Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Faced with this situation, Liu Lishun, who is in charge of the Government Affairs Office, said firmly:
"Regardless of whether the parliament passes a ban on private renting, the total rent and tax on government land will be capped at 30%, with a maximum of seven bushels per mu."

"For those who do not cooperate with this policy, the government will take back the official land and rent it to needy families."

Coming from a low-income family, he strongly agreed with the emperor's proposal to take back government-owned land and rent it to needy families.

It is planned to be implemented in Zhuolu District to reduce the number of people in difficulty.

When those parliamentarians whose families owned government-owned land heard this, they felt as if they had lost their parents.

Only then did they realize that no matter what the current status of the official fields was, they were nominally owned by the imperial court.

The imperial court wanted to take it back by force, and they had no reason to object.

Liu Lishun had more than one trick up his sleeve. He knew that there were not many official farmlands in Zhuolu District, and most of them were farmlands for the garrisons. So he continued:
"The land of the people is the land that pays taxes. All the land that has not paid taxes to the court and is not registered in the books belongs to the court."

"Zhuolu District will compile a yellow book next year to redefine the land holdings of each household."

“All land that has no tax record and no official land deeds will be considered official land.”

"I hope that the members of parliament who have learned of this matter will register their own land as soon as possible and pay the evaded taxes."

“So as to avoid losing the right to be elected due to tax evasion when the qualifications of members of parliament are reviewed.”

This policy made those lawmakers even more frightened.

Because most of their families have hidden land and never pay taxes.

If your land is designated as government land because you haven't paid taxes, that would be a huge loss.

But paying back taxes is also very painful.

So there was a lot of discussion in the meeting hall.

Even those who were present and watching were very dissatisfied with the policy proposed by Liu Lishun.

Because they realized that if this policy was implemented in Zhuolu District, it might be implemented in other places later.

At that time, all the hidden fields in the family will be subject to taxes.

Some people couldn't help but stand up to question, but they saw Zhang Pu stand up first and ask:

"Does it mean that the land that we have cultivated ourselves should also be designated as government land?"

"And the government lost the land register and didn't collect taxes, so why punish the people?"

Liu Lishun heard this and said seriously:
"Your Majesty has said that paying taxes according to the law is the obligation of all Ming citizens."

"Anyone who fails to pay taxes according to the law will not be considered a citizen of the Ming Dynasty and will be deprived of the right to vote and be elected."

“This is the most basic requirement for voters when Congress was established.”

This was forcibly added when Zhu Youjian discussed with Liu Zongzhou and others. He wanted every Ming citizen to have the concept of paying taxes according to the law.

You cannot evade taxes with a clear conscience just because the imperial tax collection agencies have omissions. If you are found out, you will be expelled from the Ming Dynasty and will not have the right to vote or be elected.

Liu Zongzhou agreed with this, and when everyone looked at him, he nodded solemnly, letting everyone understand that paying taxes was inevitable.

Unless they don't want to be citizens of the Ming Dynasty and don't want political rights.

After Liu Lishun stated this, he continued:

"According to the court's regulations, all unused land belongs to the government."

"But the court also respects the status quo. For those who have been cultivated for more than ten years before the first year of the Tianqi reign, they are allowed to register as private land after paying ten years of taxes."

“I hope all councillors can identify their own land and fields as soon as possible.”

“If there are still people who conceal their land and fail to register it next year, their membership in the Legislative Council will be revoked and their right to vote and be elected will be revoked once they are discovered.”

After warning the MPs, he added:
"This regulation only applies to owners of land of less than 100 acres."

"If you already own more than 100 mu of land, you may not continue to increase your private land in the name of land reclamation."

"Moreover, the official fields of the imperial court will be gradually reclaimed and distributed to needy families for rent and cultivation."

This regulation made those landlords who owned a lot of land feel distressed, because they could not register their hidden land as private land in the name of reclamation after paying ten years of taxes.

Some people even wanted to continue hiding it, but Liu Lishun's previous warning forced them to pay attention -

If they continue to evade taxes and are discovered by the government, their right to vote and to be elected will be revoked, and they will not be able to serve as members of parliament.

How could they tolerate this when they had just tasted the sweetness?
Some people also vaguely realize that the distribution of power in the countryside is likely to be changed by the legislators.

