Gu Yongcheng now also knows that he has been removed from the official gentry status.
This made it difficult for him to accept this result for a while.
He did not expect that His Majesty the Emperor would expel all the officials and gentry in Wuxi from their official status and serve the people because of a civil uprising he initiated against Feng Quan and Qingzhang Tianmu, without caring about who was instigating the civil uprising.
One person preaches the Dharma without punishing the masses, but His Majesty the Emperor wants to punish the entire county for the actions of some people.
But what Gu Yongcheng didn't expect was that his old friends and family would suddenly sell him out at this time.
In addition, when he thought about how even his most beloved student had just pushed himself to the ground in order to escape for his life.
Gu Yongcheng is completely despairing now.
But Gu Yongcheng was still greedy for life. When the soldiers took him into custody, he still struggled to beg Feng Quan for mercy and shouted: "Master Taipei Maker, please spare your life! The common people were really just enjoying the scenery at that time. It’s not the common people who organize the villagers to cause trouble!”
For a time, the moral integrity of the entire Wuxi gentry was shattered to pieces.
Feng Quan was too lazy to say anything more and just went back to the county government office to rest.
After Gu Yongcheng was taken back to the county jail, the general manager of Biaoying followed Feng Quan's order and interrogated Gu Yongcheng.
Right from the start, the commander of the battalion put a stick on Gu Yongcheng.
In the eyes of the Biao camp commander, this should be the lightest punishment. After all, it is just pinching the fingers.
But Gu Yongcheng still screamed heartbreakingly after his fingers were pinched.
"It hurts! I said, I said, the people who were instructed by me to organize the villagers to cause trouble were Dang Chongfeng, Kuang Qingsheng, and Luo Rui."
Gu Yongcheng even directly confessed his accomplices.
Because of this, Feng Quan easily identified the key criminals who organized the villagers to cause trouble, and immediately ordered these people to be arrested and brought to justice.
With the arrest of Gu Yongcheng and Emperor Zhu Youxiao's strong stance that Wuxi would not give Wuxi scholars the opportunity to enter official careers if the matter of clearing the land and acres of land could not proceed, the whole of Wuxi was able to smoothly implement the next action of clearing the land and acres of land. Go down.
Many of the gentry's hidden fields that had been cleared were re-registered.
And these powerful gentry also consciously paid back taxes.
It's just that the cost is a bit high.
From the time when Xichang was sent to the south of the Yangtze River to collect taxes, to when Feng Quan successfully carried out the land clearing in southern Zhili, a large number of gentry were expelled from their honors, and were even punished and died for it.
Originally, the gentry wanted to threaten Emperor Zhu Youxiao by cutting off grain transportation.
Unexpectedly, Emperor Zhu Youxiao took a tough stance and used force to collect taxes and forcibly clear land from Nanzhili, where the gentry was most concentrated.
The gentry did not expect that the emperor would be so desperate, so he was caught off guard and disgraced.
However, there is naturally great resentment between the government and the public.
But because the foundation of the Ming Dynasty is still there, the common people have not reached the point where they can no longer survive, and the establishment of the captives in Liaodong has not yet become large.
Therefore, the gentry who have never dared to take risks since ancient times can only endure it forcibly.
"Your Majesty is completely disregarding the righteousness of the monarch and his ministers! The Ming Dynasty will not be destroyed in only twenty or thirty years, so why should your Majesty be so unscrupulous! Doesn't your Majesty know the consequences of Yang Guang? Even if the Ming Dynasty can continue to be a country for another hundred years, if this continues , will be shorter than thirty years!”
Ye Xianggao spoke very excitedly after knowing what Emperor Zhu Youxiao had done in Jiangnan, and then shouted to the north again in great pain: "Your Majesty! Can you stop flipping the table over at all times? You are bullying us. Don’t you dare to rebel against you?!”
Ye Xianggao felt dizzy as he spoke. He couldn't help but hold the edge of the table, sit on the chair, and breathe heavily.
His son Ye Chengxue hurriedly supported Ye Xianggao: "Father! Calm down your anger. This country belongs to the Zhu family anyway. If the tyrant acts like this, the Zhu family's country will also be destroyed! If he really controls the country, We gentry are pushing too hard, don’t think we dare not resist!”
"What's the opposite! Is it because I can't live anymore, or do I not want my head on my head?"
Ye Xianggao said: "Your Majesty has identified the weakness of us people who dare not risk everything, but I didn't expect that Your Majesty would dare to risk everything. This is not the style of the Taiping Emperor! I, Ming Dynasty, are not watching. He wanted to destroy his country and his family, so he would rather be known as cruel and implement such a cruel policy!"
…
"You must think that my administration is harsh, but what I want to tell you is that since ancient times, this has been a combination of leniency and severity. Before the Ming Dynasty, it was too leniency, which led to the corruption of the court and the lack of support. In fact, as long as this world, who can keep the king Even if he doesn't obey the law, my strict rule will not be strict on him, and he will only feel my grace!"
Zhu Youxiao started talking to Li Ruhua, who was called to the political affairs hall by Congzhehe. After speaking, he asked: "How are the collection of taxes in Southern Zhili, the affairs of clearing the land and the examination process going, are there any progress?" No results?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, the results have been remarkable. We estimate that more than 1,700 shi of tax grain, more than 8 million taels of gold and silver, and more than 1 million shi of white grain have been collected. In addition to the 4 million shi of tax grain that need to be transported to In addition to the local chief secretaries replenishing the local granaries, more than 1,300 stone tax grains, more than one million white grains and more than 8 million taels of gold and silver have been shipped to the capital, which will greatly enrich the national treasury!"
Fang Congzhe started talking with a smile. He had to admit that although the policy of tax collection and land clearing was very harsh when implemented, it did greatly fill the national treasury, so that the national treasury could not only make up for the deficit over the years, but even have some leftovers now. Quite a lot, because according to the income from water grain and white grain before the Ming Dynasty, it was only three to four million dan per year.
And the current one-time collection can be worth the total revenue of the national treasury in the past three or four years.
Therefore, Fang Congzhe, as the chief minister of the cabinet, is also sincerely happy.
After hearing this, Zhu Youxiao nodded: "In this way, the two million stone tax and grain after the additional Liao rates are levied can be exempted. I will issue an edict and announce it to the world. Except for what has been levied, everything that has not been levied will be exempted." The additional levy will be stopped. The levy will be officially suspended after the first day of the first month of the second year of Tianqi. The governors and inspectors of all provinces will conduct strict investigations at that time. Anyone who continues to collect Liao pay in violation of the order will be impeached and severely punished!"
"Your Majesty is as benevolent as heaven, and I would like to thank you for your kindness to the people of the world!"
Fang Congzhe and Li Ruhua both replied.
Li Ruhua was even more relieved.
"Where's the exam?"
Zhu Youxiao asked as he spoke.
Li Ruhua hurriedly replied: "Your Majesty, after the implementation of the Kao Cheng Law, all the backlogged tasks since the Temple Dynasty have been dealt with, and more than 500 mediocre officials have been dismissed from their posts. The administration has been completely renewed. Once there is a shortage of officials in various places, they have been replaced." The gap can be made up in half the time than before.”
“Especially after the Metropolitan Procuratorate replaced state and county officials who were outstanding in local examinations, the number of corruption cases discovered increased significantly, and the number of impeachment chapters involving officials bullying the people tripled compared with the past. The number of articles of impeachment against officials in the DPRK has been reduced by half, which shows that the imperial censor is more pragmatic than before!"
Fang Congzhe also added.
Zhu Youxiao nodded after hearing this: "It's finally getting better in the beginning!"
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