Chongzhen Daming: Starting from Coal Mountain

Chapter 106
Daming's taxes can be divided into three categories.

一是正税，官田每亩5升3合5勺，民田每亩3升3合5勺。

Even if it is calculated on the basis of one mu of grain and one stone, the tax rate is only 1% for official land and 5.35% for private land. I have to say that this tax rate is really outrageously low.

Because the actual yield per mu in the Ming Dynasty was around 2 shi.

So Zhu Yuanjing is really sympathetic to the common people.

However, regardless of whether it is an official farmland or a private farmland, or a land owned by a gentry or noble family, the regular tax must be paid, and one cent cannot be less.

In addition to the regular tax, the second item is the small tax, that is, the head tax, which is required to be paid by the small, and because of this, some aristocratic families and wealthy clans hide their small mouths in every possible way.

Therefore, the population of the Ming Dynasty is a muddled account.

In addition to the regular tax and the small tax, the third largest item is corvee.

According to regulations, adult males need to set aside a period of time each year to go to water and land docks, post stations, yamen and other institutions to perform forced labor, miscellaneous labor, and even military service.

After Zhang Juzheng implemented a whipping method, in view of the fact that some aristocratic and local clans concealed Dingkou and used it to enrich their private affairs, they distributed the Ding tax and corvee to the fields, and changed the levy to Zhese.

Tax collection is to collect money directly, no more in kind, and Cheng Ding no longer needs to bear various corvees, just pay taxes.

These two taxes are preferentially exempted for officials and gentlemen. How many people can be exempted for officials of different ranks, and how many acres can be exempted for a single person. They are talking about the tax and the apportionment of corvee, not the regular tax.

In addition to these three major taxes, there are three additional rates.

The additional amount of the three rates even exceeds the regular tax itself, but due to tax evasion by officials and gentlemen, coupled with the large number of people fleeing, the three rates can only be apportioned to the few well-off people who have not fled, and even appeared in Henan. The absurd phenomenon that one family bears the three salaries of the whole village eventually leads to the whole village fleeing.

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang did something wrong with good intentions and shot himself in the foot.

Closer to home, the Huguang Xun was reduced or exempted according to the request of the censor Huang Shu to reduce or exempt Huguang's small tax, corvee, and three salaries. This is actually a measure that truly considers the people, because it can directly reduce the burden on the common people.

Because the main audience of the additional levy apportionment is Shengdou Xiaomin.

If Huang Peng asked for a reduction or exemption of regular taxes, he would be reducing the burden on the officials and gentry.

"No!" Gao Hongtu said categorically, "You can't lose even one penny of taxes!"

"My servant also thinks that the full amount must be handed over." Jiang Yueguang stroked his beard and said, "At present, the Holy One is leading the border troops of the twenty-eight towns to guard the border in Xuzhou. The country is in urgent need of money, and Huguang is a big tax province. , how can it be reduced?"

Gao Hongtu added: "Besides, the disaster in Hubei is just Huang Shu's one-sided opinion. I have already sent people to Hubei to investigate. There was indeed a flood in the Yangtze River a month ago, but the disaster is not as serious as Huang Shu said."

This time, Xie Xuelong also stood on the side of Gao Hongtu and Jiang Yueguang, and said: "Huguang has flooded, so why not Nanzhi also flooded? If there is a reduction, it must be reduced by Nanzhi and Huguang."

"Let's draft it according to this opinion, but it's a big matter, and I'm afraid it won't work to be approved by King Yong. It's better to send it to Xuzhou by express courier and hand it over to the emperor for approval." Shi Kefa finally made a compromise opinion.

Gao Hongtu and the four of them did not object.

……

Caowan Town, Huai'an Prefecture, Yiding camp.

Chongzhen filled a bowl of hot soup with a pocket pot, took out a handful of food from the dry food bag and sprinkled it into the hot soup, then grabbed a small piece of hard salt and a small handful of fermented soybeans and threw it into the food for stirring.

After mixing well, grab and eat directly.

Zhu Cihong and Zhu Cijiong also followed suit.

Sun Fanzhi, Fu Shan and the other four scholars looked distressed.

This is basically dried rice soaked in hot water, then sprinkled with salt and fermented soybeans, how can it be eaten?But if you can't eat it anymore, you can only bite the bullet and eat it. After all, this is what the Holy One eats.

A few of them must not be more precious than the Holy Majesty.

While eating, Li Ruolian, commander of Jin Yiwei, returned to the barracks.

"Your Majesty." Li Ruolian reported to Chongzhen, "The situation is basically cleared up. What Fan Zhongjie, the prefect of Huai'an, said is basically true. The price agreed between Lu Zhenfei and the grain merchant is indeed 1 tael and 5 yuan per stone, which is [-]% higher than the market price."

Chongzhen took a mouthful of rice soaked in water, chewed and asked, "Did Lu Zhenfei benefit from it?"

"This minister hasn't been found yet." Li Ruolian shook his head, and then said again, "But one thing is certain, Lu Zhenfei has a close relationship with Yangzhou's largest salt merchant, Kang Wanwan, and he came to Huai'an this time. Among the grain merchants, Kang Wanwan has the largest amount of grain, a full 50 shi!"

"Kang Wanwan?" Chongzhen frowned.

Li Ruolian said: "Kang Wanwan's real name is Kang Shaojing, and his ancestral home is Huaiqing Prefecture, Henan Province. During the Hongwu period, he made his fortune by transporting grain to Yulin Bian Town in China and France. He moved to Yangzhou and has been passed down for six generations."

"That's not what I want to ask." Chongzhen's face instantly collapsed.

