Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

Once the case of collective salt tax embezzlement by the Salt Envoy Department of the Huaihe River was announced, it quickly shocked the entire temple. The scale and the amount of stolen money far exceeded the Guo Huan case of the Hongwu Dynasty.

There are no more than a hundred high-ranking officials in the Salt Envoy's Yamen. However, this collective salt tax embezzlement case involves more than thirty officials, and nearly ten of them are middle- and high-level officials of the Salt Envoy's Department in the Huaihe and Huaidu capitals. , and even chief officials like Shi Youmin.

After the case was jointly investigated, because many officials from the Salt Commission and local officials were involved, Nanjing had to be consulted and His Majesty the Emperor decided how to deal with it.

In fact, this matter is intolerable to Zhu Di, even zero tolerance based on zero tolerance, referred to as double zero tolerance.

"I originally thought that Shi Youmin was an upright and well-known minister with good moral conduct, but I didn't expect that he would have such evil deeds. He is really the scum of the country!"

In the Fengtian Hall, Zhu Di said, throwing the memorial reporting the crime evidence to the ministers for circulation.

Some of them felt mixed emotions after reading it. Many of them had heard about Shi Youmin's past political achievements, so they were even more shocked after hearing the news. The saying that you know people, know faces, but don't know hearts, that's probably it.

After pondering for a long time, Zhu Di went through various solutions in his mind, and chose the more merciful one.

"Bring them all to Nanjing and come to Lingchi. The family members will be exiled for three thousand miles and the nine tribes will be executed."

Zhu Di thought so in his heart, but did not say it immediately.

Punishing the Nine Clan is a political method, the purpose is to intimidate those who are dissatisfied and then consolidate the rule. But in this kind of corruption case, the stolen money should be recovered and the focus should be on dealing with the individual.

But the difficulty in solving this kind of systemic problem has never been how to deal with individuals. What is difficult for individuals to deal with? Beheading, torture, beheading, quartering on five horses. There are many kinds of tricks.

The real difficulty is how to eradicate or contain the soil that produces it, that is, to change the salt management system.

"What do you think of Chi'er?"

Zhu Di looked at Zhu Gaochi. Over the past year or so, Zhu Gaochi had performed very well in maintaining the operation of the empire's administrative system. He not only led the cabinet with a minimum number of four people in the arduous task of classifying, screening, and summarizing information. , processing and other work, and also gradually helped Zhu Di realize the partial exchange of blood between the Peiping civil service system and the original Hongwu-Jianwen civil service system. The reason why Zhu Di can still tolerate Zhu Gaochi's expansion of power in the temple, That's it.

Because for Zhu Di, although the people in the civil service system of the Peking Department were basically influenced by Zhu Gaochi due to the four-year crisis and were Zhu Gaochi's own people, no matter what, to Zhu Di, these people , the degree of closeness is much closer than the civil service system inherited from Jianwen.

After all, these civil servants in Nanjing had served Jianwen not long ago to destroy him, the "Yan rebel".

Of course, as an emperor, you can never let go. Although some officials from the Peking Department who are relatively close to you have been installed in the cultural management system by adding sand, Zhu Gaochi's power has also expanded accordingly. If Zhu Di leads the Yan Dynasty next year, The main force of the army returned to its home base in the north, so Zhu Gaochi had to be left to control the south. Zhu Di also made some preparations in advance to prevent Zhu Gaochi's power from expanding rapidly in the future and making it difficult to control.

Regarding the measures to deal with the Lianghuai Salt Tax Collective Embezzlement Case, Zhu Gaochi had naturally discussed it with Sanyang early in the morning, so he already had a draft, so he said calmly at this time.

"I think it's just two things."

"First, the benefits of the salt monopoly are too huge, and they are different from other yamen. Therefore, rules should be established. Officials of the Salt Envoy's yamen are not allowed to serve for more than a few years, and they are rotated regularly to avoid collusion over time, resulting in entangled forces. Hard to shake.”

"Secondly, the current Salt Envoy system lacks supervision. The salt inspection censorship is often just a formality and can easily be bribed. Therefore, I thought that the Ministry of Household Affairs should send personnel to audit the accounts every year to ensure that the Salt Envoy is difficult to carry out."

Zhu Gaochi's answer was quite satisfactory. It was all based on the mature views of seeking the country, and there was nothing wrong with it. Zhu Di asked the six ministers for their opinions, and finally turned to Jiang Xinghuo.

