Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 392: Jiajing had a backup plan, which made the gentry and wealthy people furious!
After Xue You heard this, his eyes showed some surprise and disappointment, and at the same time he couldn't believe it, so he asked again:

"Your Majesty, are you really not in a bad mood?"

Concubine Xue shook her head: "Really not!"

"I didn't lie to you."

"Don't ask!"

"I know very well how His Majesty feels right now! If he was in a bad mood, he wouldn't have come to my daughter's place, let alone be so interested in discussing Buddhist principles with my daughter for such a long time."

As Concubine Xue spoke, she became more and more embarrassed.

Xue You saw his daughter's shy and happy expression, so he had no choice but to believe what Concubine Xue said. He just patted his knees and said with a wry smile:

"That's good! I was just worried that this would affect His Majesty's mood, and make Your Majesty feel uneasy in the harem. It's good that it's not happening, it's good that it's not happening!"

After Xue You said this, he stood up and said he was going to leave.

"Father, can you come sit down for a while?"

Concubine Xue asked.

Xue You waved his hand: "No need, if you stay too long, someone will come to ask."

After hearing this, Concubine Xue did not keep her father any longer.

Xue You did not tell Concubine Xue that he was asking on behalf of the wealthy and powerful families in Jiangnan.

He established connections with these people after Jin Maoren and other wealthy gentry from Jiangnan came into contact with him and helped him send their daughter into the palace.

These people gave him houses, land, and beautiful maids, and invited him to various gatherings. They honored him and flattered him, so that he gradually became good friends with these people.

Xue You gradually became estranged from his commoner friends who were originally from the same class.

Xue You even began to feel that the people he knew before his daughter entered the palace were indeed rude and impolite in their words.

Xue You also did not tell his daughter, Concubine Xue, about his constant contacts with the wealthy and powerful families in the south.

Because these wealthy and powerful people had reminded him that telling Concubine Xue some things was not a good thing.

Therefore, Xue You had been attending various parties without telling his daughter. When Concubine Xue asked him why he was getting fatter and fatter, he would say that it was because of the blessing of His Majesty that he enjoyed wealth and was eating better and better, which was why he was getting fatter and fatter.

This time, he came to the palace to inquire about the emperor's mood through his daughter. It was also Jin Maoren and other children of Jiangnan officials who were studying in the capital who asked him to ask.

Because some of the gentry in the south who did not support the reform wanted to know exactly how Jiajing felt when he was furious after learning that the military household register of the Nanjing Five Military Commandery had been burned. This would give them a sense of psychological satisfaction.

After all, Jiajing caused them to suffer heavy losses.

Therefore, the more uncomfortable Jiajing was, the happier they were.

Of course, Xue You also wanted to know how his son-in-law, the emperor, felt now.

This was because the wealthy and powerful gentry in Jiangnan had given him a lot of military land through their minions in local government offices.

Although these military fields were secretly registered in the names of many escaped military households.

But in fact, the local village head who was in charge of managing the tenants would send the rent and taxes to him every year through the local brokerage firm, making him the real owner of these fields.

The government only knew that it was the fugitive soldiers who were evading taxes, so they couldn't trace it back to him.

Only some wealthy gentry and himself knew that he was collecting rent and taxes from these fields.

This made Xue You one of the powerful people who indirectly occupied military land.

Therefore, after Xue You asked Concubine Xue and learned that Jiajing was not unhappy, he was also somewhat surprised and disappointed.

What surprised him was that Jiajing was not affected by the burning of the military household register of the Five Military Commanderies Office in Nanjing.

To his disappointment, this meant that he might be forced to return the military land he had indirectly occupied.

"What did the Imperial Concubine say?"

After seeing Xue You, Jin Maoren asked about Xue You.

Xue Youze looked up at Jin Maoren and said, "I heard from the queen that His Majesty is not in a bad mood, and he was very leisurely and talked to the queen about Buddhism for a long time last night! Judging from the queen's expression, it is obvious that His Majesty was in a good mood when discussing Buddhism last night."

"impossible!"

"This is absolutely impossible!"

Jin Maoren immediately stood up and waved his hands, looking disappointed.

then.

Jin Maoren put his hands on his hips and breathed harder, saying, "You're still discussing Buddhist principles. I learned that the military household register was destroyed. Even if you want to see the concubine, shouldn't you find some faults in the concubine and vent your dissatisfaction on her first? How can you discuss Buddhist principles?"

"But I really didn't lie." "The queen doesn't know that I have any contact with you, so naturally she won't lie."

Xue You looked at Jin Maoren and replied.

"It could just be that the military household register has been destroyed. It won't affect what Your Majesty wants to do."

