The Prosperous Era of Longwan

After talking about the Yellow River, Zhang Juzheng was relieved.

In fact, the Yellow River had not been properly managed in all dynasties, so Zhang Juzheng did not have much confidence in the Ministry of Works led by Zhu Heng.

He had also noticed over the years that Zhu Heng was a qualified minister of the Ministry of Works, and he handled other affairs very well, except for the Yellow River.

This was also the reason why he had always been at ease to leave the Ministry of Works to Wei Guangde's faction, without having to worry too much, and saving a bit of energy to deal with other things.

What he was most worried about before was actually that Zhu Heng would not be easy to pass.

At the beginning, Zhu Heng and Pan Jixun had a conflict, and Wei Guangde was still copying the Yongle Encyclopedia, so he naturally didn't know the details. The two people's dispute over this matter at that time directly caused the court to hold several cabinet and ministry meetings in succession, and finally made a decision under the mediation of Xu Jie.

Of course, the decision was the same as Xu Jie's temperament, and it was a compromise consideration. In fact, it was to adopt the opinions of both people, that is, to open a new river and dredge the old river.

In the end, it was just that the court spent more money.

However, because the fight was so fierce that even the Censorate was involved, the censors on both sides formed factions and impeached each other, which was really a falling out.

From this, it can be seen that Xu Jie, the all-rounder, actually played a big role. In such a complicated situation, he still suppressed the situation and maintained the smooth operation of the government.

Zhang Juzheng was naturally happy that Zhu Heng did not care about such a big grudge.

"By the way, Shandai, I have another thing here that I need to talk to you about."

After completing a big thing, Zhang Juzheng felt much better, so he continued.

"I would like to hear the details."

Wei Guangde nodded slightly and smiled.

"It's still related to the Single Whip Law. Since we want to unify taxes and restrict harassment, the thing I mentioned before must be carried out before this law is implemented."

Zhang Juzheng continued.

"What is it?"

Wei Guangde was stunned by this, not knowing what Zhang Juzheng was talking about.

Seeing that Wei Guangde had forgotten, Zhang Juzheng was not annoyed, so he said: "It's about the land survey. After all, taxes and labor service are attached to the land. You and I know what the situation is now. I'm afraid there are such lands in your house and mine."

Zhang Juzheng didn't say "hidden land", but Wei Guangde knew it in his heart.

There are really quite a few in his house, all of which were embezzled from the Yan family's land in Jiujiang.

Speaking of it, the gold, silver and real estate seized from the Yan family at the beginning have become a mess.

The person in charge of the seizure is no longer there, and the court has recovered only two or three tenths, and the rest is missing.

Of course, it can still be found out if it is strictly investigated, but the biggest beneficiary behind this matter is Xu Jie, and it is hard to say whether Zhang Juzheng has profited from it.

If the Yan family has land in Huguang, it is feared that it has entered the Zhang family.

Wei Guangde didn't want to meddle in other people's business, but it seems that it is not a bad thing to use this land survey to whitewash these lands. It's nothing more than having more land in name.

I am a Jinshi, so even if the local government fabricates some tax items, the tax will not be too much.

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde nodded and smiled embarrassedly: "My family did reclaim some wasteland in the back mountain of Bengshanbao. I don't know whether it has been reported to the government. I only found it when I was a child riding a horse to play. There are military families working there."

"Yes, my family is the same."

Since Wei Guangde said so, Zhang Juzheng also echoed.

This is a common thing, and no one will bring it to the table, otherwise it will offend almost everyone.

How did the big landlords in the middle and late Ming Dynasty come from? Wasn't it that the gentry families spent a small amount of silver to buy large tracts of wasteland at that time, hired people to reclaim wasteland and build fields, and did not report to the local government according to the system after completion?

As for the local government, of course they knew it, but they pretended to be unaware of it.

Everyone did this tacitly, so it soon became popular throughout the country.

The land in the Ming Dynasty increased dramatically, but the people did not benefit.

Unlike what later generations thought, it seems that as the land increases, the fiscal revenue of the court should increase.

In fact, because of the tax system set by Zhu Yuanzhang, the tax amount of each prefecture is constant, so even if the land increases, the tax silver shared will only decrease, and the people will benefit from it.

However, because most of the newly added land was not reported to the court, that is, hidden land, the people did not benefit.

During Zhu Yuanzhang's reign, he personally instructed that the total quota of land tax was 27 million shi, which was a key figure for the national finance of the Ming Dynasty.

During Zhu Yuanzhang's reign, in order to simplify the tax system, the "two-tax law" of the Tang Dynasty was adopted, and the land tax was divided into summer and autumn for collection, mainly for different crop harvest times.

