Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

Jiang Xinghuo pondered for a moment, then spoke slowly under the tree.

"These three points are corvee labor, grain, cattle and seeds. Let's first talk about the solutions to the first point in terms of fields and taxation systems."

Hearing this sentence, not only Li Jinglong and Zhu Gaoxu next to them pricked up their ears, but even Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochi in the secret room also perked up and listened carefully.

These high-level officials of the Ming Empire naturally knew the strong relationship between people's hearts and corvee labor. No one present hoped that the Ming Empire would be in turmoil because of excessive corvee labor!

When Qin Shihuang built the Great Wall to prevent foreign invasion, his biggest reliance was actually the cheap manpower obtained by the Qin Dynasty through the unification war. He could suppress the slaves of the six countries through severe punishment and the powerful Qin army, and squandered the people's power uncontrollably.

However, after the Qin Dynasty unified the six kingdoms, it did not fully realize the goal of "completely building all the Great Walls", and it turned into a scorched earth when the garrison soldiers called Hangu Ju.

The national system was inherited by the Han Dynasty, and the Qin Dynasty, as the founder, eventually ended up subjugated.

After the Han Dynasty, the Sui Dynasty, a powerful empire that was reunified in Chinese history, also abused its people's power, dug the Grand Canal and conquered Goguryeo three times, completely boiling the people's desire for stability and ruining itself.

Although the Ming Dynasty's national power is booming, if it wants to be as invincible as the Qin Dynasty and as rich as the Sui Dynasty, it is still far away.

So everyone is looking forward to what good solution Jiang Xinghuo can give to solve the corvee problem?

“For a self-cultivated farmer, it is one thing to be unpaid to bring his own food to perform corvee work and delay the farming work. However, during the corvee period, he was enslaved and extorted. He may even lose money or even lose his property because the officials determined that the corvee service was unqualified. Being unable to take care of the family leads to the bullying of the wife and daughter at home, which is also a more important aspect."

Everyone was a little silent when they heard this. Although this sounds unpleasant, it is indeed a fact faced by the bottom farmers.

Corvee labor, ten times the burden of taxes!

But after Jiang Xinghuo bluntly exposed this fact, he did not tell his solution. Instead, he asked.

"Then have you ever thought about why there is such a thing as corvee?"

Zhu Gaoxu, who was under the tree, was suddenly at a loss when he heard this.

Why is there corvee?

For people of this era, corvée labor has existed for thousands of years, and it has been considered a matter of course for generations.

Just like the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, no one will ask why. Isn't it natural to serve as a corvee for the government? Where and why?

"Of course the government is short of manpower and needs all kinds of servants to complete what needs to be done." Li Jinglong next to him replied confidently.

Jiang Xinghuo frowned and continued to ask.

"Then why is the government short of manpower? Is it because there is no one to hire?"

Hearing this, Li Jinglong was speechless.

Of course there is no one to hire!

On the contrary, it is because the government does not want and cannot afford to hire people.

But it's hard to say this directly. Li Jinglong couldn't say it anyway.

But Zhu Gaoxu didn't have so many scruples, he said directly.

"It's just that the court doesn't want to spend money."

Jiang Xinghuo nodded today, but he didn't seem to want to give them a direct answer, but asked inquiringly.

“Is it the imperial court that doesn’t want to spend money, or the local government that doesn’t want to spend money?”

When Li Jinglong was hesitant, Zhu Gaoxu still answered simply.

"It must be that the local government doesn't want to spend money."

“That being the case, can we define ‘corvee’?”

Jiang Xinghuo looked at Li Jinglong who still bowed his head and said nothing, and said slowly.

“Corvee work is about finding someone to work for free.”

"So the essence of corvee service is actually an economic and public account."

After Jiang Xinghuo concluded, he no longer gave them a chance to interrupt, but continued speaking with great determination.

He stood up, his tone was like stone, as loud as stone!

"When the Qin Dynasty was forced to conquer the corvee, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang angrily said: I borrowed my brother's orders not to behead, but the dead in the garrison were still sixteen or seventy, why not do something big and punish the Qin Dynasty?!"

