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Gu Rong asked for a fight in the Jinluan Palace, but Qin Mu was noncommittal. Then he changed the subject and discussed with the ministers the issues of internal affairs and people's livelihood;
Bai Tie, the Minister of Jingbu, suggested that the "Da Qin Code" should be revised as soon as possible, which was affirmed by Qin Mu.
Previously, the Qin Dynasty basically followed the laws of the Ming Dynasty. As for the laws of the Ming Dynasty, Qin Mu read some of them when he was the magistrate of Huichang County. Most of the legal provisions in the basic laws were revised by the Hongwu Dynasty in the early Ming Dynasty, and were later revised by Jiajing and other dynasties. Made several additions.
But in general, the Ming Dynasty Law is full of Zhu Yuanzhang's small-scale peasant consciousness. Some provisions are very outdated, such as businessmen not being allowed to get rich, and it even expressly stipulates that "businessmen who are not engaged in production and specialize in unfinished business" can be directly arrested, etc.
These laws severely discriminated against merchants, or in other words, they clearly treated merchants as lambs that could be slaughtered at will, forcing merchants to adopt the method of 'vassalage'.
Small businessmen either "changed their names" or "pretended to be part of a craftsman's household" or had other professional households, such as pretending to be captains or warriors in military households, in order to evade their identity as merchants.
And more wealthy businessmen buy land. When registering their household registration, they insist that their main business income is collecting land rent, and do not admit that they are businessmen: My family has land and land, and I am a landlord, not a businessman. With some more silver, the big businessman turned into a good citizen on the Yellow Book of the Ministry of Household Affairs.
Although there are policies at the top and countermeasures at the bottom, the identity of a "businessman" can be arrested at any time, and doing business has actually become a shady profession.
This is extremely detrimental to the development of industry and commerce. If we want to promote the industrial revolution, we must first eliminate these discriminatory legal provisions.
The Ming Dynasty regulations also divided the national household registration into civil, military, craftsman, stove and other registrations. It should be noted that military status in the Ming Dynasty did not only refer to active soldiers, but also included his family members and descendants. Once you become a military member, your family will have military status for generations. No changes are allowed. It also stipulates that people with low status such as "prostitutes, elites, slaves, and soldiers" and their descendants are not allowed to enter the examination or donate to prison.
There are also many areas for discussion in these provisions.
Qin Mu knew that it was impossible to smooth out all levels at once.
Because the order of this era is maintained to a large extent by the ethics of monarch, minister, father, son, superior and inferior, and respect for inferiors.
If all hierarchies were abolished at once, there would be strong opposition from society, leading to unpredictable consequences.
But Qin Mu also knew that artificially dividing these levels was an extremely unfair phenomenon. It will also lead to many hidden dangers and is not conducive to the healthy development of the entire society.
Therefore, it was necessary to gradually reduce these artificial divisions. Qin Mu decided to cancel the Ming Dynasty household registration divisions such as civilian, military, craftsman, and stove.
However, he will not immediately announce the cancellation of these household registration divisions in the Jinluan Palace. There are some things you just have to do. There is no need to make it known to the world before doing it.
Even in later generations, not many people were proficient in these boring legal provisions. In this era, there are even fewer people who are proficient in the law. It is not uncommon for officials to ask professional teachers to check the legal provisions when judging a case.
As the saying goes, boil the frog in warm water, as people gradually discovered later. When there is no detailed classification of household registrations such as civil, military, craftsman, and stove in the Daqin Code, officials do not have such legal provisions to restrict the free movement of people in various industries, change occupations, or make do with it, but slowly adapt to this change. After all, it will not be easy to rebuild the "Da Qin Code" by then.
Qin Mu handed over the compilation of the "Da Qin Code" to the three legal departments of the Ministry of Punishment, Dali Temple, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate. After the first draft comes out, Qin Mu must review it personally.
Then we discussed some civil affairs and work arrangements for spring plowing in the coming year, and the morning session ended.
After Qin Mu returned to the court and had lunch with Yang Zhi, he immediately summoned the cabinet ministers, the six ministers, the commander-in-chief of the five armies, and some important ministers to the Huagai Hall.
Everyone bowed and sat down, and the maid made tea as usual.
Qin Mucai said: "Ministers, the household department has no food, and it is inappropriate for Guangdong, Guangxi and Yunnan to delay it any longer. The main purpose of summoning the ministers today is to discuss this matter. If you have any suggestions, please speak freely. "
Among the ministers sitting there, none of the generals were over forty years old. Including the Commander-in-Chief of the Five Armies, they were all in their twenties to thirties. As for civil servants, they are mostly between four and fifty years old.
