Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 643
"cut!"

"what……"

In the city of Beijing in March, amidst the sounds of surveillance and beheading, the heads of countless officials fell to the ground. While watching the scalps of the people at Caishikou tingle, they were very happy.

Since Zhu Ciran appointed Lu Yuanqing Zha Jinyiwei in the first month of this year, corrupt Jinyiwei and implicated officials have been imprisoned almost every day.

These people accumulated for more than three months, and finally Zhu Ciran divided them into exile and beheading according to the seriousness of their crimes.

He did this not because of his kindness, but because his uncle spoke up, and the land in the river was in urgent need of reform-through-labor labor.

In fact, in Zhu Ciran's view, this group of people should be beheaded, and their wives and children should be slaves to death. But facing his uncle's policies, Zhu Ciran mostly chose to obey.

However, in order to vent his hatred, he personally brought people to Caishikou, and watched the heads of these corrupt officials roll as a commoner...

"Embezzled so much money, just died like this, it's cheap for them..."

Seeing the falling heads one by one, Zhu Ciran, who was dressed in Taoist robes, snorted coldly, then turned and left.

However, he did not go back to the palace directly, but took Sun Kewang, Li Yongzhen, and Lu Yuangao to wander around Caishikou.

Zhu Ciran came out this time not only to vent his hatred, but also to distract his mind, so after venting his anger, observing people's livelihood is what he needs to do.

With the end of the severe drought in the north in the 23rd year of Apocalypse, except for some areas in Zhejiang, Nanzhili, Huguang, and Jiangxi in the south that are suffering from drought, all provinces in the country are basically healthy.

This kind of well-being cannot be directly reflected in a short period of time, but it is not difficult to see the folk situation from the prices of some vegetables.

"How much is a penny of cabbage today?"

"Three catties, if you want nine catties, I can give you one catty, how about it?"

"Then let's add a catty."

"Don't you want some meat?"

"I've eaten too much meat recently, and I'm a little bored. Let's have a vegetarian meal for a few days..."

Zhu Ciran asked the prices and bought vegetables at some meat and vegetable stalls in a humble tone, and the stall owners of each stall chatted with him as usual with other customers.

After walking around for half an hour, he almost understood the recent prices in the capital, and nodded with satisfaction.

Seeing this, Sun Kewang, who was behind him, also whispered next to him: "When spring comes, the prices of vegetables in the north have dropped, but the price of meat is still high."

"However, with the current situation, the price of meat is expected to drop in the coming year, and the price may return to the Wanli period."

Sun Kewang's words made Zhu Ciran keep nodding his head to express his approval. Although he looked down on his great-great-grandfather, it is undeniable that during the middle period of his great-grandfather's reign, the price of goods among the people was still relatively low.

"Is everything handed over to the household department?"

Zhu Ciran walked towards the carriage prepared by Li Yongzhen while talking.

Now that he has understood the living conditions of the people in the capital, he naturally has to go back and deal with the unfinished business.

The three of Sun Kewang got into the carriage with him, and after sitting down, Lu Yuangao confessed:
"In the past two months or so, countless gold and silver mansions have been confiscated, and all of them have been handed over to the Huangdian for sale. A total of more than 130 million taels of cash, more than 75 taels of gold, and more than [-] acres of arable land have been obtained."

"The cultivated land has been distributed to the common people by the household department and the local yamen, and the gold and silver have also been put into the treasury."

After Lu Yuangao finished speaking, Zhu Ciran nodded in satisfaction, and then asked:

"Has the matter of the past few days been implemented? What is the attitude of the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies, the Cabinet, and the Sixth Department?"

On February [-]th, according to his uncle's handwriting, Zhu Ciran set aside the Governor's Mansion from the usual court meeting, which completely cut off the possibility of discussing affairs between civil servants and generals.

In the future, almost all the actions of the army will only be submitted to the emperor through the governor's office of the five armies, and the consumption of money and grain will be allocated by the Ministry of household, and the emperor will order it in the middle.

In the original model, although the six ministries and the cabinet could not dictate the actions of the Dudufu, they had to conduct strict audits on the expenditure of the Dudufu.

