Chapter 22 Natural disasters and ** which is more serious

"No matter what accidents happen to the small people, the court must deliver the taxes, and if they can't be delivered, they will be compensated." Yu Qian said: "This is also the righteousness of the imperial court, but people have good and bad luck, and when they meet water and fire thieves on the road, once they lose, these taxes are lost, how can ordinary people compensate?" Yu Qian said: "Although the imperial court has repeatedly ordered that the allotment be exempted, if the magistrate loses the tax, he will also be held responsible." Naturally, I didn't dare to bear it. ”

"So there is no one on the surface, but secretly, it has intensified."

"The family is bankrupt, not enough to accompany them, and there are those who commit suicide, but more of them are people who are in exile and dare not stay at home."

"But the people fled, and the magistrates did not dare to report it, and although the people left, the tax burden could not go, and they were all apportioned among themselves, so that the burden of the people became heavier and heavier. The situation is becoming more and more dangerous. ”

"The minister asked in detail about the 100,000 families pacified in the village, more or less, all of them had such reasons, and with the addition of floods, droughts and locust plagues, they had to leave their hometowns to make a living."

Cao Nai listened to it and couldn't help but say: "There is one more thing, the minister should not say, but I have to say, that is, conscription, according to the law made by Taizu, there is a fish scale book, when ten years of service for one year, but during the Taizong period, the big work was frequent, there was no empty service, and the people of Zhili frequently went to Beijing to work. As for the canal crossing, there are all kinds of suffering, and the people have to go to the shore to pull fiber. Day and night. ”

"There are tens of thousands of people who can't bear to speak, and they can't bear to look at it."

"Only since Your Majesty ascended the throne has given up all affairs, wasted all great work, and rested with the people, the people have a chance to breathe, but they do not want to be plagued by famines, and the ministers ----, ----, the ministers -----."

Cao Nai said three "ministers," but he couldn't go on.

Zhu Qizhen immediately blushed a little, because he knew that this was not a policy, and this was what the Empress Dowager insisted on.

At this time, Zhu Qizhen understood how wise and wise the Empress Dowager was.

The world is so big, countless things. The Empress Dowager's policy may seem clumsy, but it captures the main contradiction, at least for the North.

Because many things happened in the north during the Taizong period, whether it was the five Northern Expeditions, or the construction of Beijing City, or the dredging of canals, most of them used manpower and material resources from the north.

Therefore, the people of the south have many sleeps, but the people of the north are tired of running for their lives.

Zhu Qizhen said: "These words, only Qing and others will tell me. ”

Yu Qian and Cao Nai, one is a magistrate in the north for a long time, and the other is a person from the north, but unlike the rest of the cabinet, Sanyang and Hu Hu are all southerners, although Zhang Fu is a northerner, but his family property is tens of thousands of acres, mostly for land, I dare not say that I don't understand the relationship, and some things are not painful in the end.

Cao

Nai said: "Your Majesty's vision is thousands of miles away, even if the minister does not dare to say it, someone will say it." ”

Zhu Qizhen said: "So, you tell me, how many of these people were caused by natural disasters and how many were caused by **? ”

Cao Nai didn't dare to speak for a while. He didn't know much about it. Yu Qian said unyieldingly: "The minister has already inquired carefully, and there are eight points of natural disasters and two points of **. ”

Zhu Qizhen secretly said in his heart: "Eight points of natural disasters, two points of **, this is not bad." When Zhu Qizhen heard what they said, he couldn't help but think of the rogues in the north in the later generations, Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong.

It can be seen that there is no profound political and economic reason for the origin of the Liukou in the north.

The north was poor and weak, and disasters continued, but all the expenses of the imperial court were pressed to the north, although this kind of expenditure was unavoidable at the beginning of the country, but it was quite reasonable.

After all, it would take several times more to transport grain from the south to the nine sides than it would be to transport grain from the north.

However, this heavy burden suppressed the economic development of the north, and the economic rise of the south allowed the southerners to gain the upper hand over the imperial court, and the policy was tilted towards the south.

It is inevitable that the north will be unbearable.

If Zhu Qizhen thought about the issue of Jiangnan reassignment before, he still had some sympathy for the people of Jiangnan, but at this moment, Zhu Qizhen decided that the principle of Jiangnan reassignment must be maintained.

It must not be changed, if you don't dig meat from the south of the Yangtze River and mend the sores in the north, where will you dig it from?