"I'm asking you, is there any benefit transfer between Kang Wanwan and Lu Zhenfei?"

"I don't know yet." Li Ruolian hurriedly said, "But the 50 shi grains that Kang Wanwanjie came to Huai'an Mansion were originally sold by Lu Zhenfei to Kang Wanwan, and the discounted price was 9 yuan per shi at that time."

"Is there such a thing?" Zhu Cihong said angrily, "Doesn't this mean that Kang Wanwan made a difference of 6 yuan in exchange for nothing? 50 shi grains are 30 taels of silver! It's a good deal!"

Zhu Cijiong was even more furious: "Father, does this count as collusion between officials and businessmen? Does it count as breaking the law? If so, we sent troops to arrest Kang Wanwan and fined him 50 shi of grain. Rules, right?"

The anger of Zhu Cihong and Zhu Cijiong was stirred up, but Chongzhen remained unmoved.

Chongzhen stared at Li Ruolian coldly, and did not make a sound for a long time, but Li Ruolian's complexion became worse and worse, even beads of sweat oozing from his forehead.

Suddenly, Li Ruolian had a first-class illusion, as if there was a mountain on her body!

Li Ruolian didn't feel this way when facing Chongzhen before, but today, Li Ruolian really felt like a mountain was pressing on him, and he couldn't breathe.

After a long while, Chongzhen asked quietly: "Li Ruolian, did someone greet you?"

"My lord!" Hearing these words, Li Ruolian couldn't bear the huge pressure any longer, and knelt down on the ground.

"Go, tell them!" Chongzhen pointed in the direction of Shanyang City, and said sharply, "Tell them, don't try to mislead me, let alone teach me how to do things!"

"I am the Son of Heaven, Gan Gang is arbitrary, and I am the only one!"

"Anyone should not try to deceive me, use me, or fool me!"

Seeing Chongzhen get angry, Wang Chengen, Gao Qiqian and other eunuchs were so frightened that they knelt down quickly.

Zhu Cihong, Zhu Cijiong's younger brother, and Fu Shan and a few other scholars were stunned. What's the matter?
Only Hu Guozhu and Babai Yiding ate on their own, as if nothing had happened.

But Li Ruolian, who was the person involved, grabbed the ground with his head, kowtowed repeatedly, and his whole body was soaked in sweat. At this moment, he finally understood what it means to be discerning. Some people in this world can really discern everything.

"Tell them to obey the rules!" Chongzhen said in a deep voice.

"The minister leads the decree." Li Ruolian kowtowed three times, got up and ran away.

Watching Li Ruolian get up and leave, Chongzhen said again: "Everyone back down, I have something to say to the crown prince and King Ding."

Sun Fanzhi, Fu Shan and others, as well as Gao Qiqian and other senior retreats quickly backed away, and Wang Chengen also retreated ten steps away, and guarded to prevent anyone from approaching within ten steps.

Chongzhen said: "Lang'er, Jiong'er, have you seen it? Now you know how powerful the civil servant group is? Their people are everywhere and penetrate every hole!"

Zhu Cihong said: "Father, has Li Ruolian been bribed?"

Chongzhen said: "Li Ruolian should not have been bribed, but was held by someone with a sore foot."

Zhu Cijiong said: "Father, do you want to arrest the people behind Li Ruolian? Find out who is behind it?"

Chongzhen smiled and said: "Who else can you ask to investigate? Li Ruolian is not reliable, who else can you count on?"

"This?" Zhu Cijiong was at a loss for words, only then did he realize the seriousness of the problem, and there was no one available.

Chongzhen said again: "What's more, even if Li Ruolian is reliable, even if Jinyiwei is capable, it is impossible to find out this kind of thing. At most, you can catch a few small fish and shrimps. The civil official group is much stronger than you imagined."

"Then this is too tiring." Zhu Cijiong said, "Who else is worth trusting?"

"Anyone's words can be trusted, and no one's words can be trusted." Chongzhen said like a Buddhist verse, "As an emperor, you can only decide whose words are trustworthy and whose words are not. If you can’t see clearly by yourself, don’t rush to make a decision, wait and see.”

Zhu Cihong was thoughtful: "Like just now, can't Lu Zhenfei be convicted because of Li Ruolian's words?"

"Yes." Chongzhen said, "If you believed Li Ruolian's words just now and ordered to investigate Lu Zhenfei, then you followed the way of the civil official group and were killed by them with a knife."

"This is too complicated." Zhu Cijiong said happily.

"Fortunately, I'm not the prince, these things will give my brother a headache."

"You have to learn a little bit." Chongzhen said with a frown, "Of course, Hong'er is the first heir to the throne, but Jiong'er, you are the second heir to the throne. If Hong'er is in good health, there will be no accidents on the battlefield. Although there is nothing wrong with you, but you are not afraid of ten thousand in everything, just in case, if something happens to you, then you will be the crown prince."

"Ah, this?" Zhu Cijiong was a little surprised, thinking that his father said it too directly.

"Father is right, the third brother also needs to learn the way of becoming a king." Zhu Cihong was relieved instead. If he was secretly worried before, then he is not worried at all now.

Zhu Cihong asked again: "How did the father find out that Li Ruolian has a problem?"

"Yes, Father, how did you find out?" Zhu Cijiong was also curious.

Chongzhen said: "Because Li Ruolian was too deliberate, he deliberately put together two things that were separated by more than three months, but in the end he showed his fox's tail instead."

"Father, my son still doesn't understand."

"Is Lu Zhenfei and Kang Wanwan really all right?"

Zhu Cihong and Zhu Cijiong asked almost at the same time.

(End of this chapter)