"If that's the case, then why does His Majesty feel that this won't affect his plan to reform the military households?"

Jin Maoren was puzzled.

Wang Ying, who had passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi in the Ministry of War, also came here because he had an appointment with Xue You.

But when Wang Ying saw Jin Maoren was also here, she guessed why he came here, so she asked him, "Are you here for that too?"

Jin Maoren nodded and replied, "But Lord Xue said that according to the Imperial Concubine, His Majesty was not furious because the military household register was destroyed. On the contrary, he was in a good mood and discussed Buddhist principles with the Imperial Concubine for a long time last night?"

"Discussing Buddhist principles?"

"How did you discuss it?"

"What Buddhist doctrine are you discussing? Huayan Buddhism, Zen Buddhism, or Tantric Buddhism?"

Wang Ying had already paid great respects to Xue You, and then asked about Jin Maoren.

Jin Maoren said: "No matter what kind of discussion it is, logically, you shouldn't be in such a mood at this time!"

Wang Ying nodded after hearing this and said, "I have heard from the Ministry of War that the court will still hold a discussion on the military household reform. The East Factory has informed the outer court that the destruction of the military household register will not affect the military household reform, because your majesty has already arranged for the Jinyiwei to arrange for someone to make a copy in the Southern Capital in advance."

"I originally thought that this might be false news deliberately released by His Majesty to confuse the false with the true and mislead those outside the court who do not want him to reform the military households."

"But now that you say that, it seems that it is true that the military household register has a backup in the palace."

After Wang Ying said this, she sighed with a depressed look on her face and said, "It seems that those who did these things behind the scenes also failed!"

Xue You nodded, then asked Jin Maoren and Wang Ying: "You were not involved in this?"

"How dare we!"

The two of them replied in unison.

They really didn't dare. If they dared, they would not tell Xue You.

Xue You asked again: "Then you should know who it is, right?"

Jin Maoren smiled and then replied, "Of course I don't know. Lord Xue, don't think about using this to gain merit. If we knew, we would have used this to gain merit long ago!"

"That's right. We asked Lord Xue to find out because we just wanted to know how His Majesty felt after learning about this."

"As for the military lands that Lord Xue also occupied, they were also purchased through the brokerage firm. We don't know who sold them to us, and then we gave them to you."

Wang Ying followed with a smile.

Xue You's face immediately changed after hearing this: "What do you mean I am occupying? It was clearly after I drank with you that you patted your chest and said that you had to give me a gift, saying that if I didn't give it to you, I would be a bad friend! It was only afterwards that I found out that those fields were military fields!"

"Yes, yes, it's not an occupation."

"It's our fault too. We shouldn't have given this kind of land to you, Lord Xue."

Wang Ying continued to admit it with a smile, and even made a special effort to apologize to Xue You, asking Xue You to be more tolerant.

Xue You only snorted, then took out a stack of land deeds from his sleeve and said, "Now that it has come to this, I can no longer keep these lands. Take them away quickly!"

Xue You was mainly afraid that after the military household reform went smoothly, the court would check the military fields and find that he was the actual owner of some of the fields that had embezzled rent and taxes. That would undoubtedly make it easy for the emperor to know that he was secretly accepting benefits from the gentry and wealthy families, which would in turn affect his daughter's status in the harem.

Therefore, Xue You also expressed his intention to return the land.

Anyway, as long as he returned the land deed, the land agent who operated these military fields would take the initiative to change the owner according to the land deed, no longer pay him rent and taxes, and instead recognize the person who regained the land deed as the owner.

After the middle of the Ming Dynasty, land transactions had become very mature, especially after the rise of the yahang, land ownership and tenancy rights could be turned into a tradable commodity through the yahang.

Often, the same piece of land could be traded many times within a year, and the fees and taxes generated became the income of the brokerage firm and the local government.

The two men did not refuse, and sent the land deeds and the emperor's response in the capital back to the Southern Capital by express boat.

"Your Majesty did not fly into a rage, and was very interested in discussing Buddhist principles in the palace. It was also rumored outside the court that Your Majesty had already prepared a copy of the military household register."

After Liu Pu, the Xima of the Sijing Bureau, learned the news brought back by Jin Maoren and Wang Ying through an intermediary, he was also disappointed and told the matter to Ye Guizhang, the Hanlin Lecturer in Nanjing.

Ye Guizhang was also very upset and disappointed after hearing this, so his face was terribly gloomy: "Is it true?"

Liu Pu said: "It should be true. The father of the imperial concubine, Lord Xue, has returned all the deeds of 30,000 mu of military land. If it is not true, he is from a small family and would not be willing to spit out the meat he has eaten!"

(End of this chapter)