"Sit," Zheng Lang said when he came to the pavilion and patted the railing.

Someone in the long pavilion saw him off, and one person had sharp eyes and suddenly shouted, "Zheng Gong." ”

"You talk, I'll have a few words with Zeng Zixuan," Zheng Lang said.

What else to talk about, they all looked at Zheng Lang and Zeng Bu with admiration. Zeng Bu and Zheng Lang didn't care, and Zheng Lang said again: "Do I have the courage to touch this shovel? ”

"That's it, that's it." Zeng Bu stroked his chest nervously.

Regarding this drawback, Zheng Lang would never have written it when he wrote about it in his previous life, and it seems that he didn't see anyone else writing it, but it does exist, and the problem is very serious.

There are two terms that must be known to shovel tenants, the right of permanent tenants and the system of permanent tenants.

The Tang Dynasty was a tribal village household system, and some tenant farmers with slight personal freedom had begun to appear, and then there were small and medium-sized peasants, and small and medium-sized peasants were the focus of taxation in the Tang Dynasty. However, the general policy of the Tang Dynasty was to prohibit the movement of people. In the Song Dynasty, there was still a barbaric and backward tribal system in the remote southern barbarian areas, and the Central Plains and the southeast, and even the economically developed Chengdu Fulu, Hebei, Hedong and Shaanxi, all disappeared. Not only did the Song Dynasty attach importance to internal governance, but it was also an inevitable product of social development, and at the same time, the Song Dynasty no longer prohibited the movement of the people, which also made the Tang Dynasty's tribal system unable to exist.

Hence the emergence of a temporary new system, that is, the perpetual tenant system. The landlord has the ownership of the land for cultivated land, but the big landlords cannot have the ability to cultivate all of it themselves, so they must rent it to the tenants, who sign a lease with the main household and pay a certain amount of money or goods, and the main household only has the right to collect rent at that time, but the tenant farmers have the right to permanently cultivate the landlord's land, and I raise chickens, rice and beans, which has nothing to do with the landlord, and even the tenant farmers theoretically have the right to withdraw from the tenants. Such as Zheng Lang to develop the south. I want to live a good life. If you don't rent your land, the main household has no right to stop it, which is a subconscious protection of the disadvantaged groups by the rulers of the Song Dynasty. Of course, this is a theory. Without the cooperation of the government, it will be very difficult to implement the withdrawal of tenants, and if you don't get it right, you will have to go to court. In addition, it also has the right to sublease and pawn the tenant, and the landlord cannot interfere. The premise is that the landlord cannot be affected to collect rent, otherwise he will have to suffer a lawsuit.

The second is the perpetual tenant right, as a vulnerable group, the system is theoretically on their side, there is a lot of freedom to operate, and as long as the rent is paid on time, the rented land can be cultivated indefinitely. Even if the landlord's land ownership changes, the tenant farmer's farming rights will not be affected, for example, C rents Party A's farmland, and Party A sells the land to Party B. The lease agreement between Party C and Party A is still valid, and Party B has no right to cancel the lease agreement between Party C. Opposite. In the event of some circumstances, such as fleeing the famine, such as the need for moderate immigration for the development of the imperial court, or if there is a better way out, Party C can withdraw at any time.

It should be said that it is a great progress in feudal society, specifically thanks to Zhao Kuangyi, not Zhao Kuangyin, Zhao Kuangyi attaches importance to internal governance, and is not like Zhao Kuangyin to reward and appease a large number of meritorious heroes, under his governance, the permanent tenant system and permanent tenant power gradually improved.

The main households here are not only various landlords, but also the imperial court, such as the official field, school field, vocational field, archer field, camp field, pastoral supervisor, etc.

There are also various forms of fields, the first is still the main cultivated land, including rice fields and wheat fields, but also includes the "mountains" of various tea and fruit trees, the miscellaneous "lands" of non-mainstream grains, and the "mountains" on the slopes. The second is some of the offshore fishing grounds that are occupied by the powerful. The third type is the "moss field", "cocoon field", "cocoon field", "cocoon field", "sand tin reed field" and so on. The fourth type is all kinds of grass fields, firewood fields, and bamboo forests. The fifth type is vegetable gardens and mulberry fields, which have the highest rent. The sixth type is state-owned or privately owned buildings and foundations. Especially in the sixth type, the imperial court has at least more than one million yuan of housing money every year, and sometimes it can reach four million yuan. That's a lot of money.

