Ming Dynasty man

Chapter 342 Top Secret

After a while, Yang Liufeng suddenly smiled and said: "If the commander-in-chief loves us, he will reward us more. I don't want any money. Someone proposed a marriage for me the day before yesterday. The girl is good. I beg the commander-in-chief to show mercy and accept this marriage." !"

Li Jingwen was startled when he heard this, and then he came to his senses, pointed at Yangliu and said in an airy way: "Get out! It's only three things, I've already favored you twice, and you still come? After such a toss, don't you want your life anymore? "

"Hehe, be careful, I said that the commander-in-chief would not agree to this matter, and you just don't believe it if you let your heart die." Shen Zheng continued with a smile.

Seeing that Yang Liufeng wanted to say more, Li Jing waved his hand to stop him and said, "Be careful, you have to take care of your health, I rely on you a lot, don't let me break your body."

"Yes! Thank you Commander for your concern, Shen Xing understands that the Commander is doing this for my own good." Yang Liufeng said hurriedly.

Li Jingjing nodded, sighed and said, "You just need to understand! You are all sensible, but there are always some people in this world who don't understand!"

After speaking, Li Jing turned his head to look at Qian Qianyi and said, "Mr. Qian, you just asked me if I want to implement a new tax system across the country. I want to ask you, do you know how much the tax revenue of Ming Dynasty is?"

Qian Qianyi hesitated for a moment and said, "Well... I am from the mountains, how do I know how much the tax revenue of the household department is?"

Li Jing smiled, and said in his heart: This Qian Qianyi's mind is all on this.

Shaking his head, Li Jing smiled and said, "Mr. Qian, the tax revenue of the Daming Household Department is not a secret. It's not surprising that you know it. If you don't, I'm a little surprised. Doesn't Mr. Qian care about state affairs?"

Qian Qianyi was taken aback, this hat was not small, once it was put on his head, those who opposed him would only have to say that this person doesn't even care about state affairs, so why would he talk about becoming an official?Then you will never have a bright future.

Thinking of this, Qian Qianyi hurriedly said: "I know, I know, the tax revenue of the household department is more than 300 million taels of silver every year."

Li Jingjing nodded: "That's right, it's more than 300 million taels, but sometimes you don't even receive 300 million taels. Your Majesty, Mr. Shen, am I right?"

Shen Zheng heard the words and said hastily: "Since the Xiaguan took over the household department, I have checked the income of the treasury in recent years, and found that the minimum annual tax revenue is only 250 million taels, and sometimes it did not reach 400 million taels."

Zhu Youjian followed with a sigh and said, "If it wasn't for Li Aiqing subsidizing me with more than 100 million taels of silver every year, I'm afraid I wouldn't even be able to live in the palace."

(The tax income here refers to salt tax, commercial tax and tea tax, etc., excluding land tax, which is basically food that ordinary people pay.)
Qian Qianyi was shocked when he heard the words. He had heard that Li Jing promised to give the emperor 100 million taels of silver every year, but he thought it was just a joke. Who can come up with 100 million taels of silver a year?Unexpectedly, Li Jing actually gave the emperor 100 million taels of silver every year.

Qian Qianyi's family was very wealthy, and he was used to seeing wealthy businessmen in Jiangnan, but when he heard the figure of 100 million taels of silver, he still couldn't help but feel terrified.

Li Jing ignored Qian Qianyi's suspicious gaze, shook his head, and sighed, "Dignified, the annual tax revenue is less than 400 million taels. It's a joke to spread the word. Mr. Shen, the tax revenue will be a big deal in the future." It is the top secret of the state, and the relevant personnel of the household department must strictly keep it secret and must not spread it."

"Yes!" Shen Zheng hurriedly said.

Seeing that everyone looked puzzled, Li Jing shook his head and said, "You don't understand why the tax revenue of the Ministry of Household Affairs has become a secret, right? Because the tax revenue can best reflect the national strength of a country, and divulging the tax revenue is tantamount to telling the enemy about our country's information. situation.

Our Daming has a large population and a vast territory. If the annual tax revenue is 4000 million taels, which country would dare to compete with Daming?Let alone the mere Eastern Captives, I am afraid that we will attack them all the time.

But when they learned that our tax revenue was less than 400 million taels, which meant that we couldn't even afford to support our soldiers, who would we beat if we didn't beat them? "

Everyone nodded when they heard the words.

Li Jing continued: "Taxes are so important, don't our Ming officials know? I think they should know, including you students and those gentry, everyone knows!
But why doesn't everyone pay attention to it?Why does everyone start pushing back and forth when it comes time to collect taxes?Because taxation involves their own interests, for their own self-interest, they begin to disregard the interests of the country.

You may not understand why I want to implement a new tax system, because if I don’t implement a new tax system, not only will the country not be able to support soldiers, it may even be unable to support officials.

During the Wanli period, Wen Zhonggong (Zhang Juzheng) cleared the country’s arable land area, which was more than 3000 million mu. According to the current tax rate, at least 700 million shi should be collected for grain a year (the grain tax of the Ming Dynasty was twice a year. ), but how much food was collected across the country in the seventh year of Chongzhen?Only about [-] million stone.

