A small soldier of the frontier army in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 154 Tax Exemption
Wang Douduan sat on the chair and looked at everyone present, feeling satisfied in his heart.

On the left and right sides of his lower head are Zhang Gui, the prefectural city management officer, and Tian Changguo, the battalion officer. Next, there are four new prefecture commanders, Han Chao, Han Zhong, Wen Fangliang, and the town governor Chi Dacheng.Going down, there are Lin Daofu, the defense officer of Shunxiang Castle, Yang Zhichang, the defense officer of Wubao, and Shi Min, the defense officer of Zhangjiabao.

More than half of the people present are his confidantes, and the affairs of the state and city can be said to be under control, which feels good.

On the lower seats, Yang Zhichang, the defense officer of Wubao, and Shi Min, the defense officer of Zhangjiabao, looked a little nervous. They had heard about Wang Dou's stay in Zhoucheng a few days ago, and they executed hundreds of rebels in one go. The method made the two of them very chilling, especially when Yang Zhichang had a bad relationship with Wang Dou in the past, the feeling of uneasiness in his heart deepened.

After exchanging pleasantries, Yang Zhichang and Shi Min sat down silently. Tian Changguo didn't know what he was thinking. Zhang Gui, Han Chao, Han Zhong, and Wen Fangliang were all in high spirits. They are now Wang Dou's confidantes, and Zhoucheng is under the leadership of Shangguan. Controlled, they will naturally benefit. Seeing a bright future, are they not happy?Only the town governor, Chi Dacheng, was still sitting rigidly, his face seemed to always have the same expression for thousands of years, and he didn't show a look of complacency just because he was promoted to Zhoucheng.

After leading the army into the city, apart from the soldiers of the Han Dynasty leader Jia who still lived in the family barracks of Xu Zucheng, the former integrity officer, the rest of the two soldiers of Han Zhong and Wen Fangliang lived in the barracks of ordinary soldiers in the west of the city, one east and one west. Gained complete control over the state capital.

Slowly glanced at the crowd, Wang Dou said: "Your lords are invited here today to discuss the matter of farming and camping in the state city in the coming year. Seeing that the Chinese New Year is approaching, we need to discuss how to organize the state city next year."

Zhang Gui was the first to get up, his rough face was full of loyalty and courage: "My lord, don't worry, I will risk my own life, and I will also take care of the farm affairs in the state city. I can guarantee that the next year's grain will be garrisoned." The amount collected will definitely be much higher than this year."

Seeing what Zhang Gui said, the defense officers of Lin Daofu, Yang Zhichang, and Shi Min also hurriedly stood up to express their views.

Wang Dou smiled and said: "Alright, my lords are diligent in state affairs, I am very pleased."

He motioned everyone to sit down, and muttered: "The army and people in Zhoucheng are suffering very much. I think it's the reason for the ineffective farming. I decided to follow the example of Shun Xiangbao and implement the new policy of farming in Zhubao."

He looked at everyone with piercing eyes, "I am determined to check the wasteland in each castle. After the statistics and checks, I will recruit soldiers and civilians to cultivate them together. All the soldiers and civilians in the state city can share [-] acres of land, and the government will help them build irrigation wells." The waterwheels are rented out to cattle and agricultural implements, just like Shun Township Castle, free of grain for one year."

Except for the original members of Shun Township Castle, the rest of the people were all taken aback. Wang Dou was so generous, not to mention reclaiming wasteland, but also helping them build water tankers for filling wells and renting farm tools for cattle. How much money and food do you need?
Zhang Gui said in a trembling voice: "Master, you mean that each household will be given [-] mu of land, and then they will be given a farm ox, and they will also be helped to build well irrigation trucks?"

Wang Doudao: "Exactly, each household has a well-irrigating water tanker and a farming ox. This is the most ideal, but it is the worst. Three households need to share one farming ox."

In the case of northern China in ancient times, one cow, five or six people, and fifty acres of land were the most common allocation scale for a small-scale peasant economy. Only such a scale could maintain the livelihood of a family of five or six.If the population exceeds this number, they will have to separate their families to make a living. If the number of fields is lower than this number, they will have to rent land to make a living. Therefore, this is the most basic bottom line for survival.

Zhang Gui was stunned to hear that, not counting Shunxiang Fort, but now Baoanzhou City is connected to Zhangjiabao, and the household registration in Wubao and several places exceeds 2000. If each household rents one cattle, it needs [-] cattle.Even if every three households were given one cattle, seven or eight hundred cattle would be needed. Now the grain storage in the state city is only more than [-] shi, and the cattle are less than four hundred. The gap between them is too great.

In the early Ming and middle Ming Dynasties, the price of Daming cattle was three taels of silver per head. In the seventh year of Chongzhen, Biao rose to more than eight taels of silver per head of Da Niu. Although it has fallen back now, it still costs six taels of silver. Make well-filling water trucks, make various farm tools, etc... Where can the money and grain come from the state city?

Zhang Gui gasped and said: "My lord, this, this number is really too big, there is nothing I can do about it!"

Wang Doudao: "Master Zhang, don't worry, I will naturally find a way to solve it."

Zhang Gui was still dumbfounded, and even Tian Changguo and the others present were also stunned, unbelievable.Only the people in Yuanshun Xiangbao looked calm, they had full confidence in Wang Dou, Wang Dou said there is a way to do it, so there is a way to do it.

Yang Zhichang looked at Wang Dou, who was at the head, berating Fang Qiu, his spirits were high, and he felt very uncomfortable. Once upon a time, he was a small general banner, and he had to be respectful to himself, but now it was his turn to be respectful to him. Respectfully, it is really 30 years in Hedong and 30 years in Hexi.

