Zhu Ming was lying on the bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep, and suddenly said: "Dean Zhu, are you asleep?"
"Sleeping." Zhu Guoxiang's voice was confused.
Zhu Ming said seriously: "I reflected on it and found that I was indeed a little anxious today, and I also analyzed the reasons why I was anxious. The main reason was the time of Jingkang Shame. It was like a countdown, and I always wanted to prepare for that event."
Zhu Guoxiang asked: "Aren't you afraid that Fatty Zheng will report to the official?"
"Of course he is not afraid," Zhu Ming was not worried about this. "He saw the official horse and did not take it seriously at all. This already shows his attitude. Moreover, although prophecy was strictly prohibited in the Song Dynasty, it was actually spread everywhere, even in the city of Kaifeng.
There are often prophecies. Let’s put it this way, as long as you don’t attack the prefectures and counties, don’t kill the court officials, no one will care about rebellion.”
Zhu Guoxiang was a little surprised: "So outrageous?"
Zhu Ming smiled and said: "How do you think Song Jiang became so big? He ran around and looted many places, and the county magistrate only wanted to defend the city. He also concealed it and did not report it. He encouraged Song Jiang's gang to go to other states and counties. As long as he left his duty area,
The county officials just pretended that nothing had happened. Song Jiang flowed from Hebei to Shandong. If he hadn't met the fierce Zhang Shuye, he would probably have continued to trouble him for several more years."
"It's a little different from what I imagined." Zhu Guoxiang said.
Zhu Ming continued to introduce the situation: "In order to make a video, I bought a set of "Compilation of Historical Materials on the Peasant War in the Two Song Dynasties". Just flip through it and it will open your eyes. I won't talk about other places, just talk about the capital Kaifeng. Song Huizong ascended the throne.
The next year, hungry people rebelled around Kaifeng City. How long do you think the government spent to suppress it?"
"Two or three years?" Zhu Guoxiang guessed.
Ju Ming smiled and said: "Eight years is enough to win the war of resistance."
Zhu Guoxiang expressed his incomprehension: "It took eight years to wipe out the rebels near the capital?"
Ju Ming lamented: "Moreover, Zhongshu Province personally issued an order calling on state and county officials near the capital to train their troops and step up the encirclement and suppression campaign."
"There has been so much turmoil near the capital, but it is not as famous as Songjiang?" Zhu Guoxiang asked.
Ju Ming explained: "Because we didn't really raise the flag of rebellion, nor did we shout any slogans of rebellion. It was just that the hungry people formed countless gangs and robbed the rich when they saw them. Occasionally they rushed into the city to rob the treasury, and immediately dispersed when they were surrounded by officers and soldiers."
If the number of officers and soldiers is small, they will swarm in and eat that group of officers and soldiers."
"This is not considered rebellion," Zhu Guoxiang said.
"You've already robbed the treasury and killed the officers and soldiers. Isn't it considered a rebellion?" Zhu Ming said with a smile. "It probably caused the court a lot of shame, and it was finally settled through recruitment. Those bandit leaders, as long as they can persist to the end, they will
They all went to be recruited to be officials. Really, they killed people and set fire to be recruited!"
After hearing what his son said, Zhu Guoxiang had a deeper understanding of the decadence of the Song Dynasty.
The rebels near the capital could actually persist for eight years, and the court had to rely on recruitment to solve them. Even if Chongzhen was the emperor, he would not be such nonsense!
Just talking about the uprisings recorded in history books, there are a lot of them during the Huizong Dynasty.
In the first year after Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty ascended the throne, Henan Prefecture rebelled; in the second year, Hedong Road rebelled and Gyeonggi rebelled; in the seventh year, Suzhou rebelled; in the eighth year, Hebei West Road rebelled and Taiyuan rebelled; in the ninth year, Yangzhou rebelled and Jiangning rebelled
...The above is just the beginning, and has not yet entered the peak period of the rebellion.
