Wanli Youming

Chapter 106 Suffering 1 Suffering Officials and Gentlemen

Chapter 106

Ma Ziqiang nodded after hearing this, and asked again: "So, Runlian also does not support the levy of business taxes?"

Wang Yongji raised his bow and said solemnly: "Please forgive me for making mistakes!"

Then, Wang Yongji replied: "Because the old man in the cabinet asked me, I boldly said that I don't know whether it is appropriate to levy business taxes in other places, but if it is in Fujian, there may be chaos!"

"What's the meaning of this statement?"

Ma Ziqiang asked hurriedly.

Wang Yongji said: "Because the increase in business tax can only be levied on ordinary businessmen, and the income of Fujianese people who go to sea can only make ends meet, and the rich can only afford one person to study."

"The imperial court now sets up Yuegang to collect taxes, which is already unbearable for ordinary people, and there are many smugglers;"

"It's just because the lessons from the Japanese invasion are not far away, especially because many old people know that it is necessary for the court to have money to maintain the navy's combat power and ensure the tranquility of the sea, so many villagers are willing to give in to the court and take the initiative to go to sea from Yuegang , so that the local treasury can get tens of thousands of taels of silver every year to maintain the navy's military supplies; "

"Otherwise, it would be difficult for the imperial court to collect the taxes in Yuegang now;"

"After all, Fujianese earn too little from going to sea!"

"The real Haili is still obtained by the rich;"

"Ge Lao didn't know that they monopolized the price of goods and colluded with the Fanyi. They imposed heavy taxes on the Han people who went to trade in the areas where the Fanyi ruled, or lowered the wages of the Han people who went to work in the Fandi land. As a result, the total income of the ordinary people throughout the year was far It is not as good as the year-long benefits of the big households and Fanyi."

"Therefore, many Fujian people still take pride in being a large tenant farmer."

"There are hundreds of acres of fertile land in the lower clan, and there is not a single tenant who fled to do business. It's all because they know that going to sea to do business or work is better than being a tenant for my royal family."

After hearing this, Ma Ziqiang said with a calm expression: "From this point of view, it is absolutely unfeasible to levy business taxes."

Then, Ma Ziqiang suddenly brought up another topic, saying: "I have come all the way, and found that both Nanzhi and Fujian and Zhejiang are popular in reading. Mr. Gangfeng also mentioned that although the people of Nanzhi have worked hard, Because most of the hard-earned income is seized by officials and gentry and used for their children to study, but there are very few people who keep it for their own use, which shows that the love of learning is very strong."

"What the old man said is correct."

Wang Yongji replied, and said: "Learning literary and martial arts is a gift for the emperor's family, but generally speaking, learning literary is easier to succeed."

"And only those who are emperors can avoid being exploited and have dignity. Whether they are in business or farming, they can be guaranteed."

"If you don't let your hard work go to waste, you will be bullied by the powerful and right, and you will not be valued by the government."

"Thus everyone in the world who has money and power wants fame and power; this means that everything is inferior, and only reading is high!"

Ma Ziqiang nodded: "So no matter how hard it is, the common people must let their children study."

"It is so, especially since His Majesty issued an edict to increase the number of career quotas for common people, so that the chances of common people's children getting fame and fame have increased. Therefore, more common people are more willing to send their children to study, and even whether they are in business or farming. They are all more industrious, some would go to the streets before dawn to sell goods, and some would not have a rest all year round and had to do more side jobs, so folk reading became more popular, and agriculture and commerce became more developed.”

Wang Yongji said.

Hai Rui followed suit and said, "The emperor's edict of grace is indeed a good policy to encourage the common people to be diligent, and it has the effect of winning the hearts of the world."

"The Son of Heaven knows what the people are anxious about. He is truly a sage and benevolent Lord!"

Ma Ziqiang couldn't help but also looked north and bowed, and then he suggested that he had revealed his real purpose in gossip, saying:

"This time the servant and Shen Changzhou inspected the area, Yuan Fu gave me three things I wanted to do, and asked me to talk about it after we checked the area. In addition to increasing the business tax, it is to share the land into the mu and the officials and the gentry pay the food together. .”

Speaking of this, Ma Ziqiang said without a doubt: "It is absolutely impossible to spread the land into the mu!"

Then, Ma Ziqiang said: "The servant originally wanted to increase the business tax, but now it seems that there is only the possibility of discussing the issue of government and gentry paying food and errands together."

After Ma Ziqiang said that, Wang Yongji looked at Hai Rui in surprise.

Hai Rui was not surprised by this, because Zhao Zhenji had mentioned in front of the emperor in front of the emperor in the past that officials and gentry should pay food and errands together, and he was there at that time.

"Is it really time for the imperial court to abolish the preferential exemption for officials and gentry?"

Wang Yongji smiled helplessly at this moment and said something.

Ma Ziqiang sighed and said: "You have to understand Yuanfu's thoughts, he wants to solve the hidden dangers in the future for His Majesty, so that His Majesty can truly be a prosperous and virtuous king!"

"The so-called To Jun Yao and Shun is to let His Majesty not continue to reform the system because he wants to continue the national destiny, and then be scolded by rentiers in the world, but to remove all the thorns in front of the emperor, so that the emperor can really become an only Shi Enbude's Holy Son of Heaven can really be named as the reappearance of Yao and Shun."

"In any case, I would rather bear the infamy of the world, and become a sage king!"

"This is Yuansuke's ambition in this life!"

