Zhu Gaosui planned to equip the army with tiger-shooting carts and make a fortune on the way. Xu Jingchang didn't know this. He was called to the palace, along with Jian Yi, the Minister of Civil Affairs, and Xie Jin, the general envoy.
Xia Yuanji came here, two important ministers, a chief bachelor of the cabinet, and the source of right and wrong.
Together, they can basically determine the Ming Dynasty's political strategy.
Moreover, due to the addition of Xie Jin, a two-to-two situation was formed, and there was no preference for either side.
Zhu Di looked at the four people, especially Xu Jingchang, and then said: "I intend to rectify the land tax and take back all the clan fields, school fields, and temple fields... But Xia Shangshu said it was inappropriate, and told me that the cost would be higher.
Big. You all should discuss it and see how this account is going to be settled!"
Zhu Di paused for a moment and then added: "I know that you may have different ideas, but you are all loyal ministers of the Ming Dynasty and confidants that I can trust. There is no need to criticize each other and fight with each other."
The emperor made his attitude clear, and several important ministers also understood the holy will.
The first person to speak was Xia Yuanji, "Now that I have said it, I am not just talking nonsense. It is a powerful family, and it is not useless in the local area, nor is it just trying to suck out the marrow. Without them to connect the past and the next, many government affairs will not be implemented, and the gain will not be worth the loss."
Unlike Yingtian, the countryside is well-informed. Within a few days, millions of people knew everything.
Even in some remote mountain villages, few outsiders come in all year round. News is blocked, and the flow of people and information is appallingly slow.
To put it bluntly, if someone rebelled in the mountains and proclaimed himself emperor, the imperial court would not know about it without anyone sending the news.
Even at this moment, there may be more than one emperor in the land of Ming Dynasty, sharing the glory of the emperor with Zhu Di.
"The government affairs of the imperial court, official education, collecting grain and paying taxes, building river works, mobilizing civilians... There is no single thing that cannot be separated from the local gentry. Even weddings, funerals, and local affairs are all handled by them.
Without them, I really can’t imagine what kind of trouble the place would be in. To put it bluntly, the family farm and the school farm are rewards for them. We can’t let the horses run and not give them grass at the same time!”
Xia Yuanji's words can be said to have spoken out the difficult problems of local governance without hesitation.
The aristocratic families have multiple identities. Not only do they embezzle taxes from the imperial court, but they also assist the imperial court and do some things in the fish and meat village.
In addition, if there are any big or small matters in the local area, they will be called upon to be witnesses and make judgments.
There are also schools they set up. Although they mainly focus on their own children, they will also accept some children from the same town. As long as they are talented, they will have a place to study and become literate.
Xia Yuanji talked a lot, Jian Yi listened beside him, and finally concluded: "Your Majesty, if the family were so heinous, they would not be here today. Inspecting the family fields and taking back the school fields would be equivalent to breaking the foundation of the family.
I have no intention of speaking for the aristocratic family, but what will the local government do without them? It’s the lesser of two evils!"
Zhu Di did not speak. If this matter was so easy to judge, he would have issued an order long ago, why is the discussion still ongoing today? Zhu Di turned his attention to Xu Jingchang and Xie Jin.
It's your turn.
Just when Xu Jingchang was about to speak, Xie Jin suddenly bowed and said: "Your Majesty, I think that although what Xia Shangshu and Jian Shangshu said is reasonable, they are a little more conservative. There are things that aristocratic families can do well, but the imperial court does not
The reason is not good! Moreover, the good and bad of the rich and powerful families are mixed. They bully the people, cheat the court, evade taxes, and do many illegal things. If I want to tell you, it is hard to say that the wealthy landowners are more harmful.
It’s still more credit!”
This guy Jie Jin didn't take poison, he took a dinosaur whip.
This is too courageous. To directly compete with two important ministers of the auxiliary country, do you think you are Xu Jingchang?
Jian Yi and Xia Yuanji are also staring at Xie Jin, what's going on? Do you also want to go against us?
Zhu Di smiled on his face and said, "Xie Xie, if you have any great opinions, just say them."
With the emperor's encouragement, Xie Jin became obviously bolder.
"Your Majesty, take the land south of the Yangtze River as an example. It is densely populated and has many students. People who want to study are everywhere... but there are too few local schools. Some private schools are only available to wealthy landowners.
.Your Majesty can take back the family land, school land, and temple land, and at least tens of thousands of private schools can be built, benefiting millions of students, and the merits of education will be immeasurable!"
When Xie Jin said this, his eyes were shining... He painted a very tempting prospect for Zhu Di.
"Your Majesty, you might as well make a careful calculation. The Zheng family's family property and school land are almost 10,000 acres. This is good land in the south of the Yangtze River. One acre can produce a harvest of two or three dan per year. How much does it cost to raise a school teacher? Thirty dan of grain.
, or fifty dan? With so much land, I'm afraid it would be enough to run hundreds of private schools. In the end, there was only one school in the Zheng family. In addition to teaching their own disciples, they could give ten places to the people in the same village, even if they were
Their kindness and grace are beyond belief. It’s really unjustifiable!”
I have to say that it is more miraculous for literati to deal with literati.
