The Ming Dynasty’s Prodigal Son - Chapter 1718

[1718.Chapter 1634: Treat the People with Leniency]

Emperor Hongzhi’s expression became meaningful.

He is not an emperor who wields power.

But this is the inheritance of our ancestors.

Emperor Hongzhi said: “In this matter, Xiao Banban also thought that the Duke of Wei had treason? If he had treason, why did he come to Beijing in such a hurry? This does not make sense.”

Xiao Jing immediately said: “Your Majesty… I am not a slave. Dare to speak nonsense, but the Duke of Wei has made great contributions to the south of the Yangtze River. If he is said to have rebelled, I can’t believe it, but… how can this be groundless? “

Xiao Jing felt that he was walking a tightrope .

It’s not good to offend the Duke of Wei!

This public palace, which has lasted for more than a hundred years, is intricately connected and is related to almost all the princes.

If you dare to add insult to injury on such an important matter at this time, you are by no means a vegetarian.

Emperor Hongzhi nodded and sighed: “I also thought that this might be just a myth. The Xu family and I, the Ming Dynasty, share weal and woe, so this is definitely not the case. This impeachment memorial will not be published for the time being, and there is no need for ministers to do so. Let’s discuss it tomorrow. I’ll just call Liu Qing and others privately. The factory guards are in Jiangnan, but they have to be alert. They can’t visit openly, they need to conduct secret inspections. “

Xiao Jing said hurriedly: “I understand.”

Emperor Hongzhi looked tired and said: “The prince is still thinking about arithmetic?”

“Yes.”

“He.” Emperor Hongzhi smiled: “I don’t know what he has figured out, I don’t understand either, but My son is naturally very smart… not to mention having the successor watching, I feel more at ease.”

Even though he said this, what Emperor Hongzhi was thinking was that the Duke of Wei was now suspected of treason. This rumor could be said to be true. With noses and eyes, the Duke of Wei controlled so many soldiers and horses in the south of the Yangtze River, and he didn’t know how many generals were former members of the Duke of Wei. Even if it was just an emergency, it was enough to make the court anxious. Because of this, Emperor Hongzhi had to be cautious. .

After all, the prince is the future prince, so he has no sense of worry about this. If he is not here, I don’t know whether the prince can control this world.

………

Cabinet…

These days, peace has prevailed all over the world, especially after the bank’s land was rent-free. The cabinet actually noticed that the things that had made them anxious in the past had become easier.

In the past, food requisition was the most troublesome problem. Now, the problems caused by food requisition have been solved.

The biggest problem when the court collects grain is actually loss.

This loss is extremely alarming. One hundred kilograms is often collected, and you are lucky if half of it is finally put into storage.

In order to snatch the remaining rations from ordinary people, local tax collectors and the security chiefs who work for the government need a lot of manpower every time they go to the countryside to collect grain. So many manpower are just mouths. As a result, this not only caused great trouble to the court, but also placed a huge burden on ordinary people.

Nowadays, the land is rent-free. This land does not belong to the people, but it belongs to the people.

The common people had enough land to cultivate, enough to support their families and children, and even had a certain amount of surplus grain, so they did not resist paying the royal grain seriously. Therefore, as long as you go to the countryside to collect money, there will usually not be much trouble.

On the other hand, the rent-free land is linked to the payment of royal grain. If the royal grain is not paid, the land will be recovered the following year.

Therefore, the people were very enthusiastic about receiving food.

That Fang Jifan ordered his disciples to set up grain depots in various villages. These grain depots were small in scale and only recruited a few people. Then people naturally came to pay the grain. How much was put into the warehouse and how much was paid was recorded in the accounts. Obviously, most of the areas where grain is paid are in Jiangnan. In other places, money can be used to pay taxes in lieu of grain. Jiangnan is a water town. Once the grain depot is full, the water network all over Jiangnan will be used to deliver it. to the treasury, and then transported by water and escorted to Beijing.

Li Dongyang, who also served as the Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs, was particularly enthusiastic about this. He memorized the names of seven or eight people. These were local officials who had become officials after the Xishan Academy of Literature was named on the gold list. They worked hard to adopt new policies in the local area. Therefore, when the first batch of grain was escorted into the warehouse, Li Dongyang was full of praise for these people.

“Mr. Liu, I’m afraid this new grain tax law will also be rolled out.” Li Dongyang found Liu Jian and said with excitement: “Mr. Liu, does he know that in previous years, the grain was put into the warehouse at the end of the year, but now… It’s still early at the end of the year, but this year, four prefectures and nine counties have already sent the first batch of grain taxes to Beijing. “

Liu Jian stroked his beard. He didn’t care much about the household affairs. After all, he had to take care of it. There are too many things to do, not to mention that this is Li Dongyang’s responsibility, and Liu Jian will not interfere.

“Oh, so early this year?” Liu Jian’s words also showed surprise.

Li Dongyang was in an unusually happy mood and said with a smile: “Yes, not only is it early, but also for this batch of food that was escorted, guess what the reported loss is?”

