prosperous age

I don’t know if it was an illusion, but after Wei Guangde told Yu Dayou to hand over the spoils from Toungoo City in Myanmar to the national treasury, a look of relief seemed to flash across Zhang Juzheng’s eyes.

However, regardless of whether it was premeditated or not, it was impossible for the Ming army's spoils of war in Burma to be embezzled by a few military leaders, and some of them had to be returned.

Not to mention the imperial censors who accompanied the army to serve as military supervisors, there was no telling how many spies deployed by the Embroidered Uniform Guards were in the army, constantly keeping an eye on the generals who commanded large numbers of troops.

You have to pay it back sooner or later, and it is impossible to leave nothing behind.

That's why Wei Guangde said this so straightforwardly.

It is estimated that Yu Dayou should have divided the spoils long ago.

"Myanmar is a small country with poor people. Even if we raid the Burmese king's house, how much can we seize?"

However, Wang Guoguang still added a sentence, but Zhang Siwei interrupted him as soon as he finished speaking and said, "It is always an income, and it is good to make up for the deficit in the court's finances.

Besides, using Burmese land as a reward for the soldiers could save a lot of reward silver, and the pressure on the Ministry of Revenue would not be so great.

Once Burma is completely pacified, the minerals there can be sold for a lot of silver.

As far as I know, Myanmar's gem mines are quite famous, and the royal court goes there regularly to purchase gems, which is another source of income.

So even if we temporarily borrow money from the Changying Treasury, we will be able to make up for it quickly next year."

"That is just a one-time income. The court will have to station troops in Burma in the future. It will take a lot of soldiers and horses, and the court's money will have to be invested in it."

Wang Guoguang still grumbled in dissatisfaction.

This was one of the reasons why Ming officials during this period were unwilling to continue expanding outward, because in their view, although the surrounding lands were vast, they were all barren and could not collect much taxes.

Perhaps, they could not even afford the military expenses for the garrison, and in the end the court would have to allocate money to cover the cost.

For example, although Liaodong has been developed, the Ming Dynasty court still has to issue financial subsidies from time to time. Just more than ten years ago, the court paid financial subsidies for several years to provide relief to the people in Liaodong who were affected by the disaster.

However, these things that were not worth mentioning in the eyes of civil officials were actually the result of the court's poor management in Wei Guangde's view.

If they really couldn't recover their costs in Myanmar, the British would have taken over the place and spent a hundred years to consolidate their rule there.

Ultimately, it was a problem with the Ming Dynasty's financial system, and the taxes that should have been collected were not collected.

Of course, not collecting these taxes seems to have many benefits for Wei Guangde.

At least now he is not considered to be evading taxes.

“In Myanmar, the Cabinet will take care of the issue of sustainable operation, without the Ministry of Revenue having to worry about it.

Even if we need to pay for it ourselves, we will first make up for it from Yunnan. If that is still not enough, we will make up for it from several southwestern provinces.

As far as I know, due to the long distance, the taxes from the southwestern pig provinces are sent to Nanjing every year, which is a huge waste.

Subsidizing Myanmar nearby can also save a lot of manpower.”

Wei Guangde said this immediately, which served to shut Wang Guoguang up.

"Shandai, Lord Wang has also worked hard for the country, so please stop talking."

Zhang Juzheng spoke at this time, but then his face turned serious and he said: "The state is in financial difficulty now, and the court really needs to find a solution.

Originally, the taxes paid by various provinces to the court this year were finally in full, and the payment of arrears of taxes previously paid was also significant.

A few days ago, Lord Wang told me that the Ministry of Revenue should have some surplus this year, which is the first time in more than ten years.

But now everyone knows that due to the river works, it is unlikely that there will be a surplus this year, and the court is still in deficit.

So I thought, if we can increase the tax revenue of the imperial court by measuring the land, and also implement the Single Whip Law in the local area through measuring the land, should we try it out in Fujian?"

Zhang Juzheng's words immediately caused Zhang Siwei and Wang Guoguang to nod in agreement. Wei Guangde was stunned for a moment, and then he realized that Zhang Juzheng asked Wang Guoguang to come to the Ministry of Revenue to make a fuss. It turned out that he was here to survey the land in Fujian.

Come to think of it, it has been several months since Zhang Juzheng started preparing for this matter. There have been great changes in the officialdom of Fujian. From the provincial governor to the provincial judge, all have been replaced by his people, so it can indeed be moved forward.

To put it bluntly, land surveying is something that should be supervised by the Censorate and the Imperial Inspectors, but the support of the Governor-General and the Provincial Governor is also needed.

What happened in the cabinet today will definitely be spread out later, so Wei Guangde absolutely cannot nod his head immediately at this time.

So he said, "Master Prime Minister, the land survey has a huge impact. Should we be more cautious and reconsider it? Or should we convene a court meeting to allow more people to participate in the discussion?"

