New Shun 1730

Liu Yu was the governor of Jinghai, but his station was in Weihai. He had been collecting intelligence on Korea and Japan for many years, so he certainly knew everything about what happened in Korea.

The purpose of going to war with Japan was not to go to war, but to create a new order and new structure in East Asia after the war.

The new order in East Asia must always involve Korea.

In the introduction to today's topic, he did not talk about "borrowing land" first, but first talked about "giving money".

Korea has no money and does not need money. It still has a tax in kind. Dashun did not move the border and ban the sea, and has always dominated trade with Japan, resulting in Korea not accumulating enough precious metals to issue currency.

Small countries are not big. But as the saying goes, small temples have big demons and shallow ponds have many turtles.

The problems of the two Jin families, the redundant officials and staff of the Song Dynasty, the Ming gentry recruiting good people as slaves and exempting taxes, and the party struggles of the Tang Dynasty are almost all there.

Who else can accurately "take the essence and take the dregs" of the good and bad political systems of the Chinese for more than a thousand years?

After the "rebellion" incident, North Korea naturally wanted to reform the military service system, wanted to have a war-fighting imperial army, and wanted to change the military service system. This is understandable.

However, there was no money.

According to North Korea's own self-flattering statement, they practiced the Fubing system.

Military households joined the army, and 20 neighboring households acted as guarantors to help this household farm, labor, pay property, etc.

In theory, there was only a difference in the division of labor.

In fact, the soldiers soon became serf owners with "20 serfs".

In the end, it couldn't be done anymore, so the state had to collect it on behalf of them, and it gradually evolved into a head tax. North Korea had no money, so it naturally didn't collect money, but collected cloth. Maybe cloth carried the function of currency. It can also be imagined what level of productivity North Korea was at that time, and it could still maintain this state.

The problem is that slaves don't have to pay taxes, and big families don't have to pay this tax. Many good people took the initiative to become slaves and serve big families.

There are fewer and fewer people who can collect money. Three thousand miles of rivers and mountains, nearly ten million people, equivalent to an annual income of 200,000.

After the rebellion, Joseon was interested in reform. King Lee Seong of Joseon wanted to implement "gentry paying taxes together", and wanted everyone to pay this tax regardless of their status.

The Song Dynasty had its own saying "rule the world with gentry, not with the people"; Joseon also had the famous saying "the country would rather lose the hearts of the common people than the hearts of the gentry".

After learning about the reforms of the Song Dynasty, we also learned about Chongzhen's fundraising: Lee Seong said, why don't the noble ministers, the feudal lords and the royal family take the lead in paying money?

The result is obvious. What was the result of Chongzhen's fundraising? What was the result of Lee Seong's fundraising? Everyone was as clean as water and had patched clothes.

The ministers are not finished yet. Don't you want to reform when you see you? Okay, isn't it just for money? Then your "internal treasury" and "internal department" are all together, don't you have money? There are also redundant officials. Merge prefectures and counties, and cut redundant officials. Don't you have money?

As soon as the two methods were mentioned, Li Cheng immediately stopped talking and dared not to say a word. Just after Li Linzuo's rebellion in which the three armies were in mourning, he would not dare to cut redundant officials even if he had ten courage, because he was afraid that his position would be secure.

Liu Yu's "giving money" was caused by this incident, so he said: "I have a plan, which will neither hurt the interests of the literati nor increase the difficulties of the common people, and the country will not increase taxes and the military expenses will be sufficient."

The Korean envoy was a little curious. Although he knew that Liu Yu had bad intentions, he still couldn't help but ask curiously: "I wonder what good plan Ying Suo Bo has?"

"Open the door, trade. Collect tariffs, take one out of twenty of the value of the goods, so that the country will not increase taxes and the military expenses will be sufficient? The so-called tax is like plucking goose feathers. It is a good tax to pluck all the feathers without making the goose cry. Just like the salt tax in the Celestial Empire, this is to collect the goose without making it cry."

