The Prosperous Era of Longwan

I don’t know if it was an illusion, but after Wei Guangde asked Yu Dayou to hand over the seizures in Toungoo City, Myanmar, to the national treasury, Zhang Juzheng seemed to have a flash of relief in his eyes.

However, regardless of whether it was premeditated or not, the Ming army's seizures in Myanmar cannot be embezzled by a few military leaders, and any amount must be handed back.

Not to mention the censor who accompanied the army and was responsible for supervising the army, there were also unknown number of spies arranged by the Jin Yiwei in the army, who were constantly staring at several generals who held heavy troops.

You have to pay it in the morning and evening, and it’s impossible not to leave any soup or water behind.

That's why Wei Guangde said this so simply.

I guess Yu Dayou should have divided up the seizures long ago.

"Myanmar is a small country and the people are poor. Even if the king of Myanmar's house was ransacked, how much would be confiscated."

However, Wang Guoguang still added, but Zhang Siwei immediately intercepted him and said: "It is always an income, and it is good to make up for the financial deficit of the imperial court.

Besides, by using Burmese land as a reward for the soldiers, a lot of reward money can be saved, and the pressure on the Ministry of Revenue will not be so great.

When Myanmar is completely calmed down, the mineral deposits there can also be sold for a lot of money.

As far as I know, Myanmar’s gem mines are quite famous, and the palace regularly goes there to purchase them, which is another source of income.

Therefore, even if the money from Chang Yingku is temporarily borrowed, it will be quickly repaid in the coming year. "

"That's just a one-time income. The imperial court will station troops in Myanmar in the future. No matter how many soldiers and horses are obtained, the imperial court's money will not have to be invested in it."

Wang Guoguang still muttered dissatisfiedly.

This was one of the reasons why Ming officials were unwilling to continue to expand outward during this period, because in their view, although the surrounding land was vast, it was barren and could not collect much tax.

Maybe they can't even afford the military expenses for the garrison, and in the end the government will have to allocate money to pay for it.

Take Liaodong, for example. Although it has been developed, the Ming Dynasty court still issued money and food subsidies from time to time. Just more than ten years ago, the court also provided money and food subsidies for several years to relieve the people trapped in Liaodong due to disasters.

However, these things that were not worth mentioning in the eyes of civil servants were actually the result of poor management by the court in Wei Guangde's view.

If it is true that the cost cannot be recovered in Myanmar, the British will take over that place after eating too much, and it will take a hundred years to consolidate their rule there.

In the final analysis, it is still a problem with the Ming Dynasty's fiscal system, and the tax revenue that should be collected cannot be raised.

Of course, not collecting these taxes seems to have many benefits for Wei Guangde.

At the very least, he is not evading taxes now.

“In Myanmar, the cabinet will consider the issue of continuing operations, and the Ministry of Labour and Household Affairs will not bother.

Even if a reverse subsidy is needed, it will be made up from Yunnan first. If it is not enough, it will be made up from the southwestern provinces.

As far as I know, the southwest pig province is far away, and the taxes sent to Nanjing every year suffer a lot of losses.

Subsidizing nearby Myanmar can also save a lot of people's labor. "

Wei Guangde said immediately, blocking Wang Guangguang's mouth.

"Shaloan, Mr. Wang is also working hard for the country, so please say less."

Zhang Juzheng spoke at this time, but then his face became serious and said: "Now that the country is in dire straits, the court really needs to find a solution.

Originally, the taxes paid by the provinces to the court this year were finally sufficient, and the previous tax arrears were also paid with remarkable results.

Mr. Wang told me a few days ago that the Ministry of Revenue should have some surplus this year. This is the first time in more than ten years.

But now everyone knows that because of the river construction, this year's surplus is probably impossible, and the court is still in the red.

So I was thinking about whether clearing the land to increase the tax revenue of the imperial court, and at the same time complete the implementation of the local whipping law through clearing the land, could we try it out in Fujian. "

Zhang Juzheng's words immediately caused Zhang Siwei and Wang Guoguang to nod in agreement. Wei Guangde was stunned, and immediately understood that Zhang Juzheng had asked Wang Guangguang to come to the household department to make a fuss. It turned out that he was coming to Qingzhang's field in Fujian.

Thinking about it, it has been several months since Zhang Juzheng prepared this matter. Fujian's officialdom has changed a lot. From the chief envoy to the inspector general has been replaced by his people, it can really be pushed forward.

To put it bluntly, the Qingzhang Tiandi should be supervised by the Inspector General and the Inspector Yushi, but it also needs the support of the Governor and the Chief Envoy.

What happened in the cabinet today will definitely be spread out later, so Wei Guangde must not nod immediately at this time.

So, he said: "Master Chief Assistant, the matter of clearing Zhang's land has too great an impact. Should we be more cautious and think about it again, or convene a court meeting to allow more people to participate in the discussion."

Wei Guangde's title changed now and he spoke extremely seriously.

