and kings like and respect each other, which are all observed by the people, and are related to the changes in customs. I have seen the ancestral precepts and observed that the country and the dynasty treated the clan members with great prominence, so I took precautions.
It is also a secret. Today, the first and second vassals do not think about the teachings of their teachers and ancestors, and are strict in their disciplines in order to inherit the rest of the world. Instead, they give up the honor of princes and kings, compete for the title of real people, recruit people who can escape through alchemy, and confuse the ears and eyes of the people.
. All of them seek relatives from outside to flatter the Lord in order to expand their power, but inside they are actually treacherous and greedy. There are officials in the mausoleum, and they carve small people in their belly to indulge their desires. Now the minister of Fu in Henan has reported it again. If you don't create it early,
I am afraid that the ministers in the four directions will no longer be able to carry out my ambitions, but the great power is achieved, and I am foolish enough to think that it is not a subtle thing. This is what is called the arrogance of the clan."
In the view of Zhang Juzheng, who was still young at the time, there were big problems with the clan support system and urgent need for reform. Later, after he came to power, Zhang Juzheng became the chief minister of the cabinet and launched reforms on "On Current Affairs". The most critical one was
The 'One Whip Method' reduced the involvement of local lords in taxation and greatly increased central fiscal revenue.
It is a pity that after the death of Zhang Juzheng, the Wanli New Deal was also deposed, and the restrictions on the clan were completely relaxed, which made the clan problem completely irreparable.
Lin Jing took a deep breath, stood in front of Lin Jing, and whispered: "My son believes that if the clan treatment can be abolished, the annual income can be increased by at least millions of taels, and the expenses saved can be at least tens of millions."
One million taels, the two combined are only a lot more than the Liao salary." This chapter has been completed!