The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 621: Measuring the Land

"The three treasures of princes: land, people, and government" - "Mencius: Exerting One's Mind"

~~~
The second day of the first lunar month in the second year of Guangde.

After a long period of preparation, Liu Kan, who had been silent for a long time, issued an edict to the whole country in the name of the emperor:

Ended the debate among the north and south of the Great Qi Dynasty, and among scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans on how to implement several circles of doctrine in Jiangnan.

Based on the flood disasters that occurred in Jiangsu and Zhejiang last year, it is not appropriate to immediately equalize land rights and abolish private property in the two provinces.

This reason is far-fetched, but it is a reason after all.

On the third day of the first lunar month, Emperor Guangde issued the second edict:

Starting from the first day of February in the second year of Guangde, land was surveyed in Zhejiang and Jiangsu.

"Measure the land, clear the surplus grain, and establish a long-term plan for Zhejiang and Jiangsu."

This land survey was based on the reforms of Zhang Juzheng in the sixth year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, and was appropriately revised based on the actual conditions of the two provinces.

The shoe finally dropped.

The wealthy and powerful people in the two provinces, who had been living in constant fear, could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Although the land measurement was harsh, there was still room for maneuver. Compared with the "Land System of the Qi Dynasty", it was no less than a decree to save one from death.

In the second year of Guangde, the land was measured and the specific measures were as follows:

1. The land survey is based on whether there is any omission or arrears in tax grain. If there is any omission or arrears, then the land survey will be carried out. If there is no omission or arrears, then there is no need for survey.

2. The land survey work will be managed by the provincial governments of Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, with the military preparation departments in charge, and the prefectures, counties and districts responsible for their respective areas. The Imperial Guard, the Imperial Palace, the Suoyi Guard and the Imperial University of Peking will each send people to form inspection teams to supervise.

3. Differentiate between government fields, private fields, military farms, and other categories, and check each of the above, medium, and low tax grain rules clearly during surveying. Do not pass inferior fields off as good ones, or engage in deception or fraud.

4. During the land survey, anyone who is willing to confess that he has illegally occupied or reclaimed land in previous years (starting from the 25th year of Hongwu) without reporting it will be exempted from punishment; anyone who reports false land acreage will be punished together with the others and sent to Sakhalin as a soldier; anyone who hides the occupied land will have his entire clan exterminated.

5. The deadline for land survey is one year, from February of the second year of Guangde to February of the third year of Guangde.

Sixth, the measurement and calculation methods were implemented. All measurement standards were based on the newly promulgated weights and measures of the Great Qi Dynasty. Standard regulations were set for grain containers: "10 jin equals one dou, 10 dou equals one shi, and one shi equals one dan (i.e., 100 jin). People were to count according to the actual weights, not the weights of the local dou, basket, bucket, or jiaoli (hu). The units of land area were: dan and mu.

7. The cost of supplying paper and notes shall be borne by the wealthy and powerful families in the two provinces.

These are seven items for measurement.

When this order was issued, there was an uproar in the north and the south.

The officials of the Great Qi south of the Yangtze River almost unanimously supported Emperor Guangde. They submitted memorials in support of the young emperor, praising his wisdom and intelligence, and saying that abolishing the "Qi Dynasty's Land System" was a blessing for the country.

Northern officials reacted coldly, obviously dissatisfied with this policy of discrimination and differential treatment between the North and the South.

On the sixth day of the first lunar month, Tan Shitong, the civil affairs official of Weishi County, Henan Province, wrote a letter in blood to the Ministry of Rites, denouncing the cabinet for being idle and complaining about their grievances. He accused the Minister of Rites Zhang Pu and the Minister of Revenue Qiao Yiqi of favoring southerners, and accused the new emperor of being stupid and incompetent, and of treating the people of the north and the south differently, which really disheartened the northerners. Before the memorial reached Nanjing, Tan Shitong committed suicide by shooting himself.

On the same day, on the streets of Nanjing, several officials from the north cried out for justice and stopped Lu Xiangsheng's official sedan chair to go to the palace to file a complaint.

On the tenth day of the first lunar month, two captains from Liaodong in Handan Prefecture secretly planned to organize new recruits to launch a military rebellion. Their action was discovered in time by the Suoyi Guards, and the rebellion was quickly suppressed.

