Chapter 163 Is the leader of the reform faction really like me, Yang Tinghe?!
Chapter 163 The leader of the reform faction really became me, Yang Tinghe?!
"Tomorrow is the first day of April. Are you telling me that only 20% of the newly registered official land has been rented out?"
In the Guangzhou government office, Yang Shen told himself that he should control his anger, but looking at the magistrates who came to govern the counties and prefectures in front of him, and the county magistrates or registrars who were sent here due to illness or other reasons, it was still difficult to suppress his voice.
"Don't think that I don't know this clearly!" He said with a sullen face, "Even if the official land is more taxed, it is still less than the land rented by wealthy tenants! From the end of last year to now, the people of each county should not be rushing to rent the land.
Is that right? Why is it only 20%?"
The magistrate of Panyu in Fukuo County lowered his head and did not speak, and some other magistrates did not speak either.
If the governor is angry, isn't there the county magistrate or the chief registrar? Let them explain first.
"Master, it's not that I'm a low-ranking official who doesn't care." A certain clerk could only make a grimace, "The number of people in private households is limited. In addition to their own fields, those who rent the fields of wealthy households also have leases. The lease period has not yet expired, what can I do?
Just give it up if you can? If you need to rent some additional official land, the family's strong men will not have enough labor, not to mention there will be more corvees this year... Xiaguan County is located in Qingyuan County. From the county official to Xiaguan, every mile has been traveled.
, In fact, we can only give out 20% of the hidden tenants who were registered after being released last year..."
Yang Shen fully felt the strength of the local gentry and wealthy households. His stay in Guangzhou during this time was not in vain. Hearing this, he said in a cold voice: "The corvee is heavy among the people, but what about the rich gentry? None of them are tenants?"
No one said anything, the situation was very clear.
Aren't these hidden fields that were reclaimed by the clear fathers and reclassified as official fields dug out from the hands of these gentry and wealthy households?
They don’t want to rent it back, so can they force it?
If there is land but no one is planting it, it actually does not affect this year’s land tax—anyway, it can be collected almost in full every year, unless there is a famine.
The more than 36,000 acres of hidden land cleared by the Guangzhou Prefecture were not included in the scale book.
Strictly speaking, these new official fields will allow the Guangzhou government to harvest more grain. This part of the hidden field can be rented out at 20%, and the total revenue can be more than 7,000 dan, which is not bad.
If this part is included in the annual tax payable, it will be less than 2,000 taels of silver; but if it is based on the market price, it will be more than 3,000 taels of silver. It depends on how it will be dealt with later.
But Yang Shen was not satisfied, very dissatisfied.
"Last year, how many cases of forced buying and selling of land by villagers and wealthy households were tried in your counties and counties?"
The magistrate of Xinhui County felt a sudden change in his heart and said quickly: "Master, as a rule, these disputes are all mediated by Li Zhengxian. Most of them have no solid evidence, and some of them are old things twenty or thirty years ago. There is real evidence, and there have been fatal cases."
Those who came to the county government were all judged by the lower officials, and it must be the same in other counties, right? Xie Shenzhen was unselfish in politics, and there were so many hidden fields that all the big households in the counties had nothing to say."
He felt that Yang Shen was crazy. How could he start from those unsolved cases and then try to deal with the wealthy gentry? This year's land tax actually had to rely on them.
If they delay the farming work in their fields on the pretext of responding to the lawsuit, they can afford it and have an excuse.
The magistrate of Panyu County also reminded: "Master, last year I, the wealthy gentry in Guangzhou Prefecture, were considerate of the difficulties faced by the government. In some cases, they couldn't send out soldiers and couldn't come up with money, so they all donated money to let the government hire people to serve on their behalf. This is
Official land must be rented out gradually. Now that the land has been cleared, what is the court's attitude towards taxes and servitude? Not only the rich gentry, but also ordinary people are not sure, so they dare not rent it rashly..."
Yang Shen looked at them one by one.
