Xinshun 1730

Chapter 784 Conflict of old and new interests ([-])

When Lin Yunwen was shocked by the words of his colleagues, he was in a cold sweat.

Liu Yu was also here with the Governor of Songjiang Prefecture, where he was questioned by the old forces.

After the banquet, Liu Yu was in a good mood.

The Governor of Songjiang Mansion came to see him again. He originally said that he would go to the surrounding areas for inspection, not only to see the rural situation, but also to see the development of the handicraft industry in Songjiang Mansion. He made an appointment to keep everything simple, and it would be tomorrow.

The governor of Songjiang Mansion was not born in the imperial examination, although he was not familiar with Liu Yu, but because they were both "court officials" who were released from the imperial examination and did not take the imperial examination route, the chat was considered speculative.

Jiangnan is a place with developed economy and prosperous culture.

In the past, Dashun exempted grain from equalizing the land, and finally had to compromise to protect the world. The economy of large manors and landlords in the south of the Yangtze River was not completely destroyed.

There are a lot of disadvantages.

There are some good things, such as Jiangnan's culture, opera, novels, etc., have all developed greatly.Because the big estate owners, big landowners will finance "art".

Compared with the massacres in the south of the Yangtze River in the Qing Dynasty, the maintenance of the small peasant economy as much as possible in the early stage, and a few major cases that weakened the power of the big landlords in the south of the Yangtze River, Jiangnan at this time was based on the rise of the big landlords and the big manor owners. Art, indeed.

Whether it's the extravagant and humanistic aesthetics of the late Ming Dynasty, or the style of novels and poems, as well as the style of organizing associations and discussing politics, Liu Yu appreciates them here.

The governor of the Songjiang Mansion also talked about some old things while Liu Yu was admiring it.

"Before the official came to Songjiang, His Majesty summoned him to teach the official what is different about Songjiang, and told another story from the past."

"It is said that during the reign of Yongle and Xuande in the previous dynasty, the prefect of Songjiang Mansion was called Zhao Yu."

"At that time, the people of Songjiang Mansion didn't go to the clan to solve any problems, and they seldom solved them in private. Instead, they had to sue the officials for everything to be resolved by the law."

"After Zhao Yu came, he had to change the customs. If the case was not serious, he would push it to the complainant and just say 'come tomorrow'."

"After a long time, there was a ballad in this Songjiang Mansion, saying that 'the prefect of Songjiang will come tomorrow, and it will be in vain if he comes'."

"A few years later, when Zhao Yu left, the atmosphere of the Songjiang Mansion was really changed by this peaceful means. Under the changed customs, ordinary cases would not come to the government, and they would either be settled by the clan or privately."

"Later generations passed it down as a good talk, and thought it was the way of Confucianism."

Speaking of this, the Governor of Songjiang Prefecture cupped his hands and said: "However, before the official came, His Majesty deliberately told this story. But he said: This time, that time."

"Now this Songjiang Mansion is the place where the imperial court's business and commerce thrive, and it is an important place for finance and taxation. There must be no compromises in everything, and rules must be followed. If you can go through the law or go to the lawsuit, you must not let it be settled in private."

"In the past, Zhao Yu changed Songjiang's pro-litigation style for merit; now the lower officials have to change Songjiang's un-litigious customs for career."

"Jinghou likes rules the most. This is the beginning of industry and commerce, and there are more rules. Fortunately, there are many people in Xinxue who can be officials. Otherwise, they don't have to do anything else when they are dismissed every day. They only need to deal with these lawsuits. "

Liu Yu said with a smile: "Since Your Majesty chose you to be the Governor of Songjiang Mansion, it is because of your talent. You and I are both from Wude Palace, and the courtiers are released. This Songjiang Mansion is now a place of wealth and taxation. I am in charge. Your majesty is wise, this place is not the same as before. In the past, there were many small farmers, all of whom were neighbors and villagers. It is still possible to settle the matter of litigation. Now this is an important place for industry and commerce.

Just as he was about to discuss the development of industry and commerce with Governor He of Songjiang, someone came to report: "Jinghou, Mr. Governor, there are more than ten squires asking to see him outside. They only said that they had something to tell Jinghou, and they all had fame and fame." of."

