Listening to Zhang Pengxi's words, Zhenwu couldn't help but chin slightly, there are many reasons for the fall of the Ming Dynasty, the land annexation caused by the expansion of the gentry's power can be said to be a fundamental problem, these years, the people's requirements are low and pitiful, as long as there is a piece of land in hand that is enough to solve the problem of food and clothing, if you force him to rebel, he will not do it.

"How can the death of the former Ming be attributed to the expansion of the squire's power?" Xiao Yongzao opened his mouth to argue: "The slave secretly thinks that the death of the former Ming Dynasty was due to party strife and internal friction, and the internal friction between civil officials and eunuchs was the fundamental reason for the death of the Ming Dynasty.

It is undeniable that the expansion of the gentry power will exacerbate land annexation, but the gentry power is an indispensable part of the stability of the imperial court, and the slaves do not approve of curbing the squire power. ”

Hearing this, Ma Qi couldn't help but be overjoyed, why did he forget about overseas? He hurriedly followed: "Since there is no worry about land annexation, the squire can be said to be beneficial and harmless, and there is no need to suppress and curb it." At the beginning of the founding of the country, the imperial court was to respect the scholars and encircle the squires, so as to exempt them from errand and miscellaneous labor, so as to improve the status of the squires. ”

Hearing this, Zhang Pengxi and Wang Luo couldn't help but be stunned, the Qing Dynasty has a vast overseas territory, and there is no need to worry about land annexation, so why should they fight the squire? The role of the squire class is indeed indispensable and cannot be ignored. Or is it ill-conceived?

Seeing that there was some coldness, Zhenwu glanced at the five of them before saying, "I said that we should consider both short-term and long-term aspects. The more vast the overseas territory, the faster the power of the squires will swell, and a large number of squires will be created in Nanyang and Australia in a few years, because there will be a large number of slaves thrown into Nanyang, Australia and even the mainland.

There is no shortage of silver in the Qing Dynasty now, and there is no shortage of silver in me. Why do we need to implement the apportionment into the acre? Why do you propose that the gentry receive food in one body and work as an errand boy? It's for the long haul! If it is not implemented at this time, it will not be implemented in the future, I estimate it. In less than thirty years, the number of squires in the Qing Dynasty will at least double, think about it, what kind of scale is that? ”

At least double the number of squires in thirty years? The five ministers of the upper study were all taken aback, what kind of situation was that? Isn't the county seat a squire full of streets? How is this possible? The squire is not a cabbage, he must have a reputation and know etiquette. There is also a small family property.

Seeing the disbelief on the faces of several people, Zhenwu smiled slightly, and then said: "This is not alarmism, the Qing Dynasty is now increasing its investment in education, from the prefecture to the countryside, the scale of government schools at all levels will more than double, and I will continue to invest every year for more than ten years." Thirty percent of the children in the Qing Dynasty should be able to go to school, this is one of them.

Second, land and wealth. With the great migration of Australia, with a large number of slaves joining the development of Nanyang and Australia, it will inevitably attract many scholars, merchants, and squires to enclose and reclaim land, and the price of land in the northern provinces will also drop sharply with the great migration, and the number of gentry will also increase.

In addition, I and the 'Four Constants' will also join hands to support the immigrants in Australia, and I will spend tens of millions of taels of silver to immigrate them to Australia, and it is impossible to leave them alone. Starting next year, I will vigorously strengthen my investment in the management and education of Australia, and I want them to be grateful to the court for generations to come. ”

Listening to Zhenwu's explanation, several people couldn't help but suddenly realize that if this development continues, the number of squires in the Qing Dynasty will indeed increase. It is no wonder that Zhenwu wanted to vigorously promote the apportionment of the land into the mu and the gentry to pay grain as an errand to suppress the squire, which was a precaution.

After a little groaning, Song Zhu bowed down and said: "The emperor is far-sighted, and the ministers are very admired. However, such a sharp increase in the scale of the squire will inevitably lead to a surge in the number of Han members in the imperial court, which will inevitably impact the current pattern of the imperial court. ”…,

Several people here knew that the so-called court pattern was to break the balance between the Manchus and the Han Dynasty, and this was why Song Zhu would speak bluntly regardless of the occasion, Ma Qi couldn't help but raise his head slightly and glanced at him, stopping him from continuing to speak.

Seeing that Song Zhu only said half a sentence, Zhenwu couldn't help but glance at Ma Qi and said, "All the ministers here are all my ministers, and I might as well be honest and straightforward." After a slight pause, he said in an accentuated tone: "If the Qing Dynasty wants the country to be long and prosperous, it must integrate all ethnic groups, and the Eight Banners are actually the integration of the Mongolian and Han Dynasties, if there is no Han and Mongolian Eight Banners, where would the Qing Dynasty come to the world now?"

