Red Mansion Royal Cat

Chapter 520 The time has come
The emperor's sudden outburst, in which he bluntly pointed out the greatest unspoken rule of the dynasty, shocked all the officials in the palace.

The reason why unspoken rules are unspoken rules is not that they are permitted by law. On the contrary, they are actually on the edge of what is permitted by law.

Fundamentally speaking, it is illegal and violates the laws of the country.

For example, when it comes to tax evasion, the actions of the gentry are nothing short of vicious!
When Taizu first established the country, although scholars were exempted from land taxes and corvee labor, the court only exempted them from miscellaneous labor rather than all taxes.

The imperial court also issued regulations on exemptions, and specifically determined the exemption amounts for scholars at various levels: the first-rank Beijing officials were exempted from 30 shi of grain and 30 men, and the amount decreased gradually to the ninth-rank officials, who were exempted from 6 shi of grain and 6 men; officials outside the capital were exempted from half the amount; candidates, supervisors, and students were exempted from 2 shi of grain and 2 men; retired officials were exempted from seven-tenths of their rank.

In the fourth year of Taiping Xingguo, Emperor Taizong also changed and determined the preferential treatment for the gentry class. According to the records of the new preferential treatment, the scale was as follows: the current first-rank Beijing official was exempted from 10,000 acres of land, and the exemption rate for the following ranks decreased gradually. The eighth-rank official was exempted from 2,700 acres of land; the exemption rate for officials outside the capital was half; the exemption rate for retired officials was six-tenths; non-official Jinshi could be exempted from up to 3,350 acres of land, and non-official Juren could be exempted from 1,200 acres of land; students and supervisors were exempted from 80 acres of land.

The preferential treatment that emperors of all dynasties showed to scholars was, on the one hand, to win them over, and on the other hand, to encourage and support learning.

By the time of Emperor Taizong, the court's preferential treatment of scholars had reached its peak.

A juren can be exempted from paying for 1,200 acres of land. Such a great preferential treatment should be enough to make him a wealthy gentry in a place. His family will no longer have to worry about anything, and he can prepare for the exam with peace of mind or directly serve the court.

However, the court's preferential treatment not only failed to make these people feel at ease serving the court, but instead became an excuse for them to find loopholes.

The gentry took advantage of the situation and, as time went by, policies changed and their scope of application expanded. Coupled with the corruption of officials and the weak enforcement of the system, the gentry secretly used their power to enrich themselves and successfully turned exemptions from menial duties into "legal" tax evasion and labor evasion.

Until the Zhaowu period, the scope of preferential treatment and exemptions enjoyed by gentry became increasingly greater. The regulations from above were regulations, and the implementation from below was implementation.

Specifically, a large number of gentry and officials colluded to transfer corvee labor and taxes to the common people.

For example, one of the outrageous practices of the gentry was to collude with officials and secretly transfer their land to ordinary people.

In this way, when the government collected taxes, they would naturally go to the people's homes to collect them, causing many people to pay a large amount of taxes even though they did not have much land, and ordinary people were unable to resist the officials.

Some gentry could even take advantage of loopholes and not have to pay a penny, they did not have to work or pay taxes, and even their families, including slaves, did not have to pay taxes, perform labor service, or pay land taxes.

Since officials and gentry did not have to pay taxes, taxes were naturally paid mainly by ordinary people (all those who had no official titles).

The burden of taxes fell entirely on them, and the people not only had to pay the regular taxes set by the court, but also had to pay various levies and miscellaneous taxes levied by local officials. These levies and miscellaneous taxes were much more severe than the regular taxes!
The emperor knew all this very well. The fact that he had been keeping silent did not mean that he did not hate these things, but that he had been waiting for an opportunity.

"The imperial court is surveying the land, but you are obstructing it in every possible way. You are always using the family law of our ancestors. Is it that the family law of our ancestors requires you to pass the land tax that you should pay on to the people?"

hiss!
Countless people in the court took a deep breath. It’s over. How can the lid be lifted?

The ministers in the hall had different expressions. Some looked pale, some were gloating, and some were worried.

The ministers of the six ministries looked at each other in bewilderment.

The bigwigs in the cabinet all sat firmly on their thrones, resting their eyes.

The Prime Minister glanced coldly at those people who were frightened by the emperor, his eyes full of mockery.

Are you stupid? The current emperor is not the emperor emeritus. He doesn't care about your rumors of being mean and ungrateful.

The land survey has been going on for three years. What could be hidden from the emperor?

The emperor has not mentioned this matter all this time. It's not that he has no intention of dealing with it, but that he is waiting for you idiots to come to him.

"I can't become an official or a scholar, but I can be a servant in his house. I farm the land, but you collect taxes from me and make me do labor, right? Then can't I stop farming the court's land? Aren't there no taxes on the land of the scholar? Then can't I just give my family's land to the scholar? I don't even have to pay the silver for the capitation."

