Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

"Future generations will grieve without taking note of it, which will also make future generations grieve for future generations again."

In Fengtian Hall, Jiang Xinghuo was not in a hurry to explain the meaning of these terms, but looked at the senior officials in the hall seriously.

"Any reform has its own special historical background. Analyzing and summarizing experience and lessons without actually seeing the situation is like trying to find a sword while trying to solve a problem, which is inconsistent with objective laws."

"So I would like to ask you, why did Wang Anshi's reform require the Green Crops Law and the Market Change Law? What is the basis of these two laws targeting the domestic market? Only by understanding these two issues can we learn from history and see clearly whether the Ming Dynasty needs it now. Domestic commerce needs to be reformed, or should we continue to maintain the policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce at home? The lifting of the maritime ban and the opening of overseas trade are not tied to domestic commercial policies. If there is no necessity, then the Ming Dynasty can completely follow Huang Shangshu's example As I said, we will continue to maintain the current policy of focusing on agriculture and suppressing business.”

Jiang Xinghuo's regression made Huang Fu feel a little incredible, or in other words, Huang Fu was quite puzzled by Jiang Xinghuo's confidence in him.

Is the national policy combination of [overseas trade] + [emphasis on agriculture and suppression of business] feasible?

Of course it is feasible. Foreign trade does not mean that domestic trade is also fully carried out. Although it is a bit strange, in a short period of time, the dual-track system can undoubtedly be maintained.

Of course, if the timeline is extended, then this dual-track formulation will definitely not be feasible, because the full expansion of overseas trade will inevitably drive domestic trade, and by then the emphasis on agriculture and suppression of business will no longer be sustainable.

Therefore, although Jiang Xinghuo made unexpected concessions, Huang Fu did not feel that Jiang Xinghuo was really making compromises for the smooth implementation of the reform. Instead, it was a sign of some kind of confidence.

At this time, it was Wei Guogong Xu Huizu who answered: "The reason why Wang Anshi adopted the Green Crops Law and the Market Change Law in his reform should be based on the national policy of the Northern Song Dynasty. I have some experience in this when I read history."

"oh?"

Zhu Di looked at the Duke with some surprise, who was about to leave for the north, and asked: "Wei Guogong has some opinions, why don't you talk about it carefully."

This is to let Wu Chen also speak. After all, the six ministers were speaking just now, and at this time point in the early Ming Dynasty, the power and voice of Wu Chen in the court were not weaker than, and could even be said to be More than the civil service group.

"I am brave."

After being allowed by the emperor, Xu Huizu naturally had to show a loyal and patriotic attitude. After all, his relationship with Zhu Di, his brother-in-law, was not a good one.

Xu Huizu stood up and bowed his hands in salute, and then talked eloquently: "I believe that the root of Wang Anshi's reform lies in the two national policies of 'no land establishment' and 'no suppression of annexation' promoted by the Northern Song Dynasty. Before the Song Dynasty, for example, Xia Shangshu As mentioned, static financial management techniques are nothing more than the two means of 'rectification' and 'reduction of expenditures', and the 'rectification' of them is to check the land acres and adjust the land system. However, the Northern Song Dynasty inherited the two-tax law system since the late Tang Dynasty. The state collects taxes from the land, and the state does not care about who owns a particular piece of land. For the state, as long as the owner of the field pays taxes in full and on time, then whoever loves the land will own it. Because of this, the Northern Song Dynasty simply The restrictions on land transactions have been completely relaxed, and there is no longer a system similar to the well-field system or equalized land system to maintain the tax base. Instead, taxes are collected entirely on a field basis, regardless of the nature and ownership of the fields."

"In this case, the field actually becomes a commodity?" Zhu Di seemed to understand.

"That's it."

Xu Huizu continued: "Fields have become legal commodities, and land sales have become more frequent. The population is no longer completely attached to the fields as it was in the past. In this way, the crops on the fields have also begun to become commodities. What kind of crops If it sells well in the market, the owner of the field will plant whatever he wants, and this becomes the basis of the green seedling method. Before the Northern Song Dynasty, what was planted in a field often remained unchanged for several generations. If there was no disaster, It is easy to generate reserves. After the Northern Song Dynasty, farmers often considered replacing crops in the fields. Once they lost money, they would be unable to purchase seeds next year."

