land reform

Because of the invasion of the Eastern Captivity, burning, killing and looting, a huge amount of military pay was needed to resist the Eastern Invasion, and the corruption of the ministers of the DPRK and China was serious.

The gentry and nobles occupied fertile land and evaded or did not pay taxes, leaving the people with little land to plant and bearing heavy taxes.

As a result, a severe famine was caused, and the number of displaced people was flooded, which not only caused peasant uprisings against the imperial court, but also caused the plague, which again caused a large number of deaths.

The peasant uprising not only burned and looted, but also killed a large number of nobles and gentry and officials in the court, which greatly affected the stability of the country, and as a result, there was no one to farm, resulting in an even greater famine.

Some time ago, Li Zicheng led the Liukou to besiege the Jingshi, which almost destroyed the foundation of my Ming Dynasty for nearly 300 years.

Therefore, land reform is imminent, otherwise the foundation of the Ming Dynasty will be unstable, the building will tilt and collapse at any time, and those gentry and nobles who eat the court and exploit the people of the Ming Dynasty.

Don't think that you are very stable and comfortable now, you have a complete nest under the nest, once the Ming Dynasty is overthrown, all the gentry and noble officials will slaughter them.

If you don't cooperate with land reform and resolutely improve people's livelihood, the tragic end of King Fuwang of Luoyang being boiled into Fulu soup by the Liukou will befall you sooner or later.

I decided to re-measure the allocation of land from the time the circular was issued.

From the beginning of the Hongwu period, all the families could not keep any more than the original land, including all the vassal kings.

The surplus land is compiled and distributed according to the existing local population, forming village groups, with an average of one mu of land per person.

Because there are fewer people and more fields, and there will be a lot of more fields after distribution, the imperial court decided to set up a large farm.

Ordinary people who did not want to accept the distribution of land, or families with abundant labor, could go to work on the farm, and the farm would pay them rations or wages on a daily basis.

After the establishment of the farm, the main workers of the farm can be diversified, not only can accept the local people, but also can have local garrisons stationed in the farm.

Of course, in wartime, soldiers mainly focus on war, and in peacetime, soldiers have to work on farms, and the farms will be paid separately.

This does not include the border garrison, which mainly refers to the reservists, who can farm for two days and train for three days.

In this way, the soldier will have two incomes, one for military salaries and the other for farm wages, which can fully subsidize the family.

Relevant personnel in all sectors must vigorously support the new land policy and strive to solve the problem of food and clothing for the people throughout the country within two years.

third

Related to taxation issues

In the northern disaster areas, the imperial court will be exempted from agricultural taxes for five years, and after five years, taxes will be levied, and taxes will be levied according to the annual income.

That is, the annual income is 1,000 catties of grain, and the imperial court levies a tax of 100 catties, but the wages of family members working on the farm are exempt from taxation.

This tax exemption system does not include the northern gentry, nobles, officials, and vassal kings, whose taxes are still levied.

The farm was directly under the jurisdiction of the household department of the imperial court, and the management personnel were directly appointed by the household department.

Farm managers must be moral and loyal to the imperial court, and must not be corrupt and pervert the law, and must not oppress the workers.

If it is found that there are people who violate laws and regulations, the imperial court will deal with them strictly, and the three-level joint and several liability system will be under its jurisdiction.

That is, to directly appoint them and recommend the officials who manage them, and the imperial court will give them demotion and resounding treatment, and there will be no favoritism.

The rich areas in the south are not within the scope of this five-year tax exemption, and the agricultural tax is still levied at 100 catties of grain according to 1,000 catties, and does not increase any other burden.

All the gentry and nobles, officials of the court and the central government, and the feudal kings of various places, their families or the fields under their names, were uniformly collected according to the standard.

In this land reform, all sectors must give strong support and cooperation, and no one is allowed to violate the regulations.

If it is found that there is a non-executor, the court will take back all his land, remove all official positions, and exile his family to the northern desert.

If there are extreme rebels, such as rebelling against the army, or killing the executive officials, the imperial court will give the most severe sanctions, raiding the house and destroying the three clans.

Whether you are a vassal gentry official or an ordinary person, as long as you dare to violate the above regulations, you will be treated equally and severely punished.

fourth

Levy commercial tax

The imperial court will lift the sea ban and encourage business, regardless of status, to do business after applying for a business license.

However, the imperial court will levy a commercial tax, and the proportion of commercial tax levied in all industries is the same as that of agriculture, and if you feel pressured, you can apply to the household department for an adjustment of the tax.

After the investigation, the household department must seek truth from facts in accordance with the law and adjust the levy ratio according to the business income of each industry.

Of course, the household department can't cover the sky with one hand and act arbitrarily.

For the supervision of the household department, the imperial court will set up an industrial and commercial and agricultural association, whose members can elect representatives from various industries, and they will supervise the household department.

If the household department does not act, it can immediately report to the Ming Cabinet, and the cabinet must strictly investigate and deal with it.

fifth

All mines are state-owned assets, and individual industrial and commercial households are not allowed to engage in the operation and production of such assets, and it is strictly forbidden to sell commodities harmful to the state to hostile forces.

For example, gunpowder, iron ore, copper ore, weapons, etc., as well as all military supplies, these are not for sale, and it is strictly forbidden for individual industrial and commercial households to buy and sell privately.

sixth

Sea salt

Haiyan is also a state-owned asset, and the production must be done by the relevant departments of the imperial court, and individual industrial and commercial households can sell it, but they must have a normal business license.

The imperial court would set up wholesale and retail outlets in various places, and sea salt should be bought and sold at normal prices, and no department or individual was allowed to speculate on raising the price of sea salt.

The imperial court wants to let all the people of the Ming Dynasty eat cheap sea salt, and all families can afford to eat sea salt.

Coastal fishermen are free to go out to sea to fish, and if they do not buy and sell their own food and clothing, they are exempt from taxation, and if they put their catch in the market to be sold, they need to pay a small tax.

There was a shortage of food in the north, and if coastal fishermen transported their catch to the northern market for sale, the imperial court would give tax exemption incentives.

……

"Plop"

"Plop"

……

"Your Majesty, this ...... It probably won't work!"

The civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty endured their inner fear, and read the manuscript tremblingly, and many officials sat on the ground with their faces full of doubt.

It's not that they can't carry it out, it's that their own interests are involved.

Especially those Jiangnan civil officials headed by the Donglin Party, none of their homes are 10,000 mu or even hundreds of thousands of mu of fertile land.

Many people have never paid a penny of tax, but now they not only have to collect taxes, but also collect a lot of good land.

These officials feel like they're going to collapse.

"Your Majesty, Weichen thinks it's not feasible, those vassal kings are all the land left by their ancestors, if you do this, I'm afraid it will cause turmoil."

A Jiangnan official knelt down in front of Zhu Youzhen and began to cry, as if he was very worried about the future of the Ming Dynasty.

Under his leadership, other officials knelt in front of Zhu Youzhen and gave examples of how this policy was not feasible.

Zhu Youzhen had already inquired that there were still 25 vassal kings in the reign, and they, together with the court officials and gentry, occupied more than half of the fertile land in the Ming Dynasty.

That is, most of the fertile land does not pay any taxes, and a small part of the land has to feed most of the Ming population.

These people are really Ming moths, and if they are not dealt with, the stubborn disease of the Ming Dynasty will never be eradicated.