Chapter 582: Light corvee and low taxes harm the poor, and resting with the people is a waste
Qi Jiguang’s worry soon arose. These courtiers did not dare to criticize Qi Jiguang, the Duke of Fengguo, and they only dared to criticize Li Rusong. Surgery.
When others accuse you of rebelling, you'd better have the strength to rebel. In this way, no one will accuse you, but everyone will coax you, for fear that you will really rebel.
Li Chengliang and Li Rusong, father and son, have no ability to rebel. The Anshi Rebellion also proved that warlords in local separatist regimes only have one lifespan. Once their desperadoes are defeated, they are finished.
Zhu Yijun picked out a few, made a special response and published it in the Di newspaper, letting everyone in the world see the faces of these guys.
For example, Feng Mengzhen, the censor of Shaanxi Province, analyzed the reasons why Li Rusong was so cruel based on Feng Shui and the horoscopes of his birth date. According to this person, Li Rusong's horoscopes caused him to be born with such a violent personality. People, and from the perspective of Feng Shui, water belongs to Yin, soldiers belong to Yin, and generals belong to Yin. Therefore, the flooding of the Yangtze River in Huguang and Nanya this year is related to the imperial court dispatching strong troops to Baoding Prefecture.
Zhu Yijun’s reply: Since you understand Feng Shui and Bazi so well, why not show it to yourself and see if there is a hurdle in your life? In the next chapter, the Ministry of Civil Affairs will transfer Feng Mengzhen to Kaiping Prefecture, the capital of Peking, to reclaim wasteland.
Take Zhou Liangyin as an example. Whenever he is transferred to a border area to reclaim wasteland, it lasts for ten years. If he performs well in these ten years, he will still have a chance. If he does not perform well, he will have to stay there forever.
Being on the border does not mean being exiled, because exile is difficult to forgive and is a general amnesty, while being on the border is to do things in the border area. If you can really do it well, you may even have the opportunity to achieve success.
But Zhou Liangyin is the only one in the entire Ming Dynasty who can be considered a reformed person. In another year and a half, the Ming Emperor's inspection of him will expire.
For example, Li Zhi, the imperial censor of Zhili, used Li Rusong to pingweizhai. He said that in Li Rusong's family, "dogs have horns and there are many strange things." This is a sign of rebellion. Your Majesty, you must take a closer look. Li Rusong and Li Chengliang They are all born with crossbones, even their dogs have crossbones!
Zhu Yijun approved: Within three days, the dog with horns should be brought to the Wenhua Palace. If not, he will be falsely accused and sentenced to three levels of punishment, and he will be exiled to Java.
Li Zhi tried his best to find a dog with horns on its head, but when he couldn't find it, he found a dog with a thicker head, and it was not pulled out from Li Rusong's house. , was eventually exiled to Java.
This is a very, very severe punishment, even more severe than beating the imperial staff. The imperial staff may be used again because of fame, but being exiled to Java will mean that you will be punished for the rest of your life. Never come back.
But the iron law of false accusation and rebellion is here, and Li Zhi was eventually exiled to Java.
For example, Wu Yunzhen, the supervisory censor, not only impeached Li Rusong for massacring and plundering the people in the polder village, but also impeached the counselors Gu Chenggong, Huang Xiao, guerrilla general Yang Side, and counselor Jiang Xianzong. The four of them were friends with Li Rusong, and they flaunted their power in the local area, disturbing everyone in the country. They asked the imperial court to withdraw their troops and return to Beijing, and to silence their flags and drums.
Zhu Yijun's reply: These four people were all promoted by me from the generals, and they were personally taught by Yu Shuai and Qi Shuai'er. I personally checked their character and found out whether they can be reused. If you say anything about friends, you will be a traitor, but Are you saying that I, the principal of the Martial Arts School, am the leader of this traitorous party?
Wu Yunzhen was so ashamed that he had no choice but to become an official. Zhu Yijun immediately agreed and ordered the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Rites to expedite the process for him, took away his official status and fame, and told him to go home. Well, he was the one who ended up with the best fate here because he didn't make any false accusations. Li Rusong really showed off his power and disturbed everyone.
The nine-pound artillery bombardment lasted a day and the siege lasted for 13 days. The owners of the polder village were so frightened that they demolished the polder wall one after another. Wasn’t it just to disturb everyone?
