Emperor Ming Dynasty

In the 18th year of Shaowu, Xia June.

Yongping Mansion, Yangshan Town.

It is adjacent to Fucheng. Although it belongs to the mountainous area, it is rich in products. Many people in the mountain forest escaped the disaster of war and survived.

It is also because of this that they ushered in the Shaowu era. The three-year tax holiday not only brought them back to life, but also made them prosperous.

On the north side of Yongping Mansion, it belongs to Shanhaiguan Pass, an important road inside and outside the customs. Yongping Mansion has also been contaminated with wealth because of this, and it is becoming more and more prosperous among businessmen.

However, June is the most critical time for the summer tax. One after another, ox carts or wheelbarrows, driven by a large number of peasants, head to the county.

Yongping Mansion is near the capital, and they don't need to endure the exploitation of merchants to exchange precious grains for copper coins and silver coins, as long as they send the grains directly to the county warehouse.

However, for each village, they need to send food to Yangshan Town first.

On the spacious official road, dozens of villagers pushed their wheelbarrows, moving forward at a steady speed.

And in the rear, a middle-aged man with a slightly fair complexion but fine features, led two or three long-term laborers, and drove two donkey carts, lagging behind unhurriedly.

"Master Hong, you are too slow."

At this time, the village chief walked from the front to the back, looked at the leisurely middle-aged man, and persuaded him, "We have to get to the town as soon as possible, and then we have to go to the county seat, and it will be dark in the evening, so we have to wait until tomorrow."

There is quite a bit of flattery in the words.

There is no way, this Master Hong Ci is not only the biggest landlord in the village, but he is also literate, and he has to arrange the tax payment with the town elder in the town.

Otherwise, after some censure, the time will be forgotten, and a lot of food will have to be lost.

"Okay!" Hong Ci came back from the dazed state, showing a smile: "I will as soon as possible."

With that said, he urged.

After a while, the whole team went much faster in vain, and arrived at Yangshan Town at noon.

As the center of more than [-] nearby villages, the Sanlao of the township built a yamen in the town, with blue bricks and green tiles, two little lions at the door, and the steps were no more than two or three steps, not even comparable to the ordinary rich man's house.

And there are only a dozen rooms, compared with the county government, it is even more earthy.

It can be described as the difference between cloud and mud.

But for the tens of thousands of people in the vicinity of Yangshan Mountain, this is their political center.

Rural lawsuits, as long as no one is killed, are presided over by village elders.

The usual tax and corvee services are presided over by the township head.

The township police are responsible for catching thieves and militiamen.

They are the tentacles of the yamen. From the official rank of nine ranks, they receive ten yuan and ten stone grains, so that they are no longer hereditary, but rank officials who can rise.

Although it is only the Liufang Book Office or the pawn in the end, it is also a kind of hope, isn't it?

According to the rules, the three elders of the township, the head of the township is sent by the imperial court, the county arranges, the township police is appointed by the county magistrate, and the township elders are selected from the township.

After all, nothing knows better than the locals about litigation.

And taxation requires outsiders to bear the burden.

The summer tax will be levied in half of May and will end at the end of August. At that time, all the grain will be transported from the counties to the government, then to the province, and then to the capital.

However, Shaowu's benevolent government lightened the burden on the people, so the people only need to send food to the county, and the rest of the journey will be presided over by the Ministry of Finance of the imperial court.

As for the grain length system that lasted for nearly 300 years in the Ming Dynasty, it also dissipated.

You must know that in the past, the grain townsmen could be responsible for transporting grain to Beijing thousands of miles away, destroying their families and making them a country.

When he came to the township government office, also known as the Sanlaotang, Hong Ci had mixed feelings.

All the food is gathered here, and then under the leadership of the township head, go to the county seat.

Entering from the backyard, the head of the township in his forties was shrewd, holding an abacus in his hand, and the old man beside him was holding a yellow book.

Several teams lined up in a long queue. In this hot summer, I dare not have the slightest complaint.

Even if there were only two of them, they were not wearing official robes.

"Zhao Family Village..."

"Sili Village—"

Soon it was their turn.

The village chief hurriedly took Hong Ci to the front to respond.

"The village head, the village elder, well!"

"Zhao Er, your village came quite early."

The old man looked up and saw his face with a smile on his face.

"Oh, Mr. Hong is here too."

Seeing Hong Ci, the head of the township and the elders showed gentle smiles.

