Haisheng Mingdi

Chapter 605 Zhang Qiu
The emperor did not stay too long in Zichuan, so he led his army to Zhangqiu.

Although the ministers believed that Zichuan was already close to Jinan, they could stay here and command from a distance.But Zhu Yihai is not someone who is willing to hide behind and listen to the news. If this is the case, he might as well stay in Dengzhou.

"Zhangqiu had a Ming Dynasty, and there were 140 eight candidates and 36 Jinshi. It is a hometown of humanities. Last year, the Tartars took the Beijing Examination, and Zhangqiu also produced four Jinshi on the same list."

Zhu Yihai boarded Changbai Mountain and looked down at Zhangqiu City. After hearing that there were four Tartar Jinshi last year, he couldn't help sighing, "I thought Zhangqiu's blacksmith was famous all over the world, and he was good at making iron pots, but I didn't expect Zhangqiu to be a blacksmith." There are also many readers."

"The Zhangqiu blacksmith is indeed famous all over the world. It is said that in the Tang Dynasty, Zhangqiu in Shandong was called the number one iron maker in the world. In the second year of Chang'an in Tang Dynasty, Zhangqiu also became a champion of martial arts."

The year before last there were nine Jurens, and last year four Jinshis were selected. This county did perform well in the imperial examinations, but they all took the imperial examinations for Tartars.

Looking at the military camps at the foot of the mountain, Zhangqiu City is located on the bank of the river at the foot of the mountain.

The blue bricks and small tiles, and the willows are Yiyi, which has a somewhat Jiangnan feeling.

"Your Majesty, Li Jinming and other Zhangqiu gentry are asking to see you."

"But Li Jinming from Suozhuang Village?"

The Li family in Suozhuang Village is very famous, because this thousand-year-old village built in the Tang Dynasty had three generations, seven Juren and five Jinshi in the late Ming Dynasty, which is very remarkable.

Li Jinming was also one of the Zhangqiu Four Scholars who went to Beijing to participate in the examination last year. He has an older brother, Li Jinzheng, who was a Jinshi in the mid-year of Tianqi.

In the Chongzhen Dynasty, he also performed a memorial for his grandmother Xiahou, and was granted permission. In the eighth year of Chongzhen, he built a Jiefengkefeng memorial archway in the village.

Li Jinzheng died in office in Chongzhen 14 years ago. Li Jinming and his younger brother Li Jinyi were promoted in Jinan Tongzhong the year before last.

A large family in a village has seven Juren and five Jinshi from three generations, which is indeed very remarkable, especially the three brothers Li Jinzheng are real brothers.

"Since you're here, let's see you."

The history of Zhangqiu’s city construction goes as far back as the Northern Zhou Dynasty. It was originally named Gaotang, and later changed its name to Zhangqiu, which has continued to this day.

It was only [-] miles away from Fucheng. Zhangqiu originally stationed a lot of green camps, but facing the arrival of the Shence Army, they surrendered without resisting.

The gentry and common people in the city were spared a war.

The gentry elected Li Jinming and others as representatives to come to meet the emperor, hoping to be favored by the court.

They also knew that they had submitted to the Qing court in the past few years, and they knew that they were wronged, so they cut their hair braids, changed back to Hanfu, and raised a large sum of money to pay tribute to the emperor.

Before anyone arrived, the gift list was delivered first.

500 taels of gold and [-] taels of silver.

If this money was put in the reign of Chongzhen, it would definitely be a lot, because no matter how poor Chongzhen was, no one would be willing to borrow money from hundreds of officials, even a bachelor could pay a few hundred taels of silver at most.

For now, not much.

Because for these big gentry families in Zhangqiu, it is not difficult to collect this little money.

Zhangqiu is the hometown of humanities, close to Fucheng, very rich.

Zhangqiu is indeed very famous for its iron smelting. It was called the hometown of blacksmiths in ancient times. During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, there were 48 iron officials throughout the country, and Zhangqiu had Dongping Mausoleum.

