After hearing this, everyone fell silent again! They all secretly lamented Zhang Juzheng's skill. He was able to control the court in such a short time. He was truly a great man of his generation! At the same time, they secretly speculated, if they were in that position, would they be able to reach this point quickly?
After a long time, Zhang Qida said slowly: "If our people are allowed to surrender to Zhang Taiyue, how long will it take for him to completely control the court?"
Liang Xihan said: "Half a year to a year!"
Hu Zhiyu put down his tea cup and said loudly: "Brother Buyuan, what do you mean? Why did you let our people take refuge with him? Do you still want to help him change the law?"
Zhang Qida said with a serious face: "I do have this idea! Judging from what we know now, he may be preparing for the reform, or he may want to straighten out some things! But judging from what he has done , what he did is beneficial to the court! So we might as well let him try to do it first! "
Hu Zhiyu sneered and said: "Let him continue? I don't have to think about it to know what he is going to do next! It must be to clarify the land acres, clean up the hidden fields and hidden houses, and rectify the taxation! This is a knife to the gentry of the world. ! You must know that the gentry in this world are the cornerstone of the country!"
Lin Huaiying said: "It is true that the gentry is the cornerstone of the country, but the people below have gone too far! Everyone, since the establishment of the country, from the Taizong period, the land acres in the world have been counted, and now the court accounts record that the acres of land that can be paid taxes Not only has there been no growth, but it has actually decreased by 20% compared to the period of Emperor Taizong! Isn’t this incredible? It should be noted that compared with the period of Emperor Taizong, the population has increased several times and countless fertile fields have been cultivated. But how could such a result occur? "
Chen Qiaodong interrupted and said: "Of course they were hidden by the gentry! But fortunately, they did not hide all the population! At least in the accounts of the dynasty, the population still increased!"
Hu Zhiyu suddenly changed his face after hearing this and said: "My Hu family has a little more land, but it has been accumulated from generation to generation. It is not like you who manage a lot of workshops and have contact with countless smuggling channels. Only then have we accumulated so much wealth! Compared to you, those of us who live off the land are much cleaner!"
Chen Qiaodong said: "How can you be so clean? Concealing land, concealing population, concealing taxes, squeezing tenants and people, colluding with local officials, bullying men and women, you do all kinds of evil! Although we have dealings with pirates, we are still Isn’t it better to be shot with one knife than to act like a hypocrite?"
Just when Hu Zhiyu was about to speak, Zhang Qida raised his hand and said, "Everyone, don't forget that we are discussing, not quarreling!"
Lin Huaiying also joined in and said, "That's true! We are sitting here to discuss world affairs, so we must put the world first! You must know that if the skin is gone, the hair will not be attached! If the people are forced to rebel, The first to bear the brunt are the gentry of the world!"
Hu Zhiyu said angrily: "Aren't there nobles? Let them lead the troops to suppress the thieves!"
Lin Huaiying said helplessly: "Don't mention those nobles. Their bones have been soaked by wealth for a long time! It is much easier to let them chant the wind and moon than to let them ride horses to fight! Now I even doubt how many nobles there are. Can you ride a horse?"
Liang Xihan said angrily: "We should get rid of all these nobles. It's enough for us scholars to take charge! They are just a group of bugs lying on the ancestor's memorial tablets sucking blood!"
Chen Qiaodong said: "This is impossible! The court also needs nobles to balance us, and we also need nobles as an opponent, otherwise the court may purge us!"
Zhang Qida stopped talking and said: "Stop talking about this! Brother Yue Lin, I would like to ask what is the current attitude among the southern scholars towards Zhang Taiyue's reform?"
Chen Qiaodong pondered for a moment and said: "When it comes to reform, of course no one wants it! After all, only by making money steadily can you live a good life! However, although they think they can make concessions on land taxation, they are worried that the court will make concessions after receiving the profits from the land. , will reach out to industry and commerce!"
Hu Zhiyu immediately said: "I object! People like us are no match for you! As long as we dig some soil to burn it and raise some silkworms, we can make a lot of money! We are digging in the soil! We rely on Only by cultivating crops year after year can we get a little bit of money! Now the court wants to collect taxes based on the acre of land, how can that be done?"
Immediately, the two sides began to argue fiercely, and they were no longer as elegant as before! It’s like a hawker in the market who spends every penny! Among these five people, Lin Huaiying and Chen Qiaodong supported the investigation of Yintian and Yinhu, while Hu Zhiyu and Liang Xihan opposed it. As for Zhang Qida, he remained in the middle and did not express any opinion.
The reason why such a situation occurs is completely normal! Chen Qiaodong supports the investigation of hidden fields and hidden households because his way of making profits comes from industry and commerce, and he himself does not have much land! They even thought that as long as the court collected agricultural taxes, they should not make any decisions about industrial and commercial taxes!
As for Lin Huaiying's support for this matter, it was out of the true intention of a scholar. In his heart, he still cared about the legitimacy of the court. In his opinion, the national tax on imperial grain is the most natural thing in the world!
The most direct reason for Hu Zhiyu's opposition to this matter is that he is a big landowner himself and has countless fields in his family! Wouldn't it be painful to make him pay taxes?
As for the reason why Liang Xihan advocated maintaining the status quo, it was because of the officials' consideration. You must know that at this time, it was the local gentry who really controlled the land and population. If officials cannot establish good relations with the local gentry, their jobs will be unstable! So whether they support or oppose it, they all have their own reasons, but no one considers the situation of the court!
After the two sides argued for a long time, they failed to convince their opponents. Finally, it stopped at Zhang Qida’s signal! Zhang Qida stopped everyone and sighed and said: "Everyone, we are gathered together today for national affairs, not for personal gain. We still have to put the overall situation first!"
Hu Zhiyu said: "It's right to put yourself first when it comes to the overall situation, but you can't just let us lose!"
Chen Qiaodong said disdainfully: "What have you lost? Which one of you here has not received contributions from industry and commerce, it's just big or small! Otherwise, how did these expenses come from?"
Seeing that the two sides were about to argue again, Zhang Qida hurriedly stopped them and said: "Everyone, you have been arguing for long enough! If you are still undecided, just follow the old rules and vote by a show of hands!"
