Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 445: Taxation of Nobles
The emperor's statement to increase the salaries and fields of titles made most of the nobles feel gratified.

However, this matter has not been finalized yet, because the emperor's private promise does not count, and the final amount of the title land needs to be decided by the court.

After many nobles left, Zhu Youjian left behind Duke of Yingguo Zhang Weixian and asked:

"How many fields does each family have?"

"How much land would they be satisfied with?"

Duke of England Zhang Weixian considered for a moment and said:

"In the ninth year of the Wanli reign, it was approved that the land holdings of nobles and relatives of the deceased would be reduced in proportion to their age, with the limit for nobles being 200 hectares."

"Some relatives of ministers may have as much as 700 hectares, but after the fifth generation, only 100 hectares will be left as hereditary property."

"But most of the nobles in the capital have more farmland than this. When Wei Liangqing was granted the title of Suning Earl during the Tianqi period, he was granted 700 hectares of farmland. When he was promoted to Suning Marquis, he was granted an additional 300 hectares. When he was promoted to Ningguo Duke, he was granted another 1,000 hectares, for a total of 2,000 hectares of farmland."

This number made Zhu Youjian stunned. He realized why almost all the nobles were dissatisfied and even went to the palace to request.

In fact, the area of ​​the noble land equivalent to the amount of noble salary was too small. Even if the earl's noble land was calculated at 1,000 mu, it was only one twentieth of the area of ​​their 200 hectares of farmland.

It can be said that if this number is implemented, each family will definitely bleed a lot. Even if the family's side branches are given land, they will not be able to divide up all the farmland.

However, each family had 200 hectares, which Zhu Youjian thought was too high, not to mention that most of the farms they owned were even larger than this.

So in his heart, he still insisted on the five times he proposed, thinking that this number was acceptable to the nobles.

But the current situation is that he needs to rely on the nobles to control the military force to collect the property tax. Instead of collecting the property tax on the nobles and forcing them to the opposite side——

In that case, there would be too much force opposing the property tax, and it might even threaten his throne.

Zhang Weixian also mentioned other things, which made Zhu Youjian realize that he should be cautious in dealing with Zhuangtian:
"Although the farmlands of nobles and relatives are official lands, some of them can be called private lands and have become family inheritances."

"But some only enjoy rent and taxes, three cents of silver per mu, and three taels of silver per hectare per year."

"The nature of these farms cannot be generalized."

"Besides the nobles, all the kings, princesses, ministers, eunuchs, and temples have farms. Your Majesty, please act with caution."

When Zhu Youjian heard this, he felt the situation was even more difficult and realized the complexity of the Ming Dynasty's land system.

The farmlands were originally granted by the emperor and were nominally government land.

However, after those who received the reward owned the land for a long time, some of them gradually turned it into private property and treated it as their own personal land.

However, there are still some farms that were granted not long ago and are still being taxed.

For example, the 20,000 hectares of farmland granted to King Fu was only used to pay rent and taxes, which were collected by local officials and were often in arrears.

Therefore, Zhang Weixian reminded that we cannot treat farmland in a one-size-fits-all manner.

Moreover, the owners of the manors and fields were not limited to nobles. Members of the royal family, princesses, court ministers, eunuchs in the inner court, and temples and Taoist temples... had all been granted manors and fields.

If not handled properly, it will cause widespread opposition from these people.

So Zhu Youjian thought about it and decided:

"You must have the title land, and you must pay tribute."

"When Mr. Zhang returns, you can ask each family to report the amount of private land, and I will determine the amount of land for them as appropriate."

"Based on the five times figure set previously, the private land that exceeds the title land can be divided among the family members, and if the title land is not enough, buy some from other nobles."

"The land that collected rent and taxes can still be used, and the Ministry of Agriculture will collect three cents of silver per mu."

He sighed again:
"I clearly ordered the Ministry of Revenue to collect taxes from wealthy families and restrict their land holdings."

"But some officials are unwilling to accept this and are collecting taxes from my imperial estate and your farmland."

"I have no choice but to set this example. You nobles should also set an example and prevent officials from finding excuses to resist taxes."

"I can compensate any noble family for any loss they suffer."

"When the fiefdoms are divided in the future, we can compensate them ten or a hundred times."

Even though Zhang Weixian felt that these words were untrue, he still felt quite relieved.

The emperor could say these words, which at least showed that he was on their side. It was only in order to collect taxes from the civil servants that he had to let the nobles set an example.

If the nobles want to be related to the country, they must be considerate of the emperor.

However, Zhang Weixian was a little hesitant about the fief. He thought the emperor didn't know the truth, so he said, half reminding and half testing:
"Your Majesty, the nobles have been rich and powerful for a long time, and most of them are unwilling to go overseas."

"I think we can choose a place closer to the capital and let the nobles who are willing to leave the capital to settle there."

