Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Han Kuang's actions undoubtedly caused controversy in the imperial court.

The new system of measurement for mu (a unit of land area) is inherently larger than that of the old system.

As a result, Han Kuang completely disregarded this difference and demanded that an even larger number of acres be measured.

This has led many officials to worry that local officials, in order to curry favor with their superiors, are falsely reporting land acreage, thus increasing the burden on the people.

Officials, especially those from the south, vehemently opposed this.

Qian Shisheng, Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, said:

“In the past, when Zhang Jiangling surveyed the land, he considered it a merit to have exceeded the quota. Officials competed to change the quota to increase the land area, which caused great suffering to the people.”

"The fields have not yet been surveyed, yet Chief Minister Han has already set the quota."

"This is harmful to the people and disrupts the government; the court should not implement it!"

Han Kuang was so angry that his beard stood on end, because Qian Shisheng was the top scholar in the imperial examination of the 44th year of the Wanli reign and a promising young man whom the Donglin Party had been actively cultivating.

Unexpectedly, because of the land survey, they jumped out to oppose me, showing no regard for the Donglin Party's cultivation of me.

He was so angry that he immediately rebuked him:

“Zhang Jiangling has rendered meritorious service to the country and was posthumously granted the title of Duke of Jiangling by His Majesty.”

"What exactly is your intention in slandering meritorious officials like this?"

Qian Shisheng, however, remained unfazed and insisted:

Merit is merit, and fault is fault; they cannot cover each other up.

"It is true that Zhang Jiangling made contributions, but he made mistakes when he surveyed the land."

"Why does the Grand Secretary levy taxes on the South while ignoring the North? Is it because the Grand Secretary is from the North?"

These words seemed designed to incite conflict between the North and South. Zhu Youjian, who had initially been amused by the Donglin Party, immediately changed his expression and rebuked them:

"Under the great Ming Dynasty, the North and South were one; why should they be treated differently?"

"The five northern provinces previously paid 55% of the land tax to the imperial court and also performed corvée labor to resist the northern barbarians."

"Now that we are facing consecutive disasters, can't the South bear more of the burden?"

"You are a minister of the imperial court; you must consider the bigger picture!"

These words were already quite harsh, but Qian Shisheng showed no remorse and continued to speak:
"The Rites of Zhou has twelve provisions for famine relief, with the preservation of wealth being the most important."

"If the purpose is to provide disaster relief, the wealthy households should be protected. Their contributions to the country are beneficial when they provide relief during famine years or assist in the defense of castles against invaders."

"But now the court's policies are focused on extorting money from wealthy households."

"If a wealthy family falls into poverty, wouldn't they also become victims of disaster?"

"Your Majesty, I request that the policies of the Zhou Rites be implemented to ensure equal distribution of corvée labor and taxes."

This statement, which draws on classical allusions, is a tactic frequently employed by Zhu Youjian.

But he never expected that someone would use such a method to spread fallacies.

In the past, people in the north paid more land taxes and were required to perform corvée labor, but no one called for equalizing corvée labor and taxes.

Now that the north is suffering from disasters and taxes are to be increased in the south, Qian Shisheng, a native of Zhejiang, immediately spoke up.

He was so angry that he wanted to punish the man on the spot as a warning to the world. But he knew that if he did that, Qian Shisheng would only become a spokesperson for the wealthy families in the south by being flogged in court.

Barely suppressing his anger, Zhu Youjian seized upon a flaw in Qian Shisheng's words and rebuked him:
"The twelve provisions of the Rites of Zhou on famine relief do not mention anything about protecting wealth."

"Your scholarship is lacking; go back and study diligently!"

He ordered officials from the Hanlin Academy to bring out the "Rites of Zhou" on the spot and recite it aloud, and found that the twelve famine relief policies contained no words to guarantee wealth.

On the contrary, measures such as distributing profits, reducing taxes, seeking divine intervention, and eliminating thieves were all things that the imperial court was doing.

The subsequent "Protecting the People and Ensuring Their Prosperity" includes the "Protecting the Poor and Supporting the Impoverished," but it is ranked after "Rescuing the Poor and Caring for the Needy," and its importance is the least important.

