I'm really not the carpenter emperor

Some of these people may have been privately left as servants by the officers of Zhenxiwei, and some may have run away because they couldn't bear it.

Even if there are still these left in the field, most of them are the old, weak, sick and disabled called by Yu Wei.

Excluding these, there are very few young men who can be transferred to fight in such a big town of Xiwei.

These young men had not received much systematic training, and stood there crookedly, even the armor on their bodies was in tatters.

Now the imperial court has only replaced the ordnance and armor of the garrisons in Jiubian and Shandong, and has not dealt with the guards in the Central Plains.

Because of this situation, even if they were replaced, it would only treat the symptoms but not the root cause, and they would be pocketed by local generals.

Zhu Xieyuan understood that it is not appropriate to persecute these people too much now. The first step is to ask the emperor to issue new armor and weapons.

First win the hearts of the people, and with the morale of the army, the next step will be smooth.

Thinking of this, he looked around and said:

"The governor was ordered by the emperor to rectify the guards. Those who want to rectify are those sinners who embezzled the army and made the imperial officers and soldiers use it for personal use, not you."

"The governor understands that you are all victims. The governor came down this time to give you justice!"

Chapter 623 One Hundred Thousand Military Households

Even if these words came from Zhu Xieyuan's mouth, the people below still couldn't believe it was true at first.

In the early Ming Dynasty, due to the lack of supplies and the economic downturn, the Weisuo system came into being, and the composition of the Weisuo system was the basic household registration system of the whole country.

All common people are divided into civilian households, peasant households, artisan households and military households.

Once the hukou status is determined, then this status is permanent and hereditary, and future generations can only do this job.

There is a strict distinction between military households and civilian households. Military households are still nominally under the management of the Five Armed Forces Governor's Mansion, and civilian households are under the management of the Ministry of Household Affairs.

If a male member of a certain family is recruited into the army, then his family will be exiled forever and live in a designated guard. There is no second possibility.

This worked well in the early Ming Dynasty, but today, it has become a backward ancestral system that has to be changed.

These people in front of them are the so-called military households.

Of course, after being designated as a military household, there are still two ways to get rid of the identity attribute of a military household.

The first is to be authorized by the emperor, and the second is that you are very good and promoted to the position of Minister of the Ministry of War, and then your whole family will no longer have to be a military household.

These two ways are basically the same for military households who are struggling to survive.

This system, until now, has become the biggest drawback that drags down the entire Ming Dynasty and has to be changed.

Reform is imminent.

However, Zhu Xieyuan knew that in addition to the household registration system, the Weisuo system also had various basic components such as the military system.

If you want to move the guard, you have to start with these basic systems, step by step, you need to eat at one bite, and it is easy to tear your eggs if you take too long.

It took two years of deliberation before I dared to mobilize the army. This was also a last resort.

Now that he has come, Zhu Xieyuan also understands that there is absolutely no possibility of retreating. Right now, his mood is even more cautious than when he was commanding the battle of Liaodong and fighting Nurhachi.

"Bring it up." He glanced around, and when the guards below gradually calmed down, he said in a full-fledged manner.

Soon, He Renlong brought over Yu Wei who had no commanding majesty, threw it aside, and said with a smile:

"Governor, this guy is a coward. The last general just frightened him a little bit, and he didn't even make a big deal of it, so he took all the tricks!"

"Chop!" Zhu Xieyuan narrowed his eyes and said coldly.

This order came a bit suddenly, even He Renlong didn't react, but soon, he personally operated the knife and pressed it on Yu Wei's neck.

Before it falls, the bottom will suddenly rise in a chaotic direction.

"Governor, Commander Yu has served in Zhenxiwei for many years, worked hard, and guarded the northwest for the imperial court. What crime did he commit?"

"Jing Nan, the ancestor of the Yu family, has made great contributions and guarded the Northwest Guard for many years. If there is no merit, there will be hard work. Even if he is the governor, he can't be killed directly, right?"

Looking at the servants who were leading the opposition below, Zhu Xieyuan had nothing to say, and directly sacrificed the Shangfang sword given to him by Emperor Tianqi when he was summoned by the platform.