Blacksmiths in Zhangqiu began in the Spring and Autumn Period, flourished in the Western Han Dynasty, flourished in the Tang Dynasty, and lasted for a long time in the Song and Ming Dynasties.

This is due to their favorable conditions. Zhangqiu has had more than three since ancient times, there are many blacksmiths, there are many merchants who go out, and there are many medicine shops.Zhangqiu, with a radius of hundreds of miles, is rich in resources such as iron ore, limestone, refractory clay, and coal, providing good conditions for iron smelting.

During the Ming Dynasty, cooks from Shandong dominated the imperial cuisine, and Shandong cuisine became an official dish. Whether it was a palace banquet or an official entertainment, Shandong cuisine played an important role.They are best at making sea cucumbers, abalones, bird's nests, shark's fins, mullet eggs, etc., with real materials and exquisite cooking.

And every Lu cuisine chef has an iron pot from Zhangqiu, Shandong.

Zhangqiu is a thousand-year-old city with rich humanities and famous imperial examinations. There are many candidates and officials, and there are many minerals such as iron ore and coal. Therefore, there are also a large number of mine owners. Their famous blacksmiths and medicinal materials are also made. They are very famous, so those big families in Zhangqiu are really well-off.

It’s not simply occupying a lot of land, but concurrently engaged in mining, iron smelting, medicinal materials, etc. There is even a Zhangqiu Gang in Shandong cuisine, and many restaurants are opened outside. There used to be dozens of Zhangqiu people in Beijing. The restaurant is said to compete with the Fukuyama gang.

Mine bosses and medicine bosses make more money than landlords.

In the early years, there was no mining tax and business tax, as long as the top and bottom management contributed to the contribution, the money was earned in a hurry.

When the imperial court confiscated them, they didn't take away any hair, but when the Tartars came, they paid tribute.

Now that Emperor Shaotian is here, these people have heard about Sun Zhixie's fate, and they are also afraid.

Hurry up and collect 500 taels of gold, and send 1 taels of silver.

"Sinners pay homage to the Holy Emperor!"

Brothers Li Jinming and Li Jinyi took the lead, and a group of Zhangqiu gentry bowed down to worship the emperor. Li Jinming presented Zhangqiu's account books and household registrations to the emperor, and Li Jinyi held a plate of Zhangqiu's soil, which symbolized Zhangqiu's attachment to Daming.

Zhu Yihai took it, flipped through it, and didn't ask them to get up.

The data in the account book sent by Li Jinming is quite detailed. It is registered in the Wanli year register, and there are more than 9000 people in Zhangqiu County, and more than 4000 people in land.

The Tatars used to collect taxes according to the household registration book in the last year of Wanli.

If there is land, one cent and eight cents of silver will be collected per cent, and if there is no land, one cent and two cents will be collected per cent.

The squire exempted more than [-] Ding from the tribute.

The third-class land with the original amount of large grains is nearly 7000 hectares, the first-class land has more than 600 hectares, and the abandoned land is more than [-] hectares. In addition, the reclaimed land has not been reported and registered, and it is sent to the village.

Diding collected more than 3000 taels of silver and more than 2000 shi of rice.

This is the old Huangli calendar in the last years of Wanli, and the Tartars collected taxes according to this. In fact, Zhangqiu in Shandong was plundered several times by the Tartars at the end of the Ming Dynasty. Going south, anyway, many people with registered permanent residence fled, and many fields were deserted.

But the Tartars didn't care about these things, and they confiscated nearly 100 people based on the more than [-] million mu of land.

Of course, this is just a formal tax on the surface, and there are many additional ones, not to mention floating income and fire consumption.The Tartars garrisoned the Eight Banners and ran to enclose land, confiscating Wangzhuang, Guantian and so on.

The population of Zhangqiu is not much different from the more than 6 in Licheng County, the prefecture, and several times higher than that of Zouping County, which has more than 1.

Li Jinming and others obviously knew the situation in Zichuan, so after submitting this brochure, they expressed their willingness to cover all the tax arrears in Zhangqiu County and the deficit of the local government in the past.

These gentry and landlords took it on and made up for it.

