Speaking of this, Jia Quan glanced at Huang Qiong and said: "What's more, according to the customs made in the early years of the founding of the People's Republic of China, after the prince became a vassal, he did not take salary and was granted land instead. After the title was reduced to General Fengguo, Yongye Field was taken back and changed to Salary system. According to the regulations made in the early years of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the salary of a general serving the country for one year is only equivalent to that of a sixth-rank official."
"At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, due to the continuous wars in Longyou, Shaanxi, Henan, Hebei, Shandong, and Lianghuai, bones were exposed in the wild, and there were no roosters for thousands of miles. Especially in Henan and Shanxi, almost every ten houses were empty. However, Jiangnan, which had become an important land of wealth in the late Tang Dynasty, was still in the hands of the former Tang Dynasty. The government's income was dwindling every year, and it could not even meet the military expenses, let alone support the clan."
"The vassal division method formulated by the Guilin County Prince at that time certainly had the idea of solving an urgent need, but it also avoided the embarrassing situation of spending more than half of the annual income to pay the clan salary each year due to the proliferation of clans in previous dynasties. If this method continues to be implemented , but it’s a good idea.”
"But this system, although the three emperors Taizu, Taizong, and Gaozong were still barely maintaining it, it was broken during the reign of Xuanzong. Xuanzong first broke the prince's vassal status, and the Yongye land was not allowed to exceed 5,000 acres. He was given it at one time The second son, King Guang, granted him 10,000 acres of land and allowed him to purchase the land himself. When his fifth son, King Ye, became a vassal, he was even rewarded with 20,000 acres of fertile land in Daming Prefecture in Hebei Province."
"Not only did King Guang fail to stop him from violating the rules of the court and raising the land rent to 57%, but he also issued an order to exempt the tax on newly added land. As soon as this example started, the rest of the clan followed suit. Not only was it more decorative He unscrupulously used various means to expand land, and even refused to pay taxes on newly acquired land."
"In the Lizong period, Emperor Lizong died suddenly after Emperor Duanzong, and because Emperor Duanzong had no children, he succeeded him as a prince. In order to suppress the internal affairs of the clan, especially those of several brothers, In response to criticism, we simply exempted the land occupied by the clan from all taxes, and changed the Yongye Field to Granted Land instead of taking it back, and made it a permanent rule to take the opportunity to buy off the clan."
"As soon as this statement was made, clans from all over the country invaded and occupied people's land. These clans are not the landowners in the former Tang Dynasty. They invaded and occupied land, and the government dared to control it. What's more, some of these clans also have the duties of supervising hundreds of officials. . When a memorial is issued, it affects whether an official can still wear his official hat."
"The rents and taxes are set by oneself. The court's stipulation that the maximum land rent should not exceed 40% has been ignored for a long time. Fifty-five percent is a common phenomenon, and 60% or even 65% are not uncommon. These clans are intent on invading people's fields, but no one is taking care of them, and no one dares to take care of them."
"Those peasants who had their faces turned to the earth and their backs turned to the sky, after their land was taken away from them, either sold themselves to the princes' families as long-term workers, or even became slaves to farm the land for these princes and clans. Or they could not afford to pay the land rent for these princes. , so they can only come out and become refugees."
"Although the imperial court has repeatedly issued decrees requiring the refugees to return to their places of origin, and even used the army to force them back again and again. But what can these refugees do when they return to their places of origin without their land? Go back to the clan and continue to make annual harvests and pay the rent. Apart from seed grains, what are the remaining tenants who don’t even have enough to make ends meet?”
"In addition to the clan's aggressive occupation of land and the exploitation of the common people, there is also the administration of officials. Now it is also extremely rotten. Officials at all levels from the central government to the local governments are working together to make money in various ways. Don't talk about other places, this is the capital at the feet of the emperor. In a good place, if you don’t pay tribute to the government, you won’t even be able to do a small business.”
