prosperous age

Although the office is about to end, the cabinet will not delay handling such a big matter.

After all, if one place doesn’t handle it well, other places will follow suit and destroy fields in order to avoid having to survey them, which will have a great impact on the harvest in the next two or three years.

What are the consequences if the land does not produce enough output?
What will hungry farmers do?
Those who have read "Records of the Grand Historian" and "Zizhi Tongjian" naturally know this well.

Even though the Ming Dynasty is still strong now, if it collapses, the consequences will be unpredictable as long as there is not enough food.

Weren’t all the disasters that occurred during the changes of dynasties in history just because of the struggle for food?

Moreover, you should not doubt the integrity of those wealthy gentry and royal family members, as they will do anything for the sake of profit.

As soon as the order was issued from the Prime Minister's duty room, the people from the Cabinet's Pedestrian Department immediately became busy. Several people, having received their assignments, ran out of the Cabinet and went to various government offices to invite people.

Fortunately, the government office had not yet been dismissed. Because of the performance evaluation system, the officials from various departments had not left the government office early, so the person was quickly invited to the cabinet.

Soon, the nine ministers gathered in the Prime Minister's duty room, and the new cabinet minister Shen Shixing repeated what had happened before, and everyone agreed.

The Ming Dynasty was actually quite protective of private property rights. The land belonged to the landlords, and it was their business how they wanted to deal with it. In principle, the imperial court should not interfere. All they had to do was pay taxes according to the amount of land.

It's just that the situation this time is special. The imperial court is organizing a land survey, and they are destroying the farmland at this time. To put it in a big way, it is against the imperial court, and to put it in a small way, it is also undermining the imperial court's principle of agriculture-based development.

"My Lords, do you have any good ideas for what Rumo said?"

The matter has been settled. Calling them here is to see if there are any other solutions.

If there is a better way than Wei Guangde's method, then we will naturally adopt it.

If not, then let's bring out Wei Guangde's method so that we can discuss it.

This matter cannot be delayed. If the results are out sooner, countless fields can be saved, which means countless food supplies. Otherwise, who knows how many people will starve in the coming year.

While the cabinet was discussing the matter, news quickly spread among several government offices in Beijing that their judges had been urgently summoned by the cabinet.

After all, no one knows what happened, so they are just guessing.

After all, when the Cabinet summoned the Nine Ministers, it must have been a big event, something involving the country's government policies.

Otherwise, under normal circumstances, the matter would be sent back to various departments for discussion before being reported. However, the people with the greatest power and the most say in the court would not be gathered together to discuss countermeasures.

People outside are just guessing, but there are actually quite a few people who know the inside story.

At this time, in the Dingguo Mansion in Yongkang Hutong, the current Dingguo Duke Xu Wenbi was glaring at the two people in front of him with wide eyes. One of them was Li Yingchen, the Earl of Xiangcheng, and the other was Wu Jijie, the Marquis of Gongshun. They were the two main families that Shen Shixing saw when he went to mediate the dispute this time.

They actually knew about the destruction of the fields. Although it was not their idea, it was the idea of ​​the village head below.

After all, this village head is a servant of the Wu family, and his family has been managing the village affairs for generations.

Thinking about that piece of land, which was reclaimed by the elders in the family as tenants, and now is subject to tax by the court, he thought of simply restoring it to wasteland.

Even if the imperial court wants to levy taxes, it will not be too much.

Wait until the land survey is over and then reclaim the land.

He thought so, but he didn't dare to make a decision on his own, so he reported the matter to the Marquis in private and got his tacit approval.

With the master's approval, the village head became bolder and destroyed a lot more fields.

His actions were naturally seen by the neighboring village, and the head of Li’s village also followed suit.

Of course, we had to report to the head of the family in advance and get permission before doing so.

It's such an obvious thing that you can figure out what it's for with just a little thought.

However, after the two farms were involved, more farmland was destroyed accidentally, and the total area has reached several hundred acres.

If it was only a few dozen acres, perhaps Shen Shixing, who was cautious and weak in character, would pretend not to see it.

But two big farms dared to destroy two or three hundred acres of farmland. Just imagine if the whole country followed suit, how much farmland would be left in the Ming Dynasty? Shen Shixing could not help but be furious.

"Master, aren't you and Lord Wei related? Please mediate between us and tell them that this won't happen again."

Li Yingchen said in a low voice at this moment.

"Yes, Lord Xu, although what we did was not right, we all have to support our families. People outside look at us as hereditary nobles, but we have a big family to support and we are in financial difficulties, otherwise we would not have resorted to such a desperate measure."

Wu Jijue immediately followed up and said.

