Zhu Yunying felt that all of this was quite normal, and calmly said, "In the coming days, I expect more and more cases like this will be reported. The Ministry of Justice should also pay attention to this. Such cases must not be tolerated or shown any leniency."
The emperor's words were utterly blunt, and indeed, there was no need for politeness on these matters. Everyone understood that the policy of merging the poll tax into the land tax was a national policy established by Emperor Ying Shi. If anyone clashed with the emperor on these issues, they shouldn't expect him to show leniency.
Ultimately, this is the national policy, and no one can stop it; this is a point that many people understand.
Zhu Yunying continued, "Actually, I know that many people have been complaining these past two years. They feel that my policy of 'equalizing the land tax and poll tax' conflicts with some of the national policies set by the Retired Emperor. However, times have changed, and some things from the past may not be applicable now."
At this moment, Ru Chang chimed in, "Your Majesty, I have also discussed this with my colleagues. After the land tax is converted into poll tax, it will be more difficult for local gentry to conceal their land holdings, and the court's taxes will inevitably increase."
Anyone with a discerning eye can see that those who rise to high positions in the imperial court are not incompetent fools; they each possess their own strengths and talents. Therefore, even if they are in areas outside their area of expertise, they are certainly much smarter than ordinary people.
Whether the land tax reform was good or bad, many people actually know in their hearts, but some people just pretend not to know.
Zhu Yunying smiled and then said, "Taxes can certainly be increased, but I'm afraid some people will say that the dynasty has just been established and the Yellow Register has already been abolished by me."
Now everyone was at a loss for words, because such voices did indeed exist.
In the fourteenth year of the Hongwu reign, the Ming Dynasty established the Yellow Register system based on the household registration system. The Yellow Register was organized by household and recorded in detail the place of origin, name, age, number of people, land and houses, and assets. It also classified households according to their occupations, mainly into three categories: civilians, soldiers, and artisans.
These measures actually strengthen the control over household registration and serve as an important basis for tax collection.
However, things are different now that the land tax system has been merged into the poll tax system. While it did not directly destroy the Yellow Register system, it did render it ineffective and seriously affected its importance.
However, Zhu Yunying didn't care about these discussions. "I don't care about those discussions. We can't throw the baby out with the bathwater. In recent years, the court's taxes and land ownership have increased. It's just that, although the weather has been generally good over the years, some people have lost their land due to various changes. Everyone knows where that land went."
Everyone naturally understands that those peasants who lost their land basically became appendages of the landlords. However, they still couldn't escape certain corvée labor, and the landlords continued to accumulate wealth through various means.
When peasants lose their land, it's simply because it's taken over by landlords. Such land consolidation has existed since ancient times and can never be completely avoided. This was the case in the Ming Dynasty, and it's likely that similar things will continue to happen in the future.
Zhu Yunying then said earnestly, "The Ming Dynasty has only been established for a little over thirty years, and many people have already lost their land. If this continues, the poor will have no land at all—what a tragic thing that would be!"
What should Ru Chang and the others say at this moment? Naturally, all they could do was shout, "Your Majesty is wise!"
Because land annexation is a phenomenon that can never be completely eradicated, rulers throughout history have only tried to limit its occurrence, but often with little success.
Especially in the middle and later stages of a dynasty, land annexation becomes very serious, which naturally leads to huge conflicts.
While Zhu Yunying didn't exactly take preventative measures, he did try to significantly increase the difficulty of land consolidation, making it much more costly for large landowners to acquire land.
Even if we can't completely eradicate this phenomenon, we should at least reduce the burden on some people.
This is what an emperor should do, and it's something Zhu Yunying felt somewhat proud of. As for whether this would affect some of the policies that Zhu Yunying had formulated, there wasn't much to worry about.
Zhu Yunying's abilities and competence are beyond doubt, but he never believed that some of the policies Zhu Yunying formulated were absolutely correct. Zhu Yunying himself only felt that the policies he formulated were useful at the current stage, but might hinder development in the future.
Therefore, Zhu Yunying never believed in so-called "strategies for all ages."
Since Zhu Yunying did not believe in any long-term plans, he could simply change the policies established by Zhu Yuanzhang.
Of course, Zhu Yunying was also well aware that some of his changes needed to be considered. The Yellow Register system was related not only to taxes but also to corvée labor, and the relaxation of the Yellow Register policy would inevitably lead to changes in some corvée labor.
It's no exaggeration to say that this also affected the household registration policy and the lives of civilians, soldiers, and artisans, which couldn't be ignored. The strict household registration system established by Zhu De was also greatly altered by the land tax reform.
This requires more careful consideration. Previously, this policy was only implemented in the northern and southern Zhili regions, so it was easy to control.
But things will be different next time. This policy will need to be implemented throughout the entire Ming Dynasty, which means that many policies will be affected and the lives of many people will change because of this policy.
Not only Zhu Yunying needs to be alert at this time, but all civil and military officials also need to be prepared to deal with the impact of policy changes.
Zhu Yunying summoned the ministers of the six ministries this time because he needed to discuss with them the real challenges they faced. The court had to prepare in advance to be well-prepared and avoid being caught off guard.
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