Holding the slightly messy paper in his hand, Zhu Qiyu looked at Yu Qian with a bit of dissatisfaction, but Yu Qian nodded seriously and said.
"Your Majesty, this is the third thing I want to say."
"Although the imperial village is named after the royal family, after all, the imperial village in each vassal area is different from the imperial village in the capital. The imperial village in the capital is the land given by His Majesty when he stayed in the residence. It is His Majesty's private property. However, each The royal village of the vassal land is used as official land."
"Since it is an official land, it should be under the jurisdiction of the imperial court. This is the fundamental policy."
It should be said that Yu Qian is also very clear that things have developed so far. There is no turning back when the bow is fired. The emperor's will has been clearly announced, and it will definitely not work if he wants to go back on his words.
Therefore, he could only think of solutions based on specific practices, and the solution he finally came up with was actually to place the Imperial Village under the jurisdiction of the local government. To this end, he even designed a complete set of management methods, including rights and responsibilities. Divisions, assessment standards, and even personnel allocation and transfer methods are all considered.
However, no matter how carefully Yu Qian thought about it, this was obviously not what Zhu Qiyu wanted.
"Local officials?"
"Sir, he said that eunuchs can easily deceive superiors and subordinates, and vassal kings can oppress the people. Does that mean that handing it over to local officials can guarantee that such things will not happen?"
"Your Majesty, I can't guarantee it."
Yu Qian obviously expected the emperor's reaction and responded calmly.
"However, local officials are subject to the supervision of the law, and there are mutual restraints between superiors and subordinates. If there is any improper behavior, the court also has laws to deal with it. Everything has rules and regulations to follow. Naturally, the things that the minister just said can be avoided to the greatest extent."
"Even though the eunuchs and vassal kings are loyal to His Majesty, after all, they lack legal restraints and are far less competent than the court officials to manage this matter. Your Majesty, please think again."
Looking at Yu Qian who looked serious, Zhu Qiyu also frowned.
He knew very well that what Yu Qian said made sense. The eunuchs and the vassal kings were only for temporary use and could not be used as a long-term solution.
After all, he also knew how much trouble the mining tax envoys of the Wanli Dynasty caused. It was said that the ministers of the Wanli Dynasty impeached the mining tax envoys because their own interests were touched. However, such a large civil servant group always Not all of them are people who make money and make money. Although there are few people who serve the country and the people, there are always some.
The reason why the mining tax envoys are considered to be a malpractice of the government is because what Yu Qian just said is that the eunuchs are actually outside the entire court system and are not subject to any control. The same is true for the vassal kings. Although today's vassal kings They no longer have actual power, but they enjoy countless privileges. Not to mention local officials, even the ministers of the court have no way to deal with the vassal king.
So to a certain extent, Yu Qian's method was symptomatic. He could not change the status quo of eunuchs and vassal kings being outside the court. Then, he could only bring Huangzhuang into a system that the court could control.
only……
"The purpose of setting up the imperial village is not to make profits for the vassal king, but to hope that the vassal king can also support himself. Yu Qian, you should know that a few days ago, I discussed with the eldest uncle about rectifying the vassal affairs."
After sighing, Zhu Qiyu spoke quietly.
He is very clear about Yu Qian's considerations, but Yu Qian may not be clear about his layout. The role of Huangzhuang goes beyond money and food?
"In the past, Taizu established the system of vassals. The original intention was to prevent the resurgence of the old Yuan forces and to take care of his descendants. However, as time went by, Taizu also realized that the salaries of the vassals were too high, so they were reduced. After Taizong, All kinds of changes gradually took away the power of the kings and increased their salaries."
"Since I came to the throne, I have known that the civil war has depleted the vitality of the Ming Dynasty. All I have thought about is increasing revenue and reducing expenditure. Today, the salaries of the various feudal clans have become a burden on the national treasury. I established the clan school with the intention of giving a way out for the clan children. The past two years have been bad, and the Ministry of Rites wanted to strictly regulate the etiquette system, be careful about the clan system, and strictly enforce the rules of the clan. The regulations have taken shape, but I know that this is just a temporary solution. "
"The system of Huangzhuang certainly has its new disadvantages, but its advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. Most of the land now included in Huangzhuang is the official land confiscated during the previous reorganization of the army. These acres of land were originally owned by the feudal king. With their help, the difficulty of re-administration will be greatly reduced for the mining tax envoys."