Ju Ming continued: "What you are concerned about is the agricultural technology here. What I am asking about is the local tax situation. The people's ability to bear it has reached the limit. If the government continues to increase taxes, I am afraid that the old white officials and outsiders will want to rebel.
.”
"Didn't the tax increases in the feudal dynasty fall entirely on the bottom peasants?" Zhu Guoxiang asked.
Ju Ming said with a smile: "The Song Dynasty increased taxes and treated everyone equally. The common people have their taxes, and the landlords have their own taxes. Even if someone in the family is an official, they can't escape. However, officials can make money and don't care about those taxes."
Zhu Guoxiang wanted to be a landlord, so he couldn't help but ask: "What kind of exorbitant taxes do big landlords like Mr. Bai have to pay?"
Ju Ming recounted: "When you were following Zeng Da, a tea farmer, to look at the land to buy land, I kept asking Bai Sanlang for information. Bai Sanlang said that the standard of buying money in Yangzhou is that for every 420 wen of land tax paid,
An extra bolt of silk will be levied. According to the market price in Yangzhou, the price of a bolt of silk is about 1,600 to 2,200 cents. The exorbitant levies and miscellaneous taxes on money alone have reached four or five times the land tax."
"How can the poor afford it?" Zhu Guoxiang couldn't imagine.
Zhu Ming smiled and said: "He-buying money is a miscellaneous donation, which is specially collected from the rich. Only the first, second and third-class households have to pay it."
Zhu Guoxiang immediately noticed the loophole: "If I were a big landowner, I would definitely try my best to lower my household level so that I would no longer have to pay and buy money."
"Dean Zhu, you are so smart, but the court is not a fool either." Zhu Ming said.
The real situation is that in order to avoid this rich tax, landowners across the country continue to divide their property and reduce themselves to below the level of taxed households.
The imperial court continued to expand the scope of tax collection. At first, it only imposed taxes on first- and second-class households, and gradually third-class households also had to pay. By the time Zhao Jian established the Southern Song Dynasty, all fifth-class households had to pay and buy money!
Ju Ming added: "In addition to the money for buying, there is also money for buying. According to the grain tax paid, the grain is sold to the government in proportion. It is said to be a purchase, but in fact it is an open robbery, and the landlord gives grain to the government for free. Bai Sanlang also said, and
Taxes on rich people such as buying money and buying money were collected relatively politely in the past, but since Cai Jing became prime minister, the lower limit has been exceeded year by year."
Zhu Guoxiang could only sigh: "Cai Jing, the traitor, is indeed not unjust."
Ju Ming analyzed: "If there is a rebellion in the Hanzhong Basin, the landlords can also be united. Not to mention completely abolishing exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes, even announcing to charge less and buy money, and buy money, it is very likely to win the support of the landlords. If we announce the tea again
By opening up trade and lifting restrictions, wealthy businessmen will also side with the rebels. The premise is that the rebels must fight a few good battles, defeat the official army and gain control of the Hanzhong area."
"It's possible." Zhu Guoxiang agreed.
Ju Ming said: "I have sorted out my thoughts and it is almost straightened out. We, father and son, have joined forces, and you have established good relationships with the big landowners in the county by teaching agricultural techniques. If I can take the imperial examination, I will take the imperial examination and obtain official status. I really can't.
The imperial examination is like contact with bandits and businessmen. If you donate Ganoderma lucidum as big as a millstone, you can also get a chief registrar and a county captain. Having an official status will make it easier to do things."
"I have a question," Zhu Guoxiang said. "In ancient times, it seems that officials could only work in different places. How did this old white official become the chief registrar of Xixiang County?"
Zhu Ming explained: "Only those above the county magistrate level need to go to another place to take office. Moreover, the county-level government in the Northern Song Dynasty was divided into several levels."
"Take the county clerk as an example. In the highest-level counties, the chief clerk must be a Jinshi, and he also needs official qualifications. In lower-level counties, a new Jinshi can also be the chief clerk. No matter how weak the county is, it is usually a scholar-official.
, transfer of miscellaneous officials. In the lowest levels of counties, even cats and dogs can be the chief bookkeeper."