This step itself was decided by Zhu Youjian himself, so for this step, Zhu Youjian did not modify it, but mainly added one...

The content of this article is that the emperor's own handbook can also directly order, and only need to be audited afterwards.

After adding this item, the most intuitive impact is the skyrocketing military expenditure...

As the Ming army expanded its territory in the west and south, the military expenditure of the five armies' governor's mansion naturally skyrocketed.

For example, in Hezhong and Lingbei, although the army has been withdrawn now, only more than 4 soldiers and horses are left permanently, but there are more than 20 civilians who maintain the logistics line of these [-] soldiers and horses.

Although the train has been repaired to the west of Luntai County (Urumqi), saving a lot of travel and time, the massive logistical expenditures are still further squeezing military expenditures.

When the expenditure skyrocketed irresistibly, the calculation of the annual financial expenditure naturally became very ugly.

Even though the Ming Dynasty in the 23rd year of the apocalypse accumulated more than 3000 million taels of silver by printing banknotes, the national debt needed to be repaid, and the silver for various projects, the salaries of hundreds of officials, the military salary of the army, and reward silver were not small sums.

According to Zhu Youjian's original plan, Daming should reduce military expenditures, and then try to achieve a balance of payments on the basis of ensuring industrialization.

However, with the further expansion of the territory, the administrative staff can only be further expanded, which in turn increases the expenditure of the court.

Hezhong and Lingbei are good places, but they can't provide any financial support for the Ming Dynasty now.

In fact, this is the malpractice left by Zhu Youjian during his administration.

Zhu Youjian wants to destroy and disintegrate all countries that can threaten Ming Dynasty in his lifetime, or drag them into the quagmire of regional wars.

But here comes the problem...

Under the influence of Zhu Youjian, no matter whether it was a hundred officials or generals, everyone wanted to work hard and didn't want to dawdle, so the ministries of Ming Dynasty spent money lavishly.

Now, although Zhu Youjian has increased Ming's income from 600 million taels in the first year of the apocalypse to 200 million taels of income, he has also created a financial system that can continuously increase his annual income as long as it operates normally.

But in contrast, the weight of that increase is not enough to satisfy the extravagance of court officials.

Develop industry and commerce, reform land tax, issue national debt, mint coins, create technology...

In a short period of 24 years, Zhu Youjian has actually done everything that can and should be done.

It is precisely in the face of so many measures that the financial revenue can be doubled, but this also shows that there is not much financial space that can be tapped in Daming under the current environment.

"Uncle is right. The method of living without money is almost exhausted, and the method of reducing expenses is irreducible."

"It's just a new source of income, how will it appear..."

In the carriage, Zhu Ciran looked at the "Daming Kunyu General Map" on the table in front of him, and couldn't help muttering to himself.

And when he said this, Zhu Youxiao was also asking Zhu Youjian this question.

"With so many people supported by the imperial court, if there is no new source of income, I am afraid it will still be unable to change the financial distress."

Zhu Youxiao's voice sounded, but the place where it sounded was not the sea, nor Ningbo, but the Huagai Hall of the Forbidden City in Nanjing City of Yingtian Mansion.

The appearance of this sentence made Zhu Youjian, who was sitting opposite Zhu Youxiao in the Huagai Hall, also fell into deep thought.

It's not that he doesn't know how to say it, but he is thinking about how to explain it clearly to his brother.

From Zhu Youxiao's words, it is not difficult to hear that he has mastered a lot of economic terms and knowledge.

However, words and knowledge are only theoretical things, how to practice is the problem.

Although Zhu Youxiao learned about the relationship between technology and emerging industries from his younger brother, and also knew that technology is the primary productive force, the problem was that he only knew it.

What he needs now is for his younger brother to give him a solution to the problem.

Since Zhu Youxiao ruled the country, he felt more and more difficult to govern the country.

Many of Daming's problems were largely resolved not by him, but by his younger brother.

His means, especially the economic and military means, are jaw-dropping, and many arrangements even give people a feeling of planning for a rainy day and knowing the future.

"It's still the same sentence, look at emerging industries and create new demands."

