Although Japan and Korea are both vassal states of the Ming Dynasty, Korea is essentially the most similar to the Ming Dynasty and has a higher degree of feudalism.
The official system, year names, and etiquette (laws of the Ming Dynasty) are the same as the Ming Dynasty, just like a small Ming Dynasty.
It is precisely because of this that under the Confucian Huayi worldview, North Korea is quite proud and feels that it is the second country in the world.
As for Japan, they are just imitating others and learning a little bit.
Perhaps in the eyes of future generations during the Ming and Qing dynasties, imperial power did not go to the countryside, and centralization was not worthy of its name.
But I am afraid of comparison in everything.
Whether it's North Korea, Japan, or Western Europe, or Northern Europe, ordinary people don't have surnames at all, they can only have first names.
In China, in the middle and late Western Han Dynasty, that is, during the reign of Emperor Xuan and Emperor Yuan, Confucianism flourished and ordinary people had surnames.
Only by having a surname can we accurately collect taxes and exploit the demographic dividend, which is the basis of centralization.
During the Zhu Yuanzhang period, the first census recognized by historians was launched, and the household registration system, also known as the household registration book, was established, which lasted until the 21st century.
In other words, the control of the people during the Ming and Qing Dynasties reached a historical peak compared with the Tang, Song, and Yuan Dynasties.
However, due to the influence of productivity and financial factors, private power had to be shared with the gentry, but it was able to strangle their lifeline - the imperial examination.
If it means that in the Qing Dynasty, the imperial power did not go to the countryside, it was because it did not want to go down. In the Tang and Song Dynasties, the imperial power could only control the county towns and could not go down at all.
In fact, although North Korea learned from the Ming Dynasty, its domestic system was the same as that of the Song Dynasty, with the king and nobles sharing the world.
Scholar-officials are not necessarily nobles, but nobles must be scholar-officials.
In the countryside of the Ming Dynasty, the gentry, the wealthy families and the imperial court jointly ruled the world, while in Korea, there were two groups of nobles, academies, and temples, which divided the world.
The nobles control power, the academies control public opinion, and the temples control thoughts. If the three are united, the yamen will naturally become puppets.
The reason why the three are so arrogant is that they have tax exemption rights, occupy land, bully the weak, and accommodate bankrupt farmers as tenants.
The Joseon Dynasty was precisely because of the intertwining of the three people among the people. Except for Hamjeongdao, which often rebelled due to discrimination, the rest of the villages were extremely stable.
No, the Song merchants and the Gulf merchants received an order from the King of Yue for the population of farmers, and began to return to their hometowns one after another to think about it.
Xia Hehou was sitting on a donkey cart with a big belly, his face full of contemplation. The donkey was pulling hard, and was guarded by several servants. Sometimes it had to be pushed and pulled when it went uphill.
North Korea's finances are not rich, so the renovation of official roads is maintained by local nobles. After all, if the king doesn't leave, your family will also have to go, right?
The imperial court was a poor country with few products, and the number of horses was very small, so the people mostly used donkeys, mules, and ox carts to travel.
Of course, bamboo sedans carried by two people are also popular, but they can only travel short distances.
Pedestrians on the road noticed the majesty of the donkey cart and couldn't get out of the way, their eyes full of fear.
"Uh huh..." The donkey cart jolted. Xia Hehou was startled and recovered from closing his eyes to meditate.
"what happened?"
"Master, he is a young man running out of the city, riding a horse." The servant hurriedly reported.
"The one who can be so wanton in Kaicheng is probably a left-behind son." Xia Hehou said hurriedly, with a look of panic on his face: "You didn't disturb him, did you?"
"No, the horse walks very fast and doesn't care about us."
Unfortunately, as soon as he finished speaking, there was a burst of dust and a young man riding on a horse said condescendingly:
"Everyone Xia, are you back from Seoul?"
"Young master, you are very polite. I know that I have just returned from Seoul and have just attended the General Assembly."
Xia Hehou said respectfully, mentioning the Chamber of Commerce in his words.
Songshang came from Kaicheng. They were well-connected in the local area and had great strength. They also helped King Xiaozong ascend the throne, and they could be said to be more and more prosperous.
The young man froze for a moment, and said with a worried look on his face: "I owe some money."
"That's what I mean, young man, please take some flowers!"
Marquis Xia He smiled slightly, took out ten silver coins from his arms, wrapped them in his purse, offered them carefully, and raised them above his head.
"Money? I will pay it back to you." The young man showed a smile, took the money, and ran away on horseback.
"Let's go!" Xia Hehou breathed a sigh of relief, with a look of pain on his face, and got back on the donkey cart.
Ten silver coins were nothing in the Ming Dynasty, but in North Korea, where money was expensive and food was cheap, it was a huge sum.
But there was no way. Although he was also a nobleman of Yangban in name, he donated a large amount of property when King Hyojong ascended the throne in Pyongyang and joined the Yangban as a pariah.
