"If we want to collect taxes, we must collect them from large households!"
"If a wealthy family has money, even if they pay some taxes, at most their meal will be reduced from four dishes to three dishes!"
"At most, I can live a simpler life, so that I won't be unable to afford food, or be reduced to selling my children and daughters!"
"But those poor people are suffering!"
"Life is already difficult. If I collect taxes from them, they will have to sell their land, houses, and children."
"Add in some exorbitant taxes and apportionments, and then there will be military service, conscription, or natural or man-made disasters!"
"I may not survive at any time!"
"After that, there will be refugees everywhere, rising up in rebellion, and setting fire to the mountains and rivers!"
Was it really impossible for the Ming Dynasty to exterminate the bandits?
In fact, this is not necessarily the case. Thirteen years before Chongzhen, the Ming army still had the upper hand against the upper-class bandits.
Li Zicheng was once beaten to the point where he had only eighteen riders left. He hid in Shangluo Mountain in embarrassment and was almost wiped out.
But how could Li Zicheng make a comeback again with the help of his Eighteen Cavalrymen and march into the capital to fight for wages?
Is it really just because of the prophecy that "Eighteen sons are the main artifact"?
Bullshit!
To put it bluntly, the imperial court imposed three additional taxes, coupled with the continuous natural disasters, which forced local refugees to spread and rebellions continued, providing Li Zicheng with a million-strong army, and eventually destroyed the Ming Dynasty.
Translating Zhu Hongyu's words, it is roughly equivalent to me robbing the rich and giving to the poor.
Fang Yizhi did not dare to refute Zhu Hongyu, but just leaned forward and said.
"What your Majesty said makes sense!"
However, it was obvious that Fang Yizhi agreed with some reluctance.
But that's normal. As a traditional scholar, he originally sat on the side of the landlords and gentry.
As for Zhu Hongyu's policies, it would be good if he does not oppose them.
How can we expect his heartfelt approval?
Zhu Hongyu is not stupid, he doesn't think he is that charming.
While cutting off the flesh of the landowners and gentry, he can also make the landowners and gentry convinced of him.
But it doesn't matter, all Zhu Hongyu wants is their apparent obedience and cooperation with the court.
As for whether they are convinced or not, to be honest, Zhu Hongyu doesn't care!
As long as these people don't show it, Zhu Hongyu doesn't care what they think in their hearts.
Zhu Hongyu ended his conversation with Fang Yizhi and threw him into his own secretariat for exercise.
Fang Yizhi also happily agreed, because in his opinion, the current Secretariat is the former Ming Dynasty Cabinet.
Low status but powerful!
Naturally, he would be unhappy about being able to enter the secretariat.
After Fang Yizhi retired, Zhu Hongyu continued to handle government affairs.
He held a cabinet meeting, at which it was decided to develop Shanghai as the next development zone of the Ming Dynasty.
After the matter is finalized, Zhu Hongyu will decide on relevant policy support for Shanghai development, as well as resource allocation and other issues.
He needs to review these in person and then issue relevant orders!
…
Outside Nanjing, Li’s shop!
This is a fairly densely populated village. There are more than 300 households and thousands of people in this small village.
In the pre-Ming Dynasty, this was once the Zhuangzi Palace of the Duke of Wei!
Thanks to the power of the Duke of Wei, the Li family shop did not have to pay taxes to the court, but only had to pay rent to the government.
Apart from being exploited by the Duke of Wei, there were not many exorbitant taxes and levies, and it was not even their turn to do corvee service.
After all, if all the people in Li's shop were drafted out of the corvée service, who would farm the land for the father-in-law?
Therefore, the lives of the people in Lijiapu are not bad.
Even in the most difficult years at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the most that Li's shop could do was to change its business.
The whole village will not starve to death!
However, as the Qing Dynasty entered the Pass, the Hongguang court was destroyed in an instant, and the power of the Duke of Wei collapsed instantly.
This Li's shop naturally became my flagship store in the Qing Dynasty!
The people in Li's shop have all become my servants of the Qing Dynasty.
Then, the people in Li's shop lived a happy life of farming in the Qing Dynasty.
Except for the habitual starvation to death of some elderly people every year during the lean years, life is still barely passable.
To the common people, there was no difference whether it was the Ming Dynasty or the Qing Dynasty.
The Qing Dynasty was no different from the Ming Dynasty except for the uglier hairstyle.
For them, isn’t it all about farming?
To whom is it not sowing?
There is no difference between working as a tenant for the Duke of Wei and working as a coater for the Qing Dynasty.
They have long been accustomed to it and take suffering as a matter of course!
No matter how hard or tiring the life is, as long as they can barely survive, they can endure it.
It wasn't until the Ming Dynasty came back and Zhu Hongyu's policies were spread locally that these people suddenly realized it.
The suffering they have experienced is not something they should take for granted!
Their life shouldn't be like this!
Li's Shop is very close to Nanjing. While the local and state capitals were still waiting for officials to arrive, the reform of Li's Shop had already begun.
Li Xu will never forget the scene that day!
That day, their family had run out of food, the children were howling with hunger, and the old woman was lying on a bed with a missing leg and was padded with bricks, waiting to die.
The whole family was waiting for the meal to be served after his mother died!
As for what to eat...
At this moment, a Ming official wearing official uniform appeared at the entrance of the village of Li's shop.
Some government officials followed the official, pushing two grain carts.
The car was loaded with big bags of grain.
There are also baskets filled with multi-grain steamed buns.
After arriving at the entrance of the village, the government officials began to bury pots and make rice.
The white-flowered rice was poured into the boiling water, and the thick rice fragrance quickly spread.
The official ordered to summon all the people in the village. After everyone arrived, without saying a word, he ordered all the people in the village to come out and register their names for household registration.
After registering, you can have porridge and steamed buns.
Many people are wondering, what exactly does the imperial court do to register the population?
Are you going to collect Ding tax, collect corvee, or be a slave?
In short, no one thinks that registering the population in the imperial court will be a good thing!
Everyone has no idea!
However, looking at the white steamed buns and smelling the thick fragrance of rice in the air, many people could not resist the temptation and took the initiative to register.
Li Xu is also one of them.
Because his family is poor enough, there is nothing to care about.
No matter what the imperial court wants to do, there will never be any lies in what is eaten.
Just register, no matter what the court wants to do, please fill your stomach first.
Li Xu took the hot porridge and poured it into his mouth.
The scalding hot porridge made his mouth full of blisters, but he grinned and continued to swallow, not wanting to waste a grain of rice.
Because he is really hungry!
Some people even stuffed a big steamed bun into their mouths in three bites, and refused to spit out the steamed bun even if they choked and rolled their eyes.
Li Xu drank the porridge with big mouthfuls, and couldn't help but cry.
He has been farming for most of his life, but this is the first time in his life that he has eaten thick porridge made from white rice.
In the past, even during the Chinese New Year, he only ate multigrain porridge, which was just a little thicker than usual.
Seeing his children wolfing down porridge and steamed buns, Li Xu swore that he would never forget this day.
Because he knew that his mother could survive for the time being!