The court's attitude?
"Did the imperial court give more tax to Guangdong?" Yang Shen said sternly, "At the beginning of the People's Republic of China, there were more than 230,000 hectares of land in Guangdong, and Guangzhou alone had 90,000 hectares. Now, the entire Guangdong only has more than 70,000 hectares! Last year
Only more than 300 hectares of hidden farmland were cleared, and the amount of land in Guangzhou Prefecture was reduced by more than 50,000 hectares compared with the early period of the Kingdom. You want to know what the imperial court's attitude is towards taxes and servitude, right?"
After being fooled by Gui E with data, Yang Shen made up for the class.
But no one answered him.
One hectare and one hundred acres means that Guangzhou Prefecture has lost more than 50,000 hectares of fertile land, which is more than five million acres. If all land tax is collected, it will be at least two to three million shi of grain, which is nearly one million taels of silver based on the price of grain!
Without levying land tax, what about the rented grain received? An acre of small land will yield seven or eight bushels, and good land will yield one stone, two or three bushels. On average, this is probably nearly six million stone of grain and nearly two million taels of silver!
Per year!
This is just one city in Guangzhou.
So Yang Shen doesn't know how much interest is behind this, and how many local Guangdong officials and officials who have served in Guangdong are involved?
There are still more than a hundred years to go!
Liang Chu took the lead in sorting out the contributions, and the number of fields that the Guangzhou government was entitled to serve has increased a lot. There are more than 300 hectares of official land. You have the chief assistant father, and your political achievements are enough. Why don't you still go to this mess?
What does water do?
Hurry up and ask your father to transfer you away. It’s good for you, and it’s good for us too!
We want to know, but there are so many civil and military officials in the Manchu Dynasty, and there are so many officials who have become official, who doesn't want to know the court's attitude towards taxes and servitude?
Seeing that no one answered, Yang Shen felt increasingly helpless.
"Since I have come to Guangzhou, I will tell you clearly!" He gritted his teeth and said, "Under the rule of Guangzhou Prefecture, no matter whose family it is, they will be exempted from a few acres of land tax and a few tons of corvee.
Let’s check every family in my house! We don’t have a sword given by the emperor, but I am the governor of Guangzhou and can enforce the laws of the country! From today on, starting from Panyu, I will personally visit every gentry’s house! I want to
Look, how considerate of the difficulties faced by the government are the wealthy gentry who have acquired more than 50,000 hectares of fertile land that have disappeared!"
Everyone else changed their colors after hearing this.
You just took advantage of the fact that your father is the chief assistant, right?
Will die!
…
Tian is right there, but he won't run away.
It's just that the local officials and subordinates who do daily work don't take it seriously and don't care about how many fields and acreage the families with official status and fame have.
It was mid-April when Zhai Luan and the three great talents arrived in Guangzhou by speedboat.
He was studying in Guangdong, so the first person to look at the academic affairs was naturally Guangzhou Prefecture.
Before the provincial examination in August, he had to visit every prefecture.
Then I heard that Yang Shen had gone to the countryside, and he would not go back to live in the government office.
Not only that, the co-presidents, general magistrates, officials, governors and even Zhaomo in the government office were no longer there, they all went with Yang Shen.
There are only some subordinate officials in the government office.
When I went to Panyu County, I saw that the county magistrate, county magistrate, and chief registrar were not there, and even the edicts had gone with them.
After asking about the situation, Zhai Luan hurriedly came back to see Zhang Fuking: "Futai, what is Governor Yang going to do?"
Zhang Fujing naturally knew what was going on, and his expression was very complicated.
At the beginning, the prince said that he was an imperial envoy, had an imperial edict, had the sword given by the emperor, and had five hundred officers in brocade robes, and he was relatively confident.
Yang Shen only has a father.
But Zhang Fujing was a little impressed by Yang Shen: he finally figured out that his father was his father. Since his father was still the chief minister of the cabinet, he could hide behind him and make people fear him.