Ok?
The emperor suddenly said something, which made the ministers scream again.

It’s over, it’s over, things have gotten out of hand!
This time even the bigwigs of the Cabinet and the six ministries couldn't sit still. The lid that was opened this time was even more troublesome than the previous one!
"Do you know who said this? This was said to Xu Qingteng by a tenant farmer of a certain wealthy family when he was surveying the land in Nanzhili."

The emperor slammed the dragon throne and stood up angrily.

"Submit! You guys are really calculating, you even dare to dig up the foundation of the Great Xia Empire!"

What is "投献"? It means entrusting land to the name of the gentry to reduce taxes and labor service. This is called "投献"!

The emperor just waved to Xia Shouzhong, and the eunuch went to the side hall himself. A moment later, he came in with several big generals.

These big generals were not here to kill anyone, and they did not have any sharp blades in their hands. Instead, they were carrying a huge box.

bang~
The box was opened, revealing a box full of files and documents.

The emperor stepped down from the throne, rummaged through the box, finally took out a booklet and threw it at Huang Yi, who was sweating profusely.

The booklet was not thick, but it made Huang Yi stagger and almost lose his balance.

"Huang Yi, don't you like to talk about the ancestral family rules the most? The ancestral family rules allow you to take advantage of the opportunity of surrendering and forcibly seize the land of your neighbors, forcing their families to be destroyed? Pick it up and read it to me!"

Huang Yi was almost frightened to death by the emperor's roar. Many people knew some things, but no one would say them out loud.

He may not have done it himself, but he acquiesced.

The reason why he was so opposed to Daiyu's proposal to bring imperial power to the countryside was because his cousin was the head of the village in his hometown.

Amid the emperor's angry roar, Huang Yi picked up the booklet tremblingly, took a look at the catalogue, and fell to his knees on the ground with a plop.

"Land Survey in Huangyan County, Taizhou Prefecture, Zhejiang Province", Huang Yi's hometown is in Huangyan County under the jurisdiction of Taizhou Prefecture!

Two years ago, Xu Jin and Xu Qingteng were ordered by the emperor to survey the farmland in the three provinces of Jiangnan. On the surface, they were just surveying the land, but in reality, they were going to be the emperor's eyes and ears. He ordered people to secretly investigate almost every county.

Things like the ones in Huang Yi's family, even if not every detail, at least the general situation, the emperor already knew it clearly.

He has been holding back, just waiting for today!

Seeing Huang Yi kneeling on the ground and trembling, the emperor shouted at the entrance of the hall: "Jia Cong, come in! Since our Master Huang doesn't dare to read it, then you read it! Let all the officials in the court listen to what Master Huang, who always talks about the ancestral family rules and the holy way of benevolence, has done!"

……

This is good! This is good!
The angrier the emperor was, the happier Jia Cong was.

He pretended to be solemn, but actually ran to the hall joyfully, bowed, then snatched the booklet from Huang Yi's hand, opened it and prepared to read it.

But he only took one look and his eyes widened.

Hiss! Goodness, no wonder the emperor is so angry.

Zhejiang was one of the major provinces for the imperial examinations in the Qing Dynasty, and Huangyan County also produced several Jinshi masters.

It was common for Jinshi and Juren to make submissions, but it was extremely rare to find family as ruthless as the Huang family.

"In the autumn of the 39th year of Zhaowu, Huang Yi passed the imperial examination. His neighbors donated 320 mu of land, and 107 people gave up their citizenship and became slaves in the Huang family..."

"In the spring of the 40th year of Zhaowu, Huang Yi passed the imperial examination and his neighbors donated another 600 acres of land. In his letter to the south, he recommended his cousin Huang Shiren as the head of the village and the grain officer."

"Huang Shiren forced the landowners to surrender one hundred mu of land by the Yongning River. If they refused, he would send his thugs and slaves to destroy their houses and take their wives and daughters..."

"The common people donated their land to the Huang family. Within a year, seven or eight out of ten original landowners died of illness, their land was taken away, and their wives and children became slaves..."

"By the autumn of the eighth year of Yuanyou, the Huang family had occupied a thousand acres of farmland, a thousand acres of forest, and a thousand acres of river land..."

As Jia Cong read out the items one by one, those officials who used to have a good relationship with Huang Yi retreated without covering their faces.

Although our surrender violates the rules of the country, you are so cruel, it's too shameless!
The people pay rent to you and support you, Huang Yi, just to evade imperial taxes by registering the land under your name.

Your Huang family is really cruel. Not satisfied with being the nominal landlords, you want to kill the landlords and completely occupy their land, and even make their wives and children work like slaves for you!

Hiss! This Huang Yi is simply a disgrace to Shilin!
Bang!
Jia Cong couldn't bear it any longer, so he raised his foot and kicked Huang Yi hard. After knocking him down, he sat on him and used his fists and feet.

