Listening to Pang Gang talking endlessly about the reform system of scientific research, Wei Tongtong and the others were worried about whether their hearing was hallucinating, so that they heard such an unbelievable thing. {}

When it was over, Hua Yan stammered and said, "Your Majesty, what you said is true?" ”

"Nonsense!" Pang Gang glanced at him, and said impatiently: "Do you think I'm joking with you, the so-called art industry has a specialization, and no matter how capable a person is, he can't be good at everything." For example, I see that some people in your household department can't even play abacus, how can they contribute to the country, how can they run errands for the imperial court? Let's take the batch of silver that Shandong and Henan escorted into Beijing a few days ago, it's been three days, and your people in the household department still haven't been able to figure out how much taxes Shandong and Henan have to pay and how much silver should be returned. ”

Hearing that Pang Gang actually called his household department stupid, the cold sweat on Hua Yan's head broke out, and at the same time he was a little aggrieved in his heart, he encountered a series of problems when he formed the household department, he didn't dare to recruit too many officials in the previous dynasty, and there were too few newly recruited officials who would calculate it, and even Hua Yan himself went into battle to take the abacus, but because there were too many accounts, how could it be finished for a while.

Seeing Hua Yan bowing his head and being silent, Pang Gang sighed and said: "Look, look at it, what do I say, there is a specialization in the art industry, so get those nerds who can only talk about Kong Yun into the household department, they can't even count the account books, and they will only sit there drinking tea all day long, what is the use of such people?" In my opinion, it would be better for them to go out on the street and ask a few bookkeepers, at least the bookkeepers will settle the accounts for me! ”

At this time, Hua Yan's head was almost shrunk into the crotch of his pants, and his face was so red that he was almost dripping blood.

After teaching Huayan a lesson, Pang Gang turned his head to Wen Renjun again, "Wen Aiqing." and thy subordinates shall draw up a list of them. From now on, we Dahua will not have so many preferential treatments for scholars and officials, and in the future, we will implement "the integration of officials and gentry, the integration of errands and the integration of food". No one is immune, I don't care what fame he has or what kind of official he is. As long as he does business and cultivates the land, he must pay grain and taxes to the imperial court, regardless of what kind of old qualification it is, if the tax is less, I will punish him in the same way! ”

And Wen Renjun didn't even have the strength to be surprised at this time, the emperor is going to be the enemy of the scholars and gentry all over the world, as soon as this decree came out. That's a hornet's nest. Originally, Wen Renjun wanted to say something, but seeing Pang Gang putting on a decisive appearance, he could only shake his head and sigh silently.

For this. Pang Gang's attitude was very resolute. Although Pang Gang asked himself if he couldn't be absolutely fair after sitting in the world, there were some things that had to be done. For example, in the case of tax exemption, he would never allow any class or force under his rule to be exempt from taxes.

Nor is it permissible for there to be fields that do not pay grain, merchants and individuals who do not pay taxes. Otherwise, the nature of the Chinese people to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, after a few decades, the loopholes of tax exemption will be infinitely expanded, which will eventually lead to the deformation of the grain payment and tax payment policies, and repeat the tragedy of the late Ming Dynasty, or not collect them all! Or take it all! That's what Pang Gang thinks.

After sitting in this position, Pang Gang also spent a period of time researching, and he found that the cultivated land area of the former Ming Dynasty was about 100 million mu, and the total area was quite vast (the cultivated land area in later Huaxia, that is, in 2010, was 100 million mu, that is, the red line of cultivated land protection repeatedly mentioned by the central government). According to the tax rate of two buckets per mu (about 37.6 catties) formulated in the early days of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, 30 billion catties (about 160 million stones) of land rent can be collected every year. According to the calculation of five coins of silver per stone, the country's land income should be almost 80 million taels of silver. …,

But in fact, can the court of the Ming Dynasty really receive so many taxes, the financial income of the Ming court (that is, the Tai warehouse of the household department) is only about three or four million taels per year. In addition, the emperor's private money (internal money) is two or three million taels, and it is only about seven million taels a year, which is not at all one percent of eighty million taels. Why is there such a big difference? Quite simply, because more than 90 percent of the land is in the hands of the gentry bureaucracy, and the gentry bureaucracy does not have to pay grain. []

