The two magistrates who divided the city were sitting together drinking.
In the same year, they both became Jinshi and became magistrates of the same city. The friendship between Chang Lun and Gui E became deeper and deeper.
"Brother Mingqing, I plan to inspect the official fields of Renhe County after the new year." Gui E said suddenly while drinking.
Chang Lun was stunned and said: "This matter is extremely difficult."
Gui E smiled and said: "If you don't do it when it's difficult, what's the point of being an official? Look at our Governor Wang, rectifying the bank customs, building ports and opening up seas, and punishing drowned infants. Which of these things doesn't offend a lot of people? A Bodhisattva has a heart.
, it was only through thunderbolt tactics that we achieved great governance in Hangzhou."
Chang Lun reminded: "Cleaning up government land is a hundred times more difficult than opening up the sea!"
Gui E smiled sarcastically: "If it weren't for my lack of authority, I would have cleaned up the military fields as well. I didn't take action in the past few months because I was afraid of ruining the governor's plan to open the sea. Now the governor has suppressed the Hangzhou gentry into obedience.
It’s a good time to clean up the official fields.”
Zhejiang, like southern Zhili, has official fields all over the place, and now more than half of them have been embezzled.
Take the Xu family in Jiangyin, South Zhili, for example. The widow Yang wanted to marry her daughter to Wang Yuan as a concubine, and the promised dowry was "ten acres of official mountain." Like official land, the official mountain belonged to the court, and the Xu family
Not only did they occupy Guanshan, they also dared to openly use it as dowry for their daughters.
Official land in the Ming Dynasty did not bear corvee duties, but the taxes were very heavy and varied from place to place.
Generally speaking, the tax on official land is about three times that of private land. However, according to "Gusu Chronicles", during the reign of Zhu Yuanzhang, the tax on official land in Suzhou was "seven dou and three liters", while the tax on private land was only "five liters".
The difference between the two is more than thirteen times!
In the Hongwu and Yongle dynasties, there were many corvees and the government was relatively good. Therefore, many self-cultivated farmers donated their private fields to the court and became tenants of official fields to escape the heavy corvee.
As soon as Zhu Di died, the officialdom quickly deteriorated, excessive taxes and miscellaneous taxes were imposed, and the heavy taxes on official land became unbearable.
In view of this, the "square meter law" was implemented in the south of the Yangtze River during the Xuande period. Taxes on official and private land were levied together with the regular rice. Instead of transporting the grain yourself, you only had to bear a certain amount of losses, which was converted into money or items and unified by the government.
collection.
It was a very good policy to facilitate the people, but it succeeded in ruining the lives of the people.
By the Zhengde period, the "square meter law" had been played out by officials. There were various reasons for "increased consumption", including thousands of excessive levies and miscellaneous taxes, and there were loopholes to exploit when converting grain into money and goods. People's lives were more difficult than before the tax reform.
.
Moreover, this policy has also brought about other negative effects, that is, the boundaries between official land and private land have become increasingly blurred.
Many official lands were not forcibly occupied by the gentry, but were illegally sold by tenants who could not afford the land tax. This resulted in the official land remaining on the government's fish scales, and the tenants had to continue to pay heavy taxes every year. But in fact it was in the hands of the gentry, and the tenants continued as usual.
Farming, and at the same time paying rent to the gentry, while the gentry only collects rent and does not pay taxes.
Of course, the tenants could not afford to pay a double share, so they owed heavy taxes from the government and could only rent the land to the wealthy gentry.
This phenomenon was so common that the government could not force tenants to pay taxes, so the grain chief was made responsible for the contract. After the grain chief was forced to lose his family, the official land tax continued to be owed, and every few years the court would order an exemption. This phenomenon continued
There is a sentence in the history books: The emperor exempted a certain place from the tax from X to X.
Looking at the whole of Zhejiang, Hangzhou is the place where official fields have been invaded the most!
Chang Lun thought about it and said, "Brother Zishi, even if the official land is investigated, if the tax law is not reformed, it will return to the original state in a few years."
Gui E smiled and said: "So while I am checking official fields, I also want to change the tax laws."
"How to change it?" Chang Lun asked.
Gui E said: "The government and the people are the same."
Chang Lun suddenly became interested and asked, "Tell me more about it!"
Gui E explained: "We measured the land in the county and made a new fish scale book. There was no distinction between official land and private land, fat land and thin land. The money and grain that were collected throughout the year were distributed evenly. The silver in the armor and the silver in the corvee were all included in the collection.