"What do you think the Imperial Master has to say?"

Zhu Di just asked casually. Jiang Xinghuo has been very busy recently. He really didn't expect Jiang Xinghuo to have any insights. After all, this matter is actually of great significance. There is also a folk saying that "salt makes the emperor fall, and the new emperor is full." Yes, the recovered property, converted into silver taels, is a terrifying wealth of millions of taels. Not only did it exceed the task of 2.1 million taels ahead of schedule, it also greatly filled the gap due to the conquest of Annan, the repair of the "Yongle Dadian" and other matters. As for the increasingly empty national treasury, Jiang Xinghuo's contribution to promoting, planning, and supporting here cannot be denied. Doing this is enough.

"Return to Your Majesty."

Jiang Xinghuo pondered for a moment and said: "I think the key points of this matter are one big and one small. The big aspect is the system reform of the entire salt affairs, that is, Kai Zhongfa, and the small aspect is the reform of all yamen's financial and tax accounting methods. renew."

Since it was a high-level meeting with a small number of people, Jiang Xinghuo could clearly feel it, and everyone's eyes turned to him.

Are you really wise?

“Let’s talk about the big aspects first.”

Jiang Xinghuo cleared his throat and said: "The opening of the Zhongfa is related to the military rations for the northern defense line of the country. Although the Beiyuan Dynasty has disintegrated due to internal strife, the Oara, Tatar, Uliangha and other tribes are still eyeing the northern border of the country and have harassed them this year. The 30,000 defenders in Liaodong and Ningxia, Gansu and other places in the western section of the northern defense line are also very disturbed, so we cannot rashly shake the entire Kaizhong France."

After setting the tone, everyone relaxed a little, and then Jiang Xinghuo continued: "Although the Kaizhong method cannot be greatly modified for the time being, necessary rectifications and adjustments are still needed."

"The first one is the conflict between salt-producing areas and salt-selling areas."

Jiang Xinghuo introduced what he had learned about the dispute between Huaiyue and Guangdong to the high-level decision-makers of the empire. Although the ministers were in a high position and could understand a lot of information that ordinary people could not understand, they were not omniscient, so there was no This is the first time that young people know that there is such a thing.

"After more than thirty years of development, it now seems that the unification of production and marketing areas is imperative."

This is the truth. When Hongwu founded the country, he designed these systems that were conducive to internal strife. It was originally intentional, especially because of the special historical background. But it does not need to be like this now, because the losses caused by this kind of internal strife to the empire far exceed benefited.

"While the production and marketing areas are being unified, I believe that the current jurisdiction of the Salt Envoys should also be narrowed. Instead of relying entirely on the salt field, the Salt Envoys can be completely placed under the Chief Envoys, rather than an independent kingdom. .”

In fact, this is also a solution strategy for the game between the central government and local governments.

Salt tax is a tax that cannot be withheld by local governments. In other words, local governments only bear the responsibility of management and have no income.

And if this plan is realized, it will separate several major Salt Envoy Departments from the nominal jurisdiction of the Ministry of Household Affairs and turn them into local jurisdictions, similar to academic administration.

Of course, this plan is definitely not perfect, otherwise it would have been adopted long ago.

"What if the Chief Secretary does not produce salt, or the salt production is completely unable to meet the people's salt needs? How should the split Salt Chief be placed under it?"

This is the problem. The chief ministers along the coast can say that they can produce sea salt, but some inland chief ministers have neither sea salt nor well salt or lake salt. Even if they set up a salt commissioner, they will not be able to produce sea salt. Without salt, wouldn’t it still be difficult for a clever woman to make a meal without rice? You can't make salt with just some tricks.

Moreover, placing the Salt Envoy Department under the Chief Envoy Department is obviously contrary to the principle of unifying production and marketing areas.

But Jiang Xinghuo's brain circuit is obviously superior, and it is extremely simple and direct.

"Those who belong to the salt field belong to the salt field, and those who belong to the salt envoy department belong to the salt envoy department."

"The combination of salt production and sales areas means that for example, the Lianghuai salt field is located within the territory of the Huanghuai Chief Envoy, then the sales scope of the Lianghuai Salt Transfer Department is within the jurisdiction of the Huanghuai Chief Envoy, but this does not mean The salt produced by the Lianghuai Salt Field cannot be transferred through the Salt Envoy System to the jurisdiction of other Chief Envoys, but this transfer is a matter between different Chief Envoys."

