Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Zhu Youjian was very pleased with the discussion in the newspaper.

Although there were factors of his manipulation involved, he also saw that the public did not oppose property tax.

Even special taxes on the derived decadent industries are welcomed, calling for the expansion of the industry.

So he took the initiative to ask court officials to discuss whether special taxes should be levied on alcohol, jewelry, fireworks, etc.

Most court officials opposed classifying these industries as decadent industries.

But after Zhu Youjian changed the name, more people supported it:

"Wine, jewelry, etc., it's a bit too much to say they lead to depravity."

"But no one would object to saying that they are used for extravagant enjoyment, right?"

"What I mean is that special taxes will also be levied on items with a unit price of more than one hundred taels."

"The name of this tax is the Special Tax on Luxury Products. Luxury goods worth less than 100 taels are exempt from special tax. All luxury goods worth more than 100 taels are subject to special tax."

This eliminated 80% to 90% of the items in these industries. Items with a unit price of more than one hundred taels were rare in any industry.

In addition to the gift money restrictions set some time ago, it was difficult for the ministers to receive gifts of more than ten taels. So they welcomed the luxury tax.

They even took the initiative to expand the categories to include porcelain, antiques, furs, expensive clothing, precious medicinal materials and other industries. Any product with a unit price of more than 100 taels was subject to a special luxury product tax.

It can be said that these ministers were also frightened by the emperor, fearing that the emperor would come up with other taxes to impose on them.

Instead of doing this, it would be better for the emperor to impose taxes on luxury goods, especially on the rich who indulge in luxury.

This kind of behavior is always criticized by scholars.

The high reputation of the current emperor and empress is closely related to their strict frugality.

Therefore, after Zhu Youjian set up a special tax on decadent industries, he received an unexpected surprise. He set up a special tax on luxury products, modeled after the consumption tax of later generations.

It is hard to say how much money the two taxes can raise, but he no longer intends to impose additional taxes to avoid causing a bigger backlash.

In fact, because of his experience a few days ago, he even planned to bribe his ministers and make them work hard:
"I have read the report from Liaodong that all the land outside the Great Wall has been recovered, and it can be said that public ownership has been realized."

"This is the credit of General Sun and other Liaodong officials. I have asked him to report it and reward the relevant personnel."

"For meritorious officials, land certificates will be issued according to their merits."

"After we recover Liaodong in the future, we will grant them well fields."

Speaking of this, Zhu Youjian looked at the expressions of the ministers and continued:
"The soldiers at the front have made great contributions, and the ministers in the court have also made great contributions."

"If you hadn't raised Liao's money and assisted me in governing the country, how would the Liaodong soldiers have fought?"

"So I decided to reward the meritorious officials and issue Liaodong land certificates."

When this decision was announced, all the ministers were finally happy. They looked at the emperor with shining eyes, obviously very pleased.

What the emperor said next made them even happier and they shouted "Long live the emperor" with joy.

I only heard Zhu Youjian say:
"The area outside the Great Wall is vast, so the land restriction measures are different from those inside the Great Wall."

"Not to mention the places north of Heilongjiang that are allowed to be divided, from Shanhaiguan to Heilongjiang, the land limit is the same as Dongning Island, and the maximum can reach 100 square miles, that is, 100 well fields."

"The hereditary commander, or hereditary viscount, is granted at the highest level, with a field of eight to ten li square, or sixty-four to one hundred well fields."

"The hereditary thousand households, that is, the hereditary barons, are granted fields of five to seven li square, that is, twenty-five to forty-nine well fields."

"The hereditary hundred households, that is, the hereditary knights, are granted ten to twenty wells of land."

After proposing this reward standard, Zhu Youjian said:
"Huang Liji, the chief minister of the cabinet, has made great contributions in assisting me to ascend the throne and has also made many contributions in stabilizing the court. I will give one of my sons the hereditary title of commander and a grant of 64 square miles of land."

"You can also allow your descendants to open up fiefdoms overseas, with the highest being 200 square miles, or 40,000 square miles."

Huang Li was so happy that his beard almost stood up, and he knelt down quickly to express his gratitude.

The ministers were almost speechless. They didn't expect that Huang Liji had taken another big advantage.

However, the following rewards made them feel very fair. The emperor rewarded Yuan Keli, Han Yu, and Fang Zhuangli, three officials who actually served as second assistants, and granted them all hereditary 1,000 households and 49 square miles of land.

Among these three people, one was a neutral party, one was a member of the Donglin Party, and one had some connection with the Eunuch Party. Officials from all three parties were very satisfied.

Especially Han Yu, who was humiliated by the gift money case, was extremely excited when the emperor granted him 49 square miles of land.

This not only represented that the emperor still trusted him, but also allowed him to have land to appease his relatives.

If he was more ruthless, he could let these relatives go overseas to explore new areas. The hereditary barons own up to 10,000 square miles of land.

Next, other ministers also received rewards. Grand Secretaries and Nine Ministers were generally granted 20 to 30 square miles of land, while Ministers, Vice Ministers and other high officials were granted 10 to 20 square miles. They all received hereditary status of knighthood or above.

