Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 170 Ruling Party and Opposition Party

What kind of new policies the court wants to implement has not yet been implemented. Only the five prefectures of Suzhou, Songjiang, Changzhou, Jiaxing and Lake have initially felt the huge changes.

There is no need for popular movement to obtain white grain, but ordinary people are actually unaware of this news.

After all, the transportation of white grain, the duty of the "Qianpai" actually had nothing to do with ordinary people. They just paid grain and silver.

However, the Yingtian patrol was stationed in one area, and even the governor's office was moved to Suzhou.

"... Lord Wang, the county government can just send people to various places to report these matters..."

Shu Baiqing was already afraid of him, but Wang Dewan insisted.

"Your Majesty, how can I neglect this grace? I will go to each village and announce it in person." Wang Dewan looked at him, "From now on, the five prefectures will no longer have to worry about transporting grain and white grain. This is truly a great and kind policy. Magistrate Shu, in my opinion, the counties and states in the five prefectures should present a letter of thanks. Do the gentry and villagers prefer to spend more rice and silver to transport it thousands of miles away?"

"…Lord Wang is right."

A thank you? The gentry in the five prefectures are probably going to explode.

"Too deceiving!"

At Gu Xiancheng's home, Gu Yuncheng received fellow gentry from his hometown.

Everyone was indignant, saying, "Lord Jingfan, the Gu family has also been ruined. Will Lord Jingyang just sit there and watch the court oppress the five prefectures of Suzhou, Songjiang, Changzhou, Jiaxing and Huzhou?"

Gu Yuncheng sighed, "Brother rebuilt the Donglin Academy in Wuxi City, and you have naturally visited him. The white grain is exempted from civilian transportation, and the grain tax is converted into gold and silver. Can this be considered as the court bullying the five prefectures?"

"Can……"

The indignant people cannot openly point out the interests involved.

The inspector of Yingtian personally went to every mile and told the villagers face to face that the amount of rice consumed for land tax had now been fixed, thus cutting off the escape route for local officials.

The white grain no longer needed to be transported by the people, and the gentry and wealthy families who were responsible for organizing the transportation of the white grain no longer had any room to share in the profits from the extra rice and silver collected.

Although the gold flower silver was only four stones for one ounce of silver, they had used various methods to deliver the grain to the weak transport army, and the cost was not much higher - the grain price in Jiangnan was cheap, not to mention that they could pass off inferior goods as good ones, mix in sand, gravel, chaff and grain, and add water to increase the weight? In addition, it was difficult to check when the private warehouses were receiving the money, so the transport army would be considered to have paid the land tax once they put it on the ship.

The most important thing now is: if we can’t transport more grain to the north without inspection or payment of customs duties, will we not be able to do this business in the future?
This year, the customs have been strictly inspecting the goods carried by civilian ships and merchants on the canal, requiring them to pay taxes according to the tax rates set by the court.

If we use civilian ships to transport grain and sell it to the north, and pay so much tax, and then face the emperor's "strict control of grain prices" when we arrive in Beijing, how much profit can we make?
Not being able to earn as much is more painful than killing them.

"But what?" Gu Yuncheng naturally knew the key point. He just looked at them and asked, "Are you going to follow the footsteps of the Bai family?"

But if he really had to kill them, Gu Yuncheng thought that they would probably still feel that it was better to be alive.

"... Lord Jingfan, there is also a branch of the Gu family among them! Are we just going to leave it like this? We are all hoping that you two can come forward to take charge of the situation!"

"My brother and I are just teachers, and we don't hold any official position. We should not interfere in matters that are not within our power. Besides, this is a good policy for the people of the five prefectures!"

A group of people looked at each other, with disappointment in their eyes.

Gu Yuncheng said, "The weather is different, and the harvest is different. Keep calm. The five prefectures are at the center of the storm. Besides, how can the new policy be implemented so easily?"

They didn't know that the emperor had castrated several scholars in Beijing, and they didn't know that the emperor had clearly sided with the New Party.

The first to react to this were the important officials in the court.

At the next meeting, although Wang Xijue was only ranked third among the cabinet ministers, he had already taken the initiative.

Shen Yikuan and Shen Shixing tacitly agreed to stop blocking the general direction, and only began to propose "cautious" and "comprehensive" plans on the details of the new policy.

For example... delay the time first.

It would be better for the Ministry of Revenue in Beijing to spend enough time to understand the tax structure of various places and compile local tax codes from the central level.

This is a practice that has existed in the past, but the whips in each place cannot be exactly the same. Which ones are real, which ones can be converted into silver, and how much to collect is an enormous workload.

