Daming: Stealing Chen Yuanyuan at the beginning

Chapter 22: Competing with officials and businessmen for profit, raising a vicious dog

Li Banghua chattered endlessly, and what he said was still clichéd, such as "the emperor loves pearls and jade, and people also love food and clothing", "do not talk about profit, but only talk about righteousness", what "do not compete with the people for profit, and hide wealth from the people", etc. .

Li Cunming quietly looked at his lips turning up and down, his face darkened.

Seeing this, Jiang Dejing hastily tugged on Li Banghua's sleeve.Li Banghua raised his eyes and saw the cold eyes of the emperor, suddenly shuddered and closed his mouth.

"Why don't you continue talking?" Li Cunming's tone was as cold as frost, and all the ministers present could hear it. The emperor tried his best to restrain his monstrous anger.

Li Banghua shuddered, he didn't quite understand why he offended the Emperor's Ni Lin?In the end which sentence is wrong, isn't what I said mean the truth?
"Li Banghua, if I remember correctly, you are from Ji'an, Jiangxi, right?"

"Yes……"

"That's right, no wonder you are so fiercely opposed to our tax increase! You are a southerner and once served as Minister of the Nanjing Military Department. Naturally, you have contacts with the Donglin Party, and you naturally know many big businessmen."

"Your Majesty, I have been wronged! I do not agree with the increase of business tax, it is purely out of public interest, not for personal gain." Li Banghua hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed.

"I know what you are like, and I also know that you have always been seasoned to seek the country, so I didn't get angry. But I want to tell you clearly that the policy of increasing business taxes cannot be discussed, and I have already made up my mind!"

Li Cunming planned to increase business taxes and ask officials and big businessmen for money.

Contrary to the misunderstanding of many later generations, the Ming Dynasty was not a feudal dynasty that emphasized agriculture and suppressed commerce. The fact is that since the founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming Dynasty has focused on encouraging the development of commerce and adopted a low tax rate of "thirty taxes and one". policy.

After more than 200 years of development, business in the Ming Dynasty flourished.When it comes to the history of "early capitalism germination" during the Wanli period, later generations are often proud of it, but regretful and regretful because this historical situation was abruptly interrupted by the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

Business was booming, and there were many types of commercial taxes in the Ming Dynasty, but there was a strange situation where money could not be collected.

Take Jinhua County, Zhejiang, where commercial activities are flourishing, as an example, the commercial tax received in a year does not exceed seven taels of silver, which is simply a big joke!
What is the reason?
In addition to tax evasion by businessmen and inadequate tax collection, the main reason is the collusion between government and business, and the integration of government and business.

It is an indisputable fact that the salaries of officials in the Ming Dynasty were low.Because of his own experience, Zhu Yuanzhang hated corrupt officials, gave officials pitifully little salaries, and stepped up anti-corruption efforts. If he embezzled 60 taels of silver, he would be stripped of daylilies.

But at the same time, in order to win over the officials, they were also given many "exemption rights".For example, the gentry with fame and reputation can not pay their salary when they are not on errands, and they can also be exempted from commercial taxes.

The businessmen took a fancy to the officials' various "exemption rights" and took the initiative to seek refuge. The two sides used each other to make a lot of money, and gradually formed an unbreakable interest group.

For example, a businessman who transports grain from the south to a border town in the north has to pay a lot of "customs money" as usual when the boat travels on the Grand Canal.But this businessman only needs to spend five taels of silver to hire a scholar to escort the boat, and he can pass without any obstacles and avoid all taxes.

A mere scholar has such a privilege, and you can imagine the magical powers of the imperial examinations and the imperial examinations!
Therefore, in the long run, collusion between government and businessmen can be said to be a natural thing.Later, the big merchants not only secretly communicated with the officials in the court, but also cultivated scholars to obtain fame at any cost, and they were reproduced from generation to generation. Most of the officials in the late Ming Dynasty came from merchant families, especially Jin merchants in the north and Huizhou merchants in the south. .