The Qing Dynasty can have today's prosperous situation, because of the good treatment of heroes, I am the lord of the world, is the king of the hundreds of millions of people of the Qing Dynasty, I have the heart to tolerate the world, but also have the ambition to swallow the world, I do not stick to the Manchu Han defense, nor do I suspect the Han people.

I promote the marriage of the Manchu and Han, in order to integrate the Manchu and Han, the integration of the Qing Dynasty, to create an unprecedented prosperity for the Qing Dynasty, and to build the Qing Dynasty into a great empire beyond the Yuan and Mongolia. ”

Listening to Zhenwu's words, he was already full of voice, Zhang Pengxi, Ma Qi and other five people were all on their backs, they all got up and knelt on the ground, and they all slandered Song Zhu one by one, isn't this a pot that doesn't open that pot? Good and dignified, what kind of Manchu man is mentioned in vain? Now it's okay, you have to lead by example, how to do this? Marriage? Do you want to go back and quickly recognize a few goddaughters and granddaughters?

Glancing at a few people, Zhenwu slightly controlled his emotions, picked up the teacup and took a sip of herbal tea, before slowing down his tone and saying: "Xiao Yongzao also said that the death of the former Ming Dynasty was due to the party struggle, and Mo Feier and others thought that the dispute between the Manchus and the Han Dynasty was not a party dispute?" This is a worse party struggle than the civil officials and eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty!

Wait for yourself to reflect on it, the gentry pay the grain as a single errand, return to the public or cancel the envy, and the squire supervises the magistrates, these are all related to the national economy and people's livelihood, related to the income of the imperial court, and related to the governance of the imperial court. ”

Seeing that Zhenwu had a tendency to be angry, Ma Qi hurriedly knocked: "The emperor is angry, slaves and other crimes deserve death, and there is a negative grace of the emperor, and I implore the emperor to punish him." ”

Zhang Pengxi also knocked: "The emperor Shengjian, Weichen and others do have selfish intentions, but the dispute between the Manchu and Han Dynasty has been going on for a long time, and the elimination of the Manchu and Han domains is not an overnight effort. Set an example for all officials. ”

glanced at the five people who were all a handful of ages, Zhenwu didn't care much about himself, and what Zhang Pengxi said was also reasonable, eliminating the Manchu and Han domains was not an overnight effort. He was in a hurry, and at that moment, he ordered: "All are flat, give a seat." ”

After the five of them got up, Ma Qi quickly took the initiative to change the topic and said: "Your Majesty, although the standards for consumption and envy are different in various places, they are as few as hundreds of taels. If it is returned, the servants are worried that the local officials will strongly oppose it, and if it is exempted, the imperial court is afraid that it will not be able to afford it. ”

"Envy is a big malaise." Zhenwu groaned: "The expropriation of envy, the imperial court has no clear rules, and the state and county officials regard envy as deserved and arbitrarily expropriate it. From four or five cents to one or two cents, all the income goes into private pockets, although officials above the state and county level have no envy. However, they accepted the rituals and rituals of their subordinates, and the state and county officials used this as an excuse to be even more greedy; Shangguan did not dare to ask questions because of bribery, and even took the amount of money left behind as a dethronement, and the officials suffered from it, which was actually a maladministration that ruined the people and harmed the country, not only the people, but also the trend of corruption and bribery in the officialdom. ”

After a slight pause, he looked at Zhang Pengxi and said, "You have been in the place for a long time, and you have been in charge of the household department for many years. What is the total amount of envy collected in the country each year? ”…,

Zhang Pengxi was stunned when he heard this, the collection standards are different in various places, and no one will report stupidly to the top, God knows how many? In these years, there are few clean officials, many corrupt officials, and I am afraid that there are not many people who levy four or five points. Most of them were levied more than one penny, and after a slight calculation, he bowed down and said: "Back to the emperor, the consumption of envy is a confused account, according to the annual income of one percent of the total amount of silver, it should be more than three million taels." ”

"Hmph, the achievements of the year's income were privately divided by these officials, and they gave me a hard cry of poverty." Zhenwu said coldly, three million is not a large amount for Zhenwu, with the improvement of the production of silver tickets, sooner or later it will be implemented nationwide, which is not enviable, three million taels of silver, it is a big deal to subsidize from the proceeds of the slave trade.

In addition, when he ascended the throne, he encountered a major drought in several northern provinces, although the relief was effective, but it was inevitable that there would be gossip, and the implementation of the apportionment into the mu would also provoke a lot of criticism, and the people of the world must be given a little sweetness.

It's just that in this way, the pressure is a bit greater, and the income from Africa's gold and slave trade has to cope with the green camp increase and subsidize the shortage of envy, which is indeed a bit tight, and it is necessary to hurry up to urge Japan's gold indemnity.

