readx; Liu Hongxun saw Zhou Yanru openly refuting himself in the court, and immediately became angry and said coldly: "Lord Zhou has to make such an analogy, but it is not impossible. www.biquge.info As we all know, the leaves are attached to the branches, and the branches can be lush in order to be leafy, and the branches and leaves are complete in order for trees to grow. Mintian was dedicated to the vassal king or the gentry, for a long time, for different reasons, how can it be one-size-fits-all? If this is the case, the branches and leaves will be lost, and the life span of the tree will not last forever. ”

Zhou Yanru smiled unhurriedly: "Liu Ge's words are inevitably biased. Your Majesty, the ministers think that although the contribution has been accumulated for a long time and the amount of tax evasion is shocking, not all the vassal kings and all the gentry have done this, and most of the vassal kings and gentry are still dedicated to the country and abide by the law. ”

It's a very clever statement. In fact, tax evasion is by no means an isolated phenomenon, but almost all feudal kings and most of the gentry are involved in this evil to a greater or lesser extent. But if it is admitted, it does not mean that there is no next good prince and not a good official, and the court should investigate thoroughly. Therefore, the ministers, including Liu Hongxun, had to remain silent, which could be regarded as acquiescence.

Zhou Yanru continued: "Since it is only a few people, it is still a metaphor for a big tree, just like one of the countless branches is sick, and the sunlight and rain on the leaves on the branches cannot benefit the whole tree, and even a single branch grows wildly. Your Majesty, the minister is quite good at gardening, and I heard that Liu Ge Lao is also good at this. Dare to ask Liu Gelao, should the branches of chaos be cut as soon as possible to facilitate the growth of trees? ”

Liu Hongxun was speechless, he never expected that his whimsical metaphor would be cleverly seized by Zhou Yanru and turned his army into one.

Zhou Yanru said slyly: "The minister thinks that Chen Zanhua's performance is an exaggeration. In order to set the record straight, His Majesty should issue an order to thoroughly investigate the fields of the feudal domain and the official gentry, and if there is any, it will be changed, and if there is none, it will be encouraged, and it will be discussed with absolute things. ”

This trick is called retreat as advance, first put a high hat on these vassal kings and gentry, on the surface it is still to protect their face, but in fact it is still necessary to investigate. If you still don't let you check it, then you can only know that there is a ghost in your heart. The ministers knew this, but they couldn't refute it, and no one dared to say anything.

Zhu Youzhen immediately seized the opportunity and said: "Since the secretaries have no opinions, I will allow Chen Zanhua to play the first article." I think it can be easy to get into the difficult, starting with the vassal king, after all, the feudal fields are still a minority. ”

Now the ministers were even more speechless, and the emperor took the initiative to give in and shelved the issue of the most extensive official gentry's field contributions. No matter how ignorant it is, it will anger Long Yan, and then this is still a matter within the clan, and it is not easy for the foreign ministers to interfere too much.

So most of the ministers except Liu Hongxun also agreed. The most treacherous and cunning person has to be Wen Tiren, this time he made up his mind to be the mastermind behind the scenes, and he didn't say a word from beginning to end.

Seeing this, Zhu Youzhen was overjoyed and said: "Since everyone agrees, then immediately draft an order to investigate the domain, and I will use the seal as soon as it is written." By the way, what is Chen Zanhua's second rule? ”

Zhou Yanru also obviously came prepared, and said confidently: "Your Majesty, what Liu Ge Lao said is certainly reasonable, but all provinces have forced labor, why are the taxes in some provinces extremely low?" Taking Zhejiang as an example, the climate in the province is warm, the rain is abundant, the rice is harvested twice a year, and there is no special forced labor, but the tax and grain quota is only 20 taxes and 1. And the government is not the same, Hangzhou has the most land and the most fertile, but the annual grain payment is at the bottom of the government, and the annual levy is not enough, and even seventy percent of the quota is not enough, isn't it a strange thing? ”

Chen Zanhua also took the opportunity to interject: "The minister used to be the magistrate of Taihu County, and he knows the disadvantages well. The government does not go door-to-door to collect grain, but gives it to a number of large households. After the large households collect grain on behalf of each household, they will pay it to the government in a centralized manner. However, these big households often deceive their superiors and subordinates, and levy full or even excessive amounts from the lower levels, but they deny that they cannot levy grain from the government, and only pay seventy or eighty percent, which is the case every year, and it has become a common practice. The minister thought that this was very disadvantageous, and he had to get rid of it, but he was not transferred to the Beijing Division, and I am afraid that it is still the case there! ”

At this time, Zhou Yanru's henchman, Zhang Yangong of the household department, also added fuel and vinegar: "The more prosperous the land, the more large households with more than tens, hundreds or even thousands of hectares, the more grain they need." In order to achieve the goal of paying less food, these people often do everything they can, and the government has no way to deal with them, or even some officials in the government themselves accept bribes, so they naturally refuse to investigate them deeply.

"After a long time, the non-levy has become a law, and then the non-levy continues on the basis of the new law, resulting in a situation where the tax rates vary greatly from place to place. Zhejiang is not the most serious, like the Huguang area is known as the land of fish and rice, with a tax of more than 220 million mu per mu, several times that of Zhejiang, but the tax amount is comparable. The minister thought that even if the imperial court did not levy too much, for the sake of fairness, it should thoroughly investigate the tax acres in various places and redetermine the tax amount. Otherwise, it will become a whipping of the fast ox, and it will further encourage the wind of denial. ”

In fact, Tian Fu has been greasy for a long time, and every minister knows more or less, Zhou Yanru and Zhang Yangong are just the tip of the iceberg, which can be regarded as an "unspoken rule" that has been used for many years and has been tacitly accepted. The bureaucracy itself is the beneficiary of the "unspoken rules" and has been accustomed to it for more than 200 years. wanted to refute it, but this was originally an "unspoken rule", and it was not on the table at all, and no one dared to speak out to refute Zhou Yanru and others for a while.

