The resentment of the people in the south is growing
Chapter 99: The resentment of the people in the south is growing
The messenger spies that Jin Yi left in the south a few years ago have been very busy recently.
They all transformed themselves into aunties at the village entrance, chirping quietly about the information coming from the north.
"Hey, have you heard? The King of Zhenbei is giving away good farmland to the people in the north for free!"
"Ah? Is this true?"
Villager A looked disbelieving and scratched his ears.
"Of course it's true. My relatives in the north got their share. They own five acres of good farmland!"
"What! So many?"
"Ahem, gather around. I heard that the King of Zhenbei confiscated all the land of the aristocratic families who migrated to Jianye and distributed it to the surrounding people."
"Ah! King Zhenbei is so generous!"
Villager B was deeply moved.
"Hey, I also heard from my relatives in the north that last year the King of Zhenbei distributed sweet potato seedlings to all the people for free. My relatives said that the yield per mu was over 2,000 kilograms, and no one in my family went hungry last year!"
"Are they really free? Sweet potatoes are only grown on the land of the gentlemen here."
"Last year, my family finally bought grain on credit from Mr. Wang's family. This year, we have to pay 30% more. Sigh, life is getting harder and harder."
Villager A's brows were twisted together in worry.
"Oh, it's really difficult. I don't know when we can eat sweet potatoes again."
"Yes, I've been working as a helper at Master Wu's house recently, and I heard gossip that the King of Zhenbei has cut the merchant tax and some miscellaneous taxes, which will save a lot of money and grain in a year!"
Villager Ding joined the conversation.
"Tell me, if the King of Zhenbei attacks us now, will we also get a share of the land?"
"Shh, what nonsense are you talking about? Is that something you can say?"
"Let's go back to our homes."
A seed of desire is quietly planted in my heart.
-
"Why is the grain tax this year only this much?"
The new emperor held the tax bill in his hand with a frown on his face.
"Your Majesty, all the supplies collected from various prefectures and states are here."
Xu Mingda also handed over several other memorials to prove that he was not wrong in the calculation.
Compared with the previous year, this year's number is only one-third of the original.
I originally thought it would be at least 50%. Originally, the per-mu yield in the south was higher than that in the north. Now it is only this much. I know where the problem lies.
The new emperor looked at the memorial in silence, but the memorial in his hand was wrinkled.
Xu Mingda pretended not to see it.
This is not something he can decide.
The new emperor wanted to build his own army, but without money, how could he do anything?
The imperial study was so quiet that only the breathing of the living could be heard.
"Go call the Prime Minister and Lord Qi."
The new emperor took a long time to speak, so long that Xu Mingda thought he would have to spend the night in the imperial study.
"Yes, Your Majesty, I will go right away."
Eunuch Ji responded and quickly went out to call for people. At this time, the moon was already high in the sky outside, and the probability of the two elders being in the palace was getting smaller and smaller.
Eunuch Ji sent three waves of people in three directions.
Less than half an hour later, Prime Minister Zhou Zhili and Cabinet Minister Qi Ying stepped into the imperial study one after another.
"Greetings, Your Majesty. May Your Majesty be blessed with good health."
After paying their respects, the two men stood in front of the imperial desk, waiting for the new emperor to speak.
"No need to be so polite, please take a seat, elders."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
The two of them sat down next to Xu Mingda.
"I summoned you here at night. Do you know why I am here?"
As soon as I entered the door, I saw Xu Mingda sitting on the side, and I knew it was probably about taxes. After all, everything has to go through the hands of the cabinet.
"Your Majesty, this tax issue cannot be resolved overnight. We need to work on it step by step."
Zhou Zhili spoke first.
"I can't wait that long. Now I only have 20,000 Imperial Guards and 100,000 Southern Guards. When will we be able to reclaim the lost territory in the north?"
The new emperor swept the memorials off the imperial desk, and they fell to the ground with a clatter.
The three of them looked calm, obviously they were used to the new emperor's behavior of throwing memorials when he got angry.
"You guys figure out a solution for me right now!"
"Your Majesty, why not raise the tax by half a percentage point and collect it again?"
Qi Ying, under the gazes of the other two, made a suggestion.
"It seems that you are still the same as before, unwilling to suffer any loss."
The new emperor looked at the three people with a dark and unclear look, and only Zhou Zhili understood the hidden meaning behind his words.
When the new emperor was in his teens, he attended court for the first time. Because of the rare bumper harvest, the ministers discussed whether to increase taxes that year. More than half of the ministers requested the previous emperor to increase taxes.
The new emperor asked on the spot: It is a rare occasion for the people to have a good harvest, why should we forcibly increase taxes? It would be a good thing if the people could keep more food, whether for their own consumption or for sale.
At that time, the former Lord Zhao said: Low grain prices hurt farmers.
The new emperor was about to refute it on the spot, but was stopped by the previous emperor. The tax revenue for that year was increased by 10%.
I didn’t expect that the new emperor had remembered this incident for so many years.
Zhou Zhili didn't say anything, and the other two didn't dare to speak either.
The new emperor stood in front of the three people, flicked his sleeves, and spoke word by word.
"I will confiscate the hidden farmland of the aristocratic families and distribute what I have seized to the common people for cultivation. The aristocratic families occupy the most fertile land, pay the least taxes, and even find ways to hide the land to avoid paying taxes."
"The people cultivate the most land, but receive very little grain. And yet these people want to take even more of it away. It's truly ridiculous."
"Your Majesty, please think twice. This is not the right time to do this. The South is not the North."
