Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 170 The reform caused the collapse of the gentry and the rich peasants were punished!

Jin Maoren looked at the broken porcelain pieces on the ground, walked carefully to Wang Ying, and patted her on the shoulder.

He knew that Wang Ying's ancestor had served as the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, a very lucrative official position, so he had annexed a lot of land in various prefectures in Nanzhi over the years. Now, due to the land survey, it was inevitable that many hidden fields would be discovered.

Jin Maoren could also understand Wang Ying's feelings, because after his father became a cabinet minister, he received a lot of land donated by his students and old friends, and now almost all the land in Yingtian Prefecture, Nanzhi had been surveyed.

So, Jin Maoren just patted him on the shoulder and said comfortingly:
"You're not the only one who can't stand it. There are many people in this town who can't stand it!"

"Including the nobles of Nandu, the eunuchs who stayed in Nandu during the previous emperor's time, and the officials of Nandu."

After Wang Ying heard what Jin Maoren said, she felt a little relieved, but she still clenched her fists and asked:
"Since so many people can't stand it, why doesn't anyone stop it?!"

"The country's support for scholars is not as good as that of the Song and Yuan dynasties. Now let us have more hidden fields and slaves to study. What's wrong with that?"

Wang Ying then made another accusation.

Jin Maoren couldn't help but sneered and said, "Just say this in front of me, don't say it outside. After all, you can't say it openly like this."

"That being said."

"But this is the way of governing a country!"

Wang Ying immediately stood up, spread her hands and said to Jin Maoren.

Jin Maoren did not answer.

Wang Ying brushed off her sleeves with a look of unsatisfied feeling, walked to the front eaves and said:

"No matter what, it is not the people who maintain the long-term stability of the Zhu family's empire, but us, the literati!"

"But the scholars and officials will not rebel when they are pushed into a corner!"

"But the people will rebel if they are pushed too far."

Jin Maoren said.

"That's wrong!"

Wang Ying immediately rejected Jin Maoren's statement.

"The Zhao Song Dynasty was founded because the scholar Zhao Pu planned the Chenqiao Incident."

"Western Xia was founded because of dissatisfaction among those who failed the imperial examination of the Zhao Song Dynasty."

"Even if our Taizu was able to seize the world from the Mongols, it was because of Feng Guoyong and Liu Ji. Can the Red Turban bandits alone conquer the Ming Dynasty?"

Wang Ying asked herself at this point and answered: "It's impossible to defeat it!"

"It's enough!"

Jin Maoren grabbed Wang Ying's collar and said something viciously, then said:

"I know you are dissatisfied, but the examples you cited are not what a gentleman should think!"

"Don't forget, you and I are both sons of government officials, not common people. We must not lose our loyalty, integrity and honor!"

"Otherwise, what will be ruined in the future is the family tradition accumulated by our ancestors over the years!"

"But what I said was the truth!"

Wang Ying said with a serious face.

Jin Maoren threw him aside and sneered, "Then go and rebel! Do you think I dare to expose you? I may even report you to the authorities and have you arrested!"

Wang Ying was silent.

After a while.

Wang Yingcai said: "You are right, we will not rebel, we will just follow the will of heaven. What I just said is not about rebellion, but relying on heroes of the time and following the will of heaven because of the current situation."

Wang Ying asked Jin Maoren, "But do we really have no other options? Can we just watch them do the land survey, increase the silver discount ratio, and help the court force the beautiful daughters of good families to waste their lives in the deep palace?"

"This is why it is said that the one with the strongest army and the most powerful horses is the emperor."

"They could have taken everything from you, but now they are just collecting taxes from you, so you should be grateful. Not only should you cooperate with them to pay the taxes, but you should also cooperate with them to help them get the best woman."

"In short, you have to make him satisfied, but you can't expect him to treat you well after he is satisfied."

Jin Maoren said.

Wang Ying became even more depressed after hearing this.

"As for whether there is any other way."

"I do not know either."

"I plan to go to the Southern Capital and ask the nobles, eunuchs, and ministers. They should be even more restless than us."

Jin Maoren replied.

Wang Ying stood up and said, "I'll go too!"

Jin Maoren nodded.

The two of them came to Nandu.

Because both of them were descendants of high-ranking officials, especially Jin Maoren as the eldest son of Jin Guizhi, the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, he had established connections with many powerful people since he was a child, so it was easy for him to meet them.

The two men first went to see Wang Jun, the Nanjing Minister of Rites who was of the same year as Jin Gui.

"What's the rush!"

After listening to what Jin Maoren and Wang Ying said, Nanjing Minister of Rites Wang Jun smiled and said, "Everything has just begun."

"just started?"

Wang Ying couldn't help but ask.

"That's right!"

"just started!"

Wang Jun said, "Just wait, there will be a chance to fight back."

"May I ask when there will be a chance to fight back?"

"You don't really have to wait until His Majesty gets married, and then indulge in pleasure and not attend court anymore, do you?"

"But we don't know whether Your Majesty will become addicted." Wang Ying asked.

Wang Jun said: "Not really! It is not up to us to decide when to strike back."

“Who decides that?”

Jin Maoren also asked a question.

Wang Jun looked at Jin Maoren and said, "No one can decide!"

