In fact, what the old man said is what many people in Suzhou are thinking - we have been persecuted by the old Zhu family, but it would be stupid to say it in public.
It was better for him to be refuted by Fang Yingwu. He could only say that this was Suzhou Prefecture. Fortunately, if he said this in the capital, Xichang and Dongchang would rush to arrest people and ransack their homes.
Immediately, another middle-aged man came out to smooth things over, and he reasoned with sincerity: "What Mr. Mao said is inappropriate. But seeing is always believing when it comes to heavy taxation in Jiangnan, so it's not about the uneven distribution of official land and civilian land, but
The reason is that the overall tax burden is too heavy.
That's why the common people are so overwhelmed that they don't think about fixing the root cause of the problem. They reduce the tribute in the south of the Yangtze River and only repair the fields between officials and people. How is it any different from tearing down the east wall to repair the west wall?"
Fang Yingwu responded: "The world is like a game of chess, with general trends and partial trends. The prince is only the governor of the south of the Yangtze River, not the prime minister of the world. If you want to reduce taxes, please speak to the elders."
What you say here, knowing that you cannot do anything, is just strong words. If I were the governor, I would never respond to these unreasonable remarks of yours."
Fang Yingwu said "I am the governor", which almost made Wang Shu angry. However, Fang Yingwu was pushed out by him to set up the scene. In the eyes of others, he was on the same side as him, so it was really not easy to do it in front of others.
If you scold your own people in front of others, it will really become a joke of internal strife.
However, others didn't feel it at all. Suzhou scholars were already famous for their publicity, so it was no surprise that Fang Yingwu's performance was within the normal range.
Besides, in the eyes of others, Fang Yingwu and Governor Wang Shu were both in the same party, so it was not surprising that they dared to say such a slightly outrageous thing.
At this time, another middle-aged man also came forward and said: "The military and state's money and food have a fixed amount, and the court's tax system has its own laws. Suzhou is the most important place for wealth in the world, so it is easy to be particularly cautious. How can Futai say it?"
And decide?
I feel that the princes in the imperial court are very calm and will definitely not agree to the change of Lao Zhongcheng. It is better to do less than to do more. Why should Lao Zhongcheng do it?"
Wang Shu finally had a chance to speak, and his tough temperament showed up. He responded firmly: "I will act according to my reason, even at my own risk. You don't have to doubt my determination! In addition, I will also contact you
If there are knowledgeable people in the court, things can be done."
This conversation was a secret threat and a counter-threat. One said that the princes of the imperial court would not agree to the chaos, implying a threat; the other said that I had also contacted people to implement this matter, so this was a stalemate here.
If we continue talking, we can only break up on bad terms, and each will fight in the court based on his or her own abilities.
Sure enough, the middle-aged man stood up and said: "In that case, I already know what Lao Zhongcheng's thoughts are, so let's say goodbye."
Everyone also felt that today's matter could only be discussed here, and there would be no agreement at all.
Fang Yingwu called out and said to the middle-aged man: "Wait a minute, listen to what I'm going to say next. I'm the governor."
Hearing the beginning of this sentence again, Wang Shu almost wanted to scold himself, his cheap future grandson, who was trying so hard to gain a sense of presence, but he held it back. He was now certain that if he didn't put up a roof for three days, Fang Yingwu would definitely be
I'm feeling rebellious, I did it on purpose today.
Just listen to Fang Yingwu continue to say: "It is true that we should petition the court on the main taxes, but at the same time we must first make a fuss about the increase in consumption. The tax department comes from the court, but the increase in consumption is decided by the local government!
If the additional consumption is re-averaged, so that the official land in each county is reduced by one dou, and the private land is increased by two dou each, then the purpose of reducing the tax burden on the poor in official land can be achieved. Does this gentleman think so?"
The invited guests were stunned when they heard this, almost forgetting that in addition to the main items, the land tax also had additional consumption. The so-called additional consumption is to increase the loss collected. After all, there must be losses during the transportation of rice grains. The additional consumption is based on the situation in each place.
You can collect it yourself, as long as there is no civil unrest and it does not affect the royal rations delivered to the court.
If Governor Wang wants to make a fuss about increasing consumption, he really does not need to go through the imperial court. As long as he can suppress the local area, it is not up to him to increase the consumption as much as he wants? This is not without precedent. Many local officials who are greedy and ruthless have imposed excessive taxes and imposed excessive taxes through the government.
It is achieved by adding additional means.
Is this considered a threat by Fang Yingwu? Telling them that it is useless to rely on connections to suppress them from the court, local officials also have alternative countermeasures!
Someone else said in a cold voice: "Okay, okay, if you really want to increase consumption, of course we can't stop it, so just ask the government to increase it!"
Of course Wang Shu had thought about increasing consumption, but he was worried about causing a more direct and violent backlash.
Because the consumption increase is a naked game between the government and the people, there is no room for maneuver like "court decrees", and we can only fight head-on.
So Mr. Wang didn't mention this issue just now. Firstly, he wanted to prevent the situation from getting too intense, and secondly, he wanted to keep it as a backup. But he didn't expect that Fang Yingwu would throw out the "increased consumption" rashly, which made Wang Shu
I cursed again in my heart.
He began to consider whether he should drive Fang Yingwu out as a joke to others? This really seemed like he was here to cause trouble.
But Fang Yingwu laughed and said: "If I were the governor, of course I would not do it this year. However, there was a flood in the north of Fuzhou this year, and we need money and food for disaster relief. It seems that the agricultural warehouse is not enough. What can we do?
As celebrities in the government, don’t you want to express your feelings when you see the suffering of your fellow villagers? If you spend two more buckets per acre as disaster relief food, can you still support it? Of course, if you don’t have good intentions, then you don’t need to pay attention to my nonsense.
language."
