Southern Ming: A boy soldier at the beginning, supporting the world

Chapter 114: The Source of Living Water
During the Ming Dynasty, the affairs of prefectures and counties were extremely complicated, but the official system was extremely streamlined, so they had to invent systems such as the lijia system, grain areas, and township agreements to barely maintain the operation of government affairs.

The grain chiefs and village heads often shared the heavy tasks of collecting grain, assigning corvée labor, and maintaining public order with county officials. However, the grain districts and village heads were not formal administrative organizations, and county officials only sought convenience in using them and made constant demands on them.

Faced with endless demands from their superiors, the village heads and grain heads with conscience had no choice but to pay for their property, and some even went bankrupt. Over time, bad money drove out good money, and grain heads and village heads also competed to commit fraud. County officials were well aware of the malpractice, but were unable to correct it, and most could only turn a blind eye.

State and county officials were called people-friendly officials, but they did not deal directly with the people except in litigation. On the contrary, the grain chief and village chief represented the government in dealing with the people and held a very important position.

Danchu decided to add a township head in order to add a township government below the prefecture and county level to strengthen control over the grassroots. His eyes were sharp and he could not allow any doubt. He said in a deep voice:

"I heard that during the Zhengde period, a certain county undertook to pay tribute to the imperial court every year, which was worth only a little over 100 taels. However, officials at all levels manipulated the money, and the village head and grain chief also acted recklessly, and eventually demanded a tribute of more than 4,000 taels, which was 40 times the normal demand.

"The provincial governor had just taken office and immediately wrote to the court, saying that the court was extravagant and did not care about the people's ability, and requested an imperial decree to reduce the tax. However, the Ministry of Revenue issued a letter to refute it, saying that the Ministry of Revenue collected more than 100 taels of tribute every year, so how could there be more than 4,000 taels? The provincial governor was ordered to conduct a strict investigation and report back to the Ministry.

"The inspector was horrified, realizing that he had stirred up a hornet's nest. After investigation, the truth soon came to light. It turned out that officials at all levels had profited from it, and the grain chiefs and village heads were also bold and reckless, actually extorting no less than five or six thousand taels from the people.

"During the reigns of Wanli and Chongzhen, the imperial court imposed three additional taxes. The three taxes themselves were not heavy, but officials at all levels manipulated them, and the actual burden of the additional taxes on the people was extremely heavy.

"The imperial court was stigmatized, but could not collect much tax. Officials at all levels, village heads, grain collectors, and even landowners, exploited the peasants by imposing the three taxes, and the burden fell entirely on the peasants, forcing them to have no other options and rise up in rebellion.

"The lesson is profound. We must remember it and never repeat the same mistake. Therefore, we must require tenants to pay taxes so that landowners can no longer exploit farmers; we must set up village heads so that the grain chiefs and village heads can no longer deceive the prefectures and counties, and all taxes must be returned to the government."

To put it bluntly, whether it was requiring tenants to pay taxes or adding village heads, it was all to strengthen the government's control over the countryside and put an end to the exploitation of tenants by landlords and officials. The ultimate goal was to allow the government to concentrate all resources and mobilize all forces to fight against the Qing army.

Danchu's words were thought-provoking, like a revelation, and everyone was impressed. Even Fang Yizhi, who was well-educated, secretly admired him, thinking that Danchu's move was right for the times and a good solution.

"The government collects 50% of taxes, which seems high. But for the tenant farmers, it is much lower than the 60% or 70% land rent. At the same time, I want to emphasize that the government only collects 50% of the rent from the tenant farmers, and all other taxes such as population tax and corvée are exempted."

Danchu's tone revealed an unshakable determination as he continued:

"There are real reasons why corvée labor and ransom are two major evils in our dynasty. After the government has paid taxes to the higher authorities, there is little left. The office expenses of the county and prefecture governments, as well as public expenses such as disaster relief, water conservancy, public security, and fire prevention, are actually all paid for by corvée labor and ransom, just like drawing water from a deep well, which has exhausted the people's strength.

"What we want is fresh water from the source, not a dry well. From now on, except for public works related to public welfare, all other corvée labor will be abolished and hired by the government. The ransom of stolen goods will also be abolished, and all expenses will be paid from public funds."

