The reason why it is said that officials and businessmen are not business officials is because the former is skin and the latter is hair, and if the skin does not exist, the hair will be attached. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

Businessmen do not have a high status in traditional society, and they have even been defined: businessmen value profit over parting, they can ignore everything for profit, they can abandon their families and children, do not honor their parents, and go out to do business for a year and a half or even several years.

Because of moral contempt and suppression of status, once a businessman becomes big, he must have a backer to keep his property.

In this way, it is inevitable that there will be collusion between officials and businessmen, which is a hidden danger and will sooner or later become a vicious disease, so the rulers of successive dynasties have to prohibit or suppress such a situation, at least on the surface.

However, the ban is uncontrollable, and the suppression is just a joke, the reason is very simple, the royal family, the magnates, the family, the high family, and the surname live in luxury, and a large amount of economic resources are needed to maintain.

The so-called family business has a large amount of expenses, and it is impossible to maintain a decent life by relying on money and rewards alone, and only by relying on the windfall profits of business can a large amount of wealth be obtained, so it is common for clansmen to transfuse blood to the family in business.

And it is normal for officials to open the door for their own clansmen or shopkeepers who do business.

In this way, a very absurd situation has emerged: the government has repeatedly ordered officials to be disciplined and not to be tainted with the spirit of merchant, but in fact, as long as officials of all sizes have the ability, they have more or less industries.

If you eat well, you can do it seamlessly on the surface, and ordinary people can't know whether there is an industry under their name, and if you eat poorly, just find a passer-by and ask, and you will know that so-and-so store has a relationship with a certain official.

Yu Wenwen questioned Yang Ji with "collusion between officials and businessmen", and the meaning of joking was stronger, because he himself was the mastermind behind the collusion between officials and businessmen in Huangzhou.

However, Yang Ji heard the implication: the collusion between officials and businessmen is not a problem, the problem is where the "business" is.

Taking maritime trade as an example, if the magistrates collude with the white-glove merchants of the imperial court, whoever dares to impeach will be "competing with the people for profit", and his conscience will be greatly bad, and immortality is not enough to appease the "people's" grievances.

But if the magistrates and local businessmen collude to monopolize the market, the court princes will not be able to make good profits... He will also be impeached for "competing with the people", but it is the magistrate who dies.

"King, it's too early to say this, the king wants to participate in the sea trade to expand financial resources, so in a short period of time, that problem is not a problem, as long as the king can have the huge profits brought by the sea trade to support all kinds of expenses, who can take the king how?"

"The lower officials are disrespectful, and they say bluntly, if the sea trade becomes bigger, who is qualified to get a piece of this sumptuous meal, the king may not have the final decision."

Yu Wenwen disagreed: "There is no right to decide, it is enough to have control, if you want to eat alone, it will be difficult to support it alone, and it is the right way to pull people into the gang and benefit evenly, the key is how to grasp the scale, otherwise the majority of the profits will be divided by others, and you will be busy in vain." ”

"Does the king have to set up a city division? Now that the situation is unclear, and the king is not yet in his hands, I am afraid that thinking about this kind of thing will only add to the trouble. ”

"The widow tosses and turns every night and can't sleep, if you don't want some long-term planning to pass the time, do you want to go to the prostitute to have fun and consume energy?"

"Well, my lord, if there is a city division now, I am afraid that it will lead the wolf into the house, and finally be controlled by the power of maritime trade, and..." Yang Ji looked left and right, made sure that no one was eavesdropping, and said in a low voice:

"The king has measure, but the Son of Heaven or the powerful minister may not be measured, if he relies on the city to seize the land and fish, I am afraid that the sea trade will wither."