However, Zhang Juzheng seemed to have expected it, and he immediately smiled and said: "Shaloan, you know the financial problems of the imperial court. If you can't find a way to increase the imperial tax, it will be difficult to support it.

If you have other ways to increase the court's financial revenue, the matter of clearing the father-in-law can naturally be suppressed. "

After hearing that he was asked to find ways to increase the court's financial revenue, Wei Guangde certainly had an idea in mind, but it was even more inconvenient to say.

After hesitating for a moment, Wei Guangde continued: "However, the matter of clearing the father-in-law's land is a big one. Should we discuss it with the court before reporting it?"

"When the memorial is submitted, both those who support and those who oppose it will submit the memorial. When the time comes, we will know the attitude of our colleagues through the memorial.

When a court meeting is held, the ministers express their opinions, but they may not be able to explain clearly. It is better to submit the memorial directly and each person writes a memorial, which may be able to express his opinions more clearly.

At that time, we can see clearly who supports and who opposes the policy based on the memorials.

In fact, even if there are many opponents, it will not affect the implementation of this policy. The most important thing is to find a solution.

If the opposition is reasonable and a solution can be proposed, it is naturally feasible. I will give up this policy and support it instead. "

Zhang Juzheng said it very well. In order to raise the reasons against the land survey, he had to find a way to help the court increase revenue. In this era, it was absolutely impossible to find a way within the circle that had been drawn.

Unless he dared to break the rules set by Zhu Yuanzhang, which was the so-called ancestral system.

However, if it was really that easy, Wei Guangde would have proposed a way to increase commercial taxes long ago.

In fact, Wei Guangde had always considered increasing the ya tax and collecting taxes through the yahang during the circulation of goods, but Wei Guangde had not planned to say it out loud until now.

Nothing else, once it was said, if Zhang Juzheng took a fancy to it, history might have changed.

The focus of Zhang Juzheng's reform was actually the performance evaluation system and the land survey, and he implemented the Yitiaobian system based on this result. This was the focus of Zhang Juzheng's reform.

The most significant effect of the introduction of these policies was to improve the financial revenue of the Ming court. In the current situation.

The annual taxes can be completed and submitted on time, and the previous arrears have been cleared.

In particular, the introduction of the performance evaluation system directly eliminated the bad habits of delaying taxes for various reasons in the past.

There is no way, only by completing the taxes can the official hat be kept.

Local officials certainly understand that money is more important or official hat is more important, so the previous situation of colluding with gentry and wealthy families to privately divide taxes has almost been eliminated in the local area.

That is, the military settlement system under the Ming Dynasty Wei Suo system was abandoned, otherwise the Ming Dynasty’s finances should actually have been fundamentally improved at this time.

Because the military settlements were abandoned, in order to support the millions of troops in the world, the court could only allocate silver to subsidize military expenses, and there were other expenses, so the finances were still difficult.

"In the 26th year of Hongwu, there were 8.49 million hectares of farmland in the country, and only 4.2281 million hectares remained during the Hongzhi period.

The amount of land in the world has been reduced by more than half, and Huguang, Henan, and Guangdong have lost more. If it is not allocated to the royal palace, it will be concealed by the cunning people. Guangdong has no vassal government, so it is either concealed or abandoned to the bandits.

Although the figure of 8 million hectares in the Hongwu Dynasty is quite controversial, it is said that local officials in Huguang included many lake fields, retreated beaches, wastelands, and mountainous lands that cannot grow grains in the land figures, which led to the great expansion of Huguang's land data during the Hongwu period.

But the number of acres of land has been decreasing since then, which is too strange. For so many years, it is said that even if the wasteland reclaimed in various places cannot reach 8 million hectares, it should be only more than 3 million hectares. It can only be said that the number of acres of land has long been distorted.

If the land is not surveyed again, I am afraid that those people below are too bold, and my great Ming Dynasty may not even have 3 million hectares of land. "

Zhang Juzheng said solemnly.

Wei Guangde certainly knew the reason for the discrepancy, which was different from what later generations thought. After all, the land could not disappear out of thin air. How could there be 8 million hectares of land in the early Ming Dynasty, but only 4 million in the Hongzhi and Jiajing Dynasties?

In fact, it was not that the local government directly reduced the number, but that the land was divided according to the system of the Ming Dynasty.

What does it mean? That is, the Ming Dynasty divided the land into different levels, with the original intention of equalizing the land.

After all, the land is divided into rich and poor, and we can't expect to make the inferior land and the superior land equal. The output of the land is the same as that of the land of the lower grade.

If the tax is levied on a per-acre basis, the output of the lower grade land in a year may not even be enough to pay the tax.

Therefore, the Ming Dynasty stipulated that the land should be calculated according to the grade of the land and the area.

For example, land is generally divided into four levels, and the tax is 2 liters per mu. The area of ​​the first-grade land is 30 steps per mu, the second-grade land is 40 steps, the third-grade land is 50 steps, and the lowest-grade land is 60 steps per mu.