"Feng Bao, go and tell the students who are farming in the Ming Dynasty! They have decided to prepare for the exam. If they can pass the exam, I promise them to rise to great heights!" After Zhu Yijun finally finished processing today's memorial, he rubbed his hands He said loudly to Feng Bao between his eyebrows: "If you fail the exam, don't say you are a scholar anymore!"
"What are these things? There are too many cheap Confucianists in the court!"
It is a false proposition to talk about violence out of control in the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yijun felt a big headache after seeing the tricks of these scholars. very.
Zhu Yijun is the leader of the Young Zhuang Faction. This group of people even dares to impeach a general who was born in a martial arts school!
This is simply deceiving!
"Your Majesty, Li Rusong, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Beijing Camp, sent a memorial." Feng Bao placed in front of His Majesty the memorial that the Cabinet drafted and the Supervisor of Ceremonies approved. The contents of this memorial, Feng Bao has already seen it and is very bold.
"Oh?" Zhu Yijun picked up the memorial, read a few lines, and became happy.
Li Rusong was not completely ignorant of what was going on in Jingtang. This time, Li Rusong had expected the series of impeachments by the officials. Since he dared to do this, he had a way to deal with it.
This time Li Rusong did not mention the criticism from the court officials at all in his memorial, but every word was in response to the criticism from the court officials.
"It's interesting, it's interesting. This guy Li Rusong has finally learned to circumvent! And he chose to circumvent the classics debate that the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty were best at, so good!" Zhu Yijun took the memorial and said. Three is good.
Compared with the content of Li Rusong's memorial and the criticism from courtiers, Zhu Yijun was even more pleased with Li Rusong's growth.
Li Rusong did not respond directly to the criticism of the courtiers, but took a roundabout way. The core of his memorial was two words: increase taxes.
Distribution will be carried out with public five, civil four and landlord one.
That is to say, the court's tax is 50%, the landlord's rent is 10%, and the remaining 40% is owned by the people. Excessive taxes and miscellaneous taxes are all spread into the acres of land. This is Wang Chonggu's land service.
“I once studied under Xu Wei, Governor of Nagasaki, but he was too stupid to make any progress. I often made Governor Xu sigh with his hands on his forehead. I asked Governor Xu, why is it that the people in the world are still displaced at thirty-one taxes? As a result, many people in Liaodong are still displaced. The Han people in the pass defected, Governor Xu sat speechless for a long time, unable to respond, and his ministers were dull. At the age of 30, he finally solved the confusion he had had when he was young. "Zhu Yijun read the first paragraph of Li Rusong's memorial.
The Ming Dynasty's land tax, thirty taxes and one tax, is a very good and benevolent policy, but with such a low tax, the people still live in great difficulty. What is the reason?
Li Rusong looked at Baoding Mansion for a long time, and finally saw something, all because the court's taxes were too low!
"The Book of Han·Shi Huo Zhi" says: Rich people invaded the mausoleum, divided the fields and robbed the country. They were named thirty, but the actual tax was five. What is the explanation? Since the Han Dynasty, the imperial court has imposed a tax of thirty First, in reality, there is a tax of five out of ten in the countryside. The nominal tax is thirty to one, but the burden on the people is not reduced at all; the official tax of thirty and one makes the court weak, but the actual tax of five out of ten makes the wealthy people strong; the poor coolies do not bear the tax. Change, the people are strong, the court is weak, and the world is tired."
Zhu Yijun read another paragraph, pointed at the memorial and said: "Did you see that Li Rusong was quoting scriptures? Haha, if Governor Xu Weixu knows about it. , I’m afraid my jaw will drop to the ground!”
Since the Qin and Han dynasties, the last years of the dynasty have been accompanied by serious financial crises. The imperial court was so poor that the wealthy families were extremely rich. In the end, The world is in chaos, and swarms of heroes have arisen, causing all life to be in ruins.
Xu Wei only read four words about Li Rusong, his eyes darkened, he was really a rotten wood that cannot be carved. Xiong Tingbi, who is versatile in both civil and military affairs, is a minority among the minority after all. Li Rusong himself has military power. The less he liked reading, Xu Wei couldn't control it, and in the end Li Rusong was just literate.
