Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 302: Tax reform in Nanzhi, Zhu Wan is the commander of coastal defense!
The imperial study is not big, only about 700 square feet.

Except for the emperor himself who had a couch, a desk, a chair and a cabinet, the other two ministers of the imperial study only had a desk and a chair, both located on the left and right of the imperial desk.

The eunuchs from the Imperial Household Department could only stand by and there was no imperial desk.

After Wang Ao came, the imperial study became even more crowded.

But this allowed Zhu Houcong to talk with the ministers who came here at a closer distance.

The ministers also preferred the feeling of being in close contact with the emperor, so they did not seem annoyed by the crowds, but instead felt more energetic.

In this life, Wang Ao, who was seventy-six years old but still alive, came to the imperial study, saluted Zhu Houcong, and sat down at the new desk set up for him without waiting for Zhu Houcong to ask the eunuch to help him.

Very agile!

Zhu Houcong couldn't help but frown when he saw this. He didn't know whether Wang Ao, who looked quite healthy, could withstand the heat next summer.

to this end.

Zhu Houcong couldn't help but look at Gu Dayong.

Gu Dayong lowered his head. He did not expect that power would make Wang Ao rejuvenate.

After Wang Ao sat down, Zhu Houcong asked, "How is the disaster relief funding going?"

"Your Majesty, the call has been made."

"Fengyang and Huai'an in Nanzhi have been allocated 500,000 silver dollars, Yanzhou in Shandong has been allocated 500,000 silver dollars, Datong has been allocated 300,000 silver dollars, Kaifeng in Henan has been allocated 300,000 silver dollars, and Baoding in the capital has been allocated 200,000 silver dollars. In addition, according to reports yesterday, 200,000 silver dollars were also allocated to treat the famine in Liaodong."

"A total of two million silver dollars were allocated."

Fei Hong replied.

Zhu Houcong nodded after hearing this, and then said with emotion: "I pity the hardships of people's lives. You should pay more attention to helping the people live a stable and prosperous life."

All three of them stood up and said yes.

then.

Zhu Houcong asked the three to sit back down, and after they sat down, he looked at Wang Ao and said, "Mr. Zhenze is already old, and he still has to come before me for advice. It's really hard work!"

Wang Ao stood up again and said, "To be loyal to Your Majesty and to serve the country and the people is what an old minister should do. Even if I devote myself to it, it is not enough."

When Zhu Houcong saw Wang Ao sit down and stand up again, very quickly and speaking with full energy, he couldn't help but look at Gu Dayong again.

Gu Dayong bowed his head again.

Zhu Houcong smiled and nodded: "I have no choice. Now Nanzhi is implementing the one whip policy, and we will discuss the sea border issue next. Naturally, I need you, a great and virtuous elder from Nanzhi, to come before me and give me advice."

"Your Majesty is working hard to govern the country, and the world is fortunate. I, an old minister, will devote all my loyalty and wisdom to serve you."

Wang Ao replied again.

Zhu Houcong smiled and then asked, "Then Lord Zhenze, why don't you tell me whether it is better to close the sea or open the sea at present."

"Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, it is best to ban the sea."

"Because, only by banning the sea can the land tax be sufficient, the country will not have too many people abandoning farming and the tax revenue will not be reduced sharply, and the world will not have too many famines due to the lack of food."

Wang Ao replied at this time.

Zhu Houcong nodded.

He knew that Wang Ao, as a scholar-official from Nanzhi, would definitely support the maritime ban.

"Speaking of abandoning farming."

"I remember that in your letter to Li Chongsi, the Minister of Works of the Southern Zhili Governor, "A Letter to the Governor Li Sikong on Taxation in Wuzhong", you said that the taxes and labor service in your hometown were too heavy, so there was a serious problem of abandonment of farmland."

"Is this possible?"

Zhu Houcong asked about Wang Ao.

Wang Ao didn't expect that the emperor was also concerned about this matter. He felt warm in his heart and hurriedly bowed and said, "Your Majesty, it is true."

"Then how do you think this matter should be dealt with?"

Zhu Houcong asked. Wang Ao immediately waved his sleeves and replied:

"Return to your majesty!"

"In my humble opinion, the taxes and labor service in Wu are too heavy. The reason is that the taxes on government land are heavy but the labor service is light, while the taxes on private land are light but the labor service is heavy. Therefore, the powerful can annex government land and private land, and by virtue of their power, they do not have to pay taxes or labor service. On the contrary, the common people have to give up farming because of the heavy taxes or labor service."

