Ming Dynasty 1627

Chapter 184 Some of the Truths Behind the Major Tax Debtors of the Ming Dynasty

The ruler uses power and profit as bait, while the ministers try to understand and respond accordingly. The relationship between the ruler and the ministers is like walking on thin ice over an abyss, yet they never tire of it.

The officials in the court were studying the emperor's every word and action, trying to figure out the possible deeper meaning behind them.

But they were unaware that their king was also studying them in ways they could not comprehend.

Xiyuan Renzhen Hall.

Zhu Youjian sat behind his large desk, quietly flipping through a booklet with a rather simple binding in his hands.

His finger slowly traced across the pages, then suddenly stopped on one of the data columns.

Why was the dismissal rate of candidates from Guangxi 100% in the imperial examination of the 47th year of the Wanli reign?

—Percentage was a new concept introduced by Zhu Youjian to the inner palace and secretariat after the third daily lecture.

This thing is not complicated in essence, but it is much more precise than the seven or eight tenths expression commonly used by people in the Ming Dynasty.

Upon hearing this, Gao Shiming quickly leaned closer, glanced at the man, and bowed in reply:
“Your Majesty, I happen to remember this data.”

"In that year's examination, only one person from Guangxi passed. This person was later dismissed from office, so the dismissal rate in that province that year was naturally 100%."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Youjian looked enlightened.

That makes sense.

In places like Guangxi and Guizhou, the population is sparse and education is not thriving. There are not many people who can pass the imperial examinations each year. It is normal for there to be only one successful candidate in each examination.

Seeing that the emperor seemed interested, Gao Shiming smiled and added, "Your Majesty, there is another interesting aspect to this data, which is why I remember it."

"Oh?" Zhu Youjian looked up at him. "Why? Is this person special?"

"Your Majesty's vision is far-reaching," Gao Shiming first flattered, before revealing the answer, "This person is none other than Yuan Chonghuan."

Zhu Youjian raised an eyebrow slightly, somewhat surprised.

"Do I remember he was from Dongguan, Guangdong? How could he be a Jinshi from Guangxi?"

Gao Shiming shook his head and explained, "He is actually registered in Wuzhou Prefecture, Guangxi. He had to return to Guangxi to take the provincial examination, so in what Your Majesty mentioned... the 'Map of the Provinces for the Removal of Jinshi Graduates', he should be counted under Guangxi Province."

"I see." Zhu Youjian nodded. This is what college entrance exam migration is all about. It's not hard to understand.

The name Yuan Chonghuan only stirred a slight ripple in his heart before subsiding just as quickly.

Anyone, even someone like Yue Fei or Yu Qian, would be interviewed by him to assess their worth before making a decision.

As for Yuan Chonghuan, let's wait until he huffs and puffs his way from Guangdong to the capital before we talk about him.

Governor Yuan might just be passing through Fujian right now.

Zhu Youjian quickly refocused his attention and re-immersed himself in the fascinating form before him.

……

Dear readers, you may be wondering, what exactly is this "Perspective Map of the Removal and Dismissal of Jinshi Graduates by Province"?
In fact, among the many orders issued since Zhu Youjian ascended the throne, some were short-term, some were long-term, some were earth-shattering, and some were subtle and pervasive.

However, if we talk about the most immediate and influential policies, they are neither the new policies in the capital nor the new policies in Beizhili, nor even the new policies in Jiliao that are still on paper.

It was precisely that seemingly insignificant task—the re-selection of the provincial administration commissioners for the thirteen provinces—that led to this event.

The annual expenditure and revenue of the Ming Dynasty were nearly nine million taels of silver.

In theory, as long as taxes from all regions can be collected, plus the funds from the imperial treasury and other treasuries such as the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of War, the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and the Shuntian Prefecture, there will definitely be enough money to spend.

The problem is that this "theory" is just a theory!
Later generations have broadly attributed the financial collapse at the end of the Ming Dynasty to land annexation, which seems to be a materialist view of history, but in fact it has made the mistake of mechanization and rigidity.

Every modern person with a "truth-seeking" spirit will try to explore the deeper question: "Why can't we collect them all? Are the reasons for the incomplete collection the same in every place?"

Instead of attributing it all to vague and correct nonsense like corruption, landlord land annexation, and treacherous donations.

Zhu Youjian was one such example.

For example, Shandong is adjacent to the Yellow River, and the canal transport was the priority.

In areas near the canal, if there is a drought, water cannot be drawn for irrigation, because the canal must be protected.

If there is a major flood during the flood season, it will be submerged again, because the canal still needs to be protected.

So the crux of Shandong's problems may lie in water conservancy, and in the conflict of interests between the Grand Canal and local governments.

This explains why, in the memorials compiled by the Hanlin Academy, officials from Shandong consistently petitioned for the opening of the Jiaolai Canal.

With the opening of the Jiaolai River, maritime transport will flourish, freeing Shandong from the shackles of the Grand Canal.

