Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

"You are not a human being! You are not a human being!"

"Zhang Tianru relied on the emperor's favor and didn't take me, his senior, seriously at all!"

Looking at the article in Ming Pao, Qian Qianyi burst into curses.

Previously, because Zhang Pu published an article about permanent properties under a pseudonym, he discussed this issue with the other party from a high-level perspective.

It not only shows the attitude of the predecessors, but also absorbs Zhang Pu's theory into "On Permanent Property".

I thought Zhang Pu should be satisfied and happy to be recognized by this academic leader.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Pu did not appreciate it at all. He opened a column in Ming Pao and invited scholars from all walks of life to discuss the theory of permanent property.

This undoubtedly offended Qian Qianyi's authority, and he was so angry that he started cursing and thought that Zhang Pu was not a human being.

In comparison, Liu Lishun is much more lovable. Although he has made contributions to the theory of permanent property, he is more concerned with practice. If he can achieve results, Qian Qianyi will benefit.

After careful consideration, Qian Qianyi decided to support this champion, letting him take the lead and help him practice the theory of permanent property.

Soon, he used Datong Daily as a platform to express his support for Liu Lishun. He also opened a column to discuss the theory of permanent property in the newspaper.

For a time, the circulation of the two newspapers, Datong Daily and Ming Pao, increased greatly in northern Zhili thanks to the attention attracted by property taxes, and even surpassed that of Jingbao.

Various opinions emerged in newspapers, attracting a lot of discussion among scholars.

Gu Yanwu, who was studying at the Normal School, was undoubtedly involved in the process. And because of his understanding of the reform of Zhuolu District, he proposed a view that the Zhuolu District Council should discuss and decide how to levy the property tax.

It also proposed banning and restricting private renting to prevent property owners from passing taxes on to tenants.

When Zhu Youjian read this article, he praised Gu Yanwu highly.

Because after learning about the current parliaments of other countries, he knew that the main function of the French Estates General was to levy new taxes.

The King of France tried hard to get rid of this restriction and won the power to levy new taxes without the consent of the Estates General.

However, the situation of Ming Dynasty and France was different. After thinking about it, Zhu Youjian believed that Ming Dynasty needed an institution to determine taxes.

He needs to make it clear to the people that he will not arbitrarily add new taxes or impose taxes on them at will.

As a bureaucratic society, a family in the Ming Dynasty would quickly decline if it failed to produce an official for several generations.

One of the reasons is that there are too many corrupt officials. Without the protection of an official, no matter how big a family is, it cannot withstand the turmoil.

However, most of the taxes collected by these corrupt officials were not received by the court. The court was criticized but did not benefit from it.

In order to restrict these people from doing whatever they want, Zhu Youjian decided to delegate the power to supervise taxation to parliaments at all levels.

And it is up to Congress to decide the tax rates for various taxes and whether to add new taxes.

This will certainly transfer some of the power of taxation, but it will also help to form a social consensus. Groups that do not want to pay taxes will be punished according to law.

To achieve this goal, Zhu Youjian summoned Liu Zongzhou and asked him about the progress of the Zhuolu District Council and whether he could take on this task:
"I have said before that the reformation of rituals and music is the redistribution of power and wealth."

"I and the ministers have been discussing how to distribute power."

“The distribution of wealth needs to be reflected in taxation.”

"I have decided that the Congress will supervise and determine the tax rate. Can the Zhuolu District Council take on this responsibility?"

When Liu Zongzhou heard this, he felt a little excited.

Because establishing a parliament was the first policy he proposed after he was tasked with re-establishing rites and music.

The emperor was so supportive that he even wanted to grant Congress the power to distribute wealth. How could he not be moved and realize the emperor's sincerity?

Previous emperors were always thinking about how to plunder the people's wealth, but the current emperor has taken the initiative to restrict himself and authorized such important power as taxation to Congress.

If he couldn't do this well, he would be too embarrassed to preside over the re-creation of rituals and music. So he said firmly:

"can!"

"Zhuolu District Council will definitely be able to take on this task."

"I will go to Zhuolu and urge them to discuss the property tax."

We are determined to ensure that a new type of tax, property tax, will be introduced no matter what, to impose additional taxes on the wealthy.

Zhu Youjian was worried that this matter would not pass, so he asked Liu Zongzhou:

“How many people does the Zhuolu District Council currently have?”

“Should representatives of scholars, farmers, merchants and industrialists be elected in proportion?”

Liu Zongzhou heard this and replied:

"According to the policy set by Your Majesty, agriculture, industry and commerce will each account for 20%, and scholars will account for 40%."