Who in the village doesn't respect this boy student?
"You two are polite." Hong Ci also bowed his hands in a friendly manner.

In this way, according to his fame, he could go to the county to seek an official position, but he didn't do it. He has been working in the village and teaching his children to study.

That earned him a great reputation.

"Xili Village, households 730, population 830, land [-] mu—"

The old man read aloud casually.

"Last year, 59 people died of illness, including 83 elderly people and [-] children, but [-] people were added, and the children of nine families separated."

The village chief narrated the major events that happened in the village last year, and he had nothing to hide about them.

Because of the population, the imperial court does not collect the small tax, so there is no difficulty in reporting it like this.

On the contrary, regarding the field, he said sincerely: "The land is right, you always remember it."

"Hmph!" At this time, Xiang Zheng didn't speak, but the old Xiang snorted coldly:
"Your village reclaimed tens of acres of land last year, do you still want to hide it?"

"How can there be dozens of acres, not that many, at most ten or eight acres."

The village head trembled all over, and laughed eagerly, then took out the money bag from his arms, and put it directly into the hands of the village head.

It seemed that he already knew that this was inevitable.

The head of the township smiled slightly, weighed a few points, and said: "Xili Village, in the 17th year of Shaowu, cultivated eight acres of dry land."

"Is it Mr. Hong's house?"

At this time, facing the village chief's smile, Hong Ci glanced at the village chief and said, "My family has three acres, and Zhao Er's family has five acres."

"That's right." The village chief nodded hurriedly.

"That's right, remember it!"

Immediately, the old man wrote it down without haste.

"Have you brought all the food?"

"It's not bad—"

"Okay, let me do the math—"

The head of the township started to carry the abacus, clattering and rattling, which attracted the attention of all the villagers.

One slip of a small bead, the number in it is enough to starve a family for half a year, and it is normal for a family to be wiped out.

Therefore, both the village head Zhao Er and Hong Ci stared at the abacus intently.

"According to the imperial court's tax, the land tax is two cents, or one bucket of grain. Xili Village has to pay a total of 280 three stones and six buckets."

"Add 28% of the peeled skin, [-] stones, three buckets and six liters, which is [-] stones and six liters."

The village head looked at the jingling abacus, and then looked at Hong Ci who was on the side.

"That's right." Hong Ci sighed and nodded.

Although the imperial court pays lightly and pays lightly, it cannot come to the people to collect taxes in person, relying on the three elders, so the village naturally has to exploit one layer.

The so-called peeling naturally refers to the weight of the grain bag.

In the words of the three elders, these sacks take up a large portion of the weighed grain, so [-]% is deducted.

Hong Ci made a rough calculation, and one hundred sacks weighed at most five or six buckets of grain, and he scooped up all the rest.

For the whole township, the Sanlaotang can earn three to five hundred shi for one summer tax.

Each of the three elders can earn at least 100 yuan in silver dollars.

Not to mention, the taxation of sales in towns and grass markets is often concealed by the three elders.

These commercial taxes earn no less than the summer tax.

Of course, they have to give filial piety to the county government when they get money, otherwise they will just grab it and spit it all out.

This was still in the founding years of Shaowu, the Qingming period when officials ruled.

And during the reign of Chongzhen...

Hong Ci thought for a while: "On Father's desk, the tea tax in the entire Shuntian Mansion probably doesn't even have 500 silver dollars..."

For some reason, he just wanted to laugh.

At this time, the three elders of the same township embezzled more money every year than the tea tax paid by millions of people in Beizhili.

What an ironic thing this is.

And although he didn't know the specific annual income of the imperial court, the summer tax for this township alone exceeded 6000 shi.

There are at least [-] to [-] shi in a single county!
What an exaggerated number this is.

Based on this calculation, only the Shuntian Mansion can collect a million stones of grain without adding business tax.

"This may be the root of Shaowu's rise!"

As a former prince, although he changed his name to Hong Ci and became a commoner, he cared very much about his own throne.

Therefore, he naturally has a deep understanding of the history of the current emperor's fortune.

At the beginning, it took off in Hanzhong and took root in Huguang, relying on the money and grain seized by merchants.

The establishment of the three elders is a further collection of taxes.

Don't look at the three elders who are greedy for [-]%, but in the past, doubling it was considered cheap.

