The most reckless man in the Ming Dynasty

The screams grew fainter.

Until finally there was no sound at all.

Wang Hao's face was very ugly, and he stared blankly at this bloody scene.

This time, the trip was in vain!

The three feudal officials were skinned and killed by the Marquis of Zhongshan.

Once the news spread, Wang Hao didn't even have to think about it, the whole world would be in an uproar!

If you skin a person to pieces, it may be because that person really deserves to die, and really deserves to be cut into pieces!

But if you skinned three local officials again, then the problem lies with you, Tang Hao!

This "Da Gao" has been abandoned for more than a hundred years, and cruel tortures such as peeling off the skin and making grass have never been used again. The results are better now. A Zhongshan Marquis re-enacted these tortures, making it clear that he wanted to use the "Da Gao" to intimidate Officials of the world!

So, what will the officials do, and what will the people think?

Tang Hao patted him on the shoulder and said: "Civil officials should just do a good job in advising the people. The guard station is a matter of the army. Don't be too lenient!"

"Remember, we are selling, not giving away for free. Things that are too easy to obtain will not be cherished. Only when these people pay the price and work hard for the land will they cherish it and not give it to the gentry and gentry easily. As long as They don’t dare to sell the land for profit or donate it to the gentry before they have paid off the money for purchasing the land. Do you understand?”

"All the lands of these prisoners and gentry were cleared again, and yellow books were established and recorded."

After all, these fields are now deserted, and there are many people who want to take a bite and make their mouths full of oil!

Tang Hao said coldly: "I have always had a question. You, the civil servants and gentry, are also the people who like to shout that the ancestral precepts cannot be changed. So why have you completely forgotten these ancestral laws? "

"Mo Bin, are you perverted? Are you just holding it in your hand?"

"Impossible!" Wang Hao said solemnly: "On the contrary, this will arouse the rebellious spirit of the officials. They will impeach and criticize Tang Hou at all costs. They will gather together to force His Majesty the Emperor to remove Tang Hou from military power, and even It’s the fault of Tang Hou!”

"Then what do you think the right thing to do is?"

"The severe punishments you talk about come from the "Great Edict" written by Emperor Taizu Gao himself. They are the ancestral precepts of Emperor Taizu Gao!"

"Then what Tang Hou means is..."

The two came to a secluded and shadowed place, and Wang Hao was the first to speak.

Wang Hao was silent again.

"The people are simple and kind."

This novel angle was something that Wang Hao couldn't handle at once.

“The simplest question, what to do with these fields?”

Tang Hao's face looked better, but he still put the ugly words first.

You are so bold, you dare to say anything rebellious!

Even Wang Hao, who was as prudent as Wang Hao, was frightened by Tang Hao's words!

The words of Marquis Zhongshan were harsh, but they were true!

Scholars all over the world take it for granted that fame, privilege, and preferential treatment from the gentry are what they have earned by studying hard for more than ten years. What does it have to do with the court?

However, including Wang Hao himself, they had almost forgotten that if the imperial court did not adhere to the national policy of preferential treatment to scholars, they would not be able to enjoy these privileges and preferential treatment even if they studied hard for more than ten years!

The biggest fault of scholars is ingratitude!

"Can it be said that using these severe punishments can clarify the administration of officials?"

Wang Hao was choked by his words and his face turned red.

Tang Hao, Marquis of Zhongshan, can you really withstand the criticism from officials all over the world?

Most of the people watching had dispersed. After all, not everyone could bear the bloody torture of skinning and harvesting grass. It was too bloody and cruel.

"You just said small punishments and big warnings, does that work?"

However, the problem is that when the local government collects taxes, it depends on the face of the gentry and country squires. How much they pay depends on their mood. The remaining half will be directly allocated to the farmers. In this way, the farmers will bear a lot of exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes, and the common people will be burdened. Forced into desperation, he had no choice but to donate his land to the gentry and squires and become the tenants of these gentry and squires!

After all, if you work as a tenant and pay rent to the gentry, you can still make a living, but if you work as a self-cultivated farmer, you will only be forced to sell your sons and daughters and your family will be ruined by the exorbitant taxes imposed by the government. This is the current situation in the countryside of the Ming Dynasty, sad and sad Satire!

Small punishments and big warnings are not advisable!

Then use severe punishments!

