Chapter 943, Finance is the Control of the National Economy
"The control of military power is not only about institutional control, but also about ideological control. At the same time, it is also about the control of the sources of military expenses. Only a three-pronged approach can we truly control the general power under the royal power instead of the royal power.
There will be local separatist forces or generals seeking to usurp the throne."
Liu Jin finished in one breath. Regarding this research, later generations of experts and scholars have already studied it very thoroughly.
Throughout history at home and abroad, the control of military power is the most important. Whether it is the history of China or foreign countries, there are too many cases of military generals seeking to usurp the throne. It is impossible to count them.
.
As the saying goes, political power comes from the barrel of a gun.
Therefore, no matter which country or dynasty it is, it attaches great importance to the military. The army cannot be mobilized easily, and strict procedures must be followed.
"Well said~"
After hearing this, Emperor Hongzhi couldn't help but nod his head in agreement.
Since ancient times, the emperor has always been wary of generals. As for the civil servants, it was the scholar who failed to rebel for three years. In terms of controlling the army, he took great pains and came up with many methods.
Like the Ming Dynasty, the army was led by literati. In the history of the Ming Dynasty, except for some famous military generals at the founding of the country, all the people who became famous in the military were actually literati, such as Yu Qian, Sun Chengzong, etc.
etc., were all literati, and literati's command of the army was a major feature of the Ming Dynasty.
In addition to the literati commanding the troops, there were also eunuchs sent by the emperor to supervise the army. The groping of literati and eunuchs to supervise the army was the way the Ming Dynasty controlled the army.
The advantage of this method is that there are no military generals, so there is no such thing as military generals seeking to usurp the throne. The disadvantage is that laymen guide experts, coupled with the deliberate suppression of military generals by civil servants, the military personnel of the Ming Dynasty have the lowest status in all dynasties.
In many cases, the people who work hard to defend the homeland and the country are often not worth the words of the literati, so that the combat effectiveness of the Ming army is very weak. Even if the emperor has integrity, the emperor guards the country, and the king dies, the army cannot do it, and the backbone is naturally strong.
Can't get up.
Now after listening to Liu Jin's words, Emperor Hongzhi immediately understood what Liu Jin had done in the military reform. All of this was to strengthen the centralization of power, strengthen the emperor's control over the army, and at the same time reduce the combat effectiveness of the Ming army.
He was promoted, instead of being the same as before, although he was obedient, he was still a scumbag.
The compulsory military service system was implemented to recruit soldiers from all over the Ming Dynasty. This was to prevent too many people from joining the army in one place and forming small regional groups.
The recruited troops are subject to unified management and training, which not only enhances combat effectiveness, but is also a means of controlling the army.
The establishment of the Ming Royal Military Academy and the training of military generals were not only a means to enhance the combat effectiveness of the Ming army, but also instilled in it the idea of loyalty to the emperor and patriotism, which amounted to ideological control. In the final analysis, it was to strengthen control of the army.
"A talented person from heaven, a capable minister in governing the world!"
After thinking about this clearly, Emperor Hongzhi couldn't help but sigh in his heart. He always didn't understand the profound meaning of what Liu Jin did before, but now he understood it all at once.
Only then did I have a deeper understanding of Liu Jin's talents.
Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, Zhang Mao, Xie Qian and others also nodded. After listening to Liu Jin's words, everything was clear and clear.
"Compared with political and military centralization, financial centralization may be the most neglected aspect in all dynasties."
Liu Jin took a moment to take a breath and then continued to speak slowly.
"As the old saying goes, it's easy to get things done when you have money. This is also true for a country and the court."
"However, because all dynasties have emphasized light corvee and low taxation and recuperation, both the emperors and the officials below have been very cautious when it comes to taxation. When collecting taxes, they are afraid of overcharging the people below.
Water creates fire, and people cannot survive."
“But every time when money is really needed, the politicians will collect taxes and levy them recklessly, and the officials below will intensify their efforts. This will lead to what history books call the phenomenon of levying and extorting money without caring about the lives of the people.”
"But in fact, if you can fully understand taxation, you will understand that taxation plays an extremely important role."
"During the tax reform, I have already explained to Your Majesty and the Lords the important role of this tax. In the final analysis, this tax is taken from the people and used for the people."
"The court and the country need to compulsorily collect a portion of social wealth to maintain the country's daily operations, build major projects, provide relief to disaster areas, resist foreign enemy invasion, etc. At the same time, they also need to collect taxes to achieve the purpose of mediating the country's economic development."
