Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 358: The Emperor's Achievements Are Unmatched

On the second day, the cabinet formally followed Zhu Houzhao's instructions and issued an imperial decree to the entire country, stating that starting from next year, which is the first year after the new emperor ascends the throne, the Ming Dynasty will no longer levy land tax and will never levy it again forever.

Even Emperor Zhu Houzhao personally wrote an article stating that if the people of the world still had to pay land taxes, it would only mean that the Ming Dynasty had already perished.

As soon as this edict was issued, people all over the world naturally cheered and prayed from the bottom of their hearts that the Ming Dynasty would live forever, be passed down for thousands of years, and last for ten thousand years!

Zhang Juzheng, who was in charge of the Hanlin Academy, asked the historians of the Hanlin Academy to record this great event immediately:
"This is a grand event unprecedented in the history of the world. We should record it carefully and not be stingy with words of praise. This is not to flatter the emperor, but to express the feelings of the people of the world, and also to record the merits of this grand event so that future emperors can use it as a model!"

"Don't worry, President. Even Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing were not so kind. Even Emperors Tang and Song could hardly exempt all corvée and taxes. Our country has such a sage monarch, who is about to abdicate. He does not envy the emperor, does not seek immortality, does not take pleasure in enslaving the people, and dares to rectify chaos with an iron fist. He can seek peace for the people! I, Xu Qingteng, wish I could cut off my roots and become a running dog in front of your majesty!"

Xu Wei, a reviewer of the Hanlin Academy, threw away his sash and began to write furiously. His hand was painting, but in his mind he had already formed a picture of the prosperous era in which Zhu Houzhao brought blessings to the people and there was no need to urge taxes on the countryside.

After receiving the imperial edict from the cabinet, Hai Rui also hurried to the editorial office of Huang Ming Bao: "Hurry up and publish the article! The virtue of our emperor is unmatched by any emperor since ancient times. The achievements of our emperor are unmatched by any emperor since Yao and Shun. Farmers all over the world are very lucky to receive this grace and be the common people of the Ming Dynasty!"

"Alas! If Hai Rui has an afterlife, I wish to be born in the Ming Dynasty!"

Hai Rui knelt down again. This was the second time that he knelt on the ground. He kowtowed to the north! And each time he kowtowed hard, his forehead was bleeding! Hot tears wet the ground!
"May I ask the Chief Justice whether I have submitted the memorial advising Your Majesty to abdicate. I would like to withdraw the memorial!"

Not long after, Hai Rui came to the Censorate and found the Left Censor-in-Chief Yang Lin.

Yang Lin turned the wheelchair around and came in front of Hai Rui. "It has already been presented to the emperor. However, can you tell me why you want to withdraw your memorial of persuasion?"

"Your Majesty has issued an edict to abolish the land tax and never raise taxes. This is the greatest benefit to the people of the world. It shows that Your Majesty has never forgotten the people of the world. With such kindness, I would blame Your Majesty for spending your old age to seek the welfare of the world. This is really a burden to the emperor and an act without righteousness. It is like asking an 80-year-old father to farm the fields. This is extremely disloyal and unfilial! Hai Rui deeply regrets it!"

Hai Rui said, "After this decree is issued, the people of the world will no longer want to let the emperor rule the world. They are all looking forward to the new emperor's ascension to the throne, to continue the grace of the holy emperor, and to start a new chapter of prosperity. I myself no longer oppose Your Majesty's abdication. A thousand kinds of fear are not as great as the hope of being exempted from the tax collection!"

Yang Lin nodded after hearing this and said: "Hai Rui, you still value the people of the world more. However, you have misunderstood the emperor for a long time. You should write a letter of repentance yourself. Otherwise, you will be deceiving His Majesty's magnanimity!"

Hai Rui nodded and immediately submitted a self-blaming memorial.

Like Hai Rui, the scholars and people all over the world realized that they had wronged the Emperor Zhu Houzhao. They thought that the Emperor Zhu Houzhao wanted to abandon them and seek comfort for himself.