Qian Shisheng's argument about protecting wealth sounds reasonable, but it is actually a misinterpretation.

Taking advantage of the situation, Zhu Youjian satirized Qian Shisheng, saying:
"Qian Qing, as the top scholar in the imperial examination, cannot even remember the words of the ancient sages, and shamelessly quotes them out of context."

"If they were in the Hanlin Academy today, they wouldn't even be able to publish a single academic paper. What face would they have to serve as ministers in the imperial court?"

"If everyone were to so casually distort the wisdom of the ancients, solely for the sake of preserving wealth and status, how could the Ming Dynasty possibly be revived or restored to its former glory?"

Without sparing any face, he directly accused Qian Shisheng of being ignorant and incompetent, and of distorting the wisdom of the ancients.

Qian Shisheng was so angry that his face turned red and he almost fainted.

The emperor's words not only refuted his statements but also cast doubt on his proudest status as the top scholar in the imperial examination.

If word gets out about what happened today, people will surely doubt his scholarship. How can someone who can even misquote the *Zhou Li* (Rites of Zhou) be worthy of being the top scholar?
For a moment, he felt quite dizzy and disoriented, yet he was unable to defend himself. He could only kneel on the ground, remove his hat, apologize, and ask to leave.

Zhu Youjian, however, did not want to let him return to his hometown, lest this man slander the court in the countryside. He said to Liu Zongzhou:
"Although Qian Shisheng made a mistake in quoting, his ability to use the Zhou Li (Rites of Zhou) shows that he was eager to learn."

"Mr. Liu should teach him a lesson to prevent him from spreading his fallacies and heresies."

Qian Shisheng was assigned to be Liu Zongzhou's disciple and given a nominal position in the Committee on Rites and Law.

If this person still holds fallacies and heresies, just prevent them from spreading them. Only after they have been reformed should they be given the opportunity to speak out.

Whether he can return to the court in the future depends on his performance. But in any case, he will not be allowed to return to his hometown to maintain his influence.

Upon hearing the emperor's arrangement, Qian Shisheng was momentarily unsure whether to express his gratitude or apologize.

The way to apologize was to firmly resign and not obey the emperor's arrangements.

If he wanted to express his gratitude, he would have to become Liu Zongzhou's student and follow him in his studies.

Given Liu Zongzhou's standing in the emperor's eyes, it wouldn't be difficult for him to regain favor if he focused on learning and currying favor with the emperor.

The two were both leaders of the Donglin Party in Zhejiang, and it was somewhat embarrassing for him to become the disciple of the other.

Fortunately, Liu Zongzhou took the initiative to come over at this time. He was reminded by the officials next to him, and took the opportunity to become an apprentice.

He still wanted to stay in the court and retain the opportunity to be reinstated.
-
When Zhu Youjian saw Qian Shisheng's choice, he knew that the man had submitted.

Even if the wealthy families in the south wanted to support his speech, Qian Shisheng probably wouldn't listen to them anymore.

After dealing with this minor official, he had made his stance clear.

Unless a court official was willing to offer his official position as a warning, he generally dared not oppose the remonstrance.

After a brief silence, Luo Yuyi, the Left Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, said:

"The two provinces of Huguang originally had 3843 million mu of farmland, which was measured during the Wanli period and reached 9162 million mu."

"This is under the leadership of Zhang Jiangling, which is naturally beneficial to the country."

"But it is also a fact that officials sought to gain more credit than they were entitled to."

"By the Tianqi era, the land area in Huguang was set at 8249 million mu."

"I believe that this amount should be converted into more than 70 million mu of new land."

This concerns the specifics of the operation, specifically the execution. Zhu Youjian was receptive to this suggestion and spoke to Luo Yuyi with a gentle tone:
"From over 90 million mu to over 80 million mu, the difference is nearly 10 million mu, which cannot all be false."

"Lord Luo is from Hunan. Do you know why?"

