In the eighteenth year of Shaowu's reign, it was June in summer.
Yongping Mansion, Yangshan Town.
It is adjacent to Fucheng. Although it is a mountainous area, it is rich in products. Many people in the mountains and forests have escaped the military disaster and survived.
It is also because of this that they ushered in the Shaowu era. The three-year tax holiday not only restored their vitality, but also made them prosperous.
To the north of Yongping Mansion, it belongs to Shanhaiguan Pass, an important thoroughfare inside and outside the pass. Yongping Mansion has also been tainted with wealth and has become increasingly prosperous due to the exchanges of merchants.
However, June is the most critical time for summer taxes. One after another, ox carts or wheelbarrows are driven by a large number of people to go to the county.
Yongping Prefecture is near the capital. They do not need to endure the exploitation of merchants and exchange precious grains for copper coins and silver coins. They only need to send the grains directly to the county warehouse.
However, for each village, they need to send food to Yangshan Town first.
On the spacious official road, dozens of villagers pushed wheelbarrows and moved forward at a steady speed.
At the back, a middle-aged man with a fair face but handsome features, driving two donkey carts with two or three long-term workers, slowly fell behind.
"Master Hong, you are too slow."
At this time, the village chief walked from the front to the back, looked at the leisurely middle-aged man, and persuaded: "We have to rush to the town as soon as possible, and then we have to go to the county seat. It will be dark later, and we have to wait until tomorrow."
There was quite a bit of flattery in his words.
There was no other way. Mr. Hongci was not only the largest landowner in the village, but he was also literate. He had to arrange all the communication and taxation with the elders in the town and township.
Otherwise, after a lot of censure, time will be lost and a lot of food will be lost.
"Okay!" Hong Ci came back to his senses from his daze and showed a smile: "I'll do it as soon as possible."
As he spoke, he urged.
After a while, the whole team moved much faster in vain, and arrived at Yangshan Town at noon.
As the center of more than 20 nearby villages, the three elders of the township built a government office in the town, with blue bricks and blue tiles, two little lions at the door, and only two or three steps, which was not even comparable to an ordinary rich man's house.
There are only a dozen rooms, which is very rustic compared to the county government office.
It can be said that there is a difference between cloud and mud.
But for the tens of thousands of people living near Yangshan, with a radius of more than dozens of miles, this is their political center.
Proceedings in the countryside, as long as no one is killed, are presided over by the village elders.
The ordinary tax corvee was presided over by the township head.
It is the responsibility of the rural police to catch thieves and militiamen.
They are the tentacles of the yamen. From the rank of ninth rank, they receive ten yuan and ten shi of grain, making them no longer hereditary but official officials who can rise.
Although the end result is just a six-room book office or a clerk, it is still a hope, isn't it?
According to the rules, the three elders of the township, the township chief is appointed by the court and arranged by the county, the township police is appointed by the county magistrate, and the township elders select the wise men from the township to serve.
After all, nothing knows more about litigation than the locals.
And taxes need to be paid by outsiders.
The summer tax will be levied in May and a half until the end of August. At that time, all the grain will be transported from the counties to the prefecture, then to the province, and then to the capital.
In order to reduce the burden on the people, Shaowu's benevolent government only had to deliver food to the county town, and the imperial finance department would handle the rest of the journey.
As for the grain chief system that lasted for nearly three hundred years in the Ming Dynasty, it also disappeared.
You must know that in the past, people in grain towns could be responsible for transporting grain all the way to Beijing, destroying their homes and the country, and just taking care of themselves.
Arriving at the township government office, also known as Sanlaotang among the people, Hong Ci had mixed feelings.
All the food is gathered here, and then headed to the county town under the leadership of the township head.
Entering from the backyard, the forty-year-old township chief looked shrewd. He held an abacus in his hand, while the village elder beside him held a yellow book.
Several teams formed a long queue, and in this hot summer, no one dared to complain at all.
Even though there were only two of them, they were not wearing official robes.
"Zhaojiacun..."
"Xili Village——"
Soon it was their turn.
The village chief hurriedly brought Hong Ci forward to respond.
"The village elder, the village elder is well!"
"Zhao Er, your village came quite early."
The old man looked up and smiled when he saw his face.
"Oh, Mr. Hong is here too."
Seeing Hong Ci, the township head and elders all showed gentle smiles.
Who in the village doesn't respect this boy?