More than 90 percent of the population owns less than 10 percent of the land, and they have to bear heavy taxes. Less than 10 percent of the gentry and bureaucracy owned more than 90 percent of the land, but they were not required to pay taxes. In order to cope with the growing Manchus, the imperial court continued to apportion food and wages, and in the end it could only be apportioned to those poor peasants. The burden of less than 10% of the land is already very heavy, where can it withstand repeated increases? The peasants couldn't survive anymore, so they naturally wanted to rebel, so there were rebels like Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, and finally Daming played himself to death.

Wen Renjun didn't know what to say anymore, and said with a wry smile: "My lord, if this is the case, then the gentry in the world will be against you." ”

Pang Gang sneered when he heard this: "Right? Whoever wants to fight me in this matter is my enemy, and I will mobilize my iron horsemen to talk to him about "reasoning"! ”

Looking at Pang Gang's expressionless face, Wen Renjun was startled, and he didn't say anything anymore, he knew that whenever his boss had this kind of expression, it would be the king of heaven and Lao Tzu who couldn't pull back his determination.

At this time, Pang Gang sneered in his heart, why do the rich people who are so rich not have to pay taxes, but let the poor farmers have to bear heavy taxes, and this is the true portrayal of the late Ming Dynasty. This is also the most fundamental reason for the fall of the Ming Dynasty. This was also the crux of all the problems in the late Ming Dynasty, and it was impossible for the country to be stable until the peasants' problems were solved. Therefore, the implementation of the integration of officials and gentry and the integration of errands and grain is a national policy that must be implemented by the new dynasty, and any person or force, who wants to stand in the way is Pang Gang's enemy, and he will also be ruthlessly attacked!

There was silence in the study, except for a few rapid breaths that kept breathing.

Pang Gang's words were so surprising that they were so surprised that they had strong doubts about the values and outlook on life of the three of them.

Whether it is the Song Dynasty or the Ming Dynasty, the emphasis is on scholars and the Son of Heaven to rule the world together, and the emperor is just a representative elected by them, of course, this representative is also one of the most powerful forces, but if this force does not have enough strength. It is not impossible to be represented by others.

And the scholars who are the ruling class. Naturally, they have to speak for their own class, and the officials and gentry are one in their ability, so how can they collect their own taxes. As a result, I don't know when it became a common rule for the scholar class not to pay taxes. It was also incorporated into the laws of the state.

Since the Sui Dynasty began the scientific examination system, the scholar class has grown from scratch, from small to large, and slowly replaced the former gate valve force to become the main class of this society. The power of this class is so great that even the emperor does not dare to shake it easily, and today, a man who does not know the height of the sky is about to break ground on their heads, and he wants to take away the most important privileges enjoyed by this class.

Pang Gang ignored the three courtiers in front of him, who had fallen into a sluggish state, and he stood up. walked up to the three of them and said in an unquestionable tone: "This matter is so decided, there is no room for negotiation." That's right, Wei Aiqing. I can answer you right now about the Imperial Village. Those estates had to be taken back and distributed to the surrounding homeless people. The descendants of the Zhu family have been moths for hundreds of years, and now it's time to become self-reliant! ”…,

Pang Gang's words were full of undoubted charm, and a trace of resoluteness flashed in his eyes.

At this time, a sharp voice came from outside the door, "Your Majesty, Wu Sangui, the chief soldier of Shanhaiguan, and others request an audience."

Outside the Chaoyang Gate, Wu Xiang and more than a dozen other people honestly followed the guards in front of them wearing black steel armor and armor and walked towards the southeast.

Wu Xiang and others also Zu Dashou and Zu Dale brothers had entered the palace a few years ago to meet the emperor, others such as Wu Xiang and others at most had a good time outside the Forbidden City, and now everyone walked on the road paved with neat bluestone slabs, looking at the majestic buildings around and the majestic guards around, and their hearts were indeed very apprehensive.