Tang Hao's eyes were deep and his voice was low.

"Or in the eyes of you civil servants and gentry, the ancestral teachings that are beneficial to you are the ancestral laws, and the ancestral teachings that are not good for you should be simply forgotten or even not acknowledged at all?"

"You also know in your heart where the money and food have gone!"

This is not because of fear. He is not afraid of slanting shadows when he is upright. Wang Hao has always adhered to his true intentions since he was an official, so he is not afraid of Tang Hao, the Marquis of Zhongshan, staring at him.

Seeing the ferocious Zhongshan Marquis leaving, Wang Hao's eyes were full of fear.

Tang Hao's words actually showed his attitude and stance.

"If you had come earlier, you wouldn't have said that again!"

"Today, Marquis Tang can peel off the skins of Bian Xiong and the others, but tomorrow Marquis Tang will go to other provinces and meet other corrupt officials, will he do the same thing?"

Tang Hao noticed Wang Hao's expression and immediately sneered: "The imperial court gives preferential treatment to scholars. This is a favor given by the imperial court to scholars. It is not that scholars are born to enjoy such privileges!"

In fact, Wang Hao really wanted to say that the Marquis of Zhongshan cannot look down on others!

After all, Wang Hao is an elite official who has been in charge of the Ministry of Civil Affairs for many years. He is a talented and capable official who is highly valued and trusted by Master Tianguan Ma Wensheng. If he takes care of some gentry and country squires who were killed by Tang Hao, there will definitely be no problem!

Tang Hao smiled and nodded when he heard this.

Wang Hao's eyes lit up and he nodded hastily.

In fact, this is what civil servants and gentry did.

Tang Hao looked at Wang Hao and spoke solemnly.

As soon as he finished speaking, Tang Hao turned around and left, not giving Wang Hao a chance to continue questioning.

If their food and salary are withheld, they are enslaved, and their lives are worse than those of ordinary people, the guardsmen will naturally flee.

As soon as these words came out, Wang Hao's expression changed drastically.

"Marquis Tang, be careful what you say!"

Faced with these heart-wrenching words, Wang Hao chose to remain silent.

Wang Hao considered his words and said in a deep voice: "According to the court system, these ownerless fields generally have two destinations. One is to find the owner according to the yellow book and return it to the people. The other is that if the owner cannot be found, it will be confiscated and turned into official property." field……"

"Hey, are you talking about the ancestral law now?" Tang Hao chuckled, with a face full of teasing.

Mou Bin walked to Tang Hao and asked in a low voice: "Tang Hou, where are these three leather bags?"

I don't know why, but Wang Hao's attitude towards Tang Hao was extremely respectful. Maybe it was his way of being an official, not to put on airs just because he was in a high position, or maybe there was some deeper reason hidden, but no matter what, Wang Hao's respectful attitude is still particularly useful.

It all sounds right, but nothing is feasible!

Donating doesn't seem like a wise move.

Seeing that Tang Hao seemed to have listened, Wang Hao immediately continued to persuade him earnestly.

But he is not some foolhardy fool, every word and deed contains profound meaning!

Hearing this, Wang Hao's heart moved and he quickly followed.

"We all know that official corruption is caused by many reasons, and it is a common phenomenon in the officialdom of the country and the dynasty!"

"The imperial salary is meager? It's just that the basic salary is meager. Taking into account the various preferential treatment given by the imperial court to officials, and the tax exemptions and exemptions for the gentry due to their fame and privileges, how can you still have the nerve to say that the imperial salary is meager?"

Wang Hao no longer used the rhetoric commonly used by civil servants and gentry, shouting about "benevolence, justice and morality" because he knew that Tang Hao was a smart man and he didn't care about those Confucian concepts at all, let alone listen to them.

It was already late at night when Jin Yiwei's peeling hand completed the last step and made the fresh human skin into a human skin bag!

Mou Bin came forward with three men's leather bags, and first showed it to the remaining more than 500 Shandong officials. They were so frightened that the latter screamed and retched.

From what Zhongshan Hou said, it seemed that he wanted to reorganize the guard station!

This is no small matter!

"Tang Hou, the military system of the guard station is established by our ancestors and cannot be changed at will..."

