Wang Mingran was sitting in the living room, waiting patiently with a cup of tea.
The taxes he evaded have been paid, and the fines have also been paid. He even took the initiative to tell his friends the news, asking other salt merchants to quickly pay taxes and surrender.
Jiangsu's officialdom is in turmoil, and people are taken away for investigation from time to time.
Early in the morning, Wang Mingran was summoned by Xu Ying. He rolled over and had been waiting for half a morning.
Suddenly, Wang Mingran heard footsteps.
He stood up quickly, but it was not Xu Ying himself, but someone close to Xu Ying.
Wang Mingran bowed his hands and said, "Meet Mr. Huang."
Huang San held out a letter with an extremely respectful attitude. This kind of respect was not for Wang Mingran, but for the letter: "Mr. Wang, this is your Majesty's imperial letter. I will take it back after reading it."
"Royal letter? Can I read it too?"
Wang Mingran was surprised and happy. He quickly adjusted his sleeves, bowed before the letter, and then bowed down to hold the imperial letter in his hands.
The content of the letter, written in plain English, is summarized as follows:
"Everything should be handled as your request, with both leniency and severity, and no chaos..."
"However, land administration is the foundation of a country and cannot be compromised..."
"First, although the occupied farmland can no longer grow food, it will only be forced to be used as salt fields in the future. But we must not let it go and let the invaders manage it. Doing so is like marrying off an insulted woman.
Abusers are usually assholes and funny.”
"Second, if more than 20 acres of farmland is invaded, the holders of the salt farm license will be beheaded without any second explanation. If the farmland is more than 10 acres but less than 20 acres, the license holders will be exiled to the area under the jurisdiction of the Heilongjiang City."
"Third, in order to ensure Huai's salt production, both leniency and severity should be adopted. Severe punishment: the ten companies that have occupied the most farmland will have their salt farm licenses revoked and re-invited for investment. The original license holders and their relatives within the five servers will be punished for a hundred years.
They are no longer allowed to operate the salt industry, and relatives within three generations are not allowed to serve as officials. For those with lenient penalties: For salt farms outside these ten, license holders may be beheaded, or they may transfer the ownership to relatives to continue operating. However, the license must be
If you get a red circle, the tax rate will be increased by 10%. If you do anything illegal in the future, your license will be revoked immediately!"
"The above merchants, regardless of whether they are decapitated or not, and regardless of whether they retain or retain their licenses, will be fined heavily."
"Wang Mingran, a wealthy businessman from Huizhou, has made great contributions to Datong State. He can be spared his life, and his salt merchant's license will be red. This is a special pardon and will not be an exception. Wang Mingran's relatives within the fifth service are not allowed to serve as officials, and all those who have official status will be removed from their posts.
Please give this letter to Wang Mingran to read."
Wang Mingran had already slumped down in his chair before he finished reading the letter.
The farmland occupied by his family must have exceeded 20 acres. According to the "Law of Datong", he would be beheaded. Although he was pardoned by the emperor to survive, the future of his descendants was ruined. His cousin and nephew also lost their black gauze hats and went to
None of the five relatives of the next three generations can hold office anymore.
how so?
Wang Mingran felt very aggrieved. He had made great contributions to the new dynasty of Datong!
When Xu Ying first arrived in Yangzhou, she only had a few people with her, and the development of the intelligence network was extremely difficult. It was Wang Mingran who took the risk of beheading and provided money to help Xu Ying develop her power. Later, Xu Ying was in Jiangnan, and it was Wang Mingran who came out.
money to help print and distribute the pamphlet "Datong Collection".
The great scholar Zhang Pu was introduced to Xu Ying by Wang Mingran. Wang Mingran also sent a boat to escort the eldest princess and the consort's family to Jiangxi. Even the imperial concubine Liu Rushi went to Jiangxi to meet the emperor because of Wang Mingran.
