My Brother-in-law is the Prince

  Chapter 293 Everyone Has a Reward

  Zhu Di compared the accounts coldly.

  Continued: "It's only been a year, and the hidden fields... have more than doubled. One Taiping Prefecture is like this, so what about other state capitals in the world?"

  Xia Yuanji was both nervous and relieved.

  He is very clear that after this matter is exposed, it is absolutely unforgivable for His Majesty.

   This is not a matter of a little land. It has been hidden for so many years, and its nature has changed.

  Of course, the reason why he was relieved was that he, the minister of the household department, was picked out.

  Yes, he was the first to announce the good news, and that was the essence of it. Once others took the lead and concealed the land matter, it would inevitably evolve into an empty seal case.

  But now...it seems that he was the first to expose it, at least...Your Majesty still regards him as one of his own.

  Because he was one of his own people, he was interrogated severely.

  If you don’t even have this basic trust...

  He knew Zhu Di well, so he would never ask more questions, at least not in person, but Jin Yiwei issued a driving sticker and asked him to go to the prison to explain.

  Xia Yuanji couldn't help feeling bitter in his heart. He knew about the hidden world, but he didn't dare to say it.

   And he didn't expect that the matter would be so serious. He thought it was just the local gentry who concealed it, but this is understandable, after all...it is human nature not to want to pay taxes.

  How could I have imagined that these people are playing like this!

  Xia Yuanji said: "Your Majesty...Although I have occasionally heard about some hidden lands, but..."

  Zhu Di sullenly said, "But what?"

  Xia Yuanji said: "I didn't dare to make a fuss about it before."

   "Making a fuss over a molehill?" Zhu Di's face became even angrier.

  Xia Yuanji said: "At first, I thought that there were not many hidden lands. It might only account for 10 to 20% of the world, or even less. But if we go to clear the land in a big way, it will cost countless money, food and manpower, so I..."

  Zhu Di's face softened slightly. What Xia Yuanji said was reasonable. There is a cost to clearing the land, especially those who conceal the land. Since they dare to do so, they must have their energy.

  If there are not many hidden lands, even if some are found out, but the manpower and material resources are spent, the tax may only increase by 10 to 20%, which is called the loss outweighs the gain.

  Xia Yuanji, the Minister of the Household Department, made such considerations. He cannot be said to be right, but he cannot be said to be guilty either.

  Zhu Di closed his eyes, and there was something flickering in his eyes. He said coldly: "If it is really just concealing a little, what the Qing family said is not unreasonable, but now it seems...it is not the same thing."

   "Yes." Xia Yuanji said: "The minister is also taken aback. If this matter is not thoroughly investigated...the court will suffer too much loss."

  Zhu Di said: "Except for the huge amount of hidden land..."

After a pause, Zhu Di said slowly: "Also... Taiping Mansion's registered land has more than doubled, but the amount of food and tax collected has increased by a full fourfold... here...have you sorted out the accounts? "

Xia Yuanji said: "Your Majesty, the reason why the Taiping Mansion can have a million shi of summer grain is because the base of the land has more than doubled. In addition, even those who did not collect taxes before, the Taiping Mansion has also started to collect taxes. gone."

   "People who don't pay taxes?"

   "According to the tax law, the officials and gentry and famous scholars will have tax reductions and exemptions."

Zhu Di sneered: "Of course I know, but the problem is... the tax reduction and exemption for officials and scholars is the preferential treatment given to them by the imperial court, but now it seems that their land is too much. This is not counted, There is also the silver tax, which is even more scary, what is it like in one prefecture, with so many prefectures and counties in the world?"

  Speaking of these, Zhu Di felt the anger in his heart rise again.

  Xia Yuanji hastily bowed down and said, "I am guilty of death."

  Zhu Di said: "Of course you are guilty."

  He let out angrily.

  Teach Xia Yuanji's mood to tremble, and his relaxed heart hangs high again.

