Fu Shanhe

Chapter 398 New Policy in Shu

Shu land.

After completing the internal purge on the charge of colluding with the rebels, Xu Wenyue promulgated the "New Policy in Shu".

Different from the tax reform in the eight southeastern provinces, this reform mainly nationalized unowned land and then leased it to the people for cultivation at a price slightly lower than the market price.

Theoretically, without the middlemen making a profit from the price difference, both the imperial court and the people would benefit.

However, as soon as the actual operation began, various problems emerged one after another.

The local governance of the Dayu Dynasty was heavily dependent on local gentry, and many local officials had to favor the gentry.

The land is unevenly fertile, so the rent is nominally determined by the government.

When it comes to specific operations, power still falls into the hands of the gentry.

It was clearly a good policy, but it quickly went astray during the implementation process.

The governor strictly ordered local officials to supervise, but when it came to actual operations, the huge workload was simply not something that a few officials could supervise.

In order to save trouble, many officials directly outsourced the specific handling work to local gentry.

If the common people wanted to lease fertile land, they had to first offer benefits to the gentry in charge.

Although the rent seems lower, the burden you need to bear actually increases instead of decreases.

While the gentry were making a fortune, they also quickly dragged local officials into the corruption, forming a corrupt alliance.

In other words, this alliance has existed from the beginning, but it has always been hidden in the dark.

In the face of huge interests, the so-called moral constraints are a joke.

A few officials with integrity refused to cooperate with local gentry, but the end result was still a mess.

Someone has to do the work. If we don't let the gentry do it, we can only rely on the clerks in the yamen.

This group is not only greedy, but also acts according to the mood of the gentry.

In the Dayu Dynasty, the gentry were permanent while the officials were transient.

No matter how high-ranking and powerful an official is, there will always be a day when he is transferred, but the gentry below are rooted in the local area for generations.

For officials who have lived in the local area for generations, offending officials would have serious consequences, and offending the gentry would be even more disastrous.

On one side, they join forces to make a fortune, and on the other side, their families are broken up and their loved ones are ruined. This question is easy to choose.

In the first round of land statistics, fertile soil accounted for about 40% of the land nationalized. Now it accounts for less than 10%.

Not only is the amount of fertile land decreasing, but the number of acres of farmland is also shrinking.

Looking at the data reported below, Xu Wenyue was furious.

This was clearly an attempt to fool him, with no intention of giving any face to a senior official of the current dynasty.

I guess they knew he was about to leave office and thought he wouldn't make a big fuss.

For their own interests, the local people colluded with each other and prepared to divide the interests before the new governor took office, creating a fait accompli.

"Bastard!"

"These bastards have absolutely no respect for the law!"

……

Xu Wenyue couldn't help but curse.

In order to promote reform, he has already made an example of someone who has done something wrong, but no one below him took it seriously.

"Mr. Ge, calm down!"

Master Yun on the side began to persuade.

Although this situation was beyond expectations, it was still reasonable.

The reason is very simple. When killing people earlier, Lord Xu was following the rules of the game.

The gentry and officials who were dealt with had all colluded with the rebels.

After the imperial court has suppressed the rebels, it will certainly take revenge on these people.

No matter how powerful the backing is, once the collusion with the rebels is exposed, it will be difficult to escape the court's punishment.

Everyone already had this understanding in their minds and were not afraid of this kind of reckoning. At most, they complained privately about the ruthless methods of Lord Xu.

On the whole, local gentry expressed support for his behavior.

However, subsequent reforms put the two sides on opposite sides.

According to past practice, the imperial court would confiscate the property of rebels and share it with the gentry.

Xu Wenyue directly nationalized the property, which was equivalent to cutting off everyone's source of income.

When it comes to interests, even the elder’s face is not enough.

“The gentry have become so corrupt that they have lost sight of the overall situation for the sake of a few benefits.

"I am deeply saddened!"

Xu Wenyue said helplessly.

The reason why he hastily initiated reforms before leaving office was not because he supported reforms, but because he was forced to do so by the situation.

If they don't make some progress, this generation of civil servants will become the biggest joke in history.

The civil officials could not catch up with the military officials in civil administration, and they did not know how to write history books.

If the emperor had been smarter and gone all in, relying on his nobles to achieve revival, later generations of scholars would have cursed them to death.

There have been cases in history where historical books have been tampered with and historical truth has been concealed, but those were all done by those in power.

The idea that governing the country is inseparable from civil servants has only begun to emerge since the Song Dynasty.

