My life skills in Daming Liver

Wang Shizhen looked at Zhang Jingxiu, and she didn't know whether the words she just said were his thoughts or those of his father Zhang Juzheng.

I have to say that what this young man said convinced everyone present to a certain extent.

However, some people were still uncomfortable with what Zhang Jingxiu said. Tong An stood up and said:

"Classmate, it is true that there are many people in the north, but the large number of people does not mean that these people are willing to enter the workshop."

People in the classmate association call each other classmates, which is what Tong An did after becoming the leader of the classmate association.

Although Zhang Jingxiu is not a member of the Alumni Association, he often attends Alumni Association gatherings.

Tong An didn't want to mention his identity as the prime minister's son, so he called him "classmate".

Zhang Jingxiu said: "This involves another matter. To allow people to work in workshops with peace of mind, we need a stable food price. This is what my father has been doing since he took charge of the cabinet."

"By stabilizing the currency value and lowering food prices, people can go to the workshops with peace of mind."

Tong An frowned and said:

"Wouldn't lowering food prices make farmers' incomes less? Are they using low food prices to force farmers to go to workshops?"

Zhang Jingxiu smiled and said, "That's not what I meant. Does Mr. Tong want to see high food prices?"

Most of the scholars present have never farmed and do not understand the situation in the countryside. They basically live in cities, so they naturally hope that food prices will get lower and lower.

They echoed: "Zhang Xiangguo is a benevolent government!"

Zhang Jingxiu added: "In addition, the public opinion of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing business must be changed. Whether it is business or agriculture, it will contribute to our Ming Dynasty."

"Farmers farm and produce food for the country, which is beneficial to the country."

"Shop owners invest in setting up workshops to produce goods for the country, which is also beneficial to the country."

"The workshop owners are also hard-working. I am going to open a section in the "Huangming New News" to introduce the outstanding workshop owners in our Ming Dynasty. I also suggested that my father award medals to those famous workshop owners. jobs and encourage more people to invest in opening workshops.”

After hearing this, Tong An felt even more awkward.

They also advocate equality between farmers and merchants, but the Southeast emphasizes the four morals of the people, advocating the establishment of moral standards for evaluating businessmen and giving them a moral guideline.

Why did Zhang Jingxiu say that he was a virtuous businessman? Do you want to give officials to businessmen and promote the "hard work" of those big businessmen?

Who doesn't know which of these famous businessmen in the Ming Dynasty does not have a close relationship with the government, and which one does not rely on orders from the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of War to make a fortune.

None of the owners of private workshops in the capital has their hands stained with the blood and sweat of their employees. What kind of "virtue" do they have?

But Tong An couldn't find a reason to attack Zhang Jingxiu's words.

As a young man who advocates new learning, Tong An cannot express the old ideological slogan of "businessmen are only interested in profit".

But I always felt that there was something wrong with Zhang Jingxiu’s words.

Zhang Jingxiu continued: "Another advantage of giving these businessmen official positions is that today is a time of great strife, and extraordinary means must be used in emergency situations. Since we want to encourage these wealthy people to set up workshops, we must also dispel their concerns."

"The honorary title is also an official position, and it can also be used to protect descendants, so that more people will come to set up workshops."

"And according to regulations, if a decorated official commits a crime, he does not have the right to be tried by the local government. He needs to be handed over directly to the Dali Temple for trial."

"This article is also to ensure that businessmen who set up workshops will not be framed and to reduce their exploitation by the local government."

"For our businessmen who have contributed to the Ming Dynasty, the court still has to protect them."

Tong An felt even more awkward when he heard this. That's not how you protect businessmen, right?

But Tong An couldn't tell what was wrong with Zhang Jingxiu's approach.

Zhang Jingxiu added: "Judging from the experience in the Southeast, investment is also very important. My father has already prepared to establish the Daming Bank. The court should take the lead in investing in some large industries and establish larger-scale workshops as soon as possible."

"As long as the workshops get bigger, we can produce cheaper products than those in the southeast with our labor cost advantage in the north."

"Searching for profits in the southeast, we can also sell our things to them!"

Now a student said:

"But isn't Zhang Xiangguo prohibited from trading with Southeast?"

