Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

The next day, Jiang Xinghuo and Li Jinglong rode so fast that their thighs were almost worn out by the saddle, and finally arrived at Changshu County in the north. This was not only the last stop in Suzhou Prefecture they were responsible for, but also the most important step in overthrowing Zhang Xin.

In fact, although it is viewed from Jiang Xinghuo's perspective, the overall land clearing work is actually a very grand project. It is divided into two directions, one direction is from Zhenjiang Prefecture to Changzhou Prefecture, and the other direction is from Songjiang Prefecture to Suzhou. Mansion.

Jiang Xinghuo was in charge of the latter, and this team was divided into two groups in Suzhou. The other group took the Wujiang County-Changzhou County-Wuxian route, while Jiang Xinghuo and the others took the route from Jiading County-Taicang. Take this route from Zhouzhou to Changshu County.

After finishing clearing the fields in the four prefectures in the south of the Yangtze River, all the teams in both directions met between Changshu County and Wuxi County. Finally, they headed south along the east side of Taihu Lake to Zhejiang, and waited until they cleared the fields in Huzhou, Jiaxing, and Hangzhou in northern Zhejiang. With the land clearing completed, the pilot work of summer tax clearing has come to an end.

Then, we will summarize the experience in land clearing work and gradually promote the pilot land clearing model to the entire southern Zhili and Zhejiang. Finally, it will take about five to seven years to complete the nationwide land clearing and return of illegal land in batches. Occupy fields.

The reason why it takes so long, rather than three to five years, is mainly due to the vastness of the Ming Dynasty and the large regional differences, as well as the serious lag in communication conditions, and the training cycle of tax guards.

If you want to get a rough plot of land like the Hongwu period, one or two years is actually enough. However, Jiang Xinghuo does not want to get an answer sheet full of tricks, but hopes to be as meticulous and conscientious as he was in the Four Prefectures of Jiangnan. Check out the land.

We must know that from Songjiang Prefecture to Suzhou Prefecture, in addition to the illegal land occupation by the powerful gentry, through common people's reports, double-book verification, personnel investigation, etc., a considerable number of gentry were transferred to the gentry through scattering, deceitful mailing, flower points, false accusations, etc. The problem of "taking refuge" in other ways and registering one's land in someone else's name was also investigated.

Jiang Xinghuo and Li Jinglong had dinner at the Changshu County Government Office at noon. The Changshu County Magistrate was very attentive and invited the chef from the best restaurant in the city to cook the dishes. The maid brought the dishes to the table and filled the table. .

If it weren't for the fear of bad influence, let alone one table, or even three or five tables, they would all be filled.

The county magistrate is an old man about fifty years old, wearing a relatively new official robe, with a friendly face and a kind-hearted look. At this time, he is sitting at the bottom, with several neatly dressed entourages standing behind him.

Jiang Xinghuo recognized this man. He was a supervisor from the Hongwu Dynasty. His ability was average but his attitude was good. He was very active in countering rebellions and controlling floods. He usually had a good official reputation. He had normal cooperation with the local gentry and did not have much interest.

It is said that County Magistrate Li also has a background in the imperial court and is a distant relative of a certain official. If everything goes well, he may be promoted in two years. He cannot make mistakes here, so he is a person who can communicate normally.

During the dinner, after three rounds of wine and five delicious dishes, the county magistrate Mr. Li also opened up and spoke out about the difficulties he experienced in clearing the land this year.

"Preferential exemptions are better. After the imperial master ordered to ban any extra-legal exemptions, everything that should be normal has become normal. Originally, there were not many gentry in the county who took advantage of the preferential exemptions."

"Where is the reminder? Do the subordinate officials still dare to touch him?" Jiang Xinghuo had a fair appetite, but he still couldn't handle the sweet dishes, so he put down his chopsticks and asked.

"How dare you do that!"