"As long as we wait for the officials in charge of the land survey to accept bribes and falsify the results, and wait for the wealthy people who are being surveyed to bribe, then a grand new policy that alleviates the difficulties of the common people will eventually become a harsh policy that harms the people and helps corrupt officials make a fortune, and even causes deaths. That's when we will kill with borrowed knives!"

"So what do we need to do?"

Wang Ying asked.

Jin Maoren nodded at this time and immediately answered Wang Ying's question: "Don't do anything!"

"That's right!"

"Don't do anything!"

"The Imperial Guards must have come to Nandu. Zhu Xizhou also has his own people in Nanzhi. Whatever we do now will give people excuses. We should remain unchanged in the face of ever-changing situations. Only by striking later can we defeat the enemy! The dog that bites never barks."

Wang Jun said affirmatively with a smile.

After meeting Jin Maoren and Wang Ying, Wang Jun made an appointment with Liao Tang, the eunuch who was in charge of the garrison of Nanjing, and Liang Yongfu, the Marquis of Baoding, who was the assistant garrison of Nanjing, the next day.

Wang Jun told them about Jin Maoren and Wang Ying's visit, and said with a smile: "More and more wealthy children are unable to sit still."

"They are still quite restrained. Shao Zongbo Fang's family has already colluded with Yingtian Prefecture Yin Zhao Wenkui and his men. Many fields have been transferred to the names of several rich farmers. They are just waiting to force the rich farmers to death and complete this land survey mission."

Liao Tang said with a smile.

He was an eunuch who stayed in Nanjing as a garrison eunuch during the Zhengde period.

Therefore, he had already accumulated a lot of fertile land and properties in Nanjing, and was very dissatisfied with the current new policies.

As a garrison eunuch, he was responsible for the internal security of Nanjing. He had spies in various government offices in Nanjing and was able to clearly see what tricks were going on in the various government offices in Nanjing.

Liang Yongfu, Marquis of Baoding, laughed coldly after hearing this: "I thought these corrupt officials could at least hold out for a year to seriously carry out the land survey, but they gave up so soon."

“That’s slow.”

"In the past, when the fire consumption could be filled at will, the new policy would change after it was released from the capital. The higher authorities said that the regular tax would be reduced, but the fire consumption would be increased to twice the original amount on the spot."

Wang Jun said.

Liao Tang, the eunuch who guarded Nanjing, said with a smile, "Let's wait until someone is killed."

Wang Jun nodded.

Liang Yongfu said: "When the time comes, the scholars can make trouble as they please, and I will secretly send my servants and soldiers to pretend to be civilians to help them!"

Jiangning County Government Office.

County Magistrate Lin Tingxian brought several rich peasants to the yamen for interrogation because his clerks said that several rich peasants who had been surveyed refused to admit that the hidden fields were theirs and refused to pay taxes.

The so-called rich peasants are common landlords who own less than 100 acres of land.

They are better off than self-employed farmers, have their own tenants, lend money for profit, or run some small workshops, but they are not as powerful as the big landlords, and their family power is often not as strong as the big landlords. They are often dependent on the big landlords, and are more likely to compromise and give in, so they are easier to bully.

Lin Tingxian's goal was to make these rich peasants pay the taxes on the hidden fields that were found out during the survey. He asked these rich peasants, "Since it was found out that the fields were yours, why don't you pay?"

"My parents are wise!"

"We don't have those fields at all. They were all given to us by Ni Dianli, the clerk of the household department!"

The rich peasant Dai Ji then began to cry and accuse, and kowtowed rapidly.

Lin Tingxian said: "You are still accusing me!"

then.

Lin Tingxian ordered: "Take them away and beat them with 80 sticks! Then take them to the prison and ask their families to pay the taxes and labor service. If anyone does not pay the taxes and labor service, drag them out again and beat them with 80 sticks after ten days!"

Rich peasants such as Dai Ji begged for mercy.

But Lin Tingxian had no intention of forgiving them and left the county government hall directly.

Dai Ji and others were beaten eighty times by the yamen runners with water and fire sticks.

Ni Shouzun, a clerk from Jiangning County, also came over at this time and sneered at Dai Ji and other rich peasants who were beaten:

"You still want to take a bite of me? That's wishful thinking!"

"Do you understand what it means that the people should not fight against the officials? Do you understand?!"

Ni Shouzun said as he walked up to Dai Ji with his hands behind his back: "To tell you the truth, here, the county magistrate has to listen to me! Those land taxes are yours, so they must be yours, even if you lose everything you have!"

Dai Ji was already dying at this time: "How can you be so heartless!"

"conscience?"

"Which official in this world has a conscience?"

"You've listened to too many operas and have made yourself stupid. Do you really think there will be an honest official?"

Ni Shouzun said, "I'm telling you, we're not afraid of beating you to death. Not to mention beating you to death, we're not afraid even if we force your whole family to death. In fact, we hope so!"

"Because there are even bigger forces waiting behind us, waiting for us to force you to death so that they can put pressure on Your Majesty!"

"So, why aren't you dead yet?"

When Ni Shouzun said this, Dai Ji had already died.

Ni Shouzun also saw that something was wrong, so he tried his breath and said:
"I'm going to go out for a while. If you ask, just say I'm going home!"

"Where are you going?"

At this time.

The voice of Southeast Governor Zhu Xizhou came from outside.

Ni Shouzun was shocked when he saw this, and then he knelt down in panic.

(End of this chapter)