In addition, no excessive taxes or miscellaneous taxes can be levied. There is a fixed quota for grain and rice to be converted into silver, and one stone of average (medium) rice can be converted into five qian of silver. Even if the price of grain increases, no changes are allowed!"
"hiss!"
Chang Lun took a breath: "You are not clearing the land. You are reforming the land tax system! Once this law is implemented nationwide, there will no longer be official land and private land in the Ming Dynasty, and there will be no distinction between good land and poor land."
To be honest, Guei's method will inevitably be "one size fits all" in tax collection, which will lead to a heavier burden on Susukada. However, it can eliminate many phenomena of corruption and expropriation, and also block the loopholes of the officials' random apportionment. If it can be implemented smoothly, not only the common people will have
The good thing is that the actual land tax in several provinces in the south of the Yangtze River may be doubled - even if the implementation is not good, the land tax can be increased by 40 to 50%!
Historically, this reform had to wait until the 15th year of Jiajing, when Gu Dingchen, the Minister of Rites, asked for a grain inspection. In the 16th year, Jiaxing prefect Zhao Ying proposed a plan. In the 17th year, Ouyang Duo and Wang Yi tried it out in Suzhou, and then quickly promoted it throughout Jiangnan.
Different places have different conflicts. The main conflict in Hangzhou is the massive occupation of government land.
Therefore, Gui E, who was supposed to create the "one whip law", actually took the lead in coming up with the "one tax law". This kind of tax reform is not complicated and is not difficult to create. It mainly tests the determination, means and methods of the implementers.
will.
Gui E added: "It's a pity that the grain chief is an ancestral system. It cannot be abandoned without your majesty's consent. Otherwise, I will directly abolish the grain chief and let the government collect taxes uniformly. Then I will abolish the Lijia rotation and change it to the government
Unify the labor force, and then convert all kinds of taxes and levies into money and levy them. Maybe farmers elsewhere don’t have enough money, but the money in Renhe County will definitely be enough!”
Chang Lun sighed: "Brother Zishi is so talented, I can't compare to him!"
Gui E asked: "Do you want Qiantang County to come together?"
Chang Lun thought about it, suddenly drank a glass of wine, smashed the glass on the table, and said with the strength of the wine: "Then let's do it! The court will investigate him, and he will be dismissed from office at worst."
Gui E raised his wine glass and said with a sinister smile: "Qiantang and Renhe counties, the gentry and powerful people are all subdued by the governor. This is the best time to inventory the land. You and I can't miss this opportunity. Come and congratulate the people of the world!"
"Congratulations to the great Ming Dynasty, cheers! Hahahaha!" Chang Lun couldn't stop laughing.
The two bold guys agreed on reforms in a restaurant. They had been in office for several months and had full control of the county government. The next day they began to select officials and first check the official land listed in the fish scale book.
That thing doesn't need to be cleared on the spot, it can just be returned to the government according to the fish scale book.
What?
You said the land was bought with real money? Be brave, private sales of official land are prohibited!
Have you been deceived or knowingly committed the crime? If you have been deceived, then go find the liar. If you dare to knowingly commit the crime, I will give you dozens of sticks first!
The powerful gentry in Qiantang and Renhe counties had just been frightened by Wang Yuan, and had their property confiscated by two magistrates. They really made everyone wailing all over the place.
There was no way to resist, because the magistrate was checking official land, which had been registered hundreds of years ago.
Not to mention Wang Yuan's control, even if Wang Yuan was not in Hangzhou, Gui E and Chang Lun would still dare to carry out the project under pressure from their superiors, given their personalities.
Here, the inspection of Guan Tian was in full swing, while Wang Yuan started to open a school.
The name is very straightforward. Hangzhou Industrial and Commercial College is also called "Industrial and Commercial College" by the locals!
Tuition fees are waived, books are provided, and food and accommodation are provided by yourself.
The primary school system lasts for three years. It teaches basic subjects such as "Three Character Classic", which is actually primary school Chinese. There is also "Elementary Mathematics", which teaches the four arithmetic operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
As long as poor children finish primary school, they will be able to write and do math.
The duration of middle school is three years, and "Secondary Mathematics" and "Elementary Physics" are taught, and the "Four Books" are also taken as electives. Once you finish middle school, you will definitely be rushed by commercial banks, factories, and shipping fleets.
If you still want to continue your studies, take the exam and those with excellent results will go to Beijing Institute of Physics for free.
This kind of technical college, one is built in Hangzhou and the other is built in Tianjin, is specially designed to cultivate talents in industry and commerce.
(Recommend a historical text: "Mingyue in the Tang Dynasty and Pass in the Song Dynasty", which is quite good.)