Chapter 725: Economic Power Is Political Power

"Naturally, they have been castrated." Feng Bao said hurriedly: "They can't leave the Nagasaki Governor-General's Office without being castrated, and they were checked again when they arrived in the Great Ming."

"Then use them. Zhang Ang did nothing wrong. Confiscate the accounts, buy wine and meat, and add a meal to the construction site. If the money is not enough, I will make up two hundred silver. Do not punish the book clerk Zhang Ang. By the way, what is this Zhang Ang's background?" Zhu Yijun made a ruling. Since they were castrated slaves, there was no problem.

"He is a Juren (successful candidate in the provincial examination). His parents are locals in Hangzhou Prefecture. His parents had him in their old age and were advanced in years. His parents were alive, so he did not travel far and did not go to the capital to take the examination." Feng Bao answered this question very quickly. As the Inner Minister, he had to be able to answer the Emperor's questions at any time to be qualified as an Inner Minister. When the Directorate of Ceremonial was reviewing the red, Feng Bao had a comprehensive understanding of this matter.

"I am aware." Zhu Yijun took note of this man; he was a pragmatic official who performed his duties with dedication.

Feng Bao said with a strange face: "Zhang Ang said that it is not a false statement. Public money, public work, dragging and dragging is all money. This has become a mantra on the construction sites of official factories and large-scale construction."

"Hmm." Zhu Yijun believed that this was true. Local recruitment could not be beaten, scolded, or urged. The Yongding and Yongsheng woolen official factories had also had problems with low efficiency, but as soon as the elimination policy came out, the problem was immediately solved. The branch of the Single Whip Law, the matter of recruitment, had just begun. It was necessary to prevent recruitment from becoming the corvee labor of the past, and also to prevent low efficiency in recruitment.

Since the theory of contradictions came into being, it had been repeatedly applied, or the Great Ming theory of contradictions was also a deformation of the Doctrine of the Mean. However, what made Zhu Yijun feel a little helpless was that the two volumes of class theory, "Class" and "Distribution," had never been as popularized as the theory of contradictions. When ministers discussed problems, they often avoided the narrative of class.

Zhu Yijun was good at grasping the key to the problem. In the Zhang Ang case, it could be used if castrated.

Wang Chonggu, in his book on the art of being an official, "Self-Cultivation of the Five-Step Snake," once concisely summarized four sentences: maintain sympathy and attention to the group; maintain vigilance and distance from the individual; strictly follow systems and processes; leave traces in everything and everywhere.

If one didn't want to read the heavy "Self-Cultivation of Bureaucrats," just reading these four sentences clearly would not lead to a miserable end.

One must maintain sympathy and attention to the poor and bitter, incline toward these vulnerable groups in policy, pay attention to their needs, see their life and death, and have empathy. But for individuals, specific problems, maintain vigilance and distance. In the case of Zhang Ang's corruption, it was equally applicable. Zhang Ang shouted injustice, saying that he could actually take money from the Great Ming big heads, but choosing sea merchants was to finish the work.

It was clear that the situation Zhang Ang encountered needed to introduce some competition to ensure efficiency.

"Your Majesty, I think we should stipulate that the number of Japanese slaves should also be limited. If the construction site is full of Japanese slaves, it will also be a disaster. When the Japanese disaster breaks out, it will be a joke." Feng Bao put forward his own ideas.

Japanese slaves could be used, but not used without restraint. Large-scale construction was the key means for the Great Ming court to distribute downward. Using them without limit would eventually require the Great Ming itself to bear the results.

The Great Ming court distributed downward, but it was all distributed to the sea merchants who were not short of money and mastered the means of production. As time went on, the resentment in the hearts of the people would boil.

Zhu Yijun thought about it and said: "What you said makes sense. No more than 30 percent."

On the issue of using Japanese slaves, it would be chaotic if there were too many, and ineffective if there were too few. Less than 30 percent was just right.

In Shen Shixing's memorial, there was not only the issue of Japanese slaves, but he also talked about the Great Ming currency problem. Although Shen Shixing was still a governor, he was already patching up the Great Ming's new policy.

