In order to take the overall situation into consideration and prevent the Han court's army from being over-exploited in the civil war, Zhu Changzhen chose to temporarily give in to Zhu Yousong and take the opportunity to cut down the vassal from other vassal kings. This decision is absolutely no problem.
A very few cabinet ministers who participated in the decision-making process, including Shi Kefa, also knew that if they attacked King Fu hard from the beginning, even if they could get it done, it would definitely leave a sequelae, which would cause everyone in the other feudal lords to be in danger and resist joining. towards.
In this way, if we try to subdue all the local warlords in the future, the hidden danger of civil war will definitely be higher than now. It is better to temporarily show the tolerance of the court and let all the mistakes and mistakes belong to King Fu.
Of course, there was not anyone who objected during this decision-making process. For example, Xu Shiqi, the Minister of Punishment, gave private advice and put forward one point:
"In troubled times, you should use heavy rules. When the king is first overseeing the country's affairs, he should use thunderous means to suppress the situation. Once he shows weakness, the ambitious people will become more and more ready to take action."
Zhu Changzhen himself was a weak person who didn't understand politics. When he heard Xu Shiqi's secret advice, he didn't know how to refute it. After all, it sounded reasonable.
Fortunately, Shi Kefa and Zhu Shuren were sober, and finally Shi Kefa stepped forward and firmly opposed Xu Shiqi's statement:
"This time, that time! In troubled times, heavy codes, clear laws and clear responsibilities are used when the previous ruler is weak and weak! For example, when Liu Bei entered Yizhou, Liu Zhang was weak and weak, and the laws were lax, so Zhuge Liang wanted to The law is clear and the responsibilities are clear!”
"But if the former lord himself is in a state of resolute and harsh laws, such as Qin Shihuang and Hu Hai, then Liu Bang will have to make a three-law agreement when he enters Guanzhong!"
The reason why Shi Kefa needs to come forward for these words is naturally because Zhu Shuren is still the governor of a foreign town, not the cabinet minister of the court.
If he openly interfered with the central government's decision-making, it would be easy for him to be criticized, and it would further give careerists an excuse to resist under the banner of "cleaning up the country's side". Therefore, even if Zhu Shuren is trusted by his father-in-law again, he can only do it secretly for the time being. Among the court officials, only Shi Kefa and Shen Tingyang knew directly and clearly that Zhu Shuren participated in the central decision-making, while the others kept it secret.
Only after he has made some more obvious contributions during this round of consolidating the authority of the central government can Zhu Changzhen continue to promote him, add a ministerial title, and participate in the decision-making of the central government.
(Note: At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the governor of the outer town added an inspector with the title of Minister of War, or a bachelor's degree, which was much more convenient, and he could directly participate in the discussion of the court affairs. Zhu Shuren had only had a governor before, and had been granted the title of duke, but he had never added a bachelor's degree. Or the title of Shangshu.)
And in the second half of these words, Zhu Shuren obviously did not let Shi Kefa say clearly, that is, they believed that Chongzhen belonged to the style of Qin Shihuang and Hu Hai.
Now all the ministers and generals in the world are worried about the historical issue of being liquidated. Only by taking this opportunity to show that the new supervisory state will never settle old historical accounts and everyone looks forward can we unite people more.
In contrast, the laws and regulations on rewards and punishments are not strict enough, which is not the main contradiction at the moment.
Xu Shiqi was just the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, and he paid more attention to his status and was not used to being in trouble. After being persuaded by Shi Kefa, he accepted it. As a result, Zhu Changzhen's vassal policy was carried out without reservation.
…
Although the policy was promulgated, its implementation also took time. The first summons to King Fu was issued on the eighth day of March. King Fu delayed his reply, started a war of words, and coupled with the negotiations between the DPRK and China, it basically lasted until late March. .
In late March, edicts summoning the kings to supervise the country were issued one after another, and the journey would take as little as ten or eight days depending on the distance, or as much as one or two months. Therefore, this matter would not take place until at least the second half of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen.
Only then can we get the final result.
