prosperous age

During the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Juzheng's series of reforms were undoubtedly crucial to the continuation of the Ming Dynasty.

Among these reform measures, the nationwide land survey was an important initiative.

This land survey movement not only covered a wide area, but also included different types of land in various regions. Not only were official and private lands included in the survey, but even land belonging to princes, nobles, and even lands that the court had always treated as a means of appeasement were required to be surveyed.

Moreover, the cabinet imposed many requirements on the land survey operations in various regions, emphasizing efficiency in execution, with most regions completing all tasks within the stipulated three years.

For Wei Guangde, this land survey not only allowed the court to discover a large amount of hidden land, thereby increasing the country's tax base, but also laid the foundation for the tax system reforms that Wei Guangde planned later.

The Ming Dynasty's fiscal revenue was considerable, but it was too dispersed and difficult to consolidate.

Taxes are not collected where they should be collected, and civil officials are only focused on the poor and destitute. How can the country's wealth be truly concentrated in the hands of the imperial court?

Consider that during the more than two hundred years of the Ming Dynasty, the annual tax revenue never exceeded thirty million taels of silver.

This figure is the sum of taxes levied in kind and in silver, and even includes various labor costs levied later.

Although the quantity of some early grains in the Ming Dynasty was enormous, the price of grains was low because agricultural output was high and the population was small, so the amount converted into silver was not much.

Generally speaking, it can only be said that in the early Ming Dynasty and the early Wanli period, when tax revenue was relatively high, the total actual tax revenue of the state was only around 23 million taels. In other periods, the total tax revenue of the Ming court was no more than 20 million taels.

During the Qing Dynasty, from the reign of Emperor Shunzhi to the early years of Emperor Kangxi, the country was in ruins due to war, yet the Qing court's tax revenue still reached this level.

In the early years of the Shunzhi reign, the Qing government's tax revenue exceeded 20 million taels, roughly equivalent to the revenue during the Ming dynasty.

During the mid-to-late Kangxi period, taxes never fell below 40 million taels.

This situation persisted until the Daoguang era, when taxes briefly fell below the 40 million tael threshold due to the opium trade.

It was precisely because of this that Emperor Daoguang realized the harm of opium and began to ban it.

According to relevant statistics, the agricultural tax rate in the Tang, Song, Yuan, and Qing dynasties was around 7%, while the agricultural tax rate in the Ming dynasty remained below 4%.

For example, in the early years of the Hongwu reign, the agricultural tax was 2-4 dou per mu, which was later reduced to 1 dou per mu, or about 10 kilograms, which was very low.

The reason for the low tax rate in the Ming Dynasty was not only the low agricultural tax rate, but also the pitifully low commercial tax rate.

The commercial tax rate set at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty was only 3.3%, and was later reduced to about 1.5%. Even capitalists of later generations would be heartbroken to see that.

Of the more than 20 million taels of national fiscal revenue in the early Wanli period, commercial taxes, including salt tax, tea tax, maritime tax, transit tax, and business tax, amounted to only 3.4 million taels.

而北宋宋真宗时期的国家财政收入高达1.6亿两，清朝光绪年间每年的税收也达8000万两，也就是说明朝一年的税收仅为宋朝的1/8和清朝的1/4，这也使得明朝成为了历史上税赋最低的朝代。

The underdeveloped commerce and extremely low commercial tax rates were one of the important reasons why the Ming Dynasty's national fiscal revenue was far inferior to that of the Song and Qing Dynasties.

Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, failed to find the right person to collect taxes from the very beginning, which affected later events, especially Wei Guangde's plans.

Not daring to openly collect commercial taxes, they could only find alternative methods and proceed gradually, like boiling a frog slowly, to avoid offending too many people and bringing trouble upon themselves.

When Wei Guangde came out of Yucheng Garden that evening, he was already seven or eight parts drunk, and he still wanted to go to the outer city residence.

