On the morning of the 22nd day of the twelfth lunar month, Duke Ding Xu Guangzuo and his son came to visit the Marquis of Jianchang.
Before that, the Xu family had actually come here. However, the last ones to come back were the Duke's wife and Xu Yande's wife. After the news of Xu Wan's good fortune was reported to them, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law came first.
Visited once.
But this time, Zhang Yanling was surprised that Xu Guangzuo and his son came together. He could only understand that Xu Guangzuo loved his daughter very much, Xu Yande loved his sister, and he had enough dignity, so they both came to visit.
However, Zhang Yanling soon realized that she had made a mistake.
Everyone in the Xu family did bring a lot of food and drink to visit Xu Wanyi, but Xu Guangzuo and his son's visit was not for Xu Wanyi's happiness. In other words, that was not entirely the case.
Dingguo's wife, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were talking to Xu Wanyi in the room. When Zhang Yanling accompanied her father-in-law and uncle-in-law to have tea in the hall, the mystery was revealed.
"Yanling, there is something, do you know?" Xu Guangzuo asked in a deep voice after blowing on the foam and taking a sip of tea.
Zhang Yanling said hurriedly: "What's the matter? Father-in-law, please enlighten me."
Xu Guangzuo frowned and spat tea foam out, then turned around and said to Xu Yande: "Yande, go back and send your brother-in-law a few kilograms of the best tea cakes at home."
Xu Yande glanced at his brother-in-law and nodded in agreement.
Zhang Yanling cursed in her heart. My father-in-law never forgets to show off that the tea at his house is also the best Wuyi Mountain Autumn Tea. It is also the best tea that costs five taels of silver per catty. But Xu Guangzuo still dislikes it.
"It's like this. The Emperor summoned the British Duke and I yesterday. The Emperor asked me something." Xu Guangzuo looked at Zhang Yanling and said.
Zhang Yanling smiled and kept listening.
"The emperor asked me and the British Duke how the life of our noble family is going. The output of the manor's acres is enough for expenses. He also asked us whether the manor land of other princes' families is enough for their expenses."
Xu Guangzuo said slowly.
Zhang Yanling's heart skipped a beat, and she asked in a deep voice: "Why does the emperor ask this? Do you want to reward the family of a distinguished relative with acres of land?"
Xu Guangzuo chuckled and said: "It would be great if that were the case. I thought so too at first, until the emperor asked if the imperial family's estate could pay some taxes as appropriate if the imperial court had financial difficulties, I knew that the emperor
That’s the intention.”
Zhang Yanling said in surprise: "Is there such a thing? Does the emperor actually want to collect taxes from the relatives' families? This is really unexpected. How did my father-in-law answer?"
Xu Guangzuo laughed and said: "How can I answer? Of course I say yes. The British Lord also said that he can pay taxes as appropriate to share the emperor's worries."
Zhang Yanling pondered: "How much tax do I have to pay every year?"
Xu Guangzuo said: "Take one out of thirty."
Zhang Yanling said: "That's not much."
Xu Yande stared at him and said, "Not much? How many acres of land do you have at home?"
Zhang Yanling thought for a while and said: "I don't have much at home. The total amount is only about 100,000 acres. The cultivated land is only 60,000 acres."
Xu Yande sneered and said: "Instead of counting the acres of farmland your family can cultivate, your Xishan Manor has 100,000 acres of land, plus half of the 40,000 acres of fertile land that Baodi and your brother Shouning Hou snatched, you are twelve
Ten thousand acres of land. Take one out of thirty, that’s four thousand acres. That means you have to pay
The grain produced from four thousand acres of high-quality land can be paid in silver at the market price. One mu of high-quality land is calculated as three shi of grain, and you will have to pay 12,000 shi of grain every year just for Jianchang. Converted into silver, that is
Seven or eight thousand taels. Let me ask you, how much money can you collect from rent in a year?"
Zhang Yanling silently calculated an account in his mind. If the rent of his two manor houses was converted into silver taels alone, it would only be two to thirty thousand taels a year. This meant that 30 to 40% of his income had to be handed over.
"Ouch! This can't be done. How could the imperial court do this? Wouldn't that be a blow to our heads?" Zhang Yanling shouted.
"Hehehe." Xu Guangzuo and his son both laughed.
"How old are you? Yanling, do you know how much property the British government has? The British government has three estates around the capital, with more than 200,000 acres of land. In addition, there are four villages in his ancestral home of Kaifeng, Henan, with a land area of 40
There is more than 10,000 acres of land. There is no need to forget the small villagers. Just these six big villages alone have 600,000 acres. Take one out of thirty, hey, how much does the British government pay per year? Do the math." Xu Guangzuo
smiled.
"That requires... 70,000 to 80,000 shi of grain, equivalent to 50,000 taels of silver." Zhang Yanling quickly roughly calculated the amount.
"Absolutely. Hey, fifty thousand taels a year. This is to kill the British Duke like a pig. Do you think the British Duke can agree?" Xu Guangzuo stroked his beard.
Zhang Yanling said: "Didn't the British Lord agree?"
Xu Guangzuo chuckled and said: "That was just in front of the emperor. The emperor only mentioned the matter and said that we would discuss it and think about it again. We haven't decided yet. After leaving the palace, the British public scolded him. He didn't say a word about him.