"You two are very polite." Hong Ci also bowed his hands in a friendly manner.
According to his reputation, he could go to the county to seek an official position, but he did not do it. He has been working in the countryside and teaching his children to read.
This earned him a great reputation.
"Xili Village has 103 households, 736 mouths, and 2,836 acres of land—"
The village elder read aloud casually.
"Last year, fifty-nine people died of illness, including nineteen elderly people and thirty children. However, eighty-three more children were born, and nine families were separated."
The village chief recounted the major events that happened in the village last year, and he had nothing to hide about them.
Because of the population, the court no longer collects Ding tax, so there is no difficulty in reporting like this.
On the contrary, regarding the land, he said sincerely: "The land is right, you always remember it accurately."
"Huh!" At this time, Xiang Zheng didn't say anything, but the old man snorted coldly:
“Your village reclaimed dozens of acres of land last year, do you still want to hide it?”
"How can there be dozens of acres, not that much, at most ten or eight acres."
The village chief trembled, smiled hurriedly, then took out the money bag from his arms and put it directly into the hands of the township chief.
It seemed that he had already known that this would happen.
The township head smiled slightly, weighed the weight, and said, "Xili Village, in the 17th year of Shaowu's reign, eight acres of dry land were reclaimed."
"Is it Mr. Hong's house?"
At this time, facing the smile of the township chief, Hong Ci glanced at the village chief and said, "My family has three acres, and Zhao Er's family has five acres."
"That's right." The village chief nodded quickly.
"That's right, write it down!"
Immediately, the village elder wrote it down in a hurry.
"Have you brought all the food?"
"Nothing wrong--"
"Okay, let me do the math-"
The mayor began to pick up the abacus, which made a loud clanging sound, attracting the attention of all the villagers.
If you slide a small bead, the number in it is enough to make a family starve for more than half a year, and even destroy the whole family.
Therefore, both the village chief Zhao Er and Hong Ci were staring at the abacus intently.
"According to the court's taxation, the local tax is two cents, or one dou of grain. Xili Village has to pay a total of two hundred and eighty-three stones and six dou."
"In addition to the peeled 10%, it's twenty-eight stones, three buckets and six liters, which is three hundred and one stone and six liters."
The village chief looked at the jingling abacus and looked at Hong Ci beside him.
"That's right." Hong Ci sighed and nodded.
Although the imperial court was light on corvee and low on taxes, it could not personally collect taxes from the people. It relied on the three elders, so the villagers naturally had to exploit one layer.
The so-called peeling naturally refers to the weight of the grain bag.
In the words of San Lao, after weighing the grain, these sacks account for a large portion, so 10% is deducted.
Hong Ci made a rough calculation and found that one hundred sacks weighed at most five or six buckets of grain, and he scooped up the rest.
In the entire township, Sanlaotang can earn three to five hundred dan in one summer tax.
Each of the three elders can earn at least one hundred silver coins.
Not to mention, the three elders hid most of the tax on sales in the town and grass market, and the court collected 10% to 20% more, and the rest belonged to the three elders.
These commercial taxes are no less profitable than summer taxes.
Of course, they have to pay filial piety to the county government when they make money, otherwise they will spit it out if they just grab it.
This was still the founding year of Shaowu and the Qingming period of official administration.
And during the Chongzhen period...
Hong Ci thought for a while: "On my father's desk, the entire Shuntian Mansion's tea tax is probably not even 500 silver coins..."
For some reason, he just wanted to laugh.
At this time, the three elders of the same township among the people embezzled more money every year than the tea tax paid to millions of people in Beizhili.
What an irony.
Although he did not know the exact annual revenue of the imperial court, the summer tax of this township alone exceeded more than 6,000 dan.
A mere county must have at least 30,000 to 50,000 shi!
What an exaggerated number.
Based on this calculation, Shuntian Mansion alone can collect millions of grains, without adding commercial taxes.
"This may be the root of Shaowu's rise!"
As a former prince, although he changed his name to Hong Ci and became a commoner, he was extremely concerned about his own throne.
Therefore, he naturally has a deep understanding of the current emperor's family history.
When it first took off in Hanzhong and took root in Huguang, it relied on the money and grain plundered by merchants.
The establishment of three elders is a further collection of taxes.
Don't look at the three old men who are greedy for 10%, but in the past, doubling the price was considered cheap.
After paying the summer tax, the grain is randomly inspected to see if it is qualified, and then the peeled grain is deducted. The grain is placed in houses to prevent rain.
