When he first spoke, Wang Cheng was still a little nervous, but as he slowly spoke the rest of his words, he became much more calm.
However, the further he went on, the more surprised the kings became.
There are also many farms in their palaces, the main part of which is also the land granted by the court. However, it is basically impossible for these land grants to be connected together.
This is not difficult to understand. The fiefdoms of vassal kings are usually in fertile lands. Therefore, if there are many gentry entrenched, they will occupy a lot of fields. The land granted by the court is the official land outside their fields. This in itself will lead to uneven situations in specific addresses.
Moreover, the feudal kings lived a luxurious life, so after these granted fields became their private property, part of them would be sold off for various reasons. In addition, sometimes these fields would also be used for rewards.
On the other hand, the feudal king hired ordinary tenants to farm, and these tenants would also find ways to own their own fields. Many tenants would either reclaim wasteland themselves, or find ways to buy and sell local fields through trust relationships, which would also lead to this situation. Appear.
Of course, the most important reason is that the lords themselves do not care about this kind of behavior, because for them, the most important thing is whether the fields are fertile or not and whether they can collect rent. As for whether the fields are connected One piece, but it doesn't have much impact.
However, in Wang Cheng's description, Huangzhuang would rather pay a high price to exchange fields with the surrounding people, but also connect all the fields into one. In the eyes of these feudal kings, this is undoubtedly an act that outweighs the gains and losses.
The advantage of the land being connected is that it is easier to manage, but the problem is that the emperor is behind the imperial village. Is it possible that it can't support such a small number of manpower?
Compared with whether the fields are together, whether the soil is fertile and how much it can produce is obviously more important. Even fields in the same area are divided into superior and inferior. If you want to buy the entire field, there will inevitably be differences. A small amount of lower-grade fields were included.
It’s not just picking up sesame seeds and throwing away watermelons, but it’s a sense that the gain outweighs the loss.
In addition, the vassal kings did not treat ordinary tenants very harshly. On the contrary, they would take the initiative to reduce or reduce the land rent for tenants during disaster years. During festivals, they would also give tenants Give some wine, meat and food as rewards.
For example, those who are desperate to exploit tenants can only be done by some small wealthy families, and those who get rich in a short period of time. Families with a little accumulation will not push tenants too hard. After all, the land will always be there. Someone has to plant it, and if the tenants are forced to have no way out, they will leave their homes and become refugees, running around. At that time, it will be useless no matter how much land they have.
But, again, the reason why the lords gave some preferential treatment to the tenants was to retain them and let them work hard. In essence, they still hoped to receive more rent on time.
Therefore, although they could understand Huangzhuang's approach, they were still surprised.
Forget about growing grain, Huangzhuang has to provide even things such as cattle and iron plows. Not to mention, Huangzhuang even purchased private houses for these tenants to live in. Together with these people, they are eating for free. Living in vain?
Moreover, they originally thought that doing so was outrageous enough, but who would have thought that what Wang Cheng said next would shock them even more.
"...for an acre of land in Huangzhuang, the rent is twice as much as the official land tax, which decreases year by year. It is reduced by half a dou a year. When it reaches the same level as the private land tax, it will no longer decrease. In addition, if you live in a private house in Huangzhuang, you must pay three dou per year. , no payment will be made after ten years, land tax will be paid if the household head dies, and grain payment for private houses will be calculated again.”
"These are the basic rules of Huangzhuang. Today, Huangzhuang has accommodated more than 23,000 refugees, and they can pay their rent on time. The people among them are always grateful for God's grace."
It is normal for the land tax in the imperial village to be higher.
However, what the lords did not expect was that the rent would be reduced year by year. In this way, if it was some unfavorable land, in about fifteen years, the rent would become the same as the tax on ordinary private land, even if it was some The best fields will not last more than twenty years.
This means that the fields in Huangzhuang will be directly owned by these tenants in twenty years?
If they could understand the previous measures, then these feudal kings could not understand this one at all.
Could it be that the emperor thought he had too much private land and couldn't wait to give it to the people?
Thinking about it this way, it's not impossible.
Therefore, after Wang Cheng finished speaking, King Xiang on the side said.