"That is to say, the production and marketing areas are unified, but production and marketing must be separated in the administrative system."

To put it bluntly, the salt field is a production unit, and the salt envoy department under each chief envoy department is an administrative unit, responsible for measuring demand and coordinating transportation and supply.

Everyone, including Zhu Di, quickly realized the benefits of this system reform.

Why did the high-level officials of the Salt Transfer Department of the Huaihe River and Huaidu Capital, headed by Shi Youmin, embezzle so much salt tax?

The reason is that the Lianghuai Salt Transport Department is in charge of the Lianghuai Salt Fields, which account for half of the country's output. One hand is focused on production, and the other is also focused on sales. The key is that the sales scope of the Lianghuai Salt Transport Department is not only It was limited to the territory of the Huanghuai Chief Envoys, but several Chief Envoys, and even extended to southern Hunan and southern Fujian.

With this restructuring, the central government could assign the task of overall management of salt demand to the chief ministers in each locality, who would only have to bear the responsibility of supervision and inspection.

At the same time, there is no need to worry about a certain salt envoy company becoming bigger, because the salt field has been demolished, and the salt service system has formed two independent lines of the salt field and the salt envoy department. If they are put in place, the salt envoy department will no longer be transferred to the Huaihe River. It assumes the management responsibility for the Lianghuai Salt Field, but is only responsible for calculating salt demand, transportation, and sales.

Of course, all policies have pros and cons. This plan also has a hidden danger that is not difficult to see, that is, it is fine when the central power is strong. Once trouble occurs and the central power declines, then the Salt Envoy will be placed in the Chief Envoy system. Internal measures will significantly enhance local strength and centrifugal force.

However, weighing the pros and cons, from the current point of view, Jiang Xinghuo's plan is obviously better.

After a short discussion, everyone had some issues with the specific measures, but they had no objections to the general direction of Jiang Xinghuo's plan.

"Salt affairs reform is of great importance. We will discuss it at the DPRK meeting later. You should also think about it in the past few days and write a memorial and submit it."

Zhu Di thought for a moment and then asked: "What about the update of all yamen's financial and tax accounting methods mentioned by the Imperial Master?"

This time, as a professional, Xia Yuanji, the Minister of Revenue, came out to answer the question.

According to the system design when Hongwu founded the country, the Ministry of Household Affairs of the Ming Dynasty will now supervise and manage fiscal revenue and expenditure, and will also conduct regular accounting, which means that it will regularly conduct financial checks and calculations on each yamen to ensure the accuracy and legality of fiscal revenue and expenditure. sex.

There is nothing wrong with the system, but the implementation is just like that. Why is it that the salt tax from the Salt Envoy Department has been transferred to the Huaihe River for so many years, and no problem has been found for so many years? In the end, Jiang Xinghuo has to rely on mathematical reasoning?

In fact, the use of accounting vouchers was very common in Ming Dynasty at this time, including accounting books, bills, receipts, etc. The use of these vouchers can improve the accuracy and reliability of financial accounting, and also facilitate financial auditing and supervision.

At the same time, the Ming Dynasty also had related accounting books and financial statements, which are not fundamentally different from modern times. The accounting books of the Ming Dynasty include journals, ledgers, general ledgers, etc. Through these account books, financial revenue and expenditure, assets and liabilities, etc. can be clearly reflected. Financial statements mainly include balance sheets and income statements, which are similar to the modern meaning. These statements can provide a reference for decision-making.

In terms of financial expertise, the Ming Dynasty was not bad either. The daily accounting records of yamen at all levels in the Ming Dynasty basically used "receipt and expenditure" as the accounting symbols, while in terms of monthly, quarterly, annual and accounting report preparation, "In and out" are often used as signs of collective accounts. This practice originated from the Song Dynasty and became popular in the Ming Dynasty. In the orders issued by the Ministry of Household Affairs, "collect and store according to the number" and "pay according to the number" are generally used. In the memorials of officials of the Ministry of Household Affairs, the writing methods of "the number of receipts" and "the number of payments" were often used. These have become special terms for the official economic documents of the Ming Dynasty.

In Jiang Xinghuo's previous life, the record of this was also very detailed. "Minghuidian" contains "the banknote collection silver is 7,459 taels and four cents and four cents, and the fish collection silver is 68 taels and five cents." "History of the Ming Dynasty·Shi Huo Zhi" also has records such as "In the sixth year of Shenzong Wanli's reign, Taicang's annual income was more than 4.5 million taels, and his annual income in Taicang's salt class was more than 35,000 taels."

