"The land can be cultivated and turned into agricultural suburbs to support the young slaves and fill in the trenches with walls so that people from the mountains and rivers can reach it." [Shanglin Fu]
"Shanglin Garden covers an area of thousands of hectares. After years of chaos, there are especially many wastelands. Except for the construction of Zhangzhang and other palaces in the west of the city, the rest of the land has been sorted out, and people have been recruited to work in the fields. They have been used as food and grass, and the settlement has prospered." In the announcement room.
In the palace, the emperor took Dong Cheng's memorial and said slowly: "Opening the forest ban, dividing fields, ponds and swamps for the common people to cultivate. This is the practice that happened when Emperor Xiaoyuan and Xiaocheng were emperors."
Seeing the uneasy look of the young master Zhang Chang, the emperor asked with great interest: "How can such a virtuous government be opposed by others?"
Although the reason given by those who opposed it was that "Shanglin Garden is a royal garden, we cannot allow people to cultivate and collect wood on the former site of the palace, which would damage the majesty of the imperial court." But in fact, the emperor knew what was going on. He meant it.
When I asked Zhang Chang, I mainly wanted to see Zhang Chang’s attitude.
Zhang Chang lives in the Shaofu and is in charge of taxes on gardens, mountains, ponds, etc. How come he doesn’t know the current situation of Shanglin Garden? Since the rebellion of Wang Mang, Shanglin Garden in Guanzhong has been neglected for repairs, resulting in Shanglin Garden, Palace and Garden becoming ruins, and the land, mountains, forests and ponds
All the land has been occupied by private reclamation. At present, except for Jianzhang and other important palaces in the west of the city, which have not been occupied by others, the rest of the land is owned by others.
These people are no one else, they are the wealthy families from Fufeng, Jingzhao and other places. They have occupied Shanglin wasteland and wild forests for at least ten years. They know that this is an act of harvesting royal wool and violating national laws, so they dare not speak out. Even
Successive Jing Zhaoyin officials turned a blind eye to this and acquiesced to the established fact.
Now Dong Chengshangshu wants to take the wasteland of Shanglin Garden to the common people for farming. Although his intentions are good, he has hidden evil intentions.
You must know that apart from Jianzhang Palace, Grape Palace and several other outlying palaces in the west of the city, where is there any extra wasteland for the refugees in Shanglin Garden? Dong Cheng did this to make the emperor focus on it, and it is best to give it to those who
Take a look at the colors of the wealthy families who invaded the royal gardens.
Once this incident was revealed, it aroused opposition from many ministers in the court, especially several Fufeng officials headed by Ma Yu. Jingzhao scholars wrote letters to dissuade them. Even Taiwei Ma Rixi and Shangshu Lingshi Sun Rui did not agree.
This matter is just a joke. Once this matter comes out, and someone takes advantage of it, who knows whether the young and energetic emperor will go to war.
Facing the emperor's inquiry at this time, Zhang Chang had trouble expressing his feelings, so he had to euphemistically say: "Shanglin Garden is mostly a pool of mountains and forests, and there is not much land that is really suitable for cultivation. It consumes a lot of energy and manpower of the court to select suitable wasteland.
Recruiting thousands of displaced households may not be worth the gain."
"There is nothing worthwhile about this." The emperor disagreed and said: "As long as it is beneficial to the people, it doesn't matter how much you pay. You have to take a long-term view. The benefits of farming are in the present and the success will be in the future. It is just a wasteland. We
If it’s useless to keep it, it’s better to allocate it out altogether.”
The emperor originally intended to implement the land equalization system and vigorously restrict the annexation of wealthy families, but he did not want to arouse the opposition of the wealthy families at this time, so he settled for the next best thing and chose a more suitable land for farming.
Unexpectedly, he still underestimated the arrogance of these wealthy families to annex land. The emperor deliberately used the topic to express his anger: "You have done this in the past few days. How many of the remaining palaces and gardens in Shanglin can be used? How much of the forest land cannot be used?
