Chapter 143 Collecting Fu and Killing the Gentlemen
After Zhu Houzhao returned to Nanjing, he immediately summoned Qiu Yue, pointed to an imperial edict and ordered: "This is an imperial edict drafted by the cabinet and approved by the Supervisor of Ceremonies. Now you, Qiu Yue, will lead the First Division of the Guards and be responsible for Nanjing." City defense and South Zhili military affairs, you should understand my intention in asking you to do this, to prevent trouble before it happens, my safety is tied to you!"
On the way here, Qiu Yue had already been engaged in ideological work by Ma Wensheng, the chief assistant of the Ministry of War. Knowing that Zhu Houzhao suddenly asked him to take charge of Nanjing's military affairs was to be tough on the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River, he handed over his hand and said: "Your Majesty, please Don’t worry! I will protect your majesty and your lords’ safety!”
Zhu Houzhao nodded and asked Qiu Yue to step back with the imperial edict. He immediately said to Ma Wensheng, the chief assistant, Liu Jin, the chief minister of rites, Wang Shu, the official secretary, and Wang Yangming, the governor of Southern Zhili:
"You, like me, are all determined to reform the Ming Dynasty. Now that we have reached this point, the New Deal cannot be stopped because of the resistance of the entire Southern Zhili gentry! We cannot be soft! We must be tough! Besides, we have not given them the due courtesy. Respectfully, Ma Wensheng, do you still have any objections?”
Ma Wensheng was from Henan, and he had many disciples and former officials. He was considered a representative of the gentry class in the central Ming Dynasty, so Zhu Houzhao asked him first.
"Reporting to your majesty, the matter has come to this, I will obey the holy decree!"
Although Ma Wensheng knew that the existence of poverty was a common local phenomenon, he also knew that if this phenomenon was not solved, the imperial government's finances would become increasingly depleted. And he, Henan, had always been plagued by the Yellow River. If the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River refused to lose half a stone of grain to the imperial court, he would Neither Henan nor the imperial court is a good thing.
"Where is Wang Shu?" Zhu Houzhao asked Wang Shu.
Wang Shu is from Shaanxi and can be regarded as a representative of the northern gentry class. When Zhu Houzhao asked him, Wang Shu immediately replied: "The interests of the world are most important to Jiangnan. If Jiangnan refuses to lose to the world, who will be willing to serve as a barrier to Jiangnan in the future?" No objection! ”
Zhu Houzhao looked at Liu Jin.
Liu Jin smiled awkwardly and said: "The ministers are the emperor's people, and the entire twenty-four yamen of the Ming Dynasty are the emperor's people. We will naturally do whatever the emperor tells us to do."
Finally, there is Wang Yangming. As a descendant of a wealthy family in Zhejiang, he also expressed his position: "I am willing to be your Majesty's hawk and dog!"
"Very good! It's not that I don't treat the gentry preferentially, but that the gentry don't respect me. Now the cabinet has drafted a decree, and the Supervisor of Ceremonies has approved it. Jiangnan Taxation Bureau will be established immediately, under the Ministry of Household Affairs, and will be temporarily supervised by the governor. It will be changed to Jue Shengwei For the tax police brigade of the Jiangnan State Taxation Bureau, in accordance with the instructions of the governor, the land tax in southern Zhili will be collected uniformly by the Jiangnan State Taxation Bureau, and the prefecture and county officials will cooperate in the collection! ”
Zhu Houzhao first issued such an edict for no other reason than to establish a special tax bureau and tax army in Southern Zhili to be responsible for tax collection in Southern Zhili to protect the imperial court's tax revenue in Jiangnan and defend nature with his absolute voice. It is because this army is easier to control by deaf and mute people.
Then, Zhu Houzhao said again: "For those who owe more than 500 shi in southern Zhili since the first year of Zhengde, if they have meritorious service, their meritorious service will be revoked. If they have official or noble origins, they will be dismissed as common people and will never be used." ! In addition, they are prohibited from participating in the industry for three generations! Since they are unwilling to pay taxes to the court, the court does not need to support them! ”
Zhu Houzhao's intention was very clear. Since there were many gentry in the Jiangnan area, and everyone said that they represented the public opinion, he would now demote these gentry who were underpaid to common people.
At this time, Wang Yangming couldn't help but remind him: "Your Majesty, Lu Nan, the new champion, also owes Bu Fu five hundred and twelve stones!"
"Dismissal from all positions! Resigned to the status of common people!"
Zhu Houzhao ordered.