"Your Majesty is kind and considers the suffering of the refugees. This is actually a benevolent act. These people can enter the imperial estate and not suffer from excessive taxes and miscellaneous taxes. They don't have to worry about growing grain, farming cattle and other things. They can concentrate on farming. In fact, The emperor's grace is so great that it helps the people of Sri Lanka!"
As soon as these words came out, the feudal kings reacted.
Indeed, the emperor is different from them. If Huangzhuang is to deal with the refugees caused by the disaster near the capital, then doing so is indeed of great benefit.
However, a lot of the land in the imperial village will be lost. From this point of view, the emperor is willing to sacrifice his own interests to help the people, which is indeed worthy of the name of benevolence and virtuousness.
For a moment, all the kings agreed with King Xiang.
"Your Majesty's saintliness and kindness are truly a blessing to the people."
Seeing this scene, King Xiang glanced at King Min intentionally or unintentionally, with a vague intention of targeting.
These two princes have become enemies since the last funeral. Although they usually ignore each other, on occasions like this, they actually have a hidden intention of competing for victory.
Just now King Min asked himself to cut his salary and get the limelight, now King Xiang is not willing to fall behind.
Zhu Huixuan obviously knew what King Xiang was up to. He met his gaze and cast a look at King Xiang, with two words clearly written in it.
idiot!
Is it true that the emperor called so many of their vassal kings here just to gossip?
Why, these two eunuchs in charge of Huangzhuang Huangdian, because they did so well, the emperor asked them to show off?
If the emperor's plan was still unclear just now, then Wang Cheng's words just now have almost exposed the emperor's plan.
The reason why the emperor told them the management of Huangzhuang in such detail was because he was keeping an eye on the granted and private fields in their fiefdom.
If nothing else, the emperor should want to promote this imperial village model to various vassals.
In this way, a huge problem that troubled the imperial court, the problem of refugees, could be successfully solved.
After all, the biggest reason for refugees is land annexation. The people at the bottom have lost their land and have no food and clothing. Naturally, they can only leave their hometown and find another way out.
The operation method of Huangzhuang is extremely special. Strictly speaking, the essence of Huangzhuang is land annexation, and it is the kind of unscrupulous buying and selling.
Zhu Huixun stayed in the capital for a long time, and he didn't want to be like the idiot King Xiang, who knew how to squeeze the disciples of the sect to earn face all day long. He would pay more attention to many news in the capital.
Therefore, others did not know Song Wenyi, but he knew it.
This so-called mining tax eunuch was unscrupulously buying fields from the gentry near Gyeonggi Province during this period. If he refused to sell them, he pointed out that there were mines under the fields of their residences and made them pay high mining taxes.
】
I don't know how many gentry, under pressure, had to sell their fields at a price far lower than the market price. This is why the rapid expansion of Huangzhuang is now possible.
Even this matter has been discussed a lot in Beijing recently. Although the New Year has just passed, the time is rushed, and many evidences are insufficient, it is said that many scientific officials are ready to go to court on this matter.
That is to say, these vassal kings have never cared much about the government affairs of the court, so they focus on the vassal reform and are very slow to respond to other affairs.
Originally, Zhu Huixuan was still wondering how Song Wenyi could hide such behavior from the emperor. Now it seems that this was simply the emperor's tacit approval.
Although Huangzhuang is a land annexation, if the management method mentioned by Wang Cheng can be achieved, then only the local gentry will be damaged in the process.
Of course, this premise is that the annexation process only targets gentry, not ordinary people.
However, judging from the news Zhu Huixuan has received now, at least for now, Song Wenyi still looks down on the fields in the hands of scattered farmers.
In other words, after Huangzhuang annexed the land in the hands of the gentry, it used it to resettle the refugees, providing them with food, cattle, utensils, and even shelter, so that the refugees could have a place to live and work, and become the royal family. tenant.
Just like what King Xiang said just now, although the tenants in the imperial village do not have their own land, they do not have to be exploited by officials with various exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes, nor do they have to worry about growing grain, farming cattle and other things needed for farming. Can be rented for a long time.
The most wonderful thing about this management method is actually the method of reducing land rent year by year. Although the rent these refugees had to pay in the past few years was extremely heavy, almost to the extent of nine out of ten, they could still survive barely. .