Everyone in the local area was silent, and no one spoke for a while. But Wang Shu was so bright-eyed, why didn't he think of this name? Fang Yingwu still has two skills in handling things!
Using the name of disaster relief to increase consumption in civilian fields is defensible in terms of justice and principle. At least it increases the rejection cost of large local households.
Besides, raising taxes is a difficult thing to do at the beginning. Once it gets started and it is true that an additional two tons of grain is levied, it will easily become a regular practice.
It seemed that the time had come, and Wang Shu decided to reveal his real trump card. He coughed a few times to attract everyone's attention.
"Gentlemen, I took a look at my inspection tour to the south of the Yangtze River. I saw that the Suzhou Prefecture owes a huge amount of money and food, and the old debts have accumulated unaccounted for. Therefore, I want to petition the imperial court to waive the tax and food arrears over the years. I have previously exchanged letters with the imperial officials.
, I have proposed this matter, but you all have no objections and may be happy to see it come to fruition."
There was a stir in the venue, and Fang Yingwu was also slightly surprised. It turned out that Mr. Wang also had a back-up plan! As the saying goes, if you hit a stick and give a sweet date, is this the sweet date?
Taxation in Jiangnan was originally heavier than elsewhere, and because the imperial capital moved northward during the Yongle period, the distribution of taxes and grain also changed accordingly. Originally, it only had to be sent to Nanjing, but now it needs to be sent to the north.
As a result, the distance became ten times longer, and the cost of taxes and grains increased sharply, leading to a serious increase in burdens and severe arrears on a large scale. Suzhou Prefecture, as a city with great wealth, bore the brunt.
This kind of arrears reached its peak in the Xuande period. It is said that during the period from Yongle to Xuande, Suzhou Prefecture's tax and grain arrears amounted to seven to eight million shi. At its peak, Suzhou Prefecture's new arrears amounted to one million shi each year.
Later, Emperor Xuanzong vigorously managed and exempted some of them, but a large amount of taxes and grains are still in arrears, making it a stubborn disease that is difficult to completely cure.
At present, Suzhou Prefecture alone owes as much as 3 million dan in arrears in tax and grain arrears for the past years, which is still more than the annual tax grain arrears. If they can all be exempted, it will naturally relieve Suzhou Prefecture.
However, after everyone came to their senses, they all thanked him together and said, "The king is kind and kind. This is sincerity and good governance. We are all grateful to him."
Listening to Fang Yingwu, he felt that the local people's thanks were just nice words, without any sincerity and no substantive expression, as if it was natural for the country to exempt money and food arrears.
In fact, it’s not their fault. The arrears of money and food have been accumulated for decades. Suzhou people have long been dead pigs and are not afraid of boiling water.
Over the years, it can be said that we have been calling for payment every year, but we have not been able to pay it off every year. We have paid off the old ones and owed new ones. Most of the big families are in arrears, and it is rare that they are not in arrears. After decades of accounting,
, there is still no sign of repayment.
In the view of Governor Wang Shu, it is almost impossible to recover the money and grain that have been owed for decades anyway, and the country has been relatively peaceful inside and outside the past two years, and the national needs are sufficient. Therefore, the exemption of arrears of money and grain is used as a favor to alleviate the problem.
There is also pressure to promote tax equalization.
This is equivalent to him proposing a political deal to the local gentry in Suzhou on behalf of the court. It is very unexpected and it depends on how the other party responds.
By the way, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a look of surprise on Fang Yingwu's face, and Wang Shu suddenly felt a little happy. Jiang was still hot, so there was no way for Xiao Maotou to steal the show. In the end, it was up to him to have the final say.
Everyone in Suzhou Prefecture is constantly calculating the gains and losses. One problem is that the exemption of money and food is fictitious, while paying more money and food is real. In comparison, the real thing is more distressing.
At this moment, Fang Yingwu stood up again and said, "If I were the governor, I would never ask for free money and food."
Wang Shu was angered by Fang Yingwu's behavior of deliberately ignoring the overall situation in order to steal the limelight. He couldn't help shouting: "Get out of here, kid!"
Fang Yingwu turned a deaf ear and said on his own: "I think it is only necessary to petition for an exemption of one million or two million, and then the governor or the Suzhou government will allocate it.
Who can be exempted and who cannot be exempted depends on the specific situation! As long as those who do not obey the government’s orders, why should the government exempt money and food?”
Wang Shu, who was still angry, suddenly froze, but the faces of everyone else changed color. Fang Yingwu's idea was obviously more sinister, it was a naked blow of differentiation!
Everyone is in arrears with money and food. Of course, the law does not hold everyone accountable. The court cannot simply kill everyone in a place.
But if most of them are exempted, and only a small part are still defaulters, then this small number of defaulters will obviously become fish on the chopping board, and they will end up being slaughtered by others. It all depends on the mood of the court, and how ruthless the court can be.
That would never be polite. Shen Wansan's example is not over a hundred years old.
Who among them wants to be the one on the chopping block? With just a few words from Fang Yingwu, they were completely at a disadvantage.
No one said anything for a long time. Fang Yingwu bowed to his grandfather respectfully and said, "Don't worry about the scarcity but the inequality, and vice versa."
How can giving benefits to others seem precious if everyone shares them? The future grandfather's idea was actually good, but unfortunately the details were still a bit gentlemanly, so he had to stand up and add some more.
What kind of monster is this? Wang Shu, who boasts that he has traveled all over the world and is well-informed, doesn't know what to say, but he remembers a saying in the Three Kingdoms - A capable minister in times of trouble will be a traitor in troubled times. At least he should be light-hearted as a governor. Relaxingly (To be continued. Please search Piaotian Literature, the novel will be better and updated faster!)
