Li Banghua looked at the three righteous men and smiled without saying a word.
These three people and the families behind them are all somewhat famous.
Gu Yanwu's great-grandfather was Gu Zhangzhi, the Nanjing Military Minister during the Jiajing period, and the ancestor of the Gu family was Gu Yong, a famous prime minister of the Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period.
Gui Zhuang's great-grandfather was Gui Youguang, a great prose writer in the Ming Dynasty.
Gui Youguang might not have imagined that his "Xiangjixuanzhi" would make countless students of later generations scratch their heads.
The most famous one is Huang Zongxi. He became famous not for his fame or knowledge, but for a case in the first year of Chongzhen.
Huang Zongxi's father, Huang Zunsu, was a member of the Donglin Party. During the Tianqi period, he was stripped of his title and imprisoned for impeaching Wei Zhongxian, and was tortured to death.
After Wei Zhongxian's death, the imperial court began to redress the unjust cases of the Tianqi period.
Huang Zongxi wrote a letter requesting the execution of Xu Xianchun and Cui Yingyuan, the murderers of his father.
In May of the first year of Chongzhen, the Ministry of Justice held a joint trial of Xu and Cui.
When Huang Zongxi testified in court, he took out a needle hidden in his sleeve and stabbed Xu Xianchun. He also beat Cui Yingyuan in public, and then pulled out their beards to commemorate his father's soul. He was known as "Yaojiang Huang the Filial Son."
After Chongzhen learned about this, he sighed and called him "a loyal minister and an orphan."
Huang Zongxi became famous from this battle.
Li Banghua gestured for the three to sit down, then asked, "What are you three planning to do by rushing into the posthouse?"
Huang Zongxi waved the stick in his hand and said: "Of course I will beat you up."
"Why did you hit me?" Li Banghua continued to smile.
"You became the Prime Minister of the Cabinet by studying, but you don't leave any way for scholars in the world to survive. Who else should we attack if not you?" Gu Yanwu said angrily.
"Haha, why don't I give scholars a way to live?" Li Banghua continued to ask with a smile.
Gui Zhuang bent over the desk with his left hand and pounded the table with his right hand. "You used the name of collecting taxes to instruct corrupt officials to exploit the gentry. The gentry either paid silver or sold their land and houses. Some were even arrested by the government and are nowhere to be found."
"In Kunshan County, Suzhou Prefecture, where I live, several gentry have been persecuted, and one family has been destroyed. The rest of the gentry jointly wrote a letter to the court, but the court did not reply. I wrote to you, but you ignored it."
"Do you think you should be beaten?"
"Are you and the students outside here for this matter?" Li Banghua said with a calm expression.
"Yes!" the three answered at the same time.
"Okay," Li Banghua stood up.
He walked two steps with his hands behind his back and then turned his gaze to the three people: "Do you know how the Ming Dynasty collected taxes?"
The three of them were slightly stunned, and Huang Zongxi was the first to speak: "After the Single Whip Law, the tax will be collected based on the acreage."
Li Banghua smiled coldly: "That's the theory, in reality it's still a tax-farming system."
"Take Kunshan County in Suzhou Prefecture where you live as an example," Li Banghua pointed at Guizhuang and said, "Every thousand mu of paddy fields must pay 78 shi of grain as land tax."
"If Kunshan County only has 1,000 mu of farmland, then the land tax the court will give to the Kunshan County Magistrate will be neither too much nor too little, only 78 shi of grain."
"But there are always unexpected things. Some fields will disappear due to river diversion, some people have no money to pay and can only default on paying taxes, and some people don't want to pay taxes at all. In order to complete the task of 78 stone of grain, officials can only distribute the shortfall to other people."
"Under this policy, many wealthy and powerful gentry found ways to delay or not pay taxes. The more such gentry there were, the heavier the tax burden on the local people became."
"Over time, the people suffered terribly, while the gentry felt that they had the privilege of not having to pay taxes."
"This time when I went south, I focused on punishing people of this kind, the people you are referring to as being persecuted."
After listening to it, the three of them lowered their heads and thought...
"No," Gui Zhuang suddenly said, "I saw them paying taxes to the government with my own eyes, and they were the first to pay. How could it be false?"
Li Banghua laughed: "Silly boy, before collecting taxes, the county officials will win over the gentry and ask them to pay taxes first, and only after they pay will the people follow suit. After paying the taxes, the gentry's money will be returned in full, and the people's money will be handed over to the court."
"What's worse is that the people are forced to pay more taxes, and officials and gentry collude to embezzle money."
The three of them widened their eyes, unable to believe their ears.
Li Banghua put his hands behind his back and asked, "Have all the gentry you mentioned paid the land tax in full and on time?"
"If they pay, the problem lies with the local officials, and I will rectify the administration. If they don't pay, it's all their own fault, and I will stand aside and watch."
The three scholars sat on the stools in silence.
Li Banghua's words directly refreshed their cognition.
They knew that society was dark, but they didn't expect it to be so dark.
What's more, I didn't expect that the gentry and government officials would actually work together to play such a trick.
"Any other questions? If not, please leave quickly. I'm tired." Li Banghua began to chase people out.
The three of them looked at each other, and Huang Zongxi was the first to speak: "Are you not going to punish us, Lord?"
"You are innocent, why are you being punished?"
"But we first cursed the Lord outside, and then broke into the post house with the intention of harming him. This is a crime."
"From this point of view, you are indeed guilty!" Li Banghua stared at the three of them, "Who among you three is the mastermind?"
"Me!" Huang Zongxi spoke first.
"It is me!" Gu Yanwu said a little slower.
"It's me!" Although Gui Zhuang was the slowest, his voice was the loudest.
Li Banghua's eyes swept across the faces of the three people, and finally fell on Huang Zongxi: "According to my intuition, you are the most suspicious."
Huang Zongxi looked ashamed: "You are awesome, the mastermind is indeed me."
The other two wanted to argue, but Huang Zongxi stopped them: "You know what kind of person I am. You don't have to take the blame for me."
"Okay," Li Banghua nodded with satisfaction when he saw that Huang Zongxi had confessed his guilt. "In that case, I will punish you to clear my name."
"Ah? That's it?" Huang Zongxi was very surprised.
"Yes, that's it. As long as you do this well, I will be satisfied."
Huang Zongxi quickly came up with an idea. Just as he was about to speak, he remembered something else: "Sir, I have something else to tell you."
"explain."
"Tomorrow is the day of the Autumn Examination. The candidates have already privately decided to boycott the exam. I hope you will be aware of this."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