Of course, there are those who advocate for the Jiaolai sea transport and those who are interested in the canal transport; let's leave aside the power struggle behind this for now.

For example, Henan had many vassal kings and members of the imperial family everywhere. The taxes were heavy, and the people fled. It had a strange appearance of being desolate yet "full of life".

Therefore, the focus in this area should perhaps be on suppressing the vassal kings, investigating land ownership, reforming taxes, and encouraging people to cultivate wasteland.

For example, Fujian and Guangdong focused on maritime trade, Shaanxi and Shanxi focused on drought prevention, and Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan focused on Tusi (chieftains) and mineral resources...

In short, every place has its own characteristics and its own unique problems.

It's not simply a matter of sending a high-ranking official and forcing him to exert maximum pressure in the local area to expedite the delivery of funds and supplies.

That was Emperor Chongzhen's logic of doing things, not Emperor Yongchang's.

Therefore, before officially appointing local officials, Zhu Youjian himself needed to understand the characteristics and general situation of each province so that he could formulate assessment targets for each province accordingly.

Of course, he wouldn't make decisions arbitrarily.

The official documents of local officials, petitions from officials from the province, and suggestions from officials who have previously served in the province all need to be collected and discussed one by one.

The process involves repeated public announcements, discussions, and confirmations, followed by further public announcements, discussions, and confirmations, in a continuous cycle until the final draft is completed.

In such a discussion forum with complex information sources and diverse interests, it is impossible for the civil servant group to unite as one to conceal the truth.

Zhu Youjian had the confidence and the means to uncover the truth hidden behind the exquisite articles.

……

The creation of the table "Perspective Chart of the Removal and Dismissal of Jinshi Graduates by Province" actually originated from a very simple conjecture by Zhu Youjian.

—In the past, were those places with serious tax arrears because too many local officials had been dismissed?
After all, if you put yourself in Zhu Youjian's shoes, if he were dismissed from office and sent back to his hometown, whether or not the local taxes were paid would be none of my business.

Since there is no place for me at the table of power, I will naturally procrastinate and shirk my responsibilities as much as possible.

The more local finances and taxes are neglected, the more it proves that dismissing me was a mistake.

If the dynasty does not decline, how can the integrity and value of us scholars in the countryside be demonstrated, and how can we have the opportunity to be restored?
Of course, this is just speculation.

Perhaps the places with more officials and more entrenched power are the ones that have the confidence to resist the imperial court's demands for taxation?

No investigation, no right to speak. No conjecture is as reliable as concrete data!
Therefore, Zhu Youjian first had Guo Yunhou of the Ministry of Revenue compile tax arrears tables for the sixth and seventh years of the Tianqi reign.

Who owes the most?
The old stipends came from Henan, Shandong, Suzhou, Huguang, Songjiang, Changzhou and other places, totaling 113 million taels.

First place: Henan, 17.9 taels; second place: Suzhou, 14.8 taels; third place: Shandong, 13 taels.

Further down the list, Songjiang and Huguang each received 5 taels, while Changzhou, Fujian, Jiangxi, and other places each received 2 taels, and so on.

The collection of the new taxes was quite effective, while the provinces that owed taxes were Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Shandong, Huai'an Prefecture, and Zhejiang, totaling 39.4 taels.

Jiangxi ranked first with 24.7 taels.

Shandong is experiencing severe flooding, while Henan is facing a minor drought this year; some delays in payment are understandable.

After all, a famine, no matter how severe, always provides another reason for delays in payment.

But in the seventh year of the Tianqi reign, the weather in your Suzhou and Songjiang regions, and Jiangxi, was favorable with no disasters or famines. Why do you dare not pay this year's share of the money?
Is it because my sword is not good enough?
Therefore, Zhu Youjian ordered the Directorate of Ceremonial to compile a list of all 3,544 Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) from the past ten examinations, organized by their place of origin, and compiled this "Perspective Chart of the Dismissal of Jinshi from Each Examination by Province".

(Attached image; this data comes from a list of successful candidates in the imperial examinations over the years that I scraped. The accuracy rate should be over 90%.)

(But I'm not writing a thesis, and I don't have the time or ability to proofread everything one by one. Please forgive any errors.)
Upon closer inspection, some interesting questions were indeed discovered.

In the second and fifth years of the Tianqi reign, most of the newly appointed Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) had just been assigned to local areas as county magistrates, and few were promoted back to the central government, so the dismissal rate was not very high.

In the fifth year of the Tianqi reign, only 2.57% of officials were dismissed, and in the second year, only 5.38%.

However, the further back in time one goes, the higher the rate of dismissal becomes for each subject. The highest peak occurred in the 29th year of the Wanli reign, when 18.94% of the successful candidates in that examination were dismissed.

Zhu Youjian curiously checked the list of subordinates and couldn't help but laugh.

Liu Zongzhou, Nan Juyi, Zhou Qiyuan, Xiong Mingyu... Goodness, they're all from this department. It's practically like the entire Donglin Department is a department of science.

