Chapter three hundred and seventieth preferential exemption rules
On April 7, Governor Li Jizhen led the chief officials of one prefecture, two prefectures and twenty counties in Tianjin, and prepared troops on all roads. He also had the commander of Tianjin Qing Military Hall, a doctor in the Ministry of Household Affairs, and a general judge in charge of grain. He led more than fifty civil servants from all over Tianjin to come together.
Together we visit Li Zhi.
Li Zhi did not keep the civil servants waiting for long. As soon as all the civil servants sat down in the second hall, Li Zhi, wearing the official uniform of an earl, walked into the second hall with Cui Changwu and Gao Ligong, and sat down on the main seat in a carefree manner.
Li Zhi sat down on the chair and glanced at the officials.
The officials were swept away by Li Zhi's eyes and did not dare to look at Li Zhi. Now that Li Zhi is an earl and has strong soldiers and the emperor's favor, how can these third-rank soldiers, the fifth-rank magistrates, and the seventh-rank magistrates dare to
The one who resisted was Li Jizhen, the governor of Tianjin. Against Li Zhi, he could only obediently obey the official etiquette and did not dare to exceed the rules.
All the civil servants could only call themselves lower officials in front of Li Zhi, and no one dared to look at Li Zhi at this time.
All the officials stood up and bowed to Li Zhi.
Li Zhi nodded and asked: "You guys came to see me, what's the matter?"
All the officials looked at each other with some fear in their eyes, and finally looked at Li Jizhen. After a long time, the new governor of Tianjin, Li Jizhen, raised his hands and said: "I came to see Uncle Xing Guo today because I have something to confirm with him."
Li Zhi nodded and said, "Why do so many people ask together?"
Li Jizhen looked at the officials around him, cupped his hands and said, "Recently, officers and soldiers from Fanjiazhuang went to various government offices, prefectures, and counties with posts stamped with the seal of Uncle Xing Guo, asking them to hand over their tax rolls and fish scale pictures.
These officers said that from now on, the land of the gentry will also have to pay land tax, and the land tax will be collected by the General Military Office."
Li Jizhen bowed his head to the ground and said to Li Zhi: "Uncle Xingguo! The magistrates of counties, prefectures and prefectures are responsible for the land tax of counties, prefectures and prefectures. It is the law of our dynasty. How can we change it at will? The idea that taxes should be levied by the General Military Office is really disturbing.
People are surprised. The statement that the gentry should pay the grain as one body is even more shocking. Our country is governed by scholars, and the gentry has always had the privilege of being exempted from land tax. As we all know, if the gentry wants to pay the grain, are they still gentry?"
"The remarks of the officer holding the seal of Mr. Xing Guo were astonishing, and we were really surprised. We did not dare to believe the officer's remarks, so we could only go to the General Military Mansion to ask Mr.
?Intent to ruin Xing Guobo’s reputation?”
Li Zhi smiled and looked at the Bingbeidao, magistrates, and county magistrates present.
At this critical moment, these civil servants seemed to be risking their lives. They looked at Li Zhi one by one, as if they wanted to hear Li Zhi explain clearly.
Li Zhi said calmly: "I think you are here today not just to confirm the authenticity of this matter, right? If it is really to confirm the news, why do you need to come together like this and mobilize troops?"
Li Zhi's words revealed the thoughts of all the officials.
In Tianjin these days, who dares to forge the seal of Uncle Xingguo, use it to make name cards, and go to the yamen of various prefectures and counties to ask for the yellow book of fish scales? Who dares to do this to punish the nine tribes after eating the courage of the bear heart and the leopard?
There is no doubt that 99% of this matter was an order issued by Xing Guobo himself. Xing Guobo had previously collected commercial taxes at the expense of the world, made enemies of the world's scholars, and killed all directions without fear. This time
Before he became an uncle and became more powerful, he would raid the gentry's hometown and collect taxes on the gentry's fields.
All the officials knew in their hearts that this matter was definitely not a fabrication by Officer Fanjiazhuang, and knew that it must be true. The officials came to confirm the news, in fact, they hoped to use the gathering of civil servants to scare Li Zhi with this mighty momentum.
, let Li Zhi understand the unity of Tianjin civil servants on this matter, and hope that Li Zhi would change his tune.