Tilting his face and silent for a long time, Zhen Wucai said in a deep voice: "I see, we must abolish the expropriation of envy, in order to completely put an end to the indiscriminate apportionment of state and county officials.

As for the shortfall in the consumption of silver, I will make up for it from the internal funds, how to reasonably distribute this silver, you should discuss it first and then report it, considering that most of the officials are big officials, and they cannot be divided according to their grades, you can appropriately focus on state and county officials. ”

Subsidy from within again? Zhang Pengxi, Ma Qi and the other five people were slightly surprised, how much income can Zhenwu's internal money have every year? This is an annual necessity, and once the internal funds cannot be paid, the silver will inevitably be spent from the treasury, and besides, it is not in accordance with the rules for Zhenwu to use the internal funds to advance the normal expenses of the imperial court.

Seeing that several people bowed down to prepare for the decree, Zhang Pengxi hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, it is easy to reduce taxes and it is difficult to increase taxes, and the people have become accustomed to collecting envy every year. ”

Zhenwu glanced at him, knowing what he was worried about, smiled slightly, and said: "At present, the income of the imperial court is not high, I don't want to affect the normal operation of the imperial court because of the innovation, stay for three or five years, when Nanyang Australia begins to collect taxes, and after the reform of industrial and commercial miscellaneous taxes is promoted, everything will be on the right track." ”

Hearing this, Zhang Pengxi couldn't help but feel relieved, and hurriedly bowed down and said, "The ministers obey the order." ”

Standing up, Ma Qi said cautiously: "Your Majesty, I discussed the increase in the officials before, is it still implemented as usual?" ”

"Plus." After pondering for a long time, Zhenwu nodded and said, "All the officials have doubled, how can I not believe what I say?" In addition, the Beijing officials have the estates of Luzon, and I treat them equally, and the development of Borneo in the South Seas as the welfare of all officials is published in the Beijing Newspaper. ”

Listening to Zhenwu's words, Ma Qi's three full members were shocked, Zhenwu's words were murderous, it seems that the case in Shaanxi and Gansu is more auspicious. Zhang Pengxi frowned and said: "Your Majesty, the territory of Borneo seems to be quite small, and it will be published in the Beijing Daily, will it cause criticism?" ”

"What's there to blame?" Zhenwu said disapprerovingly: "There are many barren islands in the South Seas, all of them are borderless lands, there is no difference between selling to the people and selling them to officials, and sealing Borneo to officials can not only encourage the people to operate the islands of the South Seas with confidence and promote the development of the South Seas, but also stimulate all officials to care about the South Seas, which is a matter of killing two birds with one stone." ”…,

Wang Luo has never cared much about overseas places, and when he heard this, he couldn't help but ask: "Your Majesty, how much benefit can Borneo bring to officials?" ”

"It's comparable to Jiangnan." Zhen Wu smiled slightly and said, "It is conservatively estimated that the officials' salaries can be quadrupled." ”

Quadruple again! Wang Luo couldn't help but be stunned, what kind of concept is that? How much will it be that year, more than 1,500 taels of silver! Ma Qi and the three of them were also stunned when they heard it, so generous?

"Your Majesty, Yinqi and Yue Zhongqi will see you outside." Bao Fuquan bowed down at the door to report.

Zhenwu nodded slightly, but he didn't make a sound, and after a moment of silence, he glanced at Zhang Pengxi and a few people, and said: "The gentry pay the grain as an errand and the squire supervises the affairs of the magistrate, and you will discuss it again?" In addition, I am going to leave Beijing for a tour in the near future, so you can arrange it in advance. So saying, he got up and walked out.

Several people hurriedly stood up to see each other, Ma Qi glanced at Zhenwu's back, and the line was turned over and over again, "Go out on patrol!" "Two words, needless to say, must be going to Shaanxi and Gansu, which is not a good sign.

Yin Qi and Yue Zhongqi were waiting for Zhenwu Xuanjin outside the hall, but they didn't want to see Zhenwu come out, and they hurriedly stepped forward to ask An to see the ceremony, Zhenwu waved his hand and said with a smile: "No courtesy." As he spoke, he glanced at the two of them before saying, "Go and sit in the side hall." ”

The three of them entered the hall and sat down, and Zhenwu said directly: "I will leave Beijing early tomorrow morning to patrol Shaanxi and Gansu, and Yue Zhongqi will send a thousand elites from the Shunyi camp to accompany me. ”

"Wechen obeys." Yue Zhongqi hurriedly got up and knelt down and said, but he was excited in his heart and wanted to make a fuss, Zhenwu really looked at the new army of the Praetorian Guards differently, and the recruits who had been trained for less than two years could follow him.

Seeing this situation, Yin Qi was anxious, and he didn't care about the rules, so he hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, you have to take your ministers for a private visit." ”

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