Yan Yingyuan's words made Zhu Youzhen's spirits lift, but he didn't expect Yan Yingyuan to have such insight.

The reason why the gentry controlled the countryside was not only by their fame, but also by their powerful families. Not only Gangnam, but also other places. In the countryside, the power of the clan exceeds that of the government, and even has the right to judge and dispose of the villagers. If there is a strong clan power in the countryside, even if there are town officials, it may not be able to suppress these powerful families!

"I'm afraid it's not appropriate to move separately for no reason, right?" Chen Zilong muttered.

"It's imperative to split up. Since everyone is equal, it is natural that the concubines should also be equal. However, many families attach great importance to their sons-in-law, and despise their sons-in-law, and even regard them as slaves. The property must be divided! Every household, after all the sons of the family have reached adulthood, they should divide their families. Those who do not separate their families will be heavily taxed! Those who do not divide their families will not be given land after Juntian! Zhu Youzhen said categorically.

Only by dividing up the family and dividing the property can those big families be torn apart. And when the family is divided, each has its own way, it is not easy for the patriarch to speak. Of course, for the gentry, they certainly did not want to divide their families. But their concubines must be willing, who doesn't want to be the master of their own house? Zhu Youzhen can imagine that as long as the family is divided and the property is ordered, there will be infighting among the major families in Jiangnan.

"Okay, that's it!" Zhu Youzhen said categorically. If the families are in chaos by themselves, they will not have the energy to fight with me!

"As for moving elsewhere, it's a bit inappropriate, because no one wants to leave their homeland. However, you can slowly think of a way, for example, if you violate the law, you will be assigned to another place, for example, if the children of the gentry want to take the examination to become an official, they will also be sent to other places. Zhu Youzhen said while thinking.

Chen Zilong had nothing to say.

"I heard that His Majesty encouraged the people to sue when he was in northern Shaanxi, and now he can do the same." Yan Yingyuan said suddenly. Some people complained that if the gentry were guilty of the slightest sin, they could be forced to move elsewhere.

Chen Zilong couldn't help but glared at Yan Yingyuan, this guy's method was really too bad.

Zhu Youzhen shook his head: "I don't have the energy to do these things for the time being, let's talk about it later." ”

There are too many things to do to set up towns under the county, release slaves from all fields, and reorganize household registration.

Yan Yingyuan closed his mouth regretfully. In fact, he tended to forcibly confiscate the gentry for their crimes, and if they wanted to do it, they had to do it thoroughly, just like the emperor did when he was in northern Shaanxi. But now he is just a probationary official who has just passed the exam, and he doesn't even have an actual position, so naturally he has no right to speak.

After chatting casually for a few more words, Zhu Youzhen let the two go down. Chen Zilong was the director of the Congqipin Propaganda and Comfort Division, and his next responsibility was to unite with other scholars to publicize the theory of equality for all and the policy of freeing slaves. Zhu Youzhen agreed that the Jiangnan branch of the Royal People's Newspaper could be set up in Jiangnan, with Chen Zilong as the editor-in-chief, and publish articles in the newspaper for sale to the people of Jiangnan Shizi as his mouthpiece.

As for Yan Yingyuan, he returned to the camp to participate in the training of new officials, and after the training, he would be assigned work, starting with the mayor of the town. Now that Yan Yingyuan has entered the eyes of Zhu Youzhen, his future future is naturally limitless.

......

"Brother Ying Yuan, is there any hostility towards the gentry?" On the way back, Chen Zilong said suddenly.

Yan Yingyuan smiled slightly: "Why did Brother Chen say this?" Every word I said in front of His Majesty was out of public heart, for the people of the world for the sake of the Ming Dynasty, and I did not specifically target anyone. ”

Chen Zilong shook his head: "Brother Ying Yuan, you have less contact with our scholars, if you have more contact, you will know that our scholars are no less worried about the country and the people than you." In fact, many things are accumulated over the years, such as the privileges of the gentry, the annexation of land by the gentry, and the result of two hundred years of accumulation, many scholars may not be willing to do this, but they cannot choose to be born in such a family. ”

Having money and land has become the original sin, which makes Chen Zilong a little unacceptable.

"Brother Zilong doesn't have to mind, in fact, even if the gentry lose their fields, they still have a lot of business, after all, the gentry in Jiangnan do not completely rely on the fields to make money, and the children of the gentry are all literate and literate, so they are naturally stronger than ordinary people, even if they lose their fields and even lose their floating wealth, starting from scratch, the starting point is higher than that of ordinary people." Yan Yingyuan smiled and said, he didn't have a good impression of the gentry class, but he had a very good opinion of Chen Zilong, thinking that Chen Zilong was an outlier among the gentry, and he didn't want to lose this friend.

"Since it is a reform and a revolution, there must be sacrifices. Let's start with the gentry, after all, the gentry have enjoyed privileges for more than two hundred years. Chen Zilong's heart finally let go completely.

For the sake of the people of the world and the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty, some sacrifices are still worth it. After all, the emperor agreed not to kill the gentry, and he did not say that the gentry's children were not allowed to become officials in the future!

