5-30 Those who achieve great things cannot have a conscience
The next day was the imperial meeting, but the emperor did not come for the first time. In the Fengtian Palace, the ministers whispered and wondered what had happened. They waited for two hours before the emperor's chariot arrived.
The emperor's face was a little pale and his energy was low. When he came up, he asked Zhou Ziqing, the Minister of Household Affairs, how much silver and grain he still had in his treasury.
Zhou Ziqing calmly walked out of the class and said: "Back to Your Majesty, the Ministry of Revenue has no money."
With a sound, the emperor slapped his hand on the armrest of the dragon chair. His pale face turned a sickly flush. He was angry at Zhou Ziqing's words. The Imperial Household Department had no money. How could this be possible?
"Where is the silver? I ask you, where has the silver gone?"
Zhou Ziqing said: "In the twenty-second year of God's blessing, the annual income is 4,580,000 taels of silver, the annual expenditure is 5,230,000 taels of silver, and the deficit is 650,000 taels. Now it is already a year of hard work, and there is no money left."
The emperor calmed down for a moment and asked again: "What about the food?"
"Last year, the tax revenue was 34,587,623 dan. Due to the floods in Henan and the locust plague in Hebei, most of it was used up. Adding in the usual consumption, there is still about 1 million dan left, because
This number is subject to change, and I cannot be too precise."
One million stones of grain inventory is simply not enough to support the operation of an empire. You must know that natural disasters can occur at any time, which require relief and pensions. There are also so many officials and soldiers who are eating from the imperial court. This small amount of grain only needs to be produced.
If something unexpected happens, I won't be able to hold on.
In the past, the emperor did not pay much attention to the issue of money and food. He always felt that the empire was vast and rich in resources, and he did not expect that he would be so poor.
Where did the money go? If you think about it carefully, there is a clear direction of expenditure. Every year, official salaries, military pay, repairing cities, manufacturing weapons, purchasing horses, and maintaining a huge post system. These fixed expenditures alone are a huge number.
, there are frequent wars in the north, and as soon as a war starts, the money flows out like water, it is a bottomless pit.
During the Yuan Dynasty, the country's annual income was only more than three million taels. The annual income of the Zhou Dynasty had increased a lot, but this number made the emperor feel a little strange.
You know, the annual income of the Xia family in Gusu alone is no less than one million taels, which is almost one-third of the total income of the imperial court. If only one businessman in the district is so rich, then all the merchants in the country combined, wouldn’t it be far away from the imperial court?
.
There are also those big landowners and powerful men with thousands of hectares of fertile land and thousands of tenants. However, the taxes they pay are disproportionate to the land they own. This is due to the backward head tax system of the imperial court and the serious land annexation trend in the Zhou Dynasty. The emperor is not unreasonable.
Knowing this, it is just that the landlords and gentry are the foundation of the country. After he usurped the throne and seized power, he promised them not to change the system.
Now it seems that it has reached the point where it has to be changed.
We are about to face a national war. How can we do it without money in the coffers?
The emperor issued a decree that no matter what method he adopted, he must get money and food as soon as possible before he could start a war against Xiliang.
Zhou Ziqing replied: "It is autumn, and the harvested grains from various places have not yet been harvested. This year's taxes have already been collected. If next year's taxes are collected in advance, it will form a vicious circle. Why don't you spend some of your internal funds to deal with it first?"
urgent need."
Internal money, that's the emperor's private money. Is the country so poor that it needs to use internal funds? The emperor became anxious again, his face flushed, and he was about to get angry when he suddenly covered his mouth and coughed a few times. Cao Shaoqin asked with concern
: "Your Majesty, do you want to recruit an imperial doctor?"
"No need." The emperor waved his hand weakly and said to the important ministers: "The imperial court supports you to contribute to the country. The Zhou Dynasty is not poor, but the imperial court is poor. I don't believe that you can't think of a way. Let's do this for today.
You go back and think of a way, and if you think of it, you can give me some tips. If you have any good ideas, I will reward you generously."
After retreating from the court, the emperor first left the Fengtian Hall and returned to the harem. The ministers dispersed in a hurry and walked along the royal road while discussing in twos and threes. This time the emperor has posed a problem for everyone, and it is difficult to solve it.
It's not difficult, the ready-made methods are there, and they can be spread across the land, but who dares to mention it? This is something that the emperor once used to attack the former Han Dynasty. Anyone who proposes it would not be a slap in the emperor's face.
There are also internal funds. Who doesn’t know that internal funds are far richer than the national treasury? Those mines and factories are controlled by the tax supervisors of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and a lot of money is embezzled by them. Only a small part is used as internal funds.
This is much more than the Ministry of Household Affairs. It is really embarrassing for the emperor to guard the treasury and let others figure out a way.
Yang Feng walked alone, frowning, and he realized that this might be his chance to take over again.
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The next day, a 10,000-word memorial was delivered to the emperor's desk. This was not written by Yang Feng all at once, but the best plan based on previous experience and long-term research with Liu Songpo.
, however, only Yang Feng’s name was signed on this memorial.
In order to prevent the emperor from being upset, the law that was originally practiced during the Han Dynasty and Wu Dynasty was renamed the "One Whip Law", and the content was also changed accordingly. The original collection objects based on Lijia were expanded to include prefectures and counties.
The poll tax was mainly based on the land tax, and the land tax was supplemented. It was changed to a tax based on acres, and the share of the head tax was reduced accordingly.
