This is a huge amount of money, upwards of 1.5 billion!
How much is the annual income of Ming Dynasty? It is equivalent to 75 years of annual income!
Therefore, no one, including Zhang Shenyan, Meng Zhaoxiang and other cabinet ministers, believed that Chongzhen would really do this.
Only Li Jiaozheng, the Minister of the Ministry of Finance, was extremely excited after hearing this. He stood up and said: "Your Majesty, you are not joking. The Ministry of Finance has accepted the 5 million acres of fertile land in the imperial village of Gyeonggi."
"I naturally keep my word." Chongzhen said with a snort.
"However, if I am punished, what will happen to the northern Jin gentry?"
Li Jiaozheng said without thinking: "You should be punished as a whole, there is nothing to say."
Meng Zhaoxiang subconsciously wanted to refute, but he didn't know how to refute.
The emperor's 5 million acres of imperial estates were all confiscated. What else could the northern gentry have to say?
Zhang Shenyan was very straightforward: "In this case, the land of the northern Jin gentry should also be confiscated and turned into official land."
However, Chongzhen still underestimated the shamelessness of civil servants, or he underestimated the determination of the civil servant class to protect their own interests. As soon as Zhang Shenyan finished speaking, another civil servant stood up.
"Shou Kui has said this. Please forgive me for not agreeing with this."
Chongzhen looked intently and saw that it was Wang Xigun, the Minister of War.
Wang Xigan was the Minister of War who was transferred from the Governor-General of Sichuan, Guangxi, Yunnan and Guizhou at the end of last year.
Wang Xigun was from Yunnan, but he would actually stand up and speak for the northern Jin gentry. This was something Chongzhen never expected.
Wang Xigun bowed his head to Chongzhen first, and then said: "It is said that state-owned laws and families have family rules. Even if the emperor abandoned the land for a reason, he still has to be punished, but the confiscation of 5 million acres of imperial estate is enough."
"In the same way, the northern Jin gentry first became thieves and then became slaves. Although they had no choice but to do so, they still had to accept punishment."
Speaking of this meal, Wang Xigun said again: "I thought that the property of the offending Jin gentry could be confiscated and converted into clan property, so that the widowers and lonely people in the clan could be raised, and the poor children of the clan could be educated."
"What Grand Sima said is absolutely true. Such a treatment can be described as fair and just."
"The lower officials and others completely agree with what Da Sima said, and it should be dealt with in this way."
"Yes, the land belonging to the Northern Jin gentry should be confiscated as clan property!"
As soon as Wang Xigun finished speaking, he immediately attracted the unanimous approval of other civil servants.
Even Zhang Shenyan nodded slightly, feeling that what Wang Xigun said made sense.
Chongzhen's face suddenly fell. He punished the northern Jin gentry's land as clan property. What's the difference between this and no punishment? Because the northern Jin gentry basically served as the heads of various local clans. The so-called clan land was nothing more than no punishment.
If the name were changed, wouldn't its output still be controlled by the northern Jin gentry?
Moreover, from Wang Xigun's statement and the echo of other civil servants, Chongzhen realized that he had ignored another major hidden danger, which was as harmful as land annexation and monopoly.
This big hidden danger is local clans, which will shake the foundation of the country!
Country, country, it is said that the country comes first, and then the family, but the concept of the Confucian gentry is the other way around. Cultivate oneself, manage the family, govern the country, and bring peace to the world. For the Confucian gentry, family comes before the country!
When family interests conflict with national interests, most Confucian gentry will choose family interests first.
Local clan power is an enhanced version of family power. For example, the Xu family in Laodong is a small local clan. Its current power can be said to be insignificant, but it is uncertain how powerful it will be in a hundred years.
Most of the cabinet ministers and the six ministers and ministers in front of them are loyal guardians of clan interests. In a word, the emperor must be responsible for the country, so the confiscated imperial estate must be handed over to the Ministry of Household Affairs, but the local gentry only needs to be responsible for their respective families, so the confiscated
The land only needs to be used as public land within the clan.
Even Ma Mingluan agrees with this view.
Chongzhen had no doubt that if this difference was put to a vote at the imperial meeting, he would definitely lose.
Because there will be no civil servants who will support him, and the military ministers in the Ministry of Internal Affairs are intimidated by his high prestige, there may be a considerable number of people who support him, but there will definitely be opposition.
Therefore, it is impossible for Chongzhen to obtain more than half of the support at the court meeting.
It seems that this issue must be taken seriously and the clan power must be disintegrated!
Of course, what needs to be solved urgently now is to divide the land into acres and let the officials and gentry pay the grain together.
At that moment, Chongzhen said: "The state has national laws, and families have family rules. I agree with this. But if the Jin gentry commits crimes, they can only be punished by family rules, but they do not have to be punished by national laws. Isn't it inappropriate?"
At this time, Chongzhen had no choice but to end it himself.
Because Zhu Cixiang, the only one who stood on the same front as him, didn't know what was going on yet. Sharing the family into the family, the government and the gentry sharing the food, and the elimination of clan power were too advanced for him.
"I dare not agree with what the Holy One said." Wang Xigun said, "The basis for converting the property of the offending Jin gentry into family property is the national law. How can we say that they have not been punished by the national law? The so-called family rules only have the power to instruct.
The crime can only be punished according to the laws of the country."
After all, he was a civil servant, and he was used to seeing people trolling and being trolled, so he could easily see through the language trap set by Chongzhen.