So at this moment, Wang Hao is like an old friend, trying to use Tang Hao's own interests to advise Tang Hao not to continue to use harsh punishments, so as not to end up becoming the target of public criticism, the kind that officials all over the world want to kill him and then quickly!

Tang Hao made a big fuss in Shandong, and bloodbathed the entire Shandong officialdom. He killed people and ransacked homes. Naturally, it was impossible for the court to watch helplessly, so they immediately dispatched Wang Hao, a talented official, to personally Bring the team over to do the finishing work.

Tang Hao said in a deep voice: "There is a method for gentry to annex land called "donation". Farmers take the initiative to entrust their land in the name of gentry to reduce taxes and servitude. They would rather be a tenant of gentry and squire and pay rent to gentry and squire than be a farmer." The self-cultivated farmers bear all kinds of exorbitant taxes imposed by the government!”

Then came Wang Hao and other hundreds of officials. Except for Wang Hao, the left minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, these officials behind him were all from Shandong Province who were about to take up their duties, so this man's leather bag should be shown to them more!

"Calm down the people and eliminate unhealthy tendencies!"

Wang Hao was shocked when he heard this.

The escape of guardsmen is a common phenomenon all over the world.

"There is one more thing, and that is the affairs on the guard station. I have my own arrangements, including the guards' fields, and the civil servants do not need to interfere!"

After today's brief exchange, Wang Hao could really see the ferocity and brutality of Marquis Zhongshan!

"Is it really worth doing this?"

Wang Hao showed an unbearable expression and turned away subconsciously.

I'm afraid that the civil servants and gentry in the future will really be in trouble!

"Everything that goes too far is not enough. You use harsh punishments to clarify corrupt officials. This is simply impossible!"

"Sell to local people, farmers or refugees, register and sell to them!"

Regardless of their rank, these civil servants and gentry like to speak from a high position, but do not express a single specific policy opinion.

“The people’s biggest demands are just to be able to have enough food and clothing, and to be able to cultivate their one-third of an acre of land with peace of mind, that’s all!”

That's right, Wang Hao came here to finish Tang Hao's work, or to wash the floor.

"Tang Hou, the king's law is nothing more than human relationships. Official corruption is indeed wrong, but meager salary is also a main reason for official corruption. This..."

"You have read the books of saints and sages after all. You have received favors from the court, but you have no sense of gratitude. You also brazenly clamored that the court treated officials harshly and the salaries given to officials by the court were meager. All those books of saints and sages have been read into the belly of dogs. Yet?"

Wang Hao was speechless, and his heart sank to the bottom.

When communicating in private, he did not act like an imperial envoy. Instead, he looked at Wang Hao with interest and motioned for him to continue speaking.

Scholars all pay attention to a "farming and reading family". After gaining fame and fame, they will immediately start to buy land. This is the foundation for them to settle down and live their lives, and it is also the family property left to their descendants. Therefore, every gentry and gentry has at least one in their name. There are dozens or even hundreds of acres of farmland. When it comes to the gentry, it becomes thousands of acres.

Now that all these gentry officials have been killed by Tang Hao, the Marquis of Zhongshan, the fields under their names have naturally become pieces of fat, and they are still ownerless!

This is the real reason why Tang Hao had a private chat with Wang Hao!

Tang Hao didn't want to think that he had worked so hard to kill a group of corrupt officials and gentry, but the result would be of no significance to the local people. It wouldn't be long before these fields were annexed and occupied by other gentry and squires!

"What are you going to do with these ownerless fields?"

Tang Hao looked at Wang Hao sharply, waiting for an answer.

"Small punishments and big warnings are enough!" Wang Hao immediately replied: "Severe punishments are not advisable!"

If we just talk about appeasing the people's hearts, how should we appease the people's hearts? How should we do this specifically?

“It goes without saying these big principles, let’s talk about some practical measures!”

Tang Hao glanced at the three people's leather bags and almost felt sick to death!

"It is possible to gather some refugees and place them in the guardhouse. After all, there is a serious phenomenon of soldiers running away from guardhouses, and many guardhouses have long existed in name only!"

Tang Hao stopped and turned to look at this talented and talented official.

We must know that this time Zhongshan Hou’s bloodbath in Shandong’s officialdom not only killed a large number of Shandong officials, but also wiped out a large number of gentry families!