"The matter of land reclamation is being handled by the Prime Minister, who has also appointed the cabinet minister Shen Shixing. What can Elder Wei do to help you?

Also, it’s not a big deal that you destroyed those fields yourself, but have you ever thought that if you are not punished, others will follow suit, and what will the Prime Minister’s new policies do?
You guys are slapping the Prime Minister in the face like this, do you think he can swallow this?"

Xu Wenbi shouted in frustration.

He really didn't expect that despite all his warnings and instructions, someone still made a mistake.

It may not seem like a big deal, but that's under normal circumstances.

Now, this matter might be reported directly to the palace.

Although the royal family is very kind to these nobles, it still depends on where they are.

If the emperor took the destruction of farmland seriously, it would shake the foundation of the country, which would not be a trivial matter.

At this time, a servant came in from outside and whispered something in Xu Wenbi's ear. Xu Wenbi's expression changed slightly.

"The cabinet has called together nine ministers to discuss the matter. I estimate that it is most likely because of this bullshit you guys did."

Xu Wenbi was not stupid. When Shen Shixing returned to the city in anger, he found the two men as soon as he got the news.

"What should we do? At worst, we can deduct my salary. It's not much money anyway."

Wu Jijue is in a mess. It’s his own land and he doesn’t want to farm it anymore. What else can he do? Should the imperial court intervene?

"If you get mad, I'll go and reclaim the square outside Fengtian Gate to plant some land."

Li Yingchen also shouted, "The cabinet didn't forbid leaving land uncultivated. I will go and reclaim it. I will plant crops on the land around the Forbidden City."

Hearing Li Yingchen's desperate remarks, Xu Wenbi picked up the teacup on the coffee table and smashed it over.

Although Li Yingchen was older than Xu Wenbi, he was far less powerful and less rank-holder than Xu Wenbi. He was so busy dodging that he avoided being hit.

Such direct action is rare among nobles.

"You guys go do it. I don't care about the matter anymore. You can make a fuss as you like."

Xu Wenbi was not sure whether the cabinet would report to the emperor and accuse them of undermining the foundation of the country, so he planned to let it go.

The worst that can happen is that we have to give up two people, which is not a big deal.

"No, sir, we are just complaining."

Wu Jijue said immediately, glaring at Li Yingchen with dissatisfaction.

He just said that he accepted the punishment, but who knew that Li Yingchen was so desperate that he even dared to say such words.

Li Yingchen was a little scared at this moment. If he was abandoned by the nobles, he might not be able to keep his title.

How many noble titles were conferred during the Ming Dynasty, and how many are left now?
If I lose my title, I will be ashamed of my ancestors and I won't be able to rest in peace even after my death.

"Master, I was talking nonsense. I accept the punishment, but please don't ignore me."

Li Yingchen also wailed immediately.

The Ming emperor was really good to the nobles. The army inside and outside the city was always in their hands, so they often met with the emperor on weekdays. In recent years, the emperor was young, and except for the two court meetings per month, various ceremonies were mostly performed by Xu Wenbi, so there was less contact.

If not, don't look at the title of Duke. In fact, earl and marquis are all the same. It mainly depends on whether the emperor likes you.

If you like him, you will be promoted and his power will be no less than that of a duke.

If he doesn't like it, the Duke can just go away.

Of course, it is an established rule that several dukes in the capital take turns to be close to the emperor. Everyone knows what is going on and will not allow one to dominate.

Now, whether in the palace or in the court, there is no nobleman with more face than Xu Wenbi.

After all, the other two dukes did not formally inherit the title.

Even if they inherited the title, due to their age, it would be difficult for them to gain the support of the young Emperor Wanli.

Xu Wenbi was also angry and out of control just now, but now that he saw that both of them had given in, he did not continue to be in a stalemate.

After thinking for a while, he asked, "Do you know how powerful it is?"

"I know."

The two of them agreed hurriedly.

"Accept the punishment?"

Xu Wenbi asked again.

"Accept the punishment, accept the punishment."

Li Yingchen spoke first this time.

He knew how to distinguish the importance of the loss of some land from the crime of shaking the country's foundation.

"Now, I can only try."

Xu Wenbi would not really just ignore them. He immediately wrote a note at the desk next to him and asked someone to deliver it to the cabinet.

Even if he went there in person, he couldn't get in when the cabinet was meeting.

Although he was in charge of the Five Military Commanderies and the Beijing Camp, he was not one of the Nine Ministers.

Back then, these nobles always managed to occupy one or two positions among them.

At this time in the cabinet, Chen Wei, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, was talking about impeaching them, saying that they not only openly defied the court's orders, but also shook the Ming Dynasty's national policy of focusing on agriculture.

