Zhou Peigong and Li Guangdi both have true love for the Qing Dynasty. Of course, they wholeheartedly hope that the Qing Dynasty will get better little by little. Now that they see that the Ming Dynasty has a good way to collect salt tax, they naturally hope that the Qing Dynasty can follow suit, so they both nodded.
"Although the fake Ming is a traitor, there are indeed many good methods. The officials seem to be relatively honest. They are really incomparable with the former Ming... We really have to tell the emperor about their good methods."
"It makes sense! This is called the master's plan to defeat the enemy. There is no shame in it."
Zhang Ying nodded and said: "Now that we have got the salt, we just need to go to the merchant to buy table salt and we are good to go. By the way, when I went to Guanyinhao just now to do some work, I found many scholars from Yangzhou countryside. Checks are being exchanged."
"What are they doing in exchange for banknotes?" Zhou Peigong asked.
Zhang Ying said with a smile: "Of course I want to take the exam with my banknote...Pei Gong, Jin Qing, you two are also going to take the exam. There will be a provincial exam here in Yangzhou Prefecture next month. As long as you pass You can go to Nanjing to take the exam. With your knowledge, it shouldn’t be difficult to pass this provincial exam, right?"
According to the plan formulated by these "rebellious Confucians", their next step is to divide their troops into three groups and go all the way to Nanjing to reason... They will also write a letter on the bus to oppose the equalization of land and instigate a boycott of the examination.
Scholars are rebelling! Of course, one cannot act recklessly without being reasonable, so Zhou Peigong and Li Guangdi went to Nanjing to be responsible for reasoning.
Along the way, he went to Tongcheng to plan an uprising! The plan they made before was for Tongcheng, Changzhou and Shaoxing to work together.
But after studying the counter-proposals here in Yangzhou for a period of time, they realized that they couldn't do this. .
On the one hand, it is because their strength is limited and they will be too weak after being divided into three. On the other hand, there was almost no way to escape after the failure of the Shaoxing and Changzhou rebellions.
Considering Ming's powerful force, the rebellion will definitely fail!
If there is no way to escape after the rebellion fails, then wouldn't going to Changzhou and Shaoxing to cause trouble mean getting someone killed?
This matter of giving away someone's life is not something ordinary people can do... It would be terrible if someone couldn't bear it and betrayed the organization!
So after careful consideration, everyone decided to concentrate the rebel forces in Tongcheng, and Zhang Ying and Gao Shiqi would go to Tongcheng to lead the rebellion. Tongcheng is very close to the Dabie Mountains. After the rebellion failed, they could easily escape to the territory of Wu and Zhou by burrowing into the mountains.
In addition, Zhao Shenqiao worked alone and stayed in Yangzhou to take charge of the salt transportation business established by several of them.
Li Guangdi, who was preparing to go to Nanjing with Zhou Peigong to study on the bus, had been a child prodigy since he was a child. He loved exams the most. When he heard that there was a provincial exam in Yangzhou, his hands immediately started to itch. He smiled and said: "Okay, let's take one." Bar!"
Zhang Ying nodded: "I know you, Li Jinqing, are very skilled... The cram school for the provincial examination has already given you and Pei Gong's report!"
Li Guangdi was stunned, "What? Tutorial...class?"
Zhang Ying smiled and took out three thread-bound books from his sleeve pocket and handed them to Li Guangdi, "Brother Jinqing, I have asked about it. These three books are "Lun on Land Equalization", "Lun", "Lun" and "Treatise on Land Equalization" that must be tested in this provincial and joint examinations. "The Preliminary Interpretation of Arithmetic Science", "The Preliminary Interpretation of Shape Science"... This "Treatise on Equalizing Fields" is said to explain why it is necessary to equalize land. Together, "The Preliminary Interpretation of Arithmetic Science" and "The Preliminary Interpretation of Shape Science", It is used to measure the size of the fields. It seems that Zhu and Ji Juntian are very determined and will do whatever they say to the end!"
"Then we have to take a good look!" Zhou Peigong has already rushed to get the "Lun of Land Equalization" in his hands. We must first know what Zhu's reasoning is, and then we can refute him speechless in the book on the bus. ...Then Tongcheng raises troops under the banner of Confucian Shenggong. Even if we lose, we can still use the name of Confucianism. In the future, there will be chaos in the Pseudo-Ming Dynasty! "
Li Guang nodded, "That's right, we have to take a closer look... Dunfu, are there any more?"