At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, the population was not large, only 3 million households in the Song Taizu, more than 4 million households in the Taizong period, more than 8 million households in the last years of the Song Zhenzong, and more than 10 million households in the Song Renzong period. Therefore, the main household was relatively polite to the tenant farmers, and some tenant farmers even disrespected the main household, tyrannizing the land and delaying the rent, so the Song Dynasty had to legislate to protect the main household. It was the beginning of the Song Dynasty, and when the Song Dynasty reached more than 10 million households, the nature was reversed.

The second is the large-scale annexation of the powerful and powerful, which has led to a decrease in the number of small and medium-sized farmers and an increase in the number of tenant farmers. Tenant farmer A is reluctant to rent, and there is also tenant farmer B, and the main household gradually becomes harsh. The more densely populated the area, such as Liangzhejiang, Jiangdong, Jiangxi, Jingdong, Fujian, the more serious this phenomenon is. However, there are still some areas where the land is vast and sparsely populated, and the landlords once forced tenant farmers to form permanent tenant relationships in order to ensure land income. There are also yeoman farmers who are forced by emergencies at home and need money, or forced by the pressure of cool officials, who can take the initiative to sell their farmland and then form a permanent tenant relationship with the buyer.

The tenant farmers only bear the taxes of forced labor, but do not bear the labor, but the more they develop in the future, the more chaotic it becomes, the tenant farmers go to the labor, and the main household does not want to pay the labor, so they directly hide the land. If there is no land, then the rent will be in vain. There are also a very small number of people who have produced multiple owners of one field through layers of auctions, and have transformed themselves from first, second, and third class households to fourth and fifth class households. Nowadays, this situation is relatively rare, and it is often not done well, the gains outweigh the losses, and a lot of lawsuits can be provoked.

The biggest drawback is not that there are multiple owners of one land, but that this shovel tenant.

Theoretically, the tenant power was in the hands of the tenant farmers, but the master took advantage of the power in his hands to deprive the tenant farmers of their tenant rights by all kinds of brutal means. Or force the tenant farmer to leave and sign a lease with the new tenant. Or force the old tenants to restrict, revise the original leases, and increase the rent for grain. It is called shoveling tenants or grabbing tenants.

In history, Su Dongpo once proposed the method of shoveling in Hangzhou, forcing the tenant farmers to be more diligent in the management of the West Lake, so as not to block the leaves. The West Lake is cured and beautified, the water is clear and sunny, and the mountains are empty and rainy. If you want to compare West Lake to Xizi, it is always appropriate to wear heavy makeup. However, the lives of the people who rented the land in the government mansion and the land were even more miserable. In another case, some of the scoundrels in the village allowed the landlord to rent at a higher price, and the landlord believed them and got rid of the old tenants. As a result, these people did not pay the contract, and the main household's land was deserted. The owner was then forced to sell the tenant rights at a low price, and the scoundrel transferred the tenant to other tenant farmers. It often leads to a lot of lawsuits.

It's not bad.

In fact, behind the eradication, there are many tragic stories.

Zheng Lang brought not only a more rapid increase in population, but also the investigation of the hidden field, the main household of the hidden field was found out, and the land tax had to be paid, and the previous tenant rent was light. Not cost-effective. So they shoveled tenants on a large scale. Tenant farmers were forced to raise rents again.

For example, Jiangnan East Road and Liangzhejiang North Road, some Ueda originally rented only three to five buckets, which was affordable, but gradually increased. Some Ueda can rise to two stones. Even in the polder, the yield of one acre of land is intensively cultivated, and now the high yield of two seasons is only more than five stones. Tenant farmers do not pay taxes. But to bear a small amount of forced labor, as well as miscellaneous taxes, plus the cost of farming, the wind and rain are still passable, in a disaster year, the family is ruined in an instant.

Or cancel the tenant right and become a fugitive, there were many displaced people in the Song Dynasty, but where the displaced people flowed, the world was as black as a crow. Or flee to sparsely populated areas where farming is not reaping much. In addition, when you move, you need to buy a lot of production and living tools, even if you need some money to build a thatched shed. As a result, most tenant farmers had to live in darkness as they could barely make ends meet.

The destruction of the perpetual tenant right and the rise of the eradication of tenants have created a large number of truly destitute households such as seven, eight and nine.

