The Master of Time and Space, Earn three small goals with blood at the beginning

Zhang Juzheng’s reform in history was actually a financial reform, which helped Ming Dynasty stabilize its finances. Otherwise, Ming Dynasty would have perished in a series of crises during the Wanli period.

It’s just that Zhang Juzheng is not the emperor after all, so many reforms cannot be carried out and the reforms are not thorough enough.

In addition, after Zhang Juzheng’s death, he was counterattacked and many benign reforms, such as the passing examination law for officials, existed in name only.

Emperor Wanli continued to be in ruins.

Eventually the Ming Dynasty fell to Wanli.

At this moment, Zhang Juzheng had a premonition that his ideals and ambitions could be realized, and he was excited, so he talked eloquently:

“I think that the Ming Dynasty collects taxes in kind, which is too costly and many things are inconvenient to transport and store.”

“And the taxes are all over the place and very confusing.”

“It is better to unify and integrate, tax by acres of land, and pay taxes by silver.”

“This way taxation can be simplified, administration will be easier, and the court will receive more money.”

What Zhang Juzheng said is the famous one-whip method. The one-whip method has now been implemented in some areas and is running well.

Although this whipping method was not proposed by Zhang Juzheng, it was carried forward by Zhang Juzheng in history.

If the one-whip method is implemented, the imperial court’s fiscal revenue will greatly increase.

Later, Yongzheng implemented the tax reform based on this, and basically completed the pinnacle of the system design of the feudal dynasty.

It’s a pity that there is a huge loophole in the whip method, which neither Zhang Juzheng nor the Ming elite at this time could see.

That is to pay taxes in silver, which actually makes silver legal tender, and the Ming Dynasty did not produce silver.

“It is indeed beneficial to reform taxation in this way. Consolidating miscellaneous taxes into taxes on acres of land can be called a whipping method.” Jiang Hao smiled slightly and said, “However, there is a major problem with this method, which I must not be aware of. ”

“What’s the problem?” Zhang Juzheng asked quickly.

Zhang Juzheng already had a series of plans on how to reform the Ming Dynasty.

The one-whip method is an economic reform measure.

Matching the whip method is the clearing of land across the country.

As a result, the Qing Dynasty still used Zhang Juzheng’s land measurement data in many areas to collect taxes.

Measuring land is a very offensive thing.

Zhang Juzheng in history basically completed it, but the consequences were tragic.

After Zhang Juzheng’s death, Wanli deprived him of all official positions and almost had his coffin opened and his body whipped.

His family members were also brutally persecuted and starved to death.

Zhang Juzheng knew that he would end up like this, but he still did it resolutely.

This man is indeed a man of tenacity and determination.

This is also the reason why Jiang Hao only summoned Zhang Juzheng, because what Jiang Hao will do next will scare the civil and military officials of the entire dynasty to death. Only Zhang Juzheng can understand part of it and is willing to carry it out.

Zhang Juzheng also knew that reform was not easy, and he was afraid that there would be something missing in his reform measures.

Hearing Jiang Hao say there was something wrong with a whipping technique, he immediately asked about it.

Jiang Hao said: “Taiyue, does he know that our country, the Ming Dynasty, does not actually produce silver?”

Zhang Juzheng thought for a while and said: “The Celestial Empire has not been rich in silver since ancient times, so copper coins have been used as currency in all dynasties. However, during the Song Dynasty, the Celestial Empire did not have enough copper, so that the Song Dynasty often experienced money shortages.”

“Emperor Taizu initially issued treasure banknotes, but the treasure banknotes were too easy to use, so they were issued indiscriminately and continued to depreciate in value. They could no longer be used in Yongle.”

“Since then, my Ming Dynasty has continued the system of tax collection in the Ming Dynasty, mostly in kind. The national treasury has sufficient grain and rice, but the money is never enough.”

“Later, due to maritime trade, Ming Dynasty’s silk, porcelain and tea were sold overseas, and a large amount of silver poured in from overseas. At this time, there was a lot of silver in the world, and there was already a basis for using silver as currency, so I wanted to pay taxes in silver.”

If Yan Song and Xu Jie came over, they would not be able to say what Zhang Juzheng said.

Although Zhang Juzheng does not know where the silver comes from, he does know that the silver comes from overseas, and he also has his own understanding of the economic system.

Among the ministers of the Ming Dynasty, this was completely far-sighted.

Unlike Wang Anshi’s methods, Zhang Juzheng’s reforms were indeed effective. The reforms of later emperors Yongzheng only followed Zhang Juzheng’s ideas.

It’s just that Yongzheng, with his dignity as emperor, could go one step further. Even so, he died suddenly and had a bad reputation in history.

Since ancient times, reform has been more difficult than starting a business, because during the entrepreneurial period, people are united and something is created from scratch, and there are not so many interest groups.

But when it comes to reform, it usually happens in the middle and late stages of the dynasty, when many interest groups have become unshakable.

Reform means offending these interest groups, which will result in an ugly death.

“Taiyue, you have true knowledge and insight.” Jiang Hao said with a distant look, “My Ming Dynasty

Silver actually comes mainly from overseas trade, from two countries. One is Spain. Spain obtained a large amount of silver from another continent and purchased goods from our country. However, our country had no demand for Spain, so there was a large influx of silver from Spain. ”

“The second is the Japanese country. The Japanese country is rich in gold and silver, and it also has demand for our Ming Dynasty’s products, so it also imported a large amount of silver to our Ming Dynasty.”

“When Chengzu sent Zheng He to the Western Seas, these two countries did not have so much silver. Chengzu could only obtain a large amount of pepper, which caused the pepper to depreciate, which was a struggle for a while.”

“Later on, money poured in, and the Ming Dynasty’s overseas trade could no longer be dominated by the imperial court. The imperial court did not have a navy, so it could only watch.”

Zhang Juzheng was shocked.

The big families in the southeast engaged in smuggling behind the backs of the imperial court. The proliferation of Japanese pirates had a lot to do with those families.

However, Zhang Juzheng had no interests connected with the southeastern gentry, so he said, “Does your Majesty want to go to the West again and keep foreign trade in the hands of the imperial court?”

Jiang Hao smiled faintly and said: “The Western Ocean is going to be conquered, but it is not for foreign trade, but to occupy the silver mountains of Japan and seize the silver mines of Spain. Silver can be used as currency, but it has no value in itself. Use the materials produced by our Ming Dynasty to exchange for this It’s such a loss if it’s something.”

“Tai Yue, I have been saying this for a long time. You are known as a child prodigy. You should have discovered the problem of paying taxes in silver, right?”

Jiang Hao looked at Zhang Juzheng with bright eyes.

Zhang Juzheng thought for a while and said: “Silver comes from Spain and Japan. Once there is trouble in these two countries, the amount of silver flowing into the Ming Dynasty will decrease. As the amount of silver decreases, the cost of exchanging silver for silver will increase, which will ultimately increase the burden on the people.”

Zhang Juzheng broke into a cold sweat as he spoke.

His reforms are for the country and the people, but if there is a real shortage of silver, then taxes must be paid in silver, which will greatly increase the tax costs of the people.

If Jiang Hao hadn’t mentioned it, he wouldn’t have thought of this.

Historically, it was also the decline of Spanish hegemony and the isolation of the Japanese Tokugawa shogunate, which led to a decrease in the inflow of silver in a certain period.

As a result, Ming Dynasty had a shortage of money and a big financial problem.