This time the funds given by the Ministry of Revenue were one thousand taels for each county and scattered prefecture, and two thousand taels for the prefecture and Zhili prefecture. More than a hundred prefects, prefects, and county magistrates, almost all like Wu Hong, immediately transferred the money from
The bank took it out and took it back to the Yamen.
Similarly, for these so-called funds, all the county magistrates, prefectures, and prefects only used a small part to buy pens, inks, paper, inkstones, etc., and the rest was put into their own pockets.
As the officials went to the bank to withdraw their salaries, everyone was very excited.
As the saying goes, they eat the emperor's salary and worry about the emperor. Now that they have received the salary distributed by His Majesty, they can really be called officials, no different from those civil servants.
This made almost all officials have a sense of belonging to the court and the emperor. Many civil servants began to cherish their reputation. Even the most ordinary government officials and police officers were much more restrained than before.
Because all the officials now cherish their job and official status very much. They are worried that their reputation will be too bad, they will be noticed by the East Factory, and they will be dismissed from their posts by the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
For example, in the past, no official with official status would do anything like beating people in the street and extorting merchants. If you want to do this kind of thing, you have to let those who have no official status do it. Anyway, they will not do it again.
By mid-May, the bank had summarized the data from each state and county and sent it to the Ministry of Personnel and Accounts.
"Brother, this is what Her Royal Highness the Princess just sent."
"Oh, so fast?"
Ma Shiying took the thick stack of paper in surprise and looked through it. He did not expect that in just half a month, the bank had opened accounts and paid out salaries to all officials.
Other officials also looked at each other, surprised at the efficiency of the bank. The key was such a complicated and complicated work, but the bank actually did it to perfection without making any mistakes.
"No wonder His Majesty asked the bank to release the salary funds. This is indeed a stroke of genius. I am afraid that only a saint like Your Majesty can think of such a method!"
Although Ma Shiying and the officials of the six ministries were very resistant to His Majesty asking banks to provide salary funds, they had to express their feelings at this moment.
"Okay, everything is ready. It's time to implement the New Deal. Immediately send His Majesty's edict and the Cabinet's decree to all states and counties!"
Ma Shiying gritted his teeth and said excitedly. After saying that, he raised his hands to the sky and screamed: "Everyone, the time for immortality has come, the time for earth-shaking has come!"
All the officials were also excited because they all knew what the new policy that was about to be implemented meant.
Zhu Cihong's edict on land tax reform and the cabinet's decree had already been copied to more than a thousand copies. Following Ma Shiying's order, they were immediately sent to various places in southern Zhili.
In just three days, yamen at all levels received imperial edicts and government orders. Although officials at all levels were well prepared, they were still shocked by the contents of the edict.
The edict stipulates that all miscellaneous taxes will be exempted, and from now on only agricultural taxes, commercial taxes, and customs duties will be collected.
Commercial taxes and tariffs were not detailed, but agricultural taxes were stipulated in very detailed and clear terms. From now on, all private land and forests in the Ming Dynasty would be taxed per mu, and no one would be exempted, including royal fields and gardens.
Agricultural taxes in the province of South Zhili are divided into two categories and seven types. One category is field tax, and there are three categories: mulberry fields, paddy fields and dry fields.
Mulberry fields should be paid a tax of 5 yen per mu per year, paddy fields should be paid 2 yen per acre per year, and dry fields should be taxed 1 yen per acre per year.
According to the income of mulberry fields in this era, which could produce fifteen taels of silver per mu per year, the charge of five taels per mu was only one-thirtieth, which was not high.
Most of the paddy fields in the south of the Yangtze River are harvested twice a year. In total, one acre of rice yields sixty-seven shi. Each shi is worth five taels of silver, and there is an income of 34 taels. Two taels of silver are charged per acre, which is only one-twentieth. What's more?
Nowadays, one stone of rice costs far more than five coins.
Even if one kilogram of wheat or other miscellaneous grains is produced per mu in a dry land year, the income is about one or two taels, and one penny per mu is one-twentieth.
The other category is land tax, which includes four types: mines, orchards, woodlands, and barren mountains.