Wang Xijue directly requested the emperor to convene a cabinet meeting.

He had to find out why Shen Yikuan and Shen Shixing did this. After all, the three of them had expressed their opinions in front of the emperor before.

In the eyes of other court officials, it was natural that the cabinet ministers still had different opinions on this matter.

The next day, Zhu Changluo summoned the three of them to the Yangxin Palace.

"In my opinion, we should first continue to survey the land in Nanzhili. After we have the reward money for diligence and integrity, we should also implement the performance evaluation system!"

In the sixth year of Wanli, Fujian took the lead in piloting the measurement of land and grain.

It took more than a year for Fujian to complete this work, and then it was rolled out to the whole country.

In the ninth year of Wanli, the eight prefectures and counties of Shuntian, the Nanjing Jinyiwei military farms, Shandong, and Jiangxi successively reported the completion of the measurement.

In the tenth year of Wanli, Baoding, Datong, Jiliao, Shanxi, Guangxi, Yingtian, Xuanfu, Zhejiang, Guizhou, Huai'an, Yangzhou, Xuzhou, Henan, Yansui, Huguang, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Guangdong and Guangxi successively reported the completion of the land survey. In the eleventh year, Ningxia, Gansu and Yunnan also reported the completion of the land survey.

It can be seen that even though Zhang Juzheng had passed away at that time, the work of surveying the land did not stop immediately.

It can also be seen that the places that did not complete the land survey in that round were mainly Nanzhili, except for places like Yunnan where chieftains were the main rulers.

Except for the four prefectures of Yingtian, Huai'an, Yangzhou and Xuzhou, all other prefectures and counties in the entire Southern Zhili had not completed the land survey before.

"Your Majesty, please understand that only a few prefectures have not yet conducted land surveys and re-created the fish scale and yellow books." Shen Yi Guan said, "From the seventh to the eleventh year of the Wanli reign, the taxable land in the Ming Dynasty increased from 5,185,400 hectares to 7,013,900 hectares. These few prefectures are not the key..."

"All provinces have been surveyed, but only a few prefectures are left. How can they be called officials?" Wang Xijue bowed, "I would like to start with my own family and order a survey first!"

They both looked at him. Was he imitating Zhang Juzheng?

At that time, Zhang Juzheng was the first to write home, ordering his son Zhang Sixiu to check whether his family had any land that was falsely mentioned. Later, it was found that the land under the name of the Zhang family should only pay more than 70 shi of grain, and according to Zhang Juzheng's rank, he could be exempted from all taxes. However, the tax and service book of Jiangling County stated that "Cabinet Zhang was exempted from more than 640 shi."

The extra stuff was the work of all kinds of people, including Zhang's clansmen, servants, and other local people who bribed county officials under the name of Zhang Juzheng.

Anyway, it is registered under the name of Zhang Juzheng, so who would take it seriously?

After the problem was discovered, Zhang Sixiu followed Zhang Juzheng's request and "all those who were exempted from the 74 shi land tax in their own homes should serve as common people," and even paid the land tax that was supposed to be exempted.

"It's really unfair." Zhu Changluo looked at Shen Yikuan and Shen Shixing, "If we go by the numbers given by Lord Shen, then the amount of land that should be levied has increased by more than 30% out of thin air?"

"Your Majesty, mountainous areas can produce 20% to 30% more, and areas with less mountains can produce 50% to 60% more!" Wang Xijue answered the emperor, looking at the two men. "If it weren't for Zhang Jiangling's contribution, how could we have enough grain in Taicang to support us for ten years and more than 4 million gold in stock? How could we have won these expeditions later?"

"Why isn't it a vital point?" Zhu Changluo also asked Shen Yikuan, "Are you worried that the prefectures in Southern Zhili will become chaotic?"

"Your Majesty..." Shen Yi Guan said sincerely, "The land survey is out, and it is actually the common people who have surrendered. The taxes in Jiangnan are already heavier. If we now implement preferential exemptions, the taxes and labor service levies will naturally be more than the money and grain they have surrendered. Otherwise, the surrender would not become a trend. If the prefectures in Nanzhili really get into chaos, it will be the common people who will suffer. I think it is not worth it..."

"Are there more common people who have ways to pay tribute, or are there more common people who are still burdened with taxes?" Zhu Changluo asked again, "Do the common people who are burdened with taxes hope that there will be more people who pay tribute so that the tax burden can be shared less? If the common people who cannot evade taxes are going to cause chaos, can the loyal and obedient people in the past help me suppress them? If they cannot be suppressed, is there someone behind those who pay tribute backing them?"