The confrontation between the North and the South is intensifying.

At this time, refugees in Yunyang, which had suffered from drought for three consecutive years, rioted again.

On the third day of the first lunar month, Tian Jiu, a blacksmith from Yunyang, falsely claimed that "the emperor was kidnapped by the southern barbarians, and we must rush into the south of the Yangtze River to rescue the emperor," and led the refugees in the county in an uprising.

The bandits moved to Zhuxi and Yunxian, built a camp on Mamian Mountain, made weapons, and prepared to fight the enemy. People from all over the country were forced to come due to the harsh government.

On the eighth day of the first lunar month, Tian Jiu was wiped out by the Yunyang Prefecture pacification troops (more than 30 people).

The whole country was in an uproar for a while, and all provinces angrily denounced the gentry and wealthy families in the south of the Yangtze River. There were rumors that the garrison troops in Huguang would go to Taicang, Suzhou and other places to impose martial law and "punish traitors for the country."

····
On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the retired emperor issued an edict to reduce and exempt the taxes of Henan, Shandong and Liaodong provinces for one year, and ordered the garrisons of each corps to be on high alert and not allow the bad guys to take the opportunity to start a rebellion. At the same time, he sent Sen Ti to lead more than 300 instructors to the north to visit various provinces to preach the new policies in Jiangnan in order to appease the people.

After a series of twists and turns, the vigorous land survey movement finally began!
Farmers and landowners in the two provinces have ten days to declare their own land area numbers. After the first day of February, inspectors will conduct random checks and measurements.

Successive dynasties have always sought to save manpower and financial resources in surveying and mapping, and they were concerned with taxation rather than precise land figures.

However, Da Qi spared no expense to ensure a clear inventory of the amount of farmland in the two provinces.

Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces carried out the inventory task based on the general principles of the "Seven Measurement Articles" and combined with local specific conditions.

The inspection team submitted a memorial: "Because the boundaries of military farms and garrison farms are difficult to distinguish, and the fields, hills, slopes and dungeons are easily mixed up, and there is no old quota for the fields, there is no basis for measurement. If we do not conduct an inspection first, we are afraid that treacherous people will set up fraud and cause malpractice. We will measure each of the original acres one by one. Copy it with a walking bow to prevent it from being changed; add bamboo ropes to prevent it from being moved; erect markers to mark the boundaries and facilitate registration; supervise with signs to prohibit harassment and prevent obstruction. Therefore, it is imperative that the old behavior is not carried out, and the clever fraud has no place to show its evil deeds..."

Simply put, farmers and landlords first reported the amount and location of their land, which was then compared with government data. Officials then determined which areas were subject to measurement and which were exempt. Based on this, they conducted measurements and spot checks, gradually transforming local measurement units into official tax and service units. On the 1th day of the first month of the second year of Guangde, the cabinet appointed five individuals: Kang Guangxu, the censor of Zhejiang; Zhang Yunxiu (fifth son of Zhang Juzheng), the director of the Ministry of Justice; Zhang Bao, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department; Li Zicheng, the commander of the Suoyi Guard; and Dai Li, a lecturer at the Imperial University of Peking. (Note ) Together with the chief officials of Suzhou Prefecture and the state, they formed the Zhejiang and Jiangsu Land Surveying and Inspection Team. Huang Delun led the st Battalion of the st Corps, a thousand combat troops, and they were stationed in Taicang Prefecture.

The five-member group was led by Zhang Yunxiu, who was the general manager of Zhejiang and Jiangsu.

Zhang Yunxiu was the fifth son of Zhang Juzheng. Historically, Zhang Yunxiu first held the title of Shangbao Cheng (a fifth-rank official). In April of the 12th year of the Wanli reign, an imperial decree was issued to confiscate Zhang Juzheng's property and remove Zhang Yunxiu from office. In the third year of the Chongzhen reign, Zhang Yunxiu's position was restored. Fourteen years later, Zhang Xianzhong captured Jingzhou, and Zhang Yunxiu died of starvation.

However, Zhang Juzheng's youngest son in this dimension was not so miserable.

After the Great Qi replaced the Ming Dynasty, his friend Fu Zuozhou persuaded Zhang Yunxiu to take up an official position. In the first year of Taichu, Zhang Yunxiu, who was over 40 years old, finally took part in the imperial examination and passed it that year.

He was then promoted out of turn.

In just five years, he was promoted from a mere Jingzhou instructor to the head of the Ministry of Justice.

Zhang Yunxiu knew that the land measurement campaign was full of dangers, but he decided to follow the example of Ji Kang's son Ji Shao and defend the Great Qi with all his passion.

