The defection of Tian Hongyu and Liu Yuliang did not immediately make these nobles make up their minds. Because Tian Hong met Tian Guifei, Liu Yuliang was even more powerful in the Criminal Department. In addition to the special status of these nobles, in fact, most of them do not participate in political affairs, and rarely have the opportunity to have a say in these major decisions, they can have all rely on the blessing of their ancestors, now the emperor wants to change the ancestral system, in addition to paying tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of silver to the court every year, it is equivalent to acquiescing in the emperor's behavior, and in the future, the emperor will reduce their welfare on the grounds that the treasury is empty and the world is difficult. What if I'm not happy that day, what should I do if I come to cut the feudal lord again?

Most people are holding the law and not blaming the public, and then after passing this pass, they will fight with the emperor in the matter of paying taxes, and when the time comes, there will be vassal kings from all over the country, as well as the left-behind officials and nobles in Nanjing, and there will be many people with great strength, and they are not afraid of the emperor's pressure.

But now this level is not so easy to pass, Zhu Youzhen's face returned to its original iron blue color after Liu Yuliang left, and his eyes continued to scan everyone in the audience with anger.

"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has sent over the list of donations from the emperor several times before." Just when the monarch and the ministers were confronting, a little eunuch quietly came to Wang Chengen and handed over a piece of music, Wang Chengen took a brief look and forwarded it to Zhu Youzhen.

Wang Chengen said it easily, but the people below listened to it sincerely, and persuaded donations, and persuaded donations! Yang Hongzhang's kid is to play on the topic, and the beginning is to persuade donations. When the emperor said that, who would be stupid to donate a lot of silver in vain, it's true that the posture is voluntary, but bullying the king is not a joke.

The emperor's meaning is obvious, all those who can come here today have auctioned the royal products in Linlang Pavilion, and the lowest transaction is seventy or eighty thousand taels of silver. can spend seventy or eighty thousand taels to auction a royal item, and no one will believe it if he says that his family is surrounded by four walls. Then the words I said in the face of the donation envoy were all deceptions!

Zhu Youzhen still didn't speak after reading the things sent by the Internal Affairs Office. It's just that his eyes are not staring at the nobles below, but at the names above and at the people below, it seems that he is taking a seat.

After about a cup of tea, when everyone was almost out of breath, Zhu Youzhen finally spoke, but not to the people below but to Cao Huachun, who was on standby: "How is the progress of the things I have asked you to investigate in the past few days?" ”

Hearing this, Cao Huachun's eyes lit up again, and he said energetically: "Back to the emperor, the slave maid has taken people to check the house in Beijing day and night in the past few days, and according to the emperor's requirements, the mansions and properties of all officials in Beijing above the fifth grade have basically been investigated, please take a look!" In addition, there is indeed a matter of the nobles and officials of the DPRK and the central government who said that the nobles and officials of the DPRK and the central government are covering for those landlords and wealthy businessmen, but this kind of thing is relatively hidden and needs to be verified step by step. I also asked the emperor to tolerate the slaves and maids for a few days, and the slaves and maids will definitely bring this kind of collusion between officials and businessmen to the bottom of the matter. ”

"Check, check it for me seriously. Including that Xue Guoguan, if there are similar things, deal with them together. No matter who else is involved, they can't be tolerated, so that Liu Yuliang and Shuntianfu will send people to cooperate, and if they find out, they must deal with one and deal with it one seriously! ”

"Your Majesty, Lord Yang also made a suggestion to the slave maid, and the slave maid thought it was very reasonable, and asked the emperor to make a decision. Mr. Yang said that in order to thoroughly investigate the collusion between officials and businessmen, it was suggested that the various ministries of the DPRK and the Central People's Republic of Korea, the Sooncheon Prefecture, and the Gyeonggi Prefecture should stop the transfer of houses, properties, shops, and other transactions, and resume the work after the investigation was clear. ”

“……”

The two of them asked and answered, it was completely like talking to the master and servant in the study, ignoring the existence of everyone. The people below gasped. Each of them understood in their hearts that each of them had done nothing less than what Cao Huachun and Yang Hongzhang said. Your Majesty, is this planning to settle the old accounts together? The imperial court required nobles and officials to pay taxes, and everyone could resist saying that the ancestors had a system.

But the ancestors didn't let you help those landlords and wealthy businessmen to escape the tax burden of the imperial court. This nature is even more serious than that of the X-Trail.

That Yang Hongzhang was even more ruthless, and actually suggested to Cao Huachun to suspend all transactions and transfers, once the emperor accepted it, that is, no matter if they could go out today, there was no way to find a way to remedy it. It's very difficult to get yourself clean in this matter. This trick is a real draw from the bottom of the kettle!

Everyone finally looked forward to Cao Huachun's old eunuch going out with a lewd smile, and Zhu Youzhen finally changed his face, and a subtle smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "Ladies and gentlemen, most of you are nobles in the court, and some are even my relatives, I don't have to hide it from you, Yang Hongzhang once said to the doctor, in fact, as long as the cabinet door does not replace those landlords and wealthy businessmen to cover up, it is okay to make some concessions in the tax rate." But you put your own chest on your own and say, have you colluded with those landlords and attachments?

