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Chapter 442 Ancestor's law will be fatal!

Seeing that Lu He, Chen Fang and other officials even called Taizu, and even said that Ming Dynasty was about to die, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but become gloomy.

You must know that Zhu Houzhao was thinking about how to use Kaihai's interests to make up for these officials and gentry as much as possible, but he didn't expect that none of these people were willing to sacrifice their own interests for Daming.

Thinking about the number of acres of land owned by these officials and gentry, which far exceeded the number of acres of tax-free land set by the Emperor Taizu back then, and these officials enjoyed tax-free preferential treatment for granted, but they never thought about it. But in fact, they have been lying on Da Ming's body to suck blood.

What is the current situation of the ownership of the fields in Da Ming? If Zhu Houzhao hadn’t read some of the data collected by Li Huan through Jin Yiwei’s investigation, to be honest, Zhu Houzhao really didn’t expect that Da Ming’s situation was really in danger.

Although what Li Huan presented to him was only the land of Gyeonggi investigated by Jin Yiwei, and the ownership of the land in some surrounding states may not be representative of the whole world, but it can be seen from it.

Among the data presented to him by Li Huan, Zhu Houzhao could clearly see that in these state capitals, almost half of the land acres belonged to the officials, gentry, and royal clan with tax-free privileges.

These people control about half of the land in the prefecture and county, but enjoy the tax-free privileges granted to them by Ming Dynasty.

Of course, the most important thing is that according to the rules established by the Taizu, the Emperor Taizu really treated the scholars incomparably preferentially.

But anyone who has fame can enjoy some tax-free privileges, but Emperor Taizu is not stupid, there is still a certain limit on the tax-free acres of people with fame.

"Be careful!"

They used Emperor Taizu's ancestral law to attack the emperor and Li Huan, and now Li Huan is also questioning them with Taizu's ancestral law.

Under the turmoil of the crowd, Li Huan was surrounded by hundreds of officials, accused by thousands of people. Among these people, Li Huan was the sinner of Daming. If he didn't cut him into pieces and exterminate the nine clans, then the emperor would be foolish.

Naturally, they knew this better than anyone else, but who would really follow the Taizu's decree when low-level officials collected taxes all the time.

Standing on the side, Li Huan's eyes patrolled the group of people, as sharp as a falcon, as if he wanted to see everyone's reactions in his eyes.

No matter how many acres of land they own, they all enjoy the privilege of tax exemption.

Li Huan actually brought out the Emperor Hongwu's treatment of corrupt officials as the ancestral law, which directly confused all the officials.

A series of gazes subconsciously looked at the emperor. Could it be that the emperor wanted to reproduce the old Taizu emperor's decree?

Watching the Emperor Luan disappear into the distance, some officials finally couldn't bear it and said: "Your Majesty favors Li Huan, so what happened today, Your Majesty is so stupid..."

Zhu Houzhao took a deep breath, glanced at Yang Tinghe, Liu Yu, Wang Yangming and other officials, and slowly said: "The law of the government and gentry that Li Qing said is to be discussed by the cabinet. carry out."

The huge square suddenly fell into silence, no one shouted about the ancestral law, no one dared to curse Li Huan.

If this is stabbed to the emperor, if the emperor catches him out and treats him as a model, wouldn't it be too unworthy to lose his life just because of the convenience of talking for a while?

Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang's ferocity and Li Huan's reputation for killing gods stunned everyone for a while, but when these people came to their senses, they were naturally unwilling to let Li Huan and the emperor do what they wanted.

Not to mention other things, just say that in the 19th year of Hongwu, a total of 364 officials were sent to supervise students. One year later, 6 of these people were killed, and 358 people were convicted of death and exile.

"Yes, if we allow Li Huan, a traitor, to cause chaos in the world, then what face do we have to meet the people of the world, our fellow villagers and elders?"

As the officials came back to their senses, gradually many people subconsciously looked at Yang Tinghe, Liu Yu and other important officials.

Before these officials could open their mouths, Li Huan looked at the crowd with a sneer and said, "The real intention of Emperor Taizu is naturally to give preferential treatment to the scholars of the world. Considering the preferential treatment given to you by the Emperor Taizu, and ignoring the court decrees, is this how you repay the great kindness of the Emperor Taizu?"

However, according to the data presented by Li Huan, it seems that these scholars have ignored the amount of acres of tax-free land stipulated by Emperor Taizu.