Zhu Di stared at him with a cold face for a while, but said: "But you are better than other officials and gentry, at least you know... these things should not be done. I'm afraid some people... hide the land and fight for it. With the preferential treatment from the imperial court, the tax was reduced and exempted, but they are still complacent and complacent. His mother, these beasts, what are they!"

Zhu Di became more and more furious: "On weekdays, everyone is complaining about being poor, everyone... all saying that they can't survive, talking about how the people are, they are not satisfied with the preferential treatment given to them by the imperial court, and they continue to complain all the time. Now... let's see, this is a group of things! Today's matter, we can't stop, quickly summon the Wenyuan Pavilion Grand Scholar, summon Zhang Anshi!"

  Under Zhu Di's anger, Xia Yuanji was too frightened to vent his anger, so some eunuchs rushed to summon someone.

   Not long after, Yang Rong, Hu Guang and others arrived, seeing Zhu Di's face turned livid, and Xia Yuanji lying on the ground without saying a word.

  The bachelors were shocked, knowing what had happened, but His Majesty's expression was dark and unclear, but it was difficult to guess His Majesty's thoughts, so they all fell to the ground.

  Zhu Di didn't even look at them, but just looked down at the account book on the imperial table.

  Although he had a headache watching it, he watched it very seriously. The more he watched, the more he couldn't hold back, and he was shaking with anger.

   Peeping the leopard through the pipe, really peeping the leopard through the pipe.

  From one Taiping Mansion, the amount of information that can be obtained is simply too great.

  Dare to love the money and food in this world, 70% to 80% are taken by others, and I get 20% to 30% of it, and I have to use the money to train soldiers, give relief, and support officials. And those who took 70% to 80% of the money, if they only got benefits, it would be fine to make a fortune in silence.

   But these people happen to be the most **** group who like to talk about benevolence, righteousness and morality. They educate you all the time, ringing the alarm for you every day, and opening their mouths to worry about the country and the people.

  Finally, an **** hurried in and said, "Your Majesty, Duke Wei has arrived."

   "Xuan."

  Zhang Anshi enters the palace.

  Zhu Di then looked away from the ledger and raised his head.

  Zhang Anshi has become noticeably thinner recently.

  Zhu Di's eyes lit up the moment he saw Zhang Anshi, and said, "Give me a seat."

  Zhang Anshi looked at the princes who were kneeling on the ground, and an **** brought him a chair. He was not polite, and sat down loudly.

  Zhu Di said: "I have read the accounts."

   "Your Majesty... Your Majesty..."

  Zhu Di waved his hand: "You must go to Taiping Mansion. You go well. If you don't go, I am still a fool, a fool, and a fool."

   This is a strong statement.

  Frightened Xia Yuanji and the others, even more out of their wits, their heads unconsciously drooped a little lower.

  Zhu Di said again at this time: "Damn, they took advantage of me, and they still want to teach me to say they are good!"

  Zhang Anshi carefully looked at Zhu Di who was in a rage, and said, "I...in Taiping Mansion..."

   Zhu Di interrupted him and said, "Talk to me about taxes."

Zhang Anshi had no choice but to say: "In order to cut off the White Lotus Sect, I...implemented the military law in the Taiping Mansion, and in order to eradicate the soil of the White Lotus Sect, so...boldly...made some changes in governance. If the magistrate wants to do more things, he must first have Money, the government has no money, how to build bridges and pave roads, how to build schools, how to strengthen river embankments, how to relieve the people? I follow this idea... to do it."

"In the past, when it came to repairing bridges and repairing roads, in fact... the parents and officials in various places used the method of asking the gentry to cooperate. For example, the parents and officials came forward. Gentlemen, you will get a few taels, and I will get a few taels. , and then build a school. After I arrived at the Taiping Mansion, I found that... these gentry are willing to do good things, and if the government wants them to help them, they are willing to give a little money..."

