"The soldiers in the guard have long been reduced to slaves of the officers. They depend on the officers' charity for everything in their lives."
"The imperial court distributes ten taels of silver, and in the end the soldiers can get two taels, which is considered very good!"
Hearing this, Zhu Zaijing was not surprised at all. Corruption in the late Ming Dynasty and the late Ming Dynasty was famous in all dynasties.
"As for ordinary soldiers, they usually only focus on farming and training. How do they rely on the sources of news from the court? Not through the officers!"
Yang Bo continued, "Officers will definitely nod and bow to the court, but when they turn around, taxes are still taxes."
"Anyway, the soldiers at the bottom cannot find out the real news from the imperial court. Canceling the tax on military fields will enrich the officers!"
Suddenly, there was dead silence in the cabinet.
Zhang Juzheng sighed deeply involuntarily.
"Your Majesty!" Gao Gong said, "This matter is not something that happened in recent years. It started a long time ago. Your Majesty, you don't have to..."
"Are Mr. Gao afraid that I will back down?" Zhu Zaijing said with a smile, "Mr. Gao is overly worried. This will not affect my mentality. If I back down because of such a small thing, my role as emperor will be in vain! "
Everyone looked at the emperor expectantly after hearing this.
Since the past few days, the new emperor's previous panic and confusion have disappeared, and the current emperor seems to have everything in mind. Facing this empire that is in a mess both internally and externally, the new emperor has not shown the slightest bit of cowardice.
All this was seen by Zhang Juzheng, which strengthened his belief that the emperor could bring about a real New Deal.
"I want to cancel the policy of paying taxes on military fields, let's start with Jiubian Military Town!"
"When it comes to hardship, the soldiers on the border have the hardest time. Many of their conditions are more difficult than those of the soldiers in the inland guard posts."
"I know that under the inland guard posts, many military households collude with businessmen and officials to make some extra money. There are many ways and connections! The conditions are far less harsh than those of soldiers on the frontier!"
The population on the border is not large, so it is naturally not as prosperous as the mainland. Although it is said that military households in the Mainland Guard can only be soldiers and cannot be involved in other industries.
But in many cases, the soldiers in the inland garrison have more land than the soldiers on the frontier, and they can occasionally earn some extra money to build houses or temples for businessmen and wealthy people.
But the soldiers on the border did not have this condition. The population there was not large, and there were naturally no wealthy businessmen. Moreover, places like Liaodong were even more bitter and cold, and the grain harvest from farming was no better than in the hinterland.
It is not impossible to do business with those Mongols and Jurchens, but the income will be taken to the hands of the officers. Can ordinary soldiers earn a cent?
The most terrible thing is that you have to face sneak attacks and attacks from enemies that come out of nowhere.
"So I think that to reduce the burden on military households, we should start from Jiubian! After all, they are the most suffering and the most dangerous."
"The saint is no better than your Majesty!" Gao Gong said.
He couldn't hide the joy on his face when he looked at his student, who was now so independent and methodical.
The emperor's teacher is a profession that will leave a lasting reputation, not to mention what if the emperor is even better?
"Then I will start making arrangements! Master Yang?"
"I'm here!"
"You are the Minister of the Ministry of War. I want you to personally preside over the cancellation of military field taxes in the four counties of Tongzhou: Xia Sanhe, Wuqing, Xianghe, and Miao counties. You can personally preside over it!"
Now everyone is confused. Shouldn’t it be canceled starting from Jiubian? Why did we start from Tongzhou, the nearest city to the capital?
Zhang Juzheng was keenly aware of the emperor's intention. Before Yang Bo could ask a question, he answered first, "Does your Majesty want to test the results in Tongzhou first?"
Zhu Zaijing shook his head.
"This is not an experiment, but Jiubian Military Town and the four counties of Tongzhou are canceling military field taxes at the same time!"
"The Minister of the Ministry of War personally presided over it, and the Jiubian Military Town over there also implemented it separately. Then, six months later, we will compare the data from both sides, so that we can see the real results of canceling taxation in military fields."
Only then did everyone understand.
Tongzhou is very close to the capital, and the Minister of War is personally watching it. No one dares to hide it, so naturally the effect of the policy implementation is the best and most ideal.
On the Jiubian side, the officers will definitely conceal their reports. If the data differs too much from the Tongzhou side half a year later, it means that the abolition of taxes on the military fields in Jiubian has not been implemented at all.
At that time, Jiubian will receive some sorting from the emperor inside and outside.
Xu Jie squinted at the emperor.
The little emperor has a pretty good mind!
"I will go to Tongzhou regularly and keep an eye on this matter in person!" Yang Bo understood and responded immediately.
Yang Bo is used to seeing things in the army, so these cannot be hidden from his eyes. If he keeps an eye on them personally, the effect of canceling taxes on military fields can ensure the best results.
Then put aside factors such as land, harvest, climate, etc., and you can get the average data for the cancellation of military land tax.
The imperial court would have a rough idea of how much profit the military households could make and how much food they could keep in their hands.
Zhu Zaijing will then make a surprise inspection.
If I find that the food in the hands of your military households is too different from the average, you will see if I can do anything to you!
Of course, doing this is not enough to fully implement the policy.
"Also, deliver the message!"
"In the Jiubian Military Town, the garrison eunuchs and the commander-in-chief...are the deputy commander-in-chief. They will come to Beijing within fifteen days to have an audience. I want to meet them in person and learn about the border defense."
As the emperor's eyes and ears, eunuchs had guarding eunuchs in some important towns. For important national defense areas like Jiubian Town, the emperor trusted the eunuchs sent there.
Zhu Zaijing did not want to see them at all, but wanted Feng Bao to make an evaluation after they returned to the capital to see which ones could be trusted and which ones could not.
Because these guarding eunuchs were all from the Jiajing period, it was necessary to reorganize them and arrange them to be Feng Bao's people.
But when you meet the deputy commander, you can truly understand the real situation in Jiubian Town.
The chief soldier is the highest local military commander and is usually directly appointed by the court.
But these top leaders definitely report good news but not bad news. You can only hear good news from them.
On the contrary, if you inquire about the situation from the second-in-command, such as the deputy commander-in-chief, it will be different.
First of all, most second-in-commands have thoughts of replacing the first-in-command, right?
With this idea in mind, as long as you are not colluding with the top leaders, the things in that place won't be all whitewash, right?
There is no need to hide the shameful things done by the top leaders.
You can even push your own affairs to them!
Of course, there will be some exaggeration, but Zhu Zaijing is happy to see this.
One is to beat and beat those general soldiers, who are tightening their butts on the border.
The second is to loosen these soldiers from the inside. They have been training together and living together in the army all year round, so the relationship is naturally very good.
But who would refuse the opportunity to kill the leader in front of the emperor and become the leader?
Moreover, after the second-in-command met the emperor, the first-in-command did not dare to do anything to him when he returned, right? In this way, you won’t be afraid of being threatened when you return, so you will naturally tell the true situation there, right?
Hehehe, I am really a clever emperor!
"By the way, there is one more thing I want to inform you." Zhu Zaijing patted the dust on his dragon robe, "The corruption and bribery case of Yin Zhengmao, Fang Yankong, and Zhao Yunfeng yesterday in Dongchang has been closed."
"I have decreed that these three people will be beheaded in public, their homes will be confiscated, and their families will be sent to Liaodong!"