"The people of Korea also have to use iron tools, farm tools, cloth, porcelain, etc. Korea also produces paper Zhang, cattle, horses, grain, etc. Setting up customs and collecting tariffs is a good way to fill the treasury. You see, if the goods used by the people are all from Dashun, wouldn’t the annual tariffs be a lot of money? "

"Look, for example, the glass of the Celestial Empire. This thing is brought into the court, and the scholars and nobles will use it a lot. In this way, the scholars and nobles get glass and feel happy; the treasury of Korea gets a tax of one in twenty, which is increasingly sufficient. "

"Alas, if it weren’t for the Celestial Empire’s rich products and the difficulty in selling goods from Western countries, I really wish that the Celestial Empire would also have such a policy! What a pity, what a pity..."

After saying that, he shook his head with a look of regret, and couldn’t help sighing from time to time.

"This..."

The Korean envoy really didn’t expect Liu Yu to come up with such a bastard idea.

Opening and closing, trade?

What about tribute trade? Every time there is tribute trade, the Korean nobles participate, buying goods in the capital in the name of tribute, and then going back to sell them.

But a gentleman does not talk about profit, and the Korean envoys could not directly say that this might cause great opposition, because it would damage the interests of the two classes of nobles.

The envoys appointed by the Celestial Empire went to Korea, and the rule was to extort tens of thousands of taels of silver; the tribute envoys from Korea came to the capital, but they came to monopolize the trade, and the interests involved were huge.

However, before he could say anything, Liu Yu said first: "I know that Korea is poor, so I suggested to Your Majesty that if it is like the tribute of Chu, the tribute of bales is not expensive, and the emphasis is on etiquette. Therefore, the tribute trade of eight bales from Korea should be stopped in the future."

"First, some officials in the Celestial Empire have the bad habit of asking for bribes, which damages the face of the emperor and also causes your country a lot of trouble. The emperor is kind, so putting an end to it is the fundamental solution."

"Second, the emperor considers that Korea is poor and has no money for conscription, and the treasury is empty, so why not give the tariff benefits to the King of Korea."

"Three reports of North Korean officials carrying silver for trade caused the people in the capital to mistakenly think that North Korea has no gentlemen and that officials are like merchants and untouchables. It is really unseemly to open a market for trading. If things go on like this, the trend will be difficult to change. Therefore, the Holy Emperor also wanted to warn the North Korean nation. The difference between officials and businessmen.”

"Finally..."

Speaking of this, Liu Yu's tone suddenly became gloomy.

"I heard that in order to pay tribute and trade eight packages of silver, Korea actually sold ginseng to the Japanese country for silver. Some people say: first-class good ginseng is sold to Japan, and second-class good ginseng is paid tribute to the emperor; or some people say: Japan does not Ginseng is produced in China, but Liaodong produces ginseng. Is the money earned from selling ginseng to Japan several times that of selling it to China? "

With one sentence, the North Korean envoy was so frightened that he fell to his knees and cried in the direction of the Forbidden City: "What a injustice! What a injustice! May the Holy Emperor see clearly and see that there is no such thing! There is no such thing! How can it be that North Korea is so obedient?" How can I sell it to the Japanese country and pay tribute to the emperor? I swear to God that this will never happen."

Liu Yu snorted and asked coldly: "Isn't this the case? I went to the Japanese country a few years ago and saw many Korean envoys writing poems in the Japanese church. When the Japanese shogunate Tokugawa Yoshimune came to power, the Korean nation Called the ‘Great King of Japan’, is this also a lie?”

"I don't read much, but no matter how little I read, I still read "Yi"."

"[Master's hexagram: 16. The great king has the destiny to found the country and inherit the family], but I don't know who is qualified to entrust the founding of the country and inherit the family except the emperor? The great king is the emperor, and the emperor is the king. Could it be that you have not read "Yi" "?"

The North Korean envoy's face turned pale, his back was wet with sweat, and he hurriedly said: "Ying Suobo, if the Central Plains is called tiger, Chu is called tug. This great king, in the Japanese language, is not... not... not like this I mean, it’s also called ‘His Royal Highness’ in this country, Your Highness!”

"Besides, the name of the Great King also has a different meaning in North Korea. It is a kind of monarch of the country. In fact, the country regards them as barbarians and reduces their status without knowing it. It is by no means 'the Great King has a destiny and founds the country. The great king of Chengjia."

Your Highness is not your Majesty, and this great king is not that great prince. Liu Yu smiled and said: "Then the words you use in communication are not Chinese characters?"

