"The morning seeks promotion and the evening seeks harmony. It is difficult for poor people to survive these days. I go out early to worship Chongzhen, and I am happy to discipline everyone. I bring my wife, children, and parents to support me. I leave my home and come to Xi'an. When I come to Xi'an, I join Chongzhen. I have food and clothing." wear......"
Inside the Shaanxi Governor's Office, a Suzhou native was singing a Shaanxi folk song at this time. It is a "popular ballad" that has been sung crazily in all parts of Shaanxi in recent months except the Guanzhong Plain, Ningxia Plain, Hanzhong Basin and Huang River Valley. ".
This singing Suzhou native was still an official. He was Zhang Pu, who was a new scholar in the fourth year of Chongzhen and is currently the magistrate of Ansai County, Yan'an Prefecture.
It's the successor of Donglin and the leader of Fushe. He was appointed as a new official two months ago and went to Gao Yingxiang's hometown to serve as his parents' official... After two months of official service, he lost a lot of weight. , and also tanned a lot, he didn’t look like an official, but more like an old Shaanxi farmer.
In addition to being dark and thin, he was also dressed in shabby clothes. He wore a washed-out official attire that had faded and had patches in several places. It looked painful!
Oh, it’s not that it looks painful, it’s really painful, so painful that I almost cry.
He finally won the imperial examination and became an official, and he was released from the county magistrate. Logically speaking, he could make some money... Of course it was not corruption. Zhang Pu was the successor of Donglin and the leader of Fushe. Corruption was not possible. However, the county magistrates of the Ming Dynasty were still a bit rich. They had Zaoli differential silver and various regular silver to take.
Among them, Zaoli Chai Yin is actually the money used by officials at all levels to pay for the exemption of servants. In addition to the statutory salary, the treatment of officials in the Ming Dynasty also included exemptions and exemptions, and the servants were part of the folk corvee. Starting from the Yongle period, people can be exempted from military service by exchanging silver.
However, the Zaoli difference is not a big sum of money, and the number of Zaoli allocated by Zhang Pu to the county magistrate is also limited, so it cannot be exchanged for much difference. Regular silver is the real bulk of local officials’ income! The so-called regular money is the sum of a large number of items that ask for bribes or charge arbitrary fees. It is not that the county magistrate keeps it all, but the money is shared among the layers, and everyone gets the money. Starting from the lowest subordinates, to the county magistrate, magistrate, and chief minister, everyone has a share. If you look at it a little more broadly, regular silver is actually a commercial tax or a head tax... Although the tax received by the Ming Dynasty was not much, the people below did not pay less!
If Zhang Pu had not taken the lead in organizing a public petition, with his reputation among the scholars in the south of the Yangtze River, it would be common for a wealthy county to receive two to three thousand yuan of silver a year.
With this regular amount of money, he could live a happy life as an upright official with clean sleeves.
But he offended the little emperor and was sent to Gao Yingxiang's hometown as an official... Ansai County is now so poor, and there are rebels every day, and the subordinates below are living in fear. My hands are shaking when I collect money. Where are there so many routines to send money to?
Moreover, Zhang Pu was particularly unlucky. When he took office as the county magistrate, he happened to meet Zhang Cai, one of the second Zhang Cai of Loudong, because of his military exploits (when Monk Wang and Gao Yingxiang failed in the Xi'an uprising, Wang Er also fell in Luochuan). He was betrayed by his subordinates and lost his head) was promoted to the prefect of Yan'an and became his immediate boss... This Zhang Cai would not be grateful to Zhang Pu for being promoted to the prefect. The current prefect of Yan'an is an official who takes the blame!
Regardless of whether the various financial and food targets are met, there might even be a rebellion by the hungry people!
Therefore, Zhang Cai didn't have a good look at the group of "official scholars" who were sent to Yan'an as county magistrates. He immediately put down harsh words. No one was allowed to take regular money, otherwise he would join them!
Of course, in the official circles of the Ming Dynasty, there was no such thing as using regular money to participate in people's affairs. Hai Rui was so strong back then, that is, he didn't take it himself, and he didn't use this matter to interfere with others.
But Zhang Pu, Yang Tingshu and other "official scholars" were different. They offended the emperor!
Everyone knew that Zhang Cai wanted to join them just to vent his anger on the emperor and had nothing to do with other officials. Moreover, Zhang Cai’s reasons are sufficient. The civil uprising in Yan’an is imminent. How can an official who is a parent be willing to intensify his search for people’s wealth? If it triggers a civil uprising, he will be a sinner of the country!