Now, Li Rusong has learned to quote scriptures. Mainly due to the words and deeds of Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou. Qi Jiguang never let go of his books and would read in his spare time. Li Rusong gradually discovered that Qi Jiguang's intelligence did not entirely come from his natural talent, but also from his continuous learning, which impressed Li Rusong deeply.
Without anyone's persuasion, Li Rusong started studying on his own. After three days of separation, the scholar looked at him with admiration. Now Li Rusong has learned how to belittle Confucians.
The quote from Han Shu proves that this phenomenon has existed since ancient times.
"The stronger the powerful people are, the more they annex, and the more they annex, the stronger they are. If the court lightens taxes, the powerful will remain strong, which will intensify the disaster of mergers!" Zhu Yijun read and found that what Li Rusong said made some sense.
In his memorial, Li Rusong observed this issue from the perspective of supply and demand and based on the theory of contradiction from two perspectives, one is top-down and the other is bottom-up.
From top to bottom, the court takes less and the wealthy people take more. The wealthy people will definitely be stronger than the court. It is nonsense for the court to want to control the wealthy people;
< br>From the bottom up, it is considered from the perspective of supply and demand. The court's tax is too light, so the wealthy people can lease the land to more tenants. If you don't do it, people will do it. The basic logic is formed by the bargaining of the wealthy people. The ability becomes stronger, and the strength of the servants and servants also increases. The strong personal dependence relationship is established, the amount of money that the landlord can extract from a piece of land increases, and the speed of gathering wealthy people increases.
After Li Rusong elaborated on his point of view, he provided evidence.
Since Anda Khan invaded the capital in the 29th year of Jiajing and Baoding Prefecture built a polder wall to protect itself, the taxes the court could receive have been decreasing year by year. What were originally excessive taxes and miscellaneous taxes from local yamen were all levied by the polder owners. The number of annexations by the polders exceeded the total number of annexations in the past 170 years, which ultimately led to the tragedy of composting people.
"Light corvee and low taxes harm the poor, and resting with the people is a waste." Zhu Yijun heard this view for the first time, but he found that what Li Rusong said was very reasonable.
In this memorial, Li Rusong puts forward everything from phenomena to problems, to causes, and then to solutions. Public five, civil four, and landlord one are the solutions given by Li Rusong.
Raising taxes, as long as the court is determined to raise taxes, the merger problem will be greatly alleviated.
"Sir, what kind of trouble are you making? He actually expressed his approval in the floating ticket!" Zhu Yijun looked at Zhang Juzheng's floating ticket and frowned.
Feng Bao said with great conviction: "Sir, I am extremely dissatisfied with the lowly Confucianism's attack on Zhenwu. I am dissatisfied with this increase in taxes. This tax increase is just digging into the root cause. The court's finances are sufficient, and the Qingzhang and the Census of Dingkou have been completed one after another. , spread the Dingkou into the fields, clarify the taxes, and the husband has always wanted to implement a whip method, which is also a reform of the fiscal and taxation."
"Increase taxes, add them again and again, and finally add them to a small amount. For the sake of the people, no tax increase." Zhu Yijun looked at the memorandum in his hand. No matter how reasonable Li Rusong was, he could not easily increase taxes because it would increase the living burden of the poor coolies.
"Your Majesty, sir, I also said that the tax increase is not enough." Feng Bao said tentatively.
There is a limit to the labor of tenants. If the court wants 50%, and the rural gentry wants 50%, when the limit of the tenants' living needs is exceeded, the tenants will naturally ask the wealthy people to reduce the rent, and the wealthy people will not reduce the rent. what to do? The massacre of the He family in Gaoyang is an example. This is the logic of not increasing taxes enough.
This is also the origin of the 50% standard. When the wealthy people cannot extract enough wealth from the land, the income from the land will be greatly reduced. At this time, the desire of the wealthy people to annex will plummet. , turn to handmade workshops, and larger-scale production will appear.
"Mr. also said that Changpingcang in various places should be included in the examination, the price of grain should be tested, the price of grain should be strictly limited, and the income of grain should be reduced, so that grain can be spread in all directions." Feng Bao further Zhang Juzheng's supplement to Li Rusong's Memorials is explained.
