"As important ministers of the country, you don't even understand these basic things. How can you assist the king?"
"In my opinion, it's better for you to resign and return home, so as not to miss important national affairs."
Ji Zhong looked at these people and was so angry that he had nothing to say.
"We are loyal to the Emperor and always keep the people of the world in mind, so we boldly ask the Emperor to abolish the tax bureau and stop collecting commercial taxes."
"Looking at you, as the dignified Minister of Household Affairs, in charge of household registration and money and food in the world, you don't think about frugality, wantonly extravagance and waste, and wantonly squander the people's wealth and money. How can you face the people of the world?"
Gao Yuanlong, Qian Qi and others were all working hard. After hearing what Zhong said, they became even more energetic. They slapped Zhong upside down, saying that Zhong, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, was very incompetent. He only knew how to extravagant and wasteful, but didn't know how to economize.
"I have a clear conscience. I am worthy of the emperor's trust and worthy of the millions of people of the Ming Dynasty."
"On the contrary, the people of the world that you guys keep talking about are probably the big businessmen, big families, and big gentry in the south of the Yangtze River behind you, right?"
Zhong Zhong became even more angry. Now that he was older and no longer afraid, he started fighting with Gao Yuanlong, Qian Qi and others.
Suddenly, the ministers supporting each other stood up one after another, pointing at each other's noses and scolding each other. The whole morning was like a vegetable market, but the curses between the two sides did not contain any curse words. If you don't have any level, you can't
You still can't tell that the other person is scolding you.
"Okay~"
Emperor Hongzhi remained expressionless until both sides had finished scolding each other, and then he spoke. Suddenly, the entire Jinluan Palace became silent. The ministers arranged their clothes and stood respectfully again.
"Taxation is the foundation of the country, there is no need to fight~"
"This matter originated from the attack on the tax office in Nanzhili. The matter must be thoroughly investigated first."
"Xiao Jing, I leave this matter to you to investigate thoroughly."
Emperor Hongzhi Lai De continued to watch the courtiers quarreling over this matter, and did not want to continue arguing about whether to levy commercial tax, so he decided to close the coffin directly. At the same time, he handed over the attack on the tax office to the factory guard in charge of Xiao Jing for thorough investigation.
.
"Your Majesty, you must not do this~"
After hearing what Emperor Hongzhi said, Gao Yuanlong, Qian Qi and others became anxious.
If the factory guards are allowed to investigate this matter, everything will definitely come out by then. God knows how many gentry, officials, businessmen, families, etc. in the Jiangnan area will be implicated by then. I don’t know how many people will die.
How many people will be exiled.
"Your Majesty, you must not do this~"
"It's just some people attacking the tax office. It's a trivial matter. We don't need to use factory guards. We only need to ask the Nanzhili local government to conduct a thorough investigation."
Qian Qi was also sweating profusely with anger. Now he was no longer debating whether to abolish the tax office. If he couldn't pass the current hurdle, everything would be over.
"You have all said that this is a public grievance. If it is a public grievance, it is a major matter. We must attach great importance to it. This matter has been settled."
Emperor Hongzhi looked at Gao Yuanlong, Qian Qi and others, and couldn't help laughing in his heart.
To make you clamor for the abolition of commercial taxes and the abolition of tax bureaus, we will first have to take action on you.
These Jiangnan gentry and merchants were really not afraid of death. They had already killed a group of them when the commercial tax was first introduced, and now a group of them appeared unexpectedly.
Is it difficult to ask them to pay taxes?
My own property must pay taxes according to law, but you are still unwilling.
You keep talking about people's grievances, but you don't care about the people of the world.
Shit, isn't it because of the big Jiangnan families, big businessmen, and big gentry behind them? Where are the real people and the common people in the eyes?
"Yes~"
Xiao Jing on the side quickly and respectfully accepted the order. He knew his mission this time very well.
Emperor Hongzhi had murderous intentions towards Gao Yuanlong and Qian Qi. All he needed to do was to find enough evidence to make them lose their heads. At the same time, he would also sweep away these conservative forces in Jiangnan.
Soon, the morning meeting was over.
Liu Jin, Liu Jian, Li Dongyang and others were summoned by Emperor Hongzhi to discuss matters in the study room of Qianqing Palace.
"Liu Jin, Southern Zhili has always been the most prosperous place in our Ming Dynasty, and it is also a tax-rich area of our Ming Dynasty. This time Feng Shiyong, the chief envoy of Southern Zhili, has been dismissed. Regarding the new candidates, have you made plans here? ?”
As soon as several important ministers sat down, Emperor Hongzhi was the first to ask.
Regarding the issue in Southern Zhili, Emperor Hongzhi had obviously made up his mind to deal with it properly.
The land of Jiangnan cannot be left alone like this.
If Ming Dynasty wants to become more prosperous, it must have a multi-core driver.
Now the Beijing-Tianjin area has become an important core of the Ming Dynasty, but Jiangnan, as the most important place in the Ming Dynasty, has been developing slowly. Fundamentally, the pace of development of the Beijing-Tianjin area is very important. The important reason for this is that the conservative forces in the Jiangnan area still Very powerful.
It can be seen from the matter of taxation that Jiangnan, from officials to local gentry, clans, etc., are very opposed to it, and they are also opposed to the new type of capitalism.
For them, they are used to the previous model.
Merge land, rely on the land to firmly control one party, and at the same time develop clan studies and train the children of your own family to take the imperial examination and gain fame. In this way, you can move up, gradually gain control of the court, further consolidate their interests, and finally It is the formation of salt merchants and grain merchants who are extremely wealthy monopoly merchants.
