Why did the emperor rebel?

Chapter 758 Being scolded by Yu Shaobao every day

Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Qiyu sat at the back of the imperial case, and two old men in scarlet robes sat on the plinth below, one of them had a pale face, which was intimidating to look at, and the other had a bitter expression, showing anxiety.

These two people are none other than Yu Qian, Minister of War and Shen Yi, Minister of Household.

"Your Majesty, the 62 censors of the Metropolitan Procuratorate have arrived in various places and have begun to clear up the farmland. This is the first batch of memorials that have returned. Please read it, Your Majesty."

The servant handed the memorial to the emperor, Zhu Qiyu opened it and looked at it, and then said to Yu Qian.

"This time, according to the regulations drawn up before, we must be accurate and true. There are traces to follow and accounts to check. According to preliminary statistics, hidden private fields have been found everywhere. The number is about 12 hectares, and most of them are concentrated. At the border."

"Besides, the farmland that has been abandoned for various reasons and resold is initially estimated to be about 23 hectares, of which 17 hectares are concentrated in various places along the border. Under the names of the local wealthy gentry, there are also some under the names of the nobles and ministers of civil and military affairs in the capital."

This time the military settlements were checked, mainly on the border, but not only the border, of course it also included the military settlements in various places.

According to the data previously archived by the Ministry of War, the number of military settlements in Daming is roughly 90 hectares, of which about [-]% are concentrated on the border.

Of course, this is only the number registered. In fact, the taxes that the military can provide are far from the numbers on the paper.

Every year, due to various reasons, the military villages that cannot guarantee the harvest account for [-]% of the total, and even the remaining [-]% have far lower harvests than ordinary civilian fields.

However, if we look at the data that Yu Qian said today, this situation is easier to understand.

Of the 90 hectares of military settlements, there are 23 hectares, which already exist only on the books, but have actually been secretly resold, and naturally cannot provide any taxes.

Coupled with the fact that the local generals filled their private pockets and used the garrison army to cultivate private fields, resulting in a serious decline in the harvest of the military garrison, and the garrison farm was abandoned, which is a matter of course.

but……

Putting the memorial on the case, Zhu Qiyu raised his head, looked at Yu Qian, and asked.

"It is indeed shocking, but, sir, do you think this number is detailed?"

It should be said that in order to rectify the military settlements this time, the Ministry of War has made a lot of preparations, anticipated various situations in advance, and prepared countermeasures.

Before the censors set off, the Ministry of War had roughly counted the number and location of the military settlements on the basis of the field records provided by local officials, as well as the yellow books kept by the Ministry of Households and the Ministry of War.

After these censors arrived at the place, they first searched for clues based on the map, found the location of these acres, determined whether they were still farming, and then checked the head of the household and the person who cultivated them, and finally formed a summary.

This process is relatively simple. After all, the land cannot escape there, especially the land registered in the yellow book, it is there, and it is abandoned if it is abandoned. As long as the censor really reaches the boundary, this cannot be done. fake.

The discrepancy is nothing more than the number of times of changing hands and the ownership of the fields.

However, after reading it, Zhu Qiyu still felt that there should be a big gap between this number and the real situation.

It's not that he thinks the censors below are not serious about their work, but...

"Your Majesty, I'm sorry to say bluntly that the real number of abandoned military settlements is probably much more than what is reported today!"

This time it was not Yu Qian who spoke, but Shen Yi who was beside him.

The Hubu Shangshu cupped his hands and said.

"This time during the investigation of the military settlements, the minister and Yu Shaobao checked the previous yellow books, military expenditures and land taxes. The minister found that from the Hongwu period to the present, the imperial court's taxation has been increasing year by year, but the support of the frontier army has also increased. increasing year by year.”

"Compared to the military expenditure during the Hongwu period, the annual expenditure of the imperial court on the frontier army has more than doubled by more than ten times. The gap in the middle is huge, and it is far from being able to make up for the current number of military settlements."

"Thus, I think the figures reported today are not the final and detailed figures."

Yu Qian also nodded and said.

"What Shen Shangshu said is reasonable. During this period of time, I have also received reports from various local officials and sent censors. Although the imperial court has issued an edict to rectify the army this time, but in Qingzhang Tianmu In the process, there are still many obstacles."

