I'm sure of the prosperous age of Kangxi and Qianlong!

Chapter 623 Fiscal Burden and Silver Inflow

Envoys from various countries arrived in Nanjing on official ships from Guangzhou. They had to report at the Honglu Temple in the capital before they could pay a visit to the Ming Emperor according to their schedule.

As the Ming Dynasty expanded its territory and even opened up the Yinzhou colonial area, more and more envoys from foreign vassals came to China for pilgrimage.

The envoys from various Southeast Asian countries in Guangzhou Port are only part of the group. There are also envoys from North Korea, South Korea, and Japan in Liaodong who come to perform Hajj via Pyongyang.

Pyongyang is the capital of Lelang Province, and the imperial court has fully opened ports in Japan, opening up trade routes between North Korea, Japan, and Yinzhou, so a branch office of Honglu Temple in Liaodong was also established.

North Korea has definitely been divided.

Yi Linzuo rebelled and the Chungcheong Province established itself. King Yi Yeon of Joseon asked for help from Seoul and Nanjing. The cabinet draft said: "This is an internal state matter of the Korean vassal state. Since China is the suzerain, it is inconvenient to intervene. You can issue an edict to reprimand both sides, but you must not exceed the rules."

To put it bluntly, they are deliberately trying to make peace. For Ming Dynasty, a divided Korea is a good Korea.

In today's South Korea, although King Yi Yeon of Joseon nominally owns two lands, Gyeongsang Province is busy with internal fighting and party strife. The two groups of nobles in Seoul and the local wealthy families in Gyeongsang Province attack and criticize each other around the power of the government.

The Jeolla Province side was more straightforward and simply stood aside. They did not express their support for Li Linzuo, the rebel force, and they also tried to shirk and delay Li Bang's King Qin's decree.

Li Bang could not invite China to send troops, and he was unable to suppress the rebellion.

So, he made a stupid move and directly ordered Li Tan to die.

This is really a pillow for those who are sleepy. Li Linzuo, no one else, directly proclaimed himself king, and Korea (Chenhan) was born more than two hundred years in advance.

Li Linzuo also knew that his hasty declaration of king was insufficient in legal principles, so he hurriedly sent envoys to Nanjing to make a pilgrimage to request the Ming Emperor to grant him a seal.

After hearing the news, Li Ban quickly sent envoys to pay tribute. Anyway, Li Linzuo could not be canonized by the Ming Emperor.

This is the case in North Korea. The Ming Dynasty did not deliberately provoke it, but they themselves started chaos first.

The Japanese mission is a normal pilgrimage to pay tribute, and it is also a formal and detailed discussion with China on the opening of ports and trade.

The opening of ports for trade does not mean that China will open a few ports... It can indeed be decided in one word. The Japanese shogunate cannot resist, but the shogunate must fight for the distribution of benefits after the ports are opened. They cannot all be left to the local daimyo lords, and after the opening of the port for trade, the pirate groups that are wreaking havoc on the Sino-Japanese trade routes also need to be severely punished.

Not only the Chinese businessmen hated these pirate groups, but the Japanese shogunate also hated them.

In history, Japan's Tokugawa shogunate tried several times to restore trade and tributary relations with the Ming Dynasty, but every time there was progress, pirates would come out and wreak havoc, disrupting the tributary exchanges between the two countries.

Because once the Ming Dynasty reached a tributary relationship with the Japanese shogunate, many daimyo who made their fortune through smuggling would not be able to make money, so they had to be destroyed.

Among them, the two feudal lords, Hirado and Satsuma, were the most troubled. The Hirado clan relied on pirate smuggling to make its fortune. The mother of Enping County Guoye's mother was from the Hirado clan, and she had connections with several pirate groups behind her back.

It is not easy for China to directly punish, which requires the shogunate to issue an order to rebuke.

If you still don't obey after being scolded, then don't blame Daming Haishi for being rude.

