Chu and Han contend for the throne

Chapter 249 Field Fu Law

"Huh? Most of them are private lands of noble families?!" Xiang Zhuang couldn't help frowning when he heard this. Chu has just established a state, so it is impossible for the phenomenon of land annexation to be so serious?

At that moment Xiang Zhuang asked again: "Zi Yi, why did this happen?"

Xiang He sighed, and replied: "The former king and Liu Bang spent a lot of money and food in their five-year campaign. In addition, the six counties in the north of the Yangtze River were repeatedly harassed by the Liang army, and the people had no food to collect. Therefore, the four counties in the east of the river were heavily taxed. If you can’t pay the land tax, you can only borrow food from the aristocratic family, and if you can’t pay the loan, you can only mortgage the land, and after a few years, it will be like this.”

Xiang Zhuang nodded silently. It seemed that Zhan Luan was the cause of the disaster. Although Jiangdong was not directly affected by Zhan Luan, he was also affected by Zhan Luan.

After pondering for a while, Xiang Zhuang finally said: "Zi Yi, this situation must be stopped!"

Jiangdong's land annexation is so serious, it is obviously impossible. In history, no dynasty with serious land annexation did not perish, no matter how powerful it is, it is useless!

For example, in the Ming Dynasty, a large amount of land was annexed to the gentry (scholars with fame) in Chongzhen. , and what kind of climate can refugees become?In the end, Man Qing was cheap for nothing, which really makes people sigh.

Xiang Zhuang didn't want Great Chu or the future Great Chu Empire to repeat the mistakes of the Ming Empire.

Xiang He didn't understand Xiang Zhuang's meaning for a while, and asked: "My lord, do you mean to stop the aristocratic families from annexing the private land of registered households? This situation has actually been stopped. Since the king took the throne, the land tax rate has been reduced. After the [-]th tax, the self-cultivating farmers in Jiangdong have enough to support themselves."

"No, that's not what I'm talking about." Xiang Zhuang shook his head.

Land annexation is obviously unstoppable. Even though Xiang Zhuang is a traveler and is familiar with the history of the rise and fall of many feudal dynasties, it is still impossible for him to prevent land annexation. This is basically unsolvable. The only thing Xiang Zhuang needs to consider is, No matter how the land is merged, the tax source of the treasury will not be lost, this is the fundamental!

For example, in the Ming Dynasty, if the gentry also received Fu, how could the country perish?

If the Tu people who own a large amount of land and number more than one million also receive taxes, how can the Ming treasury be so poor?How can the emperor and empress of the empire need to wear civilian clothes?How can Zhu Youjian use alms for his courtiers and relatives of the emperor?As a result, Zhu Youjian lost his face and only lost a mere 10 taels of silver, which was not enough to reward the soldiers and civilians who defended the city. As a result, the city of Beijing was directly breached by refugees, Zhu Youjian committed suicide, and the Ming Empire was over.

When Xiang Zhuang was silent, Xiang Ta suddenly said: "Your Majesty, I have a way."

Xiang Zhuang asked subconsciously: "What way?"

Xiang He said: "After the autumn harvest, it's time to enter the slack season, and the strong men in all counties and counties should also serve in the Yao service. I think it's better to concentrate the labor of the strong men in several counties, so that a large number of people in Quze (Taihu Lake) and along the Yangtze River will be brought together. If wasteland is reclaimed and tenant farmers from all counties and counties are attracted to cultivate at a low price, the dilemma of too little official land and insufficient land tax will be solved. In addition, the treasury can get an extra amount of money and grain, which is better than nothing, right? .”

In today's Jiangdong, the population density is far from saturated, and there is still a lot of wasteland around Taihu Lake that can be reclaimed.

"That's a good idea." Xiang Zhuang nodded, then changed the topic, and continued, "But the newly reclaimed fields are all raw fields, and the yield may not be too high. When the raw fields are plowed and mature, it will take five years at least. This year, how will we survive the past five years? Especially this year, I thought the situation would improve when the harvest of autumn grains was in order, but I didn’t want to be in such a predicament.”

Xiang He remained silent, he really couldn't think of a solution to this.

Xiang Zhuang suddenly said: "Ziyi, I plan to implement the new "Field Tax Law", and it will be implemented this year. The land tax of [-] taxes and one tax will remain unchanged, but the objects of the tax must be expanded to cover the land of the whole country, whether it is ordinary people or scholars. The noble family is still a wealthy family, and even the royal family's land must be paid according to the law, and those who resist the law will not be tolerated."

"This..." Xiang He frowned and said, "My lord, isn't this a bit extreme?"

He didn't need to think about it, he could guess that once the new "Field Tax Law" is implemented, it will inevitably attract fierce opposition from noble families and noble families, because almost all noble families own a large amount of land, and even more so from noble families. It's just picking food from their mouths, how can they not object?

With the "Compilation of Household Qi Min Law" just promulgated, which has offended the Jiangdong clan all over the place, Xiang He doesn't think it's a good time to offend the aristocratic family and the gentry. , then the situation will be serious, and Dachu will suffer an unprecedented catastrophe.

Xiang Zhuang also felt that the matter was of great importance, so he immediately sent someone to find Bai Lixian.

After hearing the whole story, Bai Lixian waved his feather fan and pondered for a long time before saying, "Your Majesty, it's not impossible to do this."

