Chapter 910
Old Zhu is confused.
Everyone watched Yu Qian silently. Didn't they know that?
But credibility cannot be built in a day, and monetary policy obviously cannot continue in this way.
If more and more paper money is printed, not only will the people be unable to bear it, but the officials will also be unable to bear it.
With the currency depreciating repeatedly, and if salaries were still paid in paper money, lower-ranking officials might not even be able to support their families.
If their salaries are insufficient to support their families, who knows what these officials might do?
I'm afraid that in the end, it will be ordinary people who suffer the most.
Chen Xun sighed, "It would be good if the national treasury were full."
Yu Qian: "Didn't Japan send back 350,000 taels of silver before the New Year?"
Chen Xun: "The money was all spent on spring planting and water conservancy project maintenance."
Every year, the imperial court would prepare a batch of new seeds and distribute them free of charge to various counties, which would then hand them over to farmers for cultivation.
Pan Yun: "Besides the evil path of increasing taxes, Minister Chen, think of other ways to make money."
Chen Xun lamented, “We’ve tried every possible solution. Last year, there were frequent wars, and the expenditures far exceeded the revenues. Members of the imperial family and officials were owed salaries, with only a lump sum paid out during the Lunar New Year. The national treasury is still in debt.”
Pan Yun said meaningfully, "Cut costs and increase revenue are both indispensable."
Cutting spending obviously won't cut officials' salaries, so...
Chen Xun glanced quickly at Pan Yun, his heart fluttering, but he dared not mention it.
Cutting the royal family's expenses would be suicidal, wouldn't it?
The local vassal kings could verbally attack him to death.
Although the princes generally did not participate in politics, they still had a lot of influence. Moreover, with the example of Emperor Jianwen, starting with Emperor Yongle, although there were occasional warnings, they dared not go too far.
Pan Yun wasn't asking the emperor to reduce the power of the regional military governors.
However, the expenses of the imperial family were indeed a major problem, and Pan Yun asked Chen Xun to report the figures.
Chen Xun said: “Take Shanxi as an example. Prince Qingcheng has 94 children and 163 grandchildren. They all have clan stipends, and the court also gives them rewards for their weddings and funerals every year. All of these are drawn from their fiefdoms. And these are only the direct relatives. There are two generations before them. They also rely on clan stipends to live. Last year alone, the clan stipends of Prince Jin Gong’s branch accounted for 40% of Fenyang’s taxes. If it is passed down for two more generations, sons will have sons, and sons will have grandsons. I’m afraid that the taxes in Fenyang alone will not be enough to cover the expenses, and we will have to borrow from the national treasury.”
King Qingcheng was only a third-generation descendant of King Gong of Jin, and he already had great-grandchildren. Just thinking about how he had 163 grandchildren, and how many great-grandchildren he would have after they all married…
He didn't realize it until he did the math, and then everything went black before his eyes.
Why had he never thought of this before?
He looked at Pan Yun in a panic.
Pan Jun calmly said, "The son begets the grandson, and the grandson begets the son. Hmm, I'm afraid it won't even take two generations before the taxes from Fenyang alone can't support them, and they'll have to draw money and grain from the national treasury to support their relatives. And Prince Qingcheng won't be an isolated case. It's clear that everyone's nightlife is quite monotonous."
emperor:……
Empress Wang: ...
Chen Xun couldn't help but glance at him, while Yu Qian remained upright and said, "This is indeed unexpected, but we can't stop childbirth, and we can't withhold the Zonglu (a stipend for the imperial family) either."
In order to prevent members of the imperial clan from causing trouble, interfering in politics, and affecting the rule of the direct line, Zhu Yuanzhang took very strict precautions.
He forbade members of the imperial clan from participating in the imperial examinations, from engaging in commerce, and from leaving their fiefdoms at will.
The rule that one must not leave one's fiefdom without being summoned is a curse, meaning that members of the royal family are confined to one place and farm for their entire lives.