Overall, this is a very young, energetic yet stable central decision-making team with a strong enterprising spirit.
Li Dingguo, the commander-in-chief of the rear army, first said: "Your Majesty, although the three armies have not moved, food and grass go first. However, Sun Tzu's Art of War also says: Those who are good at using troops will no longer serve in the country, and the food will not last for three years. They are used for the country, because the food is given to the enemy. There is enough food for the army! Therefore, the wise general will feed the enemy. If he eats an enemy for one hour, he will be worth twenty for me;
Nowadays, Daqin's warehouses are short of grain. I think that if we want to capture Guangdong and Guangxi, we can adopt the strategy of quick battle and defeating the enemy because of grain. In my opinion, due to the geographical limitations of Guangdong and Guangxi, it is often difficult to deploy large armies. Therefore, in order to attack Guangdong and Guangxi, we need more elite troops rather than large numbers. In this way, the strategy of providing food to the enemy will be easier to implement. If this can be done, even if there is no food in Taicang, there is still much to be done. "
Although Li Dingguo was born in the "people's army", he was good at running the army, was familiar with the art of war, and was quite like a Confucian general.
In the past, the civilian army fought on the move and had no logistical supply base. The trick of "feeding the enemy with food" is a method they usually use, and they have already used it very skillfully. In their view, without logistical supplies, it does not mean that the battle cannot be fought.
Lu Zhenfei, a cabinet scholar, said: "Your Majesty, since ancient times, supplying food to the enemy has often been accompanied by violent plunder and bloody massacres. After occupying the enemy's treasury and granary, the army can be protected for a period of time;
However, in the land of Guangdong and Guangxi, there are many mountains and dangerous roads, which are not comparable to the plain areas. It is very difficult to end the war as quickly as the autumn wind sweeps away the fallen leaves. As time goes by, food must be collected from the people. If the people are unwilling, they will often plunder and massacre.
Therefore, food is actually a double-edged sword for the enemy. On the one hand, it can ensure sufficient food for the army, reduce the burden on the court, and avoid long-distance transportation; on the other hand, if it is within the enemy's territory, it must face the enemy's soldiers and civilians to clear the country. , even if the local people are not hostile, the fear of being robbed arouses their resentment and resistance, exacerbating our operational difficulties.
Furthermore, the people of Guangdong and Guangxi, as their own species, should not be treated with cruel methods. Otherwise, it will damage His Majesty's benevolence and be detrimental to the long-term peace and stability of Guangdong and Guangxi. I hope Your Majesty will think again. "
Perhaps this is the difference between civil servants and military generals.
When military commanders think about problems, they focus more on the outcome of the war itself;
The civil servants often have more considerations, especially the areas of Guangdong and Guangxi. After they are conquered, they will be brought under the rule of the Qin Dynasty. They do not go abroad to fight. They will come back after the battle, and they can ignore the life and death of the enemy's people.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Chinese Army, Liu Meng, looked rough but was actually a rather careful person. He touched his beard and said, "Your Majesty, I think it is feasible for Governor Li to make some changes to his strategy of giving grain to the enemy."
Qin Mu asked calmly: "How to change?"
"Your Majesty, Guangdong and Guangxi have never suffered from war in recent years, and there have been few famines. The people have food. I remember that when I was in southern Jiangxi, we sent people to Guangdong and Guangxi to buy food.
There is food in Guangdong and Guangxi, so this is easy to handle. Since the food is from the enemy, it does not have to be robbed. Didn’t Mr. Liu, the Minister of Household Affairs, say that Taicang is short of food and there is still money left in the treasury? After our army enters Guangdong and Guangxi, it just needs to use money to buy grain and grass from local people at a fair price.
If the local people are unwilling to sell, some relatively tough methods will be adopted. After consultation with the local gentry, a reasonable apportionment will be made, and the local gentry and people will provide a certain amount of grain.
As long as the officers and soldiers are prohibited from robbing as much as possible, they can maintain a relatively good relationship with the local people. Although they are forced to sell, they can get the money after all, and I believe they will not risk their lives to confront our army again. "
After Liu Meng finished speaking, all the officials present looked at him. Even Qin Mu couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. Liu Meng was a rough guy but also a fine guy. His method just neutralized Li Dingguo and Lu Zhenfei. opinions, it is by far the best choice.
Although the difference between forced purchase and robbery is only one word, the nature is completely different.
During the war, there was no plundering, and it was very kind to be able to pay for your things at a fair price.
"What do you think, ministers, of Governor Liu's policy?"
"good!"
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Asking for a monthly ticket!
Asking for a monthly ticket!
Asking for a monthly ticket!
.(To be continued...)
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