"These are mainly divided into several categories. In terms of private land, one category is that local gentry hide their land, occupy it under false names, take shelter under officials, and avoid taxes and servitude; the other category is powerful and powerful families who blatantly obstruct The censor investigated, and even in some places, the local officials cooperated together and blatantly blocked the censor from the farm."

"What's more, some people secretly instigated poor tenant farmers and spread rumors that the imperial court would directly take back these acres, so that several censors were stopped in sedan chairs in the street to call for grievances."

"As for the military settlements, most of the generals of the frontier army also took a passive and resistant attitude towards this matter. When checking the fields, they either used an excuse to lead troops out of the camp to patrol, or they said that the fields had been abandoned for a long time, and they needed to go back to check the documents, and then go too far , or even avoid seeing it.”

"So, what is reported now is only the part that is the easiest to find out. If there is no accident, at least more than half of them have not been found out."

What Shen Yi calculated was an economic account. To put it bluntly, using the simplest method to compare expenditures with income, if the accounts do not match, there must be something wrong.

According to the current calculation results of the Ministry of Household Affairs, at least [-]% of the military settlements are in a state of abandonment, or have been resold altogether, and there may be more.

Therefore, the amount returned in front of him is obviously inaccurate.

Of course, this calculation method sounds simple, but it is actually very complicated. It involves the change of acres, various expenditures of taxes over the years, arrears and various accounts. I really want to use such a fast speed. Clarifying it is only possible with Shen Yi's golden abacus.

Yu Qian did not have such convenient conditions as the Ministry of Household Affairs, but, as the direct commander of the rectification army, he was exposed to far more situations than Shen Yi.

Only he knows how many people in the government and the opposition, overtly and secretly, are secretly obstructing the rectification of the army. In fact, what Yu Shaobao said is still implicit. .

These censors were able to withstand all kinds of pressure, and Yu Qian was very surprised to find out so many in such a short period of time.

Of course, he will not be satisfied with this. Since he has already started to rectify the army, he must really cure this chronic disease!

"In that case, what is Mr. Yu going to do next?"

Thinking in this way, the emperor's inquiry had arrived, and Yu Qian simply said.

"Your Majesty, the so-called rigidity cannot last long and softness cannot be defended. If the imperial court wants to carry out great policies, it cannot be blindly tough. Now that the imperial court is making a big move to clean up the land, apart from the lawless people who invaded the military settlements and privately cultivated the private land, there are also many ordinary people. Incitement, panic."

"So at this time, I think that it is the right way to appease the hearts of the people first, and then use thunderous means to combine hardness and softness."

As soon as these words came out, Shen Shangshu's face changed immediately, and the eyes he looked at Yu Qian became somewhat resentful.

There is a combination of hardness and softness, the hard ones naturally require the Ministry of War, as for the soft ones...

"Your Majesty, it's time to announce the imperial court's redemption policy to all places. This will not only allow some gentry to return their fields voluntarily, but also let the common people understand that even if the imperial court takes back these acres, it will not affect their cultivation. On the contrary Yes, the land is in the hands of the imperial court, and they can even pay according to the tax of official land."

"In addition, after discussing with Shen Shangshu, I feel that there is another policy that can be added. If anyone who voluntarily proves to the inspector censor that the civil gentry has privately concealed the land, if it is found to be true, the court can look at the number. For the land rent for one to ten years, the specific amount should be based on one-tenth of an acre of proof."

Zhu Qiyu looked at Shen Shangshu who had a bitter face when he heard that he wanted to pay, and he was sure in his heart that such a vicious idea was definitely not thought up by a gentleman like Yu Qian.

but……

"This method is not bad. You can try it. However, this is not enough!"

"Ordinary people are born and bred after all, so they may not dare to offend these big gentry. Moreover, the inspection censors dispatched to various places this time are only for clearing Zhang Zhang's fields. They have no right to arbitrarily make decisions on the fly, and many affairs cannot be handled. Therefore, the court still needs to be effective. Ministers who can come to the border to preside over this matter in person."

Unlike many emperors who don't pay attention to people's sentiments, although Zhu Qiyu has never really been to the people, he has seen the changes of a century after all, and he still has a deep enough grasp of some things.

For example, as Yu Qian said just now, the method of asking the people to provide evidence is useful, but it is not so easy to implement it.

There has always been a saying among the people that the imperial power does not come down to the county. In the environment where ordinary people live, the deterrent power of the emperor and the court is far less than that of clans and big gentry.

