Hearing Emperor Zhu's decision, everyone in the palace was naturally stunned. Originally, it was just to discuss the troubles of Sichuan scholars, but why did the conversation change to the issue of tax arrears of officials and gentry? Is this a prelude to rectifying the rule of officials?

Zhu Jishi glanced at everyone with a heavy gaze: "What? Have the fields in Zhuqing's house been 'delayed'? ”

The so-called "note deferral" is to indicate the meaning of deferring payment and reducing income, which is a practice that has existed since ancient times, and the original intention is to take care of the small people with meager land assets or farmers who have suffered from famine, and can defer the payment of less land contributions. Basically, if you delay it for a few years, it will become a "debt", and when you encounter something happy for the royal family to do some "moral politics", it will be exempted. However, after Emperor Yongzheng implemented the reform of the integration of officials and gentry to pay grain, this "slowdown" of income reduction has almost become the prerogative of large gentry households. Although the prominent officials and gentry and other large households owned tens of millions of mu of land, they could avoid the land tax in the name of "slowing down" the income, and the shortfall was passed on to the homesteaders who only owned meager fields. As a result, the local officials formed a bad rule of "short price" and "long price" on the issue of collecting land taxes. Large households pay at a reduced price, which is called "short price", and small households are charged at double the price to make up for the deficit of large households, which is called "long price". However, many powerful wealthy families were particularly unwilling, and relied on the discounted Tianfu in the name of "note". The so-called integrated payment of grain by the officials and gentry has long become a legendary thing.

After the revival of the Ming Dynasty, many systems were inherited from the former Qing Dynasty, so many of the bad rules of the Qing Dynasty also appeared in the new Ming Dynasty unchanged - this is the harm of not killing people's heads, the old system was mostly retained, and the Ming Dynasty could only establish a new system by reforming the old system.

However, it is not so easy to reform the old system. Because the vested interests of the old system still exist! Although Zhu Jishi used the method of "showing talent as an official", he replaced the original officials with meritorious Confucian scholars. However, in order to facilitate administration, the policy of locals becoming local officials was adopted - the number of officials in various provinces has increased by more than ten times compared with the Qing Dynasty in the past, and it is no longer realistic to implement the practice of serving as officials in other places. Therefore, there is no doubt that there are officials everywhere. Most of them are from big families. Even if you are not from a family, no one dares to infringe on the interests of the family. Therefore, the situation of "the gentry of the counties, those who have never known what the grain is all about" has not changed in the land of the new Ming Dynasty!

In this case, of course, Zhu Jishi knows about it. However, Emperor Zhu couldn't take it too seriously before the big thing was accomplished, because at that time, the official shops of the Ming Dynasty did not have the current monopoly position, and his court still needed the support of the Han gentry to at least tolerate it.

Seeing that everyone was silent, Zhu Jishi sighed: "Qing and the others are all my humerus ministers, how can I care about some fields with you?" But the truth of the upward and downward effects still doesn't understand? There are hundreds of thousands of officials in my court. How many are not from the gentry? They want everyone not to pay taxes, and all the taxes in the world will be transferred to the poor and small households, so that the officials will not be afraid of the disaster of the government forcing the people? He sighed again, "Otherwise, Qing and the others at home don't have enough expenses to come and talk to me." I just gave him the money and helped him pay the taxes. How? ”

Emperor Zhu's gaze turned to Zuo Zongtang, and Prime Minister Zuo bowed and said, "There is no one among the three clans of the ministers who owe or pay. ”

Zuo Zongtang is not very popular. Anyone you see has to press your head. If you misbehave again, you will be impeached long ago!

Zhu Jishi nodded, looked at Zheng Hong again, and King Yanping also said: "There is no one in the minister's family, and the minister has no land now, and the land given by His Majesty has been distributed to the brothers in the past." ”

Zheng Hong has no brothers. The parents have long since passed away, and several children are young and have not yet separated. The land given to him by Emperor Zhu was distributed by him to the Hongmen brothers, who had no food and clothing. Of course, he himself was not short of silver, and his Heshun company was now one of the largest gold miners in the Ming Dynasty. There is a big deal in Lanfang and Fujian, and the profits obtained from the gold mines are more than one million yuan every year, and the income from the 10,000 acres of fertile land is really not in his eyes.

