vrcanaries Chapter 140
Chapter 140
Lin Ke also thought of the fourteenth brother, but the relationship between the two brothers was said to be exceptionally bad, and it was not certain that the fourth brother would want this brat as his younger brother!
……
"After Yongzheng rectified the officialdom, the atmosphere changed all at once. During the Kangxi era, there were people who suggested that Kangxi study the fire loss silver, but Kangxi himself was unwilling to bear the reputation, since the fire loss silver was still taken from the people."
"But Yongzheng's reputation was already terrible, so adding another tyrant title wouldn't matter."
Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty: !?
"Besides, he wasn't the only emperor with a bad reputation; there were plenty of others. Cough cough, I'm getting off topic."
"Back here, after resolving the issue of officials, Yongzheng then turned his attention to landlords and gentry, which involved a tax—the agricultural tax."
"At that time, farmers' taxes mainly consisted of two parts: land tax, which was levied on acreage, and poll tax, which was levied on a per capita basis."
"Before that, land consolidation was becoming increasingly serious, and more and more poor people could not afford to pay taxes, so they naturally chose to leave their hometowns."
“These people would become vagrants, causing social unrest. Therefore, in response to this situation, Yongzheng came up with a solution: the land tax system was implemented.”
"The so-called 'equalization of poll tax' means abolishing the poll tax and using the money from it to increase the land tax in order to reduce the burden on the poor, while keeping the country's total fiscal revenue unchanged."
A scion of a prominent family in the Song Dynasty: In other words, they're increasing land taxes. Would the rich be happy about that?
An official from the Ming Dynasty: There is a high probability that the resistance will be very strong!
A spoiled young master from the Tang Dynasty: At least the poor would agree with it!
……
"The people who will be happy with this policy are naturally the poor with little land and a large population. The landlords with a lot of land will definitely be furious. What's wrong with us? Who wants to pay this money can pay it!"
"Although the landlords and gentry were firmly opposed to this policy, it was to no avail, because Emperor Yongzheng was the emperor! So he used a tough attitude to force officials to implement the land tax reform."
When people from other timelines heard this, they all sighed inwardly, wondering why they couldn't have had such an emperor!
"During the implementation process, landlords often went to the gates of officials to cause trouble. For example, the governor of Zhejiang, Tongjia Fahai, encountered this incident. However, his name also reminds me of a story."
"It is said that at the foot of Mount Qingcheng lived a snake demon named Bai Suzhen, who had cultivated for a thousand years. Guided by Guanyin, she searched for her former savior, Xu Xian. Afterwards, Bai Suzhen met Xu Xian and pledged herself to him. However, she never expected that a monk named Fahai would reveal the truth to Xu Xian..."
"Fahai here could not withstand the pressure of the landlords' disturbances and soon announced the suspension of the implementation of the land tax reform. When Yongzheng found out, he did not hesitate and directly transferred Fahai away and replaced him with Li Wei to continue the implementation."
"So you're the one causing trouble, huh? Fine, I'll just replace you!"
A noblewoman from a prominent family in the Tang Dynasty: Why is this story so short?!
A farmer from the Ming Dynasty: This official is utterly useless! He can't even handle pressure! He must have pulled strings!
A young man from a prominent family in the Song Dynasty: It seems that his adoptive mother's surname was Tongjia, and she might be a relative of his adoptive mother!
……
"When Li Wei first took office, he adopted a different approach from Fahai. He directly arrested the landlords who opposed the new policies and imprisoned them. Li Wei also gave them a 'thoughtful' lecture, saying that they would be released when they had thought things through."
"With Li Wei's tough measures, the policy of 'equalizing the poll tax and land tax' in Zhejiang was finally implemented and gradually promoted throughout the country."
"It is said that Li Wei comes from a family of Imperial Guards during the Ming Dynasty. It seems that his ancestors did this job. He truly lives up to his reputation!"
Big Han Liu Zhuzhu: Hahaha, it's a family heirloom!
Zhu Bajie of the Ming Dynasty: ...
