When the people of the world, especially the officials of the Beijing Division, waited for Gao Pragmatic's three-board axe with various mentalities, Gao Pragmatic did not disappoint them.

Two days later, Gao Pragmatic had just completed the handover of the work of the Ministry of Households, and examined the book of the Household Department since the first year of Wanli, and then there was a document called "The Taxpayer Takes from the People and Uses It for the People" to the emperor.

Of course, the ministers first went to the cabinet through the political secretary, and they were the first to see the text, and it was the cabinet elders who saw it.

The beginning of "Taking and Using" is quite interesting, almost copying Gao Gong's statement about "the distinction between righteousness and benefit" in those years.

"The Ministry of Ministers and Households is still pragmatic and cautious: How can "University" say that it is the main wealth? Said: This is a useful learning of the sages. Husband "Hong Fan" eight politics, the first food. The three things of "Yu Mo" finally gave birth to a good life. Financial management is also the top priority of Wang Zheng.

Later generations of pedantic and well-known people do not know righteousness and profit, do not argue about public and private, and regard unspoken profit as the highest, and even make people unable to be a country. As everyone knows, gathering people to say wealth, financial management is righteous, and the righteous are said to be the sum of benefits, and righteousness is not good. The distinction between righteousness and profit is only in the judgment of public and private. If you are out of righteousness, you will be righteous; If you are out of profit, you will also benefit from righteousness. ”

Gao Pragmatism is the successor of Gao Gong's mantle, and the political intention is very obvious with Gao Gong's former views as the beginning of this sparseness. However, he did not just do it for political purposes, and he has always shared this view.

Gao Gong's proposal to defend private interests with public interests is indeed a kind of lofty view. Among them, "gathering people and saying wealth, financial management and righteousness" is to refute Song Confucianism's view of "fame and profit".

On the contrary, it is Gao Gong who gives a new interpretation of "righteousness" and "profit", that is, as mentioned above: the so-called "righteousness" is financial management, which is the management of the country's goods; The so-called "profit" is, of course, to gather wealth and gather talents to create wealth.

As a result, "righteousness" and "profit" are no longer abstract and empty concepts, but the sum of the benefits created by the public for the country.

If we only seek the interests of the country and do not care about the gains and losses of personal interests, then righteousness is profit; Otherwise, it is not profitable. Therefore, "righteousness" and "profit" are a dialectical relationship, and they can be transformed into each other under certain conditions of interdependence, and the condition of transformation is the "judgment between public and private".

Gao Gong has a strict division between public and private interests, and once wrote in his book "Mencius": "Mencius's learning is the strictest debate of righteousness and benefit, so in the first chapter, it is not to take or eat, it is beneficial and disadvantageous." Not leaving relatives, not descending, is unfavorable and there is no disadvantage. This means that the country does not take profit for profit, but righteousness for profit."

Therefore, Gao Pragmatism has always been very clear that the "profit" pursued by Gao Gong is not private interest but public interest, that is, "not profit for profit, but righteousness for profit".

Gao Gong's idea is very clear to the current courtiers, Gao Pragmatic begins with this preemptive, that is, to remind others that he is the heir of Gao Gong's political philosophy, and any reform must be based on Gao Gong's original philosophy.

At the same time, this is also a means of uniting the forces of the real school, after all, the change from the "high party" to the "real school" itself is a transformation and sublimation from a political group linked by social relations to a political group linked by the concept of governance.

Next, Gao Shishi continued to write: "Those who have a state should not take advantage of their own interests, but take profit for profit; It should only benefit others and take righteousness for profit. If you take profit as profit, you will lose the hearts of the people and the country cannot be protected, nor will you taste profit; If righteousness is profitable, it will win the hearts of the people and have land and wealth, and its benefits will be endless. Is the debate of righteousness and benefit like this, and those who are kings are not deeply reflective? ”

This passage is like the emperor to explain why the "distinction between righteousness and benefit" is important. In fact, this passage not only emphasizes the importance of the "distinction between righteousness and profit", but also lays the foundation for his reasoning in the future.

