Shen Yichen disliked the Qing Dynasty very much, because it was too ignorant and backward, so that it hindered the development of the entire process of Chinese civilization.

But there is one thing that Shen Yichen has to admit that the apportionment of the mu promulgated during the Kangxi period, as well as the integration of the gentry to pay grain, have cross-era significance in the feudal dynasty.

The significance of this aspect is not that the Qing Dynasty officially propagated how much preferential treatment the common people never gave more. In fact, the mountains that ordinary people in all dynasties have pressed on their bodies have not been official taxes, but on the contrary, they have been imposed by various exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes.

Never increase the amount of Ding Yin is just fixed, and at the end of the dynasty, the various harsh taxes that should be increased can still force the family to ruin, but these two policies are of great significance to the center of the court, and directly increase the tax by more than an order of magnitude.

For a feudal dynasty, what it is afraid of is not natural and man-made disasters, the division of feudal towns, and external and internal troubles. There is only one real reason for the end of the dynasty, that is, the court has no money to collect taxes.

As long as the central court has money, these problems are not a problem, Liu Bang almost did not go to study in the Xiongnu like Zhu Qizhen in the siege of Baishan Mountain in the Han Dynasty, and as a result, he pretended to be a grandson for decades after the rule of Wenjing, and said that it was good to listen to it is to recuperate, and to say that it is difficult to listen to it is to save money and develop obscenely, and it is not to turn the tables during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.

The Tang Dynasty had nine emperors fled, the national capital fell six times, and the warlords in various parts of the feudal towns were overflowing, and the other dynasties should have died early. As a result, he continued his life frantically, and in the early stage of his self-explosion and exile, he also took away a wave of world enemies such as Tubo, Nanzhao, and Huifu.

The reason for this is that the Jiangnan region, the main financial revenue of the Tang Dynasty, has always maintained good control, and it also maintains a "Shence Army" directly under the central government to deter the feudal domains.

It wasn't until the Huangchao Uprising smashed the financial land, and Datang had no source of revenue to continue its life, that it finally couldn't survive.

Taxation is the foundation of the continuation of a dynasty, on the other hand, only when the center of the court is rich, can suppress the local pride of land annexation, and give the people at the bottom a living space, the two can be regarded as complementary to each other.

Shen Yichen knew that this matter was difficult, but he had to do it!

The gentry are one as an errand to pay for food?

Hearing Shen Yichen's request, Hu Hui's eyes widened and his face was full of disbelief, since the ancient scholars and the Son of Heaven ruled the world together, which means that half of the country belongs to the gentry class.

Has anyone ever collected taxes from the emperor in all dynasties?

If there is none, then why should the scholar class, who are also the masters of the country, pay for food?

What's more important is that I have been studying hard for more than ten years, just to one day cross the class and become a master, and now I have to work as an errand like a mud leg, so what's the use of reading books for so many years?

Too much incomprehension came to Hu Hui's mind, and he couldn't understand why Shen Yichen had such thoughts. You must know that although this son likes martial arts, he is also a member of the scholar class, and he is still standing in the top position, which is tantamount to self-destruction of the Great Wall!

"Shen Gongbao, you didn't joke with the old man."

"Uncle Zong, how can the younger generation joke about this kind of thing, the Ming Dynasty has been established for more than 70 years, and the number of scholars has long been not the number of Taizu Taizong. In addition to their own preferential and exemption quotas, they also have all kinds of "tricks", "flying sprinkles" and "allowances" from local farmers, and many counties and towns do not even have half of the fertile land that meets the tax requirements. ”

"After a long time, the fate of the three hundred years of reincarnation of all dynasties will reappear in the Ming Dynasty, not even three hundred years!"

In fact, at the official level, the Ming Dynasty did not have such a high preferential and exemption quota for scholars, but with the development of time, after someone in the court was good at doing things, it would slowly develop into a local famous family.

Even if there is no overpayment, there are many magistrates who are only seven county orders, how dare they go to collect taxes from the local gentry?

Shen Yichen believes that Hu Hu must understand better than himself, and if he doesn't do this matter now, the more he reaches the end of the dynasty, the more he will have no possibility of reform, and he can only watch the decay continue.

Of course, as a member of the vested interests, Hu Hu's understanding does not mean agreeing, and if he wants to cut the flesh from himself, he will offend the huge class of scholars, and he will most likely not dare to reform with his character.

Sure enough, when he heard Shen Yichen's words, Hu Hu's face was extremely serious, and then he was silent. He didn't expect to just talk about Shi Pu's problem, but it turned out to involve such a big matter, and he couldn't make a choice at all for a while.