Even fields that have not been declared and registered after reclamation in the past, some unowned land, Wangzhuang, Guantian, military farmland, etc. will take the initiative to clean up and report.

This is full of desire to survive.

The Tatars had already made a memorial to Zhangqiu before, and they also gritted their teeth to make up for the settlement. Now they are doing it again, but it is on their own initiative. After all, it is not clear what happened in Zichuan. There are all kinds of rumors, and now that the army is gathering, who knows what will happen.

Take the initiative.

Zhu Yihai took out a brochure and said to Zhangqiu and the others who were kneeling on the ground, "I have a share and a data here. Zhangqiu has a total of 110 million mu of arable land, including more than 25 mu of paddy fields and more than 100 mu of irrigated land. , more than [-] mu of dry land, more than [-] mu of garden land, more than [-] mu of woodland, and more than [-] million mu of grassland..."

"The six townships in Zhangqiu have a lot of arable land, and they are important grain-producing counties."

"In addition, there are many iron mines and coal mines in this county, and there are also many iron smelting and other workshops."

Facing the data presented by the emperor, Li Jinming was shocked. He is a big local family, and of course he is very clear about the actual situation in the county. After all, there are many members of the Li family who are in charge of the sixth house in the county government, so he has the real first-hand data.

The Tatars used the figures of Ding and Tian in the last years of Wanli to collect grain. In fact, there was a big problem and it was not accurate at all.

Specifically, the following people figured out a way to get it done.

But what Emperor Shaotian said now, especially the number of fields, is basically consistent with what he has mastered, accurate to the exact number of various fields.

He was sure that someone definitely took out the real data held by the county government and reported it to Emperor Shaotian.

It is definitely someone with a relatively important position in the county government, at least someone like Dian Shi and Liufang scribe.

Having truly accurate field data means being able to collect taxes accurately.

The number of the emperor includes the land that has not been reported for reclamation over the years, and also includes various Wangzhuang, official land, military settlements, etc. The total number is this.

The emperor also told him that Zhangqiu's land can be converted into more than 92 mu of standard tax mu.

Then according to the current new land tax rate, the total is more than 22 stone grains.

The previous tax amount of the Wanli Dynasty was more than 7 taels of silver and more than 2 shimi. If it is calculated based on the current amount of one liang more than one shiliang, the tax amount of the Wanli Dynasty is about half of the current amount.

Of course, during the Wanli Dynasty, grain was converted into silver, and one stone was sometimes only converted to four or five taels of silver, and 7 taels could be converted to 10,000+ taels of silver, which is about the same.

It can be said that there were additional fire consumption before, but now it is all of them.

"The bad debts of old sesame seed and rotten millet in the past will be written off, and this year's Di Ding Yin will also be exempted."

"Starting next year, taxes will be collected according to Shaotian's new law, and more than 92 stone grains will be collected based on the 22 tax mu."

The collection of Tian Fu Ding Yin will start next year, but the industrial and commercial tax, levy tax, special tax on salt, tea, tobacco and alcohol, mineral tax, deed tax, etc. will be collected from the day when the Ming army regained Zhangqiu.

Li Jinming and others couldn't believe it, but said that the local gentry and landlords were willing to bear the past arrears and shortfalls.

"If you really want to, learn from Zichuan, build a free warehouse in the local area, donate some grain to the free warehouse, relieve famine in disaster years, help orphans and widows in normal times, and the gentry will jointly manage it. The county will send one or two people to help. The accounts are published on time, so that's good."

Zichuan made a start, donating two liters per mu as food for righteous warehouses.

It has been recognized and praised by the emperor, so it has become a standard now.You can donate more if you have money, but donate two liters for at least one mu of land. This is not a tax, but a local charitable act.

The imperial court didn't use this money either, it was only used for local relief of famines and widows, and the county didn't directly manage it, it just sent one or two people to assist in supervision.

In this way, it is equivalent to saving a public disaster relief fund, whether it is taken from the people or used for the people.

Although the gentry in Zhangqiu were willing to take the initiative to settle the previous bad debts, Zhu Yihai still refused. All kinds of levies and extortions, levies come and go, and in the end they still hurt the people.