In recent days, he has been going there whenever he has free time, neglecting the two residences in the inner city.

"Master, it has been curfew for quite some time now, so it is not appropriate to go to the outer city."

The accompanying chief hurriedly whispered something in Wei Guangde's ear.

To be honest, it wasn't too difficult for Wei Guangde to go from the inner city to the outer city; the problem was that once he went out, it would be difficult to come back in.

If it were just a curfew, a slight delay wouldn't be a problem, since the world is currently at peace under the Prime Minister's rule.

The once strict curfew is actually not as strict anymore.

Ordinary officials were free to move around in the city as long as they did not wander between the inner and outer city walls.

Is it late?

Wei Guangde then looked up at the pitch-black sky and realized what was happening.

Go to the outer city, because the soldiers on night duty in the inner city will open the gate as soon as your identity is revealed.

But to come back and enter the inner city, you have to knock on the gate.

Well, in the dark and quiet night, the noise wouldn't be small.

The military police opened the door, but the news couldn't be kept secret. The censor wouldn't mind if such a thing caused trouble for Grand Secretary Wei.

Even if he has a group of censors advocating for him, so what? Don't forget that the Censorate is not a monolithic entity; various factions have placed their own people within it.

When internal strife occurs, the first tactic used is the censorate's hearsay reports.

"What time is it?"

Wei Guangde asked, his eyes still heavy with sleep.

"It's already past midnight, past the third or fourth watch."

The servant glanced at the sky and whispered, "Master, let's go straight back to the manor. It'll be difficult to explain to the madam if we stay too late."

"Oh, it's already morning."

Wei Guangde wasn't completely drunk; he still retained basic understanding.

At this moment, a cool breeze blew by, sobering him up a bit, and he shook his head.

Coincidentally, Zhang Juzheng, also drunk, was being helped out of the garden by his servants.

"Brother Uncle, are you still able to walk?"

Wei Guangde looked at Zhang Juzheng, who was being helped out, and asked with a smile.

"I can't match your drinking capacity, but I'm still better than Brother Shuanglin, who's still passed out inside, haha."

Many people had drunk too much and were now resting on the table.

Wei Guangde woke up first and then thought about going to the outer city to rest, so he came out first.

Unexpectedly, they couldn't go to the outer city and had to return to the mansion.

"I'm heading back to my residence now. See you this morning."

As he spoke, Wei Guangde cupped his hands in a respectful gesture to Zhang Juzheng and smiled.

After saying this, he climbed into the sedan chair and called out to the outside, "Return to the manor."

Upon returning to his residence, Wei Guangde did not go directly into the backyard.

As soon as he entered, he instructed Zhang Ji to boil water, as he wanted to wash up before deciding where to rest.

"Have Aunt Zhao make some preparations. I'll be sleeping over there later."

Wei Guangde gave the instructions.

He didn't return to the manor, so the steward Zhang Ji could only wait, not daring to go to sleep.

As for Aunt Zhao, she was one of Xu Jianglan's maids. She was quite pretty and was first made a concubine before being assigned a separate courtyard.

After a night of turmoil, the next day, Wei Guangde, with the help of Aunt Zhao, washed up, put on his official robes, greeted the people in the backyard, and went out to work at the cabinet.

Halfway there, Wei Guangde remembered what they had talked about yesterday afternoon, lifted a corner of the sedan curtain, and instructed the person outside: "Turn around and go to the Ministry of War first."

Soon, Wei Guangde's sedan chair came down, and he climbed out. At this time, there were still officials from the Ministry of War on duty at the gatehouse. When they saw Wei Guangde get out of the sedan chair, they hurriedly came over to pay their respects.

"Has Vice Minister Zhang arrived?" He didn't ask Tan Lun, but Zhang Ke.

"Go in first, I'll go in and tell Lord Zhang right away."

An official from the Ministry of War hurriedly stepped forward and said.

