It should be emphasized here that from the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the gentry had never been given preferential tax exemptions, but only exemptions from corvee labor.
In the entire Ming Dynasty, except for the vassal kings of the old Zhu family, no one could be exempted from tax.
Sima Guang once said: "There are people who die because of service, but there are people who die because of talent."
For the common people, heavy taxes would destroy their families and property at most, but heavy corvees would destroy their families and families.
In the early Ming Dynasty, when Zhu Yuanzhang saw this situation, he proposed the preferential and exemption regulations. Many officials were far away from their hometowns, and it was impossible for them to undertake the miscellaneous tasks such as carrying sedans, building roads, and doing shifts assigned to them in Lijia in their hometown.
Secondly, it is impossible to be a high-ranking official in the imperial court today and tell the emperor tomorrow that I want to resign and go back to carrying the sedan chair.
Therefore, from the Hongwu year to the Jiajing and Wanli years, the exemption and exemption of corvées had been taking shape, and later became a norm in the 24th year of Jiajing.
That is: for the first-rank official in the capital, thirty shi of grain is exempted, and the person is 30 ding, and the following decreases gradually, to the ninth-rank official, who is exempted from ration of 6 shi, and the man is six ding; for foreign officials, it is half;
Shi and Ding; if you become an official, you will be exempted from seven tenths of this product.
Many people are righteous and think that money and grain are exempted. In fact, the scope of exemptions has always been strictly limited to labor and has never been extended to the field of taxation.
The so-called "exemption from thirty shi of grain" and "exemption from 10,000 acres of land" refers to the exemption of labor attached to "thirty shi of grain" and "ten thousand acres of land", but does not exempt them from taxes.
Taxes still have to be paid, but the labor costs can be reduced by the labor costs.
A popular explanation is that the tenants of the official and gentry families can basically be exempted from corvee service.
Just this one item has made people more willing to donate.
However, the policy is a good policy, but once the decree comes out of the Forbidden City, at the specific implementation level at the county level, the squires will use various means and collude with the county officials to refuse to perform official duties or pay taxes...
"In other words, it was originally just an exemption from corvées, but when it spread to the people and counties, it became an exemption from taxes."
Even though he had expected it, Zhu Yixi couldn't help but feel angry when he actually learned about it from Zhao Shu and others.
Before he was among the people, or before he traveled through time, he deeply hated the privileges of the gentry in the Ming Dynasty, which severely damaged the Ming Dynasty's financial revenue.
(In fact, it can still collect about 27 million shi per year, which is about the same as the 3,000 shi in Hongwu years, but the expenses have increased...)
Who would have thought that if you really understand the matter, you will understand that the demographic dividend and land dividend that the Ming Dynasty has grown for hundreds of years were basically stolen by the gentry.
The so-called exemptions and exemptions were also against the rules and became more and more rampant as the court's control declined.
Just like the Song Dynasty's ancestral system of not killing scholar-bureaucrats, brothers Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Guangyi killed them more happily than anyone else. Even the emperor believed them after such long-term deception.
"Officials protect each other!" Even a rentier like Zhang Shenyan couldn't help but sigh: "In the early years of Wanli, Hai Zhongjie (Hai Rui) was not afraid of power and conducted an inventory of Xu Wenzhen (Xu Jie) and his family who were idle at home.
"
"It's a pity that Xu Wenjie is not strict in raising his children. Although he is known as honest, his family has hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland. He thinks that Songjiang Prefecture is a big harm-"
There are rumors on the Internet that Hai Rui is an upright official but is not beneficial to the country. Therefore, it is really ulterior to conclude that an upright official is useless.
Hai Rui cleaned up the powerful, dredged the Wusong River, suppressed land annexation, and tried widespread litigation. This was the real benefit to ordinary people.
"So, it is also simple for the court. Now that taxes and levies are unified, the exemptions and exemptions for the gentry are in vain. It is time to abolish the regulations on exemptions and exemptions and collect taxes as a whole."