Zhu Di gained another new knowledge point.

He had also read history books, but he really didn't know that the Green Crops Method was related to the commercialization of fields in the Northern Song Dynasty. He didn't even think about it. Now that he thought about it, it was really strange. Why was no one doing the Green Crops Law before the Northern Song Dynasty? If we talk about Changpingcang, but Changpingcang is directly adjusted by releasing grains, which is the so-called "expensive quantity reduces the market price for selling, and when low prices increase the market price," it is not a loan in the form of currency, that is, "green crop money" .

If what the people really need are wheat or rice seeds, they can just put the seeds in. Why bother asking the people to buy wheat and rice seeds with money?

The answer is naturally that as the commercialization of fields accelerates, the crops in the fields begin to pursue economic interests. They are not necessarily grown for wheat, rice and other staple foods, but are grown according to market demand and prices, so money is needed to buy them. , instead of directly requiring the most commonly used seeds.

Otherwise, is the Green Crop Law really because the Northern Song Dynasty was so unlucky that every year there were disasters and the people were in dire straits and had to borrow money from others?

"Where's the market transaction law?"

At this time, Wei Guogong Xu Huizu stopped talking. Cao Guogong Li Jinglong took over the words: "The roots of the Market Change Law are actually also in the national policy of the Northern Song Dynasty, but it is not the national policy of 'not establishing land system and not suppressing annexation', but 'all the people Book'."

There were a total of four military ministers from the Fifth Army Governor's Office present, who were also future generals, but obviously there was a gap between the generals.

Although Qi Guogong Qiu Fu and Cheng Guogong Zhu Neng may be better at fighting than Cao Guogong and Wei Guogong, in other aspects, they are completely different. 95% of Jingnan Xungui are from middle and lower-level officers. Four years ago, Qiu Fu was the deputy Qianhu, and Zhu Neng was the deputy Qianhu. Without Jingnan, they would never be able to climb to the position of Duke Gonghou in their lifetime, let alone enter the Governor's Mansion of the Fifth Army.

Therefore, it is really difficult to expect them to have much cultural attainments. For a warrior, this is something that cannot be raised in two generations. Of course, if it is raised, it may not be a good thing for the warrior. Because the warrior's main job is to fight, and by cultivating cultural quality, the second generation may be able to fight, but by the third generation, it basically begins to decline.

After all, being both civil and military is too difficult.

In this kind of discussion about national affairs, whoever is uneducated will be embarrassed. Li Jinglong is not embarrassed anyway.

Li Jinglong continued: "The so-called four peoples are all based on their roots, that is to say, there were four peoples in ancient times: scholars, farmers, workers, and merchants. If scholars are diligent in their studies, they can be rewarded; if farmers are diligent in their fields, they can gather crops. If a worker is diligent in skills, he can make food and clothing; if a merchant is diligent in trade, he can accumulate wealth. These four are all the common people's industries. Since the beginning of the people, no one has been able to change them. If you can do any of them, then Look up to serve your parents, bow down to educate your wife, and then your life's work is completed."

"The Northern Song Dynasty abolished the discrimination against merchants in all aspects that had lasted for thousands of years, and also abolished the market system. Merchants could conduct transactions in the market at any time, as long as they paid taxes to the country. This resulted in the Northern Song Dynasty A high level of commercial prosperity.”

"Of course, in order to collect taxes, the Northern Song Dynasty formulated strict laws and did not allow extortion of merchants. The business environment in the Northern Song Dynasty was also the best in history. Not only did there be dedicated officials to manage the trading market, but also prohibiting shortfalls. Each market has a unified reference for weights and measures, and the government protects private property.”

At this time, the eldest prince Zhu Gaochi interjected: "In the early Yuan Dynasty, a scholar Ma Duanlin once said: The legislation of the ancients was based on the evil merchants who wanted to suppress it; the legislation of the Song Dynasty was based on jealousy of the profits of the merchants and they wanted to divide it."