This was the process of selling officials and conferring honors that had to start during the Imjin Japanese Rebellion. Later, whenever there was a financial crisis, North Korea would sell officials on a large scale, causing middle-class people and craftsmen to become two classes of aristocrats.
By the 19th century, two groups of nobles even accounted for 70 to 80% of the population, and the finances were close to collapse.
Therefore, as a new member of the second class, even if Xia Hehou was rich, he would not dare to mess around with the young master who stayed behind.
He hurriedly entered the city. The gatekeeper looked at Mr. Xia's outfit and didn't dare to ask for money, so he let him go.
Kaesong was the capital of the Goryeo Dynasty for 600 years. It is also home to the specialty Korean ginseng and is now one of the three capitals.
After walking around and returning home, I rested for a while and then I had to invite someone.
Invitation from the Song Merchant Guild.
Like the Huizhou merchants and Shanxi merchants of the Ming Dynasty, Songshang belonged to a loose but close-knit hometown chamber of commerce and monopolized the business of Korean ginseng.
Basically, it is a fight among the members of the arbitration chamber, and at the same time they unanimously compete for external interests.
When they arrived at the meeting leader's home, dozens of wealthy and powerful businessmen gathered. Everyone sat down separately and the discussion continued.
Marquis Xia He sat quietly and listened with his ears pricked up.
"This year's tribute of 100,000 stone grains to the Celestial Empire should be sent from Ping'an Road and Xianjing Road..."
"With the twenty thousand yuan, His Highness's practice is to give half of it as salary and half to build Gyeongbokgung Palace and the mausoleum..."
"That's the job of Gulf businessmen. They are the best at currying favor with the prime ministers."
"Not necessarily, we can still strive for it, a little bit is a little bit."
The so-called tribute refers to the tribute treaty between the Ming Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty. North Korea paid a tribute of 100,000 stone grains and the Ming Dynasty gave 20,000 yuan in money.
Nowadays, North Korea's rice is more expensive than silver, and one silver dollar can buy three to four stones of rice. North Korea has begun to be able to bear this tribute.
But at that time, North Korea's annual fiscal revenue was only 200,000 dan. Even if it lost 30,000 to 40,000 dan in rice, it would still be an uncomfortable situation.
As a result, the merchants were in great misfortune. The merchants in each of the eight dynasties of the imperial court could scrape together the loss of 20,000 to 30,000 shi of grain.
The imperial court received 20,000 silver dollars, which made up for the shortage of gold and silver, and occasionally earned a little.
In fact, many officials wanted to give up the tribute of 100,000 shi to the merchants, but the three major chambers of commerce, Songshang, Jingshang, and Gulf Merchants, tried their best to persuade them, so they were exempted.
Suddenly, a middle-aged man came slowly.
As soon as he arrived, everyone stood up and saluted respectfully.
He is Songshang Dafang, Zhao An, who was recommended by the merchants and has great prestige.
Especially when he was in Pyongyang, he overcame all objections and asked the Songshang merchants to contribute 30,000 shi of grain and 10,000 taels of silver to support the then crown prince Li Hao's ascension to the throne, which could be said to have benefited the Songshang merchants immensely.
"Everyone, I think everyone knows about the matter of Eiso Island. The King of Yue of the Celestial Dynasty is about to join the vassal. Although it is a poor and cold place like Ezo, it is still a country after all."
Zhao An said with a smile on his face: "The king of Yue said that for strong men and strong women, each person will receive two silver coins. This is a large sum of money."
"In addition, the newly built Yue Kingdom is in particularly short supply of rice, grain, and iron tools. If we take the lead, we can make a lot of money from this."
"Dafang, I wonder how much money the King of Yue has?" a businessman asked.
"I found out from people in the Ming Dynasty that the King of Yue ranked fifth. According to the custom of the Celestial Dynasty, there are hundreds of thousands of silver coins."
These words excited all businessmen.
North Korea now has only 20 million people. After the trade with Yeongjong Island, Hucao received 200,000 shi in tribute per year (actually 600,000 shi, most of which were lost) and 1 million taels of silver. Compared with previous years,
Twice the wealth.
Don't get me wrong, the tael here refers to the North Korean currency. One tael is equal to one hundred copper coins, but one million taels is actually only one hundred thousand silver coins.
In North Korea, the monthly salary of a first-rank official was only three shi, eight buckets of rice, and two shi of beans.
After the trade during the Xiaozong period, the salaries of officials above the fifth rank were reformed and became silver coins.
Even so, the annual salary of a first-grade prime minister is only thirty-six silver coins.
Even if the King of Yue becomes a vassal, he will have the fiscal revenue of North Korea for a year or even several years. What a piece of fat this is.
"So, when we serve the King of Yue, we have to be careful." Zhao An said seriously: "I think that before the autumn comes, our Songshang must recruit 10,000 untouchables so that we can pay homage to the King of Yue."
"Dafang, how do you divide the money?"
"Yes, 10,000 people are easy to handle. Let's get a clear idea of the number of people first. Don't mess up the position."
