Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

The emperor insisted on abolishing the Liaodong tax, and the Ministry of Revenue's financial revenue and expenditure were to be rearranged accordingly.

Bi Ziyan sighed to Han Kuang:
"The imperial land tax is divided into summer tax and autumn grain."

"The summer tax in the south has been completely waived by the emperor and incorporated into the autumn grain tax collection."

"Although the north can collect summer taxes, they are far lower than those for autumn grain."

"Moreover, Shaanxi, Shanxi and Henan were affected by disasters, and all taxes have been retained locally, and they even need the support of the imperial court."

"In addition, there were severe floods in southern Beizhili and Shandong this year, so the summer tax revenue in the north is completely unreliable. We can only hope that some autumn grain can be collected and then wait for the autumn grain from the south to be transported over."

"Before the autumn grain was transported to the capital, the imperial court could only rely on the revenue from selling land in the Liaohetao region."

(Map showing the distribution of land tax across the country during the Wanli era, with the five northern provinces accounting for 55%)

This is the current state of affairs in the Ming Dynasty, and it is also why Bi Ziyan feels that the finances are becoming increasingly difficult to manage.

Shandong, Shanxi, and three other northern provinces were all major contributors to land tax in the Ming Dynasty. The combined land tax revenue of these five provinces accounted for more than half of the national total.

Seeing that the summer tax revenue of these places would be completely lost next year, how could Bi Ziyan not feel worried?

What worries him even more is that, according to the emperor's prophecy, the disaster in the north will last for more than a decade. This is just the beginning, and it will become more severe in a few years.

This means that more than half of the imperial treasury will collapse, and money and grain will still have to be spent on disaster relief.

He didn't know what to do, so he left the matter to the Grand Secretary.
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What solution could Han Kuang possibly have? He couldn't conjure up any money.

The revenue from land sales can solve the problem temporarily, but it cannot be sustained.

The most important thing was to reform the tax system, which was something the emperor had been urging him to do.

He suspected that if the taxes he collected next year did not meet the emperor's requirements, even if he managed to be re-elected in September, the emperor would find a pretext to remove him from office.

The shipment of 20 million shi (a unit of dry measure) from the south was a mandatory amount, as it was related to his status and achievements.

With a fierce determination in his heart, he said to Bi Ziyan:

"Have the officials from the Ministry of Revenue bring over the land registers from each province, and see which areas in the south are eligible for increased taxes."

"The Emperor's requirement of 20 million shi of grain cannot be less, and it must reach 30 million the year after next."

Only by reaching this level of revenue can the imperial treasury barely maintain a balance between income and expenditure.

Previously, the national land tax revenue was roughly this amount. With disasters in the northern provinces, it was as if the national land tax revenue was shifted to the south.

For this reason, although the policy was decided last year, it has not been implemented.

Officials from the south generally resisted this, and local officials were not enthusiastic about implementing the new tax system.

Suzhou Prefecture implemented the policy relatively well, and people in neighboring prefectures and counties became more proactive after seeing that Suzhou Prefecture's taxes were actually reduced.

Han Kuang's previous plan was to implement a single tax system in wealthy prefectures and counties such as Songjiang Prefecture and Changzhou Prefecture, and to establish several exemplary cases in each province, reaching a target of 15 million shi (a unit of dry measure) for transport.

The emperor now demands the transport of 20 million shi (a unit of dry measure), which is insufficient; a unified tax system needs to be fully implemented in the south.

Looking at the land register of the Ministry of Revenue, Han Kuang said:
"In the Hongwu period, the land area of ​​Southern Zhili was 12692 million mu, which dropped to 8101 million mu in the Hongzhi period, and further to 7739 million mu in the Wanli period."

"What is the reason?"

What could be the reason? Of course, it's because the gentry, relying on their privileged exemptions, seized and concealed land.

As they occupy more land, the amount of land recorded in the Yellow Register naturally decreases.

Bi Ziyan said:

"The land records in the Yellow Register are no longer reliable; now local governments use the White Register to collect taxes."

"Because of this, the Emperor said that the Yellow Register had become a mere formality. He demanded that the Yellow Register and the White Register be unified and that the Yellow Register be rebuilt on a grand scale."

"The chaos in Suzhou Prefecture last year was actually caused by the large-scale land survey and compilation of the Yellow Register."

"The Emperor offered land from Pingjiang Prefecture in exchange for their land, which barely allowed the matter to be completed."

Han Kuang was certainly aware of this, and one of the first things he did after becoming Grand Secretary two years ago was to increase the quota for the provincial examinations and abolish preferential treatment.

Thinking about this, he said:

"The provincial examination will be held the year after next. Tell the prefectures in the south that if they fail to complete the tax reform, they can forget about increasing the number of candidates."

"All provinces must conduct a thorough survey of land and compile a comprehensive yellow register to distribute the taxes that need to be collected."

Pointing to the numbers in the land register, Han Kuang demanded:

"The figures from the early years of the dynasty should be accurate, and after more than two hundred years of reclamation, there is now much more farmland." "The southern provinces must at least conduct a thorough survey to determine the figures from the early years of the dynasty; don't try to fool the court with old imperial registers."