"This sword was given to me by His Majesty when he summoned me to the platform. Since the day I received it, I have always thought about restraint and dare not use it!"

"Today, I think it's time to use it, please Shang Fangjian—!"

He Renlong was taken aback, and quickly said yes, pulled out the Shangfang sword made by Da Nei, which was sharper than Xiuchun Dao, and couldn't help but praise:

"Good sword!"

Zhu Xieyuan stood on the stage, looked around at all the military households, and said loudly:

"Today, the governor wants to use this matter to tell you that the day for military households to stand up has come. You can go home and tell your wives and children!"

"Today, His Majesty Sheng Ming has made a decisive decision, knowing you and other difficult things. This governor will inherit the emperor's orders and respond to the people's hearts. He will rectify the guards and restore the world to a bright future!"

"He Renlong, what are you waiting for?"

"Abiding by the order!" He Renlong didn't hesitate any longer, and sneered at Yu Wei, who was terrified, "I'm sorry, but you are the first person to die under this Shang Fang's sword."

After saying that, a sword fell.

When the head fell to the ground, there was no blood at first, but there was a gurgling flow out later, like a bloody stream, and finally a fishy smell came out.

At this time, everyone really dared to believe that Yu Wei, the commander of Zhenxiwei, was indeed dead!

There was a moment of silence in the arena, and then all the military households suddenly knelt down in groups, some were crying, some were shouting, some were laughing.

Yu Wei's death represented the official start of the imperial court's rectification of the Shanshan Guards.

And Zhu Xieyuan dared to take responsibility, and asked Shang Fangjian to kill the current commander, beheading first and then playing. Such courage made everyone feel at ease.

Zhu Xieyuan looked at the headless corpse expressionlessly, and asked:

"Officer Qian, what is the actual amount of Zhenxiwei military households, and how much tax has been collected in recent years?"

"Truthfully speaking, the governor spares you the death penalty."

After this scene, the official Qian was already frightened, he knelt down on the ground, kowtowed in panic, and said repeatedly:

"In the first year of the Apocalypse, the number of military households in Zhenxiwei was 850, 170 and [-]."

"The governor remembers that Zhenxiwei now has four counties under its jurisdiction, and the total number of households is only 50 people..."

Zhu Xieyuan regained his composure and realized for the first time that the proportion of military households was so large.

This is still the statistics of the first year of Tianqi. Now Tianqi is five years old. After years of hard work, the number of military households may exceed [-].

In this way, one out of every five people in Zhenxiwei is a military household!

Such a proportion is terrifying, and even makes Zhu Xieyuan feel suffocated. If the disposal of this huge group of military households is unknown, it is likely to cause great turmoil and chaos within Daming!

This is not the implementation of the new salt law, nor is it that Dongchang hunted and killed Donglin.

The new salt law affects only the salt households in coastal areas such as the Huaihe River and Huaihe River, and the Donglin Party is only a representative of the southern chaebol.

The number of military households is enough to shake the foundation of Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Xieyuan took a deep breath and asked in as calm a tone as possible: "What about the number of the town's Xiwei internal army?"

"Those occupied by generals, and the rest of the military camps, all count."

Mentioning this matter, the officer could not stop trembling, until Zhu Xieyuan looked this way again, he did not dare to lift his head and said:

"Zhenxiwei has over [-] hectares of cultivated land under its jurisdiction."

Zhu Xieyuan also knew what this number meant.

Hearing this, he suddenly felt dizzy and almost fell down.

The guard at the side hurriedly supported him: "Governor—!"

"I'm fine." Zhu Xieyuan stood up reluctantly, leaned against the pillar behind him, and murmured:

"Zhenxiwei has four counties under its jurisdiction, with a total of more than [-] hectares of arable land. This is not a lot of barren land."

"With such a huge number of military households, there are only more than 1000 hectares of registered military settlements?"

Zhu Xieyuan's performance made the military households below start to feel a little worried.

They were afraid, afraid that this time the court was just loud thunder and little rain, and the hope that had been kindled with great difficulty was shattered in an instant.

Looking at these simple military households full of hope, Zhu Xieyuan gritted his teeth and stood up again.

He knew in his heart that instead of giving people hope and then extinguishing it, it would be better not to give them hope, which would be tantamount to murder.