Magistrate Li stroked his beard and smiled bitterly: "Everyone is extremely honest. I'm afraid that my own head will also be pickled with lime."

"So the main thing is to conduct a detailed inspection of the 'Refuge' and the area and grain managers below."

"exactly."

County Magistrate Li cautiously said: "It's better to take refuge. I'll check with multiple parties and be more detailed. Even if I can't check everything, I can still get a result. The main reason is that the li chief and grain chief below are a little overwhelmed."

"Since our county was cleared of farmland, these village and grain farmers have been living a hard life. They have to work every day, spend money on food and accommodation, and have to pay for it out of their own pockets. There can't be any mistakes."

Speaking of this, County Magistrate Li sighed: "Over the years, just helping to pay taxes has cost these people a lot of money. Moreover, although most of the land here is fertile, there are places where there is little land and poor soil. It’s so thin that you can’t harvest many crops at all. Over the years, it has become increasingly difficult for some areas to grow and grain to grow.”

Jiang Xinghuo also fell into thinking.

Can the compulsory positions at the grassroots level, such as li chief and grain chief, without salary, be abolished?

Obviously not.

Because once it is abolished, tax collectors will directly face thousands or tens of thousands of atomized villagers.

Therefore, there must be a layer in the middle to assist in tax collection.

Now there is no electronic tax payment system, and taxes can only be collected manually. Then manual tax collection must use a bureaucratic system.

But it is impossible for Ming Dynasty to pay remuneration to the li chiefs and grain chiefs. This is inevitable. If they pay remuneration, there are so many li chiefs and grain chiefs in the country. If they are paid too much, Ming will not be able to pay them. If they are paid less, it is better not to pay them. hair.

Failure to pay remuneration, or only paying a small amount of remuneration, will lead to a problem, that is, the imbalance of responsibilities and interests. This will inevitably lead to the grain chief and the district chief using their power to tamper with the summer and autumn taxes. subsidize yourself.

Is there anyone who does not profit from it but insists on contributing his own money to help the court collect taxes?

Ming Dynasty is so big, there must be one.

However, a small number of samples cannot be used to express generalizability.

So doesn’t Zhu Yuanzhang understand this truth? Don’t so many famous ministers and ministers understand this truth?

We all understand, but it just can’t be solved, or the socio-economic conditions at the time were not enough to solve this problem.

There are two solutions, either to reduce the responsibility pressure or to provide interest protection, so that this system can run for a long time, instead of taking the method of rotating ten companies to reduce the responsibility pressure, which is a temporary solution but not the root cause. Over time, systemic collapse will still occur.

It is absolutely impossible to give money to the li chief and grain chief.

Just kidding, I do all this just to extract money from all aspects of taxation. If I give you money again, isn’t it in vain?

And the reality is that if you give money to these li and grain chiefs, it is very likely that not only will their hair grow gray, but they will also make money as they should.

So, there is only one option.

——Reducing the responsibility pressure of the area manager and grain manager.

"What's the reaction here in Changshu County about the tax guards going to the countryside?"

Jiang Xinghuo asked intentionally or unintentionally.

One of the important reasons limiting the speed of nationwide promotion is the speed of training of tax clerks.

Now the tax soldiers trained in the past two years are enough to cover several surrounding administrative envoys centered on Nanzhili. This is because the Jingnan Campaign created a large number of disabled soldiers who abide by discipline and obey orders. These soldiers cannot be sent to the military. Soldiers who are on the battlefield but can live a normal life perfectly meet the conditions of "outsiders" that Jiang Xinghuo previously deduced in prison. They are full of a sense of honor and are not easily corrupted by low-level subordinates and gentry.

The subsequent training of tax clerks will be much slower.

Training these disabled soldiers to become tax collectors can not only take care of the meritorious soldiers, so that the soldiers do not have to worry about being abandoned by the army if they are unable to participate in the battle, but also strengthen the supervision of grassroots taxation, which can be said to serve multiple purposes.