“Southern Zhili should have at least 120 million mu, and if each mu is taxed at an average rate of 1.5 dou, that would be 18 million shi.”

"According to the 50/50 tax-sharing system, they were ordered to transport 9 million shi (a unit of dry measure) to the imperial court."

Theoretically, Southern Zhili should be able to receive this figure, since the shipments from Suzhou Prefecture have already reached the 200 million shi required by the imperial court this year.

If the same tax system were implemented in Songjiang Prefecture and other places, it is estimated that the five prefectures under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Jiangnan could collect more than four million shi (a unit of dry measure).

But that's about it. Because Jiangbei is barren and Anhui is mountainous, the combined output of these places is estimated to be only one or two million shi (a unit of dry measure).

Bi Ziyan advised Han Kuangdao:

"In the past, the summer tax and autumn grain transported from Southern Zhili totaled approximately 600 million shi (a unit of dry measure)."

"I believe that the tax rate for next year should be set at 600 million shi (a unit of dry measure), and the tax rate can be increased accordingly after the completion of the Yellow Register."

"The new mu system was used for this land measurement, and the old mu is only 0.92 times the size of the new mu."

"The previous 120 million mu, we only need to measure 100 million mu. We cannot ask for too much, so as to avoid some unscrupulous officials who harm the people."

Land surveys are prone to problems. When Zhang Juzheng implemented the Single Whip Law for land surveys, some officials falsely reported the land holdings of ordinary people, thus increasing their taxes.

Bi Ziyan did not want to cause widespread resentment, so he disagreed with Han Kuang's suggestion that 120 million mu must be surveyed, and believed that 100 million mu would suffice.

Furthermore, the prefectures north of the Yangtze River had to levy taxes at the rate of one dou per mu (a unit of dry measure) as in the north, unlike the rate of one dou and five shi per mu in the south. This also determined that the land tax transported to the imperial court could not reach 900 million shi.

That was his idea, but Han Kuang, nearly driven mad by the emperor, insisted:
"A total of 120 million mu must be surveyed; otherwise, it will be considered unqualified."

“Southern Zhili has been stable for more than two hundred years since the beginning of the dynasty. The amount of land will only increase, not decrease, and may even reach 150 million mu.”

“If someone falsifies the land survey, it will inevitably increase the burden on the people.”

“According to the Emperor’s regulations on resisting rent and taxes, they can raise objections and request a remeasurement of the land.”

"Regarding the gentry's concealment of information..."

After a pause, Han Kuang said fiercely:
"This large-scale creation of the Yellow Register is to confirm the land rights of all land."

“All unregistered land was regarded as wasteland and incorporated into the government’s official land.”

“The government can assign people to ‘cultivate’ land, or allow the people to cultivate land and apply for land ownership after paying taxes.”

"This measure will be implemented in Southern Zhili next year. I'd like to see how many people will still dare to hide their land!"

The decision was made to mobilize the people of Southern Zhili to measure all the cultivated land.

If the land in Hotan is not listed in the register, the people can raise objections and then "reclaim" the land that is not listed in the register.

Anyone who dares to conceal their land will have it confiscated by Han Kuang without hesitation; he will not treat this land as their private property.

Bi Ziyan only needed to think about it to know that once this measure was implemented, the concealment of land would have nowhere to hide. If it was impossible to manage everyone, then it would have to be recorded in the Yellow Register.

This would obviously incur the resentment of officials and gentry, but Han Kuang couldn't care less. If he failed to complete the tax reform, he would have to step down.

Therefore, he requested the emperor to grant full authority to Lü Tunan, Minister of War in Nanjing, and Lin Yuji, Minister of Revenue in Nanjing, to urge Nanjing court officials to implement a single tax system in Southern Zhili.

These two men were from the same hometown as Yang Jingchen and were considered to be on the same side.

Bi Ziyan realized that Han Kuang had forced Yang Jingchen to offend the gentry of Southern Zhili.

Yang Jingchen understood this, of course, but he had no way to express his suffering.

Because tax reform was the emperor's most important matter, anyone who dared to obstruct it would be forced to step down.

He could only write to Lü Tunan and Lin Yuji, hoping they could withstand the pressure and fulfill the court's mandate.

At the same time, Wu Shangmo, the governor of Zhejiang, and Xie Xuelong, the governor of Jiangxi, also received letters from Han Kuang.

Both men could be considered members of the Donglin faction, and they were both required to survey at least 40 million mu of land and transport 3 million shi of autumn grain next year.

These, added to the six million shi of Southern Zhili, total twelve million.

The remaining eight million was held by Han Kuang in Hunan and Hubei.

The combined land area of ​​the two provinces is at least 80 million mu, and they will also have to pay 6 million shi of land tax.

These five provinces were the focus of Han Kuang's attention, and would become the source of future revenue.

The final shortfall of two million shi (a unit of dry measure) will be covered by Sichuan, Guangdong, and Fujian. (End of Chapter)