Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

"When I was living among the common people, I knew a little about grain prices and yields per mu."

Lu Chen asked,

"This three cents is probably less than one-twentieth of the annual output of a medium-sized acre of land."

The royal estates were exempt from national taxes, so the rent should have been easily affordable for them. Why then are these tenant farmers still living in poverty?

"Your Highness may not know this, but according to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, the land tax for each mu of farmland owned by farmers is only three sheng and three he. Based on the grain price in Huguang, this is equivalent to about one and a half fen of silver, which is only half of the rent for the royal estates."

Seeing that the prince seemed somewhat interested, Yang Bingzhong quickly replied,

"But these farmers also have a very difficult life, because when local officials collect taxes, they don't just collect this much."

They also levied additional taxes such as fire loss, transportation fee, and customary fees, which was standard practice. Sometimes there would be various other apportionments, plus the poll tax and the substitute service fee. In total, a farmer with ten acres of land would actually have to pay one and a half to two taels of silver per year.

Whether it was the 1.5 qian of national tax paid on one's own land or the 3 qian of rent paid for cultivating land belonging to the royal family, these only constituted a small portion of the total tax.

These woodworms!

Upon hearing Yang Bingzhong's words, Lu Chen almost couldn't help but curse out loud.

The agricultural tax set by the Ming Dynasty was actually very low, and even if one rented government land, the rent was not much higher.

However, local officials devised various pretexts to increase the tax by several times.

As a result, the national treasury did not receive much silver, but the burden on farmers was by no means low.

The Ming Dynasty relied heavily on agricultural taxes, which accounted for about three-quarters of its fiscal revenue.

Other revenue streams accounted for too small a proportion, so by the end of the Ming Dynasty, the only option was to levy additional taxes on agricultural taxes.

But farmers are already under immense pressure, and further taxation would cause problems.

These officials did indeed accept a lot of money they shouldn't have, but the Ming Dynasty couldn't even fight corruption. The Hongwu Emperor killed so many corrupt officials, and even cruel tortures like skinning and stuffing with straw could only deter them temporarily.

Because the salaries of Ming Dynasty officials were too low, various additional taxes were actually a disguised form of compensation. The Ming Dynasty had been established for more than 170 years, and a system for distributing gray income had long been formed from top to bottom.

There are far too many stakeholders involved behind this. Even if he were just a vassal king, he wouldn't dare to touch him, let alone the emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

If you really get involved, you might inexplicably fall into the water one day.

Forget it, since that's the case, let's just avoid it altogether!

When Lu Chen first heard that the 3,500 hectares of farmland he had been granted would be managed by the local government and that the government would collect the land rent on his behalf, he even considered asking Yang Bingzhong to draft a memorial for him to transfer the management rights of these farmlands to the Prince of Ying's residence.

Given Emperor Jiajing's attitude towards him, Lu Chen estimated that the application would most likely be approved.

But at this point, Lu Chen had already given up on the idea.

Taking back the management rights of the Wangfuzhuang lands would threaten the interests of many people.

I'm a transmigrator from another dimension hundreds of years in the future, why should I fight to the death with these vested interests!

Lu Chen felt that not only should they not go against these vested interests, but they could also cooperate with them!

The magnificent Age of Exploration has begun. The right way is to explore new avenues and make the pie bigger and stronger!

Things are different now. He is now the Prince of Ying, and he has considerable power not only in his fiefdom of Yunyang Prefecture, but also in Chengtian Prefecture.

As the emperor's only younger brother, as long as he doesn't openly rebel, no one will dare to touch his property!

So what if they're involved in maritime trade? The Xie family of Yuyao openly participated as well, and even served as a mainland distributor for Shuangyu Maritime Trade Group for nearly ten years!

After the Xie family fell out with the Shuangyu Maritime Group due to overdue payments and threats to report them to the authorities, and their manor was looted, were they dealt with by the imperial court?

not at all!

In the subsequent anti-Japanese war that swept across the coastal provinces of the Ming Dynasty, the Xie family transformed into anti-Japanese heroes.

