Yipin County Magistrate: Start with invincibility

Chapter 177
Listening to what Qin Feng said, the princess kept nodding her head, thinking that what Qin Feng said made sense.

The imperial envoy behind him couldn't listen anymore.

This imperial envoy's family is a family of officials and officials, counting up two generations, they are all virtuous officials of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

After returning to their hometowns, the older generation naturally became local gentry.Their family also has a lot of land, a small part is given by the emperor, and more is taken from the hands of the people.

However, he didn't think that his family was "taking it by surprise", so he couldn't help but argue with Qin Feng.

"Lord Qin, you keep saying that the local gentry are stealing by stealth, but I want to hear how they steal by stealth? Could it be that in broad daylight, they dare to snatch farmers' land contracts?"

"It's not robbery. The state owns the law. These people are not so rampant, but they will use some methods."

Qin Feng gave a detailed description of the usual methods used by the squires - "lending usury and increasing the interest rate", "lending food to the poor peasants for one and paying back three times".

"In this way, the poorer the farmers, the more they have to borrow, and the more they borrow, the more they have to repay. When the debts are so high that they can repay the debts, they can only use their own land to pay off the debt..."

"Most of the country gentry use this method to gather the wealth and products of the poor in their own hands. Not only the fields, but also the houses. I have to pay rent for my own house, and my life is in dire straits..."

"Hum..."

The imperial envoy sneered twice: "People are driven by profit. If they don't want interest, what reason do those gentry have to lend money and grain to these poor people? This move is reasonable and legal, so how can it become a robbery? The farmers themselves don't pay the money, and these gentry What does it matter? No one forced them to mortgage the property, the property..."

"The court officials in this dynasty are limited. Relying on the power of the court, it is difficult to manage every corner of Da Zhou well. In many villages and towns, we still have to rely on these gentry to maintain order. This is the guarantee for the stability of our Da Zhou grassroots."

"How did it come to you, Qin Feng, that these squires have become heinous people?"

As soon as Qin Feng heard it, it didn't smell right, and he understood it after thinking about it casually. The imperial envoy put himself into the perspective of the squires and spoke for these squires.

This is to demolish his own platform, if he can't make him shut up?He hasn't said that he took the land of the squire by chance.

Qin Feng glanced at the imperial envoy, pondered for a while, and also sneered: "The imperial envoy's words are wrong."

"This official only cited these few examples, and they are just examples that can be said on the table. People are not willing to swallow elephants. In order to get the property of the poor, many squires can use even sinister means. Robbery It's all normal, and there are not a few people who cause people's lives!"

"Nonsense! The laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty are strict. They rob farmers' property and kill people, so they are not afraid of the king's law? How can officials from all over the country allow such things to happen?"

The imperial envoy flicked his sleeves violently and retorted loudly.

Qin Feng smiled coldly, shook his head slightly, and sighed: "The imperial envoy has been in a high position for a long time, and he doesn't know much about the low-level officialdom. These country gentlemen are really not afraid!"

Qin Feng started the analysis.

"The grain tax is one out of ten in this dynasty. Farmers only need to pay one mu of harvest for every ten mu of land cultivated. The remaining [-]% is more than enough for living. Officials from all over the country can also easily collect and pay the grain tax. The imperial court has enough food, the common people have ample food and clothing, and the low-level officials are not under great pressure, so it can be said that everyone is happy."

"However, the squire took away the farmer's land, and [-]% of the annual rent was exempted from tax. The farmer cultivated ten acres and only got two acres. half!"

The Imperial Envoy frowned, and counted with his fingers, it seemed that this was the case.

The princess also looked stern. She glanced at the farmers around her, thinking, did these people live this kind of life before?
Qin Feng continued: "If this standard is strictly enforced, many people will starve to death every year when the grain tax is collected. In a few years, a county will have a small population. It is impossible."

"The local officials were helpless, so they could only collect an appropriate amount from the farmers, leaving enough food for the farmers to survive starvation, and the grain taxes owed could only be collected from the squires."

"Squires don't need to pay taxes. If they help magistrates, it is tantamount to taking advantage of magistrates. If they do something to oppress the people in the future, these magistrates can only turn a blind eye. It's a vicious circle!"

Qin Feng clasped his fists at the imperial envoy, and said solemnly: "In this way, the poor will only become poorer and the rich will become richer, and the laws of the country will become a dead letter in front of the poor. Have you ever heard a saying, Let the people be water, the Son of Heaven be a boat, water can carry a boat and capsize it!"

"The common people are oppressed to the extreme, and they are bound to be dissatisfied with the imperial court. At that time, Da Zhou may be in danger of being destroyed!"

"If you really come to this point, the imperial envoy will still think that the actions of those gentry are right?"

"This this……"

The imperial envoy was stopped by the question, he was speechless, wanted to speak, but didn't know what to say.

He never thought that the squires asking for some land from the farmers would actually threaten the continuation of the Great Zhou court. With the princess by his side, he didn't dare to express his opinions indiscriminately. If there is something wrong with asking the princess to listen, he would say that in front of the emperor. Well, he is in danger as an imperial envoy.

The princess pondered Qin Feng's words in her mouth, and kept repeating: "Water can carry a boat and overturn it... Yes, yes, my Great Zhou Taizu, didn't it just follow the will of heaven and overthrow the tyranny of the previous dynasty, so that we have Big Zhou?"

"Taizu was well aware of the sufferings of the people. He exempted taxes for ten years after the founding of the country. In previous years, the tax was [-] per [-]. The tax was light and the tax was light. It's just that the official warehouse has not been able to collect enough food in the past two years, so the tax was raised. Qin Feng, you are so In other words, the reason for the insufficient food tax is actually on the heads of these gentry?"

"exactly."

Qin Feng replied.

The princess frowned, looked at Qin Feng, and asked humbly: "In your opinion, how can we make improvements? Or, ask the emperor to call down and force the squires to return the land in their hands to the people?"

Qin Feng shook his head: "No, as the imperial envoy said, there is a normal loan relationship between the gentry and the people on the surface, and the land is often obtained by pledge, which is reasonable and legal..."

"Then how can we solve it?"

Qin Feng chuckled and raised a finger: "It's pretty simple. You only need to do two things: First, from now on, anyone who owns land will have to pay grain tax. The basis is [-] mu for each household. Paying grain. Squires are no exception. In this way, no matter whether the land is in the hands of the common people or farmers, the country’s grain tax is guaranteed. Those who have no land in their hands do not need to pay.”

"Secondly, on top of the benchmark, there are two more grades. If a household has an output of more than [-] mu, the grain tax payment will be doubled, and if it is more than [-] mu, it will be quadrupled!"

(End of this chapter)