Even if the gentry is willing to undertake it, there is no need to do this kind of killing of chickens and eggs unless it is absolutely necessary.

If they really want to make up for it, they have to sell the fields, or even sell the mines, etc. This is not conducive to long-term stability, and it is almost enough.

Zhu Yihai finally accepted the gold and silver they donated.

Of course, it was also given in return.

A memorial archway was given to these gentry as a token of recognition.

In addition, their children were given a place in the Guozijian, and even those who participated in the Tazi imperial examinations and obtained the places of Jinshi, such as the Li Jinming brothers, were not held accountable. They were allowed to retain their previous imperial examinations in Daming and continue to take the imperial examinations.

Even Zhangqiu County Yamen, Tuanlian, and Xiangli Baojia will give priority to these gentry.

Zhu Yihai even said brazenly that he would rule the world together with the gentry, and the gentry were stunned for a while. Of course, he was very happy with this result, and even a little bit surprised.

Although there will be no preferential exemption for gentry in the future, officials and gentry will pay food together, land will be collected by mu, and even industrial and commercial tax, tax, mining tax, etc. will be levied in the future. Isn't this pass?
If during the reign of Chongzhen, the Emperor Chongzhen of Beijing dared to do this with them, they would definitely have jumped up, but now, they feel relieved and feel that Emperor Shaotian is very kind.

At least it's much better than the Tartars' staking of land, forcing them to invest, or even extorting money.

This means that without comparison, there is no difference.

Zhu Yihai also deliberately asked these gentry to call the young children of the family. He personally thought about it, and found that the books were well-read and the articles were well-written. quota.

Even if the articles are mediocre, as long as they are tall and strong, regardless of whether they are proficient in riding or shooting, they are specially recruited to study in the Tokyo Non-commissioned Officer Academy.

This is also a way out.

"It's time for dinner, so we all stay and have dinner with me."

It was still the emperor who took him to inspect the imperial camp, and then stayed in a camp to eat together, steamed buns and stewed soup.

Li Jinming ate the meal tremblingly, thanked and left at last, and confessed to his brother Jinyi on the way, "Go back and quickly clear up all the farmlands that have been sent to the farm, the land that has been reclaimed, and the government land that has been invaded. Keep."

"The righteous warehouse has to take the lead in building it quickly. In addition to paying two liters per mu, our family will donate an additional [-] shi of grain."

"Donate so much? Tens of thousands of catties!"

"It's already this time, why don't you want to part with this little grain? As long as this time passes safely, and the future is safe and sound, how many five hundred shi will not be there. Our family has tens of thousands of acres of land, and the rent alone costs tens of thousands of shi grains a year. Don’t lose out on small things.”

"Also, go back and study hard to prepare for the exam. Next year Enke, we brothers will all participate. This is fundamental."

Li Jinyi heard that the imperial examination was going to be taken again, and he couldn't help but have a headache, "We got Jinshi in the Qing court in Beijing, but this is also because there are not many people who took the exam, especially without southern scholars. Now we have to go to Tokyo to take the exam. They are all students from the south, will we pass the exam?"

"The Shaotian Dynasty has two rankings in the north and the south. We are also going to take the exam in the north. What are you afraid of? Since you can pass the exam in Beijing, it is the same in Tokyo. As long as you put your heart into it, I think it's best to tell your family. Let's go directly to Tokyo to prepare for the exam now. ,"

Li Jinyi thought it made sense after hearing this, "Well, now in the past, I could still visit officials in Tokyo, and I could also communicate with southern scholars."

"Take all the young people in the family to study in Tokyo. Those who can enter the Imperial Academy will go to the prison, and those who cannot enter the prison will follow suit. Now Zhangqiu is not peaceful here, and there will be a big battle soon."

"Brother, do you think you can't win?"

"I'm sure I can win the fight, but I don't know how long it will take. Zhangqiu is so close to Jinan, it's too dangerous. Go to Tokyo to study and prepare for the exam with peace of mind."

(End of this chapter)