"I am the emperor, I have the final say!"
Seeing the new emperor's angry face, Zhou Zhili stopped trying to persuade him.
The three of them drafted the imperial edict together in the imperial study, preparing to announce it publicly at the morning court tomorrow.
The imperial edict caused an uproar among the court officials, but the new emperor had already ordered the three ministers to be fully responsible for the matter, and there was apparently no room for maneuver.
The three dukes took the lead in registering their unregistered fertile land, paying the taxes, and distributing some of the land to the surrounding people.
Then, starting from Jianye, all prefectures and counties in the south began to conduct comprehensive searches and confiscations of hidden fields at the same time.
-
"Master Cui, this is a small gift from me. Please accept it."
Xu Wenliang placed a rare blood coral in front of Cui Yanru.
Cui Yanru played with the coral carefully for a while, put it down, touched his carefully groomed beard, and accepted the gift with a smile.
"Since Lord Xu is so polite, I won't refuse."
"Thank you for your care, sir. I am very grateful."
Xu Wenliang handed the land deed he had prepared in advance to Cui Yanru, and the matter was settled.
-
"Come here, confiscate this farm."
Prefect Yin sat on horseback, checked the information with the fish scale map, and then ordered his men to start working.
The head of the Cen family hurried over and stood in front of Magistrate Yin's horse.
"Master Yin, are you really going to be so unkind?"
"Your Majesty has given an order, and we, the ministers, will naturally obey it."
As he spoke, he clasped his fists and bowed towards the north, looking very righteous.
"Lord Cen, do you have any objection to His Majesty's order?"
Prefect Yin restrained his expression and looked solemnly at the person who had often made things difficult for him in the past, and now he was looking down at him from a superior position.
"I dare not."
The head of the Cen family bowed his head and turned to leave. His face was frosty and his eyes seemed to be filled with thick ink, which did not melt for a long time.
Of the confiscated fertile land, Governor Yin gave a small portion to his own people and distributed the rest to the surrounding people.
It’s not that he doesn’t want to keep it for himself, but it’s easy for Mr. Cen to find out. If he reports it, he will lose his job.
The new emperor's attitude is tough this time, so there is no need to be the first to speak out.
After returning home, the head of the Cen family immediately gave orders to his servants.
"Go keep an eye on a few farms. After Yin Peizheng distributes them to the people, recruit more people to go door to door and buy them back with silver."
"Master, what if they don't sell it?"
The servant hesitated for a moment, then asked.
"Why, do you still need me to teach you how to do things?"
The head of the Cen family held the teacup and glanced at the servants with a cold light in his eyes.
"Yes, I understand. I will definitely take care of it."
When the master glanced at him, the servant knelt down and made a promise.
I'm sorry, it's your fault for taking over the master's land.
The servant muttered something in his heart, called his master, and ran towards the farm.
Similar things are happening in every prefecture and state.
After experiencing great joy and praising the new emperor as a rare wise ruler, the people were forced to sell their newly acquired fertile land to wealthy families at prices far below market value within just two or three days.
Don’t sell it? If you don’t sell it, your family will be destroyed.
There was nowhere to turn to, let alone go to the government office to complain, and he might not even be able to leave the village.
The people complained bitterly.
The new emperor looked at the new taxes collected within three months with a look of satisfaction on his face. If the King of Zhenbei can do it, I can do it too!
The new emperor ordered the conscription of 100,000 soldiers, who he personally commanded.
There were floods in the past two years, and we had just finished conscripting labor, and now we have to recruit soldiers again this year. How could we have so many adult men at home?
This time, the price of buying a spot has risen to twenty taels per person. Twenty taels is something that ordinary people might not be able to come up with even after saving for five years.
Most people sent away the only remaining male members of their families with tears in their eyes.
The new emperor designated a large area on the outskirts of Jianye and trained new soldiers every day. His heart was filled with pride, as if God had destined him to succeed, to unify the Great Xia, and to create his own prosperous dynasty.
-
After Chu Huaibei received the news that the new emperor was personally leading the troops in training, he was only slightly stunned.
Even though things have changed beyond recognition, some things are still developing according to the original plot.
But now it's many years in advance, and she doesn't think the young new emperor can train an army of 100,000.
If it were that easy, so many generals who came to the northern border would not have ended up in failure. However, there was also the factor of the Mongolian army.
As for the equal-field policy implemented by the new emperor in the south, in her opinion, it was probably even worse than before.
After her changes, the tax situation in the north remained favorable despite the tax reductions, and she finally no longer had to worry about military rations.
As for the salaries of officials, Chu Huaibei temporarily paid them according to the original amount. Jianye increased the salaries of officials by half, hoping to take the path of high salaries to maintain integrity. Chu Huaibei could only laugh at this.
This is like a mouse entering the rice jar.
What Chu Huaibei is most concerned about now is when her big ship can be built.
The first thing invented was movable type printing. After the type embryos were made, traditional ink could not be used for even printing. Subsequently, a scientific examination was held, and the selection of ink makers was carried out before this problem was solved.
Nowadays, the price of books in the whole north is twice as cheap as before. Even families who are not very wealthy can buy three hundred thousand books for their children.
As for the gun barrel, with enough blacksmiths and iron ore, we have begun to develop the second generation. The first generation has a fatal problem. If used continuously for a long time, the gun barrel will explode.
Wang Feng was injured by the explosion during the experiment. Fortunately, he was not injured in the vital parts. After two months of recuperation, his injuries were not fully healed, so he went back to research.
For many things, although the process was tortuous, the results were generally good.
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