"Our country is based on agriculture, chasing business as the end, the ancestors have made the law, and every sentence is being trained. The farmer is the foundation of the world, but also the foundation of wealth, so the ancients all thought that the agriculture is prosperous, then the country will be prosperous. However, all the people in the world are farmers, and it is feasible? The minister disagreed.

The minister thinks that agriculture is the foundation, such as the tree has roots, the roots are deep, so the wood is prosperous. However, the wood is wood, its potential is dry, and its glory is in the leaves. Although we must not ignore its roots, we must not despise its stems and leaves.

Jinchen has a saying: If there are no soldiers, the country is unknown, if there is no agriculture, the country is unstable, if there is no work, the country is not strong, and if there is no business, the country is not rich. Shinong industry and commerce, although there is a sequence, can not be abandoned, I hope that His Majesty will think about it.

It is like a person, a soldier is the head, the farmer is the body, the worker is the hand, and the business is the foot. If there is only one Shinong, then he cannot act, he cannot act, but how is it different from others?

My Taizu Emperor Gao is benevolent and gracious, Ze is the world, cherishes the peasants and sympathizes with the peasants, and makes a decree to train. The world of Sheji, the two ancestors to His Majesty, where two hundred and nineteen years, finally to value agriculture and compassion for agriculture as the key, sincerely push the crown of the past dynasties.

However, this dynasty not only takes heavy agriculture as the ancestral law, but does not take the construction of water conservancy as the norm, isn't it strange? The minister investigated the source and asked the various officials, and they must say: Taicang is not enough to use, and it must not be prosperous.

Another question: Why is Taicang insufficient? It must be said: The people's power cannot be abused, and the people's wealth cannot be taken all, so it must not be sufficient.

Sure enough? I think it's a big mistake! ”

Song Shu wrote here, the things that should be laid for Gao Pragmatic have been completed, and the next step is to start "dry goods".

"In the "Narrative of Income and Expenditure" of Song Suzhe before the minister's inspection, there is the number of household income in the early years of Yuan You, which said: 'The income of the present one year old, the gold is four thousand three hundred, and the one who is inexhaustible is two thousand seven hundred; the number of silver is fifty-seven thousand, and the number of silver is sixty thousand; There are 48,480,000 in the thousands, and 1,820,000 in the thousands, and 1,820,000 in the amount of money; The number of silk is one hundred and fifty-one thousand, and the number of silk is 170,000; The valley is 24,450,000 in stone, and the inexhaustible is 740,000; The grass is counted in bundles of 7,990,000, and the number of them is 8,110,000. ’

According to the conversion of the ministers and colleagues, the gold was worth about ten taels at that time, and four thousand three hundred taels was worth forty-three thousand yuan; One tael of silver is worth about the same money, and fifty-seven thousand taels is worth fifty-seven thousand taels; Each horse of silk is worth about half a penny, and one thousand horses are worth two million two hundred and sixty-five thousand dollars; One stone of rice grain is worth about the same money, and 24.45 million stone is worth 22.45 million guan (note: see Cheng Minsheng's "Price Research in the Song Dynasty" for the conversion standard here), totaling about 26.8 million guan. Combined with the 48,480,000 guan of tax revenue levied on the money, the total is about 75 million guan.

Seventy-five million is a huge amount, but this is the age of the Song Dynasty before the beginning of Yuan You? Definitely.

The minister observed that the finances of the former Song Dynasty were divided into two, one was under the command of Zuo Cao of the household department (before the reform of Yuanfeng, the three divisions), and the financial collection of the various yamen composed of the transfer department, the chief officials of the prefectures and counties, and the municipal and town tax officials, and the profits of the land endowment, commercial tax, wine tax, regular tribute, and levy;

One is under the command of the right Cao of the household department (before the reform of Yuanfeng was Sinong Temple), and the financial collection of the yamen composed of the promotion of Changping Division, the state general judgment, and the county Cheng is in charge of Changping, exempt from service, Fangchang, Kengye, Hedu, Shanze, geographical advantage, goods, and the wealth that the household has never paid.