"I still underestimated this 'Master of Balancing Water.' Governor Shen is still very capable." Zhu Yijun knocked on the table and said: "He said that the Great Ming's money method is a bimetallic system. Gold to silver is 1 to 16, but gold does not circulate as currency, so gold is not the standard, but silver is the actual standard. And now the Great Ming has cast a large number of Wanli Tongbao, so red copper has become another standard."

"The Great Ming is actually a copper-silver bimetallic system."

This was completely different from before. The Great Ming had a ban on gold and silver in the ancestral system, that is, the people could not use gold and silver but only precious banknotes. The precious banknotes were anchored to copper coins. The Great Ming itself was a copper standard system, but after the ban on gold and silver was slightly relaxed in the Jingtai era, the Great Ming's fiscal and monetary policies entered a stage of disorderly growth.

And now, they were minting silver coins and casting a large number of coins, which resulted in an actual copper-silver bimetallic system.

Feng Bao frowned and said: "Your Majesty, is there any problem with this? The Armory Bureau has minted small-denomination silver coins of one qian and one fen, but the Great Ming people will not use them because they are easy to lose. In addition to the inconvenience of use, silver coins of one qian and one fen are easy to shave off some edges and corners and are easy to wear, so most of the Armory Bureau's silver coins are calculated by weight of one tael."

"This silver coin is large-denomination, and copper coins are small-denomination. I actually think there is no problem. The people are also people, so we can't stop the people from using money."

"Inner Minister Feng, I ask you, how many Tongbao can one tael of imperial silver coin be exchanged for?" Zhu Yijun asked with a smile.

"Official price 700."

"How much in the private sector?"

"Fluctuating between 750 and 800." Feng Bao bowed and said.

Zhu Yijun asked again: "Then do you keep silver coins or Tongbao?"

"Bai Yin coins." Feng Bao thought for a while and said, silver coins seemed to be more valuable.

Zhu Yijun took out a silver coin and a handful of copper coins and said: "Yes, when the court forcibly overestimates one currency and underestimates another, the underestimated currency will flow out of the Great Ming or disappear due to hoarding, collection, etc., while the overestimated currency will flood into the circulation field."

"Obviously, people will use Tongbao to exchange for silver coins at the Precious Source Bureau for storage, and let more Tongbao flow into the market, because the exchange ratio stipulated by the court overestimates the value of Tongbao. And our Great Ming people like to save money very much. If the family has surplus grain, the heart will not panic. Every year there is surplus to respond to emergencies at any time."

"And now, the Great Ming has built a Coinage Bureau in the Southern Yamen, with 120 furnaces and 6,000 craftsmen. This copper coin is increasing rapidly, but the number of silver coins is not growing as fast as copper coins. As long as the Southern Yamen Coinage Bureau starts work, our Great Ming's silver coins will be emptied by copper coins."

Shen Shixing reminded the Emperor not to just build furnaces. There must be a floating exchange ratio for silver and copper, otherwise, the court would actually lose money by casting copper coins.

"I understand. Governor Shen said that the listed price should be changed once a day." Feng Bao said with a sudden realization: "And according to Governor Shen's estimate, one silver for one guan of Wanli Tongbao, and floating up and down, is reasonable."

Zhu Yijun nodded and said: "The victory of copper coins is not the victory of free market competition, but the result of the court's possession of coinage rights, forcing copper coins to be overestimated and silver coins to be underestimated. And dynamic price adjustment is the court's means and tool to maintain economic stability."

The method proposed by Shen Shixing, dynamic adjustment according to the private sector price, avoids the complete victory of one side under the copper-silver bimetallic system, and at the same time, maintains the copper-silver exchange within a stable range, so that the people do not have to rack their brains to calculate and maintain the stability of life.

This is an important means for the court. A stable silver-copper ratio means a more stable economy.

