Volume 1: Birth! Seven time travelers Chapter 016: Shitty Finances (I)
"Your Highness Xiong Tingbi pays homage to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
"Student Zhu Youdong, meeting Mr. Xiong."
On the afternoon of the seventh day of the first lunar month, Zhu Youdong met his fourth teacher, Xiong Tingbi, in a school specially set up in Ciqing Palace.
Yesterday's class was about two old gentlemen teaching "The Analects" and "Mencius". Logically speaking, Lü Kun and Shen Li were both among the three great , and they were the top Confucian scholars of the era. It would be easy for them to teach a four or five-year-old child.
Unfortunately, they were facing the soul of a modern person. This soul came from an era when many great scholars in the Republic of China and the Republic of China made detailed summaries and constantly innovated the Confucian classics. Therefore, although Zhu Youdong was not very familiar with the Confucian classics in some details, he was very impressed by some famous sayings, such as "People can be made to follow but not to know, Born in worry and die in comfort", etc. Zhu Youdong's views were refreshing to the two old gentlemen.
As a result, after yesterday afternoon's class, the two old gentlemen felt that they were too arrogant. His Royal Highness is extremely intelligent, and he is indeed worthy of being the reincarnation of a dragon. It seems that we must prepare lessons carefully when we go back, and we must let the Royal Highness know how powerful we are next time!
On the next afternoon, the top scholar Zhang Yicheng came to teach calligraphy and painting.
Before traveling through time, Zhu Youdong was a surgeon and had to study local anatomy, so he had some basic sketching skills. Therefore, after Zhang Yicheng simply tested Zhu Youdong's foundation, he was also amazed - it seems that today's lesson preparation is really too simple.
The art of calligraphy and painting was a minor matter for the ruler of a country. Especially with an artistic genius like Emperor Huizong of Song as a model. Therefore, the royal education in the Ming Dynasty did not attach much importance to calligraphy and painting: it was enough for the characters to be written to be good. Therefore, Zhang Yicheng's course was the shortest compared to the other seven teachers.
At two o'clock in the morning, Xiong Tingbi appeared with a powerful aura.
"Your Highness, according to Elder Shen's arrangement, I will explain the Great Ming Law to you. However, this law is very long and covers a vast amount of content. I think that as the crown prince, you don't need to learn all of it, you just need to understand some of it."
"I will follow your orders, Mr. Xiong. But where do you think you should start?"
"I think that Your Highness should first learn the Household Law. This is related to the finances and taxes of our Ming Dynasty, the people's housing, and the reproduction of the population. For a country, it is the most important thing."
"Sir, your words make sense. I will obey your orders."
"Okay, Your Highness. Well, there are a few of you as well." After casually waving his sleeves at Zhang Shize, Li Chunzhong, and Wang Chengen, Xiong Tingbi asked Zhu Youdong a question with a sharp gaze: "May I ask Your Highness, the Ming Dynasty earns millions of taels of silver and tens of millions of dan of grain every year. Where do all these things come from?"
"In reply to your question, sir, I think these are all the people's hard work, earned by the people from the land and workshops."
"Your Highness is truly a benevolent person, very good! I have also heard about your conversation with Chen Ju in the past, so Your Highness should know that although this amount of money and grain seems to be a large number, it is still far from enough for our Ming Dynasty, which covers two capitals and thirteen provinces."
"Yes sir, I understand."
"Then, Your Highness, do you know that the country has this much income, but how much more do the people pay than this income?"
"In reply to your question, sir, I would like to speculate that the actual amount paid by the people is about three to five times the national income."
"…Hiss~~~Your Highness, you are truly a man of wisdom. Then, Your Highness, where do you think all these extra things have gone?"
"Well, I think the lost tax revenue can be roughly divided into three categories. The first is the loss during transportation. Although the Ming Dynasty began to fully implement the Single Whip Law in the ninth year of Wanli, most of the in-kind taxes were levied in silver. However, the in-kind taxes have been implemented for so many years, how can they be completely eliminated? And as long as the in-kind taxes are levied, the loss during transportation is inevitable."
"Well, it is indeed commendable that the Crown Prince can see this. When I was a local magistrate, I did see this kind of loss. But to be honest, due to the vigorous promotion of the Single Whip Law, the proportion of in-kind taxes in our Ming Dynasty is already very small, so this loss is not that big."
"Yes, sir. Now let me talk about the second point, the additional levy. Since the Single Whip System simplified the tax types and made local revenue clearer, it became extremely difficult for officials at all levels to manipulate the land tax. So in order to facilitate their own government affairs, they came up with various additional levies. Among them, the largest levy was the fire consumption!"
"Good! Your Highness is indeed a man of natural wisdom! What your Highness should know is that the official tax rate of the Ming Dynasty is about 110 to 120 yuan, but in reality, the local governments at all levels impose about 100 to 100 yuan on the people. In some cases, the tax is even as high as 120 yuan!"
"ah?!"
Of course, the one who exclaimed was not Zhu Youdong, but Zhang Shize who was sitting next to him.
The last Duke of Ying, who died for his country in the historical plane, was only six years old. Although he was born in a family of top nobles and had seen and heard many things since childhood, he could not help but exclaim when he heard Xiong Tingbi and Zhu Youdong talk about the increase in taxes by government agencies at all levels in such a calm tone.
Glancing casually at Zhang Shize, Xiong Tingbi had no interest in explaining: "Please continue with the third point, Grandson."
"Yes, I think the third reason why the actual taxes paid by the people are much greater than the national income is that since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, there has never been a single department that can be fully responsible for taxation, similar to the Three Commissioners of the former Song Dynasty. It goes without saying that the Ministry of Revenue collects land tax, and even the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Works, and even the Ministry of Punishment can all levy various taxes on the people. This makes it difficult for the various departments to cooperate, and they also argue with each other. As a result, the taxation agency of the Ming Dynasty is bloated and inefficient, and there are many types of taxes. It is difficult for the people to distinguish and cope with them."
“Pa pa pa~~” Xiong Tingbi clapped his hands vigorously while laughing: “Hahahaha~~ God bless our Ming Dynasty! Your Highness the Crown Prince is only four years old this year, but he can see such a profound level. I am really impressed! But Your Highness forgot to mention the fourth point.”
"Uh... I have probably guessed what you are going to say. But I am the crown prince."
"Ah? That's right. I won't talk about the fourth point."
What is the fourth point? Of course, it is the extremely rotten administration and widespread, all-round corruption of officials in the Ming Dynasty! But how could Zhu Youdong, as the grandson of the emperor, say this?
