Wanli Ming Emperor

Chapter 225: Hesitant and Fearful of Righteousness, Extraordinary Plan

It rained in Shandong last night, and the counties in Yanzhou were not spared.

The muddy ground added to the hardship for the grassroots yamen runners who were surveying the fields.

As soon as the rain stopped this morning, a group of clerks in black clothes holding rulers and scales appeared again in the farmlands of Sishui County, measuring and calculating the acres of land in front of them.

There are a lot of people and it’s very lively.

Anyone who is slightly more informed knows that these are Shen Li's minions, namely the accountants appointed by the Ministry of Revenue, seconded by the Imperial Observatory, and interned at the Qiushi Academy, who are reviewing the land area.

However, for matters with great resistance, the working environment is often not very good.

The "fair and upright people with talents and respected by the public" nominated by each county were nominally assistants to assist in measuring the land, but with such selection criteria, it was easy to guess what the backgrounds of those selected were.

Not to mention assisting, they were all making trouble everywhere, finding faults on purpose, and disrupting the work.

At the same time, there was a burly man who came from nowhere, staring at the faces of the accountants with a fierce look, his lips moving, gritting his teeth from time to time, making a fierce expression to exert psychological pressure.

But if they were driven away, they would throw a tantrum and cry out that the government was guilty and that someone had bribed them to secretly move the boundary marker.

Even some tenants who didn't know what was going on were called over and gathered around the periphery, making a lot of noise and pushing each other.

Whenever the government wanted to take strong action, the Confucius family priests and local gentry would rush out to mediate, treat the people well and avoid exacerbating the conflict.

The officer in charge of the department was busy with this, sometimes coming forward to appease the tenants, and sometimes coordinating with the servants to warn the idlers.

The serious work cannot be forgotten, walking back and forth on the ridges of the fields, listening to the accountants report the land data, and then verifying them one by one with the fish scale atlas redrawn by Shandong local authorities.

Shen Li kept shaking his head as he looked at the chaotic and noisy scene in front of him.

Even with the imperial envoy from the central government present, he was still in such a state. No wonder all the local officials lamented the difficulty of measuring the land.

In the seventh year of the Wanli reign, it was stipulated that the land inspection office was responsible for supervision and review, and only random inspections were carried out when the officials arrived at the local areas.

Those who are supervised and assessed are naturally the county governments and military preparation offices in each province.

Therefore, Song Yingchang, the military commander of Shandong, as well as the prefect of Yanzhou and the magistrate of Sishui, are now accompanying Shen Li, introducing the local situation from time to time.

Shen Li's soap boots became covered with mud every few steps he took. He had to stretch out his soap boots from time to time and use the edge of the field to scrape off the mud.

The resting rat snake was accidentally disturbed, and just as it was about to express its dissatisfaction, it was pinned to the left and right on the ridge of the field and could not move.

Shen Li stood with his hands behind his back, looking at one of the small fields: "The tax base of this piece of land in front of me was 346 acres in the county government's previous record, and after the survey, it was recorded in the fish scale book as 451 acres."

"The extra hundred acres is naturally the result of land survey, but..."

"My fellow colleagues, I am here now, and just looking around, I am afraid it is more than a thousand acres."

He turned around and looked at the local officials: "What kind of statement is this?"

Song Yingchang frowned when he heard this.

As the Deputy Censor, he was already a high-ranking official. Even if he tried his best to measure the land, he had no time to go to the grassroots level. When asked about it at this moment, he could only look at the officials of the prefecture and county and question them.

Li Shixin, the magistrate of Sishui, was about to step back when he felt a sudden push on his waist and he staggered out of the line involuntarily.

Looking back, I saw Yanzhou prefect Zhou Youguang looking down at the ridge of the field.

Li Shixin was secretly annoyed.

Feeling the gazes of Shen Li, Song Yingchang and others on him, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and say, "In response to Governor Shen's question, this is the difference between large acres and small acres."

