Traveling through the Ming Dynasty, as soon as you open your eyes, you will die

Chapter 52 Equalize the land and abolish the three wages

In Chongzhen's emotion, after accepting the worship of the ministers, according to the script compiled by the two men, Chongzhen still deliberately raised the question, "Abolition of royal support is a good thing. However, he does not want to do business, but gives land , where does the land come from?”

Lu Mou replied calmly: "In this chaos of more than ten years, the princes of the Ming Dynasty who died in the hands of rogue bandits include King Zhou of Kaifeng, King Tang of Nanyang, King Fu of Luoyang, King Wei Huilu, King Zhao of Anyang, King Zheng of Huaiqing, King Chong of Runing, King Hui of Yuzhou, and King of Lujiang. There were more than 80 county kings, and countless clan members below the county king. According to incomplete statistics, nearly million acres of land became ownerless."

There are a total of eighty-six princes in the Ming Dynasty. Among them, those who lost their heirs or were expelled due to crimes, plus those who died young and were granted titles, there are still thirty-two who actually have fiefdoms, and there are one hundred and two county princes. It can be seen that the scale is huge, they occupy more than 200 million acres of land in the Ming Dynasty.

In this chaos, nine princes were killed at once, and more than eighty county princes were killed. Even Chongzhen, who was cold-hearted, couldn't help but feel sad.

This bandit rebellion mainly targets the sons and grandsons of Lao Zhu's family, as well as the wealthy and landed people.

Wherever he passed, there were many people who were killed and exterminated. This also realizes the end of each dynasty and the foundation for the prosperity of the next dynasty - releasing land, breaking land annexation, and allowing cultivators to have their own land.

"During this chaos, countless landowners, gentry, and powerful people died, leaving about 100 million acres of land without owners. In total, there are 200 million acres of ownerless land."

The ministers were talking about it for a while, feeling really shocked.

The registered land of the Ming Dynasty was only 1 million. Calculated in this way, there were only more than million acres that were responsible for the court's taxes, money and food. Why didn’t the Ming Dynasty’s finances shrink year by year, and why didn’t they dry up and collapse?

But the one who was really shocked was Chongzhen.

He had thought about this too, but he had never seen it so directly and seriously. It's not that I don't have money, it's that my own money has been embezzled by my own clansmen and the powerful landlords and gentry.

As long as he raised money, Chongzhen felt the pain that touched his soul. Looking at Chongzhen in history, he was really poor throughout his life. Therefore, as long as anyone asks him for money, he will be in a hurry.

The result was not unknown, but he was shocked when he realized that the princes of the Ming Dynasty and the gentry of the world were swiping so much money from him every year. He was very anxious.

This strengthened the father and son's determination when they were forced out of the nursery rhyme in the Royal Study Room.

"In order to allow farmers to have their own land and eliminate the continuous occurrence of refugees, I asked the emperor to issue a decree to the world: All unowned land, with descendants, should be returned to a hundred acres for livelihood, and the rest should be taken back to the state. Then it will be permanently contracted to the people. The people only have the right to use and not buy and sell, but they have the right to inherit from their descendants. The land rent is restored to the point where Emperor Hongwu stipulated that only two coins should be taken, all corvées are exempted, and only two coins are paid in lieu of service, in order to alleviate the people's power and win over people's hearts."

As soon as this policy came out, the whole palace was in an uproar, and all the ministers looked at Chongzhen.

This is a big policy that will completely change the image of the entire Ming Dynasty in the hearts of the people.

Once this policy is implemented, Ming Dynasty will receive 40 million taels from land rent alone every year, not counting the labor money.

Forty million taels, Ming Dynasty's finances will take on a completely new look. Of course, there is also the meaning of Ding Wangkong as a favor.

Because what the so-called Ming Dynasty really controls now is the palm-sized area of ​​Zhili. The rest of the land is still in the hands of rogue bandits from all over the country.

Although this policy has no practical significance for the current Ming Empire, it can win people's hearts for the Ming Dynasty and make it take the absolute initiative in the battle for people's support.

After all, Li Chuang only shouted that he would not pay for food for three years, so how could he actually give you land? A piece of land that can be passed down to future generations is the extravagant hope engraved in the bones of the Han people.

In fact, Chongzhen in the imperial study also had this idea of ​​compromise. Anyway, those lands are no longer in their hands. Implementing this policy can win people's hearts, so why not do it.

So he looked at the ministers: "Do you have any objections to King Ding's proposal?" No, if you attack your Lao Zhu family, what objections would we have?

As for the dead gentry and landlords, who cares about them? As long as you don't attack those of us who are alive, we will firmly support you instead of opposing it.

Chongzhen immediately issued an order to the world and implemented it according to the plan.

The whole world was shocked, although there were also a group of survivors who were furious and wanted to recover all their land. But now, the land is in the hands of the bandits. You have to tell the bandits now. If you really dare to face the bandits, then you absolutely don't need to say anything.

But compared to the vast majority of cheering people, what does a small group of furious people mean?

If we want to reform, there will be pain. It's just that this time, it's no longer the masses of people who are suffering from labor pains, but a small group of the original parasites, so let them be as they please.

Don't tell me that elites are not to be messed with in the theory of elite governance. But in this great turmoil, haven’t you deeply experienced the consequences of offending the poor?
  If you haven't realized it yet, Lu Mou dared to launch another bigger one, which will be unforgettable for those who hold those theories.

It is difficult to make people obey, but if a superior forces people to resist, there are thousands of ways to force people to rebel. It can be achieved in minutes, it is simple.

So Lu Mou dropped a bombshell again: "Please exempt me from three wages."

The Disaster of Three Rates is too numerous to describe. It is the root cause that truly forces people all over the world to rebel. It is one of the third major reasons for the demise of the Ming Dynasty after Donglin brought disaster to the country and the abolition of the post station.

For this reason, Lu Mou deeply believed that the person who caused the collapse of the Ming Dynasty was Sun Chengzong, who was praised by later generations as a famous official in the late Ming Dynasty. It was he who proposed the policy of fortification and defense in the face of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, which forced the Ming Dynasty to invest 60% of its national income in western Liaoning every year.

Then, in the vicious cycle of building cities, destroying them, and then building them again, the Ming Dynasty's finances collapsed. In the end, the Liao Dynasty was not restored. Instead, Guan Ning, who was supposed to be a group of tigers, wolves, and cavalry, became a group of shrunken tortoises.

Now, don't expect to regain Liao, just hold Shanhaiguan firmly. Therefore, there is no need to collect the huge Liao salary anymore.

We have suppressed all the bandits at home. Do we still need them?

Training rates, apart from those that do not need the support of training rates now, does the army after Lu Mou's reorganization still have soldiers to train?
  Besides, the situation is still the same. You still want to take it, but almost the entire Ming Dynasty is in the hands of thieves. Can you take it?

The top priority is to completely abolish this evil government and win over people's hearts again.

Lu Mou vowed: "If these are implemented, when the king's army counterattacks, there will be a scene where the people carry pots and pickles to welcome the king's army, and the Ming Dynasty will be great again."

Forced by reality and illuminated by the future, Chongzhen asked again with confidence: "Do you have any objections to this policy?"

"The minister has objections."

Everyone turned their attention to the opponents.

The one who stood up turned out to be Wu Sangui.

(End of this chapter)