The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 14 Feng Bao is ill
The reason why Luo Sigong has received mixed reviews in history is mainly because of his son Luo Yangxing.

He himself did indeed risk his life in the three major expeditions of the Wanli period and made outstanding contributions.

In fact, if the son has problems, the father may not have problems too.

For example, the famous second-generation rich people in history, such as Qin Ershi Hu Hai, Prince Adou Liu Chan, Emperor Jianwen Zhu Yunwen, etc., there was nothing wrong with their fathers.

Therefore, there may not be anything wrong with Luo Sigong.

Although he was only in his thirties at the moment, his face was already weathered and his hands were covered with calluses. He looked like a diligent man at least.

Sometimes, if you can't tell anything about a person's appearance, then you can look at how he does things. Diligent people are generally more reliable than lazy people. After all, only lazy people will try their best to cheat.

Wanli had a good first impression of Luo Sigong. Although he looked ordinary, at least he didn't look like a cunning and treacherous person.

He nodded slightly, then asked tentatively: "Are you Zhao Mengyou's son-in-law?"

Luo Sigong nodded without hesitation: "Yes, Your Majesty."

Zhao Mengyou had offended Zhang Juzheng, so he was dismissed from his post.

He pretended to respect his teachers, but he killed all seven censors who forced him to betray his teachers and ancestors.

This guy actually admitted without hesitation that he was Zhao Mengyou's son-in-law. At least he should not have thought of deceiving the young emperor.

If this guy hesitates for a moment, he will consider changing people.

As for Zhao Mengyou offending Zhang Juzheng, that’s not a big deal.

He only pretended to respect his teacher because it was in his best interest to do so.

It is also true that Zhang Juzheng was a bit overbearing in his actions in implementing the reforms.

He doesn't care about the right or wrong of this matter, he just cares about what is beneficial to him.

Wanli thought for a moment and then asked tentatively, "This time I want you to take your secret guards to investigate all officials in the capital, including those who have retired. Will you investigate your father-in-law?"

Luo Sigong said without hesitation: "Your Majesty, I have already considered this when I came here. Eunuch Feng said that you want to investigate the most serious corruption.

I know my father-in-law is corrupt without having to investigate. However, it is not serious. If Your Majesty wants to investigate, I can find out the results quickly.

This was a good response. There was no element of deceiving the emperor, and he also carefully protected his father-in-law.

Okay, this person can use it first and give it a try.

If it's ok, reuse it.

Wanli nodded slightly and said, "Then you take the secret guards to investigate. Remember, be careful and don't let the news leak out."

Luo Sigong quickly bowed and said, "Your humble servant understands."

After that, the Ming Dynasty court seemed calm. Wanli no longer lost his temper, and Zhang Siwei seemed to have calmed down after being scolded.

Qi Jiguang didn't seem to want to make a big splash, so he just transferred the 3,000 personal soldiers he left in Jizhou Town, and then gathered the remaining 30,000-plus garrison guards in the Beijing camp for training and screening.

At this moment, Wanli's speed in reviewing memorials seemed to have increased significantly.

Every day after the cabinet finished writing the draft, he would call Yu Youcai over to help him classify the memorials. Then, depending on the number of memorials, he would call one or two eunuchs to help approve them.

He usually finished reviewing the important memorials in the morning, and in the afternoon he would check several memorials reviewed by the Imperial Household Department to see if there was any favoritism, and at the same time find out what happened in the Ming Dynasty every day.

Unexpectedly, there were surprises in this batch of memorials.

In July, Xinyou, the governor of Datong, Jia Yingyuan, reported to the emperor that after surveying Datong, the civilian land was actually 31,539 hectares and 79 mu, and the military land was actually 47,811 hectares and 4 mu. In addition to making up for the old amount, there were still 11,314 mu of civilian land and 17,181 mu of military land.

The results of the land survey are out. The so-called making up the old amount means making up the old amount of the first land survey in the Ming Dynasty in the 26th year of Hongwu.

In the Ming Dynasty, land survey was only conducted once in over a hundred years. After that, land tax was levied based on the land recorded in the "Yellow Book of Taxes and Services".

Zhang Juzheng came up with the idea of ​​land surveying because, after more than a hundred years of development, the Ming Dynasty had less and less land on its books. This was not normal. The Hongwu Dynasty had just ended a war, and there was still a lot of wasteland. After more than a hundred years of reclamation, the amount of land should have increased.

In the 26th year of Hongwu, the Ming Dynasty conducted its first land survey. The entire Ming Dynasty had more than 8.4 million hectares of land, with one hectare being 100 mu. In other words, the land surveyed in the 26th year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty totaled more than 840 million mu.