As a result, in the Hongwu Dynasty, many officials had to explain the funeral affairs of relatives and relatives every time they went to court, and generally explained a lot of things, which shows the attitude of Emperor Hongwu towards corrupt officials.

A group of people kneeling on the ground listened to the emperor's cold words full of murderous intent, felt Li Huan's slashing eyes, looked at me, I looked at you, but none of them dared to move.

While speaking, Li Huan stared at the group of people coldly and said: "Emperor Taizu did treat the scholars preferentially and gave people with fame and fame the privilege of exempting taxes, but don't forget, everyone enjoys The tax-free privilege is only for a certain number of acres, and if it exceeds, you will still have to pay taxes."

An official stood up and vented his fear and dissatisfaction to Yang Tinghe, Liu Yu and others.

After saying this, Zhu Houzhao said coldly: "My dear family, who is in favor and who is against?"

The crowd around Li Huan who had been scolding at Li Huan were stunned when they saw Li Huan suddenly burst out laughing. They couldn't figure out what happened to Li Huan for a while, could it be that they were scolding him for being crazy? Is it okay?

At the same time, Lu He pointed at Li Huan and scolded angrily: "You dog thief, aren't you afraid that Taizu has a spirit in the sky?"

For a while, the officials were speechless in the face of Li Huan's questioning, because everything Li Huan said was true.

If this situation continues in the long run, as a large number of acres are annexed by these tyrants and gentry, and the court wants to maintain a certain amount of taxation, then the officials at the bottom will inevitably pass on a large amount of taxes to those who own the fields. on civilians.

Seeing the reaction of the crowd, Li Huan said again: "Emperor Taizu also said that anyone who embezzles more than 60 taels of silver will be killed immediately! People who find corrupt officials can directly arrest them and send them to the capital for questioning. Those who commit crimes can be sentenced to death and implicate the nine clans." "

Seeing Chen Fang's red eyes, she pointed at Li Huan and shouted: "Well, you Li Huan, you traitor actually deceived His Majesty, even the former Emperor Taizu gave preferential treatment to the scholars and clans in the world, and granted the power of tax exemption. It is to share the world with the world's gentry, so as to ensure the eternal existence of our Great Ming Dynasty. You actually want to violate the ancestral precepts of the Taizu and collect taxes on the world's gentry and clan. Do you want to destroy the foundation of my Ming Dynasty? "

Accompanied by Qiu Ju's sharp voice echoing on the large square in front of Qianqing Palace, all the officials knelt down on the ground, respectfully sending the emperor's luanjia away.

Although it is said that the Hongwu Dynasty has passed for nearly a hundred years, even if the officials present were reading history books, they couldn't help but feel palpitations when they saw these.

It can be said that after knowing these things, Zhu Houzhao agreed with Li Huan's proposal that officials and gentry pay food as a whole.

Even including the royal clan, Zhu Houzhao had made up his mind, and he must enforce it, even if it caused opposition from the clans all over the world.

If we follow the law of the ancestors, then there may be one of the civil and military men of the Manchu Dynasty present, and none of them can escape the end of peeling and Lingchi.

However, a few people quickly reacted. Seeing that Li Huan charged them with cursing the emperor, the group of people who had gritted their teeth at Li Huan, who had proposed the policy of paying officials and gentry together, seemed to have found someone to vent their anger on. generally.

However, when their eyes fell on the emperor, they saw that the emperor's face was gloomy, and there was even a murderous intent in his eyes. At that moment, many officials were so frightened that they shivered and lowered their heads instinctively. Look up to see the emperor.

And the official also reacted, and subconsciously looked at the people around him, looking scared.

After more than a dozen breaths, none of the officials objected, Zhu Houzhao stood up suddenly, waved his long sleeves and said decisively: "Okay, since no one from the Qing family objects, then this matter is settled like this."

It's just that Li Huan laughed and pointed at the crowd and said with disdain: "You keep talking about the ancestor's precepts of the Taizu Emperor, so now Li will tell you what the Taizu Emperor's ancestral precepts are."

No one can guarantee that the Son of Heaven will really treat them according to the way the Emperor Taizu treated corrupt officials. Maybe the Son of Heaven will not take down all of them, but we must choose some of them who are the most ruthless against the Son of Heaven. If they are used as targets for killing chickens and monkeys, wouldn't they die unjustly.

Everyone's complexion changed drastically when they heard Li Huan's words. These people couldn't understand how Emperor Taizu treated corrupt officials a hundred years ago.