"The land tax is calculated on a per-acre basis. However, due to various historical reasons, if one acre and eight fen of land are used, one acre will be deducted from the land; if two acres and more are used, one acre will be deducted from the land; if three acres and more are used, one acre will be deducted from the land; if seven acres and more are used, one acre will be deducted from the land; if eight acres and more are used, one acre will be deducted from the land..."

He looked at Shen Li cautiously: "So, the one acre recorded may not be the actual one acre. What Governor Shen saw is not very accurate. The calculation in the fish scale book is the comprehensive calculation of tax."

This is not something Li Shixin made up, but it does have historical roots.

Since the founding of the country, there have been few people and much land, so a round of household registration and redistribution of unowned land was carried out.

In order to reclaim wasteland, preferential policies are naturally necessary. For those who are active and enthusiastic, multiple acres are counted as one acre, while those who fall behind only have one real acre - "the local pioneers occupied a large area of ​​land, while the settlers came later, and the land was very narrow, so it is called small acres and wide acres."

The large acreage held by the common people was gradually standardized, while the large acreage held by the local tyrants gradually became a "historical origin".

This is why there is the strange phenomenon that the area appears to be more than a thousand acres, but is actually only four hundred acres.

The vast historical documents have always been a good way to fool superiors, but Shen Li had done his homework and was not fooled.

He shook his head. "During the Jiajing reign, the Grand Secretary Gui E reported this matter. He said that in places like Shanxi and Shandong, large acres ranged from 480 to 1,200 steps to one acre, while small acres ranged from 240 steps to one acre."

"Local officials, when submitting reports to the emperor, use large plots of land to submit to the Yellow Book, and when sending levies to the emperor, use small plots of land to seek balance."

When reporting, the number of acres must be reported, and the tax will be more than 50% off. It will be different when collecting taxes, and it must be collected based on the small acres. If the taxes from wealthy families are difficult to collect, they will be distributed among the common people.

As for where the price difference went?
Do not ask.

Shen Li turned to look at Song Yingchang, the military governor who was obviously fooled, and explained briefly: "When Gui E found out about it, he was shocked and even went to Ziyang County in Yanzhou Prefecture to have a look."

"Ziyang County originally had 245,520 mu of official and civilian land, but due to collusion between the rich, the village head, and the clerks, during the Jiajing period, only 190,000 mu of land remained."

"These 190,000 mu are also full of water. The big households have large mu, 720 steps per mu, and the small people have small mu, 240 steps per mu."

"So, Gui E petitioned the emperor for his will, and all provinces were required to set the tax on 240 steps per mu, regardless of the level of the levy."

"Song Bingbei guessed, after the land survey in Ziyang County was completed, how much land would be finally allocated?"

Song Yingchang looked at Shen Li who was talking eloquently. He could easily recall all kinds of old stories and blurt out detailed numbers, and he couldn't help but feel a little admiration in his heart.

Looking at the county officials who were sweating profusely, they had no idea what was going on.

Following Shen Li's words, he asked respectfully, "I am a humble official, so I wonder how many acres of land the county has?"

Shen Li did not keep the secret and spat out a number: "From 190,000 acres, it has increased dramatically to 668,766 acres!"

Song Yingchang was stunned when he heard this.

Even though I had expected it, I never imagined that the tax base between large and small fields would differ by more than three times!
If the land is reported based on large acres and taxes are collected based on small acres, the central government can only get 30%!

Shen Li turned to look at the pale-faced Magistrate Li Shixin and said coldly, "Magistrate Li, you dare to use the old rules that were abolished during the Jiajing period to fool me?"

This is already a matter of calling for an explanation.

The governor questioned him face to face, and Li Shixin was at a loss.

Seeing that Li Shixin could no longer bear it, Yanzhou prefect Zhou Youguang finally stepped forward.

The latter stepped forward and bowed to beg for mercy.

When Shen Li looked at him, Zhou Youguang smiled bitterly and said, "What Governor Shen said makes sense, but the Jiajing New Deal was suppressed and rebelled in the middle of its implementation... Unfortunately, it was abandoned. Without the support of the government, the local officials naturally could not handle the situation on their own."

"When I took office, the big and small mu had already returned to their old ways for decades."