"No need, I'll go straight in to find him."

Wei Guangde waved his hand and smiled, then stepped into the Ministry of War.

Zeng Shengwu is still the Vice Minister of War, but he also has the duties of managing the military affairs of the Beijing Garrison. At this time, he usually goes to the Beijing Garrison to watch the drills in the morning, and only returns to the Ministry of War to handle some official documents when there is nothing else to do.

In fact, Zeng Shengwu's name was among those awarded during this grand review, and both Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng had plans to transfer him to the Ministry of Personnel.

Actually, it was mainly Zhang Juzheng who accepted that although Zeng Shengwu was good at leading troops and fighting battles, he was not good at planning the overall situation, so he was not suitable for the Ministry of War. He was more suited to the position of governor or viceroy.

Therefore, while Tan Lun is nominally in charge of the main duties of the Ministry of War of the Ming Dynasty, they have actually fallen to Zhang Ke.

However, it is still in the observation period, and no final decision has been made.

Even Wei Guangde, who recommended him, wasn't entirely at ease with him, mainly because there hadn't been any major battles recently, and he couldn't see Zhang Ke's strategic abilities.

Soon, Wei Guangde met Zhang Ke in the duty room.

Zhang Ke was quite curious about Wei Guangde's early morning stroll to the Ministry of War.

"Has the Yunnan-Guizhou-Sichuan-Huguang Regional Military Commission reported any illegal activities by local chieftains?"

After exchanging greetings, Wei Guangde didn't wait for the clerk to bring tea before asking directly.

"Was the loan facilitated because the local chieftain resisted the land survey?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Ke had already figured out why he had come, and said, "Yunnan and Guizhou are alright, but in Sichuan and Huguang, there are indeed chieftains who resist the imperial court's land survey."

"Does the Ministry of War have a response?"

Wei Guangde immediately asked.

He hadn't expected that the chieftains of Huguang would be so audacious, considering that the troops transferred to Burma were not drawn from Huguang.

However, to be honest, among the local chieftains of the Ming Dynasty, Huguang was actually of paramount importance.

At that time, Huguang was actually the Hunan and Hubei of later generations. Western Hubei was mountainous, but it was a region with a high concentration of Tusi (chieftains).

According to statistics, there were over a thousand Tusi (chieftains) during the Ming Dynasty, with 30% located in Yunnan, and over 10% in Guizhou, Sichuan, and Huguang (Hubei and Hunan), which is over a hundred in total.

Huguang was extremely important, serving as the gateway for the imperial court to control the southwest, so the layout of the Huguang garrisons was meticulously planned.

Dozens of garrisons were set up around and in the hinterland of the Huguang Tusi (local chieftains), and troops were stationed at important passes to build fortresses to enhance defense capabilities.

These military facilities were intertwined with the Tusi (chieftains) of Huguang (Hubei and Hunan), placing the Tusi in a state of infiltration and encirclement by the garrisons.

This dual military-administrative control model effectively maintained the stability of the Huguang Tusi region, promoted exchanges and integration between the Han and ethnic minorities, and provided support for the Ming Dynasty's strategy in the southwest.

Although there were several rebellions in Huguang during the early Ming Dynasty, the rule was actually stable in the middle and later periods, and Wei Guangde did not believe that there was a risk of rebellion.

This is why he was quite surprised when he heard the news of instability in Hubei and Hunan yesterday.

“The landowners objected to the mountains, ponds, lakes, weirs, and embankments designated by the imperial court, believing that the court would increase taxes, so there was some resistance.”

Zhang Ke laughed and said that he had actually dealt with the chieftains of Huguang. Since the early Ming Dynasty, whenever a rebellion was quelled, local soldiers would be transferred from Huguang to assist in the battle. This was also one of the ways to weaken their strength.

Hearing Zhang Ke say this, Wei Guangde nodded, "Local officials sometimes do go too far; it's just a communication problem."

