Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

"Is there a limit on the amount of land in Jingjiang Kingdom?"

"How many slaves can you keep?"

Some wealthy people in Suzhou asked at the same time.

They had long known that the imperial court purchased grain from Southeast Asia.

After the great victory in the Battle of Liaoluo Bay, the Ming Dynasty's influence in Southeast Asia will surely be expanded, and many vassal states will be opened up.

They could take advantage of this opportunity to send slaves to these vassal states to cultivate the land.

Therefore, these people were very concerned about the land limits of vassal states such as the Kingdom of Jingjiang and the Marquisate of Qinglian, and wanted to see if they could transfer their slaves out.

Mr. Sun from Jingjiang Kingdom said:
"The land quota for overseas vassal states is much higher than that for inland states."

"All citizens of the Ming Dynasty can own up to ten square miles, or 3750 mu of land."

"The quota for a public official is ten times that of an ordinary citizen, which is one hundred square miles, or 37500 mu of land."

"One hundred square miles is ten square miles, which is the minimum area of ​​fiefdom for hereditary nobles. If it is higher than 37500 acres, you must have a title. If you can make meritorious contributions in the development of Jingjiang State, the prince will ask the court for merit and confer you a title."

"If you can promise to reclaim more than 3750 acres of land, we will help you obtain the status of a public official. If you can keep it below 37500 acres, there will be no restrictions."

This was the condition that Zhu Hengjia offered when he sent him to recruit wealthy families. Zhu Hengjia, who was worried that other princes would snatch his fiefdom from him, could not wait to build the Kingdom of Jingjiang and confirm that the land was his own.

When the Suzhou gentry heard this condition, they began to talk about it.

They knew that overseas was different from mainland China, where land area was measured in square miles. How much arable land could be reclaimed from the same area of ​​land depended on one's luck.

Moreover, the value of overseas land is far less than that of inland land. Even if the donation price of one mu of land per stone of grain was set by the court, the value of 3750 mu of land in ten square miles was equivalent to to mu of good farmland in the inland areas.

In the past, these Suzhou gentry, who were used to living in the gentle countryside of Jiangnan, would never think of going overseas.

They can live well with just a few hundred acres of land in Suzhou, so why go through so much trouble to go overseas?

But isn't there anything they can do now? The imperial court is strictly enforcing the maximum limit of 100 mu of official farmland, and most of the land in Suzhou Prefecture is official farmland. If they stay in Suzhou, they can only have 100 mu of land at most.

A hundred acres of land can support a small fortune, but great wealth is impossible. If the next generation of sons divide it, they will be no different from ordinary people.

So these people began to covet overseas lands and planned to send a few of their unimportant sons and daughters out with their slaves to try their luck and see if they could find a new path.

Wang Shimin asked at this time:

"What is the limit for slaves in Jingjiang Kingdom?"

"Will you demand that the slaves be forcibly released?"

Mr. Sun obviously knew Wang Shimin's status and was aware that this man was the core of this group of Suzhou wealthy people. He explained to him carefully:

"The quota for Han slaves is the same as in the mainland, but the quota for slaves of other ethnic groups is a hundred times that of Han slaves."

"My prince is a county prince, and his fiefdom is up to a thousand square miles. The maximum number of eunuchs, maids, and Han slaves in the palace is one thousand."

"The limit for slaves of other races is one hundred times this number, that is, one hundred thousand people."

"According to the information I received, the imperial court set a limit of ten slaves for ordinary officials. Once they go overseas, they can have a thousand slaves, including ten Han slaves."

"The policy for Han slaves is the same as in the interior. If they want to join the army and serve as good masters, they must be released."

"Foreign slaves need to obtain permission from their masters and pass the corresponding level of Chinese language test before they can take the civil service examination and join the army to obtain Ming citizenship."

Obviously, this was the loophole left by the imperial court for them, allowing those who wanted to keep slaves to go overseas and keep slaves of other races.

However, Wang Shimin and others obviously didn't care about this. What they cared about was that the limit of ten slaves and maids set by the court for the officials was 10.

This number was far below their requirements. Wang Shimin asked:

"Ten people, and the ten people corresponding to the highest ten directions?"

"So the maximum number of hereditary barons is one hundred? The number of viscounts is two hundred?"

"Do they all correspond to the highest fiefdom mileage?"

Mr. Sun twirled his beard and nodded, saying:

"The prince is extremely clever, that's the number."

"Your Majesty has granted great grace to allow nobles to have foreign eunuchs as servants overseas to avoid confusion in their offspring's bloodline."

"The total number of eunuchs, maids, and Han slaves in the palace is the highest number of square miles."

"The former eunuch Wang, who holds the seal of the Imperial Household Department, has captured some native children from Southeast Asia and castrated them for training. It is said that he will offer the best ones to the palace."

"After my prince learned about this, he sent someone to reserve a hundred young eunuchs who could speak Chinese."

