Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 226 Yellow Book and White Book

When it comes to Taipu Temple Grassland, Bi Ziyan and Yuan Keli have a lot to say.

The reason why Bi Ziyan resigned from the Nanjing Ministry of Household Affairs was because he opposed Wei Zhongxian's sale of the Nantaipusi horse pasture. Wei Zhongxian scolded him in the name of Emperor Tianqi, but the pasture was sold anyway. Bi Ziyan was so angry that he resigned due to illness.

Then Yuan Keli was promoted by the court to be the Minister of Household Affairs in Nanjing. He was unable to do such a thing and resigned due to illness.

It can be said that because of the incident at the Taipu Temple Grassland in Nanjing, two important ministers in the court resigned, but they failed to stop Wei Zhongxian from acting recklessly.

Now that the new emperor had eliminated Wei Zhongxian and brought up the pasture matter, Bi Ziyan immediately said:
"In relation to the horse pasture at Taipu Temple in Nanjing, I strongly opposed Wei Ni's selling it."

"It's a pity that we couldn't stop it. Now the pasture has been sold."

"I believe this matter should be thoroughly investigated and the court's losses recovered."

When Zhu Youjian heard that this happened, he immediately ordered:
"This matter needs to be investigated thoroughly, together with the grasslands in various places."

"We need to find out how much Taipu Temple's grassland covers and what its current use is."

"We cannot allow the imperial court's property to be lost and disappear for no reason."

Wei Zhongxian was an eunuch. He sold the pasture of Taipu Temple, and he didn't even feel sorry for selling his cubs. But Zhu Youjian was very distressed, knowing that the power controlled by the imperial court had weakened again.

This incident reminded him that through the adjustment of the household department and the establishment of Taifu Temple, the past matters could be settled and he could not continue to be vague:

"Bi Qing mentioned the matter of grain collection before. The farmland and official land controlled by the imperial court must be managed uniformly in the future."

"These fields need to be cleared again to make it clear where they belong."

"If it's farmland, it's taxed as farmland. If it's official land, it's taxed as official land."

“The land rights must be reaffirmed and cannot be allowed to be occupied by others.”

This is a big issue involving the interests of many people. When Bi Ziyan proposed the collection of grain, he never expected that the emperor would use the topic to take it to this step.

So he ignored the fact that this was Taifu Temple's affairs and said:

"Many of the lands on the Yellow Book have already changed."

"There is a department that collects taxes and compiles the corvee, but it is actually based on the white book."

This is the danger of formalism.

In order to collect taxes, the imperial court stipulated that the Yellow Book should be compiled every ten years. Up to now, it has been compiled 25 times and stored in the East and West Second Treasury of Houhu, Nanjing. The management is very complete.

In fact, the yellow book has long been reduced to formalism, just copying and modifying based on previous data. The actual taxation by the government is based on the white book drawn up privately.

When Zhu Youjian heard this, he couldn't help but sigh. Ming Dynasty's finances are really a mess and must be sorted out thoroughly.

So he said:
"Based on the Yellow Book and the current White Book, the Yellow Book related to official land will be re-edited. From now on, the official land and farmland will be listed separately in the Yellow Book for management."

"It was stated in the yellow book that it was official land, but now it has become civilian land. The reason for the change must be investigated."

"If the transfer process is clear, the price is appropriate, and there is no misappropriation of court assets, it will be officially converted into civilian land."

"If the transfer process is unclear, the price is improper, or there is suspicion of misappropriation of court assets, then the official land will be taken back and the illegal and criminal activities will be investigated."

"This matter is prone to corruption. After the adjustment of the Ministry of Revenue and the Metropolitan Procuratorate is completed, the two departments will be jointly responsible. The Land Affairs Department of the Ministry of Revenue and the Taifu Temple Agricultural Administration will conduct a thorough investigation, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate will supervise."

"We still start from Beizhili and confirm the power one by one."

"In the future, those who are not registered and do not pay taxes will not be recognized by the court."

This is a harsh statement, but it actually means acknowledging the reality and confirming the existing land ownership, rather than insisting on a yellow list.

The ministers nodded secretly and felt that the current emperor was very realistic. He did not get angry because of this, nor did he unrealistically demand that the emperor should strictly follow the yellow book.