Wei Guangde changed the way he addressed people now and spoke in an extremely serious tone.

However, Zhang Juzheng seemed to have anticipated this and immediately said with a smile: "Shandai, you know the financial difficulties of the court. If we can't find a way to increase the court's taxes, it will be difficult to sustain it.

If you have other ways to increase the court's fiscal revenue, the land survey can be suppressed."

When Wei Guangde was asked to find a way to increase the court's financial revenue, he certainly had some ideas in mind, but it was even more inconvenient to say them.

After hesitating for a moment, Wei Guangde continued, "But the land survey is a serious matter. Should we discuss it in the court before submitting it to the emperor?"

“When the memorials are submitted, both those supporting and those opposing will be submitted. By then, we can know the attitudes of our colleagues through the memorials.

When a court meeting is held, ministers may not be able to express their opinions clearly. It would be better to submit memorials directly. Perhaps everyone can express their opinions more clearly by writing memorials.

By then, based on the memorials submitted, we will be able to clearly see which side supports and opposes more in the court.

In fact, even if there are many people who oppose it, it will not affect the implementation of this policy. The most important thing is to be able to find a solution.

If the opposition is justified and a solution can be proposed, then it is feasible, and I will give up this strategy and support it instead. "

Zhang Juzheng said it very well. He put forward reasons to oppose the land survey and also had to find ways to help the court increase revenue. In that era, it was absolutely impossible to find a solution within the circle that had already been drawn.

Unless you dare to break the rules set by Zhu Yuanzhang, the so-called ancestral system.

However, if it were really that easy, Wei Guangde would have already proposed imposing additional commercial taxes.

In fact, Wei Guangde has always been considering increasing the dental tax and collecting taxes through dental shops during the circulation of goods, but he has not yet planned to say it out loud.

There is no other reason. Once it is said, if Zhang Juzheng takes a fancy to it, history may change.

The focus of Zhang Juzheng's reform was actually the performance evaluation system and the land survey, and based on these results he implemented the Single Whip System, which was the focus of Zhang Juzheng's reform.

The most significant impact of these policies was the improvement of the Ming court's fiscal revenue situation.

Every year, taxes were paid on time and previous arrears were cleared.

In particular, the introduction of the performance evaluation system directly eliminated the bad habit of local governments in the past of delaying payment of taxes for various reasons.

There is no other way but to pay taxes in order to keep the official hat.

Local officials certainly understand that money is more important than official titles, so the previous practice of colluding with wealthy gentry to embezzle taxes has almost been eliminated at the local level.

That is, the military settlement system under the Ming Dynasty's Wei Suo system was abandoned, otherwise the Ming Dynasty's finances should have been fundamentally improved at this time. Because the military settlements were abandoned, in order to support the millions of troops in the world, the court could only allocate silver to subsidize military expenses, and there were other expenses, so the finances were still difficult.

"In the 849th year of Hongwu, there were 422.81 million hectares of farmland in the country, but by the Hongzhi period, there were only million hectares left.

The amount of land in the whole country has been reduced by more than half, but the losses in Huguang, Henan and Guangdong are particularly large. If it is not allocated to the royal palace, it will be deceived and concealed by cunning people. Guangdong has no vassal government, so it is either deceived and concealed or abandoned to the bandits.

Although the figure of 8 million hectares during the Hongwu period was quite controversial, it was said that local officials in the Huguang region included many lake fields, retreated beaches, barren lands, and mountainous lands that could not grow grains in the land figures, which led to a significant expansion of the land data in Huguang during the Hongwu period.

But the number of acres of farmland kept decreasing afterwards, which is so strange. After so many years, according to the law, the amount of wasteland reclaimed in various places should have reached 8 million hectares, at least 3 million hectares should be left. It can only be said that the number of acres of farmland has long been distorted.

If we don’t survey the land, I’m afraid those people below will become too bold and our great Ming Dynasty may not even have 3 million hectares of land.”

Zhang Juzheng spoke seriously.

Wei Guangde certainly knew the reason for the discrepancy, which was different from what people in later generations thought. After all, it was impossible for the farmland to disappear out of thin air. How could there be 8 million hectares of farmland in the early Ming Dynasty, but only 4 million hectares in the Hongzhi and Jiajing dynasties?

In fact, it was not that the local government directly reduced the number, but rather that they carried out land distribution in accordance with the Ming Dynasty system.

What this means is that the Ming Dynasty divided the land into different levels, with the original intention of making the land equally distributed.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

After all, some fields are fertile and some are poor, and we cannot expect inferior fields to produce the same output as superior fields.

If taxes were levied on a per-acre basis, the annual output of inferior farmland would probably not even be enough to pay the taxes.

Therefore, the Ming Dynasty stipulated that different areas should be calculated according to the grade of the fields.

For example, land is generally divided into four levels, with a tax of 2 liters per mu. The area of ​​first-class land is thirty steps per mu, second-class land is forty steps, third-class land is fifty steps, and the lowest-class land is sixty steps per mu.

