Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Even though they were somewhat accustomed to the emperor's strange ideas, the ministers still found it incredible when they heard the requirement for the parliamentarians to serve.

In particular, many civil officials believed that soldiers and military commanders were vulgar people. How could the emperor require members of the parliament to have military service experience?

It can be said that the request of this congressman to serve in the military was met with unanimous opposition from the ministers in the court.

Even Liu Zongzhou did not support this policy, believing that times had changed and that the people of the Ming Dynasty could not be required to serve in the army just because the people of the Zhou Dynasty served in the army:
"During the Zhou Dynasty, in addition to the Chinese people, there were also many barbarians."

“So the people of our country must serve and defend their country.”

"But now that the Ming Dynasty is so powerful, there is really no need to have all the people serve in the army."

"Besides, the imperial court has millions of soldiers in the garrisons, and does not need ordinary people to serve."

Zhu Youjian shook his head and said:
"The She'an Rebellion in the southwest has not yet been completely resolved, and it is unclear when the Jianlu Rebellion in Liaodong will be quelled."

"Plus, the rise of the Western countries has brought them all the way to the gates of the Ming Dynasty."

"This is a time of life and death, and more people are needed to join the army."

"It is difficult to obtain sufficient troops relying solely on the garrison troops."

Minister of Revenue Bi Ziyan said:

"Today, there are nearly 10 million households and more than 50 million people in the world."

"If all citizens were to be required to serve, the court would have to pay too much more for the military, and the Ministry of Revenue could not afford it."

Zhu Youjian frowned and asked:

"How can you not afford it?"

"During the period of compulsory military service, only basic allowances will be paid, and no additional pay will be given if you are not fighting."

"According to the requirement of serving in the army for three years or engaging in civilian work for five years, how many more soldiers will the Ming Dynasty add?"

"How much will the Ministry of Revenue cost?"

Bi Ziyan was speechless for a moment. He didn't expect that the emperor did not intend to pay the conscripts.

After calculating, he said:

"If this is the case, the imperial court will probably increase its military strength by one million."

“Even if soldiers don’t get paid, they still have to eat, wear clothes, and use up weapons.”

"Based on the calculation that each soldier has 5 dan of grain per year, at least 5 million dan of grain will be consumed."

"If we add in the cost of salt and vegetables, fur coats, weapons, military camps, and horse breeding, it will be even more."

"The final increase in expenditure may exceed 10 million taels."

This number is indeed not small, but compared with the five or six million taels of Liao salary required for the 110,000 troops in Liaodong every year, it is really too little.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian was even more moved after hearing this, and said to his ministers:
"Did everyone hear it?"

"If compulsory military service is implemented, the cost of maintaining a million soldiers would be around 10 million taels."

"If all the Liao Dynasty money from the imperial court was used to support conscripts, it could support more than 500,000 troops."

"With such a large military force, why should we worry that the Jianlu cannot be pacified?"

Some ministers were tempted after hearing this, especially the officials of the Privy Council.

After all, the military service requirement is nothing to them, and five years of civilian work experience is easy for them to accomplish.

On the contrary, after the regulations on the conscription of the people were passed, they could easily recruit hundreds of thousands of troops to achieve success.

Yang Sichang actively supported this policy and said loudly:

"I think that not only members of parliament should serve in the military, but all citizens who want to have the right to vote should also serve in the military."

"If you can't contribute to the country, how can you be called a citizen?"

Upon hearing this, the ministers became furious and began to loudly accuse.

They were a little hesitant when criticizing the emperor, but they had no pressure at all when criticizing Yang Sichang.

For a time, Yang Sichang suffered the most intense criticism in his life.

Some people loudly criticized him, saying that his proposal, like the previous one of increasing Liao taxes, ignored the suffering of the people.

Others spoke more moderately, believing that there are more ways to contribute to the country than just serving in the military, and that paying taxes according to the law is also a way to contribute to the country.

In any case, the ministers had a debate and were no longer almost unanimously opposed to military service as before.

However, the voices of these few people were obviously not enough to compete with the majority of the ministers. Considering that there was a lot of opposition to this matter and that the reform of the military service system would not be done overnight, Zhu Youjian temporarily gave in and said:

"Citizens who do not wish to serve in the military can pay a fee to be exempted from military service."