Giving them money is far more cost-effective than giving money to these li and grain chiefs.

Five-star general Li Jinglong commented: It’s not that Ming Dynasty cannot afford it, but it’s more cost-effective to give it to the tax collectors.

Anyway, you have to give food to support these disabled soldiers, and let them work as tax collectors to pay. It doesn't cost much more, and you can accomplish bigger things. Why not do it?

However, the implementation of policies is not always based on Jiang Xinghuo's will, and there are definitely things that go wrong.

"There's good and bad."

As County Magistrate Li spoke, he drove his followers out, took another sip of tea, and then continued: "A big thing has happened in our county in the past few years. I don't know whether I should report to the Imperial Preceptor and Cao Guogong." illustrate."

County Magistrate Li said, looking at Li Jinglong, Li Jinglong immediately said: "The Imperial Master is here, if you have anything to say, just say it!"

County Magistrate Li nodded, and then said: "In recent years, although our county has fertile soil and has used chemical fertilizers in many places, the harvest has been much greater than before. However, the actual tax performance is not like this, and it is not. There’s not much tax increase, so there’s actually a discrepancy here.”

"You want to talk about Marquis Longping?"

Jiang Xinghuo raised his eyelids.

Magistrate Li was silent.

"You are so bold. Are you confiscating the benefits of Marquis Longping, or are you not afraid of revenge at all?"

"Both."

Li Jinglong was happy and quite honest.

It seems that the prerequisite for not giving in to five buckets of rice is that you have ten buckets of rice at home.

But the situation is indeed the case. If Zhang Xin, who is already in danger, steps down from the position of governor of water transportation, his status as a marquis alone will really not be able to do anything to the people in the civil service system, especially those with a little background.

There are two lines between civil and military affairs, and there are invisible thunder pools. It is very difficult to cross one's own line to punish people.

Moreover, County Magistrate Li's move was to submit a petition to Jiang Xinghuo.

If it was one or two years ago, County Magistrate Li might not have dared to do so, because the situation of the reform was not clear, and it would be easy to fall into the water if he jumped on board hastily. But now the situation is different. The ship of reform has set sail, and the domineering Zhang Xin is even more It has violated the interests of many people intentionally or unintentionally. Now it is time for the wall to be knocked down and everyone to push it.

The tax collectors had already collected some clues. Magistrate Li took out the small notebook he had prepared and handed over to Jiang Xinghuo the detailed records of Zhang Xin's crime. The situation is much more detailed.

Jiang Xinghuo leaned on the chair and looked at each item on it. He couldn't help but sigh. Sometimes the world and the earth work together. After going through all the hardships and finally forming a general trend, many things become much smoother. Yes, some people even take the initiative to deliver the things you need to your door.

"But if the National Preceptor wants to provide these to the Metropolitan Procuratorate, please erase my name."

Li Jinglong frowned as he listened. He didn't like this person. He was too slick. He wanted to gain benefits but didn't want to stand out.

But after thinking about it, maybe this is the most normal reaction of a low-level civil servant.

After all, for them, maybe Zhang Xin can't do anything to them, but it is always not good to be hated by others.

The censor has the power to "tell things based on rumors," so when there are already many witnesses and physical evidence, County Magistrate Zhang does not necessarily want to come forward.

Jiang Xinghuo's reaction was much calmer.

After pondering for a moment, Jiang Xinghuo finally nodded and agreed to Magistrate Li's proposal.

When County Magistrate Li saw Jiang Xinghuo's promise, he immediately stood up and bowed to Jiang Xinghuo to thank him: "Thank you, Imperial Master, for your understanding."

"Magistrate Li is too polite." Jiang Xinghuo said with a smile.

After the two exchanged pleasantries for a few words, they returned to the topic.

County Magistrate Li continued: "This time the land clearing has cleared most of the fields in our county. All the harvests that can be paid in the summer tax have been turned over to the court."