"Then the Northern Song Dynasty court must have imposed heavy business taxes in order to divide the profits among merchants?" Third Prince Zhu Gaosui also asked.

"No."

Xia Yuanji, a financial management expert and secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs, answered: "It was 3% in the Ming Dynasty and 5% in the Northern Song Dynasty."

"The Laffer Curve."

Jiang Xinghuo, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly said.

"What are you pulling?"

The "Laffer Curve", one of the important concepts of modern economics, was proposed by Arthur Laffer, a representative of the American supply school in Jiang Xinghuo's previous life. As an economic adviser to Reagan, he promoted tax reduction policies for the Reagan administration. To make suggestions, one of the basic principles of Reaganomics is to reduce taxes, which is very effective.

In layman's terms, the Laffer Curve depicts the relationship between a country's tax revenue and tax rates. When the tax rate is below a certain limit, raising the tax rate can increase the country's tax revenue. However, when it exceeds this limit, raising the tax rate will actually cause the country to lose money. Less tax revenue. It sounds strange, but it’s actually quite simple.

Because a higher tax rate will inhibit economic growth, reduce the tax base, and reduce tax revenue; conversely, tax cuts can stimulate economic growth, expand the tax base, and increase tax revenue.

Therefore, in some cases, if you want to increase the country's fiscal revenue, imposing heavy taxes is not a good choice. On the contrary, lowering tax rates will stimulate economic activity and increase fiscal revenue.

Jiang Xinghuo briefly explained the principle of the "Laffer Curve" to everyone in Fengtian Hall, and all he could think of just now was "increase taxes, increase taxes, super double!" 】Zhu Di probably figured it out. It turns out that plucking hair is not as hard as possible, but as long as the water flows slowly.

"So Wang Anshi implemented the Market Change Law because the commerce in the Northern Song Dynasty was developed enough, there were enough merchants, and the transaction volume was large enough. Just like the Green Crops Law, the two national policies of the Northern Song Dynasty were 'not to establish a land system and not to suppress annexation' and 'four people'. 'Everything is fundamental' is the source."

"Does Ming Dynasty have this foundation?"

The answer is obvious, of course not!

In terms of land system, the Ming Dynasty implemented the "double register" system of fish scale register and yellow register; in terms of business policy, the Ming Dynasty implemented a strict "emphasis on agriculture and suppression of business" policy.

These two policies are almost completely opposite to those of the Northern Song Dynasty.

Zhu Di asked: "Does the National Master think that the Ming Dynasty also wanted to 'not establish a land system, not suppress annexation', and 'the four peoples are based on each other'?"

After hearing this, even the cabinet members who had been silently acting as invisible people stopped writing and took it seriously.

"cannot!"

Jiang Xinghuo replied seriously: "Wang Anshi's reform has provided us with the most intuitive reference sample, and the lesson learned from it is that the farmland system must not be changed rashly!"

After hearing this, everyone in the cabinet breathed a sigh of relief, and Huang Fu and Jian Yi also let go of their heavy hearts.

Although the "double register" system of fish scale register and yellow register has various drawbacks, it is the most important policy means for the Ming Dynasty to control population and land. If these are to be changed, the sky will obviously fall.

"Although Jiang Xinghuo is not an experienced military leader, he is quite stable at this point." Ru Ru, Minister of the Ministry of War, looked at Jiang Xinghuo and thought to himself.

Although he followed the emperor's attitude, Ru Yu didn't particularly support the reform in his heart. In Ru Ru's opinion, it was best not to mess around with it. If Jiang Xinghuo even planned to change the farm system, then it would be true. Things that shook the country's foundation, even Ru Yu had to go against the emperor's attitude and speak out.

Zhu Di was also very satisfied when he heard about the immovable land system.

Everything else is easy to say and cannot shake the foundation of the country, but if things like the land system go wrong, it will really overturn the country. Isn't Wang Mang's example vivid enough?

"But all the people are based on this, but we should learn from it, because this is directly related to the second priority just mentioned, which is to obtain economic income through tapping the market and fully activate the domestic market."