Shen Shixing pointed out sharply that there is a simpler way: destroy the copper furnaces, stop producing Wanli Tongbao, and change to a single silver standard, and there will be no such problem. Just like the West's Felipe only issues silver coins. The West can indeed do this, but there is only one legal currency, silver coins, so there is a problem to consider: what do the people use? Felipe doesn't care about the life and death of the commoners, but can the Great Ming not consider it?

In the memorial, the opinion of the Governor of Songjiang is to increase the production of copper coins, issue a large number of copper coins, and let the exchange ratio between copper coins and silver coins approach the ratio of one silver to one guan faster.

He has a better solution, single precious metal standard, but this solution is a bit contrary to the political proposition of "the people are the foundation of the country, and the foundation is solid and the country is peaceful." If he dares to advocate this vigorously, don't even think about entering the Cabinet. Zhu Yijun would rather use a mediocre person than use him.

In this memorial, the most content is not the Zhang Ang corruption case or the copper-silver bimetallic system, but the discussion of the emerging bourgeoisie.

The first volume of "Class Theory," "Class," points out: as long as a person exists, whether alive or not, he must belong to a certain class, whether he is conscious of it or not; and the essence of class is economic status and social status. Class has never been a vain, abstract concept, but an economic entity and a social entity.

Under these two premises, Shen Shixing believes: that is, when a person or a collective obtains sufficient economic status and social status, they will inevitably obtain corresponding political status, and will definitely use their political status to obtain more economic status and social status, that is, political power equals economic power, and vice versa.

"This 'Master of Balancing Water' is now bold enough to make me look at him with admiration." Zhu Yijun said he underestimated Shen Shixing, not his talent, but his courage. In the past, these words were said by Mr. Zhang, but now Master Shen has become bolder, or rather, Shen Shixing finally realized that as a ruling class, some problems cannot be bypassed and cannot be avoided.

But Shen Shixing also went from one extreme to another.

In the memorial, he was extremely bold and straightforward, arguing from the root that because the Great Ming Emperor lost sufficient economic status, political power contracted on a large scale, and his status was not actually supreme. This was the root cause of the weak monarch and strong ministers in the Great Ming Dynasty for decades or even a hundred years.

Political power equals economic power. After citing the Emperor as an example, Shen Shixing believed that it was inevitable for the emerging bourgeoisie to obtain political status.

Then, as the power above all classes—the court—must ensure a certain degree of fairness in this process, use violence to maintain the basic stability of the Great Ming, and ensure that the old landlords who lost power will not become an obstacle to social development, and also ensure that the new landlords who obtained power will not subvert the country.

This is not a fantasy, but what is happening in the process of implementing the Return Land Decree in Zhejiang.

The old landlords who were unwilling to lose their land were trying every means to circumvent the court's decree, such as long-term leasing, threats, and intimidation, to regain land, while the poor and bitter laborers who obtained land were working hard to defend the land issued by the court. The court needed to intervene with force when necessary to ensure the implementation of the land return policy.

And for the poor and bitter laborers, the only way to keep their land was very clumsy and simple, which was to have more children.

"Very good, Shen Shixing has handled the Zhejiang land return matter properly. No one can pick any faults when he returns to the capital to enter the Cabinet." Zhu Yijun knocked on the table, approved Shen Shixing's memorial, agreed with his several specific propositions, and wrote hundreds of words to discuss his political views.

"Very good. Since Shen Shixing has handled the land restitution in Zhejiang properly, no one will be able to find fault when he returns to the capital to join the Grand Secretariat." Zhu Yijun tapped the table, applied the vermilion seal to Shen Shixing's memorial, approved his specific proposals, and wrote several hundred characters discussing his political views.

And Zhang Juzheng and Shen Shixing, as part of the ruling class, could discuss it in depth, and their views were the main body and context.

In the fourth month of the 14th year of Wanli, Zhu Yijun received a bad piece of news in his busy schedule. Shen Yiguan, the Governor of Shaanxi, and Pan Jixun, the Viceroy of Suiyuan, submitted a memorial that this year, the northern part of Shaanxi, Suiyuan, and Gansu regions had experienced a serious drought. The precipitation in all places had declined. The place with the most serious decline in precipitation was 40% lower than last year, and the best place had a decline of 20%. It was expected that the summer and autumn taxes would face extremely serious crop failure.