These gentry officials all have a large amount of land under their names. For example, the Liu family in Jinan has thousands of acres of fertile land under their name. They annexed it through various means!

This Zhongshan Marquis is really difficult to deal with!

Wang Hao couldn't help but sigh secretly.

Tang Hao waved his hand and interrupted Wang Hao's remarks.

All Shandong officials were robbed as a result. Even if the ferocious Zhongshan Marquis was not beheaded, they would be subject to another review by the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Therefore, the Ministry of Personnel transferred a group of talented officials to fill these vacant positions in a timely manner. Ensure that Shandong government can operate normally.

Tang Hao's voice came from behind.

The remaining few people all had pale faces, and as time went by, they were all gone.

“Corruption in officialdom is not something that can be solved overnight!”

"Then the land will be sold to the people who have lost their land. If the people have no money, they can pay it back slowly over the years. When the money is paid back, the land will completely belong to the people themselves. In recent years, Shandong has seen a large number of refugees due to natural disasters. It is just right This method can be used to resettle and gather the refugees.”

Wang Hao keenly noticed a word, "sales", not "distribution"!

"Tang Hou, whether they are refugees or farmers, it is difficult for them to support their families, and they will not have spare money in their hands. This method of selling is probably..."

"But none of the ministers, emperors, generals and ministers of the country, as well as the local officials, seem to realize this!"

To put it more bluntly, no one will care about the ancestral teachings and ancestral laws!

When conflicts arise in the court, if the civil servants and gentry shout that "the ancestral law cannot be changed," it is just because it harms their own interests, so they object in the name of safeguarding the ancestral system!

So, in the final analysis, no one actually cares about the ancestral precepts. They are just brought out and used by courtiers when they are fighting for power and profit.

"The civil servants and gentry have controlled the government for so many years, and corruption is rampant in the administration. How many officials who have committed crimes have been protected by small punishments and large warnings, but what will be the result?"

"The result is that the soldiers and civilians of the world are in poverty, and the people are impoverished and their wealth is exhausted!"

What does "come and plow again" mean?

Does the gentleman or country squire have any grudge against you?

Do you have to kill everyone to feel happy?

"Don't worry, Marquis Tang. If you can't handle this matter well, I won't come to Shandong anymore!"

After all, one is a yeoman and the other is a tenant. Of course, it is better to be a yeoman.

"Stop talking about these empty words!" Tang Hao waved his hand impatiently, "You, Wang Hao, also know the means by which the gentry and country squires annex their fields. If you do this, it won't take long for these fields to be returned to you. If it is in the hands of the gentry and country squires, I will have to come over and plow it again, which will make me exhausted!"

Tang Hao's smile grew thicker.

"It's really boring!" Tang Hao joked with a smile, and then brought up the business.

"Tang Hou is wise, my subordinates understand, they only sell but don't distribute, and they mainly focus on resettling the refugees!"

Wang Hao couldn't help but sigh, and his hands even trembled slightly.

"You can only sell it, you can't give it away!"

"Shilang Wang, since the imperial court asked you to lead the team here in person, what do you think about the future governance of Shandong?"

But after Wang Hao heard Tang Hao's words, his heart rose in his throat.

"Tanghou!"

No corrupt officials will be spared!

This is Tang Hao's choice!

"If there are any gentry or countrymen who interfere with this and collude with the government to resell these fields, then I will not only raise the butcher's knife again, but I will also accuse you, Wang Hao!"

Wang Hao nodded solemnly and made a promise.

What he is really nervous about is that the Ming Dynasty will never be peaceful again!

Upon hearing this, Wang Hao reacted immediately!

The reason why the co-author, the Marquis of Zhongshan, came to talk to him alone was because of the farm matter!

Tang Hao felt disgusted in his heart after listening to Wang Hao's words.

Isn't it... natural that the gentry receive tax exemptions and exemptions because of their fame?

"Don't show that confused look!"

Wang Hao spoke concisely and directly and gave the answer directly.

"Shilang Wang, I have something to ask you!"

"The purpose of the government's existence is not only to collect taxes, but also to plunder people's wealth and support from the people, and even to collect taxes regardless of the lives of the people. Then such a court is not far from destruction!"

Mou Bin: "..."

"Each of them will be sent back to the Yamen Office of the Third Division, and then stand in the Yamen Office to intimidate all the officials!"