Yes, there are severe droughts in Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan and other places, and there are bandits making rebellions, but can the production be reduced to such a level?

So where did the food go?
Let me tell you, in the hands of our princes, nobles, officials and gentry, and those landlords!

They not only have food in their hands, but also a large amount of land that does not need to pay taxes. Daming's taxes are all supported by the poor people who account for the largest proportion of the population but the smallest land area. If you don't have enough to eat, you will starve to death if there is a natural disaster.

Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Henan are full of bandits and rebellions. Do you think that the common people are getting impatient, and they are going to commit rebellion and beheading because they can't live a good life?
They can't survive, and they will starve to death if they don't rebel, so why don't they rebel and fight?I can also tell you that if the problem of ordinary people's lack of food is not solved, even if the gods come, they will not be able to stop the bandits and riots!

So how to solve the problem of ordinary people eating?

I think there are only two ways. First, the common people should be given enough land to support their families. Second, all people have to pay taxes, and the taxes should not be all on the common people.Only in this way can the country have enough food. At this time, even if there is a natural disaster, the country can provide food relief, so that the people will not be desperate and take risks. "

"But the gentry should not be on official errands. It is an ancestral system not to pay grain. It has been implemented for thousands of years. It is only natural for these people not to pay grain and tax." Qian Qianyi said hastily.

"Ancestral system? Justified?" Li Jing repeated with a sneer.

After glancing at the students coldly, Li Jing sneered and said, "You think so too, don't you? Mr. Qian, let me ask you, when did the ancestral system you mentioned start?"

"This... I'm afraid it's groundless." Qian Qianyi said hesitantly.

Li Jing sneered and said: "No grounds to test? Tai Shigong wrote history (Historical Records), from the beginning of the Five Emperors to the Yin and Shang Dynasties, the word gentry was never mentioned. That is to say, at least before the Zhou Dynasty, there were no gentry. In fact The fact that the gentry did not pay food, errands or even taxes began in the Han Dynasty, and the real custom was formed after the implementation of the imperial examination system in the Sui Dynasty, and it was finally finalized in the Tang and Song dynasties. Am I right?"

Qian Qianyi never thought that Li Jing had read "Historical Records", but he thought of Li Jinglian's "Lie Zi".Tang Wen, "Xunzi", and "Mencius" have all been read, and it is not surprising to read "Historical Records".And looking at Li Jing's posture, not only has he read "Historical Records", he may have even read the history of the two Tang and Song Dynasties.

After being silent for a while, Qian Qianyi finally nodded: "It's probably not bad."

Li Jing smiled and said: "Then where did the ancestral system you mentioned come from? If you want to say that your ancestors are not the Three Emperors and Five Emperors, then I will admit it."

This Qian Qianyi absolutely dare not admit it. If he says that he is not a descendant of the Three Emperors and Five Emperors, it is tantamount to saying that his ancestors are not Chinese, and they are not Chinese. What kind of ancestral system is he talking about here?
In fact, Li Jing has not yet said that Pangu created the world. If it is said that Pangu created the world, there were no people at that time, let alone gentry. people.

But just like that, Qian Qianyi couldn't answer anymore.

Seeing that Qian Qianyi was speechless, Li Jing said with a smile: "If you don't answer, you are admitting that the Three Emperors and Five Emperors are our ancestors. Then can I think that you admit that the gentry's non-payment of food and taxes is not the ancestral system?"

Qian Qianyi pondered for a while and said: "Governor, I don't think the ancestral system can be viewed in this way. After all, from the Three Emperors and Five Emperors to the Yin and Shang Dynasties, our country's system was not perfect. It was not until after the Zhou Dynasty that the country began to gradually form a complete system. , and at this time the gentry class had already begun to appear. By the time the first emperor unified the six kingdoms, the gentry system had begun to gradually improve. Let's talk about it?"

Li Jing pondered for a while, then smiled and said, "What you said makes sense. According to your words, let's start with a perfect system. Let's start with the Sui Dynasty. Let's start with the Sui Dynasty." Let’s start with the creation of the imperial examination system, is that okay?”

Qian Qianyi pondered for a long time when he heard the words. At this time, he already knew that Li Jing's knowledge was very profound, and he was not at all the rough man he imagined. .

Qian Qianyi knew that if he got into the trap accidentally this time, he might not be able to get out.

After pondering for a long time, Qian Qianyi finally said: "Great Governor, we are all courtiers of the Ming Dynasty. If the previous dynasty is too far away, let's start with the Taizu of this dynasty?"

Hearing this, Li Jing suddenly laughed. After laughing for a while, Li Jing nodded and said, "Okay! Then let's start from the time of the Taizu of this dynasty."

Seeing Li Jing smiling happily, Qian Qianyi instinctively felt that he had fallen into Li Jingxia's trap, but no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't think of how Li Jing would refute him.

But Li Jing drove Qian Qianyi into the abyss with just one sentence.

Li Jing said: "The Taizu of this dynasty took the country from the Mongolian Tartars of the Yuan Dynasty, right? I remember that in the Yuan Dynasty, we Han people were all inferior people. To put it bluntly, we were slaves. How could there be any gentry?"

　Where is the monthly pass?Where is the reward?

　　
　
(End of this chapter)