The ruthless emperor in the late Ming Dynasty forced Chongzhen to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 173 New Land Tax Policy
This time, the household department provided 1000 taels for each county and Sanzhou, 2000 taels for Fu and Zhili prefectures, and more than 100 magistrates, almost all of whom were like Wu Hong, withdrew the money from the bank immediately. Come out and bring it back to the Yamen.

Also for these so-called funds, all magistrates of counties, prefectures and prefectures only took out a small part to buy pens, inks, papers and inkstones, etc., and put the rest into their own pockets.

And as the officials went to the bank to withdraw their salaries, everyone was very excited.

As the saying goes, eating the king's salary and taking care of the king's worries, now that they receive the salary from His Majesty, they can really be called officials, no different from those civil servants.

This made almost all officials have a sense of belonging to the imperial court and the emperor, and many civil servants began to cherish their reputations. Even the most common yamen servants were more restrained than before.

Because all the officials now cherish this job and official position very much, worrying that their reputation will be too bad, they will be noticed by the East Factory, and they will be dismissed by the Ministry of Officials.

For example, beating people in the street and blackmailing merchants in the past, as long as there are official officials, they will not do it again. If you want to do this kind of thing, you have to let those people do it for nothing.

And in mid-May, the bank aggregated the data of each prefecture and county and sent it to the Ministry of Officials and Households.

"George, this is just sent by Her Royal Highness the Princess."

"Oh, so soon?"

Ma Shiying took the thick stack of papers in surprise, and flipped through them. He didn't expect that in just half a month, the bank opened accounts for all the officials and issued salaries.

The other officials also looked at each other in blank dismay, surprised at the efficiency of the bank. The key is such a complicated and cumbersome work, and the bank did it without any mistakes.

"No wonder His Majesty wants the bank to distribute the salary funds. This is indeed a stroke of genius. I am afraid that only a sage like His Majesty can come up with such a method!"

Although Ma Shiying and the officials of the six ministries were very resistant to His Majesty's request for the bank to distribute the salary and funds, they had to express their emotions at this moment.

"Okay, everything is ready, it's time to implement the new policy, and immediately send His Majesty's edict and the cabinet's decree to all the state capitals and counties!"

Ma Shiying gritted his teeth excitedly and said, and after finishing speaking, he raised his hands behind his back and screamed ghostly: "Everyone, the time to live forever has come, and the time to shake the earth has come!"

A group of officials are also very excited, because they all know what the upcoming New Deal means.

Zhu Cihong's edict on land tax reform and the cabinet's decrees had already been copied no less than a thousand copies. Following Ma Shiying's order, they were immediately sent to various places in southern Zhili.

In just three days, yamen at all levels received edicts and government orders. Although officials at all levels had prepared for it, they were still confused by the contents of the edict.

The edict stipulates that all miscellaneous taxes will be exempted, and only agricultural tax, commercial tax and customs duty will be collected in the future.

The commercial tax and tariffs are not detailed, but the agricultural tax is very detailed and clear. From now on, all private land and forests in Daming will be paid on an acre-by-mu ​​basis, with no exceptions, including royal fields and gardens.

The agricultural tax in Nanzhili Province is divided into two categories and seven types. One is field tax, which is divided into three types: mulberry field, paddy field, and dry field.

Sang fields should pay five qian tax silver per mu per year, paddy fields should pay two qian tax silver per mu per year, and dry fields should pay one qian tax silver per mu per year.

According to this era, each mu of mulberry fields can produce an income of 15 taels of silver per year, and one mu receives five taels of silver, which is only one-thirtieth, which is not high.

Most of the paddy fields in the south of the Yangtze River are harvested twice a year, adding up to six or seven shi of rice per mu, which is five qian silver per shi, and there is also an income of three or four taels of silver per mu, which is only one-twentieth. Today, a stone of rice is far more than five renminbi.

Even if the dry land produces one stone of wheat or other miscellaneous grains per mu in a year, the income is almost one or two taels, one yuan per mu, which is one tenth of one or twenty.

