The gentry and the gentry receive food as one body

Author: West Lake in the Rain

The gentry and the gentry receive food as one body

"First of all, what is meant by the gentry receiving food from one body?"

The silver coins were spinning on Jiang Xinghuo's fingertips.

“Then we’ll decide whether it’s feasible or not.”

"The so-called gentry's unified payment of grain refers to the conflict between the court, the gentry and the common people over taxes and grain, which mainly lies with the 'illegal gentry'. The focus of the reform of the unified gentry's grain payment is to deprive the 'lawless gentry' of their power and force them to

They work as errands and pay food just like ordinary people."

Hearing these words, Xia Yuanji, who was still a little worried, twirled three strands of his long beard, and his expression suddenly became strange.

What do you mean by "illegal gentry"?

What do you mean by "legitimate gentry"?

Isn’t this thing all in the court’s mind?

"The measures for the gentry to pay grain as one body have several main points."

“First point, it is strictly prohibited for unscrupulous gentry to collect other people’s money and grain and take the lead in grain resistance.”

Baolan, also known as lannai, means soliciting and paying taxes on behalf of the people. Generally speaking, the gentry collects interest after paying taxes for the common people.

Sounds good, right?

But in actual operation, not only was the interest rate extremely high, it was so high that one had to sell one's children and lose one's entire family to repay it.

Moreover, if you encounter a shady gentry, they will often collude with local officials and deceive the people into saying they have paid, but in fact the people who owe taxes are still unpaid in the government's account books.

This is equivalent to eating from both ends. When the matter can no longer be concealed, the black-hearted gentry who have been deprived of the interest and even the fields and cattle farming for several years can continue to attack the people and refuse to admit their debts, and send the people and their families into the army or exile them. The only thing left for the people is

A little property belongs to the gentry.

The phenomenon of inclusion appeared in the late Tang Dynasty and was still very active in the Ming Dynasty.

It is also the most common and troublesome phenomenon during the payment of money and grain.

"How to prohibit it?" Zhu Gaoxu asked.

Jiang Xinghuo smiled slightly.

"Any distinguished gentry who has taken over the money and grain and has defaulted on it, or who has taken the lead in resisting grain, no matter how much, will have their honors removed and will be included in the list of 'illegal gentry' from now on, and their direct descendants will not be allowed to participate in the imperial examination. And those who are in arrears over the number of grains, will be

If the person is punished for the crime of corruption and perverting the law, the arrears and the interest rate generated based on the time of arrears must be fully paid."

After hearing this first measure, Xia Yuanji couldn't help but tremble.

This is too cruel.

In fact, this is the Ming Dynasty’s version of the “list of persons subject to execution for breach of trust”.

Take all the money and food, right? Get rid of your fame directly!

Moreover, if you are listed on the court's blacklist, your direct descendants will not have to take the imperial examination in the future.

Before Xia Yuanji came to his senses, Jiang Xinghuo continued.

"Second point, it is strictly prohibited for officials and gentry to collude in lawsuits."

Feudal society was a society ruled by men, not a society ruled by law.

The county magistrates are all exiled officials, so the actual local power situation must of course be taken into consideration when deciding cases.

Otherwise, if you offend the local gentry too much, you will easily be regarded as a puppet county magistrate who cannot issue orders outside the government office. You may also be accused by the local gentry and the forces in the court.

In a feudal society, among classmates, fellow villagers, and clan members, among the local gentry and wealthy families, who could not find a censor who was closely related to them?

And I want to successfully finish my job as the county magistrate in the past few years, and then get some insignificant benefits for myself.

Naturally, power rent-seeking begins.

Which power of the county magistrate is most likely to seek rent and has the lowest probability of making mistakes?

Let's decide the case.

For this kind of thing, the outcome of the judgment depends entirely on the mood of the county magistrate and whether he accepts payment.

Then, a simple benefit delivery chain is created.

There was a dispute over the two-foot-long corridor between the houses built on the homestead. A and B went to the Yamen to lodge a complaint. Both of them were civilians.

A wants the county magistrate to award the aisle to him, but A doesn’t know the county magistrate. What should he do?

Find Ding, a well-known local gentleman, who will help you contact the county magistrate and receive a small benefit from it.

In this way.

A——D——the county magistrate, the profit conveying chain is formed.

The county magistrate awards the corridor to A, and rent-seeking with power is completed.

Civilian B, who is also here to complain, what can he say?

Nothing can be said.