"Your Highness will be able to see them when you go to Jingjiang Kingdom in a few years."

Obviously, Zhu Hengjia and other nobles were very satisfied with this regulation. They all had the opportunity to keep eunuchs and could keep 10,000 to 100,000 slaves from other ethnic groups.

But for Wang Shimin and others, that would be very bad.

They had previously hoped that the limit for slaves and servants would be hundreds or even thousands, but they never expected that the emperor would only allow a hundred Han slave quotas for hereditary barons, let alone officials and gentry?
Wang Shimin asked anxiously:
"What is the limit on the number of slaves that officials and gentry can have?"

Mr. Sun was only interested in recruiting people to go to Jingjiang Kingdom and didn't want to answer these miscellaneous questions at all.

Zhang Pu, who had already received the news, said:

"The status of a first or second rank minister is equivalent to that of a viscount, and the limit for slaves is 200, which is ten times the previous limit of 20 for a duke or marquis."

"Officials of the third and fourth ranks and hereditary commanders have the same status as barons, and the limit for slaves is 100."

"Officials of the fifth and sixth ranks and hereditary households have the same status as a knight, and their limit of slaves is thirty."

"Officials of the seventh, eighth and ninth ranks and candidates for the Juren degree are limited to 20 slaves and maids; Gongshi and Xiucai are limited to 10 slaves and maids; ordinary citizens can own no more than two slaves and maids of other races. Residents without citizenship and untouchables are not allowed to own slaves and maids."

This limit is much higher than the previous limit of twenty people for dukes and marquises, twelve people for the first rank, ten people for the second rank, and eight people for the third rank.

However, the gentry, who generally owned dozens or hundreds of slaves, were obviously dissatisfied.

After all, high-ranking official positions were rare and could not be inherited. Many descendants of officials no longer held official positions. Some did not even have the title of Juren. At most, they could own ten slaves and maids by virtue of their status as a scholar or by donating money to become a public official. Even Wang Shimin could only keep one hundred of the thousands of servants in his family because he was only promoted to the fourth rank before leaving office.

Just when they were trying to get the limit relaxed, they heard Zhang Pu say:
"One more thing, from now on, the number of slaves in each household must be reported, and they will be included in the master's household register as subordinate slaves. If the slaves are not reported, they will be released unconditionally, and the master will be charged with abducting and selling good people."

"At the same time, because slaves worked for their masters and could not pay taxes or serve the court, the court had to collect taxes from their masters to make up for the losses."

"The master must pay a minimum slave tax of 12 yuan per year for each Han slave. Localities can also increase taxes based on the per capita tax and labor service."

"Foreign slaves must come from Ming vassal states, and each must pay a one-yuan slave tax to Ming and the vassal state each year."

"Slave taxes must also be reported proactively. Anyone who violates the limit and evades taxes will be punished for refusing to fulfill their civic obligations and their citizenship will be revoked, and their political rights such as the imperial examinations will be deprived."

This made the Suzhou gentry even more uncomfortable. If Wang Shimin wanted to keep a hundred slaves, he would have to pay 1,200 yuan in slave tax to the court every year.

He could accept paying the money only once, but if it had to be paid every year, a wealthy family like the Wang family would also be heartbroken.

Unless all these slaves were transferred to other races, then each person would only have to pay a two-dollar slave tax each year.

In addition, slaves of other ethnic groups had no autonomy to take civil service examinations and join the army before obtaining permission from their masters, making it difficult for them to escape from slavery. This policy also led to a gray industry, which was to make Han slaves naturalized as foreigners in vassal states in order to reduce the slave tax they had to pay and make it difficult for them to escape from slavery.

This forced the imperial court to introduce policies to include the number of slaves and the number of slaves of other races in the performance evaluation of officials in order to limit the increasing number of slaves of other races.

The practice of vassal states treating Han people as foreigners was also strictly prohibited, and some feudal lords even had their titles demoted as a result.

These are the changes that occurred later. At this time, they could only listen to Zhang Pu's warning:
"The Emperor has repeatedly stressed that paying taxes and serving in the military are obligations that every citizen of the Ming Dynasty must fulfill. You must all keep this in mind."

“Anyone who evades taxes or refuses to serve in the army will have their citizenship revoked and may even become a pariah.”

"The court is very determined this time. Please do not test the law and experience the consequences."

Wang Shimin believed this because he knew that the current emperor's biggest headache was insufficient financial resources and that his greatest concern was collecting taxes.

The Shen family was punished by the emperor because they took advantage of preferential treatment to evade taxes.

The preferential treatment and exemptions for all officials and scholars were also cancelled. Instead, the court issued subsidies of corresponding amounts and then collected exemption money uniformly.

This year, some scholars took the subsidies and lived a life of debauchery, but did not pay their own exemption fees. As a result, they were forcibly arrested by the government to serve in the army, and their participation in the provincial examinations was delayed.

There were even some scholars who were fined and had their qualifications for taking the imperial examinations suspended by the court for tax evasion.

