The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"For good loans, the palace has approved the matter of clearing my father-in-law."

Walking into Wei Guangde's check-in room, Zhang Juzheng told him the reason for his visit this time.

"Is this why uncle and eldest brother went to Ciqing Palace today?"

Wei Guangde asked happily.

If Zhang Siwei were here, he wouldn't have such an expression, but now that there are only two of them in the room, they naturally don't need to show off their acting skills.

"Yes, I heard from Shuanglin that the empress has summoned many people these days to discuss this matter."

Zhang Juzheng started to talk eloquently. Although his memorial only proposed to clear land in Fujian, he did not say that other provinces in the Ming Dynasty should clear land. But people outside were not fools and understood.

Wei Guangde did not hide anything from those who came to Wei Guangde's mansion to inquire about the news, nor did he take the initiative to mention it. They all told it themselves.

Zhang Juzheng, on the other hand, was still secretive. He only said that the number of acres reported in Fujian was too small, so he wanted to check.

In fact, it was just a cover-up. When the outside world first spread this story, it meant that all parts of the country had to clear their fields one after another and reorganize the fish scale register.

"It's better to approve it earlier, so as to avoid so many people running to the house all day long, haha."

Wei Guangde said with a smile, "Every night these days, there is an endless stream of guests in the house, and they all talk about this, and I am salivating."

"How did you respond to Shandai? Did you agree?"

Zhang Juzheng asked with a smile.

"Haha, uncle is still worried."

Wei Guangde smiled and then said seriously: "Although my family has a few acres of farmland, I still know what is right and what is wrong.

Qingzhang's land is good for the court, just to pay more taxes. In fact, I have never supported the idea of ​​using soil to accumulate wealth.

It is true that the stable output of land can accumulate wealth, but that thing is too slow.

Regardless of the current high land prices in the south and Gyeonggi Province, the harvest you can get every year is really not much.

On the contrary, building workshops and developing commerce are the fastest ways to make money.

Unfortunately, it is difficult for the court to collect commercial taxes on a large scale.

Of course, I am not saying that land is unimportant. On the contrary, land is the cornerstone of national stability.

Of the 60 million people in Ming Dynasty, 90% of them work in the fields for food. Only if they can live a stable life can the long-term peace and stability of the country be achieved.

However, think about the Southern Song Dynasty. Only half of the country supported 80 million people. Didn't it rely on the emphasis on agriculture and commerce?

Most of the court's finances and taxes come from industry and commerce.

It can be seen from this that a country will not be stable without agriculture and will not prosper without business. "

Wei Guangde Balabala said a lot, and Zhang Juzheng kept nodding his head as he listened, especially the last two sentences, which felt a bit enlightening to Zhang Juzheng.

Zhang Juzheng nodded slightly and couldn't help but murmured: "A country is unstable without farmers and prosperous without business.

Shandai's words can be regarded as a true insight, saying that my heart has gone up.

I was somewhat aware of this meaning before, but I only felt it. It was only after hearing these few words that I finally understood it. "

At this point, Zhang Juzheng pointed at Wei Guangde and said, "I'm just saying that you have been colluding with those businessmen, and you have been encouraging those nobles to do business.

I heard before that you told them not to keep their eyes on the land. They couldn’t make much money from that thing. I didn’t believe it at first, but now I believe it. "

"Haha, it's just casual talk. Uncle, please don't be weird."

Wei Guangde said with a smile.

Wei Guangde is keen on doing business not to set himself up as a role model, but to make money in his own pocket.

Preaching to others is just a matter of course, it is not what Zhang Juzheng thought, passing on his successful experience.

I have become a big landlord, so why should I preach to others?

"As for businessmen, Shandai must have already considered it."

Zhang Juzheng had only thought of reforming the imperial government's maladministration before. Among them, how to reduce the burden on the people and increase the state's use had always been Zhang Juzheng's hard thinking.

Now after listening to Wei Guangde's words, he has realized that Wei Guangde's support for clearing land and implementing the one-whip method was intended to stabilize agriculture and have only a small impact on increasing the country's income.

And the "promoting business" he talked about was probably the focus of Wei Guangde's increase in state use.

Wei Guangde looked at Zhang Juzheng and saw that he was also staring at him. He subconsciously glanced at the door and thought about how he had asked Lu Bu to guard outside. It’s settled, but the tax laws are extremely unreasonable.

But it cannot be tampered with, so I think if we really want to do it, we can only find some way at the dental stores and collect dental taxes in the circulation of goods. "

In Ming Dynasty's business, if it was not smuggling, it could be said that no matter where the goods were sold, they were mostly sold through local tooth shops.

