Chongzhen Wiretapping System

Chapter 210 This Brain Hole (2 plus more for recommendation tickets)
"Your Majesty, is this inappropriate?" Chief Minister Xue Guoguan was the first to raise objections. "Although the court has some money now, this is just a one-time deal. If even this kind of thing costs money, If so, the money probably won’t last long!”

Lu Xiangsheng on the side listened, and said rightly: "Your Majesty, once this matter is opened, what will you do in the future? What about the other servants? I think the chief assistant's concerns should be considered."

Sun Chuanting was also there, and he also stood up and objected: "Your Majesty, this is not just the case in our Ming Dynasty, but also in previous dynasties. Why should we make an exception?"

Seeing that several of his close ministers were opposed, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but lower his head and think for a while, then raised his head and said to them: "What you dear friends are right is reasonable. That's good. I will take a step back. The craftsmen used by the royal family are just You can do what I say, and the rest should be done as before, is that okay?"

Just now, he proposed to his confidantes that the current labor service system, including artisans, should be abolished. Instead of asking people from all walks of life to do things for the government without compensation, it should be changed to a salary system.

Since ancient times, the burden of the people has been divided into two parts, one is tax and the other is service.It can even be said that the impact on the lives of ordinary people is sometimes greater than that of taxes.Because this service, no matter what it is, escorting food, building roads, building water conservancy, or even being a yamen servant is a kind of service. If it is the turn, it will be done for free.

For some major labor tasks, such as building the Great Wall, many people never came back after going there.Even if the Great Wall is not built, as long as the government is not careful, there will be a lot of hard labor, and it will be difficult to return home safely.

However, after Zhang Juzheng's whipping method reform, everything can be converted into money.Including servitude, too.As long as you pay the money, you don't have to serve.

But no matter what, this thing of slavery is a mountain that weighs on the people.The operation of the government also depends on the two legs of service and tax.But now, Emperor Chongzhen suddenly proposed to abolish this unpaid service and change it to a salary system.For the people of later generations, this should not be too common, but for the people of this time, it is a very shocking thing.

Therefore, even his confidantes, including Xue Guoguan, Lu Xiangsheng and Sun Chuanting, all expressed their opposition in unison.

Regarding this point, Emperor Chongzhen actually expected it.It's just that he was a little unsure about the attitude of the ancients, so he tried to bring it up. If he could accept it, that would be the best. If he couldn't accept it, then he could take a step back.

The reason why he thought about it for a while before answering was because he originally wanted to answer Xue Guoguan's question.

If free service is abolished, all the pressure will be on this tax.According to the understanding of people of this era, it was impossible to support the operation of the court through taxes alone.But for Emperor Chongzhen from later generations, it was not a problem at all.As long as we vigorously develop commerce and communicate with each other, we can greatly promote the productivity of various places.As long as the total amount of business increases, the increase in business taxes and local industrial tax revenue driven by business development can make up for the exemption.Even the plans he had planned could bring him enough profits to support the operation of the court.

However, Emperor Chongzhen finally considered that it was still a bit difficult for the ancients to explain these things.Instead of wasting saliva, it is better to do a pilot first to promote it, and the resistance encountered should be greatly reduced.

Otherwise, no matter how good the policy is, after it is implemented at the local level, with the ingenuity of the Chinese people, it can be interpreted for you and implemented on a crooked path that you can never imagine.

This has been proven many times in history.Especially the larger the country, the more difficult this kind of institutional reform will be.

At this time, hearing that Emperor Chongzhen had given in, Xue Guo looked at Lu Xiangsheng and Sun Chuanting, exchanged eye contact, and then said to the emperor: "Your Majesty, must we do this?"

It seems that they still want to persuade the emperor again.

After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen had no choice but to explain: "I ask you, are the people enthusiastic about the hard work that they have been doing? Can they take the initiative to do things? Or do they have to rely on the supervision, whipping, and pressure of the government to complete the task? Did something happen?"

There is no need to answer this matter. The few officials present here naturally know the answer.They also understand the truth. Only those who are related to the immediate interests of those people will be more motivated.For example, when building water conservancy projects, the local people will be much more active than those in other places.Of course, lazy people also exist.This, in fact, is the principle of big pot rice.

