My father is Jiajing

Nanjing.

Zhang Juzheng, who has returned from the capital for more than half a month, is now full of pride!
Now that the new emperor has ascended the throne and changed the era name, the whole world is excited.

Everywhere is filled with the hope of a new dynasty and a new atmosphere, which makes people intoxicated and want to do a great job!
This is especially true in the Jiangnan area of ​​Nanjing today.

Some time ago, because of the Jiangnan case, the aristocratic landlords who had been entrenched in Jiangnan for hundreds of years were almost wiped out.

Although there are still some "slippery fish" that have not been cleaned up, few of these "slippery fish" dare to show up at this time.

Therefore, Jiangnan at this moment can really be described as "a lot of work needs to be done"!
Therefore, as the highest person in charge of Nanjing and even the entire Jiangnan region, Zhang Juzheng would certainly not miss this opportunity to display his ambitions.

Therefore, before returning to Nanjing, Zhang Juzheng secretly reported to Zhu Zaigui that he wanted to continue measuring the maps that had not been completed in Nanjing and even the Jiangnan region, and then redraw the fish scale book to conduct a thorough survey of the land and population conditions in various parts of Jiangnan.

Then, based on the findings, he would re-formulate the tax rules and implement the "One Whip Law" that he had been planning for a long time!
After receiving Zhang Juzheng's secret report, Zhu Zaigui affirmed Zhang Juzheng's idea without commenting, and also gave Zhang Juzheng a few more suggestions.

But in the end, Zhu Zaigui also told him, "I will not interfere with what you want to do, but I will not support you in any way. You have to bear all the decisions and pressures in Nanjing."

After hearing Zhu Zaigui's words, Zhang Juzheng felt a lot of pressure but also full of confidence.

He understood how great the impact of this incident would be. Zhu Zaigui's promise to him was actually a great support to him!

After all, in Nanjing and Jiangnan, he has the final say. As long as Zhu Zaigui does not make any statement about what he does, even if some people oppose it, they will not be able to overcome his will in the end.

Therefore, Zhu Zaigui’s promise not to make a statement is actually the greatest support for him!

"Has Kaibutō arrived yet?"

Zhang Juzheng put down the document he had just written and asked the housekeeper outside the study.

Zhang An, the key to Zhang Juzheng, heard his master's question and quickly replied: "Reporting to the master, Haibu Tang is drinking tea in the front hall now."

Zhang Juzheng hummed, and then said, "Go and fetch Haibutang."

Zhang An replied "yes" and immediately went to the front hall to ask Hai Rui to come over.

Hai Rui, who had been drinking tea in the front hall for a while, saw Zhang An coming to invite him, but he was not angry at Zhang An for blocking his way.

Because Hai Rui also knew that Zhang Juzheng was going to make a big move, and in terms of official rank, Zhang Juzheng was the Governor-General of Southern Zhili and a Cabinet Grand Secretary, which was much higher than him.

It is understandable that such senior officials make lower-level officials wait longer.

After all, sometimes when Hai Rui himself was busy with some important official business, he would wait for a while before meeting the low-level officials who came to visit him.

Therefore, it was reasonable for him to drink tea in Zhang Juzheng's front hall and wait a little longer. It was not a question of anyone trying to save face.

When Hai Rui arrived at Zhang Juzheng's study, Zhang Juzheng immediately stood up from his seat and said, "Gangfeng is here."

After meeting Zhang Juzheng, Hai Rui did not act arrogantly. Although the two had worked together for a long time, they still had to follow the proper rules.

So, while Zhang Juzheng was greeting him warmly, Hai Rui also bowed to him and said, "Mr.

Zhang Juzheng laughed and said, "Gangfeng, there's no need to be polite. Come, come, come, sit over here and talk."

Hai Rui responded, and then he and Zhang Juzheng sat down at the tea table on the side of the study.

At this time, Zhang An also sensibly served two cups of hot tea, and then left the study.

Zhang Juzheng asked, "Gangfeng, what do you think of the current situation in Jiangnan?"

Zhang Juzheng picked up the teacup and took a sip, then looked at Hai Rui and asked.

Hai Rui waited for Zhang Juzheng to finish his question, and when he put down his teacup, he said, "I think that Jiangnan is currently in a stage where everything needs to be rebuilt."