The smile on Zhu Di's face grew brighter, "Scholar Xie really understands local affairs, so what do you think about it, I want to take back these properties?"
Xie Jin shook his head slightly and said, "Your Majesty, I want you to tell me, but I'm afraid it won't work!"
"No? What you said just now is perfectly reasonable, and now you say no, what's your point?"
Xie Jin said: "Your Majesty, how to distribute the collected land is a difficult problem. And even if it reaches the treasury, whether it can be used to start schools is another problem. Even if this is solved, the court will not be able to find such a problem.
Mr. Duo."
Zhu Di thought carefully for a while and then said: "Then what are you going to do? Is there any appropriate way?"
Xie Jin said: "Your Majesty, I have thought about it over and over again and feel that there is only one solution that is not a solution."
"What do you mean? Just say it!"
Xie Jin said: "This is what I think. The local temple properties, family fields, and school fields will all be handed over to the local government, and schools will be established based on them... Regardless of family status or origin, all children will be the same.
As long as you pay a little amount of money, you can study."
Xie Jin further explained: "If you do this, some wealthy families must not be willing to hand over their land, and some local yamen may not be willing to offend people. But the imperial court can send imperial envoys to inspect...and then include the establishment of schools in the evaluation of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. If the work is not done well,
The local magistrate shall be dismissed immediately.”
Xie Jin raised his head and looked at Jian Yi next to him.
The Jian Tianguan frowned slightly and pondered for a long time before squeezing out two words from the corner of his mouth: "Okay!"
Yes, this suggestion is feasible.
It is very difficult to plan to enrich the national treasury like Zhu Di did.
Because the clan fields, school fields, etc. are still small compared to the total acres, unless the Yellow Book and the Fish Scale Book can be rewritten to clarify the Ding tax and land tax, it will not be collected at all.
If we have to do it and make a big effort, as Xia Yuanji said, the cost will be too high and the gain will not be worth the loss.
Xie Jin means, let's take a step back and stop thinking about replenishing the national treasury.
First, focus on developing local schools.
Those messy clan fields, school fields, and temple fields were all transferred to the local governments.
Let the localities run the schools.
Then the imperial court supervised the local yamen and asked them to handle it.
If you do it well, you will be rewarded; if you do it poorly, you will be punished.
In this way, the conflict was transferred to the local yamen and local gentry. Let them fight, and the court would mediate.
It is impossible to eradicate all the ills, and it is impossible to spend every penny on establishing schools... But even if half, or even 30%, is spent wisely, it can cultivate millions more scholars, which is a matter of immeasurable merit.
And there is another benefit to doing this. It’s not that the really poor people in the local area don’t want their children to study, they just don’t have the opportunity or the financial resources.
Now the imperial court has stepped forward and forced local yamen to run schools. Let local officials take meat from the mouths of the gentry, and they will definitely gain the support of the people.
After this calculation, the imperial court, local officials, and ordinary people were vaguely standing together again.
The final result was to isolate the powerful local gentry.
After a simple calculation, you can see that the odds of winning are extremely high and the chances are not small.
Xu Jingchang looked at Jie Jin meaningfully. This guy is really not simple. He must have planned it a long time ago. This matter will not affect the annual income of the Ministry of Household Affairs, and will even increase the authority of the Ministry of Personnel.
Neither Jian Yi nor Xia Yuanji had any reason to object.
Moreover, he was also prepared to grasp Zhu Di's thoughts. The purpose this time was not as simple as increasing his annual income, but to attack the gentry and wealthy families.
Xie Jin accurately grasped the emperor's mentality, and the prescription he prescribed was of course always beneficial.
Zhu Di smiled, "Very good, Bachelor Xie, you were poisoned some time ago, but now you have recovered?"
Xie Jin said: "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I have recovered."
Zhu Di smiled and said: "Very good, you have worked hard for the country. It is really hard. I will grant you the title of Young Prince and give you a unicorn suit."
Xie Jin's heart beat violently, but he immediately calmed down, knelt down and kowtowed, thanking God!
When Xu Jingchang first took over as the general envoy, Zhu Di gave the prince the title of Taibao, giving him the title of superior to the six ministers.
This time, the title of Prince Shaobao given to Xie Jin is only the second rank, which is far inferior to that of Xu Jingchang. However, with this title, it means that Xie Jin is on the same level as the six ministers in terms of rank, at least he does not have to be inferior to others.
Zhu Di's reward was expected to arrive on time.
Xu Jingchang just witnessed Xie Jin's promotion in vain and took care of the matter without taking any action.
It’s really a bit lonely!
After coming out of the Golden Palace, Xie Jin hurried over and said, "Dong Dingguo, did you not make any sudden mistakes today?"
Xu Jingchang smiled and said: "You don't have to be too polite, Bachelor Xie. You are better at this kind of thing than me. The key is whether you are willing to take action."
Xie Jin also smiled and said, "Dong Dingguo, I have something to tell you. Just outside the Jubao Gate, there is a Xuwang Temple. People in the capital, when something happens, they all go to the Xuwang Temple to worship and ask for marriage.
It’s all like this, it’s said to be very effective.”
"Xu Wang Temple?"
"Yes, it is the temple of King Zhongshan!"
Xu Jingchang was stunned, has our grandfather become an immortal?
