My Ming Dynasty, I have the final say

Chapter 121 Guard System

"The second thing I want to say today is the local health stations."

Putting down the tea cup and forgetting about the imperial examination, Zhu Youxiao looked at the people in the hall and said.

"Since the end of Yongle, the land of the guards has been reduced, and the military salaries of the guards have been insufficient. They all rely on national funds to provide silver. If the national funds are insufficient, they have to rely on internal funds."

"Saarhu was defeated. It was only the salary money of a town in Liaodong. The court collected the Liao salary money three times, and the money was obtained from the internal funds. However, the income from the internal funds is limited, and it will eventually be exhausted."

"If the military system of Li Tang Mansion collapses, there will be the Anshi Rebellion. If the Ming Dynasty Guards collapse, there will be the Liaodong Rebellion."

"I want to reform the health center, what can you teach me?"

Putting down the tea cup, Zhu Youxiao told his plan.

"This."

Hearing this, everyone in the court looked at each other.

This question is a bit out of scope.

"Initiate Your Majesty."

At this time, Bi Ziyan, who had been an official in Shanxi, stood up again.

There are many civil and military officials in the room, but now he has a rich resume and the most powerful voice.

"The regulations of the Ming Dynasty Guard are based on twelve stones of grain and nine bunches of grass per hectare (hundred acres). When I was in Shanxi, I saw that one acre of upper fields could yield one stone and a half of grain. However, the soil of the lower fields was so barren that the income from one acre was not much. Fight, if there is a disaster, there will be no grain left."

"In addition, the local guards, general soldiers, gentry, nobles, and relatives of honorable ministers either bought or sold or occupied the fertile fields under the jurisdiction of the hidden guards, leaving only barren fields for military households to cultivate."

"The Weisuo land has not increased for more than two hundred years, and the number of military households has increased over the years. After paying taxes, the remaining grain is not enough to feed the whole family."

"With these three harms, the grain output of the guard fields decreased, and military households could not bear the heavy taxes, so they fled one after another. In the end, the guard was unable to support the army and the town, and the court needed to provide salary and silver to support the army."

Bi Ziyan was a practical man, and in a few words he made it clear what the Ming Dynasty had done.

First, the ground is not good.

Second, it was occupied by others.

Third, taxes are heavy.

"well said."

Hearing this, Zhu Youxiao nodded.

Bi Ziyan is indeed an experienced official and knows a lot about the dirty things below.

And he was brave enough to bring it up in this court.

"In the past, when Emperor Taizu and Liu Bowen were deciding on the strategy for the garrison, they once said that I would raise a million soldiers without consuming a grain of rice from the people."

"It's because the imperial court gave the families of soldiers enough land to support their families."

"Nowadays, the guard fields are no longer enough to support military towns in various places. I want to count the soldiers under the jurisdiction of various guard posts and military towns, and divide the guard fields among military households. What do you think?"

"This?"

After hearing the emperor's words, all the civil servants looked at each other and chose silence.

"Your Majesty, I object."

At this time, a decisive voice sounded.

But it was Yuan Shizhen, the newly appointed minister of household affairs, who stepped forward with the encouragement of Shangshu Li Ruhua.

But his first words made Li Ruhua almost flinch.

"I believe that Zhang Taiyue's reform of the past should be restarted, and authorities should be determined, officials should be governed, rewards and punishments should be followed, and the first order should be given to clear the land and then divide the land."

"Oh? But why?"

Hearing that Yuan Shizhen was going to restart Zhang Juzheng's reform, Zhu Youxiao looked at this man unexpectedly.

"Your Majesty takes pity on the military households and distributes the land of the guards to the common people, so that they can avoid being harshly treated by superior officials and increase the tax revenue of the court."

"When I was in Huaibei, I found that there were wealthy families in Huaibei who used the imperial privileges and exemptions to recruit ordinary people. The ordinary people could not bear the heavy taxes of the imperial court and donated their land to the wealthy families to avoid paying taxes."

"But in order to pay the taxes, the chief officials allocated the taxes to unavoidable land, causing the common people to abandon their land and go into exile."

"With these two evils, the imperial court's annual income will eventually decrease."

