Zhu Yijun looked at the two sets of figures handed over by Wang Zhiyuan and was a little silent for a moment.

The household registration, Dingkou, Wang Zhiyuan mentioned, of course refers to the number of households. After all, the imperial court collects taxes based on households.

There are now three types of official taxes in the imperial court - field taxes, household taxes and miscellaneous taxes.

If you only look at the household tax of Shuntian Prefecture, you can see that the tax base has been basically eroded.

If things are like this, how can we not stop the sun from falling?

Zhu Yijun sighed: "Where is the land?"

Wang Zhiyuan knew it clearly and blurted out: "Your Majesty, in the fifteenth year of Hongzhi's reign, the land in Shuntian Prefecture totaled 68,720 hectares, 13 acres and 50 cents."

"Last year's Yellow Book of Shuntian Prefecture totaled ninety-nine thousand, five hundred and eighty-two hectares, ninety-nine acres, nine cents and zero."

Zhu Yijun was stunned when he heard this.

He looked puzzled: "With only 20% of the population left, the farmland is so 'normal'?"

To say it's normal doesn't mean it's not hidden at all.

Instead, the population was reduced by 80%. The stable and promising farmland was a little too gentle.

After all, Wang Zhiyuan was an official who was sent to the local prefecture in the first year of Wanli. When faced with the emperor's questions, he seemed to have expected it.

"Your Majesty, the situation in each state capital is the same as in each state capital. When I went to the state, there were many people and few fields in the yellow book; but when I arrived in Jinan Prefecture, there were few people and few fields."

Wang Zhiyuan has a very official appearance, and his voice is loud and eloquent.

Within a few words, Zhu Yijun had a good impression.

Zhu Yijun asked Wang Zhiyuan seriously: "Wang Qing, why is this?"

He could understand the decrease in the number of people, it was nothing more than an upgraded version of Xu Jie's contribution.

Without household registration, there was naturally no need to pay poll taxes or perform corvee labor. In order to avoid taxes, the common people donated money one after another, and the wealthy families naturally accepted it happily.

In addition to losing the core of the tax base, it is a two-way rush.

The same is true for acres of land. The fewer acres are registered, the more wealth is hidden among the people.

But the actual situation in the various state capitals is different. He, the emperor in the deep palace, naturally does not know as well as the local officials who work in the state capitals.

Wang Zhiyuan heard this, thought about it for a moment and then replied: "Your Majesty, the Ministry of Household Affairs has sent out eight items to pay for land this time, and one of them is one."

"When it comes to the amount of the Fuzu faction, it means that there are officials and civilians in the fields, the number of villages, etc., and the number of grains is high, middle and low. It is advisable to check them one by one to avoid confusion."

"The official land, civilian land, and farmland are for upper grain, medium grain, and lower grain; and household registration includes official status, prison status, military status, civilian status, etc."

“The weight of land taxes and household taxes levied cannot be generalized across states.”

"There is another law, which is the law of severe bullying and concealment."

"It is also necessary to see whether the Yamen is the main deception, or whether it is the right-wing power that hides it."

"The former only focuses on hiding the fields, while the latter also takes into account the hiding of the mouth. There are also differences."

"As for Shuntian Mansion..."

Wang Zhiyuan suddenly paused.

He glanced at Shen Shixing behind the emperor, and then bowed respectfully to the emperor: "Your Majesty, please forgive me first."

With this look, it was obvious that he was about to say something inappropriate.

Zhu Yijun glanced at Wang Zhiyuan unexpectedly, and then nodded magnanimously: "Just tell me the truth."

After Wang Zhiyuan stood up, he pondered for a long time before finally speaking: "Most of the fields in Shuntian Mansion are imperial estates and official fields. They don't charge taxes, so they are naturally less hidden."

"The population of Shuntian Prefecture is due to the capture of Gengxu."

"Secondly, there are too many high-ranking officials and dignitaries in the capital who can take refuge, chariot bosses, nobles, eunuchs, and famous temples."

Wang Zhiyuan sighed: "Otherwise, where did the groups of adopted sons, adopted daughters, servants, and tenants from various wealthy families come from?"

Shen Shixing couldn't help but look away.

Although he did not do this, many of his relatives, friends and disciples in Nanzhili bought properties in the capital - just like the Confucian scholars of the Song Dynasty who "lived in the capital as extravagantly as nobles and had more than ten concubines."

As the leader of the Southern Zhili Township Party, Mr. Shen Ge is still somewhat ashamed.

