Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 141: Fu
The heads of gentry such as Gu Xiantong fell to the ground and fell from the city gate, smashing their brains and disfiguring their faces beyond recognition.

This deeply touched the scholars from the south of the Yangtze River who were outside the city gate.

Some could not bear to look at it and covered their faces with their sleeves, feeling that it was truly a disgrace to society.

Some people know that these gentry are colluding with pirates and water robbers, and they feel sorry for them. Although they are wealthy, they are still not satisfied and do such things in secret.

There were also those who were filled with indignation and felt that court officials were not lenient towards the gentry.

However, the common people who were also outside the city gate turned a blind eye to this.

In their eyes, no matter whether it was the beheaded gentry or the law enforcement officials on the city wall, they were all people they could not afford to offend, so it didn’t matter to them whose death it was. They even just felt it was exciting and novel, and secretly felt fortunate that there would be one less tyrannical master in the place where they lived in the future!

Many common people even wished that all these gentry masters would die, because many of them were tenants or long-term or short-term workers of these gentry masters. If all these gentry masters died, they could pay less rent.

Even some common people who suffered from the exploitation of the gentry have not yet quietly said "spit" or "served it right".

In general, the execution of gentry in Nanjing by Wang Yangming, the governor of Nanzhili at this time was still a struggle within the ruling class. The people still didn't care about it. They were still indifferent. As long as the court didn't let them be beaten to death, they would let the court kill people however it wanted!
At this time, Yuan Zhong'an was lying on the ground at the city gate. He was very scared and even started crying. Especially when he thought that he was about to die, the fear made him even more collapsed.

"Master Futai! Spare my life! Please! I am wrong! I am really wrong. I shouldn't have thought of targeting the tax bureau. I shouldn't have thought of colluding with court officials to make profits for myself. I really don't want to die! Woohoo!"

Yuan Zhong'an cried bitterly, especially when he saw the heads of gentry like Gu Xiantong falling down, he shouted even more panicked.

But no one paid any attention to him now. Even the gentry of the same class as him could only watch in silence.

The iron chain was dragged by the carriage, and gradually Yuan Zhongan's arms and feet were pulled up. Yuan Zhongan screamed again in a heart-wrenching voice: "No!"

Ah!
Ah!
Ah!
Screams echoed throughout the city of Nanjing, and Yuan Zhong'an ended his sinful life.

The case of the massacre in the Taxation Bureau was thus declared over. However, Wang Yangming, the governor of Nanzhili who was in charge of the case, could not be happy at this time, because he did not understand why these gentry, who were obviously wealthy, would collude with bandits just to avoid paying the thirty-to-one business tax. How could they be satisfied and not be so greedy?

The other gentry in Jiangnan were indeed somewhat frightened by this, but at the same time, they also planted the seeds of hatred towards Wang Shouren and even the court behind him.

Many of the gentry among them did not think that scholars should be punished like this, and they should even be forgiven. If scholars killed people, how could that be called harm? That was to eliminate violence and maintain the peace of mind!

Besides, it was just a massacre of some tax collectors and tax collectors. The lives of those eunuchs and warriors were worthless, so why should they be compensated with the lives of the gentry!

After all, as the saying goes, officials should not be punished, and this is even more true in a wise and enlightened dynasty! But now, the court has done this, which shows that the court is unjust!

At this time, Gu Xinlei, who was in the crowd outside the city gate, was thinking the same thing. He didn't understand why the court had executed his father so cruelly and even forced Shangshu Yin to hang himself.

But it is undeniable that what Zhu Houzhao and Wang Shouren did was right. Hundreds of people in the two tax bureaus were killed, and these people were also considered civil servants. If the court did not stand up for them, who would dare to collect taxes for the court in the future?

As for Yin Qian, if Zhu Houzhao listened to his slander and dismissed Wang Shouren, wouldn't the next governor of Southern Zhili try to curry favor with Yin Qian first and obey Yin Qian's orders in everything? Wouldn't Yin Qian then become the local emperor of Jiangnan? Wouldn't the local officials start to deceive their superiors and subordinates, and the administration would become more and more corrupt?

However, Zhu Houzhao also knew that by doing so, more gentry in Jiangnan would naturally be dissatisfied with him again. However, Zhu Houzhao was not willing to stop his pace of reforming and revitalizing the Ming Dynasty. Letting Wang Yangming come to Jiangnan to execute the gentry who participated in the massacre in the Taxation Bureau was just a prelude to his coming to Jiangnan.

His real purpose was to recover the wealth belonging to himself and the Ming Dynasty in Jiangnan and to demonstrate the majesty of the court to the local officials and gentry in Jiangnan.

So, for the gentry in Jiangnan, the nightmare has just begun!
For Zhu Houzhao, the drama had just begun.

Zhu Houzhao did not come to Nanjing alone this time. The cabinet chief Ma Wensheng, the eunuch Liu Jin, the seal holder of the Silijian, and the minister of the Ministry of Personnel Wang Shu also came to Nanjing with him. This meant that the Ming Dynasty temporarily moved the center of the empire to the south, which naturally made it easier to handle the affairs of Nanzhili. On the day when Gu Xiantong, Yuan Zhongan and other Jiangnan gentry were executed, the cabinet issued an imperial decree to re-plan Nanzhili, which was delivered to the Ministry of Personnel and the governor Wang Yangming on the same day. Wang Yangming immediately announced it to all prefectures, states and counties!
With the cabinet and the Ministry of Personnel in charge, the plan led by Governor Wang Yangming this time was quite severe. He immediately reported to the emperor that more than a dozen officials who owed more than 100,000 shi of taxes for three years were dismissed! In addition, he also reported to the emperor that several local officials who were corrupt or abused the people were dismissed and questioned.

