Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 614 Tax

The Tongji Canal flows out of the Yellow River in Zhengzhou and into the Huai River in Xuyi. It is an important water system on the Grand Canal.

Songzhou is a city on the canal located south of Ningling. During the Anshi Rebellion, because Zhang Xun resisted the rebels, Songzhou city did not suffer much damage and remained the same in size and with a dense population.

Historically, when Du Fu was old, he revisited his hometown, which touched his memory of his deceased friends Li Bai and Gao Shi. He wrote a poem recalling his past trip to Songzhou, saying "There are 90,000 households in the city, and tall buildings illuminate the main streets. Boats and carriages travel half of the way, and the hosts and guests are very happy", which shows the prosperity of Songzhou.

In this world, the Tang Dynasty has not seen the situation of "friends gone in chaos, and the years passing by", there is one less poem "Sending Away My Feelings", and the city of Songzhou has become more prosperous.

The governor of Songzhou was named Zheng Ciming, who was from the Zheng family of Xingyang.

He heard that the emperor had arrived in Songzhou on his tour, and had made preparations to go to Ningling to greet him. However, just as he set off, he received news that the imperial carriage had already returned to Luoyang.

Zheng Ciming was not surprised by this and immediately wrote a letter to Li He, the current Henan Transport Commissioner.

After sending the letter, he suddenly felt sleepy, so he stroked his beard and said to himself: "I have been busy all night and finally I can have a good sleep."

That night, thousands of ships were still passing through the Tongji Canal.

The sound of boats could not be heard in the city. The mansion was quiet and Zheng Ciming had a good sleep.

He slept until noon, opened his eyes and lay on the bed, too lazy to get up, until his trusted steward knocked on the door several times outside.

"Alang, something happened."

"Come in and talk."

Zheng Ciming calmly opened the door, picked up a newspaper and sat back on the couch, saying, "Tell me slowly, what happened?"

"This morning, a young man came to the Transportation Office near the canal dock and said he wanted to hand over official documents. He showed the badge of the Ministry of Revenue. Liu Jie didn't think much about it and sent him to the warehouse. After an hour, the man didn't come out. Liu Jie asked someone again, and the other party actually brought more than a dozen accountants to check the accounts of the Tongji Canal passing through Songzhou this year."

"Those accounts are fine, there's nothing to be afraid of."

"Liu Jie thought that the emperor had just left yesterday and this happened today. He was worried that someone was targeting A Lang, so he quickly sent someone to report and asked whether the person should be detained?"

Zheng Ciming thought for a while and said slowly, "If you are upright, you have nothing to fear. Let him investigate. Just pretend you don't know about this matter."

Having said this, he could no longer read the newspaper in his hand, and did not even bother to eat breakfast. He rushed directly to the provincial government office, called his subordinates over and gave them another round of admonitions, saying that the court was now implementing a new policy and was supervising them strictly, so they must do their job well and not violate the law and discipline.

When he had said this righteously, there was the sound of hurried horse hooves, and someone rode his horse directly to the outside of the provincial government office.

Zheng Ciming was wondering who was so rude, and then he saw Li He, the Henan Transport Commissioner, rushing in. He was startled, and hurried forward to greet him, saying, "Why did Envoy Li come in person?"

By this time he realized something was wrong.

As expected, Li He frowned, pulled him over, and asked in a low voice, "Haven't you seen the saint?"

"Hasn't the imperial carriage already returned to the Eastern Capital?" Zheng Ciming responded in surprise.

Li He's expression became more solemn, and he said, "The ceremonial procession has indeed returned. I personally went to Ningling to receive it, but the Saint was not among them. He only brought a small number of people to continue his southern tour."

"What? But I have not seen the saint."

Zheng Ciming couldn't believe that such a thing would happen. He heard yesterday that the imperial carriage had returned, and he thought that such a big thing could not possibly be wrong.

I didn't expect that this emperor was so willful and had no sympathy for his subjects at all.

It must be known that there is a whole set of etiquette procedures for welcoming and seeing off the emperor. It is often extremely hard for the officials to prepare for these procedures. Since the emperor does not cooperate, all the hard work will naturally be in vain.

"You haven't seen the saint?" Li He frowned even more deeply and muttered to himself, "But where will he go?"

"Yes."

