The Prosperous Era of Longwan

In the Ming Dynasty, the implementation of the nationwide one-whip method began in the ninth year of Jiajing. The earliest implementation was in Nanzhili and Zhejiang provinces with heavy taxes and levies, followed by Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi.

But at this time, it was only limited to certain prefectures, states, and counties, and was not generally implemented.

Since the reform of taxes and servitude affected the economic interests of the officials, gentry and landlords, there was great resistance and progress was slow in the beginning.

But even so, the people of Yingtian Shifu are also aware of the one-whip law. After all, their prefecture and county were still enforcing this tax law maybe two years ago.

But later, for some unknown reason, it suddenly stopped being implemented.

Whether it works or not, these things are really far away from the common people, and they don't understand them, but the pros and cons of implementing this method on their lives are still clear.

The temples are so high and the rivers and lakes are so far away that the common people don’t know. However, after the government officials once again came to each village to publicize that the imperial court would resume the implementation of the One Whip Law to collect taxes, the people generally supported it. After all, the contrast before and after the implementation was very obvious and convenient. many.

Although the taxes to be paid have not decreased, the collection will be completed twice a year, instead of more than ten times a year, the government will urge you to pay various taxes. The names of the taxes are also various, not to mention the common people and official officials. It must be made clear.

"My lord, are you talking about this tax being levied like it was originally, after two years and then no more, or will it continue to be levied like this?"

"Yes, sir, I remember that a few years ago, when Mr. Hu was here, we kept him like this for more than a year. Then Mr. Hu was transferred away, and things changed immediately."

"Yes, yes, I remember that once Mr. Hu leaves, it will no longer be used. Is it still the way we collect taxes now? Will it change back in the future?"

In a larger village, a group of ragged villagers gathered around an official, chattering and asking questions.

Feeling a little annoyed by the noise, the official shouted impatiently: "Stop, stop, shut up.

What will happen in the future is a matter for the imperial court and the gentlemen to consider. It is not yours to say.

Besides, let’s move on to this now. How do I know how long this one-whip method will last?

It’s not just what the eldest master ordered, I’ll just say it.

To be honest, it is convenient for us to collect taxes this way. Who would be willing to come down dozens of times a year just to collect something? "

After shouting at the people, although the people around him did not immediately disperse, they unconsciously took a few steps back, leaving a not-so-small space beside the official.

At this time, the official said to an old man next to him who was wearing a slightly decent dress: "Chief Qin, I'm coming down this time. That's what happened. Now the Yamen has to do what Mr. Hu did at that time." Do you remember tax collection, right?”

"Remember, just come to the village and I will do a good job."

Chief Qin Jia was also from this village. At this moment, he nodded and bowed to the yamen servants photographed by the county yamen.

"Look at these people in Qinmen Village. They ask so many questions. No wonder their clothes are so shabby. If you have time to ask questions, you might as well weave two more feet of cloth and dress decently.

You just have to do whatever the court wants to collect taxes. It's convenient for you, but it's not convenient for us either. "

The official glanced at the surrounding villagers and said with disdain.

"Yes, yes, Mr. Cha is right, these villagers are just lazy and lazy all day long, that's why they live like this.

If their little land had listened to me and given it to Mr. Xu to be a tenant with peace of mind, it would have been so troublesome. Mr. Cha, don’t you think so? "

The commander said again.

"Qin Jia is still a wise man, but now my master's mind has changed again, and I can't say anything like surrender.

The first few villages found out that they have returned to this situation. How can people who have just dedicated their lives for just two years regret it? Haha.

I just said, what are you crying about? Maybe it will change back after two years. What is there to cry about? Do you think you are right?

They are all farmers anyway, so what does the little land in their hands mean?

Mr. Xu kindly took over your land without even looking at it, and even let you farm the same land as you did back home. What else do you expect?

Just farm the land with peace of mind. You really think you can dig out a golden baby from the soil. If someone really takes a small amount of land, you will have to cry and beg to give it away in two years. "

The official said with a joking smile. Apparently he had done some shady things in the past, and he seemed to have a very open mind about the following things.

Indeed, what he said was correct. Those who listened to him and donated their land deeds and household registers now live a simple life even though they no longer have the land inherited from their families.

As long as you pay the rent every year, you don't have to worry about anything.

If all the farmers in this area gave away their land, he wouldn't have to come here this time. Who would want to go to this remote place?