How much of Chize is desolate? How much is left? Be sure to find out the current situation one by one and report it to me."
"Don't care about other people's opinions, just go ahead and do it. If you have anything to do, I will take care of it for you." He warned: "But if there are any mistakes, I will only ask you."
Zhang Chang was horrified and did not want to offend Ma Rixi and other wealthy nobles, so he interceded for him: "Your Majesty, the people in Guanzhong have been displaced in recent years. In order to survive, many people have entered Shanglin Garden to cultivate land privately. This time during the inspection of Shanglin,
Please also ask Your Majesty to show your forgiveness by giving them a lighter sentence when their lives are difficult."
"If it is true that poor people are forced to make a living and enter Shanglin privately, they will be included in the farmland and the agricultural exhortation order will be responsible." The emperor looked at Zhang Chang, not so much giving him a face, but rather giving it to the third assistant.
The wealthy families have an opportunity: "If a wealthy person arbitrarily invades the garden, it must be returned to the Shaofu within seven days, otherwise, it will be punished according to the national law!"
The emperor's words had reached this point, and he had already exhausted all benevolence and justice. Zhang Chang breathed a sigh of relief and felt that he had done his best for this. How to do the rest depends on whether those people have this awareness.
So Dong Cheng's memorial proposing to colonize Shanglin Garden was accepted by the emperor, who immediately issued an imperial edict to the minister for implementation.
Jingzhao, Fufeng and other county noble families have annexed Shanglin wasteland for more than a hundred years, and a large number of fields have been cultivated into fertile land. At this time, they are required to spit it out and return it to the court. How can these people be taught how to work?
"Ming Gong is now in charge of the central government, and he is looked up to by the people of Guanzhong." Wang Yi, a native of Jingzhao Xinfeng who was originally ordered by the Yuan clan, sat down at the bottom and anxiously persuaded: "It is time to advise your majesty to stand up for us.
.”
Ma Rixi knew that these people were wealthy, with thousands of acres of fertile land, and many servants. Now that the emperor wanted to take back the land he had illegally usurped, it was as if he wanted to cut off a piece of flesh from them. Wang Yi, in particular, was the most honest person.
Stingy and stingy, one has to pay for one's money. This man was a student of Taiwei Liu Kuan. After Liu Kuan's death, all his disciples offered funeral rites one after another. However, Wang Yi, whose family was rich, only offered five hundred coins.
Although people at that time had the habit of hiding their wealth and showing their poverty to show their integrity, and they had the habit of showing off their wealth at funerals. But everyone knew that Wang Yi was rich in assets, and Liu Kuan was not kind to him when he was still alive. He only donated 500 yuan, which was really true.
Stingy.
Ma Riyi didn't want to talk to Wang Yi, but at this time, in addition to Wang Yi, there were also representatives from the Fufeng Wang family, Jingzhao Dong family, Feng Yi Li family and more than a dozen representatives from wealthy families, all waiting for Ma Riyi.
Rixi's statement can also be said to be forcing Ma Rixi to express his stance.
As a long-established wealthy family, compared with the prosperity of the family, the lands that the Ma family annexed in Shanglinyuan are really nothing. As soon as the edict was issued, Ma Rixi immediately asked Ma Yu to arrange for child servants to take over.
The land annexed by Linyuan and the refugees attached to the Ma family were registered together and submitted to the Shaofu to avoid trouble.
However, the Ma family has a great business and does not care about this loss. However, once the emerging small and medium-sized wealthy families like Wang Yi lose these fields, their vitality will be greatly damaged. That is why they came together to show themselves as the leader of the Kansai scholars.
Ma Rixi of the People's Republic of China upheld justice for them.