Also, the Datong Army regained the Jianghuai area, and Wang Mingran contacted several cities anyway.
After the founding of the new Datong Dynasty, Wang Mingran often donated money. He donated 30,000 taels of silver to the establishment of Jiangsu University and Anhui University.
After so much hard work, he almost lost his head because of the occupation of farmland, and had to rely on the emperor's pardon to save his life.
If it was bribing officials, tax evasion, and manipulating salt prices, Wang Mingran could barely understand that he was being punished for these crimes. But what is the occupation of farmland? Those are saline-alkali lands and cannot grow much food at all. They can be of greater value after being converted into salt fields.
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It was just over two hundred acres of thin farmland. If the imperial court allowed the transaction, Wang Mingran could buy it. When compensating the farmers, he was even willing to pay the farmers ten years' worth of grain income in one lump sum based on the actual grain production.
Wang Mingran thought it was too nonsense, he was too wronged, and the court's policy was too rigid and unreasonable.
He did invade people's fields, but those thin fields that could not grow food could provide more tax revenue to the government after being turned into salt fields. He also recruited farmers whose fields were invaded to work in the salt fields.
In this way, the farmers will not suffer much loss, the government tax revenue will be greatly increased, and the businessmen will also be able to make profits. Everything is covered, why not do it?
What should we do if we cannot trade or expropriate the land without grabbing it?
Wang Mingran wanted to rush to Nanjing and argue with the emperor face to face. He felt that he had indeed made a mistake in occupying people's fields, but it was by no means a big mistake in beheading. He refused to accept it!
Huang San took out a copy of "Datong Collection" and said: "If Mr. Wang has any doubts, you can read this book carefully and please return the imperial letter."
This is what Xu Ying explained.
Wang Mingran took the "Datong Collection" and left in despair. He didn't know when he would return home.
I lay there in a daze until evening, feeling hungry, so I ate something in a hurry.
He read the "Collection of Datong" with a lamp in hand. He had read this book countless times. The first batch of "Collection of Datong" in the Jiangnan area were all printed at his own expense.
That night, I was upset while reading it, so I put it aside and went to sleep.
On the second day, Wang Mingran was not in the mood to go out and was bored sitting at home. He opened the "Datong Collection" again and forced himself to read it carefully. As he read, he suddenly felt different.
The article about Tian Zheng was written by Zhao Han himself.
Wang Mingran approved the content of the article, but that was all. He felt that as long as it was not fertile farmland, the rest of the thin farmland would be occupied, and more tax revenue would be beneficial to the government but not harmful.
This kind of thinking is not only shared by businessmen, but also by officials in salt-producing areas.
Officials and businessmen all agreed that invading farmers' saline-alkali land was nothing. Therefore, even if the "Law of Datong" included a land administration clause that included beheading, the collusion between the government and businessmen was equally unscrupulous. It did not push the farmers to death, and it also raised the level of government officials.
Who the hell would be serious about taxation when they are full? Even if the emperor knew about it, he would probably turn a blind eye.
But what we are facing now is that the emperor is serious!
After copying the Tianzheng articles in "Datong Collection" several times, Wang Mingran threw away his brush and smiled sadly: "So, he is the emperor and I am a merchant. I think tax evasion and bribing officials are a big deal, but he took advantage of the peasants'
The salt-alkali land is regarded as a real major event. I have read this "Datong Collection" in vain before."
News came one after another, and Wang Mingran fully understood the importance the emperor attached to Tian Zheng.
Many officials who accepted bribes could choose to be exiled to Heilongjiang to save their own lives. Only the officials who helped salt merchants to occupy farmland would be executed one after another, without even the option of exile.
Jiangsu official circles were horrified.
Tianzheng is the cornerstone of the country. Everyone knows this, and now we understand it more clearly.
In fact, farmland in salt-producing areas suffers from salinization problems to some extent. Grain output has never been high, and farmers have to work to support their families.