Wheat was collected in summer and rice in autumn.

In addition, Zhu Yuanzhang also took other measures to manage the national finances, such as using "shi" as the calculation unit of the national finances, and stipulated that the land tax was directly supplied to the families of soldiers, and no longer issued military pay.

However, the taxation system of the Ming Dynasty had many problems in its actual implementation. For example, the corruption mentioned in the Guo Huan case, officials embezzled taxes and levied additional fees under various pretexts, causing huge losses to the national finances.

In addition, in the late Ming Dynasty, there was an increase in land tax, which increased the burden on farmers and eventually led to peasant uprisings and social unrest.

Therefore, the land survey was more to reduce taxes for farmers, especially self-cultivating farmers. If the tax system remained unchanged, the court would not increase its income.

This is also the reason why the court was unwilling to do this from top to bottom, because it actually harmed the interests of their class.

And the court got nothing except increased spending.

However, once the Single Whip Law was implemented, it would become difficult to impose additional taxes and fees under various pretexts.

"The land survey is a serious matter, uncle, have you considered it?"

Wei Guangde kindly reminded.

"I have thought about it carefully, and I will go even if there are thousands of people."

Who knew that Zhang Juzheng's answer was very straightforward this time.

Wei Guangde stared at Zhang Juzheng for a long time without saying anything, and Zhang Juzheng also looked at him calmly.

Finally, Wei Guangde moved. He touched his beard under his forehead, which was not as beautiful as Zhang Juzheng's big beard.

Retracting his hand, Wei Guangde lowered his head slightly, looked away and said: "I will clearly oppose this matter.

For the rest, uncle, don't worry."

"Thank you."

Zhang Juzheng was not angry about Wei Guangde's words, but said meaningfully.

Wei Guangde waved his hand, "I don't have your courage, but I can protect people."

The meaning of the two people's words, just understand each other.

"Where do you plan to start?"

Just like the pilot of the "One Whip Law", it must be selected in one province first, and then it can be promoted nationwide.

In addition, the matter of land surveying must be put first. Only after the land surveying is completed can the "One Whip Law" be promoted nationwide.

"Fujian."

Zhang Juzheng directly said the place he had been thinking about for a while, but it made Wei Guangde change his face slightly.

The current left governor of Fujian is a laborious job, what do you want him to do?

"Fujian has a large population and a small land area, which is very representative."

Wei Guangde just whispered, but immediately continued: "Who does your uncle want to go there?

This matter is not trivial, and it is best to arrange people who act steadily. It is best to change the various prefectures."

Province, prefecture and county, this is the basic structure of the Ming Dynasty. Replacing the county with their own people can make things go more smoothly, but who has so many people in their pockets?

Besides, such a big move might cause a backlash in the court.

No one is a fool, and the appointment and removal of officials is very sensitive.

When Wei Guangde said this, Zhang Juzheng naturally knew that he wanted to completely remove himself.

But it doesn't matter.

"I haven't decided on the person yet, and I need to think about it carefully before I can decide."

Saying this to Wei Guangde today is actually a mutual test and a tacit understanding.

Zhang Juzheng has Fujian encircled, and since Wei Guangde wants to protect his affairs after his death, he will naturally not be involved.

Most of the Jiangxi officials in Fujian are afraid to be transferred.

The current Fujian governor Lao Kan is the same year as Wei Guangde, and the relationship is extraordinary, so he must move.

Wei Guangde should actually oppose the Fujian pilot, because Zhang Juzheng also knows that Wei Guangde has a deep layout in Fujian.

Not only did he let Lao Kan, a fellow villager and the same year, govern Fujian, but Kaihai was also there, and the deep meaning is self-evident.

But Zhang Juzheng couldn't find a more suitable place for other provinces in the Ming Dynasty.

In fact, there are also Shanxi and Shaanxi, but that is what Zhang Juzheng considers to be the rear base, so he did not want to offend his own people at the beginning.

Let them take a breath, and the second pilot will be chosen there.

Wei Guangde did not strongly oppose, which was actually a little beyond Zhang Juzheng's expectations, but this is also the best result.

Next, the two talked casually for a while, but they mostly discussed the recent changes in the inner and outer cities of Sijiu City.

Yes, Wang Zhiyuan's efficiency is indeed extraordinary. In the past few days, he has communicated with various departments and has begun to clean up the garbage and feces accumulated in Sijiu City.

Shuntian Prefecture has selected a place to build public toilets on all the streets in Sijiu City. In the future, the feces of the surrounding residents must be dumped there, and the government will send people to clean it regularly.

Next to the public toilet, there is also a designated garbage dump, which is also arranged by the government to transport people out of the city.