Zhu Youzhen also wanted to have a major operation on the Tian Fu system of the Ming Dynasty for a long time, but he did not have a suitable opportunity. Now it's just time to take advantage of the topic and ask Wang Zaijin, the head of the household department: "Wang Shangshu is in charge of the household department, but what Zhou Yanru, Chen Zanhua, and Zhang Yangong said?" ”

Wang Zaijin replied with a wry smile: "Back to Your Majesty, it is true. However, freezing three feet is not a day's cold, although the household department has long known that the uneven taxes in the provinces are not reasonable, but it is difficult to go deep into the local thorough investigation, and it is rare to be able to follow the old practice and barely complete the collection of land taxes that year. ”

Zhu Youzhen immediately brushed his sleeves and said: "Tian Fu is the most important matter of the imperial court, how can it be a confused account?" Chen Zanhua's remarks are reasonable, and they should be thoroughly investigated immediately and re-examined and re-examined in various localities. As for how to thoroughly investigate the situation, the Cabinet and the Ministry of Household Affairs will discuss a specific method and report it to us for approval as soon as possible. In addition, what are the disadvantages of the enlistment, all the secretaries but those who know will play together. I don't want to be a mediocre lord, and I hope that the ministers will not be mediocre ministers. Those who deliberately mislead the country and disrupt the government, I will never forgive! Retreat! ”

Until he returned to the Heart Nourishing Palace, Zhu Youzhen's mood still couldn't calm down for a long time. He could see that although the ministers did not dare to openly oppose the thorough investigation of contributions and taxes in the court, this matter must be extremely difficult to implement, and it will never be achieved overnight. But what if the financial difficulties of the imperial court must be alleviated immediately?

He sat for half an hour with a lawsuit, and suddenly remembered that after returning to the palace, he was only busy with court affairs, and he didn't care about reuniting with several concubines, so he hurriedly washed his face and went straight to Kunning Palace, where Queen Rui'er was. No matter how annoyed you are, you can't snub your beloved.

The Palace of Nourishing Heart and Kunning Palace are close at hand, Zhu Youzhen wanted to surprise Rui'er, so he ordered the palace maid not to be allowed to pass through, and tiptoed into the main hall by himself, stopping at the door of Dongnuan Pavilion, wanting to peek at what Rui'er was doing now. But listening to the sound of words and sobbing inside, Zhu Youzhen was inexplicable, and was busy listening carefully.

I only heard Rui'er say gently: "Okay, don't be sad." Banzai spent some time ago on the battlefield, and may not have thought about it. You're also a little stupid, you've been with Banzai for so long, and you don't know his temperament? He is the kind of person who has a thief's heart but no courage, don't look at the itch in his heart, but he doesn't dare to take the initiative. Concubine Li, Concubine Yuan, which one is not so? If he doesn't take the initiative, won't you take the initiative, listen to Concubine De, you bathed with Banzai back then! ”

Another female voice sobbed and said, "The queen, the slave... Slaves don't dare! ”

Zhu Youzhen suddenly realized when he boarded, isn't this Mei Jian? Thinking of the day before yesterday in Jizhou, Mei Jian wanted to serve him to rest, but was rejected by himself, his heart jumped wildly.

In fact, since traveling to this time and space, the four sisters of Meilan Zhuju are almost the earliest people Zhu Youzhen met. Although they are the "time bomb" that Wei Zhongxian used to * Zhu Youzhen, they are kind-hearted, and Zhu Youzhen has already dispelled his concerns about them. In the past few years, whether it is assisting Rui'er in managing the palace, or directly responsible for specific affairs in the seven places in the palace, the four sisters have done a very good job, and Rui'er has also hinted to Zhu Youzhen several times that they should be given a good home, including Yiyi.

But Zhu Youzhen now has a queen and four concubines, enjoying the blessings of all people, although the four sisters look like immortals, he really doesn't dare to move this idea anymore. So I had to cough dryly, pretending not to know anything and laughing: "What are you talking about?" ”

Rui'er and Mei Jian were taken aback, and hurriedly gave Zhu Youzhen a salute, and Mei Jian was even more panicked. Rui'er smiled and asked her to step back, Zhu Youzhen closed the door, and suddenly hugged Rui'er in his arms to kiss the wolf. Rui'er was so frightened that her face was pale, and she said in a coquettish voice: "Long live, this big white, carefully let the palace maids hear the joke!" After the palm lamp, it's not too late to rest after bathing! ”

Zhu Youzhen continued to attack regardless of it, and Rui'er had to gasp and say intermittently: "Long live... Wait a minute, people still have business to discuss with Banzai! ”

"Isn't that the right thing? What's on the matter? Zhu Youzhen said with a wicked smile.

"Oops!" Rui'er lightly beat Zhu Youzhen's chest with a powder fist and said, "Aren't people always pregnant, now that Sister Yulian and Meifeng have children, people are anxious!" Ruier often listens to the Queen Mother, the incense of Tanzhe Temple is vigorous, and there is a response, and the dream is too profound for Buddhism. Now that the Tartar has retreated, long live should also relax and relax, can you accompany Rui'er to Tanzhe Temple to worship the Buddha and ask for a child, and go out of Beijing to watch the snow scene by the way? ”

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