When I saw Lu Tiaoyang again, the identities of the two have changed dramatically, when they were in Qinghe last year, Shi Yiwen was a "foreign envoy" with an uncertain future, and Lu Tiaoyang was an official of Zhishi. And now?

History may have changed!

Looking at Lu Tiaoyang, who was drinking tea, such a thought popped up in Shi Yiwen's heart.

It has indeed changed, no matter whether Zhang Ju is alive or dead two years later, the next first assistant of the Ming Dynasty is likely to be Lu Tiaoyang, not Zhang Siwei, so the future development may go in another direction...... History has changed.

But is such a change really a good thing?

For the future, Shi Yiwen is not very sure, but at least one thing is certain that Lu Tiaoyang should be beneficial to himself as the first assistant.

"Last time, Qinghe said goodbye in a hurry, counting the days, but it's been almost a year."

"Indeed."

Lu Tiaoyang nodded and said.

"I don't know how many things happened this year."

After sighing, Lu Tiaoyang smiled.

"Last time, Zhiyuan said that he was a lazy person, but now it seems that even if you are a lazy person, I am afraid that you will not be allowed to be lazy."

Lu Tiaoyang's ridicule made Shi Yiwen shake his head helplessly and said.

"I'd like to be a lazy person, but the current situation in Daming can't tolerate me being lazy!"

"Oh, let's hear it."

"Actually, why bother with me, the elder also knows."

Shi Yiwen did not answer directly, but after asking rhetorically, he looked at Lu Tiaoyang and said.

"Ge Lao has traveled back and forth to the north and south of the river twice a year, I'm afraid he already knows all this!"

"Hey......"

Lu Tiaoyang let out a long sigh and said after a long time.

"It seems to be a prosperous world, but in fact it is full of dangers!"

"Hmm."

Nodding, Shi Yiwen sighed again.

"It may seem like there are many problems, but in reality, there is only one problem at the root of all the problems."

"Only one question?"

Lu Tiaoyang asked in surprise.

"Why did Zhiyuan say that?"

"Yes."

Pursing his lips, Shi Yiwen said seriously.

The root of all the problems is not in others, but in the "finance", in the "money", the foundation of the financial administration, money is the root of all problems, in fact, the reason why the first assistant implemented the reform, is not also because the Ming court has no money, and even the hundred officials can not be paid. ”

Listening to Shi Yiwen mention the old things, Lu Tiaoyang smiled helplessly, when the emperor just ascended the throne, the imperial court did not have silver to issue hundreds of officials, and finally had to use sumu and pepper to top the account, for a time there were officials everywhere in Beijing selling sumu and pepper, because there were too many of them, so that they could not be sold at all, and at that time there were almost Beijing officials starved to death.

The court is poor!

"Hey, it's hard to put into words!"

"Why is the imperial court so poor? In the final analysis, it is because the local tax revenue cannot be raised, so there must be an examination method, and the local officials are assessed by taxes. ”

"Actually, if the tax can't come up, you can't blame the magistrate."

Lu Tiaoyang looked at Shi Yiwen and sighed.

"This root, in the final analysis, is actually in Emperor Gao, when Emperor Gao ascended to the pole, he was sympathetic to the poor people, and allowed poor households to delay the payment of taxes and grain, at the beginning, it was just some real poor people who delayed payment due to disasters, but later others also followed suit, as long as there is a reason, everyone will take advantage of it. Later, down to the poor people to the high-ranking officials and gentry, who did not owe taxes and grain for decades, so that more and more accumulated, so, from the beginning of the orthodox years, every time the new emperor ascended the pole to change the yuan, the imperial court will be exempted from arrears, and when he first ascended the throne, he had decreed that the arrears before the Longqing Yuan were exempted, and the arrears of taxes from the fourth year of Longqing to the first year of Wanli only had to pay seventy percent ......"

Belch......

This time it was Shi Yiwen's turn to be surprised, he didn't expect that there would be such an operation, and he was even surprised.

"Y-What do you say? Ordinary people dare to default on taxes to the imperial court? ”

That's not right!

Isn't it all the gentry who are in arrears?

"Zhiyuan, this is called not to blame the public! Moreover, this endowment is exempted from the instructions of Emperor Taizu Gao. "The dynasty is compassionate to the people, and if there is a flood or drought, the people will be exempted from rent and tax, or the officials will be sent for relief, and the locusts will grow, and the officials will be arrested, all of which have their own laws."

Although he has read a lot of books, Shi Yiwen is indeed not as proficient in the affairs of the dynasty as Lu Tiaoyang, and said in surprise.

"Isn't this only for when there is a disaster?"

"Although according to the law of the imperial court, the payment can only be deferred in a year of famine, but if you look through the Fang Zhi, how many places are smooth every year, either this year's drought or next year's flood? It's just an excuse. ”

Excuse...... Just an excuse not to pay taxes!

After being surprised, Shi Yiwen asked rhetorically.

"Those ordinary people don't pay either? Aren't they afraid of being pursued by the government? ”

Hearing Shi Yiwen say this, it was Lu Tiaoyang's turn to be surprised, and he looked at Shi Yiwen with wide eyes and said.

"Childe, Emperor Taizu Gao has ancestral training in——" Among the four people, only the peasants are the most bitter, and there are those who are diligent and unable to eat all year round, and their orders are accompanied by ministers. Those who are not strong and harsh are guilty of felonies. In other words, if a magistrate dares to forcibly requisition, he will be dismissed at the least, and he will lose his head at the worst!"

Belch!

This...... This is too unbelievable!

In surprise, Shi Yiwen asked rhetorically.

"How dare ordinary people not pay? Shouldn't they be afraid of officials? ”

"Zhiyuan, look at what you said, how many places are there for ordinary people? In the end, the land in the world is not still more than the local gentry of the dignitaries, they have a lot of land, and they are naturally more reluctant to pay taxes, and the ordinary people are not as good as others, but there are many people, and those who have more land do not want to pay, and those who have less land do not want to pay, if there are local officials who dare to forcibly expropriate, those who have more land will incite less land, everyone rushes into the yamen, there is said to resist grain, there is Emperor Gao's ancestral training there, and the official hat of the county is not stable, isn't it? Poor or rich, they don't want to pay taxes anyway, the gentry have a small number of powerful people, the people have no power to have a large number of people, the two sides add together, one side has a powerful side and the other side has a large number of people, both sides cooperate with each other, although the money and grain are not not paid, but they can always pay a lot less, this arrears will naturally accumulate more and more, anyway, it is not themselves who suffer, as for the imperial court...... Who cares. ”

Who cares about a good sentence, Lu Tiaoyang's words finally made Shi Yiwen understand, it was the gentry who hollowed out Daming, and it was clear that the big guys worked together to hollow out Daming.

"In fact, they are not paying, just dragging it first, and when it is delayed to the end, the government will naturally give everyone a discount, as for the arrears, hang up there first, and wait for more than ten years, and when the more and more arrears are accumulated in the world, there are naturally officials who advocate tax exemption at every turn to show royal benevolence.