Fang Yuan stood up, put his hands behind his back, and looked around at the officials, "Colleagues, now we are telling the truth behind closed doors, there is no need to hide it anymore, how much is levied per mu to be able for you to support your family?" ”

Before, Fang Yuan was still talking with these officials and the people of his family and country, but now, he ordered the door of the yamen to be closed, and the idle people were dismissed, and there were only him, Jinyiwei, and these officials in the entire hall.

Fang Yuan was in no mood to continue to talk endlessly with the officials, so he directly clarified the words and went straight to the point, which was to take a step back from these officials.

After going through so many things, Fang Yuan is no longer the blind rush and fierce fight he had before.

Compromise is also part of officialdom.

If there is no fishing outside the water as an official, who will study hard for ten years to take the imperial examination? Do you really think that these officials will believe in serving the people, being loyal to the monarch and loving the country, and loving the people like sons?

Completely cutting off people's financial routes is tantamount to seeking money and killing people, and the officialdom of the entire Suzhou Mansion will inevitably fight to the end with Fang Yuan.

The land tax handed over by the Suzhou government accounts for 10% of the country, and it is a veritable large taxpayer, and the Suzhou government is about to cause a storm of collective dismissal of officials, which will affect this year's autumn harvest and grain collection. These officials will inevitably be severely punished, and even Fang Yuan will not be able to eat and walk around.

This is also the capital that these officials dare to fight with Fang Yuan at this time.

Zhang Fan and Chen Hongmi glanced at each other, the two had obviously discussed the strategy of dealing with Fang Yuan before they came, and seeing that Fang Yuan had already opened his mouth with a single knife, he no longer grinded, lowered the amount of levy, and said their psychological price, "80 catties." ”

"What a big appetite!"

Fang Yuan secretly sneered, and said with a calm face, "Suzhou Prefecture has 9.3 million mu of cultivated land, and each mu is 40 catties more, which is 2 million stone of grain, and one stone of grain sells for 2.5 taels of silver, that is, 5 million taels of silver, and last year's national tax was 4 million taels." What kind of home do you raise, what kind of mouth do you wear, you need so much silver, and you are ready to open three palaces and six courtyards?! ”

Before he came to Suzhou Mansion, he had read the relevant information from the household department, and had already mastered the Tianfu data of Suzhou Mansion, Zhang Fan saw that he couldn't easily fool around, only to know that this Governor Fang was really a practical person, and asked tentatively, "How much does Governor Fang think should be collected, report the number, and then we will sum it up?!" ”

Fang Yuan secretly smiled helplessly, he didn't expect these officials to turn this officialdom into a vegetable market, you come and go to bargain. But to manage the extremely corrupt officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, there is really only one way that is not a method.

The only thing he can do is to repeatedly lower the standard of corruption and control it within a controllable range, not only to give the people some real benefits, but also to find money to train troops and consolidate their strength.

Fang Yuan said with an unmoved face, "80 catties of grain per mu, and the extra 5 million taels of silver, I will transport 2 million taels to the capital, and only leave 3 million taels for you!" ”

The method he proposed was to reduce the grain land endowment for self-cultivated farmers by 20 catties per mu, which can be regarded as winning the hearts of the people. Even before the reform and opening up, some rural areas would have a farm famine in the last two months before the autumn harvest, and they had to borrow grain from all over the place to live.

Fang Yuan left an extra 20 catties of grain per mu for the peasants who had self-cultivated land, which at least ensured that the peasants could survive the last or two months of the agricultural famine, and as long as they could reasonably plan the distribution of rations in a year, they would not have to borrow usury to survive the famine, so that they were finally forced by usury to sell their daughters and sell their land.

While relieving the burden on the peasants, he even took a big shovel and shoveled half of the silver embezzled by the officials into his own bag.

The officials listened to his suggestion, and then suddenly they thought that Fang Yuan wanted to be Hai Rui, but it turned out that he, like Emperor Wanli, wanted to carry a big knife to the officials' bowls to eat meat.

Fang Yuan also said, "Northern Xinjiang is already in flames, the general army in all parts of the country is fighting against the Manchu Qing and the Liukou, the four prefectures of Nanjing do not contribute, and it is also appropriate to contribute some money, so that the Manchus and the Liukou will hit Nanjing, no matter how much silver you hide, no matter how many palaces and six courtyards you raise, can you keep it?" ”

When he saw that the officials were silent one by one, he knew that these people were not thinking about the righteousness of the family and the country, but secretly thinking about how much more they could have in their own bowl if they had cut off a piece of fat meat by Fang Yuan. Is it worth tearing your face with Fang Yuan in public for this piece of fat that was cut away, and making a fuss about both sides.