The memorial envisages the results of the implementation of the One Whip Method. Based on the current number of acres of land in the Zhou Dynasty, the annual income will at least double to nine million taels. If there is time to carefully measure the land, this number will increase by one.
Cheng, reaching 10 million taels.
When he saw ten million taels, the emperor's eyes lit up and he couldn't help but high-fived: "Okay!"
Looking further down, Yang Feng proposed another strategy: dig canals, dismantle postmen, and at the same time dig canals in the north, south, and east directions, and use the original lake waves and rivers to carry out large-scale construction. In addition to water transportation, it can also
Irrigate fertile fields.
The canal has great benefits. Water transportation does not require animal power. The transportation volume is large. Ships can sail day and night at high speeds. They can convey government orders and transport food and soldiers. The efficiency is greatly increased. After the canal is put into use, a large number of post stations can be abolished. You must know that maintaining the twenty
The annual cost of a station here is astronomical.
The emperor was convinced that these two methods were in his mind. Implementing a new land taxation system could increase revenue, and digging canals to promote water transportation could reduce expenditure. Once this was implemented, the Zhou Dynasty would be worry-free forever.
As for the issue of face, the emperor didn't care as long as those specific words were not mentioned. Now that the throne was secure, it was time to take action against those people.
However, the two strategies proposed by Yang Feng are relatively slow to bear fruit. This year's taxes have been collected, so we can only implement a whipping method next year. The excavation of the canal is an extremely huge project that will not take more than ten years or decades.
Don’t expect time to be effective.
Therefore, the emperor also adopted the opinion of another co-organizer, Meng Zhiqiu, who suggested levying western taxes and temporarily increasing taxes to get through the current crisis first. Apart from this method, there seems to be no better strategy at present.
The emperor acted arbitrarily and acted as he said. Within three days, he asked for food and grass, and levied additional taxes. During the off-farm period in winter, official documents to recruit people to dig canals were sent to all parts of the Zhou Dynasty like snowflakes.
…
Shaanxi, Chang'an, Temporary Yamen of the Governor of Shaanxi and Gansu.
Officials from all over Shaanxi gathered together. There were not many opportunities for the chief officials from all over the province to gather in the provincial capital. Before the governor came to the court, everyone was busy chatting, talking about friendships, and discussing seniority. It was all officialdom.
The atmosphere was quite harmonious with the people there.
"Eunuch Hai, the director-general of Shaanxi and Gansu Province, has arrived! Governor Fan has arrived!" Following the announcement, Eunuch Hai, who was wearing a python robe and jade belt, and Fan Liangchen, who was wearing a red robe, walked in. The two of them moved up to their seats and sat down behind the case.
After the officials from all over the place gathered at one o'clock, all the officials took their seats according to their rank. Fortunately, the hall of the former Fenyang Marquis Mansion was large enough, so it was not crowded with so many officials sitting together.
"The Holy One has a decree." Eunuch Hai coughed dryly and took out a bright yellow scroll.
Everyone hurriedly came again, lined up in several rows, and knelt down facing Eunuch Hai to listen to the order.
"By God's blessing, the emperor issued an edict... We are collecting three million stones of grain, one million taels of silver, and one hundred thousand men in Shaanxi Province to drive the army of the Western Expedition. If there is any delay or disobedience, we will be executed without mercy. I hereby express my gratitude to you."
." After Eunuch Hai finished reading, he handed the imperial edict to Fan Liangchen, who was at the front, and went ahead without hesitation, leaving only the officials on the ground looking at each other.
Now that Eunuch Hai has left, Fan Liangchen takes the imperial edict and goes to the back of the public case to sit down and discuss how to levy grain and taxes."
Fan Liangchen is an official with a gentle personality, and everyone can relax in front of him. Now that Eunuch Hai has left, the officials have become bolder.
"Three million shi, why is it so much? Shaanxi is not Jiangnan, how can we apportion so much food?" someone said angrily.
"There is also Western wages, and they actually want us from Shaanxi to pay one million taels. This is fishing for nothing! I really don't know which guy in the court came up with the bad idea!"
Although Shaanxi is richer than Gansu, it only relies on the few fertile fields in the Weihe Plain. It is much worse than the land of plenty like Huguang and Jiangnan. It is not impossible to get three million shi of grain and one million taels of silver, but it will hurt your muscles.
It is possible to break people's bones and make them miserable, and it is also possible to provoke civil unrest. Local officials are not all idlers. These principles are clear.
"Stop talking nonsense. This is an imperial edict. Who dares to disobey it?" Fan Liangchen said. The officials had no choice but to go back to their own counties and find ways to collect money and food from the people. Anyway, their salaries would not be less, no matter how much they collected.
If you spread it on the common people, you might be able to use this opportunity to gain some benefits for yourself.
There are many examples of cruel taxation and extortion in history. The ruthless officials did not hesitate to push the people to death for the sake of political achievements. The Chinese people are the kindest and most tolerant. As long as they are not pushed to a dead end, they will always grit their teeth and persevere.
Come down.
But this time is different. Huge taxes are pressing down like Qinling Mountains, and a storm is imminent.
…
Chang'an, Xiliang Guild Hall, Yuan Feng and Li Shanchang sat opposite each other. After a long time, Yuan Feng said: "My conscience will be disturbed if I do this."
"To achieve great things, you have to abandon your conscience. Your father failed to do it, so he failed. I hope the prince will not make the same mistake again." Li Shanchang said.