"Yes!" Wang Yangming replied.
……
Soon, the cabinet's decrees were drawn up, and the Chief of Ceremonies immediately approved them.
Su Ming, the former minister of Guanglu Temple in Nanjing, is now a commoner and will never be used for any other purpose. He is not allowed to start any business for three generations!
Mu Yan, the former chief guest of the Ministry of Etiquette, is now a commoner and will never be used as a servant. He is not allowed to start a business for three generations!
Lin Linkai, the former magistrate of Yueyang Prefecture, has been dismissed as a commoner and will never be used again. He is not allowed to start a business for three generations!
Juren Guo Yangchen was deprived of his fame!
Juren Lan Shen was removed from his fame!
Sheng Yuan Ji Shui Nong was dismissed from his job title!
……
These were decrees drafted by the cabinet and approved by the Supervisor of Ceremonies, following formal procedures. And because the privileges of these Jiangnan gentry were revoked from the beginning, now local officials and Wang Yangming have begun to collect the money without any scruples. Fufu. According to Wang Yangming's distribution, the local officials would collect the smaller debts, while he, the governor, would personally bring the tax holders to the larger debts.
Therefore, Wang Yangming personally took his troops to Su Ming, the minister of Guanglu Temple in Nanjing. When Su Ming saw this, he yelled: "Wang Shouren, what do you want to do!"
"Su Ming! You have now been dismissed as a commoner. This is the order from above. You can see clearly for yourself! The 7,600 shi of tax you owe to the court will be recovered by the Jiangnan State Taxation Bureau in person! This is an enforcement order! See for yourself clearly ! ”
After Wang Yangming said this, he waved his hand and asked the people from the IRS to go in and copy it.
Su Mingdang ordered the slaves to resist, and Yang Maodang, the commander of the Juesheng Guard, killed three people!
Su Ming was shocked when he saw this, pointed at Wang Yangming and shouted again: "You! You!"
"Your Majesty has decreed that anyone who obstructs the Internal Revenue Service from collecting taxes will be killed! Su Ming, don't force me!"
After Wang Yangming finished speaking, he walked straight in and shouted: "According to the imperial decree, three times the number of copies will be confiscated, no more and no less!"
But Su Ming suddenly ran up to Yang Mao and other tax policemen and shouted: "I don't believe that the imperial court is willing to kill me for a few thousand dan of food and grain. Wang Yangming, unless you step over my body today, don't even think about ransacking my house." ! ”
Wang Yangming did not speak, but glanced at Yang Mao. Yang Mao understood and killed Su Ming on the spot!
At the same time, other areas in southern Zhili also began actions to recover the Fu.
According to Zhu Houzhao's intention, once these local officials failed to recover the money, they would be dismissed or even punished in this plan, so these local officials did not dare to be ambiguous.
At this time, Pan Duan, the magistrate of Wuxian County, Suzhou, ordered the government officials to take six students who owed more than 500 shi in taxes to the county government office: "The imperial court has decreed that the taxes you owe must be paid immediately, and because of the March The deadline has passed, and if you are stubborn, you should pay three times the amount! You should send your family to pay immediately, otherwise I will not be polite!”
"My lord! How could students have so much money and food before? We are all members of the imperial court, can't we be forgiven?"
One of the relatively lively students cried directly.
Magistrate Pan was not polite: "You are all local wealthy people. Why can't you pay? Don't make any excuses! Since you are unwilling to pay, I'll give you twenty big blows first! If you don't pay again, you will be punished again." If you still don’t pay, you’ll be beaten to death!”
After saying that, Magistrate Pan shouted directly: "Hit!"
"Wait a minute! Sir, we are all soldiers, honorable scholars, you have no right to beat us!" shouted a student.
"You are unwilling to pay taxes, and the imperial court has revoked your reputation!" As he said this, Magistrate Pan continued to shout: "Beat!"
As a result, these students were pushed to the ground and beaten until they screamed.
However, unexpectedly, these students who were expelled from their honors could not help but beat them, and three of them were beaten to death on the spot.
Seeing this, Magistrate Pan had no choice but to force people to pay taxes without beating them. Instead, he personally led people to search their homes. As a result, Magistrate Pan had to kill three gentry because someone resisted the tax!
Suddenly, the entire Suzhou Prefecture was in an uproar because of this incident!
Thank you to the book friend Droopy Little Raccoon for the 1,000 starting coin reward. Thank you to the book friend Super Blood Scholar for the 100 starting coin reward
(End of chapter)