Zhang Jingxiu said:

"It seems like you haven't studied the trade ban carefully. What my father said was not a ban on trading with the Southeast, but a ban on buying Southeast products."

"In addition, it is also prohibited to sell war horses, gunpowder raw materials, cotton raw materials and other nationally related commodities to the southeast."

"But the court does not prohibit the sale of cloth and other items."

"And isn't Southeast doing it under the banner of free trade? It always criticizes our policies. So if our products are higher quality and cheaper than Southeast, they can't refuse, right?"

Wang Shizhen looked at Zhang Jingxiu, but she didn't expect him to have such insight.

Protecting domestic industries through trade bans is a principle pursued by countries around the world today.

Countries on the European continent are issuing trade bans at every turn, and this policy does not sound problematic.

Zhang Jingxiu added:

"The last step is to encourage local officials to do their work. My father originally delegated some powers to local governments, in order to encourage them to develop industries according to local conditions."

"The cabinet is about to issue an order. In the past three years, the imperial court will not send patrols and censors to the local areas. The evaluation of the Ministry of Personnel and local chief envoys will also be based on how many industries have been developed."

Censors and patrols are supervisory officials sent to local areas to inspect the public situation. They are responsible for inspecting local areas and accepting lawsuits about unjust, false, and wrongly decided cases.

Although in many cases, these censors and patrolmen exploited local governments, this system also ensured that local governments would be wary of misbehaving.

If this policy is implemented, the benefit will naturally be that local officials will have no constraints and can develop the economy.

But at worst, it means that the imperial court is condoning these officials' unscrupulous efforts to develop industries. Based on Tong An's understanding of local officials in the Ming court, this is almost equivalent to letting these officials go.

But Tong An couldn't tell anything specific about what was wrong. It could be said that everything Zhang Jingxiu said made sense, but everything was wrong.

Wang Shizhen quickly wrote these down. Judging from what Zhang Jingxiu said just now, these policies should be what his father Zhang Juzheng meant, because many policies have already been formulated. Zhang Jingxiu, a teenager, cannot influence the Ming court cabinet. decision making.

Zhang Jingxiu organized this literary meeting just to spread Zhang Juzheng's new policies and test the reaction of scholars.

Isn't this a common method used by governors? Zhang Juzheng's governance is indeed smoother and more skillful than Gao Gong.

Even Wang Shizhen feels that there is nothing wrong with this series of policies.

When Tong An came out of the Zhang family's mansion and the cold wind blew on his face, Tong An realized what was wrong.

Everything Zhang Jingxiu said was from the standpoint of the behemoth "Ming Dynasty", but Zhang Jingxiu did not mention a word about the peasants and labor unions.

Tong An felt even more confused.

At the same time, Su Ze still did not leave Nanjing after announcing the annexation of Ryukyu, and the fighting on the Xuzhou front line remained stalemate. Chen Lin's fifth brigade and Li Chengliang's new army faced off on the front line, and neither side attacked on land.

The fleet of the First Brigade continued to attack the Ming army's coastal strongholds. Li Chengliang also reacted and stopped running around like headless flies. Instead, he set up beacon towers along the coast and stationed troops everywhere for ready support.

But as a result, Shandong's military expenditures increased. Li Chengliang wrote to Zhang Juzheng day and night asking for money.

But Su Ze did not leave Nanjing, but came to Hubu.

The Ministry of Household Affairs in the Ming Dynasty was also reformed. The Ministry of Household Affairs in the Ming Dynasty established the Qing Officials Department in each province.

For example, the Zhejiang Cleaning Department is responsible for money and grain taxation in Zhejiang, and is the department connected to the Zhejiang Chief Envoy Department and the Ministry of Household Affairs.

The advantage of this is that each Qing officials have a deep understanding of the provinces they manage and have better control over changes in local taxes.

However, after Fang Wanghai took charge of the Household Department, the Household Department, which was originally divided by region, was changed to divided by tax type.

The Customs Department, the Land Tax Department, the Commercial Tax Department, and the Stamp Tax Department, which are divided into various types of taxes, coordinate a certain tax for the entire southeast. This approach makes the departments of the Ministry of Personnel more professional.