"For example, the additional Liao salary can be regarded as exemption money."

"Those soldiers serving in the garrisons do not have to pay Liao salaries."

“Their overall tax burden shall not exceed the tithe.”

Emphasizing this point again, Zhu Youjian continued:
"Other soldiers who volunteer to serve as conscripts can be exempted from paying the Liao salary of 30 mu of land during their service, and they will be subject to the same maximum tax of 11th as the soldiers in the garrison."

"The Military Service Department of the Ministry of War should do a good job of statistics and issue certificates of exemption from Liaoyang pay to those conscripts who are not from the garrisons, so that the guards at all levels can protect the rights and interests of the soldiers."

"Whether they are conscripts or volunteers, after three years of military service, they will be issued a discharge certificate, granted citizenship, and have the right to vote."

"If you have served as an officer in the military, you will be awarded the corresponding honors when you retire, and you will have the right to be elected and can occupy the military attaché quota."

This is preferential treatment for the soldiers currently serving, and the ministers' opposition was not that strong.

However, the Ministry of Revenue was worried that the Liao tax would be collected even less, and some people would take advantage of the rule that military service would exempt them from paying the Liao tax and evade paying it.

Regarding this, Zhu Youjian said:
"The Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War should strengthen supervision over this matter. As long as you serve in the regular army recognized by the court, the Liao salary that should be exempted will be exempted."

"The purpose of the imperial court collecting Liao tribute is to quell the rebellion in Liaodong."

"They serve in the military, which is a more direct contribution."

"I hope to pacify the Jianlu as soon as possible and relieve the people of the burden of Liao tribute."

These words were full of meaning, because he had proposed more than once to exempt the Liao salary surcharge.

When the officials saw that the emperor really started to exempt Liao tribute, no matter what they thought in their hearts, they had to praise him a little bit.

Even if the emperor only exempted the Liao salary for the conscripts in order to implement the compulsory military service system, they must admit that the current emperor was not greedy for money and was a person who cared about the suffering of the people.

With this policy, if someone really cannot afford to pay the Liao salary, they can join the army and serve as a conscript.

This policy was therefore passed in the court. Zhu Youjian finally opened a small gap in the current military service system.

The concept of conscripts officially came onto the scene.

Although there is still a long way to go before a comprehensive compulsory military service system is implemented, Zhu Youjian is patient.

He first needed conscription to be accepted before he could implement it.

In this way, when a crisis really occurs in the future, he will be able to recruit all eligible people and carry out a full mobilization.

The Ming Dynasty's war potential will be released unprecedentedly and will overcome all crises.

Moreover, serving in the military can obtain the right to vote and may also enable one to become an officer and obtain the right to be elected, which will increase the recognition of soldiers among the people and improve their status in society.

People will gradually get used to seeing people serving in the military and will no longer view military service as a scourge. They may even view it as a way to improve their status.

However, these are all long-term prospects. Zhu Youjian's current requirement is that at least 15% of the members of parliament must be military officers or have military service experience.

Other members of parliament should also strictly check their tax payment situation, especially the additional levy of Liao salary.

Since they were unwilling to serve, they had to pay the Liao salary. The court needed silver to pay the soldiers who were fighting.

After this episode, Zhu Youjian formally approved Liu Zongzhou's proposal to use Tianjin District as a pilot area.

As for the other pilot project, Liu Zongzhou and others planned to place it in Cangzhou.

This place, which is the destination of the disaster victims from Shaanxi, now urgently needs to strengthen management and set up three urban offices.

So Liu Zongzhou proposed to change Cangzhou to Cangzhou District, add a Tongzhi in Hejian Prefecture, and establish an administrative office in Cangzhou. Zhu Youjian agreed to this.

Hejian Prefecture had two states and sixteen counties. Zhu Youjian originally planned to split up such a large prefecture.

However, after the establishment of the administrative office system, he decided to change the two prefects of Hejian Prefecture into co-prefects and set up an administrative office to take charge of a different area.

Therefore, Hejian Prefecture did not need to continue except to incorporate Jinghai County into Shuntian Prefecture. However, the Baoding Prefecture and Zhending Prefecture adjacent to it needed to be split up.