After a pause, Zhang Anshi went on to say: "The minister took a closer look, but found that this is not the case. The government requires the gentry to do things, so they give them preferential treatment, and the gentry only need to spend a little money to get a piece of money." The reputation of good people. Precisely because of this, they took advantage of the convenience of their relationship with the government to hide their land, and exempted a large amount of taxes by letting people donate it. In this way...not only did they do good deeds, but also Relying on these, I have made multiple profits."

  Zhu Di listened carefully.

Zhang Anshi continued: "I was confused at the time, isn't this a joke? Small people have to pay taxes, but people with a lot of land, the government doesn't take a penny, and every year they take out tens of taels and hundreds of taels to give to the government , the government had to give them a memorial archway from a family of good deeds. So... the minister set a few rules in Taiping Mansion."

"One is to clear the land. If the hidden land is not found out, the government will have no way to do things. The tax system is unfair, which will lead to terrible phenomena. People who own more land do not have to pay taxes, so they will try their best The method is to increase their land. And the small people with less land, bearing taxes, have to sell their land at a low price to make a living when they encounter some natural and man-made disasters. Teach, there is really no way out."

  Zhu Di nodded subconsciously when he heard this.

  Yang Rong and the others also gradually came to their senses, but at this time, they decided to pretend to be deaf and dumb.

I saw Zhang Anshi say again: "After clearing the acres of the field, the grain tax will be collected according to the amount of the land, instead of the previous collection based on the head. There are few people without land. Of course, the indispensable thing is that the officials and gentry come together to pay for food..."

   Zhu Di continued to nod after listening.

   To a certain extent, the Ming Dynasty inherited the Yuan system, and the tax system of the Yuan Dynasty was very chaotic.

When Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, he didn’t actually have much ideas about taxation. Although he didn’t dare to play such a wonderful thing as taxation, but because there were not many talents in charge of taxation for a hundred years, he established a very rough and simple set of real objects. tax system.

And Zhang Anshi sorted out his thoughts, he said: "Your Majesty, the nature of taxation, I think there are only two, one: to use the power of the imperial court to balance the soldiers and civilians in the world, neither can teach ordinary people to be taxed. When forced to a place where there is no room for them, we must also teach those gentry who have the upper hand to accept more food for the court to use.”

"Secondly, the imperial court needs money and food for its expenses. If there is not enough money and taxes, and the government even needs to beg from people to build bridges and pave roads, then this local government has the final say on the parents appointed by the imperial court, or the local government. The tyrants at the top have the final say? Wealth is the most important thing in the world, we must pay attention to it, if not, then the imperial court and the government will not be able to do anything."

  Zhu Di nodded again and again: "For so many years, only Zhang Qing dared to say such a thing, but... it is not easy to expropriate."

"Of course it's not easy." Zhang Anshi said frankly: "So these days, I sit in the magistrate's yamen every day, and I dare not make any mistakes. The problems encountered in it are countless, and I have never served as a parent officer, so I am very unfamiliar with it. , and some... it’s just an idea.”

Zhang Anshi paused here, and then said: "But relying on such an idea, it is more difficult to turn it into reality. Fortunately, the officials in the Taiping Mansion understand righteousness. After thinking about it, I am willing to do my best to assist my ministers. If they hadn't worked hard for it in every detail, I'm afraid... this matter would be as difficult as reaching the sky. Among them is Gao Xiang, who was there almost day and night when the summer grain levy started. The Tongzhi Office, if you go to the counties to inspect, you hardly touch the ground, if you encounter a problem, you have to deal with it yourself, you can only sleep for two or three hours a day, and sometimes you are too busy to eat."

"There is also Li Zhaomo. He is in charge of morality, and he has worked hard. The most difficult thing about taxation is to make people convinced. Although the rules have been changed, the rules are a line. If it is fair and just, follow the rules. Although many people don't Convinced, it can be seen that the government is one of the same people, but they are also speechless. I am afraid, some people recruit more, and some people recruit less, which will inevitably be criticized and cause disputes. Therefore, this official style, It is the most important thing. If there is a slight omission or partiality of officials, there will be serious problems. During the process of expropriating summer grain, Li Zhaomo dealt with a total of 74 officials who violated the regulations, which not only greatly eliminated the previous years. The long-standing disadvantages have eliminated many black sheep, and it has also greatly guaranteed the smoothness of grain collection."

