When Shen Zhanran entered Dongnuan Pavilion, he saw Zhu Yuanzhang sitting upright, frowning slightly as he looked at Jiang Dejing and Ni Yuanlu who were arguing, while Wang Jiayan and Fan Jingwen were whispering aside.
When Jiang Dejing saw Shen Zhan, he immediately pulled him over and said: "Master Shen, you come to judge. This land has not been divided yet, and taxes are being collected from people..."
It turned out that Jiang Dejing had been busy appeasing the people and rectifying the administration in the past few days.
Because he needed the money and grain from the Ministry of Personnel to settle the people and buy seeds, cattle and other supplies, even though he knew that there was a problem with the distribution of the land in the Ministry of Household Affairs, he had no choice but to persuade his subordinates to calm down the matter.
Because he knew that this matter was not easy to do, and seeing that all the soldiers' properties had been settled, he thought that the Ministry of Household Affairs had a plan and it would be solved soon.
It wasn't until he heard that people gathered to make trouble yesterday that he realized the seriousness of the problem.
In particular, the imposition of taxes made him extremely angry.
He originally thought that his officials were misbehaving, so he immediately summoned the relevant people and reprimanded them.
Unexpectedly, everyone complained repeatedly, saying that these things were requested by the Ministry of Revenue, and they were forced to have no choice.
What's more, some people from the Ministry of Revenue directly intervened in tax matters beyond them, making them very passive.
Jiang Dejing was somewhat dissatisfied because the seeds, cattle and other materials distributed by the Ministry of Household Affairs were insufficient, which made it difficult to recruit the people.
Now I heard that the Ministry of Household Affairs directly sent people to collect taxes, and I was immediately furious.
He didn't care that it was getting late, so he hurried to the Ministry of Household Affairs to find Ni Yuanlu for explanation.
Unexpectedly, after he met Ni Yuanlu, the other party complained to him before he could speak.
It turns out that the Ministry of Household Affairs did receive a lot of confiscated fields these days, but when they went to distribute them, they found that almost no piece of land had the right number of acres.
Because most of the confiscated properties were adjacent to Xungui, Huangzhuang and Xuexue fields, they had many disputes on weekdays.
This time, after learning that the other party had been confiscated, he immediately took the opportunity to occupy the property.
Furthermore, those in charge also produced a lot of documents, saying which fields had been sold, which fields had been mortgaged, etc., and the evidence was sufficient, so the Ministry of Household Affairs could not collect it at all.
Even though Ni Yuanlu knew some of the truth behind it, it was difficult for him to solve it in a short time due to the interlocking forces of various parties.
Fortunately, Li Jing was still in the capital at that time, and he expropriated some land without hesitation, thus solving the problem of soldiers' land.
However, this raises a new question.
Even those junior officials in the Beijing army took the opportunity to occupy the land, causing the gap to become wider and wider.
Originally, when Li Jing was around, everyone was a little afraid of him and didn't dare to be too presumptuous.
But after he left Beijing and was handled by left minister Shen Weibing, things became more and more intense.
In the end, the Ministry of Revenue had to temporarily stop allocating land and prepare to deal with it after completely sorting it out.
As for increasing taxes, Ni Yuanlu is even more troubled.
Because the money captured from the rebels was not enough to pacify the people, Ni Yuanlu had borrowed part of the military pay and the salaries of royal family members in order to cooperate with Jiang Dejing's policy of pacifying the people.
Nowadays, wars are raging. Not only are various places urging salaries, but even the clan members have sent people in advance to urge for salaries shortly after relieving the siege in the capital, and demand full payment.
The Ministry of Household Affairs has not received a penny of taxes so far.
In desperation, Ni Yuanlu had to accept Shen Weibing's proposal and collect summer taxes from the people in advance to meet their urgent needs.
Of course, they are not one-size-fits-all, but treat them differently according to the situation of the people, so the Ministry of Household Affairs directly intervenes in taxation.
After listening to Ni Yuanlu's story, Jiang Dejing was helpless and agreed with him to come to Zhu Yuanzhang today to discuss the matter.
Unexpectedly, before the two of them entered the palace today, Wang Jiayan came to see Ni Yuanlu again about military pay, so the three of them came to Dongnuan Pavilion together.
At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang was discussing the censorship with Fan Jingwen. Seeing that all three of them looked sad, he asked them for details.
After learning that it was a matter of money and food, they were asked to express their opinions.