This year's Ministry of Agriculture officials are busier than in previous years. Kang Zifei's expedition fleet brought back a lot of crops, livestock, and saplings from Yinzhou and Sandalwood Islands, all of which need to be accepted and resettled by the Ministry of Agriculture.

Especially the breadbasket brought back from the Sandalwood Islands. This thing has never been seen by Europeans today. As an edible food tree, breadfruit not only grows extremely fast, but is also resistant to heat and drought. Even if it is planted It can also grow in poor soil and is very suitable for overseas colonization.

In today's overseas colonial areas, a lot of land is not suitable for farming, so the pace of expansion and reclamation is slow. However, as long as breadfruit trees are cultivated and transplanted, the situation will be improved quickly.

Moreover, there is also the southern border of the Western Region that has not been recovered yet. The large areas of land here are barren, dry, and hot. If the highly adaptable breadfruit tree can be successfully cultivated and transplanted, it can be widely promoted in the Western Region and Southern Xinjiang, thereby reclaiming large tracts of land, and more than half of the food problem of immigrants in the Western Region and Southern Xinjiang can be solved.

……

Jinshen Palace.

The cabinet and ministers from various ministries and agencies gathered together to hold a royal meeting.

Wang Li is sixty-three years old this year, and he is still in good spirits: "Including the taxes and money deported by overseas governors-general, the national fiscal revenue last year has exceeded 7000 million taels of silver. But excluding the fiscal expenditures withheld by local governments and the royal family's internal funds, , there are only 300 million taels of silver left in the national treasury.”

There are only 300 million taels of silver left in the treasury. Many ministers felt incredible after hearing these words.

Last year, the national fiscal revenue exceeded 70 million. Even during the Kangxi era of the Manchu Tatars, there was not so much annual revenue! How come the treasury doesn’t even have ten million dollars left?

Liang Wenxuan, the second assistant, explained: "Although the fiscal revenue last year exceeded 70 million, there were many fiscal expenditures."

"The first one is the several major frontier capitals, Heilongjiang, Monan, Yunzhong, Uszang, and Duogan. The five major capitals command and envoy areas, from immigration and reclamation, to the construction of official roads for post stations, to the expansion of garrisons and Organizing and training naval forces, building schools, and educating people..."

"Moreover, in addition to the five major frontier capitals, the Liaoning Provincial Government, Seoul Chief Secretary, and Lingbei Prefecture have been newly established in the northeast of Liaoning in the past two years, as well as the newly expanded southern states and Nanpan Military and Civilian Prefecture in Guangnan Province. Every year, the court has to visit these The newly developed land transports a large number of immigrants and material wealth..."

"These are just inland, and there are also consumption of overseas territories. Except for the Luzon Governor-General, which was the first to recover, it has been able to deport taxes to Nanjing in recent years. The Governor-General of Yecheng, Malacca, and Old Port are still in the loss-making colonial stage. …”

"There is also the war against Burma. The imperial court has been preparing for this war for several years. Just the military expenditures invested in it, as well as the civilian men recruited during the war, a large number of inspection troops, and the transportation of grain, grass and weapons... all of these cost money. Moreover, This is just the beginning. Burma has been pacified, and the recaptured areas under the jurisdiction of the chieftains will have to be restored to their original status, including the newly established 800 Army Prefecture, where cities will be built, troops will be stationed, and immigrants will be immigrated..."

"The last point is to regulate the river. Once the Huanghuai governance begins, the national treasury must have a budget for at least the next ten years to allocate funds to the Huanghuai River governance. Otherwise, all previous efforts will be wasted, and all the money spent in the early stage will be wasted... ..." After such an explanation, everyone understood that the three major projects of external expansion and war, immigration and education, and the control of Huanghuai floods had swallowed up too much of the imperial court's finances.

