The number of registered fields is small, but the taxes that can be paid are the same.
Can there be no tricks?
In an instant, Li Yujia, the prefect of Suzhou, stood up quickly and spoke hurriedly.
"Go back to the Imperial Envoy..."
"One word at a time, Imperial Envoy, don't you think it's verbose?" Li Zhigang suddenly interrupted him.
Li Yujia was stunned for a moment, and then her heart came to her, "Li Butang!"
"Yes!" Li Zhigang nodded with satisfaction, "Keep talking!"
"The food tax set by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Household Affairs every year is a dead end. It is more than 2.8 million dan every year...not counting cotton and silk."
Li Yujia continued, "Who dares to make any less? Not only is it impossible to make less, but in order to avoid losses, more preparations must be made. The more the better..."
Suddenly, he suddenly became alert and did not dare to say anything anymore.
Looking secretly, Li Zhigang was looking at him with a joking look.
"The number of registered acres is not enough, but the grain tax cannot be less... and the more the better... Let me ask you..." Li Zhigang said with a smile, "Where did you get those taxes and royal grains?
"
"This..." Cold sweat broke out on Li Yujia's forehead, and he could no longer stand still.
Where did it come from? Of course it was plundered from the people! It was naturally plundered through various means!
Behind the more the merrier is the blood and sweat of countless people, and the joy of countless corrupt officials!
Li Zhigang's eyes turned and landed on Xu Enming from Huzhou Prefecture.
"Xu Mansion!"
"I'm humble... I'm humble!" Xu Enming stood up timidly.
"The Huzhou Prefecture's field register is 30% less than the Huzhou Department's yellow register." Li Zhigang asked again, "What do you say?"
"Humble job..."
The room was silent, and Xu Enming felt helpless.
"Tell the headquarters, is it the yellow register of the Ministry of Revenue that is wrong, or the field register of your place?" Li Zhigang stared into his eyes.
"Humble job...humble job...?" He was speechless twice in a row.
"Huzhou Prefecture produces silk and silk cloth!" Li Zhigang sneered again, "The annual grain tax allows people to use raw silk and silk cloth to replace part of the grain! But this department has looked at the account books of the Ministry of Household Affairs for the past three years."
"Your Huzhou Prefecture's taxes are all on grain, not raw silk or silk cloth! Why?" As he spoke, Li Zhigang suddenly emphasized his tone, with a sinister look on his face, "Huzhou has so little grain-producing land, how can there be so much grain? When the people pay for it, they can't get enough grain."
And where have the raw silk and silk cloths gone?"
thump!
Xu Enming could no longer stand and collapsed.
Anyone with a discerning eye can see the tricks here. Raw silk and silk cloth are in short supply and are much more valuable than grain.
The officials and gentry collected grain on behalf of the court, and the raw silk and silk cloth in the hands of the common people were naturally compensated at the lowest price, and then they exchanged it for grain... which was a tenfold profit.
As for where the grain comes from? Aren't there a lot of old grains in the official warehouse?
"Sir..." Xu Enming fell to the ground and cried, "Please spare my life!"
"Shut up!"
Li Zhigang gave a cold shout and looked at the Shaoxing magistrate again.
The latter looked like he was posing, with pale lips.
"When I was in Yangzhou, a small official in the official warehouse told the headquarters that the official grain fraud was even worse in the south of the Yangtze River. At that time, the headquarters still didn't believe it!" Li Zhigang snorted, "But now it seems that more than a dozen of you prefects...
...Among the officials and parents of tens of thousands of people in a government, not one of them is clean!"
"Sir, Lord!" shouted, and everyone in the room knelt down.
Li Zhigang stood up with his hands behind his back and looked down at the prostrate officials at his feet with a cold face.
"You must know about Yangzhou, right?"
"yes....."
Li Zhigang suddenly sighed, "Hey, many people died! I heard that the river outside the Taiping Gate of the capital was dyed red! The people of the capital no longer dare to eat fish in the river!"
When he said this, the prefects, who were usually aloof and aloof, were shaken like chaff.
"You should be able to guess the consequences of what you did?"
"Budang, budang, please listen to your humble words!"
Li Zhigang looked around and saw that the person speaking was Wang Huaide of Songjiang Mansion.
He, Li Zhigang, was from Songjiang, and his family business was all in Songjiang, so he was quite polite to his parents in his hometown.
"you say!"
"When low-ranking officials serve as local officials, it's not that they can't see many of the local abuses, but that they can't do anything about it!" Wang Huaide cried. "The connections at the local level are so deep that they don't dare to touch them! Because there are no officials.
Nothing can be accomplished without the support of gentry, humble positions, etc.”
