bookbashuk Page 2643
Page 2643
He was deeply shocked!
...
In the imperial city of Luoyang, a meeting was held before the emperor.
Bai Chongyan, the Minister of Revenue, holding the work report sent back by Wei Liangchen, said to the emperor and the assembled officials: "This land survey in Jiangxi has uncovered many hidden lands."
"Although the investigation is not yet complete, the total area of arable land is estimated to be reduced by several million mu."
The investigation uncovered many hidden farmlands, yet the total area of arable land actually decreased?
The ministers were taken aback.
When Zhao Yuan first learned of this situation, he also found it extremely absurd and even suspected that Wei Liangchen had conducted a random land survey.
Holding the land survey report, Bai Chongyan continued, "During the Song Dynasty, the field boundaries and surface areas in Jiangxi were very chaotic, and there were many duplicates in the government's statistics."
"The gentry and powerful families colluded with officials, exacerbating this chaos and shifting the burden of taxes onto ordinary people."
"Another issue is that former Song officials deliberately inflated the amount of land they owned in order to achieve political achievements, and then forcibly imposed taxes based on the amount of tax collected."
"By the time of the Ming Dynasty, Jiangxi officials had difficulty investigating the land area and did not know how much arable land there was. Taxes were generally levied based on the area of the former Song Dynasty."
Prime Minister Liu Qian was both amused and exasperated, summarizing: "In other words, we've figured out the land ownership in Jiangxi, but the total amount of land tax in Jiangxi will actually decrease."
“That’s right,” Bai Chongyan nodded. “The land tax will be reduced by about two-fifteenths, and the amount of land will be reduced by about six million (Song mu).
"These six million mu of cultivated land in Jiangxi were created out of thin air by officials of the former Song Dynasty."
"If it weren't for this land survey, no one would have known how much the land had been inflated, not even the local officials and gentry."
Fang Mengqing sighed: "For more than a hundred years, farmers in Jiangxi have been subjected to arbitrary land taxes!"
Zhao Yuan tapped his fingers on the table: "Actually, it's not just Jiangxi. Sichuan and Zhejiang have similar situations, but they're not as outrageous as Jiangxi's."
That's not just outrageous, it's downright outrageous.
Due to slight differences in statistical units over the years, and because all cultivated land areas have been converted to square meters.
During the Yuanfeng era of the Northern Song Dynasty, the total cultivated land area in Jiangxi was 2665 billion square meters (excluding Jiujiang, Poyang, Jingdezhen, Shangrao and other places, which at that time belonged to Jiangdong Circuit).
During the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty, the total cultivated land area in Jiangxi was 2473 billion square meters.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in the People's Republic of China, the total cultivated land area in Jiangxi Province was 2927 billion square meters.
From the Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, and then to the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China, the cultivated land in Jiangxi has been increasing.
Even after the reform and opening up, with the large-scale construction of commercial housing and infrastructure, the total area of arable land in Jiangxi has continued to increase.
The cultivated land in Jiangxi during the Yuanfeng period of the Northern Song Dynasty, if Jiujiang, Shangrao and other places are included, actually exceeded the total area during the COVID-19 pandemic in the People's Republic of China!
This is impossible, because the vast southern Jiangxi region was not fully developed until the mid-Ming Dynasty, and during the Northern Song Dynasty it was still a continuous stretch of primeval forests.
It is definitely not a statistical error.
Take Fujian as an example: during the COVID-19 pandemic in the People's Republic of China, the area of cultivated land was more than double that during the Yuanfeng era of the Northern Song Dynasty!
Don't say that Fujian was underdeveloped during the Northern Song Dynasty. It was known for its large population and limited land, and many Fujian farmers even went to Guangdong to reclaim wasteland.
A comparison of the two reveals just how outrageous the number of acres of farmland in Jiangxi is.
On one hand, powerful families in Jiangxi were concealing their land holdings; on the other hand, officials were falsely increasing the area of arable land in Jiangxi by millions of mu.
Chapter 3612 Promoting Corn
One can imagine the plight of farmers in Jiangxi.
Bai Chongyan continued, "Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, thanks to the effective promotion of sweet potatoes and corn, Jiangxi has seen an increase of hundreds of thousands of acres of mountainous land."
“In the past two years, the mountainous areas of Nangan Prefecture have been growing rapidly.”
"There aren't many powerful clans there, and the government encourages land reclamation. Both prefects have done a good job in managing the area, so this land clearing operation was the fastest."
