Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

Half an hour later, a private room in a restaurant in Yanzhou city was filled with officials from the prefectural government.

Tian Jingwen and Manager Qian were also among them. Chang Bizhen turned into a socialite, introducing everyone present with a smile on his face.

Although Tian Jingwen had no expression on his face, he showed all courtesy and bowed and nodded to the local officials.

However, when it came to drinking, Chang Bizhen and other officials still hit a wall. Their original idea was to get Tian Jingwen and the other man drunk.

As long as you are drunk, everything will be easy to talk about. The third floor of this restaurant is a big place. There are many skinny horses here. As long as the rice is cooked into porridge, no matter how upright you are, you will have no way to defend yourself.

As supervisory personnel, they knowingly broke the law. The crime could be serious or minor. With evidence in hand, they can catch the suspect with just a few words.

If it really doesn't work, there is still the sugar-coated bullet of money. In short, using both soft and hard tactics together, there is no need to worry about people not giving in.

They have always done this and it works every time.

However, Tian Jingwen doesn't drink.

Everyone was dumbfounded. After Tian Jingwen became familiar with the names and positions of the officials present, he began to eat quietly.

He really eats, and eats very seriously.

A quarter of an hour later, Tian Jingwen had almost finished eating. Seeing that the officials present were just looking at him a little stiffly, Tian Jingwen put down his chopsticks and said:

"I have finished my meal. Since you gentlemen are not moving your chopsticks, I will serve my lunch box to you gentlemen.

In this case, Tian will now get down to business. "

After saying that, Tian Jingwen sat upright and took a notebook from Manager Qian.

"I'm sure you all know why Tian is here."

When Tian Jingwen first arrived at the prefectural office, he talked about the tax system in front of many garrison soldiers and the common people. There was nothing to hide.

“Tax reform is the most urgent matter for the Ming Dynasty right now. Your Majesty and the Grand Marshal have been planning for a long time and are resolute in their attitude.

This is a good thing that benefits the country and the people, what do you think? "

After Tian Jingwen finished speaking, he looked at Chang Bizheng, He Caimao and others.

No one dared to speak. He Caimao, the co-magistrate, looked at Chang Bizheng, the prefect. Chang Bizheng seemed a little embarrassed and said:

"Master Tian, I think that if we look at it from the perspective of the court, this matter can solve the financial difficulties, which is indeed a good thing.

But if we look at it from the perspective of the people, it is actually an act of competing with the people for profit.

Captain Tian should have seen the current situation in Yanzhou City.

Prices are soaring, and people are complaining!"

Chang Bizhen looked impartial, but when he spoke of the sufferings of the people, he showed a look of pity on his face.

But Tian Jingwen was calm and said bluntly:

"May I ask, Governor Chang, are you on the side of the court, or on the side of the 'people' as you say?"

"This..." Chang Bi Zheng was stunned by the question.

Officials serve the country and the people, but now they are asked to make a choice, which is really embarrassing.

If he stood on the side of the imperial court, it would be a departure from the teachings of the saints. After all, as the official of Yanzhou Prefecture, he was responsible for the livelihoods of many prefectures and counties in the entire Yanzhou Prefecture.

But if you stand on the side of competing with the people for profits, it will obviously make the people in the East Factory unhappy. The East Factory is directly under the emperor. If the people of the East Factory are unhappy, the emperor will certainly not be happy either.

"Tian has another question. When you often talk about competing with the people for profits, do you mean the common people, or the merchants?"

Tian Jingwen didn't expect Chang Bizhen to answer, so he continued.

This time, Chang Bizhen did not hesitate:

"Of course it's the common people."

Tian Jingwen sneered in his heart:

“If that is true, how can the Chang prefect say that the national policy is to compete with the people for profit?

When the new tax system was first promulgated, it was clearly stipulated that the taxes imposed by the court should not be passed on to upstream and downstream companies.

Prices in Yanzhou are skyrocketing now, so why doesn't the prefectural government have any countermeasures?

How does Prefect Chang explain this?"

The so-called upstream and downstream, the downstream naturally refers to the final buyers, the people, while the upstream is the manufacturers, material suppliers, and practitioners in related industries.

Of course, this is only the part about commercial taxes. This tax system reform not only includes commercial taxes, but also labor taxes on manufacturers.

But whether it is commercial tax or industrial tax, this part of the additional levy has been targeted only at merchants from the very beginning.

To put it bluntly, this part of the tax will be collected from merchants and the backers behind them. Whoever dares to pass it on is obstructing the implementation of national policies.

Chang Bizheng's forehead began to sweat.

"To be honest with you, Chief Tian, I have been urging merchants in the prefecture not to raise prices since the beginning. All my colleagues present here know this. Don't you agree?"

After Chang Bizheng finished speaking, the other officials present nodded in agreement. Chang Bizheng finally recovered a little and continued:

“But they won’t listen!”

"If they don't listen, you have no other options?

Can national policy be achieved by appeals alone? Then why do we need to support so many yamen runners and clerks?

Do you think the Ming Dynasty law is just a decoration?"

Tian Jingwen asked three times in a row, his expression no longer very friendly. He felt that this group of people had been institutionalized, or in other words, had been polluted and corrupted by the big jar of Ming officialdom.

Of course, this word was not thought up by him, but was said by Fang Zhenghua, the supervisor of the East Factory. It is said that it was first coined by His Excellency the Grand Marshal.

In this case, it is useless to say more.

"But... Captain Tian doesn't know that other places are fine, but in Yanzhou City, for example, those who can open a shop here must have some connections.

The water here is deep. I am a low-ranking official with little influence. If I do this..."

"Humph! All under heaven belongs to the king, and all the people in the world are his subjects.

No matter what the relationship between these people is, as long as they are loyal to the court and Your Majesty, they should not obstruct the implementation of national policies.

If so, it is disloyalty and sin.

Such a simple truth, don't the people of Changda understand it?"

Chang Bi was frowning and seemed to be telling his dilemma very seriously, but Tian Jingwen immediately interrupted his so-called difficulties.

"Since you are not taking any action, I will leave this matter to this chief. You just need to cooperate with me.

I wonder if you have any objections?"

He didn't need to seek the opinions of Chang Bi Zheng and others. After all, he came here with an imperial order.

But as the saying goes, a strong dragon cannot defeat a local snake. After all, he only brought more than 130 people with him. Without the cooperation of local authorities, it would always be very troublesome.

Chang Bizhen had a way out and immediately expressed his full cooperation, and other officials quickly agreed.

However, Tian Jingwen could only question whether this full strength was real, but at least on the surface, it was a greeting to the local authorities.

If anyone dares to be ignorant in the future, don't blame Tian Jingwen for turning against you.

Chang Bizheng was worried and hesitated for a moment, then stood up and walked to Tian Jingwen and whispered:

"Let's let Chief Tian know that there are not only the properties of Prince Lu's Mansion in Yanzhou City, but also... the Kong Family of Qufu!"

Upon hearing this, Tian Jingwen finally frowned.

……