In fact, if Li Zhaotong was not worried that Emperor Hongzhi would pick and choose, he would have wanted to propose "spreading the ding into the mu", because the biggest difference between "spreading the ding into the mu" and "one whip method" is:

"Spread into acres" completed the process of merging the poll tax into the property tax, and completely abolished the poll tax since the Western Han Dynasty!

Moreover, since the object of taxation is land, this is equivalent to the relaxation of the imperial court's control over household registration, which has increased the number of labor force that can move freely, which has a great effect on the vitality of the commodity economy.

This can also add more life to Li Zhaotong!

However, one step across the road "paving into the acre", the step is too big, Li Zhaotong was worried that Emperor Hongzhi would not be able to accept it, so he retreated to the second best thing and chose "a whip method".

But even if he chose "a whip method", opposition came immediately.

Zhang Mao first stood up and said, "Your Majesty, no! The minister objected to a whip law! ”

Of course, Zhang Mao had to object, because his family was a big landlord, and once the "One Whip Law" was implemented, his family would have to pay taxes on the illegally occupied land, which he could not accept.

"Why is Qing opposed?"

On the contrary, Emperor Hongzhi felt that this "whip law" was quite good, and he carefully calculated that a whip law could indeed crack down on corrupt officials and increase the revenue of the treasury.

In addition, in terms of the method of liberation, the "one whip law" can also make the change from the democracy movement and the people's liberation to the official movement.

Because there are many taxes in kind now, it will be convenient for the democratic movement, but once the "one whip law" is implemented in the future, the silver will become more, and when the time comes, it will be convenient for the imperial court to transport silver, and it is completely possible to choose to transport it by itself, so that it can also be insured.

Finally, it was also Emperor Hongzhi's speculation about Li Zhaotong's "one whip law", that is, "one whip law" could make taxes and conscription combined.

In this way, those who join the workshop do not need to stop their work and go to servitude, which makes the workshop not have to stop working, which is very beneficial for those workshops.

Li Zhaotong obviously spoke from the perspective of these workshops, so Emperor Hongzhi thought that this was the reason why Li Zhaotong proposed "a whip law".

For this reason, Emperor Hongzhi was acceptable.

Therefore, Emperor Hongzhi is still very optimistic about the "one whip method", so now Zhang Mao is against it for the first time, and Emperor Hongzhi's face changes slightly.

"Your Majesty, I'm short of silver!"

Zhang Mao must have first considered his own interests before raising his objection, but he certainly could not directly say that the "one whip law" harmed the interests of these nobles and big landowners.

He had to find a valid reason, and what was the best reason?

Zhang Mao's brain turned quickly, and he thought of it for the first time, Daming lacked silver!

Is Daming short of silver?

Lack!

Very lacking!

Hundreds of years later, anyone with a little historical knowledge knows that it was Li Zicheng who destroyed the Ming Dynasty.

But this is only an appearance, the fundamental cause of the demise of the Ming Dynasty was the collapse of its economy, and the fuse that led to the collapse of the Ming Dynasty's economy was the shortage of silver, which can be said to have ruined the Ming Empire.

And many people know that after the Europeans began the Age of Discovery, they got a lot of silver from the Americas, and a lot of this silver flowed into the Ming Dynasty.

However, with so much silver flowing in from outside, how could the Ming Dynasty still have a shortage of silver, and even cause the collapse of the entire Ming Empire?

This is the work of small-scale peasant economic thinking!

Many landlords have made money, so they hide the money underground and do not take it out, so as to prevent future generations from losing their families, leading to the decline of the family and the suffering of their descendants.

In this way, the money is hidden underground, can there be no shortage of silver and copper coins on the market?

At that time, the Ming Dynasty implemented the "One Whip Law", and after Zhang Juzheng's death, the "One Whip Law" lost the escort of Zhang Juzheng's firm support, coupled with the increasing corruption in the officialdom, which made the situation of "whipping and factional" appear!

What is a "whip plus faction"?

It is on top of the "one whip law" that the tax on forced labor is increased!

Among them, the most typical and the most serious is the "three salaries" in the last years of the Ming Dynasty.

In addition to the "three salaries", duck salaries, cattle salaries, grass insects and other salaries have also appeared in a grand manner.

In this case, the people are not able to make a living, and there is a shortage of silver, and the "one whip law" also makes the silver expensive and cheap, and the people can't survive, so they can't make trouble!

And where did Li Zicheng's gang, who made the most trouble, and even caused the Ming Dynasty to perish, come from?

From the Northwest!

Why is the most troublesome person from the Northwest?

Because China is a poor gold and silver country, the silver in the Ming Dynasty mainly relied on trade from Japan, Europe and the United States and other places to flow, because the southeast region is the production area of silk tea and other trade goods, the flow of silver is the southeast - Jingshi - Northeast and then through trade back to the southeast, and the northwest, but there is basically no silver circulation!

In this way, can the northwest, which is already seriously short of silver, not go crazy?

In addition, the trade crisis broke out in the European market at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and the world trade system centered on Seville, Spain, was dealt a heavy blow.

Although the Ming Dynasty was far away from Europe, it was inevitably seriously affected, which caused the import of silver to plummet in the last years of the Ming Dynasty, and finally caused the entire empire to perish due to lack of silver and financial collapse.

So, Zhang Mao is really right!

To implement the "one whip law", it is necessary to ensure that the silver is sufficient, otherwise, this "one whip law" will not be of much positive significance if it is implemented throughout the country.

In the final analysis, the "One Whip Law" is still an integral part of the superstructure of feudal society, and it still serves the foundation of feudal society.

Zhang Mao hit the nail on the head, Emperor Hongzhi was not a faint monarch, he quickly thought that once the "one whip method" was pushed to the whole Ming Dynasty, I am afraid that there would be a situation of "silver and valley cheapness", because he knew very well that Zhang Mao was right, the Ming Dynasty was really short of silver.

Therefore, Emperor Hongzhi looked at Li Zhaotong, and his expression was full of regret.

Emperor Hongzhi's expression was tantamount to telling Li Zhaotong that this "whip method" was unacceptable to me.

Li Zhaotong also knew that Zhang Mao really hit the nail on the head, and he proposed "a whip method", and he didn't intend to let Emperor Hongzhi accept it all.

Because Li Zhaotong was well aware of the geographical limitations of the "One Whip Law", in his "memory", the "One Whip Law" was actually only suitable for implementation in the Jiangnan region.

But times are different!

Isn't it?

This era is no longer the era of half a year ago! It's not the era in Li Zhaotong's "memory".

Because of the emergence of Li Zhaotong's variable, Daming has undergone drastic changes!

Because Li Zhaotong and Zhu Houzhao founded the "Daming Royal Stock Exchange", a lot of silver buried in the ground has been dug up.

Li Zhaotong didn't dare to say elsewhere that there was absolutely no shortage of silver in Beijing, Triangle Lake, and Tianjin Weisan, and even silver was still depreciating!

Therefore, Li Zhaotong immediately defended:

"Your Majesty, the British Duke is right, I am short of silver, but, Your Majesty, there is no shortage of silver in the capital, Triangle Lake, and Tianjin Wei! Even, in these places, the value of silver is still depreciating! ”