The dynasty has changed, and these generals guarding the border are like rootless duckweed, panicking all day long, just afraid that the newly enthroned emperor will see that he will not be pleasing to the eye, and he will be assigned to a place where birds don't, or even cut himself into a commoner, then everything will be over.

Wu Sangui and the others did not think of resisting or fending for themselves, but no matter what they thought, they could not get around a hurdle, that is, they had a strong force, but they did not have the foundation and foundation to support this force, and without the support of the mainland, if they dared to show even the slightest trace of dissatisfaction, the other party would crush themselves into powder. They don't even have to do it themselves, they just have to cut off their supplies.

The Forbidden City was very large, and Wu Sangui and the others were not qualified to ride horses here, so they had been walking behind the guards for nearly two quarters of an hour before they came to a grand hall.

"Wait a little here!"

One of the guards ordered them to wait here, and he went up and spoke to one of the eunuchs standing at the door. The eunuch suddenly looked over, and saw several Ming army generals still wearing red mandarin duck battle jackets standing in front, with a hint of surprise in his eyes, he nodded, and then walked quickly into the main hall.

After a while, this eunuch walked out, it seems that this eunuch still has a bit of status, the floating dust in his hand waved towards Wu Sangui and the others, and said sharply: "You are Wu Xiang, Wu Sangui and Zu Dashou and other generals who came from Liaodong, you are really lucky today, you can be summoned by Your Majesty as soon as you come, and I don't know if it is a blessing from several lifetimes, okay, you all come with our family." ”

After saying this, the eunuch did not wait for them to answer, but turned and walked forward.

"Eh, this father-in-law, please stay!"

Wu Xiang, who was on the side, hurriedly stepped forward, took out a small gold bar from his arms and stuffed it into the eunuch's hand, and asked with a smile, "I don't know what this father-in-law is called?" In the Lower Liaodong Governor Tongzhi, the Second Military Governor of the General Army, Wu Xiang, is reasonable, we are all martial artists in the army, we don't understand the rules under the feet of the Son of Heaven, and we are bothered by the father-in-law to mention one or two. ”

Gently tossed the gold bar in his hand, felt the heavy weight, seeing these generals so good, the eunuch gradually showed a smile on his face, he nodded and said: "Our family surname is Ma, just on an errand in this Qianning Palace, you can rest assured, the emperor is in a good mood today, as long as you are careful to answer after you go in, there should be no big mistakes, and today's temperament is extremely benevolent, as long as you deal with it properly." ”

For the sake of the silver, Ma Gonggong tirelessly "pointed" Wu Xiang. Wu Xiang, a person who had never entered the palace, couldn't stop thanking him.

Everyone soon came to the door of the imperial study. Ma Gonggong asked everyone to wait outside, and he went in to report, very quickly. Ma Gonggong came out and motioned for everyone to hurry in.

When Wu Sangui and the others entered the imperial study, they saw a man about thirty years old and wearing a dragon robe sitting behind the dragon case in the richly decorated imperial study. A young man with a slightly delicate face but a full body of indescribable majesty was looking at everyone intently, and next to him sat three ministers dressed in scarlet first- and second-rank costumes, also looking at them. …,

Zu Dashou and Zu Dale brothers fought side by side with Pang Gang, they knew Pang Gang, and after seeing Pang Gang, they hurriedly stepped forward and knelt down and kowtowed, and shouted loudly: "Minister Liaodong Governor Tongzhi, General Soldier No. 2 Military Governor Wu Xiang, Shanhaiguan General Soldier Wu Sangui, Young Fu Zuo Governor, supervise Jinzhou Zu Dashou and others to see my emperor, may my emperor live long live long live!" ”

"Aiqing and others are free of courtesy! Come on, sit down for your lords! ”

A majestic voice rang out.

"Emperor Xie!"

After the crowd stood up. Soon someone brought a soft stool for everyone to sit down.