In this regard, Zhu Yijiong could only say with relief: "At least there are still 300 million taels of silver left in the national treasury, so there will not be a real fiscal deficit, which is very good. After all, several major frontier capitals and overseas governor-general areas belong to redevelopment, so they can do anything. The court needs to allocate money for dispatch. But as long as the immigrants are slowly cultivated and developed within a few years, there will always be some money. Can't the Luzon Governor-General now deport tax money to the court? According to the current immigration situation, it will not be used. In ten years, several frontier capitals and overseas governor-general areas will not be able to turn losses into profits, but at least they will no longer need money from the imperial court. In another twenty or thirty years, they will be able to pay taxes for the imperial center. As for Huang The Huaihe River disaster is a matter of state affairs, and no matter how difficult it is, it must be managed. If it is not cured now, it will only become more and more troublesome in the future."

In the past dynasties, as long as they expanded their territory, they had to spend money. Even in the famous Tang Dynasty, several major military governors had been losing money to maintain their garrisons and bureaucracy for a long time, and they also had various necessary Infrastructure facilities (inns, official roads, etc.).

Therefore, in the middle and late stages of the dynasty, the territory must have shrunk in large areas because the central finance could no longer support the military and bureaucratic administration of border towns.

You can say that he died because of corrupt officials, or you can say that he died because of the overall collapse of the central government's finances.

Even the European colonists were not able to make pure profits from the beginning. They also had to spend money on infrastructure and military in the early stages of colonization. After all, money cannot be created out of thin air. Even for the large silver mines in Yinzhou, it is necessary to spend money to organize the mining first, attract immigrants, capture slaves and miners, and then slowly turn losses into profits through exploitation.

Chen Ji then raised his hand and said: "Your Majesty, although the national treasury does not have a fiscal deficit, in the past two years, local officials from several major coastal port cities have reported that prices in various places have obviously increased. I investigated this in detail and found that Prices in coastal areas are on average 20 to 30% higher than in previous years, and this increase only started after the Yinzhou trade with Spain was reopened. Especially last year, coastal prices increased again on a small scale. This is due to the increase in Yinzhou Spain and Japan. This was caused by the massive inflow of silver into Ming China."

Just now I mentioned that the national treasury's fiscal revenue is somewhat unable to make ends meet. Now I mentioned that a large amount of silver from Yinzhou and Japan has been flowing into several major coastal ports, which has also indirectly affected the price increase in coastal port cities.

It can only be said that having too little money is a bad thing, and having too much money is also not a good thing.

It is precisely because of the reopening of trade in Yinzhou and Japan that the coastal ports can further develop. Many inland wealthy merchants and wealthy families have invested their money in maritime trade business, which has greatly promoted the overseas expansion of Ming Dynasty China. market development.

But similarly, many inland wealthy families took out the silver hidden in their homes and put it into the market at once. Naturally, the market was unable to bear so much silver. In addition, Yinzhou and Japan fully opened their ports for trade, and a large number of foreign imports of silver flowed into the Chinese market.

There is no way to solve this problem. China is too big. Even during the Opium War more than a hundred years later, European colonists relied on the support of large colonies, but they still had no way to deal with China.

The Opium War happened because the British really couldn't stand the trade deficit, and the Qing Dynasty began to ban opium completely, so they chose to launch a war brazenly, otherwise all the silver in their hands would flow into the Chinese market.

Today's Ming Dynasty is much more exaggerated than the Kangxi and Qian Dynasties in another time and space, so the trade deficit will only be more serious than before. Those European colonists will definitely be aware of this problem, but China at that time was not something they could say. It is impossible to start a war at the beginning of the war, and it is even less likely to rely on opium to reverse the trade deficit between the two sides.

We can only carry it through forcefully. Fortunately, the silver today has only flowed into coastal ports. It will take at least several years for it to truly affect all parts of the country.

Being large also has the advantage of being large. It is not like those European countries, especially the Spaniards who have brought a large amount of Yinzhou silver to China. They have experienced what is called a "price revolution".

China's ally Britain, Charles II, the last "wise king" before the Glorious Revolution, even complained because of the "price revolution" that broke out in the country: "Spanish silver coins can be seen all over Europe."