The most powerful department in the Ministry of Revenue today is naturally the Customs and Excise Department, which Fang Wanghai was in charge of back then.

Fan Fajia, the head of the Banknote and Customs Department, was originally a minor official in Suzhou Prefecture. He began to follow Fang Wanghai very early. Later, after the Ming Dynasty stopped paying taxes on banknotes, Fan Fajia retired with Fang Wanghai.

After Su Ze's uprising in the southeast, Fan Fajia has been following Fang Wanghai, and now he has obtained the position of chief of the Customs and Excise Department.

Fan Fajia attached great importance to the inspection of Su Ze, the governor of the southeast. He led his men to welcome Su Ze and his party, and enthusiastically introduced the achievements of the Customs and Excise Department.

Nowadays, banknote tariffs have replaced field taxes and become the number one tax in the Southeast. With the development of Southeast trade, banknote tariffs account for an increasing share of fiscal revenue.

Regarding Fan Fajia's introduction, Su Ze said nothing. When Fan Fajia's introduction was completed, Su Ze asked Fang Wanghai:

"Prime Minister Fang, what do you think about the tariff on banknotes?"

Although Fang Wanghai is Su Ze's father-in-law, Su Ze still uses the title of cabinet, Ji Xiang, in the workplace. It was used in the Song Dynasty. At that time, the important position of finance minister was called the Third Secretary. Nowadays, the Southeast uses this title to call the finance minister. Minister means the deputy prime minister in charge of the country's livelihood.

In fact, Fang Wanghai, the Minister of Finance, is indeed second in power in the cabinet, second only to the Prime Minister in charge of the Ministry of Personnel.

Fang Wanghai looked at his son-in-law with some confusion. It was Su Ze who proposed the banknote tariff reform back then. He actually asked himself what he thought?

Today's Southeast Banknote tariff system can be said to have been constructed by Su Ze. Is he dissatisfied with this system?

No way? No one in the entire Southeast is dissatisfied with the banknote tariff policy.

The common people have reduced their land taxes, but businessmen have been guaranteed to pay taxes. The local government has also changed from a single land tax collection assessment to a business tax co-ordination, and the local government has also gained momentum to develop industry and commerce.

Is there anything wrong with this policy?

Fang Wanghai didn't answer. Su Ze looked around and asked, "Tell me, what do you think about the tariff on banknotes?"

At this time, a young man next to Fan Fajia said:

"Grand Governor, I have some opinions on the tax on banknotes."

"Jiang Gan!"

Fan Fajia immediately said to Su Ze: "Grand Governor, this is the Guanzheng Jinshi of our Banknote Customs Department. His name is Jiang Qian. He is not familiar with banknote customs matters."

Su Ze looked at Jiang Gan and asked, "I'm not asking how to collect banknote tariffs, but I'm asking for everyone's opinions. Jiang Jinshi, please tell me."

Jiang Gan took a breath and said: "Grand Governor, I think the biggest problem is the tax on banknotes."

"Oh, what is it?"

"unfair."

Fan Fajia ignored Su Ze in front of him. He lost his temper when he was an official and retorted: "Have you lost your mind? How unfair is the tax on banknotes?! Is there a fairer tax system in the world than the tax on banknotes?"

Su Ze looked happy and asked, "Tell me, what's unfair about it?"

Jiang Gan took a breath and said: "It's not fair. The banknote tariff is a tax levied on the circulation process of goods. The tax is levied on the price of the goods. When everyone buys Southeast's goods, they also pay taxes to our Southeast. "

Su Ze nodded, this understanding was already profound.

Jiang Gan continued: "But both the poor and the rich buy all the goods in the world. The poor buy less, and the rich buy more. But the poor only eat two meals a day, and the rich don't eat ten meals a day."

"The same thing about clothing, poor people wear two sets of clothes a year, and rich people wear less than 200 sets of clothes a year."

"Not to mention that our southeastern industrial products are durable. Some things can be used for several years without breaking."

"If it's just a tax on goods, is it fair for the Grand Governor to do this?"

Don't make unreasonable associations. It's the Five Communists and it's Li Jiapo.