Zhou Youguang was very humble and his reasons were understandable.

Shen Li shook his head: "If it's just this matter, it's fine."

"Previously, in Jinxiang County, the number of fields was very different and the amount included was too much. Prefect Zhou said that it was difficult. In Ningyang County, the number of fields was twice as much, and there were countless suspended and fraudulent mails. Prefect Zhou also had reasons. Today, when we arrived at Sishui, he was very logical and tried to evade me with the matter of large and small fields."

At this point, Shen Li suddenly became angry and shouted angrily: "The Yanzhou government will review the three counties together! You have accomplished nothing!"

The sound was like a loud bell, suddenly ringing, startling Zhou Youguang so much that he trembled.

"I am incompetent! I am incompetent!"

Zhou Youguang was immediately horrified and knelt down on the ridge of the field begging for mercy.

Shen Li looked at Zhou Youguang coldly: "You are not incompetent, you are too capable, you are good at dancing with long sleeves, and no one wants to offend you."

"If you are afraid of things like this, why are you still greedy for official positions?"

"Any colleague who had any shame would have retired long ago."

Zhou Youguang begged for mercy again and again: "Mr. Shen has misunderstood me. There are so many things going on at the grassroots level, it's a mess. I dare not act rashly and impulsively!"

Seeing that Shen Li was indifferent, he simply gritted his teeth and told the whole story: "Mr. Shen! Many counties in Yanzhou are involved."

"The land does not belong to one person, but is mostly shared by the village community or the entire clan. Through the names of inclusion, suspension, and false trust, the ownership is mixed. The charity estates, temple properties, official land, and school land are almost all held alternately by wealthy families, the rich, officials, and royal palaces."

"For example, the ten thousand mu of fertile land we passed by the other day was also the sacrificial land of the world's noble families, the family property of the super-ranking officials, and the clan property of the royal family!"

"Just like the things in front of us, big and small, they are all mounts of the heavenly beings. Even if it is Sun Xingzhe, what can I do?"

County magistrate Li Shixin felt deeply saddened as he listened to the incident and sighed repeatedly.

Song Yingchang, the military governor, had a livid face and looked annoyed, as if asking, "I can't afford to offend them, so how dare they fool me?"

Just at this moment, the officer in charge came hurriedly with a fish scale book under his arm.

Make way for it on the left and right.

When the officer in charge came near Shen Li, he calmed down a little and reported the review results very quickly: "Minister, Sishui County has completed the review."

"The total land area in Sishui County is over 270,000 mu according to the Fish Scale Book. A random check found 27,000 mu of land on the books, and the actual land area is 37,718 mu!"

After hearing this, County Magistrate Li Shixin wiped the sweat from his forehead and exclaimed that he was lucky.

The error is just under 40%!

Although it has reached the level of dereliction of duty, the circumstances are minor and at most only a warning and a salary fine are given - this is a clear order issued by the Field Inspection Office, which divides rewards and punishments into different levels.

Of course, he passed, but the prefect was in trouble. In the three counties, the error ranged from 39% to 72%. No one passed, and he was afraid that he would have difficulty keeping his official position.

Zhou Youguang choked up and begged again and again.

Shen Li glanced indifferently at the county magistrate Li Shixin, who had a frightened look on his face, and the prefect Zhou Youguang, who was crying and sobbing.

Finally, he gave Song Yingchang a gentle order: "Song Bingbei, the prefect of Yanzhou, Zhou Youguang, is lip service and dereliction of duty. Please put him in jail."

Song Yingchang had been preparing for this, but was rather surprised when he heard this.

According to the clear order to inspect the fields, although Zhou Youguang was not doing his job, he could at most be demoted to a commoner. Unexpectedly, he would be imprisoned.

But he hesitated for only a moment, and then gritted his teeth and called out to his attendants: "Come here! Strip him of his official uniform and send him to the Censorate Prison!"

Zhou Youguang looked up suddenly.

He really didn't expect that even though he had lowered himself to this level, these senior officials would still punish him severely!