"but what?"

This old guy was so tough. Although Jiang Xinghuo wanted to knock him, he still remained patient.

County Magistrate Li probably realized his problem. He quickly put down his hand stroking his beard and spoke faster: "In some places, the wealthy gentry still have various situations of 'taking refuge', and they try their best to conceal it. They only rely on subordinates." I'm afraid there are some obstacles with the guards, so it's hard to find out."

"You are saying that these people have colluded with the gentry. Even if they are afraid that they will be beheaded, they will do justice to their father-in-law, but it will be difficult to solve the problems of trust other than their father-in-law. Is that what you mean?"

The current Qingtian work mainly includes three parts.

The first part ordered the nobles and gentry to return the illegally occupied land.

The second part is to clear the land and re-register the fish scales.

The third part is to identify the various ways in which the gentry “take refuge”.

The subordinate officials and servants lost their heads, mainly because in the second part, they did not do their jobs impartially, but used methods such as "shrinking their bows" to measure the land, and deliberately helped the gentry with interests to obtain more land.

You know, they only need to move a little bit, and if they add up, a lot of extra land will come out.

But now, due to the visual shock of beheading, there are basically no subordinate officials or servants who dare to commit crimes and measure land.

After all, no matter how much money you spend, you can't buy your head back!

The first part has nothing to do with subordinate officials and servants.

In the third part, the subordinate officials showed inaction, which is what County Magistrate Li reflected.

In other words, some subordinate officials and servants knew the specific situation of these gentry lands that were registered in other people's names through various methods. They knew very well that these seemingly ordinary self-cultivators were actually all owned by gentry landlords. In terms of actual control, they were listed as self-cultivaters in the official double register, but they lived the life of tenant farmers.

But these subordinate officials and servants chose to keep their mouths shut and did not speak.

The country has laws and regulations, and they have human feelings.

What can you do with these subordinate officials and servants who do nothing?

Behead? Obviously not.

Because these people's "shrinking bow" trick during the process of clearing the land can be directly discovered and exposed, and there is tangible evidence.

But for these situations that are concealed and not reported, people can completely say that they really do not know or have any knowledge.

This kind of thing that cannot be falsified, if there is a mass killing, it is neither in line with the law nor in line with basic rationality.

When he said he didn't know, he might be turning a blind eye or he really didn't know.

It was impossible for Jiang Xinghuo to kill all the servants and subordinates just because they did not take the initiative to report the landlords and gentry's various behaviors of "taking refuge". People who were fooling around in the local area were indeed unlikely to offend local snakes to death for the sake of the imperial court.

It is good enough that these subordinate servants do not dare to commit adultery and cheat, but they are honest and clear their husband's land. It is unrealistic to expect these people to offend others on the issue of "taking refuge".

So how to solve the problem of "taking refuge" among the landowners and gentry?

If it is verified through "double books", the effect is not very good, because these people play tricks like flying, sending, spending, and cheating. It is not a year or two. If they do a full set of tricks, they will definitely be listed in the official book. Everything has been faked.

And when farmers report it, many of them really don’t have the guts.

Because after the report is made, under the auspices of the court, the gentry may indeed return the land to you, but the question is what to do in the future?

The imperial army and Qingtian officials cannot live here forever, and there will always be time to leave.

Once these people are gone, how can a commoner withstand the retaliation of the gentry?

It doesn't need to rise to the level of a personal threat. As long as you are isolated in the countryside and your children cannot go to private school, it is enough to collapse a family.

This is still a matter of face. If you encounter someone who is not face-saving, they will do it to your whole family at night. What can you do?

Under the current system of the Ming Dynasty, low-level cases are mainly adjudicated by clans themselves, and no one may report it to the official. Even if it is reported, there is no monitoring equipment in modern society, and no human or physical evidence can be found, so it can only become an unsolved case.