After all, summoning the kings is not considered an urgent military situation. It is impossible to send it six hundred miles in a hurry. It can only be sent by ordinary messengers who travel one or two hundred miles a day.
After the vassal princes agreed to set off, they could only travel fifty miles a day at most. How could these pampered princes be willing to ride horses and gallop to work hard on themselves.
In the past three months, the imperial court cannot be idle, and Zhu Shuren has no excuse to stay in Beijing, so he plans to discuss the next stage of major policies with his father-in-law and father, Shi Kefa, and then temporarily return to his own defense area to supervise the army and handle civil affairs.
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After Chongzhen's death, Zhu Shuren's great undertaking of farming and science and technology in the Huguang Governor-General's Territory can also have a new stage of deployment. Those things are also very important. Otherwise, it will take at most half a year to wait for the Qing army to come, and the power in the south will be won. The ambition
All the families were cut off, but in the end they couldn't defeat the Qing army, then everything was over. Zhu Shuren could still distinguish between primary and secondary conflicts.
Zhu Shuren calculated the time. Around the beginning of April, he could leave Nanjing and return to his own territory first, waiting for the implementation of the imperial court's policy to advance.
If the situation is critical, he can stand by in Hefei. Anyway, Hefei is considered his governor-general's jurisdiction. If something unexpected happens, he can lead his troops back to Nanjing. If the situation is not critical, he can return to Wuchang.
Therefore, in late March, before his son-in-law left Beijing, Zhu Changzhen took time to intensively summon Shen Tingyang, Zhu Shuren, and Shi Kefa to discuss the next phase of policy in private behind closed doors.
As for the outsiders of the other four ministers, there is no need to participate. After the closing meeting, Shen Tingyang and Shi Kefa can argue externally. Zhu Shuren will not care about the details of the process in the court, nor will he.
see.
Zhu Changzhen was a Buddhist by nature and was not willing to make too much trouble, so as soon as these secret discussions came up, he first raised a fundamental question:
Now that the world is in chaos, and the person who has just taken over the country has the power to oversee the country, should things continue as usual and calm people's hearts, or should the new official take up his post and make some quick and resolute moves to show that he is different from when the late emperor was there?
Faced with this question, Shi Kefa still wanted to be cautious. Shen Tingyang's attitude was not as firm as Shi Kefa's, mainly because he didn't read much and didn't know much about politics other than finance.
Shi Kefa sincerely persuaded: "Your Majesty, when we discussed the control of the vassals before, I have already said that today's world is like the great chaos at the end of Qin Dynasty. We should imitate the three chapters of the Han Emperor's contract, be light on government, and let bygones be bygones.
Before the kings come to Zhili in the south, it is better to keep everything as usual to calm people's hearts. Even if there are some urgent changes that need to be made, it will not take more than a few months to make plans slowly. After controlling the queens, the local generals will no longer support them if they try to create trouble in a clever name.
The established object will naturally have much less resistance when the time comes.”
Zhu Changzhen felt that these words were really wise and he had already accepted them. He turned to Shen Tingyang next to him and asked, "What do you think, Qing Shen?"
Shen Tingyang sighed: "What Shigebu said is indeed a matter of time and effort, but now certain things are imminent. It has been two months since the death of the late emperor before the court got back on track, and many of the northern provinces have fallen.
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When the late emperor died, only Northern Zhili fell into the hands of thieves, and some state capitals in Henan and Shandong were controlled by the imperial court. In these two months, the thieves retreated steadily, and now the entire territory of Northern Zhili and most of Shandong and Henan
Several prefectures in the province located north of the old course of the Yellow River have been occupied by the Tatars.
I heard that the intruder himself has retreated to Kaifeng, and now only several prefectures in Henan, Shanxi, and Shaanxi are in the hands of the intruder, and they only occupy two provinces and three prefectures.
In such a situation, the imperial court had only the southern provinces to collect taxes this year, but it had to raise more soldiers and horses than in previous years to ensure the defense of the territory. Many provincial capitals were destined to be unable to collect the three rates set by the late emperor.