In the former Song Dynasty, the left Cao was subordinate to the household department, and the right Cao was not affiliated with the household department, so the wealth of the world was divided into two. And Su Zhe's "Yuan You Accounting Record" also said: "If the husband hides the product of the right Cao, and the reality of the world's sealing pile, if it is not received by the three divisions in the past, it will not be included in the accounting, and he will write other books for viewing." ’

From this, it can be seen that the 75 million yuan converted by the ministers and other ministers can be accounted for, but the income of the household department can be accounted for, and the income of the right Cao of the household department is not even included. From this point of view, the territory of the former Song Dynasty is not as good as that of our dynasty, and the annual income is no less than ten times! With His Majesty's sage, don't you think it's unusual? ”

Speaking of dry goods, on dry goods, Gao pragmatic here compared the financial income of the Song and Ming dynasties - although he only said the Song Dynasty, of course the emperor knew that the dynasty was in revenue, so there is no need to say more.

As for the result, of course, it was shocking, so much so that Gao pragmatic used the word "no less than ten times" to describe it. The next is not over, Gao pragmatic continued to illustrate the large gap between the financial income of the Song and Ming dynasties, and then proved from various production indicators such as ironware, grain (roughly estimated output), cloth, silk and other output to prove that in fact, the "productivity" of the Ming Dynasty actually exceeded that of the former Song Dynasty.

However, all this is to lead to another element, he said: "Therefore, the former Song Dynasty income was about 100 million, and its land endowment was only about 30 million yuan (of which 24.45 million stone of rice grain was collected in kind, and the part of the money collected was unknown, but the amount would not be very large), and the proportion was only 30 percent; As much as 70% of the non-farm tax is paid. Therefore, the minister said: The wealth of the two Song Dynasty is not in agriculture but in business.

However, or say: I am lenient and loving to the people, so I practice this benevolent government that has not been seen in the past dynasties, and this is advocated by the sage, why do you compare the harsh government of the two Song Dynasty?

The ministers are also educated by the saints, and they also advocate benevolent government, but the tax is a thing, not only the reduction and exemption of those who think they are benevolent politicians!

It is a tax, neither owned by the court nor by His Majesty, and this wealth is taken from the people and used by the people.

The monarch is the herdsman of the sky, and the ministers are the king. The tax is used for the monarch, just so that the monarch can effectively herdsmen the people, and will not be constrained by the use of money; The tax is used for the ministers, just so that the ministers and others can effectively support the king, and will not be forced to eat and wear. Half a grain of rice, a needle and a thread, are all used by herdsmen to feed the people, what is the harsh government?

Or said: In ancient times, there was Tang Chang, and there was also a 础纣. My emperor is a solid god and a saint, but do you know that future generations will be virtuous? If there are one or two unscrupulous, the small endowment is still limited, and the heavy tax is not an abuse of the people?

He also said: Although there is a system on the appointment and dismissal of officials, those who are honest and treacherous in appearance and inconsistent in appearance and inside have not been able to be fully observed since ancient times, if the imperial court collects heavy taxes, what will happen to those who are traitors and greedy and self-inflicted people ten times as much as they do today?

The minister thinks that this is the urgent need to set the regulations in advance. All taxes are levied, and the accounts must be cleared, and the coming and going of one or two coins must be clear. This is not a change in the sole tax law, and the old system of household departments and other government departments should also be easier. In and out of the account, not one person can do it; In and out of the warehouse, not one person can be in charge. Check for leaks at all levels, and chase the gaps at all levels.

If the accounts are incorrect, they must be compared step by step; Everything must be investigated, and ten generations of poverty are not finished! The ministers asked the old system of four servants in the military department, and also set up two waiters in the household department, who were in charge of the two new Cao. These two new Cao are called the Audit Commission; Second, it is called the Customs Department.

The former specializes in auditing and has six divisions under its jurisdiction. It is said to be the Department of Agricultural Audit, the Department of Industry and Mining, the Department of Commercial Audit, the Department of Tariff Audit, and the Department of Audit.

The latter specializes in border trade and sea trade, and has five divisions under its jurisdiction. It is said that the border city department, the port department, the land investigation department, the sea investigation department, and the political research and security department.