Although the middle-level officials such as Shaoqing, Langzhong, Yuanwailang, Jieshizhong, and Yushi were not granted titles, they also received land certificates, mostly in the range of five to ten li. As long as they work harder, they may be able to obtain the status of knight.

There are fewer low-level officials, and only those who work hard and have completed property declaration will be granted a few square miles of land. But they don't need to be discouraged, as long as they do a good job next year, they will have the same opportunity.

Then, officials from Nanjing and local governors and governors-general were granted land certificates. Those who had outstanding achievements, such as Sun Chuanting and Lu Xiangsheng, were also awarded titles.

It can be said that after this reward, all the officials in the court were delighted. The resentment caused by the emperor's previous compulsory collection of property taxes was almost swept away.

Many officials believed that although the emperor was a bit harsh in taxation, it was justifiable in order to recover Liaodong.

After all, the land they were granted now was the Liaodong land certificate, which could only be fully redeemed after Liaodong was recovered.

It can be said that Zhu Youjian used the Liaodong land certificate as a blank check to tie all his ministers to the chariot of recovering Liaodong.

If these people want to redeem these lands, they have to support the war to recover Liao.

From then on, when it came to the affairs of Liaodong, there was only one voice in the court, which was to restore Liaodong. Otherwise, it would be a problem for all the officials.

After reflecting on his own actions, Zhu Youjian successfully appeased his ministers by rewarding them with Liaodong land certificates.

It also unified the voice of the court and supported the Ji Si War next year.
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Looking at the officials in the court full of laughter and joy, Zhu Youjian also gained new insights into the words reward and punishment.

Before this, he had relied on the support of the people to push forward property taxes and restrictions on land and rent.

However, officials in the court did not agree with this and most of them were not very enthusiastic.

There was even a rebellion in western Beijing, and the mastermind behind it is still hiding in the clouds.

Now that the Liaodong land certificate was given as a reward, the attitudes of the officials changed drastically. The resentment of the previous property tax was also completely thrown into the sea.

Compared with hundreds of acres of land, the tens of thousands of acres of land and even tens of thousands of square miles of fiefdom awarded this time were more valued by them.

From then on, they would have a family business that could be passed down outside the Great Wall or overseas.

If future generations want to become officials, they can easily do so.

It can be said that these officials left aside the wealthy people who were not officials and reached a new agreement with the emperor.

Even retired or opposition officials were abandoned by them.

But this was also their own fault, because since Zhu Youjian ascended the throne, he had recalled former ministers several times and pardoned officials who were framed by the eunuch party.

Anyone who is willing to serve the court now has a real job or is waiting for a vacancy in the capital.

Those who are unwilling to serve the court can naturally go wherever it is cooler.

However, some people died and were unable to contribute to the court. Zhu Youjian did not forget these people and granted land to their descendants, such as Huang Zongxi and Zhou Maolan.

This made the ministers even more grateful for the emperor's kindness and believed that the current emperor was a benevolent monarch.

Therefore, after this court meeting, the relationship between the emperor and his ministers quickly eased, the implementation of various policies became much smoother, and many officials seemed more motivated.

Because they knew that what they did would be seen by the emperor and they would be rewarded.

After rewarding the ministers in the outer court, Zhu Youjian began to reward the eunuchs and Jinyiwei personnel in the inner court.

The eunuchs in the inner court had received promises before, and now they were starting to fulfill them.

Jinyiwei was a hereditary official with a nominal title. Zhu Youjian had previously changed them to Jinwuwei, a hereditary official. But no matter what, it was a nominal title, and there was no real local guard.

In the current situation where hereditary officials of the guards used permanent farmland instead of salary and would not receive salary if they did not hold office, these hereditary officials were in an awkward situation because they had no actual land to divide and the court was unwilling to pay them salary.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian arranged to grant them the same Liaodong land certificates, and even some hereditary officials of the garrisons were given the same reward, allowing them to move outside the Great Wall or overseas to free up the garrison land.

At the same time, these hereditary officials were recruited to serve in the Weiwei Temple, and the Weiwei Office and the Public Security Office were expanded to northern Zhili and even the entire country.

Zhu Youjian also rewarded the people who were under martial law, and even granted hereditary titles to the outstanding ones to encourage them to work hard.

This year-end reward was therefore praised both inside and outside the court.
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After all these were completed, the court officially entered the New Year rhythm.

Although martial law has not yet been lifted, no one cares much and continues to celebrate the New Year as usual, without affecting the festive atmosphere at all.

Just like last year, Zhu Youjian started to give the entire court a holiday after the Emperor's birthday on December 24, leaving only the officials on duty.

And on New Year's Eve, a banquet was held to celebrate with all the ministers.

At this banquet, the musicians who were promoted to good citizens showed off their talents to the utmost. Various classic programs were performed one after another.

The Royal Orchestra put a lot of thought into playing some famous songs on the piano.

Even Concubine Tian was allowed by Zhu Youjian to play a pipa piece at the banquet.

She used the seven-stringed pipa she had modified to play the murderous song "Ambush from All Sides" -

It seems to indicate that a great war is about to take place in the year of Ji Si next year.

Finally, with the ringing of the New Year's bell at Wanshou Temple, the first year of Chongzhen, the Wuchen year, finally passed, and the second year of Chongzhen, the Jisi year, arrived. (End of this chapter)