The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"It will be seen that all the salaries in the E sect will be used liberally. In the future, all descendants, regardless of their number, will receive it. Then there will be no name for the imperial court to reduce it, and each sect will be allocated the right amount as promised, from now on to ten thousand years later."

In the main hall of Ciqing Palace, a bead curtain divides the spacious palace into two. The empress dowagers of the two palaces and the Wanli Emperor Zhu Yijun are behind the curtain, while Zhang Juzheng, Wei Guangde and the eunuch Feng Bao are on the other side.

At this time, Wei Guangde was still reading the "Regulations on the Proposed Reconstruction of the Sectarian Regulations" drafted in his hand. Because the Lumi incident had occurred in the clans of the three prefectures before, it was also regarded as the top priority of the court.

You must know that in the first year of Wanli, a large amount of internal funds were allocated as rewards, both for military towns and clan members.

But even under this background, there are still troubles in the clan, and we cannot but talk about the seriousness of the Lumi problem in the clan.

What they are making trouble about is not the little emperor Wanli, but the several years of lumi that the Longqing Dynasty had owed.

In the middle period of the Jiajing period, the clan gathered together to ask for rice, and the court could still transfer money from the old treasury to appease them. In the later period, when the treasury was exhausted, it was internal money. Then if the internal money was insufficient, the only choice was to tear down the east wall to make up for the west wall. Whichever government caused trouble? We allocate food and money from the surrounding areas to appease, and the rest can only be reduced or not distributed. It will be delayed for several years, causing trouble and then appeasing.

This method is actually Xu Jie's method followed by Yan Song, but now, Zhang Juzheng thinks that the permanent quota system proposed by Wei Guangde seems to be able to completely solve the clan Lumi issue, so he urges Wei Guangde to quickly take out the regulations, and then immediately Summon Minister Gu Ming to discuss first.

After Wei Guangde read the charter, Empress Dowager Chen took the lead and asked: "Wei Aiqing, how much has the population of this clan increased in recent years? Why has clan members gathered to ask for Lumi almost every year since Jiajing forty years ago? "

Wei Guangde did not answer immediately, but glanced at Zhang Juzheng first. When he saw him nodding slightly, indicating to speak directly, he cleared his mind and said: "Queen Mother Qi, since the end of Hongwu, the clan has a population of fifty-eight, and it was also during the Yongle period. There are more than a hundred people, but since the Zhengde Dynasty, the total population has skyrocketed to nearly 3,000.

By the eighth year of Jiajing, the clan population had reached 8,000. By the twelfth year of Jiajing, the clan population had exceeded 10,000. By the 33rd year of Jiajing, the clan population had exceeded 20,000. From the 40th year of Jiajing, the clan population had been Maintained at more than 28,000 people.

It is now estimated that the population is 29,000. "

"Why did the population increase by thousands every year in the early Jiajing years, but in the past ten years, the clan population has not changed much? Is it because the imperial court did not allocate Lumi?"

Wei Guangde's introduction was quite detailed and was briefly mentioned in the early Ming Dynasty. However, the Jiajing Dynasty, which had a huge population explosion in the clan, was relatively careful. Therefore, Queen Mother Chen could easily see that the changes in the clan population in the past ten years were completely different from before.

"Thirty years after Jiajing, local governments were unable to allocate Lumi in time due to depletion of local treasuries. Therefore, forty years after Jiajing, Li Chunfang and Li Ge were ordered to compile the "Regulations of the Clan", which imposed strict restrictions on members of the clan.

The population growth in the past ten years has been small. In addition to the inability to distribute Lumi on time, the restrictions in the "Zongfu Regulations" are also the main reason. "

Wei Guangde replied.

This explanation is actually a bit ambiguous and not detailed, but Queen Mother Chen also made a rough guess.

The decrease in the clan population in the past ten years should be related to the "Regulations on Duties and Vassals", or the court has rules for identifying clan members, so some clan members may have been ignored by the court because they did not comply with the rules and were not considered to be clan members.

In fact, the clans of the Ming Dynasty were not allowed to marry and reproduce without restrictions. There were strict restrictions on clan members taking wives and concubines, and they had to be reported.

Only the heirs who are reported will be recognized by the court, that is, they can be included as members of the clan.

If the children were not reported to the Ministry of Rites for registration, their heirs were recognized in the past. However, after Li Chunfang compiled the "Regulations on Clan and Vassal", they were not recognized by the Ministry of Rites and were not included in the clan.

In addition, the skyrocketing population of the clan during the Hongzhi Dynasty had already attracted the attention of the court at that time, so there was a regulation for clan members that was continued, and that was study.

"When the royal family reaches the age of fifteen shillings, they will be granted a title as usual, and one-third of the salary will be given. They will study for five years. The prince will then ask the prince to go out to study, and receive a full salary."