Changpingcang has been around since the Han Dynasty. It was a granary established to adjust grain prices, store grain and prepare for shortages and disasters, so as to supply the needs of the officials and the people. The operation of Changpingcang was included in the official law to allow the production of grain. Maintaining prices at a low level reduces land output, which in turn inhibits mergers and promotes food production.
This is a policy based on the current situation of the Ming Dynasty. There is no such thing as having both, and there is no situation of annexation. When the income from grain is low, the exchange value of grain drops significantly, and its use value will be highlighted, and the acres of land will naturally increase. From wealthy people to small people, only the food grown can reach people's stomachs.
"Sir, he is really a scholar. He will raise taxes and lower food prices at the same time. If he does this, civil unrest will break out." Zhu Yijun curled his lips, picked up his ink pen, and rejected Li Rusong's memorial. He rejected Zhang Juzheng's opinion.
Li Rusong's memorial does not mention a word about the criticism of him by the court officials, but every word is a counterattack. He is digging at the root of his ambition to be bold and right.
Land is the lifeblood of these powerful, right-wing and rural gentry, and Li Rusong went to the key points of the court officials. Zhang Juzheng expressed his anger. Enriching the country and strengthening the army was the core content of Zhang Juzheng's New Deal. Such criticism of Li Rusong was a provocation to the New Deal.
These seemingly reasonable words are actually just expressions of attitude rather than actual implementation.
For such a big thing, Zhang Juzheng posted a floating ticket. In fact, he knew that the emperor would not agree, so he made such a suggestion. Zhang Juzheng once taught Zhu Yijun that if a government order seems to be perfect, Then it must be very dangerous. The court's tax increase seems simple and straightforward, and it is good in all aspects, but it is very dangerous.
So, what is the cost of raising taxes?
The Ming Dynasty also had a typical case of raising taxes. Three rates were levied. The result of levying three rates was to drive the people into thinking they were thieves, but how could they pacify the thieves!
A strange cycle has appeared. Natural and man-made disasters, internal and external troubles, the empire's financial losses have been greatly reduced, barbarians have arisen in the countryside, rogue bandits are poisoning the world, the court has neither money nor food, and cannot form an army to stabilize the country. We can only levy an additional three rates, which will result in forcing good people to go to the mountains and turning into bandits.
In order to stabilize the world, more troops are added, and more troops are forced to become bandits. The world becomes more unstable and more troops are needed. In this way, a vicious cycle is established.
In the forty-sixth year of Wanli, the Liao Dynasty began to levy wages, and in the tenth year of Chongzhen, additional taxes began to be collected. In the twelfth year of Chongzhen, the taxes were exhausted but the thieves were not eliminated, and then additional training rates were added. In the tenth year of Chongzhen and the twelfth year of Chongzhen, At that time, Yang Sichang said to Emperor Chongzhen: One hundred acres will only increase the amount of silver by three or four yuan, so it is a little restrained to annex it!
Yang Sichang’s logic is the same, raising taxes and reducing mergers.
All the ideas are excellent, and the tax increase is not much, but this is indeed the case in the Ming Dynasty. After the imperial court levied three rates, the yamen at all levels in various places were determined not to let this free ride go. Opportunities, secretly for the extra sender, I don't know how many millions.
So, raising taxes is actually a way for Zhang Juzheng to threaten the court officials, that is, to scare them.
The violence in the Ming Dynasty is now completely under the control of His Majesty the Emperor. This is the situation that Zhang Juzheng wants to see most. Moreover, His Majesty has worked hard to govern and has been able to smoothly exercise the imperial power in his hands, so this situation cannot be tolerated. destroy.
You criticize strong soldiers, and I will clamor for tax increases, mainly to harm each other.
The first people to bear the brunt of civil unrest are the virtuous and powerful gentry in the countryside. If it spreads to the emperor, the world will be in danger.
Zhang Juzheng’s proposal was soon known to the court officials, and everyone immediately chose to remain silent. The voices criticizing Li Rusong immediately disappeared, because everyone knew that Zhang Juzheng kept his word and kept his word. He can really do it!
After learning that His Majesty the Emperor had vetoed this memorial, the court officials began to praise His Majesty the Emperor.
