Landlords were a very troublesome role for Zhu Ying, perhaps for Zhu Yuanzhang and the entire Ming Dynasty.
Although it is not as deep-rooted as an aristocratic family, over time it will gradually evolve into an aristocratic family.
Landowners in the early Ming Dynasty were mainly divided into two groups. One was the new generation of landowners whose ancestors were refugees from the Yuan Dynasty for several generations. Refugees were originally a specialty of the Yuan Dynasty.
There is another type, the landlords in the Jiangnan area.
Zhu Yuanzhang's peasant uprising army did not conquer the entire Ming Dynasty. In fact, many places were not overthrown by the uprising.
This key area is Jiangnan.
Jiangnan originally belonged to Zhang Shicheng. Even now, twenty-five years after Hongwu, many landowners and gentry in Jiangnan still miss Zhang Shicheng in their hearts.
Zhu Yuanzhang has always been very afraid of the Jiangnan area, which can be seen from the corruption, executions and exile of officials.
Basically, when officials in the Jiangnan area committed a crime, after Zhu Yuanzhang saw it, he would subconsciously increase the crime.
The distribution of merit will also drop a lot.
For example, Liu Ji and Liu Bowen are from Zhejiang.
Zhu Yuanzhang called Liu Bowen "my son's wife", and there is also a popular saying among the people that "Zhuge Liang divides the world into three parts, and Liu Bowen dominates the country."
It can be seen that Liu Bowen's contribution to the Ming Dynasty was considerable.
However, because of Liu Bowen's Jiangnan native place, when the meritorious officials were awarded, Li Shanchang, who was equivalent to the logistics manager, was awarded the title of first-class duke.
Liu Ji, who had more fame, fame, and achievements, was awarded the title of third-class earl.
Liu Bowen is just a microcosm. More officials from Jiangnan are basically in this situation without exception.
After Qi Tai left, Zhu Ying took out a booklet from the bookcase and looked through it.
This booklet was given to him after the old man talked to him last time.
What is recorded here is about the situation of all the landowners in the Ming Dynasty.
Unlike other books, this book not only records the names of all landowners, but also contains very detailed statistical data.
Even during the Ming Dynasty, there were 14,341 households with landowners of more than 700 acres of land.
This is a statistic accurate to single digits.
Opening a few pages at random, you can see that there are still many scratches. Those whose names have been crossed out are the landowners who have been dealt with by the old man.
It can be seen that 80% of the landowners who were disposed of were marked with their Jiangnan origin.
"It seems that grandpa has been wary of landlords for a long time. No wonder he wasn't too surprised when I talked about land reform."
"Perhaps from the beginning, grandpa already knew the harm of the landlord class, so he kept suppressing the landlords."
"Jiangnan, Jiangnan has the best taxes in the world. It seems that after so many years of heavy taxation, Jiangnan has always been a thorn in the side of the Ming Dynasty."
"We must find a way to remove this thorn."
Zhu Ying knew very well that in the entire Ming Dynasty, Jiangnan was the place with the heaviest taxes, and it could be said to bear half of the Ming Dynasty's tax revenue.
Those landowners who were overthrown had their fields turned into government land and then distributed to ordinary people.
Some people may wonder why Jiangnan was the least popular among the peasants who rebelled in the Ming Dynasty.
Even in most Jiangnan areas, there are no cases of rebellion.
Wouldn’t these Jiangnan landowners unite?
Hey, if you can have enough to eat, who would want to rebel?
If you want to rebel, the biggest main force is not the landlords, but the impoverished Guizhou leaders.
Jiangnan, the land of plenty, is the granary of the Ming Dynasty.
The landlords shouted for rebellion, but no one paid any attention. Even before the people gathered, the government came to encircle and suppress them. There was no condition for rebellion at all.
This is why Zhu Yuanzhang dared to target the Jiangnan region in this way.
Of course, the focus of care is always on the landlords.
For example, in the three major Hongwu cases, the relocation of wealthy households from the south reduced the admission rate of Jiangnan talents in the imperial examinations, and restricted Jiangnan people from entering the court as officials. The Ministry of Household Affairs, in particular, was determined not to allow anyone with a Jiangnan native place to enter.
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However, even so, 80% of the more than 14,000 landowners with more than 700 acres of land on the book are from Jiangnan.
