bullyxtreme Chapter 375 The Empty Seal Case: They're all clowns!
Chapter 375 The Empty Seal Case: They're all clowns!
To understand what bigger issues lie behind the blank seal case, we must first clarify the tax system of the Ming Dynasty.
The Ming Dynasty's tax system has always been divided into two types: taxes in kind and taxes in kind.
The so-called in-kind tax refers to various commodities such as grain, silk, grass, wood, cloth, beans, copper, and iron. These commodities vary depending on the state or county.
The simplest example is that the main tax levied in the Jiangnan region was rice, while the main tax levied in the North was wheat.
Non-in-kind taxes refer to commercial taxes mainly levied in silver, as well as various corvée labor services levied in silver and various other taxes, such as fish tax, hemp tax, reed tax, and wild game tax.
After clarifying the tax system of the Ming Dynasty, a bigger problem behind the blank seal case began to surface.
To put it simply, if the officials were only interested in making money, they could simply fill in a few fewer numbers in the ledgers; there would be no need for them to sit down for tea and discuss the numbers.
The fundamental purpose of printing money and grain ration books was to cover up the difference in actual goods.
For example, the ironworks in Ningyang County needed to send ten cartloads of iron to Dengzhou Prefecture, but after arriving in Dengzhou, only eight cartloads were delivered, as two of the cartloads of iron had disappeared.
The key issue is that there may be losses during the transport of provisions, since laborers also need to eat.
But why would there be damage to two wagons transporting iron? And where did this damage occur? What if copper, salt, or similar materials were involved?
Because these two issues were impossible to explain, and the Ministry of Revenue could not accept such account books, the officials could only take out blank money and grain registers and cover up the loss of the two cartloads of iron by talking about the accounts over tea.
In other words, the essence of the blank seal case was not that officials wanted to make money, but that they wanted to cover up the whereabouts of a large amount of tax revenue in kind.
The simplest way to find out where these in-kind taxes went is to directly interrogate the officials involved.
Of course, the officials certainly wouldn't dare tell the truth at this time, because corruption might result in the death of one person, but leaking a large amount of ironware could mean the death of the entire family or even the extermination of nine generations of relatives.
However, there are two other solutions that are not really solutions.
The first method is to investigate these officials, to see what their backgrounds are and who they are associated with, using a star topology approach to investigate.
The second method is to send people to investigate the coastal provinces, prefectures, and counties, because these supplies are meaningless if they remain in the Ming Dynasty; only by flowing out of the Ming Dynasty can they be exchanged for more silver than their intrinsic value.
Yang Shaofeng scribbled and drew a lot on the paper, then suddenly put the pen down and his face turned extremely gloomy.
Only after calming down and figuring out the blank seal case and the logic behind it did Yang Shaofeng realize that he was just like a clown.
No, it should be said that Zhu Chongba, that old clown, was like a clown, and Liu Bowen was like a clown too.
They've all been fucked up!
The Ming Dynasty's treasury was as poor as a dog's. Zhu Chongba was stingy in saving money and grain, and as soon as he had saved up a little, he sent Xu Da to sabotage Hu Yuan's territory.
It's a pity that the money and grain that Zhu Yuanzhang saved may not have been as much as the money and grain that was lost. In the end, he was still foolishly holding the account book given to him by the Ministry of Revenue and laughing at it.
And then there's Liu Bowen, that old fox who took the blame for countless things for his fellow townsmen from eastern Zhejiang. In the end, even after retiring, he was still poisoned to death by Hu Weiyong.
And myself...
He thought the progressive tax system and the royal land system would really hurt the gentry in Jiangnan, but after reviewing the blank seal case, he realized that nobody really cared about that little bit of land.
The reason they brought up the Sun Gupu case was simply to cover up the Kongyin case!
Yang Shaofeng grew angrier the more he thought about it, and his face gradually became ferocious and terrifying.
You guys are pretty good at having fun, aren't you?
I'm going to flip all the tables over today, so nobody can play anymore!
Yang Shaofeng gave a cold laugh, then picked up his pen again and began to write a draft of the memorial on the paper.
It is obvious that blank stamping can only be regulated, not completely eliminated, because the breeding ground for blank stamping is human greed and in-kind taxes. As long as people have greed and in-kind taxes exist, blank stamping cannot be completely eliminated.
Since that's the case, let's first make a special ledger, with the Ministry of Revenue making the order and the Ministry of Works producing it. We should first affix the seal across the binding, and then require each page to be stamped with a seal. Only the characters are allowed to be stamped, not the characters are allowed to be stamped with a seal.
Next, after the account books were delivered to the capital, they were sealed and stored. The official who delivered the account books needed to show the itinerary, how long it took on the road, and where they stopped for a few days, and have the places where they stopped affix their seals.
Hmm, we could expand the post station system further, and create a whole post station system. Perhaps in the future, officials would only need to mail account books through the post stations, and they wouldn't need to send people to deliver them to the capital anymore.
By the way, we really need to think about reforming the official system, my friend~ These officials are either incompetent or lazy in their governance, so we need to come up with a solution.
Can't figure it out?
If you can't figure it out, it means Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen are nobodies.
Besides, you, Lao Deng, have worked at the grassroots level before. Don't you know that local officials have a lot of miscellaneous expenditures that need to be strictly managed?
Oh, and another thing is that a special auditing department should be set up. There should be a reward for finding problems. Even if they don't get promoted, they should still get a bonus. If they don't find any problems, then those officials are just lucky.
There's also the matter of coastal defense and customs. The Maritime Trade Office and the Customs Office need to be established as soon as possible.
If all else fails, the Dengzhou government is willing to try it out in Penglai County first, and see how much customs duty Dengzhou can collect in a year.
Furthermore, the performance evaluation system for officials must be implemented as soon as possible, and the system for rotating officials should also be established. Officials should not be allowed to stay in one place for too long; it would be best to have a certain time limit.
As for the officials involved in this case, it is recommended that they all be arrested and interrogated separately. Those who should be executed should be executed, and those who should be executed nine times should have their entire families executed. At the very least, their relatives within three generations should be sent to Dengzhou Prefecture to do hard labor.
In addition, it is recommended to strictly investigate the palace, cut off the eunuchs and palace maids from communication with the outside world, and strictly investigate the food in the palace to prevent some people from resorting to desperate measures.
Furthermore, if the blank seal case escalates, it could potentially cause some unrest. It is advisable to have Xu Da and Chang Yuchun prepare to quell any unrest on all fronts.
In addition, it is recommended that many provinces be re-divided and their respective jurisdictions adjusted.
It is suggested that local judicial, financial, military, and political powers be separated, and that powers that should be directly governed by the imperial court be directly transferred to the imperial court.
……
Yang Shaofeng wrote a long and detailed document, then copied some of it onto special paper for memorials and others onto letter paper. After the ink dried, he sealed it with sealing wax.
After leaving the house, Yang Shaofeng smiled and said to Wang Qiong, "Brother Wang, please deliver this memorial and this family letter to His Highness the Crown Prince personally."
Seeing the smile on Yang Shaofeng's face, Wang Qiong shivered, and her hands trembled slightly as she took the memorial and the letter from home.
Is this some kind of memorial to the emperor and a letter home?
No!
This is a death knell for officials, a troublemaker in officialdom!
Once this memorial and family letter arrive in the capital, who knows what kind of storm they will cause!