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

"If your majesty gives me some land, I will definitely stand with your majesty and the Grand Marshal, no doubt about it!"

"That's right. If we have land to farm, wouldn't it be stupid for anyone to rebel?"

"Old Li, you are wrong. The wealthy families in Jiangnan are rebelling just because Your Majesty has taken their land!"

"You are talking nonsense. Not only that, my next-door neighbor Wang Datou's nephew's cousin is a helper in the capital. He spread the news that it was because the Grand Marshal killed all the officials in the capital.

The Grand Marshal seized tens of millions of taels of silver from the homes of those Beijing officials. It is said that the Grand Marshal wants to kill all the corrupt officials in the world.

Jiangnan is a wealthy place, so there must be no fewer corrupt officials than in the capital. Of course, those corrupt officials will panic. "

"What? Tens of millions of taels of silver? Oh my God! How big a silver mountain would that be?"

"Is your cousin talking nonsense? There are so many corrupt officials in the world, how can the Grand Marshal kill them all? If he kills them all, won't there be no more officials left?"

“He’s not my cousin, he’s my next-door neighbor’s nephew’s cousin!

I don’t know, but I think that since the Grand Marshal has killed so many corrupt officials, the imperial court must not be short of money.

The court has money, so how can there be no one to serve as an official? "

"That's right. I think your cousin's information is reliable. Look at our Julu County, the county magistrate's house was raided, so it can't be fake."

"I said, he's not my cousin, he's my neighbor Wang Datou's cousin!

No! He’s the cousin of my neighbor Wang Datou’s nephew!”

"Who cares whose cousin he is? As long as the Grand Marshal gives me some land, I will recognize him! The Grand Marshal is mighty!"

"That must be very powerful. The Grand Marshal even exterminated the entire clan of Duke Yansheng. I have never seen such a powerful person in my life!"

"Alas! I feel guilty because I believed the lies told by Mr. Zhao in the city.

Mr. Zhao said that the Grand Marshal was a heretic and a traitor, but I didn’t understand and even joined in cursing the Grand Marshal.”

The man said this with a look of guilt on his face, but Wang Datou's neighbor immediately refused to accept it.

"Sir, I want to report it! This guy said he cursed the Marshal before!"

The man was shocked when he heard this and quickly knelt down to explain.

It’s no wonder that the man was so scared. At that time, the reputation of the factory guards among the people had not been reversed. In the eyes of the common people, the factory guards were still as fierce as tigers and wolves.

Gao Wen was not angry when he heard this, but said gently:

"Please stand up. Who is the Grand Marshal? He is a rare and extraordinary person!

Your Majesty relies on him as your right-hand man, a talent that the Ming Dynasty has not seen in a thousand years!

How can I argue with an old man like you who can't even read a word?"

The man didn't dare to stand up and kept kowtowing.

Seeing this, Gao Wen said:

"Stand up, the Grand Marshal loves the people like his own children. Even if he is criticized, he will help Your Majesty implement the new policy, all for the sake of you and the people.

The Grand Marshal had a broad mind and even wrote a poem to the factory supervisor. I was attending a lecture in the yamen at that time and I still remember it.

Thousand pointing fingers, head bowed as a willing ox.

By the way, Mr. Chen, what do these two lines of poetry mean? "

Although Gao Wen could read, he could only read, so he asked Chen Qinghe beside him.

Chen Qinghe was the newly appointed head of the Shandong Qingli Division of the Ministry of Revenue. He was a Jinshi (Jinshi) and was definitely more knowledgeable than him, who couldn't even pass the examination to become a scholar.

However, Chen Qinghe's face looked grim, and it was obvious that he had a lot of dissatisfaction with the Grand Marshal.

In fact, after the corruption in Beijing was purged, although the remaining officials in the court all had a clean reputation, they were still very dissatisfied with Zhang Shikang. The biggest reason was the Yanshenggong incident.

They recognized Zhang Shikang's people-oriented new policy concept, but disagreed with Zhang Shikang's

But the people had no idea what was going on, so they just begged Chen Qinghe to explain the meaning of the poem.

The scholars in the market all say that the Grand Marshal is a playboy who does all kinds of evil in the capital, but now it seems that the scholars were talking nonsense. They are very curious about what the Grand Marshal's poem means.

Chen Qinghe couldn't resist and could only frown and say:

“Does such a straightforward poem need explanation?

He will face the criticism from thousands of people with a cold brow, which means he will glare at everyone's accusations.

"Bow down and be willing to serve the people as an ox" means that he will bend down and be willing to serve the people as an ox or a horse.

After saying this impatiently, Chen Qinghe said the word hypocrisy in his heart again.

As a hereditary marquis, the Grand Marshal of the army, and one of the three highest officials, who would believe that such a person would serve the people like a beast of burden? Anyway, he didn't believe it.

But this does not prevent ordinary people from empathizing. They may not have much culture, but they understand the truth.

It is enough that the Marshal allocates land to them.

After all, before this, no one wanted to give them land.

"The Grand Marshal is a good silver!"

"Such a good man, I would never bear to let him be my slave. If he came to my house, I would provide for him!"

"That's right, the Grand Marshal killed corrupt officials just to give us land, which is why so many people said bad things about us.

I don't care what others say. If I hear anyone say bad things about the Marshal again, I will beat him with my fists! "

"Yes, I will beat up Mr. Zhao when I get back!"

"Sir, I just want to ask, when will this land be divided? How will it be divided?"

The people were talking one after another until someone asked the most crucial question, and everyone immediately held their breath.

Upon hearing this, Gao Wen immediately replied:

"The court will re-measure the land in each county and compile a centralized register, then distribute it equally among households based on the number of registered residents in the county.

Therefore, those who have not reported the increase in the number of new members in their family to the government in order to avoid corvee labor should report it as soon as possible, otherwise there will be less land when it is distributed.

In addition, those who have been stranded here for various reasons can return to their hometown if they want to, and those who want to stay here should report to the government and be re-registered, otherwise they will not be allocated.

The imperial court will take this opportunity to recount the number of registered residents nationwide, and use the total population counted this year as the fixed number. If the population increases thereafter, land tax and labor service will only be levied based on this amount, and no additional taxes will ever be increased.

Another very important point is that the Grand Marshal took into consideration that in years of disaster there would always be people who were forced to sell their land at low prices in order to make a living or under the coercion of the powerful.

In order to circumvent this problem, Your Majesty discussed with the Grand Marshal that all land would be nationalized after it was measured.

That is, the land allocated to you can be cultivated by you, but it cannot be sold.

This move was not only intended to curb those in power from annexing land, but also to prevent the rich from owning more land but having less people, silver and labor service.

The imperial edict stated that from now on, there would be no more head tax on the new population, and the capitation tax would be distributed among the land allocated to you, and a unified land capitation tax would be levied, instead of levying capitation tax on individuals.

Do you understand my explanation?"

After Gao Wen finished speaking, he asked the people around him.

As for understanding the new national policy, the small leaders at the head of the East Factory have naturally received relevant training.

Gao Wen explained everything in plain language based on his own understanding, and almost everyone present could understand it, but it seemed that they all had their own questions.

"Sir, not raising taxes is a good thing, and levying taxes based on land instead of per capita is an even better thing!

We can understand that we are not allowed to sell the land, but selling the land would be unfair to our ancestors.

But... I just want to ask, does this land belong to the government? Or does it belong to me?"

……