Zhang Yanling sighed and said: "Your Majesty, I also think that I am joking. If I do this, it will indeed cause a huge uproar. I don't know how many people will jump in and scold me, and even fight for their lives."
Zhu Houzhao frowned and said: "Since you know it, you still say such things, isn't it just to entertain me?"
Zhang Yanling said sternly: "Your Majesty, of course I am not amusing you, I just want the Emperor to understand how embarrassing our Ming Dynasty's current situation is. On the one hand, we need to increase finances and taxes to make up for the shortfall. We want to find ways to dig out the land.
Money and food are coming. But on the other hand, we can only treat the symptoms but not the root cause, scratching the surface and unable to solve the root cause of the problem."
Zhu Houzhao frowned and said nothing.
Zhang Yanling said in a deep voice: "Although I know very little about the finance and taxation of the Ming Dynasty, I still know about some things. I once heard some figures mentioned by others, and I was shocked when I heard them. At the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the entire Ming Dynasty could be cultivated.
There are about nine million hectares of land. There are 16 million self-cultivated farmers. In other words, at that time, basically every household in the Ming Dynasty had fifty or sixty acres of land to cultivate and raise food.
It is enough for the family to make a living and pay taxes and grain. But now, the Ming Dynasty has been established for more than a hundred years, and there must be a lot of acres of cultivated land. The arable land of the Ming Dynasty should be far more than nine million hectares.
.But this is not the case. I heard that our Ming Dynasty currently has less than five million hectares of arable land. Over a hundred years, our Ming Dynasty’s arable land has not increased but decreased, and the number has shrunk by half. What is the reason for this?"
Zhu Houzhao looked at Zhang Yanling blankly and said, "Are you saying that half of the disappearing acres have been annexed?"
Zhang Yanling nodded slowly and said: "I dare not say that all of them have been invaded and annexed, but at least half, two million hectares, is definitely there. I will not tell lies. I was favored by the late emperor and was given a Xishan Manor.
Thousands of hectares. My brother Changshou Ning
The Marquis had 1,600 hectares. Later, we also seized 400 hectares of fertile land in Baodi from the Zhou family. My brothers from the Zhang family alone had 3,000 hectares of farmland. Although these were all gifts from the late emperor, none of them
It was not obtained from the hands of the people."
Zhu Houzhao smiled bitterly and said: "Uncle, don't you think that it is a bad thing that the emperor father rewards you and your uncle with land?"
Zhang Yanling sighed: "How can I be so pretentious? I am just making an analogy. The land owned by a family of honorable relatives like Chen Chen is actually only average among the princes and nobles and even the nobles of the court. The vassal kings in various places,
There are thousands of hectares of manors at every turn, and even the thousands of hectares of the homes of the Dukes and Lords are comparable.
They are all. Officials from all over the country, generals in border towns, and chamberlains in the inner court, but they have some ability, and they have thousands of acres of fertile farmland at home. This is obvious. The millions of acres of cultivated land that disappeared did not disappear.
Instead, it fell into the hands of princes, nobles, officials and eunuchs."
Zhu Houzhao said: "What's the use of telling me these things? Don't I know these situations? When my father was in power, it was common to grant land rewards. Otherwise, why would everyone say good things about my father? He is really true.
just
to give them benefits. But now that I have ascended the throne, am I asking you to hand it back one by one? Then wouldn’t I become a great villain? Wouldn’t I be hated by everyone? If I ask you to hand over all your land and estates, what will you do?
willing?"
Zhang Yanling thought for a moment and said, "I don't want to."
Zhu Houzhao sneered: "Uncle himself is not willing, so what else can he say?"
Zhang Yanling said: "I don't want to do it because I have decided to distribute the land in my manor to my tenants. I have already done so. In the end, all I have in my hands is useless land such as barren hills and grassy slopes.
There's no point in going out. Besides, there are some houses built on top, so they can be regarded as my private property."
Zhu Houzhao said in surprise: "Did you really do this?"
