I'm a big dick

Chapter 388

In the 46th year of Wanli, after Nurhachi of Liaodong established Houjin, he sent troops to Fushun, and the salary of the Liaodong army in Ming Dynasty increased by 300 million taels.Although there were savings in the Shi Palace, they refused to allocate them.

In order to solve the shortage of military pay, the imperial court decided to increase the payment by 3% and 5 cents per mu, increasing the payment by more than 200 million taels in total.This additional levy was one of the "Liao Pay" that forced the common people to rise up in the late Ming Dynasty.

Isn't it strange that the emperor, who is a traveler, has no intention of abolishing such a tyrannical government?
In fact, what is recorded in history books cannot be trusted. What Zhu Youxiao believes in is science, based on data, and he does not easily draw conclusions, nor easily deny or affirm a certain policy.

According to the price calculation at that time, 3 centimeters and 5 cents was almost one or two catties of rice.One or two catties more per mu is collected, which is not enough to make ordinary people unable to live.

What's more, it has not yet reached the peak of the Little Ice Age disaster.Although there are disasters in various places, they are not very serious, nor are they widespread.This is different from the Chongzhen period in history.

Therefore, although the Liao pay increase increased the burden on the people, it was not unbearable, and it was not the main reason for the riots in the late Ming Dynasty.

Moreover, if you look carefully at the imperial court's tax increase policy, it is not based on the head, but on the land.If each mu is increased a little, whoever has more land will pay more taxes.Theoretically, it should be the landlord who complained continuously.

Yang Sichang, who was in Chongzhen, expressed his support for the imperial court’s tax increase, and the reason was the same.

It makes sense, isn't it? Increasing taxes can also inhibit land mergers and control social polarization.

But in fact, in the process of collecting taxes, the officials who deal with them will always try their best to transfer the taxes of vested interest groups to the people at the bottom; they even take this opportunity to make a fortune.

This is by no means a new thing, and it didn't come out after Liao Xun appeared. It's an open secret, how can Yang Sichang not know?He was just talking nonsense with his eyes open, fooling Emperor Chongzhen.

In this way, the imperial court only charges 3 cents and 5 cents per mu, but the common people have to pay 3 cents and 5 cents, which is dozens or hundreds of times.

Therefore, the root cause of the tyranny of the disabled is not the tax increase itself, but the deviation in implementation, and the greed and shamelessness of the vested interests.

There is also the payment of Liao pay. From the imperial court to the front line, officials at all levels and generals in the army have been soaked in water and embezzled at various levels. The officers and soldiers at the lower level have never received the full amount, and they are as poor as beggars.

When Bi Ziyan came out to supervise Liao's salary, he was deeply touched. He wrote in the memorandum: "Even if the slaves in the east lie in the cave and don't throw an arrow to the west, my world will be ruined."

To put it more simply, even if Jiannu didn't launch an offensive, the Ming Empire would be dragged down sooner or later with those officials, generals, and beggar soldiers.

But Zhu Youjiao saw through the key points, and did not cancel Liao's salary hastily, and only dealt with corrupt officials ruthlessly.

Didn't civil servants become a group, didn't they regard corruption as a common thing, didn't officials and officials protect each other, and just deceived me?

Then I will reuse the factory guards, kill those who should be killed, and exile them without ambiguity. Start with the corruption of military pay, and then go from the Ministry of War to the localities, and then we will talk about knocking down everyone.

Then he replaced the minister of the Ministry of War, and then promoted Bi Zisu, who was tough and black-faced, from the Inspectorate to the factory guard, and the two-pronged approach expanded the fight against corruption from the imperial court to the local government.

In the second year of Apocalypse, Zhu Youxiao thought it was the most difficult and depressing for him.There are too few people who can be used. If you overturn one, the successor is still a virtue.

But in the third year of Tianqi, Zhu Youxiao felt much more relaxed.Corrupt and party-forming officials overthrew a large number of officials, and more and more newly promoted officials could be used by him, and the power of the court was fundamentally reversed.

The local situation has also improved greatly. Using Yang Lian, Sun Chuanting and other officials to vigorously implement the clearing of villages and abandoning salaries, and Xu Hongru's rebellion, he dealt with a group of gentry and landlords who were stealing and stealing. There are changes.

Improvement and change are still not the ultimate goal of the emperor.The cleansing of officialdom and the treatment of officials, like waves hitting the shore, did not stop.

The Procuratorate set up an inspection mechanism according to the holy will, and the state government set up a commissioner. This is only a strengthening of the system.Relying on the secret investigation of the factory guards made the officials feel even more trembling.

Officials are sacked every year, and the number is more and more concentrated in the localities, especially at the county level.

The reason is very simple, county magistrates are the most basic government organization in Ming Dynasty, and all taxes and taxes are collected through their hands.Corruption and harm to the people is also their most direct contact with the people.

