OBS Chapter 1144 Without land, one is a wanderer; without a job, one is a peasant; only with a home and
Chapter 1144 Without land, one is a wanderer; without a job, one is a peasant; only with a home and
Seeing the officials' eager expressions as if they wanted to devour someone, Yang Shaofeng was not nervous at all; on the contrary, he became even more excited.
Yang Shaofeng bowed to Emperor Zhu again and said, "I have heard that Emperor Xiaowen once issued an edict to change the number of burials from 121 to 41, and that men should be buried every three years. The whole country praised his benevolence. The Red Eyebrow Army dug up Changling and Maoling but did not disturb Baling. I believe that firstly, Emperor Xiaowen advocated simple burials, and secondly, the Red Eyebrow Army may have been grateful for Emperor Xiaowen's benevolence."
Emperor Zhu grunted in response without expression, while Li Shanchang glanced sideways at Yang Shaofeng.
what's the situation?
Yang the Madman dared to cheat even his own father-in-law, and he had no respect for the emperors of all dynasties. Even when talking about the Tang and Song emperors, he mostly referred to them as Li Er and Zhao Da. Now he actually praised Emperor Xiaowen.
What, does the emperor of the Liu family deserve your high regard, Yang the Madman?
If that's really the case, then can I use this as an excuse to really annoy Yang the Madman in front of the higher-ups?
Just as Li Shanchang was pondering this, Yang Shaofeng suddenly changed the subject and said, "I have also heard that there are rumors among the people that Emperor Xiaowu was too aggressive in his military campaigns and squandered the wealth accumulated by Emperors Xiaowen and Xiaojing over several decades."
As Yang Shaofeng finished speaking, the officials in the hall immediately perked up, almost all of them waiting for the word "but" that Yang Shaofeng would follow.
Yang Shaofeng did not disappoint, saying, "However, I am quite curious about two things."
"Firstly, Emperor Xiaowen reduced the tax rate from 120 to 41, and the annual tax rate for adult males was once every three years. This was naturally considered a light tax and low levy in the early Han Dynasty. However, historical records state that 'the capital's money was piled up to tens of millions, so much so that the strings holding the strings together rotted and could not be counted; the granary's grain was piled up in layers, overflowing and exposed to the elements, until it rotted and became inedible.' I am curious, how did Emperor Xiaowen manage to accumulate so much money and grain while reducing taxes and levies?"
"Secondly, if Emperor Xiaowen had already accumulated a huge amount of money and grain, why did Emperor Xiaojing have to borrow money from the Wuyan family at ten times the interest rate when he quelled the Rebellion of the Seven States?"
Emperor Zhu remained expressionless, but Li Shanchang whispered sharply, "Your Highness, be careful what you say!"
It's fine to criticize Liu Xiaozhu for being a warmonger and a pragmatist.
However, if you say that the reigns of Emperors Wen and Jing were filled with too much exaggeration, you will offend not just one or two people, but all the scholars in the country, and may even offend a certain emperor who is also "not very magnanimous".
Yang Shaofeng smiled and cupped his hands in thanks to Li Shanchang, saying, "Thank you for your kindness, Prime Minister Li."
Li Shanchang's face darkened again, and he snorted coldly, "So, Your Highness the Prince Consort knows that my surname is Li, not Han!"
Yang Shaofeng chuckled twice, bowed to Li Shanchang again to apologize, and then continued, "Actually, there is another question. Whether it was the Qin and Han dynasties or the Tang and Song dynasties, were the so-called 'people' the millions of ordinary people in the world, or were they people who owned land?"
Li Shanchang said with a dark face, "During the Qin and Han dynasties, those without land were called wanderers, those without jobs were called peasants, and only those with houses, land, and legitimate occupations were considered commoners."
Yang Shaofeng clapped his hands and said, "In that case, did Emperor Wen of Han's policy of light taxes and levies benefit more the people with houses, land, and legitimate jobs, or even the powerful landlords, or the millions of ordinary people?"
This is where some of the paradoxes in history lie—if the reigns of Emperors Wen and Jing truly reached a point where money was so intricately crafted that it could not be counted, and grain in the granaries was so stale that it could not be eaten, then why would Emperor Wen have needed to promote state monopolies on salt and iron, or play with white deer skins?
