Under the scorching sun after the rain, the green leaves of the branches are even more crisp.
The shallow raindrops are hidden in the layers of branches and leaves, turning into little crystals, hiding from the sun in the sky.
Hangzhou, Chief Secretary's Office of Z.
In the back hall, officials under the Chief Secretary were sitting in the hall according to their official ranks, laughing and talking, and they were very comfortable.
Tie Xuan, the right-hand chief minister, takes the lead, and the administration in Z is a bit tricky nowadays. Anyone with a discerning eye knows that Tie-hyun's immediate boss, the left-hand chief minister, Zhang Shan, the father of the imperial concubine, has become less and less meddlesome.
Zhang Shan is a traditional Confucian scholar. His daughter is a noble concubine in the palace. He himself is a feudal official of a province, and he may be suspected of being a relative of a foreigner. Since Tie Xuan came to take office, all matters have been handed over to Tie Xuan to handle.
Then he hid behind the scenes and sought to be transferred to Beijing to become a noble official.
At the beginning, the officials in Z were a little afraid of Tie Xuan, the Chief Secretary. He was the companion of the current Holy Emperor, and he served as a Liangtai when the Holy Emperor went to Korea, and he also practiced in Qin for several years.
It is said that he is a very upright and unsmiling person, which makes him quite difficult to please.
But after getting along for a while, everyone discovered that this was not the case. This iron chief was also a human being, and he also had seven passions.
Many people feel relieved when they think about it. In the past, Tie Buzheng was an official in the poor northern region, which was nowhere near as prosperous as the south of the Yangtze River. This was a gentle and wealthy land, and even if he was an iron man, he could still melt.
"Lord Hansi, things are looking good these days. What's the happy news?"
After everyone chatted for a while, Chief Secretary Wu Guosheng asked with a smile.
Tie Xuan is on top, and on both sides are the left and right political advisors and the left and right advisors. These people are in charge of grain storage, farming, military affairs, post missions, water conservancy, naming and other matters.
In addition, there are also officials from the Public Security Department, the Taxation Department, the Cleaning Department, the Zhaomo Office, the Baoquan Bureau, and the Weaving and Dyeing Bureau.
Dozens of people gathered together, and the back hall was filled with highly respected official uniforms and hats.
But at this moment, in Tie Xuan's eyes, these shaking official hats were just living human heads.
"There's nothing happy about it!" Tie Xuan smiled, "It's just some difficult problems, and finally we have some clues!"
Saying that, Tie Xuan looked at the officials in the hall with a smile again.
It cannot be said that all of these officials are bad. However, the officials among them are all closely related to the wealthy noble families in the province. They are either from big families, or simply promoted by those families.
Or, you need to rely on those big families.
In fact, if you think about it, if the official is not related to the local big family, then he can't do anything. Collecting grain and paying taxes, clearing wasteland and preventing floods, and allocating livestock to the people are all inseparable from these people.
These officials are relatively good, and the officials at the lower levels who come from gentry families are even more rare.
Children from wealthy families will have a career after studying, and they will exchange stories with their families. This has been the case since ancient times!
Of course, there are also some people who are working hard to do practical things.
During the time that Tie Xuan was here, he had already figured out who he was and what he was like.
"Your Excellency, you are the chief minister of a province, what kind of problems can you have?" Zhou Zhirong, the experience director of the promotion and inspection department, said with a smile.
A true minister of experience, he was responsible for all official dealings with the promotion and inspection department. Although his official position was ordinary, his responsibilities were very heavy. This Zhou Lang was also a minister from a wealthy family, and he was very popular in the officialdom.
"I have a lot of problems!" Tie Xuan said with a smile, "Can you help me solve it?"
"Your Majesty ordered me to do my best," Zhou Zhirong said with a smile.
Tie Hyun stood up, walked to the window and opened it, letting in the sunshine after the rain. He put his hands behind his back and turned around slowly, with a warm smile on his face.
"Under the rule of the Chief Secretary of Z, we have a population of more than 11 million, which is the financial and tax center of our Ming Dynasty in the south!" Tie Xuan said calmly, "The taxes paid to the national treasury every year are more than 70% more than other provinces.