Jiang Xinghuo paused before continuing: "Whether it is Wang Anshi's reform or our reform, the core goal is to quickly improve the country's financial situation, and it is best to improve it without leaving any hidden dangers. Then the total amount of farmland in the world is limited, which means that agricultural taxes are limited. , the agricultural tax that Ming Dynasty can collect every year is certain, so we have to look at the tax revenue that business can provide for the country, that is, domestic commercial tax and overseas trade. Overseas trade has just been analyzed. What Jiang wants to say is How can we absorb the lessons from the commercial policy failure of Wang Anshi's reform, and where did Wang Anshi fail, and what should we do to make the commercial reform successful and achieve rapid growth in the country's finances."

Of course Jiang Xinghuo's purpose was not to allow the Ming Dynasty's finances to grow rapidly so that Zhu Di could spend endless amounts of money to establish an eternal emperor. In fact, unknowingly, Jiang Xinghuo had already solved the most important condition for the evil dragon to break out of its shell. Buried deeply.

"I just said that Wang Anshi is in the right direction. We must look at problems from a dynamic perspective and the country must use dynamic financial management techniques. However, the path Wang Anshi chose is wrong because he does not understand several things that activate the market. That is what I call the basis of property rights, the central bank, commercial banks, and the corporate system."

"What is the basis of property rights?" Zhu Gaoxu asked at the right time.

"What is the most important condition for a business transaction?" Jiang Xinghuo asked.

"Fair deal?"

"No."

Jiang Xinghuo shook his head and said, "The most important condition is - private property."

"If your property may be taken away at any time, then even if you deal fairly, what's the use? Maybe in the next moment, your property will no longer be yours."

What I want to say here is that what Jiang Xinghuo wants to achieve most is of course not the private ownership of property, but the opposite path. However, based on the specific conditions of the 15th century, it is obvious that the first step is to privately own property and hatch the evil dragon. To be more reliable, after all, history is an upward spiral.

But this, not unexpectedly, caused a silence.

The reason is also very simple, this is a nominal problem.

Nominally speaking, in the era of feudal imperial power, "I am the country."

Everything in the entire Ming Dynasty was the property of the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty from a legal perspective, and there was no private property for individuals.

The emperor generally will not send people to rush into your home and confiscate your property, but there is no doubt that the emperor has the legal basis to exercise such power at any time, anywhere, at will and with anyone. This is also an important manifestation of the supremacy of imperial power.

If private property is recognized, it means the destruction of imperial power. This is something that Zhu Di, the emperor, and even the princes and princes around him cannot accept, because their power is fundamentally derived from imperial power. .

"I absolutely cannot accept the fact that the property of the subjects is privately owned in name."

Touching Zhu Di's bottom line, Zhu Di clearly expressed his attitude: "I can accept the fact that property is privately owned, and the court and local officials will not confiscate the private property of their subjects at will, so as to support the development of business and allow the Ming Dynasty to It is absolutely impossible to recreate the height of fiscal revenue in the Northern Song Dynasty, but in name only."

Jiang Xinghuo didn't intend to reach the sky in one step. He knew that Zhu Di would not accept it 90% of the time, so he was not disappointed at this time. What's more, what was there to be disappointed about? As long as the court can protect private property in fact, then one day, this "name" will naturally match the "reality".

However, Jiang Xinghuo is destined to not see the great social changes led by the bourgeoisie in his eighth life. He only needs to make a little breakthrough compared with the original history and accelerate the process of history.

Jiang Xinghuo skipped this topic and continued: "In addition to the basis of property rights, for commercial transactions, the second most important thing is the intermediary organization of the transaction. The so-called intermediary organization includes two aspects. On the one hand, it is the corporatization of the firm organization. Another aspect is the professionalization of credit organizations.”

What I want to say here is that we must not understand the word "company" as something that only appeared in modern society.

Trivia: Without Jiang Xinghuo's intervention, the prototype of the company, the Kang Mengda Organization, would have appeared a few decades later in the first year of Yongle.

The so-called Kang Mengda organization is a commercial contract of partnership. It is the earliest form of commercial partnership. This new organizational model is different from family joint operation. According to this contract, one party contributes capital and does not participate in business activities, while the other party If you use your own equipment and conditions to engage in business activities, the two parties will distribute profits according to the amount of investment. The investor has limited liability for operating losses based on the amount of investment, while the business operator has unlimited liability.