"I am a fourth-rank official! Even if I am breaking the law, the most I can do is demote you. You have no right to put me in jail!"

Zhou Youguang broke free and stepped forward to grab his own police officer, looking around angrily.

Seeing this, several police officers looked at Shen and Song for help.

According to the law, it is impossible for a fourth-rank official, or even a seventh-rank county magistrate, to be thrown into jail so easily for just a few words - unless he was caught red-handed for a serious crime like colluding with the Japanese.

Unfortunately, the officials, whose emperor was far away, did not know the importance of "inspecting the country on behalf of the emperor" and "acting at his own convenience" during the Wanli period.

Shen Li was not vague either. He reached out and took out a wad of bright yellow silk from his arms.

He picked one out at random: "Give me a pen!"

Song Yingchang had not expected this to happen.

He stared blankly at Shen Li spreading silk cloth on his left and right backs. On it were the seal of the Censorate, the draft of the Cabinet, and the red approval of the Imperial Household Department, all stamped on a line of short and sharp characters.

Dismiss someone from his post and serve the people, and investigate the issue.

The so-called "something" is actually two blank spaces.

When Zhou Youguang saw this scene, he felt as if his strong bones were struck by lightning and trembled with numbness!

what is this! ?

The country has existed for 200 years! How can there be a way to fill in the blanks with imperial edicts?

Shen Li had already filled in the blank with his pen moving quickly.

He recited in a grand manner: "Remove the prefect of Yanzhou, Zhou Youguang, from his post as a civilian, and send the imperial censor An Jiuyu to Shandong to investigate."

After reading it, he handed down the order in his hand.

Everyone was shocked when they saw this and stared at Shen Li.

Zhou Youguang looked pale and speechless. Even Song Yingchang was stunned and at a loss for words.

Shen Li ignored these people and turned to look at Li Deyou, the censor of Shandong Province who had followed him from the capital: "Censor Li, please take up the post of prefect of Yanzhou."

After Li Deyou followed Zhao Yongxian and others to serve in the imperial court, he had never been given an actual position. Naturally, he had something to ask for when he followed Shen Li out of the capital to inspect the fields.

Now that he can be appointed as a fourth-rank official, it is considered satisfactory.

He bowed and said, "How dare I say that I am working for the new policy?"

After Li Deyou expressed his position, he asked Shen Li for a few clerks.

The onlookers felt their scalps tingle.

The political atmosphere in Shandong is extremely strong. In the early years, the imperial court ordered the expansion of the recruitment of Jinshi candidates and the establishment of examinations for yamen officials. The local response in Shandong was quite enthusiastic, and many people believed that it would be a bonus.

But now, seeing Shen Li being dismissed and appointed on the spot, I know where the bonuses were used.

It’s hard to describe this feeling.

Seeing that the accountants gradually stopped working and waited, Shen Li said no more and ordered them to turn around and return.

The people around hurriedly followed.

Song Yingchang took a half step behind and asked respectfully, "Mr. Shen, is it time to go to Qufu County tomorrow?"

Maybe it was a psychological effect, but as soon as I finished speaking, I felt countless gazes directed at me.

Shen Liwen shook his head and rejected the idea: "For the prefectures that have been randomly checked, we need to organize people to do a second survey. Song Bingbei can go and do it himself."

"As for Qufu County... I will personally visit Duke Yansheng and then discuss the rest."

He raised his head and glanced at the noisy tenants and idlers around him.

Since entering Yanzhou Prefecture, these faces have been following me more and more.

It’s just like the projection of Confucius Mansion. The closer you get, the more ghost shadows you see.

Why can't the stick of clarifying the jade sky be wielded on the saintly families?
……

The closer you get to the sacred place of Lingshan, besides the more ghosts you will see, it will also be easier for living people to be turned into ghosts.

Of course, this is just He Xinyin’s irresponsible personal feeling.

Far away in Teng County, there is a dilapidated thatched hut. The only wall foundation that is compacted with yellow mud has a centipede-shaped crack, revealing the inner layer of adobe mixed with wheat straw. A bunch of radishes are hanging under the eaves to dry.