Zhu Youjian spoke indifferently, and clearly stated some things that the Armament Academy is studying:
"Although the internal combustion engine is still far away, once a breakthrough is made, the internal combustion engine will soon be transformed into automobiles, motorcycles, airplanes, ships, and trains..."

"But how much money can these things create?" Zhu Youxiao frowned and said:
"Guochao's trains and ships have been in operation for many years, but it is still far away from paying back the cost, and even the railway is in a state of loss every year."

"The important thing is not the train, but the car..." Zhu Youjian shook his head and explained the car, and when he said that a car is a private train that does not use rails, Zhu Youxiao was immediately full of curiosity.

"If the internal combustion engine can appear and be used in automobiles, then as the research progresses, Daming will get a huge tax source."

"I said that the needs of the people are upward. After they have no worries about food and clothing, what they pursue is traveling and living."

"This can also be seen from the annual sales of bicycles."

"Once Guochao can research the car, the car will enter people's lives little by little."

"In the experimental product of the Military Armament Academy, an internal combustion engine is estimated to cost 50 taels of silver, while the cost of a car is seven taels of silver."

"That is, the cost of a car is at least 57 taels. If the imperial court can create a profit of [-] taels per car, then based on the income of the people after the disaster, it only takes two years for a family to buy a car."

"There are more than 3000 million households in Daming. As long as each family owns a car, it can generate [-] million taels of fiscal revenue."

"Besides, the gasoline used by cars is the country's long-term source of income."

"If you earn one penny per catty of gasoline, you can earn more than ten pennies per car. This tax money is long-term and considerable."

"What's more, the job demand derived from the car is much more than that of the bicycle."

"Compared to bicycles that use human power, a car that uses mechanical power and can travel hundreds of miles a day and loads a thousand kilograms of goods is the biggest transportation tool for the people of Ming Dynasty to live comfortably."

Zhu Youjian used the automobile as a representative of the new industry, and roughly talked about the financial resources that Daming would obtain once the automobile appeared.

Compared with the tax credit of less than 50 taels per year for bicycles, the tax credits that can be created by automobiles and their additional industries are simply crushing.

"But are ordinary people really willing to buy such an expensive car? Could this thing only be a toy for the powerful..."

Zhu Youxiao worried unreasonably, but Zhu Youjian didn't care:
"Everything is a luxury when it first comes out, and bicycles were the same back then."

"But now? Many people in the country have bought bicycles. Before the price of one or two yuan, many people may have to think about it for a long time before buying."

"Chendi has seen the output of the bicycle factory. So far, Guochao has produced more than 920 million bicycles, and as the drought subsides, this number is still increasing."

"As long as the people have silver, they will naturally spend it. What my brother needs to do is to give them opportunities to earn silver and save money."

While Zhu Youjian said, Zhu Youxiao nodded in approval, and gradually, he also became transparent.

It's just that compared to the transparency on their side, the capital's side is still old-fashioned.

After Zhu Ciran returned to the East Palace, he immediately summoned Li Changgeng, a veteran finance minister whom he relied heavily on, and tried to get Li Changgeng to clear up his doubts.

"Your Highness Chitose..."

"Don't be rude. You are called here for money. You know the financial situation of the country. If you want to open up new tax sources, what should the court do?"

When Li Changgeng entered the Palace of Spring Harmony, while Zhu Ciran was arranging the seats, he also asked directly.

After Jin Yiwei moved the chair, Li Changgeng sat down directly, raised his hand and said:
"Naturally, there are unfinished business in the country's finances, but there are some measures that the Ming Dynasty does not have the conditions to implement, and there is no need to implement them."

Li Changgeng smiled slightly, he knew Zhu Ciran's temperament very well now, so he kept it a secret and didn't dare to express his thoughts easily.

Seeing Li Changgeng like this, Zhu Ciran snorted softly: "Li Gechen, you are not old yet, so you don't need to beat around the bush."

"I have the right to take the matter you mentioned as an opinion, and it will not be implemented immediately."

After hearing Zhu Ciran's words, Li Changgeng couldn't help laughing bitterly, he said softly:

"The old minister naturally understands the meaning of His Highness's question, but the old minister honestly said that the current finances of the country are all arranged by His Royal Highness King Qi, and it is not easy to change them."

