The Ming Dynasty's Five Hundred Years

Chapter 152 This official doesn't fleece the poor.
"Everything that is supposed to come has come."

"Those who don't come... are determined to resist to the very end."

Outside the small window, rain pattered on the banana leaves, making a crackling sound, and occasionally the clear, melodious sound of raindrops falling into the pond could be heard.

Li Xianmu listened to the rain and sipped his tea with a serene expression. A wisp of steam rose from the teacup. After finishing the last cup, he gently twisted his wrist, and the plain white teacup stood steadily next to the teapot, coming to a stop.

He stood up and straightened his clothes.

The guard silently opened the door, and a maid handed him a green bamboo raincoat. She lowered her eyes and delicately tied the ribbon under her chin with her fair fingers.

Li Xianmu strode into the continuous rain outside the door.

"It's time to get down to business."

Only a faint, clear sound remained, along with the fragrant aroma of tea in the room.

……

What constitutes a proper task?

Is it the White Lotus Sect or sorcery?
Of course not!

The so-called White Lotus Rebellion was nothing more than an invisible, sharp blade hanging over Jiangnan, used by Li Xianmu to intimidate his officials; it was a last resort when all else failed.

As for the sorcery that stirred up the winds and clouds of the Ming Dynasty, it was also his overwhelming power to suppress people and crush the arrogance of Jiangnan.

These two are like the chilling swords in the sky; they are meant to intimidate and deter, emphasizing deterrence rather than actual use!
There is only one important matter: the finances and provisions of Jiangnan!

At this moment, in the side hall of the governor's office, the sky was overcast and the candlelight in the pavilion illuminated several respectful faces.

These were key officials from the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue and the prefectures and counties of the three provinces of Southern Zhili, all in charge of taxation and grain, and they had all joined the service.

Everyone knew in their hearts that, regardless of how much loyalty they had to the country, the illustrious future of this imperial envoy was enough to make people take a gamble.

Li Xianmu also knew this. He entered the hall amidst the wind and rain, took off his green bamboo raincoat, walked in with light steps, looked around at everyone, and then sat directly at the head of the table.

Before doing anything, one must first give a pep talk. Li Xianmu slowly opened his mouth and said in a deep voice, "Since you are all sitting here, you must be determined to overcome the difficulties together with me. What I am about to do is not easy, but if we succeed, we will surely have a bright future."

Let me preface this by saying something unpleasant, so that you don't later develop any ambivalent thoughts, which could harm yourself and implicate me.

Among these scholars from Jiangnan, some short-sighted individuals believed that my official position was lowly and my words carried little weight, and that the post of Governor of Jiangnan was merely a temporary appointment, not worth worrying about.

As you all probably know, the emperor is my maternal uncle, the crown prince is my cousin, and the Duke of Ying is my father-in-law. Although we are no longer in the aristocratic era of the pre-Qin and Han dynasties, or the Wei, Jin, Sui, and Tang dynasties, where bloodline determined everything.

With these three around, even if I suffer a humiliating defeat in Jiangnan, at worst I can simply return to the capital and continue in my prestigious position.

Among the officials and scholars of Jiangnan, those who wish to play chess with me are truly foolish, while you gentlemen possess great wisdom.

Regardless of the era, asserting one's status is always the quickest way to give confidence to one's allies.

Li Xianmu wasn't a fool who wanted to prove himself by breaking away from his family; he didn't mind using his innate advantages to win people's hearts.

"Moreover, I was the top scholar in the third year of the Yongle reign. I am only eighteen years old this year, yet I have already been appointed as the Junior Chamberlain of the Fourth Rank and the Grand Secretary of the Hall of Literary Glory, the chief secretary of the cabinet."

As the saying goes, it's better to underestimate an old man than a poor young man.

Since you are all seated here, you must understand this principle and the meaning behind my words.

Everyone understood, of course.

These people came to serve him not only because of his promising future, but also because of his powerful background.

Having connections in the imperial court makes it easier to become an official.

With his powerful connections reaching the highest levels of government, Li Xianmu was already in an invincible position. Moreover, he was quite capable; to oppose him was simply courting death.

With Li Xianmu's words, the heavy atmosphere in the hall eased a bit. Before, the thought of turning against his former colleagues had been quite frightening.

"I have summoned you all here today because there is a matter of great importance concerning the nation, and your full assistance is needed." Upon hearing this, everyone leaned forward slightly, already having some guesses in their minds. "To be honest, His Majesty has appointed the Duke of Yingguo as the Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Expedition against Annam. Soon, he will advance by land and sea to pacify Annam!"

His words immediately stirred up a huge wave in the room!

"Is the imperial court planning to wage war against Annam again?"

"Didn't His Majesty say at the financial meeting in the seventh year of Yongle's reign that there would be no war for three years?"