In other words, the area of ​​the fourth-grade land is actually twice that of the first-grade land.

The same is true for the fields. The upper fields are 190 steps, and the lower fields are 300 steps. The annual tax on rice is 5 liters.

Therefore, when local officials in the Ming Dynasty changed the high-quality farmland to low-quality farmland, the number of registered farmland in the local area would be greatly reduced.

After several dynasties, the number of farmland was still the same, but the number of registered farmland in the court was greatly reduced, even less than half of the original area.

The land was still the same, but the grade of the farmland was different, so the number of registered farmland was changing.

To put it bluntly, the policies formulated by Zhu Yuanzhang were very good, but some clauses were too ambiguous, or the change of executors caused many policies to be distorted and deformed, and became a means for some lawless people to make profits.

Changing farmland, etc. The level is not only operated by local clerks, but also caused by the dereliction of duty of local officials.

In addition to discovering hidden fields, the most important thing about Zhang Juzheng's land survey is actually to reclassify the land levels and restore the number of land in the court.

It is said that after Zhang Juzheng's land survey, the registered land in the Ming Dynasty increased to more than 11 million hectares. In addition to the original 8 million hectares in the early Ming Dynasty, the newly added 3 million hectares should be the newly reclaimed land in the past 100 years.

"What the chief minister said is very true, and Shandai also agrees, but this matter is of great importance. If it is not discussed in the court, the consequences will be unpredictable."

Wei Guangde still insisted.

"Sir Wei, Wei Ge Lao, Zhang Shoufu is the old minister's words for the country, why are you making excuses?"

Wang Guoguang interrupted at this time, "Now the court only relies on these 3 million hectares for support every year, and it has long been out of money.

I think it would be good to survey the land and check the family assets of our Ming Dynasty to see how much tax grain should be paid every year.

8 million hectares and 3 million hectares, these are not small numbers. How many civilians have to bear extra taxes because of this, which has led to their wives and children being separated and their families being broken up.

I think it is good to survey the land, and we should also issue an order to survey the land as soon as possible to relieve the people's hardship. This is what we officials should do. "

Zhang Siwei also nodded: "What Lord Wang said is very true. If there are really 8 million hectares of land in the world, the civilians will bear twice as much tax. It is no wonder that the people's strength has declined in recent years.

Lord Wei, we officials should make decisions for the people. I support surveying the land and relieving the people's hardship. "

"Shandai, what do you think?"

Zhang Juzheng also looked at Wei Guangde at this time and asked slowly.

"Since all the adults have this view, Shandai will become a sinner who harms the people if he continues to oppose it.

If all the adults want to make a memorial, it's up to you. Shandai will also make a memorial to discuss this matter on his own. "

Wei Guangde looked around at everyone and finally spoke.

But that expression, at this moment, was like that of a wronged young wife.

Wei Guangde knew that with the spread of the cabinet's discussion today, the struggle in the Ming Dynasty court was probably about to begin.

Wei Guangde didn't know how much trouble Zhang Juzheng had gone through to force the matter to be completed, but he knew how to express his position.

When he came out of the prime minister's duty room with a dissatisfied look on his face, he returned to his duty room, just picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip, and immediately yelled to the outside: "Lu Bu, you are a waste, the tea is cold and you don't even change it for me. "

Soon, Lu Bu hurried into the room, bowed and saluted, and hurriedly picked up the teacup on the table and walked out to replace the newly brewed tea for Wei Guangde.

Just now, there was a lot of noise in the duty room of the Prime Minister, and many secretaries and clerks gathered outside to listen.

When Wei Guangde went out angrily, they had already scattered like birds and beasts.

But Lu Bu didn't dare to follow him in when he was outside the duty room, but he didn't want to escape.

However, after Lu Bu ran out of the duty room, Wei Guangde's mouth was smiling. Smile.

It was all for outsiders to see. Wei Guangde felt that his acting skills seemed to be okay. He didn't hear someone outside the door teasing Lu Bu.

The Ming Dynasty court really had no impenetrable walls. In just half a day, the scene that happened in the cabinet spread throughout the officialdom.

In the corridor, Wei Guangde was walking out and met Chen Ju holding a whisk.

Well, this seems to be the standard image of eunuchs.

"Brother Wei, I heard that the Prime Minister wants to survey the land? "

Wei Guangde just nodded slightly, then lowered his voice and said: 'Brother, if your family has land, tell your family members not to try to hide it, lest you be killed as an example.

However, this matter should only be done in Fujian in the next two years, and will be promoted later. Northern Zhili should be implemented next year or the year after.

Alas, there is not much time left.

The Prime Minister insisted, and I can't do anything.'

Wei Guangde knew that Chen Ju had purchased a lot of land in Tongzhou for his family in his hometown, so he said one more word.

But when I go back today, I'm afraid the mansion will not be quiet for the next two days. (End of this chapter)