Let’s not talk about the difficulty and the time, energy, money, connections and other resources required for ordinary people to file a complaint beyond the level. Let’s just talk about one thing. Even if you file a complaint beyond the level, you can single out the county magistrate, right?

This is still the simplest problem. The county magistrate can't charge much money for helping people judge the passage. The most likely possibility is that the county magistrate sells favors to the gentry.

If the county magistrate confiscates a penny, how will the court investigate?

Xia Yuanji couldn't help but ask: "This kind of thing happened every day in thousands of counties in the Ming Dynasty. If the Ming Dynasty court has no evidence, can it be investigated?"

"There is no need to check every day." Jiang Xinghuo said with a smile, "When collecting taxes in the fall, just open a venue for people to complain. Of course, there are some people who really can't get evidence, and it's useless to complain, but if

If there is real evidence, it can always be found out. No matter whether all injustices are

False and wrong cases can all be investigated, but having such a legitimate way to report back to the court is better than nothing. In addition, if it can be proven that a certain gentry is acting as a lawyer or middleman, colluding with the government and oppressing the people, all

It would be nice to be included in the list of 'lawless gentry'."

After hearing Jiang Xinghuo's explanation, Zhu Gaoxu also understood.

Co-authors don’t just wait for people to complain every day.

It's just that during the autumn harvest, when the grain is collected, an opening is opened.

In this way, you may not know how effective it is.

But at the very least, this evil trend can be curbed at least under the table, unlike the transactions between the gentry and the county magistrate that are openly put on the table now.

In a human-governed society where manufacturing capacity and communication conditions are underdeveloped, ironically speaking, just opening such a small opening is like a ray of light shining through the darkness of thousands of years, and it can be said that "the government is clear and the sea is clear and the river is clear"

"Yan".

"The third point is to nip problems in the bud, strictly supervise students, and strictly prohibit students from going on strike from exams or school."

Well, what I want to say here is that the students are actually the most vulnerable link among the gentry group.

Because students are the same as ordinary people in terms of status, but they are different.

The difference is that they have a bright future.

And because the students are generally not very old, and they are easy to be dragged into the ditch if they study hard, the people around them are mostly teachers and classmates, most of whom are from the gentry class.

Therefore, it is easy to be induced by others to act as a spearman and to be the vanguard.

And once these reading seeds cause trouble, the impact is usually quite bad.

"Once the unified payment of grain by the gentry is really promoted, it will almost be inevitable for students to go on strike and hold demonstrations, because it will further harm their interests. More strictly speaking, it will damage the interests of those lawless students.

So they organized together to protest."

"The solution to this kind of behavior is very simple. Just include it in the list of 'illegal students' and permanently suspend your qualifications for examinations."

Second blacklist!

"Unlawful gentry" and "lawless members", once these two blacklists are released, they are really big killers.

"In addition to the above three points, the imperial court also issued decrees to regulate the relationship between tenants and landowners. It also prohibited the gentry from giving Umbrellas and the like and asking to retain local officials. Of course, the most important thing is

Measures such as those that also require strict supervision of the gentry's own grain and tax payments are all aimed at the behavior of the 'unlawful gentry'."

Jiang Xinghuo emphasized the words "illegal gentry" and then said.

"Of course we cannot do things one size fits all. While we must focus on attacking the enemy, we must also win over as many friends as we can, and we cannot push everyone to the opposite side."

"Contrary to the measures to deal with 'illegal gentry', the court needs to praise and affirm those gentry who pay taxes and serve in accordance with the court's policies. In the initial stage of reforming the tax system, the court is opposed to those who go beyond the court

It stipulates that gentry who affect social order and stability and infringe on the interests of the court and the people must be protected and supported."

After Zhu Gaoxu heard this, he immediately clapped his hands and applauded.

"Mr. Jiang is still smart. In this way, the problem can be easily solved."

But Xia Yuanji remained silent and did not speak.

Xia Yuanji felt a little drummed in his heart.

As a minister, he knew very well that if the "gentry and gentry receive food from one body" could be implemented, it would indeed be a big killer.

Coupled with the "progressive household registration tax" and the "separation notary tax", it can effectively suppress the power of the gentry.

However, the question is, can it be implemented?

——————

"It's really smart to pull one faction to fight against the other."

Jian Yi paused: "But Your Majesty, the most fundamental problem has still not been solved."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Ru Yu also said: "No matter how well-designed the system is, it will go out of shape when it gets down to the bottom, just like what I just said."

"Do you mean it will become the new Qingmiao method?" Zhu Di asked.
To be continued...