"Moreover, the chief registrar of a lower-level county is the main arranging position for recruiting rebels!"
Zhu Guoxiang almost laughed out loud: "Let the traitor be the county administrator?"
Ju Ming said: "Big rebel leaders are usually assigned high-level positions or thrown into the army. After being recruited, small rebel leaders become chief bookkeepers and county lieutenants. There are many who have been rebels. If they are responsible for tax collection
, the landowners must be more active in paying taxes."
Zhu Guoxiang didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "This can be regarded as knowing people well and taking care of them. The professionalism is very relevant."
"I heard from Bai Sanlang that the current chief secretary and county captain of Xixiang County is the rebel leader who was recruited a few years ago." Zhu Ming said with a smile.
Zhu Guoxiang was originally afraid of the rebellion and thought it was a big deal.
Now after listening to my son talk about it, I feel that it's not a big deal and this thing seems to be a common occurrence.
Ju Ming said: "We can slowly accumulate strength and make more connections. If the taxes and miscellaneous taxes are too heavy, even the landlord class will be in a rebellious mood. At that time, we can try to rebel, first kill the local soldiers, and then find
If you have the opportunity to accept the recruitment, you can become the county chief clerk in an instant. Of course, this is only one of the ways, only for choice, not the best route."
Zhu Guoxiang warned: "No matter which path you choose, don't rush now. Wait until you have a firm foothold."
"I am really anxious today. I must admit this and promise not to do it again in the future." Zhu Ming said in a sincere tone.
Zhu Guoxiang knows what kind of temper his son has: "It's useless to talk. You have to commit the crime. When you start farming, you work in the fields with the tenants. When you build the house, you also work with the craftsmen. Do more physical work."
Live and work hard, as long as you persist for a year and a half, you will definitely become much calmer."
"Okay, just think of it as training your willpower." Ju Ming actually obeyed, just for that ambitious goal.
The father and son were chatting about the rebellion in the thatched cottage of the farmhouse.
But far away in Yangzhou City, the general judge Li Rui was frowning.
Not only him, but all the state judges in the Hanzhong area also felt pain in their heads during this period.
I just received news that this year, the tax on Hebian money on Lizhou Road will be increased from 420 Wen per piece of silk to 400 Wen. Not only that, Hebian money has also increased, and the landlord must "sell"
Give more grain to the government, you don't have to give grain, just convert it into coins.
This is not over yet. The Lizhou Transportation Department issued an order. Within the jurisdiction of the military governors of various states, 90% of the taxes owed in the past three years must be paid this year (for Northern Song Dynasty taxes, it is enough to receive 90% of the quota, and the remaining
Leave it to the local magistrates for their own disposal).
The three administrative orders all came from the central government. The reason for making money was very good. The imperial court wanted to train archers.
The reason was that Zhong Shidao was summoned last year, and there was an exchange between the emperor and his ministers. Song Huizong was very happy and appointed him as the archer of Qin Feng on the spot.
Zhong Shidao said that archers cannot be transferred from the interior to the newly opened frontier on Qinfeng Road, otherwise problems will soon arise in the interior.
This offended Tong Guan terribly!
Because Tong Guan had just made a plan to send archers from all the inland areas to Hehuang to garrison the border for free. He also told Song Huizong that those archers were all volunteered by the people, and they were well managed and would not disturb the people at all.
Due to Tong Guan's pressure, Zhong Shidao did not dare to accept an official position, so he asked to be promoted to Chongfu Palace (that is, to manage the Taoist temple).
Sure enough, as Zhong Shidao said, archers from all walks of life were exploded, a large number of people fled, and some even started a mutiny.
It happened that Cai Jing was restored to prime minister and was ordered to wipe Tong Guan's butt.
This Xianggong Cai was a master at making money. He directly raised taxes in the Hanzhong area to train Hehuang archers and spent money to appease the soldiers who were causing trouble.
Just because of Cai Jing's words, the lives of ordinary people in the entire Hanzhong Basin will be difficult this year!