Zhang Juzheng nodded in approval, and then continued, "It's true that there are many things to be rebuilt, but whether it can be rebuilt and how to build it is another matter. If we can't seize the opportunity and let the remaining Jiangnan clans follow the past way to make Jiangnan prosperous again, it will look like our political achievements."

"But after a few years, these remaining Jiangnan clans will become like the Xu family, Gu family, Qian family and other clans before, occupying the local areas and encroaching on the interests of the court and the people. This is disloyalty to His Majesty for us."

"Your Majesty has kept us in Jiangnan and entrusted us with important tasks. Naturally, this is not a simple reward. Your Majesty wants us to make another career in Jiangnan. Gangfeng, are you willing to make another contribution to Jiangnan with me and let Your Majesty see our ability and loyalty!"

Hai Rui looked into Zhang Juzheng's eyes. He was silent for a moment, then asked, "What do you plan to do, Lord?"

Zhang Juzheng knew Hai Rui's personality well. He was silent for a while, not because he hesitated, but because he was making up his mind.

Zhang Juzheng stood up and took out what he had just written, "Gangfeng, take a look first."

Hai Rui took the paper handed to him by Zhang Juzheng and read it carefully from beginning to end.

After reading it, Hai Rui's already serious expression became even more cautious.

Hai Rui asked, "Do you really want to do this, Lord?"

Zhang Juzheng stood up and looked at the tree branches outside the window that were about to sprout, took a deep breath and said, "If this is true, your majesty values ​​Jiangnan more than previous emperors, and can even be said to value it more than Taizu and Chengzu."

"The capital is now planning to divide Nanzhili into four parts. We are deep in the south of the Yangtze River, far away from the center, but we are also in the center. Therefore, we must also play our role and cooperate with the court to find out the situation in Nanzhili before officially dividing Nanzhili into four parts."

"In this way, when the imperial court officially issues an order to split up Zhili Yingtian Prefecture, Zhili Shanghai Prefecture, Jiangsu Provincial Administration Commissioner's Office, and Anhui Provincial Administration Commissioner's Office, we can also calculate at a glance the taxes that these newly demarcated administrative regions should pay to the imperial court every year."

"Otherwise, when these administrative divisions are actually implemented, the taxation issues in the four places will still be a mess, and this will be our fault."

Hai Rui replied, "Your Excellency is right. This matter is indeed extremely important. However, I am still a little confused about this matter. Please explain it to me."

Zhang Juzheng turned around and looked at Hai Rui, "What are those things?"

Hai Rui pointed to a paragraph on the paper Zhang Juzheng had handed to him earlier, "Your Excellency wants to implement a new law in Jiangnan. You want to convert the in-kind tax collected in the past into cash tax. I wonder how you are going to do it?" "You know, there is a fundamental difference between in-kind tax and cash tax. My Ming Dynasty has been collecting in-kind tax for nearly two hundred years. If we do this rashly, will there be new problems and loopholes?"

"Also, what if the people who need to pay taxes don't have cash?"

Although the questions Hai Rui asked were simple, they were also crucial.

You must know that the Ming Dynasty has not yet fully opened up, and the silver flowing in from outside is still limited.

Moreover, even if a large amount of silver flowed into the Ming Dynasty, it would first reach the hands of the rich, and then gradually reach the hands of the people through various exchange methods.

In this process, the silver that ordinary people get is bound to "depreciate". It does not mean that they can exchange silver of a certain value for something of a certain value.

Moreover, when they want to use the silver in their hands to buy what they need, or to pay taxes in kind, new "loss" problems will definitely arise.

If this problem cannot be solved, rashly replacing the in-kind tax with a cash tax would seem to increase the court's tax revenue in a short period of time and reduce the losses caused by the in-kind tax.

However, the tax-paying people will be invisibly exploited twice in this process. In this way, it seems that the court's tax collection is stable and the loss is reduced.

However, the people who pay taxes will be exploited and become poorer and poorer in this process. Once some uncontrollable factors arise, the people will not be able to exchange enough silver in time to pay the cash tax required by the court.

The consequences are also disastrous.

So Hai Rui asked this question.

Zhang Juzheng looked at Hai Rui who was asking seriously. He didn't think of this for a moment, so he didn't think of how to answer Hai Rui.

