Zhu Yunying knew something about the thoughts of the military officers. In fact, their thoughts were not difficult to guess and understand.
Ultimately, it all boils down to some of Zhu Yunying's reforms, which infringed upon the interests of certain individuals. The interests of military officers were clearly affected by the land tax reform, and significantly so, as these men owned considerable amounts of land.
Even Chang Mao and Xu Huizu, whose relationship with Zhu Yunying was extremely close, were naturally his allies. They probably didn't have much objection to Zhu Yunying's reforms because they were the emperor's uncles and the crown prince's uncles. The gains and losses in front of them were insignificant.
However, for other military officers, even those who seem to have considerable connections with the royal family, and many of them even have various marriage alliances with the royal family, are merely ordinary members of the imperial clan, and are fundamentally different from the emperor.
“We’re all family, so let’s not hide it from each other,” Zhu Yunying said with a smile. “Military meritorious officials are often granted land, and what I mean is that these are tax-free. This is also a reward from the court to meritorious officials.”
Xu Huizu immediately stood up and said to Zhu Yunying, "Your Majesty, in this way, the military merits will not rebel. However, if this continues, I fear that many military merits will have to accept bribes."
Xu Huizu's concerns are perfectly normal; many people are naturally adept at things like speculation and opportunism.
Let alone military merit, even some scholars in the past were like this. If you passed the county-level imperial examination, the land owned by your family would be transferred to your name. Once you became a provincial-level scholar, your fellow villagers would be eager to donate their land to you.
All of this is naturally profitable, and it's all about tax avoidance; there are plenty of clever people out there. Exploiting policy loopholes is something some savvy individuals are quite adept at.
Zhu Yunying smiled and said to Xu Huizu, "We are not biased people. The court treats scholars well and exempts many scholars with merit from taxes. The court treats scholars well and naturally cannot forget those who have made great contributions to the country."
Zhu Yunying naturally had to treat everyone equally, and a balance between civil and military affairs was also expected of him.
Even though the civil officials are now gaining power and are no longer constantly suppressed by the military officials as they were at the beginning of the dynasty, the military officials are still the more powerful ones, which is in line with the rules of a newly established dynasty.
“We know that some contributions are inevitable, so we should learn from the rules of exempting those with official titles from taxes,” Zhu Yunying said with a smile. “We can just exempt a little tax, according to the number of acres of land exempted according to their rank, and that should be about right.”
Perfection is impossible, but Zhu Yunying also needs some limitations to prevent him from becoming unrestrained and arrogant.
Zhu Yunying continued, "It's not just scholars and military officers who are exempt from taxes; the number of tax-exempt fields for members of the imperial clan should also be limited. Our implementation of the land tax reform is naturally to prevent land consolidation. We can't let the people end up with no land to cultivate, with all the land in the hands of civil officials, military officers, and members of the imperial clan."
Upon hearing Zhu Yunying's words, Xu Huizu immediately sang praises, "Your Majesty is wise!"
Whether it was wise or not, let's leave that aside for now. This is just my own opinion, or perhaps just the personal evaluation of many people.
Now that Xu Huizu is praising Zhu Yunying's wisdom, there will naturally be some people who will criticize Zhu Yunying as incompetent, cruel, and so on.
It's alright, Zhu Yunying doesn't really care much about reputation. As long as it's not the kind of thing that's called seeking fame and fortune, as long as no one goes up to Zhu Yunying and berates him, Zhu Yunying really doesn't care about private opinions.
At this moment, Chang Mao said, "Your Majesty, how do we account for our estate in Liaodong?"
Zhu Yunying smiled and said, "Tax exemption is not an option. Liaodong is bitterly cold, and it's impossible to cultivate the land there right now. The court is not only going to exempt you from taxes, but also to provide you with some subsidies. The court will naturally cover all the agricultural tools and oxen needed."
Chang Mao was taken aback, then beamed and said, "Your Majesty, the court has already bestowed land, and now they want to give us farming tools too?"
Zhu Yunying nodded with a smile, "The development of Liaodong is a long-term plan, and the court should naturally encourage it. If we don't give more benefits to military officers, who will farm the land? When you go to Southeast Asia to capture slaves, you also have to feed them, which is a considerable burden."
This is just something some people say in private; everyone actually knows what's really going on.
The imperial court certainly forbids the keeping of slaves, especially the treatment of Ming subjects as slaves. However, for some individuals, there's no need to concern themselves with such matters, and a slightly more 'cruel' approach is permissible.
Chang Mao knew all this; he was one of the main forces in the expedition to Southeast Asia. Xu Huizu also knew this; he neither approved nor opposed it, and in order to cooperate with the emperor's plan, he also arranged for his family members to participate in the matter.
It's obvious that everyone is aware of these things and is trying to embellish their own image.
The large-scale development of Liaodong is clearly not something that can be accomplished overnight; it requires continuous investment of resources.
At this point, if military merit wasn't given more incentives and benefits, they obviously wouldn't be enthusiastic. Zhu Yunying's actions were naturally intended to continuously fuel this enthusiasm, drawing more people and resources towards Liaodong.
The efforts of the people are temporarily insufficient. In the Central Plains, Hubei and Hunan regions, there is still a lot of land that has not been further developed or utilized, and there are still some areas with a large land area but a small population.
At this point, we can only rely on Wu Xun. Wu Xun has a lot of resources, and we can't let them just eat, drink, and have fun. We should also send some resources to Liaodong.
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