Please ask me to be the emperor

When Zhang Shun comforted Zhang Shenyan, the relationship between the emperor and his ministers took a further step. Zhang, by the way, struck while the iron was hot and quickly proposed to carry out the land transfer in the near future.

Zhang Shun said to Zhang Shenyan: "In my opinion, the victory over Chen Qiyu this time was due to the sacrifice of the soldiers. I heard that rewards should be timely to show the monarch's credibility; punishment should be prompt to show the majesty of the monarch."

"Now that the soldiers have done everything they can for me, it is my turn to fulfill my promise."

Zhang Shenyan couldn't help but twirling his beard after hearing this and said in agreement: "What my lord said is true. There's just one more thing that my lord doesn't know yet."

"Henan has suffered from constant natural disasters in recent years, second only to Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces. This year alone, there has been almost no rain in Henan, and the seedlings are drying up everywhere, and there is almost no harvest."

"Near Luoyang, Prince Fu has two thousand pieces of land in his name. According to a normal year, he should have an income of two to three hundred thousand dan. After excluding the expenses of Prince Fu's palace and the secret mail, there should be at least 100,000 dan left."

"But Prince Fu's palace actually only has 50,000 shi of food stored in it. This also includes money and food imported from other places and deposited together. After excluding corruption, the actual autumn food income is almost halved."

When Zhang Shun heard this, he couldn't help but asked: "What's going on with the land under the name of King Fu? Please speak for me, Mr. Zhang!"

Zhang Shenyan couldn't help but feel a little relieved to see that Zhang Shun finally cared about political affairs, and quickly responded: "The origins of the land owned by the prince of the Ming Dynasty are generally as follows. They are rewards, reclamation, purchase, and donation."

"For example, the land under the name of King Fu, 20,000 yuan of it, was a reward from Emperor Shenzong when King Fu came to feudal lordship. At the beginning of the founding of the country, there were few people and lots of land. The fields were barren, and some royal families cultivated them for their own use."

"When the clan had a little bit of property, they would also buy land and real estate, just like a rich man. What's more, they were cunning people. In order to avoid paying less tax, they donated the land under their own names to the palace."

"There are four types of these. Most of the land reclaimed and purchased is owned by the prince. Some princes set up farmsteads and recruited tenant farmers to work, and all the money and grain they received were owned by the prince. And many of the land rewarded and donated were already cultivated by the people, and the prince only Being able to collect grains by example is like a government collecting taxes."

"According to the rules of other royal palaces, it is necessary to collect acres of land, which is often collected by the government. The collection varies from one dou per mu, or three or five cents of silver."

"It's just that since King Lu came to the vassal, the land property has reached more than 40,000 yuan. King Lu was worried that the officials would have their hands on it and be greedy for money, so in the 18th year of Wanli, he asked to be managed by himself. Although the Ministry of Revenue objected in every possible way, Shenzong did not listen. "

"Since King Fu has become a vassal, he cited this example, so all the fields under King Fu's name are confiscated by himself!"

Zhang Shun is so smart, he knows the elegant meaning when he hears the string. He quickly asked: "Where is the director of the palace? Are there any account books left?"

Zhang Shenyan couldn't help but laugh and said: "The manager died at the hands of the rebels a long time ago. Fortunately, the account books are all there. I have been studying them for several days!"

Although there is a lot of land and property under the name of Prince Nafu, most of it is actually not near Luoyang. Zhang Shun has long been distressed by this, but now that things have turned around, how can he not be happy?

He quickly asked: "In that case, Prince Fu's Mansion is sparsely populated and unable to take charge. Our rebel army can take care of it! Is it okay to know this?"

Zhang Shen spoke eloquently for a long time, wasn't it just for this sentence? He couldn't help but said with a smile: "Why not? That Chongzhen boy thinks he has a plan and does not argue about the 'concubine's matter'. Prince Fu is still the prince of the Ming Dynasty. Naturally, no one dares to stop the land and taxes under the name of the prince of the Ming Dynasty. !”