"As for the county magistrates of the following counties, they are also cooperating with all their strength. Among them is Zhou Jin, the county magistrate of Wuhu. There are many wealthy families in Wuhu County, many of them... are related to high-ranking officials, but magistrate Zhou is not afraid of power. Anyone who dares to block grain collection will be dealt with equally regardless of the identity of the other party..."

   "Your Majesty, you know this subject. I am lazy and greedy. I am still young and impatient. If it is not for the help of the big guys, I am afraid that such a complicated errand will not be possible."

  Zhang Anshi's words are exaggerated.

  But Zhu Di was still moved, because Zhu Di knew very well that the local parent officer is different from other errands, and the things to be managed are too detailed.

   Moreover, Zhang Anshi has set a precedent, which is equivalent to standing on the opposite side of the entire three counties of Taiping Prefecture by himself.

  If there were not many people working hard to deal with the problems caused by the new measures at any time, it would be impossible to complete this expropriation within this short period of time.

   But now it seems that the expropriation work is not only very good, but also...too good, far beyond everyone's expectations.

   Obviously, this is inseparable from the support of the Taiping Mansion.

  So Zhu Di said: "You don't have to be humble. Although everyone is willing to do their best, it may be possible for these officials to do their best. This is also your prefect's ability."

Zhu Di looked at Zhang Anshi intently, but he was full of praise: "If all the officials in the world are like the Taiping Mansion, why should I worry about it? This Taiping Mansion is a model for the world, and Zhang Qing's family and its officials are even more of a model for the world's officials. what."

  Zhu Di seemed very serious. The Taiping Mansion paid too much money and food. The food was doubled, but the commercial tax was ten times.

  If this is the case, how can the treasury not be filled? With so much money, whether it is the national economy and the people's livelihood, the room for the imperial court to display is too great.

   Zhang Anshi's operation seems to have opened up a new path for Zhu Di.

   "Such a feat of daring to be the first in the world is an eye-opener." Zhu Di pondered, and boldly said: "Taiping Mansion has done a good job, and everyone...should be rewarded."

  After Zhu Di finished speaking, he immediately looked at Yi Shiha: "I want to personally write a decree to express the Taiping Mansion, and order people to erect a monument in the Taiping Mansion Yamen, so that the world will praise their achievements."

  Yi Shiha hurriedly said: "The servant obeys the order."

  Zhu Di said again: "As for the officials who have made merit this time, they will also be rewarded."

  He started to pace back and forth with his hands behind his back, but he seemed to be thinking about something, and after a while, he said: "There is no need to be promoted to an official position."

   No promotion?

  Zhang Anshi's heart sank immediately, what the hell, he's been working so hard for a long time, is it just a reward?

  Besides, with His Majesty's stinginess in rewarding money...then it's meaningless.

  At the beginning, the reward for him was only 10,000 taels of silver. There are so many people in the Taiping Mansion, and there may be only one tael or eight taels at most in the end.

  Although this amount of money is not too small for ordinary people, Zhang Anshi still couldn't help being very disappointed.

But Zhu Di then said: "But this year... the money and grain of Taiping Mansion ranks first in the world, which shows how important this Taiping Mansion is. Let me see... Let's upgrade Taiping Mansion. This Taiping Mansion is comparable to Yingtian Mansion and Shuntian Mansion It is the same, the magistrate is changed to the governor, Zhang Anshi... you still stay in office, so you will be the governor of the Taiping government."

  As soon as these words came out, Zhang Anshi, who was originally depressed, opened his mouth wide in shock, unable to close it.

  Yang Rong, Hu Guang, Xia Yuanji and others were also very surprised at this time, because this matter...is not small.