~~~~
On the 28th day of the first lunar month, Taicang Prefecture Government Office.

Two rows of Qi army soldiers wearing black uniforms and carrying Minié rifles on their backs guarded the yamen.

Zhang Jinglie, dressed in a black robe, sat high in the hall, with Dai Li, Li Zicheng, Zhang Bao, Kang Guangxu and others sitting on his left and right.

Zhang Yunxiu swept his sharp eyes over the local officials.

Although it was the first month of the year, Huang Shanyan, the governor of Taicang, kept wiping the sweat from his forehead, as if the weather was very hot.

Snapped!
Huang Shanyan shuddered subconsciously.

Every time the gavel banged, Huang Zhizhou was scared half to death.

Below Huang Zhizhou sat Yang Tongzhi, He Tongpan, and other subordinate officials such as the Tui Guan, Li Jing, Zhao Mo, Jianxiu, and Si Yu.

Lei Deming, commander of Taicang Guard, Cao Gonggong of Suzhou Weaving Bureau and Cai Zhushi of Hushu Banknote Customs were sitting opposite the governor. At this moment, they all had their heads hung down and did not look directly at the inspection team.

Zhang Yunxiu's eyes fell on Huang Zhizhou.

Huang Shanyan looked around and saw that no one came out to speak for him, so he had to bite the bullet and said:
"Zhang Jinglue is wise. Our country's reserves largely rely on the southeast, but Suzhou Prefecture is the most abundant. The people of Taicang cultivate the land meticulously, unlike those in the north. Therefore, the yield per mu is quite high, and the tax burden is ten times that of the north... In July of the year before last, torrential rains continuously hit, flooding Taihu Lake and Loujiang River, submerging the fields..."

"shut up!"

Zhang Yunxiu slammed the table and stood up, angrily saying, "I came here today to inquire about the amount of farmland in Taicang Prefecture, not to listen to your stories about the past dynasties!"

"The day before yesterday, this governor and He Tongpan went to the treasury to check the Yellow Book and the Fish Scale Book. He said that the treasury caught fire during the Lantern Festival this year, and the account books were burned! It didn't burn earlier or later, but burned right after the Lantern Festival."

"The Emperor has already stated that anyone who surrenders and fails to report past years of fraudulent occupation will be pardoned! Magistrate Huang, a single thought will cost you your life."

Li Zicheng's gaze was as sharp as a sword, fixed on Huang Shanyan, who sat slumped in his chair. Dai Li, a lecturer from the Imperial University of Peking, took out a pen and paper and began to write down his thoughts. Kang Guangxu, seemingly unfazed, leisurely played with a jade ring on his thumb. Eunuch Zhang Bao wore a gloomy expression, and the Taicang officials dared not even look up at him.

Ma Shanyan stammered, "Governor, I understand. The military farming system of the previous Ming Dynasty has long been abandoned and only exists in name only. The good farmland has been seized by officials and wealthy people, while the poor soldiers have no land to farm. The wives and children of the common people are starving and freezing, and their lives are in vain."

Kang Guangxu stopped playing with the ring and looked at Ma Shanyan,

"Although Taicang is a prosperous place in the southeast, the actual land area is less than half of what is recorded in the Yellow Book. From the 25th year of the Hongwu reign to the present, over two hundred years, the population has grown enormously. The powerful and wealthy have used various tricks to shift taxes and labor service onto the common people. Ultimately, it's all a mess. Moreover, the Yellow Book is gone now. I can't just push all the messy accounts of the previous dozen or so prefects onto me..."

Zhang Yun interrupted, "Whether it's a bad debt or not, we'll know once we investigate. Let's not talk about the Yellow Book today. The treasury was burned during the Lantern Festival, so why didn't your state report it to the Ministry of Revenue?"

Ma Shanyan hesitated, "Well, the governor is very clear. A trip from Taicang to the capital, 800 miles by express, would take three days. I'm afraid the cabinet's memorials are piled up like a mountain. The emperor hasn't approved these trivial matters of the fire yet..."

Zhang Yunxiu looked up at Zhang Bao, and the eunuch from the Imperial Household Department immediately stood up and glanced at Ma Shanyan as if he were looking at a dead person.

"Ma Shanyan, the memorials from the Great Qi are now being reviewed by both the Retired Emperor and the Emperor. I work under Eunuch Dongfang and have never heard of a memorial that was not reviewed by the Emperor. Are you lying?"

Ma Shanyan opened his mouth wide and remained silent for a long time.

Eunuch Cao from the Weaving Bureau, who was sitting opposite him, had a dark expression on his face.

"Eunuch Cao, yesterday I took the Suoyi Guards to check the banknote and customs records. I heard that the Wang family of Taicang is having an affair with the Textile Bureau. My people have found evidence. Do you want us to search your house? Or Wang Heng's house? Or, tell us something we don't know."

Eunuch Cao from the Weaving Bureau looked pale and was sweating profusely.

Zhang Bao took the imperial sword from Li Zicheng and said murderously:

"It's also the Emperor's mercy that he didn't kill you. He allowed you, the incompetent people of the previous dynasty, to continue to make money in the weaving bureau. You don't know how to be loyal to the new dynasty, but instead collude with local nobles, harming the public and enriching yourselves. You are truly conscienceless! You are a disgrace to the eunuchs!"

Note:
1. Dai Li (1614-1682), originally named Dingli and courtesy name Zezhi, was a native of Wujiang County, Jiangsu Province. He was a learned and knowledgeable scholar, and studied under Xu Guangqi. In the first year of the Guangde reign, the Qi army crossed the Yangtze River, and Dai Li became a monk in Xiufeng Mountain. He later returned to seclusion and lived in Zhujiagang, Tongli, Wujiang. Emperor Taizu forced him to serve as a lecturer at the University Hall, where he taught students. He was well-versed in late Ming history and diligently wrote. In the second year of the Guangde reign, he accompanied Kang Guangxu and others to Taicang to survey land, and rose to the rank of Grand Secretary of the Dongke Academy.

(End of this chapter)