The prosperity of Xiangyang Mansion is impressive.
There was an endless stream of boats on the Han River, and people crowded in and out of the city.
It is completely unimaginable that such a place with rich soil and water, where the people are healthy, will be ravaged by Zhang Xianzhong, Zuo Liangyu, and other bandit officers and soldiers ten years later, and it will become the favorite "eating" area for officials, bandits, and bandits.
The so-called "eating" means very simply, that is, how to get food from farmers at the lowest cost.
Officials collected it for free through various taxes; bandits took it away for free through various robberies.
In fact, the most terrifying thing is not the officials and bandits.
After all, officials are just rank-and-file. Except for people like Zuo Liangyu, promotion depends on political performance. Bandits themselves are not bandits, they are ordinary people who cannot survive.
The landowners and grain merchants who have always been on top of the poor peasants and tenant farmers are the most terrifying existences.
More than 50% of farmers' harvest goes into their pockets.
It's a pity for such a good place. First, the land was annexed, and then officials and bandits came. Even so, Xiangyang did not have an economic collapse until the most intense war. The people worked hard to produce and live, and it was still a place that could feed people.
Anyone with a sense of justice and compassion would hope that these people can live a good life and not encounter such a dark time.
However, this place is indeed lightly armed.
Xiangyang, Nanyang and Jingzhou have been important military towns since ancient times, battlegrounds for military strategists. In history, Jingchu warriors, farming soldiers and outstanding naval forces have emerged one after another.
Nowadays, peace has lasted for a long time, and people do not know how to fight.
Even the Governor of Yunyang, who was responsible for supervising the troops and military affairs in the above-mentioned areas, could only do a good job in maintaining public order and forgot his responsibility of recruiting and training a strong army.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty, there were constant wars, and brave warriors emerged from many places.
However, in the history of China, the Jingxiang strong army and the Huaisi warriors who played a decisive role are missing!
Wang Hongyu lamented that just because one farmed the land to support the world and the other brewed the world's fine wine, one could not forget the brave and good fighting blood of the two places.
Wang Hongyu wanted to use the elites from Sichuan to the southwest of Yunyang and the elites from Sichuan and Shaanxi to the northwest to drive the martial virtues of the eastern plains and revive the Jingxiang warriors in the late Ming Dynasty.
I chose Yunyang as my base, not to engage in guerrilla warfare, but to use the northwest border of Chu, adjacent to the three provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Henan, to develop in all directions, and to achieve a low-key development and an astonishing rise.
The Governor of Yunyang has jurisdiction over military affairs in the surrounding areas of Yunyang, Xiangyang, Nanyang, Jingzhou, and Hanzhong. However, the military armaments are lax at this time, so he can, as the first general of Yunyang Prefecture, take control of the surrounding military potential in his own hands.
The second-in-command of the Xiangyang Prefecture and the co-president of the Prefecture is Ai Youzhi, so he can naturally be an important helper.
With him here supporting the industry and balancing the relationship between civil and military affairs, Xiangyang Mansion will have nothing to worry about.
The group headed east along the south side of the Han River, and soon arrived at Gu County on the west side of Xiangyang, next to Yunyang Prefecture.
In Gu County, Wang Hongyu perked up as soon as he heard this.
Because he became famous in the late Ming Dynasty.
After Zhang Xianzhong's most famous surrender, he was stationed in Gu County.
Here he bribed Xiong Wencan and many officials, recruited and trained soldiers, and waited for the world to change again.
During this period, he also held a "two heroes meeting" with Li Zicheng, who was absconding.
Xianzhong, you have no chance, Gu County is attracted by me~
Gu County is located in a good place from Jingxiang Plain to the mountainside. In the Spring and Autumn Period, it was the territory of Gu Kingdom, hence the name of the county.
The household registration and Ding tax sent by Ai Youzhi showed that Gu County has a total population of more than 7,000 people, and the annual Ding tax and land tax exceeds 5,000 taels.