If the grain fails to meet the standards after being drawn, the village will not only have to make up for it, but the tax will also be doubled as punishment.
A group of people cannot stop yet.
The villagers brought dry food, people slept in the courtyard, and people were arranged to keep watch.
Because by the early morning of the next day, they would go to the county government under the leadership of the rural policeman to deliver the grain they had paid in the past two days.
That's right.
After the farmers have worked hard to plant and harvest the grain with sweat and sweat, they have to select the best and hand it over, endure the peeling of the excess, and finally deliver it to the county.
But there is no way, it has been like this for thousands of years, even before the agricultural tax was exempted.
After watching the grain being weighed and arriving at the warehouse, a group of people breathed a sigh of relief.
At this time, the villagers did not want to waste such a time in the city, so they all began to look around to collect things they needed at home or in the village.
Donkey carts and wheelbarrows are the best means of transportation.
Zhu Cixiang was wearing a robe and walking on the street. He could hear the bustle in his ears, and he was immersed in it for a while.
"I need to buy some flower cloth, my daughter needs to make some clothes..."
"Boss consumes a lot of paper. I need to buy some paper——"
Suddenly, he turned around and walked towards the bookstore.
At this time, the best-selling books in bookstores are still the Four Books and Five Classics, followed by various storybooks.
But if it is the most sophisticated, it is some question books for the provincial examination and the general examination.
The Tongsheng Examination and Academy Examination for Scholars are still based on the Four Books and Five Classics, but the Provincial Examination and the General Examination have changed, including astronomy, geography, and history books.
Although there are no specific textbooks, there are question books over the years.
"Hey!" He shook his head secretly, thinking about the Four Books and Five Classics, how could they have changed?
After buying a dozen pieces of paper, Zhu Cihong bought a copy of Romance of the Three Kingdoms before returning home.
Shortly after taking the long-term worker home, his younger brothers Zhu Cijiong and Zhu Cijiong rushed over.
"Brother." The two brothers came over, looking hesitant.
Both of them also changed their surnames to Hong, namely Hong Ding and Hong Yong.
After the intruders were defeated, the three of them hid in Yangshan Mountain and lived for two or three years under the protection of close eunuchs and guards.
When Daming came back, they showed up, changed their names and started living again.
Relying on their talents and personal guards, within a few years, the brothers were already rich and became local rich men.
But Zhu Cixiang deeply realized that as the prince of the previous dynasty, he would definitely die whether in the Manchu Qing Dynasty or the Shaowu Dynasty.
So when the two younger brothers wanted to go to Beijing to find their sister, Princess Kunning, they were directly stopped by him.
He was even afraid of fame, so he just stopped taking the exam and everything went as usual.
After more than ten years, the three brothers married and had children, and everything was fine.
It was expected that after the three people took the matter into the coffin, there would be no more danger.
"Brother, my eldest son wants to get a degree——"
The second eldest child, Hong Ding, hesitated and said: "After all, he is almost sixteen. He has been studying with you for many years, so he should..."
"Don't even think about it -" Suddenly, Zhu Cixiang glared angrily, looking at his dear brother like a man-eating tiger:
"Have you forgotten our identities?"
"If there is even the slightest mistake, the entire family will die without a burial place."
"But--"
"There's nothing wrong with that."
After blocking his brother's words, Zhu Cixiang's chest rose and fell, obviously he was angry.
At this time, Hong Yong, the third child, stepped forward and stroked his back: "Brother, second brother didn't mean it."
"What he said actually makes sense."
"What reason? Bastard reason."
"Brother." Hong Yong said helplessly: "With our status, we are like deaf people among the people. If someone goes to the officialdom, he can get the news as long as he climbs higher."
"It's good to be prepared by letting someone know, isn't it?"
"Besides, it doesn't matter if we suffer ourselves, but our descendants won't have a title. If we don't study and gain fame, we will become commoners in a few generations."
"When the time comes, the incense may even be cut off."
After hearing this, Zhu Cixiang calmed down and closed his eyes to rest, as if thinking.
The other two brothers looked at each other with joy on their faces.
"What you said makes some sense."
Zhu Cixiang sighed: "Only by climbing higher can we ensure safety."
"So, we must imitate others and no longer be conservative. We must annex land and do business. Only by being the same as others can we achieve true security."
Forcibly suppressing the descendants will have unimaginable consequences.