The Cabinet and the Ministry of Personnel approved everything.

"Your Majesty, this is the report submitted by the governor of Nanzhili regarding the arrears of taxes in the prefectures and counties of Nanzhili. Suzhou Prefecture has already owed 2 million dan of taxes in the past three years, and Songjiang Prefecture has owed 1.5 million dan of taxes in the 18th year of the Hongzhi reign!"

At this time, the chief minister of the cabinet, Ma Wensheng, handed a memorial to Zhu Houzhao.

Zhu Houzhao was greatly surprised after hearing this. He thought that although the court's taxes were now calculated based on grain, even if one tael of grain was calculated at one stone, Suzhou Prefecture alone owed two million taels of taxes. He didn't know how much of the court's income went into the pockets of these Jiangnan gentry.

"My dear Ma, what do you think?" Zhu Houzhao did not express his opinion directly but asked Ma Wensheng first.

"Reporting to Your Majesty! It is common for local governments to have arrears of taxes every year. Common people naturally dare not owe taxes, and those who owe taxes are mostly students and gentry. Local officials dare not demand payment, so these arrears must be owed by students and gentry. Even if the court wants to recover them, it will be difficult. I am afraid that it will offend the literati. There have always been many gentry in Suzhou and other places, so it is normal to have a lot of arrears. According to convention, they are all exempted if possible."

Ma Wensheng replied.

Zhu Houzhao thought to himself, no wonder in his previous life, he found that the emperor often forgave the arrears of taxes. At that time, he was puzzled why the court would not collect the taxes owed but forgave them? Now it seems that it is not that they don't want to collect them, but that they can't collect them, because the people who owe taxes are all gentry, how can you collect them?
"Recover it, it must be recovered! I can ignore the past, since the late emperor has issued an edict to exempt it, I also acknowledge it, but the arrears of taxes after the first year of Zhengde must be recovered! Send an edict to the governor of Nanzhili, ordering the officials of all prefectures, counties and districts to recover the arrears of taxes after the first year of Zhengde. Those who fail to recover 70% will be punished and exiled, and those who fail to recover 80% will be dismissed! Those who fail to recover 90% will be fined and have their salaries downgraded!"

Zhu Houzhao had no intention of being polite to these gentry who owed taxes. In his opinion, the court had already treated them well enough. They had tax-free land and were not required to perform corvée labor. Now they were unwilling to pay even the 30% tax, which was simply too much.

However, at this time, Ma Wensheng couldn't help but advise: "Your Majesty, please think twice! Doing this will only make the gentry in Jiangnan more resentful, and it may not be a long-term solution."

"Is letting them evade taxes the way to long-term stability? If they don't pay taxes, the court's military expenses, the salaries of officials, and the costs of river management and disaster relief will have to be borne by the people. The burden on the people will only become heavier. If the world rebels because of this, what should we do?"

Zhu Houzhao asked Ma Wensheng.

Ma Wensheng didn't know how to answer, so he said, "Your Majesty, can you give these gentry some face and issue an order first, asking them to voluntarily pay the taxes they owe? If they don't pay, then let the government forcibly recover them. This way, it won't hurt their feelings. Even if they are forcibly recovered, they will have an explanation."

Zhu Houzhao didn't say anything.

At this time, Wang Shu also tried to persuade him: "Your Majesty, the Prime Minister is right. It is not that an old minister is talking too much. Although Your Majesty is young and ambitious and has the heart to rectify the government, you must use courtesy before force and be tolerant. Moreover, these gentry are all scholars who know etiquette and reason. They should understand the court's painstaking efforts."

"In this case, I will follow your advice and draft an imperial decree to order the governor of Nanzhili to make public the households in the prefectures, counties and districts that owe taxes, and order them to pay back the taxes within three months. If they can do so, the court will not pursue them. In addition, to show the court's leniency, since the first year of Zhengde, the taxes owed are less than 500 dan, and the poor families will not be burdened by this! My dear ministers, is this a lenient act?"

Zhu Houzhao did compromise a bit. After all, he knew that he had killed too many people before. Now he only used 500 stones as the standard, and that was only for those born after the first year of Zhengde. He even asked people to hand it over voluntarily, which was very convenient for the gentry. He didn't let the government come to take it by force.

"I would like to thank Your Majesty on behalf of the gentry of Jiangnan! Your Majesty's move will relieve the worries of the poor scholars of Jiangnan!"

Ma Wensheng was relieved to see Zhu Houzhao like this, thinking that His Majesty had finally matured and understood how to show favor to his subordinates. Wang Shu also bowed and said, "Although people's minds are unpredictable, I think these Jiangnan gentry have read the books of sages and will not be ignorant of the court's favor. They will pay the arrears of taxes truthfully!"

Soon, Wang Yangming, the governor of Nanzhili, ordered all prefectures, counties and districts to pass on the imperial decree, persuading these gentry in the south of the Yangtze River to hand over the large amount of unpaid taxes.

but.

A month passed, and not a single gentry from any prefecture, state, or county came to pay taxes!
Two months have passed, and still not a single gentry from any prefecture, state, or county has come to pay taxes!
Three months passed, and Zhu Houzhao's ceremony of offering sacrifices to the Mausoleum of Emperor Xiaoling was over, but still not a single shi of unpaid taxes had been handed in by the gentry!

Thanks to my friend Green Sheep for the 100 Qidian coins reward

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(End of this chapter)