"The fine seeds, farming cattle, and agricultural equipment used in the imperial village are all produced by the vassal king. This can not only ensure the annual property tax, but also reduce the pressure on the local government. If there is a disaster in the local area, the people will still have the imperial village to live in. As a result, they are forced to leave their hometown and become homeless, which is the second reason.”
"Although the lord has intervened in the imperial village, it is not the private property of the lord. Perhaps the management of it will enrich his own pockets. However, if the imperial court wants to take it back, it will be easy. And since the imperial village is established, the annual income is enough to cover The stipend does not have to come from the national treasury, which is the third reason."
"With these three, why not?"
Yu Qian stopped talking and fell silent.
For a moment, he couldn't help but recall what Hu Hui said to him at the beginning. The emperor looked at the overall situation and thought much more foresight.
Indeed, from this perspective, the establishment of Huangzhuang can solve many problems. The first is the issue of the transfer of land behind the rectification of military settlements. This time, in order to take into account the interests of ordinary people, the rectification of military settlements only stops at On top of the land registration, the tenants who actually cultivated the land still retained their land lease rights.
According to the original idea, after taking back the land registration, the imperial court should gradually take back the land lease rights and completely manage it according to official land and military land. However, this process will definitely be very long, but the establishment of Huangzhuang can be perfect. to solve this problem.
In addition, as the emperor said, the system of Huangzhuang has greatly enhanced its ability to withstand natural disasters. Before this, the basic management method of official fields was to rent crops to ordinary people, and then the court directly collected taxes. Except for the different tax amount, it is no different from Mintian.
This resulted in the pressure of harvest failure due to natural disasters falling entirely on ordinary tenants. The tenants needed to prepare their own seeds, cattle, and farm equipment. This was already a huge pressure. Once the year was bad, not only would they lose all their money, but they would also lose their money. , but also paste it upside down.
Moreover, Yu Qian also knew that the pressure of poor harvests in official fields seemed to be only on ordinary tenants, but in fact, in the end, it would still return to the court.
Because the fields have failed to harvest, the people naturally cannot pay taxes. If the government imposes taxes, it will only cause civil unrest. Therefore, in most cases, they can only exempt them, and even provide financial relief.
If it were replaced by Huangzhuang, then the pressure itself would be borne by Huangzhuang, the people could get a chance to breathe, and the court could save money and food in disguise, which was indeed a good strategy.
Of course, what's more important is that in the areas where Huangzhuang was established, the land rent of the official fields can be offset against the feudal king's ancestral salary. What's even better is that these official fields were originally obtained from the feudal king. It can be said that the imperial court did not No more money was spent on food, but a lot of money was saved.
In addition, although the emperor did not say anything, Yu Qian could also see that since the emperor planned to use Huangzhuang to offset Zonglu, then it would actually reduce Zonglu in disguise. After all, if there is a disaster year, , Huangzhuang's harvest failed, and Zonglu's salary naturally decreased.
From this point of view, Huangzhuang involves many aspects such as vassal affairs, refugees, taxation, etc. Although there are many disadvantages, the benefits just mentioned are enough for the court to implement it.
After thinking about this, Yu Qian finally felt that his previous methods were a bit radical. Of course, he just felt that he was a bit radical. His point of view has not changed.
After pondering for a moment, Yu Qian spoke.
"Your Majesty is far-sighted and far-sighted, which I cannot match. However, even so, your Majesty wants to strike a balance between the vassal king and the court. This is because he values the friendship between relatives. This is the blessing of our country."
"However, I still want to implore Your Majesty to consider the livelihood of the common people again and again. Although Huangzhuang is mainly used for military garrison and official fields, when the Qianmo is integrated, won't it happen that the common people's fields are occupied?"
"If Zhongguan and vassal kings govern the imperial village, the imperial village will inevitably expand day by day. It will never be satisfied with the existing farmland. It will inevitably expand gradually, and disasters such as mergers and annexations will occur."
"I know that the establishment of the Imperial Village depends on the power of the vassal king. However, even so, the Imperial Village should be under the control of the government. Only in this way can it be put on the right track and a strategy that benefits the country and the people can be achieved."
"As for the money and food provided by the feudal king, it can still be allocated by the local government as usual."
The emperor has the emperor's position and considerations, and Yu Qian naturally has his own positions and considerations.
He may not have the emperor's vision and ability to figure out the overall situation, but as a courtier, he naturally has things that only he can see.
People's hearts have been like this since ancient times, and desires are hard to satisfy. The emperor's idea is very good. However, in Yu Qian's view, once Huangzhuang is established, it will give the vassals a reasonable reason to annex land. They can use the name of Huangzhuang to continue to annex land. Only if the imperial court takes charge of the imperial village can this situation be avoided.
