Landlords were a very troublesome role for Zhu Ying, perhaps for Zhu Yuanzhang and the entire Ming Dynasty.

Although it is not as deep-rooted as an aristocratic family, over time it will gradually evolve into an aristocratic family.

Landowners in the early Ming Dynasty were mainly divided into two parts. One part was the new generation of landlords whose ancestors were refugees from the Yuan Dynasty for several generations. Refugees were originally a specialty of the Yuan Dynasty.

There is another type, the landlords in the Jiangnan area.

Zhu Yuanzhang's peasant uprising army did not conquer the entire Ming Dynasty. In fact, many places were not overthrown by the uprising.

This key area is Jiangnan.

Jiangnan originally belonged to Zhang Shicheng. Even now, twenty-five years after Hongwu, many landowners and gentry in Jiangnan still miss Zhang Shicheng in their hearts.

Zhu Yuanzhang has always been very afraid of the Jiangnan area, which can be seen from the corruption, executions and exile of officials.

Basically, when officials in the Jiangnan area committed a crime, Zhu Yuanzhang would subconsciously increase the level of crime after seeing it.

The distribution of merit will also drop a lot.

For example, Liu Ji and Liu Bowen are from Zhejiang.

Zhu Yuanzhang called Liu Bowen "my son's wife", and there is also a popular saying among the people that "Zhuge Liang divides the world into three parts, and Liu Bowen dominates the country."

It can be seen that Liu Bowen's contribution to the Ming Dynasty was considerable.

However, because of Liu Bowen's Jiangnan native place, when the meritorious officials were awarded, Li Shanchang, who was equivalent to the logistics manager, was awarded the title of first-class duke.

Liu Ji, who had more fame, fame and achievements, was awarded the title of third-class earl.

Liu Bowen is just a microcosm. More officials from Jiangnan are basically in this situation without exception.

After Qi Tai left, Zhu Ying took out a booklet from the bookcase and looked through it.

This booklet was given to him after the old man talked to him last time.

What is recorded here is about the situation of all the landowners in the Ming Dynasty.

Unlike other books, this book not only records the names of all landowners, but also contains very detailed statistical data.

Even in the Ming Dynasty, there are 14,341 households with landowners of more than 700 acres of land.

This is a statistic accurate to single digits.

Opening a few pages at random, you can see that there are still many scratches. Those whose names have been crossed out are the landowners who have been dealt with by the old man.

It can be seen that 80% of the landowners who were disposed of were marked with their Jiangnan origin.

"It seems that grandpa has been wary of landlords for a long time. No wonder he wasn't too surprised when I talked about land reform."

"Perhaps from the very beginning, grandpa already knew the dangers of the landlord class, so he kept suppressing them."

"Jiangnan, Jiangnan has the best taxes in the world. It seems that after so many years of heavy taxation, Jiangnan has always been a thorn in the side of the Ming Dynasty."

"We must find a way to remove this thorn."

Zhu Ying knew very well that in the entire Ming Dynasty, Jiangnan was the place with the heaviest taxation. It could be said to bear half of the Ming Dynasty's tax revenue.

Those landowners who were overthrown had their fields turned into government land and then distributed to ordinary people.

Some people may wonder why Jiangnan was the least popular among the peasants who rebelled in the Ming Dynasty.

Even in most Jiangnan areas, there are no cases of rebellion.

Wouldn’t these Jiangnan landowners unite?

Hey, if you can eat enough, who would want to rebel?

If you want to rebel, the biggest main force is not the landlords, but the impoverished Guizhou leaders.

Jiangnan, the land of plenty, is the granary of the Ming Dynasty.

The landlords shouted for rebellion, but no one paid any attention. Even before the people gathered, the government came to encircle and suppress them. There was no condition for rebellion at all.

This is why Zhu Yuanzhang dared to target the Jiangnan region in this way.

Of course, the focus of care is always on the landlords.

For example, in the three major Hongwu cases, the relocation of wealthy households from the south reduced the admission rate of Jiangnan talents in the imperial examinations, and restricted Jiangnan people from entering the court as officials. The Ministry of Household Affairs, in particular, was determined not to allow anyone with a Jiangnan native place to enter.

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However, even so, 80% of the more than 14,000 landowners with more than 700 acres of land on the book are from Jiangnan.

"Although grandpa's village self-governance method is good, it is still not enough for Jiangnan. Only by opening the Public Security Bureau to Jiangnan area and grasping it hard and hard can we slowly eradicate it."