"Okay, let's clean up. I have to rush back to the county to do some work."

The official looked at the farmers around him with a look of contempt on his face.

"Master, the village has prepared a small gift, I will send it to you right now."

The commander hurriedly smiled and waved to his son behind him, gesturing for him to go back to the thing.

"How embarrassing is this? It will cost Brother Qin a lot of money when we come back."

The officer pretended to decline, and now the title had changed. It was no longer so blunt, but instead he was called "brother" affectionately.

"Master Cha took the trouble to come to our small village. It's already hard work, and there isn't much good stuff in the village, just some local specialties. I hope Master Cha will accept it."

"Okay, okay, stop talking. Then I'll accept it shamelessly. Seeing how polite you are, it seems like it's my fault if you don't accept it."

The official and the yamen servant were talking and laughing before walking out of the crowd and walking out of the village. There was a donkey tied under a big tree at the head of the village.

Not long after, poultry such as chickens and ducks were tied to the donkey's back. The official just bowed his hands to Qin Jia, untied the reins, climbed on the donkey's back, and rode on the donkey, humming a little tune and swaying. gone.

In the past two days, the people of Yingtian Mansion also began to talk about it, pointing out the "One Whip Method" that was suddenly introduced.

Of course, most people with land and households support this tax law, because although their burden will be slightly heavier after the implementation of this law, they no longer have to worry about being sent to work for labor, which is the root cause of family ruin.

Although they support this law, they are also worried that like before, it will be repealed after one or two years of implementation and return to the original method of taxation. They also have to remind the village chiefs and village chiefs to be careful and cautious. Big shot.

As for the officials in the yamen, they are still a little far away, so they are not too worried.

For those who have already donated their land, they naturally hope that this method will end soon, because they have lost money.

Our land was given to others, at least on the surface. The title deed was in someone else's name, and we could only continue farming. The reason for this was not because we had a bad relationship with the head of Jia and the head of the village, and we were worried about being exploited. He was sent to do corvée service and died in a foreign land.

Although the land was given away, the annual land rent paid was actually only slightly heavier than that of homesteaders, but it seemed acceptable to no longer have to worry about corvee service.

However, if the court really implements this law for a long time in the future, it will be a bit of a loss.

After all, the most important thing is that their identities have changed after the donation.

Not only did he lose his nominal land ownership, but he also lost his household registration and became a slave of his master's family. If his family could produce a promising child, he would not be able to take part in the imperial examination. This would be a disgrace to his ancestors.

What is completely different from the views of later generations on farmers in this era is that although the people of the Ming Dynasty as a whole suffered various "exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes", the overall living standard was not as low as imagined.

Every farm family will send their children to elementary school when they are eight or nine years old. They will study in private schools for one or two years so that they can read a few words and at least be able to write their own names.

The awareness that "everything is of inferior quality, only reading is of high quality" is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

If the private school teacher says that the child is talented, then he will sell the iron to support his child's education until he can no longer afford it, just to bet on the single-plank bridge of the imperial examination, hoping that his child can fight his way out of the thousands of troops and win the exam. The honor of being a Jinshi, and finally becoming an official, completely changed the fate of the family.

The reason why Jiangnan has such a prosperous culture is because the folk customs are like this. Everyone is willing to let their children study for a bright future, and even sell their houses and land to gamble on the future of the whole family.

Of course, there are only a few such families after all, and private school teachers will not lie unconscionably and trick children who have no talent for reading into private schools to study for the sake of a small amount of cultivation every year, saying that Wenquxing will come to earth.

They are all people with fame, so they still need to have face.

Accepting too many incompetent disciples will result in few being able to obtain even the title of scholar, and they will feel embarrassed in front of their classmates and friends.

For teachers who open private schools, their path to fame is hopeless, so they place their hopes on their children and bachelors. The requirements for bachelors are naturally more demanding than excessive.

At this time, those families who donated their land will sadly find that their children cannot take the imperial examination because they are slaves of the master. Even if the master has good intentions and allows his children to take the exam, they must be in the name of the master. In the name of the children of the family.

Ever since, their hearts began to change.

In order for their children to get ahead, some families will start to make trouble against the main family, hoping to unite the power of more people to change something together.

The land deed has been renamed, so there is no need for extravagant expectations. However, as long as you file a complaint with the government, even if you cannot get the land back, at least you want to change the slave relationship with the owner's family into a tenant relationship and restore your household registration. This will allow your children to read.