From now on, only councillors who have supervisory power and can sit in parliament will be respected by villagers.

Those who do not have the status of a member of parliament are just ordinary civilians.

No matter how much wealth you have, no one may pay attention to you when you talk to the government.

So they were in a dilemma for a while, unwilling to give up their land, but also afraid to take the risk of not being able to serve as members of parliament.

A landlord named Wang said:
"I reclaimed some wasteland in the past, but according to what Liu Hanlin said, it is impossible to turn it into my own private farmland."

"Should I just give up these fields for nothing and donate them directly to the government?"

Liu Lishun looked at the old man with white beard and said patiently:
"Don't be impatient, old man. The court has no intention of seizing people's land."

"If there are many children in the father-in-law's family and they have already started their own families, they can be allowed to live on their own and the land of more than 100 mu can be allocated to them."

"According to the etiquette and laws that the court is currently revising, as long as children have their own families or are over 20 years old, they can set up their own households and be treated as new household registrations."

"The land he owns is considered separate from the land owned by his father-in-law and is not counted together."

After hearing this explanation, many landlords breathed a sigh of relief.

Before, they thought that the court would force them to donate their land, but they didn't expect that they could also divide the households and disperse the family land.

Some landlords who owned more than 100 acres of land and needed to pay property tax even thought of dividing the family property among their children in advance and dividing the land to avoid paying property tax.

The officials and citizens who were present at the hearing also praised the speech, which eased the tense atmosphere in the meeting hall.

Most landlords only owned a few hundred acres of land, and they were able to completely avoid property tax by dividing up their property.

Therefore, they all agreed with the etiquette of dividing the family. No one used the ancient etiquette of "don't divide the family while the parents are still alive" to say that the family should not be divided. This policy aimed at breaking up the big family was easily approved at this time, and it was not even discussed in the court.

After Liu Lishun explained this point, he continued:
"If there are no children to share the land, the government will take back the excess land at the market price and distribute it to needy families for rent."

"For those who donate a certain amount of land, His Majesty will grant them the status of public officials, allowing them to serve as councillors and officials."

"Your Majesty has said that legal private property is sacred and inviolable. The purpose of the court is to collect taxes, not to seize property at will. You can rest assured."

"If someone's property is being taken away, they can complain to the parliament or even file a lawsuit."

This promise made the landlords present feel more at ease.

In particular, the emperor's words "legal private property is sacred and inviolable" touched their hearts.

The current situation of the Ming Dynasty is that it is dominated by bureaucrats. If a family cannot produce officials for several generations, it will decline.

The saying "a county magistrate who ruins a family, a provincial governor who wipes out a clan" further illustrates how powerful the officials are.

Once you offend an official, your family may be broken up and your life may be ruined.

Therefore, the councillors of Zhuolu District did not dare to openly refute Liu Lishun's tough stance. It took Zhang Pu to start before anyone dared to speak.

Now, the emperor has made it clear that he will protect legal private property, which means that as long as they pay taxes according to the law and do not violate the law, their property will be protected and will not be violated by officials.

This made the parliamentarians present very unhappy, especially those who had been bullied by clerks.

In the future, with their status as parliamentarians, they will be able to intimidate ordinary officials. If these people dare to do wrong, they can complain to the parliament.

Even higher-ranking officials cannot be easily touched until their parliamentary status is stripped away.

This has made many MPs pay more attention to their status as MPs. Many have made up their minds to change from being temporary MPs to becoming full MPs.

They all realize the usefulness of being a member of parliament and feel that being elected will help them maintain their family's wealth.

Some people also felt that being a member of parliament was not safe, and planned to have someone in their family pass the examination to become a scholar or donate money to become a public official in order to obtain the right to be elected as a member of parliament.

Those whose families were short of money or had no confidence in passing the imperial examination even planned to have their sons join the army and retire as a ninth-rank second lieutenant.

It can be said that because of the restrictions on the election qualifications of parliamentarians, many people became restless. The civil forces mobilized by the court also increased.

However, these people are not without concerns, that is, how to maintain the rights of parliamentarians and whether they will be charged with tax evasion and other crimes because of offending officials.

In response to this, Liu Zongzhou stood up and said:
"The court is currently drafting a law for the National Assembly and Parliamentary elections, and future elections for members of Parliament will be conducted in accordance with the provisions therein."