So what's the problem?

The key is that the Ming Dynasty still continues the traditional single-entry accounting.

The advantage of single-entry accounting is that it is concise and to the point, and it can more completely and correctly reflect the accounting objects, the processing of accounting matter records, generally the time and accounting record symbols in the front line, and the concise summary of the accounting matter content in the second line, explaining the economic The reason for the event, and finally the quantity, unit price and amount are listed in order.

But the disadvantage is that some of them are too simple and too easy to be manipulated.

It seems that the financial system is very complete and can clearly record receipts, payments, transfers and settlements. When handling accounting records, the results are generally stamped with a red stamp. If the receipt is clear, a "received" stamp is stamped. , the payment is stamped with a "paid" stamp, the payment is stamped with a "transfer" stamp, and the account is settled with a "settled" stamp. The ins and outs of each account are clearly explained. For any income matters, highlight the transaction. The source of income; for any expenditure items, first highlight its destination, and then explain the source of the expenditure.

But once there are too many accounts and too many circulation procedures, the disadvantages of this single-entry accounting will become apparent.

After discussions with Xia Yuanji, Jiang Xinghuo planned to launch double-entry accounting.

However, unlike modern double-entry accounting, this kind of double-entry accounting is an improved version of the "three-legged accounting" that is more suitable for the background of the Ming Dynasty. In Jiang Xinghuo's previous life, it was only used when the bourgeoisie sprouted in the late Ming Dynasty. The resulting "four-legged account".

Let’s talk about the “three-legged account” first. This method existed in the early Ming Dynasty. It records two transfers of non-cash transactions. It is a double-entry accounting record method. People vividly compare this kind of accounting record to a “two-legged account”; for cash receipts, When paying items, only one cash payment is recorded, which is a single-entry accounting record. People vividly compare it to a "one-legged account" and collectively call it a "three-legged account." However, in the final analysis, it is still an immature double-entry accounting method.

This accounting method has begun to spread among some merchants in the south of the Yangtze River. The "three-legged account" focuses on the daily running water, that is, every five days, or ten or half a month, records are recorded on the running water account. Calculate the balance of cash on hand for the current period, and then check it with the actual amount. If the account facts are consistent, a "settled" stamp will be stamped. If the account facts are inconsistent, the reasons will be traced immediately. The processing of current accounts generally follows the " The accounting rule that “what comes, must go, and what comes and goes must be equal” is a significant improvement for single-entry accounting.

If the Yamen of the Lianghuai Du Salt Transport Bureau used this accounting method, then it would obviously be much more difficult for Shi Youmin and others to falsify accounts.

But Jiang Xinghuo planned to use a "four-legged account". This double-entry accounting method is already quite close to the double-entry accounting used in the modern accounting system.

"What is a 'four-legged account'?"

The senior officials present were a little curious. Some of them had heard of the "three-legged account". After all, many merchants in Nanjing now use it. It's just that the court's method is more traditional, but " "Four-legged account" is really unheard of.

Jiang Xinghuo explained: "The so-called four-legged account is to formally divide all economic transactions into cash transactions and non-cash transactions. Well, that is, creditor's rights and debt transactions. There are two categories in total, and for each category Economic activities and accounting double-entry records must reflect both the source of funds and the destination of funds. Therefore, the record content of the four aspects of the two types of economic activities constitutes the four pillars supporting the entire double-entry accounting method. That is to say, four legs. These four legs mean that all accounts are divided into four major categories of "incoming, paid, deposited, and that" and according to the content contained in each of the four major categories, a number of items are divided under them to classify the accounting objects. , itemized accounting.”

"Then how to check? Compared with the three-legged account, what are the advantages?" Zhu Gaochi asked curiously. He had some research on economics and was keenly aware of the advantages of this new accounting method.

Jiang Xinghuo replied: "You can use the formula of 'Advance - Payment = Deposit (Total Assets) - The (Liabilities + Capital + Current Income)' to calculate profits and losses on a dual track."

In fact, if you convert it, it is dividend (loss) = gross profit - (expense + tax + loss), which is basically the same formula used in modern business accounting profit/loss calculations.

Zhu Gaochi thought for a moment and understood the mystery.

This kind of thing sounds simple, but if no one invented it and it wanted to happen naturally, I don't know how many difficulties it would have to go through.

