The amount of arable land in the Ming Dynasty could no longer meet the needs of population growth. No matter how much Zhu Youxiao suppressed and cracked down on powerful landlords, it was impossible to achieve the goal of "those who till the land own the land."
There's no other way to address the surplus labor force now except by developing industry and commerce. Opening more small workshops and doing more small businesses can also be considered self-employment, which is great!
In order to achieve this goal and also to address the harm caused to the people by the collection of industrial and commercial taxes, Zhu Youxiao and Li Qiyuan discussed and formulated a tax-free standard: small vendors with a total value of less than 20 taels of goods would not be taxed by the customs.
Small workshops also determine their tax rates based on the number of employees. Family-owned workshops are exempt from tax; those employing more than three workers are subject to the normal tax rate; the larger the number of employees and the larger the scale, the higher the tax rate.
In industry and commerce, a tiered tax rate must be implemented. Zhu Youxiao had only taken the first step, and it was still experimental.
There’s an old Chinese saying: “Take what is invisible, and the people will not be angry.” There’s a Western saying: “He who plucks the most goose feathers will hear the least goose cries.”
It can be seen that both the East and the West have a common view, that is, the heaviest share of taxation should be levied on the rich, while the common people should bear less burden.
Zhu Youxiao also knew that this policy might not be effectively implemented at the grassroots level. But you can't wait until everything is in place and the government is clean and honest before benefiting the people.
It was first promulgated at the legal level to remove artisans and untouchables from the register, to let the people know that the court had tax exemption policies, to allow local officials to have laws to follow, and for the people to have a reason to argue.
At the same time, Zhu Youxiao also used this as a criterion for performance evaluation. He judged whether officials were capable or mediocre by the performance of local government offices. Good officials were naturally capable, while poor ones were dismissed and replaced.
Among the thirteen proposals for reform put forward by the newly appointed Minister of Revenue Li Qiyuan, there was one item on reforming the performance evaluation system and strictly enforcing it.
Since its inception by Zhang Juzheng, the Kaocheng system has never been explicitly abolished in law. It was only after the Wanli Emperor purged Zhang Juzheng that the Kaocheng system became a mere formality.
Of course, Li Qiyuan wanted to strictly evaluate the performance of the Ministry of Revenue in order to make up for the empty treasury and rectify the finances.
Zhu Youxiao made some minor modifications and wanted to implement performance appraisal for all officials.
The capable are promoted and the mediocre are demoted. The rectification of official administration also depends on whether the implementation of the law is scientific and reasonable, and whether it is strict and in place.
As for why scientific rationality should be put first and strictness second, it was also a change made by Zhu Youxiao after learning from historical lessons.
In order to solve the financial problems, Bi Ziyan, the Minister of Revenue during the Chongzhen period, also implemented the performance evaluation system seriously, just like Li Qiyuan, which led to some improvement in taxation and finance.
Zhu Youjian saw the effect, and his temper returned, and he implemented the policy even more strictly. No matter what the reason, anyone who failed to collect taxes would be fired.
Therefore, in order to keep their jobs, local officials had no choice but to take advantage of the people. No matter if there was a disaster or a poor harvest, they would not reduce taxes a cent, and they would not care whether the people would starve to death or not!
The final result was of course very tragic. Civil unrest broke out one after another, the Ming Dynasty fell, and Chongzhen hanged himself on Coal Hill.
Therefore, Zhu Youxiao wanted to expand the scope of assessing officials' abilities beyond just tax collection, and he also wanted to make it a rigid indicator rather than a rigid one, so he had to be more flexible.
The reason is simple: the superiors oppress the subordinates, and one level oppresses the next level, and the people are at the bottom.
Once the indicators are too difficult and the pressure is too strict, it will create a group of ruthless officials and vicious runners.
Of course, Zhu Youxiao knew that there was nothing perfect in this world, including policies and regulations. He could only try to improve them as much as possible and minimize the drawbacks.
…………….
Guangning City.
The Later Jin army had retreated for more than ten days, and the shadow of war hanging over people's heads had finally dissipated.
As the Ming army left the city and occupied the outpost fort, scouts went out to spy and only after receiving effective early warning did Xiong Tingbi order the city to be opened.
People were cleaning the streets, tidying up, going out to chop firewood, and even preparing for the upcoming spring plowing. Life seemed to have returned to normal.
However, Xiong Tingbi, who had just received the imperial edict two days ago and became a powerful official in charge of both the military governor and the provincial governor, went to the top of the city wall again, looking into the distance, his thoughts unable to calm down.
Abandoning Guangning and Youtun, the main force withdrew to Ningyuan, and even Jinzhou was only used as an outpost for early warning. This was the latest arrangement of the court, or Zhu Youxiao.
If such a drastic strategic contraction had taken place before the Battle of Guangning, it would have certainly caused a huge uproar in the court and public opinion would have been in an uproar.
Even now, with the power of the Guangning victory, Xiong Tingbi knew the pressure the court would face when making the decision to strategically retreat.
Fleeing without fighting, losing territory, and being afraid of the enemy like a tiger... The reason why the faction advocating a quick war has the upper hand is because these charges and stigmas are not something that anyone can easily bear.
The louder the slogans, the more passionate and radical they are, the more patriotic they seem to be. Any retreat will result in the accusation of national humiliation and loss of sovereignty, which no one can tolerate.
In fact, there was no peace advocate in the court at that time. Even Zhu Youxiao and Xiong Tingbi were in favor of war. Who wouldn't want to destroy the Jiannu as soon as possible?
But hope is full, but reality is very bleak.
When the Ming army's combat power was unable to compete with the Later Jin army and it suffered repeated defeats in Liaodong, those who still shouted "fight, fight, fight" were either angry young people who relied solely on their passion and subjective will.
Or they are just idiots who talk big but don't understand strategy or tactics, and are completely ignorant of the actual situation of both the enemy and us.
Zhu Youxiao defined these two types of people as those who "hurry to war and harm the country."
He and Xiong Tingbi and others should be considered as the slow-war faction, or in other words, they should retreat while attacking; they should practice in seclusion while preparing for a counterattack.
The entire strategic plan was to carry out a strategic contraction in Liaodong and Liaoxi and not to engage in field battles with the Later Jin.
In southern Liaoning and the vast coastal areas, active actions were taken, which not only blocked the Later Jin but also made them lose focus and exhausted, thus continuously weakening their strength.
Of course, retreating did not mean being intimidated by the enemy, nor did it mean staying in the city and doing nothing. Zhu Youxiao also had a secret decree to explain his future plans to Xiong Tingbi.
Reform the military system, train elite soldiers, especially cavalry. Zhu Youxiao asked Xiong Tingbi to train a cavalry capable of fighting in the field with the Later Jin within at least three years.
"Three years..." Xiong Tingbi narrowed his eyes and said out loud involuntarily.
Xing Shenyan, the councilor who was following him, pondered for a moment and said, "Three years is neither long nor short. If the court fully supports it, it won't be too difficult."
Han Chuming, the painter, was more optimistic and said with a smile, "Your Majesty is wise. He has granted you full authority. You can do whatever you want. What is impossible?"
"Your Majesty is truly wise." Xiong Tingbi cupped his hands and said with emotion, "You are even more responsible. This is our good fortune. If we don't devote our energies and loyalty to state affairs, how can we repay the emperor's grace?"
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