Even if you are a regular customer, the dental store will know when the goods arrive. The goods will be sent directly to the trading company, and the dental store will also have to report and pay a share of the money.

The tooth shop in the Ming Dynasty was so domineering, because the tooth shop had such great influence on the government and local governments.

If we look at Yahang from the perspective of commodity economy, it is completely an organization that bullies and dominates the market. It monopolizes local commodity transactions by paying the government "ya tax" every year.

But it is this kind of organization that can get money from businessmen.

Even if there are dignitaries or even clan members standing behind the businessman, the businessman still has to bow his head and pay money to the local tooth shop.

It's just the difference between paying more and less money, it all depends on the relationship.

That's right, Yaxing is a local snake.

For many officials, the Yahang is actually a low-class business, but it is just an organization established by Taizu to continue, and they are not easy to move.

Moreover, if you want to get money in the local area, you really need them.

"Collecting taxes through the Yahang, this needs to be carefully considered."

Zhang Juzheng knew what kind of people the Yahang were. If the right to collect taxes was delegated to them, it might cause a big storm, so he hesitated immediately.

"I actually don't want to use the current Yahang, but to reorganize the Yahang and make it a government office of the Ministry of Revenue to collect taxes in the local area, and all the people in the Yahang will be included in it.

Since it is a government office, the officials are naturally dispatched by the Ministry of Personnel of the court."

In fact, Wei Guangde wanted to break the current Ming Dynasty officialdom model and establish a real "tax bureau" under the vertical management of the Ministry of Revenue to collect taxes on goods.

If you directly send people to set up this government office, you will definitely not be able to collect money. Think about the troubles that Emperor Wanli and Wei Zhongxian did to collect commercial taxes.

Directly take the low-class people in the pawnshops to the tax office as minions. Although these people will certainly do evil and harm the public for their own benefit in the local area after becoming officials, there will be no fish in the clear water, and it cannot be prohibited.

As long as the big head can be handed over and sent to the Ministry of Revenue to increase the national expenditure, it will be fine.

Let them fight those "cunning" businessmen, and the court will only accept money.

"Of course, it is because many details have not been thought out that I have not said this matter."

Wei Guangde smiled and said in a low voice.

"Okay, then Shandai has a clue about this matter, why don't we sit down and discuss it.

I came here this time just to ask if Shandai has any other suggestions for the land survey.

If there is, you might as well say it now, so that we can prepare for the rainy day."

Zhang Juzheng said with a smile.

The palace nodded today, and I believe that the approved memorials will be returned to the cabinet later.

But the more time passes, the heavier the burden on Zhang Juzheng's shoulders is, and he cannot afford any omissions.

I came to Wei Guangde, first to inform him in advance, and second to see if Wei Guangde has anything else to say.

"The big ones are almost the same, it's just the survey of Fujian, even if there are omissions, it's easy to solve."

Wei Guangde thought about it and smiled.

Zhang Juzheng nodded slightly when he heard it.

"But."

When Zhang Juzheng nodded, he suddenly heard Wei Guangde say these two words, his heart tightened, and he looked at Wei Guangde nervously.

"But, Fujian is a simple place, and there are no big households. I think the survey should be smooth, and it's appropriate for my uncle to choose this place.

But once it's pushed forward, Guangdong and Zhejiang are nothing more than some local big households, but in Henan, Shandong and other places where there are vassal princes' mansions, what should be done with the fields of those vassal princes' mansions?

Should the fields of the vassal princes' mansions be measured or not?"

Wei Guangde asked in a low voice.

Zhang Juzheng had never mentioned this matter before, and Wei Guangde hadn't thought of it.

Perhaps, they had already determined in their hearts that the fields of the princely mansions were exempted from tax by the emperor's decree because of the system, so they naturally did not need to be measured, and even if they were measured, no tax could be collected.

But Wei Guangde's question now had a different meaning.

"What do you think about Shandai? Just tell me."

Zhang Juzheng had never considered the fields of the princely mansions before, because they were all tax-free. What he considered most was actually avoiding places with many gentry families, so he chose the relatively poor Fujian as a pilot.

Other places such as Zhejiang and Nanzhili were just done according to the Fujian measurement method.

The gentry's fields should be taxed, and it was not much.

But these taxes were collected together and sent to the Ministry of Revenue, which would be of great use to the court.

Filling the previous deficits and establishing a certain amount of reserves to deal with emergencies would benefit both the country and the people.

"The land granted to the princes was already decreed, so it is not exempt from tax.

But the land purchased by the princes later is not granted land. Whether it should also enjoy tax exemption treatment, Shandai thinks it needs to be considered.