This form of joint management originally emerged in the cities along the Mediterranean coast in the European Middle Ages. It was popular in maritime trade. It was funded by bourgeois who wanted to gain profits but were unwilling to take personal risks. The navigators shipped the goods overseas, and the profits were based on the amount of investment. distribute. In the event of a loss, the voyager bears unlimited liability, while the bourgeoisie only bears limited liability within the scope of the capital contribution. Later, this partnership form gradually developed into land trade, and eventually evolved into an anonymous partnership (limited partnership) and a limited liability company (unlimited partnership). A company composed of liability shareholders and limited liability shareholders).

Subsequently, 152 years back in the first year of Yongle, Queen Mary I of England, known as "Bloody Mary", chartered trade with Russian companies, thus creating the first modern joint-stock company of this type. Companies, the most famous of which were the British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company in the early days.

Well, if you put it in the Ming Dynasty, it would be the "West Tianzhu Company".

Therefore, the company-made thing is not only not a mechanical copy that transcends the times and is not in line with the actual situation of the current Ming Dynasty, nor is it Jiang Xinghuo's brain-based decision-making, but is something that can be directly used.

A joint stock company, a limited liability company, and a partnership are pure business concepts that do not involve restrictions from any other factors. Even if Jiang Xinghuo had not proposed it, Western businessmen would have come up with it in more than a hundred years. Communication The level of manufacturing capacity is the same. Why can Western businessmen do it but Ming businessmen cannot? There is no reason for this.

What's more, if you really talk about the country's management level, don't brag about the West. Although the Ming Dynasty's bureaucracy has problems of one kind or another, in terms of administrative efficiency, it is absolutely inferior to the current Western countries. This is without a doubt.

if not? Who did the civil service system in modern Britain learn from?

After Jiang Xinghuo explained to everyone in Fengtian Hall what a "company" was and the several forms of a company, everyone seemed very calm.

Yes, they didn't realize what an epoch-making initiative this was, but they just thought, "Oh, the new thing the National Master has come up with sounds quite reasonable. It seems to be helpful for the development of business and allows merchants to carry out transactions more clearly. Convenience", that's all.

Moreover, the division of responsibilities, rights, and interests has already had similar concepts and prototypes in thousands of years of commercial activities, but no one has proposed it so clearly. For everyone, it is not something that cannot be understood. To put it bluntly, It's all about doing business, who pays, who gets the benefits, who takes the responsibility, who runs the business, that's all.

"As for the professionalization of credit organizations, they are the state-controlled central bank and private commercial banks."

Well, what sounds a bit counterintuitive is that the emergence of banks was actually later than the emergence of the corporate system.

The emergence of banks is directly related to the inflow of silver. Especially during the Jialong and Wan Dynasties, the maritime smuggling trade was extremely rampant. A large amount of silver from the Americas and Japan flowed into the Ming Dynasty. Because no one had used banknotes at that time, and the mainstream folk The copper coins used are of different weights and fineness, and there is not only a demand for the exchange of copper coins and silver. The price ratios between copper coins themselves, private money, and white money are very different, and they change from time to time. This is inevitable. This led to the emergence of the copper and silver exchange industry. As a result, a number of financial organizations specializing in copper coin exchange emerged, called money shops, also called money shops, money banks, exchange shops, and money shops.

By the end of the Ming Dynasty, during the era of Zhu Youxiao, the master craftsman of the Ming Dynasty, the bank had become an independently operated financial organization. It not only exchanged copper and silver, but also handled loans and provided the convenience of issuing and withdrawing money. Originally, there were joint accounts in the two places. The exchange notes also became a credit circulation tool with the nature of banknotes issued by banks, which later became banknotes and banknotes.

Jiang Xinghuo first introduced the concept of banks. Since Japan has huge silver mines with massive silver reserves, it is not a secret among the top brass of the Ming Dynasty, so everyone naturally thought of this level.

"This is much more advanced than a pawn shop." Zhu Di commented.

"That's right."

