(0148)

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Wang Mingyu said cautiously: "We initially agreed to be between 30 kilograms and 50 kilograms per mu, mainly collecting rice and cotton as supplementary, and other crops will be converted separately. Please decide on the specific amount of the charge."

Zhang Zhun pondered for a moment again, nodded slowly, and said in a deep voice: "Okay! It will be collected at the tax rate of 40 kilograms of rice per mu, and other crops will be converted separately. The monument must be engraved. It cannot be changed in the future. Otherwise, the people will shake our credit."

Wang Mingyu and others naturally understood the power of the matter, and kept ensuring that their work would be done well.

In fact, if Zhang Zhun had not been too advanced in his idea of ​​abolishing agricultural tax, they would not have strongly requested changes. Everyone present was very clear about the attractiveness of this slogan. The possible consequences of the changes made to them were also very clear. When they were moved, they naturally did not dare to take it lightly.

Finally, the tax rate is determined at forty kilograms of rice per mu.

In the late Ming Dynasty, rice had gradually replaced wheat and became the main grain crop in the north, with an increasing area of ​​planting. It was more appropriate to use rice as a standard for grain collection. At that time, the rice yield in Shandong was about 250 kilograms per mu, and the better ones might be 300 kilograms. Forty kilograms per mu, which is about 15%. Such a tax rate is more acceptable to the public. Of course, the wheat yield is still quite large.

Everyone then discussed the relevant laws and regulations in detail.

"Since you want to pay food, then all the fields need to pay food!"

"Officials and gentry work together and pay food together!"

Zhang Zhun said firmly.

The biggest change in the "Every Field Order" and "June Field Order" is that both civil and military fields are levied at this tax rate. Fields that do not pay grain are not allowed. Otherwise, decades later, the loopholes in tax exemption will be infinitely expanded, which will eventually lead to the deformation of the grain payment policy and repeat the tragedy in the late Ming Dynasty. Either they will not be collected! Or they will be collected!

In fact, the area of ​​arable land in the Ming Dynasty was about 800 million mu (8 million hectares), and the total area was quite large (the area of ​​arable land in my country in 2010 was 1.8 billion mu, which is the red line for arable land protection mentioned by the central government). According to the tax rate of two dou per mu (about 37.6 jin) formulated in the early days of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, 30 billion jin (about 160 million jin) of land rent can be collected every year. Calculated by five cents of silver per stone, the country's land tax revenue should be about 80 million taels of silver.

However, in fact, the fiscal revenue of the central government of the Ming Dynasty (i.e., the Taicang warehouse of the Ministry of Revenue) was only about three or four million taels per year. With the emperor's private money (treasury) of two or three million taels per year, it was only about seven million taels per year, less than 10% of the eighty million taels. Why is the difference so big? It's very simple, because more than 90% of the land is in the hands of the gentry and bureaucrats. And the gentry and bureaucrats do not need to pay food.

More than 90% of the people own less than 10% of the land and need to bear heavy taxes. Less than 10% of the gentry and bureaucrats have more than 90% of the land but do not need to pay taxes. Chongzhen continued to distribute food and salary, and finally could only be distributed to those poor farmers. The burden of less than 10% of the land was already very heavy, so how could he withstand the repeated increase in salary? The farmers were overwhelmed and naturally had to rise up and resist.

The most typical example is Henan. There were many princes in Henan in the Ming Dynasty, and each prince had a large amount of land. The most famous King Fu was given 200,000 glutinous land (about 20 million mu) at one time. Because there was not enough land in Henan, it had to be allocated from neighboring provinces. Later, King Fu's fields increased repeatedly, and eventually exceeded 300,000 glutinous land, becoming the largest landlord in Henan. The royal family, bureaucrats and gentry occupied all the land, and the farmers could only displaced and wandered everywhere.

When the Shaanxi Uprising Army came to Henan, it was like Mars fell into a powder barrel. Naturally, with a bang, a huge fire rose. Henan is the center of the world and the heart of the Central Plains is located, and it plays a crucial role in maintaining stability in the world. If the Central Plains is in chaos, the world will inevitably be in chaos. If the Shaanxi Uprising Army is restricted to Shaanxi, it will not have a fatal impact on the Ming Dynasty in any case. It is like no matter how fierce the Jianlu is, it cannot destroy the Ming Dynasty. The demise of the Ming Dynasty is the key.

Rich people who are rich and rich do not have to pay taxes, while farmers who are poor and leaky have to bear heavy taxes. This is the true portrayal of the late Ming Dynasty. This is the most fundamental reason for the chaos in the late Ming Dynasty. This is also the crux of all problems in the late Ming Dynasty. If the problems of farmers are not solved, the country will not be stable. Such problems will be difficult to solve even if the reincarnation of Emperor Qin and Emperor Han and Emperor Tang and Emperor Song Zu. It is absolutely impossible to promote the integration of gentry and the ruler itself. Unless it is to start over.