......

After Yan Yingyuan and Chen Zilong left, Zhu Youzhen summoned Hong Chengchou to discuss.

Hong Chengchou hurriedly came and saluted Zhu Youzhen. He's busy, very busy. After Wen Tiren went to Henan to be the governor and Yuan Keli went to deal with the salt reform, only Hong Chengchou was left with the important ministers around Zhu Youzhen, so he had to worry about the big and small things in the camp. Fortunately, Hong Chengchou is extremely capable, and these things are not difficult for him.

"Your Majesty." After listening to the handling opinions of the Jiangnan gentry, Hong Chengchou praised.

At the beginning, Zhu Youzhen wanted to be like northern Shaanxi and Shandong, and forcibly confiscate the gentry in Jiangnan to divide the land, at that time Hong Chengchou felt that something was wrong, but he didn't know how to persuade him, but he didn't expect the emperor to want to open it himself.

"The power of the Jiangnan gentry is too huge, if they are in a hurry, I am afraid they will really pull the flag and rebel. Coupled with the fact that the war in Jiangxi is undecided, I can only compromise temporarily. Zhu You sighed, "First divide only their fields, and allow the gentry to keep the workshop business, so that they will not rebel too much." Alas......"

Jiangnan is the most prosperous place in the world, there are many gentry with millions of family assets, if you can raid all the gentry in Jiangnan, the wealth obtained is simply astronomical, and it hurts to think about it.

"Zhao Shuojiao and Tan Xingxian came over, set up a tax department in Jiangdong, set up branch offices in Suzhou and Songjiang prefectures and cities, and established tax customs on canals, Yangtze River, and land wharves, and collected commercial taxes from all workshop firms." Zhu Youzhen gritted his teeth.

"This is very good, after all, we don't have too many talents who know how to do business, if we really copy the business of the gentry, in addition to getting a huge amount of wealth in a short time, the industrial and commercial trade in Jiangnan will be abolished, it is better not to copy, but to levy commercial taxes, so that these businesses will continue to bring wealth to Your Majesty." Hong Chengchou praised.

Zhu Youzhen has come to his senses: "Hong Qing, this Jiangnan is different from the north, the yield per mu of land is high, and commerce and trade are also developed, this tax rate naturally cannot be the same as that of poor places in the north, how should you collect this land tax and commercial tax?" ”

Hong Chengchou thought for a moment and said: "The minister has already understood, taking the land tax as an example, the tax on the official land has reached as much as sixty percent, and there are other harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes. The gentry rented 50% or even 60% of the land rent to the tenants, but there were almost no exacting taxes, which was also the advantage of being slaves to the gentry. After His Majesty equalized the land, the land rent naturally could not be so high, but it should not be too low, otherwise it would not be able to feed a large number of officials, nor would it be possible to supply the army and the court with grain. After thinking about it, the field tax rate can be set at 40%. Such an ordinary family of five owns a field according to ten acres of land, Jiangnan twice a year, wheat in winter and rice in summer, in a normal year, the output of wheat and rice can reach at least five stones, and after paying the field tax at 40%, the remaining grain is enough to feed the family. ”

Zhu Youzhen thought about it and felt that what Hong Chengchou said made sense: "Just do it." However, in addition to land rent, the local government is not allowed to collect any harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes without authorization, and violators will be severely punished! ”

In fact, according to the previous tax rate of the imperial court, there was no problem for the people to support their families after paying the imperial grain and national tax, but the problem was that there were too many taxes and miscellaneous taxes, too many showdowns, and endless forced labor, which forced the people to breathe.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian stipulated that in addition to the national tax on imperial grain, the local government is not allowed to levy other harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes without authorization. Of course, if this kind of regulation had been put in the past, it would not have worked at all. The mountain is high and the emperor is far away, so the officials of the prefecture and county will not listen to the court in everything, and the court will not be able to control it. However, in the future, the county will set up towns, and the prefectures and towns will have special propaganda officials, and the taxes will also be separated from the local government, and the imperial court will often send people to secretly inspect various places, and if you want to disobey the orders of the imperial court, you will inevitably be severely punished.

"That's it. What about commercial tax, how much should it be levied? Zhu Youzhen asked.

"Let's levy the commercial tax according to the eleventh." Hong Chengchou said.

"Eleven? Jiangnan is so prosperous in commerce and trade, how can it be the same as other places? Zhu Youzhen said dissatisfied.

Hong Chengchou smiled bitterly: "Business and agriculture are different, doing business requires a lot of money, if the business tax is too heavy, the businessmen will not be able to turn over the capital, I am afraid that the business will collapse." In addition, if heavy taxes are levied, the merchants will pass on the cost to the goods, which will inevitably make the selling price of various commodities too high, which will be detrimental to the court and the people. After all, the imperial court could not set a price for every commodity like the price of salt. ”

Zhu Youzhen thought about it and felt that this was the truth.

