Reform has always been a big project. Although Cui Weizhen is young, he is also well versed in the principle of Xu Xu Tu Zhi. It took him nearly five years to lay out the two things of apportioning people into acres and recording tenants. The results achieved so far are very good.
At least most of the powerful people and civil and military officials do not know that they are being boiled in warm water.
As the targets of the reform - the Li family, the Zheng family, the Lu family and the Liu family, after these aristocratic families split into sects, the reformists who followed Cui Weizhen became the targets of the reform.
In the eyes of the world, this is not only Emperor Xuanwu's method of weakening the family, but also the family's pledge of fame.
However, if the scope of reform needs to be expanded, it is not enough to just target these aristocratic families. Who will the sword fall on next?
Ye Zhenzhen was a little uneasy. She couldn't help but grabbed Cui Weizhen's hand and asked in a tight voice: "What should we do next? Do we also have to pay taxes on our land? What about those tenants? Do we want to let them go?"
Purchasing land was the most important means of financial management in ancient times. Ye Zhenzhen has bought a lot of farmland over the years, not only around the capital, but as far away as Suzhou and Hangzhou. Good land is hard to come by. As long as the conditions are right, Ye Zhenzhen can
They all sent people to buy them. Because Guose Rouge Shops are located all over the country, it is not difficult to purchase these properties.
However, these land properties, like all court officials, did not pay land taxes.
It's not that Cui Weizhen evaded taxes, but that the officials appointed by the imperial court enjoyed the power of exemption from mediocrity. In other words, as long as he became an official in the imperial court, the land under his name could be exempted from taxes. After Cui Weizhen passed the examination for merit, the Ye family attached the land to
Under his name, these are common tax-free methods.
This is also one of the important reasons why "everything is of inferior quality, only reading is good". If you can gain fame and get an official position by virtue of studying, you will not only become a prosperous person, but also protect your descendants and neighbors. As long as there is one person in a clan,
Officials in the imperial court are blessings from the smoke coming out of ancestral graves.
In this context, the land under the name of each court official is very considerable, and the exempted talents are not a small amount. If Cui Weizhen's reform policy can be implemented, it will be equivalent to all the imperial officials and those who aspire to be officials.
If a scholar puts a piece of fat on his body, it is almost like becoming the enemy of the world.
In such a crisis-ridden situation, could Ye Zhenzhen not be nervous?
However, while she was nervous about her, Cui Weizhen, the person involved, was extremely calm. After all, this matter had been planned for a long time and it was really not the time to worry now.
He comforted his wife and said with a teasing smile: "I comforted you before, why are you worried again? Don't worry, even if it fails, the court has a rule not to kill civil servants, so I won't lose my head.
"
Ye Zhenzhen: "..."
He was not comforted at all, but instead became more and more anxious.
Seeing that her face turned paler, Cui Weizhen rubbed his nose angrily, and his tone became more positive: "Don't worry, anyone can ask for the voluntary payment of land taxes, but we can't. Those tenants can let it go.
Let go, after all, the imperial court does have this policy, and responding to the imperial court’s call is not conspicuous.”
Indeed.
The land tax issue is very sensitive, and the court officials have not noticed it yet. If the Cui family takes the initiative to pay the land tax, it will definitely arouse everyone's sensitive nerves. If this is done, it will make future reforms more difficult.
Ye Zhenzhen breathed a sigh of relief and her thoughts became extremely clear. She said one by one: "I have bought a lot of land in the past few years and hired local people as tenants at very low land rents. They all work as corvees normally.
, there is no problem, it’s just that there are some problems with my mother and the family’s land.”
After Aunt Cui cleared her grievances in her early years and reconciled with her natal family, all her dowry was returned, including the land property.
As one of the tycoons of the Taiyuan family, the Wang family in Taiyuan had more tenants than others who left their hometowns to seek refuge. As the legitimate daughter of the Wang family, the identity of the tenants in her dowry farm was naturally unclear.
The Cui family's farm and tenants were in the same situation. After the Cui family split, the land and tenants under their name were also divided into two. The Cui family in Jingning moved to Jingning, but most of the property under their name was in Jingning.
Around Qinghe.
Cui Weizhen did not hesitate at all and made a decision directly: "You don't have to worry about Cui's side, let Uncle Liu take care of it. As for your mother, you can discuss it with her and carefully count the tenants under her name. If you are willing,
If they don't want to, just hand over the list to the local government to settle down, and just do the corvee service as usual. We will just subsidize the losses caused by the rent reduction for the tenants, and give it to the mother."
This arrangement is very appropriate.
But Ye Zhenzhen was still a little confused and asked: "Can the tenants not have to go back to their place of origin?"
Cui Weizhen laughed when he heard this and said: "There is love outside the law. Although the imperial decree allows the refugees to return to their place of origin, it is not a general rule. However, any tenant who has settled for more than four generations can apply for settlement if they do not want to return to their place of origin."
So, Ye Zhenzhen felt that this provision was very good. Although people at that time were very particular about returning fallen leaves to their roots, there were still some tenants who had no roots and no roots. They might not even know where their place of origin was. If the policy were to apply across the board, it would inevitably be another tragedy.
As for the question of whether the local government is willing to let people settle down, there is no need to think about it at all. They must be willing. However, in later generations, local governments will open up settlement conditions to attract talents to settle down, let alone ancient times.
In a society with an agricultural economy, what kind of talents are lacking? Of course, farmers! Being able to receive tenants from aristocratic families to settle down will not only increase taxes, but also increase the number of people serving as corvees. The local prefect may laugh out of his dreams.
Cui Weizhen is going to find Cui Shichang, and Ye Zhenzhen is going to find Aunt Cui. They both have business to do, and now they have no time to spend with their son.
Cui Zhiduan was very sensible and took the initiative: "I'm going to find brother Zhi Ming. We made an appointment to play with the uncles from the sixth uncle's family in the afternoon."
Cui Shichang and the Liu family have two legitimate sons. They are now married and have children. Those nephews are still young and are not old enough to play with Cui Zhiduan. The uncles he talks about are probably the concubines of his sixth uncle.
They're not that big. Even though they're different in seniority, we can still play together.
Ye Zhenzhen didn't stop her, she just told her son: "Your father is going to see the sixth uncle. You and your father should go there together. You have to visit the sixth uncle and the sixth uncle first, and then you can go and play with the younger uncles. Don't make any trouble."
, and you can’t play dangerous games, you know?”
Cui Zhiduan nodded obediently: "Mom, I understand."
Ye Zhenzhen asked the maid to call Cui Zhiming, who was reading in the side room, and gave some instructions before letting Cui Weizhen take the child away with confidence.
And she took the maids to the courtyard where Aunt Cui lived.