"This is very dangerous. The wheat seedlings planted in spring will die if there is no water. If the wheat is less filled with this little drizzle, it will all be empty shells. Coupled with the successful hatching of locust seedlings caused by the drought, the locust plague will definitely become the next disaster. It can be said that the less precipitation, the more the grain will fail. This year, Suiyuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu will definitely lack grain." Zhu Yijun looked at the memorial and said immediately: "Immediately summon the ministers to the Tonghe Palace."

This is a problem that must be faced seriously. Without considering human resources such as water conservancy projects, ditches, dams, and wells, grain reduction and precipitation reduction are exponential relationships. The more precipitation decreases, the scale of reduction will expand, even to the result of no harvest.

"Your Majesty, I think we should send the Embroidered Uniform Guard to investigate in person to determine whether the news is true or false." Zhang Juzheng finished reading the memorial and frowned. "Some places report drought every year and need the court to allocate grain and grass to relieve the victims every year. But after relief for a long time, the imperial censors found heavy rain on the way."

"This kind of disaster relief and remission is often a farce of local officials and local gentry emptying the treasury. I think we should be cautious."

"What the teacher said is very true. I will send the Embroidered Uniform Guard to Suiyuan to check, but judging from the memorials from various places, it should not be wrong. Shen Yiguan is a bit addicted to being an official, and Pan Jixun is loyal to the monarch and patriotic. If Pan Jixun really wants to seek personal gain, he will not go to a place like Suiyuan where birds don't lay eggs." Zhu Yijun naturally knew that Pan Jixun might lie, but it was unlikely.

Pan Jixun took the initiative to go to a place like Suiyuan, which was thankless. The folk customs here were fierce, the conflicts were intense, the infrastructure was incomplete, and even the land abandonment was more serious than in the hinterland. Pan Jixun took the initiative to go there just to govern the Yellow River.

In the 46th year of Qianlong, a shocking case broke out in the Qing Dynasty. Wang Danwang lied about the disaster, and the officials in Shaanxi were of one mind, lying about the disaster together. They reported continuous severe drought.

As a result, Agui and Viceroy Li Shiyao went to Shaanxi and saw that there was no drought at all. The most terrible thing about this matter was that Wang Danwang made Shaanxi an iron plate.

"Your Majesty is right." Zhang Juzheng had enough vigilance against local officials. Emotionally, he tended to believe it was true.

Wang Guoguang flipped through the memorial and frowned: "We need to urgently allocate some grain to enter Suiyuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu to prevent the drought from turning into a famine. There are 1.4 million shi of grain in the Henan Ever-Normal Granary. I think half can be allocated to Changan Prefecture and Gansu Prefecture, and the current grain in the capital that can be moved is 12 million shi. Half can be mobilized and transported to Suiyuan via the road, and sent to Gansu via Shengzhou."

"With 6.4 million shi of grain to respond, the drought in Shaanxi will not spread into a famine."

The court had money and grain, and because of the Ministry of Revenue's conservative economic policy, it refused to owe debt, so the court had a surplus every year instead of a deficit. Originally, these money and grain were to be used for the Korean battlefield, but in the short term, Korea would not need them. The donations from the coastal areas were enough to support the Great Ming army for a year and a half to two years.

Work-for-relief is the best way, but you must have grain to fill your stomach to work for relief. Otherwise, in the midst of famine, refugees will be everywhere, so how can you work for relief?

These grains are not all transported to Suiyuan, Shaanxi, but in batches, depending on the severity of the disaster, to ensure the orderly development of disaster relief work.

Zhu Yijun said with a solemn face: "Pan Viceroy said in the memorial that he hopes the court will remit 70 percent of the grain tax in Suiyuan and Shaanxi. I think we should follow the ancestral system and remit 90 percent in the disaster year, and keep 10 percent for local use. If it is not transported, it will be a permanent system later. It is not completely remitted because the place where taxes are collected is the actual county, which is rule. If no tax is collected at all, there will be endless troubles in the future."