In other words, the area of ​​fourth-class land is actually twice that of first-class land.

The same goes for fields. The upper fields are 190 steps, and the lower fields are 300 steps. The annual grain tax is 5 liters.

Therefore, when local officials of the Ming Dynasty changed high-quality land into low-quality land, the number of registered land in the local area would be greatly reduced.

After several dynasties, there were still the same amount of farmland, but the amount of land registered by the court had decreased significantly, even to less than half of the original area.

The land is still the same land, but the grade of the land is different, so the number of registered acres is changing.

To put it bluntly, the policies formulated by Zhu Yuanzhang were very good, but some clauses were too ambiguous, or changes in executors caused many policies to be distorted and became a means for some lawless people to make profits.

The change in land grades was not only done by local clerks, but also caused by the dereliction of duty of local officials.

In addition to discovering hidden fields, the most important purpose of Zhang Juzheng's land survey was to redivide the fields and restore the amount of land in the imperial court.

It is said that after Zhang Juzheng surveyed the land, the registered farmland in the Ming Dynasty increased dramatically to more than 11 million hectares. In addition to the original 8 million hectares in the early Ming Dynasty, the newly added 3 million hectares were probably the newly reclaimed land in the past hundred years.

"What the Prime Minister said is very true, and Shandai agrees with it, but this matter is of great importance. If it is not discussed in the court, the consequences will be unpredictable."

Wei Guangde still insisted.

"Sir Wei, Elder Wei, Prime Minister Zhang is an old minister who is planning for the country. Why are you trying to hold him back?"

Wang Guoguang interrupted at this time and said, "The imperial court now relies on only these three million hectares of land for support each year, and has long been unable to make ends meet.

I would like to measure the land and check the financial situation of our Ming Dynasty to find out how much tax grain we should collect every year.

Eight million hectares and three million hectares are not small numbers. Many civilians have to bear additional taxes, which has led to their wives and children being separated and their families being destroyed.

I think that it is good to conduct an investigation, but we should also issue an order to conduct an investigation as soon as possible to relieve the suffering of the people. This is what officials like us should do."

Zhang Siwei also nodded: "Master Wang is right. If there are really 8 million hectares of farmland in the world, then the common people will have to bear twice as much tax. It is no wonder that the people's strength has declined over the years.

Lord Wei, as officials, we should serve the people. I support the land survey and alleviating the people's hardship."

"Good loan, what do you think?"

Zhang Juzheng also looked at Wei Guangde at this time and asked slowly.

“Since all the gentlemen hold this view, Shandai will become a sinner who harms the people if he continues to oppose it.

If you want to make a report, please do so. Shandai will also make a report on this matter on its own."

Wei Guangde looked around at everyone and finally spoke.

But her expression at this moment was like that of a young wife who had been wronged.

Wei Guangde knew that with the news of today's cabinet discussions, the struggle in the Ming Dynasty court was probably about to begin.

Wei Guangde didn't know how much trouble Zhang Juzheng had gone through to push this matter through, but he knew how he should express his opinion.

When he came out of the Prime Minister's duty room with a look of dissatisfaction, he returned to his own duty room, took a sip from the teacup on the table, and immediately yelled to the outside: "Lu Bu, you are a waste, the tea is cold and you didn't even change it for me."

Soon, Lu Bu hurried into the room, bowed, picked up the teacup on the table and walked out to replace the tea for Wei Guangde.

There was quite a commotion in the Prime Minister's duty room just now, and many secretaries and clerks gathered outside to listen.

By the time Wei Guangde stormed out the door, they had already scattered like birds and beasts.

But Lu Bu was outside the duty room at that time and didn't dare to follow in, and he still failed to escape.

However, it was only after Lu Bu ran out of the duty room that Wei Guangde began to smile.

It was all done for outsiders to see. Wei Guangde felt that his acting skills seemed okay, so he didn't hear someone outside the door teasing Lu Bu.

There really was no impenetrable wall in the Ming Dynasty court. Within just half a day, the scene that had previously taken place in the cabinet spread throughout the officialdom.

In the corridor, Wei Guangde was walking out when he met Chen Ju, who was holding a whisk.

Well, this seems to be the standard image of eunuchs as well.

"Brother Wei, I heard that the Prime Minister wants to survey the land?"

Wei Guangde just nodded slightly, then lowered his voice and said: "Brother, if your family has land, tell your family members not to try to hide it, lest you be killed as a warning to others.

However, this matter will only be done in Fujian in the next two years and will be promoted later. It will be implemented in northern Zhili next year or the year after.

Alas, there is not much time left.

The Prime Minister insisted, and I had no choice.'

Wei Guangde knew that Chen Ju had purchased a lot of land in Tongzhou for his family in his hometown, so he said a few more words.

But if I go back today, I'm afraid the mansion won't be peaceful for the next two days. (End of this chapter)