Looking back in history, we have gone through the politics of the royal family, the politics of meritorious officials, the politics of relatives of the emperor, and the politics of aristocratic families, and only then did we come to the turn of civil service politics.

Smart people know that this statement is meant to fool the rulers. If you are fooled by it, then you are doomed.

Every political system has its drawbacks, but having drawbacks does not mean it is unusable.

For a dynasty entering its later years, the most important thing to consider is not which political system is better, but how to continue the country's destiny.

"Sir, actually, this trouble can be passed on to the next person in charge.

There is nothing wrong with the reform plan you drafted.

If something goes wrong later, it’s a problem of execution.

If the reform is successful, you will get a lot of credit, but if it fails, someone will also take the blame.

There is no need to offend the Shu gentry for this."

Master Yun continued to persuade.

Since the interests of the gentry were affected, the reforms could not be implemented simply by a government decree.

If you want reform to succeed, you have to raise the butcher knife.

As the leader of the Qingliu faction, Xu Wenyue cannot be this evil guy.

"Hey!"

“This kind of self-deception is nothing more than fooling fools.

Compared to me, a hollow governor, the Marquis of Zhenyuan came with a large army and is much less dependent on the gentry.

The Shu gentry is so eager to act, obviously thinking that I am easier to bully than him. "

Xu Wenyue said indignantly.

In fact, he also knew that his reforms would be resisted by local gentry.

He pushed it forward before leaving office because he wanted to deliver a brilliant answer.

We do not expect these measures to continue forever, but as long as they benefit the court and the people in the short term, the reform will be considered a success.

After he retires, how things develop in the future has nothing to do with him.

Unfortunately, the gentry in Shu were unwilling to give this little bit of face.

Although he complained, he still did not refuse Master Yun's suggestion to pass the blame to the next person.

The two sides belong to two major camps, and it is considered a sense of integrity not to deliberately set traps for the next one.

Leaving behind some troubles is nothing at all.

……

Chongqing Mansion.

"My Lord, Lord Xu invites you to Chengdu Prefecture to complete the transfer of power.

The students heard that the new policy implemented by Lord Xu in Shu had encountered setbacks.

Inviting you over at this time is probably an attempt to pass on the blame."

The middle-aged master reminded gently.

When it comes to the current cabinet ministers, he is not qualified to comment due to his status.

However, as a staff member, I still have to remind them when necessary.

"Mr. Zhou is right, this is like their style.

Unfortunately, Xu Wenyue misjudged the situation. Just because he can’t push forward doesn’t mean I can’t push forward either. This is destined to be a waste of time!”

Li Yuan sneered.

It is not uncommon for reforms to encounter resistance from gentry groups.

He encountered the same trouble when he was promoting tax reform in Huguang before.

The difference is that in addition to being able to mobilize local officials, he also has an army under his command that has no vested interests with the gentry.

When the knife is at your neck, everything becomes negotiable.

In fact, when reforming the tax system in Huguang, he only showed the use of force and did not kill people, so the local gentry compromised.

After all, the reform only harmed the interests of some gentry and did not affect the entire group.

Those whose families have no one in business may not even feel the impact of the reform.

In comparison, Xu Wenyue's new policies in Shu offended more people.

Nationalizing unowned land may seem like it did not directly affect the interests of the gentry, but in fact it touched their lifeblood.

Now that the imperial court has tasted the sweetness, these lands will not flow out again, and the emperor might even have the idea of ​​nationalizing the land.

Even if it is not so extreme, simply continuing to confiscate the land of criminals will change the land ownership structure and gradually reduce the space for gentry's activities.

If the imperial court introduces some stimulus measures, local officials will also crack down on illegal activities of local forces for the sake of political achievements.

Similar operations have occurred in history.

Especially during the Western Han Dynasty, the emperor often sent out cruel officials to suppress local tyrants.

Although the gentry have relied on fame and honor to embellish themselves, their essence has not changed.

As long as the imperial court is willing to investigate, more than 90% of the gentry families can be found to have violated laws and disciplines.

"My Lord, you must not take this lightly.

During his tenure as a local official, Xu Ge Lao was also known for his tough stance.

The reason he chose to compromise this time was not only because he was about to leave office, but also because the mess he had made was too big.

Land is the lifeblood of the gentry, and anyone who touches it will get into trouble.

Previously, although we had taken some land into military hands in Huguang, we still sold more land.