Stolen goods redemption silver is also an important source of supplementary funds for local prefectures and counties. It is divided into two types: stolen goods and redemption. Stolen goods not only include stolen goods from thieves, but also refer to property involved in other criminal acts. Redemption mainly refers to criminals donating property to the government in order to reduce their crimes and penalties.

The silver for ransoming stolen goods did not have to be turned over to the national treasury, so it was valued by the prefectures and counties. In fact, in order to supplement the shortage of financial funds, the prefectures and counties often made a fuss about the silver for ransoming stolen goods, which led to the darkness of the judicial system.

Sun Kewang, the commander of the Dashi Army, was from Mizhi, Shaanxi. He was forced into a desperate situation by the stolen ransom money. He was poor when he was young and worked as a whipper for others. One day when he returned home, he did not see his mother and sued his neighbor to the government. The official was furious and beat him and demanded the ransom money. Sun Kewang had no choice but to flee his hometown and join Zhang Xianzhong.

Cen Danchu and Fang Yizhi had calculated that after the tenants paid taxes, the government's fiscal revenue would at least double, so they might as well reduce corvée fees and redemption silver to reduce the burden on farmers and win the hearts of the people. "The village head deals with the people, represents the government and the Yong'an Army, and must be carefully selected. In principle, choose disabled and injured, smart and experienced soldiers from the Yong'an Army, or choose capable and honest officials from the government office, and generally do not use local gentry and old people."

"General, I have something to tell you." The person who spoke was the prefect Wei Shizhong.

Danchu was interrupted by him and felt unhappy, but he said, "You can talk about it anyway."

"The Marshal has been so kind that he has given the officials very generous salaries, several times higher than the soldiers. The soldiers on the front line can't even get enough food to eat. I am ashamed to be enjoying peace in Yong'an and receiving salaries.

"Once the village chiefs are added, some soldiers will be attached to their salaries and will not want to be soldiers, but only want to be officials. This will make the army uneasy and the officials uneasy. I implore the commander to reduce the salaries of officials to save money and food, and also to reassure the soldiers and officials."

Danchu smiled knowingly. This old guy really had some vision. Although he lived in troubled times, he remained firmly in the position of the prefect of Yong'an Prefecture. He really had some abilities.

At first, in order to win over these officials, Danchu increased their salaries fourfold. Now that the Yongan Army has established a firm foothold, there is no need to win over these officials. Danchu also intends to reduce their salaries, so he said:

"Brother, what you said is very true. I am sympathetic to the people and really don't want to embarrass the officials. But now the current situation is difficult, and it is necessary to reduce the salary. Let's first reduce it to twice the ancestral system.

"The salaries set by Taizu are indeed low, and officials need to use their salaries to pay for official business, so they are often insufficient. Old Yu, you should make a rule to list the official business that should be paid for by public funds but are actually paid for by official salaries, and change them to public expenditures."

Wei Shizhong was much older than Danchu, but Danchu was already a general who conquered the barbarians, so there was no need to be polite to him and he just addressed him as his younger brother.

Danchu was not in a position to let Wei Shizhong do the task of formulating the rules, so he handed it over to his trusted adviser Yu Houji.

"Old Yu, there are two more things that need attention. First, we must pay attention to the commercial tax, which is set at one tenth of the value. All the mountains, rivers, lakes, minerals, salt, coal and iron in Yong'an Prefecture belong to the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Even if the people go up the mountain to collect wood or go down the river to fish, they still have to pay the commercial tax.

"Second, in times of chaos, severe punishments are needed. Now that there is war and chaos, we need to strictly control household registration, promote public security, and promote production. Implement the system of collective responsibility to prevent thieves. Implement the system of road permits to prevent treacherous people..."

The army is the foundation of life, and Danchu also took action. In this regard, he mainly asked Fang Yizhi for help: "Mr. Fang, I still need you to pay more attention to the military affairs.

"First, we need to improve the organization. The Yong'an Army still needs to expand, but due to the limitation of money and grain, it will not expand on a large scale for the time being. First, add a cavalry team, which will be affiliated with the standard camp, and then expand the baggage team into a baggage camp.

"Second, training still needs to be stepped up. Training in formations, flags, and battle formations is crucial and needs to be done constantly.

"Third, supply needs to be strengthened. Food for soldiers and their families, fodder for horses, and repair of weapons and armor must be guaranteed. In their spare time, we must also organize the army and their families to reclaim wasteland to meet military needs."

(End of this chapter)