He brought the magistrate of the whole government and the magistrate of the county to visit him with great fanfare. Will you accept him?
He didn't handle the case either, he just asked about the situation.
How many fields do you have in your own name, how many people are in your family, and how many slaves do you have?
How many fields do your relatives and friends have in Guangzhou, where are they, and how many slaves do they have?
The document was written beside him with a pale face.
The matter was very serious. He did not say that he would change the land tax or introduce corvee labor.
But under the current national law, what kind of people can be exempted from the number of fields and how many dings can be exempted? There has been an imperial decree, right?
Did you escape some?
So Zhang Fujing said to Zhai Luan: "Zhong Ming was a doctor in the Ministry of Justice before, and now he is a scholar in Guangdong. Do you know what your Majesty sent you to Guangdong for?"
Zhai Luan's face turned pale: "...Futai, this is going to cause big trouble!"
"...In the whole of Guangdong, only Yongxiu dares to do this." Zhang Fujing expressed his admiration, "He insists on doing this, so I can only ask Wang Jiantai to send some people to follow him. But for the next step, I'm afraid I need to start with you, Zhong Ming.
.Zhong Ming, what do you think?"
Zhai Luan knew that when he came to Guangdong, he would cooperate in doing some things, but Yang Shen's battle frightened him.
"Futai, this can't be done just by finding a few conclusive evidence of crimes and removing them from office! How can Yang Yongxiu be biased in his actions with such a big fanfare?" Zhai Luan's voice was extremely bitter, "Don't you have to remove most of the people in Guangzhou Prefecture when you are lowered?
, the fame of the people? Aren’t so many officials and their relatives and friends guilty? "
He couldn't help but complain: "Does Mr. Yang Ge know about this?"
"What do you think? It only started on the first day of April, so the news hasn't reached the capital yet."
Zhang Fu admired him for this: Yang Shen was crazy, and after the news spread throughout the provinces, Mr. Yang Ge really became the leader of the reform faction.
After hearing this, it is unclear whether His Majesty will praise Yang Shen repeatedly or blame him for ruining the overall situation.
Zhang Fujing was busy with his affairs, so it was impossible for him to pay attention to Yang Shen's mental journey.
In short, one thing seems quite clear now: after coming to Guangdong, he probably received a lot of stimulation...
"Then what should I do?" Zhai Luan cursed in his heart. At the same time, he was anxiously trying to figure out the true attitude of the court and what he should do with Zhai Luan's various fields.
Zhang Fu sighed and said: "In my opinion, Zhong Ming might as well go find Yong Xiu and accompany him for a few days before we talk. He didn't say how to deal with it. He just visited each house first."
Zhai Luan doesn’t want to go, very much!
Since all the students from the province are here, isn't that just helping to threaten them?
Hiding the land is not allowed by the national law, but you still escape from the land tax and the corvee? Do you still want the fame?
But he must go.
Sooner or later, the lawsuit will come to him, and sooner or later, it will come to Zhang Fuking!
When Zhai Luan hurried to the foot of Baiyun Mountain outside Panyu County, he was surprised to find that Zhu Yunming and the others were also here.
And they were looking at Yang Shen, who was squatting beside the field ridge, with the hem of his official uniform pinned to his waist.
There was mud on the dignified mansion's shoes and hands, so he just pinched a handful of dirt, then stood up and said with a smile: "Superior fields."
The expressions and moods of Zhai Luan and Zhu Yunming are probably the same: Are you an old farmer? Do you know about farming? If you pinch a handful of soil, you will know whether it is good, medium or low.
Yang Shen didn't care about this, he was just here to put pressure on me anyway.
A certain person standing next to him had a forced smile on his face, and he had to say: "Master, please go sit down in the humble house first."
Yang Shen saw Zhai Luan and his eyes lit up: "Zhong Ming? I haven't congratulated Zhong Ming on his promotion to Deputy Inspector General and proposed to study in Guangdong. Unexpectedly, we met here."