"Now that your Majesty has provided officials with sufficient salaries and abolished the new regulations on privileges and exemptions, I believe that we should first deal with taxes, increase the annual national revenue, straighten out the government affairs, and then divide the land. This can not only solve the urgent needs of the court, but also prevent the military from Calm down the shock.”

"This is what a certain country says."

After listening to Yuan Shizhen's words, Zhu Youxiao nodded and sighed.Ming Dynasty never lacks people to do things, but lacks opportunities to do things.

Then, Zhu Youxiao's words changed and he said to Zhang Wenda.

"The Metropolitan Procuratorate, if the local wealthy families default on their taxes in this way, what do your various censors usually do for food?"

"The minister is guilty."

Hearing this, Zhang Wenda could only stand up with an aggrieved look on his face and bowed to apologize.

Get used to it, get used to it.

When the emperor had nothing to do, he scolded the entire Metropolitan Procuratorate. He was used to scolding him.

"Send various censors to go to the place where they work to investigate the matter. I don't care whether they are high-ranking officials in the family or have any honors. Anyone who fails to pay taxes overdue will be dismissed from office and their honors and honors will be deprived of them. , Wife, deposed noble!"

"Send a message to the censors sent to the south to investigate strictly. If any official from various places dares to share taxes with the head of Guizhou, he will send weapons to the capital. I want to see who is so brave. So big."

"The minister obeys the order."

After listening to the emperor's words, Zhang Wenda rubbed his teeth and bowed.

And as the emperor's oral order was delivered, everyone in the court lowered their heads like quails.

I thought of it, I had thought of it a long time ago.

This idea came to mind when the emperor gave sufficient salaries to Beijing officials and abolished preferential exemptions and new regulations.

However, what everyone didn't expect was that the emperor would be so cruel.

This is even more cruel than Zhang Juzheng back then.

After all, Zhang Juzheng didn't say that if he didn't pay taxes, he would lose his fame.

And listening to the emperor's words, Yuan Shizhen felt a little cold on his neck for some reason.

"Let's put aside the matter of dividing the land for the time being. Let's start by clearing the fields."

With a wave of his hand, Zhu Youxiao said.

"Now, the Beijing camp has deployed two elite guards to build a camp in the city. The matter of measuring the land will start from Shuntian Mansion to set an example for the world."

"Government by officials, clearing acres of land, and managing taxes."

"Civil affairs in the Gyeonggi region will be left to the cabinet, and I will assign dedicated personnel to handle the military affairs."

"After I return, the cabinet and the six ministries will come up with a charter for me."

"The ministers obey the order."

Hearing this, Han Xu and others bowed and said.

Today's cabinet only contains Han Xu, who has no decision-making power at all, let alone restrains the emperor.

The chief officials of the six ministries were generally on the same front as the emperor, and at most they had a dirty division of power, but with the emperor in the middle, they would not put the issue in the open.

After saying some words of encouragement to everyone, Zhu Youxiao waved everyone away.

"Suddenly, a madman sharpens his knife at night, and the emperor's star flutters high. From now on, the world will be changed. There is no need to spare the effort to kill people."

Looking at the people leaving, Zhu Youxiao was chanting Zhang Xianzhong's "Seven Killings Monument".

Now, as long as he ensures his own safety and has military power in hand, he is not afraid of these people causing trouble for him.

Let’s start with Shuntian Mansion. In one sentence, there is a kind of rebellion.

There was one thing that Chongzhen never understood until his death. The foundation of the Ming Dynasty was the common people of Guizhou who had been supported by low taxes for more than two hundred years, not the so-called gentry and right-wingers.

Zhu Yuanzhang was born in the peasant uprising army. He was deeply aware of the horror of rebellion by the lower class people, and formulated the policy of low taxes to support the people and the formation of an army for defense.

It is clearly stated that the land will be inspected and the land will be distributed to military households, and the soldiers in the guard station will follow him.

As long as there is food to eat, no one will choose to rebel.

There are only two types of people who can rebel in Ming Dynasty.

Mudleg and the feudal lord.

The lower-level heads of Guizhou were represented by Li Zicheng, and the vassal kings from various places were headed by Zhu Di.

The princes are fighting for power, and the head of Guizhou is seeking survival.

And those rich and powerful families, those who are barefoot and not afraid of wearing shoes, have the courage to rebel?
(End of this chapter)