"Nowadays, people are just trying to get things done, and they don't dare to go to the government to file a lawsuit easily, because even if they win, they will lose everything. If you don't feed the officials, big and small, in the yamen, even the lawsuits that can be won will be lost. Officials The Ministry relies on selling officials, and the real price of fat and thin is clearly marked. A seventh-grade magistrate in Huaiyang area is 30,000 guan, and a magistrate in Jiangnan is 50,000 guan."
"All kinds of money and food allocated by the Ministry of Household Affairs, except for military pay and salary, have been peeled off layer by layer. The Ministry of Works has always allocated only 70% of the money and food for river workers, and the remaining 30% is put into the pockets of officials. When repairing imperial mausoleums and palaces, the merchants who supply materials will not provide them, no matter how good the materials are. The money and food allocated to various government-run workshops have always been discounted by 60%."
"The Ministry of Rites is the poorest. The emperors of the Qi Dynasty all attached great importance to the imperial examinations, so they did not dare to make money from the imperial examinations. But whenever a grand ceremony is held, it is the time for them to make money. During the grand ceremony, a sheep is given three coins outside. After the Ministry of Rites Thirty guans are required for one pass. The Ministry of Punishment is even more lawless. How many of the prisoners in the Autumn Judgment every year are bought as scapegoats?
"As for the Ministry of War, Your Majesty, I don't need to tell you. The Military Selection Department and the Arsenal Department are rich, and they are well-known in both the court and the Central Government. There is also the Yushitai who openly sells impeachment articles, and the impeachment of every level of official is clearly stated. Yes. The starting price for a first- and second-grade official is 1,000 guan, and the lowest county magistrate is 100 guan. In the Imperial College, the quota for a supervisor is 300 guan."
"The real Qingshui Yamen, except for some Yamen with no specific errands such as Sinong Temple and Hanlin Academy, there is no Qingshui Yamen in Daqi Dynasty at all. Even Qintianjian, a specialized Yamen, can rely on selling good time On auspicious days, you can make money from wealthy businessmen among the people."
"This is still the center, but it gets even worse when it comes to local areas. The imperial court has set a tax rate of one for ten taxes, and those prefects and counties dare to receive one for eight, or even one for seven. Officials in prefectures and counties clearly indicate the actual price, how much does a pian official pay? Money, how much does a policeman cost, how much does a government servant cost."
"Nowadays, in various local officials, those in charge of litigation make money from lawsuits, those in charge of corvees and money and grain make money from corvees, money and grain, and those in charge of academic affairs openly sell the quota of students in the dining room. Those in charge of the military preparations of the local guards start from Make money from the guards and the quota of money and food. As for the salt tea ceremony, there are more places to make money."
"A salt transporter collects salt from salt farmers and is only willing to pay 800 coins for each stone. One stone of salt is mixed with two pounds of sand, and then it is sold to the salt merchant for a constant payment of five. He has been a salt transporter for three years. , Who doesn’t accumulate a family fortune of more than hundreds of thousands of guan? Some officials in the capital would rather not be a sixth-grade and fourth-grade chief, but would rather be an eighth-grade salt transport envoy.”
"The year before last, when the Huainan Yancao transshipment envoy became an official, there were as many as eleven large ships filled with gold and silver property. How many ordinary people would have to lose their lives to pay for these gold and silver properties? After these people collected the money, , are all used to buy land. They have a reputation, so of course they don’t have to pay taxes on the land in their name, and no matter how much food they harvest, it’s their own.”
"Even if there is a natural or man-made disaster, if the gold and silver treasures can be moved away, who can move away from this land? As long as there is land, they will not be poor. Xie Zifang, the former great scholar, minister Zuo Cheng and minister of the Ministry of Punishment, in He was originally from Zhongxiang Mansion on Huguang North Road and had 150,000 acres of land."