Nangan Prefecture is southern Jiangxi, formed by the merger of Nan'an Army and Qianzhou (Ganzhou) during the Northern Song Dynasty.
The desolation there is evident from the county-level administrative structure.
Chongyi, Quannan, Dingnan, and Xunwu are not yet established counties; their county seats are all located in villages or towns.
In some places, it's simply a small village with only a few dozen households.
Zhao Yuan said, "Write the results of this land survey in Jiangxi into an imperial edict and announce them to the whole country."
"In the new Ming Dynasty, the people of Jiangxi will pay six million mu less in land tax, and will also gain hundreds of thousands of mu of new mountain and dry land!"
This result is truly both laughable and frustrating.
The imperial court put a lot of effort into surveying the land in Jiangxi, but as a result, the amount of land decreased and the total amount of land tax also plummeted.
It's a thankless task!
Which dynasty's rulers and ministers would have been willing to do this?
Zhao Yuan said to his ministers, "This is well worth it. The Ming Dynasty is not the Sui Dynasty, and I am not Emperor Yang of Sui. I will not demand an increase in acreage."
"The amount is what it should be. The imperial court seems to have suffered a loss, but the hidden land of the powerful clans has been discovered, and the excessive land taxes paid by ordinary people have also been discovered."
"Between the two sides, how much tax will the people of Jiangxi pay less?"
"As people become wealthier, and as long as they pay taxes according to the law, the whole of Jiangxi will become even more prosperous."
"With surplus money and grain, the people are more willing to cultivate wasteland and produce goods, and more willing to buy commercial products."
"Industry and commerce will prosper more, and more commercial taxes will be collected."
"Gentlemen, think about it, isn't this the truth?"
This is true benevolent governance, and the ministers were completely convinced: "Your Majesty is wise!"
The discussion on the Jiangxi matter has concluded.
Minister of War Zhang Guangdao said: "Yang Zaixing has won several battles in his campaign against Annam and has already captured the capital of Annam, Thang Long Prefecture."
"The King of Annam agreed to return the territories lost to the former Song Dynasty and cede the strategically important gateway cities of Menzhou and Liangzhou. Furthermore..."
Zhang Guangdao's expression was somewhat strange: "In addition, the King of Annam requests that his birth mother be offered to Prime Minister Wen as his wife."
Upon hearing this, all the cabinet ministers were stunned.
Hu Anguo, the Minister of Rites, sneered, "They really are barbarians, yet they dare to call themselves the Little China of the South."
The elderly Zhang Shuye asked, "Even if a beauty were to be offered, a young woman should be offered. Why then the Queen Mother of Annam?"
Zhang Guangdao explained, "Yang Zaixing said in his report of victory that there were unusual signs at the birth of the Queen Mother of Annam, and a fortune teller once predicted that she would be of extraordinary nobility."
"The King of Annam was filled with fear and dared not leave his birth mother behind."
"It is also said that this woman is over thirty years old and he wants to offer her to Prime Minister Wen."
“It’s really quite ridiculous,” said Grand Secretary Zhao Quan with a laugh.
Chen Dong said, "The King of Annam has violated human ethics and filial piety; this woman must not be accepted."
"It is the King of Annam who has violated filial piety, what does it have to do with my Great Ming?" Zhao Yuan said with a wicked sense of humor. "This woman can be taken in. For the sake of the Great Ming, we must ask Prime Minister Wen to make an exception."
Hu Anguo questioned, "Your Majesty is well-versed in the Six Classics, how could you not know that the two men were traveling by boat? The King of Annam's conduct is as shameless as that of Duke Hui of Wei!"
Zhao Yuan said, "It was not Duke Hui of Wei who offered his mother as a sacrifice, but Duke Xiang of Qi who married off his sister. Are you trying to compare me to Duke Zhao of Wei with this analogy?"
"I dare not, but this matter goes against human ethics and filial piety," Hu Anguo said.
Zhao Yuan said, "I'll say it again: it is the King of Annam who has violated filial piety, and it has nothing to do with our Great Ming."
The story told by the ruler and his minister is very famous in the Book of Songs.
However, Duke Xuan of Wei married his father's concubine, who bore him three sons: Prince Ji, Prince Qianmou, and Prince Wan.
When Prince Ji grew up, he asked to marry the princess of Qi.
When Duke Xuan of Wei heard that the princess was very beautiful, he abducted the fiancée of his son, whom he had with his stepmother, during the wedding procession.
This princess was then known as Xuan Jiang.