And now, before His Majesty the Emperor abdicated, he issued an edict exempting land tax and refusing to raise taxes forever, which undoubtedly made all of them understand that His Majesty did not forget about them, his people.

Zhu Houzhao also knew that if he abdicated rashly, the people of the world who were accustomed to the welfare and benefits of the Zhengde Dynasty would definitely feel uncomfortable and even disappointed.

Therefore, when he knew that the proportion of land tax revenue in the Ming Dynasty to the imperial treasury revenue was no longer a large proportion, he decided to abolish the land tax and never levy land tax, that is, agricultural tax again.

In this way, Zhu Houzhao believed that the people of the world would no longer oppose his abdication, because if he did not abdicate, the new emperor could not ascend the throne, and the decree to exempt agricultural taxes could not be implemented.

People always think about themselves. Before, they were unwilling to let the emperor abdicate because they were thinking about their own interests. Now that they are willing to let the emperor abdicate, it is naturally also for their own interests.

no matter what.

Zhu Houzhao used his last grace to make the people of the world accept his political act of abdicating and ascending the throne as the new emperor.

All the people in the world weep for joy at the prosperous Ming Dynasty!
Throughout the Ming Empire, almost everyone was overjoyed about this.

Wang Gao, the magistrate of Wanping County in Shuntian Prefecture, could not help but put away the fish scale book and the household book, and said with a smile:

"From now on, these will be stored in the newly built Wanping County Museum. Without the land tax, the clerks will no longer be able to impose additional taxes on the people, and the township officials will no longer need to distribute land to transfer the tax burden to the farmers. I am happy and relaxed as an official, no longer worried about offending the powerful, and no longer feel guilty about imposing additional taxes on the people. This is truly the emperor's great grace, the emperor's great grace!"

"May the Ming Dynasty last for thousands of generations. Tang Mengbi, a student from Taohua Village in Daxing, led the whole village, young and old, to compile this national poem. We hope our ancestors will bless them... Since Taizu started his army in Huaiyou..." Tang Mengbi, a student, was so moved by this incident that he called on all the villagers to build a temple for the empire and pray for the eternal survival of the Ming Dynasty. After all, the Ming Dynasty began to exempt agricultural taxes forever.

All the surrounding villages and communities responded at once.

Xu Wanru, a commoner living in Dingxing County, Baoding Prefecture, didn't know that the Ming Dynasty had stopped collecting taxes. When she went to the county town to pay grain the following year, she was stopped outside by the clerk in the household office. "No summer tax will be collected this year! You can choose to sell it to the government at a fair price to be used as a warehouse, or you can sell it on the market yourself, or you can take it back yourself!"

"No more levies? Officers, what's going on? Are we really not going to levy levies this year?"

Xu Wanru looked at the tax grain from the village that she had transported and asked in disbelief.

"Not only will we not collect taxes this year, we will not collect taxes next year, and we will never collect taxes in the future. As long as the Ming Dynasty survives, you will never have to pay taxes again," said the clerk of the household department of Dingxing County. "Now that the tax is exempted, it's no longer interesting to do this job. I want to go home and farm after the New Year!"

Xu Wanru didn't hear clearly what the clerk said, because he was so overjoyed that he was in a trance. He didn't know what to say for a moment. He could only kneel on the ground and kowtow to the county government.

……

"The wine industry in the capital is booming. Once the land tax is exempted, the price of grain has dropped a lot. Wineries everywhere have been importing grain for brewing. Now half of the rich and powerful in the capital are drunk. In such a prosperous era, why don't you take advantage of this opportunity to get drunk for a night? Why are you still worrying and thinking hard? Is there anything else you don't like?"

Influenced by the new-style education, Crown Prince Zhu Zailei would think about everything according to the laws of market economy. When chatting with Xu Jie, he did not forget to talk about the Beijing wine industry and Emperor Zhu Houzhao's exemption of land tax.