After paying the summer tax, the grain is randomly checked to see if it is qualified, and the peeled grain is deducted. The grain is placed in a room to prevent rain.

If the grain is unqualified after being drawn, the village not only has to pay it back, but also has to double the tax as a punishment.

A group of people can't stop.

The villagers brought dry food, slept in the courtyard, and arranged for guards.

Because until the next morning, they will go to the county government under the leadership of the village police master to hand over the food they have paid in the past two days.

That's right.

After the farmers have worked so hard to plant and harvest the grain, they have to select the best ones and hand them over, endure the extra share of peeling, and finally send them to the county seat.

But there is no way, it has been like this for thousands of years, even before the agricultural tax was exempted.

After watching the grain weighing and arriving at the warehouse, a group of people breathed a sigh of relief.

At this time, the villagers didn't want to waste such a time in the city, so they all started looking around, looking for things that they needed at home or in the village.

Donkey carts and wheelbarrows are the best means of transportation.

Zhu Cihong was wearing a long robe and walking on the street, he was surrounded by the bustle, which made him immersed in it for a while.

"I have to buy some floral cloth, my daughter has to make clothes..."

"Boss consumes a lot of paper, I need to buy some paper—"

Suddenly, he turned around and walked towards the bookstore.

At this time, in the bookstore, the best-selling is still the Four Books and Five Classics, followed by various novels.

But if it is the best, it is the question books of some township examinations and general examinations.

The school examinations for scholars still consist of four books and five classics, but the rural examinations and general examinations have changed, including astronomy, geography, and history books.

Although there are no specific textbooks, there are test books over the years.

"Hey!" He shook his head secretly, the Four Books and Five Classics are so well written, how have they changed!

After buying a dozen papers, Zhu Cihong returned home after buying a copy of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Not long after returning home with the long-term workers, two younger brothers, Zhu Cijiong and Zhu Cizhao, rushed over.

"Brother." The two brothers came over, looking hesitant.

The two of them also changed their surnames to Hong, Hong Ding and Hong Yong respectively.

The three of them hid in Yangshan Mountain under the protection of close eunuchs and guards after the intruders were defeated and retreated a stone, and lived for two or three years.

They didn't show up until Daming came back, and they changed their names and surnames to start a new life.

Relying on talents and personal guards, within a few years, the brothers were already rich and rich, and became local rich men.

But Zhu Cihong deeply realized that, as the prince of the previous dynasty, he would surely die no matter whether he was in the Manchu Dynasty or the Shaowu Dynasty.

So when the two younger brothers wanted to go to Beijing to find their sister, Princess Kunning, he directly stopped them.

Even, he was also afraid of fame, but it was just as long as he was a child in the exam, and everything was as usual.

After more than ten years, the three brothers married wives and had children, but nothing happened.

It is expected that after the three of them bring this matter into the coffin, there will be no more danger.

"Brother, my boss wants to get a name in the exam——"

The second child, Hong Ding, stammered: "After all, he is almost sixteen. He has been studying with you for many years, so he should..."

"Don't even think about it—" Suddenly, Zhu Cihong glared, looking at his dear brother like a man-eating tiger:

"Have you forgotten our identities?"

"If there is even the slightest mistake, the whole family will die without a place to bury them."

"But--"

"There's nothing to be said for."

Blocking his younger brother's words, Zhu Cihong's chest rose and fell, obviously angry.

At this time, the youngest Hong Yong stepped forward and patted his back: "Big brother, second brother didn't do it on purpose."

"What he said actually has a certain truth."

"What's the point? The bastard's point."

"Brother." Hong Yong said helplessly: "With our identities, we are deaf among the people. If someone goes to the officialdom, he only needs to climb higher to know the news."

"It's good to be prepared for the tip-off, isn't it?"

"Besides, it doesn't matter if we ourselves suffer, but our descendants don't have titles. If we don't study for fame, we will become commoners within a few generations."

"At that time, the incense can even be cut off."

Hearing these words, Zhu Cihong calmed down, closed his eyes and rested his mind, as if he was thinking.

The other two brothers glanced at each other with joy on their faces.

"What you said makes sense."

Zhu Cilang sighed: "Only by climbing higher can we guarantee safety."

"So, we have to follow the example of others. We can no longer be conservative. We must annex land and do business. Only when we are almost the same as others can we achieve real security."

Forcibly suppressing descendants, the consequences are even more unimaginable.