However, by the eighth year of the Wanli reign, the total area of ​​all farmland listed in the Ming Dynasty's "Yellow Book of Taxes and Services" was only more than 3.7 million hectares.

In other words, most of the land in the Ming Dynasty was swallowed up by corrupt officials, royal relatives, and dukes and nobles.

These guys swallowed it up completely, leaving nothing on the books, and they refused to pay the 20% land tax.

As for why they didn't pay the 20% land tax, greed and unwillingness to pay was only one aspect. The other aspect was the key that Zhang Juzheng wanted to investigate: how did corrupt officials get tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of acres of land?

This was indeed a surprise. Unexpectedly, he had saved Zhang Juzheng's old party, and this group of people were still continuing to survey the land!
Putting aside the issue of corrupt officials annexing land, he does not yet have enough military force to take action.

Now, the land surveyed is a big surprise. If the land surveyed in the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty is more than that in the 26th year of Hongwu, then the land tax of the Ming Dynasty will increase two or three times!

Currently, land tax accounts for about 80% of the Ming Dynasty’s taxes. If it increases two or three times, how much will that be?
Then came two more big surprises.

On July 29th, the Governor of Huguang, Chen Sheng, submitted a memorial to the emperor, stating that he had surveyed the farmland, mountains, ponds and lakes of officials and civilians in the prefectures and counties of Wu, Chen, etc., totaling 838,525 hectares and 46 mu. After making up for the old balance, there was still an excess of 220,680 hectares and 6 mu. The military farms, mountains, ponds and dams totaled 77,756 hectares and 21 mu. After making up for the old balance, there was still an excess of 21,295 hectares and 48 mu.

This means that the Huguang Provincial Administration Commission not only made up for the old quota of the Hongwu Dynasty, but also had more than 20 million acres of land!

In addition, Chen Rui, the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, reported that after surveying the fields and ponds of officials and civilians, there were a total of 329,600 hectares and 30 mu. After deducting the old amount of 259,505 hectares and 72 mu, there was a balance of 794 hectares and 58 mu. The military farms and ponds under the command of the military governor totaled 7,969 hectares and 48 mu. After deducting the old amount of 6,851 hectares and 42 mu, there was a balance of 1,118 hectares and 6 mu.

This means that Guangdong and Guangxi not only made up for the old quota of the Hongwu Dynasty, but also had nearly 7 million acres of additional farmland.

Wanli thought there would be more surprises to come.

As a result, the next day, the surprise turned into a shock.

Early in the morning at about 3:00 am that day, he walked out of his bedroom in Kunning Palace and saw that Feng Bao, who had always been waiting at the door, was gone, and was replaced by Feng Bao's confidant Wang An.

He asked in surprise, "Where's your friend?"

Wang An said carefully, "In reply to Your Majesty, my benefactor had a stomachache last night and you went to bed again. I didn't dare disturb you, so I had to ask the imperial physician to prescribe medicine and went back to recuperate."

Stomach upset?
This diarrhea doesn't seem to be a big deal.

When Wanli heard this, he didn't care much.

He immediately ordered Wang An to call the palace maids to wash and dress.

Unexpectedly, before he had finished washing up, Xu Jue, the commander of the Jinyiwei, came hurriedly, bowed anxiously and said, "Your Majesty, it's bad, Eunuch Feng has fallen ill."

what?
I had a stomachache last night and asked the imperial physician to prescribe medicine, but I fell ill overnight?

No, why does this look a bit like the prelude to Taichang’s death in history?

This is not over yet.

He had just finished washing up and sat down in the imperial study when Zhang Dashou, the commander of the four Tengxiang guards, hurried in. He bowed with a look of panic on his face and said, "Your Majesty, this is bad. Xu Jue has been captured by the Jinyiwei Northern Pacification Division."

How could Xu Jue be captured by the Jinyiwei Northern Pacification Division?

At this time, the Jinyiwei did not have a commander-in-chief. After Zhao Mengyou was dismissed, Zhang Juzheng never mentioned the commander-in-chief again. Xu Jue, the deputy commander-in-chief, was the highest-ranking official in the Jinyiwei.

The Embroidered Uniform Guards were his personal army. Without his order, who would dare to arrest them?

It is obvious that this was done by Zhang Siwei.

Wanli asked coldly, "What happened? Who led the people to capture Xu Jue?"

Zhang Dashou evaded the question, "They say Xu Jue bribed Eunuch Feng to secure his position and then went on to solicit bribes everywhere. He's seriously corrupt, and the ringleader is Wang Zhizhen, the deputy commander of the Imperial Guards and the governor of the Northern Pacification Division."

What's with that expression on your face? Are you also seriously corrupt?

What kind of people does Feng Bao use?
(End of this chapter)