Zhu Jishi smiled and said, "Your business is not under me, of course you won't buy land...... Tell Zhuqing a trade secret, in fact, I don't have any fields except for Lanfang's rubber plantation and palm plantation. However, I have a lot of real estate, and I am not interested in the fields used for cultivation in the countryside, but in the big cities. The real estate in Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Kowloon, Shanghai, Yingtian and Beijing are all very good investment objects, and there is no problem with a five-fold increase in 10 years. If you are not willing to pay the land tax and do not know how to do business, go and invest in real estate in big cities. ”

The ministers in black gauze python robes all looked at each other when they heard this, is this the imperial court or the head office of HSBC? Why is Emperor Lao Tzu teaching ministers to do business? But 5 times in 10 years seems good! At present, the annual interest of buying land and collecting rent is at most four or five percent, and it cannot even be doubled in 10 years......

Zhu Jishi smiled again: "I won't say anything else, in three months, I will send someone to thoroughly investigate whether there are tax arrears among the officials of the eight southeastern provinces." If Zhu Qing's name appears on the list of tax arrears, this official will be done! That's all for today's pilgrimage. ”

After the ministers sent the emperor away, Zuo Zongtang coughed again: "Did you hear the emperor's words?" Hurry back and write a letter to home...... My Daming's field endowment is not high, and even the Cao endowment is exempted, so what kind of official will I do if I don't pay it? Isn't your black yarn hat worth more than a few fields? Ruzhai and Futing (Pan Zengshou) stayed for a while, and the others dispersed. ”

In the empty hall of the Jinshen Palace, Zuo Zongtang said: "The Sichuan imperial examination can be slowed down, so it is said that the imperial court is reconsidering the reform of the imperial examination. ”

Luo Bingzhang's face changed slightly: "Ji Gao, what do you mean?" Do you want to implement military politics in Sichuan all the time? ”

Zuo Zongtang sighed: "Sichuan is now full of emotion, it seems that it is not something that can be calmed down for a while, if the court is hard, it is only afraid of provoking a popular uprising, of course the emperor is not afraid, but Sichuan is really in chaos, and the tax revenue of the three years of recovery will be in vain." Since they don't want to take the exam, forget it, are the officials of the Ming Dynasty afraid that no one will do it? After a few years, when they regret it, they will naturally relent. I think that's what the emperor meant......"

Luo Bingzhang's face eased, and he shook his head and said, "I don't know how many people's careers will be delayed." ”

Zuo Zongtang said: "If you delay, you can delay, who let them can't help but provoke?" He glanced at Luo Bingzhang and Pan Zengshou: "This time someone stepped on the emperor's sore feet, and this evil breath was about to be sprinkled on the heads of the gentry in the eight southeastern provinces, in fact, the emperor has always been dissatisfied with the rule of officials in the eight southeastern provinces, especially the officials and gentry in the south of the Yangtze River colluded and dissatisfied!" ”

This time it was Pan Zengshou's turn to change color, the power of the Jiangnan gentry has always been very strong, and the arrears of Tian Fu almost began in the Yongzheng Dynasty. In the pre-Ming Dynasty, the gentry in Jiangnan also refused to pay taxes, so that the state treasury was empty, and at the same time, the burden was passed on to the landless and landless poor, which caused chaos at the earliest.

At present, Zhu Jishi has solved the problem of difficulty in the collection of commercial taxes by means of public bureaus and financial coercion of large businessmen, but there have always been many problems in the collection of land taxes.

Zuo Zongtang said lightly: "Everyone pay attention, this time the eight southeastern provinces don't know how many black gauze hats are about to land......

Pan Zengshou took a deep breath and sighed again: "It's time to rectify the rule of officials, but in history, which dynasty and generation can really rectify the rule of officials?" ”

Zuo Zongtang said: "It's one thing to be able to rectify it, it's another thing to rectify it or not, and it will always take a few years to rectify it, right?" Also, the members of our Righteous Path Association can't make a big mistake, otherwise it's hard to say whether my cabinet chief assistant can continue to do it! ”

Luo Bingzhang stroked his beard, frowned, and said, "Ji Gao, this political dispute can't be just guarded...... The bigwigs of the royalist club are not much cleaner! Check it out! If you find the credentials, you will poke them into the newspaper, so that you will not be afraid! ”

Zuo Zongtang nodded heavily: "It's still Ruzhai who is right!" ”

At the same time, Zhu Jishi also instructed Liu Peng, the president of the Royalist Association, in the Qianqing Palace: "Originally, I wanted to come back from Japan and rectify the rule of officials, but now they (referring to some bureaucrats) actually instructed Sichuan scholars and the new school I want to run can't get by!" I won't let them have a good time! After you go back, let the newspaper point the finger at Jiangnan Tianfu's unfair payment, and criticize it fiercely! (To be continued......)