"For four-legged account keeping, take the Lianghuaidu Salt Transfer Office as an example. All economic matters of transfers, such as credit purchases, credit sales of salt and other goods and projects, the processing and reversal of foreign debts and foreign loan accounts etc., it is required to record two transactions at the same time on the relevant account books. One party registers the incoming account, and the other party registers the outgoing account accordingly. The accounting rule of "what comes must go, and what comes and goes must be equal" is implemented. In this way, it is different from the current single-type accounting. Compared with bookkeeping, it is more than ten times more difficult to falsify?"

"The fraud methods used by Shi Youmin and others are mainly to fabricate or conceal various expenses. However, with the four-legged accounts, it is completely possible to use the running balance method to settle the balance of cash in hand for the current period and add it to the general book or balance sheet. If there is a clue, no matter how well it is concealed, it will be easily exposed. This is the same as using the salt tax of the Song Dynasty to calculate our current salt tax. The principle here is the same."

After everyone understood it, they were a little surprised. The ingenuity of this accounting method was unimaginable to the senior officials who had adapted to the traditional single-entry accounting. If this accounting method was promoted in all levels of yamen, then What is certain is that it may not be easy to settle old accounts in the past, but new accounts in the future will definitely make it more difficult for officials to commit corruption by tampering with accounts, and not just a little bit, but the entire project volume will be doubled ten times or dozens of times. times, which invisibly raised the line in the minds of officials.

And even if there are experts who perform a complete set of tricks, once the accounts are audited, the double-entry accounting such as "four-legged accounting" can easily be found.

It is difficult to fake and easy to detect. These two points can obviously greatly reduce similar corrupt practices.

Zhu Di and Longyan said happily: "The Imperial Master has thought carefully. In this way, Shi Youmin's case will definitely not appear again. Just do what the Imperial Master said. How much time does Xia Shangshu think it will take?"

Xia Yuanji thought for a while and replied: "It may take a year. It will not be implemented nationwide until the third year of Yongle. First, account books of corresponding standards must be produced and printed. The quantity is very large. Secondly, all chief ministers need to be informed." We need to train government, government, and county officials to become familiar with the new accounting methods. Even if they are assigned, it will take more than half a year."

"Then let's do it." Zhu Di waved his big hand and said.

Finally, after some discussion regarding the verdict of Shi Youmin and others, everyone unanimously looked at Zhu Di who was sitting on the dragon chair.

"His Majesty!"

Zhuo Jing, the nominally highest-ranking minister of the Ministry of Rites, came out and said: "I ask you to thoroughly investigate the corruption case in the Salt Transport Department of the Huaidu and Huaihe Rivers, and bring peace to the world!"

After saying that, he bowed deeply.

Jian Yi, the official minister with the highest actual status, also came out to second the proposal and said again: "Your Majesty, I sincerely request you to thoroughly investigate the corruption of the salt envoys in the two provinces, and do it seriously and quickly to serve as a warning to others!"

"good!"

Zhu Di put his hands on his hands and laughed, then stood up, clasped his hands behind his hands, and walked slowly to the main hall.

"Pass on my decree, immediately escort the salt envoy Si Yan envoy Shi Youmin and others to the capital, Lingchi! The families of the offenders will be exiled for three thousand miles!"

At the same time, he turned his back to the ministers and ordered: "The remaining officials of the Salt Envoy Department will all be dismissed from their posts regardless of their merits and demerits, and will be escorted back to Beijing. Pending the outcome of the trial, if they are not involved in this case and are honest and capable, they will be transferred to other places. "

"According to the order!"

The news spread quickly, and corrupt officials were punished, and the gentry and salt merchants who interacted with them were investigated. At the least, their property was confiscated, and at worst, they were uprooted.

Of course, in order to avoid causing panic, it was also clearly stated that personal liability would not be excessively pursued and fines would be the main method. However, even so, the news spread like wildfire in a short period of time and quickly spread to all prefectures and counties in the north and south of the Yangtze River. Everyone in Huanghuai was in danger.

After some officials learned of this result, they were secretly glad that they had not participated. Otherwise, even if they were not dead, they would still be peeling off their skin.

Things have changed in Huanghuai, and the Nanjing Central Center is not idle either. With the pilot of the "four-legged account" double-entry accounting method in the six departments of the Central Center and various temples, the problems that have been exposed in the procurement of items have been revealed. Jiang Xinghuo also started to use the knife.