Liu Jian smiled, which he rarely saw Li Dongyang’s betrayal was a great event, so he boldly guessed: “It can’t be 40%, right?”

The loss of 40% is an extremely low amount. What Liu Jian remembers most clearly is that Emperor Wen was here At that time, only Nanyang Mansion in the ninth year of Yongle broke this record, and it became a legend for a while.

Li Dongyang smiled and shook his head: “Guess again.”

How could he be in a bad mood? The responsibilities of the household department are nothing more than two, one is to send out and the other to receive. “Na” is divided into “money” and “grain”. Money is actually easy to handle and easy to collect, but grain is different, which is the most troublesome. However, this grain is an artifact that stabilizes the country and is spread throughout the capital. If the nearby large granaries are not full of grain, the country will be shaken. Therefore, for the Ministry of Household Affairs, the income from collecting grain is far less than that of commercial taxes, but it is a top priority. If this problem can be solved, the Ministry of Household Affairs will be able to Can reduce most of the burden.

Liu Jian was a mature man and didn’t like to play this guessing game, so he smiled and said, “Tell me quickly.”

“Twenty percent, the loss is only 20%…”

“What?” Liu Jian looked shocked.

Li Dongyang nodded and said: “It’s 20%. This bank is free of rent. It seems like it’s a loss, but in fact, after the common people get the land, they don’t need to pay grain to the gentry. With the surplus grain, they hope As the rent-free period continues, the enthusiasm for collecting grain is extremely high, and there is no need to send people to the countryside to collect the grain. All you need to do is sit in the granary and wait for it to be weighed, and then go through the grain road to collect the grain. Liu Gong and several disciples of Fang Jifan, yes, It is these prefects and county magistrates who are promoting this matter in Jiangnan. It is said that the person behind this matter is Liu Wenshan. However, Liu Wenshan went to Franji this time, but when others left, the economy left behind The way is still there, it is precisely because of adhering to this law that if the parents do a good job in dealing with the aftermath, everything will be fine.”

Liu Jian still looked shocked, this time the loss was reduced by more than 30%, and there was no need to waste a lot of manpower. , this…

He couldn’t help but said: “Economic way, what economic way?”

As the chief minister of the cabinet, he naturally thinks far-reaching.

“Be lenient to the people!”

Li Dongyang continued: “The so-called officials save punishments and pay less taxes, and everyone is lenient. That is to say, levying taxes is like this. In the past, they thought about how to collect taxes, but they I am thinking about how to make the people have enough food and have enough food, and at the same time, how to ensure that the people can be rich. Only by solving this problem can the tax problem be easily solved. In the past, it was related to the country’s foundation. Officials have always regarded the collection of taxes as a top priority, because what is related to it is their black hat. However, these people go the opposite way and manage the land, hire farm captains, and establish farmers. Therefore, they tried every means to promote improved seeds, went to the countryside to teach people how to grow food more rationally, and understood the conditions of their land. They even… set up disaster prevention mechanisms and personally understood the irrigation situation. Some people also tried to find ways to build reservoirs to store water during normal times. When water is needed, water will be diverted for irrigation… If these problems are solved, other things will be easily solved…”

Liu Jian kept nodding, and he subconsciously began to reflect. According to Li Dongyang’s words, it seems that It makes perfect sense. Everyone knows the truth, but it may not be easy to do this.

Li Dongyang continued: “In fact, if these problems are solved, the people’s economic situation can be roughly controlled. They have set up granaries in the countryside, and the people are willing to deposit and pay the food in person. Sigh… This Liu Wenshan always breaks the rules, he is really a genius, and those disciples are all willing to do things, they are all talents. “

Liu Jian smiled and nodded.

This is actually… understandable.

Even if an ordinary parent officer makes some achievements, most people may not be interested in him.

But these new disciples are different. Even if they are just a parent official in the local area, after all, there are people in the capital taking care of them. As long as they follow Liu Wenshan’s economic methods and work hard, they will achieve results. Don’t worry about your future.

Therefore, these people are simply a breath of fresh air. They never go to the camp, and they are too lazy to deal with the superiors in the local area. They can often make their superiors half angry to death, breaking the rules of so and so.

But unfortunately, they always dare to challenge and fight hard, and when they report their achievements one by one, they often amaze everyone in the capital.

At this time, Li Dongyang couldn’t help but sigh: “This method can be implemented. We need to invite a few people to come to Beijing and come to the Ministry of Household Affairs. I will have a detailed discussion with them and then draw up a new charter. This matter cannot be delayed. Liu Gong thinks What do you think?”

After hearing so much, Liu Jian understood the benefits of this and did not object. He even cheered up and said, “Call over. I will send you an official document about this matter. I just want to see them too. . ”

…………

There will be three updates in the past few days to make up for the chapters from the previous days. I’m a little busy around the Mid-Autumn Festival, so I’m very sorry.

(End of chapter)