Therefore, farmers must consider the consequences when reporting, and many people do not have the courage.

Jiang Xinghuo looked at Li Jinglong, and Li Jinglong gave him a look of understanding.

The villain is afraid of power but not virtue. There is no other way, but it seems that he still needs to increase his strength.

"We have our own solution to the problem of surrender."

Soon, Magistrate Li knew what the national division's "solution" was.

Simple, crisp and effective.

Just two points in total.

First, the gentry did not take the initiative to surrender to the government. Once the government found out that there was a "surrender" problem, the whole family would be exiled to the army, or beheaded directly.

Second, subordinate officials and servants who take the initiative to report the case will be regarded as meritorious service. They will be rewarded with acres of gold and silver, or they will be transferred to the Ming Dynasty Administrative School for further study. After graduation, they will be assigned as officials.

"Every bustle in the world is for benefit, and all the hustle and bustle in the world is for benefit."

A dark forest was formed. In this forest, the formerly aloof gentry became prey, while the humble subordinates stared with red eyes, trying to peel off the skin of the gentry.

Needless to say, the imperial court would not release the acres of gold and silver. They were all taken from the homes of the gentry, and the wool came from the sheep.

But this kind of opportunity to legally harvest wool is something that many people will never encounter once in their lifetime.

In the Ming Dynasty, there were risks in looting houses, and it could easily be reduced to the military exploits of the Ming army. However, there was no risk in gaining profit from looting houses. All you had to do was betray the secrets you knew that were not secrets.

How could the gentry who were exiled to the army have any ability to retaliate? The peasants are indeed afraid of the gentry's revenge, but as servants living in the city, they are not as easy to handle as the peasants in the countryside, and they are protected by their own forces.

Jiang Xinghuo's simple move of "Chain of Suspicion" caused the two originally close-knit groups of servants and gentry landlords to not only create a huge rift, but also to regard each other as enemies.

——————

The Chen family in the countryside of Changshu Prefecture has a spacious and bright interior hall with thick floor tiles. There are a lot of furniture inside, all made of wood, and they don't look cheap.

Outside the inner hall, there were two burly men guarding the door.

Seeing a man dressed as an official come in, they immediately saluted.

"Master!"

The man nodded and saluted, then walked to the center and sat on the main seat. There were several people waiting next to him.

"I called everyone from each room to come here today because I have something important to discuss."

The person sitting on the chair next to him listened and looked a little unhappy.

They are used to being arrogant and domineering in the countryside, and they don't take the imperial court seriously at all. If it were in the past, the head of the family would definitely swallow his anger, but now the situation is extremely critical, and the bastards in each house who have narrow vision still don't have the slightest sense of crisis. He couldn't bear it anymore.

Unable to bear it any longer, the head of the Chen family naturally no longer had to bear it. He said, "Have you all seen the notice from the county?"

The second room and the third room looked at each other, and then the third room in the middle said: "Of course I saw it, but now that it is summer harvest, all the fields and the income from the fields must be handed over to the court?"

"If you look at it, the imperial court is just trying to scare people. Those tax collectors didn't find anything when they came down. It's the rules of our Chen family here! What's more, if all the fields we surrendered to are handed over, will we survive? I'm afraid we won't survive. , our family will not be able to survive this winter!"

At this time, someone else said: "We have kept all the account books for so many years. How can we explain everything when the court threatens us? The loss is too great."

The face of the head of the Chen family changed.

At this time, the people in the fourth room next to us said, "Yes, if we collect them all, our family will have no farmland, and it would be better to just die."

Everyone sang in harmony, leaving the head of the Chen family speechless.

He rubbed his brows and sighed with a headache: "So even if you die, you are not willing to surrender to Tian?"

"It's not that serious."

"I want to hand it over to your eldest brother. Maybe if we hand it over, the court won't embarrass us."

Seeing this group of clan members clutching their own rice bowls, the head of the Chen family was completely helpless.