Zheng Ciming also started to think about it, and then he thought of what he heard at noon.

After hesitating for a moment, he said, "Sir, there is something... Today a young man came to the Transport Commissioner's Office in Songzhou to check the accounts..."

"Follow me to receive the emperor."

Li He was very decisive. He turned around and walked away with big strides after hearing the words.

Zheng Ciming quickly followed and said, "Don't worry, sir. The accounts on the canal can withstand an investigation, and so can I."

"Of course I know, but the court is currently undergoing a reform, and reforming the law means changing the world."

The weather was good that day, and they hurried to the Songzhou Transport Commissioner's Office. As they dismounted from their horses, they began to straighten their clothes, walked quickly inside with neat steps, took a deep breath, and prepared to pay their respects to the emperor.

"Your humble servant greets the envoy and the governor!"

However, it was the Judge of Transportation Liu Jie who came out to greet them, and he greeted the two of them cordially.

Li He asked directly: "Where is the saint?"

"what?"

"The young man who came to check the accounts today." Zheng Ciming picked up Liu Jie and asked, "Where is he?"

"I left and took some account books with me."

Upon hearing this, Li He asked worriedly, "Did you stop him? Was there a conflict?"

He knew the nature of these local officials very well. They were used to being flattered in the local area, so it was common for them to act in a pretentious manner, and there were also many who abused their power. When Liu Jie encountered such a situation where he was asked to pay for the account book, he was afraid that he had offended the other party.

"No." Liu Jie was very smart and said, "I was very angry at first and wanted to teach that man a lesson. But I thought that the emperor was in the territory yesterday, so I didn't dare to act rashly. So I asked the governor first. Is he really sent by the saint?"

Li He thought that might be the saint himself, and asked, "Where did he go?"

"I sent someone to follow him and headed south of the city."

"Come with me and find it."

Li He rode out of the city without stopping. He walked along the official road for a while and saw the people sent by Liu Jie. When he asked them, he found out that they had lost them in the front.

He then asked for a map and chose a difficult path to continue his search. Sure enough, he saw a large group of people in front of a mountain temple. From their aura, he knew they were the saint's entourage.

"It's really here." Zheng Ciming was amazed and asked, "How did you know?"

Li He was not proud, but the worry on his face deepened. He said, "This village has a piece of government farmland that was only distributed in recent years."

"I see."

As Zheng Ciming was speaking, he suddenly thought of something and his pupils shrank involuntarily, as if he was frightened.

He realized that although there was no problem with the accounts of the grain transport, the autumn taxes paid by ships to the Eastern Capital and the grain transported to the dock by farmers had been recorded this year and had not yet been settled with the various county offices.

He opened his mouth, wanting to tell the people around him a word or two.

"Let's go." Li He said.

They straightened their clothes again and stepped forward, saying, "Henan Transport Commissioner and Songzhou Governor, we wish to see the Saint."

Then a man came out, looked at them, and said, "The saint is not here, but in the village ahead."

~~
Li He and Zheng Ciming changed into coarse cloth clothes and walked to the door of a farmer's house. They could already hear conversation coming from inside.

"Of course. This year is a good year. There is no war and the river has been dredged. How can we not have a good harvest?"

"It's such a good year, my father-in-law will have a good year." A young voice asked, "After the autumn harvest, how much grain is left?"

"Twenty-five shi. I have eight mu of mulberry fields, which will produce four rolls of silk."

"Your father-in-law's family of four lives on 25 shi of grain a year, which is very tight. It can only barely make ends meet, right?"

"It's good to have food to eat all year round. It's better than the previous years."

"How many acres of land did the father-in-law cultivate?"

"Thirty-eight acres of land produced fifty-three shi of grain."

Hearing this, Zheng Ciming hurriedly stepped inside and looked over. He saw a man in his thirties with an extraordinary bearing sitting opposite an old farmer and chatting in the yard.

In an instant, he was sure that this man was the current emperor, but he still turned around to glance at Li He to confirm.

Li He was already saluting.

"minister……"

Xue Bai glanced at them with a stern look and waved his hand, indicating that they should not reveal his identity.

Li He stopped abruptly what he was about to say.

Zheng Ciming seemed to be hesitant to speak, and was fidgeting.

"These two?" The old farmer stood up.