After a long silence, Hu Hu replied silently: "Xiangbei, you can't do this." ”

The most powerful force in the whole world is actually not a relative of the emperor, but a scholar class composed of scholars. If Shen Yichen wants to declare war on this class, he will have to suffer the consequences pointed out by Qianfu, and maybe it will cause turmoil in various places and paralyze the entire imperial court system.

Even if Shen Yichen seems to be in power now, he still doesn't have this strength!

"It's man-made."

Shen Yichen's expression was extremely firm, without the slightest hesitation.

He has been walking towards the pinnacle of power step by step for so many years, and it is false to say that he has no selfishness and desire for power, but the most fundamental reason for supporting Shen Yichen to forge ahead is the promise he made on the banks of the Zhenjiang River back then.

When he takes charge of the court one day, he will take the world as his own responsibility and no longer let the people be displaced!

"So you took the position of the secretary of the Ministry of Works, just to completely control the cabinet and eliminate all opposition forces?"

"Yes."

"If the old man doesn't agree, it's included?"

"That's right."

still admits unabashedly that taking down Hu Hu has long been one of Shen Yichen's goals, and he has even made a move at the beginning. However, the other party is deeply rooted, and considering the stability of the government and the opposition, they have been able to get along safely and soundly so far.

However, once the steps of reform are implemented, it will be like the giant wheel of history rolling forward, and there is no possibility of giving up halfway.

Either Shen Yichen succeeded in reforming, suppressed the privileges of the scholar class, encouraged the development of industry and commerce, broke the small-scale peasant economic system, and finally appeared in the early stage of capitalism.

Either the reform fails, and from then on it falls into another historical cycle, and there is no third option!

Feeling Shen Yichen's majestic momentum and determination, even Hu Hu, who was a veteran of the Six Dynasties, felt like he was shocked for a while. It's not that he hasn't been in contact with powerful officials, after all, he is an old man who came from the era of Taizu Taizong, and the minister of civil and military affairs in the early Ming Dynasty can be described as a group of stars.

But in the past so many years, including "Sanyang", no one can suppress Hu Hu for a long time, but he didn't expect to be suppressed by a young man who has not yet reached the age of standing today, which really makes him a little incredible.

"To the north, the old man knows that he can't stop you, so he can only let the general trend stop you."

"The position of the Ministry of Industry can be given up, but the old man has a premise, otherwise he will definitely fight to the death!"

When he said this, Hu Hu's body also burst out with momentum, and Shen Yichen and Shen Yichen seemed to form an invisible aura. Anyone has a bottom line, let alone as a veteran of the Six Dynasties, once he breaks through the limit of Hu Hui's ability to retreat, then he would rather choose to start an all-out war with Shen Yichen.

"Uncle Zong, you can speak as bluntly."

Feeling the other party's intention to compromise, Shen Yichen retracted his compelling momentum, arched his hand and softened his attitude.

"Shi Shangshu has a loss, but there is no big damage to the family and the country, and the impeachment of you and Xu Youzhen is simply life-threatening."

"As the saying goes, leave a line in life, give Shi Shangshu a chance to return to his hometown with dignity, and the old man is willing to persuade him to go back to his hometown to worry about the bones of begging."

Hu Hui's bottom line is the word "decent", fighting but not breaking is the essence of the scholar and civil class, if Shen Yichen tramples on this bottom line, it is Shi Pu who asks for the crime today, then it may be Yu Shiyue, the secretary of the Criminal Department, who will ask for the crime tomorrow, and it will be his turn the day after tomorrow.

In fact, the impeachment has reached this point, even if Hu Hu can win the fight, it has become a foregone conclusion that Shi Pu will retire and return to his hometown, after all, the feudal dynasty has a hundred virtues and filial piety first.

But there is still a fundamental difference between taking the initiative to make Shen Yichen regress and being forced to accept Shi Pu's return to his hometown, and in a sense, this is also Hu Hui's old experience in officialdom for many years.

"Senior Xie Dazong Uncle is considerate."

Shen Yichen arched his hand again and thanked him, just like Hu Hu said, officialdom is a line, since the other party has chosen to back down and compromise, then it is also decent to be polite.

Facing Shen Yichen's attitude of being able to bend and stretch, Hu Hu felt a lot of emotion in his heart for a while, if he hadn't felt offended back then and didn't put this young man in his eyes, maybe he would have become a disciple today.

At this point, Hu Hui, as an old man in the officialdom, still opened his mouth and gave Shen Yichen a piece of advice: "To the north, even if the old man does not object, when the time comes, the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty and local officials will definitely unite with the powerful gentry to attack it." ”

"After all, you can't fight against the general trend of the whole world by yourself."

