Qianqing Palace.
Zhu Qiyu was sitting behind the imperial desk, and two old men in scarlet robes were sitting on the pillars. One of them had a pale face, which looked intimidating, and the other had a bitter look on his face, looking uneasy.
These two people were none other than Yu Qian, the Minister of the Ministry of War, and Shen Yi, the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs.
"Your Majesty, the sixty-two censors from the Metropolitan Procuratorate have arrived in various places and have begun to clean up the land. This is the first batch of memorials to come back. Your Majesty, please read it."
The chamberlain handed the memorial to the emperor. Zhu Qiyu opened it and read it, while Yu Qian said below.
"This land clearing is in accordance with the previously drafted regulations to ensure accuracy and authenticity. Everything has traces to follow and accounts can be checked. According to preliminary statistics, hidden private fields have been found in various places, amounting to about 120,000 hectares. Most of them are concentrated at the border.”
"In addition, the number of farmland that has been abandoned and resold for various reasons is initially estimated to be around 230,000 hectares, of which 170,000 hectares are concentrated across the border. According to the land registers registered in the local It shows that most of these farms are in the name of local wealthy gentry, and some are in the name of nobles and civil and military ministers in the capital."
This time the inventory of military settlements is mainly focused on the borders, but it is not just the borders, of course it also includes military settlements in various places.
According to data previously archived by the Ministry of War, the number of military camps in the Ming Dynasty is roughly around 900,000 hectares, of which about 70% are concentrated on the borders.
Of course, this is only the registered number. In fact, the tax revenue that military camps can provide is far less than the number on the books.
Every year, due to various reasons, the harvest of military villages cannot be guaranteed, which accounts for a terrifying 40% of the total. Even the harvest of the remaining 60% is far lower than that of ordinary civilian fields.
However, if you look at the data Yu Qian said now, this situation is easier to understand.
Of the 900,000 hectares of military settlements, 230,000 hectares exist only on paper, but in fact they have been secretly resold, so naturally they cannot provide any taxes.
In addition, local generals enriched their own pockets and used the army to cultivate private fields, which led to a serious decline in the harvest of the army and the waste of the farmland. It was a matter of course.
but……
Putting the memorial on the case, Zhu Qiyu raised his head, looked at Yu Qian, and asked.
"It is indeed shocking, but sir, do you think this number is accurate?"
It should be said that in order to reorganize the army this time, the Ministry of War made a lot of preparations, anticipated various situations in advance, and prepared countermeasures.
Before the censors set out, the Ministry of War had roughly made statistics on the number and location of registered military camps based on the field registration provided by local officials, as well as the yellow records kept by the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of War.
After these censors arrived at the local area, they first searched for the location of the acres according to the map, determined whether they were still being cultivated, and then checked the heads of households and the people who were cultivating them, and finally formed a summary.
This process is relatively simple. After all, the fields are there and cannot be escaped, especially the land registered in the yellow book. It is there, and it is abandoned if it is abandoned. As long as the censor really reaches the boundary of the land, this cannot be done. Fake.
The only discrepancies are the number of times it changed hands and the ownership of the fields.
However, after reading it, Zhu Qiyu still felt that there should be a big gap between this number and the real situation.
It's not that he thinks the censors below are not serious about their work, but...
"Your Majesty, with all due respect, the true number of abandoned military camps is probably much greater than what has been reported so far!"
This time it was not Yu Qian who spoke, but Shen Yi beside him.
The Minister of the Ministry of Finance cupped his hands and said.
"In this inventory of military camps, I and Yu Shaobao checked the previous yellow records, military expenditures and land tax amounts. I found that from the Hongwu period to the present, the court's taxes have increased year by year, but the military expenditures for the border troops have also increased. It’s increasing year by year.”
"Compared with the military expenditures during the Hongwu period, the imperial court's annual expenditures on the border troops have increased dozens of times. The gap is huge, and it is far beyond what the current number of military camps can make up for."
"Therefore, I believe that the figures reported now are not the final and detailed data."
Yu Qian also nodded and said.
"Shang Shu Shen is right. During this time, I have also received reports from various local officials and censors. Although the imperial court has issued an edict to rectify the military settlements this time, in the Qingzhang Tianmu area, During the process, there were still many obstacles.”