"Well……"

Fortunately, he didn't want to get entangled in this matter. He just wanted to scare the North Korean envoys, so he smiled and said: "That's all, I heard that when Jizi founded North Korea, I thought that North Korea would definitely understand "Yi", but I didn't expect that even the 'Maharaja' I dare to get this kind of title.”

After being humiliated, Liu Yu remained silent and told the North Korean envoy that he could not answer.

It's not possible to say yes, it's not possible to say no, I just break out in a cold sweat.

Liu Yu just wanted to scare them, it just depends on how he said it. Then if you insist that the king speaks Korean dialect, the emperor can choose to believe it and ask him to change his name; or he can choose not to believe it and ask you if the king of Korea dares to designate the emperor as a subordinate king if he is the king of the country in law. ?

Anyway, if you really want to find trouble, calling Japan the "Maharaja" would be much more serious.

Considering that North Korea is too poor and the cost of occupation is too high, North Korea and China have no intention of going to war. Attacking Japan can also squeeze out gold, silver and copper, but what does North Korea have?

He also asked the North Korean envoy to be nervous for a while, then Liu Yu smiled and helped him up and said, "Is this really the difference between a tiger and a tug?"

"But let's not mention this for now. The trade of ginseng with Japan is not fake, right? Why do you want to trade with Japan?"

The North Korean envoy thought to himself, aren't you enjoying your trade in Nagasaki? Only state officials are allowed to set fires and the people are not allowed to light lamps?

"Ying Suobo is joking. Since China trades with Japan, our country is just following the footsteps of China. If China prohibits trade with Japan, our country will naturally prohibit it. The goods we trade with Japan comply with the prohibitions of China, and there is absolutely nothing prohibited. "

Liu Yu became angry and said angrily: "How can you say such stupid things? Even though there was a Japanese pirate rebellion back then, the Japanese didn't say they burned down the ancestral temple of the Celestial Dynasty, right? In the twentieth year of Wanli, the Japanese occupied the capital of Korea, Burning the Korean ancestral temple. As the saying goes, killing the ancestral temple is not the same as killing the father. How can you go to trade when the emperor can go to Nagasaki? "

"Not to mention gold and silver, even if you can get the elixir of immortality, you can't go there. The hatred for destroying the ancestral temple!"

"It is said that Korea has always observed etiquette, but I think this is bullshit. Not to mention that I don't know "Yi" and use words randomly, even the hatred of nine generations can be laughed away? From the 20th year of Wanli to the present, there have been nine generations. ?”

The North Korean envoy was suddenly speechless. Although Liu Yu's insult was extremely serious, what could he say?

It is said that North Korea understands "Yi" very well, but you understand "Yi" very well and calmly call Japan a great king?

It is said that North Korea knows etiquette very well, but you know etiquette very well, and you have burned down your ancestral temple and you are still doing business with people before you reach your ninth life?

After a long time, the North Korean envoy cried and cried: "Uncle Ying Suo, North Korea is a small country and the people are poor. They only produce ginseng, a specialty product, and no gold or silver. Paying tribute to the emperor cannot be without money..."

Liu Yu cursed: "Fart! Doesn't the Holy Emperor know what North Korea produces? North Korea's tribute is nothing more than mink skins, ginseng, and paper. Did the Holy Emperor ask North Korea to pay tribute to gold and silver? For example, if Chu produces buds and pays tribute, you Have you ever heard that the emperor asked Chu to pay tribute to Sushen's mink? Isn't this nonsense? When you say this, you should cut off your tongue. When will the emperor ask North Korea to pay tribute to gold and silver?"

The envoy hurriedly said: "The Holy Emperor is a wise man. But the travel expenses, food and clothing expenses, and the fact that there are always petty officials asking for bribes, how can we have no money?"

Liu Yu, who was just indignant, smiled and praised: "That's right! So the Holy Son of Heaven is kind, knowing that Korea does not produce gold and silver, and also knowing that petty officials ask for bribes and spend money along the way. If he does not sympathize with the vassal, I'm afraid people will gossip about him. Isn't this just saying it again?"

"In the future, tribute will be kept simple. The eight-package trade will be completely banned. In this way, Korea will not have to trade with Japan, which burned the ancestral temple; in the Celestial Empire, the emperor can also maintain his reputation for benevolence and consideration."

"Best of both worlds, best of both worlds!"