Because Baoding Prefecture had three prefectures and seventeen counties, and Zhending Prefecture had five prefectures and twenty-seven counties, their jurisdictions were so large that they were almost as large as Shuntian Prefecture.

Zhu Youjian separated the southern part of Baoding Prefecture and the eastern part of Zhending Prefecture to establish Jizhou Prefecture, which together with Baoding Prefecture, Zhending Prefecture, and Hejian Prefecture became the four prefectures in the central part of northern Zhili.

After this split, Baoding Prefecture still added two Tongzhis, and Zhending Prefecture added three, which shows how many counties and prefectures the two prefectures had and how wide their jurisdiction was.

Shunde Prefecture, Guangping Prefecture and Daming Prefecture further south were not very large, with only nine or ten counties, and the only prefecture was Kaizhou in Daming Prefecture.

Zhu Youjian simply transferred the prefect of Kaizhou to the co-prefect of Daming Prefecture, and thus solved the problem of abolishing the prefecture level of the three prefectures.

The work of converting states into prefectures and counties in the entire northern Zhili region was thus declared completed.

(Sketch of the Ten Prefectures in Northern Zhili)
But this is not the end. Li Congxin, the Minister of the River, pointed out that Zhangde Prefecture should be incorporated into Northern Zhili:

"Zhangde Prefecture was called Yecheng in ancient times and was also called Xiangzhou."

"This place belonged to Jizhou in ancient times, and the King of Zhao in this dynasty was also enthroned there."

"Moreover, rivers such as the Zhangshui River belong to the Haihe River system. If we want to regulate the Haihe River, we cannot do without regulating the Zhangshui River."

Zhu Youjian knew that Ximen Bao had regulated the Zhang River when he governed Ye.

The place of Zhangde Prefecture did belong to Hebei for a long time.

But it is also possible to assign it to Henan. After all, Ximen Bao was a Wei person, and Yecheng belonged to Wei at that time.

Places such as Anyang, where the capital of Zhangde Prefecture was located in later generations, also belonged to Henan.

Zhu Youjian was more cautious about adjusting the provincial divisions and carefully asked his ministers:
"If it is as Li Qing said, why was Zhangde Prefecture assigned to Henan?"

"Can anyone explain it clearly?"

Yang Sichang, who is well versed in geography, said:

"Zhangde Prefecture was transferred to Henan during the reign of Emperor Taizu."

"Taizu ruled the north from the south, and Zhangde Prefecture was deep in Zhao territory, bordering Shanxi to the west and Daming Prefecture to the east."

"As long as we control Zhangde Prefecture, we can go west to Shanxi, east to Daming Prefecture, and then east to Shandong."

"So Taizu included this area in Henan, and called it one of the three prefectures in northern Henan together with Weihui Prefecture and Huaiqing Prefecture."

"Before this, the three prefectures in northern Henan belonged to the Secretariat of the former Yuan Dynasty."

After hearing this, Zhu Youjian understood why the northern part of Zhangde Prefecture was assigned to Henan, and he also heard Yang Sichang's hidden meaning:
That is, Taizu unified the north from the south and established Nanjing as the capital, so he needed to assign Zhangde Prefecture to Henan to facilitate the attack to the north from Henan.

But after Emperor Chengzu moved the capital, this meaning was no longer important. Zhangde Prefecture should have been assigned to Northern Zhili long ago to facilitate the governance of this area.

Considering that Cizhou in Zhangde Prefecture is a famous iron smelting site, the Handan Iron and Steel in later generations became famous.

Anyang, where the capital of Zhangde Prefecture is located, is also the location of the Yin Ruins where oracle bones were unearthed.

Zhu Youjian finally decided:

"Zhangde Prefecture was transferred to Northern Zhili, and military affairs were under the jurisdiction of the Baoding Governor and the Daming Military Preparations Department."

"The Magistrate of Cizhou was promoted to the Associate Magistrate, and an office was established to be responsible for iron smelting."

"The last pilot project will be held in Zhangde Prefecture."

“Choose a place suitable for using coal to smelt iron, and build an urban area centered on the steel industry.”

A pilot project was set up in the southern part of Northern Zhili.