Liu Yu turned sideways and looked at Governor Songjiang with a slightly puzzled look, thinking that you are looking for something for me, right?
Suspicious eyes flashed past, and then he said in a teasing tone: "Could it be that these people have some grievances, but there is no way to redress their grievances. Knowing that this official is here, they want to go straight to the Duke?"

Song Jiang Fu Yin wryly smiled and said: "Marquis Jing is joking. They are all famous, so how can there be any grievances? I have been here a few times before..."

After all, he signaled the door to go out first, and when there were no other people in the room, he said: "I really didn't expect that they would come to disturb Jinghou at this time. In fact, this matter is not big or small. The main thing is In the past few years, Songjiang Mansion has developed industry and commerce, and a large number of refugees have come here to work. The imperial court has exempted grain and rice tariffs, and even encouraged grain shipments from overseas."

"In this way, this matter has a point."

"If you judge the heart of a gentleman with the heart of a villain, the land rent in Songjiang Mansion is mostly based on the amount of rice. Those who are famous and famous have more land in their families. The price of food has dropped, and their income has dropped naturally, and they are naturally dissatisfied."

"If you talk about the affairs of a gentleman with a gentleman's heart, it is still 'the rice is cheap and hurts the peasants'. If you talk about it on a bigger scale, there is still a dispute between the cause and the end."

"The industry and commerce of Songjiang Mansion are also flourishing day by day. Now we only look at Songjiang Mansion. The industrial and commercial tax, customs tax, stamp duty, etc., far exceed the local silver."

"Just looking at industry and commerce, the lower the price of grain and rice, the better."

"But after all, there are still many small farmers here. If it's just these people, it's okay to say. But it's difficult for them to take the public opinion of small farmers."

"Last year, Siamese rice came in again, and it coincided with a bumper harvest, and the price of rice was extremely low. And the people paid taxes, removed the rice, and used silver. Merchants lowered the price when they collected rice... These people incited in the countryside, and suddenly The crowd is excited."

"Your Majesty sent me to Songjiang, of course, not to collect Songjiang's little land. I'll take care of whichever is more important. However, this matter cannot be resolved by the lower officials, so it can only be delayed."

"It's reasonable, but the lower officials can't explain it. You can't say that rice cheap hurts farmers, right? And you can't say that small farmers should go bankrupt?"

"However, the lower officials really didn't think this matter was troublesome, and they just wanted to push it to the Marquis of Jing to solve it. It's just that these squires must ask for an explanation when they know that Marquis Jing is coming, so that the heaven can listen."

Hearing this, Liu Yu smiled wryly and said, "I can't solve it either. But people have come to the door, can you still see me? It's just that you didn't think of any solution?"

The Governor of Songjiang said: "It's not that I don't want to find a way. I also thought about converting land silver into rice and not collecting money for rice. Abolish currency tax and re-tax in kind. But if rice is collected but silver is not collected, this is not the case. It is a long-term solution. Even if there is no exploitation by merchants during the harvest time, small farmers still have to sell rice to make a living.”

"The price of rice hurts farmers, and the price of rice hurts workers."

Speaking of this, the Governor of Songjiang sighed, arched his hands and said: "Now I know the meaning of His Majesty's words before the official took office. At this moment, it is not that moment. At that moment, Zhao Yushi's Songjiang It is completely different from the Songjiang Mansion under the rule of the lower officials at this moment."

"Is there a law of both ends in the world? Not responsible for industry and commerce and not responsible for agriculture?"

"Just looking at Songjiang, in terms of taxation, it must be to protect industry and commerce but not agriculture. But this truth cannot be said. It cannot be said that the way of the sages is useful here, but useless elsewhere. Is it universally applicable? They use this as an argument, and they only ask me, isn’t it right that the price of rice hurts farmers? Isn’t it right that most of the people in the world are small farmers?”

"It's really hard for a lower official to deal with."

Liu Yu rubbed his forehead, and said with a sigh: "It's hard for me to deal with it too. Come on, since that's the case, let's see each other. It's not good if we don't see each other."

Songjiang Mansion Yin Chang breathed a sigh of relief, and hurriedly asked someone to invite those squires to come.

Since he has fame and fame, he does not worship officials.Moreover, Liu Yu was not born in the imperial examination, nor was he notorious, so these squires naturally did not worship him.

After seeing the ceremony, I saw that there were a few old men in their 70s and [-]s, wearing square scarves and green shirts. Liu Yu was not arrogant, so he could only tell people to sit down.