He Xinyin sat on the curb in an ungraceful manner.

"...In the autumn of that year, my grandfather stomped the ant stalks of the steward and arrested him to be a householder. He has been doing this until my generation."

A skinny man was telling He Xinyin about his past as a slave. His expression and tone changed from fearful at first to relaxed gradually.

The so-called households refer to the temple households, forest households, village households and tenant households.

Once they were registered as residents, their descendants were never allowed to leave the household and were essentially serfs of the Confucius Mansion.

Other large households exploited their tenants by about 30% to 40% after paying taxes, while the Confucius Mansion exploited its tenants by as much as 50% to 60% after various miscellaneous means.

He Xinyin had been used to hearing about tragic things along the way, so he didn't say much: "Do you have a household registration card?"

Strictly speaking, He Xinyin is now just a soldier responsible for clearing out households.

It was his job to visit every household according to the yellow book.

The man shook his head.

He Xinyin nodded, wrote the word "Yinhu" on the roster, and then wrote the man's name "Song Zhirong" - the red people also have names and surnames.

After registering, He Xinyin did not leave immediately, but started a casual conversation with him: "Song family man, how did you break your right hand?"

Faced with some private questions, the man hesitated for a moment.

He didn't stomp his feet until his collar creaked when he clenched it. "I've heard of your reputation before. Now that you're asking me, I'll tell you everything!"

He spat several feet into the courtyard: "It's been about ten years since that bastard Niu Guanshi from the Kong Mansion led the yamen runners to divide the wheat. Without knowing right from wrong, he forcibly carried the straw stack into the vegetable patch of Chen Kai's house next door."

"Chen Kai's mother went to reason on tiptoe, but the old bastard slapped her in the face."

"I couldn't stand it any more, so I stepped forward to stop him, and got slapped in the face. I got so angry that I swung my carrying pole and hit him with it."

"The county magistrate arrested me and put me in jail. It was dark inside. I don't know who broke my hand."

"If it weren't for Chen Rong, Song Zhen, Wang Tan, Ding Shi and more than 40 other families in the village who came together to demand justice and frightened the county, I would have probably been put in jail."

Ever since He Xinyin started following Shen Li in clearing households and measuring fields, the frost on his hair has become darker.

The fact that these tenants were often beaten to death or maimed was at least five percent of the reason.

He Xinyin followed up with another question: "If you guys get together to cause trouble, won't the Kong family deal with you?"

Song Zhirong patted his chest with his only hand and said, "We dealt with them a lot, but we were outnumbered!"

He suddenly stood up and rushed into the house.

When he came out again, he was holding a yellowed note in his hand.

"Everyone in the village who comes to your shop says that you are one of the best people in the world. I will show you something good."

He Xinyin took the note curiously.

There was only a short line of words written on it.

Friends and relatives in Xiguan should know that all owners of the land for the construction of factories are in Xiao Yongxiang's tea shop. They will meet on the morning of the 23rd to discuss the ant plague in Qufu.

He Xinyin was not surprised by the tenants' typos. He looked at Song Zhirong in surprise and asked, "Are you colluding to resist the tax?"

Song Zhirong nodded proudly: "Last August, our village received more than 200 taels of silver in rent."

"The Kong family called in their minions, and they worked together with the village officials to collect rent."

"We were a group of people who ignored them, so they wanted to use violence to warn us and arrest Xuan Baoxin to bring him to justice."

"Yang Wanbian and his men came to call me right away, and brought 60 people up, blocked the front and back doors, tied up all the minions, and marched them to the center of the store."

"The village official was so frightened that he looked as pale as if he had been dead for seven days. He trembled and begged for mercy, saying that he dared not come to collect rent again."

Song Zhirong was so excited when he spoke that he stood up suddenly and reappeared in the courtyard.

"We burned the rent book on the spot, and I felt proud for once..."

He put one foot on the door sill, held his knee with one hand, pointed at He Xinyin with two fingers of the other hand, leaned forward, and said with great pride: "If you come again, I'll kill you!"