Not only the main households participated, but also some local cool officials, some of whom directly and nakedly demanded that the tenant farmers increase the rent, and openly said that if they did not want to, they would let the tenants be eradicated. In the past two years, Fan Chunren has presided over the Supervision Department and handled more than 100 similar cases. He is well-intentioned, but all the surrounding areas have increased the rent, and if the official land does not increase the rent, not only will the impact be bad, but there will be many people fighting for it, and often some ruffians will be allowed to occupy the tenant power, or the tenant power will be occupied by the petty officials in disguise, and seek to make the difference in the price of the pawn power. Once made Fan Chunren very hard, Zheng Lang relieved the siege, sent someone to investigate, and moderately adjusted the lease according to the situation, there is no way, the court wants to benefit the government, but the benefits may not be able to make the people gain, and the income is still the local power. But after the rent increase, there are also some bad effects.

In short, the emergence of the eradication has brought about a series of serious consequences.

However, if it touches, it will be a bigger hornet's nest than the inventory of hidden fields, and even the forcible promotion of the theoretical Fangtian average tax law.

The wisest thing to do is to pretend to be deaf and dumb on this matter!

Zheng Lang said: "Zixuan, can I weigh the two taxes? How heavy is the tax? ”

It doesn't matter how much cultivated land the imperial court has, even if the two billion mu of land is not included in the household register and cannot be taxed, it cannot be counted. What can be calculated is only the 500 million mu of cultivated land on the household register, which includes some exempt households and various official fields of the imperial court, and only 400 million mu can really be expropriated. However, the revenue from the two taxes is only less than 46 million, and there is money for grain, silk, grass, and all kinds of special products, grass, bamboo, firewood, and grain, and cloth, some metals, or other special products are more expensive than grain. In fact, this number is only more than 600 yuan, which is less than a penny. That is to say, it is turned into money, and one mu of land and two taxes only need to pay more than 70 yuan, which is equivalent to two buckets of the local rice price, three buckets of wheat price, and five buckets of millet price. That is, the Seventy Wen also includes all kinds of miscellaneous taxes, as well as taxes that are included in the two taxes, but are not included in the grain production, such as the cultivation of some tea, fruits, melons and vegetables, and the miscellaneous taxes of some workshops.

The grain production of the entire Song Dynasty, due to the promotion of Zheng Lang, the evolution of seeds, the gradual increase of large livestock, and so on, has developed from more than two stones to the present, and has become a little more than two and a half stones. Theoretically, the Song Dynasty still implemented the ratio of ten levies and one levy, and a maximum of nine levies and one levy to levie two taxes.

The imperial court system is also quite humane, for example, in areas with low yields, only a few tenths of a bucket per mu, only one bucket in the north, and more than one bucket, the highest in the south is only three or five buckets, and the polders are only six or seven buckets high. It was this seven-bucket polder, and the output of the polder gradually exceeded five stones. The ratio is only eight to one. Not very heavy.

You can't take it seriously, when the following various surtaxes are accumulated, it will not be ten to one, but will become four to one, three to one.

In fact, Zheng Lang is also rectifying.

Afraid of trouble, the practice is very obscure, especially the financial statements, the various financial revenues of the states and counties are listed very clearly, if there are no special circumstances or natural and man-made disasters, all kinds of tax declines, it is definitely not right, it is not necessarily more love for the people, but inaction, less taxes are not the poor people's tax reduction, but the large households have not paid.

For those states and counties that have been particularly badly reduced, send some people down to check and confirm, and the official career has come to an end.

There is also a situation, there are no special circumstances, the tax has increased suddenly, Zheng Lang also dislikes it, and also sent someone to check and punish. It is not a middle-of-the-road approach, let the officials figure it out for themselves, and they cannot be harsh on the people, nor can they fail to act. Take care of the tax responsibilities yourself.

There is another situation, that is, to raise taxes on the poor people and reduce taxes on the strong. I can't see this statement, but it's not a big problem, and every summer and autumn before the tax, use the newspaper channel. Notices on the amount of tax collected are also posted in all prefectures, counties and towns. Those who seriously exceed the standard. After receiving the report, the officials of the Supervision Department went down to investigate, and after verification, they were severely punished.

Little by little, we will give more life to the people.

There are also many bad situations that can be used as a court. It's nice to be able to do this. Zheng Lang doesn't want to levy these two taxes, but is it possible?