As a prince, leaving his fiefdom without permission is a serious crime. Although he has the privilege of traveling between Yunyang Prefecture and Chengtian Prefecture, it is limited to this area.

Going to Ningbo again, or even going out to sea in person, is no longer possible.

Lu Chen glanced at Yang Bingzhong and the other eunuchs standing to his left and right.

They were all hastily assigned by the Directorate of Palace Attendants. Although they were all trying their best to flatter their new master, Lu Chen knew very well that the eunuchs and officials of the princes' mansions in the Ming Dynasty usually had another task.

That is to monitor the behavior of the vassal kings, and if there are any violations, they must be reported.

If you conceal the truth and are reported by others, you will be severely punished.

We can let them do ordinary things, but we can't let them handle matters involving maritime trade.

These things can only be done by trustworthy people.

Who else is under my command?

The investiture was too hasty, and the officials and staff of the Prince's Palace were not even given time to be assigned.

Lu Chen had already inquired and learned that the court would provide three sets of staff for a newly enfeoffed prince like himself.

The civil service system of the Prince's Mansion would consist of more than twenty civil officials, headed by the Left Chief Secretary, who was a fifth-rank official, and the Right Chief Secretary as his deputy.

The palace attendant system consisted of about twenty eunuchs and about twenty palace maids, headed by a sixth-rank official and assisted by a sixth-rank official.

The military officer system consisted of 600 infantrymen from the Imperial Guard and 100 cavalrymen from the Herdsmen's Office. These men were the security force and ceremonial guard of the prince's residence, headed by the fifth-rank Imperial Guard Commander.

At present, Emperor Jiajing only allowed the Directorate of Palace Attendants to allocate a dozen or so eunuchs and a dozen or so palace maids to him. Moreover, all those with duties were deputy positions. The officials to be appointed would have to wait until he returned to the capital. The Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs would select people in the palace, submit them to the emperor for approval, and then send them over.

There were no civil or military officials available; the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War would select people after the emperor returned to the capital.

During this period, the people responsible for protecting His Highness Prince Ying were actually several hundred men transferred from Xianling Guard.

Xianling Guard was a "mausoleum guard". Although it was also called a "guard", it was much smaller than ordinary guard posts, with only more than 1,700 people. It was stationed in the suburbs of Chengtian Prefecture and was responsible for guarding Xianling Mausoleum.

As the person in charge of the expansion project of Xianling, this army was also under Lu Chen's command.

There are still many vacancies in the Prince of Ying's mansion that have not been filled, so there is an opportunity to manipulate the system and place one's own people in them.

Forget about the civil service system; I can't get involved at all.

There are over 700 positions in the military officer system; they could easily transfer their old subordinates from Linqing!

Gao Mingqian had already placed a heavy bet on himself. This time, when he took Qin Fang and others to Shuangyu Port and Yuyao, the first batch of crystal glassware sold for 40,000 taels of silver.

He had previously promised that half of the profits would be distributed to the entire Linqing Jinyiwei Thousand-Household Office.

According to the agreement he reached with Xu Dong and the Xie family, he would receive an additional income of over 100,000 taels of silver each year, all of which would be shared with them!

The men of the Linqing Imperial Guard's Thousand-Household Office had boarded their own pirate ship; the bond was already very strong.

Now that he is a prince, they have even less reason to betray him.

"Yang Ban, draft a memorial for me, requesting the transfer of five squad leaders from the Linqing Jinyiwei Thousand-Household Garrison..."

Lu Chen paused for a moment, then changed his words.

"No, the four flag bearers, along with their officers, totaling forty-four people, were assigned to the Imperial Guard of the Prince of Ying's Palace."

In addition, select a skilled eunuch on horseback and send him by express courier to Linqing. Find a minor officer named Qin Fang at the Jinyiwei Customs Office.

"Have him and Gao Ruopu come to Chengtian Prefecture to see me as quickly as possible!"