But if Zhang Cai does this, Zhang Puke will be miserable. Because Zhang Pu was raised by a maid, he did not inherit much family property, and the time he passed the imperial examination was short. He was also busy being Dong Lin's successor, so he did not save much family property. Now I have to be an upright official in Ansai again... I don't know when it will be the end?
Of course, Zhang Qingtian's suffering could only be kept in his heart, and he had to pretend to be asking for help for the people. Every once in a while he would run to Yan'an Prefecture - to ask for food for the hungry people, and also to disgust Zhang Cai, an eunuch.
However, the grain was not invited, and Zhang Cai was not annoyed to death by him. Instead, he and several other "official scholars" were brought to Xi'an Mansion to see the governor.
Only when we arrived in Xi'an did we find out that it was Bi Ziyan, the governor of Shaanxi, who asked the prefects and county magistrates of Yan'an, Qingyang, Pingliang, Gongchang, Lintao, Fengxiang, and Xi'an to go to the provincial capital to inquire about the refugees.
Zhang Pu and Zhang Qingtian knew very well about the refugees. He visited the poor these days to inquire about their sufferings. Although it was of no use, he still fully understood the sufferings of the people. He also discovered that people with unknown origins were encouraging the hungry people in Ansai County to move to Xi'an... and even I even learned the latest popular folk songs in Yan'an Prefecture.
"In Futai, there are people in Mizhi County who are also singing this song... It has tempted many hungry people to go south in groups, causing a huge decrease in the population of this county!"
"Futai, there are also people singing in Ganquan County, and it has also tempted many people to go south."
"Futai, it's the same in Yichuan County. Some people are singing, which makes people in this county uneasy and no one can farm with peace of mind."
"Futai, we in Bao'an County are also singing 'Dou Chongzhen'... people are singing and running away!"
"Futai, our Heshui County also..."
After Zhang Pu sang a song, in the lobby, almost all the magistrates said that there were people in their jurisdictions who were using this song to encourage hungry people to emigrate.
The exodus of hungry people becomes refugees. Although it can relieve the pressure on food supply in the place of emigration, it will also cause a drop in production and tax revenue in the place of emigration - without a population and empty land, there is no way to produce!
And once production drops, there will naturally be no hope of collecting all the taxes.
These household registrations and taxes are all the achievements of officials! If your household registration is reduced and taxes are low, how can you get promoted?
Ye Tinggui, the right envoy of the Shaanxi Chief Envoy Department, was also in the governor's office today. After listening to the words of the following county magistrates, he smiled and comforted everyone and said: "Everyone is at peace, Long live the Lord has issued the decree before leaving Beijing. Exemption from the land tax in Shaanxi counties for the next five years starting from the fourth year of Chongzhen, except the Guanzhong Plain, Hanzhong Valley, and Ningxia Plain... So you don't have to collect this year's autumn grain. The arrears from previous years , and no collection is allowed.”
The five-year food exemption has also come, which is two years more than the three-year food exemption proposed by Li Zicheng. Moreover, Zhu Youjian's actual plan is even better than this. It will not only be free of food for five years, but will be exempted until Chongzhen 17 Year...if Shaanxi was still under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty at that time!
Of course, Zhu Youjian's "grain-free" is more precise than Li Zicheng's "grain-free", so one size does not fit all!
Places that were severely affected by the disaster were exempted from food supply, while places that were not severely affected by the disaster or were not affected by the disaster had to continue to pay food, and even had to pay additional taxes!
Otherwise, so many officials and troops in the imperial court would starve to death? And the court still has to provide disaster relief! If the major grain-producing provinces like Huguang and Sichuan, which do not pay any taxes, do not take more responsibility, the emperor Zhu Youjian will not be able to make a living without rice!
“If we don’t urge or levy, what are we, the county magistrates, supposed to do?”
"Yeah, what else do we parents think?"
"Everyone has run away and taxes are no longer collected. What else are we doing?"
A group of county magistrates are also difficult to serve, and they are not happy if they are not asked to work... But think about it, why do you want to be an official thousands of miles away? It’s nothing more than fame and fortune. In a county where all the people are running away from their parents' official posts, they must have little reputation. If we don’t collect taxes, the profits will be gone.
With no fame or fortune, why would you stay in a remote place like Shaanxi?
Bi Ziyan coughed at this time and spoke: "Everyone...this old man wants to ask you something...do you know how to ask for food?"
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