Emperor Chongzhen didn't need them to answer, and continued: "Not to mention anything else, I was very dissatisfied with the craftsmen who inspected the military warfare bureau before. What kind of craftsmen are they! To put it bluntly, they are a group of craftsmen. Eating and waiting to die, wasting time waiting for the craftsmen's service to be completed. Needless to say, you should also know their level. Those craftsmen with superb skills are paid to work for them, so they will not come to the craftsmen's service. "

Seeing that Sun Chuanting seemed to want to speak, he expected it, so he looked at Sun Chuanting and said, "Then strictly control them, punish them if they dare to be lazy and act adulterously, and use supervision, flogging, severe punishment, coercion, etc. like other labor slaves? "

"Yes, this may allow them to complete what they want to do, but that's all." When Emperor Chongzhen said this, he looked at the three courtiers in front of him with a serious face and said, "But Bingzhan Bureau manufactures ordnance. Armor, in this kind of thing, there is no best, only better. You have said it yourself, Jianlu’s armor is better than my Ming’s. But if it’s the other way around, my Ming’s is better than Jianlu’s. Will that greatly improve the combat effectiveness of the army?"

Sometimes, the truth of the matter is actually very simple, but based on inertial thinking, you will not think about it further.But if someone mentions it, it will make people think that this matter is actually like this, and it is easy to understand.

"Your Majesty, shouldn't it be okay to give him a reward?" Lu Xiangsheng played again when he heard this.

Emperor Chongzhen nodded, rewards and punishments were clearly defined, especially those ministers leading troops could understand.But he still added: "Yes, but I really don't want to buy it with a hammer, but as a system that will be passed down for a long time. Wait a minute, think about it, if there is no basic guarantee of life, how many people will be willing How about fighting for a reward? Therefore, my idea is to give them a salary so that they can live comfortably, so that they can devote more energy to the creation of armor. And on this basis, give the necessary Rewards to increase their enthusiasm for innovation. In this way, I don’t believe it, with my Da Ming’s manpower, can’t we create more sophisticated and powerful ordnance and armor?”

Xue Guoguan listened, and was the first to betray his position, and immediately supported him: "Your Majesty is wise, I think this is the same reason as His Majesty increasing the salaries of officials of the Ming Dynasty!"

Lu Xiangsheng and Sun Chuanting glanced at him, then looked at the emperor, expressing no objection.

In terms of armaments, the two of them definitely have more feelings than any other courtiers.If Daming can overwhelm Jianlu in terms of superior armor and armor, then the pressure on a governor of Baoding and a governor of Jiliao will be greatly reduced.

Unexpectedly, Emperor Chongzhen was not finished yet, and continued: "After my innovation is announced, I will be able to summon the smartest craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty and let them have food and clothing. There is another purpose, which is to prepare them to use what they have learned." Record it down to form a complete set of records of apprenticeships, and pass on this experience and craftsmanship to others..."

"Apprentice?" Xue Guoguan couldn't help interjecting when he heard this.

Or only Xue Manzi interrupted out of surprise.

"Yes, that's right!" Emperor Chongzhen didn't take it seriously, but nodded with a smile, "However, the recruitment of apprentices is not a personal matter of craftsmen, but a matter of the government. For now, it is the royal family. You can understand It is similar to the county school, but instead of teaching the Four Books and Five Classics, it is the craftsmanship of armor and armor! In this way, the craftsmanship can be passed on without worrying about losing it."

What he said is something completely new again.The royal family came forward, similar to the county school, which did not teach the Four Books and Five Classics, but only taught craftsmen crafts and passed them down from generation to generation?
This kind of thing has never existed since ancient times.Even in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period, the professors of various schools of thought were the behavior of their own folks, not established by the government, let alone the royal family.

This brand-new point of view, once spoken by Emperor Chongzhen, was another shock to Lu Xiangsheng and others.They felt that why the emperor's ideas today were so strange one after another, but they seemed to make sense?