The longer they have been farming, the more hope they can see, and the more reluctant they are to give up the tenant quota in Huangzhuang. In this way, the refugees who were originally difficult to control are firmly bound to Huangzhuang again.
Even during the execution, some eunuchs secretly exploited these tenants, but at least in the past few years when the rent was the heaviest, these eunuchs did not dare to do so, because the rent itself was heavy, and if they exploited them again, they would start again. leading to an escape.
When the time comes, the rent due to the emperor cannot be paid. These eunuchs do not have the talisman of the court official, and they may move their heads anytime and anywhere.
As for the refugees, they have nothing to begin with. Even if it is the heaviest land rent, as long as it allows them to survive, they will definitely scramble for it.
Therefore, from the perspective of the country, this is undoubtedly an excellent strategy.
but……
"The establishment of the Imperial Village has indeed solved the problem of refugees near the capital. However, this problem is not unique to the capital. In recent years, droughts, famines, floods, locust plagues, and various natural disasters have occurred frequently, and the number of refugees everywhere has continued to increase."
"So, I think the Imperial Village can continue to be expanded to alleviate the difficulties of refugees in various places. What do you think?"
Sure enough, after hearing enough flattery, the emperor raised his hand and lowered his hand, spoke with a smile, and asked the princes present.
As soon as these words came out, the faces of all the feudal kings became a little embarrassed.
The management method of this imperial village is indeed good, but the problem is that they collect rent well, why bother with this?
It is time-consuming and labor-intensive, and the land rent collected every year is gradually reduced. Is it possible that it is just to resettle the refugees for the imperial court?
Although these vassal kings claim to serve the country and have a duty to do so, when it comes to this, no one wants to be taken advantage of.
So, they all looked at King Xiang in unison, their eyes full of resentment.
Tell me, why do you take the emperor's advice when you have nothing to do? As a result, it is now difficult to get off the tiger.
They had just boasted the Imperial Palace so much that they couldn't just find various reasons to refuse as soon as the Emperor asked them to do it.
Seeing this situation, King Xiang also complained a little in his heart.
He just said a few words of flattery casually. Who would have thought that the emperor did not intend to donate food (?) or reduce salary, but he would be waiting for them here...
However, feeling everyone's gaze, King Xiang had to step forward and speak.
"Your Majesty, today is Qingning. Officials from all over the country are working hard to resettle the refugees in a timely manner. Even if there are refugees, they can be resettled in a timely manner. The people pay attention to returning fallen leaves to their roots. People have always been hard to leave their homeland. Therefore, I believe that as long as the court provides timely relief and resettlement properly, the problem of refugees will not be solved. It’s just for a while.”
"Furthermore, the imperial court is now in the process of reorganizing the military garrison. A large amount of land in various places has been taken over as official and military fields. The imperial court is busy with affairs. If we expand the imperial village at this time, we may lose sight of one thing and lose the other. This is my humble opinion."
With King Xiang taking the initiative, other vassal kings also agreed, saying.
"Yes, Your Majesty, what King Xiang said is reasonable. The imperial court has always provided disaster relief appropriately. The problem of refugees is only temporary. The best way is to let the people return to their hometowns."
"Yes, yes, that's exactly it..."
However, those who spoke were all relatively young vassal kings, but King Zhou and others were twirling their beards and lowering their heads, wondering what they were thinking.
Seeing this situation, a smile appeared on Zhu Qiyu's face, but he did not respond directly to these vassal kings. Instead, he gave a few instructions to Hua En who was standing aside.
So Wynn accepted the order. Not long after, he returned with the two servants, and already had several thick account books in his hands.
Order someone to hand over the account book, Zhu Qiyu said.
"This is the annual harvest account of several imperial estates in the past few years, including the expenses for acquiring acres of land, houses, purchasing grain, and cattle after the imperial estate was rebuilt. All of them are included. You may wish to take a look. Maybe you can I have other opinions about Huangzhuang.”
Even before he ascended the throne, as one of the only two heirs of Emperor Xuanzong, Zhu Qiyu had a lot of land grants.
Therefore, he naturally has more than one farm in the suburbs of Beijing.
An account book in the hands of the kings, each recording the accounts of different large and small farms.
In fact, when they saw the accounts, the kings had already guessed what the emperor wanted to say.
However, when they saw these accounts, they were still shocked...