I also think that Wang Dou is talking big, and then we will see how his cowhide will be blown out.

He remained silent. Shi Min, the defense officer of Zhangjiabao, was nearly forty years old, tall, with a dusty face. While he was surprised, he also remembered another thing. He hesitated and said: "My lord, military households have a share." Go to Xintian, can the officers of each castle have a field to divide?"

Wang Doudao: "Of course, ordinary military households can share 150 mu of land, and officers can have even more land. This officer has decided that each military officer with a hundred households or less can be divided into one hundred acres of land, and military officers with more than a hundred households can be divided into households. It can be divided into [-] mu of land, of course, no matter whether it is an ordinary sergeant or an officer, after one year of grain exemption, grain will be requisitioned per mu, and no one can be exempted.”

In Wang Dou's decision, after counting the wasteland of each fort, the military households will reclaim it by themselves. After each household reclaims [-] mu of land, it will be registered in the register. Finally, water trucks for well irrigation will be built for them in batches, and farm tools will be rented to cattle. wait.The standard for each household is four to seven people. No matter how many people you have in your household, you will still get the same land.In this way, those big families who wanted to divide their fields had to split up the number of households. Wang Dou believed that this would help to restrain the power of the clan.

Except for Baoanzhou City, the area around Wubao and Zhangjiabao is estimated to have a population of 15 to [-] each, and most of those military households have no land.In various parts of Baoan Prefecture, it is estimated that there are [-] mu of wasteland that can be reclaimed in the land of Wubao, and an estimated [-] mu of wasteland that can be reclaimed from Zhoucheng to Zhangjiabao.

The essence of the fields in Baoanzhou City are all concentrated in these areas, and the rest of the cultivated land is scattered among the remaining towns in Zhuolu County in later generations. The land in those places will be discussed later.It's just that the land in front of me can already meet the needs of all military households in the state city, and refugees will be recruited to cultivate it in the future.

In addition, Zhangjiabao is also an important place for timber production, and Huzhuang in the northwest has a large number of coal mines, which will be important resources in the future.

After listening to Wang Dou's words, everyone here is thinking that the officers can also share the land, which is great. Although Tian Changguo, Shi Min, Yang Zhichang and others all own a lot of fertile land, no one will think that their own land is too small .It's just that each household can only divide [-] acres of land. It seems that my family and the children of the family have to demolish a few more households to divide the land.

Wang Dou said to Qian Zongtian Changguo: "Old Tian, ​​you have to restrain the soldiers during these times and let them participate in farming."

The officers and soldiers in the city occupied soldiers, indulged the sergeants to flee, and bought idleness. Although the rebellious troops of the two generals were eliminated, Wang Dou did not have any hope for the remaining Qianzong Tian Changguo's subordinates. Tunjun is.For the guardian force of the state city, it is enough to have a few troops under its own command.

Tian Changguo ran in and out with Wang Dou during this time, very diligently, upon hearing this, he hurriedly said: "My lord, don't worry, I understand that there is a field to divide, and those brats must run faster than anyone else."

Judging from Wang Dou's attitude in executing the rebellious army, Tian Changguo knew that Wang Dou was easy-going on the outside, but in fact he was ruthless and had a strong desire to control. There would be no good end to fighting against him.He was well aware of the virtues of his subordinates, Wang Dou had brought his thousands of soldiers to the city, and his hundreds of soldiers would definitely be of no use, the only result would be that they would turn into a garrison army.

Let's garrison the army, I believe Wang Dou will not treat himself badly after seeing his cooperative attitude.Tian Changguo thinks that Wang Dou is a person who values ​​affection. From his attitude towards everyone around him, it can be seen that Tian Changguo's only attitude now is to hug Wang Dou's thigh tightly and integrate himself into his circle.

Seeing Tian Changguo's statement, Wang Dou nodded, this Tian Changguo is still aware of current affairs.

After talking about his decision to reclaim wasteland, Wang Dou released another big bomb, which shocked everyone present.

……

"What, my lord, do you mean to exempt the military households in the prefectures and cities from tax collection next year?"

Zhang Gui asked Wang Doudao in disbelief, Qian Zong Tian Changguo and others also looked at Wang Dou in surprise. When Wang Dou said earlier that the wasteland in various parts of the state city was reclaimed, everyone could not believe it. He did not expect that Wang Dou would also exempt the state city. Next year's tax and food collection for military households.

Wang Dou nodded and sighed: "The people in the state city are becoming more and more impoverished, their income is not enough to support them, and the officials are also in dire straits. This official decided to exempt the military households from collecting grain in the state city next year. the result of."

Zhang Gui murmured: "It's just that we don't collect grain. How will we pay for the amount of grain in our state city in the coming year?"

The imperial court stipulated that the annual tax and grain of Baoanzhou City was [-] shi, which could not be shaken, and would only increase, not decrease.Zhang Gui couldn't figure out how to pay if he didn't collect food from the military households.

Wang Dou pondered for a long time, and said: "Your Majesty Zhang, don't worry about this matter, I will find a way to solve it."

Zhang Gui had no choice but to say: "With your lord's words, the lower officials will feel at ease."

He sat down, scratched his head, wanted to say something, but kept silent.

Qian Zongtian Changguo coughed. He wanted to join Wang Dou's circle, so he had to consider Wang Dou himself. He reminded: "My lord, besides paying the imperial court, part of the grain collection must also be used for support. Small officials in the army and civilians have no income from the grain, not to mention the sergeants, even the officials in the city, and they have no money and food to support their families."

(End of this chapter)