Red Chamber Fellows: You Are Not Guilty

Within a few days, many little beggars appeared in central Beijing and Zhili prefectures, and they would send a kind of paper called newspaper to anyone they saw.There are several pieces on it, densely packed with words.There are a few government orders in it, most of which are from the parents, and there are even poems and essays written by well-known Confucian scholars recently.

Those who receive something for nothing have no objection to it.Even if you are illiterate, you can still use it to wrap things.People who know a few words prefer it, because most of the things on it can be read.The few words they know on weekdays can also be read without saying a word, read it to the people around them, get everyone's admiring gaze, and feel that their faces are bright.Next time I don't need those little beggars to hand it over, I will send a copy from afar.

And those serious scholars are also willing to read poems and essays written by well-known Confucian scholars, and get together to discuss them from time to time.If a person does not know the latest article in the newspaper, everyone will contempt and think that person is ignorant.Therefore, many students and scholars naturally have to get the newspaper of the day early every day.

Habit is a terrible thing for people. It can dominate people and regard a behavior as inevitable.Just when everyone was used to the existence of newspapers, some Confucian scholars talked about taxation in newspapers.

Someone argued with the Confucian scholar in the next day's newspaper. It's not that the common people don't like to pay taxes, but that the taxes are getting heavier every year.Everyone will not be able to eat, and there is no money to pay taxes.As for why the court did not increase taxes, but everyone's taxes increased, the Confucian scholars themselves did not know.I dare not speculate whether the local officials have increased the tax without permission.

Some people reported in the next day's newspaper that officials from all over the country are good officials who serve the people.It is a pity that although the fields have not been moved, their owners have become gentry who do not pay taxes.The court did not increase taxes, but it did not cut taxes either.If there is no increase or decrease, and fewer people pay taxes, then everyone's tax money will increase.

The crowd roared.

People in this era, if they have money, the first thing they think about is to buy land, whether they are officials or small business owners, this is the case.Especially the lower class people, who have worked hard to save land for generations to buy two acres of land, but have to pay taxes to others for their annual income, which is personally unwilling.

The same is true of many scholars.Don't forget, they are just scholars, not gentry.To be worthy of being called a gentry, at least one of the ancestors in the family has been an official, and they have to keep farming and studying, and pass on poems and books to the family.Ordinary scholars, many of whom have gray hair, are still only scholars. Unfortunately, scholars are not exempt from tax.If you want to be tax-free, you must at least have more than one person.

So the people are distressed and wronged, what should I do?Since our parents are still good officials, we can't let us pay taxes for others in vain. You have to give us an explanation, right?Many yamen were besieged by the people who were asking for explanations, and even the Shuntian Mansion could not escape.

These officials deserve to be praised as good officials, and they quickly reflected the matter to the emperor.In the early dynasty, the Ministry of Households was the first to ask the emperor to question: "Aren't you in charge of taxation and household registration throughout the country? Why haven't you discovered such a big loophole?"

Zhang Dashi, who also served as the Minister of the Household Department, had no choice but to respond: "The taxes paid by various places are completely equal to the amount verified in the previous year, so the Household Department has not found out. However, the registers of various places have not been verified for many years. Please grant permission , to verify the registers of each country."

The emperor is a good emperor with the world in mind, so of course he has to be the master for the people.He immediately agreed to the request of the household department, and 36 competent members of the household department group will verify the 36 provincial registers.If it is found to be false, the garrison can assist in organizing it.

There was an official whose family accommodated too many hermits, who talked about the nonsense that gentry is the foundation of the country, but was dismissed by Zhang Dashi with Jia Amnesty's previous words.Even the emperor also mentioned the investigation of hidden households that ended without a problem a few years ago, and the household department also investigated it this time.Anyone who takes in hermit households again is not tax-exempt, and they will pay food and serve corvée together with the common people.

There is no sound.Whether this is an official or a gentry, he is the most respectable person. If he goes on a business trip with a bunch of mud legs, what will be the face of a scholar.Seeing that the courtiers had nothing to say, the emperor declared the matter to the world with a swipe of his pen.

chaos!What a mess!It became a mess.This is the situation of the big families in the whole capital.Who confiscated several hidden households?It's just that people are counted among the servants of their own family, and they don't have to buy land with their own money, and they can get [-] to [-]% of the rent every year. Why not do it.

How happy it was to receive it that day, how heartbroken it is to share it now.That's money, wasted silver.Not only the housewives are heartbroken, but even the aunts are also very unwilling - many so-called aunts from rich families just call them nice, and to put it bluntly, they are just family-born children.But it is these families who give birth to children, once a aunt is born, they are often more courageous than serious masters, and they are more ruthless in keeping hidden households away.Many aunts and aunts have their fathers and brothers outside to match them up, and they take her into private households as private houses.