"Although Guochao has begun to develop industry and commerce and implement national debt, after all, due to the short period of time, it is still in the stage of sowing, and it is not time to harvest."

Li Changgeng talked eloquently: "The old minister has read many books written by His Royal Highness King Qi, which also analyzed the taxation of previous dynasties, and there are even many exorbitant taxes."

"It's just that these exorbitant and miscellaneous taxes are difficult for the state to collect. Apart from the agricultural tax on the land itself, the tax sources such as house tax, cattle and sheep tax, poll tax... are all due to His Royal Highness Qi's opposition to miscellaneous taxes. The method becomes the tax source of the country.”

"Even in the industrial and commercial industries that His Highness attaches great importance to, the tax system is difficult to further refine. On this point, His Highness King Qi seems to have gone astray."

Zhu Ciran was stunned when he heard this, and after realizing it, he was a little dissatisfied with Li Changgeng's saying that about his uncle, and asked back with a frown, "Is there anything wrong with my uncle on this festival?"

"I didn't think there was anything wrong at first, but after reading the economic books written by His Royal Highness Qi Wang, I realized that although His Highness Qi Wang has always encouraged the development of the industrial and commercial industry, and also Taxes have been raised, but not enough."

"For Guochao, encouraging the development of industry and commerce does not mean indulging industry and commerce. Guochao itself only provides a good development environment for industry and commerce."

"His Royal Highness Qi has a clear tax system for the three main links of commodity circulation, sales and income in his book "Economy", but this point has not been further refined in domestic production, or His Royal Highness Qi It has never been pushed forward.”

As he spoke, Li Changgeng paused, took a sip of tea, moistened his throat, and then explained:
"Currently, Ming Dynasty's taxation on industry, commerce and agriculture is about 10%. From a historical point of view, the commercial taxation of the Kingdom Dynasty can be said to be the lightest in history."

"In the eyes of the veteran, this is not a good thing, especially for the current situation."

"The old minister has studied the finances of various countries and found that for each country, 10% is only a low figure. Among them, Aelia's daily tax collection on industrial and commercial industries has reached 15%, and it may reach 20% during wartime. %~30%."

"My Ming Dynasty has been in a war environment for a long time, but it has always maintained a taxation scale of 10%. Naturally, it is impossible to leverage more taxes."

Speaking of this, Li Changgeng sighed softly again: "One more thing, Your Highness knows that the living conditions of most people in Ming Dynasty are far better than those of Europeans."

"Because in Europe at present, all countries aim to enrich the country and strengthen the army, but there is no option to make the people rich in the rich country and strengthen the army."

Zhu Ciran understood in an instant, what Li Changgeng said was actually revealing one thing...

My uncle has always had a heart of compassion for the lower class, and he hasn't squeezed the lower class hard enough.

If you can be ruthless and double the existing land tax and industrial and commercial tax, the money can still be collected, but it will be the common people who will not be easy at that time
"From the day capital was born, blood and filth dripped from every pore"

Zhu Ciran suddenly thought of what his uncle said in his book "Das Kapital", perhaps only when he witnessed all this with his own eyes, could he truly understand the ugly face of capital in the period of primitive accumulation.

When this monster was just in its infancy, it had already shown a great thirst for resources, even forcing Daming and Zhu Ciran to think of various ways to feed and strengthen it.
Just thinking of this, Zhu Ciran raised his head involuntarily, and looked at the "Daming Kunyu General Map" on the map.

Li Changgeng's eyes followed Zhu Ciran's and looked at the past. Seeing such a vast map of the Ming Dynasty that almost occupied one-third of the world, Li Changgeng also had to sigh;
"Your Highness, I have a sentence that I have wanted to say to His Royal Highness for a long time, but I have never dared to..."

"Huh?" Zhu Ciran turned his head when he heard his words, motioning for him to speak casually, and Li Changgeng bowed to express his guilt, and then said:

"His Royal Highness King Qi loves the people too much, and you too..."

