In the early years of Jianwen, Zhu Yunwen took land suppression as a new policy for the court. Taking advantage of the bloody smell left by the Hongwu Dynasty, he used tyrannical monarchy to enforce the country. Countless officials, gentry, and wealthy families suffered heavy losses.
However, ten years later, Zhu Yunwen has not been able to completely solve the problem of land annexation. He has only slowed down the speed and scale of annexation, but has not really curbed it.
During the ten years of the Jianwen Dynasty, there were many more nobles. When these nobles had power and money, the first thing they thought about was to purchase land. Even if hundreds of acres of land were not enough, they would have to acquire at least several thousand acres. Thousands of acres.
Isn't the reason why Prince Lanshan really killed people the result of forced annexation of land?
In addition to the exposed Wang Zhen, there are many others who have not been exposed. Some of them did not kill anyone, but just used power to purchase at low prices or market prices, and then let the farmers who lost their land act as their tenants.
The new nobles and nobles are doing this. Businessmen who have money also have to buy fields, and the new scholar class who enters the court also has to buy fields. If you have money, you must have land. Only with land can you be considered a wealthy family and leave a legacy to future generations.
Driven by this logic, land annexation has shown signs of intensification, and the power to restrain land annexation has been loosened.
Under this circumstance, Zhu Yunwen once again raised the issue of suppressing land annexation. Many officials saw the Jianwen newspaper and began to write letters to inform their families that the land that should be returned should be returned, and the procedures that should be completed should be completed. Don't be caught. Typical.
Some officials don't take it seriously. The land we bought is our own. We are doing normal transactions. The government has issued the land deed. No matter how you check it, we are all innocent.
But these people underestimated Zhu Yunwen's strength in combating land annexation. Just after the Lantern Festival and officials just went to work, Zhu Yunwen issued a decree with many contents, but there was only one core content:
Suppressing land annexation starts with officials.
A first-grade official could only have a maximum of 1,500 acres of land. Any land exceeding 1,500 acres would be taken back by the court at the market price and sold to the people.
A second-grade official could only have a maximum of 1,200 acres of land. Any land exceeding 1,200 acres would be taken back by the court at the market price and sold to the people.
A seventh-grade official can only have a maximum of 300 acres of land.
A ninth-grade official can only have a maximum of one hundred acres of land.
Zhu Yunwen not only stipulated the number of acres of land for officials, but also specifically stipulated that all land taken back by the court and sold to farmers at low prices would be subject to "official land deeds", and this type of land deeds did not allow secondary transactions.
In other words, when people buy the land under Guanlan Tiande, they only have the right to use it, but not ownership.
You can farm whatever you want, as long as you pay the court taxes. Even if you die, your son can continue farming and no one will take it back. But if you want to sell the land, sorry, this type of land is not allowed to be bought or sold.
As soon as this imperial edict came out, it immediately aroused a backlash from officials. Except for the cabinet, the six ministers, and the minister, basically all civil officials who could speak stood up to oppose it.
Zhu Yunwen's decree touched the interests of the entire bureaucracy. It was no longer the early years of Jianwen. The courtiers did not understand Zhu Yunwen and were afraid of offending a major Jianwen case. In addition, the purges of the Hongwu Dynasty made too many people lose the capital to resist. , but after ten years of recovery and the emergence of new landowners, the opposing officials had enough confidence, or so they thought.
But these officials seemed to have overlooked a problem. Dai Deyi and Lian Zining of the Metropolitan Procuratorate did not speak, the six ministers and ministers did not speak, and neither did the cabinet ministers.
Letters of objection were sent to Wu Ying. The cabinet and the six ministries and nine ministers were still doing whatever they were supposed to do. It seemed that there was no such thing.
Wuying Palace.
Zhu Wenkui looked through the protest memorial, his face a little ugly. The objections from each official were so loud that they even used swear words to express condolences to his father Zhu Yunzhen. Some people even pulled out Zhu Yunwen who was sleeping in Xiaoling and told Jianwen Emperor, your grandfather never stipulated this when he was here, how could you go so far?
Even if you want to stipulate the number of acres of land, you have to be decent. A first-grade official should have at least 20,000 to 30,000 acres, 1,500 acres, and send beggars?
Zhu Yunwen drank tea leisurely and ignored all these memorials, leaving them all to his son.
Zhu Wenkui was in a dilemma.
Every official objected, and it was not easy to deal with it.
"One thing to remember is that sometimes the truth is in the hands of a few people. No matter how many people oppose it, you must stick to your own judgment. Of course, first of all, you must make sure that what you are holding is the truth, not arbitrary arbitrary .”
Zhu Yunwen spoke.
Zhu Wenkui nodded helplessly and said bitterly: "My father once explained to me the collapse of the land and the fate of the dynasty. He also deduced that the people who lost their land would become extremely poor because of the expropriation. Once there is a major famine, no one will Don't worry about their life and death, and then they become refugees. The refugees will rebel if they can't eat. Just like Taizu, the world will be in chaos and the country will be unstable..."