Of course, the tax exemption is not completely gone.

In order to encourage everyone to actively reclaim wasteland, Zhang Zhun and others decided after research: the newly reclaimed land will be exempt from tax in the first year, and the tax will be paid at 20 kilograms of rice per mu in the second year, and the tax will be paid in full from the third year.

According to the statistical reports, Fushan District currently has a total of 80,000 mu of land. Excluding newly reclaimed fields, there are still 30,000 mu of land that can be used for grain. Calculated at 40 kilograms per mu, about 1.2 million kilograms of rice can be collected. In addition to the various grains sold by the people, it will greatly alleviate the pressure on grain. At the same time, there is also greater room for maneuver in terms of labor and labor.

After the decision was made, Wang Mingyu, Liu Hang, Hou Shanping, Yang Liren, Liu Baoyu and others implemented it separately. They also attached great importance to this change. Before that, they had done considerable investigations. Most people were acceptable to this tax rate. Of course, it is not ruled out that a very small number of people have other ideas. However, even if they have ideas, they would not be able to find a better place to survive outside the Fushan District.

That night, Zhang Zhun came to Yang Kaide and talked to the old man about collecting taxes. He was a little worried about whether this decision to pay food would make the people feel that they were going back on their word and had no credit. This is a fatal problem. Once the leader's credit is overdrawn, his prestige will no longer exist.

Unexpectedly, Yang Kaide smiled and said cheerfully: "Yulin, if you set the tax rate, the villagers have a reassurance! You don't have to worry, the villagers will not have any objections!"

Zhang Zhun asked strangely: "Why do you say that?"

Yang Kaide smiled and said, "For thousands of years, no one has ever been able to farm without paying food? The villagers didn't believe you said you didn't pay food. So, everyone privately estimated how much tax you would charge for the bumper grain harvest in October? Some people speculated behind their backs that they might have to pay half of the harvest! Now it only costs 40 kilograms per mu, which is much lighter than what they estimate!"

Zhang Zhun gradually understood what the old man said.

He came from later generations and knew that abolishing agricultural tax was feasible and implemented. However, the people of this era did not believe that such good things would happen. Eating food in the army and farming and refusing food was the most basic concept. Zhang Zhun's proposal to farm without paying food at all was really overturned everyone's thoughts. The arrival of this pie was too big, and the people didn't believe it. Now, the tax rate of General Zhang is set at 40 kilograms per acre, and the inscriptions are engraved, so the villagers can feel relieved.

Zhang Zhun had to sigh that the people of this era were indeed too simple.

However, when you look back carefully, the slogan of "equal to the world and exemption from tuition" is indeed a bit ahead of the times. Many practices in later generations may not be feasible in this era. The degree of social development is different, and the corresponding laws and regulations are naturally different. Sometimes the effect may not be good when copied from the experience of later generations. It is still what the old man said, and practice is the only criterion for testing the truth.

With Yang Kaide's reassurance, Zhang Zhun began to change the laws. Although the public should be able to accept this tax rate and the resistance will not be too serious. However, in order to avoid unnecessary storms, some details during the operation should be paid attention to. In particular, we should avoid giving people the bad impression of changing orders every day.

Changes in the morning and night are always a taboo.

The next day, rumors began to spread. Because there were a large number of large-scale projects that needed to be carried out, such as repairing city walls, paving roads, building reservoirs, digging culverts, etc., it required a large amount of labor. Someone suggested to Zhang Zhun that each military household in Fushan District would undertake three days of corvee labor every month. If three days of corvee labor was not enough, it might increase to four days. If four days were not enough, it might increase to five days. In short, no matter what, these projects must be completed in quality and quantity.

"Three days of corvee service?"

"Four days of corvee service?"

"Five days of corvee service?"

“Isn’t it a little too much?”

When this rumor spread, the military households in Fushan Station all started to whisper quietly. Everyone was a little nervous, and they felt that there was a layer of shadow on their heads. The days that were already quite promising seemed to be dark all of a sudden.

Everyone knows that the so-called corvee labor is free labor. Not only do you have to work for free, you don’t have any wages, but you may also be beaten or abused if you don’t work well. In the past, when you were undertaking corvee, people were often beaten to death, and they could not rest when they were sick, and they were exhausted without compensation. In addition, production tools and food were brought by themselves, which was not provided by the official.

In any aspect, corvee labor is extremely painful. Every military household in Fushan was quite disgusted with corvee labor. They did not expect that in a few days, they would start to bear corvee labor. In history, there were many unrests that broke out due to the heavy corvee labor. Of course, if you don’t want to do corvee labor, you can pay money! Paying money can be replaced! But how many people have money to pay?
Chapter completed!