Li Hong, the former Shangshu Lingshi who studied under Liu Kuan together with Wang Yi, said: "We know that Duke Ming is in trouble, but this matter involves more than ten noble families of the Third Assistant. If the imperial court once
If you take it back, I don't know how much trouble it will cause. Your Majesty is still young, and although he is wise, it is not something he has done. This will require more advice from Ming Gong."
"You all have your own difficulties. You can send a letter to Ye Que. Why bother instigating me to give advice? Isn't this difficult for me?"
Of course, Ma Rixi would not say this out loud. He was in a dilemma now. He really didn't want to offend the emperor on this matter. At the same time, he couldn't help but resent that these people only knew how to merge with each other on weekdays, and would only think of him once something happened.
He said helplessly: "It is a good thing to open the forest, farm and pond and recruit people to work in the fields. It is a good thing for the country and the people. Due to emotions and reasons, I should not go to Shu to remonstrate and obstruct you. Please let me stand for my justice. It's not that I don't want to.
There is really nothing I can do to help.”
Wang Yi and others looked at each other, and immediately, an old man asked: "Since the imperial edict has allowed the lifting of the ban on the land of Shanglin, it is not illegal for us to cultivate it. Why did the imperial court deliberately take it back and hand it over to the refugees?
"
"Yes, letting the refugees do the farming is also farming, and asking the servants like me to do the farming is also farming, and it doesn't mean that they won't have to pay taxes." Wang Yi seemed to have found a reason to suggest, and said positively: "Rather than let the court take it back separately.
, instead of handing it over to the refugees, it is better to distribute it to us and save unnecessary effort."
Ma Yu sneered at the side and said: "The land in Shanglin Garden is to be used for farming. The imperial court has already issued an edict. For farming, those who use official cattle will be divided into six and four, and those who use private cattle will be divided equally between officials and civilians.
The rent for their fields is based on the old system, with a tax of thirty to one, which is like nothing compared to the income from farming. They really made a good calculation."
Wang Yi was embarrassed and annoyed when Ma Yu told him what he was thinking. They were in the same camp anyway, so they shouldn't be so straightforward. Even Ma Rixi couldn't help but frown.
At this moment, the old man suddenly raised his head again and said: "In fact, we didn't want to see the refugees without a livelihood, so we reclaimed the wasteland in Shanglin. Now that your Majesty has a policy to benefit the people, we should follow it and start working on it from now on."
The land is distributed to them, and we don’t get a share. But the original intention of the farmland is to let the landless refugees live in peace. It seems that these land-owning people are not suitable to be included in the farmland.”
They talk nicely about allocating fields to the common people, but in fact they are just trying to deceive them. In name, those fields belong to the common people, but in fact they are still controlled by these wealthy families, but they have just changed their names.
"Mr. Zheng!" The old man in front of him is from the Feng Yi family. He is named Wenxin. He was a servant of Emperor Xiaoling. He and Ma Rixi were officials in the same dynasty. He was old and virtuous, so Ma Rixi had to be a little polite to him.
Haoyuan said: "Although the ban on Shanglin has been lifted, the land is still your Majesty's. The edict clearly states that the land occupied by the A family's surname will no longer be pursued after it is returned; but the other people occupying the land, even if
Is it because of the pressure of livelihood, it is still a violation of the national law, and it is a light sentence to transfer it to the farmland, where can I bargain?"
Wang Yi said: "Is there really no other way to think of?"
Seeing that these people still refused to give up, Ma Rixi finally said: "We are not unreasonable in this matter. Your Majesty has made up his mind and will not make it easier. Having said that, you should make plans in advance and don't make any mistakes!
"
Seeing that Ma Rixi was resolute and refused to come forward, everyone had no choice but to retreat one by one.
But among them, Wang Yi was still holding on to luck, fearing that he would first take the initiative to return the land and then find out that the emperor was just bluffing and would not pursue the matter further. Wouldn't he be at a loss by then?
Everyone secretly gathered together once in private and reached a tacit understanding with each other. With the strength of the crowd, not even the emperor could offend the public, so no one took the initiative to return the land.