Even, in some places where the clans are powerful, even the government offices have to discuss matters with them.

Therefore, even if there is a temptation to exempt from taxes, these people may not dare to move. After all, after providing evidence, they still have to live locally.

If you offend these big gentry, you can imagine the days to come.

Therefore, if we want to implement it, we must first of all have people who handle the affairs with sufficient authority to be able to suppress these squires.

These gentry can handle ordinary people, but the government can also handle these gentry. As long as there is evidence, a few of them will be used as an example, coupled with the deterrence of the policy of proof, a two-pronged approach will naturally defraud a large number of hidden people field.

Of course, the more important thing is that this preliminary measurement of the field has exposed many problems, such as the lack of cooperation of the local government, and the secret obstruction of the frontier generals. Behind this, there are actually deeper problems hidden.

Take the magistrates as an example. It is true that it is the imperial government's major policy to straighten out the military settlements. However, the imperial court has the courage to investigate, which does not mean that the magistrates have the courage to offend the local gentry and frontier soldiers. , it can be understood clearly.

As for the frontier army, it is more complicated. The problem of the military settlement is not just a problem of farming. Over the years, the reason why the military settlement has been abandoned is inseparable from the desertion of the frontier army.

Indiscriminate use of sergeants to cultivate land privately is considered light, but more serious problems are a series of problems such as escape from service, empty pay, false merits, etc. Among them, escape from military service is the most influential.

The generals' wanton oppression of ordinary sergeants will naturally lead to serious desertion, and even, in some places, they will deliberately condone the escape of sergeants in order to eat empty pay.

More people escaped, on the one hand, it reduced the strength of the frontier army, and on the other hand, it also made the already insufficient army station insufficiently manned, which further exacerbated the desertion of the army station.

Therefore, if we want to investigate the military settlements, we will inevitably bring up the problems of desertion and empty pay. Any of these things is enough for the frontier generals, and it is natural for them not to cooperate.

"Your Majesty, I wish to go!"

For this kind of thing, Shi Huishaobao Bao Yuqian, of course, did his part, so he stood up immediately, bowed his head and said.

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, I am willing to inspect the various military settlements one by one. No matter what kind of resistance I encounter, I will remain determined to wipe out the cancer for the court and rebuild the frontier army!"

Yu Shaobao's words were resounding and impassioned, and the response to him was naturally the same resounding and sonorous voice.

"No!"

"puff……"

He couldn't hold it back for a while, so the two people in the hall looked at a certain minister of household dissatisfaction at the same time, especially Yu Qian, who stared at Shen Shangshu with a pair of eyes. He was so scared that he quickly retracted his smile and persuaded Yu Qian.

"Yu Shaobao, Your Majesty is right. You should stay in the capital wholeheartedly. The last time you went out of Beijing, something like that happened. If you come back again, Your Majesty will have to throw the court down." .”

Yu Qian's darkened face finally eased, and he said in a muffled voice.

"I thank your Majesty for your love, but I am humbled that this body was born for the Ming Dynasty. If I can devote myself to the court, I will not hesitate to take risks even if I am involved. Therefore, I beg your majesty to allow me to go to the border in person and be responsible for the rectification of the army. Things."

"No!"

However, no matter what he said, the emperor's attitude was equally firm.

After pondering for a moment, Zhu Qiyu said.

"Mr. Yu, it's not that I won't let you go, but have you considered, once you leave, who should I hand over this mess in the capital?"

Yu Qian lowered his head. Although he didn't speak, his expression was obviously disapproving.

In the past, it’s not that he has never been out of Beijing. Going forward, when the former minister of the Ministry of War Kuang Ye was out of Beijing, he was also the assistant minister to act as an agent for the ministry. The order of the army is the most important task. Other ordinary government affairs, the assistant minister can handle it for a while. up.

Seeing this situation, Zhu Qiyu knew that he was still dissatisfied, thought about it, and asked again.

"Even if the Ministry of War has two servants who can take care of the Ministry temporarily, but let me ask you, even if you go to the border in person, can you guarantee that all problems will be solved?"

"You are already the Minister of the Seven Ministers, the most important minister of the country. If nothing happens, I will let you go. If there is any accident, or there is someone who even you can't handle, why, let me personally Are you going on a northern tour?"

(End of this chapter)