It was stipulated that after the clan was granted a title at the age of fifteen, it would take "five years of study" to receive all the Lumi. This was also to solve the problem of insufficient Lumi payment at the time.

Therefore, in the ten years from the 40th year of Jiajing to the first year of Wanli, the clan population increased by less than 1,000 people. This is the main reason.

However, because they were not recognized by the court, the living standards of many lower-level clan members plummeted.

After all, if you give birth to a child and have to raise it, you will not be recognized by the court, and there is no Lumi, so the annual Lumi becomes the income that the middle and lower-level clans in each mansion depend on for their livelihood.

You know, the lower-level clans have no other sources of income and only rely on the Lumi allocated by the local government.

Once the local government defaults, it will be unsustainable.

The troubles in the clan were actually more or less forced out by imperial policies.

However, the court had no choice. In the past few years, members of the clan were crazy about taking concubines because they had nothing to do, which led to a skyrocketing number of births. The court could not afford to support so many people, so naturally it had to find ways to limit it.

In other words, the clan population currently registered by the court is actually lower than the actual population.

"In fact, the accumulated debts have already existed since the Hongzhi Dynasty, but the scale was not large. The local government could barely cope with the turnover. However, it only snowballed in the Jiajing Dynasty. The population was growing too fast. Even after the change, the local government could barely cope with it. It’s still unsustainable.”

Zhang Juzheng opened his mouth to explain at this time.

"Um."

Queen Mother Chen nodded, accepting this answer.

However, Queen Mother Zhang, who had been silent next to her, suddenly asked: "How does the imperial court distribute its true colors now?"

"Generals and lieutenants pay 50%, and princesses pay 40%."

Zhang Juzheng replied immediately.

"After each prefecture's Lumi quota is set, can this example really last for eternity?"

Queen Mother Chen immediately asked next.

What she is most concerned about is this. After all, it is a big change to the previous clan policy. If it cannot be effective, it is better not to change it.

This time, Zhang Juzheng did not answer, but looked at Wei Guangde.

The ball was kicked back, and Wei Guangde also felt miserable.

In fact, after the Lumi quota system, the problem seems to be solved, but in fact, the effect may not be as good as it seems.

By today's standards, the current situation can certainly be solved, but in the next few generations, the population will still grow, and after the distribution of lumi becomes thin, the poor will still become poorer.

In the end, these clans couldn't afford to eat and couldn't find their own way out, so they had to come to the court to cause trouble.

In Wei Guangde's view, the quota is only to determine a number to reduce the pressure on the court. The real solution to the problem is to allow the clan to engage in the business of the four people and let them support themselves instead of blindly asking for money from the court.

Wei Guangde thought for a while and decided to tell the truth, so he said: "The system of Zong Lu Yongfu can be implemented for a while and passed down to several generations. The more extensive the analysis is, the thinner the salary and grain will be, and it may be unsustainable. That's why there is a proposal to allow the clan to Members are engaged in the business of the four peoples.

If the members of the clan are not separated, this policy will not last long, so it needs to be supplemented by the strategy of clan division to control the clan population to the maximum extent.

In addition, with the succession of the imperial heir, many relatives, princes and princes were born. Even though the golden branches of each government are now fixed, the descendants of His Majesty are still a problem, and they still have to allocate Lumi from the local areas. "

"However, they may not be willing to transfer their fortunes to the four peoples."

At this time, Queen Mother Chen sighed and said.

The next thing is something that the grandson will consider in the future. Empress Dowager Chen can't think of that far ahead. For the time being, she can only think about the present.

The clans of the Ming Dynasty, especially those at the bottom, have long been ruined by the court's pig-raising policy. Even if the court allows them to take the imperial examination, it is unlikely that anyone will stand out.

Although in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, there were still occasional talents in the clan, but after all, there were too few, and most of them were just waiting to die.

If they have a chance to explode their power, it is when they gather a crowd to surround the local government office.

Relying on their clan status, local officials did not dare to resist too strongly against their encirclement and attacks, especially when they gathered people to demand debts.

After all, local officials also know that they are the losers.

According to the clan policy formulated by Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty, the princes, except the crown prince, are all crowned princes, regardless of their legitimate concubines; the princes, except the prince, are all crowned princes, regardless of their legitimate concubines; the princes, except the prince, are all crowned princes, regardless of their legitimate concubines. They were all granted the title of general of the state.

Below the county king, no matter whether they are generals or lieutenants, their sons are no longer distinguished between legitimate concubines when they are granted titles. The sons of the generals who hold the country are all granted the title of generals of the auxiliary country, and the sons of the generals of the auxiliary country are all granted the title of generals of the fengguo country. By analogy, the descendants continue to descend. Up to Lieutenant Fengguo, all male descendants of Lieutenant Zhenguo will always be Lieutenant Zhenguo.