I don't know if they are really poor or just pretending to be poor. Some people still have patches on their bodies.

If it's someone else, maybe they will feel sad when they see it.But Liu Yu had also seen the disaster in Wendeng Prefecture, and it was just a patch, not enough to make him cry.

After the politeness, as the governor of Songjiang said, he directly talked about rice cheapness hurting farmers.

"Marquis Jing, Mr. Fu Yin. Now it's time for foreign ships to come to anchor again. Nanyang rice enters the Songjiang River, and the common people have no way to survive."

"The folks say: Nanyang rice and Dongyang wheat are as piled up as mountains and as cheap as dung. Farmers suffer, and merchants laugh. This year, they receive three to five buckets more, and the debt increases by another six or seven yuan. In a good year, we only hope that the famine will come, and the price of rice will jump. Good to pay back..."

"Farmers are the foundation of the country. Cheap grain hurts farmers. This is the only reason in the world. Even if the marquis of Jing seldom reads the books of sages and sages, don't they know this truth?"

"The ancients said: Carving and engraving will hurt the farmers; Jinxiu compilation will hurt the female workers. The waste of farming and the injury of female workers are the root of hunger and the root of cold."

"Nowadays, the Songjiang Mansion discards the basics and chases the last, and does a lot of carving and engraving, which are sold in the East; Jinxiu compilation group, the goods are sold in the West."

"If this wind gets stronger day by day, there will be great hunger in the world and coldness for the people."

"I waited to come here today, not for ourselves, but for the hundreds of thousands of people in Songjiang Mansion, and for the tens of millions of people in the world."

"In Songjiang, everyone seeks profit. If this trend spreads across the country, is it true that in the future, all men will go to work and women will go to spin and embroider? In the end, gold and silver have been piled up. What's the use?"

Liu Yu wanted to ask directly, how much land does your family have.

But after thinking about it, I felt that it was really ruthless to ask.In any case, it is true that the development of industry and commerce in Songjiang Prefecture has greatly damaged the interests of the small peasant class.

This is not to say that the interests of the small peasant class were damaged due to the development of industry and commerce, but because of the rise of overseas trade, the advancement of navigation in Dashun, and the supporting tax-free system for grain imports to ensure the development of industry and commerce in Songjiang Prefecture.

For industry and commerce, the cheaper the food price, the better.Even if Dashun's labor costs are low, if you want to maintain handicraft production, you must ensure that those who do the work will not starve to death, so that you can continue to work.

Of course, after the reform of the tax system, the tax in kind was replaced by the monetary tax on silver, which made the merchant class often lower the price of rice when it was harvested.

On the positive side, this is the inevitable trend of the development of the commodity economy.

On the other hand, it is easier for farmers to go bankrupt than before.

This is not a farmer of later generations, it is too cheap to sell.

At this time, small farmers have to pay taxes, rent, and debts. As soon as new rice comes in, they have to sell it for money.

However, the origin is still caused by land mergers and high land rents.However, this root cause cannot be cured at all, it is tantamount to nonsense, so there is no need to think about it.

Seeing that what the other person said was so reasonable, Liu Yurao was a little quick-witted, and there was no way to refute it directly at this time.

"This official has also known about this matter. You are all people who read the books of sages and sages, and you have the most benevolent and compassionate hearts. It is really beyond the reach of those merchants who only know profit but do not know righteousness."

"I have some ideas about this matter. Let me tell you, what do you think?"

"First of all, it is to check the acres of land and implement the law of permanent tenancy. The land rent in the field will be reduced, and 35% of the harvest per mu of land will be the maximum rent limit. This is a temporary solution."

"The land equalization policy adopted by the Great Confucianists of the Northern School will be followed for a period of 30 years. After 30 years, all the land will be owned by the tenants. This is the root cause."

"The common people are suffering, so we can only suffer from you gentry who read sage books. How can the road of benevolence and righteousness be compared with mere land rent?"

"In my opinion, it happened to be tried in Songjiang Prefecture. You can also ask the people's opinions first, whether they are willing to endure the lower price of imported rice, but the land rent is reduced, and it will be owned by themselves for 30 years? Just type it in?"

"Choose one of the two, the public opinion cannot be violated."

(End of this chapter)