Oh, this is a collateral branch three generations down. The direct line of the imperial family is still quite wealthy and enjoys many privileges.
However, the other descendants who were continuously divided up were different; they only received a portion of the land. Perhaps to compensate them, Zhu Yuanzhang stipulated considerable stipends for the imperial clan's descendants, without any limit on the number of generations.
In other words, as long as the Ming Dynasty still existed, regardless of whether it was the tenth or twentieth generation, as long as Zhu's name was on the family genealogy and he was indeed a member of the imperial clan, he could receive imperial stipends.
Zonglu is basically able to support himself and a small family.
Therefore, the imperial clan members were lazy, and a considerable number of them did not cultivate the land they owned, spending their days idly and just waiting to receive their stipends.
But this is now. Two generations later, by the mid-Ming Dynasty, the national treasury will find it increasingly difficult to afford such large expenditures.
Therefore, they would treat members of the imperial clan like they would treat officials today: if they could avoid giving them money, they would give them nothing; if they had to, they would just give them a stack of paper money to appease them.
By then, the lower-class members of the royal family, who had essentially lost their ability to survive, would be left destitute and impoverished.
During the Ming Dynasty, there were even instances where members of the lower-ranking imperial family starved to death, and there wasn't even enough money to provide coffins for their burial.
Since this point has been raised, why not start reforming now? After all, it's not too late.
Taking action now would allow for both reform and the utilization of talent cultivated by the imperial academy.
However, there is still room for discussion on how to prevent these people from seizing fame and fortune.
As expected, Pan Yun only set the stage; not only was the emperor reluctant, but Chen Xun also strongly opposed it.
Pan Jun smiled and asked, "This is just my humble opinion. Whether it works or not, and how it works, is up to His Majesty and his court officials. Now that we've discussed cost-cutting, let's talk about increasing revenue."
Pan Yun said, “If private commerce flourishes, commercial taxes can be collected in large quantities. The sea ban has been lifted for half a year. In another half year, Your Majesty can take a look at the customs duties. Furthermore, Your Majesty has so many imperial estates and shops. If they are managed properly, why would the imperial treasury need to rely on the national treasury? Your Majesty’s wealth is the wealth of the world.”
Yu Qian glanced quickly at Pan Yun and then bowed his head in flattery, saying, "The Grand Preceptor is right. Your Majesty's wealth is the wealth of the world."
The emperor understood; they wanted him to replace the person in charge of the internal affairs so they could make more money.
Yu Qian reminded him: "However, Your Majesty is already rich in the world, and your actions should not compete with the people for profit. This is also the ancestral instruction of Emperor Taizu."
This is indeed the ancestral instruction of the founding emperor.
Zhu Yuanzhang was a contradiction.
Many of his policies suppressed the competition between the royal family and powerful nobles for profit with the common people, but he also had policies that suppressed the economic development of the people.
He was an emperor with a rudimentary concept of universal harmony, yet he was also full of tenderness towards his offspring.
He used his own experience as a farmer as a benchmark, believing that whether one was a farmer, a merchant, or an official, as long as one was well-fed and watered, that was enough. Therefore, he strictly adhered to his own grain ration and increased it slightly, setting a behavioral standard for everyone.
He hoped that everyone would move around within this framework, so that the money and grain left over after the people paid their taxes would be just enough to feed and clothe them.
Officials' salaries were just enough to cover their basic needs;
His descendants could not cause trouble for the emperor's family, nor could they exploit the people, but they could always be well-fed and use the entire country to support their relatives for generations to come.
But Old Zhu is so muddle-headed!
This person isn't a rag doll; can't everyone follow the path he sets for them?
He thought that harsh laws and severe punishments could frighten everyone and confine them to the box, and that the world could continue like this forever.
Little did they know that desires drive humanity forward, while restraining desires propels society forward.
Even while he was still alive, the boundaries he set for people could no longer contain them.
And what about now? (End of Chapter)