"Damn it, I can't stand it anymore. You always say that my Jia family is extravagant, that my father is licentious, and that my family oppresses the good. It seems that you are the beast who really sucks the blood of the common people."

Jia Cong punched Huang Yi in the face and almost killed him.

When the Han general pulled him away, Jia Cong spat directly on Huang Yi's face: "You talk a lot about morality, but when you cut open your heart, liver and lungs, it's all black. I have never seen such a shameless person!"

Not to mention that Jia Cong couldn't help but hit someone. In fact, most of the civil and military officials in the palace were disgusted by the Huang family's actions.

The trend of surrendering and making contributions has been prevalent in the country for a hundred years. Although it is true that people are digging into the imperial court, everyone basically still abides by the rules.

The common people made contributions, and the gentry helped them avoid taxes, so that the common people could have more food to support their families.

Aren't you, the Huang family, breaking the rules by doing this? If the rules are broken, who will be willing to invest in the future?
Of course, given today’s situation, my donations may have to stop here!

"Ministry of Justice..."

The Minister of Justice Cai Quan immediately bowed and stepped out: "I am here!"

The emperor looked coldly at Huang Yi, who was lying on the ground. "According to the law, what crime should Huang Yi's family be punished for?"

Cai Quan did not pause for a moment and reported: "Your Majesty, according to the law, Huang Yi and Huang Shiren will be beheaded, and the accomplices will be strangled. The Huang family, aged 15 and above and 70 and below, will be beaten with a hundred sticks, exiled 3,000 miles, and their property will be confiscated!"

Thump~
Huang Yi immediately knelt on the ground again, enduring the severe pain all over his body, and kowtowed to beg for mercy.

"Your Majesty, spare my life..."

bang~
Before he could finish howling, Jia Cong raised his foot and kicked him again, sending him flying.

"Did your family spare the people who died at the hands of your beastly brother when they begged for mercy?"

The emperor not only did not blame Jia Cong, but he snorted coldly and ordered: "Drag him out and behead him!"

When the Han general entered the hall to drag people away, Cai Quan opened his mouth but ultimately said nothing.

He no longer cared when to kill people like Huang Yi.

Because the emperor took out another booklet from the box and looked coldly at the pale-faced people.

"Jia Cong, continue reading to our masters!"

Wow~
There was an uproar in the hall at first, and then it fell silent after the emperor snorted coldly.

However, as Jia Cong spoke, the sound of teeth chattering and the thumping of people kneeling on the ground could be heard from time to time in the hall.

Xia Lingxing looked at the dozen officials who knelt down one after another in the hall, and whispered to the Prime Minister on the left: "Prime Minister Zhou, what should we do? It seems that His Majesty is going to settle the accounts today."

Zhou Jiong remained resting with his eyes closed, not even opening them, allowing the drama in the hall to unfold one after another.

When Xu Qingteng came back from Jiangnan, he brought more than just this box.

When the land was surveyed, Xu Jin was targeted by royal family, nobles, and gentry from all over Jiangnan, and he could hardly move forward.

Through intimidation, assassination, coercion and inducement, Xu Jin spent a full two and a half years before he was able to complete the land survey in the three provinces south of the Yangtze River.

The landlords in Jiangnan gave up part of their interests, which made Xu Jin leave Jiangnan "satisfied".

Little did they know that Xu Jin had already secretly sent people to collect information about the gentry, nobles, and royal family in the entire Jiangnan region, and wrote down every detail in volumes of documents, which were then sent to the palace.

The "Jiangnan local specialties" that Xu Jin sent to the palace from Jiangnan almost angered the emperor to death.

It was Zhou Jiong who, seeing that the situation was over, hurried to the Dragon Head Palace to ask the Emperor to come out of retirement, thus preventing the Emperor from going on a killing spree in a rage...

However, for the sake of the overall situation, this matter can be suppressed for three or two years, but that doesn't mean the emperor, who hates evil, can always tolerate it.

The evil consequences of today were actually rooted in the eighth year of Yuanyou.

Zhou Jiong suddenly opened his eyes and said to Xia Lingxing: "Sometimes, you have to be ruthless and cut off the abscess. Even if your majesty wants to kill all the people in the court today, I will stand on your side. The so-called overall situation cannot be disrupted by killing a few beasts. Elder Xia might as well take a look over there..."

Xia Lingxing followed Zhou Jiong's gaze and looked across. Led by Duke Yingguo Zhang Yue, Duke Rong's eldest son Jia Lian, Duke Zhenguo's first-class baron Niu Jizong and other military heroes of the imperial party, all had solemn expressions on their faces.

But there was excitement in their eyes!

Yes, the knife in the emperor's hand has long been hungry and thirsty!

Monthly ticket recommendation ticket

　I’ll stop here tonight and continue tomorrow. Good night!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)