It can be imagined that with this kind of mentality, no one needs to instigate. There are many powerful people in Jiangnan, and the gentry is holding back a sense of resentment in their hearts. If there is a little provocation by someone with intentions, it will not be difficult to detonate the entire Jiangnan.
Beijing
There is still a busy scene in the Hubu Yamen. It is actually the summer tax season. In addition, it is the first time that the law of dividing the land into acres and the government and gentry paying grains together are implemented. Therefore, the affairs of the Household Department this year are obviously more complicated than before.
It was much busier in previous years.
Wang Yangming, who is personally in charge of the household department, is now filled with a bit of joy. Just looking at Wang Yangming's expression, you can tell that it must be something good.
There was a sound of footsteps, and a figure was seen walking in from the outside. Everyone who saw the visitor couldn't help but salute him.
The visitor was none other than Li Huan.
During these days, although Li Huan did not come to the Ministry of Household Affairs every day, he did come often. After all, Li Huan was very concerned about the implementation of the new law.
What the new law is like, let alone other things, can at least be seen from this summer tax.
If the new local law is progressing smoothly, it can be clearly shown from the amount of summer tax collection. Therefore, it is not surprising that Li Huan is concerned about the progress of summer tax collection this time.
When Li Huan walked into the hall, he immediately saw the smile on Wang Yangming's face sitting there.
To be honest, Li Huan has rarely seen such a happy expression on Wang Yangming's face. After all, Wang Yangming's temperament has always been extremely calm. He dare not say that the collapse of Mount Tai will not change his color. At least, there are not many things that can make him change his face.
The moving expression.
Now Wang Yangming's face was filled with such joy, Li Huan couldn't help but smile and said: "Sir, he seems to be in a very good mood. Could it be that there is some big happy event?"
Wang Yangming was no stranger to the sound of Li Huan's footsteps. He had already noticed Li Huan when he came in. What's more, the officials were greeting Li Huan one by one. It would have been strange if Wang Yangming hadn't noticed it yet.
He raised his head and glanced at Li Huan. The smile on Wang Yangming's face calmed down a bit. He handed an account book in his hand that had obviously been compiled not long ago and said to Li Huan: "The champion may wish to take a look at this document."
Although Li Huan said he had some guesses about the document handed over by Wang Yangming, he still reached out and took it.
With a quick glance, Li Huan couldn't help but a strange color flashed in his eyes. As he expected, this was a statistical table on the specific collection of summer taxes this time.
Li Huan looked at the statistics above and couldn't help but said: "The summer tax and summer grain collection totaled more than 35 million shi!" Wang Yangming nodded slightly, stroking his beard and said with a smile: "Yes, exactly 3,000 shi."
Five million stones."
As he spoke, Wang Yangming seemed unable to suppress his inner joy and said: "Does the champion know how much my Ming Dynasty tax was in previous years?" Since Li Huan wants to reform the tax system, it is natural that he cannot not understand the tax amount of the Ming Dynasty. It is precisely because he understands
, so Li Huan could understand Wang Yangming's mood at the moment.
Taking a deep breath, Li Huan looked at Wang Yangming and said, "If I remember correctly, my Ming Dynasty's summer tax collection last year totaled more than 12 million shi!"
Wang Yangming nodded, looked at Li Huan and said slowly: "It has risen directly from 12 million dan to 35 million dan. This is a threefold increase. If we add in the future autumn taxes,
Then the tax revenue I can collect next year will be as much as 70 million stone!"
As he spoke, Wang Yangming's eyes flashed and he said: "Last year, my annual income was only 23 million dan. Compared with this, it is simply unbelievable."
Compared to Wang Yangming's shock, Li Huan was not surprised at all. The Ming Dynasty now had a population of over 100 million, and more than 1 billion acres of land. Under normal circumstances, it was normal to tax tens of millions of dan.
However, the land annexation in the Ming Dynasty has been serious, and a large number of acres of land have been occupied by officials, gentry, local powerful and other forces, so that a large amount of taxes cannot be collected. What can really be collected are the acres of land controlled by ordinary people.
.
However, less than half of the land is actually in the hands of the people. It is conceivable that
How much tax could the great Ming Dynasty collect?
Nowadays, the tax rate has tripled in one year. In Li Huan's view, it is not the limit. Li Huan is sure that there must be tax evasion in some places, and even in some places, there is still a situation of concealment of farmland.