Ultimately, the original "living within one's means" approach was no longer viable, so Liu Xiaozhu had to switch to "spending within one's means."
The reason why Liu Xiaozhu earned a reputation for being militaristic and aggressive was precisely because his policy of "spending only what is needed to earn money" was aimed at the landlord and powerful class. The state monopoly on salt and iron directly affected the interests of many aristocratic families and landlords, and the right to enroll in the classics was precisely in the hands of these people.
To put it bluntly, Liu Xiaozhu's thinking is more like a hammer; relying on the sharper knife in his hand, he sees everyone as a nail.
There's no nail that can't be fixed with one hammer blow; if there is, then just hammer it again.
Similar to Liu Xiaozhu are Yang Er and Li Er, but the difference is that Liu Xiaozhu and Li Er survived, while Yang Er did not.
Yang Shaofeng was pondering wildly in his mind. Emperor Zhu still had that expressionless, deadpan look on his face, his small eyes darting around a couple of times, and no one could figure out what he was thinking.
After a long while, Minister of Revenue Yang Siyi finally couldn't hold back any longer and stepped forward, saying, "Your Excellency's eloquence is beyond my ability. However, I also have a question, and I hope Your Excellency can answer it for me."
Before Yang Shaofeng could agree or refuse, Yang Siyi said directly, "The Prince Consort just petitioned His Majesty to abolish all taxes, poll taxes, and corvée labor, and His Majesty has already granted his request."
"However, the Ming Dynasty needs to build roads, dredge waterways, construct bridges, distribute seeds, oxen, and even farming tools to the people, and establish community schools and county schools in various prefectures and counties. It also needs to plant trees and create forests. The Dengzhou University alone requires millions of strings of cash and grain to be allocated every year."
"Just a rough calculation shows that the amount of money and grain needed each year is enormous."
"May I ask, Your Highness, where did the money come from?"
All the other officials were also staring intently at Yang Shaofeng, and even the Emperor Zhu sat up straight.
There's a saying that even a hero can be brought down by a single penny, and another that a man with money is a hero, but a man without money is nothing.
The vast Ming Dynasty needed a lot of money and grain to support it in every aspect. With money, everything was easy to talk about; without money, what could you even talk about?
Before Yang Shaofeng could answer, Yang Siyi added, "Your Highness, please don't mention the indemnities from the border markets and Japan—the Dengzhou border market contributed about 57 million strings of cash to the national treasury last year, and the indemnities from Japan were around 8 million strings of cash, which is still far from the enormous sum of 10 million."
At this point, Yang Siyi added meaningfully, "There's only one border market in Dengzhou. Even if a second one were opened, I'm afraid it wouldn't be able to reach the scale of the Dengzhou border market, would it?"
Yang Shaofeng understood Yang Siyi's unspoken meaning—if there was only one Dengzhou market, then the Dengzhou market could still exploit and plunder the numerous vassal states to the death. If there were a second market, the merchants of the numerous vassal states would have a second choice. Moreover, the two markets would likely be in competition. So, how could the profits of the market be guaranteed?
However, Yang Shaofeng just chuckled and said, "Minister Yang is absolutely right. However, it seems that Minister Yang has overlooked the taxes paid by Ningyang County and the ten counties under Dengzhou."
“Ningyang County alone generated 500,000 strings of cash in commercial taxes last year. Dengzhou has ten counties under its jurisdiction, with the lowest amount being over 200,000 strings and the highest over 400,000 strings. Together, they amount to about 3 million strings.”
"These two places alone can fill the gap of more than three million strings of cash in the national treasury."
"And this doesn't even include the salt fields in Dengzhou."
Yang Siyi's heart skipped a beat. Yang Shaofeng continued, "If Minister Yang considers Ningyang County and the ten counties of Dengzhou as special cases, then the amount of money and grain that Jinghai County, Luan County, Leting, Zunhua, Boye and other counties, and even the counties and prefectures of Liaodong, handed over to the national treasury last year must have been quite considerable, right?"
"Moreover, what Yang just mentioned was the tax on land and poll tax, not the land tax."
"Minister Yang might as well do a careful calculation: what percentage of the national treasury is actually comprised of the so-called tax and poll tax?"