He Xinyin was staring blankly at the poor tenant in front of him.

Walking along the way to inspect the fields.

The impact it brought to him was even greater than that of giving lectures for more than ten years.

The rich are exploiting people.

The government aided and abetted the tyrant
The red people suffered miserably.

Occasionally, a heroic person would fight back in anger.

What a magnificent epic this is!
It's not like He Xinyin had never set foot among the common people, but his starting point was too high. The people he interacted with were either living immortals like Lan Daoxing or high-ranking officials like Geng Dingxiang. Even since he founded the Four Gates Society, they were all nobles and scholars. He had almost never seen the common people in the mud.

Although I always call myself a red citizen, this is the first time I have truly felt it from this perspective.

No wonder the emperor looked down on him. The previous Four Gates Society was indeed far inferior to him.

They shout slogans but have never really thought about changing everything from a practical perspective - in terms of moral philosophy, they are psychologists who lack "practicality".

How to change the suffering of the people has been a difficult problem for thousands of years.

But since he wanted to become a saint, why couldn't he come up with it himself?
He Xinyin reviewed everything he had seen and heard in a daze.

Hoping for a wise ruler to rule the world?

He Xinyin shook his head.

The emperor scolded him for this idea, but after several months of deep thought, he had completely seen through it.

This is not a question of whether the emperor is wise or not.

Even if a wise ruler is in power, the people will inevitably be oppressed.

To borrow the emperor's words, this is an inevitable structural contradiction. Do incompetent rulers like to be shaken by corruption? There is nothing we can do about it.

The top-down approach is what the emperor needs to think about.

Since I am deeply trusted by the people, I should naturally think of a bottom-up approach.

Equally distribute the land?
He Xinyin quickly rejected this idea.

The land will also flow with the property and be concentrated again in various forms. After several dynasties of equalizing the land, it has been a futile and fruitless effort for all.

Even further ahead.

The landlords were able to exploit the people because they served as a bridge between the national treasury and the peasants, and they either took on lawsuits or manipulated land taxes and labor service.

It is easy to eliminate landlords, but even without landlords, there will be other forms - even without landlord exploitation, there will still be officials who take more than they deserve.

Unless the central government can collect taxes accurately on an individual basis, this bridge will always stand between heaven and earth.

What can I do?

He Xinyin was lost in thought and stood up and walked out unconsciously.

The disciples and students waiting outside the door rushed forward.

"gentlemen."

"teacher."

"Fushan Gong!"

He Xinyin then came to his senses and found himself walking out.

He turned and bowed in the direction of the tenant to say goodbye.

A group of students followed suit and bowed - this was of course just a pretense, but "being polite to common people" was the doctrine that He Xinyin now adhered to.

At this time, a student stepped forward and said, "Sir, just now, Li Fu, the Minister of the Imperial Household Department of Nanjing, Han Huan, Zuo Guangji and other students have sent people to look for you."

He Xinyin was over sixty years old, but his back was still as straight as a bamboo. He was not surprised when he heard this: "Are you going to accuse me of slandering the Saint Family again?"

Since the book was published, all kinds of people have come to debate or scold me.

The student nodded, then shook his head: "Some students did not explain their purpose."

"It is Li Fu who said that your detailed enumeration of the crimes of the Kong family has few major omissions, but it is not conducive to the unity of the Confucian school. I would like to meet with you to have a debate."

He Xinyin sighed.

The Kong family is simply a hornet's nest, and some of the scholars are even more servile than the serfs in the Kong mansion.

He was just telling the truth and exposing the crimes of the Kong family, but they ignored his affirmation of Confucius himself and called for his death.

As expected, in the world, there are the most Confucian scholars who do not study Confucian classics!
"Let's postpone it. I have to go to Qufu County tomorrow, and I have some things to think about."

The disciples looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Sir, Qufu is a bit chaotic right now. Shen Butang has just sent someone here, so please don't go there yet."

Some students spoke up to stop them.

He Xinyin was startled: "What happened?"

The students said cautiously: "They say that the people are protesting against land reclamation. They are demonstrating."

(End of this chapter)