Haisheng Mingdi

Chapter 279 Sharpening the Knife to the Pig and Sheep

Xu Fanxue, Ding Guoen and other heads of the twelve major families in Hangzhou were sitting in the small flower hall of the governor's mansion, the tea was cold, but the governor didn't send anyone to summon them.

After sitting for more than an hour, the tea was served once, and it was the cheapest kind of minced tea, not even high foam. As the king of tea, Xu Fanxue didn't know that this was the cheapest kind of tea foam, that is, in On the side of the wharf, a pot is sold to porters and laborers for one penny a pot, and some salt is often added to it, and the pot can even be refilled.

This kind of tea is the last remaining tea scum when the Xu family sells tea, and it is cheap to dispose of.

The governor actually brought them to entertain them.

What's even more exasperating is that there is no one to refill the tea with such a pot of broken foam.

"Do you think we gave too little money?"

Ding Guoen asked.

"6 taels of silver, that's a lot." Xu Fanxue was also a little annoyed, this time each family suffered a huge loss, and they were able to take out 6 taels of silver for some filial piety, which is already very sincere, Governor I got 5000 taels alone, what is there to be dissatisfied with?
"I heard that Governor Li used to lead troops, and his style was not very good. He was greedy for money and easy to grab." Xu Jiazhen of the Xu family in Jindongqiao said.The main industry of the Xu family is silk weaving, with a large number of looms and silk workers, and it is also the biggest loss this time. When the Ming army withdrew, they forcibly moved away their workshops and craftsmen.

Although they said that the Xu family silk weaving factory moved to Zhoushan, and that they would cooperate with the royal family in the future for mutual benefit, but Xu Youzhen had already assumed that these were taken away, and he dared not go to Zhoushan.

Fortunately, the Xu family is also a big business, not only in Hangzhou, but also in Suzhou, Songjiang, Jiangning and other places. They even bought a lot of land, mines, etc., and operated pawnshops. This matter is defeated.

A Hengjiang River divides Hangzhou into north and south halves, with Qiantang County in the south and Renhe County in the north. The twelve major families are distributed in the north and south of the river.

After the Ming army regained Hangzhou for a short period of time, they also implemented new policies, such as resetting taxes, dividing them into mu, levying lijin, and opening industrial and commercial taxes. After a lot of trouble, basically every family received a reminder.

It lists their arrears over the years, and they are required to pay a huge amount of unpaid taxes. In addition to land taxes, labor, miscellaneous items, etc., the largest amount is industrial and commercial taxes.

Among them, the Xu family who manages tea has to pay a huge amount of tea tax, the Ding family has to make up for the cloth shop, etc., and the Xu family has to make up for the silk weaving workshop, etc. Anyway, they all owe a lot of money.

Fortunately they left soon.

"Everyone, the governor has summoned you, follow me."

A governor's servant came in and said to them condescendingly.

Xu Fanxue also often dealt with these brats, prepared a lot of loose silver in advance, and handed over two silver beans, one tael each.

"Oh, isn't this Xu Yuanwai from the largest family in Hangzhou, thank you for the reward."

The servant spoke very loudly, and Xu Fanxue scolded his mother in his heart, he was really a greedy guy, so he had no choice but to dig out another three silver beans.

The man held five silver beans and tossed them back and forth in his hands, before saying, "Thank you, come with me."

Lead them all the way to another hall, where the governor Li Yuchun is sitting, in addition to the governor Pan Yinglou, the admiral Zheng Jiwu, the new chief envoy Zhu Guofan, and the former official Xu Hua, who is now appointed by Yan Wogong In order to inspect Zhejiang, there was also an inspector, Wang Bingjian, the former Tongzhi who had accompanied Zhu Guofan to kill Tianxiong and surrendered in Kaicheng.

The original Zuochunfang Zuozhong Yun Chen Zhilin in the Ming Dynasty, and Huo Ying, the former Susong censor, served as the guards and patrols of Hangjiahu.

Everyone sitting there made Xu Fanxue and others who came in feel very unnatural, and even looked panicked.

"sit!"

"There is a report letter here in the main hall, saying that someone had secretly contacted the enemy camp, secretly smuggled money, food, equipment, etc. from eastern Zhejiang, and also cooperated with the outside to lead the Ming army into the city..."