These words made Zhu Youjian frown and he was also a little worried.

Because until now, except for the nobles who made mistakes like Wuqing Marquis and Xinjian Earl, he has not figured out any way to force the nobles to move out.

Otherwise, the nobles would not be given titles and fields, thus blocking their room for development.

So he asked doubtfully:

"Why are you unwilling to move out?"

"Wouldn't it be good to have a vassal state as a feudal lord?"

"From now on, the land and taxes of the vassal states will belong to them, and I will only share one tenth of the taxes."

"Isn't this condition good enough? What do they want?"

Zhang Weixian was speechless after hearing this, and felt that the current emperor was a little naive.

No matter how good the princes outside are, how can they compare to the nobles of the Ming Dynasty?
Haven’t you seen that during the Yongle period, some kings even abandoned their own countries just to come and settle in the Ming Dynasty?

The nobles lived so comfortably in the Ming Dynasty, why would they be willing to give up their family property and establish fiefdoms overseas?
Only those who were posthumously awarded titles by the emperor and could not obtain hereditary titles without going overseas to establish fiefdoms were forced to go overseas to establish fiefdoms.

However, many descendants of meritorious officials did not move, probably because they would rather give up the title than move overseas.

Zhang Weixian tactfully told Zhu Youjian the truth, and Zhu Youjian immediately understood that these nobles were living too comfortably in the Ming Dynasty.

If they did not have hereditary titles, or were confined to a small city like the princes of the imperial clan, they would probably want to establish fiefdoms overseas.

However, these nobles gathered in the two most prosperous capitals of the Ming Dynasty. Of course, they were unwilling to leave this comfortable nest and go to the wild lands overseas.

Even though Zhu Youjian promised them that they could return to Beijing in half a year, these people didn't want to go out at all.

This kind of thing could not be solved in the short term, and Zhu Youjian had no way to move against them or force them to the opposite side.

Only when he had more troops under his control and let his appointed meritorious officials take charge of the Beijing camp, would he dare to take action against these corrupt nobles and force them to move overseas.

As for now, Zhu Youjian could only say with a dull look:

"No matter what, taxes must be paid, otherwise I will not be able to collect taxes from the civil servants and wealthy families." "If any noble family is unwilling to pay, you can ask them to come forward. I will exchange them for overseas fiefdoms a hundred times the amount, and exempt them from tax for ten years."

He continued to bribe Zhang Weixian:

"Zhang Qing wants to build a town near the Ming Dynasty. I can agree to it."

"We can even go a step further and open it up as an inner vassal state."

"I have always felt deeply regretful that the King of Dingxing failed to rule Jiaozhi for generations, and this ancient land of the Han and Tang dynasties was split apart again."

"If Zhang Qing is interested, he can pay more attention to Annan."

"The Mo family is already unable to hold out under the pressure of the Zheng family, and will need the Qing family's help in the future."

This was a naked promise, meaning that the Yingguogong Zhang family could establish a vassal state in Annan. Compared with the Qianguogong's ancestral town in Yunnan, they would have greater autonomy.

Zhang Weixian knew how determined the emperor was to let the nobles establish fiefdoms, and that the Zhang family would most likely go overseas in the future. So what he wanted most was this place, and he wanted to ask for a hereditary town.

As one of the best places around the Ming Dynasty, Annan was coveted by many royal families and nobles who wanted to establish vassal states. Zhu Hengjia, the Prince of Jingjiang, once asked the emperor to place the Jingjiang vassal state there. However, the emperor denied it and asked him to go to Champa, which was further south.

Now, the emperor promised him this piece of land. Zhang Weixian was very happy and promised the emperor:

"I will persuade each family to pay their taxes."

"If there are still people who are unwilling, Your Majesty can banish them."

Zhu Youjian nodded with satisfaction and asked this old minister, who was quite prestigious among the nobles, to talk to the nobles.

The Duke of England really lived up to expectations and successfully settled the taxation of the nobles' lands.

Because before he left, he asked the emperor for a policy. That is, most of the farms over 200 hectares were owned by relatives of the emperor, and he suggested that they be registered under the emperor's name as imperial farms to pay taxes.

Zhang Weixian also suggested that other meritorious officials, eunuchs, etc., like the emperor's relatives, should register their estates and fields of more than 200 hectares under the emperor's name.

In this way, the farmland owned by each family remained unchanged, and because the court even determined the land for nobility, some of the land could be legitimately transferred to hereditary property.

Compared to the past, people had to pay taxes to the emperor.

In order to ensure the implementation of the property tax and to gain the support of the nobles, Zhu Youjian agreed to this request.

All the estates and fields that exceeded the limit were registered under their own names and taxes were levied according to the imperial estates.

Only the land owned by temples and monasteries was still subject to strict restrictions and even religious taxes.