A tax increase that was not considered heavy turned into a scourge in the end. Could it not be caused by these grassroots officials?And the imperial court and the emperor are nothing but their backers for corrupting and harming the people.

For the bastards who dared to take the blame for themselves, the emperor showed his usual ruthlessness and cruelty, and also created several governors who looked like cruel officials. The governors of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Wei Guangwei and Ni Wenhuan, were the most prominent.

Wei Guangwei has been in office for a long time, he has investigated and understood the local situation, and has the help of intelligence from the factory guards.

The tax set by the imperial court is as much as it is, and if the local government dares to add a penny, it is corruption, no matter what excuse or reason you have.

First search the house and take it into custody, and then determine the punishment according to the thickness of the family property.The whole family under [-] will be exiled, and those with more than [-] will be beheaded as a public display, and the family members will be exiled.

This standard has been relaxed by Zhu Youxiao, but after the actual disposal, most of the corrupt officials who were sacked were killed.

Xue Zhenlue, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment, submitted the list of criminals to be sentenced to death by the Ministry of Punishment with some trepidation. He peeked at the emperor who was going through the indictment, and felt a lot more at ease.

As one of the six ministers newly promoted less than half a year ago, even though Xue Zhen thought she knew the Sacred Heart very well, she was usually praised by the emperor.But the first time he was cut off after autumn, he was still worried that the emperor would be dissatisfied.

There are really quite a few officials who ransacked their homes and executed them, even more than last year.The main reason is that the factory guards focused their energy on this, and Zhu Youxiao was shocked and angry by the arbitrary collection of taxes.

Corrupt officials, kill; corrupt officials, kill; kill, kill, kill...

The emperor seemed to be numb, or was dominated by anger, just glanced at the case, and with a touch of ink, his head would fall to the ground, and his family would be driven thousands of miles away.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, wars broke out, and slaves entered the customs to steal the world. Tens of thousands of people were killed and injured, and their families were destroyed. All these corrupt and inferior officials have a part of the credit.Killing it is not regrettable at all.

Zhu Youxiao, who knows the direction of history, seems to have seen thousands of miles of red land and mourning people everywhere, as if he saw hungry people fleeing and starving everywhere, as if he saw the shadow of swords and swords, and blood flowing into rivers...

kill, kill, kill...

Killing a country beetle will increase the vitality of the country, the people will be more relaxed, and the road of Ming's reform will have one less obstacle and more smoothness.

The emperor finally finished the list, stared at the blood-like vermilion on the paper, narrowed his eyes, and let out a foul breath.

"Xue Qing——" Zhu Youxiao signaled the palace staff to forward the list to Xue Zhen, and asked in a deep voice, "Are there any objections to the handling of these corrupt officials? Can Dali Temple cooperate?"

Xue Zhen hurriedly bowed and replied: "Severe punishments for corrupt officials began with Taizu. Although there are no specific regulations in the "Law of the Ming Dynasty", it is justifiable for Taizu to create the form of "Da Gao"."

"Compared to the Taizu, my emperor's punishment is considered lenient. During the Hongwu period, the county magistrate of Jianchang County accepted [-] guan banknotes, and Ling Chi executed them; Ling Chi put to death; Laiyang County Prime Minister collected the stolen goods and executed Ling Chi..."

Listening to Xue Zhen, who was designated as an eunuch in history, listing the historical facts, Zhu Youxiao's face gradually relaxed. It turned out that he was so kind, but he was only beheaded, not Ling Chi, but the amount of corruption was far more than that of Hongwu.

It is said that Zhu Yuanzhang often used extrajudicial punishments in dealing with official corruption, the typical example of which is peeling and pulling weeds.However, it seems that none of the corrupt officials were actually sentenced to this punishment. It was completely slanderous.

After hearing Xue Zhen's defense, Zhu Youxiao nodded slightly, and said: "Xue Qing is like a treasure, and he is very proficient in legal cases. I have appointed you as Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, so you can be regarded as a discerning eye."

Xue Zhen was overjoyed, and quickly bowed to thank her.

Zhu Youxiao encouraged Xue Zhen to leave after a few more words of encouragement.

Although Uncle Wei's dog leash was not let go, Zhu Youxiao has reused a lot of the so-called eunuchs who were attached to Uncle Wei in history.

There is no way, people are knowledgeable and interesting, the emperor will rush wherever the emperor points, and they will go all out to attack whoever the emperor wants to attack. Who doesn't like such subordinates?
If Chongzhen has the wisdom of Zhu Youxiao, it doesn't matter if you kill Lao Wei, and it doesn't matter if you kill a group of corrupt officials in the "eunuch party". Civil servants!

