Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

Zhu Gaochi's eyes were fixed on Jie Jin, and his usually gentle gaze was now as sharp as a blade.

"Is it what the officials from Su, Song, Jia, and Hu below mean, or what you mean? Or are they mixed together?"

Yang Shiqi and Yang Rong both remained silent. Xie Jin struggled to answer, "It's what the officials below want."

"Is this the result of your cabinet's deliberations? The peace war has just ended, the north has been reduced to nothing, and all the people in the south are doing their best. You can see that the country is in turmoil, and money is being used everywhere. You want the court to use it to save lives. Are you using your taxes to support those corrupt officials?"

Zhu Gaochi was extremely angry and slapped the table hard.

"Do you think my father is that ignorant kid Jianwen?!"

"What advice do Huang Zicheng and Qi Tai give to Jianwen's children?"

"Both Jiang and Zhejiang are taxed on land. The edict states: The country has only the right provision, and Jiang and Zhejiang are the only ones with the most important tax. However, Su and Songguan fields are all subject to private taxation. How can it be a fixed rule if it is used and punished for a period of time? Today, the tax is reduced or reduced, and the acres are not taxed." For more than one fight, people from Su and Song will still be given the title of official household."

"Jie Jin!" Zhu Gaochi pointed with his halberd, "Translate in vernacular now!"

Xie Jinshen reluctantly explained with a downcast eyebrow: "Emperor Jianwen believed that the tax system established by Emperor Taizu Gao was unreasonable. The taxes in Jiangsu and Zhejiang were too heavy. They were only used for punishment when the country was founded and should not continue forever. He ordered The average land tax in Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas is levied according to a unified standard of no more than one dou of grain per mu of land, and officials from Su, Song and other places can be the chief officials of the household department."

The eunuch came in and cleaned up the ground. Zhu Gaochi also regained his composure and took a sip of tea.

"During the Hongwu Dynasty, people from Suzhou or Songjiang were prohibited from being appointed as ministers of the Ministry of Household Affairs, in order to prevent people from these wealthy prefectures from controlling finances and favoring their hometowns, thereby sacrificing the interests of the national treasury. Emperor Jianwen was young and ignorant, and was forced to Those civil servants who came from big landowning families were deceived and abolished Taizu's old system."

"The grass on Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng's graves has not yet grown a few inches." Zhu Gaochi glanced around the three of them, "Are you in such a hurry, do you want to go down and keep them company?"

Xie Jin and the other two people suddenly felt a chill in their hearts.

None of them thought that Zhu Gaochi would be so angry.

In fact, Zhu Gaochi was extremely gentle and respectful to civil servants like them.

This attitude makes it difficult for them not to think of the era of Emperor Jianwen. Although that era was short-lived, it was indeed a happy era for civil servants and is worth remembering.

Emperor Jianwen respected civil servants extremely, protected their interests, despised those rude warrior nobles, and formulated many policies that were beneficial to the landlord class.

How could such a good emperor be usurped in the blink of an eye?

But the current situation is like this, and we can only accept the new emperor in vain. Otherwise, are we really going to let these young and promising people go underground to keep company with Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng?

Xie Jin and other three cabinet officials had many changes in their minds.

Yang Shiqi couldn't help but whispered: "Your Highness, please calm down. I think this matter needs careful consideration."

Zhu Gaochi looked at Yang Shiqi, and after a moment of silence, he suddenly smiled.

"Although you haven't asked, you must have been unable to hold it back. You want to know what your Majesty's attitude is today when the tax system changes based on the Two Tax Laws are submitted."

Yang Shiqi and Yang Rong looked at each other and nodded.

Xie Jin is actually more curious than Er Yang, but at this time, whoever speaks first will appear too eager.

Zhu Gaochi was probably angered by the cabinet's tax-free manipulation, and today he was determined to attack these young talents in the empire who were conceited about their talent.

Let you accept a little shock from Mr. Jiang.

You know what it means that there are people outside the world, and there is a sky outside the world!

After pondering for a moment, Zhu Gaochi said directly.

"——Your Majesty has no intention of adopting it at all."

How can it be?

This news shocked the three cabinet ministers and raised their heads. They thought that Yang Shiqi's suggestions would definitely be approved by Zhu Di, and the court would definitely adopt the new land taxation policy. However, they did not expect such a result.

"Is it not in line with His Majesty's wishes?" Yang Shiqi asked bitterly.

Zhu Gaochi asked: "Why do you think His Majesty objects?"

This statement confused everyone.

Yang Shiqi immediately stood up and cupped his hands and said, "I dare not speak nonsense."

Yang Rong frowned and thought for a long time, but did not dare to say a word.

Only Xie Jin breathed a long sigh of relief and said, "Your Majesty is clear."

"Even if the well-field system is not restored, the current land and taxation system cannot be easily changed. If it is shaken rashly, it will affect the foundation of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, I believe that this matter is of great importance and cannot be decided on the head. It must be considered in the long term. "

Jie Jin stood talking without pain in his back because the idea had nothing to do with him at all. It was Er Yang's responsibility from beginning to end.

Zhu Gaochi stood up, walked to the window with his hands behind his back, looked at the tree in the yard, and said slowly: "It's because the countermeasures your Majesty got are much better than what you proposed. It can even be said to be - close to perfect. !”

Yang Shiqi's expression changed slightly, and he suddenly felt a buzzing in his head.

It seems that Zhu Di pressured Zhu Gaochi, and Zhu Gaochi pressured them.

It is obviously a proposition composition, the kind of dancing in shackles.

Yang Shiqi's idea was just to tinker with the two tax laws to get a job done.

But even so, Yang Shiqi still doesn't think anyone can come up with better countermeasures than him.

Yang Shiqi's words "impossible" almost blurted out, but after all, he had some Qi-nurturing skills and held back, but his expression kept changing and his eyes flickered.

Yang Rong, who was quite wealthy, fell into deep thought. Xie Jin, who had nothing to do with the matter, rolled his eyes and spoke first.

"Why is Your Highness like this?" Xie Jin suddenly thought of a possibility, "Your Majesty doesn't use this method, is it possible?"

"It's just what you thought."

Zhu Gaochi saw the thoughts of the three people in his eyes, and then calmly stated Jiang Xinghuo's proposal of "sharing the labor between the two families".

The faces of the three people changed again, each with different expressions.

Yang Shiqi had a slightly shocked look on his face. He seemed not to have expected that Emperor Yongle would actually plan to take such drastic measures!

Yang Rong looked like he was suddenly enlightened and kept nodding in admiration.

Jie Jin, on the other hand, did not show any particular expression of surprise or admiration, he just looked ugly as if he had eaten a dead fly.

Xie Jin quickly came to his senses and asked tentatively: "Does Your Majesty really approve of this method?"

Zhu Gaochi nodded and said, "Yes."

"Wouldn't this be equivalent to the complete abolition of corvee? Then the scholars who have been poor for more than ten years or decades and have passed the imperial examination will no longer have the privilege of being exempted from corvee?"

"How do you put it like this?" Zhu Gaochi looked at Xie Jin strangely, "Of course there will be compensation for the privileges of the juren, such as the extra rice or cloth distributed every month, the government will never treat them badly. Isn’t it better that the money the common people spend doing corvee work is spread in the field tax, and everyone doesn’t have to do corvée work?”

Xie Jin was stunned for a long time.

".Disgraceful to politeness."