When Hai Rui saw Zhang Juzheng like this, he realized that Zhang Juzheng did not understand what he meant.

So Hai Rui took out a latest copy of "Da Ming Feng Hua" magazine from his sleeve.

"Sir, please take a look at this article discussing the role and value of currency. This article is the front-page article in the latest issue of the magazine "Da Ming Feng Hua", signed by 'Shun Zhai'."

When Zhang Juzheng heard the name "Shun Zhai", he was suddenly shocked.

This name is not an ordinary name. It is the nickname that Zhu Zaigui usually uses. However, because Zhu Zaigui's status is too noble, even if he has a nickname, no one would dare to call Zhu Zaigui by his nickname.

Therefore, this name called "Shun Zhai" has always been very low-key, and only the former ministers of Prince Yu knew about it.

Now Hai Rui took out an article signed "Shun Zhai" and asked him to read it. Zhang Juzheng must have been extremely shocked.

Zhang Juzheng immediately took the "Da Ming Feng Hua" magazine handed to him by Hai Rui, and couldn't wait to open the contents, looking for the article signed "Shun Zhai".

After finding the article, Zhang Juzheng immediately became serious and began to read it carefully with both hands with visible respect.

It can be seen that in Zhang Juzheng's mind, he had already determined that this article was Zhu Zaigui's anonymous handwritten article.

If you can understand this article, you will definitely understand the emperor's intentions in governing. If you can understand these intentions, you will definitely be able to figure out the emperor's holy heart.

If we can figure out the Emperor's sacred mind and take it as the first criterion for daily administration, then we will naturally be able to win the Emperor's heart, and it will not be impossible to make further progress in the future.

Zhang Juzheng carefully read the article signed "Shun Zhai". He read every sentence and every word in it word by word. While reading, he was also repeatedly thinking carefully about what each sentence and each word meant.

Almost half an hour had passed when he finally finished reading the article.

It can be seen how seriously and carefully Zhang Juzheng looked at it this time.

I was afraid of missing out on the details.

After he finished reading, he carefully put the magazine "Da Ming Feng Hua" back upright, and then said to Hai Rui with emotion: "Your Majesty has a far-sighted vision and foresight, and he has pointed out the crux of the problem at once."

Hai Rui looked at Zhang Juzheng and asked, "What are you going to do, Mr.

Zhang Juzheng took a deep breath and then said, "I'll think about it and perfect the details. But we can't relax on the land survey. You must communicate smoothly with the government offices in various parts of Jiangnan and let Yan Maoqing's Ministry of Revenue follow up. We should try to find out the land situation in various parts of Jiangnan in the shortest time and make a new fish scale book as a backup."

"If we want to implement drastic new policies in Jiangnan in the future, these fish scale books will be the foundation!"

Hai Rui nodded seriously, "Yes, I obey your command."

Hai Rui was also extremely concerned about the new fish scale book.

Because in this era, the fish scale book is the most intuitive and clear important document for understanding the land conditions of a place, and the purpose of measuring the land is to draw the latest and most accurate fish scale book pictures.

This thing is somewhat similar to the satellite cloud maps of later generations. You can see in detail on each clearly drawn fish-scale map which piece of land is which and which piece of land is connected to which piece of land.

Therefore, this kind of land book drawn according to the actual land ownership is most intuitively like drawing fish scales on a piece of paper with blocks of land with different ownership. Therefore, this kind of book is called a fish scale book.

This fish scale book itself is an important basis for the imperial court to collect taxes and determine land ownership, and it cannot be taken lightly or carelessly.

The appearance of any piece of land to be drawn on the fish scale book must be consistent with the actual appearance of the land, and the size of the land must also be clearly marked.

In this way, the Fish Scale Book can play its due role and become the basis for the imperial court to understand the land situation in the world and the collection of taxes.

Therefore, Hai Rui's next job was to lead the yamen runners who measured the land and the clerks who were responsible for writing and drawing up the fish scale books, to walk through the fields in Jiangnan to actually supervise and measure the land conditions in Jiangnan.

Only after he has handled this matter meticulously can he lay a solid foundation for the One Whip Law that Zhang Juzheng is going to implement and experiment with next, so that Zhang Juzheng's One Whip Law will not become an evil law that only serves to quench thirst and exploit the people after it is implemented.

----

Ask for monthly ticket~~~(End of this chapter)