The people in the city are required to clean up the sanitation near their homes within a time limit and send all the garbage to the garbage dump.

The Ministry of Industry and Street Office has also begun to build new drainage ditches, focusing on the outer city, and the inner city is mainly to dredge the original ditches.

As for the main street, it was directly contracted to the street vendors, who were allowed to clean it themselves or hire people to do it. After the government reviewed it, the government was responsible for the daily maintenance of sanitation.

This was done to let them know that it costs money to do sanitation, so that they would not be so resistant to collecting sanitation fees in the future.

Although the city has been a bit chaotic recently, the sanitation situation in the city has indeed improved significantly.

"Wait a few days, everything will be done according to the rules, you will see, haha"

Wei Guangde smiled smugly.

Zhang Juzheng's reforms were definitely good for the Ming Dynasty, but the effect was slow, and there was great resistance, so the progress was also slow.

Most of the projects that Wei Guangde presided over were short-term, frequent and fast projects, and the results could be seen soon.

Naturally, this also had a great impact on his reputation.

Although at the beginning, when people knew that Wei Guangde was going to preside over the sanitation of the whole city, they opposed it fiercely and felt that it was asking for trouble.

Especially those merchants who were destined to pay money, the opposition was even greater.

But when the sanitation of the city is improved, the people who pay for it will definitely be unhappy, but the people should accept and recognize this policy.

After all, who doesn't want to live in a clean and hygienic city?

Since there is no business tax in the Ming Dynasty, all the expenses of the municipal government should be put on the merchants, which can be regarded as indirect business tax.

Suddenly, Wei Guangde felt that there seemed to be a way out.

That is, if the sanitation of Beijing is improved, will people outside the city want to run to the city and live in the city?

It seems that the real estate business of the Ming Dynasty can be started.

Wei Guangde silently recorded this matter in his heart, and later asked Zhang Ji to buy and hoard land everywhere.

Buying land, of course, does not mean buying fields. You will have to pay taxes in the future. The current high land prices are likely to fall.

But even so, Wei Guangde will not "leave the market on highs".

The price of the land may drop in the future, but so what, if you sell it today, you may not be able to buy it back tomorrow.

However, there seems to be a lot of open space in the city, especially in the outer city.

When the Jiajing Dynasty built the outer city, although the main streets in the south of the city were included, it also included a lot of open space and even some fields, which are still cultivated by people today.

Housing prices in inner cities are several times higher than those in outer cities for many reasons, but environment is also one of the important reasons.

A house that cost one or two hundred taels of silver in the outer city would cost a thousand taels even in a remote alley in the inner city. This is a huge gap.

It seems that with the increase in sanitary cities, Daming’s real estate industry has great potential.

Wei Guangde's mind soon wandered. He chatted with Zhang Juzheng for a while, then left the cabinet and left the imperial city. The sedan quickly returned to the mansion.

"Ask Zhang Ji to come see me."

As soon as he got off the sedan chair, Wei Guangde quickly ordered, and he went straight into the mansion and went to the study.

Not long after, Zhang Ji came over.

Usually, when Wei Guangde's sedan landed, he would greet him respectfully.

However, there was something going on in the house today, so he was delayed and didn't come.

Unexpectedly, a servant sent a message saying that the master wanted to see him immediately.

Zhang Ji lamented his misfortune and hurried over.

"Master, I am today"

Zhang Ji entered the study and spoke hurriedly, trying to explain why he didn't go to the door to greet him, but he was interrupted by Wei Guangde waving his hand as soon as he opened his mouth.

"How much money is there in the house now?"

"Um?"

Wei Guangde asked how much money his family had, which shocked Zhang Ji. This was the first time in history. The master had not asked about his family's wealth for many years.

"Master, I have more than 20,000 taels of silver in the house. I'm waiting for two months. There will be dividends at the end of the year. I guess there will be."

Zhang Ji began to ramble. Wei Guangde knew that the money at home was usually stored in two places, one was in the capital city and the other was in Jiujiang government. However, he was not asking about his family's background, so he waved his hand again.

“If you don’t have enough, go to various chambers of commerce and borrow some and use your dividends to pay for it.

The money from my hometown was also exchanged. "

Wei Guangde said that the exchange is actually to exchange with the owners of Jiangxi business houses, using money from the capital and surrounding areas to exchange money from his hometown in Jiangxi.

"You start tomorrow and buy all the houses and fields you can buy in the inner and outer cities. If you want the ones in the city, forget about the ones outside the city.

Not only the places in the capital, but people from Nanjing are also arranged to go there."

Wei Guangde immediately began to give orders. He was to be the charterer of the new era of the Ming Dynasty.