"Although grandpa's village self-governance method is good, it is still not enough for Jiangnan. Only by opening the Public Security Bureau to Jiangnan area and grasping it hard and hard can we slowly eradicate it."
"Grandpa was very foresighted, but unfortunately he still did not do it thoroughly enough. It will not be useful to future generations. He did not continue the policy of suppressing Jiangnan and opened it up to them."
"If we follow the current method and suppress the Jiangnan region, the Ming Dynasty will be able to continue its reign for at least another hundred years."
Zhu Ying sighed a little, and at the same time, there was a cold light in her eyes.
Maybe many people don't have much feeling about Jiangnan, but if they know that the Donglin Party, the political alliance in the late Ming Dynasty, was an official headed by Jiangnan scholar-bureaucrats.
In addition to the Donglin Party, there are also the Zhejiang Party, the Qi Party, the Chu Party, the Kun Party, the Xuan Party, etc.
The so-called Donglin Party Struggle is a crony dispute between the Donglin Party and the entire Ming Dynasty, and it also fights against the eunuchs.
This fully shows what level the strength of the Donglin Party has reached.
The Ming Dynasty, as the dynasty with the most abundant silver among historical dynasties, was finally destroyed by the silver shortage.
Where did the money go?
In the hands of Donglin Party members.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Donglin Party was in power.
Big landowners are not allowed to levy taxes because it is the property of the Donglin Party members.
Mining cannot be taxed because it is the property of Donglin Party members.
Business cannot be taxed because it is the property of Donglin Party members.
The wealthy Donglin Party owes Jiubian Bingzhen how many years of salary and silver it owes to the wealthy Donglin Party.
It's like a cycle. Zhu Yuanzhang was so cruel to the Jiangnan area in the early Ming Dynasty, but in the late Ming Dynasty, they were all retaliated against.
Jiangnan is very rich. The key to its wealth lies not in its people, but in the prosperity caused by the annexation of large amounts of land.
Most of the people have long been reduced to being tenants of landlord families or working as part-time and part-time workers.
"It seems that we have to go to Jiangnan. The Chamber of Commerce is there. Except for the huge profits from snowflake salt, other aspects are severely restricted. This is not possible."
Zhu Ying's arrangements for Qitai were passed to Zhu Yuanzhang.
With a stroke of his pen, Zhu Yuanzhang decided on the name of Qitai Imperial Envoy.
At present, the arrangements issued by Da Sun are basically passed directly by Zhu Yuanzhang.
At this time, officials came to report that the first batch of lists of retired veterans had been submitted by the Ministry of War and the Fifth Army Governor's Office.
"Didn't we say that these matters should be reported directly to our eldest grandson?"
Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and said.
This made the officials who came to deliver the message panic.
"Okay, let's just put it here. It's dinner time now, so call the eldest grandson over and have a meal together." Zhu Yuanzhang ordered.
"I obey the order." Liu He on the side accepted the order, then stepped back and went to Kunning Palace.
Zhu Ying, who was in Kunning Palace, was about to go out to the Gunpowder Department at this time.
He wanted to see how the recent development of matchlock guns was, and if he could collect the number of three thousand, Zhu Ying was ready to start practicing.
Build the best firecracker barracks in the Ming Dynasty and even the world.
At this time, Liu He came over and sent a message: "Your Majesty, your Majesty is asking your Majesty to have dinner with you. Please come with me."
Zhu Ying asked: "Grandpa is looking for me? But what's the matter?"
Liu He bowed and replied: "Reporting to Your Highness, officials have just submitted a list of retired veterans. Your Majesty should be discussing this matter with Your Highness."
Zhu Ying nodded after hearing this, and then set off with Liu He to the Huagai Palace.
In the Huagai Hall, Zhu Yuanzhang saw his eldest grandson coming over and asked with a smile: "We all feel fatter recently. The main reason is that the meals cooked by the cooks brought here by the eldest grandson are too delicious."
"Every time we eat, we fill our stomachs with food and have to fill up an extra bowl of rice."
Hearing this, Zhu Ying looked at the dozen or so meat dishes on the table and couldn't help but said: "Grandpa has been eating too greasy recently, which is not good for your health."
"In terms of meat, you can eat more fish. The boiled fish fillets recently developed by the chefs are very good, and the chicken is also good."
