Li Zhi looked at the information, thought for a while, and said: "The small people who donated the land were cunning and deceitful, increasing the burden on other farmers who farmed honestly, and colluded with the gentry who evaded taxes. This is the crime of these small people who donated the land.
Now that we have corrected the tax evasion channels of the gentry, they want to get their land back."
"If these small people stay under the gentry, they will be collecting land rent for free from the gentry. Are the gentry the main culprits of tax evasion? It makes no sense to let them benefit. But if the land is simply returned to the small people who donated the land, it will also encourage
We have eliminated the habit of these cunning people taking advantage of policy loopholes. We must not punish these cunning acts of donating land."
"The land donated at the beginning was not an ordinary sale, but stolen goods belonging to the crime of tax evasion. The small farmers and gentry who donated the land joined forces to evade taxes and harmed other farmers who were heavily taxed. This is a crime! Once the evidence is conclusively proven that the land was donated to evade taxes.
All the fields were confiscated. The gentry who evaded taxes were not allowed to keep these fields, nor were the common people who donated the land were allowed to benefit. The confiscated land belonged to the General Military Mansion, and the common people could continue to rent it, but the land rent was one bushel of rice.
per acre, higher than the general tax."
When Cui Changwu heard Li Zhi's words, he raised his hands and said, "My uncle is wise. In this way, he not only punished the gentry who evaded taxes, but also educated the cunning common people, and also expanded the income of the General Military Office."
Li Zhi nodded and said: "Convey our policies to each court. If we encounter similar cases again, we will handle them in this way."
####
Soon, when Li Zhi's policy reached the grassroots level, the judge in Jinghai County confiscated the land donated by Zhao Lizhi, and Li Zhi's policy spread.
In addition, the case of Zhao Lijing was published in Tianjin Daily on September 18, making this case even more widely known.
The common people who came to file a lawsuit and hand over their donated fields lined up in a long line at the door of the court. Each one of them would rather pay a bushel of land rent and hand over the land they donated. After all, compared with the land rent of the gentry, the General Military Mansion confiscated it.
The land rent of one bushel per acre was still a lot lighter.
How can a few judges in various county courts cope with so many cases? In the end, each court stipulated that if the case is simple and the evidence is clear, there is no need for a judge to hear the case. The people who contribute can go directly to the clerk's office to register.
The donated fields can be turned into public fields immediately.
With such a policy, a large amount of land under the gentry's name was lost. The gentry's vitality was greatly damaged. Some gentry wanted to retain the farmers, so they took the initiative to reduce the land rent to less than one dou. In the end, all the gentry in Tianjin who accepted the land donation paid the land rent
It has been reduced to a very low level, which is slightly higher than the land tax of seven liters and one combined.
After the gentry reduced taxes on a large scale, the number of common people who came to file lawsuits and hand over their fields as public land gradually disappeared.
####
On September 20th, Emperor Zhu Youjian sat on the dragon chair in the study room of Qianqing Palace, spread out a copy of "Tianjin Daily" on the desk and read it carefully.
Zhu Youjian read with great interest the news from various places in "Tianjin Daily". Although famines and military affairs in various places were reported in local official memorials, other news, such as where the price of rice rose again, where the interest level dropped
Even the news of how many ships went to sea in Fujian and how many soldiers fled in Shandong were not included in the official memorials.
Prosecutor Zhu You was deep in the palace and had never left the imperial city, so he knew very little about these news from the outside world. After seeing the reports in Tianjin Daily, he learned a lot about folk affairs, which he found very new.
What interests Zhu Youjian even more is the commentary article in Tianjin Daily.
One of Zhu Youjian's favorite commentators is a writer called "Purple Copper Mountain Man". The articles written by this writer are lofty and lofty, and his comments on various things are to the point, and he always has some amazing remarks.