Jiang Xinghuo nodded slightly and then said: "Of course, private banks are just private financial organizations, and finance and currency must be led by the state, so the central bank is very necessary. The so-called central bank is for the current situation For the Ming Dynasty, it had two main responsibilities, namely currency issuance and currency issuance planning.”

"The former is the collection of the treasure banknote issuance that is currently in charge of the banknote lifting department, and the copper coin casting that is in charge of the Baoyuan Bureau."

"The latter means that the central bank should set up a professional currency department to be responsible for formulating the annual issuance and return amounts of banknotes and copper coins."

Zhu Di listened thoughtfully to these words, and he nodded slightly: "So, we want to centralize the power related to currency, and then separate the issuance and withdrawal rights of currency from the Ministry of Household Affairs?"

"That's it, money belongs to money, and finance belongs to finance."

There was nothing unusual about Xia Yuanji's expression. It was obvious that Jiang Xinghuo was angry with him.

"In fact, the biggest problem with the Young Crops Law in Wang Anshi's reform was that local governments were able to lend money independently, and the more loans they made, the better their political performance would be, and the easier it would be to get promotions, which would inevitably lead to compulsory lending."

Jiang Xinghuo analyzed: "If the Ming Dynasty wants to reform its commercial policies and tap into the potential of domestic commercial taxation, it must build a basic central bank-private bank currency system to allow currency to flow in a controlled manner. Talent development must rely mainly on independent development of private commerce, supplemented by national monetary policy regulation. What the Qingmiao Law lacks is a relevant set of monetary systems that can operate in a commercial form."

"It's a pity that the Northern Song Dynasty did not have it, so Wang Anshi's reform was overdrafting the national destiny of the Northern Song Dynasty and almost losing the entire country."

Jiang Xinghuo sighed softly and continued: "But it is hard to blame for this kind of thing. After all, it was good that Wang Anshi, the leader of the reform, could see the direction of dynamic financial management. Sang Hongyang and other predecessors did not provide him with any advice. This is a very effective new way, so in the end I went back to the old way of static financial management.”

"oh?"

Zhu Di raised his eyebrows, but then asked: "Then according to the opinion of the Imperial Master, should the Ming Dynasty restart domestic commerce and trade? If there is the concept of 'four people as the foundation', the 'corporate system', Can 'private banks', 'central banks', and Ming Dynasty's fiscal revenue achieve a leap-forward increase?"

"This is it"

Although Jiang Xinghuo had made up his mind, he still pretended to ponder for a moment in front of the emperor, then shook his head and said, "It still depends on the implementation."

Of course Zhu Di saw what Jiang Xinghuo meant. He glanced at Xia Yuanji and asked calmly: "Since you are not sure, why did the Imperial Master ask me for orders?"

"I am not afraid that fiscal revenue will not grow explosively, but I am afraid that the Ming Dynasty will suffer another misfortune from the Northern Song Dynasty."

Jiang Xinghuo smiled wryly and bowed his hands: "No matter how good the policies or methods are, they all rely on people to implement them. Wang Anshi's reform in the Northern Song Dynasty. Although the Green Crops Law achieved great results in terms of fiscal revenue, it also caused harm to the business environment of the Northern Song Dynasty. It had a huge impact and even fundamentally damaged the national destiny of the Northern Song Dynasty. If His Majesty only wanted to manage the country's finances, then these four things would naturally be enough to create a good business environment for the Ming Dynasty and then increase business taxes. But the policy Whether there are any hidden dangers depends on the executive officer.”

Zhu Di waved his hand: "The administrative school matter is settled."

"Your Majesty is wise and mighty!"

As long as he can achieve his goal, Jiang Xinghuo doesn't mind saying something nice to the big blood-sucking insect.

"etc."

Huang Fu spoke at this time: "The imperial master's analysis of the failure of various commercial policies of Wang Anshi's reform in the Northern Song Dynasty is reasonable, and the solutions proposed sound feasible, but this is ultimately something that cannot be verified. The Ming Dynasty How high is the cost of abolishing the ancestral system of 'emphasis on agriculture and suppression of commerce'? How far-reaching are the consequences? Your Majesty still needs to think carefully!"