"Don't pay attention to them, they are here to see me." Xue Bai said, "You planted 53 shi, how come there are only 25 left?"

He picked up a branch, drew it on the ground a few times, and began to count.

"38 mu of land, Songzhou is considered medium-sized land, and the land tax is 11,000,000. Each mu must pay one dou of land tax. The most you can pay is four dan of land tax."

Although the old farmer had never been to school and was illiterate, he was not confused about this matter and started talking while counting on his fingers.

"My dear, you don't know that I originally had no land. The thirty-eight mu of land I cultivate is government land I rented three years ago. I have to pay 20% of the rent, eight stone of rent, four stone of tax, twelve stone, and three pieces of silk."

Xue Bai glanced at Zheng Ciming with a meaningful look, and continued chatting with the farmer, saying, "Since this land is not yours, why do you still have to pay the land tax? This is double taxation."

"What are you talking about, sir? Can I not pay taxes?"

"The imperial court collects this land tax from the landlords, not from the tenants. If other landlords rent out their land and collect 10% more, it would be fine. But the county government is doing this, isn't it stealing 10% of the land tax?"

As he said this, sweat broke out on Zheng Ciming's forehead and he opened his mouth to explain something.

Xue Bai had already asked the old farmer, "There should be 41 dan of grain left, why is there only 25 dan?"

"There is also money for transfer. I can't transport the twelve stone of grain to Luoyang. The county office has to send someone to transport it..."

"Well, the court has decreed that foot money will no longer be collected, so the locals have changed it to a better name."

The old farmer felt a little timid when he heard the young man mocking the government, and said quickly, "Young man, you should be careful with your words."

Zheng Ciming felt even more timid and didn't know what to say.

Then I heard the old farmer counting on his fingers. In addition to the transfer, there was also money for farm tools. This was because many acres of land had just been distributed and many farmers did not have farm tools.

Although the imperial court allowed smelters across the country to forge these agricultural tools and local governments to rent them to farmers, the local authorities still levied an additional fee on the grounds that distributing them required a large amount of manpower.

In addition, the government still accounted for the bulk of the revenue, that is, the government paid to buy grain from farmers for use as military rations or disaster relief.

But when Xue Bai carefully asked the old farmer about the price of grain, he shook his head and looked at Zheng Ciming without saying anything for a long time.

Zheng Ciming became increasingly nervous as he was stared at. He finally could not help himself and knelt on the ground, saying, "Your Majesty, please give me a chance to explain!"

"Explain it."

The old farmer was stunned for a long time after watching this scene. He blinked and said, "My dear, don't act like this just for fun. You will be beheaded."

Xue Bai smiled and joked with Zheng Ciming: "Did you hear that? You will be beheaded."

Zheng Ciming was shocked and kowtowed several times, wanting to explain, but he didn't know where to start.

"These are all the result of the officials of each county deceiving their superiors and hiding the truth from their subordinates! I...I failed to supervise!"

"Oversight." Xue Bai said, "But you did a great job accounting, and your achievements were arranged very well and very conspicuously. I saw it all."

"I...I am terrified."

"No hurry, stay in this village for one night and talk again when we return to Songzhou tomorrow."

~~
On the way back to Songzhou, you can see the gurgling water of the Baohe River, with canals leading the river water winding towards the farmlands, just like a scene from the Peach Blossom Spring.

Continuing forward, we saw ships coming and going on the Tongji Canal, which was very prosperous. The city was also very prosperous, the roads were wide and clean, and the business was bustling.

It is undeniable that this is all Zheng Ciming’s achievement, and it is not easy to achieve.

For example, the Tongji Canal often needed to be dredged because it carried a large amount of silt from the Yellow River. The river was blocked during the Anshi Rebellion. It must have taken a lot of effort for Zheng Ciming to manage it to this point. It was not easy to build these canals.

If Xue Bai had not been on a secret visit, but had come with officials accompanying the imperial carriage, all he would have seen would be these achievements.

When he arrived at the provincial office, Zheng Ciming quietly winked at someone, meaning that they should quickly deal with the account books of the county offices.

However, when he followed Xue Bai into the lobby, he was stunned again.

Because he saw that there were more than ten accountants already reconciling accounts in the lobby.

"how?"