"Yes, yes... I bought three copies of "On Land Equalization" in total. Let's take one copy each and take a good look at it."
The book "On Land Equalization" is a thin book, with a total of only 10,000 to 20,000 words. The content is not complicated. It only talks about three issues. The first is fairness; the second is clarifying property rights; and the third is suppressing mergers.
According to Zhu Heji, due to the corruption of officialdom since the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the immorality of scholar-bureaucrats, and various improper actions of the Ming court itself, the land ownership situation in the world has become extremely chaotic. A large number of official fields and guard land were occupied, and private grain households transferred their land to the names of feudal princes and scholar-bureaucrats in order to avoid taxes. There is also a large amount of land that has been hidden and has not been recorded.
After the Manchus entered the country, they massacred the scholar-bureaucrats and heroes who dared to resist their tyranny. As a result, the lands of the warriors who resisted the Qing Dynasty were divided among the obedient people and shameless scholar-bureaucrats who had their heads shaved and surrendered to the Qing Dynasty.
In view of the above reasons, King Jianguo Ming believes that the current land occupation situation is unjust and unfair, so the heavy division must be overturned!
Secondly, due to the turmoil since the late Ming Dynasty and the policies of renaming fields, relocating coastal boundaries, and enclosing flag lands implemented under the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the land ownership situation in the New Ming Dynasty is now very chaotic. Many people occupy land that does not belong to them and are constantly worried that it will be taken away by the original owner, so they cannot produce with peace of mind. Therefore, there is also a need for redistribution to thoroughly clarify property rights.
Finally, and of course the most important reason, is that the land equalization system can greatly inhibit mergers!
The New Ming Dynasty actually allows mergers, but it cannot allow extensive and unrestricted mergers!
Therefore, after the equalization of land is completed, the land in the new Ming Dynasty will be divided into "equal land area" and "public and private land area". The former is collectively held by clans or villages and cannot be transferred!
The land in the Juntian District will account for most of the total arable land in the entire New Ming Dynasty. This part of the land will be used to ensure the country's basic taxation and military service. The middle and lower class people will have fields to farm, houses to live in, and food to eat. , and their children have books to read.
The area of public and private farmland is not small, but the proportion of arable land is not high. These lands can be government-owned or privately owned, and transfer is allowed.
However, private land, including land owned by the royal family, Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, are not exempt from taxation for any reason. Of course, it is owned by the state, except for land used by the royal family or the Confucian sect.
In addition, the Ming Dynasty will also levy inheritance tax on these lands and their ancillary buildings at the appropriate time!
At the end of this book, "On Land Equalization," he also tells readers quite earnestly that excessive concentration of land and wealth will inevitably lead to despair at the bottom and corruption at the top. Moreover, the upper class who monopolize a large amount of land and wealth will probably also monopolize power. This will not only block the upward path of the lower class, but also transfer the tax burden to the lower class.
At this time, the world will be in chaos! Therefore, once the equalization of land promoted by the New Ming Dynasty is successful, it can greatly delay the arrival of the next great chaos...
There was silence in the study.
The three people who had finished reading "On Equalizing Land" all sat there in a daze.
I don't know how long it took before I heard Zhou Peigong cough and say: "Since Zhu Ni dares to call himself a saint, and so many people are bewitched by him, what he explains is that... he is quite confusing. Human!"
Zhang Ying nodded: "Yes, yes, yes...this is a false truth that confuses people!"
Li Guangdi said with certainty: "That's right, this is similar to the Wang Tian system created by Wang Mang. It is a scholar's theory and is intended to bring chaos to the world. It must not be implemented! It seems that those who will bring chaos to the world must be Zhu Heji. also!"
Not to mention, Li Guangdi really found the reason to oppose the "Equal Land System".
Zhou Peigong also nodded and said: "The equal land system is indeed Wang Mang's policy... and the system of rural sages proposed by Shenggong is the real Confucian way! We can use Shenggong's system of rural sages this time. Attack Zhu Heji’s land equalization system!”
Now I finally found the truth!
The so-called rural meritocracy system is actually the tax farming system... The tax farming system was mentioned by Kangxi when he was discussing politics with others. If it really needs to be written into a great imperial edict, of course it deserves a nice name.
This name is the system of rural virtuous people.