First of all, the mines, gold, silver, and salt mines were all nationalized, and other copper, iron, coal, etc., were charged mining taxes at a maximum of five taels and a minimum of one tael of silver per mu.
Orchards and woodland are covered under the same blanket, with fees ranging from one penny to fifty silver coins per mu. Barren hills are also covered under the same blanket, with fees ranging from twenty coins per mu per year.
For all the fields and forests, gentry and landlords must produce land deeds to prove that they belong to them, and then the yamen at all levels will re-issue new land deeds. Land that cannot obtain land deeds will be returned to the state.
The cabinet decree stipulates that all states, prefectures, and counties must complete the measurement and statistics of all mulberry fields, paddy fields, and dry fields within their territory and report them within one month.
Within two months, statistics and measurements of owned mines, orchards, woodlands, and barren hills within the territory will be completed and reported.
Yamen at all levels should divide the responsible persons. If there are any false reports or concealed reports, the main responsible persons will be dismissed from their posts and those who assisted will be dismissed from their official positions. The chief officials in each locality will be responsible for the oversight and will be given a demerit and will not be promoted within three years. If the circumstances are serious, they will be punished.
If you fail once, you will not be promoted within ten years. If you accept bribes to cover up, you will be dismissed and investigated.
Moreover, the cabinet's decree also clearly states that inspection censors will be dispatched to check carefully one by one and warn officials in various places not to take chances.
At this moment, in the Dingyuan County Yamen, looking at the edict and cabinet decree that had just arrived, Wu Hong was secretly frightened, and secretly thought that his guess was indeed correct. Fortunately, there was no hurried cashier.
Immediately, all the officials with official status were summoned to the courtyard, and the edicts and government orders were first conveyed.
Then more than a hundred officials, big and small, were divided into twelve teams, responsible for the twelve towns in the jurisdiction. Each team appointed a person in charge of the eighth grade to lead.
Everyone's faces were excited and solemn at the same time. The excitement was that this was definitely a good opportunity to make a fortune, but the solemnity was that a bad life would have to be thrown away.
"Everyone, I won't talk nonsense. First, I will measure the statistical fields. Each team will be allocated ten taels of silver for recruitment and food expenses. If you encounter any obstruction, you can ask hundreds of households outside the city to send troops for assistance.
.
Within twenty days, each team must complete the measurement and statistics of all mulberry fields, fertile fields, and dry fields in the area. In the end, I only have one thing to say.
That is, I have just received a report from the imperial court. In March, the imperial concubine executed hundreds of scholar candidates outside Beijing. These scholar candidates were all bribed to allocate more land to the guards officers, so everyone
Take care of yourself."
Sure enough, after Wu Hong finished speaking, the expressions of all the officials changed, but Wu Hong no longer cared about what they thought, but asked them to go down and prepare to start measuring the land tomorrow.
At the same time, people were ordered to immediately post the attachment of the edict to the yamen gate and the city gate, and read it to the people.
As soon as the edict was posted and the gong was struck, countless people and merchants gathered around.
After listening to the official's announcement, the people without land naturally cheered, while the merchants with shops looked solemn and talked a lot when they heard that business taxes would be collected in the future.
Those gentry and landowners who owned land were naturally gnashing their teeth, and their faces were so gloomy that they were almost dripping with water.
In a short period of time, the contents of the edict spread throughout Dingyuan County. All the gentry and landlords stayed up all night, racking their brains to think of countermeasures.
However, almost all the gentry and landowners were thinking about how to cheat, and almost none of them were prepared to resist violently.
Obviously all the gentry and landlords are not stupid. Your Majesty has been planning this for so long, sending troops, prostitutes to publicize it to the people, and rectifying the administration of officials and issuing salaries.
At this time, anyone who dares to violently resist the law and stop the officials from measuring the land will definitely be killed as a warning and end up having their homes confiscated and their entire clan exterminated.
Although some well-known gentry and landlords are not willing to pay a sum of money every year from now on, the little money every year seems to be nothing compared to their family's life and good food and clothing.
The worst case scenario is to increase the rent and make money back from the tenants. You don't want to pay them anyway.