"This year's Emperor's Birthday, His Majesty has allowed Your Highness and other ministers to hold a grand celebration. The Guanglu Temple has prepared 100,000 jars of fine wine, so there is no need to worry about not getting drunk."

Xu Jie said this with a smile, and he couldn't help but think of the current exemption of land tax, and couldn't help shaking his head and smiling bitterly.

As a member of the Imperial Cabinet, he was considered a member of a prestigious family. Naturally, he was not as excited as most of the lower and middle class people about the exemption of land tax. However, he could not help but say, "Back then, the imperial court was willing to kill people to recover the land tax owed by the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River in order to fill the treasury. Now, the land tax in the whole country can be exempted directly, and all the arrears of taxes will be exempted. In the past, it was unacceptable for serious crimes, but now it is just a minor offense. It is really because the country has become prosperous and the government has changed."

"Just as Mr. Xu said, now my father can exempt the world from taxes. You and I both know why. It is because the income from the Ming Dynasty's foreign plunder and colonization is far greater than the income from the land tax. Look at the prosperity of the present era, which far exceeds that of the Han and Tang Dynasties. In fact, the benefits of the world are all lost to the Ming Dynasty!"

Zhu Zailei said this, and then he continued, "However, Father, this means that I, as the crown prince, can only continue to plunder foreign countries in the future. Otherwise, now that the land tax has been completely exempted, if the sea ban and commercial tax are also exempted, how can we support the millions of troops and hundreds of thousands of officials, as well as the widows, widowers and orphans in the entire Ming Dynasty?"

"It is for this reason that Your Majesty abolished the land tax and demanded that it should never be levied again. This not only cut off the opportunity for officials to exploit the people, but also cut off the opportunity for future monarchs to levy taxes on their own farmers. In addition, it also cut off the idea of ​​reducing or exempting commercial taxes.

When Your Highness ascends the throne as the emperor, although the major government-run commercial companies control most of the empire's wealth, Your Highness cannot use it to benefit the people, because Your Highness has to use it to support the army. The only thing that can really benefit the people is the taxes collected from the merchants. If you want to collect more taxes from the merchants, you can only continue to develop commerce and industry. It will be difficult for the empire to return to the era when men farmed and women wove!"

Xu Jie's words made Zhu Zaile nod his head. He naturally knew what it meant for Emperor Zhu Houzhao to exempt the land tax, but he also knew that he could not stop this from happening.

Zhu Houzhao's exemption of land tax did have this purpose. It was also because he took into account that large landlords like Xu Jie would still exist in large numbers in the imperial society in the future, and he was worried that the Ming Empire, which had finally embarked on the road of industrialization, would return to its previous agricultural civilization era.

Therefore, he simply abolished the land tax, depriving future rulers of the opportunity to rely on collecting land tax to maintain their rule, forcing future rulers to find ways to deal with commercial taxes and foreign revenue.

Undoubtedly, in this way, commercial taxes can only become the main body of the empire's taxation.

Any businessman who wanted to shift the cost of running the imperial government's public utilities onto unproductive farmers would find it difficult to achieve this goal.

The businessmen were naturally dissatisfied with this, but no matter how dissatisfied they were, they could not raise any objections to the majority of satisfied people in the country.

At this time, Xu Jie could only persuade Crown Prince Zhu Zailei that since he would inevitably have to rely on commercial taxes to govern the country in the future, he had to be prepared to offend the merchant class. At the same time, he had to continue to follow the will of Emperor Zhu Houzhao and unite with workers and peasants to increase employment and promote industrial development.

In the blink of an eye, it was time for the ceremony to enthronize the Crown Prince. Because of an imperial decree to exempt taxes, most people in the Ming Dynasty felt that the enthronement of the Crown Prince was an auspicious and festive event.

When it came to Zhu Houzhao's 70th birthday, it naturally became an even more festive event in the eyes of the people of the world.

The entire capital city began to decorate with lights and lanterns on the third day before Zhu Houzhao's birthday.

The newly manufactured generators will directly generate direct current to form a huge network of colorful lights in the capital, making the entire city as bright as day even at night.