Chen Hongmi suddenly asked, "What about the gentry and wealthy merchants?" ”

Fang Yuan knew what he was referring to, in the past, such as Qian Qianyi's gentry and wealthy merchants, the land tax that should be paid was usually apportioned by the idea, which was also part of the source of income for officials.

Fang Yuan said coldly, "Governor Chen, haven't you understood my words yet?" I don't want to interfere with what you apportioned in what name, and I don't want to investigate the whereabouts of the 3,000,000 taels of silver. As long as I levy 80 catties of grain per mu this year, I must also pay the full amount of land tax, and pay an extra 2 million taels of silver to the imperial court. ”

Fang Yuan's attitude couldn't be clearer, allowing officials, gentry, and wealthy merchants to encroach on the interests of the court and the people in the field is a strictly demarcated 3 million taels of silver. If the officials wanted to eat more of this piece of fat, they would limit the appetite of the gentry and wealthy merchants by themselves. As for how they were embarrassed to distribute it, Fang Yuan didn't bother to deal with it, so it was best for them to go dog-eat-dog.

Chen Hongmian understood Fang Yuan's thoughts at this time, and said hesitantly, "This, Governor Fang, if you want to restrict the interests of these gentry and wealthy businessmen and cause them to backlash, how can it be good?!" ”

Fang Yuan looked straight at him and said unhurriedly, "You just need to announce my policy and strictly implement it." They will bounce back, and you can push me on the head. If they don't come to me anyway, I'm going to find them too! If any gentry or wealthy merchant is unwilling to pay taxes truthfully, and you can't collect them, I will send a brocade guard to accompany you to collect them. ”

He took all the responsibility on himself, and did not need these Suzhou officials to take responsibility, and would send Jinyi Wei to forcibly suppress those gentry and wealthy merchants who wanted to apportionment of land endowments. For these officials of the Suzhou Mansion, although they will spit out part of their interests to Fang Yuan in the future, they have finally spent money to buy peace, and Fang Yuan will bear the responsibility of everything that is caused anyway, and this deal can still be done.

Chen Hongmiao called the officials down the hall to gather for discussion.

Fang Yuan sat in the lobby leisurely, closed his eyes and recuperated, this time not only collected all the field dues, but also collected an extra 2 million taels of silver, and gave Chongzhen 1 million taels as a protection fee, it is estimated that Chongzhen will smile from ear to ear. Whoever wants to impeach Fang Yuan in the court, Chongzhen can also throw out the fact that one million taels of silver will be able to seal their mouths.

Fang Yuan himself left 1 million taels to train his troops and enhance his own strength.

After a long time, Chen Hongmian entered the hall on behalf of the officials and said, "This autumn harvest will collect grain, and everything will be in accordance with Governor Fang's method." ”

The officials agreed to Fang Yuan's plan, and were willing to take out a piece of fat from their own bowl and give Fang Yuan as protection money, in exchange for the two sides to at least get along in harmony in the officialdom.

Fang Yuan slowly opened his eyes and said, "Then please ask Governor Chen to immediately send all the officials of the government to convey the latest news to the counties and townships of Suzhou Prefecture." I will carry the burden for you; You say that there is a shortage of silver flowers, and I will also open the net. ”

"I only have one request, in the mailbox, there must be no more complaints about Tian Fu. Otherwise, Li Xiaokong, Li Xiang's fate, you all saw it, and don't blame us for not thinking about our colleagues. ”

He repeatedly reiterated the importance of strict law enforcement, and the serious consequences of dereliction of duty, that is, he drew a red line that Chen Hongmi and other officials could not cross. You can be greedy, but if anyone dares to repay the people and force the people to be cornered, he will definitely enforce the law impartially and punish him severely.

Chen Hongmi and other officials were obedient and obedient, and they also understood where Fang Yuan's red line was, and they agreed to it.

Fang Yuan's back as he watched these officials leave, dealing with them made Fang Yuan exhausted, and it was more exhausting than fighting a vicious battle.

But after your back and forth, the interests of the two sides have finally reached an agreement, and the officialdom of Suzhou Prefecture has temporarily stabilized, and the current imminent difficulties have also been overcome.

With the addition of this million taels of silver, Fang Yuan had a total of nearly four million taels of silver in his hands, but it was far from enough to meet Fang Yuan's expenses for building two armies of the army and the navy.

Next, it's time to make a move against those gentry and wealthy merchants.