Chen Sihai is now very famous in the Ming Dynasty and is in charge of the Tongzhengsi.
Many people say that Chen Sihai is known as the Iron-faced Chen Sihai. Of course, corrupt officials also gave him a nickname, the Tendon-pulling and Skin-peeling Chen Sihai.
But whatever his nickname, Chen Sihai was a ruthless but capable official with a swift gaze. According to rumors, he could scare the living daylights out of you with just one look.
Zhu Youxiao didn't expect Chen Sihai to come at this time, and said, "Let him in."
"Then I will take my leave first." Empress Zhang said to Zhu Youxiao.
"Okay." Zhu Youxiao nodded, stretched out his hand to pull Empress Zhang and said, "I'll come to your place tonight."
"Then I will wait for Your Majesty." Empress Zhang said with a smile, then turned and left.
Not long after, Chen Sihai walked in from outside.
He was stunned when he saw Zhu Youxiao. He didn't expect Zhu Youxiao to be dressed like this.
Your Majesty, are you going to leave the palace?
However, Chen Sihai did not dare to be negligent and saluted quickly.
Zhu Youxiao waved his hand and said, "Tell me, what brings you here?"
"Your Majesty," Chen Sihai said directly, "The Tongzheng Department has suppressed many reports over the years. They are all about the garrisons in various places, and most of them are about land. Many of them have not been processed."
"This time the imperial court is investigating farmland throughout the country. I wonder if we should also investigate the farmland in the garrisons?"
After hearing this, Zhu Youxiao's face became serious.
This is no trivial matter. The fields in the garrisons in various places are all fields for military farming. To put it bluntly, they are the legacy of Zhu Yuanzhang's system.
The army can be self-sufficient by farming in local areas without having to pay taxes and grain from the court. It can be said that this is a good policy.
At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the country was in chaos and urgently needed to restore production. The land was barren, the population was dwindling, and the court's income was extremely low.
Under such circumstances, it was simply unrealistic to maintain a large army. Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang formulated the policy of military farming, whereby the troops from various places would fight during wartime and train and farm during their leisure time, aiming to achieve self-sufficiency in food.
However, after the early Ming Dynasty, in the middle period, the military garrisons collapsed, and the hereditary military household system became a chronic problem in the Ming Dynasty. Those military farms became fat meat in the eyes of many people.
Especially those hereditary military officers, they would turn the land into their own, and then let the military households cultivate the land for them. Except for some personal soldiers who insisted on training, the rest of the money was theirs.
Those military households became tenants who earned money for them. They could not even get enough to eat and lived worse than ordinary tenants. They became slaves of this era.
There are so many people who rely on this system for their livelihood. It can be said that the entire military system of the Ming Dynasty depends on it.
The Ming Dynasty's national finances were extremely unhealthy, and it was impossible to train a new army and abolish this system. Therefore, this problem was not solved during the Ming Dynasty.
This time, Chen Sihai also saw the opportunity and felt that he could do it.
Now the main armies of the court are the border troops and the royal army. With such a solid foundation, this problem can be solved thoroughly, at least the fields can be checked clearly.
Those military officers who have embezzled the imperial land must be thoroughly purged.
After all, many military officers were hereditary, having been passed down from generation to generation, and their families had a lot of money, grain, and land. Many of them were public lands belonging to the imperial court, so they had to clean up the mess.
Zhu Youxiao glanced at Chen Sihai.
He wanted to do something about this, but not now.
This matter is really too big. In the original history, the reason why local military commanders had such great power in the late Ming Dynasty was largely because they had food and people.
Although it has not reached that level yet, problems are likely to arise if civil officials and local generals work together.
This part is actually part of Zhu Youxiao's military reform. Only after the problem of unified tax payment by officials and gentry is solved, will Zhu Youxiao take thorough action in this regard.
On the one hand, it solved the problem of military farming and military households, and on the other hand, it solved the problem of the Ming Dynasty's hereditary army.
This is a very complex system. If it is not solved all at once, it will not make much sense to just check the fields.
But now, after hearing what Chen Sihai said, Zhu Youxiao felt that it would not be bad to investigate first. At least a group of termites could be cleared out.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