.And the people live and work in peace and contentment, farming, mulberry, commerce, and industry, and all industries are prosperous. There are outstanding people, the wind is prosperous, and the land of plenty has no worries about thieves or frontiers!"
"The feudal lord has managed the affairs well!" the officials hurriedly flattered.
"Ha!" Tie Xuan laughed, "I have only been here for a few days, how can I count it as my contribution!" He continued to laugh, "If you ask me, it is God's credit for creating such a place.
The most prosperous place in the world!"
"But!" Suddenly, Tie Xuan changed the topic, "With all these advantages, there are also disadvantages!"
All the officials quickly stopped smiling and listened attentively.
"Is the population of more than 10 million a real number? Is the number of land also a real number?" Tie Xuan's smile disappeared for an instant, and he looked around with squinted eyes, "Are the mulberry fields, workshops, and taxes all sufficient?"
For a moment, there was silence in the hall, and you could hear a needle drop.
Many people were underneath, secretly exchanging glances.
"Except for Zhili, our Z area can be said to be the best place in the world." Tie Xuan continued, "But even in this rich and best place, the population statistics are not accurate until now, and the head tax is still being collected!"
As he said that, he looked at everyone again.
"Before I took office, Long Live Lord Jinkou gave me instructions. Dingshi, all over the world, people are in full swing, and it is quite effective. Why is it that in Z land, all kinds of difficulties are making it difficult to move forward? Go and see, what is it about the officials?
Shit it off, or is there too much resistance?"
"When I saw this, I was really impressed by the longevity!"
Immediately, Tie Xuan paused and took a leisurely sip of tea.
"A few years ago, there was a disaster in the original hn. But after the disaster, the Chief Secretary there upheld the holy will and implemented the idea of dividing the land into an acre, and the government and gentry paid the grain together, and canceled the poll tax. The population verification that year showed that there were 7 million more
Many people!”
"I checked the verification files at the Ministry of Household Affairs. It was originally 12 million people, but now it is 20 million! The original land area was 50 million acres, but after the implementation of the New Deal, it was 74,150,330 acres.
Twelve acres!”
"Suffering such a huge disaster, the imperial court originally thought that in the next two years, the imperial court would mobilize food relief from other provinces. But after the autumn harvest of the second year, the Chief Secretary hn not only did not reach out to the imperial court, but directly told Long Live Lord that we can be self-sufficient!"
Speaking of this, Tie Xuan gradually lowered his voice, "Isn't it a poor place compared to us? But in another year, you don't even have to wait until next year, just pay the grain tax this autumn, and you can be on par with us!
"
"Lord, the feudal lord, we can't settle the accounts like this. Over there is a plain, a former granary..."
As soon as Wu Guosheng, who was involved in politics, opened his mouth, Tie Xuan glared back at him.
"Of course I know that we cannot generalize. What I am talking about is the benefits of the New Deal!" Tie Xuan said loudly, "Only when the population is checked can the head tax be cancelled. Only when the land area is checked clearly can taxes be better determined!"
"Everything is covered with a black eye, and it's unclear who paid how much. By then, isn't it going to be all up to the people?"
"What the Lord of the feudal lord said is absolutely true!" Chen Ping, the counselor in charge of the province's land and grain roads, slowly said, "Xiaguan Hongwu came to the post from the Ministry of Revenue twenty years ago. The reason why the Ministry of Revenue asked him to transfer here is for the sake of land and grain.
and population verification!”
"But I am ashamed to say that I have been here for several years and have accomplished nothing. The annual census of land acres is still a bad thing and a mess!"
"The books submitted from bottom to top are all inaccurate and ambiguous!"
This Chen Ping is one of these officials who wants to do good things.
"You can't say that!" Zhang Tai, another counselor, said, "We in Z also have our own difficulties. We also know that the imperial court's implementation of the New Deal has its own reasons, but if the gentry objects, we can't force it, right?"
"Are we sending troops down to conduct door-to-door searches and house-to-house inspections? Wouldn't that be an attempt to provoke a civil uprising?"
"Besides, the reason why Z land is so prosperous is, as the feudal lord said, that agriculture, mulberry, commerce, and industry are prospering. Who dares to take the risk and force the whole body to do so?"
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This chapter has been completed!