Seeing that the emperor was willing to reason, Luo Yuyi immediately said:
"The first problem is falsely reporting the acreage, and the second is that the local gentry concealed the truth."

"Another point is the 'yield of land' (畮亩). The Zhou Li (周礼) says: 'For land that does not change, each family receives 100 mu (畮). For land that changes once, each family receives 200 mu (畮). For land that changes twice, each family receives 300 mu (畮).'"

“The fertility of different types of land varies, so the Yellow Register shows that land of 1.8 mu or more is converted into 1 mu, land of 2 mu or more is converted into 1 mu, land of 3 mu or more is converted into 1 mu, land of 7 mu or more is converted into 1 mu, and land of 8 mu or more is converted into 1 mu. This is to ensure that taxes and corvée labor are paid in equal amounts.”

"As far as I know, the land area in Southern Zhili was reduced from more than 80 million mu to more than 70 million mu after the land area was reduced."

After the land was converted, the average loss was several million, which made Zhu Youjian frown.

He had always disliked the complicated system of acreage, such as large acreage, small acreage, and fractional acreage, so he replaced them all with the new system of market acreage.

Now, upon hearing Luo Yuyi mention this issue, he immediately reiterated:
"From now on, all fields will be calculated based on their actual area."

"Taxes should be paid according to the grade of land, regardless of its fertility or barrenness. Arbitrary calculations of acreage should not be allowed to give people room to conceal their land holdings."

"In the future, the average tax on land in the south will be 1.5 dou per mu, depending on the fertility of the land, with the lowest possible rate being 5 sheng, equivalent to that in the northern frontier."

“Starting with five liters, it increases to two and a half liters per mu, with the lowest grade of land paying five liters per mu, the middle grade seven and a half liters per mu, and the upper grade one dou per mu.”

“Middle-class: 1.25 dou; Middle-middle: 1.5 dou; Upper-middle: 1.75 dou.”

"Two bushels for the upper and lower parts, two and a half bushels for the upper and middle parts, and three bushels for the uppermost part."

There are nine grades in total, known as Grade 1 to Grade 9 fields.

"Three bushels is the highest, and this applies to both officials and commoners."

This difference between the highest and lowest amounts reaches six times.

Five liters is an extremely low number, which Zhu Youjian considered very little.

However, Luo Yuyi thought it was still a bit too high and advised:
"If we reduce the tax rate from three mu to one mu, then setting it at the minimum of five liters is fine."

"However, some people in the community offer eight mu or more as a discount to one mu. I believe the minimum should be set at three liters."

"This amount is far too low," Zhu Youjian said, puzzled.

"What kind of land could yield such a poor harvest?"

Even if each mu yields five dou, the tax can still be paid as five sheng.

Luo Yuyi knew the emperor wouldn't understand these things, so he explained:

“There are newly abandoned fields and old fields that have been abandoned due to disasters, as well as fields in the reed marshes.”

“These fields yield very low harvests, so taxes are also low.”

Bi Ziyan, Minister of Revenue, suggested:

“Marshes and forests are special lands, and I believe they should be taxed using special methods. We should not let them affect the taxation of normal farmland.”

“In my hometown of Shandong, there is also a system of land measurement. Land with 240 steps per mu is called gold land, 280 steps is silver land, 360 steps is copper land, 600 steps is tin land, and 720 steps is iron land. This is the lowest grade of land, and there are five grades in total.”

"If we calculate the tax based on the amount of 1.5 dou for gold land in the north, 1.25 dou for silver land, 1 dou for copper land, 7.5 dou for tin land, and 5 dou for iron land, the tax will be levied using the nine grades of land."

This explanation was more to Zhu Youjian's liking. He said:

“In places like mountains and forests where the harvest is very small, taxes will be levied according to the square mile system, and the land will be contracted out to the people as government land, without being included in the land acreage limit.”

"Also, mountain forests with a slope greater than 25 degrees cannot be cultivated into terraced fields to avoid soil erosion."

“The reed beds and similar areas along the lake must be included in the flood discharge area, and it is forbidden to reclaim land from the lake at will.”