"In the violent Sui Dynasty, when the corvées were conquered, Chishiro wrote "The Death Song of Wuxiang Liaodong": For example, if Liaodong died, what harm would be caused by beheading? It would be better to be a bandit in the mountains than to be a man of Liaodong!"

"The pain of corvee is ten times that of taxes!!"

"If you don't believe it, why not go to the towns and cities all over the world and ask them one by one, which male head of that household is willing to leave his wife and children to do corvee service if there is a possibility that he will not go?"

Li Jinglong was silent for a long time, then suddenly raised his head and asked quickly.

"So, what's the explanation?"

Li Jinglong was unwilling to answer Jiang Xinghuo's question about breaking through the window paper of grassroots governance because he knew that Zhu Di was listening across the wall, and he did not want to hurt Zhu Di's face.

But now, Li Jinglong didn't know if he remembered the tragic situation in Huaibei, Shandong, when the Confederate army recruited strong men to serve as auxiliary soldiers and civilians during the Jingnan Campaign, and he actually ignored the little thoughts he had just worried about.

There was a bit of resentment in Li Jinglong's words, but it was unclear whether he hated Zhu Di.

As a result, Li Jinglong actually stood up from his shirt. The three of them were sitting around under the tree, but now they had stood up and faced each other.

"The imperial court doesn't have the money, and the local government is unwilling to spend the money. Someone has to do things!"

"What else can I do?!"

Hearing these words, it was as if a switch had been pressed.

Jiang Xinghuo suddenly grabbed Li Jinglong's collar, and the two of them were almost eye-to-eye, close at hand.

At this time, Jiang Xinghuo's mind flashed through the tragic scenes he saw during his last time traveling.

It was a "prosperous age".

Jiang Xinghuo was fortunate enough to become a citizen of the prosperous age.

He became the breadwinner of a family of five, and his shabby clothes were covered with dense patches. Even so, the youngest girl in his family, who was eight or nine years old, could only take turns wearing it with her two sisters. a pair of pants.

He and his skinny wife opened a small terraced field in the mountains. They planted potatoes, dug wild vegetables and dug in the soil to eat. The family could only eat one meal a day.

Even Jiang Xinghuo couldn't even use his knowledge to find a job because he didn't have enough food savings. While ensuring his family's livelihood, he walked hundreds of miles of mountain roads to the county seat.

And even this kind of day did not last long.

There was a severe drought that year, and Jiang Xinghuo was recruited by officials to work as a tracker for the returning Western mission.

A group of numb trackers pulled the luxurious and spacious boat like zombies.

The imperial court gave too many gifts to Western missions, and many pigs and poultry died in collisions on the road, so the Westerners threw the smelly animals from the ships.

Jiang Xinghuo, whose eyes turned green from hunger, jumped into the water like the trackers were crazy, immediately picked up the dead animals and ate them.

Don't care about bacteria and diseases at all.

Because if you don't eat, with the meager daily food supply and high-intensity physical labor, you will die in less than two or three days.

When they arrived near the city, Jiang Xinghuo even saw many abandoned babies held in wooden basins like lanterns on the river, flowing down the river in a vast water.

It's not that Jiang Xinghuo has never thought about changing his destiny. As a university lecturer, he not only understands English but also some daily Spanish, so he desperately wants to get close to the Westerners on the ship.

However, the overseer gave Jiang Xinghuo a whip that was soaked in river water. The beating almost killed Jiang Xinghuo. Ordinary people had no dignity at all in the process of performing corvee labor.

And the scraps left by the officials can also cause the trackers to rob them.

The trackers must kneel down, kowtow, and even lick their buttocks to the officials in order to gain the right to eat leftovers.

Finally, when Jiang Xinghuo was appreciated by the Westerners, he returned to the dilapidated thatched house with the money.

Jiang Xinghuo saw a crazy woman with shriveled limbs but a bloated belly, and three rotting and smelly female corpses protected by her.

The picture dissipated and returned to the eyes.

Jiang Xinghuo looked at Li Jinglong, his eyes almost bursting with fire.

"Why?!"