"The scholars include scholars, soldiers, and public officials who have donated money. They are appointed by Your Majesty and the court, and are equivalent to the advisors of the National Assembly."

"There are now 200 Zhuolu District Councillors, including 40 retired officials and scholars, 30 retired military officers, and 10 other religious figures, all appointed by us."

"There are 40 people each in agriculture, industry and commerce, and it is not yet fully staffed."

Zhu Youjian frowned upon hearing this and asked:

“Is it difficult to elect a councillor?”

"Aren't the people of Zhuolu enthusiastic about this?"

“Or are there not many people who can be elected?”

According to his previous discussions with Liu Zongzhou and others, the right to vote would be granted to all adults who paid taxes according to the law.

However, the right to be elected is only available to those with a status of Gongshi or above.

In other words, if one wanted to be elected as a member of parliament, in addition to donating money to become a public official, one must have the title of scholar, or be awarded the rank of commoner, zaoshi, or lieutenant by the court.

Only these people can be elected and become members of the Zhuolu District Council.

What Zhu Youjian was worried about was that there were not many people in Zhuolu District who were qualified to be elected and could not meet the needs of the parliament.

Liu Zongzhou replied somewhat embarrassedly:

“They were elected before, but some of the farmers’ representatives were considered scholars.”

"Also, the business representatives were criticized by many scholars. They believed that they were not qualified to be members of parliament and were not worthy of discussing matters with them."

"In addition, some MPs were found to have evaded taxes and were forced to withdraw, and they have yet to be replaced."

Zhu Youjian nodded slightly, realizing the difficulty of running a parliament.

The current Ming Dynasty was an agricultural society, and most of the gentry, as representatives of farmers, were wealthy.

These people control local power and are certainly unwilling to share it with the lower classes.

Even if they hold 40% of the seats in parliament, they are unwilling to give up the other 60%.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian emphasized:
"Scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans are the four classes of the country."

"The local parliament of the Ming Dynasty is the Four People's Conference—"

"We need to allow scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans to gather together to discuss matters."

"If you have any dissatisfaction, please speak up at the meeting. Don't make trouble at will." "This is the original intention of my opening the parliament, and it is also the key to local stability."

"So the parliament must have all four classes, but the proportion can be flexible."

As he spoke and thought, Zhu Youjian finally decided:

"For places where industry and commerce account for more than 20% of tax revenue, 20% of the councillors should come from business backgrounds."

"Where the proportion is less than 20%, appropriate reductions may be made, but they must not be less than 10%."

"Agricultural representatives are not limited to certain identities, and scholars such as scholars are allowed to participate. However, the elected representatives must be divided into three types: permanent property families, poor families, and wealthy families, according to the land they own."

"Half of the agricultural representatives come from permanent property families, and the other half is equally divided between poor families and wealthy families."

"This is a tentative ratio. The staff shortage in Zhuolu District Council will be supplemented according to this ratio."

Liu Zongzhou listened to the emperor's instructions and felt that the ratio was more appropriate than before.

However, there was no standard for determining permanent property, poverty, or wealth, so he requested:
"The standard for permanent property has not yet been determined. I ask this parliament to relax it a little and then determine it in the next parliament."

Zhu Youjian thought for a moment and said:

"Then let this parliament be designated as a temporary parliament."

“After agreeing on the proportion of members, another election will be held next year.”

"From now on, the term of office of the members of parliament will be six years, and half of them will be re-elected every three years."

“The total period of service as a member of the same Parliament shall not exceed eighteen years.”

This regulation is used to prevent some people from occupying local councils and having too much influence.

There will be more restrictions in the future to prevent local councils from being controlled by a certain group of people.

It can be said that everything in the parliament is still very rough and needs to be improved little by little in practice.

In order to ensure that the property tax could be successfully collected, Zhu Youjian sent Qian Qianyi, Zhang Pu, Gu Yanwu and others to publicize their views.

These people who are famous all over the world will surely influence some people's attitudes. They can also improve relevant theories in practice.

For a time, the attention of the entire northern Zhili was focused on Zhuolu District.

Everyone knows that the result of the Zhuolu District Council will determine whether northern Zhili will levy property tax.

Most people in the court and the country praised the emperor's approach.

Because the emperor did not act arbitrarily, but left the power to decide whether to levy new taxes to the people for discussion.

Most officials and gentry thought that this method was very good and could restrain imperial power and limit the emperor's misconduct.