Yu Wenwen looked at the busy Gudou Port not far away, looked at the large and small sea ships berthed at the dock, and sighed after a moment: "If the sea trade cannot be mastered and brought tax revenue for the country, no matter how large the scale is, it is just a tool to fatten countless wealthy businessmen." ”

"You know, for hundreds of years of the Emperor's reign, who is desperately asking for a sea ban? It is the local snake on the southeast coast who has the ability to violate the ban on maritime trade! ”

"The Three Treasure eunuchs went to the West and led the imperial court fleet, and it was the imperial court that benefited from the development of maritime trade, so those people were red-eyed! Therefore, we must do everything possible to implement the sea ban and control the power of sea trade in our own hands! ”

"Don't compete with the people for profit, where are ordinary civilians qualified to be the "people"! If the imperial court can profit from the sea trade and get a lot of income from it every year, how can it not pay military salaries, and how can Emperor Chongzhen hang himself on the coal mountain! ”

"Taxation is the most important source of finance for a country, and if you can't collect taxes, you can't afford to raise the army, you can't maintain the daily operation of the government, you can't help the victims, you can't improve the people's livelihood, and the people will rebel if they can't survive!"

"The widow remembers a poem that reads, 'Don't be an An An starvation, especially a praying mantis', this kind of brazen poem, the widow has no face to say, do you dare to say it?!"

"My lord, that's not what Xia Guan meant." Yang Ji replied solemnly, and Yuwenwen nodded: "The widow knows that you don't mean that, not to mention that the city division may become a bloodsucking tool of the royal family, but it is nothing more than a matter of proportion to be able to have tax revenue in the treasury, but this is enough." ”

"You may not stay long in Guangzhou, even if it is long, it will only be a few years, so the top priority is to put up the framework and let the successor 'Xiao Gui Cao follow', so what is the purpose of building the framework?"

"First, prevent the Fan people from becoming bigger in Panyu and occupying the magpie's nest, so that the government can effectively manage it; Second, let the government lead the maritime trade, don't be confused by the rhetoric of wealthy businessmen, and let them "serve on their behalf"; Third, establish a new tax system so that the imperial court can collect taxes from maritime trade activities! ”

"King, among these three things, except for the first one, I am afraid it will be difficult to complete in the short term."

"It's man-made, the widow has already said, first put up the framework, set the tone, the successor will not change it easily unless he is interested in finding faults, and after slowly improving, the situation will open up."

"My lord, do you really want to go to the imperial court to request the opening of an official office such as the city department?"

"I'll talk about this later, it doesn't matter what it's called, but there is no official office such as the Municipal Department to manage maritime trade, and the local officials dare to manage it strictly, just waiting to be sued!"

"Lingbiao coastal areas, not to mention the Feng Xian family, the Ning family, that is, those ordinary families, the people engaged in maritime trade do not know how many, there is no special management agency, as the governor of Guangzhou, you dare to strictly collect taxes in Panyu Port and Gudou Port, you are not afraid of provoking a popular uprising?"

"When the time comes, a basin of sewage will be poured on your head, what is competing with the people for profit, what is taking bribes and soliciting bribes, it is all trivial, in case someone makes a 'book of ten thousand words' accuses you of monopolizing maritime trade, amassing property and raising private soldiers with bad intentions, just wait to be locked up and taken into Beijing!"

"Why do the widows say that officials and businessmen collude? That's to have white gloves! Let an institution like the City Shipping Division, which is both an official and an imperial businessman, stand in the way, something really will happen, first of all, the Municipal Shipping Division will be impacted, and the officials will be knocked on a stuffy stick, how can there be sewage poured on you? ”

Such a straightforward conspiracy made Yang Ji speechless, and the more Yuwen Wen spoke, the more excited he became: "The widow has said so much, is there a feeling of being sudden?" ”

"Well, the lower official is ashamed."

"And then?"

"Your Majesty, please advise."

Yu Wenwen asked expectantly, "Didn't you say that the symptoms and root causes should be cured?" The solution to the symptoms is available, but what about the root cause? ”

"The lower officials are shallow in their studies, and they can't think of it."