Although they were short-sighted, they were actually smart people. After the court announcement was issued, they quickly figured out the key to it.

The imperial court did this just to let the subordinate officials compete with them, so that the imperial court's tax revenue could be increased without affecting other people.

Now it depends on whether both sides can keep their composure and avoid a situation in which both parties will lose.

In other words, it depends on whether the benefits provided to the subordinates are enough. If the long-term benefits can be greater than those given by the court, these subordinates will definitely not choose to break up.

However, at this moment, panicked sounds came from outside.

"Oh no, there are soldiers from the imperial court coming!"

Soon, the army, the tax collectors here, and the subordinate officials and servants from the county town all rushed over.

A young officer in armor who took the lead walked to the center of the hall and stood there. He looked around at everyone and asked in a deep voice: "Where is Chen Haishan from the Chen family?"

The head of the Chen family stood up and bowed.

"I'm Chen Haishan, I don't know about you."

"The tax guard, Zhu Yong."

"This time I was ordered to come here to investigate the issue of surrender. Before the investigation is clear, anyone who resists will be executed on the spot."

"What?!"

As soon as these words came out, the whole room was in an uproar, and Chen Yunshan, who was in the second room, was so angry that he was shaking all over.

"Why! Why!"

Zhu Yong sneered and pulled out the knife from his waist.

The soldiers drew their swords one after another, and the sound of unsheathing could be heard all of a sudden.

"Okay, now I ask a question and you answer."

Chen Haishan gritted his teeth and said, "Yes!"

"Very good, let me ask you, how many of your Chen family's fields are owned by others?"

"No!"

Chen Yunshan from the second room answered first.

Looking at these country gentry who valued their fields more than their own lives, Zhu Yong frowned and said coldly: "Chen Haishan, don't blame me for not reminding you. You are still the head of the Chen family. I will give you the opportunity to surrender." Chance."

Chen Haishan, the head of the Chen family, turned pale and just said: "Our eldest brother has it."

Zhu Yong's face darkened, this was shameless, Qingtian had no conditions to negotiate.

Zhu Yong turned around and ordered the officer on the side: "Take someone to check."

"Here."

After a long while, the officer came back and reported that the fields belonging to the Chen family were indeed inconsistent with what was recorded in the double book. It was the same as what the subordinates had reported. A lot of land was in the names of others, which was equivalent to all the land. Hidden away by the Chen family relatives.

Zhu Yong's face suddenly turned livid: "The Chen family knows the law and breaks the law, and the crime will be increased!"

"General!"

Chen Haishan knelt down on the ground, crying and begging for mercy: "Our family just lost our minds for a moment. General, please spare your life. Please spare your life, General!"

Zhu Yong snorted coldly: "No need to say more, these people in your family will all be punished."

"Come here, tie up these troublesome people."

In an instant, everyone in the Chen family's rooms in the entire hall was in panic.

They struggled desperately, but to no avail.

The soldiers rushed over, set them up and took them away.

Seeing these people being taken away, Chen Haishan, the head of the Chen family, collapsed to the ground in despair.

"It's over, it's all over."

The same scene began to play out again and again in Changshu County.

At the same time, after the subordinate officials and servants suffered disaster, the gentry and landlords were not spared.

This policy experience of creating a "chain of suspicion" was directly extended to the four prefectures of South Zhili by Jiang Xinghuo.

The problems of "manipulation" and "surrender" were solved successively, and the problem of "preferential exemption" was put to an end. In the end, the only thing that Jiang Xinghuo needed to solve was the illegal land occupation by the noble and powerful.

The only one who has not been solved so far is Longping Hou Zhang Xin.

After Jiang Xinghuo collected a complete chain of evidence in Changshu County, he submitted it to Chen Ying, the censor of Zuodu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

Soon, a major earthquake occurred involving the entire Huanghuai Chief Envoy Department and the water transportation system.