Shen Yi Guan stopped talking.

"Justice is in the hearts of the people." Zhu Changluo looked at Shen Shixing, "What do you think, Lord Shen?"

"... Let's do the land survey." Shen Shixing sighed, "Your Majesty has spared the people of Suzhou, Songshan, and Changzhou from suffering. The people will naturally be grateful. How can the common people rebel with a little help?"

"Apart from the whole dispute, I heard that the main reason now is that Lord Shen and Lord Shen think that the Ministry of Revenue should first unify the tax regulations for various places, while Lord Wang thinks that the performance evaluation system should be used to urge the local governments to compile and submit them?"

"Your Majesty, that's right." Wang Xijue was still looking at the two of them. "The Ministry of Revenue should send personnel to the local areas to investigate the actual situation in each place, and then compile them one by one. How long will it take to compile them? Before the compilation, the local areas will still follow the old rules. Will Your Majesty empty the treasury every year to reward the diligent and honest officials?"

"Besides, the new policy has already been established. It is nothing more than clarifying the administration of officials, allowing local officials to strictly implement preferential exemptions, strictly enforce commercial taxes, banknotes, and customs silver. In this way, the court's finances will be complete, and the local reserves can also support the rewards for diligence and integrity and public funds. To clarify the administration of officials, we naturally need to perform performance tests and conduct inspections in Beijing!"

Zhu Changluo nodded after hearing this: "What are the two elders worried about?"

Shen Shixing smiled bitterly and said, "Your Majesty, it is always good to have two of us in the cabinet who seem to be very cautious. The strict enforcement of preferential treatment involves all the civil and military officials in the court, and not everyone can be as selfless as Yuan Yu. Forgive me for being so bold, even if there are rewards for diligence and honesty and public funds, it is much more difficult to clarify the administration of officials than to survey the land and strictly enforce preferential treatment. Now the civil and military officials in the court are worried about the old things like wearing shackles to do their duties during the Hongwu period."

"At present, local governments are allowed to compile their own tax rates. Even if there is an imperial censor in each county, it is useless. They will compile more taxes first. If the taxes are apportioned, it will easily cause resentment among the people. Don't be so hasty. Wait for a while and allow the local governments to keep more. The local governments will see the benefits of the hard work reward silver and the public silver first."

"As for where the money comes from, it's better to lift the board now but not drop it. They are hopeful but also fearful. In the past two years, they will probably start with the rural gentry who have no family members who are officials. They will increase taxes but not make it difficult for their colleagues. They think there is still room for maneuver and will not resign out of fear of difficulties."

"After two years, the rules for the imperial examinations will be compiled, and the examination system will be strictly enforced to clarify the administration of officials. By then, those who have not yet been appointed to officialdom will see that there is a big difference between the court and the opposition, and there will be a new imperial examination for selecting officials. Naturally, they will be eager to take the examination, not afraid of being dismissed as a number of local officials and having no one to replace them."

After Shen Shixing finished speaking, he bowed and said, "This is what I think. Your Majesty, please make the decision."

Wang Xijue looked at him blankly: Old Shen is so sinister.

Zhu Changluo thought for a moment, "So, should we first treat officials and gentry separately?"

Shen Yi Guan nodded: "If we can arouse the resentment of the gentry and cause the whole court to criticize the civil and military officials, and then strictly enforce the performance evaluation system to clarify the administration of officials, and force the families of officials to also strictly enforce preferential treatment and exemption, then it will be much easier."

Zhu Changluo looked at them both deeply and said: "When a down-and-out scholar rebels, he is much more ruthless than the officials."

"...It will take several years for the Beijing Army to train its troops." Shen Yi Guan looked at Wang Xijue, "If Brother Yuan Yu is so hasty in doing so, are you prepared to deal with all these disasters right away?"

Wang Xijue couldn't tell for a moment whether they agreed with the new policy or were just cleverly delaying with ulterior motives.

Zhu Changluo understood: neither of them wanted to be remembered by the emperor, but they also wanted to show the entire official and gentry class that they had tried their best.

I'm afraid that the day when Wang Xijue wins completely will be the day when the two of them resign and go home.

A blunt knife is really scary, but those ordinary gentry who are unwilling to take on the pressure of being an official and who want to enjoy preferential treatment and gain benefits among the people should indeed be the first to be targeted.

It is they who, with their numbers far exceeding those of officials, control the real "public opinion".

Zhu Changluo had a strange temperament: he thought there were only the New Party and the Old Party, but he didn't expect that these two old guys wanted to set up a ruling party and an opposition party.

(End of this chapter)