Zhang Yanling said: "Everything is well-documented. Your Majesty, please order someone to check the amount of taxes collected from my manor and you will know. I have already paid the taxes paid by the farmers on my manor. The land deeds are also in the hands of the people. I just want to know."
This matter has not been made public, and the people are not allowed to do so. Because I want
Protect these tenants. They are nominally tenants of my manor, and their land is still nominally in my name, so no one dares to snatch it from them. This is my selfish intention. Because I know that some people want to annex people's land in order to
, how like a wolf and a tiger, how despicable and vicious.”
Zhu Houzhao was really shocked. He never expected that Zhang Yanling would do this secretly. It really subverted his cognition. He knew that Zhang Yanling could not lie in front of him. He would know this kind of thing once he checked, and he could not hide it if he lied.
of.
"Why does uncle do this? I don't understand. Could it be that uncle wants to set an example and let others follow suit?" Zhu Houzhao said.
Zhang Yanling shook his head and said: "If I wanted to get that limelight, I would have publicized it long ago. Apart from the tenants in my manor, only the emperor today knows about this matter. I don't want the emperor to tell it. In that case, wouldn't I
If you become a different person, you will be ostracized and hated by everyone."
Zhu Houzhao said: "But why did you do this? Uncle doesn't love the land and property?"
Zhang Yanling said with a smile: "Your Majesty is joking, there is no one in the world who doesn't love money. I have dozens of people to support in my house, and the expenses in the house are very high. I can't afford to suffer, and I can't even eat simple meals. Although the food, clothing, housing and transportation cannot be said to be luxurious,
, but I don’t want to lose the face of the royal family. How can I not love money?”
Zhu Houzhao said: "Then why did you do this? You gave the land to your tenants, but they don't give it to you to rent. What do you eat and drink? The salary from the court is probably not enough."
Zhang Yanling said: "Your Majesty, you can rest assured. Since I have done this, I have naturally found a way to make money. Otherwise, how could I dare to do this? Are you going to drink the northwest wind as a family? Your Majesty must have heard about it, and I opened a medical clinic.
Several new drugs have been developed, the sales are very good, and the income is considerable. Since Chen
With other sources of income, there is no need to squeeze money from those tenants. In addition, I am also using my own meager efforts to contribute some money and finance to the court. Although it is not much, only more than 10,000 taels of silver per year. But it is still considered a small amount.
I will take practical actions to reduce the burden on the Emperor."
Zhu Houzhao stared at Zhang Yanling for a moment, then suddenly raised his hands and said: "My uncle is so upright and loyal to the court. I am very surprised and moved. In today's situation where officials in both the government and the public are all pursuing profit, how can my uncle do such a thing?"
It’s really a breath of fresh air. Please accept my worship.”
Zhang Yanling said hurriedly: "Your Majesty, please don't do this, you will offend me. If the Emperor hadn't talked about the finance and taxation of the imperial court today, I would never have said anything about it. I have no intention of claiming credit for this, let alone getting the Emperor's approval."
Zhu Houzhao nodded and said: "I understand. But I am still very touched that my uncle can do this. If everyone can think about the court like my uncle, then what do I have to worry about? If officials at all levels, including princes and nobles, can If the land is returned to the people for cultivation, then the court's money and food will be abundant. It's a pity, I'm afraid no one is willing to do the same thing as my uncle."
Zhang Yanling smiled and said: "Your Majesty, this cannot be blamed on them. In the final analysis, the imperial court has not restrained this matter for so many years. Instead, it has allowed the trend of annexation to prevail. It has allowed some people to seize the land without hesitation. Three feet of ice does not freeze in a day. , it is not something that can be solved overnight. It is absolutely impossible for them to do this like the ministers did. We should not be too harsh on the princes and ministers, and we cannot demand too much."
"Yes, I ordered to collect the manor land tax before. They were already unhappy, but they still paid the money, which is already good. I really can't force them to do this." Zhu Houzhao said.
