Yang Ji escorted more than a hundred Fengyang folks across the Yangtze River smoothly and arrived at Yingtian City.
Before he could notify Sun Yan, a little fat man rushed over with a gold medal in his hand.
"Yang Shangshu, according to your Majesty's decree, please invite all the folks to come to the palace. Your Majesty wants to entertain everyone."
Yang Ji knew this guy, it was Zhang Chengtian who came.
Without any nonsense, he quickly handed the person over to Zhang Chengtian and bowed to leave.
Zhang Chengtian said: "Yang Shangshu, you should go to Zhongshu Province and wait. I guess there will be an order."
Yang Ji thanked him quickly and left in a hurry.
Zhang Chengtian is chubby and young, so he doesn't feel oppressed.
He smiled and said to everyone: "Don't be afraid. Our ancestral graves are buried in Fengyang. We won't do things that cause people to dig into their ancestral graves. Just follow me."
Zhang Chengtian smiled and took these people to Zuoshunmen, and then entered the palace.
The legendary Denwen drum did not sound.
Zhu Yuanzhang was waiting here in his regular clothes.
Seeing Zhang Chengtian bringing the people, he immediately said with a smile on his face, "Please sit down, everyone. We are from home, so there is no need to be polite. Sit down quickly, sit down!"
This group of common people took courage and sat down.
Zhu Yuanzhang glanced around and saw the leader. Lao Zhu thought about it seriously and suddenly said: "Who are you from Liu Jizu?"
The leader hurriedly knelt down and said, "The younger one is Liu Jizu's nephew. I would like to pay my respects to Your Majesty!"
Zhu Yuanzhang laughed heartily and said, "Look, we haven't forgotten our fate. We are not confused, are we?"
The common people dared not say that the emperor was stupid, but they all rushed to praise Lao Zhu for his intelligence and wisdom.
Lao Zhu smiled again, "No matter what, we are all the same person, with one pair of eyes and one pair of ears. There will always be times when we can't hear or see clearly. Since we are fellow villagers, let's have a good chat and share the things you meet.
Tell us everything."
Lao Zhu smiled and said: "Tell the imperial kitchen to prepare some dishes, and we will eat and chat with the villagers."
Not long after, someone sent food. The group of people had a difficult journey. When they were about to enter Beijing, they encountered danger again and were almost arrested.
Zhu Yuanzhang was exhausted both physically and mentally for a long time. At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang treated everyone with the same etiquette as entertaining the villagers. He was so kind and amiable that everyone relaxed a lot, had a good appetite, and ate happily.
Gradually, everyone opened their hearts and told Lao Zhu all their grievances.
Zhu Yuanzhang listened very carefully and did not miss a word.
The plight of Fengyang Prefecture boils down to a problem of population and land.
When Lao Zhu first started his business, Haozhou and other places had lost a lot of their population due to wars, and at that time, they could seize the land of powerful people and seize land from Mongolian nobles.
Therefore, when Haozhou and other places divided their fields, they were very generous. There were grain fields and normal tax fields. They even allocated mountain forest wasteland and allowed the cultivation of mulberry and hemp.
These measures were regarded as virtuous policies at the time and won the support of the people. In the blink of an eye, it was already over twenty years ago.
In the past twenty years or so, some families have had two generations.
In other words, the boy who was once a young man is now a grandfather.
The population of the entire Fengyang Mansion has expanded rapidly. It has not only returned to the heyday of the Yuan Dynasty, but has even exceeded it by a large margin.
At that time, the people of Fengyang produced enough grain to eat, and they could even sell a lot of it in the market.
But now, in addition to paying land taxes, the rest has to be used as food rations. Even so, there is still a gap. Some young people have left their homes and gone to work in Fengyang and other places to make money and supplement their families.
Life for everyone is far worse than before.
Isn’t this a bad national policy originally set?
Obviously not!
Many children bring good fortune, and the common people are working hard to have children, so what else can they do?
It's just that the original grain fields left behind are no longer enough. There are also many mulberry fields that have been used to grow grain.
When people can't fill their stomachs, nothing is as affordable as steamed buns.
Originally, Fengyang and other places were having difficulty maintaining their livelihood, but famines broke out one after another, and grain output was greatly reduced.
At this point, many people are going to starve.
Fortunately, the imperial court sent relief food several times, and we managed to survive the crisis.
But there is no doubt that the people have nothing to accumulate.
This year is another disaster year. Some fields have lost their harvest, and the victims generally lost half of their harvest.
Before the disaster relief grains from the court were distributed, some officials went to local areas to collect land taxes, and they collected them according to normal years, leaving no room for them at all.
The people exploded instantly.
This is Fengyang, the land of Emperor Zhu's Longxing. We can't survive, so we have to fight. That's why hundreds of Fengyang people tried to send tax collectors to Beijing.
This is where the subtlety of this matter lies. They escorted the tax collectors across the state and counties, but no one stopped them, including the Fengyang Mansion, who all looked on with cold eyes as if the matter had nothing to do with them.
They reached the river bank, and then someone jumped out to capture them. By chance, Yang Ji arrived, saved the people, and successfully brought them into Yingtian.
Although it has been clarified through the process, it is hard to say who should bear this responsibility.
Zhang Ximeng also arrived at Zhongshu Province. His face was as dark as water. Even if Sun Yan came to say hello, he didn't say anything and could only snort coldly.
He went directly to the middle position and sat down.