The details of the eleven divisions of the two departments on it, the ministers have played with the sparse ......"

Sure enough, a thick note was attached to the note received by the Cabinet, detailing the roles and functions of the "Audit Office" and the "Customs Administration" that he had proposed, as well as the scope of their jurisdiction and the goals to be achieved.

In addition, the 11 divisions of the two departments were specifically explained, including the significance, functions, and objectives of the establishment of each division.

Even Shen Shixing had to admire Gao Shixing's pragmatic performance and the "sparse playing" of Tiao Chen.

In particular, the enclosed letter Chen wrote tens of thousands of words freely, and the details of the specific matters he was concerned about and the thoughtfulness of the arrangements he made were completely beyond Shen Shixing's imagination.

After Shen Shixing admired in his heart, he was deeply vigilant: Gao Shixing has only been in office for three days, and it is difficult to say whether so many officials in the household department can recognize all of them, how can he come up with such a detailed plan for the establishment of two new departments? No matter how pragmatic he is, it is absolutely impossible.

So only one thing can be said: the plan must have been in place for a long time!

God knows when Gao Pragmatic began to ponder these things!

But Shen Shixing thought about it and felt that Gao Pragmatic should not have expected that he would be transferred to the head of the household department. After all, with his identity as the champion of the six heads, even if he was once sent out as an official, after returning to Beijing, he should not consider entering the cabinet from the household department, but entering the cabinet by the Ministry of Rites, or simply following his example of the three uncles and high arches, and setting a precedent for the Ming Dynasty again, and entering the cabinet from the Ministry of Officials!

Anyway, Gao Pragmatic must be thinking about entering the cabinet, which Shen Shixing can think of with his toes.

In this case, when did Gao Pragmatic actually think about these things in the household? What was the reason for his reasoning?

Shen Shixing lives with himself, of course, he doesn't think that Gao Pragmatic is really just doing this to save the Ming Dynasty. His thinking involuntarily began to deviate: does Gao Pragmatic think that his status as "the courage of the world" and "the first handsome man in the world" is not enough to solidify his favor, and he wants to build himself into another Cai Jing?

(Note: One of the main reasons why Cai Jing was favored in the Song Dynasty was that his financial ability was basically irreplaceable in Huizong's view, but the Ming Dynasty Wenchen generally believed that his financial methods were nothing more than harsh government.) Here, Shen Shixing uses Cai Jing to compare himself with high pragmatism, which is also based on this consideration. )

Thinking of Cai Jing, Shen Shixing, who claimed to be a righteous gentleman, couldn't help but sweat in shock, Yan Song was in power in the past, and many people compared him to Cai Jing, which shows Cai Jing's power and influence on the emperor when he was at his peak.

Now Gao Shixing's influence on the emperor is probably not weak Cai Jing and Yan Song back then, he is now in charge of the household department, and even wants to make the household department into a "four-servant system" like the military department......

Oops, he's cultivating power!

Why do you think so? Not to mention that after there are two more servants in the household department, the authority of the household department is definitely stronger, just to say that there is a lot of cattiness in his "Audit Office"!

It is placed in the last of the six divisions of the Audit Office by Gao Pragmatism, called the "Audit Department of the Degree Branch", although the level of this department is not high, it is only a "division", and the chief official is just Langzhong of the five products, but it has great authority!

How big is it? The financial expenditures of the central yamen must all be audited by it! At the beginning of the year, you should review the accounts, and at the end of the year, you should check the accounts to see if your yamen's expenses this year are compatible, whether there is any concealment, and whether there is abuse!

Shen Shixing gasped, and even sweat came down on his forehead: Okay, you are high and pragmatic, you are going to choke the necks of the entire central departments!

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Thank you for the support of the book friend "Cao Face" and "Riding the Moon and the Wind", thank you!

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PS: There are a little too many places written in ancient Chinese in this chapter today, and I wrote from more than six o'clock in the evening to a quarter past eleven. Judging from the subscription situation of this book, my "cost-effectiveness ratio" is really too bad and too bad, and if I change to Gao Pragmatism, I guess he will definitely strike.