Because the turmoil of pacifying the polder slowly subsided, a world in which only humble Confucians were injured was achieved.
In the eyes of many people, the two leaders of the liberal faction, Lin Fucheng and Li Zhi, have overstepped the banner of freedom and gained their own interests through flattery. In the eyes of these people, freedom is not We should discuss class, and freedom must deny class to be free.
Lin Fucheng and Li Zhi turned from standard-bearers to traitors. While it is lamentable, the scale of this limited liberal group is getting bigger and bigger, including Yao Guangming, a disciple of the wealthy and luxurious family who moved to Beijing. , all became supporters of this school of thought, and followed Lin Fucheng and Li Zhi to the grassland.
This made the people in the capital who were waiting to see the joke between Lin Fucheng and Li Zhi extremely surprised.
Yao Guangqi was stabbed in the face because he was growing kelp and fighting with pirates, and became a joke in the capital. This Yao Guangming did not learn his lesson at all. Instead, he followed the traitors to boo and discuss what power, money, and religion are against. Human alienation, is this an issue that should be discussed? !
The views of absolute liberals are to deny the theory of contradictions and classes. In the view of absolute liberals, there are no classes. Everyone is a human being. Classes are used to distinguish people and limit people to the cage of class. , this is not free at all.
Lin Fucheng and Li Zhi left the capital hall amidst the scoldings and went to study in the grassland.
Zhu Yijun was very surprised that Yao Guangming went to the grassland. Logically speaking, a carnivore like Yao Guangming should advocate absolute freedom, but Yao Guangming followed the example and even went to battle in person to support limited freedom.
The reason is very simple. Under the feudal monarchy, class means that everyone below oneself is equal, and everyone is exploited by me; above oneself, there is a strict hierarchy, and everyone is exploited by me;
Luxurious families like Yao Guangming also rely on laws and public order and good customs to protect their own interests.
Although the Yao family, as a powerful representative of Xitucheng, fought with Wang Qian for a period of time, the emperor did not punish the Yao family, but allowed them to toss until Yao Guangqi made a mistake and was taken away by Ling Yunyi.
Your Majesty is a man of good faith. He will abide by the rules he has set. This is excellent news for the Ming Dynasty both inside and outside the country.
The people in Jingtang found that this year’s haze disaster was not as severe as last year’s, and there was no feeling of darkness. Although it was still windy and sandy, and the soot was still choking, there was no such thing as being unable to breathe. Illusion, coupled with the cotton mask, all this is barely acceptable.
The Gewu Newspaper of Gewuyuan quickly explained the reason. Due to the conquest of the grassland, the Tiqi riders no longer went out to burn wasteland in autumn in the past two years. This is the reason why the air has become better in a short period of time. If you want to get better, wait for the vegetation in Gyeonggi to recover, and the sky will be clear and clear.
There are only 100 million people in the Ming Dynasty. The sheer number means that when no one cuts down excessively, the vegetation will recover really quickly.
The Household Department is caught up in the annual busy schedule, and a comprehensive audit has begun.
Starting from November to December, the main job of the Ministry of Accounts is to audit the six books and one account of each locality. For each audit, the account books sent to the Jingtang by the local government can be said to be like the Eight Immortals crossing the sea. Everyone showed their magical powers, and the Ministry of Accounts would review the problematic accounts and order them to be sent to the capital before the end of the year.
In fact, once the Ministry of Accounts requires the bottom account to be transferred to Beijing, it means that there is a problem here, and it means that personnel changes are about to happen. This is a very clear signal.
Some people are happy and some are sad. While some people are wailing and shouting loudly that the court is harsh, there are also people who are setting up a flowing banquet to celebrate their big fortune this year.
The person setting up the flowing water table is Wang Qian, the censor of the Yanxing Tower transaction in the Ming Dynasty.
The reason why Wang Qian set up the living table is very simple. The tickets he held for the Suiyuan Chi Road increased again with the connection from the capital to the Guihua Chi Road. Wang Qian's total personal assets, from the initial investment of one million silver, have already increased. increased to 3.1 million silver.
If Wang Qian clears his Suiyuan Chidao tickets, his profit this year will exceed that of all the old Wang Chonggu's businesses, including the dividends from Kaihai Investment.
