eldest son of Ming dynasty

There will indeed be many old friends gathering at the Great Court Meeting. Jin Gui took a seat, and Zhu Houzhao also took a seat. He invited Liu Jian, Li Dongyang and Xie Qian.

In addition to being important ministers of the late emperor Tuogu, these three people worked hard in Huguang, Yingtian and Shandong.

Zhu Houzhao sometimes read the secret reports given to him by Jin Yiwei. From what he saw, whether it was tax payment or going to court to resolve a case, although these three old men were pedantic, they still had a basic sense of justice.

Especially in Shandong, Liu Jian has been the governor of Shandong for four years. During the four years, he cared about the people, revitalized education, built water conservancy, and punished evil officials. money, so the water conservancy project was done well.

Zhu Houzhao also tried to exempt part of the corvee in Shandong, but this happened four years after Zhengde.

Different from modern times, in ancient times, people went to work, which was a kind of "service" and they were not paid. Not only did they have no money, they also had to bring their own dry food. This is what the so-called corvee refers to.

The word "tax" also has two parts. Paying taxes and performing corvee are both the obligations of the people, and must be obeyed as long as the country needs it.

So why is it that once a war breaks out, the burden on the people will be heavy?

Because transporting military supplies is a type of corvee service.In ancient times, ordinary people were busy from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, and it was good to be able to fill their stomachs. If you were dragged out for a few months, with no income and still living on your laurels, you would definitely be hungry. This is called "Yu Fu Frequency" Poor, the people are trapped in the misfortune of transshipment'.

This is how the word "light corvee" comes from.

In fact, Zhu Houzhao was in the process of cleaning up the military settlements. In addition to the occupation of the land of ordinary soldiers, the problems involved in the liquidation of the military settlements were also a prominent point. It was one of the main reasons for the difficulties in the lives of the military households, such as being dragged over to build the city.

But the issue of corvee did not persist throughout the feudal society of 2000 years.For a period of time, the corvee system changed from free levy to paid levy.

The one who accomplished this was the Manchu Qing Dynasty, which was criticized a lot by later generations.

Perhaps the Manchus knew that they were ruled by foreigners, so from the end of Shunzhi to the beginning of Kangxi, the Qing government paid great attention to the phenomenon of "excessive conscription of labor and great harm to the people" reported from various places, especially the process of Emperor Kangxi's efforts to pacify the three vassals. On the one hand, he repeatedly issued edicts strictly prohibiting private recruitment of factions, on the other hand, the war was anxious, the finances were tight, and he had to conscript labor without compensation.

Therefore, after the San Francisco Rebellion ended, Emperor Kangxi reflected on himself and said, "Every time I think about it, I feel deeply sorry."

During this period, the Qing court strictly restricted such excessive levies mainly through edicts in order to reduce the burden on the people.

After arriving in Yongzheng, a certain amount of money had to be paid for official business, and there were also terms such as "Bing Chai", "He Chai", "Gong Chai" and "Emperor Chai".

Of course, anyone with a little knowledge of officialdom knows that policies from above are one thing, but how they are implemented below is another matter. We don’t know how much money will be given, how it will be given, whether it will be enough or not enough.

Generally speaking, it is estimated that some are given and some are not.

What is more interesting is that in the 33rd year of Qianlong's reign, Emperor Qianlong saw a case of "trying to be exempted from local service and seeking a license" in the Ministry of Punishment.He immediately realized that the servants were already paid, so why did they ask for exemption?He then thought that it must be someone down below who was doing something wrong.

So he immediately issued an edict, asking the Governor of Zhili to find out the memorial in detail, and also asked all provinces to check the actual report themselves.This matter troubled the governor of Zhili. It can be seen that during the Kangxi and Qianlong periods, the corvee issue was relatively properly handled.

Relatively speaking, it is natural that there will be a bad period ahead.

Zhu Houzhao also knew that it was not good, but he did not dare to change everything with just one imperial edict. People in all dynasties have been required to do corvee service. It must be the country's need.

But on the other hand, if the Manchu emperor can do it, it means that it can be done.

Liu Jian is his 'test field' because he plans to keep Liu Jian in Shandong for a long time.

The first thing to do is to ask the people to bring their own dry food when dispatching corvees?If you don’t pay money, at least you’ll keep people full.

At that time, sweet potatoes were also being promoted, so Zhu Houzhao thought that as more food would be grown in the future, this part of the burden on the people could be reduced.

In October of the fourth year of Zhengde, Liu Jian wrote a letter to Li Dongyang, governor of Yingtian, in which he praised this as benevolent government.

This guy is no longer as upright as before. He has been in the palace every year in the past few years and has become more docile every year. This year he is even more docile. Last night, he heard that the court was successful in quelling the chaos, and he also wrote a letter praising the Holy King overnight. of congratulations.

It feels strange to be called Zhu Houzhao.

When calling them, Liu Jian had to kneel down and bow to him even though he was holding on to his old body.By the New Year, he was already 78.

"Stay flat and take your seat."

It was not a grand banquet in the palace, so Zhu Houzhao only set up a small table with three white porcelain wine glasses and a few exquisite side dishes, mainly to take into account the taste of the elderly. He had never been hungry in the palace.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"The reason why I invited you three is to fulfill one of my wishes." Zhu Houzhao kept waving his hands, because they didn't dare to sit down, and asked the eunuch at the back to help him, and then he asked the three of them to sit down, "You are all in the third and fourth dynasties. My old ministers, who are old, could have stayed in official positions to take care of their old age, but because I have to take care of the affairs of a province, I have to work hard and set an example, so I have to treat you to a meal."