"Mr. Zhao Wensu (Zhao Zhenji) said that there will be more and more officials and gentry associations, which will lead to more preferential exemptions. In the future, there will be no people to serve and no tax fields to collect. Canceling preferential exemptions is the only way to solve this problem. .”

After hearing this, Hai Rui immediately spoke up.

"It's just that the scholars in the world are willing to accept it?"

Wang Yongji asked.

Hai Rui said: "In order to obtain fame, what matters more is not to be bullied by officials, not easy to be exploited at will, to be decent, to be respected, not to be regarded as the same as cattle and horses!"

"Not to mention abolishing preferential treatment and exemption, it means that people need to pay money every year to protect their fame, and then to be respected by the government and noble gentry, and to be able to be a leader, I am afraid that people in the world are willing, especially scholars!"

Wang Yongji nodded, then took a deep breath, and said: "A gentleman should value righteousness and despise profit. This will indeed prevent the increase of officials and gentry in the future and the reduction of national funds and annual income, so that the society can enjoy long-term stability."

"At least, the Wang family is willing to accept this policy, but they still ask the court to allow officials and gentry to accept silver as a substitute for service. After all, as a scholar-bureaucrat, it is really detrimental to let him serve and be driven by subordinate officials."

"It's natural."

Ma Ziqiang nodded, and then said: "This policy is really just to prevent too many officials and gentry from affecting the country's revenue, not to prevent Tian Shelang from having a chance to enter the Hall of Heaven, so it is not harmful to the overall situation; Damage the foundation of power and arrogance!"

"After all, it's not like raising business taxes, which requires them to spit out huge profits, but he just asks them to pay errands. They can completely pass on the payment of errands to tenant farmers, and this can curb investment."

"Nowadays, there is no shortage of farmers in the world, and the tenants will not run away because of this. Even the north must be able to bear it. It's just that those who regard officials as officials are willing to lose the benefits of the officials and gentry, so as to guarantee the court's taxes. .”

"There is no problem with bureaucrats. After all, most of the officials of parents in any place are foreign officials and have nothing to do with the local gentry. Therefore, bureaucrats may be willing to do this for political achievements. Anyway, it will not harm their own interests."

"If the imperial court can at the same time, as it did when promoting Qingzhang Tianmu, give heavy rewards to officials who promote the integration of officials and gentry, so that they can buy officials and make up for the losses of their own clans, they will be more active in their personal careers. "

"But the number of officials is still not equal to the number of officials and gentry. What's more, there are many officials and gentry in the world but they are not unified. The imperial court can take advantage of the fact that there are many officials, gentry and rightists but not many officials. The power of the people, to win aggressive officials to fight against the world's officials and gentry!"

"Let the gentry tyrants who are willing to obey the imperial government's orders have the opportunity to become bigger gentry tyrants, then they must be willing to suppress the disobedient officials and gentry for the imperial court, and then force all the officials and gentry in the world to obey the government of the imperial court. "

Hai Rui said.

Wang Yongji also nodded and said: "There are too many officials and gentry in the world. As long as they don't harm the common foundation, most of them are against each other. If the court wins over some obedient ones and strikes down most disobedient ones, it can indeed be done." Dial a thousand catties with four or two."

"But whether it is feasible or not has to be considered again."

At this moment, Hai Rui suddenly added another sentence.

Both Ma Ziqiang and Wang Yongji looked at him: "What do you mean by that?"

Hai Rui smiled and said, "I have been the governor of Yingtian, and I have also been the magistrate of his province, so I know better."

"Except for Nanzhi, the landlords in other places have more common people than officials and gentry, and the officials and gentry are scattered, so the court can reduce the favor to the officials and gentry, as long as they continue to live above the common people;"

"But Nanzhi is different. Among the landowners in Nanzhi, there are more officials and gentry than ordinary people, and the officials and gentry are more concentrated. Letting the officials and gentry pay food and errands together is undoubtedly equivalent to abolishing the fame of the landowners in Nanzhi, making them There is no difference in status!"

"Shang Shu Shi Lang and Ju Sheng's staff have to serve as silver servants, how can Shang Shu Shi Lang be willing to do this?"

"Furthermore, the officials and gentry in the south are concentrated again. Many of the same surnames are of the same clan, and many of them are relatives of different surnames. There are also many officials in the two capitals. Therefore, once the officials and gentry pay food and work on errands, Jiangnan will be in chaos again!"

"Chaos in Jiangnan is better than chaos in the world!"

"If only the south of the Yangtze River is messed up, the imperial court can still suppress it."

"What's more, the imperial court only ordered the officials and gentry to pay the grain as a whole, instead of raising commercial taxes, so it didn't hurt the interests of the common people in the south of the Yangtze River, and the officials and gentry directly in the south would not be able to mobilize the common people. What's the difference between being an errand? But at least the latter doesn't have to bear the disaster of the nine clans!"

Ma Ziqiang replied, and said: "After listening to what you two said, I feel that if I really have to choose one of the three strategies, this one is feasible. I wonder what you think?"

Hai Rui nodded: "Elder Ge is right."

Wang Yongji nodded, sighed and said, "Now it seems that's the only way! I hope there will be more loyal ministers in the world, and they will understand the difficulties of the court!"

Ma Ziqiang said: "If you want to serve the king, Yao and Shun, you can only suffer the officials and gentry all over the world. Therefore, I have decided that I only agree with this policy and wait for Yuanfu to consider it!"

(End of this chapter)