After listening to Yu Qian's words, Zhu Qiyu couldn't help but feel a little helpless.
After all, Yu Qian still wanted to hand over the imperial village to the hands of the imperial court. In fact, it was not that Zhu Qiyu had not considered this method.
However, for one thing, there are many shortcomings in the imperial court today, especially in the local areas. Conservatism prevails. If the emperor's village is newly built, if it is handed over to them, it will be a change of water without changing the medicine, and it will be no different from the management of official fields in the past.
Secondly, although Zhu Qiyu is the emperor, he is also the patriarch of the Zhu family. He must still consider how to arrange the vassal king. However, Yu Qian is different. From what he just said, it can be seen that the vassal king's situation is not important to him. There, I was ranked very far back.
Even if we don't talk about this, the reason why Huangzhuang was handed over to the Zhongguan and the feudal king was to let the feudal king bear the losses in the following disaster years. However, at this level, he really had no way to deal with anyone. People say that even if they say it, no one will believe it.
However, it is indeed not easy to convince Yu Qian without showing these reasons.
After pondering for a moment, Zhu Qiyu's eyes flashed, he looked at Yu Qian and said.
"Yu Qian, do you know how the whole government has viewed your case and you as a person since you were imprisoned?"
Hearing this, Yu Qian was slightly surprised. Since meeting the emperor, he and the emperor across from him had not talked about this case.
Because they all knew that the case itself was just a pretext, and the real reason why Yu Qian was imprisoned was not in this case.
Of course, for Qian, he has always acted with a clear conscience, so he is not afraid of being investigated. When he heard the emperor's question, he lowered his head and said.
"I don't know."
This sentence is of course a lie. With Yu Qian's vision and judgment of the court situation, it is easy to imagine that after he is imprisoned, there will be many people in the court who add insult to injury.
However, if these words were said by him, it would be suspected of criticism, so Yu Qian could only pretend not to know.
Seeing this situation, Zhu Qiyu snorted lightly and said.
"In the past few days, I have received many memorials to impeach you."
"A few days ago, the Ministry of Civil Affairs reported that Xiang Wenyao, the Minister of War, would be transferred to Nanjing. I would like to ask, what do you think?"
Will the officials report it...
Yu Qian, like Ming Jing, sighed silently and said.
"The promotion, demotion and removal of officials are in charge of the officials, and I dare not raise any objections."
Such a perfunctory attitude was obviously not what Zhu Qiyu wanted. He looked up at Yu Qian and continued to ask.
"What should I say? Xiang Wenyao is also the Minister of War. I have worked with you for a long time. I always want to ask you what you think about where he should be transferred."
Seeing that he couldn't get over it no matter what, Yu Qian had no choice but to come up with the solution.
"Shilang Xiang has outstanding abilities, but after all, his qualifications are a bit low and his experience is insufficient, so I think it would be a good thing to go out to the capital for some experience."
So, Zhu Qiyu nodded and said.
"I understand."
After saying a simple sentence without any comment, Zhu Qiyu continued.
"I have handed over your case to Zhu Jian for trial. A few days ago, the case was concluded and it was confirmed that your son-in-law's relatives had indeed invaded the land. After that, Zhu Ji and Yu Mian had indeed done so. I went to Daxing County Government Office and Shuntian Government Office respectively to intervene in this matter."
"Yu Qian, what is your explanation for this matter?"
The tone of these words was vaguely harsh.
Yu Qian was a man with a quick mind. He had already vaguely guessed about the emperor's sudden change of attitude. He sighed softly in his heart and spoke.
"Reporting to your majesty, I don't know about this matter. However, Zhu Ji is my son-in-law, and Yu Mian is my own son. Zhu Ji's relatives used their power to invade the fields. They interfered in local affairs without authorization. This is really a mistake that I did not teach properly. Please punish me. "
"Punishment?"
Zhu Qiyu's face was a little cold and he spoke softly.
"In this case, I will fine you three months' salary and go back to your hometown to discipline your relatives..."
After that, Zhu Qiyu didn't stay any longer, stood up and gave instructions to Lu Zhong beside him.
"Send Yu Shaobao back home!"
Then, without stopping, he walked out of the cell and left the prison without looking back.
At the same time, Yu Qian stood there with an extremely complicated expression.
After a moment, he let out a long sigh, knelt down on the ground, bowed respectfully three times and kowtowed five times, and said loudly to the emperor's leaving back.
"My lord, thank you for your grace. Long live my emperor!"
(End of chapter)