The most famous Shanxi merchants, Zhang and Wang, are both officials and merchants. Wang Chonggu, the second generation of the Wang family, served as the right servant of the Ministry of War during the Jiajing period; and Zhang Siwei, the second generation of the Zhang family, served as the chief assistant of the cabinet during the Wanli period. Zhang Sijiao is also a great salt merchant.At the same time as the marriage between the Zhang family and the Wang family, they also married the family of Ma Ziqiang, a scholar of Shaanxi Renmin University. Ma Ziqiang's brother Ma Zixiu was also a big businessman.

In this huge network of relationships, the three families of Zhang, Wang, and Ma almost monopolized the salt trade in the northern frontier.So Yushi Yonggao complained angrily: The reason why the Salt Law was corrupted was because it was monopolized by powerful families.

Li Cunming said: "You scholars, once the imperial court wants to collect commercial taxes, they will use the big hat of 'competing with the people' to suppress people. Let me ask you, why did you not pay the three taxes in the past? Oppose? Why, the big merchants are the people of the Ming Dynasty, but the poor peasants are not my people?"

"Of course, I also admit that there were some mistakes in the previous tax increase. For example, the tax department of the Wanli Dynasty did not dare to attack big officials and businessmen, but only dared to force small and medium businessmen. These policy mistakes will naturally be corrected, but they are not brought by you. A shield against commercial taxation!"

"I would like to advise everyone, don't sit on your buttocks!"

Some heartbreaking words made the courtiers present speechless, and Li Banghua was even more ashamed.

After the policy of increasing business tax was decided, the early court came to an end.The courtiers went to attract refugees to come to Ningling to reclaim wasteland, and issued a list to recruit strong men to serve as soldiers.

But a few days later, Nanjing sent two memorials.One was a letter jointly signed by Shi Kefa and various officials of the Ministry of War, proposing the policy of "uniting the Qing Dynasty to suppress the bandits", and suggesting sending envoys to the north to talk about peace and alliance with the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

Li Cunming ignored this memorial.

But the second memorial made him outraged.The letter was fierce in words, resisting the increase of business tax, and almost all officials in Nanjing signed it.

Snapped!
Li Cunming threw the memorial on the table, and said with a cold snort: "I just proposed the policy of increasing business tax, and before it was officially implemented, this group of hypocrites who have read the books of saints jumped out. Okay, I will not fight with you." You are talking too much, I want to let the dog bite people!"

……

In the prison of the county government, it was dark.

Cao Huachun curled up on the pile of straw, his face was unkempt and his clothes were dirty.There was a commode in the corner of the cell, and the smell was suffocating, but Cao Huachun was used to it.

After failing to force the palace with Zhang Jinyan and others, only Cao Huachun survived by luck and was escorted all the way to Ningling.

One month, or two months... He lost the sense of time and couldn't remember how long he had been in prison.

But compared with the suffering and regret in his heart, being a prisoner is nothing.The emperor didn't beat him or scold him, he didn't kill him or cut him into pieces, he might as well die like Zhang Jinyan and others.

Could it be that the emperor intended me to spend the rest of my life in a prison cell, tormented by pain and regret for a long time?

There was a sudden sound of chaotic footsteps in the prison, and dozens of Jin Yiwei rushed in, shouting and shouting, and opened the prison doors one after another to walk in.

Cao Huachun saw that all the prisoners in the next cell were taken away, but no one entered his cell.Not long after, all the cells in sight were emptied, and the Jinyi guards also retreated, leaving him alone in the entire prison.

When he was at a loss, he suddenly saw the emperor appearing at the prison door, and after the jailer unlocked it, he opened the door and walked in.

Cao Huachun was stunned for a moment, then prostrated himself on the ground, crying: "My lord, I can see you again in my lifetime, and I will die without regret!"

Li Cunming squinted at Cao Huachun, who looked like a different person, and couldn't help thinking of a line, this person is like a dog!
The foul smell in the cell was so strong that Li Cunming frowned slightly and said, "Cao Huachun, I'm not here to kill you, but I have something to say. Where do I start? Well, let's start with Wei Zhongxian."

Li Cunming paced back and forth, and said in a tone of recalling the past: "Wei Zhongxian, whenever I think of this nine thousand years old, I feel like a big mountain is pressing on my heart. An eunuch can make a Manchu official call it nine thousand nine hundred years old, only One hundred years younger than the emperor, there is no one before, and I am afraid that there will be no one to come after."