"..." Zhu Ciran frowned when he heard the words, showing displeasure on his face: "I heard Li Gechen, you used to love the people like a son, don't you feel ashamed to say this now?"

"Veterans love the people, but veterans also know that the country is more important than the family." Li Changgeng does not feel ashamed, because his education and growth environment are like this.

Seeing his righteousness, Zhu Ciran frowned and waved his hands: "You go down first, let me think about it."

"The old minister resigns..." Li Changgeng knew that Zhu Ciran was very displeased with his words, so he left Chunhe Palace tactfully.

After he left, Zhu Ciran said to Li Yongzhen, "Mr. Chuan Jin, come here."

"The maidservant leads the order..." Li Yongzhen bowed in response, and immediately sent someone to find Jin Xuan.

Seeing him go to work, Zhu Ciran also sat back in his seat:
"Although the old minister is useful, he is still too pedantic, living in the past..."

Zhu Ciran gave his evaluation of Li Changgeng in his heart, but at the same time, he was a little more apprehensive about calling Jin Xuan.

He was wondering, facing the same problem, he also loves the people like a child, and the teacher who has received the new education and grew up will think as pedantic as Li Changgeng, thinking that for the sake of the court, the people can bear part of the suffering.

Zhu Ciran was worried, but as time passed, when Jin Xuan's footsteps appeared, Zhu Ciran immediately looked up at the door.

Compared to when he first arrived in Daming, Jin Xuan has lost a lot of weight, which shows that things in Daming are much heavier than those in Qi.

"Teacher, sit down first, there is no need to salute, the students have some questions and want to ask the teacher..."

Zhu Ciran interrupted Jin Xuan who was about to salute, and at the same time leaned forward, and told Jin Xuan the issue he discussed with Li Changgeng.

Regarding this content, Jin Xuan who had just sat down frowned almost instantly.

"The teacher thinks that Guochao can increase some taxes..."

Zhu Ciran asked Jin Xuan with a heavy heart, but Jin Xuan replied without thinking: "It's just pedantic!"

With just four words, Zhu Ciran's heavy heart was instantly swept away. While he was relieved, he couldn't help but look forward to Jin Xuan's next words.

"Li Gechen reads too few books, and he shouldn't only read books on economics written by His Highness, but should read more books on science and technology."

"His Royal Highness's economic purpose is to make the people rich, spend money after they have spare money, and then let the economy circulate, and the simple squeeze will only make the people feel helpless."

"Once people start to worry about the economic environment, saving will become the norm."

"If the people are saving, the economy will not be able to circulate, and consumption will be downgraded, leading to economic deflation."

"If you want to be more specific, it is..."

Jin Xuan expressed his views freely, and his views won Zhu Ciran's peace of mind.

When Zhu Ciran was mentioned by Li Changgeng, he immediately felt that he was really "weak".

But after Jin Xuan's answer, he gradually understood one thing.

That is, Li Changgeng and the others are still playing the routine of controlling the people, and what Jin Xuan said is the general trend in the future.

Therefore, after Jin Xuan finished the analysis, Zhu Ciran had a smile on his face, and at the same time he got up and bowed to Jin Xuan:
"Thank you teacher for clarifying the students' doubts. The students know what to do."

"Since His Royal Highness knows, then I will leave." Jin Xuan bowed in response, but in the end he was still worried:
"Your Highness, I would like to remind you one last thing..."

"If you and Wansui can't love the people as much as His Royal Highness King Qi, and analyze the problem from the perspective of the people, then it's only a matter of time before the country's dynasty declines."

Jin Xuan's speech is still bold, which also means that he has not changed. He is still the direct minister of the past. For the sake of the people, he never worries that his speech will offend those in power.

"Hehe..." Zhu Ciran was not angry, but smiled kindly:

"Teacher, don't worry, the students have not changed."

Facing Zhu Ciran's words, Jin Xuan didn't say much, he was busy with affairs, so he turned and left Chunhe Palace without staying too long.

Looking at his back, Zhu Ciran was thoughtful, and finally when Jin Xuan left completely, Zhu Ciran murmured to himself:
"Some things should be swept into the trash..."

(End of this chapter)