If you want to collect taxes, the first thing you have to do is clear the land.
Although the Ministry of Household Affairs sent official documents to all provinces and counties when deciding on a higher tax system, it is not a simple matter to clear the land.
Originally, Han Du was focused on the matter of clearing his father-in-law's land just to be on guard against Qi Tai and others, fearing that they might cause trouble for him.
However, what surprised Han Du was that the process of clearing Zhang Tianmu went very smoothly, and it was carried out in an orderly manner according to the plan of the Ministry of Household Affairs. Such calm situation made Han Du frown. This Qingzhang's land was the best opportunity for various prefectures and counties to cause trouble. Could they give it up in vain?
Just when Han Du was puzzled, Wang Yuanji and Zhao Yu came to report, "Master Hou."
Looking up and seeing the two people smiling, Han Du frowned slightly, obviously things were different from what he thought.
"How is the matter of clearing my father-in-law's land going?"
Wang Yuanji quickly handed over his hand and replied: "The official is about to report to the Marquis that the last Shaanxi Chief Envoy who has cleared the land has reported the number of acres to the Ministry of Revenue today. Mr. Hou, the Ministry of Revenue has completed the calculation of the land in the world. Qingzhang. This is the total number. Please take a look at it."
With that said, Wang Yuanji handed Han Du a document with both hands.
Han Du looked at the document handed over by Wang Yuanji, his expression was shaken, and he asked in a solemn voice: "What did you say? The marriage has been settled?"
"Yes, Lord Marquis. The marriage has been settled, and the land of each chief minister is recorded here." Wang Yuanji didn't understand. It should be a happy thing, but now he was still a little unhappy.
Han Du said no more and reached out to take the booklet.
"Five, one hundred and nineteen thousand four hundred and seventeen hectares, so many? Are you remembering it wrong?"
This number is somewhat beyond Han Du's expectation. What is this concept? According to the archived information of the Ministry of Household Affairs, there are now almost 7 million households in the Ming Dynasty, which means a population of about 40 million. In other words, almost everyone can have ten acres of land.
If the average person could really have so much land, then the people of the Ming Dynasty would definitely be able to have enough food and clothing. Of course, there is no absolute average, but as long as these fields are not abandoned, no matter who occupies more land, there will always be no less food, mulberry and hemp produced in the land, right?
The Ming Dynasty has so much land, there is no problem in feeding the people of the world.
"Master Marquis, I didn't believe it at first. I even checked the fish scale atlas of the Ministry of Household Affairs. But I only found the one from the 13th year of Hongwu. At that time, there were only more than three million hectares of land in the world." Zhao Yu is also an old householder. Even he could only find out the number for Hongwu's thirteen years.
Han Du was stunned when he heard this, raised his eyes to look at Zhao Yu, and asked: "Only the thirteenth year of Hongwu was found? In the next twenty years, did the Ministry of Revenue not count the world's land again?"
"No." Zhao Yu shook his head, and then added: "Anyway, I haven't heard of it since I came to the Ministry of Revenue."
Han Du was immediately speechless. It has been almost twenty years since the thirteenth year of Hongwu. During Lao Zhu's reign, he had always encouraged the people to reclaim wasteland. However, how much land had been reclaimed over the years, Hu Bu had a dark eye. He had no idea what the Hu Bu was doing for food.
What makes Han Du even more strange is that Lao Zhu has ignored the Ministry of Household Affairs for so many years?
After thinking for a moment, Han Du could only attribute this to Lao Zhu's desire to hide wealth among the people. Perhaps in Lao Zhu's view, it is enough for the people to have enough food and clothing.
Wang Yuanji also spoke at the right time and said: "Master Hou, I was worried that there was something wrong with the calculation at first. For this reason, I and Master Zhao led a group of people to check it several times to confirm that the number was correct."
Han Du held the booklet, pondered for a while and then said: "Is it accurate?"
"Confirmed!" Wang Yuanji nodded with a smile. After a pause, he added: "If there is really a mistake, it cannot be in the Ministry of Revenue. The problem will only appear in the various chief envoys."
Patting the booklet twice in his hand, Han Du said in a deep voice: "No matter where the problem lies, as long as there is a problem with this number, once it is sent to the imperial court, it will be our fault!"
Wang Yuanji and Zhao Yu looked serious as they listened.
Han Du raised his eyes and looked at the two of them. Said: "So, even if the problem lies with the chief minister or even the prefecture and county, we must verify it one by one, understand?"
Wang Yuanji and Zhao Yu looked at each other with embarrassment on their faces.
Zhao Yu cupped his hands and said, "Master Hou, it's less than two months before the autumn harvest. If we go to verify it slowly now, I'm afraid it will be too late!"
This is indeed a problem!
Han Du stared into the void and began to think hard. After a moment, he said: "Even if you cannot verify all of them, you must find a way to randomly select a few chief ministers to verify. This matter must not be ignored."
"Yes, Lord Marquis."
If you just pick a few at random for verification, you will have enough time, so Wang Yuanji and Zhao Yu naturally agreed quickly.