If we do not seek new sources of wealth, we must also ensure that we do not force more people to rebel in the process of seizing the sources of wealth. If the Tatars attack, the morale of the military and the people will first collapse."
Shen Tingyang's remarks always emphasize practical benefits. In his view, even for the sake of righteousness, there are not many that can be wasted. Appropriate risk-taking acceleration is very necessary.
Zhu Changzhen had no idea at all, so he had no choice but to look at his son-in-law and signal with his eyes, hoping that Zhu Shuren would help him analyze it.
He also didn't think about it. Zhu Shuren and Shen Tingyang were father and son. If the decision-making of national affairs required "the minority to obey the majority", then among the three people present, Shi Kefa would not be able to hold a majority of the votes - unless Zhu Shuren really felt that there was something wrong with his father's idea.
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Zhu Shuren was also aware of this. In his heart, he really felt that Shi Kefa's approach was a bit too steady, and that he only focused on being upright and without strategic cooperation. However, in order not to appear to be colluding between father and son, he had to fully understand the reasons before he could refute.
Zhu Shuren thought for a long time and then said impartially: "Your Majesty, I think that what Shigebu said is the right way, but there are some subtle flaws. What my father said is to increase the wealth of the imperial court, to support and expand the army, and to resist the enemy.
Foreign aggression is urgent.
Therefore, I believe that at the beginning of the king's supervision of the country, he should make some adjustments in line with the people's expectations for the "three things to do when a new official takes office". This will make it easier to stabilize people's hearts than doing nothing at all - "
When Zhu Shuren said this, he paused for a moment, and did not continue to explain to Zhu Changzhen, but turned to Shi Kefa, "Shi Gebu, you just said that in the late Qin Dynasty, Liu Bang used simplicity to calm people's hearts, but Liu Bang's simplicity,
Specifically, it is expressed as "Three Chapters of the Law", rather than doing nothing and directly abolishing the Qin Law.
Is it Liu Bang who pioneered death for murderers and punishment for wounders and thieves? No, it has been in Qin Law for a long time, but Qin Law is more harsh and complicated. Extract three chapters from Qin Law and rename them in the name of Liu Bang
Granted, this is also a kind of 'action', rather than a rule of thumb.
What's more, people today can learn from the lessons of ancient history far more than those of previous generations. Scholars and military generals all over the world are used to the ancient practice of "three things to do when a new official takes office". Even if the king does nothing, they will still be worried
I feel uneasy and always feel that the king is going to do something.
This is like if your family lives in a two-story building and the people upstairs take off their boots and throw them on the floor late at night before going to bed. Once the first boot hits the ground and disturbs you, can you still sleep peacefully? Wouldn't it be necessary to wait?
The second boot also hits the ground?
In this case, it is better to burn these three fires. During the burning process, the wording of the edict should be modified and paid more attention to. You can even change two of the three articles, and one can be used to reiterate and confirm the authority, showing people that 'burn it early and be at ease early.
From now on, I won’t bother anymore. I couldn’t find three ways to change things in a hurry. I just made up the numbers. I think it will be easier to calm people’s hearts than doing nothing.”
Shi Kefa was still very public-minded, so he listened very seriously to Zhu Shuren's opinions. He had a completely non-confrontational attitude and did not cause any unpleasantness just because the father and son joined forces to refute him.
After thinking about it carefully, Shi Kefa really had to admit that he didn't know enough about the details of these power-stealing schemes, and he only focused on taking the right path, and was slow to do so at the critical moment.
Although he had never heard the story of "waiting for the second shoe to fall", he could understand it immediately when Zhu Shuren explained it, and after thinking about it, he frankly admitted:
"What Governor Zhu said is indeed very consistent. Your Majesty, I would like to second my opinion. However, I don't know how Governor Zhu wants to put these three reforms together and what is the opportunity to reiterate them?"