It won’t be turned over either. If the emperor really wants to do this, hehe, there will be something great to see.”
Zhang Yanling nodded slightly and asked: "If my father-in-law's house calculates this way, how much money will he have to pay every year?"
Xu Guangzuo didn't say anything. Xu Yande gritted his molars and said, "Forty thousand taels."
Zhang Yanling was shocked. She knew that Duke Dingguo was very wealthy, but now she knew how much land they owned. After extrapolation, the land owned by Duke Dingguo was probably close to 400,000 acres.
Zhang Yanling certainly knew that the noble officials of the Ming Dynasty were like wolves and tigers in annexing land. But what he knew before was only in general, and he did not know how much land the top nobles occupied. Now that he knows the scale of the land occupied by the British Duke and Dingguo Duke, he has just
Understand how serious this situation must be.
In the Ming Dynasty, although the land area was huge, there were only 800 million acres of cultivated land, of which less than 30% were fertile land. It was already difficult to support the hundreds of millions of people in the Ming Dynasty. What's more, there was so much annexed land, and the land was enclosed for self-fertilization.
silverfish.
These days, land is the most precious resource. Having land in your hands means money, food, and wealth. Dukes, princes, royal ministers, officials at all levels, and wealthy families all have a special liking for land as a resource.
There are countless silverfish up and down, and at least 30% of the 800 million acres of land are in the hands of these people. This situation is simply shocking. This may be the hidden worry of the Ming Dynasty.
As a member of the Xun family, Zhang Yanling understands that he is actually one of the silverfish. However, if he had a choice, he would certainly not do this. If there was a way to solve this problem, Zhang Yanling would naturally be willing to cooperate.
But at the moment, the core of the problem is obviously not this matter. Rather, it is the emperor's sudden discussion with the two princes, which is really strange.
The sixth sense told Zhang Yanling that this incident might be related to the seeds he planted in Liu Jin's heart that day.
But it is incredible that Zhu Houzhao wanted to attack the Dukes and Marquises. On that day, in order to seduce Liu Jin, Zhang Yanling specifically told Liu Jin not to touch the Dukes and Marquises, so as not to attract backlash. Although Zhang Yanling wanted to seduce Liu Jin
It can be bait under the hook, but it is actually a pertinent statement. It is obviously not a wise choice to make trouble over these people.
Liu Jin would not fail to understand this. This made Zhang Yanling a little unsure whether this was Liu Jin's idea. Could it be that Zhu Houzhao himself wanted to work hard and do something big? If that was the case, Zhang Yanling would have to admire Zhu Houzhao's courage.
"Father-in-law, in this case, how are you going to deal with this matter?" Zhang Yanling said solemnly.
Xu Guangzuo smiled and said: "What the British Duke means is that if the emperor really wants to do this, he will unite all the noble princes to submit a report. The British Duke said that although our land was rewarded by the imperial court, it was also given by our ancestors for the Ming Dynasty.
We deserve what we bleed in exchange for.
Some of the land was bought by us with our own money. The emperor wants to take action on us now, so there is no need to be polite. The emperor is unkind, and our relatives' family will not be polite either. We are protecting the emperor's country, but the emperor is
How can we do this if our financial resources and livelihoods are cut off?"
Zhang Yanling's mind already flashed the image of Zhang Mao blowing his beard and staring. Zhang Mao's attitude is not surprising, and his thoughts are probably the thoughts of all his relatives.
"Then what do your father-in-law think? Do you think the same as the British father-in-law? Do you also plan to submit a memorial?"
"Since we have to submit a memorial, it is natural that we should submit it jointly. The honorable family is in the same spirit, so there can be no exception. I and the British Duke have always discussed things. How can I drag him down when he wants to do something?
Back off. Furthermore, don't you think the emperor has gone too far this time? The court is short of money, but it wants to rip off our heads. What is this doing to our noble family?" Xu Guangzuo said.
Zhang Yanling nodded and said: "That's true. Since we are going to present a memorial, we must have the same attitude. After all, we are safeguarding common interests."
Xu Guangzuo said: "So, you agree to do this?"
Zhang Yanling smiled and said: "Does my son-in-law have any other choices?"
Xu Guangzuo said in a deep voice: "Yan Ling, to be honest, I came to see you today because I want to hear your thoughts. Although this matter is infuriating, I always feel that this matter is strange. Logically speaking, the emperor will not
So confused. My noble family is a minister of the imperial court, and he is the same as the emperor.
You are sincere. No matter how confused the emperor is, he will not take action on us. This makes me very confused. After thinking about it, I think I should listen to your thoughts. Yanling, you are resourceful, insightful and considerate in your actions.
.So, the British father-in-law also agrees that I will ask you what you think."
Zhang Yanling smiled and said: "My father-in-law has praised me. My opinion is not that important."
Xu Guangzuo said seriously: "Yanling, I am not joking with you. The consequences of this matter are very serious. Once we express our attitude in the memorial, we will fall out with the emperor. You have also seen what happened in the outer court, and the consequences are really unpredictable.
.If this matter is not handled carefully, I am afraid it will turn the world upside down and the earth will fall apart. No one can stay out of it, do you understand?"