  Daming had two capitals, one was Yingtianfu and the other was Shuntianfu. Yingtianfu was actually the urban area of ​​Nanjing, while Shuntianfu was the urban area of ​​Beiping.

  After Zhu Dijing was successful, he entered Nanjing and proclaimed himself emperor. Considering that Beiping is the land of Longxing and an important town in the north, he changed Beiping Mansion to Shuntian Mansion and listed it as the accompanying capital.

   These two capitals actually have another name, which is Jingzhao Mansion. Their layout and management site, although there is no difference from ordinary mansions, but after all, because they are important places in Gyeonggi, their level is extraordinary.

  For example, in ordinary prefectures, the magistrate is the fourth rank, but the governors of Yingtian Fu and Shuntian Fu, who can be regarded as Jingzhao, are the third rank.

   That is to say, Ying Tian Fu Yin's official position is equivalent to that of the chief envoys of various provinces, and they are all third-rank.

  Of course, except that the magistrate became the prefect, which is equivalent to becoming a real feudal official. And the other officials in Jingzhaonei have also risen with the tide.

  By analogy, then Jingzhao's fellow acquaintances were originally of the fifth rank, but now they have directly become the fourth rank.

  As for the county magistrate below, the ordinary county magistrate is Zhengqipin, while the county magistrate of Jingzhao County is Zhengliupin.

   Jumping two levels directly is definitely an exceptional promotion, and this kind of promotion, even in Hanlin, although it is promoted quickly, is rarely the case.

  As for the magistrates, not to mention jumping two levels in a row, even the leap from the seventh rank to the sixth rank may take a lifetime, and most of them are stuck in this position, with no future in their lives.

Zhu Di didn't care how surprised and unexpected everyone was, he continued: "From now on, the Taiping Mansion will also be the Jingzhao Mansion, and all matters can be played directly. Zhang Qing’s family draws up a list of established procuratorates and government offices, mansions, yin and yang studies and medicine, monks and Taoists, Hebo offices, taxation bureaus, etc., and report to me.”

  This unexpected joy, Zhang Anshi really did not expect it, he even clenched his fists and felt the strength of his palms, so he dared to believe that it was real.

  Therefore, there is only a heart full of elation.

  Since Taiping Mansion has been upgraded, the institutions of Jingzhao Mansion are not comparable to ordinary mansions, that is to say...the establishment has also increased.

After all, Jingzhao Mansion is governed on a provincial scale. In the past, it relied on one magistrate's office, one Tong magistrate's office, and a few governing models such as Zhaomo and Tongju, and it was far from enough. Many new The Yamen needs to be established.

   And what Zhu Di meant was obviously the candidates for officials who these yamen would serve as. He doesn't care, you, Zhang Anshi, report it yourself, report to me, and I will approve it for you.

  Zhang Anshi worked hard to stabilize his excited mood, and finally suppressed the urge to laugh, but he was sincerely grateful: "Thank you, Your Majesty..."

  The gold content of this reward is quite a lot!

  Zhu Di smiled and said: "You don't have to thank me, I want to thank you. Those dog officials who joined his mother took me for a fool one by one. It's rare that you are willing to put your heart and soul into it. Isn't it part of me?"

  Zhu Di smiled at the beginning, but when he said the following words, he couldn't help gnashing his teeth, and his teeth were about to be crushed.

Zhu Di then looked at Yang Rong and the others, but he did not face Zhang Anshi's amiable face, and said coldly: "What do you think of my actions? Come on, tell the truth, if you object, you can also say that you are ugly." Come."

   When it came to this point, Yang Rong and others were still deliberating, but Xia Yuanji said without hesitation: "I think it's very good, so it should be."

   You know, he is under the greatest pressure now!

  As the Hubu Shangshu who was affected, at this time, he had to get close quickly. If not, he might be the first one to be operated on.

  ………

  Thanks to Jian Shangen for the reward of 100,000 starting coins. The first chapter was delivered, and the second chapter was written as soon as possible. There is no way.

  (end of this chapter)