Daming: Let you do your best to manage, do you go to health?

Chapter 64 Chen, Guilty!

Although he doesn't know how many people and gentry occupy the arable land in the whole North Zhili or the whole South Zhili.

But now, relying on the verified data in the booklet in front of me, and comparing the total cultivated land in the entire capital, we can see that there is obviously an extremely serious imbalance in this ratio!
If this data is in the usual way, he might not even pay attention to it, because it has nothing to do with him.

But now under Zhu Di's questioning, he realized the seriousness of the problem for the first time.

It has only been more than ten years since the emperor ascended the throne, and it has only been more than forty years since Taizu established the Ming Dynasty.

However, among all the cultivated land around the capital, these few gentry groups have already occupied more than 30.00% of the verifiable cultivated land in the capital!
If calculated according to the average number of people, the number of these officials and gentry should only occupy less than 5.00% of the cultivated land.

But the reality has reached a terrifying 20.00%!

This is just Jin Yiwei's supervision of those officials in the capital. How many of those retired officials and civilian gentry do they occupy?

What this means, Xia Yuanji, who is the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, knows clearly, it means that more than 20.00% of the common people don't even have an acre of arable land!
How do they live without arable land?
How to support yourself without arable land?
Without arable land, what would they use to pay the family's poll tax, and what would they use to pay other messy taxes?

Although they are around the capital, they have other options for making a living besides farming.

But he is very clear that these livelihoods are limited, and they are not enough to support so many people to live.

And their final results can be imagined
In an instant, streaks of cold sweat broke out from Xia Yuanji's forehead.

Since he was summoned to the Qianqing Palace today, no matter what Zhu Di said or asked, he has never been nervous or afraid.

One is his confidence in his abilities, and the other is that he has a clear conscience, so he has nothing to fear.

But now, when he found out that such an extremely serious situation was ignored by him, and was even slammed in front of him by the emperor, he panicked.
Scared
In addition, more is a sense of shame!

In an instant, I felt that the blood in my whole body was surging against the trend in my head.

His face was flushed with swelling!

This is Xia Yuanji's serious dereliction of duty as Minister of the Household Department!

Regardless of whether he can solve and deal with this matter, but since he is now the Minister of the Household Department, at least he should find out and report it before the emperor finds out, and even write a note on how to deal with it.

But he did nothing, found nothing
For an instant.

When all the officials around were still wondering what was going on, and could only guess from a few key words, Xia Yuanji lowered his shame-faced head, knelt down in front of Zhu Di, and slapped him hard. several heads.

"My lord is guilty!"

"Your negligence of duty caused such a serious incident. I am ashamed and dare not ask for forgiveness. Please punish me severely!"

After finishing speaking, he put his head firmly in front of Zhu Di, touching the ground, and remained motionless.

This sudden scene stunned everyone around.

What exactly happened to make Xia Yuanji and Xia Shangshu, who have always worked hard, say such words.

Even begging for forgiveness is ashamed to mention.

Xia Yuanji's attitude and ability to deal with politics on weekdays are obvious to all of them.

If Xia Yuanji couldn't do it, then none of the people present could do it.

For these, Zhu Gaochi, who is the prince, is even more aware.

Fearing that his father would really deal with this great talent in a fit of anger, Zhu Gaochi quickly picked up the folder in Xia Yuanji's hand.

After several changes in Zhu Gaochi's face, he finally read the contents of this booklet, and understood why the old man was so angry, and why Xia Yuanji Xia Shangshu reacted like this.

20.00% of the population of the capital, I dare not say that everyone died due to this reason, but this number is definitely not a lot!

If Xia Yuanji was really to be blamed for this crime, it would not be enough to chop off the heads of his entire family, including the Nine Clans, let alone him!

Although Zhu Gaochi was also shocked by this situation at this time, after all, he has been the prince of the country for many years. He knows that now is not the time to worry about how to deal with this matter. This matter can be resolved slowly in the future, but Xia Yuanji Once the head is cut off, it can't be put back.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaochi immediately knelt down in front of Zhu Di, holding the notebook in his hand.

Putting his hands in front of his body, he said to Zhu Di solemnly, "Father, the phenomenon of land annexation has existed since ancient times. Although I don't know how far it has gone, since the taxation has been like this since ancient times, it is not much different from our dynasty. It is not Xia Yuanji's responsibility alone to deal with the troubles left behind, so I hope that the emperor will be merciful and sympathetic to his subordinates, and save Xia Yuanji's life to be a crime and perform meritorious service, so as to deal with this disaster for the court."

After finishing speaking, he kowtowed three times to Zhu Di without hesitation.

It has to be said that the prince has done his best to these courtiers for his sake.

Many courtiers at the side saw the prince kneeling on the ground. Although they didn't know what happened, they all dared to stand and knelt on the ground together.

Since they came to Qianqing Palace, the chairs have been moved, but they didn't even sit enough for a minute.

At this moment, Zhu Di, who was standing in front of all the courtiers and the prince, looked coldly at the same time, scanning everyone present.

While he was thinking in silence, the entire hall of Qianqing Palace was silent.

Everyone was waiting for Zhu Di's final punishment on Xia Yuanji.

As the person directly responsible for the incident, Xia Yuanji was extremely flustered while being grateful for the prince's words to save him.

Although he said righteous words, who wants to die?
What's more, a bad thing is a felony of copying and beheading.

If he died, would he be wronged?
Injustice, definitely injustice.

But since the matter has already happened, this matter must have a result.

This is the imperial court.

Even if he is wronged, he can only bear it.

It was precisely because Xia Yuanji knew this truth that he pleaded guilty immediately, instead of evading it.

Perhaps in this way, Zhu Di could feel compassion for his years of hard work and leave a glimmer of hope.

Otherwise, under Zhu Di's fury, his evasive words will become the fuse to ignite Zhu Di's anger, and the result will inevitably get out of hand.

In this short period of time, the sweat on Xia Yuanji's forehead dripped onto the floor.

Zhu Gaochi who was on the side was already obese and had trouble moving, so kneeling on the ground was also uncomfortable, plus he was nervous and anxious, so he was not much different from Xia Yuanji.

If I had known that the old man would call him again just after he left the palace, it would definitely not be a good thing, but I never thought that the matter would be so serious. If I had known this, I would have brought that kid Zhu Zhanji along.

(End of this chapter)