Moreover, this pilot project originally belonged to Henan and could affect the prefectures and counties of Henan. This made it easier for the reform measures of Northern Zhili to be implemented in Henan and accepted by the people of Henan.

At this point, the prefectures and counties under the jurisdiction of Northern Zhili were finally completely determined.

There are four prefectures in the south: Shunde Prefecture, Zhangde Prefecture, Guangping Prefecture, and Daming Prefecture.

There are four prefectures in the central part: Zhending Prefecture, Baoding Prefecture, Jizhou Prefecture, and Hejian Prefecture.

There are two prefectures in the north: Shuntian Prefecture and Yongping Prefecture.

There are ten prefectures and more than one hundred districts and counties in total.

Zhu Youjian required all prefectures and districts to establish three offices to prepare for the establishment of a parliament.

Where there are guard posts, garrison areas should be established as appropriate.

He assigned Lu Xiangsheng, the governor of Baoding, to be in charge of these affairs in the central and southern parts of northern Zhili.

Because the Governor of Baoding was stationed in Zhending, the title of Governor of Baoding was somewhat inappropriate, so he was given a nickname, Governor of Hebei.

Zhu Youjian was very satisfied with Lu Xiangsheng's performance as governor.

Not only did he train a group of local militiamen, he also made it clear that he supported the levy of property taxes.

His grain policy in history was to levy taxes on wealthy families, but there were too many people who opposed it, so it was later replaced by Yang Sichang's equal distribution policy.

This man was not only capable in military affairs, but also had his own way of governing the local area. Zhu Youjian decided to give him more responsibilities, using the establishment of a parliament as bait to promote the collection of property taxes.

The tax rate for property tax had not been determined before. After seeing the good situation, Zhu Youjian decided to be more radical and collect more taxes.

To avoid the shortage of military pay for the imperial court next year after the Liao pay for the garrisons and conscripts is reduced:

"Property tax is a general term. It includes not only land tax on cultivated land, but also property tax, asset tax, inheritance tax and other taxes. It is levied on property owners who own more property than permanent property."

"Land tax, as the name suggests, is a tax imposed on wealthy people who own too much land."

"The basic requirement is that for land exceeding 100 mu, a 10% tax increase will be imposed compared to ordinary land."

"For more than 200 acres, the tax will be increased by 20%, and for 300 acres, the tax will be increased by 30%."

"And so on until there are one thousand acres, and all the output will be collected as taxes."

"Unless you obtain a title or hereditary official position, the land will be converted into land of nobility or hereditary property."

This policy was really beyond the expectations of the ministers.

Because the property tax rate set by the emperor was too harsh.

Moreover, this tax is levied on top of the original one. It is estimated that if you have 800 to 900 acres of land, you will need to pay all the output as tax.

At this time, Qian Qianyi was thinking whether the 1,000 acres of land he had left before was too much, and he needed to divide it up by a few hundred acres in order to preserve it.

Because many officials had hundreds or even thousands of acres of land at home, they were generally opposed to the emperor's property tax policy.

They could barely accept the limit of one thousand acres, but they really couldn't stand it if the limit was increased layer by layer within one thousand acres.

The Minister of Revenue, Bi Ziyan, also believed that the policy was too detailed and the Ministry of Revenue was unable to implement it.

Moreover, under the condition of general resistance from the people, tax evasion and tax avoidance may occur frequently, and property tax becomes a dead letter.

Zhu Youjian thought about it carefully and felt that Bi Ziyan had some truth in what he said. Although he stipulated that paying taxes according to the law was the obligation of every citizen, tax evasion would cancel the citizenship.

However, if people generally oppose a policy and form an unspoken rule, tax evasion may become a common phenomenon. There is no way to talk about so-called punishment measures.

Because the officials who implement it may oppose this policy. They will not implement it seriously at all, or even acquiesce in it.

So Zhu Youjian thought about it and gave in:

"For land between 100 mu and 375 mu, or one li, an additional 10% property tax will be levied."

"From one square li to two square li of land, that is, 375 mu to 750 mu, an additional 20% property tax will be levied."

"For every 750 acres to 1,000 acres, a 30% production tax will be levied."

"No one without a title is allowed to own more than a thousand acres."

"What do you think?" (End of this chapter)