The judge's face became even worse.
"... Use Xiu, stay safe..." We all had stayed in the Hanlin Academy, and we were old acquaintances.
Yang Shen introduced him with a smile on his face: "These three are the four great talents in Wuzhong. Now, His Majesty has granted them the same background as Jinshi and serve in the Royal Wanfa Museum. After studying in Guangdong, they can encourage the students!
"
"...I went south with the three worshipers."
"Today is really rare." He smiled and said to the host again, "Uncle Zong is here in person, and the talented people from Wuzhong are also here. It suddenly dawns on him that he has left some good sentences and masterpieces! Mr. Feng, what do you think?"
"...Don't dare! The master of the palace has killed the students... It should be like this, it should be like this, the humble house will be full of glory. Mr. Zongbo, the master of the palace, three of you, my lords, please come here..."
He was cursing and trembling in his heart, but he could only smile and invite them to go to his house.
The three talented men saw that Yang Shen had untied his official robe and had some mud on his waist. Beside him, there were all the officials from the county and county who looked worried.
Occasionally when I have to laugh, it feels like crying, and everyone looks quite haggard.
Before I could reach the gate of the house, I saw a government official bringing a few frightened farmers over to report: "Master, the young tenant of the Feng family has been invited."
"Come, come, let's go in together. Don't panic, I'm just asking about farming matters and getting a feel for the people's sentiments."
The people of Guangzhou Prefecture now know that the Lord of the Prefecture is the Number One Scholar and the Star of Wenqu.
But they also know why Fu Zun has been wandering around the countryside of Panyu recently.
So they knelt down with a plop: "Master Fu, the common people don't know anything..."
Feng Juren was so frightened that his white face turned dark again, but he did not dare to interrupt.
"Don't you know how much you have harvested from the fields you cultivated in previous years?" Yang Shen has become a lot more skilled and still smiles warmly, "Don't be afraid, I just understand the people's sentiments and will never ask you what you don't know. Come on, come on.
, let’s talk in the yard first.”
The villagers burst into tears: "Common folk, please reply here."
"Get up first, get up first."
Yang Shen reached out to help them, so several tenants were timid and did not dare to be touched by him, so they stood up and crowded together.
You pushed me, but an old man with a dark face and wrinkles was pushed in front, and everyone was trembling.
The subordinates in various official uniforms and soap clothes gathered around, and everyone's expressions and postures were so rich that the three talented men felt that this scene was too impactful.
...could it be that these were the "sceneries" His Majesty asked them to come to Guangdong to see?
Is that Yang Shen, the dignified Zhuang Yuan Gong, the well-known Qingliu, the son of the chief minister?
Just when Yang Shen turned into a mudslide and rushed into Guangzhou, what happened here was finally reported to Beijing.
In the royal study room, daily senior study classes are still held.
"Your Majesty, urgent report from Guangdong! Yang Shen, the prefect of Guangzhou, personally led the governor and county magistrates to visit the local gentry one by one, observe the people's sentiments, and inquire about the land and people..."
Before Gao Zhong finished speaking, Yang Tinghe, who had been "re-educated" for more than half an hour, was already dizzy. When he heard the bad news, his eyes suddenly turned black, and he staggered and fell over.
News came and went that Yao Rong, the governor of Yansui, had not yet arrived.
Seventeen Arhats, Zhang Bi, and Gu Dingchen were immediately stunned. Yang Ting and Jiang Mian beside him quickly supported him.
"...Quickly announce the Imperial Physician! Hurry and prepare some ginseng tea!"
After Zhu Houcong gave his instructions, he left the throne and walked towards Yang Tinghe. He saw Jiang Mian pinching one of Yang Tinghe's men fiercely.
Yang Tinghe woke up quickly and saw many heads gathered together and looking over, with expressions of concern on their faces.
He was so sad that he burst into tears immediately.
What a sin!
How did I really become the leader of the reformist party?