"Master Chen, Master Chen, calm down. Even if they have ten courage, they would not dare to shake the foundation of the country. They are just blinded by yellow and white things. Just punish them."

Wei Guangde said hurriedly, "According to what Rumo said, the nearly 300 acres of land must have cost them at least 4,000 to 5,000 taels of silver, which is enough to hurt them.

As for the palace, I guess there will be fines and other punishments, the main purpose is to dampen the arrogance of these people and prevent them from continuing to play tricks like this."

Wei Guangde was still trying to persuade them to make peace. Everyone thought his idea was a good one: to forcibly requisition wasteland for two taels of silver and make it government farmland, and then spend some money to reclaim the land, and their wealth would increase several times.

The money is not much, but they are more concerned about having this opportunity. Those who are trying to be clever should give up.

"It's too easy for them."

Minister of Personnel Wang Guoguang suddenly said, "It would be best to ask the palace to impose additional punishment, so that we can ensure smooth land reclamation in the future."

"This punishment is not light."

Wei Guangde didn't say anything, Jiang Zhi continued, "Forcibly confiscating land, this has never been done before in our country."

"As long as there is a crime, it will be a major matter of confiscation of property. Lord Yan from the Ministry of Justice should come out and speak on this."

Wang Guoguang looked at the Minister of Justice Yan Qing and waited for him to speak.

"Whether he is guilty or not, the palace will make a determination before transferring him to the Ministry of Justice for trial."

Yan Qing smiled faintly and said that he would not get involved in it.

Anyway, even if there was a crime to be committed, he would carry it out if there was an imperial decree. It was obvious that although he wanted to punish the nobles, Wei Guangde did not want to make a big deal out of it.

Yan Qing could understand Wei Guangde's position. He was closer to the nobles in the court. If he did not make peace on this matter, the nobles would not continue to maintain a relationship with him in the future.

What they wanted was Wei Guangde's help in saying a few words in the court. After all, the nobles nowadays were oppressed by the civil officials and stayed away from the court, lacking the right to speak.

They can have a say in front of the emperor, but the emperor is not handling government affairs all the time, it is the cabinet that handles it.

Looking at the dispute below, Zhang Juzheng thought for a moment and still did not want to make a big deal and affect the land survey, so he said: "I think this matter should be confused. Wei Gelao's opinion is very pertinent. The court should take the wasteland from them and reclaim it.

This also reflects the court's national policy of focusing on agriculture, and no one can say that it is wrong.

When it is reclaimed, whether to use it as government farmland or, as Wei Ge Lao said, auction the government land, the Ministry of Revenue will discuss it later. "

Considering that the land was near someone else's farm, if it was not managed properly, it would easily be occupied again, so Wei Guangde suggested just selling it.

In fact, the imperial court was not short of the rent from the few hundred acres of land. What it lacked was the land taxes, the stable taxes from hundreds of millions of acres of land.

“In fact, I think the method of auctioning government land is quite good.

Although the imperial court had a large amount of official land, most of it was actually subleased by the gentry. The common people got very little and could only rent out the land and cultivate it.

If we auction official land, each farmer in the surrounding area can only auction ten acres of land, which will help the people accumulate wealth. "

Chen Wei spoke up.

Now that land is being annexed, a large number of people have lost their land. If the court could allocate some of the official land to them, it would be beneficial for stabilizing the people.

“This matter involves too much, so I won’t discuss it today.

If you are interested, why not write down your ideas and we can study them together? "

Zhang Juzheng said.

He knew very well that the officials of the imperial court actually hated the so-called official land.

Government land can only bring a little rent to the local area every year. In fact, the bulk of the rent is taken away by the gentry.

Moreover, if the official lands were kept in hand, perhaps one day the emperor would confer the title of prince on his son and directly reward him with these official lands.

In the end, nothing good comes of it.

Instead of doing this, it would be better to sell the official land for cash, and the court would only need to collect taxes in the future.

However, as Zhang Juzheng said, this matter is of great importance and naturally it is not something they can decide. I am afraid it will have to go through the court discussion and get the support of the majority of officials.

However, if it really comes to this, there will probably be many officials who support it, so Zhang Juzheng's attitude actually means tacit approval.

At this moment, Lu Bu came in from outside, first bowed to the adults in the room, then came to Wei Guangde and whispered a few words in his ear.

"understood."

A note fell into his hand, but he put it directly into his sleeve without even looking at it.

On that day, the cabinet submitted a memorial to the palace overnight, waiting for the emperor's approval.

It was already dark when they left the palace. Wei Guangde asked his attendant to go to Yongkang Hutong to deliver a letter, and he went back to his house to rest. (End of this chapter)