In fact, Zhu Youjian had no choice but to do this. According to the previous yellow book, taxes and corvees will definitely not be collected, and the white book is only a last resort. But he was very dissatisfied with the local officials fooling the court, so he continued:
"The last time a large-scale yellow book was created was from the first year of Taichang to the second year of Tianqi. It has been five years now."

"Based on the fact that the yellow book is created once every ten years, the next time will be from the third year of Chongzhen to the fifth year of Chongzhen."

"In view of the fact that the previous yellow books were unclear and could not be used for tax and corvee collection, I have decided to gradually create a large number of yellow books starting from next year."

"The goal is to unify the yellow book and the white book to facilitate tax collection."

"From now on, the yellow book will be the basis for the court's tax collection and corvee work. The white book will be used to record the changes in the past ten years. It will be attached to the back of the yellow book. It will be written into the yellow book during the next major production, and the chief bookkeeper of each county will be responsible."

“The land transfer process must be clear and there must be no ambiguity.”

"All land transfers must be confirmed by the household registration agency, otherwise the court will not recognize it."

“All transfers of official land must be confirmed by the Official Land Department, otherwise they will not be recognized.”

This was to prevent further loss of official land, but Bi Ziyan and Guo Yunhou felt their scalps numb when they heard this.

Because the great creation of the yellow book mentioned by the emperor basically meant clearing the land, which was by no means an easy task.

Otherwise, how could the yellow book be reduced to formalism, and the government would use the white book privately?

The two people immediately dissuaded them and mentioned a lot of difficulties, such as lack of manpower, lack of funds, etc. Zhu Youjian frowned and said:
"If the manpower and funds are insufficient, I will involve the Jin Yiwei and send people to help you. Their funds will be borne by the inner court."

"From now on, the Ministry of Household Affairs will outline a five-year plan, from the first year of Chongzhen to the fifth year of Chongzhen, to complete the great yellow book."

"The imperial court will promote or demote officials based on the increase or decrease in grains in the Yellow Book. In the future, the performance benchmark for the next ten years will be determined based on the average of the previous ten years. The ability of officials to govern depends on these data."

"For example, the collection of taxes and the loss of warehouses must be based on a ten-year average. Officials below a certain range are classified as failing, and officials above a certain range are classified as outstanding."

"Officials' annual merit awards must be based on this standard."

This is something Zhu Youjian has wanted to do for a long time, and it is also the reason why he wants to create a big pornographic record.

He is accustomed to looking at data, and he hopes to use data to determine the ability of officials to govern.

The basis for achieving this is accurate data.

If Huang Ce was still as perfunctory as before, how could Zhu Youjian know the situation of the Ming Dynasty and determine the governance policy?

Until now, he has not been able to determine the population, cultivated land area, and grain output of the Ming Dynasty. Everything is purely an estimate.

Therefore, the Yellow Book must be re-edited and strictly enforced.

Because it involves the clearing of Zhangtian acres, it may arouse panic and opposition from many people. Zhu Youjian ordered to keep it secret and disclose the matter at the beginning of implementation. He also made it clear that only official land and farmland would be cleared for the time being. He wants to boil the frog in warm water and complete the Qingzhang step by step.

Now, let the Ministry of Revenue and Taifu Temple prepare relevant institutions and manpower to prepare for this matter.

Zhu Youjian also sent the Jinyiwei Statistics Department to help, and officially sent out the first intelligence department.

　"History of the Ming Dynasty" Chapter 53 Food Products 1:

　　Taizu's registered residence in Tianxia was registered as a household name, household registration, with title, age, and place of residence. Registered with the Ministry of Household Affairs, and given to the people. There is a secretary who plans to calculate the expenditure every year. When performing sacrifices in the suburbs, Zhongshu Sheng will display the household registration under the altar and recommend it to the sky. After the sacrifice is completed, it will be hidden away.

　　In the fourteenth year of Hongwu's reign, the emperor was ordered to compile a yellow book of taxes and services...

　　Every ten years, the director will update the register and raise or lower it based on the increase or decrease in grain. There are four records: one is for the Ministry of Household Affairs, and the other three are for the Chief Secretary, Prefecture, and County.

　　For those in the upper household department, the book has yellow paper, so it is called the yellow book. At the end of the year, it was submitted and sent to the east and west treasuries of Houhu for storage. At the end of the year, the household department assigned one person in charge, two censors, and four persons in charge of the household department to correct errors.

　　Later, the yellow book contained only text, and there were officials responsible for tax collection and compilation of corvee, so it became a book of its own, which was called the white book.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)