The other category is land taxes, which are divided into four types: mines, orchards, woodlands, and barren hills.

First of all, mines, gold and silver salt mines are all nationalized, and other copper, iron and coal, etc., are collected at a maximum of five taels and a minimum of one tael of silver per mu.

Orchards and woodlands are all the same, and they charge one to fifty coins per mu, respectively. Barren hills are also the same, and they charge twenty coins per mu per year.

For all fields, mountains and forests, the gentry and landlords had to show the title deeds to prove that they belonged to them, and then the yamen at all levels would issue new title deeds, and all land that could not get the title deeds would be nationalized.

The cabinet's decree states that all prefectures and counties within one month will report all the measurements and statistics of the mulberry fields, paddy fields and dry fields within their territory.

Within two months, the statistics and measurement of the mines, orchards, woodlands, and barren hills owned by the owner in the territory will be reported.

The yamen at all levels must divide the responsible persons. If there are false reports, concealed reports and random reports, the main responsible person will be dismissed for investigation, and the assistants will be dismissed from office. If you pass it once, you will not be promoted within ten years, and if you accept bribes to cover up, you will be dismissed and investigated.

Moreover, the cabinet's decree also clearly stated that the censors will be dispatched to inspect carefully one by one, and warn officials everywhere not to take chances.

At this moment, in the Dingyuan County Yamen, Wu Hong was also secretly shocked when he saw the edict and cabinet decree that had just arrived, and thought to himself that his guess was indeed right, but luckily there was no cashier rushing.

Immediately, all officials with official status were summoned to the courtyard, and the edict and decree were conveyed first.

Then more than 100 officials, large and small, were divided into twelve teams, responsible for the twelve towns in the jurisdiction, and each team appointed a person in charge of the eighth grade to lead.

Everyone's faces were both excited and dignified. The excited one is that this is definitely a good opportunity to make a fortune, and the dignified one is that a bad life will have to be thrown away.

"Everyone, I won't talk nonsense. First, measure the statistical fields. Each team will allocate ten taels of silver for the recruitment of manpower and food expenses. If you encounter obstacles, you can ask hundreds of households outside the city to send troops to assist. .

Within [-] days, each team must complete the measurement and statistics of all mulberry fields, fertile fields, and dry fields in the area under their jurisdiction. In the end, the official will only say one thing.

That is, I have just received a report from the imperial court. In March, the imperial concubine executed hundreds of scholars outside the city of Beijing in one fell swoop. These scholars all accepted bribes and gave more land to the officers of the guard, so everyone Do it yourself. "

Sure enough, after Wu Hong finished speaking, the faces of all the officials changed, but Wu Hong didn't care what they thought, but let them go down to prepare and start measuring the land tomorrow.

At the same time, he ordered people to immediately paste the attachment of the imperial edict to the gate of the yamen and the gate of the city, and read it to the people.

As soon as the edict was posted and the gong was struck, countless common people and businessmen gathered around.

After listening to the small official's reading, the people without land naturally cheered endlessly, and the merchants with shops looked dignified when they heard that the business tax would be collected in the future, and talked a lot.

Those gentry and landowners with fields naturally gritted their teeth, their faces so gloomy that they almost dripped water.

In a short period of time, the content of the edict spread throughout Dingyuan County, and all the gentry and landlords stayed up all night, racking their brains to think of countermeasures.

However, almost all the gentry and landowners thought about how to cheat, and almost none of them prepared to resist violently.

Apparently all the gentry and landowners are not stupid. His Majesty has been planning for so long, sending troops and prostitutes to spread the word to the people, and rectifying the administration and paying salaries.

At this time, whoever dares to jump out to violently resist the law and prevent those officials from measuring the land will definitely be killed as an example, and will end up with ransacking their homes and exterminating their families.

Although some well-known gentry and landlords are unwilling to pay a sum of money every year from now on, compared with their wealth, life and wealth, the little money every year seems to be nothing.

The big deal is to increase the rent, and just earn it back from those tenants. Anyway, I don’t want to receive it from them.

(End of this chapter)