.After all, the new law has just been implemented, and there must be many omissions. If these funnels are completely blocked in the future, it is not impossible to increase taxes by hundreds of millions of dan.
You must know that after the great turmoil at the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, a large number of acres of land were abandoned and the population was lost. During the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, which succeeded the Ming Dynasty, the annual tax revenue was about 40 million shi.
It can be seen from this that after a hundred years of Ming Dynasty, there were already many abuses, a large number of land mergers, serious tax evasion and tax evasion, which had seriously affected the country of Ming Dynasty.
Seeing the shocked look on Wang Yangming's face, Li Huan smiled and said: "It seems that the implementation of the new law by you and me is really beneficial to the country."
Wang Yangming couldn't help laughing and said: "Not only is it beneficial to the country, it is simply beneficial to the country and the people. With so many taxes and money, the imperial treasury can better benefit the people of the world. Many reasons are
Policies that cannot be implemented due to insufficient financial resources of the imperial court can be implemented, whether it is the construction of local water conservancy projects or relief for local disasters, etc. Only when the imperial court users have enough money and food can the stability of the world be truly guaranteed."
Anyone who is not a fool knows that if you want the world to be peaceful, you must ensure that the people have food and clothing, and as long as the government has sufficient finances, there will be no major troubles in the world. Even if there is trouble in some places, the court will have it.
Enough confidence to bring order to chaos.
Li Huan nodded and said, "What you said is true."
As he spoke, Li Huan looked at Wang Yangming with a straight face and said, "I wonder if all this money and food has been put into the local treasury now?"
Wang Yangming nodded and said: "According to reports from various local and state governments, except for the money and food that needs to be kept in the local area, the rest will be transferred to the local government treasury."
Li Huan raised his eyebrows, looked at Wang Yangming and said, "Sir, have you ever mobilized grain as Li said?"
Glancing at Li Huan, Wang Yangming said calmly: "Don't worry, Champion Marquis. People from the Jin Yiwei are keeping an eye on this matter. In at least a month, all the food will be properly placed."
Li Huan nodded slightly when he heard this and said, "That way everything will be worry-free!"
Looking at the summer tax statistics in his hand, Li Huan looked at Wang Yangming and said with a smile, "Sir, would you like to accompany Li to the palace to congratulate His Majesty."
When Wang Yangming heard this, he couldn't help being slightly startled. He immediately smiled and shook his head and said: "This matter will trouble the champion. There are too many things here, and I'm afraid I won't be able to get away."
If it were any other official, they would definitely rush to take advantage of such a good thing like showing their face in front of the emperor. However, based on Li Huan's understanding of Wang Yangming, it is not surprising that Wang Yangming refused.
Li Huan smiled at Wang Yangming and said, "In that case, I will ask for credit from Your Majesty on your behalf."
Wang Yangming, who was already immersed in a pile of files, just waved his hand at Li Huan when he heard this, looking unconcerned.
imperial city
At this time, the emperor was teasing a pink baby. Queen Xia looked at the emperor's appearance with a smile on her face.
With a sound of wow, the little prince seemed to be a little impatient at being teased by the emperor, and he grinned and burst into tears.
Queen Xia, who was looking at the father and son, rushed forward and hugged the little prince in her arms. While comforting her, she gave the emperor a blank look and said, "Your Majesty, look at you, you made the prince cry again."
.”
Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but smile bitterly when he saw the little guy who stopped crying immediately after being held in the Queen's arms. This little guy was quite spiritual.
At this time, Qiu Ju ran over and said, "Your Majesty, the champion is here."
Zhu Houzhao raised his eyebrows and said, "Oh, Li Qing is here now. I think there is something going on. Please announce it quickly!"
Queen Xia, who was busy nursing her child at the side, saw this and said to the emperor: "Your Majesty, since I am the champion, I will leave first."
Zhu Houzhao nodded slightly.
Queen Xia left with the young prince, and soon she saw Li Huan coming over. She saluted the emperor and said, "I pay my respects to your majesty."
Zhu Houzhao waved his hand and chuckled: "Seeing that Li Qing is so happy, could it be that something good happened?" Li Huan said with a smile: "I am here to congratulate your majesty!"
Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but glance at Li Huan in surprise, and said with some curiosity: "Oh, what Li Qing said, I wonder where my joy comes from?"