Many people had higher expectations for the Congress, believing that after its establishment, they would be able to further limit the emperor's power.

Some visionary people even began to prepare to establish parliaments in their own places and to promote their family members. The number of people donating to become officials increased suddenly, and Zhu Youjian received a lot of money.

Compared to passing the examination to become a scholar, it is easier to donate money to become a public official.

Some people also set their sights on becoming a creator, hoping to gain honors through their inventions.

Some people decided to join the army and seek the rank of second lieutenant.

Or participate in a martial arts tournament and be granted the status of a public official.

These people will have the right to be elected and the opportunity to serve as members of parliament.

However, the happiest people were the scholars. These students, who had no political power and often caused trouble in the countryside, were the most supportive of the current emperor.

Because they can not only be appointed as representatives of scholars, but also be elected as agricultural representatives, they have a great chance of becoming members of parliament.

Even some families whose families were engaged in business and industry called in newspapers that scholars should have the opportunity to become representatives of the industrial and commercial sectors and not be limited to agriculture.

It can be said that these people who previously had no political power were the most active in the matter of parliament.

When they saw an opportunity to gain political power, they pounced on it without hesitation.

The voices of the wealthy were also suppressed because there were too many scholars in the Ming Dynasty, and most of them could not be called property owners.

When the wealthy families had not yet adapted to newspapers as a media of opinion and were unable to influence public opinion, the voices of these scholars were mainstream and most of them supported property tax.

The same is true for the representatives of Zhuolu District. Although many of them come from wealthy families, most of the scholar representatives appointed by the court support the emperor.

The officers had just been purged, and those who did not cooperate were transferred to Dongning Guard. In addition, the officers' hereditary land had a different policy, so the retired officers who served as councilors would naturally not bite the bullet and make things difficult for the emperor.

Most of the retired civil officials had connections with eunuchs. The eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty mainly came from Northern Zhili, and there were very few civil officials who had no connection with eunuchs.

Although Zhu Youjian did not appoint eunuchs on a large scale in the Zhuolu District Council, most of the retired officials who were designated as councilors had good relations with the eunuchs.

The eunuchs in the palace have a lot of influence on them.

Even agricultural representatives, property owners with a lot of land, are not the mainstream.

Rich households with more than 100 acres of land account for only about 5% of all farmers.

Those who own more than 1,000 acres of land are rare, and most of them are retired officials.

Even though they have a high chance of becoming members of parliament, they do not have an advantage in terms of numbers.

Moreover, when the emperor and ministers such as Liu Zongzhou and Qian Qianyi, as well as officials such as Wen Zhenmeng, Liu Lishun, Shi Kefa, and Chen Renxi had clearly stated that they agreed to levy a property tax, these people did not dare to openly oppose it, even though they wanted to avoid being targeted.

The result of the parliamentary deliberations is predictable: the property tax was passed almost unanimously, with only a handful of members abstaining or opposing it.

However, there is a lot of controversy over who is considered a property owner. Some people think it should be set at 100 mu, while others think it should be higher, at 200 mu or 300 mu or more.

In the end, with Liu Lishun's insistence, the standard for property owners was set as owning more than 100 acres of land.

The standard for super-property owners is to own more than 1,000 acres of land.

The standard for permanent property owners was set at owning thirty to one hundred acres of land.

Families with less than 30 acres of land are considered poor.

Especially those with less than ten mu of land are identified as needy families, and they should be given priority when it comes to immigration and tax reduction.

According to previous statistics, the average yield per mu in Zhuolu District is about two shi. A family of five with ten mu of land can harvest about twenty shi of grain, and the average per person ration is only about four shi.

According to the court's disaster relief standards, an adult needed at least three stone and six dou of grain per year, while a child needed one stone and eight dou.

After paying taxes, such families were almost on the brink of life and death, and only a hair's breadth away from becoming refugees in need of disaster relief.

Most of them need to rent land to survive.

In order to prevent the landlords from passing on property taxes to them, Gu Yanwu's proposal to ban and restrict private renting was also discussed in parliament.

But there are many people who oppose this proposal.

Those who rent out land generally do not want the rent to be restricted.

Some people even stated that if the parliament set a maximum rent, they would take back the land and no longer rent it out.

(Land distribution in the 2.5th map of the 5th district of Xiuning County, Anhui Province in the late Ming Dynasty. It can be seen that the proportion of landlords with more than acres is about -%, and the proportion of land occupied is as high as % to %. The proportion of poor farmers with less than acres is more than half, and the total land owned is only about acres) (End of this chapter)