The court was not completely stuck on this. For saline-alkali lands with particularly low yields, local officials could apply to convert them into salt fields. However, the procedure was relatively complicated. Applications had to be made step by step by the county and state governments, which were approved by the provincial household office and then submitted to the general secretary.
The political envoy signs and confirms, and then sends it to the Ministry of Household Affairs to report to the central government.
Once a set of procedures is completed, it will take a year or two.
Not to mention that it takes a long time, there are also annual quota regulations, and large amounts of farmland cannot be occupied. The approval is almost like squeezing out toothpaste.
The local officials and salt merchants couldn't wait any longer, so they decided to cut off the land first and report later. They occupied the farmland and then slowly submitted the application.
This kind of land policy is not conducive to rapid industrial development.
The salt farm is like this, and the same is true for other factories. When applying for industrial land, the approval speed is frighteningly slow. The nature of the wasteland is better. Once agricultural land is involved, the provincial household office must send a commissioner to conduct an on-site inspection and write a detailed report to the household department.
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As for the approved industrial land, the inspectors sent to the local areas by the Supervisory Office every year will conduct random inspections with the reported materials. If the actual situation is found to be inconsistent with the reported materials, accountability will be carried out step by step.
Generally speaking, the more arable land is scarce in a province, the tighter the industrial land restrictions. In the north, it is much more relaxed!
Another half month passed, and a copied government notice was placed in front of Wang Mingran.
Xu Ying ordered the entire province of Jiangsu to conduct a land inventory, firstly to conduct a thorough inspection of industrial land, and secondly, to conduct a thorough inspection of the ownership status of farmland. He reiterated again that all contracts for buying and selling skins and bones are invalid. The seller is not guilty, and the buyer is severely punished.
, the seller can report to the official to take back the property. If the local official does not care, he can go to the Chief Secretary to beat drums and cry out for injustice!
In addition, this notice was posted in every town, calling on the farmers' associations in each village and town to become active. When the county yamen go to the countryside to clear fields, the farmers' association has the responsibility to assist and supervise. The town chief and village chief are not allowed to obstruct the work of the farmers' association.
, those who retaliate afterwards will be dealt with severely.
Looking at the content of the notice in front of him, Wang Mingran actually gloated: "Many people are going to lose their heads."
It would be boring for me to be unlucky alone, but it would be more comfortable for everyone to be unlucky together.
After Xu Ying took office in Yangzhou, in the next six months, a large number of officials were dismissed across Jiangsu Province. 27 people were beheaded, 42 people were exiled to Heilongjiang on death penalty, 65 people were exiled to Liaoning, Taiwan, Ryukyu, and Luzon, and 65 people were imprisoned.
93 people, as many as 166 people were dismissed from office but not sentenced, and more than 300 people were fined and sentenced to self-examination.
Xu Ying also got a nickname: Guan Tu!
Some are happy and some are sad. A large number of official vacancies have given countless people the opportunity to be promoted. Many officials from remote and poor areas were transferred to Jiangsu as officials due to their excellent performance evaluations. There are also many officials who have been promoted to first-class officials.
It was difficult to get promoted again. This time, dozens of them were transferred and sent to Jiangsu to be promoted to rank officers.
Zhao Han said to Song Yingxing: "Publish the situation in Jiangsu and let the officials and people all over the world take a look. Order the chief secretaries of each province to follow Xu Ying's method and conduct a thorough investigation and clean up. Officials at all levels in each province, if they discover major cases,
If the local magistrate conceals the truth and refuses to report it, they can write a letter to the Inspectorate to report it. The report must be made with real names, and false accusations will be held accountable!"
"According to the decree."
Song Yingxing thought it would be good to clean up the officialdom, but he was afraid that a good thing would turn into a bad thing. For the sake of political performance during local self-examination, he would take the opportunity to take personal revenge and create a mess. Or he would seek credit for flattery, engage in random attacks, and make a lot of unjust, false, and wrong cases.