"The first emperor passed away, and I was ordered to enter the palace overnight. When I saw Wei Zhongxian's egg-shelled face, to be honest, I was scared, and there was a shadow in my heart. How can others snore on the side of the couch? What's more, Wei Zhongxian It's a tiger lying in the palace!"

"I took advantage of this tiger's nap, and you, together with Gao Shiming, Wang Chengen and others, caught him by surprise, and finally beat this tiger and fled. Now that I think about it, the situation at that time was shocking every step of the way, and I still have lingering fears in my heart." where!"

Cao Huachun was immersed in the emperor's narration. He missed the glorious years of being in the same boat with the emperor, and said with emotion: "This old slave is doing nothing in this life. The only thing to be proud of is defeating Wei Zhongxian and the eunuchs."

"But do you know? Now I regret getting rid of Wei Zhongxian! No, judging from the situation at that time, if I want to secure the throne, I have to get rid of Wei Zhongxian and his minions. What I really regret is that I didn't cultivate my own. Wei Zhongxian."

Cao Huachun was a little confused and couldn't understand what the emperor said.

Li Cunming took out a few pieces of paper from his sleeve and threw them on the pile of straw: "Let's have a look."

Cao Huachun hurriedly picked up the paper, and looked down at the dim light from outside the cell, gradually getting angry.

"These are several articles sent back from the capital by Jinyiwei spies. They were obviously written by officials in the capital. They described the fall of the capital in these articles, but they had ulterior motives and made wild claims, saying that Li Zicheng had found thousands of dollars in the palace treasury. Ten thousand taels of internal money, the implication is that I am a miser, and when my family is in ruins and my country is in ruins, I am reluctant to use my internal funds to save the situation."

"They also slandered you, Cao Huachun, by saying that you opened the gates of the city to let Li Zicheng enter the capital. Haha, I'm afraid you will never be cleared of the accusation of defecting to the enemy and treason!"

Cao Huachun said angrily, "Spreading rumors, this is spreading rumors! Shameless, shameless literati, how dare they tell such a big lie?"

"Yes, when Li Zicheng came to Beijing, you were locked in the prison of Ningling County. How did you open the door to join the enemy? I am still alive, and I know better than anyone how much money I have in my pocket. But why do they spread rumors and slander, and So unscrupulous? This is the shameless face of literati, and it is their usual trick!"

"The literati and officials in Beijing have surrendered and rebelled. They want to enjoy the glory and wealth of this world, and want to leave a good name for future generations. They can only do their best to clean themselves up and pour sewage on me and you. You understand. Bar?"

Cao Huachun sighed: "This old slave has only seen clearly the ugly face of unscrupulous civil servants today. He was deceived by them before, and it is too late to regret!"

"Haven't I been fooled by the civil servants? But it's not too late. I didn't kill you. I just wanted to save you from the beginning to deal with these despicable hypocrites. Cao Huachun listened to the decree, and I pardoned your big crimes from now on." , appointed you as the admiral of the West Factory, responsible for the collection of commercial taxes. Do you have anything to say?"

Cao Huachun was so moved that he kowtowed his head heavily, weeping bitterly and said: "This old servant thanked the emperor for his kindness, if there is any wrongdoing to the emperor in the future, he will definitely die with a thunderbolt!"

Li Cunming said: "You are much more ruthless than the honest and kind Wang Chengen. When I use you, I use the word 'ruthless'. From today onwards, I will train you to be my Wei Zhongxian, but you must not really treat yourself Be Wei Zhongxian, let alone think about being nine thousand nine hundred years old, otherwise I will kill you immediately."

"I want you to be a loyal vicious dog, a vicious dog that can bite people, a vicious dog that eats people without spitting bones! Do you understand?"

"This old slave has been the emperor's dog for life and life, and he has no second thoughts. If the emperor asks this old slave to bite, this old slave will jump on him and bite!" Cao Huachun vowed.

Satisfied, Li Cunming walked out slowly with his hands behind his back, leaving a last sentence: "Don't call me the Emperor, but the master."

"Yes, long live master!"

(End of this chapter)