These words are not only saying that Spain’s silver production in Yinzhou is too large, but also that the Spaniards spread a large amount of silver to the European market. Even the Ottoman Empire can see the silver mined by the Spanish from Yinzhou, which directly triggered the whole world. Europe’s “price revolution”.

Ming China relied on its huge size to be able to slowly buffer and carry it through, but it only suffered for the people at the bottom.

Especially those farmers at the bottom who rely solely on farming and harvesting grain as their only source of income.

Businessmen will not be affected, because the more silver they have, the more profits they will make. Workers will also be affected, but not too much.

After all, China's industrial revolution has just begun, and businessmen need a large number of workers. Therefore, once prices rise too outrageously, workers' wages must be increased to maintain the industrial production system.

In the end, only the farmers who rely solely on their fields for harvest will suffer!

Even in later generations, farmers...for example.

Chen Ji continued: "Now the imperial court will pilot the issuance of new silver dollar currencies in some coastal port cities. Many overseas merchants and European merchants prefer to use gold and silver coins to pay for transactions. If this continues, the inflow of silver will only increase. The more epidemics there are, the more it will spread from coastal cities to the interior within ten years, and within twenty years the extremely inland provinces including Sichuan will also be affected.”

Zhu Yijiong asked: "Does Chen Qing have any countermeasures?"

Chen Ji said: "The silver yuan issuance plan remains unchanged, but it should be handled with caution based on actual price changes. It is best not to promote it quickly across the country. Those coastal merchants will not resist the silver yuan because the exchange rate between silver yuan and silver ingots is profitable. Therefore, Merchants will definitely ask the court to issue more silver-yuan currency in the future, and they cannot be allowed to do whatever they want, and it is best not to issue gold-yuan currency within ten years."

Zhu Yijiong nodded: "This is what it should be. The issuance of silver yuan is the responsibility of the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Household Affairs. It must be considered again and again. As for the gold yuan currency, ten years is too long, so five years is enough! Let's look at the issuance of silver yuan first. If there is no time limit, For big problems, some gold coins can be issued in small quantities."

Chen Ji added: "When the court levies grain taxes and land taxes, it must fluctuate according to the actual grain prices in various places. The tax rate must not be static, so as not to cause low grain prices and hurt farmers."

In the new Ming Dynasty, people were divided into acres, and land tax collection was definitely more fair than before, but the price of grain was an operable point. Especially now that land taxes are basically based on gold and silver currencies, many provinces no longer levy in-kind taxes including grain, and farmers who sell grain are often subject to price reductions.

All of these, if not paid attention to, may cause low grain prices and harm farmers.

There have been many peasant uprisings in history. Apart from factors such as natural disasters and corrupt officials, the sharp fluctuations in silver prices have placed a heavy burden on the people.

For example, in the nationwide peasant uprising in the late Ming Dynasty, the war pressure brought by the rise of the Later Jin Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty was only secondary. The real root cause was the "silver shortage" in the late Ming Dynasty.

In order to prevent Yinzhou's silver from flowing into China in large quantities, the King of Spain increased restrictions on the trade of galleons. In addition, the Japanese shogunate banned the mining of domestic silver mines, resulting in a nationwide silver shortage in the late Ming Dynasty. The price of silver dropped from Longqing's 1200 wen per tael to directly It increased to 2500 yuan.

As a result, the price of rice also fluctuated violently, at least more than three times, resulting in a serious phenomenon of expensive silver and cheap money.

Zhu Yijiong nodded: "This matter will be left to the cabinet, the Ministry of Household Affairs, and the Ministry of Commerce. The system must be formulated based on the actual conditions of each place, and the land tax cannot be left unchanged. Everything must be based on the actual local food prices, so as not to hurt the farmers. too much."

It is inevitable that low grain prices will harm farmers. As long as the amount of silver increases, this cannot be avoided and farmers' losses can only be reduced as much as possible.

　Worked overtime today, exhausted

　　

　

(End of this chapter)