"I think these principles are correct. Looking at the history books, it is indeed true. In the middle and late stages of most stable dynasties, the land was highly concentrated, and the people did not even have the capital to deal with disasters because they lost their land, so they could only become refugees. Although there were few refugees in the Song Dynasty, they were all incorporated into the Xiang army. They had no combat effectiveness and also consumed a lot of finances, resulting in a redundant army..."
"Whether it is from a historical perspective or from the theory taught by my father, it is true that the more intense and concentrated the land annexation is, the more unstable the dynasty will be. Therefore, those who oppose it are just to safeguard their own interests. And if you choose to oppose the truth, I will never take a step back."
Zhu Yunwen looked calm, turned over a page of the book, and asked: "Then what do you plan to do with these officials?"
Zhu Wenkui hesitated.
This is not something that one or two people are opposed to, but something that a large group of people are opposed to. It is not easy to deal with them all at once.
Zhu Wenkui, who had been thinking for a long time, finally said, "Father, if you try to reason with them, they will definitely not listen. Besides, these people have already taught you these truths many years ago, and it is unlikely that they will all forget them."
Zhu Yunwen nodded slightly.
In the face of their own interests, whatever is unreasonable is nonsense. They only want benefits.
Zhu Wenkui frowned like a little adult: "But if we step back and forget about this matter, the land annexation will continue to exist. It is difficult to say whether the Ming Dynasty's foundation can last for two hundred years, so we cannot retreat. "
Zhu Yunwen said firmly: "You have to position yourself correctly. You are the crown prince now. When I am old, you will be the emperor of heaven. As the emperor, you control the world. How can you hold the truth and retreat? Besides, you If you take one step back, the officials will take two steps forward! Behind the imperial power, there is no step back, you either stand here or step forward!"
Zhu Wenkui knew that what his father said was right. As an emperor, it is impossible to back down, especially when he knows that he holds the truth!
"If we follow the example of Grandpa Taizu and enforce it with majesty and kill if it is not carried out, although it is effective, it will harm the harmony of the world and will not unite people's hearts. It will also be difficult to go far in the direction of governing the country. Therefore, relying solely on majesty and violence will not work, then There is only one way left..."
"what way?"
"Divide and disintegrate."
"oh?"
Zhu Yunwen was very interested.
Zhu Wenkui knew that this was his father's exam, a test of his ability to handle government affairs. He suppressed his nervousness and said seriously: "Father, I can discuss with the cabinet and the six ministries first, explain the reasons, and win their support. In With their support, it will be useless no matter how opposed other officials are. As long as suitable officials are selected to implement it, this standard can be implemented..."
Zhu Yunwen was silent for a while and said softly: "Son, have you ever thought that the cabinet, the six ministries and the nine ministers are all officials, and they also have their own interests and demands. If they stand opposite you and oppose your policies, you What should I do?"
"ah?"
Zhu Wenkui was a little shocked.
The cabinet, six ministries and nine ministers are also against me. Doesn't that mean that all the civil servants in the dynasty are against me?
How to deal with everyone’s opposition?
Zhu Wenkui was at a loss. He had never thought of such a situation. He had the illusion that he was not in control of the world, but that he was the enemy of the world.
what to do?
Zhu Yunwen looked at the anxious Zhu Wenkui and sighed secretly. His shoulders are not wide enough now.
It is not appropriate to expect him to deal with this problem skillfully when he has to shoulder a too heavy burden.
He should be given more time to grow.
Zhu Wenkui stood up, clenched his little fists, and said to Zhu Yunwen: "My father once said that officials have official interests. They are unlikely to always support the royal family. They must learn to balance interests. I think we should balance interests and pass interests." To defeat interests, don’t officials want to maintain the interests of larger acres? Then we can take two measures.”
"First, use another kind of benefit to replace this part of the loss, such as becoming an official and raising honest money. Second, let the officials care about one thing and the other, without taking care of both. Threaten them to lose greater interests for this part of the interest, such as official positions, such as salary, such as Leave the capital and wait."
Zhu Yunwen looked at Zhu Wenkui, who was sound and reasonable, and nodded with satisfaction: "What you said makes sense, but it is still too weak. You must learn to leverage your own strength and be good at leveraging other forces."
Zhu Wenkui was a little confused. The cabinet, six ministries and nine ministers were all opposed. Who else could he rely on?
Zhu Yunwen looked at Shuangxi and said seriously: "Send a message to Li Jian. The Navy Commander's Office will be responsible for checking the property of officials. Whoever has written the memorial will be checked first. If one is found, treat one. The speed must be moderate. Bring all the memorials with you." .”
Zhu Wenkui looked at Zhu Yunwen, depressed.
How could I have forgotten that civil servants have looked down on military commanders for a long time, so using military commanders to attack civilian officials is a really easy way to use force to hit people...
If the civil servants want to object, then go ahead and object.
The Navy Commander-in-Chief has had enough of the sufferings of the civil servants. Because of Wang Zhen's affairs, the Navy hates the civil servants with all their teeth. Now that the father has handed over the investigation of the civil servants' properties to the Navy Commander-in-Chief, it goes without saying that these people People will definitely kill them...
Thanks to Chun Shen Jian Xia (y) for the reward, Jingxue thanks.
