allonlinenovel Chapter 1165 Are you trying to kill two birds with one stone?
Chapter 1165 Are you trying to kill two birds with one stone?
It is well known that there is a long-standing practice in officialdom of holding meetings for both major and minor matters.
The bigger the issue, the smaller the meeting, and the tone can often be set in just a few words.
The smaller the matter, the more likely it is to be discussed in large meetings, and it is very likely that the arguments will last all day without any result.
The matter of whether or not to lift the sea ban is a typical example of a "major issue discussed in a minor meeting." Whether or not to lift the sea ban, and to what extent, had already been decided in advance before the grand court assembly. The so-called grand court assembly was more like Li Shanchang stepping forward to issue a notice and go through a process that could be recorded in the history books.
Then the problem is coming.
Given the current structure of the Ming Dynasty court, there are actually only a handful of people who can truly discuss whether to open the seas and the scale of such openings.
The queen.
Ascend.
Your Highness the Crown Prince.
Yang is mentally ill.
South Korean public.
Marquis Chengyi.
Wei Guogong.
Duke of E.
The other dukes, marquises, and those officials of the second and third ranks, such as ministers, supervisors, ministers of the court, and directors of the imperial academy, only had the right to propose opening the sea to the seas based on their positions in the court. However, whether or not to discuss opening the seas was another matter entirely.
Therefore, Yang Siyi, who had been in officialdom for many years and was the Minister of Revenue, Minister of the Treasury, and Chief Minister of Taxation, would continue to oppose the opening of the sea even though he knew that the superiors and the Duke of Han had already decided to do so.
There's also the Duke of Han, who was the founding prime minister of the Ming Dynasty and is now the chief minister of the cabinet. His status in the court is second only to the two and above ten thousand. Why would he bother to compete with Yang Siyi?
Even if he wanted to challenge Yang Siyi, why bring up the rumor that "travel permits are a means for those in power to control the people"?
Therefore, the Korean Duke's true intention was not what it seemed; his real purpose was to spread the rumor that "the travel permit is a means for those in power to control the people."
In this rumor, the "road permit" was something that was already widely used as early as the Qin and Han dynasties and has been in use for two thousand years.
The claim that "the higher-ups use methods to imprison the people" is a newly fabricated rumor.
Just as the officials were pondering this, Li Shanchang chuckled and gave the officials in the hall a cold look.
"Can any of you tell me how our 'Great Ming Code' stipulates the requirements for travel permits?"
From the twenty-fourth year of the Zhizheng era, when Emperor Zhu had just ascended the throne as Prince of Wu, Li Shanchang was the Right Chancellor. When the Ming Dynasty was officially established and Emperor Zhu officially ascended the throne, Li Shanchang became the proper Left Chancellor.
Even though he has only a few hairs left after serving as prime minister for more than ten years, his imposing presence is enough to make most officials unable to lift their heads.
"If I remember correctly, the Ming Dynasty law before the household registration system was amended stipulated that: if soldiers or civilians leave the territory more than 100 li away, they will not be given a travel permit. If the soldiers are deserters, they will be treated as first-time, second-time, or third-time deserters. If the civilians are privately crossing the border, they will be treated as privately crossing the border. If they leave the territory more than 100 li away but are still within the territory, they are not subject to the requirement of a travel permit."
"Later, the household registration system was abolished, and the provisions of the Great Ming Code were also revised accordingly: If a commoner leaves the territory more than 100 li away without a travel permit, he shall be treated as having crossed the border privately."
"Now, who among you can tell me how long it takes to travel a hundred li (approximately 50 kilometers) on the roads of our Great Ming Dynasty? How many people need to travel a hundred li from their homes? If a person encounters misfortune a hundred li from home, how can their identity be verified without a travel permit?"
"Furthermore," Li Shanchang coldly glanced at the assembled officials, and said in a deep voice, "commoners who come to the capital to file a complaint with an imperial edict do not seem to need a travel permit, do they?"
As Li Shanchang finished speaking, the court fell silent once again.
Almost all the officials knew how absurd the rumor that "travel permits are a means for superiors to control the people" was, and they were also very clear about the necessity of the travel permit system.
To put it bluntly, ordinary people never need to leave their place of residence in their entire lives, and many people have never even been to a county town.
Those who truly needed travel permits were precisely the traveling merchants who roamed the country.
This raises another issue: the Ming Dynasty had not yet achieved universal harmony, and there was no shortage of bandits and strongmen in various prefectures and counties who dared to rob people on the road. Coupled with factors such as unfamiliarity with the local environment and poor medical conditions, those traveling merchants who went north and south also faced the risk of dying far from home.
If a traveling merchant were to die far from home, their travel permit would still be the last line of defense for identifying them and confirming their place of origin.
As for scholars wanting to travel and study?
That would be even funnier.
Although the imperial court stipulated that everyone must obtain a travel permit from the government when leaving the "local territory within a hundred li", scholars were an exception.
If a scholar is well-mannered, wears a scholar's robe, and has a sword issued by the school at his waist, he can travel around for his studies openly and without fear of being questioned by local officials. He basically enjoys all sorts of privileges, both overt and covert.
Then, the travel permit was fabricated as "a means used by those in power to control the people."
Almost everyone knew how absurd the rumor was, but no official or scholar stood up to defend Emperor Zhu.
Li Shanchang glanced at the officials again, then bowed to Emperor Zhu and said, "Your Majesty, I request that the prohibition on travel permits be strengthened. Regardless of whether one is an official, a scholar, a gentry, or a merchant, anyone who travels more than 100 li from home must have their travel permit verified. Those without a permit should be punished, and those who fail to verify their travel permits should be punished even more severely."
“The travel permit should also have a separate expiration date. Those who fail to return by the expiration date, or who reside in other places for a long period of time, should be dealt with according to separate regulations.”
"Considering that even the prohibition on travel permits can be misrepresented, I request the Ming Dynasty newspaper to clarify the reasons behind this."
"I request that a new Customs Commissioner be established to oversee the affairs of all customs and maritime trade offices throughout the country, so as to prevent the recurrence of incidents such as 'road permit rumors'."
Emperor Zhu hummed in agreement, tapped the armrest of the dragon throne lightly with his finger, and said, "As Mr. Shanchang said, these two matters shall be handled by the Cabinet and the Ministry of Justice."
Yang Shaofeng stared blankly at Emperor Zhu, then looked at Li Shanchang with a bewildered expression.
Good heavens, I was only trying to get the Customs Commissioner's attention, but you managed to do the opposite and get the travel permit and temporary residence permit done at the same time.
Just as Yang Shaofeng was pondering this, Hu Weiyong approached with a broad smile and whispered, "Now that the customs and travel permit matters are settled, let's discuss the matter of those barbarians in Bago."
Yang Shaofeng glared at Hu Weiyong and whispered, "What, you, Governor Hu, have your eyes on the laborers of Bago again?"
Hu Weiyong curled his lip and said, "Labor is like a salary, who would complain about having too much?"
"Bago isn't a huge place, but it's not small either. It should be able to accommodate at least 100,000 to 200,000 laborers, right?"