Gansu has no land tax, there is too little land. In order to let the local people plant land peacefully, the Great Ming Emperor waved his hand and permanently exempted Gansu from land tax. For several years, it was hard to have some improvement in seed breeding, but this drought came and destroyed everything. Zhu Yijun had nowhere to cry.

This is indeed the ancestral system. In the 19th year of Jiajing, the Jiajing Emperor set the disaster in Shaanxi, remitted 90 percent, and used 10 percent for himself.

Pan Jixun felt that the court remitting 70 percent of the land tax could overcome the crisis of this drought. It was not that he was bragging to the Emperor. In recent years, Shaanxi and Suiyuan had organized the people to build ditches and dig deep wells, which had achieved certain results. The reason why Gansu wanted to develop seed breeding was also because the cost of irrigation was too expensive.

"Pan Jixun's greatest confidence is sweet potatoes, right?" Zhang Juzheng finished reading the memorial and glanced at the Emperor. Sweet potatoes didn't taste good and caused stomach acid if eaten too much, but sweet potatoes were famine-relief grain. Pan Jixun mentioned in the memorial that because of the drought this year, many regular fields were planted with sweet potatoes, increasing the people's ability to withstand risks.

The Emperor's hobby of farming was not his proper business. For fourteen years, he had cultivated agricultural officials, supported the Baoqi Division, and even Xu Zhenming was in Suiyuan, building fire rooms to raise seedlings in various places, bringing huge changes to the Great Ming Dynasty.

"And water fertilizer, the water fertilizer from the Shengzhou coal mine was all given to Suiyuan and Shaanxi. I thank the contribution of the Xishan Coal Bureau on behalf of all the people." Zhu Yijun looked at Wang Chonggu and emphasized the importance of fertilizer again. For the Xishan Coal Bureau's water fertilizer, Zhu Yijun thanked the leader of the Industry Party solemnly again.

An old fox like Wang Chonggu couldn't hold back a smile and said hurriedly: "I am acting on the imperial order, and it is still a little bit useful."

"Let them reduce rent, it's harder than killing them." Wan Shihe sighed helplessly: "People die for money, birds die for food. This disaster year is a good time for annexation. The court not only doesn't let them annex, but also wants them to reduce rent. I'm afraid they are determined to violate the court's decree."

Wang Chonggu said calmly: "If everyone is dead, who will plant land for them? What is the use of annexing those fields? If they don't want to reduce rent, then kill them."

"Ah!" Wan Shihe sat up straight and looked at Wang Chonggu: "Shaanxi is the territory of the Jin Party."

"I am the leader of the Industry Party. As for the leader of the Jin Party, that is all in the past." Wang Chonggu looked at Wan Shihe and said: "The Industry Party will definitely compete for population with these landlords. This is an inevitable contradiction. If they don't want to reduce rent, kill them. If the court doesn't kill them, the desperate people will gather in the mountains to become bandits. When the time comes, the people will also kill them."

"If you ask me, rather than letting the people do it, it is better for the court to do it. It is faster, and it saves the people from doing it, which will cause civil unrest and be difficult to handle."

Wang Chonggu believed that the court should appropriately use violence, rather than hanging "benevolent governance" on their lips every day. Many things are mutual. The less the court shows violence, the longer it will be, and some people will forget.

He himself is an example. After the court showed violence, their Jin Party immediately became honest.

"The court remits 90 percent, calls on local gentry to reduce rent and donate, transports grain and grass from the capital and Henan granaries to Long, and uses work for relief to build water conservancy. I hope that the Great Ming can work together to overcome the difficulties." Zhu Yijun approved four policies to deal with the disaster. The drought in Shaanxi is not one year, but will continue. How to deal with it, the court should prepare a plan.

"Your Majesty is wise." Zhang Juzheng and other ministers said in unison.