The emperor said excitedly.
The one whip method at that time was to combine land tax, corvee service and other miscellaneous levies into one, and pay money on time. But later it was changed to pay grain.
"Your Majesty, it is a national policy to treat the gentry preferentially..."
Zhao Shu saw that something was wrong with the emperor and immediately began to persuade him.
You have been emperor for several years, why are you still so naive?
Upon hearing this, Zhu Yixi's smile immediately froze and she fell into deep thought.
As the saying goes, existence is reasonable.
Could it be that in the past 300 years of the Ming Dynasty, more than a dozen emperors were deaf and mute and did not know the tricks of their so-called preferential treatment?
No, they definitely know.
From the moment the Regulations on Preferences and Exemptions were officially promulgated, it meant that the court had no choice but to limit the scope and restrict the unscrupulous behavior of the gentry.
But the smart Jiajing only wants to become an immortal, and Wanli, who is capable enough, only wants to stay in the harem, so he can only compromise.
Seeing that the emperor was still struggling, Zhang Shenyan on the side could only say softly: "The foundation of the imperial court lies in the gentry."
This sentence clarifies the fundamentals.
In fact, it can also be understood the other way around. Only the gentry and scholars can subvert the imperial court.
China is too big, and the finances cannot support most of the officials. In the final analysis, we have to rely on local autonomy.
If you want the horse to run, you have to bribe and win over.
The nine-rank Zhongzheng system in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the selection of officials in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the lack of restraint on land annexation in the Song Dynasty, and the preferential treatment of money and food in the Ming and Qing Dynasties were all bribes by the imperial court to scholars.
Later, in order not to be controlled by others, the Celestial Empire did not choose to bribe them, but just replaced them.
The Chinese government popularized night schools on a large scale and promoted literacy so that farmers and workers could become scholars.
But can Zhu Yixi do this? He can't.
He doesn't have the ability to make the whole countryside move with him.
Even when Zhu Yixi was in Beijing, he spoke loudly, drafted documents from the cabinet, and even publicly announced in the Ming Dynasty Gazette that the so-called unspoken rules and preferential treatment for the gentry were abolished.
But as soon as you arrive in the county, nine out of ten people will ignore it.
One naturally has his butt deciding his head, while the other offends the gentry, so it is difficult to extend his power.
For example, during the Yongzheng period, the officials and gentry worked together as errands and paid grain, but this was abandoned during the Qianlong period.
If Zhu Yixi makes changes, his son or grandson will definitely change back.
Made by ancestors? What is easy to use is made by ancestors.
"So, what do you mean?"
Zhu Yixi thought about it and thought that Yongzheng had worked for more than ten years and was wasted in the end. She couldn't help but feel a little chilled. There were too many unfilial sons.
"Your Majesty, when you were in Nanjing, you were exempted from three taxes. Now that you have moved to Beijing, you should reiterate the whip law and exempt yourself from all additional taxes other than the official taxes."
Unexpectedly, Zhao Shu lowered his head and said something to gain fame.
"That's right." Zhu Yixi nodded: "One whip method combines all the tax and labor showdowns into one. After the new levy of Liao's salary and other new taxes, if the court breaks its promise, the people will naturally lose heart."
"What about corvees?" A whipping method includes corvees.
"Your Majesty can first depose Tianxia Zafu and then carry out the old affairs of Hongwu."
"I see."
Suddenly, the emperor smiled, and he suddenly understood.
In fact, although the gentry were hesitant about handing over grain to the emperor, it was common sense and inertia in society, and they did not understand it.
Since the imperial court requires money and food, it must grant another privilege.
To put it bluntly, the whip law caused the gentry to lose their preferential treatment rights. Everyone paid taxes together. How can you make them feel superior?
Scholars are like mud-legged people. Didn’t I read this book in vain?
Therefore, if there is equality in taxation, there will be inequality in corvée.