"Not to mention those big landowners and squires, even those who hold key positions in the yamen, are the children of local prominent families. Therefore, many low-level jobs can only be done by turning a blind eye, otherwise it will be difficult to move forward!"
When he said this, other people immediately cried, "It's so difficult to be in a low-level position! The court wants grain taxes, but the officials and gentry don't cooperate, and the low-level people can't do anything. They can only... let it go!"
"Bad words! Bullshit! Words that shirk responsibility!"
Li Zhigang sneered, "No matter how difficult it is, is it difficult with the New Deal? Is it difficult with the headquarters?"
"What Honbu-do did was offending someone, right? Ah? But Honbu-do still did it without hesitation. Why?"
"First, I want to repay the kindness of the king. Second, I want to repay the kindness of the people for raising me. Middle, I want to be worthy of the books of the sages I read!"
"You can't even control the officials and gentry, but you let them control you. What kind of officials are you doing?"
"Are you worthy of being an official?"
"Budang, we were wronged..."
A group of officials of fourth and fifth rank knelt down and cried without any image, like shrews.
Suddenly, the crying stopped.
Because Li Zhigang said something, "Do you want to die or live?"
As he spoke, he sneered, "Now that you know what happened in Yangzhou, you know that your end will not be any better!"
"Now I ask you, do you want to die or live?"
"I have to live!" Li Yujia rolled and crawled, "Master Bu Tang, I have to live in this humble position!" He said and cried, "There is still an old mother in this humble position and a staggering son!"
"My lord, I have an assignment, but I will do my best despite my humble position!" Others shouted after him.
Li Zhigang looked at the graying hair of these prefects and said with some emotion, "Twenty years of hard work and ten years of officialdom experience. You have to make no mistakes and have great talent to achieve what you have achieved today!"
"I know it's difficult for you! You want to live in harmony with the local people and live in peace. Then you will get a top grade in the official evaluation, and when you retire in ten years, you can be a third-rank official, even if you never do it in this life.
Live in vain, not only honor our ancestors, but also pave the way for future generations!"
"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu" The prefects burst into tears when they heard this.
"But have you ever thought about who is your official?" Li Zhigang asked again, "I usually think about all kinds of favors, all kinds of interpersonal relationships, the face of colleagues, the face of teachers and students, the face of classmates... I think about it.
If the water is clear and there are no fish, as long as the general direction is good, you can just pretend you don’t see some things?”
"Who did you become an official for?" Li Zhigang asked again, "You are worse than those real corrupt officials! At least they put all the money in their own pockets, what about you?"
"Collecting those three melons and two dates, you think it's not a taboo, and you think there's nothing to investigate. In fact, what you collect is what others have left, and what others have left is enough to buy your heads!"
"You deserve to die for your humble position. Please have mercy on me, sir!"
Li Zhigang kept sneering, "Okay, since you want to live, your headquarters can vouch for you in front of Long Live Lord..."
Suddenly, a strong light of hope appeared in the eyes of more than a dozen prefects.
Everyone in the Ming Dynasty does not know that this is the famous person in front of the emperor, and as long as he speaks, there is nothing the emperor will not allow.
The emperor would rather have hundreds of officials kneeling outside the Meridian Gate and crying bitterly to defend him!
"But there is a premise!" Li Zhigang whispered, "New Deal!" He said with a cold glance, "The imperial court has just issued an order on two things: the grain chief system and the rural office. I must implement them within a month, okay? Hmm.
!”
The prefects in front of them gritted their teeth and said, "Okay!"
"Hmph!" Li Zhigang snorted coldly, "This is the right attitude. Is there anything difficult in this world? The so-called difficult thing is that we officials are not serious. Once we are serious, nothing will be difficult!"
"Also, I want the accurate local field records, as well as the relevant people who have cheated on taxes over the years, and the total amount!"
Li Zhigang's eyes became colder and colder, "You don't have to think about taking it out... Since I promised to keep you alive, I will definitely let you live!"
"If you have deceitful intentions, don't say you are going to die, your whole family..."
"Those in humble positions dare not..."
~~
Across this room, three people listened intently, with complicated expressions on their faces.
Tie Xuan, Jing Qing, Han Kezhong.
"Beginning and the two adults have a clear understanding of the property in Zhejiang!" Han Kezhong said, "Why did the emperor ask Mr. Li to come?"
Tie Xuan sighed, "The emperor's grace is so great!"
Han Kezhong was stunned for a moment, thinking that he didn't understand.
Jing Qing smiled and said, "The three of us are not allowed to do anything that offends others!"
Han Kezhong suddenly realized it!
~
Inside the house, the prefects went away with many thanks.
Only Wang Huaide, the prefect of Songjiang, was left.
"I have something to ask you!" Li Zhigang squinted and said,