Lord Xu’s plan is good, but unfortunately his appetite is too big.

The new policy in Shu not only offended the local gentry, but also cut off the way for the military households in the garrisons to recover the occupied land. "

Master Zhou analyzed with a serious look.

Deep down in his heart, he didn't want Li Yuan to continue pushing forward the new policy in Shu.

Even if the army pushed it forward forcefully, it would only work temporarily. When the term of office was over and the local areas returned to normal, the local government would not be able to deter the greedy gentry.

It won’t be long before the achievements of the reform will be destroyed.

Not only will you be working in vain, but you will also offend many people.

"Don't worry, Mr. Zhou, I have no problem figuring this out.

Now that the reform has been started, there is no reason to interrupt it.

What's more, that group of gentry has helped us complete the reform.

Spread the word for me that they want to lease government land, and I have agreed.

However, the number of seized acres of land needs to be re-checked.

Before I conduct a comprehensive investigation, those who voluntarily complete the declaration will be exempted from punishment. However, those who collude, conceal or hide the information will be dealt with according to the laws of Dayu.

Arrange for someone to take my business card and a team of soldiers to visit several large families in Shu. I hope they will take the lead in supporting the new policies in Shu.

I cannot care less about how the situation will develop in the future. However, during my term of office, taxes and levies must be paid in full, and no chaos is allowed in the local area.

If civil unrest is caused, I will sacrifice the head of whoever caused the trouble!"

Li Yuan said murderously.

Compared with Xu Wenyue's idealism, he sees things more clearly.

Under the current system, local governance cannot be separated from gentry.

If we need the cooperation of these people, then the reform is doomed to be incomplete.

After all, no matter how good a system is, it still needs someone to implement it.

If the people responsible for execution are the gentry, then the final outcome will definitely be in a direction that is beneficial to the gentry.

No matter how perfect the current systems are, when the governor's term ends, these systems will be in name only.

If the local officials are strong, their ambitions can be suppressed.

Once you encounter officials who are timid or greedy, all previous reforms will disappear.

Now that we know the outcome, we might as well work together and share the rent of state-owned land.

He didn't care how much the gentry took, as long as the court's share had to be collected, and local uprisings were not allowed.

What happens next will be a test of the emperor's ability to employ people.

……

Yang Mansion.

After sending the messenger away, the smile on Yang Chen’s face instantly disappeared.

"What a great Marquis Zhenyuan! He is treating my Yang family as a soft persimmon!"

After complaining, Yang Chen found out awkwardly that he seemed to be unable to do anything.

They use courtesy before force.

If he hadn't reacted quickly and agreed to the other party's request, the Yang family might have been gone.

In troubled times, the death of a few people or the disappearance of one or two families is never a big deal.

Although the Yang family in Shu is quite famous and many of its children serve as officials in the court, these are all empty talk.

When facing the butcher's knife, you must be timid.

"Brother, this Zhenyuan Marquis is too arrogant.

If you don’t take us seriously, why don’t you give it to him…”

Without waiting for his cousin to finish, Yang Chen interrupted hurriedly.

"Shut up!"

"Sixth brother, don't mention such life-threatening words anymore.

A new official has three things to do when he takes office, and people are worried that they can't find someone to establish their authority.

Even the gentle scholar Xu Ge Lao killed people without blinking an eye, let alone these soldiers who walked out of the pile of dead bodies.

Believe it or not, if we make any move, they will wipe out the entire Yang family and then put the blame on the rebels.

Not only must we not cause trouble, but we must also constrain the families that depend on us to behave themselves.

Some things don't require evidence. As long as people determine that we did it, then we did it.

The noble faction was able to complete the tax reform in the eight southeastern provinces. You don’t think you can convince everyone to support it just by appealing to their emotions and reason, right? "

"Of course not!"

“The power of the Jiangnan family is much stronger than ours.

From top to bottom...

Brother, since this is the case, I think we should just forget about the previous agreement between the two families!

The Jiangnan families have all surrendered, so there is no need for us to resist.

It will only take two or three years, and it is impossible for Li Yuan to occupy the position of governor forever, so why not give him some time first!"

Yang Hanyun's expression changed instantly.

You have to be timid, because he dares to kill people.

Serious people, whoever sends a message needs to use the army to deliver it!

"Sixth brother, it seems you have made a lot of progress.

If you want your family inheritance to last for a long time, you can't just focus on immediate interests.

Governor Li has given us enough face and tacitly approved the existence of the lease, so we must be sensible.