The officials gave Li Zhi a chance to change his story: if Li Zhi slipped down the steps given by the officials and said it was just a petty sowing discord, everyone would be happy.
But Li Zhi was not prepared to slide down this ladder at all. Instead, he wanted to expose the tricks of the civil servants and ask them why they mobilized so much troops to confirm this matter.
Is this because you don’t take the dozens of Tianjin civil servants seriously and are going to break up with them?
The officials looked at each other with anger in their eyes.
Li Jizhen cupped his hands and said: "Uncle Xingguo, this dynasty is governed by scholars. According to the ancestral system, there is a tradition that gentry are exempted from taxes!"
Li Zhi sneered and looked at Cui Changwu behind him.
Cui Changwu puffed up his chest and said loudly: "Master Governor, according to the ancestral system of Emperor Taizu and Emperor Gao, scholars and officials only have the right to be exempted from corvee. When can they be exempted from land tax? Emperor Gao's system said: All current officials' families are exempted from corvee.
"Officials who become officials return to their homes and have nothing to live with for the rest of their lives. Scholars above the rank of student official, in addition to being exempted from military service, are exempted from military service for two years."
"According to the ancestral system of Emperor Taizu and Gao, the reduction of labor service was only limited to officials' family members. As for land tax, it was never reduced or reduced. All gentry had to pay land tax!"
Li Jizhen's face turned red when Cui Changwu said it, and she asked sharply: "Who are you?"
Cui Changwu replied: "I am Cui Changwu of the Thousand Households of Jinghai Thousand Households!"
Li Jizhen was stunned, knowing that Cui Changwu was Li Zhi's brother-in-law. He put on a respectful tone and said: "It turns out to be Mr. Cui!"
Seeing that Cui Changwu could not be suppressed by the ancestral system, Li Jizhen changed his mind and said: "Although the ancestral system is strict, in recent times, the tax rules have been different. The "Preferential and Exemption Rules" in the thirty-eighth year of Wanli stipulates that a person can be exempted from a thousand
For 200 acres of farmland, students can be exempted from 80 acres of farmland."
Cui Changwu said coldly: "Sir Governor, you are a Jinshi, how could you be so confused? The Wanli Dynasty's regulations on exemptions and exemptions only talk about exemptions from labor service. Is there ever any exemption from land and grain taxes?"
Li Jizhen did not expect that Li Zhi's brother-in-law was knowledgeable and had some ink in his belly, so he could not deceive him. When Cui Changwu exposed Li Jizhen's lies, Li Jizhen's face became even redder and she was speechless for a moment.
The civil servants sitting in the second hall were a little frightened when they saw Li Zhi's stubbornness, and looked at each other a few more times.
Li Jizhen's face turned from red to white, and then from white to green. After a long time, he raised his hands and said to Li Zhi: "Uncle Xing Guo has learned from this! Being exempted from special privileges is actually the foundation for the world's gentry to settle down and live in peace. If Uncle Xing Guo abolishes this privilege in Tianjin
, those Jin gentry suddenly lost their support and were forced to rob their family property. On the surface, Xing Guobo only wanted land tax, but in fact, what he wanted was the life of the Jin gentry!"
What Li Jizhen said is true.
In the late Ming Dynasty, the social atmosphere dictated that once a person was elected, or even just a scholar, as long as the operation was good, he would have the privilege of being exempted from taxes, and traitors would bring their land to donate. As long as the land rent collected by the Jin gentry was more than
If there are fewer taxes and corvees in the court, more and more unscrupulous people will come to contribute. It will be even worse if you become a scholar and become an official. Even small landowners will become servants.
However, the fundamental benefit of this kind of donation lies in the right to tax exemption. If the exemption power is gone, those unscrupulous people who came to donate will naturally leave the Jin gentry with their fields.
This kind of departure is definitely not as easy as treating guests to a meal. The various interest entanglements and property rights disputes are enough to destroy the originally prosperous Jin Gentry family.
After Li Jizhen said this, he knelt down in front of Li Zhi and said loudly: "Uncle Xing Guo collects taxes from the gentry. This is the life of the gentry in the world. This is going to war with the gentry in the world. Please think twice, Uncle Xing Guo!"
Seeing this, dozens of civil servants in the second hall knelt down behind Li Jizhen and shouted loudly: "Uncle Xing Guo, please think again!"