"The local inspectors will have regulations in place to plan these lands together with the local authorities, and the tax revenue will be split 50/50. The 50% that should be allocated to the imperial court will be directly transferred to the inspector's office."

"All income tax revenue will be used for water conservancy projects and the construction of high-standard farmland."

When this was mentioned, Zhu Youjian became more talkative, addressing his ministers:

"In the future, the imperial court will focus its tax collection on high-yield and stable medium-to-high-standard farmland, and its management will be strict."

"Water conservancy facilities, drought relief, improved seeds and manure... are also being prioritized for these fields to maximize benefits."

"My request is to strive to create at least 300 million mu of high-standard farmland in the south, and then find a way to create another 100 to 200 million mu in the north. From these 400 to 500 million mu of land, we will collect about 60 million shi of land tax, and half of it will be transported to the imperial court."

"This large-scale land survey and registration will delineate the key areas for high-standard farmland development, and we will then focus on its construction to ensure stable and high yields regardless of drought or flood."

This statement was a vision for the future, but Han Kuang was overjoyed upon hearing it and almost jumped for joy.

Because the emperor's mention of 30 million shi (a unit of dry measure) this time no longer only refers to the south, but also includes the fields in the north.

This way, he won't have to exert such severe pressure, and next year he will still force the southern provinces to conduct thorough land surveys.

He had previously set a quota of nearly 300 million mu of land for the five provinces of Southern Zhili, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and Hubei and Hunan because these lands were easy to survey and measure.

Further in, one must survey remote areas, especially the wasteland and open fields mentioned by Luo Yuyi.

Even if the land is surveyed, not enough taxes can be collected. If all the land is averaged at 1.5 dou, the tax will still be levied on other fields.

The resistance it would attract would be enormous, and even Han Kuang, who had already made up his mind, felt somewhat uneasy.

Now that the emperor has designated 300 million mu of high-standard farmland in the south, he can simply focus on tapping the potential of these lands.

As for the 100-200 million mu in the north, focusing on Shandong, Beizhili, and Guanzhong, we should be able to secure those as well.

With the shipment of 30 million shi (a unit of dry measure) originating from the south now being transported nationwide, Han Kuang felt much less pressure and was able to deal with the officials from the south more calmly.
-
Zhu Youjian did this because of Qian Shisheng's advice.

He keenly sensed the discontent of the southern gentry from this man's words.

Although forceful measures could be used to suppress them and force them to pay land taxes, it would be troublesome to impose additional taxes on the south in the future, considering that commercial and industrial taxes would also be levied.

Therefore, he decided to relax the restrictions a bit, changing the original plan of transporting 30 million shi (a unit of dry measure) from the south to a nationwide unified plan, no longer making separate distinctions.

However, there is more high-standard farmland in the south, so the land tax is naturally higher. Even if it is reduced, it still reaches 22.5 million shi (a unit of dry measure).

This figure actually reached Zhu Youjian's bottom line. Previously, the total autumn grain harvest nationwide was roughly this amount. The land tax revenue transported to the imperial court was even lower than this.

As long as this money and grain can be transported to the capital, the imperial treasury can remain largely stable, preventing a complete collapse of half its resources after the disaster in the north.

After "understanding" the difficulties in the south and lowering the quota for shipments, Han Kuang's land quotas for each province were finally approved.

Each province will conduct land surveys towards this goal to create high-standard farmland.

Meanwhile, in order to prevent local officials from failing to implement policies effectively, Han Kuang suggested sending imperial inspectors to conduct both overt and covert investigations in various regions.

Furthermore, considering the possibility of obstacles in implementation in some areas, he set his sights on Sichuan, intending to survey and identify high-standard farmland there.

According to what he had learned, this place could be surveyed and identified as having more than 40 million mu of land.

Currently, there are only over 13 million mu of land registered, indicating significant potential.

The same applies to Guangdong, where the area should increase from over 20 million mu to over 30 million mu.

This was all part of his preparation for the land survey two years from now, but he now plans to implement it ahead of schedule, first surveying and identifying the 300 million mu of high-standard farmland required by the emperor. (End of Chapter)