Zeng Bu said: "Gong Zheng, his subordinates still think that the shovel tenant cannot be touched. ”

The shovel tenants had little to do with the imperial court. It is mostly caused by the greed of the strong. But when touched, the blow surface was too large, and the consequences of causing a commotion could not be beared.

For example, the imperial court carried out some inducements, so that the phenomenon of annexation could be reduced, and the two taxes were gradually reduced, so that the people would not sell their cultivated land to evade taxes, and there was also the propaganda of morality, and the maximum rent in each region could also be forcibly regulated. But it's the latter. It can also cause some trouble. ”

"Yes, the inventory of Yintian has brought a lot of controversy."

"There's a way to get paid from the bottom of the kettle. What are the changes in the leasing of Fujian Road and Jiangnan West Road during the development of Guangzhou? ”

"Zheng Gong wants to develop Kuixia Fourth Road?"

"It's unlikely, there were too many stories that happened at the beginning, and there was no effort to take down the Kuixia Fourth Road at the beginning, and now the burden is so heavy, so it is possible to take the Kuixia Fourth Road? Just do some fine-tuning according to the situation in the Chinese book...... I'm talking about the other way. There is no hurry. Besides, the three reforms in three years are turbulent in the world, and I also want to be quiet for a while. It is a change, but also a fine-tuning, and it is impossible to make the world make a noise. ”

"What's the solution?"

"It's not time yet, now I'm just an idea, but no matter what the solution, we must focus on the Central Plains."

"In the middle, Gyeonggi is stable, the world is stable, Gyeonggi is weak, the world is weak."

"Zixuan, do you say that the master said that the world is in harmony, will it appear?"

Zeng Bu smiled bitterly: "Gong Zheng, didn't you say it in Confucianism, that is the ultimate goal, but only a goal. Speaking of conscience, if the problem of arrears is solved, even now, in the history of all dynasties, it can be regarded as political clarity. ”

"Also, I wrote something here, it's my idea, you can take it and take a look." Zheng Lang said, handed out a plan, and said: "After you arrive in Hedong, take care of it for me by the way." ”

Zeng Bu opened it, looked at Zheng Lang strangely, and said, "What does it have to do with the shovel tenant?" And there will be, controversial. ”

"The heavier the phenomenon of eradication, the greater the chance of the implementation of this law, first, to increase the strength of the Central Plains, and second, to improve the border economy. My dynasty is richer than the Khitan and Western Xia, and there are many Han people in the two countries, why is it not attractive? The people on the border are living in too poverty. There are many specific intentions, you should think about it all the way, and if you have any good ideas, you can also communicate with me when you return to Beijing. ”

"Is it Zheng Gong's test for me?"

"Is that a test? Since I was in power, I have never thought that one person can govern a state or a county, let alone a country, so it is only by combining everyone's opinions and working together that government affairs can be closer to perfection. But after Zixuan arrived in Hedong, it was important to remember that it took three years for grapes to be harvested from planting to harvesting, and since the wine industry in Hedong withered, there were many mountain roads, and the fruits could not be transported out in time, and the grape planting industry also fell. But in three years, the people will be worried, if you go to Hedong, you must carry out propaganda and encouragement, it is inducement, not brutal execution, then it will cause controversy. I don't want to be noisy anymore this year. ”

"Whoa."

"It's not early, I'll go back too, take care all the way." After Zheng Lang finished speaking, he returned to the capital.

Zheng Lang said that the shoveling tenants was not to deal with the shovelers, on the contrary, he smelled a good opportunity from it. mentioned the shovel tenant, but for the piece of advice he handed to Zeng Bu.

But at that time, there were many people in the pavilion to see them off, including a few scholars.

Curious, of course, I was also enthusiastic when I heard it, the two didn't talk much, but they could hear a strong feeling of worrying about the country and the people. I also heard this shovel tenant. Some of the scholars didn't know, so they inquired after they went back, and it turned out to be the case.

Thinking that Zheng Lang wanted to deal with the eradication of tenants, it is true that the eradication of tenants has brought many vicious results, so he wrote articles and published them in newspapers, wanting to echo the biggest idol in his heart and carry out a new wave of reforms.

After Zheng Lang read the newspaper, he laughed and threw it aside.

It's not good to shovel tenants, but your head is not broken, what can be touched, what can't be touched, that is, touched, and what kind of means to touch, you have to figure it out.

He was reading the newspaper, and Zhao Ji was also reading.

So at the capital meeting, he asked curiously: "Gong Zheng, what's the matter with the eradication of tenants?" ”

Zheng Lang explained.