Now that the words have been said, even if the body is smashed to pieces, he must continue to do it.

Chapter 624 Exorbitant Taxation

In the Ming Dynasty, military households had the lowest status, even lower than farmers and businessmen.

In the Hongwu Dynasty, the guard system was prosperous, and Zhu Yuanzhang once uttered a bold statement, "I will raise millions of soldiers without spending a single grain of food from the people."

To this day, Qi Yichao is just the opposite.

The numerous guards and military households all over the country have become a big problem that the imperial court is difficult to deal with, and it is also a time bomb that may detonate at any time.

Because Zhu Youjiao knew the disaster that this problem would bring to future generations, he took precautions and asked Zhu Xieyuan to come to Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces where the most serious conflicts would break out in the future to rectify the guards.

But even Zhu Xieyuan couldn't think that under the appearance of the collapse of the guard system, many fundamental systems at the bottom had already collapsed.

Household registration system and land system are big problems that are difficult to deal with...

Zhu Xieyuan sorted out his thoughts, so that he could look as believable as possible, then turned to the officer and asked:

"Zhenxiwei collected military tax last year. How did you collect the tax?"

Having said so much black material just now, the official's reaction is no longer so frightening, he said:

"Go back to the governor, and we will collect one bucket and two liters of grain per mu for the Wei Nei army camp."

Zhu Youxiao succeeded to the throne in the 47th year of Wanli. In the first year of Tianqi, he issued an edict to reduce and exempt national taxes.

The edict clearly stipulates that from the first year of Tianqi to the third year of Tianqi, the national tax will be reduced or exempted, and a new taxation policy will be implemented starting from the third year of Tianqi.

That is to say, the highest per-mu tax for official land in the country shall not exceed five liters and three-in-five per mu, while private land shall be reduced by another two liters.

In other words, in some poor areas of the country, the lowest tax per mu is only three liters, which is the lowest in history.

In Zhu Youxiao's imperial edict, there was no clear regulation on the military station of the Weisuo. It's not that he didn't expect it, but he didn't dare.

There are too many interests involved in the military settlement of the guard. At that time, the tax reduction and exemption for the whole country was just an act to win people's hearts at the beginning of his accession to the throne.

The new taxation policy promulgated by Apocalypse in three years is actually building momentum for the follow-up reform.

At that time, it was a matter of course and did not cause any waves, but once it involved the military camp of the guard, I was afraid that there would be turmoil.

Zhu Youxiao knew in his heart that he had to plan slowly for the army stationed in the Weisuo.

According to the ancestral system during the Hongwu period, the tax for military farmland should not exceed one bucket per mu, and the tax collected by the Zhenxiwei was higher than in previous years after the tax reduction in the third year of Tianqi!

This just shows the independence of the guards stationed in the country's fields.

Since the military camps of the Weisuo almost involved civil servants and military generals from all over the country, these low-level managers of the Ming Dynasty were not afraid that the imperial court would seriously investigate.

It's been like this for so many years.

Yu Wei is just one of them, and the situation in various guards is obviously not good.

More importantly, almost all of these heavy military taxes went into the pockets of local civil servants, generals, landlords, and gentry.

As the emperor, Zhu Youxiao did not see in the financial memorials of the Ministry of Households over the years that the military taxation across the country increased the court's income.

Zhu Xieyuan is in the local area, so he understands this situation better.

Take Zhenxiwei as an example. There are nine out of ten barren villages in the Wei army. Even if the military households want to cultivate, they cannot achieve it due to various reasons.

Under such circumstances, Zhenxiwei still collected such a heavy military tax, which is tantamount to taking money and killing people.

The most direct manifestation of the inability of military households to survive is that since Hongwu, the escape of military households across the country has been repeatedly prohibited.

Even with strict orders from the imperial court, military households still took risks and fled with their families.

This kind of situation began to increase day by day during the Wanli period, and it has become commonplace in the current Tianqi period.

So, what are the consequences of military households fleeing?

It is the military household and the whole family that will never see the light!

During the Yongle period, Zhu Di set strict regulations in response to the growing phenomenon of military households fleeing, that is, if one person flees, the whole family will be implicated.