First Minister of Ming Dynasty

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In the autumn of the first year of Wu State in China... In the name of Wu Guogong Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhongshu Province, a series of new decrees were issued. These decrees can be called the most intensive and detailed batch of decrees after the Jitian Outline.

Zhang Ximeng and Song Lian were the main drafters of the decree. After Zhu Yuanzhang approved it, the six ministries led by Li Shanchang were responsible for the implementation.

And since then, the central pattern of the entire Chinese state of Wu has taken shape.

Zhang Ximeng leads the yamen, such as the Academy, Taixue, and the Secretary of General Affairs and Political Affairs, and basically assumes the role of the national brain. They drafted the decree, Zhu Yuanzhang was responsible for decision-making, and Li Shanchang's six ministries were responsible for implementation.

By analogy, Zhang Ximeng’s side is equivalent to the Zhongshu Provincial of the three provinces, while Li Shanchang’s Zhongshu Provincial is more like the Shangshu Provincial in charge of execution.

But a closer look at the decision-making process reveals that things are far from simple.

Although the Chinese state of Wu has the shape of three provinces and six divisions, its essence is completely different.

A major decree is not something that Zhang Ximeng can propose casually. .

Usually, a concept must be formed first, then discussed by all parties, sent to Zhu Yuanzhang to decide, and then the Sixth Department of Zhongshu will be responsible for implementation.

Li Shanchang will participate in the whole process. Of course, Zhang Ximeng does not end with the draft. He is also responsible for supervising the implementation, evaluating the effect of the policy, and making follow-up adjustments.

All in all, the two sides dare not say that they are as close as a family, but they are not in the same boat. Everything must be closely coordinated to complete successfully.

In this new decision-making model, the first decree introduced is an explanation of the outline of the old land-equalizing law... First of all, the original land-equalizing law consists of three parts: ration fields, circulation fields and mulberry fields, but this time it is stipulated Only in some areas where the land is poor and the yield is very low, the ration fields will be reserved.

In other words, it is basically the land of Huaixi, which is the highest under the rule. Due to the floods and wars, the land is vast and sparsely populated. It is in urgent need of restoring people's livelihood and can get ration fields free of land allowances.

In the south of the Yangtze River, the population is relatively dense. If everyone is divided into grain fields and exempted from the land tax, then many land of fish and rice will not have to pay the land tax.

This must be something Zhu Jiajun didn't want to see, so the ration field stopped.

If it hits the north in the future, in the face of the urgent need to restore people's livelihood and the sparsely populated North China, the ration fields will also be restored.

Then there is the mulberry field... This also needs to be adjusted, because the land of Huaixi has suffered from the floods of the Yellow River and needs to restore the ecology. The people plant fruit trees, plant mulberry trees, maintain water and soil, and improve living conditions. Zhu Jiajun does not collect taxes.

But when it came to Jiangnan, the situation changed, because many people regarded the mulberry fields in Jiangnan as mulberry fields, and some even regarded tea gardens as mulberry fields.

It doesn't make sense if there is no tax.

Therefore, for the mulberry fields in the south of the Yangtze River, it is also necessary to pay taxes, and the tax rate is higher than that of farmland.

To put it bluntly, I still hope that the people will have a variety of food.

However, as mentioned earlier, according to the agricultural habits formed over thousands of years, the common people, out of the pursuit of security, will like to grow food even if the profit is low, do they still need to work **** the tax rate?

This is about another group, the big landlords!

After all, no matter how big the disaster, the tenants and starved to death, the landlords will not.

Zhu Yuanzhang's family was destroyed, but the landlord Liu De was intact, and he even took the opportunity to annex some more land. In the southern region of the Yangtze River, large landlords, especially some large silk and cotton households, are willing to change rice to mulberry.

After all, not only will they not go hungry, but they also have a way to buy food in large quantities from the outside, and then sell it to the common people at a high price to make a lot of money!

The court did not understand the stubbornness of the common people, and it was obvious that they could make more money by changing rice to mulberry? Why don't you agree?

They are all a group of bad guys, just to fight against the imperial court!

But the common people also have an account. They are terrified of being bullied, they have suffered too much, they have been deceived too much, and their lives are already too difficult.

Therefore, the real poor people can't wait to plant every field with grain. Only when the whole family is full and not hungry will they think of other things.

Those who will plant mulberry trees and tea trees on a large scale are undoubtedly large and wealthy households... It is reasonable to add more taxes to them.

"Zhang Xiang, it's so easy to meet Li Xiang bowing his head, this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity must not be missed!" Song Lian and the others were full of joy and joy.

Li Shanchang's loss was not just a matter of being an official... Zhang Ximeng wiped his ass, and at the same time took the opportunity to expand the power of the right minister, and also established the whole decision-making pattern.

Absolutely won.

