"How much is there actually?" Chongzhen asked in a nonchalant tone.
There has always been a very serious problem in the Ming Dynasty.
From the various ministries to local governments, the theoretical data are seriously inconsistent with the actual data.
Fan Jingwen cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, in reality, there are not that many people. According to the number of people who received clan salaries last year and this year, there are less than 200,000 people."
Chongzhen nodded, indicating that he agreed with the data.
Some of the 270,000 people registered were falsely reported, and some royal family members were persecuted to death by bandits.
After deducting these numbers, a number less than 200,000 would be considered normal.
"What does your majesty mean?" Seeing Chongzhen deep in thought and silent, Fang Yuegong took half a step forward and reminded him softly.
As the Minister of Revenue of the Ming Dynasty, he was extremely sensitive to numbers and money.
Chongzhen asked them to come this time in order to solve the problem of the princes only eating and not working.
Regardless of whether others agreed or not, Fang Yue Gong was the first to raise his hand in favor.
The annual expenditure of six million taels of silver is too high!
According to the calculations, the Ningxia campaign during the Wanli period cost 2 million taels of silver, the Eastern Japanese campaign cost 7.8 million taels of silver, and the Bozhou campaign cost 3 million taels of silver.
If this money could be saved, the Ming Dynasty could have fought several major and tough battles.
Chongzhen continued to speak to them casually: "The affairs of the vassal kings have become increasingly serious. Not only have they harmed a large number of people in their fiefdoms, but they have also caused losses to the imperial court's tax revenue."
"As the ruler of a country, I should properly handle the relationship between the vassal kings and the people."
"Your Majesty's holy name!" Fang Yuegong was the first to flatter Chongzhen.
Once this hat is put on Chongzhen's head, it will be difficult to regret it.
As the second assistant of the cabinet, Fan Jingwen did not immediately stand on Fang Yuegong's side, but secretly observed Chongzhen's attitude.
Before he became the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, he tried his best to avoid conflicts of opinion with Chongzhen.
It’s not certain after becoming the Prime Minister.
Support those who should support, and oppose those who should oppose.
To describe it in one sentence: If you are in the position, you should do your job; if you are not in the position, you should not do your job.
Seeing that Chongzhen was not displeased, Fan Jingwen followed suit and said, "Your Majesty, the princes and royal family are descendants of Taizu. If Your Majesty wants to solve their problems, you must consider public opinion."
Chongzhen smiled faintly: "I heard that the vassal kings have suffered for a long time, I don't know whether it is true or false."
Neither Fan Jingwen nor Fang Yuegong dared to respond.
How to answer?
The prince's surname is Zhu. In a broader sense, it is an issue between the imperial court and the prince; in a narrower sense, it is an internal issue within the royal family.
Once you receive the message, you have to help Chongzhen do this.
This is definitely a thankless job.
If it is done well, it will not only anger the princes, but also the local gentry and powerful people.
It was believed that the land of the gentry and landlords was all registered under the name of the princes in order to avoid paying land taxes.
Not to mention if you don't do it well.
They have already caused trouble with the vassal kings, and the emperor will punish them for not doing their job well.
So no one would do such a job that would make them unpopular with everyone.
Chongzhen was speechless about these two old foxes.
Thinking of this, he felt a little regretful. He should have called Qiu Yu along as well.
With Qiu Yu here, at least the party won’t be dull.
Seeing that the two were silent, Chongzhen asked directly: "What good ideas do you have?"
Fan Jingwen and Fang Yuegong bowed at the same time: "Your Majesty, the princes and royal families are the internal affairs of the royal family. It is inconvenient for us to get involved."
Chongzhen snorted coldly, revealing an unhappy expression: "I asked you to come up with ideas, not to do this."
The two of them still didn't speak, and the main focus was silence.
Saying the wrong thing at this time will lead to big trouble, so silence is the best choice.
Chongzhen was really angry. He stood up, put his hands behind his back and said, "As officials of the Ming Dynasty, you should help me solve my problems. If you keep shirking responsibility, won't you be a traitor to the country and the emperor?"
The crime of harming the country and the emperor is quite serious. The last person to be convicted of this crime was Wei Zaode.
He died a miserable death!
Although there were no threatening words in Chongzhen's speech, threats were revealed throughout his words.
After saying this, Chongzhen felt something was wrong.
Now the main figures of the six ministries are all working hard for the country, and they should not be threatened like this.
Thinking of this, Chongzhen continued, "Now the six ministries cannot do without you, and I am reluctant to let you do this kind of work. So my idea is that you come up with the plan and I will find someone to do it."
After hearing Chongzhen's promise, Fan Jingwen and Fang Yuegong both put their hearts back in their stomachs.
Fan Jingwen was the first to speak: "Your Majesty, in fact, there was a countermeasure as early as the Wanli period, but no one did it."
"Oh?" Chongzhen became interested. "What countermeasures? Who came up with it?"
"He was the reviewer of the Hanlin Academy at that time, and later served as the Minister of Rites and Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion, and Deputy Assistant of the Cabinet, Lord Xu Guangqi in our dynasty." Fan Jingwen said respectfully.
Fan Jingwen and Xu Guangqi were figures from the same period, but Xu Guangqi died as early as the sixth year of Chongzhen.
"We'll talk later," Chongzhen looked at Wang Chengen and said, "Give the two ministers a seat."
Although Fan Jingwen and Fang Yuegong were very moved, they remained calm.
After sitting down, Fan Jingwen continued, "Mr. Xu Guangqi solved the problem of the princes' clan salaries and land properties."
"There are three types of land for princes in our dynasty. One type is land granted by the emperor. In theory, granted land is the right to use it, not the right to own it. The princes can only collect rent, but cannot buy or sell it."
"The second type is that the princes buy the land themselves, and the ownership of the land is in the hands of the princes."
"The third type is similar to the land granted by Emperor Shenzong to Prince Fu, Prince Jing, and Prince Lu. The ownership of these lands is not in the hands of Prince Fu and others, but..."
At this point, Fan Jingwen stopped and looked at Fang Yuegong: "Minister Fang, you should talk about the issue of the support land."
Although Fang Yuegong was somewhat reluctant, he still spoke word by word.
"In the early years of the Hongwu reign, the people of Henan reclaimed a large amount of wasteland. Because these fields were not acquired through trade, they could not obtain land deeds from the government, so the court called them 'white land'."
"Floods in the Yellow River sometimes cause the river course to shift, destroying many fields and creating a lot of wasteland, which becomes wasteland after people have reclaimed it."
"Similar situations are happening not only in Henan, but all over the country."
"The ownership of these fields belongs neither to the vassal king nor to the local government. Strictly speaking, it belongs to Your Majesty and the court."
"As more and more white land was acquired, local officials thought they couldn't just let them pay the land tax, so they began to collect land rent from the people who cultivated the white land."
"The lands of Prince Fu, Prince Jing, and Prince Lu were used to support their families by transferring the land rent that should have been paid to the court to them."
After Fang Yuegong finished speaking, he looked at Fan Jingwen.
Fan Jingwen went on to say: "Xu Guangqi meant to change the fiefdom into a divided land."
"The fiefdom was changed to divided land?" Chongzhen seemed to understand, but also seemed not to understand.
"It means buying some land and giving it to the vassal kings as a permanent inheritance!" Fan Jingwen stood up while speaking. "After giving the land to the vassal kings, the court will no longer enfeoff the vassal kings' descendants, because these lands can completely allow them to support themselves."
"Of course, the prince can do whatever he wants with these lands."
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