Faced with Hu Hu's second mention of the word "general trend", Shen Yichen was silent for a moment, and finally retorted: "Great Zongbo, can the gentry represent the general trend of the world?" ”

"From the perspective of the younger generation, the people are the general trend of the world!"

The categorical answer, this time completely left Hu Hu speechless, he understood that there was absolute surprise in the concept between the two sides, and it was useless to say more.

Just at this time, a voice came from the car door: "Master, you have arrived at Chengtianmen." ”

"I see."

Hu Hui replied and looked at Shen Yichen.

For this look, Shen Yichen comprehended and said, "Then the junior will take the first step and leave." ”

"Walk slowly."

In a simple and polite sentence, Hu Hu looked at Shen Yichen's back through the curtain and disappeared into the long Forbidden City gate, with an indescribably complicated feeling in his heart.

From Shen Yichen's body, he seemed to see the purest appearance of officials, which was an extremely rare quality. It's a pity that in the turbid officialdom, there are very few people who come out of the mud and are not stained after all, and the road is long and obstructive!

On the other side, Shen Yichen walked in the long doorway, but he didn't think about whether he would fail, or what consequences he would suffer. On the contrary, my heart was filled with passion, and I had taken the first substantial step in the reform and reform that I had been looking forward to for so many years.

However, Hu Hui's compromise and getting the position of secretary of the Ministry of Industry is only the first step. Next, Shen Yichen did not go to Wenyuan Pavilion to be on duty, but came to the household yamen, he had to discuss a reform with Shang Shunianfu, otherwise the gentry would become a flower in the mirror.

Compared with Shen Yichen's previous visit to the Ministry of Industry Yamen, when he saw a relaxed and lazy appearance, the household Yamen was a busy scene. Everyone seemed to be tightening the clockwork on their bodies, frantically counting the income and expenditure of the imperial court, and making logistical preparations for the Western Expeditionary Army of the Loyal Gong Shi Heng.

The household department in the room is still rich and old, and he is busy at the moment, so he didn't notice the arrival of Shen Yichen outside, you must know that in the two years since Emperor Mingliang ascended the throne, the most stressful government affairs among the six departments is the household department.

The reason is that there have been several major events in the DPRK and China, such as subsidies for immigrants in enclosures, subsidies for the retirement of soldiers of the Southern Expeditionary Army, subsidies for the reform of military households, and relief for the people in various places, and now they have to raise military funds for the Western Expedition.

Although the annual income of the imperial court has increased greatly in recent years, from more than 20 million taels of silver at the end of the orthodox dynasty to more than 30 million taels, there are also a lot more places to spend, and many budgets have to be planned tightly, otherwise there will be a shortage of the national treasury.

Nian Fu sometimes feels that he knew that the affairs of the household department were so busy, it was better to be impeached by Shi Heng, the prince of Zhongguo, and return to his hometown, his old bones were really unbearable.

"It seems that the time chosen by the cabinet is wrong, and it has disturbed Da Situ."

Originally, the people of Zhongshushe wanted to pass it on, but Shen Yichen stood in front of the door and saw Nianfu's concentrated appearance, so he stopped the other party's move and chose to wait silently.

It wasn't until a moment later that Nian Fu still didn't mean to raise his head, and Shen Yichen couldn't help but bother.

Hearing the voice, Nian Fu looked up and saw that it was Shen Yichen standing at the door of his duty room, and his expression was first surprised. Then he quickly stood up and arched his hand: "I don't know that Shen Gongbao is coming, but this official has missed the distance." ”

"Why do you need to be so polite, this cabinet department has frowned when I see Da Situ handling government affairs, but what trouble has I encountered?"

Facing Shen Yichen's inquiry, Nian Fu immediately showed a wry smile on his face: "This is a bad debt in the household department, and there is nothing that is not troublesome." The official sometimes admires his predecessor Jin Shangshu, and he doesn't know how he survived the empty treasury back then, and at the same time provided the logistics for the two wars of Luchuan and Monan. ”

"Jin Shangshu is indeed a financial management officer, but it's a pity that he is already old."

Shen Yichen echoed with some emotion, Jin Lian never lacked supplies for his expedition to southern Mongolia at the most difficult financial moment of the Ming Dynasty, and he also built five acropolises on the grassland, connecting Xuanda and Liaodong into a line.

If it weren't for Jin Lian's support in those years, maybe the battle of Monan Mongolia would not have gone so smoothly.

"However, Da Situ also manages the household department in an orderly manner, which makes the cabinet department admire."

"Shen Gongbao, don't put a high hat on this official, let's just say that there is something troublesome prepared."

Nianfu's tone revealed a sense of helplessness, Shen Yichen must not be good when he comes to the household.

"Da Situ's words are wrong, this cabinet department came here this time, in order to solve the tax chaos of the household department!"