Everyone fell silent after hearing this! They all secretly sighed at Zhang Juzheng's skills. He was able to control the court in such a short time. He was truly a great man of his generation! At the same time, they secretly speculated whether they could achieve this quickly if they were in that position.
The point?
After a long time, Zhang Qida said slowly: "If our people are allowed to surrender to Zhang Taiyue, how long will it take for him to completely control the court?"
Liang Xihan said: "Half a year to a year!"
Hu Zhiyu put down his tea cup and said loudly: "Brother Buyuan, what do you mean by this? Why did you let our people take refuge with him? Do you still want to help him change the law?"
Zhang Qida said with a serious face: "I do have this idea! Judging from what we know now, he may be preparing for the reform, or maybe he wants to straighten out some things! But judging from what he has done
, what he does is beneficial to the court! So we might as well let him try to do it first!"
Hu Zhiyu sneered and said: "Let him continue? I don't have to think about it to know what he is going to do next! It must be to clarify the acres of land, clean up hidden fields and hidden houses, and rectify taxation! This is a knife to the gentry of the world.
! You must know that the gentry in this world are the cornerstone of the country!"
Lin Huaiying said: "It is true that the gentry is the cornerstone of the dynasty, but the people below have gone too far! Everyone, since the establishment of the dynasty, from the time of Taizong, the country's acres of land have been counted, and now the court accounts record the acres of land that can be paid taxes.
Not only has there been no growth, but it has actually decreased by 20% compared to the period of Emperor Taizong! Isn’t this incredible? It should be noted that compared with the period of Emperor Taizong, the population has increased several times and countless fertile fields have been cultivated. But how could such a result occur?
"
Chen Qiaodong interrupted and said: "Of course they were hidden by the gentry! But fortunately, they did not hide the entire population! At least in the accounts of the country, the population still increased!"
Hu Zhiyu suddenly changed his face after hearing this and said: "My Hu family has a little more land, but it has been accumulated from generation to generation. It is not like you who manage a lot of workshops and have contact with countless smuggling channels.
Only then have we accumulated so much wealth! Compared to you, those of us who live off the land are much cleaner!"
Chen Qiaodong said: "How can you be so clean? Concealing the land, concealing the population, concealing taxes, squeezing tenants and people, colluding with local officials, bullying men and women, and doing all kinds of evil! Although we have dealings with pirates, we are still the same after all.
Isn't it much better to kill someone with one knife than to act like a hypocrite?"
Just when Hu Zhiyu was about to open his mouth to speak, Zhang Qida raised his hand and said, "Everyone, don't forget that we are discussing something, not a quarrel!"
Lin Huaiying also joined in and said, "That's true! We are sitting here to discuss world affairs, so we must put the world first! You must know that if the skin is gone, the hair will not be attached! If the people are forced to rebel,
The first to bear the brunt are the gentry of the world!"
Hu Zhiyu said angrily: "Aren't there nobles? Let them lead the troops to suppress the thieves!"
Lin Huaiying said helplessly: "Don't mention those nobles. Their bones have been soaked by wealth for a long time! It is much easier to let them chant the wind and moon than to let them ride horses to fight! Now I doubt how many nobles there are.
Can you ride a horse?"
Liang Xihan said angrily: "We should get rid of all these nobles. It is enough for us scholars to be in power! They are just a group of bugs lying on the ancestor's memorial tablets sucking blood!"
Chen Qiaodong said: "This is impossible! The court also needs nobles to balance us, and we also need nobles as an opponent, otherwise the court may purge us!"
Zhang Qida stopped talking and said: "Stop talking about this! Brother Yue Lin, I would like to ask what is the current attitude among the southern scholars towards Zhang Taiyue's reform?"
Chen Qiaodong pondered for a moment and said: "When it comes to reform, of course no one wants it! After all, only by making money steadily can you live a good life! However, although they think they can make concessions on land taxation, they are worried that the court will receive the profits from the land.
, will extend its hand to industry and commerce!”
Hu Zhiyu immediately said: "I object! People like us are no match for you! As long as we dig up some soil and burn it, and raise some silkworms, we can make a lot of money! We are digging in the soil! We rely on
Only by cultivating crops year after year can we get a little bit of money! Now the court wants to collect taxes based on the acre of land, how can that be done?"
Immediately, the two sides began to argue with each other, and they were no longer as elegant as before! They seemed to be hawkers who competed with each other in the market! Among these five people, Lin Huaiying and Chen Qiaodong supported the investigation of hidden fields and hidden households, while Hu Zhiyu and Liang Xihan expressed opposition.
.As for Zhang Qida, he remained neutral and did not express any opinion.
The reason why such a situation occurs is normal! Chen Qiaodong supports the inventory of hidden fields and hidden households because his way of making profits comes from industry and commerce, and he himself does not have much land! They even thought that as long as the court collected agricultural taxes
, just don’t make any decisions about industrial and commercial taxes!
As for Lin Huaiying's support for this matter, it was out of the true intention of a scholar. In his heart, he still wanted to keep the orthodoxy of the court. In his opinion, the national tax on imperial grain is the most natural thing in the world!
The most direct reason for Hu Zhiyu's opposition to this matter is that he is a big landowner himself, and his family has countless fields! Wouldn't it be painful to make him pay taxes?
As for the reason why Liang Xihan advocated maintaining the status quo, it was for the sake of the officials. You must know that at this time, the local gentry were the ones who really controlled the land and population. If the officials could not establish a good relationship with the local gentry, they would not be able to do their jobs.
Stable! So whether they support or oppose it, they all have their own reasons, but no one considers the situation of the court!
After the two sides argued for a long time, they failed to convince their opponents. Finally, they stopped at Zhang Qida's signal! Zhang Qida stopped everyone and sighed and said: "Everyone, we are gathered together today for state affairs, not for personal gain. Still.
We must put the overall situation first!”
Hu Zhiyu said: "It's right to put yourself first when it comes to the overall situation, but you can't just let us lose!"
Chen Qiaodong said disdainfully: "What have you lost? Who of you here has not received contributions from industry and commerce, it's just big or small! Otherwise, how did these expenses come from?"
Seeing that the two sides were about to argue again, Zhang Qida hurriedly stopped them and said: "Everyone, you have been arguing for long enough! If you are still undecided, just follow the old rules and vote by a show of hands!"