Wang Zhiyuan didn't care whether his words offended anyone or not, and continued: "Your Majesty, this is also the most difficult part of this time to clear out the land and clear the household."

After saying that, he bowed once more and apologized for his words just now.

Zhu Yijun naturally understood what Wang Zhiyuan meant.

The most difficult part of clearing land and households is not finding people and land and registering them.

It’s about everyone who confronts the imperial court in this process.

This includes not only the powerful squires, but also the common people who are slaves and tenants!

Once the hundreds of thousands of people are cleared out, what to do with them will be a huge problem - they are barely making ends meet, and then there will be a household tax on their heads, and I don't know how many people will starve to death for it.

When Xu Jie of Songjiang Prefecture returned to his fields, it was because there was real land allocated to settle the people, so there was no trouble.

What about Shuntian Mansion?

Should we allocate the land of high-ranking officials, nobles, chariot bosses, eunuchs, nobles, and famous temples to the common people?

Why? Are they legally exempt from tax?

That's why Wang Zhiyuan apologized - the largest hidden population in Shuntian Mansion was the mainstay of the imperial court.

At this moment, Shen Shixing, who was standing aside, finally couldn't hold himself back and said: "After Wang Jingzhao took office yesterday, he still hasn't had time to see the six items of Du Tian from the cabinet, right?"

Wang Zhiyuan was stunned for a moment, then said calmly: "Not yet."

It has only been less than a day since he took office, so it is naturally impossible to cover everything. He has not even finished reading the files of his yamen.

Seeing that the emperor had no intention of speaking, Shen Shixing organized his words to explain: "Your Majesty and the cabinet have already thought about Wang Jingzhao's concerns just now."

“After the land is transferred to the countryside, the current tax system will also have to implement new policies, and during this period... the household registration tax will be temporarily exempted.”

Land transfer is not the end, it is just the beginning of tax reform.

After the tax base is improved, the tax collection method will naturally follow up.

Not only will a whip law follow, but also land tax, household tax, miscellaneous tax, and corvee will also undergo a huge change.

The exemption from household registration tax is a preferential treatment given to the people during this turbulent cycle - from the perspective of the cabinet, in this new policy of clearing out the land and clearing households, it is first-class to prevent the people from adding burdens and rebelling.

major events.

However, Wang Zhiyuan was stunned when he heard Shen Shixing's first words.

Tax-free for now!?

This is no small amount!

As one of the three major taxes, even if it is only for three to five years, the warehouse will be emptied!

He looked at Shen Shixing in astonishment and then at the emperor.

Seeing both of them acting as if they were taking it for granted, Wang Zhiyuan couldn't help but asked in surprise: "The household tax is exempted for the time being? What about the imperial court's annual income!?"

Of course, tax exemption is not a bad thing.

The emperor who is exempt from tax will be memorialized by the people at any time.

Especially at this pass for land transfer, the hundreds of thousands of people who were cleared out could still continue their previous work without being forced to die in poverty due to an extra tax.

But the question is, is the imperial court so wealthy?

At the beginning, Emperor Taizu made a nice statement of thirty taxes per one, but in the end exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes were imposed.

Don't say it nice again and end up in a mess.

Shen Shixing coughed lightly: "In the next few years, the household tax will be added to the acres. How the tax reform will change in the future will depend on how many acres and acres can be cleared this time."

Wang Zhiyuan fell into deep thought after hearing this.

The household tax is spread among the acres...

He could clearly feel that this was adding the household registration tax of the common people to the large landlords' households.

But I always feel like there is a layer of veil between me and I can't think clearly.

I couldn't figure out the reason for a while.

In the end, Wang Zhiyuan nodded hesitantly: "This can leave a way for the landless people to survive. Even the big landlords, the reaction will probably be even more intense."

Acquiring land is a tax increase, and bearing an additional head tax is also a tax increase.

It depends on how fiercely you can resist.

However, it is at least consistent with his ambition to restrain the tyrants and restore the prosperity of the Yuanyuan people in Chi County.

Shen Shixing and the emperor looked at each other, and the former replied sternly: "Let's suppress it for a few years first. Then the household registration tax will be collected again, and then the land tax allocated this time will be reduced or exempted."

Zhu Yijun couldn't help but touch his nose as he watched Shen Shixing deceive Wang Zhiyuan.

It is impossible to collect the household registration tax again. The household registration tax will be exempted from now on.
To be continued...