"These are mainly divided into several categories. In terms of private land, one category is local gentry hiding the land, occupying it under false pretenses, taking shelter under officials, and evading taxes and servitude; the other category is the powerful noble families who blatantly obstruct The censors conducted investigations, and in some places, local officials also cooperated to openly block the censors from the farm."
"What's more, some people secretly instigated poor tenant farmers to spread rumors that the imperial court would take back these acres directly, causing several censors to be stopped in the streets to complain."
"In terms of the military settlements, most of the border army generals also adopted a passive resistance attitude towards this matter. When checking the fields, they either used excuses to lead troops out of the camp to patrol, or they said that the fields had been abandoned for a long time and they needed to go back to check the documents. To go too far. , or even avoid seeing him.”
"So, what is reported now is only the part that is easiest to detect. If nothing else, at least half of it has not been found."
What Shen Yi calculated was an economic account. To put it bluntly, he used the simplest method to compare expenses and income. If the accounts don't match up, there must be something wrong.
According to the current calculation results of the Ministry of Household Affairs, at least 40% of the military villages must be in a state of neglect, or have simply been resold, and there may be more.
Therefore, the amount currently reported is obviously inaccurate.
Of course, this calculation method sounds simple, but in fact it is very complicated. It involves the changes in acres of land, various expenditures of taxes over the years, arrears and various accounts. I really want to use such a fast speed. To clarify this, only Shen Yi's golden abacus can do it.
Yu Qian did not have such convenient conditions as the Ministry of Revenue, but as the direct commander of the military camp, he was exposed to far more situations than Shen Yi.
Up and down the government and the public, overtly and covertly, only he knew how many people were secretly obstructing the reorganization of the military settlement. In fact, Yu Shaobao was speaking implicitly. There were many ways for the border troops to stumble secretly. .
These censors were able to withstand all kinds of pressure, and Yu Qian was already surprised to find out so much in such a short period of time.
Of course, he will not be satisfied with this. Since he has already taken action to rectify the army, he must really cure this chronic disease!
"In that case, what are you going to do next, Mr. Yu?"
Thinking like this, the emperor's inquiry has arrived, Yu Qian simply said.
"Your Majesty, it is said that hardness cannot last long and softness cannot be defended. The imperial court must implement great policies and cannot be stubborn. Now the imperial court is going to war to clear out the land. In addition to the lawless people who have invaded military camps and privately cultivated people's fields, there are also many ordinary people who have been affected by others. Incitement makes people panic.”
"So at this time, I believe that we should first appease the people's hearts and minds, and then use thunderous means to combine hardness and softness. This is the right way."
As soon as these words came out, Shen Shangshu's expression suddenly changed, and his eyes looking at Yu Qian became a bit resentful.
There is a combination of hardness and softness. The strong one naturally calls for the Ministry of War. As for the soft one...
"Your Majesty, it's time to announce the imperial court's redemption policy to all places. This will not only allow some gentry to take the initiative to return the acres, but also let the people understand that even if the imperial court takes back these acres, it will not affect their farming. On the contrary, Yes, when the land is in the hands of the imperial court, they can even pay the taxes on official land."
"In addition, after discussing with Shen Shangshu, I feel that we can also add a policy. Anyone who takes the initiative to provide evidence to the inspection censor that the private gentry has secretly concealed acres of land, if it is found to be true, the court can consider the amount and exempt it. Excluding the land rent for one to ten years, the specific amount should be one-tenth of the certified land."
Zhu Qiyu looked at Shen Shangshu, who had a grimace when he heard that he wanted to pay, and he was immediately sure that such a vicious idea was definitely not the idea of a gentleman like Yu Qian.
but……
"This method is not bad, you can try it, but this is the only way, I'm afraid it's not enough!"
"After all, ordinary people are natives and may not dare to offend these big gentry families. Moreover, the inspection censors sent to various places this time are just to clear the land. They do not have the power to make arbitrary decisions when the situation arises, and many matters cannot be handled. Therefore, the court still needs to be able to do so. The minister can come to the border in person to preside over this matter."
Unlike many emperors who do not understand the sentiments of the people, although Zhu Qiyu has never really been to the people, he has seen a hundred years of changes and has a deep enough grasp of some things.
For example, what Yu Qian just said is that the method of asking people to give evidence is certainly useful, but it is not that easy to implement it.