Seeing how they were contemplating, Emperor Chongzhen added: "The latter matter must also be based on salary, not only food and clothing, but also some other things, such as not paying homage to officials. Even those who have made great contributions can be knighted..."

Hearing this, Xue Guoguan and the others couldn't help being greatly surprised, and hurriedly dissuaded them.It's too appalling for a mere craftsman to be knighted!
However, Emperor Chongzhen didn't give them a chance, and explained first: "Of course, this is my initial idea. This title is not the title that I currently have in Ming Dynasty, but the one similar to the title of military merit in the pre-Qin period. Create a set of titles for craftsmen , give them the corresponding status and wealth. In this way, I believe that not only will their enthusiasm be very high, but they will also take the initiative to create new ordnance and armor, and they will also be willing to pass on what they have learned to others!"

Of course, what he said was an approximate situation.After all, there are exceptions to everything.No matter how superior the conditions given by Emperor Chongzhen are, there are still some people who will cherish their brooms.

Hearing Emperor Chongzhen's explanation, Xue Guoguan and others couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. It's okay, it's okay, what should Han Chuang do for scholars who have been made a prince by craftsmen?
The example cited by Emperor Chongzhen is a war situation, which is related to war.After Lu Xiangsheng and Sun Chuanting considered it, they had no objection.However, Xue Guoguan, as a representative of scholars, is still a little hesitant.Just listen to him play to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, even if it is a title similar to that created in the pre-Qin period, you still have to be careful. Otherwise, the people who farm the land will have opinions on the rough work of the craftsman, not to mention scholars. …”

"Xue Qing still thought too badly!" When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he smiled and shook his head and said, "If I tell you that if craftsmen can build a flying car that can take people to the sky, you think it is still a rough job. Do others still have opinions? If you build a car, boat, etc. that can move automatically, do you think it will still be a rough job? What if you can build a musket that does not need to change ammunition like now, but continuously fires lead bullets... …”

Listening to his rhetorical questions and examples one by one, not to mention Xue Guoguan, even Lu Xiangsheng and Sun Chuanting beside them were all dumbfounded.

A car flying in the sky?Self-propelled cars and boats?A musket that can continuously fire lead bullets?

This...how is this possible!Your Majesty, did you listen to such nonsense, or did you dream, what did you dream about?
Thinking of this, Xue Guoguan said a little awkwardly: "Your Majesty, this... this is impossible!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" The straightforward Sun Chuanting also followed suit, "The other lowly ministers don't know, but this firecracker must not be fired continuously."

Speaking of this, he thought of something, and added: "I can't understand, even if it's a three-eyed gun or a five-eyed gun, it's just a few shots, and it's absolutely impossible to fire continuously!"

At this time, Daming already had three-eyed guns, and even five-eyed guns.In his understanding, according to the words of Emperor Chongzhen, he imagined, how many gun barrels are needed?Like a honeycomb?But even so, it still can't be done continuously, every pre-loaded lead bullet is gone after being fired!
Although Lu Xiangsheng didn't say anything, he was pretty much the same. He couldn't think of the possibility of realizing what the emperor said!
Unexpectedly, facing their doubts, Emperor Chongzhen smiled again: "Sun Qing can change his thinking, if today's firecrackers are like Frangji, instead of loading lead bullets from the muzzle, they are loaded from the rear. ? Or loaded from the side. And it’s not ignited by a match, but by a percussion, and lead bullets are not just lead bullets, but are loaded together with propellant powder, so it can be quickly and automatically reloaded?”

At this time, there were actually flintlock guns.With the knowledge and experience of Lu Xiangsheng and Sun Chuanting, they naturally knew it.However, they still couldn't imagine what the emperor described.

But what the emperor said seemed to be well founded.For example, for firing and ignition, a flintlock gun is used, and for breech-loading lead bullets, a Franco machine is used.Lead bullets and propellant are used together, which is what the military does.Just bite the wrapping paper when loading, pour in the gunpowder, and then load the lead bullet...

Everything seems to have examples to follow.However, everything is so incredible!

For a moment, they were all dumbfounded by Emperor Chongzhen's imagination.

(End of this chapter)