"I'm willing to recruit a thousand people to help our Songshang——"
"Why, I have two thousand people——"
For a time, everyone started quarreling over money.
Later, as the eldest brother, Zhao An directly began to discuss the division of accounts. He directly ate 2,000 people and took the majority. The remaining 8,000 were divided among many merchants.
Basically, it is barely fair based on the level of power and prestige.
Xia Hehou only caught 300 people and could only sigh.
Even so, it is worth his two or three years' net profit.
"We Songshang should be careful in our work. The advantage of having children is not counting the number of people, but it can be regarded as adding a head to the king of Yue."
Finally, Zhao An added something and then left.
Xia Hehou quickly returned home.
After resting for two or three days, he left Kaicheng and went to his farmland.
After donating the identity of two classes of nobles, it is not only easier to do business, but also able to legally plunder and buy the land of ordinary people.
Now, he owns Baijie land and can be considered a moderate landowner.
The land of the imperial court was calculated according to the output of knots, negatives, bundles, and handles. One knot of land was the land that produced twenty shi of rice, which was almost twenty acres.
Baijie is about two thousand acres.
There were nearly a hundred tenant farmers who farmed for him. Each of them had to pay him half of their rice, and they had to pay the tribute rice themselves. They could only live hand to mouth.
"Nowadays, when the dynasty recruits immigrants, those who go to cultivate land will not only have enough to eat and drink, but each household will also be given ten acres of land..."
"In the Kingdom of Heaven, everything is good, and I can get rid of my status as a pariah. If I didn't have a family here, I would have gone -"
While shouting, Xia Hehou spared no effort to make up the benefits. He even prepared mung bean soup and distributed it to this group of people in order to promote the idea of going out for fun.
Koreans are divided into five classes: clan, yangban, ordinary people, quasi-untouchables and untouchables.
Commoners are small traders, craftsmen, and basically the concubines of nobles, also known as middlemen.
Quasi-untouchables include hwarang, wandering maidens, shrine maidens, etc. Untouchables are slaves.
But for the two classes of nobles, there is little difference between commoners and bitches, even their own concubines.
In addition, Xia Hehou also has other tricks:
For those whose families had three to five acres of land, after the summer harvest, he immediately took back the farmers' loans, forced them to give up their land to pay off the debt, and then forced the impoverished farmers to go to the country of Yue.
Lending and compounding interest are the forte of businessmen, and they are also a major weapon for rural land annexation.
Smart businessmen will never give up until they squeeze out a little bit of money.
Sure enough, by the beginning of July, Songshang had recruited 10,000 men and women and more than 10,000 children, exceeding the task.
…
Japan, Satsuma Domain, Shimadzu Family.
A letter from the old clan member of the Tsushima family came to visit.
The feudal lord Shimazu Mitsuhisa was about to leave for Edo to attend the meeting, so he was curious to meet him.
The clan letter also contained no clues and said directly: "I know that after the shogunate closed the country, the Shimazu family's taxes were greatly reduced and they were unable to make ends meet. Therefore, I, the Umohara clan, came to offer advice to your clan——"
Shimazu Mitsu was stunned for a long time, but did not answer, and then smiled and said: "As far as I know, the noble domain is not much better. It is too late to save itself, so why did they recruit the Shimazu family to save me?"
"Your Highness, I know that peace can benefit both sides, so we don't care about gains and losses."
The clan clan letter said seriously.
Shimazu Mitsuhisa smiled, poured himself a glass of wine, and said, "Let's talk about it!"
He stared at the clan letter intently, obviously not at peace in his heart.
"Last month, the King of Yue went to Edo to ask for the Tokugawa princess, but in fact he wanted to establish a vassal and establish a country in Ezo."
Zong Shixin also poured himself wine and said calmly: "It's a pity that although the Ming Dynasty supported hundreds of thousands of taels of gold, it didn't have many manpower to open up wasteland."
"So, the King of Yue is going to recruit people from your noble clan. Each couple, including their children, will receive two silver coins from your noble clan."
"Two silver coins?" Mitsuhisa Shimazu's face was moved.
In Japan during the Edo period, only one tael of silver during Nagasaki's foreign trade was worth a conventional copper coin. In fact, one tael of silver in Japan was only worth about two hundred cash.
Two silver dollars didn't seem like much, but they were just recruiting people, so he just had to sit back and collect the money.
Moreover, after many years of peace, the Shimadzu family's samurai and peasant population increased. After these people went to Yue, they could also make the land richer, which was simply killing two birds with one stone.
"I don't want silver coins." Shimazu Mitsuhisa came to his senses and said in a deep voice: "Give me raw silk, books, porcelain, medicinal materials, ginseng, Korean paper..."
Zong Shixin was startled when he heard this, "Good guy, this is going to make money twice!"
"Only the shogunate side?"
"We belong to a domain to a domain, and also within the country."
Shimazu Mitsuhisa chuckled and said, "I didn't touch your seventy shiploads of goods."