The atmosphere was very harmonious at first, but when Jiang Dejing proposed increasing commercial taxes on salt, iron, tea, etc., he was immediately opposed by Ni Yuanlu.
Ni Yuanlu's reasons for opposition are also very valid. First, increasing commercial taxes goes against the ancestral system.
Second, the current war in the north still requires support from the south. If commercial taxes are increased, it will easily cause unrest in the south.
In particular, Zhang Xianzhong is still entrenched in Sichuan and often harasses Huguang and other places. If some squires are forced to attack Zhang Xianzhong, it will be detrimental to the overall situation.
Jiang Dejing believed that the people could no longer afford the taxes. If taxes were imposed, the people would have no livelihood and would be rebellious.
However, the taxes on merchants were too low, causing many people to abandon their land and become slaves, so the tax system had to be changed.
Otherwise, long-term inequality between rich and poor will lead to civil unrest.
Furthermore, he believes that businessmen have accumulated a large amount of wealth over the years, and businessmen can fully bear the increase in taxes and fees, and will never risk beheading to rebel.
...
After listening to Jiang Dejing's story, Shen Zhanran couldn't help but frown.
"Shen Qing, what do you think about this matter?"
At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly asked.
Hearing this, Shen Zhanran muttered: "I think what the two adults said is reasonable. Now that the north is undecided, the south must not be in chaos again."
"But without the support of money and food, the war will be difficult to continue, and it may fall into a vicious cycle. Indeed..."
As he spoke, seeing the dissatisfaction on Zhu Yuanzhang's face, he hurriedly changed his words and said: "It is indeed troublesome, but fortunately, Thief Li has fled back to Shaanxi, and it is difficult to do anything in the short term."
"And the Jurchens have also been led to North Korea and North Korea by An Guogong and others, and they should not invade the south for the time being, so now is the time for us to develop agriculture."
"As long as we can implement His Majesty's farmland policy and survive for three or four months, these problems will no longer exist."
Jiang Dejing glanced at Shen Zhanran in surprise, then shook his head and said: "Master Shen, although what you said is reasonable, how to survive these few months is a big problem."
"You have to know that if the people cannot be stable, there will be a shortage of manpower and the fields will be barren, how can we develop agriculture and make the country rich and the military strong?"
Shen Zhanran nodded and said: "Master Jiang, I also agree with your statement, but it is impossible to cure the chaos overnight."
"Although people have no harvest now, at least their lives are safe, and the court will also provide disaster relief. Isn't this much better than before?"
"So in my humble opinion, your Excellency, you might as well moderate your steps, concentrate your financial and manpower resources, and create a few model counties. As long as the people have hope, they will not cause trouble again..."
Jiang Dejing frowned a little dissatisfiedly at first, but nodded slightly after hearing this.
After Shen Zhanran finished speaking, he asked tentatively: "This method is also feasible. So about increasing commercial taxes, can we also find a few places to pilot it?"
He said and turned to look at Ni Yuanlu.
Hearing this, Ni Yuanlu shook his head and said: "Master Jiang, good things can be tried out, because this will give others hope."
"But increasing commercial taxes will deprive businessmen of their interests. Once it is piloted, not only the places where it is levied will be dissatisfied, but other places will also support it."
"In this way, one cent of tax is obtained, but a lot of resentment is caused. It can be said that the gain outweighs the loss, and it is definitely not feasible!"
Jiang Dejing also knew that this method was inappropriate. Seeing Ni Yuanlu's objection, he no longer persisted, and instead asked Ni Yuanlu for money and food for the pilot project to calm the people.
Ni Yuanlu smiled bitterly and said: "Master Jiang, the Ministry of Household Affairs is currently unable to pay even the salary of the royal family members, so how can there be any money to give you."
Jiang Dejing smiled and said: "Master Ni, don't cry about poverty with me."
"Master Shen also said just now that there will be no major war in the north. There is still a surplus in your military salary budget."
"You might as well allocate it to me first, and then make up for it after the summer grain comes out."
Ni Yuanlu shook his head repeatedly and said: "Many people from the royal family from the south came here this time, and they are making trouble in the household department every day."
"Although they are a bit unreasonable, many clan members from the north have fled to the south for refuge in the past two years, and life is indeed not easy."
"So the Ministry of Household Affairs has calculated all these expenses into the clan salary, and there is still a shortfall..."
When Jiang Dejing heard this, he looked at Zhu Yuanzhang helplessly.
Only then did he realize that at some point, Zhu Yuanzhang had an angry look on his face, and he couldn't help but be shocked.