...
Time flies, more than half a month has passed.
Wang Yuanji and Zhao Yu looked solemnly and hurriedly found Han Du and reported: "Master Marquis, the person who verified the number of acres of land is back."
Han Du looked up and saw the expressions of the two people, and couldn't help but said: "What? Is there really a problem with the number of acres?"
Wang Yuanji sighed and said: "Back to the Marquis, there is no problem with the number of acres of land that each of the chief envoys has cleared."
Hearing this, Han Du felt relieved. He picked up the tea cup, leaned back on the chair, and said with a smile: "Isn't this a happy thing for everyone? Why do you look like this?"
"Master Marquis, there is no problem with the number of acres of land owned by the Chief Envoy Si Qingzhang, but..." Wang Yuanji suddenly became hesitant, and even did not dare to look at Han Du.
"But what?" Han Du also noticed something was wrong.
"However, they also cleared the land of each prince's palace..." Wang Yuanji lowered his head and replied in a low voice.
"What?" Han Du suddenly slammed the teacup on the table. Even the hot water in the cup spilled out and splashed onto Han Du's hands, but Han Du didn't notice at all.
Wang Yuanji had no choice but to bite the bullet, took out the booklet from his sleeve robe, held it up with both hands, and said: "This is a verified situation, please have a look at it, Lord Marquis."
Han Du suddenly grabbed it and opened it eagerly. Sure enough, when people from the Ministry of Revenue were verifying the land acres in Huguang and Shandong, they suddenly discovered that the two chief ministers had reported the land acres of the King of Chu and the King of Qi.
This discovery shocked the officials of the Ministry of Household Affairs, and then they found all the chief envoys who had feudal lords and feudal lords and examined them carefully. This inspection shocked the officials of the Ministry of Household Affairs. The number of acres reported by the chief envoys actually included all the acres owned by the feudal lords.
After Han Du read it, his face turned pale. Sitting back down, he suddenly understood why Qitai had been so quiet recently. He spent the whole day either drinking and feasting or going to brothels.
Originally, Han Du thought Qi Tai was aware of his conscience and didn't want to fight with him anymore. But now it seems that he was simply numbing himself before.
He had already prepared the real trump card for himself.
"This matter is too big. I want to enter the palace immediately to ask for an audience with the emperor." Han Du grabbed the book hard and stood up slowly.
"Master Marquis, do you want to go down and accompany the Marquis?" Wang Yuanji asked worriedly.
Han Du waved his hand towards him, then took a deep breath and said, "No, just wait for the news from me."
The two had no choice but to pause and nod.
...
Zhu Biao was reviewing memorials in the Qianqing Palace, his brows furrowed tightly, and the Zhu Biao in his hand remained for a long time.
He used to do this kind of thing every day, but since he came to the throne, he still found differences from before.
In the past, when his father was still alive, he still had to review memorials. But because he knew that his father was behind him, even if he encountered some difficult-to-decision memorials, he could write down his opinions without thinking. Anyway, if you write it correctly, you will be praised by your father, and if you write it wrong, there will be no big problem. At most, his father would point it out and remind him how to approve the reply here. He should pay attention to this next time...
But now it's Zhu Biao's turn to make the decision himself, without his father to back him up. Zhu Biao suddenly discovered that sometimes it is really difficult to write. If he makes this move, no one may be killed, but it will affect the food and clothing problems of thousands of households. If it deviates slightly, you may not know how many people will suffer.
Wang Yue walked quietly to Zhu Biao's side and saw that the emperor had not yet started writing. Then he said softly: "Your Majesty, the Marquis of Zhenhai would like to see you."
"Yeah!" Zhu Biao hummed subconsciously.
Then he came to his senses, turned his head and asked quickly: "What did you just say? Who wants to see you?"
"Go back to your Majesty and ask for an audience with Marquis Zhenhai." Wang Yue quickly bowed and reported again.
Zhu Biao glanced at the memorial in his hand, sighed, and put down the memorial in his hand. Said: "Pass it on."
"Your Majesty, Han Du, pays homage to your Majesty." He lowered his head and walked in quickly, bowing first.
Zhu Biao smiled and stretched out his hand to signal: "No courtesy, stay flat."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Han Du then stood up and stood with his head held high.
Zhu Biao asked with a smile: "If you don't continue to plan the collection of taxes this year at the Ministry of Household Affairs, why are you so anxious to see me?"
Han Du quickly raised his hands and said, "I am asking to see the emperor this time just to clear up my land."
"Oh? Are you done with your husband's marriage so soon? What's the matter?" Zhu Biao gave Han Du a strange look.
Han Du quickly picked up the book and said, "Your Majesty, please read it."
Zhu Biao nodded slightly.
Wang Yue quickly collected the fly whisk, walked quickly down from Danbi, and presented the booklet to the emperor.
Zhu Biao picked up the booklet, flipped through it, and then his expression suddenly changed. After taking a cursory look at the changes, he immediately slapped the booklet on the imperial desk.
He asked in a deep voice: "What's going on?"