"Who do you think can take on this important task?" Zhang Shun now understood what Zhang Shenyan meant. He couldn't help but think to himself: People often say, "It's better to offend a gentleman than a villain"! Zhang Shenyan can be regarded as an honest gentleman. Chongzhen's son ordered people to dig his family's ancestral graves, and he later dug a big hole for Chongzhen. It can be seen from this that gentlemen are not so easy to offend!

Zhang Shenyan thought for a moment after hearing the words and responded: "I can't get away for the time being. Song Xiance has no practical strategy, Zhao Yutou is old, Chen Jingzhi is in charge of Baodu Village, Xu Ziyuan is in charge of map drawing, and there is no business to help the world. In my opinion, your husband may be able to do it!"

The red lady is already alone. Not to mention that her parents are not around, Li Sanniang is just an ordinary farmer even if she is invited.

Who else could Zhang Shenyan refer to as "her father-in-law" besides Li Xiang's father, Li Baihu?

Thinking of this, Zhang Shun couldn't help but feel a little ashamed. This father-in-law had worked hard with Song Xiance to save him before, not to mention that he also gave him his daughter, money and food. It was like recreating his parents to him.

It's just that due to some strange combination of circumstances, Zhang Shun still doesn't know what to call him. The closer the relationship between the two parties became, the harder it was for Zhang Shun to ask Li Xiang for Li Baihu's name. Sometimes in front of outsiders, Zhang Shun could only vaguely call him "Li Baihu".

Thinking of this person, Zhang Shun then remembered that he had ordered him to go to Jingxiang to buy grain, but he still hadn't seen anyone, and he couldn't help but feel a little worried.

Thinking of this, Zhang Shun couldn't help but ask: "My father-in-law is indeed a good hand in business. I thought that when I was in Chenzhou, I could connect with the border army and the Hedong salt field. I really want it."

"It's just that the rebels are short of supplies and often need to buy them. If he goes, who can take up this responsibility?"

Zhang Shenyan couldn't help laughing when he heard this: "My lord, you are too worried. The fields under the name of King Fu are scattered everywhere. When Emperor Shenzong granted the fields, 'Zhongzhou's soil was insufficient, so we took Shandong and Huguang to benefit from it.'"

"He also has Zhang Juzheng's property in his name, miscellaneous taxes on Dizhou along the Yangtze River from Jiangdu to Taiping, 1,300 yuan of tea silver from salt wells in Sichuan, and 1,300 yin of Huai salt. He has set up 12 shops and private markets in Luoyang, all of which are managed by dedicated personnel. "

"My father-in-law only needs to use an example to collect the money. If someone takes the opportunity to create difficulties, we can thoroughly check their accounts to prevent corruption and losses from happening."

"What's more, your father-in-law originally had to go to places like Huguang, Shandong, and South Zhili to buy grain. Isn't it wonderful that sometimes he can kill two birds with one stone?"

"This is okay!" Zhang Shun thought about it and found that it was a good thing. It's just that Li Baihu hasn't returned yet, so let's put it aside for now.

Zhang Shun then continued to ask: "What about the land grant?"

"Oh, look at my brain!" Zhang Shenyan slapped his forehead and realized that he had been rambling for a long time and went off topic.

Then he continued with a smile: "This matter of granting land is not a problem. Most of the land owned by King Fu is in Henan Prefecture, and the most is near Luoyang. What I said before about two thousand cultivated land is not false at all."

"Oh, that's right!" After Zhang Shenyan said this, he remembered what he had planned to say before.

He hurriedly said: "I just mentioned that there is a severe drought in Henan, and there is almost no grain harvest in summer and autumn. I went to the nearby fields in the past two days to see that almost all the autumn wheat is dead. Judging from this, I am afraid that there will be no grain in summer grain next year. receive!"

Thank you to the fan "Zawaki Erxin" for the three consecutive rewards, and to the fan "Wang Yao's Young Konoe Rabbit" for the two consecutive rewards. Thank you for your strong support to the author!