They are all people who have not seen the emperor for a long time.Li Dongyang's old eyes were sour, "Your Majesty has the heart to honor your ministers, but your ministers have little talent and lack of merit, so you are always ashamed of your majesty's kindness in your heart."

Zhu Houzhao smiled with his mouth wide open, "Okay, okay, we monarchs and ministers are not polite, let's eat."

"Yes."

He took the lead himself, but he would not pick up food for them, otherwise his attempt to win over people's hearts would be too obvious, and it would be unwise to use it against smart people.

After eating two pieces of tofu, he raised his eyebrows and began to speak, "I have to talk to the three old gentlemen about something first, and the edict itself is also being drafted. Starting from this year, the imperial meeting will not be held once a year. The journey is long and you are old, so it is not easy to travel. So if we go back this year, we will have to wait until the seventh year of Zhengde before we, the king and his ministers, can meet again.

It's not easy to meet each other once, so if you have anything to say, say it freely.The ancients said that sixty ears are obedient, and seventy follow the heart without breaking the rules. Between us, the monarch and his ministers, we should neither trust each other, but also understand each other. What can we not say? "

"Your Majesty, if you have any questions, I will tell you everything you know." Liu Jian put down his chopsticks and said in a hoarse voice.

"Yes." The emperor nodded and put a piece of snack in his mouth, "How are the people in these three places living?"

Li Dongyang said: "Yingtian Mansion is a land of fish and rice. With a little good governance, the people can have enough food and clothing. I was as worried as your Majesty, so I went to see it in person. Most families can drink two meals of millet porridge a day, because the water network is dense and the water supply is high." You can catch some fish and shrimps in the river. In addition, the imperial court has implemented the policy of opening up the sea in recent years, and every household can provide a labor force to weave in the workshop, which is also an income. "

"I approved a memorial last year. The Duke of Wei was competing for land with the people in Changzhou. This matter should be implemented later. Is there a recurrence?"

"No."

"Yes." Zhu Houzhao nodded, which made him feel more at ease.

"It's just that the taxes and servitude in Susong and Song are very heavy, and some people in Wuzhong are poor and have no food to feed them."

This was the original policy set by Zhu Yuanzhang.

"If it is really difficult, we should pay attention to relief."

Then he turned to Liu Jian and said, "Shandong should be good too."

"Relying on the support of the Holy Spirit, I have tried my best to reduce the burden on the people in recent years. First, I have handled several land invasion cases; second, I have repaired more than 130 large and small rivers, which can irrigate more than 80 acres of fertile farmland; third, I have repaired more than [-] large and small rivers, which can newly irrigate more than [-] acres of fertile farmland; third, I have dealt with several land invasion cases. Eighteen counties involved people and animal husbandry, but they were completely eliminated last year; fourth, some paid corvee trials were implemented; fifth, drought relief was provided twice. As a result, there have been no starvation deaths in Shandong in the past few years. This is all part of His Majesty’s benevolent policy!"

The story of Shandong Dazhi has indeed reached the ears of many people, and Liu Jian is confident in speaking out.

Zhu Houzhao said: "When I wanted to keep Mr. Liu, one of the reasons was to benefit the people of Shandong. Now it seems that they are very lucky."

"His Majesty the Holy King comes to court and cares for the people. This is the blessing of all people in the world."

When Xie Qian was about to say something, Zhu Houzhao stopped him first. In the fourth year of Zhengde, Hubei requested a lot of disaster relief food from the court. Relying on this aid, there shouldn't be any big problems, but it won't be much better.

"I know the situation in Huguang, and I'm already thinking of a solution."

The three old men were communicating together, and they actually knew that the situation in Huguang was the worst.

Xie Qian immediately stood up and bowed, "I am guilty of failing to live up to your father's expectations."

"I know it's not your fault, so sit down. I promise you that if there is still a food shortage in Huguang this year, the court will still provide relief. The people of Shandong are common people, and the people of Huguang are also common people. But it is my business to provide relief to the victims. , the food transported over was intercepted layer by layer, and could not reach the hands of the victims, that is your fault."

Xie Qian exerted force on his Dantian and said loudly: "Your Majesty, don't worry! No matter how pedantic I am, I will not allow officials at all levels to embezzle the life-saving food of the victims!"

"Okay, thank you Yu Qiao for saying this, I believe it." Zhu Houzhao breathed a long sigh of relief, "However, it is not that easy to completely solve the problem in Huguang, we have to wait. The governance of the world depends on virtue and benevolence, I understand this truth , I am also willing to be such a good person, provided that I have the ability to do so. We have been Zhengde for five years, so the three of us should all understand me, right?"

Of course, this goes without saying. Even if they don't understand, the current situation of national peace and security is enough to convince them.

"Your Majesty!" Li Dongyang summoned up some courage, "I have also heard about the paid corvee in Shandong. I think that with Ying Tianfu's qualifications, I can try this method. So I want to ask your Majesty for permission."

"Yes!" Zhu Houzhao agreed without hesitation, "The imperial court will give you all the benefits that can be given to the people. In the so-called prosperous age, opening up territories is one thing, but the people's adequate food and clothing are equally important. He even said, I don't want a The Age of Hungry!”

This is Emperor Zhengde.

Therefore, 78-year-old Liu Jian never wants to lose any etiquette whether he is meeting or leaving. He salutes from the heart.

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It's the end of the month, let's vote.Or are you saying that you won’t vote for me after the expiration date?