Land annexation has a long history.
From the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period to the Ming Dynasty, for nearly 1,600 years, the problem of land annexation has never been eliminated.
The rise, fall and collapse of almost all dynasties are related to land annexation.
For the early stage of a dynasty, land annexation is often the lightest, but in the later stage, it becomes more intense and eventually leads to collapse.
Although the land annexation during Zhu Yunwen's period has appeared, it is not serious. This is due to the general environment of the early Ming Dynasty.
In the war at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, a large number of landlords died, and the new landlord class had not yet fully recovered. After more than ten or twenty years, some popularity finally recovered, and a group of landlords emerged. As a result, Zhu Yuanzhang killed most of the middle-class houses.
Zhu Yunwen understands land annexation. Chinese people have a different sentiment towards land.
How can we eat without land?
How can we start a family if we can't solve the problem of food?
Besides, after a hundred years, I will have to return to my roots, so I can’t live in someone else’s field.
For businessmen, the first choice after having money is to buy land.
Scholars, farmers, industry and commerce, businessmen are at the bottom and have no status at all.
When you get rich, buy a thousand acres of land and let the poor folks see clearly that we are not only businessmen, but also have land. Don't discriminate against us.
Then he returned home, rubbed the head of his son who had failed the exam nine times, and told him: "Son, eat an extra bowl for dinner. The family will have plenty of fields to take care of. Don't be afraid. You won't be able to pass the exam this year. I'll wait another three years for you to take the exam." Once you come to our house, you will be transformed. From now on, we will no longer be a businessman, but a house of scholars."
When this dear man passed the examination in his sixtieth year, the sky opened his eyes and he finally passed the Jinshi examination.
Scenery.
Now that he has status, he is different. How can a thousand acres of land be worthy of him?
purchase!
Get five thousand acres!
What, the two idiots next door don’t want to sell their land?
It doesn't matter, go and invite the village chief to have a meal at home.
Oh, the two fools sold their land. One acre of land costs half a penny?
I bother!
I took away thirty acres of land and gave him five taels of silver.
what?
The two fools went to the county government to complain about their injustice?
Let's go and pay a visit to the county magistrate.
What's up with that new mound?
oh……
Even if it is bulldozed, I still have to farm!
Pay taxes?
I am not a Jinshi, do you know the law? I am not a Jinshi, and I enjoy a tax-free quota of 2,000 acres!
My family's land is 2,000 acres, and it's all tax-free.
Whose family is that? How do I know?
When businessmen buy land, in addition to buying property for their children and grandchildren, they often want to transform into the scholar class.
I have no hope in this life. We still have children. As long as we have fields, we will not be hungry. If our children and grandchildren take a test of a hundred or two hundred years and seven or eight generations, they will always have a chance to get ahead.
If a scholar who is not yet an official buys land, then an official who becomes an official must also buy land.
When I get old and become an official, I still want to buy land when I return to my hometown.
Those princes are even more powerful. The whole world belongs to my family, so why buy them?
Take it away, and this land will belong to the prince's palace from now on.
Remember, the emperor rewarded one million acres of land yesterday. What, Jiangxi doesn’t have that much land?
It doesn't matter, people have to learn to be flexible.
Isn’t Jiangxi running out of land?
Then go to Fujian and Hubei!
If that doesn't work, go to Guangzhou.
All in all, the emperor's reward cannot be less than an acre of land!
Zhu Yunwen sighed, thinking about the tragic situation in the late Ming Dynasty, he was filled with unwillingness.
Such a huge empire, with eight acres of land and a population of more than 60 million, could not even collect taxes for 200,000 military pay!
The vast empire is as weak as rotten wood and vulnerable to a single blow!
Zhu Yunwen made up his mind that no matter how much resistance he encountered, he must curb land annexation in his own hands!
The debate among the courtiers began again. What surprised Zhu Yunqi was that although the six ministers expressed their stance, there were still many voices opposing the restriction of land disputes, and various subjects also jumped out to criticize the views of Hu Jun and the six ministers.
"enough!"
Zhu Yunwen shouted in a deep voice.
The courtiers stopped talking and looked at Zhu Yunwen.
Zhu Yunwen didn't speak, just looked at Shuangxi beside him.