Zhang Yanling said softly: "The emperor might as well not levy the estate tax. Does the emperor think that this money was taken out of their pockets? It's not the tenant farmers who are unlucky."
"How do you say this?" Zhu Houzhao asked.
Zhang Yanling said: "It's very simple. The expenditure of this money will be all apportioned to the people. The manor owners will not pay a tael of silver. They just increase the rent and let the people pay the money. The consequence of this is that The people who were already overwhelmed by poverty were even worse. Many people couldn't even work as sharecroppers because they couldn't even make ends meet. Instead, they ended up starving and in debt all year round, and were forced to sell their sons and daughters. So they simply became refugees or even bandits. Yes. There are also people who simply go into the mountains and forests to become savages, reclaiming wasteland and farming their own food, without paying taxes or food. This is what I call drinking poison to quench thirst. It seems that finances and taxes have increased in a short period of time, but in fact they are treating the people in a cruel way. , the consequences will be more serious.”
Zhu Houzhao was speechless for a long time, with a look of panic on his face.
"Why didn't Liu Jin, that bitch, tell me this? Doesn't he know these things? Why didn't he tell me? If this were the case, the people would hate me to death. Isn't my policy of reforming farmland useless?" Zhu Houzhao murmured. murmured.
Zhang Yanling said: "Your Majesty, it would be better for the Emperor to send someone to understand these matters personally. Liu Jin may have a good intention and want to increase tax revenue for the court, but both the design of the policy and the execution of the following need to be closely watched. For example, , regarding the payment of taxes on manor acres, perhaps it should be stipulated that the money must be obtained from the land owners and not increase the burden on the tenant farmers. Only by forcing the land owners to pay, can they avoid exploiting the tenant farmers."
Zhu Houzhao patted his thigh and said, "Isn't it? That's how it should be."
Zhang Yanling smiled and said: "I just said that. But if they are forced to pay a large sum of money from their pockets, how can they agree to the emperor so happily?"
Zhu Houzhao smiled bitterly and said: "That's true. I thought they were reasonable at first, but it turns out they have already thought of countermeasures. If there is no loophole to exploit, they will definitely object. Then it will still not be implemented."
Zhang Yanling nodded slightly.
Zhu Houzhao was silent for a while and said: "Uncle, if you put it this way, isn't this matter a dead end? I am exploiting the people by collecting their taxes, and I cannot take away their land. Otherwise, the people will have no land to cultivate, and the court will still Can’t the money tax be increased? Even if the annexation of land has been banned, the court’s tax revenue still cannot be changed. If this continues, the court will be in deficit every year, how can it survive? What should I do?”
Zhang Yanling said: "Your Majesty, I think we should broaden our horizons and not stick to making fuss about the land. I don't mean to let the land be annexed and the people to be displaced. What I mean is to get money from elsewhere. Just like what I did.
, I opened a medical clinic and sold some new medicines, and I earned enough money that I didn’t feel too bad about giving up the land. The money I earned from the medical clinic was several times more than the land rent collected in the manor, so naturally I
to the manor
I don’t care that much anymore. Maybe the minister’s experience can be used as a reference for the court to improve taxation and finance. Although the family is not the country, the principle should be similar. If we can find another way to make up for the fiscal revenue elsewhere and find a new source of finance and taxation. Here
By ensuring that the land is no longer annexed and lost, we may be able to force some people to quit some land and hand it over to the people for cultivation. It is not known that this two-pronged approach can bring in money from everywhere, and we may be able to reverse the deficit."
"Find another way to make money from all directions?" Zhu Houzhao frowned and said to himself.
He waved his hands and walked around the room, thinking: "Just like what you did when you opened a medical clinic? Can the court increase finances and taxes from elsewhere? Maybe it doesn't have to just focus on the money in the mud. Uncle, what do you mean?
It makes sense, it makes sense."
Zhu Houzhao turned to look at Zhang Yanling, his eyes shining.