"Such a major event, how come there was no prior information leaked out, and it wasn't even discussed in court?"

One question after another came from the people in the hall.

"The three-year period of non-aggression refers to not launching attacks against countries like Mongolia. Now that Annam is in turmoil, if the court does not take action, Annam, which was only recently pacified, will fall into foreign hands again, and is therefore no longer within this scope."

"The matter of Annam has been decided by His Majesty after discussing it with veteran generals such as the Duke of Yingguo and the Duke of Qi, as well as the Minister of War."

Li Xianmu explained the situation to everyone, and those with keen insight had already noticed the key point: His Majesty only consulted with the Minister of War, but not with the Minister of Revenue.

Where did the army get its provisions for its southern expedition?

A sense of foreboding filled everyone's hearts.

next moment.

"The provisions needed for the southern expeditionary army need to be supplied from nearby Jiangnan. As the governor of Jiangnan, in addition to investigating the matter of sorcery, the matter of military provisions is also of paramount importance. You all either come from the Ministry of Revenue or are in charge of money and grain in the provincial government, which makes you my excellent assistants!"

Sure enough, several people felt a sudden darkness before their eyes, and before they could react, they heard Li Xianmu say firmly again: "As you all know, for both public and private reasons, I will not allow any problems with the food and supplies of the southern expeditionary army."

Of course!

Officially, this was a task personally assigned to Li Xianmu by the emperor: to inspect the three provinces south of the Yangtze River. This was a high-ranking and powerful position, reflecting the emperor's high expectations. If he could successfully complete the task, it would be another achievement, at least shortening his promotion time by three years!
Privately speaking, the supply of provisions and logistics is crucial to the success or failure of the army at the front. Duke Zhang Fu of Yingguo is Li Xianmu's father-in-law and his biggest backer in the officialdom. Even the fact that Li Xianmu received such face from nobles like the Marquis of Yongchang in Jiangnan is inseparable from the presence of Duke Zhang Fu, the number one noble. Li Xianmu will definitely do his best to support the southern expeditionary army.

We have to give up this grain supply from Jiangnan, whether we want to or not!
Everyone recalled Li Xianmu's sorcery that suppressed Jiangnan and the White Lotus Sect. Now it seemed that if the three provinces of Jiangnan agreed to his conditions, everything would be under control. But if they did not agree, Li Xianmu would be driven to desperation and would surely go on a killing spree!
"The grain transported to the capital this year..."

Not a single grain of grain must be missing from the grain transported to the capital!

Li Xianmu sternly interrupted him, looking solemnly at everyone, "Not a single grain of the grain already exchanged between the three provinces of Jiangnan and the Maritime Transport Office shall be missing; it must be transported to the capital intact."

"If we could use this batch of grain, why would I need to personally come down to the south of the Yangtze River to handle this matter!" The crowd immediately looked distressed. They couldn't use the grain, and they couldn't create something out of nothing, so they could only levy taxes again.

"Governor, pressing for grain taxes is the easiest way to make a big mistake, so you must be extremely careful!"

"Yes, Your Excellency, grain is the lifeblood of the people. If we urge them to pay their grain so soon after they have done so, there will inevitably be casualties, which will damage Your Excellency's reputation for benevolence and righteousness."

The people in the house all offered their advice, and the general message was the same: the people had no surplus grain.

In recent years, the imperial court has launched one major project after another, leaving even the Jiangnan region impoverished and unable to generate any profit.

"Who said I'm trying to squeeze money out of the poor? Merchants know that to make money, you should target the rich. Why would you think of squeezing money out of the poor?"

Everyone was stunned and asked blankly, "If you don't levy grain from the people, then where will you levy grain from?"

"We will levy taxes on whoever has the grain!"

Everyone understood, but some still found it hard to believe, "Taking grain from powerful clans?"

Do they have food?

"Have!"

"Then conquer them!"

A brief conversation, a somber hall, silent crowd, and an eerie atmosphere.

Li Xianmu leisurely sipped his tea. "What, do you all think that a campaign is not feasible?"

There was still a chilling silence before an old man, one of the officials in charge of the Ministry of Revenue in Nanjing, sighed and said, "The governor has the power to control life and death, so it is impossible to say that he cannot conquer him."

Moreover, the people of Jiangnan are all obedient subjects of the imperial court; how could they not obey the imperial decrees?

But simply demanding grain from them is impossible; it would inevitably implicate the common people!

Once the old man spoke, it was as if he had opened a floodgate of words, and the others chimed in, "Yes, Your Excellency, the court can't just openly rob us. What reason can we use to get the powerful clans to provide grain?"

"The governor is unlikely to use the pretext of borrowing grain, let alone buying grain. Simply saying that he wants to requisition grain is definitely not going to work. There is no such logic in this world."