Yang Hongzhang also told me that those who evade taxes should be punished several times, and those who are bad in nature and huge in amount can be punished more than ten times. However, these are palliatives but not root causes, and the chaos and complexity need to consume a lot of manpower in the imperial court is unreasonable, so Yang Hongzhang suggested that the nobles, officials and ordinary people pay taxes together, so as to cover up those who attach industries and land properties to the names of the nobles and officials to evade taxes. It's also a protection for all of you! Don't let down Lord Yang's good intentions. ”

Xungui, who was kneeling on the ground below, didn't speak, but he was scolding his mother in his heart, this emperor was secretly changing his concept and fooling everyone. That's right, if you are found out by the Criminal Department or Jinyiwei, it will naturally be that you have to admit punishment. But there is a probability, and they believe that as long as the current gang is doing things, they can quickly get rid of the bad people, and they have the same peace of mind as before. But paying taxes is different, although the risk is reduced and stable, but paying taxes is 100%, there is no fluke, and there is no room for operation. These people are all old fritters, and they are not afraid of the strict laws of the imperial court, but they are afraid that there is no space.

Most of the strict systems are decorations for these nobles, otherwise there would not be 60 million mu of tax-paying fields in Zhejiang Province, and now there are only 20 million mu left that are still honestly paying taxes, and there will be no unbelievable things such as a salt tax of more than 100,000 yuan a year, a tea tax of tens of thousands of taels, and a commercial tax of 300,000 taels a year in the entire Ming Dynasty.

Everyone was still hesitating, but Zhu Youzhen continued: "Yang Hongzhang also suggested to me that those who first respond to the call of the imperial court and pay taxes according to the rules can be given a preferential treatment of 20% in the first year!" Twenty percent. Think about it, is it better to wait for all to be checked and implemented one by one to the real owners of each industry and then pay taxes according to the regulations, or is it better to enjoy 20% of the preferential tax now? Don't think that I am a whim, you have also read Yang Hongzhang's recital, he is right, this Ming Dynasty is first of all you people, then officials at all levels, and finally it is the turn of those farmers who farm the land. The imperial court is weak, so it can't protect the ordinary people at all, the people are fundamental, and in the long run, I will not be a country. ”

Zhu Youzhen spoke earnestly, but most of the people below were indifferent, which made the only trace of guilt in Zhu Youzhen's heart disappear. These bastards should be killed directly, or Yang Hongzhang was too soft-hearted, and it would save trouble when he found out that one raided the house.

So he walked down and circled around the crowd a few times, and then said to Wang Chengen: "Go and inform the Criminal Department, these people are detained first, and then investigate to see if there are any other illegal matters, and deal with them together." ”

Plop plop, without waiting for Wang Chengen to answer, the sound of kowtowing sounded below. They are not afraid of the emperor putting pressure on them, but they are afraid of entering the prison cell, they are all human spirits, they all know what is going on inside, looking at Liu Yuliang's face before, they will definitely become the emperor's echo worm, the emperor said that whoever is rectified will be rectified, then it will not be a matter of paying taxes, but whether they can keep their titles and family property. Even if the emperor is gracious and does not cure their crimes, he wants to get out of the prison with all his beards and tails, just to deal with the poor people in the cell, he will have to shed a layer of skin and produce a lot of blood.

After kowtowing, everyone, look at me, I look at you, most of them shake their heads, and there are few people who are holding on.

Sure enough, after about a cup of tea, finally someone couldn't bear it anymore and knelt on the ground and said to Zhu Youzhen in a loud voice: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, the minister is willing to follow the example of Lord Tian and Lord Liu, and ask the emperor for a reward at twice the auction price on the same day, and the minister is willing to follow the laws of the imperial court and pay taxes according to the new tax rate." ”

Zhu Youzhen nodded with satisfaction and asked those nobles who were willing to pay double the price to buy the royal treasures and were willing to write to the court to support the new tax law, there were about seventeen or thirteen of these people, and after getting up, they hurriedly thanked them and left in a hurry.

They don't want to continue to be stared at by the emperor, their backs are already soaked, and they are even more unwilling to be looked at by other colleagues with resentful eyes, because in the eyes of others, they are not only aliens, but also betrayers, betraying their class and interests.

There will be diehards at any time, not to mention that this involves their own vital interests, and the proceeds are tens of thousands of taels of silver, so there are still more people who choose to resist. In their opinion, it is already a punishment to buy the imperial treasure from the emperor at the same price again, because these things are not cheap. Double, isn't that bloodletting? Many people struggle in their hearts whether to give double or not.

But they seem to have become firm again on the issue of whether they are willing to pay taxes like ordinary people in the future, because this time they were caught by the emperor because they participated in the private auction of royal goods, and they couldn't make some blood. But isn't the tax rate not yet implemented, and they must oppose it. But the result of the opposition was that they were told to reflect on the East Warm Pavilion! They are all nobles, and the emperor is in charge of eating and drinking, but he is not allowed to leave, let alone go home.