Of course, the court's top priority now is to promote the survey of Fujian. Fortunately, there is no prince's mansion in Fujian, so this problem does not exist.

But other provinces do have it, so I think it might be better to make a decision earlier."

Wei Guangde finally felt better after saying what he meant.

That group of clan members occupied so many fields, which really made people uncomfortable.

Zhang Juzheng understood the meaning of Wei Guangde's words and couldn't help but bow his head to think.

Granting land and annexing land cannot be treated the same, this is actually what Wei Guangde meant.

But this matter needs to be decided in the palace, and the cabinet can only propose it.

But Wei Guangde also said that it is best to take it slowly, for fear of delaying the current major event.

Officials were somewhat dissatisfied with this, and if the royal family was involved, it was not impossible that the land survey would fail.

"The palace and the court have the records of the land granted by the royal palace, and they can be checked at any time."

Zhang Juzheng frowned slightly and said, "What about the other lands? Does Shandai mean to collect taxes?"

"If we don't collect taxes, let alone those who donated land, the royal palaces in various places will continue to buy land on a large scale, and the national expenditure will still decrease in the end.

Besides, if taxes are levied on the land purchased by the royal palace, it will at least prevent them from always staring at the land and thinking of other ways to make money.

This is true for the royal family and the nobles.

As long as the amount of land awarded by Your Majesty is controlled, the national expenditure will be guaranteed."

Wei Guangde whispered.

He once again revealed that taxing the land purchased by the royal family may slow down the annexation of land by clans and nobles.

Zhang Juzheng is in a bit of a dilemma now. It is actually very difficult for Wei Guangde to give this advice.

In fact, Zhang Juzheng had never considered taking action against the clan when clearing the land. After all, involving those vassal kings would complicate matters.

It's not that he can't offend princes or princes, it's just that he doesn't want to cause trouble.

But in Wei Guangde's opinion, it is not the case. The one who dares to take action against the clan today is Zhang Juzheng.

Regardless of whether Zhang Juzheng deliberately did what happened to the King of Liao, at least when outsiders talk about it, they think it was the result of Zhang Juzheng's secret manipulation.

In other words, Zhang Juzheng may not even realize that he already has a very strong deterrent effect on the clans of the Ming Dynasty.

That was the vassal palace of the King of Liao, Zhu Yuanzhang's son, and he would be killed as soon as he was told.

If someone else brought it up, those feudal kings would dare to rush up and bite them.

But if Zhang Juzheng proposed it, those vassal kings would be afraid that they would just beg for mercy and would not dare to say "no" at all.

Because they were all worried about offending Zhang Juzheng and following in the footsteps of King Liao.

In Wei Guangde's eyes, perhaps it would be best to make full use of Zhang Juzheng's intimidation while he was still there, to control the expansion of the Ming vassal kings and avoid the subsequent incident of tens of thousands of hectares of land being occupied.

Even if the vassal kings at that time continued to annex land wantonly, they would still pay taxes according to regulations, but if the landowners changed, the court would not lose a penny of income, and the Ming Dynasty would not be reduced to the point where the economy collapsed and the Central Plains was usurped by foreign races.

"Fortunately, there is still time, let me think about this matter again."

Zhang Juzheng did not refuse, because he also saw that this proposal was actually very reasonable.

The land granted by the feudal prince's palace remains unchanged, but taxes are imposed on the newly purchased fields by the prince's palace, which seems reasonable and reasonable.

As Wei Guangde said, if the land is cleared today, what if the landowners donate the land to the clan tomorrow?

Did he really avoid this tax?

In this case, what's the point of clearing the land?

Zhang Juzheng suddenly realized that if he failed to handle the matter of his father-in-law, which he had previously thought was very wise, he might have laid the foundation for the restoration of the Ming Dynasty.

It has to be said that the intensification of land annexation by clans and nobles during the Wanli period was not only the connivance of the Wanli Emperor, but also related to some omissions in Zhang Juzheng's reforms.

"Yeah, luckily I have time."

Zhang Juzheng whispered.

After saying that, Zhang Juzheng stood up and said to Wei Guangde: "I will think about it carefully when I go back. I was indeed negligent in this matter." ’

At this time, Zhang Juzheng's face was already extremely ugly.

"Brother, you and I have neglected this matter before. If I hadn't mentioned the fields at home yesterday, I wouldn't have thought of it."

Wei Guangde still helped him excuse himself.

Zhang Juzheng nodded and said: "Shandai, please think more carefully about this matter and see if there are other ways to prevent it."

Hearing this, Wei Guangde nodded slightly. (End of chapter)