Zhu Shuren was already prepared and was waiting for Shi Kefa to relent, so he took out the strategy he had thought up in the past few days from his sleeve, presented it to him, and said:
"Your Majesty, I think that for the current plan, the three newly appointed leaders can be used in these aspects. Of course, this is just the humble opinion of my family, and the Ministry of History can delete and add.
First of all, after the death of the late emperor, what must be adjusted immediately is the financial system of the Ming Dynasty. Among the three fires, the first one should show the world's mercy and go along with the flow to exempt the northern provinces and some southern provinces that have been particularly severely affected this year.
Ding tax and land tax, and then abolishing the "three rates" system left by the late emperor.
The former part of this money is destined to be unrecoverable, and the latter part is due to the huge cost of collecting it, which will easily continue to arouse the instability of the people, or the basis for the collection no longer exists. Rather than being an evil person in vain, it is better to abolish it as a sign of the situation.
New Deal climate.
As for the larger gap that appeared after the abolition, the second fire will be used to make up for it. The importance of the law of lijin can be reiterated and the proportion of collection can be increased. When the late emperor first established this law, in order to prevent the world's merchants and gentry from resisting,
Initially, only one tax rate was set for each province passed through.
In the next four years, due to the intensification of the war, many provinces made adjustments, or increased the number to two or three per hundred. In very few provinces and in certain years, the number was as high as five per hundred, that is, five cents. I believe that this
This time, you can take advantage of the situation and add a commercial tax of "10% of the value of the goods for each province you pass through."
Starting from the 14th year of Chongzhen, at that time, the southern provinces could receive about two million taels of silver per year based on one or two of the hundred. After that, each province increased taxes on its own, and this part of the money could range from four to five million per year.
Now if it is directly increased to 10%, I estimate that it will be at least 150,000 taels. If cross-province and overseas trade are not significantly reduced, it can even reach 20 million taels, which is almost seven to eight times the total of the three rates set by the late emperor.
The total amount, or more than two of them, is enough to raise and train troops, expand the army and prepare for war."
Zhu Shuren spoke eloquently and clearly about his overall vision. Some of his actions were also what King Fu's regime would have done under the manipulation of Shi Kefa during the same period in history.
When a new emperor comes to oversee the country, it is not easy to plunder it directly. He must first show mercy and reduce taxes.
Historically, Shi Kefa used the method of asking King Fu to waive taxes in the already occupied areas in the north as a show. Zhu Shuren's current show is at least more humane and more covert than what Shi Kefa used in history. It is a real deal.
It gives some benefits to the poor people. After all, the three rates of pay are really going to be abolished.
The Liao territories are no longer in the hands of the imperial court, including Hebei and Shandong. Those areas do not need to be guarded by the imperial court at present, so what kind of "Liao pay" is needed? Even if we want to avenge the late emperor, we will need additional money for the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains.
Establish a name, and the old and outdated ones should be abolished.
The newly needed funds will obviously be met by continuing to expand commercial taxes.
Lijin has been implemented for several years, but no matter how much you increase it before, it has never exceeded the 3% or 5% lines. After all, if you receive 3% to 5%, your status is still lijin. If you directly receive 1%
Fen, that is, the quality has changed. I am embarrassed to use the original name. Shouldn't it be renamed "fenjin"?
If the commercial tax is increased, there will definitely be resistance. The wealthy gentry of Donglin in the south do not want their business to be exploited. But as long as the Shen family takes the lead in paying taxes and pays the largest share, and then brings the Zheng family on board, and promises the Zheng family some political status, the rest will
Small businessmen in various provinces can use force to threaten them under the pretext of special circumstances.
In fact, it’s not that businessmen cannot understand charging more money to save the country. They are just afraid of being treated as fattened sheep and then slaughtered. In addition, they are afraid that the court will selectively and strictly enforce the law and turn a blind eye to powerful and well-connected businessmen.
One eye only strictly enforces the law against businessmen with no backing or support, so businessmen with weak backing will sooner or later be squeezed out in unfair competition.