"Military teacher, aren't you..." Xiang He was in a hurry, but Xiang Zhuang stopped him when he was about to refute, and then Xiang Zhuang turned to Bai Lixian and said, "Ziliang, tell me, what should we do about this matter?"

Bai Lixian smiled slightly, looked at Xiang He and said: "What worries Yin most is that once the new "Tian Fu Law" is implemented, the aristocratic families, noble families and clans will join forces to resist the law and challenge the royal power. It is not easy to solve this situation. Difficult, first of all, gather the strong men of the clans from all counties to serve in Yao service, or build cities, or reclaim wasteland, so that the clans in each county will not be able to cause trouble."

Xiang Zhuang nodded and said: "Ziyi has already told the widow about this matter just now, let these strong men of the clan go to Juquze and Wujiang to open up wasteland, and the treasury can get an extra income."

All the clan leaders from various counties went to Juquze and Wujiang to reclaim wasteland. Even though the elders of the clans smelled the smell and wanted to make some changes, but without the young adults under their command, what else could they make a fuss about?As for the young men of the clans concentrated in Juquze and the Wujiang River, militarized management must of course be implemented. In addition, no one will take the lead, so there will be no accidents.

Bai Lixian nodded, and then said: "Secondly, the king has to issue another imperial edict to greatly increase Shiqing Shixun's salary in the name of rewarding meritorious ministers. At least the land tax confiscated from Shiqing Shixun Return it to them in full, so that Shiqing Shixun's interests are not harmed, and they will not react excessively."

The Shiqing Shixun mentioned by Bai Lixian is actually the old Chu family, such as Shusun Guan, Qu Yi, Wu Qi, etc. Although the number of these old Chu families is not many, there are only a dozen, but they have great influence in Jiangdong. Although they have no military power, as long as they climb up and shout, someone will definitely raise their troops to respond.

Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to please the old Chu family.

Baili Xian paused, and then continued: "In the end, only the gentry who migrated from the six counties in Jiangbei to Jiangdong are left. Unlike Shiqing Shixun, who hold high positions, they don't have much influence in the army. strength, but the superiority lies in the large number, there are at least a thousand gentry in the four counties of Jiangdong, once a group revolts, it should not be underestimated."

Xiang He nodded again and again, deeply convinced: "What the military adviser said is absolutely true. Most of the magistrates, magistrates, and many subordinate officials in the 56 counties of the four counties in Jiangdong are served by the sons of the gentry. Once the new law offends the gentry, they don't have to openly resist the new law. Just ordering the sons of the gentry to abandon their official positions and go back to seclusion, the situation will be out of control."

Xiang Zhuang was terrified: "This is indeed a hidden danger."

Imagine that once most of the county magistrates, magistrates, and subordinate officials in the 56 counties resigned, wouldn't the political situation of the entire Chu State be in chaos?

Bai Lixian smiled slightly, and then said: "So, before implementing the new land tax law, we must first implement the curriculum of scholars, farmers, industry and commerce, so as to reserve enough talents for the country. If you are an official, you just use the reserved talents to enrich the counties and counties to take on important responsibilities."

Xiang He asked confusedly: "Military division, is it a business class for soldiers, farmers, and businessmen?"

Bai Lixian waved his hand, took out a scroll from his sleeve and handed it to Xiang Zhuang. After reading it, Xiang Zhuang's eyes lit up, and then passed the scroll to Xiang He. Xiang He's expression changed slightly when he saw it , read in a low voice: "All the children of the Chu Kingdom, regardless of whether they are scholars, farmers, businessmen, or businessmen, can participate in the national examination? Those who pass the test will be awarded the title of duke?"

Xiang Zhuang nodded lightly. Although the title of duke is humble, the Lumi that is drawn from the treasury every year is negligible, but for many children from poor families who come from agriculture, industry, and business, once they have the title, they are like the scholars of later generations. Once you have achieved fame, you will also have the qualifications to become an official. This is the most important thing.

There is no doubt that the implementation of the "Scholar, Farmer, Business and Industry Course" can greatly eliminate the hidden danger of strikes by the children of the gentry.

This is because, in addition to the children of aristocratic families and gentry families, there are also many scholars among the children of farmers, workers, and merchants in Jiangdong, especially the children of merchants, because their families are rich and they have the opportunity to study. Now, it is basically impossible for the sons of merchants to stand out.

Once the "Scholar, Farmer and Business Class" is implemented, the status of the aristocratic family will not be threatened too much, and it is estimated that there will be no reaction. The majority of the gentry will definitely oppose it fiercely, but Xiang Zhuang was originally prepared to deal with them, so there is no need to worry about it anymore. Children from poor families such as colleges, workers, and businessmen will definitely support the implementation of the new law with all their strength.

In this way, the new law will have the first batch of staunch supporters!

For all reforms, while eradicating the old vested interests, it is also necessary to support new interest groups, otherwise, the new law will not last long.

The reason why Wei Yang’s reform was successful was that he supported a large number of emerging landlords during the reform process. Therefore, even though Wei Yang died, the new law was not abolished, and the reason why Wang Anshi’s and Zhang Juzheng’s reforms failed was because they did not The interest groups that are closely related to the new law were supported, and the law was abolished as a result.

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PS: Something happened again today, I have to go out for a trip, and I will write a chapter early, and this chapter will be over.

(End of this chapter)