Wei Guangde paused here, looked at Zhang Ke, and asked, "Have you issued any official documents to Huguang?"

"The order was issued yesterday, strictly enforcing the imperial regulations and prohibiting them from causing trouble below."

Zhang Ke smiled wryly.

Although he was in the capital, he could more or less guess that it was probably the lower-level officials who were messing around.

He was almost certain that it was related to the command of the Huguang Garrison.

Many chieftains in Huguang were not actually under the jurisdiction of local governments, but were incorporated into garrisons and administered by military commanders.

Military officers are naturally greedy, and if they're also afraid of death and taking responsibility, they'll inevitably cause trouble for the court.

"The Cabinet had already adopted the experience of Fujian, and formulated a set of corresponding policies for each region according to its own characteristics and local conditions."

For any excess land measured out, in addition to making up the original amount, a comprehensive consideration will be given.

Those who previously compensated for wasteland could have their land reduced accordingly, and the remaining land could be used to offset the false grain compensation paid by commoners over the years. Some taxes would be levied according to the original rules, without raising the tax or changing the tax amount. There were also exceptions for the floating grain that could not be compensated for due to lack of land. All implied cases were to be reformed.

As for the mountains, lakes, ponds, and slopes outside the fields, the land area will be greatly increased after the land survey, and the apportionment will be appropriately reduced.

It seems that those military leaders below were simply courting death and trying to profit from the situation.

If you write to him again, no matter which garrison caused the trouble, the court will absolutely not tolerate evil. Just say that this is the tone set by the cabinet.

Anyone who dares to misbehave during the land survey, even with powerful connections, will pay the price.

Wei Guangde's words were, in fact, a blatant threat.

At first, he thought it was the chieftain's problem, but on the way there he felt something was wrong.

Zhang Ke's reaction led him to conclude that local officials were stirring up trouble.

Then there's no question about it. If someone ruins a major cabinet matter, they will definitely be punished severely.

The key now is for Zhang Ke to explain the stakes clearly and separate the Ministry of War from the issue, so that the Ministry of War won't be implicated and punished as well.

"This matter must not be taken lightly. If there is evidence, we can make an example of one to warn a hundred."

"Brother Jinqing, you must not be so sentimental. Huguang has been peaceful for many years. If this causes unrest and ruins the Grand Secretary's important duties, then I would be willing to die a thousand deaths."

Wei Guangde had already explained the significance of the land survey and the Single Whip Method to everyone in the circle, also because he was worried that they might not see the big picture.

Now that things have come to this point, we absolutely cannot afford to cause any trouble and ruin this promising future.

"Okay, I'll personally word a warning to them in a bit."

Zhang Ke did take action, but he didn't take it as seriously as Wei Guangde.

However, seeing Wei Guangde's translation, I knew we still couldn't let our guard down, so I immediately expressed my opinion.

"Yes, I will talk to the Prime Minister about this when I return to the Cabinet, and ask him to have his family pay more attention to it, so that nothing bad might happen and cause trouble."

After speaking, Wei Guangde stood up, and seeing Zhang Ke about to get up, he waved his hand and said, "I'm leaving. You can continue with your work."

After leaving the Ministry of War and returning to the Grand Secretariat, Wei Guangde did not go to his office but went directly to Zhang Juzheng to explain the situation that the Ministry of War had.

"The Ministry of War will strictly order its subordinates to behave properly, but I think that although the military officers are willing to do these things, they don't have the guts. I'm afraid even the governor of Huguang will be implicated."

If it were the Jiangxi officialdom, Wei Guangde could naturally write a letter directly, but since it was in Huguang, it was better to let Zhang Juzheng handle it himself.

They are not his people, and have nothing to do with him.

Both Zhang Juzheng and Wei Guangde would send trusted people to serve as local officials in their hometowns.

This time, the problem clearly lies with Zhang Juzheng. (End of Chapter)