Outright robbery is absolutely unacceptable. The foundation of a regime is order, not chaos. If the court takes the lead in robbing, no one will accumulate wealth anymore, and they will only fall into a situation of mutual looting.

Many modern Western sycophants proclaim the inviolability of private property in the West, but they are unaware that ancient China had far superior protection of private property compared to the West.

In the Ming Dynasty, the grain that Shen Yishi sent for disaster relief was not given away for free; the government was obligated to return it.

In ancient times, the problem was never about property, but about the inability to protect one's life and possessions.

In the era of monarchical autocracy, with the system of collective punishment, human life was cheaper than grass. This did not only refer to ordinary people, but also to nobles and officials; if someone said their whole family was going to die, their entire family would die.

“Unless…” someone hesitated, but did not continue.

Li Xianmu understood what they wanted to say, unless he was willing to be unreasonable and, like the protagonist of a mindless historical novel, directly start killing.

But Li Xianmu was unwilling; doing so would come at too high a price.

To reiterate, he's not the emperor; he can't do that.

Moreover, even if an emperor did that, it would shatter the political environment immediately. For example, during the Hongwu era, the political darkness was comparable to that of the Jiajing era.

It's quite unbelievable that the political environment was so bad in the early years of the dynasty.

It's perfectly normal. In an ultimate battle royale where you could die at any moment, whether you made a mistake or not, and in an extremely oppressive political environment, how could a normal person possibly be born?
Even the Crown Prince Zhu Biao, whose position as heir apparent was as secure as Mount Tai, could not withstand the pressure and died young.

Li Qi, a person with a system and an incredibly strong mind, couldn't help but laugh out loud when he learned that Zhu Yuanzhang was dead, let alone others.
Now, after three years of governance by the Jianwen Emperor and eight years by the Yongle Emperor, political trust had finally been restored between the emperor and his officials, and between the court and local authorities. Everyone believed that things had returned to normal, and then he suddenly started a massacre in Jiangnan...

A gentleman can be deceived by his principles!
This sentence suddenly flashed through Li Xianmu's mind. Because he cared about the whole world and the oldest political tradition of the Ming Dynasty, he restrained himself from using those bloody methods that would overturn the chessboard.

If he has no backup plan, is this considered being trapped in the hands of insects?
Looking at this scene, Li Qi suddenly thought of a classic line from the movie "Let the Bullets Fly": "Do good people deserve to have guns pointed at them?"

Then he laughed out loud, "But who said that I, Li, am a good person?"
Towards kind and benevolent people, he is like a god, naturally a good person; but towards wolves and tigers, armed with a hunting rifle, he is like a demon, a devil, and truly a first-rate villain.

Faced with the overwhelming wave of people backing down, Li Xianmu calmly asked, "I am not a merchant, so I will not buy grain; I am not borrowing grain, nor am I a robber, so naturally I will not steal grain, much less impose exorbitant taxes and levies that would plunge the already starving people into dire straits."

I will only take the grain that is rightfully mine!
You all say that if we need more grain, we can only impose additional miscellaneous levies because the grain harvest is already complete, and the grain transported to the capital is this year's grain from Jiangnan. Is that correct?

Everyone felt a chill run down their spines. Li Xianmu's voice was calm, but they felt a shiver run through them, as if a venomous snake was staring at their necks, sending a cold shiver down their spines.

"Yes."

Li Xianmu's question was rather perplexing. Everyone knew that the grain tax for the year had already been collected; otherwise, where would those boatloads of grain have come from?

It couldn't have just fallen from the sky out of thin air!

Li Xianmu looked around at everyone and asked sternly, word by word, "Is it really all collected? Has the grain demanded by the court been fully delivered?"

"when……"

He had just uttered one word when the rest seemed to suddenly get stuck, and he couldn't say any more. A trace of horror slowly surfaced on his face.

Almost everyone was petrified, speechless, staring blankly at Li Xianmu.

No one expected that Li Xianmu, the governor of Jiangnan, would ask such an unanswerable question!

A full grain tax?
Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty in the first year of the Hongwu reign, there has never been a year in which taxes were paid at 100%!

If local officials can collect 80% of the taxes each year, they are already considered excellent; 60% is considered acceptable; and 100% is something only a god could collect.

The governor couldn't possibly be unaware of this fact, yet he deliberately asked it this way!
What he's after is obvious to everyone!

"Poor people have no ability to evade taxes. Even those corrupt clerks in the government who deserve to die are considered good people if they don't kick the grain collection scale a few times. So where did the missing grain tax go?"

Li Xianmu said sternly, "Isn't it those powerful aristocratic families who hid the grain taxes that should have been handed over to the court?"

(End of this chapter)