"These people!" Zhao Ji stood up hatefully, it was so hateful, the court just checked a hidden field, and these people used the means of shoveling tenants to increase the rent, how could those poor people live?

Lu Huiqing sighed: "It's a pity that the armor protection law cannot be promoted throughout the country. ”

At the beginning, the Baojia Law set the scope of Qingqi Prefecture in the east, Jinju in Xiangzhou, the daimyo prefecture in the north, Dengzhou in the west, and Xuzhou in the south. It is mainly in the Liangjing area, except for the Jiaodong Peninsula and Xiangfang in the southwest of Dengzhou in western Beijing, which is mainly Gongwei Jinggi, and selects the source of forbidden soldiers to assist in anti-theft, so it includes a few state capitals at the southeast end of the Hebei River, as well as the two or three states north of Huainan Road. At the same time, it also had a relief nature, and it was not dared to have more, and the imperial court could not afford it, and it was this relief nature that effectively prevented the spread of annexation in the Gyeonggi region, and the phenomenon of eradication of tenants was also rare. However, it is impossible to spread it to the whole country, and the number of households in the Song Dynasty was already 17 million, and there were 10 million households below the fifth grade, and 500,000 households could not pay taxes, and 10 million households did not pay taxes, so there was going to be a big problem.

Lu Huiqing didn't say nonsense, and said: "Your Majesty, the ministers have a way to resolve it a little. ”

"Come on."

"After discussing the Seedlings Law, there was a lot of discussion, so it was not allowed to be implemented. But it does produce a lot of drawbacks. However, depending on how to do it, the minister thought that there would be another prison, half of the public and private operations, and the distribution of green seedlings and green seedlings money, one is to crack down on the harsh exploitation of the people by usury, and the other is that many poor people have a difficult life. Either they will sell their cultivated land, which will aggravate the merger, and if the merger is serious, there will be more and more undesirable phenomena such as the eradication of tenants. The deed shares must be mainly for good households, mainly for relief, supplemented by profits, and for contingent losses, they can also be compensated by other means. Give life to the poor. ”

This is an improved version of Ye Huiqing's seedling method.

Zheng Lang frowned, why is it here again! Zhao Ji was faintly moved, and Zheng Lang immediately said, "It's not appropriate." ”

Lu Huiqing asked, "What's wrong?" ”

If you are a little displeased, you can bring it up to the prisons, why can't I bring it up?

Zheng Lang said: "Your Majesty, before the minister came to the capital, Han Qi once said that I should be careful and I could repay the arrears in five years, but the minister did not have that ability." ”

Everyone snickered together, it was Han Qi's deliberate coldness.

"But if there are no major accidents, it is estimated that it can be repaid in ten years. Ten years later, His Majesty was only in his early thirties, and it was at that time that His Majesty did not think about what he would do if the government was not corrupted after the repayment, and he had so much surplus in a year? ”

Zhao Ji raised his head, dazed. The deficit is just starting to decrease, so how far can you think about it? Moreover, there are also the Sixteen Prefectures of Western Xia and Youyun, but even if they are recovered, it also depends on the timing, there is no good time, no matter how much finance there is, they can't attack in a hurry. Finance is one of the indispensable conditions for war, but it is not the only one. Or even if the two places are recovered, 500 million yuan, 600 million yuan, it is enough. Ten years! So what's next?

Of course, if this is the case, he can wake up laughing when he falls asleep.

Zheng Lang said again: "Your Majesty, think a little further, if this situation is assumed, can the two taxes be cut all." ”

The two taxes amounted to more than 40 million yuan, which is equivalent to no more than 35 million yuan, and compared with the surplus of 60 million, there is no obstacle to the reduction. But if it really got to that point, think about it, and there would be no tax on the peasants, what would it be like? Yao Shunyu soup can't do it.

Zhao Ji was excited, walked down from the dragon chair, and walked around among the ministers, not only was he excited, but Fu Bi Zeng Gongliang and the others thought of that time, and countless stars flashed in their eyes. It really got to that point, not only Zhao Ji and Zheng Lang, but even they would be listed as virtuous ministers and bid for the annals of history, becoming an important milestone in history. And theoretically it is possible to achieve a surplus of more than 60 million, more than 40 million to wipe out, and more than 10 million.

Zheng Lang smiled and said, "It's impossible, the beauty of the dream." (To be continued.) )