There was no so-called "idle clan" in the Ming Dynasty. Everyone in the clan had a title, and no matter how bad he was, he was still a lieutenant in Fengguo. He was given a hundred shi of food every year. If he didn't mess up too much and could get enough rice, he could still survive.

Unfortunately, the imperial court cannot provide so much food now, so the clan is divided into the rich clan and the poor clan.

Relatives, princes, and clans who are good at managing money gradually become richer and have a bigger family, while those who are not good at managing money will become poorer and poorer, and even die of cold and hunger.

However, when he mentioned the heirs of the later emperors, the newly enfeoffed princes and princes, Zhang Juzheng couldn't help but blink. No wonder Wei Guangde said that this strategy was immature at the time.

Even if the Lumi quota for each branch is confirmed this time, after successive emperors are born, who knows how many clan branches will be born. At that time, it will still be pressed on local finances. It seems that it is not completely solved.

After all, I was mistaken and thought that Yong'e could solve the clan's difficulties.

"Shan Loan, what do you think of this?"

Queen Mother Chen cares about the present, but Zhang Juzheng still hopes to find a complete solution to the clan problem.

Zong Lu has become a stubborn problem that has plagued the Ming Dynasty for decades. Zhang Juzheng hopes to find a way to effectively solve it during his term. This will undoubtedly add a lot of color to his resume.

Even if this solution was proposed by Wei Guangde, as long as it is completed during his term of office, it is still his credit.

"Abolition of the ban on the four people, the clan only retains the title as one of them, and cleans up the clan's wealth. Except for relatives and the prince Jinzhi, all other clan titles will be allocated part of the land at one time. This land is Yongye Field, and the government will not pay taxes. As for inheritance, this part of the land is allocated.

After the land is distributed, the clan will naturally no longer be able to obtain Lumi from the local government.

In this way, in addition to confirming that the land given by the prince will be inherited by his descendants when he is canonized as a prince, the land will not increase when he becomes a county king. It will only be distributed in a certain proportion according to the acres given by the previous prince and passed on to future generations accordingly.

My relatives and princes have a special status and can continue to enjoy Lumi."

Wei Guangde dictated the strategy he was considering, which was not yet mature. In fact, in the final analysis, the family separation started from the prince's period.

The emperor directly determined the land rewarded to his son, and subsequent heirs could only inherit this part of the land and its output.

If the division is too small, the last clan will naturally not dare to give birth to a bunch of children, because the family property is no longer enough to divide.

This controlled the pressure from the branches on the court's finances from the source. As for the pressure on the court when the princes were enfeoffed, the court did not have enough official land and royal estates, so naturally there would be less land awarded to the princes.

At the same time, Wei Guangde's request to clarify this part of the land was actually to conduct an inventory of the fields of the princes in various places. The land exempted from the tax can only be the acres given by the emperor. For the land they annexed later, Wei Guangde considered asking the local government to expropriate this part of the land. Taxation.

They even had to recover the taxes and levies that had been concealed before. After all, the government's finances were too tight now. A careful inspection of the land properties of those old-school relatives and princes could not be said to be a huge income.

As for what they should do if they refuse to pay taxes, they can just confiscate the acres of land. These confiscated official lands can also be used as a supplement to the clan's "buyout of Lumi".

Yes, Wei Guangde doesn't think it's a good thing to let the clan continue. It's better to cut the knot quickly and solve Zonglu's problems directly.

Using money and land in exchange for the Lumi rights in the clan's hands, they received a lump sum of compensation, and the court would no longer pay Lumi in the future.

After the buyout, they can have as many children as they want, and it has nothing to do with the court.

Anyway, the court at that time only recognized the relatives and the prince Jinzhi, and the other titles were just empty titles and did not receive any support from the court.

By the way, the tax collection rights that the emperors of the Ming Dynasty had given to the princes in the past were also taken back, and the tax system of the Ming Dynasty was reorganized.

The imperial court was led by the Ministry of Household Affairs to form a tax bureau, which was assigned to the county level. Taxation was also divided into local tax and national tax.

The establishment of the tax bureau was not just an idea by Wei Guangde to simplify the tax system.

The taxes in the Ming Dynasty include monetary taxes and physical taxes. In the past, they were collected by local governments and handed over to the Cao Department for transshipment.

With the tax bureau, the allocation of monetary taxes is naturally simple, but for physical taxes, Wei Guangde plans to use this yamen to directly replace the caoshan government.

That group of people has formed a tight alliance of interests, making it difficult for outsiders to penetrate.

Wei Guangde did not intend to consider arranging people to enter the water transport yamen and use any tricks. He directly built a new tax bureau to be responsible for escorting the physical goods and escorted the southern money and grain to Beijing by sea transportation, completely getting rid of the control of the Caoshan Bureau.

Once the new Yamen is established, he will report the abolition of the Caosi to make them look good.