Xue Bai sat down at the main seat and asked, "Did you find anything wrong?"

"Your Majesty, there is nothing wrong. Songzhou's taxes are properly levied in accordance with the court's regulations of one bushel per mu, which is consistent with the number of acres of land. Forty percent of the taxes collected are paid as tribute, thirty percent is retained by the state, and the rest is used as money for public envoys and surpluses. The accounts are clear and the amounts are accurate..."

Zheng Ciming listened, but did not look relieved. Instead, he became more nervous.

Sure enough, Xue Bai asked, "These taxes are collected from all the land in Songzhou. It's not that only some people pay and others don't."

"Your Majesty, according to the records, this is exactly the case."

"Ningling has 500 hectares of good farmland, all owned by Zheng family of Xingyang. Did they pay taxes?"

Soon the sound of flipping pages could be heard in the classroom.

But it was a long time before the accountant replied, "Your Majesty, we have never seen anyone in Ningling occupy 500 hectares of good farmland."

Xue Bai asked again: "In Yucheng County, there is a farmer named Wang Xi who paid a few shi of land tax."

The sound of pages turning was heard again. This time, after about half a minute, someone answered, "Six stone and three dou of millet, four pieces of silk, of which five dou was lost and the cost of transportation..."

"Xiayi County, Pan Ergou."

"Five stones and two buckets."

"Where is Meng Xiaobing from the same village?"

"Five stones and four dou."

"But I asked them myself, and the number is not this."

"This is all I can see from the accounts."

Xue Bai clapped his hands and said, "The accounting is well done. Check the accounts of the Transportation Commissioner's Office with the accounts of the various county offices and grain purchases, and then check all the official warehouses in Songzhou."

During the process, Zheng Ciming always wanted to speak, but he always stopped himself from speaking.

In the end, he had no choice but to give Li He a look for help.

"Your Majesty," Li He said, "I have something to report."

"it is good."

Xue Bai nodded and asked the people he brought to continue investigating. He stood up and called Li He to follow him to the back hall. His behavior seemed very casual, but decisive.

If he hadn't acted decisively, with Zheng Ciming's ability, it would have been impossible for him to see the clues so quickly.

Xue Bai walked to the courtyard of the Sixth Office of the State Office, stopped, pointed at the words engraved on a stone, and said: "The words are well written, 'Gong Sheng Ming', and the principle is also understood."

"Your Majesty, Zheng Ciming has only been in office in Songzhou for two or three years. No matter how big the problem is, it is not something he can control."

"I know."

"All a provincial governor can do is to urge the county to pay grain. There are only a dozen county officials, and the grain of each household is often collected by local gentry."

"I know everything you said."

Li Xian said: "Your Majesty, if you go to any farmer's house and ask, you will find something wrong. It is easy to deal with officials in a county or state, but appointing another person may not change the situation."

Xue Bai said: "I have heard a story before. It said that an emperor went on a private visit to a civilian's home in the suburbs of Chang'an and asked the civilian how he was doing. The civilian cursed the court for its excessive exploitation. After hearing this, the emperor felt very ashamed and issued an order to exempt the civilian from all taxes. Because of this, he was praised as a wise ruler."

Li Xian was silent for a moment and said, "A wise ruler's rule will be passed down to the world."

"I understand." Xue Bai said, "I am not a wise ruler if I investigate you privately. I have to pretend to be a wise ruler. I only talk but don't do anything."

"I dare to say so." Li Xian said, "Governing a country depends on rules. Your Majesty is breaking the rules to find faults with the Crown Prince. You will always find faults. This will not convince the people, but will only make people panic and resentful."

"You mean, it's not the local officials of Songzhou who are wrong, it's me who is wrong."

Li He felt helpless because Xue Bai was so stubborn.

He made it very clear that Zheng Ciming's mistake was made by all local officials in the world, and Xue Bai's reckless and rule-breaking manner of pointing out the mistakes of local officials all over the world failed to convince the public.

In his view, this was harsh advice and honest advice was unpleasant to the ear.

He was not afraid of Xue Bai because he was a member of the royal family and a loyal minister of the Tang Dynasty. He was open and honest and had a clear conscience.

"I dare not say that Your Majesty is wrong. I only ask Your Majesty to sympathize with the officials of the world."