Zhu Youxiao sighed for a while, then picked up the list of house raids and read it again.Although it is not as lucrative as the giants such as Qianfan Li Sancai, it is not without benefits.At least, with the reward money, you can also provide officials with some small benefits.

Longevity Day - let's keep it simple!
Zhu Youxiao also thought about accepting gifts in the big office, but it is not as simple as setting up a few tables for drinking and drinking, decorating the capital, and decorating the imperial city, it seems that he will lose money.

Forget it, let's talk about it after Ping Liao!At that time, I had money, and I had plenty of money.

"My lord, Li Jingbai, the new governor of Shaanxi, has come to give his majesty's speech." Wang Tiqian went inside to report.

Another "eunuch", Zhu Youxiao lowered his eyes, put down the list of house raids, and ordered: "Xuan!"

At the end of the Ming Dynasty in history, to strike someone down, as long as a certain label is put on it in a timely manner, it will be beneficial.

When Uncle Wei gained power, he took off the title of "Donglin Party", not to mention being imprisoned, but his official career is definitely hopeless.

When the Donglin Party gained power, as long as the label of "Eunuch Party" was pasted on the forehead, there would be no place in the court.

The partisanship has reached an inexplicable level, as long as one has said a politically incorrect sentence before, one will be knocked down and criticized.

The Donglin Party has reached this level of pursuing the evil, but there is no way to save the country, and it is not an exaggeration to say that they are sinners who have harmed the country.

Li Jingbai is an example. Historically, he was impeached by the Donglin party members because he built a shrine to Wei Zhongxian and burned incense to say "Yaotian is towering, and the emperor's virtue is difficult to name".

In fact, Li Jingbai was born as a Jinshi in the Wanli year, and since he was the magistrate of Xiajin County, he has successively served as the governor of Shandong, the censor of Youqiandu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and the prince Shaofu, but he has quite a lot of political achievements.

What's more, when Uncle Wei was in power, there were countless people who practiced for him. Could it be that they were all followers of power and low moral character?

And Grandpa Qi also gave gifts and bribes to Zhang Juzheng and others, but he wanted to keep his official position and military power so that he could do more practical things and make more contributions to the country and the court.

The general environment dictates that one should either clean oneself up and be an idler or common man, and let others suffer in the fall of the country;

Grandpa Qi is the latter, he knows that his future depends on the whim of those in power.If there is no one in the court, you can't lead troops to fight with peace of mind, and you may even lose the right to lead troops, so what's the point of serving the country?

In a deformed political environment, it is helpless for such a thing to happen.No matter how great a hero you are, how capable you are, in many cases, you have to do something against your will in order to realize your ambition.

Zhu Youxiao neither defended this nor pursued it further, but only looked at people's abilities.

Li Jingbai was appointed as the governor of Shaanxi, and Zuo Guangdou was appointed as the governor of the river. This is a new position.

Water conservancy facilities, as an important means of fighting against the disaster of the small ice river, must be repaired.But Zhu Youxiao doesn't understand this, and there are really few people who can be called water conservancy experts.

Zuo Guangdou has done a good job in Shaanxi. The overall planning of water conservancy facilities has been completed and construction is in progress. Li Jingbai only needs Xiao Guicao to do whatever he wants.

Zhu Youxiao was able to safely transfer Zuo Guangdou from Shaanxi, the hardest-hit area in the future, to inspect the Huang, Huai, Cao and other rivers, especially Zhili, Henan and Shandong, and there must be an overall water conservancy construction plan.

Li Jingbai was called into the hall, knelt down and kowtowed, shouting long live.

"Li Qing is free." Zhu Youxiao raised his hand, "Give me a seat."

After Li Jingbai signed the body and sat down, Zhu Youxiao didn't talk nonsense, and said: "When Li Qing was first appointed as the county magistrate, he was able to visit the people's sufferings, pardon the sandy land tax, and set up the "Excluding Shatian" monument. The people were very grateful. I also admire it deeply, and I also take Qing's heart to love the people."

Li Jingbai was a little surprised, he didn't expect that the emperor appointed him because of his achievements when he first served as county magistrate.

"Shaanxi will be the beginning of a catastrophe. The newspapers have said it, and I won't say it again." Zhu Youxiao said in a deep voice: "Zuo Guangdou has a water conservancy plan, and Li Qing follows it. It's just to appease the people and make people feel safe." For the good government of the imperial court to be implemented, Li Qingke still needs to fulfill his duties and serve faithfully."

The requirements are not high. Repair the water conservancy facilities designed by Zuo Guangdou, implement the policies of the imperial court, and work hard with love and compassion for the people. These are the emperor's expectations.

Li Jingbai bowed and agreed, but the emperor's explanation and instructions were not over yet. The arrangement of Ganshan and Shanxi was not only detailed, but also more long-term.

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(End of this chapter)