"So in terms of financial centralization, the country's financial areas must always be in the hands of the court, and this power cannot be delegated to local feudal officials, let alone a few tribal leaders in remote areas be allowed to control financial power."
"Currently, in the Western Region, the grasslands and Uzang, there are still many tribal leaders who have the power to collect finances from their own tribes. I believe that they should be cracked down and banned, and this power should be returned to the imperial court.
In this way, over time, the people of these tribes will know that the person paying taxes is the current court and not their tribal leaders."
"And the tribal leaders who lose their financial power also lose the possibility of becoming the chieftains of the southwest. No one will follow a pauper to live their lives."
"Um!"
After hearing this, Emperor Hongzhi nodded solemnly again.
In the past, he was deceived by civil servants and believed that the best way to govern the country was to do light corvee and pay little tax, but in fact, the court had no money, and he had no money in his internal funds, so he could do anything.
No.
Not to mention building cement roads, bridges, roads, rivers, reservoirs, etc. in various parts of the Ming Dynasty. He even had no money to repair the imperial palace. It is conceivable that under such circumstances, Emperor Hongzhi even wanted to govern the country.
, I’m afraid it’s also because of the inability to do so.
It's different now. Through Liu Jin's tax reform, the Ming Dynasty's treasury collected more than 90 million taels of tax money every year. It is expected that the tax money in the fifteenth year of Hongzhi will even exceed 10 million taels.
If we include the collected physical goods, such as grain, cloth, tea, etc., the treasury has never been so full, and everything can be done smoothly and grandly.
In the north, south, and east, and west, there were several cement roads built as soon as construction started. In the Western Region, as soon as the river came under the rule of the Ming Dynasty, cement roads could be built across the river. New towns were built one after another on the grassland; riverbanks were built on both sides of the Yellow River, etc.
These were all spent with free money. Without money, how could the imperial court handle these things?
If it weren't for these huge projects, would the Ming Dynasty be able to control the northern grasslands?
Has the weather been smooth in the fifteenth year of Hongzhi? You must know that in the summer, the water on both sides of the Yellow River surged. In the past, it was unknown how much fertile farmland would be submerged, but because of the construction of the river bank, no floods occurred.
Also, if it weren't for money, could the imperial court move millions of people to places like Liaodong, the Western Regions, Hezhong, and Nanyang?
Therefore, financial power is really important. Only when you have money can you do things easily. Emperor Hongzhi understood this very well.
You must not be deceived by others, otherwise you will think that the country will really be better off without taxation.
You know, when there was no taxation in the past, the money was buried underground by those businessmen, landlords, gentry, etc., and it did not play any role at all.
As for the common people, how could they ever have a few coins left in their hands?
"The financial power of the imperial court is related to the imperial court's ability to regulate and control the entire country's use of economic means, because only the imperial court has money, and it concentrates part of the national wealth to use it to handle major national affairs."
"Whether it is immigration, building bridges and roads, or building reservoirs, river lifts, etc., these are all major projects that benefit the country and the people, and they cannot be implemented without money."
"Only when we have money can we maintain a powerful army that can fight for hundreds of years. Only then can we win consecutive battles with foreign countries, continuously expand our territory, and seize more living space and resources."
"So financial power must be centralized and must not be relaxed or delegated to local governments to give opportunities to tribal leaders."
Liu Jin also gave a systematic summary of finance and tax collection in later generations. In the final analysis, this financial power is related to the court's ability to control and regulate the entire country's economy.
Of course, in ancient times, due to inconvenient transportation and poor information, the emperor levied a copper coin from the people below. Through these layers of price increases and squeezes, the common people may have to pay a tax of five copper coins in the end.
Therefore, in many cases, it cannot be said that it is completely unreasonable to recuperate and recuperate by frivolous corvee and low taxes. The emperor does not tax, and the officials below naturally cannot collect more taxes.
But sometimes, even if the emperor above does not levy taxes, the officials below will still levy and impose excessive taxes under clever names. There are many kinds of exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes. Many times, they are not enacted by the emperor above, but by the officials and officials below.
invented.
The situation is a little different now, because the Ming Dynasty Morning Post has been spread all over the Ming Dynasty. Even in the most distant Golden Continent of the empire, the Ming Dynasty Morning Post is transmitted regularly, and the information flow is smoother. Coupled with the construction of cement roads, four-wheeled
With the operation of horse-drawn carriages and sea-going ships, communication and travel between various parts of the Ming Dynasty will become more and more convenient.
Naturally, this aspect of taxation still needs to slowly transform from the taxation system of later generations to adapt to the advent of the capitalist era and the colonial era.