For a moment, the head of the family felt distressed and had a headache. The wife of the family told them that the household expenses had to be reduced, and the aunts clamored to increase the monthly bill-the invisible income was gone, so of course they had to live according to the monthly bill.

But what can those masters do?Would it be impossible to write to the emperor to stop checking hidden households?There is no need to say anything about golden words, just say that letting these patriarchs and mud-legged people work together will kill them.And what about food?You know, even if the hermit households collect it, they will never go more than their own fields. How can you pay taxes on all your property for the rent of a few hermit households?Everyone will do the math.

So the Patriarch remained silent.The housewives who understood the account of the heads of the family followed in silence.So those noisy aunts appeared.No matter how much money the family has, it is still under the control of the head of the house, and it is not up to their aunts to dictate.

No matter how coquettish a beauty is on weekdays, once she is ignorant of current affairs, it will make people feel disgusting.What, you still want the master to make trouble?It's not you who go on duty when the relationship comes, and it's not you who is ashamed, right?For a while, many aunts who were favored by rich families fell out of favor.

A miraculous scene appeared.Many people have experienced this incident, and the relationship between the head of the family and the mistress has become harmonious-the wife who knows which is more important when she settles the account, compared with the aunt who only calculates her own gains and losses, or her own old wife is the one who is more important to her. Wholeheartedly.So stay away from those sweet-talking aunts and get close to your old wife, which has become the consensus of many people in Beijing.

The mistresses are satisfied!A woman in the inner house, apart from relying on her natal family, is also indispensable for her master's favor.Now checking a hidden household has given me such an unexpected joy, I agree, even if there are few immediate benefits.What's more, not only their own interests have decreased, but the interests of those vixens have also shrunk considerably.It is definitely a good thing that can attack the enemy, and it is a good thing worth supporting! !

The mistresses supported it, but the servants actually supported it even more.why?If you want to go, those people bring their fields to vote, even if their names fall into the list of servants, they will not be able to serve as errands in the house, but they can still continue to do things in their own village. People who are also servants can feel angry. Ping is strange.

Therefore, the affairs of Jingzhong and Zhili Qingyinhu were completed very smoothly.The emperor saw the situation in the Jinyiwei newspaper, and he couldn't laugh or cry: he just thought that he couldn't let those people take money from the treasury for nothing, so how could he stabilize other people's backyard?

"Two birds with one stone, two birds with one stone." Jia Amnesty comforted the emperor on the sidelines: "Look, this newspaper has contributed a lot, right? Those gentry wanted to stir up the people, but the people knew what they were, so none of them followed them."

The emperor nodded: "Yes. It's just that this newspaper can only be distributed to Zhili and Shandong. It's a pity."

Jia She looked at him curiously: "Your Majesty, don't say that there are no Huangzhuang in various places. The output of one Huangzhuang in a province is enough to pay for newspapers for a whole year. Look at other people's queens, they are just paying for their own dowry. Zhuangzi ran this newspaper, but he didn’t spend a penny from the treasury.”

The emperor was a little embarrassed: "I don't feel sorry for the little money. It's just that if the newspaper is scattered everywhere, the content on it will be difficult to control. If someone uses this to make trouble, how will it end?"

Stupid people really have nothing to say.Jia Amnesty had a confused look on his face. Is this the kind of person who made himself go round and round?He decided it would be better to go home and watch Xichun get married.

Mr. Shi said from the side: "Your Majesty, you can inform all provinces that, except for government-run newspapers, if other people want to run newspapers, they must report to the court for approval. In addition, commissioners will be sent to review the contents of newspapers. Then these people , the exchange is carried out every year, and the academic administration of each province can also supervise it."

Did you see, this is the smart man, Jia She motioned to the emperor.

The emperor said, with you here, I just need to watch you work hard.

Jia Amnesty was speechless, so he could only ask to leave the palace due to his busy family affairs.The emperor knew that these few days were his niece's wedding day, and thinking about the investigation of hermits, he finally made a good start in Zhili and the capital. Nothing will go wrong.

So the emperor not only agreed that Jia Amnesty would not use it to go to court for a few days, but also generously took a few ruyis, antiques and other things from his private treasury as a dowry for Xichun.

In two more days it will be the time for Xichunhua to get married, and there will be a lot of people coming and going in Dingguo Duke's mansion.Both Jia Jing and Jia Qiang proposed to let Xichun marry in their own home, but let Xichun veto it. Her reasons were very strong: "When this daughter comes out of the court, the brother always carries the sedan chair. But brother, you can see for yourself. Maybe he can memorize me? Let alone Qiang'er, he is a nephew."

Jia Jing wanted to say that Jia Lian had separated from our family.But when he thought about how Xichun had been treated like his own daughter-in-law all these years, I was too embarrassed to say that.