A scion of a prominent family in the Song Dynasty: Hahaha, we still need to be tough! Otherwise, we'll end up like Fahai, hahaha!
……
"Once the landlord issue is resolved, the focus shifts to another area—the gentry."
"The term 'gentry' refers to the general group of bureaucrats and quasi-bureaucrats during the Ming and Qing dynasties, and this term first appeared in the Ming dynasty."
"During this period, there were natural differences between the common people and the gentry. For example, the gentry were exempt from both corvée labor and taxes, and when disputes arose between them and the common people, the judicial authorities had no right to detain or prosecute them, etc."
"The consequence of the development of the gentry class was the continuous annexation of land, so more and more peasants lost their land. Some even turned these landless peasants into their own tenants. Only the people themselves knew how much they suffered, but those in power would never understand."
A young fisherman from the Song Dynasty: We ordinary people still suffer the most!
A pancake vendor in the Tang Dynasty: Who says otherwise! A powerful person can kill us with a flick of their finger. We can't afford to offend them!
……
"In the early Qing Dynasty, especially when they first entered the pass, the authorities gave them preferential treatment in order to win the support of officials and gentry."
"This preferential treatment mainly means that if you are an official or a gentry who has achieved academic success in the Qing Dynasty, you yourself will not need to perform corvée labor, and your family members can also have part of the poll tax reduced according to the official's rank."
"But later on, the gentry completely changed this preferential policy. It went from one person being exempt from corvée labor to the entire family being exempt from corvée labor. As for the poll tax, they didn't have to pay it either."
"So when one person achieves fame and success, the whole family benefits. Perhaps this is why some people are still taking the imperial examinations even when they are seventy or eighty years old."
"Then those illegal and unreasonable taxes will have to be demanded from the people, such as the fire loss tax mentioned earlier. But the people are human too, how could they possibly agree to that? As a result, social conflicts will quickly intensify."
"Actually, if you just open a history book, you will find that there are always various peasant uprisings at the end of each dynasty. Let's not worry about whether these people will succeed or not. Let's just say that these people will not do this unless they have no other choice but to survive!"
"Who would rebel for no reason?!"
A young internet user from the Tang Dynasty commented: "The Ming Dynasty had the same problem! It's a pity it wasn't solved!"
Judy, the Great General Who Conquers the North: Excellent! We'll just copy it and modify it! Hahahaha
Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty: ...
Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty: Zhu Di! What right do you have to copy my son's ideas?! ...%?! ...
Zhu Bajie of the Ming Dynasty: What's wrong with that?! If it's not going to work, then you'd better keep it to yourself!
A spoiled young master from the Song Dynasty: Hahaha, I'm dying of laughter! Isn't this a copy of the preferential treatment in the Ming Dynasty? Turns out, there are big problems!
……
"In order to deal with this situation, Yongzheng came up with a solution—officials and gentry alike had to perform official duties and pay taxes."
"First of all, it was agreed that one person would not have to perform corvée labor, and that remains the case now. However, your family members will have to perform corvée labor when the government requires it!"
"Secondly, the poll tax. You were exempted from this part of the tax initially, but now the poll tax is gone and it has been incorporated into the land tax, so you must pay the full amount of land tax."
"We, the Qing government, can overlook the fire loss tax from the beginning, but from now on, you must pay us the full amount of the fire loss tax that is now paid to the public."
"In short, these officials and gentry not only lost their privileges, but also had to pay two more sums of money. This infuriated them, and at the same time, the conflict between the two sides was escalating rapidly."
"However, I now understand where Yongzheng's bad reputation comes from. Emperors who offend scholars generally don't have a good reputation."
A scion of a prominent family in the Song Dynasty: So this group is considered parasites. If they offend the local gentry, they might call the emperor a tyrant!
A young internet user from the Tang Dynasty: Fourth Brother's move was brilliant!
Judy, the Grand General Who Conquers the North: Let's copy it, and then our Great Ming Dynasty will continue to revise it! Hahahaha
Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty: ...