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Chapter 353 Another Pit of Taizu (Fourth)
After Wen Tiren saw the ceremony, Emperor Chongzhen let him read Zuo Yingxuan's memorial, and then asked: "Wen Qing, because of famines, wars, etc., there must be a lot of unclaimed land in Ming Dynasty?"

This unowned land naturally refers to the fields that can be cultivated.Wen Tiren heard this, and immediately replied: "Your Majesty clearly sees that there are still some fields. Because the production is not much, and even the tax is not enough, the landlord often abandons this part of the land."

When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he frowned and said, "Is there such a thing? Daming's Tian Fu is not very high!"

"Return to Your Majesty, the official tax is really not high." Wen Tiren obviously knows a lot about this area, so he can reply immediately, "But because all kinds of miscellaneous taxes in my Ming Dynasty are based on the land, and the labor is also based on the field. Distribution. These are far more than the regular tax and laborious, so the peasants who abandoned their fields are mostly because of these!"

The original Chongzhen Emperor didn't know much about these.And Hu Guang, who came through the soul, didn't understand these ancient taxes even more.Therefore, this piece of content is a bit blank.

The reason why Emperor Chongzhen summoned Wen Tiren was not because of this, but because of another idea.Knowing this at this time, he frowned and asked: "The ins and outs of this taxation, please let me know."

"Your Majesty, this matter should be traced back to the beginning of Taizu's founding of the country." Wen Tiren naturally agreed to preach to him, "Because of his background, Taizu was very kind to farmers, and hated corrupt officials, so..."

When Emperor Chongzhen heard the beginning, he couldn't help being speechless. It seems that Ming Taizu will be responsible for this blame again.But it is true that some of the good systems he thought at the beginning were actually full of pitfalls, and now they are finally unstoppable.Others say that he is cheating, he is a cheating offspring, and he is speechless!
"Taizu stipulated that the land tax is about one-tenth, which is very low. Logically speaking, this land tax is not enough for my Ming Dynasty to use normally. However, Taizu has another method: to make my Ming army self-sufficient, and the imperial power is not enough. Going to the countryside, the villages and forts practiced self-government. In addition, during the Hongwu period, the imperial court mostly used Daming banknotes to meet various expenses. Moreover, our Ming Dynasty has the fewest officials in history, and more officials are hired for work."

Wen Tiren already understood the attitude of Emperor Chongzhen in front of him, so he knew that this kind of words were straightforward and simple, and it didn't matter if some places were not in line with etiquette.When he said this, he secretly confirmed the expression on Emperor Chongzhen's face, knowing that he had guessed correctly, the emperor was listening carefully, and then continued: "I have estimated that now I have about 7 officials in Ming Dynasty, and There are about [-] officials. There are only more than [-] officials, but they have to govern the whole world of our Ming Dynasty. Although the cost is saved, the work is...a bit powerless!"

Or to prove that what he said was not alarmist, Wen Tiren added: "Most of the more than 5000 officials are also serving in the army at the same time, and only about 130 of them work in the government offices of various prefectures and counties. There are a total of 30 eight counties. This means that the largest county in my Ming Dynasty will not have more than [-] salaried positions."

Emperor Chongzhen probably knew about this matter, but he was a little surprised when the number actually came out.You must know that even in the largest county, there are at most 30 positions. They are to manage all the local administrative affairs of a county, including taxation, trial of cases, maintenance of law and order, management of transportation, education, public works and social relief, etc. These can be They are all things that require a lot of energy, and they cannot be done simply by one person.

Although the population of a county in ancient times was not large, far from being comparable to that of later generations, but relatively, the number of officials in its management was too small to catch up with any current government unit.And in ancient times, transportation and communication were inconvenient, etc., which also increased the difficulty of management.

Thinking of this, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but feel a little headache.There are so many things that Ming needs to reform!

At the same time, Wen Tiren continued to introduce: "The tax system set by the Taizu has not been changed, but the court and the local government have no money and food, so they can't do things. Then there are various additional assignments and labor, and later labor can be used at a discount of [-]%. For these, there is no custom, and because of this, the imperial court...the imperial court and the local government will send additional dispatches if they have no money. And if there is something to do, it is also for the common people to serve. "

Hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen knew a little bit that Daming's labor was free of charge, and he had to bring his own tools and rations, which indeed cost the government the minimum amount of money.

In fact, just now Wen Tiren paused for a while, hesitating a little, but he still didn't say anything in the end.For example, the emperors of the Ming Dynasty also took the lead in this kind of addition, and the addition was approved by the emperor.Even if the local government allocates some additional fees on its own, it is thought that there are examples to test, and the imperial court allows it by default.

These are actually the so-called exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes. The things involved are very complicated. If we want to spread them all out, I'm afraid even Wen Tiren won't be able to explain them all clearly.

"Your Majesty should know that the magistrate's annual salary is about 62 taels, while the annual salary of a county magistrate is about 27 taels. There are even fewer officials under them. This kind of salary has indeed saved a lot of expenditure for the court. .But when they don’t have enough money, they can distribute more by themselves, and all kinds of fishing will be a matter of course. And these basically become the expenses of those who have land.”

When Wen Tiren said this, he bowed deeply and said: "Your Majesty understands this, and there will be innovations. This matter is of great importance, and it is far more than causing some people to abandon their fields and flee. Please make up your mind, Your Majesty." Also go all out!"

Emperor Chongzhen nodded, the hole left by Taizu must be filled.The best solution is naturally to exempt agricultural tax, but for this period, land tax is the most important source of national tax revenue, to exempt, hehe, it is only at night when dreaming.

But there is one thing that can still be done.Emperor Chongzhen thought so, and said solemnly and warmly: "Qing Wen, the collection of commercial taxes must be accelerated. What I mean is that in the future, the imperial tax must be transferred from the land tax, otherwise the heavy tax will hurt the farmers. stable!"

"Your Majesty's opinion is that agriculture is the foundation of a country. To rejuvenate the Ming Dynasty and spread its prestige overseas, you must have a solid foundation." Wen Tiren immediately echoed, even pointing to the emperor's dream, and then took out a memorial from his sleeve and said, "Your Majesty, this is a memorial received by the cabinet, which goes against the mainstream all the time. However, I think that what is said in this memorial is exactly what His Majesty said just now."

Emperor Chongzhen was overjoyed when he heard that, and quickly asked his servants to present the memorial.

　I still owe one more, and it's gone today.I have to work overtime tomorrow, if all goes well, it may only take half a day.The one owed will be repaid tomorrow.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)