Li Huan took out from his sleeve the account book that compiled the summer tax collection statistics compiled by the Ministry of Household Affairs, then respectfully handed it to the emperor and said, "Your Majesty will know after you take a look."
Zhu Houzhao reached out and took it, glanced at it, and quickly looked through it carefully. When Zhu Houzhao turned to the end and saw the astonishing set of figures, even though he was the emperor, Zhu Houzhao couldn't bear it.
He looked shocked.
If anyone observes carefully, they will find that the emperor's hand holding the account book is trembling slightly, and one can imagine how excited the emperor is at this moment.
After suppressing the turmoil in his heart, the emperor took a deep breath and looked at Li Huan, his eyes full of excitement and trembling: "Li Qing, are all the numbers above true?"
Since Li Huan dared to present this account book to him, it must be true, but Zhu Houzhao found it difficult to accept it for a while.
Li Huan nodded solemnly and said: "This is calculated by the household department led by Mr. Wang Yangming. I believe there is no mistake."
After listening to Li Huan's words, Zhu Houzhao let out a breath, and finally couldn't hold back the joy in his heart and laughed loudly: "Okay, okay, that's great!"
The emperor suddenly laughed out loud and cheered loudly, and the servants and maids serving around him all looked surprised.
Although they serve the Emperor and have some understanding of the Emperor's temperament, knowing that the Emperor is a man of temperament, it is rare for them to lose their composure like this.
But a fool can also see that the emperor is in a very good mood at the moment. Although they don't know what Li Huan said to the emperor, looking at the emperor's happy look, everyone knows that Li Huan must have brought something good.
information.
Many people looked at Li Huan in front of the Emperor with envy. Not to mention, Li Huan alone could make the Emperor so happy. No wonder the Emperor trusted Li Huan so much.
Looking at the account book in his hand again, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but sigh: "I really didn't expect that after the implementation of the New Deal, the tax revenue would soar so much."
According to Zhu Houzhao's previous expectations, after the implementation of the New Deal, he did not dare to imagine that the tax revenue would be doubled. Even if it could increase by 50 to 60%, he would be extremely satisfied.
But now the reality has tripled, which is far beyond his expectation.
Li Huan looked at the emperor's excited expression, but now he suddenly said seriously: "Your Majesty, you can imagine whose hands this extra tax fell into in the past."
Hearing what Li Huan said, Zhu Houzhao's expression suddenly changed. A cold light flashed in his eyes and he said: "I know that the powerful locals and the gentry colluded to annex land and evade taxes, but I didn't expect that they would go so far.
"
As he spoke, Zhu Houzhao's eyes fell on Li Huan and said: "Thanks to Li Qing's implementation of the New Deal, these taxes were levied. Otherwise, if things went on like this, a large number of gentry would evade taxes, while the taxes and corvee burdens borne by the people would be increasing.
The heavier it is, the more our Ming Dynasty will perish in the future."
Li Huan nodded slightly. Zhu Houzhao was right. The Ming Dynasty would perish in the future, and it would indeed be due to financial depletion.
Regardless of whether it was natural disasters, man-made disasters, official corruption, etc., in the final analysis, it was financial depletion that led to the final demise of the Ming Dynasty. Numerous officials, gentry, nobles, powerful families, like greedy blood-sucking insects, sucked the huge Ming Empire dry.
Looking at the emperor, Li Huan said with a bit of a sneer: "Your Majesty has said that these taxes and taxes are usually taken by the officials, gentry and powerful men, but now we have forcefully taken them back from them.
, This is nothing more than snatching food from a tiger’s mouth, Your Majesty, do they really think they will be willing to do it?”
After Li Huan finished speaking, Zhu Houzhao's eyes suddenly
He narrowed his eyes and suddenly looked up at Li Huan and said, "Did Li Qing receive some news?"
As he spoke, an awe-inspiring murderous intent arose spontaneously and spread from the emperor's body.
Li Huan was in charge of Jinyiwei. If Li Huan discovered something, the emperor would not be surprised at all. Besides, it was just as Li Huan said.
The implementation of the New Deal has touched the cake of a large number of vested interests. All the prosperity in the world is for profit, and all the hustle and bustle in the world is for profit. Destroying people's wealth is like killing their parents. It has been like this since ancient times. If these people don't react at all, then