As a result, the saying "scholars are not worth a penny" began to spread among the people:
Even if one failed to pay a penny in taxes, his citizenship would be suspended and he would be prohibited from taking the imperial examinations until the taxes and fines were paid.

One of the handles Zhang Pu used against Wang Shimin's nephew Wu Shirui was that he concealed his land and failed to pay taxes, and Zhang Pu threatened to cancel his citizenship.

At this moment, he really felt a sense of lamentation that "scholars have no hope of making a living", thinking that the court was too harsh on the gentry and forced them to go overseas.

Yes, Wang Shimin had already seen it. The court's measure was to force the wealthy families to go to sea.

If you want to keep slaves or have more land... then go overseas.

The sea has always been feared by people because of its dangers. Unless it is absolutely necessary, who would be willing to go out to sea?

But now the court has only given them this way out. If they continue to resist, the court may enforce the previous slave quotas and official land trading regulations and bring the entire Suzhou gentry to justice.

Gu Yanwu's ruthless shooting, the postponement of the Jiangnan provincial examination and the expansion of the quota all made Wang Shimin see the determination of the court:
If the Suzhou gentry refused to cooperate, the court would not mind cleaning them out and selecting new officials and gentry from the scholars who were willing to cooperate.

As a result, Wang Shimin no longer had any thoughts of resisting:

He knew how many scholars there were in Jiangnan now, and some of them were willing to cooperate with the court to replace them.

Zhang Pu's prestige among the scholars could call on many people to cooperate with the court. No wonder this person was always confident and did not care about offending the current Suzhou gentry.

It is hard to say how many Suzhou gentry will be able to retain in the future. All those who cannot see the situation clearly will be crushed to pieces by the court.

"No wonder Mei Gong asked me to take the initiative to cooperate with the court. He must have seen this a long time ago."

"If I help the court to implement the slave quota and confiscate official farmland, I will surely be rewarded with a title, right?"

Since resistance was futile, Wang Shimin began to think about gaining benefits for the Wang family, obtaining a title as Chen Jiru had said, so that the Wang family could remain prosperous for hundreds of years.

With his grandfather Wang Xijue's experience as the Prime Minister, as long as the Wang family is willing to submit to the emperor, it is safe to be included in the Purple Pavilion. The Wang family can also obtain the hereditary baron or even viscount title.

The current emperor has always been generous in this regard, and has never been stingy in rewarding those who are willing to be loyal.

If the royal family could obtain a hereditary title, they could develop their own territory instead of relying on others and paying taxes to the feudal lord.

When this thought came to Wang Shimin, he suddenly felt that the sky was high and the sea was vast, and the future of the Wang family also became bright:
If the Wang family could occupy a fiefdom of one or two hundred miles in New Jiangnan, wouldn't they be much richer and more prosperous in the future?

Wang Shimin, who had this idea, could not help but glance at Mr. Sun, who was trying to win over the gentry to the Kingdom of Jingjiang. He felt that this man was ridiculous, as he actually wanted the Suzhou gentry to become their subjects.

Did the people of Jingjiang Kingdom think that Suzhou gentry were just local rich people? Not to mention the relationship between the ancestors of each family, many people could take out the down payment for the installment donation of the knighthood by using their family assets.

With the status of a knight, you can open up a knight's territory. Why bother being a citizen of the Jingjiang Kingdom?
They even united together and were able to persuade the imperial court to move the Prince of Jingjiang to a fiefdom, so that they could go to the mouth of the Lancang River to develop the new Jiangnan.

"New Jiangnan! Is it true?"

"If that place is really that good, you can consider moving your family there."

Wang Shimin, who had this idea, decided to find out more about the Lancang River estuary and even sent someone he trusted to see if a new Jiangnan could be opened up there.

If it is really possible, then compete with Prince Jingjiang and take this place back.

I think Shen Yongmao, Wen Tiren and others would also have this idea, to secure a good fiefdom for their descendants.

Of course, if the Suzhou gentry wanted to get a piece of the pie, they had to show their strength, and even unite the gentry of the entire south to demonstrate their power to the court.

Wang Shimin thought of this and suddenly glanced at Hai Shuzu. He felt that he had to persuade this descendant of Hai Rui first:

With Hai Rui's reputation in Jiangnan and his status as the City God of Suzhou and Songjiang, Hai Shuzu was the bond that united the gentry in Jiangnan.

The Hai family would probably prefer to open up a fiefdom at the mouth of the Lancang River on the mainland rather than on the island of Borneo.

By contacting the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River through this person, and then winning over the descendants of the Purple Pavilion meritorious officials and wise officials in the south, and even bringing in the descendants of the founding heroes and loyal officials of Jianwen, we will definitely be able to snatch the fiefdom of Jingjiang Kingdom.

By then, New Jiangnan will belong to the gentry of Jiangnan, and they will not have to pay taxes to the King of Jingjiang after the development. (End of this chapter)