"The deprivation of a member's status also requires a vote in parliament. According to the provisions of the election law, the member's qualifications will be revoked."

“Local officials do not have the power to directly deprive councillors of their status, they can only initiate proposals.”

"If a member of parliament has any objection, he or she can appeal to the higher parliament and ask the higher parliament to vote."

This statement put many members of parliament at ease, as they realized that their status as members of parliament provided them with many protections.

This made them discuss more enthusiastically what the councillors can do, and they also attached importance to the Zhuolu District Council as an institution.

In this atmosphere, when Liu Lishun again proposed banning or restricting private rentals, many people did not object.

First, they are worried that if they oppose too vigorously, they will be targeted and reported for their previous tax evasion and criminal activities, and lose their status as legislators.

In addition, judging from the policy Liu Lishun just read out, the government will find a lot of hidden fields and collect them from the government. If they do not limit the rent, the tenants will rent and cultivate the government fields.

In addition, the maximum rent proposed by Liu Lishun was not low. The maximum proportion including rent and taxes was 50%, and the maximum was one stone per mu.

This figure was not even reached by some landlords when they collected rent. Only some bad gentry could possibly exceed it.

However, most of those bad gentry were not elected as councillors, so after considering it, most of the councillors who were from landlord families present acquiesced.

Even the military officers who owned a lot of hereditary land and needed to hire people to farm the land did not object to this.

In this way, the resolution on property tax and land and rent restrictions was successfully passed by the Zhuolu District Council.

The members present also formally counted their votes and confirmed the resolution.

This sensational news spread quickly to all directions. Not only did the participants spread the news by word of mouth, but the newspapers in the capital also reported it in a series of articles, revealing almost everything that happened at the meeting.

Many officials and scholars discussed the impact of this resolution and what changes it would bring to Northern Zhili next year.

As for the people in Zhuolu District, most of them cheered.

In particular, the poor families, which account for half of the population, praised Liu Lishun highly for his work in parliament after learning about his performance.

Especially when they learned that the members of parliament who came from poor families had to be at least half-grown, they also became enthusiastic about the so-called parliament.

However, the more difficult thing is that most poor families have no money to donate to the government, nor can they afford to support scholars. As a result, there are not many people who have the right to be elected, and it is likely that they cannot gather the required number of members.

Regarding this point, some people's opinion is to propose to the emperor that the number of members should not be specifically set for poor families, and that scholars such as scholars and juren can fully represent them.

Liu Lishun opposed this and after refuting the views of these people, he submitted a memorial to the emperor, suggesting that the local government should follow the policy of the early years of the country and recommend filial and hard-working people to farm.

These recommended people naturally did not become officials, but were granted the status of public officials, giving them the right to be elected.

Zhu Youjian was quite appreciative of this memorial, believing that it could solve the problem of legislators from poor families and discover some talents.

After comprehensive discussions with Liu Zongzhou and others, he decided:
"The representatives of the poor families can be selected by the government from the poor families, twice the number of filial and hardworking people, and have them nominated by the local poor families."

"After being elected, you will serve as a provisional councillor for three years. If you do not make any serious mistakes, I will grant you the status of a public official, transfer you to a full councillor, and have the right to elect councillors in the future."

"But if these people become wealthy, they will not be able to represent poor families in the next election, and new people who are filial and hardworking will need to be elected."

This will ensure that poor families always have representatives in parliament and have channels to communicate with the government, so that they are not forced to rebel when they are left with no other options.

Zhu Youjian also thought of the industrial and commercial sectors, believing that if the number of representatives from the industrial and commercial sectors was insufficient in some places, members of parliament could be elected in the same way.

Zhu Youjian was impressed by Liu Lishun who made this point.

Especially after learning about Liu Lishun's performance in parliament in detail, he believed that this top scholar was a promising talent.

Regardless of whether Liu Lishun used his status to exert pressure, the fact that he was able to pass the property tax and land and rent restrictions showed that he was a man of strong will and the ability to persuade others.

Such talents will be needed when we establish Congress in the future.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian asked the Ministry of Personnel to give Liu Lishun a credit, and to review the work of Wen Zhenmeng, Shi Kefa and others, and to reduce the penalties for meritorious officials. (End of this chapter)