"So, to rectify this, we must first integrate the official fields and private fields into the same rent, taxes and labor service, and at the same time, we must survey the land and population. Only in this way can we evenly distribute labor service and taxes, and truly realize a unified government in Nanzhi!"

“There’s a problem here.”

"Among the people of Nanzhi, the gentry probably account for a large proportion. If we really survey the land and population, I'm afraid the corvée money paid to the court will be greatly reduced because the gentry are exempted from military service."

Zhu Houcong replied.

Wang Qiong then stood up and said, "Your Majesty, no matter what, the revenue of the court cannot be shortchanged. Therefore, I think that we can first abolish the right of exemption from military service in Nanzhi and make officials and gentry pay silver as servants."

Wang Ao couldn't help but shudder and looked up at Wang Qiong.

He didn't expect that Wang Qiong would stab his own Nanzhi gentry without hesitation!
"Your Majesty, if you check the population, you will find that if you want to keep the average corvée labor service for each household in Nanzhi as low as it was at the beginning of the country, the country's corvée revenue will be sharply reduced because there are too many gentry in Nanzhi!"

"If we want to ensure that the state's military service is not reduced, the only way is for officials and gentry to pay taxes and serve as officials!"

Wang Qiong continued to play.

Zhu Houcong looked at Wang Ao and asked, "What do you think, Lord Zhenze?"

"Return to Your Majesty."

"What Mr. Wang said is truly insightful."

"But Taizu exempted the gentry from military service in order to distinguish between the noble and the humble. Now that officials and gentry are suddenly required to pay silver as well as serve, I am afraid that the gentry will be resentful and the people will be in turmoil!"

"So I think that even if we want to do this, we should do it step by step, first carefully measure the land, and then discuss this matter."

It was naturally difficult for Wang Ao to forcibly deny Wang Qiong in front of the emperor. After all, he knew that the current emperor was not a mediocre ruler, so even if he wanted to stop it, he would do so from the standpoint of the emperor and the country.

Zhu Houcong nodded after hearing this: "This is a mature view of the country! At that time, whether the officials and gentry should pay silver to serve together depends on whether the annual increase in national treasury is enough to continue to exempt the gentry from military service!"

"If the national treasury continues to increase, then it's fine to continue to exempt people from labor service. It's nothing more than collecting less labor service money. If everyone becomes a gentry in the future, then the whole world will be exempted from labor service. Then our Ming Dynasty will truly be prosperous in culture and education to the utmost!"

"For example, the current issue of the sea ban."

"If the ban is effective, more villagers will return to their hometowns to farm, so that the corvée income will not be reduced too much, and there will be no need to rush to implement the policy of officials and gentry paying silver as servants."

Zhu Houcong said this and looked at Fei Hong, Wang Qiong, and Wang Ao:
"What do you think, sir?"

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

Everyone bowed hurriedly.

Zhu Houcong then said, "Well, the land survey and tax equalization in the southern part of the country to truly realize the one whip policy, as well as the sea ban, will be promoted by you, Lord Zhenze!"

Wang Ao quickly said yes with tears in his eyes.

He had always wanted to carry out land surveying and equalizing taxes and labor service in Southern Zhili, as well as banning maritime operations.

This will certainly affect the interests of many large landowners in Nanzhi.

But since Wang Ao's eldest brother took over the family, except for himself who became an official, almost all the members of the family were engaged in business. Even his two sons chose to go into business because they did not like studying and taking exams.

Therefore, his family has transformed into an industrial and commercial landlord, and the main income is also from business.

Naturally, he didn't care about the loss of land after the survey. What he cared more about was that too many people in his hometown abandoned farming and went to sea, resulting in a decline in per capita consumption capacity, which affected his family's business income.

"Right now, in terms of coastal defense, Fujian and Guangdong have Wang Lun, while Nanzhi and Liangzhe are still short of one more person to command coastal defense."

Zhu Houcong looked at Wang Ao and asked, "Who does Zhenze think is suitable?"

Wang Luo hurriedly bowed and said:

"Your Majesty, I recommend Zhu Wan, who has just been promoted to the position of Guangdong Provincial Surveillance Commissioner. He is from the same hometown as me and is familiar with coastal defense. He once drove away pirates several times while serving as the Deputy Commissioner of Fujian Coastal Defense."

Zhu Houcong naturally knew Zhu Wan, and therefore was certain that Wang Ao truly supported the maritime ban, so he said, "Then let him serve as the deputy censor-in-chief and supervise the coastal defense of Zhejiang and Nanzhi."

(End of this chapter)