Wang Chonggu was very worried. He was always worried that his family was too rich and would be killed by His Majesty when he reached the killing line. Wang Qian held a running banquet to celebrate. In this country, one tael of silver can buy a In the era of a hundred pounds of pork, a profit of more than two million silver was a typical wealth myth.
Wang Qian’s profit this time proves one thing, that is, investment is not equal to speculation. Long-term investment and income are more stable and more profitable than speculation.
As far as short-term speculation is concerned, the more you make, the more you lose, and the more you make, the more you lose. When you calculate the accounts at the end of the year, you are still losing money, because the court will impose a tax of three thousandths of a cent on every transaction.
In the words of Mr. Wang himself: In the trading business, a dog may make more money than a person, because dogs cannot understand rumors and will not panic because of rumors.
Because of Prince Wang’s myth of wealth, speculators want the imperial court to issue Beijing-Kaichidao and Tianjin Mizhouchidao tickets. The result given by the Ministry of Revenue is: they will not be issued. .
This is a very clear limit. The Chidao in the hinterland is determined not to issue tickets in the trading house. The Chidao in the hinterland is the official statement of the imperial court and is a complete franchise. Even Suiyuan Chidao is open to the public. There is no management right and only a paltry 10% dividend right.
This is obviously not free.
The Ming Dynasty was extremely conservative, and Chidao in the hinterland was absolutely exclusive, even if there was no money to repair it.
This made the speculators extremely disappointed, but of course they were also excited, because if the Ming Emperor wanted to make great achievements, he would inevitably expand his territory. In the vast Western Regions and Liaodong, the imperial court might issue new Chidao tickets! Although these places may not skyrocket like Suiyuanchi Road, they will at least have stable income.
When the Jingtang was discussing whether the imperial court had too many specialties, the liberal leaders Lin Fucheng and Li Zhi led fifty people on a tour of the grassland. The route was from Xuanfu to Kaipingwei. Kaipingwei was very desolate, and even There is no direct road, and this road is a huge challenge for these fifty-two scholars.
After leaving Xuanfu, it became desolate. The howling of the wind was much more violent than in the hinterland. Under the weeping wind, this study tour group encountered its first challenge. They are horse bandits.
With the sound of whistles and the sound of horse hooves, the horse bandits appeared on the horizon. They waved the scimitars in their hands and came towards the study group. Then they turned around and ran away at a faster speed. No continuous battle occurred. , turned around and left without any nostalgia.
Because these horse bandits not only saw the fat sheep of the fifty-two-person study tour group, but also saw the Da Mingti cavalry waiting in full formation.
Two hundred people of Tiqi, led by Chen Mo from Tixing Qianhu, formed a circular formation with fifty-two vehicles. A total of twelve nine-pound cannons emerged from the side chariots. When they came out, the horse bandits immediately knew that they had kicked the iron plate this time, and those who ran slowly would be left behind.
When the horse bandits turned around and fled, one hundred and fifty cavalry rushed out from the gap between the vehicles and chased them in the direction in which the horse bandits were escaping.
It was not until sunset that the one hundred and fifty cavalry turned around. The leader, Chen Mo, was holding a human head in his hand. He was the leader of the horse bandits. There was also the bandit Shi Qi who was tied up on the horse. name.
Everyone has blood, but it is all the blood of the enemy.
"So, now you still have doubts about Mr. Huang sending two hundred cavalry to protect you. Do you think it's making a fuss out of a molehill?" Chen Mo threw the head of the head in front of Lin Fucheng, took off his pocket, and asked calmly road.
"No! Mr. Huang knows things like a god!" Lin Fucheng immediately shouted loudly: "Chen Mo, you are back, there were wolves outside the car formation just now, more than a dozen wolves!"
Chen Mo Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he said with a smile: "Why are you panicking? I left fifty people. You can't deal with a dozen wolves as a fifty-horse rider? Don't worry, nothing will happen to you."
Without the support of the emperor, these horse bandits were no match for Dun Taiyuan Hou. Now with His Majesty’s full support and sponsorship, as well as extremely sophisticated firecrackers, artillery and horses, these horse bandits are only One end, becoming the dead soul of Tiqi.
Chen Mo is also seeking revenge for his own lord.
(End of this chapter)