Xue Bai asked, "When we were fighting against Shi Siming, you supported me. You personally escorted the grain from Yangzhou to Bianzhou. Was it to make merit?"

Li He said: "I am serving the Tang Dynasty."

"Then this time, my reform is also for the sake of the Tang Dynasty. Why don't you support it?"

"I find it absurd." Li He spoke frankly, "I have seen that Your Majesty has been deliberately opposing the officials. The officials are the heroes who supported Your Majesty's ascension to the throne and are your helpers in governing the Tang Dynasty, but Your Majesty has never sympathized with them. The court's dilemma is that it is becoming increasingly difficult for the central government to collect taxes, but Your Majesty has been reducing taxes."

"You are right. That is why the court had to reform the law, collect taxes from those who should pay them, and reduce the burden on the people."

"I dare to ask your Majesty, if you were standing on a branch and needed wood, would you cut off the branch under your feet?"

Xue Bai looked at Li He carefully and said, "You think so, so you tried every means to persuade me to return to the Eastern Capital, right?"

Li He hesitated for a moment and said, "Yes."

He had been keeping his mouth shut until now, and finally spoke, "I am worried about your Majesty's safety. Please return to the Eastern Capital as soon as possible."

"Why?"

Even after talking about this point, Xue Bai still wanted to ask more questions, which made Li He feel a little embarrassed.

As a member of the royal family, he was bold, so he simply said: "Your Majesty is determined to act on his own, and the new policy is too harsh. It is inevitable that some officials will rebel. I am afraid that some people will harm Your Majesty."

"For example, Liu Zhan?"

The tone of Xue Bai's question clearly showed that he did not believe Liu Zhan was going to rebel, and it seemed that he believed that Zheng Ciming would do him harm.

Or he believed that some conservatives deliberately forced Liu Zhan to rebel in order to prevent him from continuing his reforms, such as Li He in front of him.

"Yes." Li He said, "Liu Zhan was once under my command. It was because I received a report that I asked Li Zangyong to secretly investigate him and learned that he had the intention of rebellion. Therefore, I specially rushed from Zhengzhou to Songzhou to persuade Your Majesty to return to the east and beg Your Majesty to trust me. I am definitely not here to protect Zheng Ciming."

According to him, he received a report and found out that Liu Zhan was planning a rebellion. On the one hand, he told Yan Zhenqing and asked Yan Zhenqing to submit a petition to persuade the emperor to return. On the other hand, he also wrote letters to officials in various states, asking them to stop the emperor from continuing to move south. At the same time, he also rushed over to persuade them.

It was just that he had been too hasty before, and Songzhou's taxation had been found to be problematic. In Xue Bai's eyes, Li He seemed to be a corrupt official who came here to cover up his crimes.

That evening, the imperial guards caught up with the messenger sent by Zheng Ciming to deliver the letter and obtained the letter written by Zheng Ciming to Li He.

Xue Bai opened the letter and found that it was a reply to Li He, saying that the emperor had not gone south and asked Li He not to worry. The following part of the letter praised Li He's loyalty and courage.

It seems that what Li He said came from the bottom of his heart.

When he played again the next day, he still had the same attitude.

"I beg your Majesty to return to the capital. The stability of the country depends on the order of hierarchy, not a secret visit."

Xue Bai seemed not to have heard what he said, and instead asked a question off topic, "You said that there was a problem with Songzhou's taxation, and the fault was not Zheng Ciming's. This is a mistake that all officials in the world would make. Then, can you judge whether Zheng Ciming embezzled taxes and occupied farmland?"

"I know him well. He comes from a noble family and has a noble character. He is not strict with his subordinates and may have condoned and protected them, but he has never been corrupt or embezzled money." Li He said, "The taxation of Songzhou is just an old problem that is difficult to solve."

In Li He's opinion, Xue Bai's forcing local officials to achieve tax balance solely through the new law was completely unreasonable.

"Well then." Xue Bai said, "Let's make a bet. If what you said is true, I will immediately set out for the Eastern Capital. But if I get evidence of Zheng Ciming's corruption, you will come with me to see Liu Zhan."

"The minister obeys the order."

Li He bowed, but before he could stand up, someone came in with a bloody box and placed it in front of Xue Bai with both hands...

(End of this chapter)