Duke Xuan of Wei and Xuan Jiang had two more sons: Prince Shou and Prince Shuo.
Gongzi Shuo wanted to succeed to the throne, so he kept reporting on others and instigating Duke Xuan of Wei to kill Gongzi Ji.
Gongzi Shou couldn't bear it, so he impersonated Gongzi Ji and died in his place.
Gongzi Ji, unwilling to live a life of dishonor, revealed his identity and was killed by assassins.
Gongzi Shuo successfully ascended the throne, but was driven away by Gongzi Qianmou and fled to his uncle, Duke Xiang of Qi.
In order to help his nephew reclaim the throne, Duke Xiang of Qi actually married his sister Xuan Jiang to Prince Wan, and used Prince Wan's power to kill Qian Mou.
Hmm, this relationship is a bit complicated.
It goes something like this: Xuan Jiang's new husband is not only her stepson, but also the younger brother of her former fiancé from the same mother, and the son of her former father-in-law and first husband's stepmother.
Incidentally, Xuan Jiang's brother, Duke Xiang of Qi, also had a very extravagant lifestyle—not only did he have sex with his sister, but he also killed his aggrieved sister's husband.
Chapter 3613 A Cunning Plan
Seeing that the ministers were all disapproving, Zhao Yuan smiled and said, "According to the information sent back by our spies, the King of Annam is addicted to wine and women, and I'm afraid he won't live a long life."
"His uncle, Du Yingwu, is becoming increasingly favored. He is not only gradually taking control of the government, but was also granted military power last year."
"If the Queen Mother of Annam were to marry into the Ming Dynasty, and something were to happen to the King of Annam, the Emperor's brother-in-law, Du Yingwu, would most likely be forced to take the throne!"
Hu Anguo hesitated, wanting to speak but holding back. He disapproved of the Annamite king's actions, yet at this moment he felt he could accept the woman.
He actively supports outward expansion!
After the imperial meeting adjourned, Liu Jian summoned the ministers to a meeting in the cabinet and warned them: "This matter must not be made public, so you must not spread it outside."
"We will never reveal this to anyone!" the ministers declared.
After the court session, Zhao Yuan excitedly sent someone to fetch Wen Huanzhang: "Prime Minister, I've brought you another woman."
"I'm getting old, and I can't handle too many women." Wen Huanzhang didn't refuse, and even secretly swallowed.
Zhao Yuan said, "She was presented by Annam and is said to be the most beautiful woman in Annam. Moreover, this will help in the annexation of Annam, as her identity is very special."
Wen Huanzhang readily agreed, saying, "Since it's helpful to the country, I'll accept it; it's just an extra set of chopsticks."
"Then it's settled." Zhao Yuan smiled slyly, eager to see Wen Huanzhang's expression when he learned the truth.
Wen Huanzhang said, "The Wangchuan Villa project is already half completed."
"Your Majesty, I plan to move there next spring. I will no longer care about Luoyang."
Zhao Yuan said, "I just come back to visit occasionally."
"We'll see. If we get bored over there, we'll come back." Wen Huanzhang continued wiping the broken car.
Just as he was about to leave, Wen Huanzhang suddenly realized something was wrong: "That Vietnamese beauty, could she be another widow? I hope she doesn't ruin my reputation!"
Zhao Yuan said, "Don't worry, a foreign woman won't spread the word in Luoyang."
"That's good... wait, it really is another widow!" Wen Huanzhang was quite angry.
Zhao Yuan laughed heartily.
.....
In this year in history, Wu Qimai died of illness, Emperor Huizong of Song died of illness, and Zhao Gou initiated a series of reforms in Hangzhou.
Zhao Gou's reforms included adjustments to the corvée system and the imposition of additional taxes.
At the same time, officials' salaries were reduced; for example, the prime minister's salary was directly reduced by one-third.
Meanwhile, Yelü Dashi of the Western Liao Dynasty led tens of thousands of troops on a distant expedition against the Jin Dynasty.
Halfway through the journey, complaints arose. The tribes from Central Asia were unwilling to cross the northern desert, so Yelü Dashi had no choice but to order a retreat.
In this timeline, Wu Qimai still died this year.
It's possible that he suffered a stroke and a blood clot blocked his blood vessel; Wu Qimai collapsed and never woke up again.
Emperor Huizong of Song, however, lived a good life, while this guy was exiled to Zhenyuan County in Guizhou.
Because the government had sufficient supplies and had set a target for population growth.
The officials were all focused on completing their missions and returning home, and the exiles and their families were not mistreated.