However, these discoveries were merely interesting, and still not what Zhu Youjian was most concerned about.

He carefully examined the document, occasionally picking up the accompanying booklet to flip through and compare it.

Finally, he put down the booklet in his hand, leaned back in his chair, and let out a long sigh of relief.

The data will not lie.

Suzhou, Songjiang, and Jiangxi, these three major tax defaulters, did indeed experience a significantly higher rate of withdrawals than other provinces.

Among them, Suzhou Prefecture won the championship of this year's "Strike and Reprimand Competition" with an astonishing 18.68%, leaving the rest of the regions behind.

of course there are exceptions.

For example, in Hubei and Hunan provinces and Shanxi province, the dismissal rate was quite high, but their performance in tax payment was acceptable, only ranking in the middle.

This may be related to the tax structure of these two places.

Huguang was known as the land of fish and rice, and with few feudal lords, the tax burden was already light.

The majority of the silver supplied from Shanxi to the border regions of Datong, Xuanfu, and Shaanxi was used for civilian transport, with a relatively small proportion going to the capital. To understand the actual situation, we will probably have to wait until the Ministry of Revenue has tallied up the proportion of silver used for civilian transport before we can get a clear picture.

A satisfied sigh appeared on Zhu Youjian's face.

He rediscovered a bit of the thrill of using big data analysis to understand the underlying logic of things that he experienced in later generations.

In my previous life, I was analyzing things like conversion rates and exposure rates, but in this life, I'm here analyzing rejection rates!
As for the blood and tears of the Ming Dynasty's Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs behind this big data, that is truly beyond the purview of outsiders.

But... the cattle and horses have worked hard, so they really deserve some grass.

Zhu Youjian raised his head, pondered for a moment, and said to Gao Shiming:
"I often send the Directorate of Ceremonial and the Imperial Guard to do things that are not well known to the outside court."

“If we follow the precedent set by the outer court and reward people based on red and green, it would be inconvenient to list the details, which would not be in line with the open and transparent spirit of the new policies.”

"But merits must be remembered and rewarded."

Zhu Youjian paused, then continued:
"Gao Banban, go back and find Wang Tiqian and Tian Ergeng to come up with a merit reward scheme that is common to the inner palace and the secret police. We can use 'adding black' as the method, and each 'black' will be linked to salary, bonuses, and promotions, just like the outer court. However, we will not make it public."

Gao Shiming felt a surge of warmth in his heart and quickly bowed to accept the order:

"Your Majesty, I obey. This matter is easy to do. With the plans from the outer court for reference, I expect to be able to submit a first draft within ten days."

"Hmm." Zhu Youjian nodded, then said:
"In addition, for the next monthly exam, let's promote some outstanding students from the Inner Academy to fill positions in the Directorate of Ceremonial. We are indeed short-handed right now."

"The officials of the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs should also submit a list of those who have worked hard since my ascension to the throne, and each of them will receive an additional monthly salary."

Gao Shiming smiled broadly and said, "On their behalf, Your Majesty thanks you for your consideration!"

Zhu Youjian finally pointed to the booklet on the table with his finger and said:
"As for this book, it will be produced every six months thereafter."

"But instead, we will only consider the place of origin and rank of the officials in office."

"The first one can be done later, scheduled for the first year of Yongchang. By then, the appointment and removal of officials in various places should have been more or less settled."

"As for the name, let's call it 'A Perspective on the Current Ranks of Provincial Officials in the Ming Dynasty'."

"As you command." Gao Shiming bowed again.

With this table, Zhu Youjian could also use it as a reference to assess the balance of power among the provinces.

Even the number of places available for the imperial examinations could be used to create problems.

300 people per subject is still too few. The number of places should be gradually increased until the Jinshi degree becomes completely worthless.

—It's the same principle as the expansion of university enrollment in later generations.

As for the claim of expanding enrollment, it can be linked to the tax revenue of each province.

In addition to the basic 300 slots, separate "reward quotas" can be set up depending on the tax payment status of each province.

However, it would be too late and too rushed to do this in the first year of Yongchang. We could try it in the fourth year of Yongchang.

—No, perhaps it doesn't have to be four years in Yongchang; perhaps three years would also work. After all, three years per subject is still too slow.

It all depends on whether you've accumulated enough prestige by then to push through something that seriously offends the interests of incumbent officials.

Zhu Youjian stretched, and his joints cracked and popped.

He was planning to call Gao Shiming again to bring over the drafts of documents from officials at all levels in Southern Zhili, so as to make some preparations for the next move.

Suddenly, a young eunuch poked his head out from outside the palace gate, looking flustered.

"Your Majesty...a top-tier telegram has arrived!"

Zhu Youjian and Gao Shiming exchanged a glance, and the ease on their faces instantly vanished, replaced by seriousness.

"Bring it up quickly!"

(End of this chapter)