"Grandpa was very foresighted, but unfortunately he still did not do it thoroughly enough. It will not be useful to future generations. He did not continue the policy of suppressing Jiangnan and opened it up to them."

"If we follow the current method and suppress the Jiangnan region, the Ming Dynasty will be able to continue its reign for at least another hundred years."

Zhu Ying sighed a little, and at the same time, a cold light emitted from her eyes.

Maybe many people don't have much feeling about Jiangnan, but if they know that the Donglin Party, the political alliance in the late Ming Dynasty, was an official headed by Jiangnan scholar-bureaucrats.

In addition to the Donglin Party, there are also the Zhejiang Party, the Qi Party, the Chu Party, the Kun Party, the Xuan Party, etc.

The so-called Donglin Party Struggle is a crony dispute between the Donglin Party and the entire Ming Dynasty, and it also fights against the eunuchs.

This fully shows what level the strength of the Donglin Party has reached.

The Ming Dynasty, as the dynasty with the most abundant silver among historical dynasties, was finally destroyed by the silver shortage.

Where did the money go?

In the hands of Donglin Party members.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Donglin Party was in power.

Big landowners are not allowed to levy taxes because it is the property of the Donglin Party members.

Mining cannot be taxed because it is the property of Donglin Party members.

Business cannot be taxed because it is the property of Donglin Party members.

The wealthy Donglin Party owes Jiubian Bingzhen how many years of salary and silver it owes to the wealthy Donglin Party.

It's like a cycle. Zhu Yuanzhang was so cruel to the Jiangnan area in the early Ming Dynasty, but in the late Ming Dynasty, they were all retaliated against.

Jiangnan is very rich. The key to its wealth lies not in its people, but in the prosperity caused by the annexation of large amounts of land.

Most of the people have long been reduced to being tenants of landlord families or working as part-time and part-time workers.

"It seems that we have to go to Jiangnan. The Chamber of Commerce is there. Except for the huge profits from snowflake salt, other aspects are severely restricted. This is not possible."

...

Zhu Ying's arrangements for Qitai were passed to Zhu Yuanzhang.

With a stroke of his pen, Zhu Yuanzhang decided on the name of Qitai Imperial Envoy.

At present, the arrangements issued by Da Sun are basically passed directly by Zhu Yuanzhang.

At this time, officials came to report that the first batch of lists of retired veterans had been submitted by the Ministry of War and the Fifth Army Governor's Office.

"Didn't we say that these matters should be reported directly to our eldest grandson?"

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and said.

This made the officials who came to deliver the message panic.

"Okay, let's just put it here. It's dinner time now, so call the eldest grandson over and have a meal together." Zhu Yuanzhang ordered.

"I obey the order." Liu He on the side accepted the order, then stepped back and went to Kunning Palace.

Zhu Ying, who was in Kunning Palace, was about to go out to the Gunpowder Department at this time.

He wanted to see how the recent development of matchlock guns was, and if he could collect the number of three thousand, Zhu Ying was ready to start practicing.

Build the best firecracker barracks in the Ming Dynasty and even the world.

At this time, Liu He came over and sent a message: "Your Majesty, your Majesty is asking your Majesty to have dinner with you. Please come with me."

Zhu Ying asked: "Grandpa is looking for me? But what's the matter?"

Liu He bowed and replied: "Reporting to Your Highness, officials have just submitted a list of retired veterans. Your Majesty should be discussing this matter with Your Highness."

Zhu Ying nodded after hearing this, and then set off with Liu He to the Huagai Palace.

In the Huagai Hall, Zhu Yuanzhang saw his eldest grandson coming over and asked with a smile: "We all feel fatter recently. The main reason is that the meals cooked by the cooks brought here by the eldest grandson are too delicious."

"Every time we eat, we fill our stomachs with food and have to fill up an extra bowl of rice."

Hearing this, Zhu Ying looked at the dozen or so meat dishes on the table and couldn't help but said: "Grandpa has been eating too greasy recently, which is not good for your health."

"In terms of meat, you can eat more fish. The boiled fish fillets recently developed by the chefs are very good, and the chicken is also good."

"These pork belly and braised pork taste great, but they are not very good for your health. You should eat more vegetables, bean juice and less fatty meat."

Zhu Ying looked at the old man's growing belly and couldn't help but comfort him.

There is no shortage of food in the royal family, especially Zhu Yuanzhang, who likes big fish and meat the most.

The chefs brought over by Zhu Ying are very particular about the preparation. The taste of the same dishes will be improved by several levels through their hands.

Now Zhu Yuanzhang can already clearly see his double chin, and it has only been a few months.
To be continued...