At this time, a strong man working in a big city like Xiangyang could earn 10 taels a year, but in other counties, the salary was slightly lower.
If there are twenty acres of land and two crops are harvested a year without disaster, more than 3,000 jins of rice and more than 2,000 jins of wheat can be obtained.
Keep enough 300 kilograms of grain for yourself and three family members, and sell the rest. At this time, the price of grain is relatively high, and theoretically it can be sold for 30 taels of silver.
But this is theoretical after all.
In autumn, the price of grain collected by landlords and grain merchants is only half of the usual price, which becomes 15 taels.
There is also water to rent and buy for seeds, feed to raise cattle if you have them, money to rent if you don’t have cattle, renting and buying farm tools...
For farmers with good conditions, the cost is still lower. For farmers with poor conditions, nearly 10 taels of silver will be deducted from the cost, leaving only 5 taels.
Let's pay the tax. It's clear. The total land and population of 4 people is about 3 taels of tax, and there are still 2 taels left.
This is the real life of the people in Huguang, a life of food and clothing without disasters, tax increases, ragging, or war.
But what if there are these?
What if landlords, large households, and grain merchants collect grain at a lower price?
But let’s take a step back.
After all, silver taxation is less corrupt than physical taxation. If farmers don't drag 1,000 kilograms of grain to pay taxes, the government will use large amounts of dendrobium to pay taxes. The farmer's 1,000 kilograms will only be counted as 800 kilograms when paying tax. You will have to bring in more than 200 kilograms to make up for it.
Shangguanfu weighs 200 pounds.
This is not enough.
If the dendrobium trees were not placed firmly, the officials would kick them hard, and every dendrobium tree would fall. The farmers would have to replenish the grain, at least another hundred kilograms, to pay taxes.
If the tax is 1,000 kilograms, farmers may pay more than 1,300 kilograms.
However, this excess "1,000 kilograms" of grain will not exceed the quota when it arrives at the warehouse. The real value may be more than 800 kilograms.
Those who were raped before being stored in the warehouse were all blamed on the peasants for cheating and cheating.
If there are more than 800 kilograms of grain in the warehouse and 600 kilograms are available when it is used, it means good management.
In ancient times, when officials were on duty, they directly reported that the grain depot was on fire, damaged, or moldy, and in the end it only weighed 200 kilograms...
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Isn’t this the main motivation for being an official for thousands of years~
After the silver tax, this trick can no longer be done.
The tax quota cannot be reduced too much out of thin air, otherwise the government agencies that use money will stop working.
Although there are other forms of corruption, we can no longer blatantly convert thousands of kilograms of grain into 200 kilograms.
The Qing Dynasty's official rule was the exception at its worst~
The corruption in the government has decreased, but the wealth of wealthy businessmen has increased.
Originally it was only half the price, but now the price of grain has been reduced by half.
Back here in Gu County.
The county governs a total of more than 120,000 acres of farmland.
A plain county in Huguang only has 120,000 acres of land? Who believes it?
In ancient times, land could make money by producing grain, but there was no need to leave it unused, and everyone wished to cultivate more land.
Just passing by Gu County, it is estimated that there are more than 200,000 acres of land.
Those that are not included in the taxation are naturally owned by local large landowners and official families.
According to official statistics, the tax-paying population is over 7,000, but the actual population is definitely not that small. It must be in the tens of thousands.
Most of these extra people are servants of large households and tenant farmers who depend on them.
Because large landlords are the best at using their land and financial advantages to turn poor peasants into tenants.
The specific method is very simple. For poor peasants who have difficulty paying taxes, they can borrow money in name, but in fact use usury. If they owe too much, they have to sell their land. After selling the land, they can only become tenants of the landlord.
As long as you pay rent and no taxes on the land owned by the landlord, some tenant farmers find it acceptable.
But they are at the bottom of the information gap and are among the most exploited.
The amount of rent paid often amounts to more than half of the harvest, much more than before.