Chongzhen then laughed: "Wang Xigun, so you agree to use national law to convict the Jin gentry for committing crimes, right?"
"Of course." Wang Xigun said solemnly, "In this world, if there are family rules to govern the country, only the national law can convict people."
This is what Chongzhen and others said, and he also said: "Everyone is equal before the national law. The prince who breaks the law is guilty of the same crime as the common people. I am guilty of abandoning land, and all the 5 million acres of imperial estates are confiscated as official land. All the vassal clans are guilty of abandoning the country."
If a person commits a crime, the farmland under his name will be confiscated as official land, and all official land will be taxed five liters, three times and five spoons per mu, all at the same time. If according to this law, the land belonging to the Jin gentry that commits the crime will be confiscated and converted into clan land, will the tax be taxed five liters per mu as well?
Literally three combined with five spoons, one body and one conqueror?"
Wang Xigan thought carefully for a moment and then replied: "It should be so."
Meng Zhaoxiang and others wanted to object, but they couldn't find a proper reason.
The reason is very simple. The royal family is also one of the families, and it is also the largest family.
If the property confiscated by the criminal gentry still does not need to pay food to the state and only needs to pay food to the family, then the property of the royal family and the feudal clan also does not need to pay food to the state, but only needs to pay food to the family.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! According to this logic, the land tax in the name of the feudal prince's clan can only be attributed to the internal funds of the Holy Emperor.
But now all the land under the names of vassal princes and clans in various parts of the Ming Dynasty has been converted into official land of the Ming Dynasty, and the official taxes collected from these official lands have become the main income of the imperial court!
If this large amount of tax revenue is attributed to internal funds, the household will go bankrupt in a matter of minutes.
So now the civil servants are faced with a dilemma: either spit out the fat they eat, or admit the cruel reality that the gentry who committed crimes were deprived of their tax-free privileges, choose one of the two.
There seems to be no suspense in this choice.
Of course it can only be: a dead fellow Taoist, but a poor Taoist who is not dead.
"What are the opinions of the elders?" Chongzhen asked again.
Zhang Shenyan said without hesitation: "I also think this should be the case."
Meng Zhaoxiang, Wu Linzheng, and Liu Lishun exchanged glances and seconded the proposal.
"What do the other ministers say?" Chongzhen turned his attention to the six ministers and ministers.
"I second the proposal." The six ministers, the minister, the censor of Zuodu, the general envoy, Zhan Shifu, Zhan Shifu, etc. also seconded the proposal.
"In that case, all the noble families have no objection to converting the confiscated land into official land for taxation, right?" Chongzhen smiled, and suddenly said with a straight face, "Then the noble families have nothing to do with these criminals.
If the Jin gentry is related to someone by relatives, should they also be punished for the crime of neglect of discipline or negligence?"
The atmosphere in the carriage suddenly became condensed.
Zhang Shenyan also had a bitter look on his face.
I thought it was true, the Holy One still wanted to build a great prison.
"Mr. Zhang Ge, are you saying in your heart again that I will eventually build a big prison?"
As if he could hear Zhang Shenyan's thoughts, Chongzhen snorted coldly and continued: "No, you misjudged me. I don't want to create a big prison, I just want to discuss the matter."
"I made a mistake and will be punished, just as the Northern Jin gentry made a mistake and will be punished."
"Then for the same reason, if you all make mistakes, you will also receive the punishment you deserve."
After a pause, he continued: "It's impossible for all of you to make mistakes and not be punished. Are you the only one special? Just because you are high-ranking officials and important officials in the imperial court?"
Zhang Shenyan sighed and said: "The Holy One is right, I should be punished as well."
Meng Zhaoxiang was a little dissatisfied and asked with a frown: "What kind of punishment does the Lord think I should receive?"
Chongzhen smiled when he heard this, and then took the opportunity to turn around and wink at Zhu Cihong. At this moment, the prince Zhu Cixi finally reacted.
At that moment, Zhu Cixiang said loudly: "I think that Mr. Zhang Ge and others, as important officials of the imperial court, neglected to restrain the clansmen, causing the clansmen to make wrong decisions in times of crisis. Therefore, they should be regarded as accomplices. Since the land property of the northern Jin gentry was confiscated and became clan property,
, and the tax on official land is levied, then the land property in the name of Mr. Zhang Ge and others should also be confiscated as family property, and the tax on official land is also levied."
Chongzhen took a step back and said, "It's okay to confiscate it as family property, but it's natural to tax government land according to the tax rate. Are you convinced, Mr. Zhangge?"
"Old minister, I have nothing to say." Zhang Shenyan accepted the punishment simply.
Isn't it just that the property under the name is taxed according to the official land tax? If you admit it, at least the Jiashen Incident will be a new chapter and the coffin will be finalized. From now on, you don't have to worry about the Yushi Yanguan making a fuss about this matter.
Otherwise, if you keep this mine, it may explode at any time.
"I also accept the punishment." Meng Zhaoxiang and others also accepted the punishment.
At this point, it is impossible not to accept the punishment.
At this moment, no one can stop the tenant from entering the property.
Smiling slightly, Chongzhen said again: "Since we have said this, there is one thing that I have actually wanted to tell you all for a long time, and that is about the tax law."
"In the early days of the Chinese dynasty, tax laws were extremely complex and collection was inconvenient."
"After Zhang Juzheng implemented a whipping method, although the situation has improved, there are still many names and extremely complicated algorithms. The people do not know what is going on, and it is easy for subordinate officials to take advantage of them."