The new capitalist development model relies on more advanced technology to increase productivity, obtain raw materials from all over the country and even the world, and produce products for the country and even the world.
They are very unfamiliar with and very resistant to this new model. More importantly, this new capitalist model has a huge conflict with them.
The conflict in manpower alone is very serious.
Traditional gentry, landowners, and businessmen hope to tie people firmly to the fields, allowing farmers to grow food, make cattle and horses for them for generations, and control everything by controlling the food produced by the land. .
With the rise of new capitalism, factories require a large number of manpower, and a large number of laborers are gathered into factories to produce cheap goods, which directly shakes their foundation.
Without anyone to farm the land for you, no matter how many fields you have, they will only be left uncultivated and you will not be able to collect a single share of the rent. You will no longer rely on land and food. Landlords, gentry, and clans will lose control over the people and their foundations will be shaken.
Coupled with the rise of capitalism, which promoted the prosperity of business, the traditional salt merchants, cloth merchants, tea merchants, etc. who relied on monopoly naturally had no way to survive, and they simply could not defeat the new capitalists.
How could they not object?
If we want to play the powerful driving role of Jiangnan, we must let Jiangnan's capitalism develop rapidly. By then, the dual-core drive of the north and the south will be formed, and the Ming Dynasty will become more prosperous.
"Your Majesty, I have already drafted a new candidate."
"This land in the south of the Yangtze River is an important area for our Ming Dynasty. It has always been an important tax area for our Ming Dynasty. However, now, the tax revenue in the Jiangnan area is declining year by year."
"The situation in Jiangnan is extremely special and cannot be cured by anyone."
"I recommend Wang Shouren, the current tax governor of Southern Zhili, to be the chief envoy of Southern Zhili."
Liu Jin handed over a memorial and said very seriously.
This memorial is Liu Jin's latest personnel arrangement, which involves the transfer of a large number of feudal officials, as well as the promotion, appointment and dismissal of a large number of officials.
Of course, the most important thing regarding the appointment, dismissal and promotion of feudal officials was not left to Liu Jin alone. Only the power of recommendation needed to be discussed by the cabinet and then approved by Emperor Hongzhi before it could take effect.
"Wang Shouren?"
When Emperor Hongzhi heard this, he immediately began to ponder carefully.
He had a very profound influence on Wang Shouren, and he felt that he was as talented a minister as Liu Jin. Moreover, this time, Gao Yuanlong, Qian Qi and others immediately wanted to impeach Wang Shouren. It was obvious that Wang Shouren was the tax governor and governor of Southern Zhili.
A lot must have happened between them.
At the same time, Emperor Hongzhi also knew that Liu Jin and Wang Shouren were elected in the same year and were good friends with each other. They also had a good relationship with Prince Zhu Houzhao.
"He is a good candidate."
After thinking about this clearly, Emperor Hongzhi nodded slightly to express his approval.
Wang Shouren's ability is obvious to all. In the past, he, Liu Jin, and Zhang Mao went to Japan, Liaodong, Nanyang and other places, and also obtained the title of Duke.
The past few years as the tax governor of Southern Zhili were also remarkable. The tax revenue collected by Southern Zhili also increased year by year. Although it was not as good as Northern Zhili, it was still the most important tax collection place in the Ming Dynasty.
"Your Majesty, is this Wang Shouren too young?"
Liu Jian thought for a while and asked.
"The appointment and dismissal of officials should focus on ability, rather than qualifications, and appoint people on their merits. Here in Southern Zhili, if it is an ordinary official, it may be difficult to make a difference."
Li Dongyang shook his head slightly and said.
"What Mr. Li said is true. Although Wang Shouren is young, his ability is obvious to everyone. I think he is qualified."
Zhang Mao also nodded and said.
He had worked with Wang Shouren, and Zhang Mao was impressed by Wang Shouren's military talents. Even though he was a civil servant, his military talents were not at all among those famous generals in the Ming Dynasty.
"I wonder if Wang Shouren was promoted too quickly. He is also too young. His father Wang Hua's official position is not even higher than his. Moreover, when he was the tax governor of Nanzhili, he had already offended the Jiangnan region.
Gentlemen, businessmen, etc., if he is appointed as the Chief Envoy of Southern Zhili, I am afraid people will not accept it."
Xie Qian thought for a while and said.
Of course he was opposed to Wang Shouren becoming the chief envoy to Southern Zhili. If Wang Shouren was allowed to be the chief envoy to Southern Zhili, Southern Zhili would not be in trouble. Now Emperor Hongzhi wants to thoroughly investigate the attack on the tax yamen.
He could already foresee that a huge shock would occur in the Jiangnan region.
"Thank you, Mr. Xie, for what you said~"
"It is precisely because of these special circumstances in Jiangnan that it is necessary to appoint talented people to govern Jiangnan. Jiangnan has always been a tax-rich area of our Ming Dynasty. If it is an official like Feng Shiyong, wouldn't it delay the development of Jiangnan?"
The development of Zhili?”
Liu Jin looked at Xie Qian and said with a smile.
"Liu Jin is right. The land south of the Yangtze River cannot be managed by talented people. Wang Shouren is very suitable."
Zhong Zhong also nodded solemnly in agreement.
"Since everyone has similar opinions, let's do it this way. Everyone will read this memorial and discuss some of the personnel arrangements above~"
Emperor Hongzhi looked at a few people and made a decision directly.