It can be said that under his protection, the practice of civil officials collecting taxes from nobles was eventually transformed into only collecting religious taxes.

This made Zhu Youjian very emotional. He felt that he was still somewhat corrupt. At the same time, he became more determined to cultivate his own meritorious officials and drive out the corrupt nobles in the capital.

As for now, he still needs to unite the forces of these nobles to levy taxes on civil servants and wealthy families.
-
The civil servants were undoubtedly dissatisfied with this result.

Because some people, as Zhu Youjian guessed, were planning to levy taxes on the nobles and hinder the implementation of the property tax.

As long as the nobles do not pay taxes and tax evasion is condoned, they will follow suit and make the property tax a dead letter.

Unexpectedly, the emperor not only agreed to levy taxes on the imperial farms, but also tried to persuade the nobles to pay the taxes.

This made some civil officials very dissatisfied. Some of them instigated Liu Zongzhou and said during the discussion of the title field at the court meeting:
"Your Majesty, in the former Tang Dynasty, the prince had 100 hectares of permanent land, the county prince 50 hectares, the state duke 35 hectares, the county duke 25 hectares, the marquis 12 hectares, the son 8 hectares, and the man 5 hectares."

"Your Majesty has set a limit of 50 hectares for earls, 75 hectares for marquises, and up to 250 hectares for dukes."

"This reward is really too much. Please reduce the amount."

Zhu Youjian actually thought it was high, but the amount of land owned by the nobles was actually higher than this number.

If he didn't raise the amount of land for the nobility, how could he expect the nobles to continue to support him and agree to pay taxes?

So in response to Liu Zongzhou's request, he said:
"The nobles of the Ming Dynasty have been related to the country for more than 200 years, which is unprecedented in the past three dynasties."

"They have served the country for so many years, they deserve more land."

This statement moved many nobles who attended the court meeting, and also alerted some people -

After the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, there was indeed no dynasty whose aristocracy lasted for more than two hundred years like the nobles of the Ming Dynasty.

The Han Dynasty, needless to say, was deprived of its title by Emperor Wu of Han and was also cut short by Wang Mang's Xin Dynasty. As a result, there were more than 800 marquises in the Western Han Dynasty, but only three remained by the time of Emperor Guangwu. The Eastern Han Dynasty lasted less than 200 years, and it can be said that there was no nobleman who lasted more than 200 years.

In the Tang Dynasty, few titles could be inherited, and most of them were just inherited for a few generations. In addition, the Xuanwu Gate inheritance law implemented in the Tang Dynasty led to a very chaotic political situation. If you were not careful, you would stand on the wrong side and end up dead.

As for the titles of nobility in the Song Dynasty, there is no point in mentioning them. They can only be regarded as treatment given to officials, not like titles at all.

In comparison, it is indeed unusual that the nobles of the Ming Dynasty could pass on their titles for so many generations.

This is a unique event after the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties.

In order to continue their own wealth and prosperity, they must support the emperor and continue to be related to the country.

Some nobles who had originally been resentful of the emperor's taxation became less resentful after realizing this point and expressed their support for the emperor.

They talked a lot about the contributions of their ancestors and thought it was completely natural that they had so much land.

Zhu Youjian watched their performance and sneered in his heart.

These nobles are truly completely corrupt and only care when it comes to their own interests.

When the Privy Council was set up earlier and the Five Military Commanderies were completely bypassed, there was no sign of their opposition.

It seemed that as long as the honorary title of the Five Army Commander-in-Chief could be retained, they would be satisfied.

However, they do not know that the nobles are becoming increasingly marginalized, and if they continue like this, they will sooner or later lose all their power.

Letting them go overseas to establish fiefdoms was actually to reshape the foundation of their power.

Unexpectedly, these people were not grateful and just wanted to enjoy wealth and luxury in the capital.

Sooner or later, we will find other reasons to drive these people overseas one by one.

The nobles who were unaware of the emperor's intention were first met with a counterattack from the civil servants.

After Liu Zongzhou spoke, many civil officials bravely spoke up. They cited classics to show that it was unreasonable for nobles to own so much land.

He also suggested taking back the extra farmland from them.

How can fifty or sixty nobles win the argument over more than two hundred regular court officials?
They were soon refuted and had no words to say, and some of them even had their past exposed, pointing out that their ancestors did not have so many merits at all.

The achievements of many of them are not even as good as those of the Purple Pavilion Meritorious Officials. The descendants of the Purple Pavilion Meritorious Officials have to establish fiefdoms overseas to obtain hereditary titles. These people also have to move overseas to inherit the titles.

It can be said that after Zhu Youjian proposed opening overseas fiefs, some civil officials had already come up with the same idea, wanting to use this method to drive out some nobles who were a burden to the court.

(End of this chapter)