"As for the Guilin County Prince's Mansion, which is said to be the richest in the world, the entire land on the east and west roads of Guangnan are basically owned by people with the surname Liu. At present, five to six tenths of the most fertile land in the world is in the hands of the clan and court officials. These People follow the customs and do not pay money or grain for the land in their name. This has caused the imperial court's annual income to decrease day by day. Now even officials can only receive 70% of their daily salary."
"The importance of land annexation in this dynasty is probably only comparable to that of the Later Han Dynasty in the past dynasties. He is indeed diligent in his administration, and can even be said to be one of the few diligent emperors since the First Emperor. But what is the use of his diligent administration alone? How much can you see and how much can you control? Besides, most of the officials below report good news but not bad news. How many injustices can be written in one memorial?"
"The emperor was too clinging to power and wanted to seize everything. The result was that he could not seize anything. The Yushitai and the Six Ministries have almost become decorations. As the chief ministers of a country, several prime ministers of the Zhongshu Province have almost become He became his yes man. He is the only one who is tired of this in the whole Qi Dynasty."
"Political knowledge and human relations, I don't know where the prince sees it. If nothing else, it is under the prince's nose. At the foot of the emperor, in Luoyang City, the most virtuous place, how many unknown corpses are carried out every day? Although I am diligent in my work today, , but the trend of luxury in the world is still taking shape, and I am afraid that he alone cannot save it."
"Nowadays, the civil servants of the Qi Dynasty are only interested in making money, and the generals are no good. The civil and military officials in the Qi Dynasty only care about enjoying themselves and amassing money, but they no longer have a court in their hearts. Although there are sixty armies in the world Over ten thousand, except for the four major battalions in the capital and the border troops, which are relatively good, the local guards on all roads have long been rotten and have no combat effectiveness."
Listening to this guy's criticism of the political situation, Huang Qiong, who had done similar analysis with her mother, although she agreed with his analysis and judgment, she could not easily express her agreement at least for now. Especially when it comes to government affairs, you cannot express your approval directly, and some things even need to be suppressed.
Looking at this guy who was somewhat extreme in his analysis of government affairs, Huang Qiong did not answer him. Instead, he said calmly: "If you tell me these things, you are not afraid that I will send you to Jingzhao Mansion for treatment." Are you guilty of making irresponsible remarks about the government? Although this dynasty does not kill people with words, your disobedient remarks are intolerable to anyone in power."
"Quan believes that the prince would not do this, otherwise the prince would not bury Quan's father in a grand ceremony and condescend to pay homage in person. Those words Quan just said are indeed enough to be beheaded. But if you rely on these few words alone If he said that, he would send Quan to the government for punishment. Quan thought that there was no need for the prince to take all the trouble." At this point, Jia Quan laughed slightly unnaturally.
However, although he felt somewhat guilty, it was obvious that this guy had no intention of giving up the idea of having a conversation with Huang Qiongkai. After swallowing his saliva, he continued: "Your Majesty, according to your kindness to Quan, there is no problem in letting Quan do his best to advise you."
"The ancients have a saying: If you receive a drop of kindness from someone, you should repay it with a spring of water. Your great kindness to Quan allowed his father to be buried in a grand ceremony. This is something Quan will never forget. But Prince, Quan still says the same thing. If the prince only wants to be a peaceful and wealthy prince, it doesn’t matter if you don’t use the power, and it doesn’t matter if you don’t use it to the best of your ability. The prince can protect himself with his own abilities.”
"If you want to do something, you really need power. My lord, to be disrespectful, even if you really haven't thought about some things, do you think you can really escape it? First of all, you were born In the Heavenly Family, you will be involved in the battle for the right to inherit the throne, whether you like it or not."
"You have no ambitions, but will the prince believe it? If he believes it, what about the people in the palace whose identities you know very well? The most important thing is that Prince Quan Suwen is extremely narrow-minded and has always been a flaw. There must be revenge. Although the king of Huaiyang County said that he did not harm his mother and son, the revenge of being imprisoned for three years is probably unforgettable for the prince. "
