"Land Division?"
"Yes, why did the people rebel? On the surface, it was because they were hungry, but in fact, there was something wrong with the land."
Land annexation was serious in the late Ming Dynasty, so let’s not talk about the issue of vassal kings for now.
The gentry class who own a large amount of land will use various means to conceal their land holdings and pay less or no taxes.
The total amount of tax is fixed. If they pay less, the farmers will have to pay more.
As a result, farmers went bankrupt one after another.
What is the government doing at this time?
Disaster relief?
No, they are collecting taxes.
The land tax, regular labor service and miscellaneous taxes were already high, and the three taxes temporarily imposed during the Liaodong war directly left the farmers with no way to make a living.
Bankruptcy is not enough; if you don't have money to pay taxes, you will be thrown into jail and tortured.
Soon, the state jail was filled with people who owed taxes.
In order to survive, the common people had no choice but to rise up in rebellion.
Although he exempted the whole country from land tax for one year, it was only a temporary solution to the problem. If he wanted to fundamentally solve the problem, he had to establish a new department.
"What does the Land Bureau do?" Li Banghua asked.
Chongzhen did not answer, but asked again: "In our Ming Dynasty, who can refuse to pay taxes?"
The Minister of Revenue Fang Yuegong said without hesitation: "The imperial farm, the royal family's land, and the land granted by successive emperors of the Ming Dynasty."
Chongzhen nodded. Many people said that it was wrong for the gentry in the Ming Dynasty not to pay taxes. The gentry could only be exempted from paying taxes, but not exempted from paying taxes. The exempted personnel only needed to pay material silver per dingshi, but did not need to pay corvée fees.
The rates of land tax and corvée in Huizhou in the 15th year of Wanli
For example, Zhang San, a landlord, has 30 dan of rice tax for his land and 30 people in his family. According to the imperial court's tax rules, he needs to pay the government:
30 shi×0.4113＋30 ding×0.0717＋30 shi×0.3585＝25.245 taels.
If Zhang San is a third-rank official in the court, he can be exempted from 20 dan of grain and 30 men according to the preferential exemption policy.
Then according to the imperial court's tax rules, he needs to pay the government:
30 shi×0.4113＋20 ding×0.0121＋10 ding×0.0717＋20 shi×0.0605＋10 shi×0.3585\u003d18.093 taels.
In other words, no matter whether Zhang San is an official or not, he cannot be exempted from land tax, only corvée labor service fees can be exempted.
However, in the late Wanli period, corvée expenses could be used to offset land taxes, but the amount of exemption was really limited, so I will not elaborate on it here.
"Since these people are the only ones who don't pay taxes, why is the annual land tax getting less and less?"
Everyone looked at each other, knowing what was going on, but keeping silent.
Is there any need to ask? Everyone tried their best to attach the land to the names of vassal kings and royal family members. As long as they paid them protection fees, they would not have to pay land tax.
The princes and royal family received money without doing anything, and they would accept any such offer. In order to make money, they would even annex land through various means and then rent it out to make money.
In this way, although the landlords and wealthy households also paid money, it was less than the land tax. Both sides benefited, and only the court and the people suffered losses.
When the government levied the tax, the common people would have to pay more land tax for no reason.
Seeing that no one was talking, Chongzhen smiled and said, "The Land Office I established is for this purpose!"
"First, all princes, royal family members, and nobles who obtained land through the emperor's reward do not have to pay taxes, but land obtained through other means must pay taxes."
Seeing that no one was talking, Chongzhen asked helplessly: "Whether this policy is good or not, you all need to express your opinion, right?"
Li Banghua looked around and sighed, "Your Majesty, this matter concerns the royal family, and we cannot participate. However, there are so many princes and nobles in various places that it is difficult to operate."
"These problems are not problems at all! The Land Bureau is specifically responsible for collecting land taxes from princes and royal families!" Chongzhen was confident.
Up to now, there were 28 princes in the Ming Dynasty, 14 of whom were abducted and killed by Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and Jian Nu. It was much less stressful for one person to face 14 princes than 28.
Of course, in addition to the princes, there are also royal family members.
"Now the bandits are rampant. Either you obey me and pay taxes, or I will transfer all the garrisons away. When the bandits kill them all and rob them all, I will fight back! Then everything will be mine, and they will have nothing left!"
When the others heard this, they all felt ashamed.
The emperor's actions were too cruel, even his own people were not spared.
However, this is the most effective method so far, no doubt about it.
Li Banghua nodded, "Your Majesty, do you have any more?"
"Second, anyone who leaves farmland uncultivated will be fined one tael of silver per mu of land per year, which will be used for local disaster relief. If the land is left uncultivated for two consecutive years, the land will be taken back by the Land Bureau."
The crime of leaving farmland barren has existed since ancient times, and most dynasties used criminal penalties, which were not severe. Now the emperor has raised the fine to one tael of silver, which can be said to be quite heavy.
No one could tell whether this statement was good or bad, and no one supported it, nor did they oppose it.
Chongzhen continued, "The last point involves selling and renting land."
"I have abolished the three taxes and will never increase taxes. As long as the people continue to farm, they will have enough to eat and spend. So I will find ways for the people to buy land, rent land, and farm land."
Fang Yuegong looked worried: "Your Majesty, the displaced people can't afford to buy land; as for renting land, the people don't want to rent it. Without land, there is no way to grow crops!"
“Why don’t you want to rent it?”
Fang Yuegong paused, "Let me give you an example. Take five mu of land as an example. The annual yield is about 20 dan (most areas in the south had already promoted two-season rice, so there is a saying that if Huguang is well-fed, the whole world will be well-fed). The landlord will charge 60% to 70% or even higher rent. The higher the yield, the higher the rent the landlord will charge."
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