"From tomorrow, I will pray for the three borders of Shaanxi at the Qinian Hall and cultivate myself for seven days to seek heaven's protection." Zhu Yijun made another decision. Cultivation is a means to win people's hearts and a political posture, indicating the Emperor's attention to this matter. Of course, Zhu Yijun also hoped that God would give some face and rain a little, so that the people would not be displaced.

If God doesn't give face, Zhu Yijun will lead the Great Ming people to overcome heaven with manpower.

Zhang Juzheng said with a solemn face: "Your Majesty, natural disasters are not terrible, human disasters are terrible. I think we should mobilize the Beijing Garrison to Long. Not many, just one infantry battalion to Shengzhou. With one infantry battalion, there is a knife. Local officials will be like thorns in their backs and handle things carefully."

Without a real military threat, these bureaucrats in the Great Ming have some problems of rigidity. The Emperor's direct armed forces are in Suiyuan, which can avoid the low efficiency of governance caused by rigidity, indifference, and lack of attention.

Reform first governs officials, and disaster relief is the same.

"Follow what the teacher said." Zhu Yijun highly approved of Zhang Juzheng's supplementary opinion. Indeed, military threats are indispensable.

Zhu Yijun looked at Wan Shihe and asked: "Great Grand Master, has the pension for the loyal and martyrs been arranged? If anyone dares to eat the 'extinct household' (eating the property of a family with no heirs), treat it as a major crime of rebellion with non-criminal justice. Liu Chenxiao and Liu Chenming's uncle ate the extinct household and dared to clamor with the cheap scholars. I regret not killing him at the beginning."

Wan Shihe said immediately: "Liu Chenxiao's uncle has already gone to Java with the cheap scholars. The pension for the loyal and martyrs, I personally went to ask, and there was no mistake. And now the Beijing Garrison calls the widows and orphans to the Beijing Garrison every year to ask if they have any grievances. Their fathers are gone, and the Great Ming Beijing Garrison is their reliance."

"Good, good." Zhu Yijun said with a smile.

The Great Ming Emperor went to the Qinian Hall to cultivate himself. Court deliberations and military drills must be attended. The rest of the time, Zhu Yijun lived in the Qinian Hall. It was not as comfortable as the Tonghe Palace, but it was tens of thousands of times better than the refugees who slept in the open.

During these seven days, Zhu Yijun was not idle. He picked up his pen and finished the third volume of "Class Theory"—"Struggle," which he had written for several years.

Zhang Juzheng finished the second volume and refused to write the third volume, so Zhu Yijun wrote it for him.

"Send it to the Three Classics Factory for publication, and write the teacher's name." Zhu Yijun dried the ink, confirmed that the last part was what he wanted to say, and handed it to Feng Bao to publish and circulate it to the world.

"Your Majesty, why not ask the teacher?" Feng Bao took the last article and said with a solemn face: "Your Majesty, the teacher is really not that bold."

The Great Ming Emperor is the number one rebel in the world!

The content of this third volume had already determined a basic fact, which was that the Great Ming would inevitably perish.

This thing, Zhang Juzheng didn't dare to say it directly. Feng Bao remembered that after the second volume was written, Zhang Juzheng burned it directly. That was because he got four natural inferences: exploitation and class are unjust, violent struggle is just, the inevitability of violent struggle and dynastic reincarnation, and the inevitability of redistribution of means of production. These justice and inevitability finally pointed to the fourth inference: the imperial system must perish.

The third volume, "Struggle," only said that the Great Ming must perish.

Zhu Yijun shook his head and said: "No harm. Making the Great Ming great again doesn't have to be the Great Ming; it can be China."

"Your Majesty..." Feng Bao bowed again and didn't persuade him anymore, but followed the imperial edict. He couldn't persuade him on this matter. Only Zhang Juzheng could persuade him. ===== CHAPTER 726 =====

"Your Majesty..." Feng Bao bowed his head again. He did not try to persuade him further, choosing instead to follow the imperial decree. He knew he couldn't sway the Emperor on this matter; it would be more appropriate for Zhang Juzheng to do the persuading.