These people keep shouting that Daming is about to perish. Don't they say that the emperor is the king of subjugation?
Just when Zhu Houzhao couldn't suppress the anger in his heart and wanted to get angry, he saw Li Huan shouted in a deep voice: "Bold, are you cursing your majesty as the king of subjugation?"

Facing Li Huan's questioning, no one dared to stand up and say that they had no regrets.

Now that Li Huan mentioned it, some officials reacted naturally.

"Retreat!"

Obviously these people own a lot of land that exceeds the tax-free quota, but they don't pay the imperial court any taxes, so that the imperial court can collect less and less tax.

Many people's expressions changed upon hearing this.

Li Huan's shout was like a thunder that exploded in the ears of Lu He, Chen Fang and the others, and immediately stunned everyone.

But in a hundred years, whenever the Emperor Taizu's attitude towards corrupt officials was mentioned, even if they thought about it, they would be terrified and chilled all over.

It can be said that all the acres under the name of the gentry with fame and reputation, regardless of the number of acres, are all tax-free. As for the so-called quota of fields, they have subconsciously forgotten it.

"This Daming is His Majesty's Daming, and it is also the Daming of the people of the world. We absolutely cannot allow Li Huan, a treacherous official, to deceive His Majesty and harm the world."

An official couldn't help but said to Yang Tinghe and Liu Yu: "My lords, it's all right for you to live in your mother's land. We big guys can bear with it and fulfill your majesty's wishes, but now Li Huan is trying to ignore the ancestors' respect." If you want to implement the law that officials and gentry pay food in one package, if it is really allowed to be implemented, then what is the difference between us officials and gentry and those ordinary people."

"Hahaha!"

All around my ears were the voices of Lu He, Chen Fang and others that the Ming Dynasty was about to die, and Zhu Houzhao's complexion became more and more ugly.

All of a sudden, an official pointed at Li Huan and yelled at him, as if Li Huan had committed public outrage. Even Zhang Lun, Zhu Fu and others couldn't help pinching for Li Huan when they saw this situation. Put in a cold sweat.

"Ge Lao, you must find a way to stop such absurd things from happening!"

Even Zhu Houzhao can imagine what the consequences will be. In the end, it will be nothing more than the government forcing the people to rebel, the world in chaos and even the dynasty changing.

Fortunately, at this moment, all the officials are still immersed in the scene where the emperor and Li Huan used the so-called ancestral law to make them dare not move. Few people noticed the official's complaints, otherwise, it would be true. I can't guarantee that there are no officials who want to use the other party as a way to advance.

When Li Huan and others left, the officials who had been kneeling there stood up one by one as if they had just woken up from a dream.

According to the historical records of Taizu's first dynasty, during the 31 years of Emperor Taizu's reign, there were as many as 10,000+ officials killed by Emperor Taizu because of corruption. So, there are thousands of officials almost every year He lost his life because of corruption.

When even an official reminded the official who was full of anger and dissatisfaction and uttered the emperor's stupid blunt words.

Li Huan, Zhang Lun, and Wang Yangming also left.

Because Zhu Houzhao knows very well that if Daming does not make any changes, it will probably perish in less than a hundred years like all dynasties.

According to the law of the ancestors, embezzling 60 taels is a capital offense, but what they embezzled is 60 taels.

With Li Huan, the God of Death who is in charge of Jinyiwei, by his side, who can guarantee that Li Huan will not be targeted.

Suddenly Li Huan laughed out loud.

Although it is said that the salary given to officials by the Ming Dynasty was too low, it can also be seen from another aspect how strict the laws and regulations stipulated by Taizu are.

When they thought that the government and the gentry should pay the grain in one go, and that the tens of thousands of acres under their respective names would have to be paid at once, they felt a pain in the flesh.

They have always been the ones who took advantage of Da Ming, and now one day they suddenly want to let them bleed and repay Da Ming, how can this be accepted by them!
Surrounded by a group of officials in the middle, Yang Tinghe sighed slowly, and said to the group of officials: "Don't worry, everyone, I will persuade Your Majesty, and I will never sit back and watch someone mess up my country."

On the side, Liu Yu and other important ministers also made assurances to the officials with solemn expressions.

Yang Tinghe glanced at the crowd and said: "Everyone should leave, His Majesty has given permission, but the court's decree cannot be issued so quickly, we still have a chance to persuade His Majesty."

(End of this chapter)