"I saw that the names of the princes are all on this, what's going on?"

Xu Fanxue and the others were shocked by Li Yuchun's words. They just gave out a large sum of money, so why are they still saying that they are collaborating with the enemy?

"Your Excellency, you are wronged!"

Governor Pan Yinglou answered at this time, "Whether you have been wronged or not, the governor will naturally send someone to investigate carefully, to ensure that a good person will not be wronged, and a bad person will not be spared."

"I have another thing to ask you here."

"This is a list issued by the Hangzhou government office. It lists in detail the amount of money and food owed by each of your families, which is amazing."

"Now that Hangzhou is newly restored, a lot of waste is waiting for prosperity, the autumn grain has not been harvested, and the army and the people are hungry. As the twelve largest famous families in Hangzhou, don't you want to take the lead and pay the money and food, and it is also a temporary emergency?"

After finishing speaking, Pan Yinglou handed over the list to Xu Fanxue and others for review.

Xu Fanxue felt strange, and when he finished reading it, he almost fainted.

Isn't this the messy things that the Ming army did after they occupied Hangzhou?

Why is the Qing Dynasty now using this list to ask them for food?

"Master Futai, please allow the students to report that there is a misunderstanding here. This is a random list made by those bright thieves after they seized the city to blackmail us."

"Really? But why does the official look at it and think it is reasonable? It lists in detail how many fields you have, how many people you have, and how much tax you should pay every year, and how much you only pay every year. How much is in arrears, and how much is the total, isn't this all clear?"

"What's wrong?"

Xu Fanxue and others kept complaining, even saying that they were wronged, saying that it was all a matter of the previous dynasty, and it was all false, and so on, and that the taxes in this list were also different from those collected by the previous dynasty, etc.

Li Yuchun patted the table.

"Whatever the previous dynasty and the new dynasty, it is only natural to pay back the debts. You have not paid the taxes you should pay, and it is also natural to urge you to pay them now. Hurry up and pay the money and food according to the bill."

"Whoever dares to fail to pay in arrears, Lao Tzu's knife is not a vegetarian."

"My lord, there is something wrong with this list."

"I don't care about your sophistry. Now I only know that Zhejiang has no money and no food, and the soldiers and people are hungry. Immediately, the Lord of Manchuria will go south to station in Hangzhou. At that time, the city will be rebuilt. How can we supply food without money?"

Li Yuchun didn't discuss with them about preferential exemption for gentry, what the original tax rate was, and what about this and that. He took the clear payment form issued by the Ming army before he left to collect taxes from the Qing Dynasty.

Even on the tax amount of this list, an additional [-]% of the consumption is levied as public expenses for the local soldiers and yamen in Zhejiang.

"Don't forget that there are three rates. An additional three cents of silver will be levied per mu of land. This is an imperial decree to be collected additionally."

The three rates for every two silvers per mu still need to be levied by [-]% of the cost.

Originally, the Ming army issued a reminder list to Xu Fanxue's family to check back the 20-year arrears, especially the huge amount of industrial and commercial taxes and land taxes that have not been paid over the years.

Now Li Yuchun, Pan Yinglou and the others are short of money and food, and they dare not cross the river to rob the Ming army, so they attack these big clans.

Take the tax reminder issued by the Ming Dynasty, and don't forget to add three rates, expenses, etc.

"For the part of the land tax, the original color rice must be paid, and no money will be exchanged."

Xu Fanxue and others were dumbfounded.

"Pay it within ten days, otherwise the property will be confiscated and tax deducted!"

Xu Fanxue and others kept complaining about how to get food now. Food in Zhejiang was so expensive, and all the food in western Zhejiang was taken away by the Ming army. They didn't have any rice to cook, so they all bought high-priced rice on the black market.

But Li Yuchun didn't care about that, it didn't matter whether you were going to the east of Zhejiang to buy grain or to grab grain in the east of Zhejiang, you had to hand over the grain to Lao Tzu, otherwise your home would be ransacked to make up for it.

Xu Fanxue's mind was buzzing, and even the fake braid at the back of his head was so heavy that it was about to drag him down. He regretted it now. If he had known, he would have been so happy to welcome the Qing army's recovery of Hangzhou. , What kind of lively Zhang Luo collects money as a meeting ceremony.

Isn't this cheap?
(End of this chapter)