Inform the people below to report all the rented land.

Also, the rent of the people must not be higher than the market price, so as not to give others any handle.

We also gave a message to the government office, asking them to stay out of trouble so as not to implicate us.

The rest of the issues will be decided after the Marquis of Zhenyuan leaves office.”

Yang Chen nodded and said.

At the same time that the Yang family responded, a number of large families in Shu received visiting cards, and everyone gave a positive response.

The envoy also expressed that he would seriously consider those who raised objections.

But before they could come up with a conclusion, these families were attacked one after another by the remnants of the rebels.

When the government troops arrived, there was no one alive.

Seeing this scene, the Shu gentry, who were originally dissatisfied, changed their faces instantly and expressed their support for the new policy.

When everyone was forced to change their positions, a historic meeting took place in Chengdu Prefecture.

We are all old acquaintances and have known each other for a long time when we were in Beijing.

Although they didn't have much friendship, they had no personal grudges and got along quite well.

After a brief reunion, the transfer of power began.

"I won't look at the accounts. Considering the elder's character, I don't think there will be any problems."

Li Yuan pushed the account book aside and said with a smile.

It is impossible to check the accounts. New officials do not count the accounts of old officials. This is the tradition of the Dayu Dynasty.

Anyone's term in office will leave behind a lot of problems.

After strictly auditing the accounts, we found loopholes everywhere and the expenses did not match at all.

As long as there are no big holes left, everyone will choose to pretend not to see them.

If there really is a big problem and there is no way to deal with it, it will not be too late to report it to the court.

“Thank you for your trust, sir, but the accounts still need to be handed over.

The situation in Shu was special. Although the rebels had left, they were not far away from Shu.

Neither U-Tsang Dusi nor Dogan Dusi are good places. The rebels will probably not stay in these two places for long and may come back one day.

As for military affairs, the Marquis is more knowledgeable than I am, so I will not say much.

It's mainly political changes, which are a little troublesome.

The new policy in Shuzhong that I promoted has just been implemented and will require follow-up supervision.

These matters can only be entrusted to the Marquis!"

Xu Wenyue said earnestly.

Although he was the one who caused the trouble, his intention was good.

Dayu was short of money, and if the imperial court wanted to continue functioning, it had to raise money.

Shu has always been an important place for money and grain. Due to its financial and taxation system, the taxes collected by the imperial court in the local area were extremely limited.

The main contribution to Dayu was to provide financial support to Yunnan and Guizhou, and occasionally to support the Shaanxi Regional Military Commission.

But this is not the limit. Compared with the northern provinces, there is still great potential to be tapped.

“Don’t worry, sir. I will continue with the new policy.

Most of the Shu gentry are reasonable people. As long as we explain the righteousness, they will definitely support it. "

Hearing Li Yuan's answer, Xu Wenyue looked embarrassed.

"Explain to them the righteousness" has always been the rhetoric of civil servants. Usually when they say this, it can be basically judged as nonsense spoken when they are at their wit's end.

If problems could really be solved by relying on righteousness, the Dayu Dynasty would not have reached its current point.

Coming from the mouth of a military general, it sounded more like a mockery.

But what Xu Wenyue did this time was unethical, and he didn't even have the confidence to fight back.

In essence, asking Li Yuan to take over the mess of reform is to kidnap him by claiming "greater justice".

"It's good that my Lord has achieved success.

In short, the situation in Shu is complicated and we need to be more careful."

Xu Wenyue reminded gently.

At this time, he did not know that the group of people who had previously taken the lead in resisting the new policy had returned to their original intentions under the threat of the butcher's knife.

The more actively they resisted in the past, the more readily they will cooperate now.

"Ha ha……"

"You are worrying too much, sir. I have letters from a number of great families in Shu, and they all express their sincere support for the new policy.

It can be seen that Lord Xu is very popular among the people in Shu. Everyone supports you so much."

After receiving the thick stack of letters from Li Yuan, Xu Wenyue almost couldn't breathe.

The difference in treatment is too obvious.

When he was pushing for reform, no matter how many good things he said, people still strongly resisted.

A new governor was appointed, but he was eager to write a letter to express his loyalty before he even took office.

“This…this isn’t…”

Halfway through his denial, Xu Wenyue forced himself to regain his rationality.

The letter was taken from Li Yuan, so the possibility of it being forged is almost zero.

There's no need to go to so much trouble just to piss him off.

……

(End of this chapter)