It's just that the situation in the north can't be sustained.

Zhu Qizhen said: "Mr. Yu, Cao Qing, where did you start with the current affairs in the north to get a salary from the bottom of the kettle?" ”

Yu Qian said: "The minister thought that the private transportation of money and grain should be changed to official transportation. ”

Zhu Qizhen said: "Is there a precedent? ”

Yu Qian said: "Yes, the Marquis of Pingjiang will order the grain to be transported first. ”

The Pingjiang Marquis that Yu Qian said was Chen Xuan.

Speaking of Chen Xuan's life, it is also quite exciting.

He was originally the son of a military attaché and followed Lan Yu to fight, but he was not implicated in the Lan Yu case, and was later reused by Emperor Jianwen, who led the water division to resist the northern army, but he didn't want him to surrender. So Emperor Taizong was able to drive straight into Nanjing City.

If he is only like this, he is just a two-faced person, and he is not worthy of praise.

However, during the Yongle period, he presided over the sea and the river, and the current canal system was built by Chen Xuan. This is admirable.

The first minister to control the water during the Yongle period was Chen Xuan.

It's just a pity that Chen Xuan has died in the eighth year of Xuande, otherwise in this situation, it would be impossible for Zhu Qizhen not to ask Chen Xuan.

Zhu Qizhen still has some understanding of the grain exchange method. The grain exchange method is not a complete official transportation, and the transportation of grain actually had a complete system in the Tang Dynasty.

After that, though

It's just an increase or a decrease in it.

The core of this is to centralize transportation and reduce costs.

Chen Xuan felt that it was too inconvenient to let the people transport grain to Beijing, so he ordered the people to transport it to Jiangyin, and then Cao Yun took over, and then transported it to Beijing.

It's not a complete official luck.

But as long as there is a precedent. is enough for Zhu Qizhen to use as an excuse.

Zhu Qizhen said: "Since there is a precedent, Mr. can see it, but there are some things that don't need to be rushed, because there is no hurry." ”

"Everything is about getting through this year of calamity, and then we will talk about anything else when this year has passed."

Yu Qian said: "The minister understands. ”

People influence each other.

Yu Qian has had the most contact with Zhu Qizhen from the first year of orthodoxy to the present, especially Zhu Qizhen's many micro-service tours, all with Yu Qian. Zhu Qizhen's thoughts collided with this era, and the strong reform ideas generated also affected Yu Qian.

Yu Qian's thoughts and actions also became bolder.

But Yu Qian's heart has not changed. Everything in his heart is for the people.

Because if it can really achieve official luck, the imperial court will definitely increase the burden, and even have to bear the wear and tear along the way. This increase and decrease has greatly reduced the state tax revenue.

But neither Yu Qian nor Zhu Qizhen said it, Yu Qian naturally wanted to reduce the burden on the people, but Zhu Qizhen was thoughtful in his heart.

I already have an estimate of this large financial shortfall.

Of course, it will take several years for Yu Qian's reform to be truly implemented throughout the country.

It's a bit too early to say this.

Zhu Qizhen changed the topic and asked, "Mr. Yu is now the governor of Zhili, but I don't know how the shelves in Zhili Province are being built?" ”

Yu Qian listened and said: "Your Majesty, the minister has disappointed Your Majesty, although the minister has set up a line in Tianjin Mansion, but everything is chaotic, and it has not been straightened out for a while, just in vain." ”

Zhu Qizhen said: "What's wrong with Mr. here, it's that I'm too anxious." It's just that there is something I still want to tell my husband. ”

Yu Qian said: "The minister listens to the holy parable. ”

Zhu Qizhen said: "Mr. doesn't have to be like this, Mr. has also said a lot before, I now ask, is the yellow book in the world accurate?" ”

Yu Qian was silent for a while, although he didn't want to say it, but he still said honestly: "No, the imperial court only has the yellow book of the fourth year of Yongle that is relatively accurate, and the rest of the yellow book is filled in with the previous numbers." There are only slight additions and subtractions, but the total amount of the quota remains the same. The Yellow Book in Zhili is particularly problematic, because the floods are rampant, and the people's fields are flooded every time, and within a few years, they have changed many times, and it is no longer the situation in the Yellow Book. ”

"I don't know the fields, I don't know the people, I don't know the products." Zhu Qizhen said: "How can I govern the country? ”