As we all know, the ultimate problem in the late Ming Dynasty was that no matter whether a new policy was introduced, whether it was changed for the better or for the worse, when it finally reached the implementation level, it would be used for personal gain——
Just like the plague in Beijing a few months ago, Chongzhen ordered people to promote the cremation of the dead to reduce the source of infection. This idea is no problem.
But in the end, those who enforce the law either collect illegal money and let the corpses that should be burned go, or extort money from those who should not be burned. If they cannot extort money, they will burn the bodies that should not be burned.
Whether it should be burned or not, or whether it should be burned or forced to burn, it has become a means to collect black money and make money. The key is that the government has completely collapsed. Everyone knows the power of hidden rules and knows that it is useless even if you abide by the law, others will still do it.
fishing.
After this terrible expectation is solidified, it urges people to squander the short-term power in their hands as quickly as possible, and will not stop until the last breath of the country's demise.
Therefore, in the same way, businessmen in the late Ming Dynasty were not unpatriotic, and it was not that they could not pay more taxes. The key was that they had to see the fairness and sustainability of law enforcement.
It's like a highway network. If the tolls are expensive but fair to everyone, then law-abiding logistics providers will not be squeezed out. Anyway, everyone will raise the price when they ask the cargo owner to charge freight.
The fear is that law-abiding people will always bear high costs, while there is a group of privileged people who can collude with the toll booths. Then when the prices of law-abiding people increase, the business will be taken away by the privileged ones. If things go on like this, the privileges will be
The law-abiding people are squeezed out.
Once Shen Tingyang and Zheng Zhilong take the lead in paying heavy taxes, this expectation of fear of privilege will be broken.
Zhu Changzhen and Shi Kefa quickly figured out this truth and supported promoting this idea as the core of the new policy of supervising the country.
Shi Kefa was more prudent and asked further: "Since such an extra heavy tax has been levied on merchants, there must be supporting measures to calm people's hearts. I wonder what Governor Zhu thinks?"
Zhu Shuren smiled calmly: "If you want a horse to run, you must feed it. I thought that to make businessmen pay such heavy taxes, two aspects of support are needed.
First of all, it is necessary to change the social status repression of the Ming Dynasty, which emphasized agriculture and suppressed business since the Ming Dynasty, so that all four people are equal. When businessmen have a higher status, they will be less angry if they pay more money.
Moreover, the so-called low status of businessmen in the Ming Dynasty has actually become an empty talk. It only suppresses those ignorant businessmen who have no fame. In the end, it promotes collusion between government and businessmen, allowing businessmen to surrender to officials for protection. Suppression is equivalent to no suppression.
There are still countless bad rules left! It is better to abolish the unspoken rules and directly make equality clear.
Secondly, it is necessary to rectify the administration of officials and make people more confident that the court will be fair in the process of collecting commercial taxes. This is not something that happens overnight and needs to be planned over time.
For now, we can first rely on setting examples to solve the problem, such as asking the court to reimpose commercial taxes on the Shen family and the Zheng family, so that the Shen family and the Zheng family can take the lead in abiding by the law and spend huge sums of money.
In the long run, we need to reform the official salary system of the Ming Dynasty, with high salaries to support integrity. First, we must ensure that officials can live a good life without receiving extravagance. As long as we do not compare with each other, we can at least ensure that our family and staff have good food and clothing.
Then, at the same time, the abuse of power for personal gain was severely punished, and some search criteria were gradually brought back to the supervision of the imperial court. This was supplemented by the inspiration of "let bygones be bygones, and let go of the past." We ignored the historical corruption left over by the late emperor, and only severely punished those who did not stop in the future.
No loan, this will save people's hearts and temporarily win over the majority...
Of course, these are long-term, and we have to wait until the Ming Dynasty achieves a decisive military victory on the battlefield before we can talk about this. If we are too hasty, we may immediately force people to invade the bandits and Tatars."
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ps: There are almost 6,000 words here, and I also have to write the internal affairs strategy of the supervising country, which is not enough.
After a few days of Chinese New Year, I slowly got used to it. In the last few days of January, I basically wrote 5,000 to 6,000 words a day. In early February, I started to resume two updates a day.