"These pork belly and braised pork taste great, but they are not very good for your health. You should eat more vegetables, bean juice and less fatty meat."
Zhu Ying looked at the old man's growing belly and couldn't help but comfort him.
There is no shortage of food in the royal family, especially Zhu Yuanzhang, who likes big fish and meat the most.
The chefs brought over by Zhu Ying are very particular about the preparation. The taste of the same dishes will be improved by several levels through their hands.
Now Zhu Yuanzhang can already clearly see his double chin, and it has only been a few months.
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard what Dasun said, he asked strangely: "Does Dasun know a lot about eating?"
Zhu Ying paused slightly and began to organize words in her mind.
These simple principles were considered common sense in later generations, but in today's Ming Dynasty, they are not so particular.
After all, there are only a few people who can have enough to eat, so who will study why to eat less?
After pondering for a moment, Zhu Ying said: "When my grandson was in the Western Regions, he knew an old Taoist priest. The Taoist priest liked to eat the most. He was relatively wealthy and was particularly picky about food."
"And he is very particular about health preservation. At that time, my grandson was curious and asked a few more questions. The Taoist priest was not vague and told his grandson some simple principles."
"My grandson didn't really believe it at first, but later the Taoist priest told him that he had lived for more than a hundred years. My grandson was amazed and began to believe it."
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he said with some surprise: "There is such a person. What is the name of this Taoist priest? We would like to know him."
Zhu Ying did not hesitate at this time and said directly: "This Taoist priest's surname is Zhang and his name is Sanfeng."
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this name, he couldn't help but exclaimed: "It turns out to be him!"
Regarding Zhang Sanfeng, Zhu Yuanzhang not only knew that last year, in the 24th year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang strengthened his control over Taoism in order to better manage Taoism in the world.
He sent some Taoist priests to Taoist temples across the country and specifically told the envoys: "If you have Zhang Xuanxuan, please come."
Zhang Sanfeng, also known as Junbao, also known as Quanyi, with the courtesy name Xuanxuan and the Taoist name Kunyang.
It's just that from last year to this year, there was no trace of Zhang Sanfeng's whereabouts at all, and Zhu Yuanzhang had nothing to do about it.
Probably because Zhang Sanfeng was a Taoist priest and his favorite thing to do was travel around.
The wanderings of Taoist priests are different from those of fortune tellers like Liu Rixin.
Liu Rixin's fortune-telling basically focuses on cities and places where there are many people, so there are traces to be found.
People like Zhang Sanfeng went to the depths of uninhabited mountains, and many places were even untouched. The government wanted to investigate, but they didn't know where to start.
Even on Wudang Mountain, it is normal for Zhang Sanfeng’s disciples to have no news about their master for several years.
Even if there is news, or news comes from somewhere, Zhang Sanfeng has appeared.
When I went back to look for him, I found that he had already left and I don’t know where he went.
"Grandpa seems to know him?" Zhu Ying said with some surprise.
Of course, Zhu Ying has never met Zhang Sanfeng at all. If he really met such a magical person, he would not even think about it, and would drag him along with him.
In later generations, the name Zhang Sanfeng had long been deified, so Zhu Ying casually mentioned it.
Zhu Yuanzhang said with some sigh: "If someone else said this, we wouldn't believe it. Since it was Zhang Xuanxuan who said it, there must be some truth in it."
"We would like to meet him. We issued an edict last year, but there is no news yet. There is really nothing we can do against these Taoist priests who like to wander around."
When Zhu Ying heard this, he felt relieved. He thought the old man was very familiar with Zhang Sanfeng.
After Zhu Yuanzhang spoke, with a little nostalgia in his eyes, he looked at the fatty meat dishes such as pork belly and braised pork on the table, then turned his head slightly and ordered:
"Listen to our eldest grandson. From now on, we will cross out all these fat-related dishes from our recipes, so that we won't be upset after seeing them."
In terms of body and taste, Zhu Yuanzhang chose the body after all.
Zhu Yuanzhang's life is very promising now.
Da Sun is back, so young and outstanding, he really wants to live longer.
Then I thought to myself: "Zhang Xuanxuan lives such a long life, let's imitate him, let alone be like him, live to eighty or ninety, and watch our eldest grandson give us a great-grandson, that's about it."