"Your Majesty can rest assured that in addition to the commercial tax levied by the Taxation Department, the local government will inevitably levy business tax on the shops under its jurisdiction, which is not cheaper for them." Hong Chengchou said, "After Tan Xingxian arrived in Jiangnan, he first set up a tax branch in Songjiang, Suzhou and other prefectures, and each business must register with the tax department, explaining its business type, scale, number of hired workers, sales scope, etc., and then the tax department will issue a license to it. In this way, it can not only achieve control over the business, but also collect a license fee, which is also a lot of income according to its size. ”

Knowing that the emperor was "greedy for money", in order to dispel Zhu You's idea of inspecting the gentry's business, Hong Chengchou had to think of comfort.

"Is there any other way to engage in silver ......, and is there any control of Jiangnan commerce?" Zhu Youzhen asked again.

Hong Chengchou thought for a while: "Didn't Your Majesty set up a bank in Beijing, and also issued silver coins, you can open the bank to the south of the Yangtze River, and the imperial court can issue an order, stipulating that in the future, you must use the silver dollars and copper dollars issued by the Royal Bank, and you are not allowed to use the broken silver, so that the profits from the coinage alone are a lot of wealth every year." Then it can be forcibly stipulated that only the imperial court needs to open a bank number, and the ticket number of a private bank is illegal. In this way, if the bank can open to the major cities in the country, the loan income alone is a huge amount of money! ”

"Bank, how did I forget it!" Zhu Youzhen slapped his thigh excitedly. Wandering into later generations, he knew that banking was definitely a very lucrative industry, and just charging fees for remote deposits and withdrawals was a huge business, let alone lending.

Now it seems that he has a way to make money, and there is really no need to do anything about the gentry's business!

Seeing that Zhu Youzhen finally gave up the idea of raiding the gentry's house, Hong Chengchou couldn't help but wipe his forehead, it was really difficult.

In Hong Chengchou's view, many of Zhu Youzhen's previous decisions were too drastic. The so-called rigidity is easy to break, and this cannot be the case when dealing with state affairs. Although it is said that reform and revolution are needed, there is no need to push the entire gentry class to a dead end.

Of course, countless ordinary people are the most trustworthy force, but we must not forget that the smartest people in this world are still those gentry. It is really a mistake to rely only on the ignorant common people and completely abandon the elite gentry class.

The two discussed for a long time the various policies that would be implemented next. Then it was decided that from now on, the Juntian reform would be implemented in Zhenjiang Prefecture. The prefect of Zhenjiang and the prefects of each county were all dismissed and re-elected officials. The prefect of Zhenjiang was represented by Hong Chengchou, and the county magistrates and mayors of each county were served by officials who followed them to Zhenjiang, all of whom were brought all the way from Shandong, and some of them had participated in Juntian in Shandong and had rich experience. As for the prefectural officials and the subordinate officials of the town, they were filled by newly recruited officials, who were involved in the affairs of the field while training. As long as the land is completed in Zhenjiang, these new officials can grow rapidly.

"At the same time, schools should be opened, and at least one school should be opened in each town, and all school-age children should be enrolled in school, and no tuition fees will be charged." Zhu Youzhen thought for a while.

"Every town has a school, isn't there too much, a large number of teachers are needed, and a lot of money and food are needed." Hong Chengchou was puzzled.

"Isn't there a lot of poor scholars in Jiangnan who can recruit teachers from them, and as for money and food, a part of it is withheld from the field tax, and it is not used too much. The reason why I opened the school was to give the children of ordinary people the opportunity to study, and then have the opportunity to pass the official examination to become officials, breaking the monopoly of the gentry on officialdom. I don't want to see that in a few years, the officialdom will still be full of gentry's children! Zhu Youzhen said coldly.

As long as the gentry change their minds, it is easy to pass the official examination with the knowledge of the gentry's children, and it is inevitable that many gentry children will pass the new examination to enter the officialdom. Therefore, Zhu Youzhen wanted to leave a chance for ordinary people to prevent class solidification.

"In addition to Juntian, the town officials should also organize the township soldiers, recruit the young and strong people from each village as the township soldiers, and practice in the slack season, and can draw officers from the Praetorian Guard to serve as town officials, who are specially responsible for the training of the township soldiers. In the future, the Praetorian Guard army was supplemented from these township soldiers, and a certain number of places were assigned to all provinces, prefectures, and counties. The Praetorian Guards stipulate the term of service, and after the expiration of the period, they can be appointed as village heads, and they can serve in the township, and the officials in the township should be selected from among the retired officers and soldiers. Zhu Youzhen continued.

In this way, ordinary people have two ways to rise: if they are smart at study, they can pass the school examination and become an official, if they are physically strong and strong, they can enter the army, and they can also become officials in the future.

And after the establishment of the township army in the town, with this force, it was almost impossible for the gentry to try to mess around. The Praetorian Guards were well treated, and they had the opportunity to become officials after retirement, and even if they were not paid, the young and strong people of the townships would inevitably compete to join the township soldiers, so that they only needed to provide rations for training, and they could get a reliable army, and if there was a riot in various places, these township soldiers could be pacified.

PS: First send and then change.