I watched Er Chuang’s short video, and everything went numb!

The plane of Taizu of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao, father and son, were also discussing the topic of the tax farming system.

Compared to Li Shimin's shock, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao were much calmer.

The reason is very simple.

It was the first time that Li Shimin heard of the tax farming system, but it was not the first time for Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao.

They knew a lot about the tax farming system.

Because in the Song Dynasty, China already had the prototype of the tax farming system: the buy-buy system.

So, what is the buy-buy system?

Buy-buy is also called buy-buy, and "buy" means competition, which means that the buy-buy system has the characteristics of "bidding" and is a competitive commercial contracting behavior, that is, contracting the market through bidding.

This system appeared during the Kaibao period of Emperor Taizu of Song Dynasty.

According to the "Continuation of Zizhi Tongjian Changbian", "In the third year of Kaibao, Emperor Taizu of Song ordered the merchants to collect pawnings. According to my opinion, the name of pawning first appeared here."

According to the research of later historians, the pawning system in the Song Dynasty has the characteristics of both the tax farming system and the contract management system, which are a system of the national tax system and the national monopoly system respectively.

Also according to the record of Volume 17 of "Continuation of Zizhi Tongjian Changbian", the court of the Song Dynasty decided to "recruit wealthy people to manage those with less tax (tax)".

The general practice is that the government calculates the total amount of tax that should be collected in the market, and asks local big merchants to pay for the contract, and then the big merchants collect it from the vendors, using their income as compensation, and the big merchants are responsible for the profit and loss of income.

At the beginning, it was only for small markets with tax revenue below 1,000 guan.

In the fourth year of Tiansheng in the Song Dynasty, the imperial court implemented the policy of "letting people set an annual quota for buying tickets, and not assigning officials to supervise" (Song Huiyao Jigao Volume 6) for commercial taxes such as liquor business and roadside shops with an annual tax of less than 1,000 guan.

In other words, the tax farming system had been implemented in a small range during the Song Dynasty.

And by the Yuan Dynasty, the tax farming system was carried forward.

The number of tax farming items, the wide range, and the large amount all exceeded those of the Song Dynasty.

From the tenth year of Emperor Taizong of the Yuan Dynasty (1238 AD), the tax farming system emerged throughout the country.

Some people farmed the taxes on rivers, bridges, and ferries, some farmed the wine tax in Yanjing, and even worse, some people wanted to farm the salt tax in the world with 1 million taels of silver.

Anyway, there were many ways.

And the harm of the tax farming system was fully demonstrated during the Yuan Dynasty.

On the surface, for the imperial court, the implementation of the "tax farming system" not only saves the cost of setting up tax collection agencies, but also can get the tax revenue it deserves, which seems to be very good.

In fact, in order to seek more benefits for themselves, the big tax farmers often no longer levy taxes according to the rate after tax farming, but arbitrarily increase taxes and extort, constantly increasing the burden on the people, greatly intensifying social contradictions.

At the same time, this behavior of arbitrarily increasing taxes has also had a great negative impact on the development of handicrafts and commerce, hindering the development of the national economy.

In addition, in the implementation of this system, there are often conflicts between officials and businessmen.The phenomenon of collusion and secret operation, big merchants would obtain the right to farm taxes at a low price.

This phenomenon has existed since the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Yuan Dynasty. A large number of Uighur merchants entered the Central Plains to collude with Yuan Dynasty officials and contracted a large amount of taxes at a low price.

The result was that the taxes that the Yuan Dynasty court could actually collect were very limited, which was not conducive to increasing the tax revenue of the court.

This directly led to the Yuan Dynasty government often lacking money.

In the Yuan Dynasty, some officials had already clearly recognized the harm of the tax farming system.

During the reign of Emperor Taizong of Yuan, Zhongshu Ling Yelu Chucai petitioned to abolish the tax farming system, claiming that "this is all done by treacherous people who deceive their subordinates and deceive their superiors, and it is very harmful.

However, the tax farming system was associated with many interest groups, and his proposal was not passed.

As the founding emperor who personally overthrew the Yuan Dynasty and established the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang had a clear understanding of the harms of the tax farming system through reading history books, listening to the advice of ministers, and combining his own personal experience.

So, not long after the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang abolished the tax farming system.

Therefore.

At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang was emphasizing the harm of the tax farming system to Zhu Biao.

"Boss, remember that the tax farming system is a law that harms the country and the people, and it is absolutely not acceptable!"

"Anyone who dares to advocate the implementation of the tax farming system in the future must be a person with evil intentions and will be severely punished. ”

Zhu Yuanzhang said to Zhu Biao in a deep voice.

Hearing this, Zhu Biao nodded solemnly.

……

[The tax farming system of the Ottoman Empire had a short initial contract period, generally 2-3 years, which resulted in the tax farmers collecting far more taxes from the farmers in the territory than the taxes paid to the government.]

[The farmers' lives became increasingly difficult, agricultural production was severely damaged, and many conflicts and contradictions emerged.]

[So, in order to solve these problems, starting in 1695, the Ottoman Empire began to replace the original short-term tax farming contract with a lifelong tax farming contract.]

