Then the officials would compile a general ledger of all the handymen in the county and distribute it evenly to everyone in the county.
This was the practice of "contracting silver for handymen" after the Ming Dynasty, and also the origin of the so-called "head tax".
But there is a big problem here. The exchange of money for handymen is a policy, not a law. Moreover, the Ming Dynasty stipulated that "officials" were exempted from labor service, so officials naturally did not have to pay exemption money! And this non-payment is legal.
However, the land tax for official households was unavoidable and everyone had to pay it. Only the clan and nobles have been exempted from tax. Because their property was given by the emperor, they did not have to pay taxes or serve. Similarly, if the emperor grants a minister a thousand acres of land, he does not need to pay taxes or perform labor on this land. But other fields have to pay taxes and serve!
Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty, issued an edict: "The people who live in a family with enough food and salary are equal to those of the common people. Those who serve in service are the things of the common people. If a wise man and a gentleman value his family and return to serve his body, then he will be a gentleman and a barbarian." Being indiscriminate is not the way to encourage scholars to treat the virtuous. From now on, those who are officials whose families have land will be exempted from corvee service except for paying rent and taxes. ("Records of Taizu of the Ming Dynasty" Volume 111) "
It can be seen that officials and gentry are not exempt from tax. But don’t forget that a huge part of the power of the Ming Dynasty was in the hands of the gentry and officials. They began to confuse concepts after Zhu Yuanzhang’s death, gradually expanded the exemption of officials, and transferred it to the common people! In the end, it became a rule recognized by "people all over the world", that is, gentry and officials are exempt from tax! And this "people of the world" naturally refers to the gentry and officials who have the right to speak. As for why the common people know so much, they just pay taxes and serve!
After He Lishui finished speaking, Liu Fangyuan's face turned as pale as earth! And the people on the river bank who heard the news made even louder noises! "It turns out that all the money in the world has been lost by these officials because they are greedy!" Discussions like this continued, and it became even more noisy!
But on the bank of the river, Xu Wanjiang felt extremely excited. He had never known that warriors could one day be proud of themselves in front of civil servants! Although the Baihu opposite was a subordinate of Wu Ninghou, he felt honored!
As a royal guard, Xu Wanjiang should be able to show off his power! But this show of force also needs the strength behind it to support it! If the emperor is strong or trusts the Jin Yiwei, they can run rampant in the world! But if the emperor is weak and the civil servants are strong, then things will be reversed!
But it just so happened that this was the time when the power of civil servants was at its peak. Even members of the Imperial Guard like Xu Wanjiang had to smile with them when they saw civil servants, otherwise they would slap them with bullets and turn them into disgrace. It would be a trivial matter. If It would be a pity to lose your official position!
What's more, their commander Liu Shouyou couldn't stand up at all. Seeing Zhang Juzheng was like a mouse seeing a cat, let alone the people below him! So after Xu Wanjiang saw the scene in front of him, he felt that he would never let it go if he had the opportunity to humiliate a civil servant!
So with the intention of seeking knowledge and watching a good show, he asked He Xianli and the others: "You three, are the things that Baihu said true?"
When He Xianli and the other three heard this, their faces turned red immediately, but they were speechless for a moment! Jiang Yuzhong's face turned red because he was a royal censor, and if he wanted to impeach others, he had to know some laws. So he had a vague impression that the facts were just like what He Lishui said, but he couldn't remember it clearly at all!
And because after listening to He Lishui's words, he felt as if he had been stripped naked, exposing the fact that his family had evaded taxes!
As for He Xianli and Wu Yunshan, their faces turned red because they didn't even know this was happening! But seeing that He Lishui dared to tell these things in public, they expected that they would definitely not be false! So they actually have a feeling that their knowledge is not as good as that of vulgar warriors, which makes them feel ashamed!
In fact, situations like those of He Xianli and the two were not uncommon among officials of the Ming Dynasty. Because for these people, the only way for them to make progress is through the Four Books and Five Classics, and other things are just miscellaneous knowledge that will not help them get promoted and make money. Naturally, no one wants to read it, and even if they do, it is just for entertainment.
Anyway, after they were Jinshi in high school and went to work as officials, they naturally had masters to lead those "filthy officials" to deal with those "filthy" "mundane things". We officials only need to be romantic and have prostitutes.
Just sing! And you don’t even have to pay for it yourself.
Xu Wanjiang couldn't help but feel relieved when he saw that the three people's faces turned red and they didn't say anything. By the way, I despised the three people in my heart before turning my attention to the canal.
At this time, Li Feiyu also realized the seriousness of the current problem, and he definitely believed that what He Lishui said should be true! Otherwise, if he said such words at this time, he would have offended officials all over the world! If you tell lies, you will probably die without a burial place! Even Marquis Wu Ning couldn't protect him! Only when he told the truth could many officials hold their noses and ignore him.
When He Lishui saw that Liu Fangyuan was silent, he deliberately stepped aside and said, "Master Liu, that's it for now. Shouldn't you also let the tax collectors board the ship to inspect the goods so that you can collect the tax money?"
Ordinarily, since He Lishui was given the opportunity to go down the steps, Liu Fangyuan should just go down the slope. But Li Feiyu has been an official for a long time, and he is extremely arrogant. Especially when facing warriors, he feels superior! So when he saw someone walking down the steps, he felt humiliated!
And he feels that since the other party can make concessions, he will make more concessions! So for the sake of his own face at the party, he actually said sternly: "You martial artist are just talking nonsense! You are clearly trying to deceive people and ruin the reputation of scholar-bureaucrats! Today I want to see what you can do to me?"
He Lishui's face immediately darkened when he heard this! When he saw Liu Fangyuan acting like he was not afraid of anything, he said with a ferocious smile: "It's true that there is a way to heaven but you don't take it, and there is no door to hell and you just throw yourself into it! Come on!"
Following his shout, a team of guards in golden uniforms quickly ran over from the tea shed. Liu Fangyuan felt chilled when he saw this situation, but he still didn't believe that the other party dared to arrest him, so he said stubbornly: "What, you still dare to arrest me?"
He Lishui said with a sinister smile: "You will know soon whether you dare or not!"
After speaking, he took a step back and said loudly: "Liu Fangyuan violated the laws of the country, used his power to smuggle goods for personal gain, fabricated tax exemptions in an attempt to evade taxes! He also blocked the Jin Yiwei from enforcing the law, take him down!"