In the new law on land equalization, Zhang Ximeng clearly stated that both men and women should enjoy equal rights to use land. Moreover, Zhang Ximeng added that if a woman marries out, she needs to allocate land to the woman in a new village.

In this way, even if a woman marries in an unfamiliar place, she can have a piece of land of her own, have her own property, and follow this life.

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In the future this will have a huge impact, even earth-shaking changes. In normal times, Li Shanchang would definitely be difficult to pass, but now he dares to object, so he can only agree obediently.

Just because women are granted property rights, the next one is the right to education!

The two are closely intertwined.

If there is no guarantee of property rights in the back, it is nonsense to let girls go to school and receive education. Although there are many parents who cherish their daughters in all dynasties, it is not uncommon to invite gentlemen, teach knowledge, female poets, and female lyricists.

But in the final analysis, it is only the individual actions of individual people, and it is also limited to some wealthy poetry and book houses.

In ordinary people's homes, girls are accessories, and sooner or later they will become people in other people's homes. What's the value of investing in her?

Especially when the family is extremely poor, it is natural to give priority to supporting the son, let the son study, honor the ancestors, and support the parents.

But after giving girls property rights, the logic is different.

A girl, like a boy, will have a piece of property that belongs to her, even if the girl grows up and marries out, it is the same. With this property, it shows that she will also have the ability to support her parents in the future, and can repay the kindness of parenting.

With this most basic logical premise, parents will take the initiative to send girls to school.

Otherwise, even if you make a stricter law, can you still put thousands of parents in prison?

The law always stipulates a lower limit. If the lower limit is set too high, most people cannot do it, then the decree will not be implemented.

Therefore, Zhang Ximeng started from the land and property, and led to the problem of women's schooling.

Since women can go to school, then they must allow women to work, do business, and even become officials!

At this point, Zhang Ximeng removed all legal obstacles and accomplished this almost impossible task.

But this is just the beginning.

Let girls go to school, but the problem is that there are so many schools?

Even if there is, can the current Mr. Xuetang teach girls well?

Or shake your head and endorse it, if you make a mistake, you will beat the hand board, and beat your little hands like a cake, can it work?

These things cannot be resolved by law.

Zhang Ximeng knew that he had to play Ma's cards!

Running a women's school, setting up a military uniform workshop, weaving cloth, weaving silk, training women workers, improving vocational skills... Even preparing for the development of industry, Ma was busy in an instant.

With so many things, of course Ma Shi can't be busy alone.

After some discussion, Jiang Nan successfully obtained the title of Shaoqing of Guanglu Temple. In terms of rank, it was only one level lower than that of the six ministers. Considering that he had just entered the officialdom, this starting point was already ridiculously high.

In later generations, many officials who graduated from the jinshi may not be able to climb to such a high position after working all their lives.

But at the root of it, this position is only for Ma Shi, giving orders for her, clearing accounts, running errands and doing things, that's all.

Is it really?

"Come, sit down with me."

Ma Shi looked at Jiang Nan and couldn't help laughing, "In terms of age, I'm not a few years older than you, and in terms of background, our family started out as a small business, and it's far inferior to yours. Now we're together. Together, it is not a monarch and minister, it is nothing more than helping each other, but we can't let those men look down on us."

Jiang Nan lowered his head. Although Ma Shi was polite, Jiang Nan knew very well that she was just entering the officialdom, and there were too many people staring at her. If something went wrong, it would be unimaginable.

"If Madam has any orders, I will naturally do my best, but I'm worried that I don't understand anything, and I'm afraid it will cause a major problem."

Ma Shi smiled, "Don't be afraid, I will support you... The biggest thing right now is to raise a batch of military uniforms and jackets. In the past, I led some family members in the army to do it. Now there are more and more soldiers and horses. , we can't do it alone. Can you see if there is anything you can do?"

Jiang Nan thought about it for a while, and suddenly came up with an idea, "Ma'am, I'm just talking about it casually, it may not work... Our family received a batch of orders for tables, chairs and benches a while ago. Since there were too many, my father asked all the carpenters around. Come to contract... They brought the lumber home, made it into the table top and table legs according to the size, and sent it back to the wood shop, we just need to put it together."

When Ma Shi heard this, he pondered a little, and was overjoyed.

"This method is good. It's easier to make clothes than to make a table. Let's cut the fabric here. As long as the women will come over, pick up the fabric, make clothes, return it on time, and give them a labor fee!"

The more Ma Shi thought, the happier he became. He couldn't help but grabbed Jiang Nan's hand and praised with a smile, "You girl, you are very resourceful, you should catch up with Zhang Xiang!"

Jiang Nan couldn't help blushing. She came up with a random idea, how could she compare with Zhang?

Ma Shi, like Zhu Yuanzhang, has a vigorous and resolute energy. After the negotiation is done, he immediately posted a notice.

And almost overnight, the women in Jinling City also moved, and people came to line up before dawn. Everyone who received the fabric was extremely happy...