There has been a saying among the people that the imperial power does not extend to the county. In the environment in which ordinary people live, the deterrent effect of the emperor and the court on them is far less than that of the clan and gentry.
Even in places where some clans are powerful, even the government offices have to discuss matters with them.
Therefore, even if there is the temptation of exempting taxes, these people may not dare to move. After all, after providing proof, they still have to live locally.
If you offend these wealthy gentry, you can imagine the future.
Therefore, if you want to implement it, you must first have someone with enough authority to suppress these squires.
These gentry can manipulate ordinary people, but the government can also manipulate these gentry. As long as there is evidence and a few are brought out to scare the monkeys, coupled with the deterrence of the evidence policy, a two-pronged approach can naturally defraud a large number of hidden people. Field soil.
Of course, what's more important is that this preliminary land measurement revealed many problems, such as the lack of cooperation from the local government and the covert obstruction of the border army generals. Behind this, there are actually deeper problems hidden.
Take the local officials as an example. The rectification of the military settlements is certainly a major policy of the imperial court. However, just because the imperial court has the courage to investigate does not mean that the local officials have the courage to offend the local squires and border troops. The complicated relationship between them is not the past of a patrol censor. , can be understood clearly.
As for the border army, it is even more complicated. The problem of the military settlements is actually not just a problem of the settlements. The reason why the military settlements have been depleted over the years is inseparable from the desolation of the border troops.
The wanton use of sergeants to cultivate land privately is considered a minor matter, but more serious problems include desertion, taking empty pay, taking credit, etc. Among them, the one that has the greatest impact on the military settlements is desertion.
Generals wantonly exploiting ordinary sergeants, which will naturally lead to serious desertions. In some places, in order to get free pay, sergeants will be deliberately allowed to escape.
More people fled, which on the one hand reduced the combat effectiveness of the border troops. On the other hand, it also made the already insufficient military settlements short of manpower, further exacerbating the desolation of the military settlements.
Therefore, if you want to investigate the military garrison, you will inevitably bring up the issues of desertion and empty pay. Any of these things are enough for the border generals, so it is natural for them to refuse to cooperate.
"Your Majesty, I am willing to go!"
In this kind of matter, Master Hui Shaobao Yu Qian naturally did his duty, so he immediately stood up, bowed his head and said.
"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, I am willing to inspect all the military camps one by one. No matter what kind of resistance I encounter, I will remain determined to eliminate cancer for the imperial court and reshape the border army!"
Yu Shaobao's words were loud and impassioned, and his response was naturally also loud and sonorous.
"No!"
"puff……"
They couldn't hold it back for a while, so the two people in the palace looked at a certain household minister with dissatisfaction, especially Yu Qian. Their eyes were fixed on Shen Shangshu, which frightened him and he quickly put away his smile and began to persuade Yu Qian.
"Yu Shaobao, your majesty is right. You should stay in the capital wholeheartedly. The last time you went out of the capital, something like that happened. If it happens again, your majesty will have to overthrow the court. .”
Yu Qian's dark face finally softened, and he said in a low voice.
"I thank your Majesty for your love and affection. I am grateful that I am a child of the Ming Dynasty. If I can devote myself to the imperial court, I will not hesitate to risk my life. Therefore, I sincerely request your majesty's permission to go to the border in person and be responsible for organizing the military garrison." Things."
"No!"
However, no matter what he said, the emperor's attitude was equally firm.
After pondering for a moment, Zhu Qiyu said.
"Mr. Yu, it's not that I won't let you go, but have you ever considered that once you leave, who should I leave this whole thing in the capital to?"
Yu Qian lowered his head. Although he didn't speak, his expression was obviously disapproving.
It's not like he had never been out of Beijing before. Going back further, when Kuang Ye, the former Minister of the Ministry of War, was out of Beijing, he was also acting as the minister. Organizing the military camp was the top priority. Other ordinary government affairs were enough for the minister to handle for a while. .
Seeing this situation, Zhu Qiyu knew that he was still dissatisfied, so he thought about it and asked again.
"Even if the Ministry of War has two ministers who can temporarily take charge of the ministry, let me ask you, even if you rush to the border in person, can you guarantee that all problems will be solved?"
"You are already the Seventh Minister, an important minister of the country. Nothing has happened yet, so I have to ask you to go. If something unexpected happens again, or there is someone who even you can't deal with, why don't you let me go in person? Going on a northern tour?"
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