[The so-called lifelong tax farming system, as the name suggests, is no longer the past 2 to 3 years, but a lifetime.]

[Only after the contractor dies will the state give the tax farming territory to the government.] The land will be taken back for a second auction and subcontracting. 】

…

The Great Tang Emperor Taizong plane.

Li Shimin thought quickly in his mind.

The purpose of the Ottoman Empire's change was not difficult for him to guess.

Short-term tax farming will lead to the phenomenon of drying up the pond to catch fish because of the time limit.

Because the current tax farmers may not be able to get the tax farming rights in the next auction, they will not care about long-term development at all, but will squeeze desperately during the tax farming period to make as much money as possible.

After changing to a lifetime tax farming contract, this short-term plundering behavior can be curbed.

This seems to be very reasonable.

However.

Li Shimin quickly thought of the big problem with this system.

That is, it is easy to cultivate a large number of local tyrants, thus endangering the rule of the central court.

Under this system, those who can successfully farm taxes must be local powerful groups.

Under the original short-term tax farming system, the development and growth of these people can be slightly curbed.

After changing to the lifelong tax farming system, the power of these people will expand rapidly and become a big trouble.

……

[However, the seemingly ideal lifelong tax farming system also buries the root of evil. ]

[Local powerful groups bought tax farming rights wantonly, their strength increased greatly, and they controlled private armed forces, proudly separatist, and the central authority was weakened again. ]

[What's worse is that with the weakening of the central government of the Ottoman Empire, these local landlords often choose to hand over the land to their descendants after they have grown up, instead of returning it to the state for the next auction, and some even cut off the tax and did not send it to Constantinople. ]

[After the tax withholding incident, the Ottoman Empire must send troops to suppress local tyrants. 】

【Once the army is deployed, it means that more fiscal revenue will be consumed, and the tax farming period in more regions will have to be changed to a lifetime system. 】

【As a result, the country falls into a vicious cycle. 】

【Moreover, the expansion of the power of local tyrants not only consumes the power of the empire, but also leads to separatism. 】

【In the 19th century, many regions of the Ottoman Empire became independent, which had a lot to do with the expansion of the power of local tyrants. 】

……

The plane of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.

Liu Che shook his head.

Like Li Shimin, when he first saw the tax farming system, he felt that it was not good.

Tax collection is a major matter related to the lifeblood of the country.

How can it be left to private individuals to do whatever they want?

As for the change from the tax farming system to the lifelong tax farming system, it is even more harmful.

As an emperor with rich experience in suppressing local tyrants, he knew how troublesome it would be if local tyrants took power.

……

[In summary, we can see that the collapse of the fiefdom system and the implementation of the tax farming system directly destroyed the traditional land system of the Ottoman Empire, severely weakened the military power of the empire, and promoted the formation of local separatist forces, which deepened the crisis of the empire and showed signs of division. ]

[Tracing back to the source, although it cannot be said that all the blame can be attributed to the "cage imprisonment" system, it is undoubtedly one of the most important reasons. ]

[Looking at the entire history of the Ottoman Empire, during the period of "killing each other" and "killing brothers and slaughtering brothers", almost every Sultan was very capable, and there was even a saying that there were ten generations of wise monarchs. ]

[That is to say, from the founding monarch Osman I to the tenth monarch Suleiman the Magnificent, the Ottoman Empire had ten consecutive generations of wise monarchs. 】

……

“Ten consecutive generations of wise rulers?!”

Many ancient people from all dynasties were shocked.

This is indeed a very difficult thing.

……

[In sharp contrast, since entering the "cageAfter the "cage imprisonment" period, there were very few wise rulers in the Ottoman Empire.]

[So, if we don't count the "cage imprisonment" period, then the bloody succession law of the Ottoman Empire did play an extremely important role in the continuation of the Ottoman Empire's 600-year national life.]

……

The plane of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty.

Li Shimin shook his head slightly.

As an emperor who personally launched a coup and "killed his brothers" to ascend to the throne, he knew very well that this bloody throne selection system might be suitable for the Ottoman Empire, but it was definitely not suitable for the Chinese dynasty.

If this system was implemented in the Chinese dynasty, the country would probably fall apart in an instant.

……

[However, as I just said, this is by no means the only reason.]

[In addition to the bloody succession system, there are other reasons. ]

[For example, the unique official selection mechanism of the Ottoman Empire: the slave official system, or military-political slavery. ]

[The specific method is to select a group of people from orphan slaves in remote areas, and then take them to the Royal Academy for rigorous training, so that they can receive first-class education and be instilled with the idea of ​​loyalty to the Sultan. ]

[They received the same education and grew up together since childhood, and the concept of hierarchy was rooted in their minds since childhood. ]

[After careful training and strict assessment, outstanding young people who are loyal to the Sultan are selected from them to serve as the general managers of various departments of the country, in charge of the central and regional military and political power. ]

[And Moreover, these people were not allowed to marry and have children during their tenure. If they wanted to marry and have children, they had to resign from their current positions. 】

[The slave official system selected a large number of officials for the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire has always regarded it as the main elite selection and ruling tool for the long-term survival of the imperial government to reduce the threat of the aristocratic group. 】

[Although the administrative group (civil service group) appeared later, it failed to occupy an important position for a long time. 】

[However, in the late 16th century and early 17th century, the Ottoman government had many officials who came through money purchase, nepotism, family relations and other channels. 】

[These new forces began to meet the needs of the Ottoman government for official positions, and the original slave official system was rejected and gradually declined. ]

……

The plane of Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Di showed surprise.