For example, on the second page of "Tianjin Daily" on this day, Zitongshan people wrote an article called "Why are Xingguo Bo's soldiers and horses so strong?" Zitongshan people wrote: "Xing Guobo's soldiers and horses are so strong.
, thoughts come first to the ears!”
"Because of our advanced thinking, we are widely equipped with firecrackers and cannons. We use cannons to bombard the enemy from a few hundred steps away, and we use firecrackers to kill the enemy from a few dozen steps away."
"Because of their advanced thinking, they are willing to allocate high military pay to soldiers. Soldiers train every day, practice formation, practice archery, riding, and sword practice. They practice hard every day, and their skills are proficient and excellent. However, when encountering lax training on the battlefield,
How can the opponent of Tianyi Lian not be destroyed?"
"Because of their advanced thinking, they gave extremely high pensions to the wounded and wounded soldiers, so that the soldiers were happy to hear the battle and were not afraid of casualties."
After Zhu Youjian finished reading this article, he didn't speak for a long time.
Wang Chengen stood behind, peeked at the daily newspaper over Zhu Youjian's shoulder for a while, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, this daily newspaper of Uncle Xing Guo boasts about his own abilities. Fortunately, this daily newspaper was blocked by scholars outside Tianjin.
It cannot be spread out of Tianjin. Otherwise, everyone in the world will worship Uncle Xing Guo and not know that there is a Ming Dynasty."
Zhu Youjian sighed and said: "Now Li Zhi in Tianjin not only collects taxes from the gentry, but also sets up private courts to override the government."
"A town in Tianjin already has the surname Li. Now Li Zhi is a warlord in Tianjin. In front of Li Zhi, the governor can only bow his head and obey orders."
Wang Chengen said: "Your Majesty, although Li Zhi was domineering and arrogant in Tianjin, he defeated the traitors and intruders and pacified the Central Plains. The emperor exchanged a town in Tianjin for peace in the world. This is a good deal."
Zhu Youjian nodded, shook his head, and said: "Even so, Li Zhi's family cannot be allowed to dominate. If the current situation is not changed, Li Zhi's power will only become stronger and stronger, and I am afraid that I will not be able to recruit him in the future."
They didn’t even listen.”
Zhu Youjian stood up, walked a few steps back and forth in the study, and said, "I want to imitate Li Zhi's Huben Division and train the new army."
Wang Chengen asked: "What does the emperor mean?"
Zhu Youjian said: "In the past year, the Central Plains has been peaceful, and the expenditure on suppressing bandits has been reduced a lot. Now the court can allocate additional military resources to famous generals in various towns, such as Yang Guozhu of Xuanfu, Cao Bianjiao of Yutian, Zhou Yuji, Huang Degong of Jingying, etc.
, let them be equipped with fire guns and cannons, and form an army with firearms. The soldiers should be equipped with Rumi guns and Hongyi cannons, and equipped with cotton armor, to create a new army of 50,000 people, with a combat power no less than that of Li Zhihu's Ben division."
Wang Chengen said: "Your Majesty is wise, Lumi's gun can kill people at a distance of one hundred steps, and it can shoot farther than Li Zhi's fire gun which can only hit seventy steps. Yang Guozhu, Cao Bianjiao and others are even more powerful generals who dare to fight. If they are supplemented by
Sharp firearms will probably double your combat power."
Zhu Youjian lowered his head and thought for a while, then said: "These 50,000 new soldiers will fire three taels a month and provide stable logistics. The soldiers practice firecrackers and cannons every day, and they can hit nine out of ten shots, which can rival Li Zhi."
Until the Tiger Guards."
"We also need to learn from Li Zhi's pension system. For soldiers killed in battle, the court will compensate one hundred taels to their families, so as to prevent the soldiers' families from being deprived of food and clothing."
Wang Chengen raised his hands and said: "Your Majesty is wise. If this is the case, how can the soldiers be afraid of dying in battle? Each and every one of them dares to charge into the battle. Even Li Zhi's soldiers and horses can fight!"