Officially, when the ten prefectures of Yingtian and the subordinate states and counties began to vigorously convey to the people the implementation of the "One Whip Law" policy, the people among the people also began to spontaneously join forces.

Of course, those who participate in the series are those families who donated their land and committed themselves as servants in the early years. The most active among them are naturally those whose families have people who study and whose husbands think they have a talent for reading.

However, all this has just begun. Although there are some actions below, it is not completely out of control. Everyone still understands the changes in the court's policies through various channels.

It wasn't until a few days later that they found out that Jiangxi had received permission from the court last year to start piloting the one-whip method across the province, and that the court seemed to be planning to implement it nationwide, did their hearts, which had been ready to take action, become completely heated up.

One after another, the petitions flew into the county and government offices. Whether they were the county magistrate or the prefect, they all knew the details. If such petitions were handed to them in ordinary times, they would just throw them away and ignore them. I wouldn’t give it a second glance, but things are different now.

Who is Governor Yingtian?

That was the famous Hai Rui, the man who dared to carry a coffin and admonish Emperor Jiajing. He scolded the emperor and traitorous ministers in a memorial and had no regard for life or death.

When he was in office in Jiangxi and Zhejiang, he cracked down on tyrants, dredged rivers, built water conservancy projects, advocated severe punishment of corrupt officials, banned accepting bribes for personal gain, and implemented a whip law to force the gentry to return their fields to the people, thus earning him the reputation of "Haiqingtian" .

Well, it seems that these kinds of complaints are not uncommon in Chun'an and Xingguo. If you pretend to be stupid at this time, you will be in trouble.

Even if the officials were afraid of the gentry, they were more worried about Hai Rui at this time.

If this guy goes crazy, they can't afford to offend him.

As a result, the officials who received the complaint all sent it to the governor's office. If they couldn't afford to offend him, let's see if Governor Hai dared to offend him.

Just when Hai Rui was shocked to read the petitions sent by various prefectures and counties every day, in the imperial cabinet of the capital, Wei Guangde and other cabinet ministers were once again summoned to the duty room by Li Chunfang to discuss matters.

This time we were discussing several memorials that appeared today. The cabinet ministers were a little inconvenient to make decisions after reading them, so they were handed over to the chief minister to wait for him to make up his mind.

"Everyone has read it, let's talk about the first memorial first. Liu Tao, the governor of Guangdong and Guangdong, resigned and took charge of Fujian's military affairs because the pirates had been pacified. He also said that Guangdong would expand its military strength and control the Zhangquan system in Fujian. It was a temporary expedient, so please change it to the old title."

Li Chunfang said.

If I hadn't seen Wei Guangde take out the letter from Yu Dayou, this kind of memorial would definitely be "bad".

But now the situation is different. Everyone knows that the pirates and Japanese pirates have not been wiped out, but they have all retreated to the sea.

Although he was afraid of being killed by the army, there was a possibility of coming back after all.

After Li Chunfang finished speaking, she saw everyone looking towards Wei Guangde, obviously waiting for him to speak.

Wei Guangde heard about this memorial from Yin Shizhen at noon, and he sent it to Li Chunfang.

Wei Guangde also noticed it, and when he saw Chen Yiqin and Zhang Juzheng looking at him, he coughed and said, "Gentlemen, please accept this as a kind loan."

He knew that the reason why Yin Shizhen submitted this memorial was because he was worried that the pirates would come back again. If it was approved, the responsibility would be on him.

The emperor cannot make mistakes, only his ministers are wrong.

"Now that large groups of pirates have been wiped out by the official army, small groups of pirates have become obsolete. Even if the original military system of Fujian and Guangdong is restored, they can still cope with it."

Wei Guangde continued, explaining the reason why he said this, that is, the existing pirates no longer pose a threat to the mainland, so there is no need for Liu Tao to continue to governor Fujian's military affairs.

"Yifu, what do you think?"

After hearing Wei Guangde's words, Li Chunfang turned to Chen Yiqin and asked.

Chen Yiqin nodded, and he agreed with Wei Guangde's words. Although Yu Dayou said at the beginning that he only defeated a large group of pirates, there were also some stragglers who fled.

It is normal for Yin Shizhen to be worried, but Wei Guangde's words seem to be more practical.

So he nodded and said to Li Chunfang: "Sir, Chief Assistant, I have no objection to the loan, and the cabinet can support it." ’