"good."

Jian Yi also said at this time: "There should be a verification whether the national master's method is feasible, and there must be an explanation for changing the course."

Zhu Di looked at the two ministers and asked, "What do the two ministers mean?"

Huang Fu and Jian Yi looked at each other, and Huang Fu said:

"I have nothing to question about overseas trade. After all, it will be beneficial to the Ming Dynasty in the short, medium and long term. Therefore, I have no objection to lifting the maritime ban. However, in the country, we have abolished the 'emphasis on agriculture and suppression of business' and re-established it." Mentioning 'all the people are fundamental', once the court mentions it, will have a huge impact on the existing social order, and must be carefully considered, so I request your majesty to allow a period of verification."

"I think this is necessary." Huang Fu paused and continued, "In other words, we can try the 'corporate system', 'private banks', and the 'central bank' first, but we cannot rashly mention 'all the people are based'. ', If during this verification period, the Ming Dynasty's fiscal revenue, especially commercial tax revenue, has indeed achieved rapid growth and is indeed beneficial to the country, and can take advantage of the Northern Song Dynasty's high fiscal revenue without any hidden dangers, then it can Completely change the ancestral system of 'emphasis on agriculture and suppression of business'."

After thinking about it, Zhu Di felt that it was feasible. Huang Fu's suggestion was based on the old ideas of seeking a country. After all, the order of "scholars, farmers, industry and commerce" was actually the order of social classes in the Ming Dynasty. If the Northern Song Dynasty's "all peoples are based" were mentioned again, then it would inevitably It is impossible to cause confusion among the people without providing sufficient reasons or an explanation.

"The two ministers, Huang and Jian, are mature enough to plan for the country. I think it's feasible. What do the Imperial Masters think?"

Zhu Di still helped Jiang Xinghuo and let Jiang Xinghuo decide the time and standards for this experimental period.

"In one year, as of the second year of Yongle, the domestic commercial tax was equivalent to at least 2.1 million taels of silver."

Well, here is a brief review of data. Last year, Ming Dynasty’s fiscal revenue was equivalent to 6.8 million taels of silver, of which commercial taxes were 350,000 taels. Jiang Xinghuo means that in one year, the commercial tax revenue in fiscal revenue will be It soared to nearly one-third of Hongwu's fiscal revenue in the thirty-fifth year, and was six times the commercial tax in the thirty-fifth year of Hongwu!

Although this figure is far less than the staggering annual commercial tax equivalent to 7.6 million taels of silver in the Northern Song Dynasty, it is enough to convince the public.

As long as Jiang Xinghuo can achieve explosive growth in business taxes and bring in money for the court, then no one will make any noise anymore, and even if there is, Emperor Yongle will slap him to death.

——That’s all my money!

As for how to do it, you don’t care. It doesn’t matter whether I am selling retro salt tea or trendy glass perfume. As long as I can make 2.1 million taels by relying on special commodity income + general commodity commercial tax income, then I will win.

"In one year, 2.1 million taels of business tax, is that okay? You two ministers."

"I have no objection."

"Your Majesty is wise."

After listening to Zhu Di's words, several ministers agreed in unison.

Zhu Di nodded, with a look of relief on his face, and told Zhu Gaochi: "Go and draw up the decree."

"Yes, Father."

Zhu Gaochi accepted the order, turned around and left his seat, went to the desk that had been prepared, and started writing.

A moment later, when the imperial edict was drafted, Zhu Gaochi brought it to Zhu Di and respectfully handed it to his father's hand.

Zhu Di unfolded it, glanced at the contents, and the smile on his face became brighter: "My dear friends, you have worked hard today, and today's court argument (the content of the court debate) will be written by Xia Shangshu."

"Thank you for your grace."

Xia Yuanji bowed and replied.

"Okay, let's all disperse."

Zhu Di nodded slightly, then left the throne and walked toward the gate of Fengtian Palace.

Today's court discussion has come to an end, and the remaining matters will be arranged by several ministers.

At this point, Jiang Xinghuo finally came up with the national policy of [Mercantilism] + [Overseas Trade] with great difficulty.