Then Zhang Ximeng said: "When encountering urgent government affairs, I, the Grand Master, can still come to Zhongshu Province to say a few words."
Everyone was stunned. Zhang Ximeng did have this power, but the problem was that Zhang Ximeng had never used it in the past. After all, there was still a prince overseeing the country, so it was not his turn to intervene.
But this time Zhang Ximeng broke the routine and came directly. Everyone felt an inexplicable pressure.
"Sun Shoufu, please tell me first, why does this happen?"
Sun Yan quickly bowed and said, "Returning to the Grand Master, according to my understanding, there are places where disasters are hidden, and there are also problems with ineffective disaster relief. But in the final analysis, it is the tax collectors responsible for collecting land taxes who acted daringly and provoked civil unrest... I
I think the tax department is to blame for this!"
He was really rude and made it clear that I was targeting Hu Weiyong.
This is actually a skill that Sun Yan has learned over the years. When facing Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhang Ximeng, it is useless to be clever. Instead of trying to cover up, it is better to show off directly. Anyway, the fight between courtiers is not a big deal.
Hu Weiyong would not let Sun Yan go if he had the chance, isn't it obvious?
Sure enough, Hu Weiyong stood up directly, bowed to Zhang Ximeng, and then said: "Grand Master, gentlemen, it is my fault, and I will not shirk the blame at all. But I also want to ask everyone to clarify the matter. Now
The land tax has been transferred to local revenue. Although the tax collectors who collect taxes are still under the management of the tax department, we can't direct them at all. Now it is the local government that has the final say!"
Sun Yan said rudely: "Hu Shangshu, aren't you trying to shirk responsibility?"
Hu Weiyong snorted coldly: "Prime Minister Sun, don't you still know? The tax reform mentioned above is to leave land tax to the localities and at the same time implement a new round of land equalization. In this way, the progressive land tax will be removed and the people will be relieved.
burden and stabilize local finance and taxation."
Sun Yan nodded, "This is what His Majesty decided, and it is what we strongly recommend. Does Hu Shangshu have any opinions?"
Hu Weiyong sighed: "Prime Minister Sun, there is no problem with the land tax being handed over to the local government. The local government is very willing. But they are not willing to redistribute the land equally and re-assess the tax amount. If the local government delays, it will be the burden of the common people.
But it has not been alleviated. We are facing another disaster year, so it would be strange if there is not a popular uprising!"
Hu Weiyong was heartbroken, "Every time it comes to fiscal and tax reform, it affects the whole body. The local government has never cooperated honestly. This time, maybe it is a good opportunity. In short, how to rectify it
, it also depends on the court’s intention.”
After what he said, Sun Yan was indeed speechless for a moment and was speechless.
What Hu Weiyong said is indeed correct.
If land could be re-equalized and taxes re-set, the situation of the common people would not be so difficult, and perhaps today's events would not have happened.
There is no doubt that Sun Yan, the first assistant, is to blame.
Zhang Ximeng listened silently and suddenly asked, "Why not redistribute the land first, but give the land tax to the localities first? How is this order done?"
His eyes were fixed on Hu Weiyong, and Hu Weiyong immediately said: "Returning to the Grand Master, this was decided at the Zhongshu meeting, and Prime Minister Sun knows it well."
Sun Yan lowered his head slightly. He did know this, but it was not that simple at the beginning.
"Grand Master, redistributing the land is not a trivial matter. I am afraid that the local government will not be willing to cooperate. When we were discussing it, we also said that we must let the local government see the benefits before they are willing to act. Therefore, we handed over the land tax first.
them!"
"absurd!"
Zhang Ximeng was so angry that he slammed the table and said, "Don't you know the virtues of local officials? They are eagles. They hunt when they are hungry. Once they are full, they will just slack off and perfunctory!"
Hu Weiyong hurriedly bowed, "What the Grand Master taught me is that it was all due to poor thinking at the beginning that led to today's situation... Grand Master, do you want to take Tian Fu back to the court?"
Zhang Ximeng remained calm and shook his head, "If you go back on your word, wouldn't you be making a fool of the country's credit? What's more, after taking it back, wouldn't it be a waste of time?"
Hu Weiyong nodded quickly, "I am a lowly official who is confused. Please forgive me, Grand Master."
Zhang Ximeng snorted slightly, and then asked Sun Yan, "What do you think?"
Sun Yan was also extremely embarrassed at this moment. He originally wanted to give Hu Weiyong a fatal blow, but who would have thought that it would turn out to be a disadvantage for him in implementing reforms.
It’s really a waste of money!
"Grand Master, I, I will order the local government to implement the equalization of land immediately! Anyone who dares to perfunctory and prevaricate will be beheaded immediately!"
Zhang Ximeng ignored him, but stood up, flicked his sleeves, and left directly.
In the short confrontation, Hu Weiyong won cleanly and beautifully.
Zhang Ximeng came to Lao Zhu's side, and Zhu Yuanzhang was chatting happily with the folks in Fengyang.
"We have already let our children go out to work hard. Our fourth son is really great! You have more children and grandchildren now, and it is not easy to eat and drink. No one has thought about going out to have a look?"
A commoner said helplessly: "Your Majesty, you said that it is very difficult for us to go from Fengyang to Yingtian. If we go out again, our lives will be at risk?"
Zhu Yuanzhang was slightly startled, "Don't worry, everyone, we will give you a proper explanation!"
At this moment, Zhang Ximeng rushed over...
(End of chapter)
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