Shuangxi hurriedly left the Fengtian Hall. Not long after, eight eunuchs walked into the hall carrying a long table. On top of the long table was a sand table from the Zhili area in southern Ming Dynasty. There were also two eunuchs, each carrying a black paint bucket, standing Beside the sand table.
When all the officials saw this, they didn't know why.
Jing Qing looked at the yellow and black sand table and asked Lian Zining beside him, "What does this mean?"
Lian Zining shook his head slightly and said: "I don't understand, but you will know soon."
Jing Qing frowned, looked at Lian Zining carefully, and said, "Master Lian seems to have rarely spoken these days. Could it be that Hu Jun's memorial made you give up your initial persistence?"
Lian Zining glanced at Jing Qing indifferently and said indifferently: "Every persistence should be on the right path. If you persist in the wrong way, you should have the courage to repent. Mr. Jing, don't lose half your life for the thousands of acres of land at home." Honor!"
"Oh, Jing is not doing it for the land, but for the well-being of the people. If the court restricts the gentry from buying and selling property, how will they survive if there is a natural disaster and the harvest is poor and the farmers are unable to survive? They can only turn to the gentry's family for help. It's a hindrance. According to the laws of the imperial court, the gentry did not dare to buy or sell property, and they closed their homes tightly and refused to enter. At that time, they would become refugees, begging everywhere and dying in other places. Would you like to see such a scene, Master Lian? "
Jing Qing replied indifferently.
The corners of Lian Zining's mouth moved, but he did not refute.
For people who are paranoid and only focus on one place, talking too much is useless and wastes their energy.
Xie Jin, Huang Zicheng and others walked around the long sand table, and then looked at Zhu Yunwen.
Huang Zicheng raised the wat board and asked, "Your Majesty, what is the purpose of this sand table?"
Zhu Yunwen smiled lightly and shouted: "Step aside first, Xia Yuanji!"
Xia Yuanji, the Director-General of Agricultural Taxation of the Ministry of Household Affairs, went out to work and replied loudly: "I am here."
Zhu Yunwen asked: "Can you clearly explain the area shown in this sand table, the geometry of the place, population, acres of land, and taxes and grain?"
Xia Yuanji asked: "What year is the emperor asking about?"
Seeing Xia Yuanji's calmness, Zhu Yunwen couldn't help but nodded slightly and said, "Let's start from Hongwu Twenty-six."
Xia Yuanji walked to the long sand table and reported: "Your Majesty, this is the land directly under the southern part of the Ming Dynasty, covering fourteen prefectures including Yingtian Prefecture, Suzhou Prefecture, Fengyang Prefecture, Huai'an Prefecture, Yangzhou Prefecture, Songjiang Prefecture, and Huizhou Prefecture. , with 1,917,914 households and a population of 10,755,974 people. There are 126.96 million acres of land, with summer taxes and autumn grain. A total of 7,234,820 stones."
After Zhu Yunwen heard this, he couldn't help but secretly marveled.
Xia Yuanji's ability is indeed extraordinary, and this kind of surprise inspection cannot be a problem for him.
It seems that the household department needs to be handled by him in the future.
Zhu Yunwen raised his hand, pointed at the sand table, and said: "In this sand table, the ones painted in yellow are the acres of land in South Zhili in the 26th year of Hongwu, that is, 126.96 million acres. The ones painted in black , it is the land of the gentry, mostly the so-called salary land and tax-free land, so we will not make any calculations for now. Xia Aiqing, tell me, how many acres of land were there in South Zhili in the 27th year of Hongwu?"
"Back to the emperor, it is 123.96 million acres, which is a decrease of 3 million acres compared to the 26th year of Hongwu."
Xia Yuanji replied solemnly.
Zhu Yunwen looked at the two eunuchs beside the sand table. The two took out black brushes from the paint buckets, painted some black on the sand table, and then stepped aside.
"In the 28th year of Hongwu's reign, how many acres of land were there in South Zhili?"
Zhu Yunwen asked again.
The officials were silent, and everyone's attention was focused on the sand table.
Every time Xia Yuanji reported a number, a piece of the original yellow in the sand table was swallowed up by black, and every time the black swallowed the yellow, the hearts of the officials trembled slightly.