.'
The pork belly and braised pork on the table were all taken away, and Zhu Ying sat opposite the old man and began to eat together.
There is no such rule in Zhu Yuanzhang's place about not saying anything after eating.
The grandfather and grandson started chatting while eating.
"Where are the retired soldiers going to be arranged first? We just checked the total number. There are more than 30,000 people in this first batch of lists."
Zhu Yuanzhang asked directly.
Zhu Ying replied: "My grandson plans to relocate all of these soldiers to the Jiangnan area first. If my grandson guessed correctly, most of these soldiers are from the Duke of Liang, mainly from Huaixi."
Zhu Yuanzhang took a sip of bean juice and said with a smile: "It seems that all this is under the control of the great sun. No wonder the great sun did not participate too much in the selection of people, and directly left it to Liang Guogong and others.
operate."
"That's right, we just took a rough look at the words and found that 70% to 80% of them are veterans of Huaixi. We are even familiar with many of their names. They are all old brothers who have fought with us in the past."
Zhu Ying smiled and replied: "Jiangnan is a good place, with outstanding people and wealth. These veteran soldiers from Huaixi will naturally not have a bad life."
"And they are all from Huaixi, and they can help each other. It is difficult to be bribed by the wealthy businessmen and gentry in Jiangnan. This can effectively implement the will of the imperial court in various places in Jiangnan."
"The Public Security Department, in particular, is in direct contact with the people below. It is the easiest to contact those who control the situation in Jiangnan, especially some bully landlords."
Zhu Yuanzhang agreed with this. Although the Jiangnan area had the most Jinyiwei outside the capital, the powers of the Jinyiwei organization also had corresponding restrictions.
In this way, the Public Security Department directly separates the powers of the county magistrate, which is equivalent to half of the county magistrate acting, which is completely different.
"Those wealthy gentry and wealthy businessmen in Jiangnan have always given us a headache, but things are getting a little better now. They really made us angry before."
"Dasun, please remember that as far as Jiangnan is concerned, Suzhou Prefecture and Songjiang Prefecture are two places that need special attention."
"Perhaps the eldest grandson hasn't checked the national treasury's annual revenue at the Ministry of Household Affairs. These two prefectures alone account for 30% of our Ming Dynasty's annual tax revenue. It's simply unbelievable."
"Only this 30% is due to the fact that we collected a lot of official land over there, so there is so much. This is far from what is owned by Su and Song. It can be higher."
Zhu Yuanzhang's tone was a little emotional and a little fearful.
These two places are Zhang Shicheng's hometown.
It was only after Zhu Yuanzhang confiscated a large number of landowners' fields that he found out why Zhang Shicheng was so unmotivated and just greedy for pleasure all day long.
Relationships, food crises, and financial crises have nothing to do with him.
What Zhang Shicheng could see there was a scene of singing and dancing.
Zhu Ying was also a little shocked when she heard this.
The land of the two prefectures accounts for 30% of the tax imposed by the Ming Dynasty. No wonder the old man has been increasing taxes on the entire Jiangnan region, and the taxes are getting heavier year by year.
Emotions have tasted sweetness.
However, under such heavy pressure, Zhu Ying's original plan to continue to suppress the Jiangnan region had some changes.
Because under this situation, Jiangnan is definitely in constant decline, and its prosperity has been greatly reduced.
The old man continued to execute Jiangnan literati, wealthy businessmen, and landlords.
Zhu Ying felt it was too wasteful.
"Grandpa, there are many scholars in the south of the Yangtze River, but the people in Annan are the least educated. It is better to exempt them all from the death penalty in the south of the Yangtze River and exile them to Annan. What do you think, grandpa?"
Today's Ming Dynasty has a registered population of only over 60 million. It is estimated that the real population certainly does not reach 100 million.
The policy of dividing crops into acres can only be truly implemented after sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn and other crops spread widely throughout the Ming Dynasty.
Otherwise, it will be in vain if there are too many children and no food to eat.
In Zhu Ying's view, these talented people, literati, and wealthy businessmen from Jiangnan were the best exports.
Especially in overseas trade, the vassal kings were certainly not good at it. They still needed businessmen who knew how to operate to develop overseas vassal states.
As for the disasters outside the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Ying said that in the future, there will be a master of kings to rescue them.