Seeing their appearance, the ministers also understood that what the emperor said was probably true, and they couldn't help but feel a little frightened.
Dongchang's power has actually reached this point. Can he even detect this?
They only felt that the thick court clothes on their bodies had no covering effect at all, and countless eyes were staring at them in the darkness.
Zhu Jianshen looked at Menda coldly, with a cruel smile on his face, which contained anger:
"Escape? This is my palace, where do you want to escape to?"
Then there was an angry shout:
"You guys are so brave. You dare to frame a minister. What crime should you be punished for? Mr. Li Ge is the first assistant appointed by the late emperor. He allowed you to plot the murder. I will take it down and hand it over to the judge for conviction!"
Immediately, wolves and tigers of pro-army troops rushed out and tied up the three of them.
All this happened so fast that before the mouths of the ministers could close, the three of them were already being escorted away.
All the ministers in the court looked at each other in confusion, but did not dare to make any sound.
An emperor's master, a commander of the royal guards, and an emperor's personal eunuch.
That’s it?
Everyone saw the new emperor's thunderous tactics and ruthlessness. For a moment, all the ministers were frightened. Perhaps they had some contempt for the young emperor, thinking of fooling around in some places to make profits for themselves. Now I also put my little thoughts away.
Yan Jingxiu stood among the crowd, just watching all this with cold eyes.
Once the emperor and the court ministers, as the emperor's personal eunuchs and imperial advisors, they could easily be promoted without taking the throne. How could two ministers who had sneaked into the central government be so stupid? Ah.
On the other hand, although this Menda was favored by the orthodox, he had many bad deeds, and in recent times, the power of the Jin Yiwei had indeed become too expanded.
Killing two birds with one stone, the new emperor is really a good trick.
He aimed at Li Xian, the chief minister of the cabinet.
As expected, Li Xian, who was the center of the incident, stood firmly in front of him, motionless, and did not seem to be surprised at all.
They are all old foxes.
However, most of the courtiers were still shocked by Zhu Jianshen's move.
The court meeting fell into silence for a short time. Zhu Jianshen did not speak, but scanned the ministers with his eyes. Everywhere he looked, the ministers felt a sense of oppression. With the silent atmosphere, the pressure increased sharply.
After a while, Zhu Jianshen seemed to have finally lost his temper and slowly said:
"Everyone, if you have any matters, you can discuss them with me."
With his words, the atmosphere seemed to warm up a bit.
A few more breaths passed before an official stepped out and reported:
"Your Majesty, the fifty-sixth generation grandson of the most holy King Wenxuan of the Dacheng Dynasty, Kong Shi Kesheng of Qufu sent people to Beijing yesterday."
Hearing the name of Confucius, the officials below immediately came to their senses and their faces became serious. Even Zhu Jianshen, who was sitting on the throne, couldn't help but sit up straight and listen attentively.
"Your Majesty, he said that the Kong family has been multiplying in Qufu for hundreds of years, and the population is growing day by day. Although God has received God's grace and has been given a lot of heaven, earth and property, it is still difficult to bear the cost of survival for many descendants. It has already made ends meet. I ask your Majesty to reduce the cost. Kong’s land rent.”
Hearing this, Yan Jingxiu couldn't help curling his lips.
Even the Yan family, a small family in the late Yuan Dynasty, has grown to a large population now.
The Kong family has been reproducing for many generations. Even though they have encountered many troubled times, there is no war in Qufu, Schrödinger's city.
I don’t know how many people there will be in the Kong family in Qufu. keep? What a joke! Even if the land rent is reduced or exempted, it will not be able to support so many descendants of Confucius! It is obvious that the senior officials of the Kong family have never taken care of such a large Kong family.
Most of the children of the Kong family eventually became ordinary people, or even worse than them, becoming tenants. Most of the land should be in the hands of Yan Shenggong and a few upper-level members of the Kong family.
Now, the memorial is nothing more than the contemporary family head who wants to make profits from his numerous properties.
However, despite saying this, there was still a hint of envy in his heart.
After all, the only one who could directly propose to the emperor to reduce taxes for one family and one surname was the Holy Duke of Beikong Yan.
The Yan family is still growing and even has troops overseas. Why? Just self-protection. Like the Kong family, who don't have to do anything and can continue to enjoy glory and wealth with just a nod of the head at critical moments. Which nobleman in the world wouldn't envy them?
Regardless of anything else, they are indeed the pinnacle of the aristocratic family.
If nothing else, Emperor Chenghua would never refuse his request.
As expected, Zhu Jianshen responded almost without thinking:
"The Supreme Saint King Wenxuan of Dacheng has made great contributions to all generations, and it is appropriate to give generous benefits to his descendants."
He pondered for a moment and said:
"I will reduce the land rent by two-thirds! What do you think, gentlemen?"
Below, the ministers’ answers were unanimous:
"Your Majesty is holy."
Giving preferential treatment to the descendants of Confucius is undoubtedly a sign of Confucianism. This is simply an act of a sage! The eyes of many officials showed joy.
Yan Jingxiu's eyes became sharper, but he still followed the crowd and bowed down:
"Your Majesty, Holy Ming!"
This is, hit me with a stick and give me a sweet date?
…
"Yan Shenggong, Yan Shenggong!"
Kong Kesheng rushed into the study room of Duke Yansheng's mansion excitedly, shouting loudly:
"Your Majesty agrees! From now on, my Kong family's land rent will be reduced by two-thirds!"
His eyes were full of excitement, and Yan Jingxiu guessed correctly that the Kong family's evacuation this time was purely the idea of Duke Yan Sheng, in order to pay less rent for the land in their name.
Now that his wish has been fulfilled, he only needs to pay one-third of the land rent for such a large land, and his wealth will expand several times. How can Kong Keshang not be excited?
In the study, the contemporary Yan Shenggong Kong Hongxu was sitting at an angle, holding a volume of "Spring and Autumn" in his hand.
Hearing the shout, he didn't even raise his head, just smiled faintly:
"Isn't that natural?"
Kong Ke was stunned for a moment, then suppressed his smile and said respectfully:
"yes."
This is of course a given.
…
The emperor exempted the Kong family from taxes, but it was not just the Kong family that was exempted.
Many people around the Kong family saw that Kong Hongxu could be exempted from so much land rent, so they naturally surrendered their land to him. And Duke Yan Sheng himself also used his own methods to constantly buy or plunder nearby land. The land under his name is getting more and more.
Of course, there are more and more lands enjoying rent-free status.
The taxes in Qufu area disappeared silently.
This kind of situation is constantly happening in various places in Ming Dynasty.
Although they did not have the terrifying influence of the Kong family, who could reduce or exempt land rents, the gentry's privileges regarding corvee service were terrifying enough, and the heavy burden of corvee service made the common people unbearable and forced them to surrender to the land.
Land annexation intensified in the mid-Ming Dynasty.
Famine, drought, and floods also caused the people to lose their livelihood and encouraged the gentry to occupy land.
Countless people had no land to cultivate and were forced to go into exile.
Landowners, natural disasters, and taxes formed a vicious cycle.
A large number of refugees are emerging in the Ming Dynasty.
(End of chapter)