In order to stimulate commercial development, Shuntian Prefecture had already cancelled the curfew in the outer city. Now, in order to allow the whole country to celebrate together, Zhu Houzhao simply issued an order to temporarily cancel the curfew in the inner city and the imperial city, and allowed his subjects to go to the palace to celebrate his birthday between the beginning of the Si hour and the beginning of the You hour.

For a time, the entire capital was bustling with people, and there was a colorful tent every ten steps, with flowing banquets set up between the tents. No matter rich or poor, male or female, everyone could sit at the table to eat, or get drunk and enjoy the flowers.

Zhu Houzhao also woke up from his life of wine and meat. He was already in his seventies, and the older he got, the more he liked lively occasions. Only as an emperor could he spend money like water on his birthday.

After the Wanshou Festival, Zhu Houzhao formally issued an edict to abdicate.

On this day, all civil and military officials came to attend the last grand court session during Zhu Houzhao's reign.

This day was also the last time that Zhu Houzhao wore a crown and imperial robes, ruled the world, and was worshipped by ministers and envoys.

The red sun hung near the palace wall for a long time and refused to set, and Zhu Houzhao also sat on the Golden Throne Hall for a long time and was unwilling to leave. For some reason, he suddenly felt reluctant to pass on this picturesque landscape to his descendants.

But people cannot defeat the years, beauty will eventually grow old, and power will have to be handed over. Instead of waiting for death to take it away, it is better to give it up first to avoid being even more heartbroken when facing the difference between life and death.

Zhu Houzhao eventually passed the imperial seal to the Crown Prince Zhu Zaile.

Zhu Zailei, who was over fifty years old, was obviously much older than Zhu Houzhao when he was about to ascend the throne. He was even three years older than his father. However, he still felt that the jade seal was very heavy. He could not help but refuse again and again. However, Zhu Houzhao still put it down heavily.

As if a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders, Zhu Houzhao suddenly walked much more lightly and couldn't help wanting to shout loudly.

Zhu Houzhao returned to the Royal Western Garden, which would continue to serve as his place of leisure in the capital.

The new emperor Zhu Zailei returned to the Forbidden City to work, and the Secretariat and the Twenty-Four Yamen were moved back to their original locations.

Zhu Houzhao seemed to have lost the ability to hear the sounds of bells, drums and whips, which made him feel more and more lost. In the end, he did not have the courage to give up the last of his military power. Instead, he kept the tiger talisman for the Imperial Guards, which he later ordered to be made, locked in his own safe.

Although the first decree issued by the new emperor Zhu Zailei after ascending the throne was to confer the title of Supreme Emperor on him.

On this day, the gate of the Royal Western Garden, which had been closed for a long time, opened. Zhu Houzhao and his queen came out in a carriage with a large number of eunuchs, palace maids and Jinyiwei. They left the capital under the gaze of the emperor and civil and military officials.

It was the first time that Empress Xia saw a real train. She couldn't help but touch the green carriage. Zhu Houzhao hurriedly pulled her up and said, "Come up and take a closer look. This is our special train. You can see as much as you want!"

"Brother Emperor, are we really going to take this car to Jiangnan?" Queen Xia still asked Zhu Houzhao in disbelief.

Zhu Houzhao nodded. Not long after, the hot air rushed into the sky and the train began to roll. Empress Xia looked at Emperor Zhu Zailei who was still standing bent outside the window and waved: "Lei'er, we are leaving!"

Zhu Houzhao only smiled slightly. After all, as a mother, she couldn't bear to leave her child behind. He couldn't help but look at Zhu Zailei, who was dressed as the emperor. He vaguely saw himself back then. When he sent Empress Dowager Zhang on a four-wheel-drive carriage for a spring outing in the suburbs, he couldn't help but secretly said, "Another new era has begun!"

Starting today, the author has to undergo surgery in the hospital and stay in the hospital. The above chapters are scheduled for release. It is estimated that there will be a break in the middle. Please forgive me for not having enough manuscripts.



(End of this chapter)