Pang Gang sat behind the dragon case, squinted his eyes at everyone, and said with a smile: "Everyone, Aiqing." Who is Wu Sangui, the chief soldier of Shanhaiguan? ”

When he heard the emperor, he was the first to ask about Wu Sangui. Everyone couldn't help but be slightly startled, Wu Sangui hurriedly got up and bowed down and said, "Your Majesty." Weichen is Wu Sangui. ”

Pang Gang's eyes narrowed slightly, and he carefully glanced at this famous traitor in later generations, and found that this bright guy looked quite good, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, and a national face, whether it is placed in the future or now, it is a standard official face, in other words, he was born to be an official.

Seeing the emperor staring at Wu Sangui intently, Wu Xiang couldn't help but beat a little drum in his heart, could it be that the eldest uncle had offended the current saint? It stands to reason that it's impossible, the eldest uncle has never left Liaodong when he is so old.

Seeing Pang Gang staring at Wu Sangui's intent, not to mention Wu Xiang and Zu Dashou, even Wu Sangui himself felt a little panicked.

Fortunately, Pang Gang quickly shifted his gaze to Zu Dashou and Zu Dale, and said with a smile on his face: "Zu Dashou, Zu Dale, two Aiqing, let's meet again!" ”

The two brothers, Zu Dashou and Zu Dale, stood up and saluted Pang Gangqi, the two only felt that their mouths were bitter, Pang Gang was just a small thousand households in the past, but now he is the son of heaven of a country, and the opportunity in life is really mysterious.

Zu Dashou smiled bitterly: "In the past, there will be eyes without beads, but I don't know Your Majesty's dragon face, I really have eyes without beads, please atone for your sins." ”

Pang Gang laughed, "Zu Aiqing's words are also bad, in the past, you and I fought side by side to kill the enemy, that was the friendship of robes, and today you and I met is the friendship of monarchs and ministers, and in the past, even I never thought that there would be today, if Qing had known for a long time, then you would simply unload your armor and return to the field to become a fortune teller!" ”

Seeing that Pang Gang said something interesting, everyone laughed, and the atmosphere in the imperial study became relaxed.

Pang Gang pointed to the three adults sitting on the left and said, "By the way, Aiqing and the others haven't seen these adults yet, right?" I would like to introduce to you, this is the head of the cabinet of the dynasty, Wei Tongnian, this is the head of the cabinet of the dynasty, this is the head of the household department Shangshu Hua Yan Hua, this is the secretary of the Ministry of Shangshu Wenren Jun Wen, you are the same palace ministers, but you have to get along well! ”

Wu Xiang and others had also done some homework before they came, and when they heard it at the moment, they were all bigwigs in the current dynasty, especially in the same year as Wei, who was not only the old man of the court and the abbot of the country, but also the father of the current Queen of the West Palace, maybe he was still the grandfather of the prince of the East Palace in the future, and this should be a good knot. There is also the official secretary who is in charge of the officials in the world, and the household secretary who is in charge of the world's money, all of them are the lords who cannot be offended, and everyone quickly stood up again and saluted the three people one by one.

Pang Gang smiled and watched everyone salute one by one in front of him, and secretly made an abacus in his heart.

Although this ancestor Dashou surrendered to the Manchu Qing Dynasty in history, he also surrendered after being besieged for three months, with no food and grass inside and no rescuers outside, and he was forced to eat human flesh before surrendering. You can't condemn him for what he hasn't done yet, can you?

There is also Wu Sangui, people in later generations said that he was a traitor who was angry at the crown, but those who know know that the situation in the late Ming Dynasty in history is indeed very bad, after Chongzhen's death, Li Zicheng and these people are too unkind, not only occupying people's daughters-in-law, but also asking people to surrender, and finally killing people's whole family, such bullshit and nonsense falls on anyone who has to rebel.

But Pang Gang can also see that Wu Sangui has talent, but this guy's ambition is not small, and his power is too heavy, which can be seen from the fact that in history he saw Kangxi jump out of the rebellion after he decided to eliminate the domain.

Among the rest of the people, Wu Xiang, Zu Dale, and others are much easier to do, and they can be placed in a seat, but their family has taken root in Liaodong for so many years, how to place them is a difficult thing, thinking of this, Pang Gang couldn't help but ponder