All the military and political officials of the court were born as slaves?

The Ottoman Empire's method of selecting officials is indeed unique.

In the history of ancient China, there were officials who were born as slaves. For example, Yi Yin, the founding prime minister of the Shang Dynasty, was born as a slave.

But there has never been a country like the Ottoman Empire that used people of slave origin as the main source of court officials.

After being shocked, Zhu Di deeply studied the slave official system of the Ottoman Empire.

The benefits are obvious.

Orphans born as slaves, without family power, do not have to worry about being too powerful, and do not haveThere is nepotism.

Even during the term of office, they cannot marry and have children, and even abuse of power for their offspring can be avoided.

Also, cultivating and instilling the concept of loyalty to the emperor from an early age can guarantee loyalty to a certain extent.

However, this method deprives other groups of the opportunity to serve as officials in the court, which will inevitably cause dissatisfaction among other groups.

And how to ensure that these people of slave origin can always be loyal?

Zhu Di kept thinking.

……

[In addition to the slave official system, the unique harem system of the Ottoman Empire is also an important reason. ]

[The sultans of the Ottoman Empire have a huge harem, which is full of beauties from all over the world, and these beauties have a common identity - female slaves. ]

[Yes, not queens, not concubines, without a big family background, these women in the harem of the sultan are basically looted female slaves. 】

[This is to prevent the harem from interfering in politics and the monopoly of power by relatives. The monarchs of the Ottoman Empire never married, so there was no real queen in the empire. 】

[All the beauties were just tools for the Ottoman monarchs to enjoy themselves and reproduce offspring. 】

[And, according to the harem system, each female slave could only give birth to one child with the Sultan. 】

…

“Ah?!”

The ancients of all dynasties were shocked.

There are no queens or concubines in the emperor’s harem, all of them are female slaves?

“This…”

Many ancient people were silent, not knowing what to say.

Although men were generally superior to women in ancient society, the Ottoman Empire’s behavior of treating all women in the harem as female slaves still made many ancient people feel a little outrageous.

However.

For many emperors of all dynasties, they were more concerned about the actual effect of this practice.

You know, the interference of relatives in politics and the monopoly of power are a long-standing problem in the history of ancient Chinese dynasties.

…

The plane of Taizu of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yuanzhang was shocked.

In order to prevent the interference of relatives in politics and the monopoly of power, he has set a rule for the future emperors of the Ming Dynasty: the queens of the Ming Dynasty must be born as commoners.

Compared with the previous Chinese dynasties, it can be regarded as a maverick.

But I didn’t expect that in preventing the interference of relatives in politics and the monopoly of power, there was a country like the Ottoman Empire that did it more thoroughly, and there were no queens or concubines.

“Huh, that’s not right.”

Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly thought of something.

When talking about the Ottoman Empire’s “Guards Inheritance Law”, it was mentioned that the Ottoman Empire had a queen mother.

This is strange.

Without a queen, where did the queen mother come from?

His question was soon answered.

……

[However, this system was later destroyed in the Ottoman Empire. ]

[First, after Suleiman I became the Sultan of the Empire, he broke the rules and gave his mother, Aishe HafsaThe Sultan awarded her an official title of "Sultan Queen Mother". 】

[Thus, Aishe Hafsa Sultan became the first woman in the Ottoman Empire to be officially awarded the title of "Sultan Queen Mother", and also opened the subsequent era of Sultan women's rights. 】

[After Aishe Hafsa Sultan, her daughter-in-law Hurrem Sultan became the first queen in the Ottoman Empire to be awarded the title of Sultan in a hundred years, greatly developing the new "tradition" of Ottoman harem women intervening in politics. 】

[From a slave girl to the first queen of the Ottoman Empire, Hurrem Sultan's legendary experience can be called a real-life version of Zhen Huan Zhuan. Interested netizens can go and find out for themselves. 】

[After Aishe Hafsa Sultan and Hurrem Sultan broke the rules one after another, the original harem system of the Ottoman Empire also died out. 】

[Following these two, there appeared Mihrimah Sultan and other harem women who interfered in politics. 】

[This also accelerated the decline of the Ottoman Empire to a certain extent. 】

……

The dimension of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty.

Li Shimin was not surprised.

The system always needs people to implement it, and changes are inevitable.

However, despite the interference of the harem in politics, it can still avoid the monopoly of power by relatives.

Li Shimin felt that the harem system of the Ottoman Empire was indeed unique.

……

[In addition to the slave official system and the harem system, the "district" governance and religious governance are also important reasons for the 600-year reign of the Ottoman Empire. 】

[I will not go into details here. Interested netizens can go and learn more about it. 】

[Okay, this video ends here. 】.