Do You Know?: I, the Little Cabinet Elder, Regent of the World.

Chapter 99 Imperial Estate IOU!

Main hall.

"clatter!"

Sheng Hualan moved the abacus beads with her small hands and said, "One thousand three hundred and seventy."

As soon as she finished speaking, Sheng Shulan picked up her brush and carefully wrote it down.

She noted down the numbers, touched several IOUs stamped with seals, and passed them over.

Sheng Hualan glanced at it twice and started working on the abacus.

"Five hundred and twenty-seven."

Thus, Sheng Shulan wrote down another number.

The more the two sisters calculated, the more embarrassed they became.

These individual IOUs are all bad debts.

Beside Sheng Shulan were hundreds of IOUs.

Four hundred and eighteen.

"Six hundred and twenty-four."

One hundred and thirty-seven.

The two sisters spent a full three hours calculating and verified the results twice.

"its not right!"

"How could we owe so much?"

Sheng Hualan stared at the result she had calculated in her hand, and her heart skipped a beat.

Twenty-one thousand seven hundred!

The imperial estate, bestowed by the emperor, was in debt for more than 20,000 taels of silver.

"This is an imperial estate!"

Sheng Shulan looked puzzled: "Since ancient times, the taxes on imperial estates have been lower than those on rented land. Logically speaking, if ordinary people have money, they shouldn't have IOUs."

These IOUs are all for money owed by the tenant farmers of the imperial estate.

The person who owed the money was the steward of the imperial estate.

Tenant farmers rented land to grow grain.

The cost of renting land to grow grain consists of two parts.

Part of it was money from renting imperial estates, and part was money from paying taxes.

The grain was produced, and the money was paid.

The remainder was the tenants' earnings from their labor.

Generally speaking, even if they rent ordinary land, tenants can earn a small amount of grain to make a living.

Not to mention imperial estates?

As royal estates, the farmland on the royal estates consisted of first-class fertile land.

Furthermore, the taxes levied on tenants of imperial estates were significantly less than those levied on normal land rentals.

Renting ordinary fields can earn a small profit enough to make a living, so there's no reason why renting imperial estates would result in debt!

The term "owing money" means that the tenant's income is insufficient to cover their expenses.

In years of great disaster, if tenant farmers, after a year of farming, do not have enough grain to pay for rent and taxes, they will be forced to borrow money from the landlords and beg for leniency.

Thus, the IOU came into being.

Alternatively, even if the tenants have paid for both expenses, but have too little grain left to sustain them for a year, they may be forced to sign an IOU.

However, theoretically speaking, this situation is rare.

There's no way they could owe more than 20,000 taels of silver.

"The key issue is that this debt is owed to the steward of the imperial estate."

Sheng Hualan frowned slightly: "Where did this manager get 20,000 taels of silver to lend to the tenants?"

For some reason, the tenants of the imperial estate she owned were always "spending more than they earned".

Seeing the people's suffering, the steward of the imperial estate took pity on them and said that whether the people had not enough food to make a living or not enough money to pay rent or taxes, they could write an IOU and borrow money from him.

To make a living, tenants had no choice but to keep issuing IOUs.

As a result, the tenants owed money to the steward of the imperial estate.

If a tenant owes money to the imperial estate, then from the moment the imperial estate is granted to the official, the debt becomes a debt owed to the official.

If all else fails, we can simply burn the IOU to settle the debt and avoid having the tenants pay back the money.

However, the debt was owed to the steward of the imperial estate.

As a result, the people who owe money to the steward of the imperial estate will have to repay the money to the steward of the imperial estate.

Now that the royal estate has changed hands, the entity from which tenants have to pay their rent has changed somewhat.

Instead of paying rent to the royal family, they paid rent to officials.

The taxes due were paid as usual.

That's not a problem. However, the tenant farmers actually owed the steward of the imperial estate more than 20,000 taels of silver.

It should be noted that even if the tenant continued to rent the land, the rent for a lifetime would probably not amount to 20,000 taels.

In other words, the amount of money that actually reached the officials was less than the amount that reached the stewards of the imperial estates.

The official worked hard to expand the territory and was rewarded with a royal estate, but ended up doing all the work for the estate manager.

The junior Grand Secretary takes a small share, while the steward of the Imperial Estate takes the lion's share!

“This manager must have taken bribes,” Sheng Shulan asserted. “There haven’t been any major disasters lately, and if farmers work honestly, they certainly won’t be unable to make ends meet. The fact that the tenants are unable to make ends meet means that someone has secretly raised the rent or taxes.”

Sheng Hualan nodded in agreement.

They secretly raised rents and taxes, and the increased portion went into the pockets of those in charge.

As a result, the price increase was too steep, making it difficult for tenants to afford, and naturally, they kept issuing IOUs.

Sheng Hualan stretched out her hands, pondered for a while, and then shook her head.

This is difficult!

There are four possible interpretations of this matter.

Firstly, it's a way to avoid disaster by spending money.

The official paid back the money owed to the manager on behalf of the tenant, thus canceling the IOU.

In this way, the manager was dismissed, the tenants were free of debt, and they could start afresh.

From now on, the Imperial Estate will be a completely clean asset; all we need to do is sit back and collect rent.

Secondly, they ignore everything.

Anyway, even if the issue of the IOU is resolved, the official will still collect some rent, so the actual amount of money he receives will not change at all.

The difference is that tenants have a very tough life, as they have to pay back the managers all the time.

This approach is undoubtedly humiliating, and the person in charge benefits the most.

Thirdly, they drove away the tenants.

The tenant owed the foreman money, so the foreman drove the tenant away, and the debt was wiped out.

However, this approach is certainly not good for one's reputation.

Fourthly, the money should not be returned to the person in charge, and the IOU should be cancelled.

"Let the gentleman handle this," Sheng Hualan said softly.

The Jiang family was a family of upright officials, whose members had served as officials for generations.

How could such a powerful institution be humiliated by a mere minor steward?
study.

"More than twenty thousand taels?"

Jiang Zhao glanced at the IOU and shook his head inwardly.

These stewards of the imperial estates, relying on their connections within the palace, became the undisputed rulers of the estates.

Over time, they get arrogant and can't distinguish between the king and the queen, right?
It should be noted that Gu Tingye's act of sacrificing money to avert disaster occurred during the period when the Empress Dowager was ruling from behind the curtain.

As his close associates who had followed him into power, the Empress Dowager's faction kept a close eye on his every move, looking for any faults he might commit.

On the civil service side, many were also watching the new emperor's actions.

Therefore, Gu Tingye would definitely not dare to act recklessly.

Otherwise, if they were to act more forcefully and let the steward's residence "accidentally" catch fire, killing the steward and burning the IOU, what could the people in the palace do?
How dare a person in charge act so arrogantly? He's completely clueless!
"My lady, please go and take care of the matters at the Imperial Residence," Jiang Zhao said, stroking his wife's hair in comfort.

"Ah."

Sheng Hualan nodded obediently and left.

Jiang Zhao got up and started walking slowly.

In just a few breaths, he had made up his mind.

"Hesheng, who is the manager of Qingzhang Manor?"

"Reporting to my lord, it is a steward surnamed Liu."

He Sheng replied respectfully, "Based on his words, he must have a senior official above him."

"An eunuch?" Jiang Zhao shook his head and smiled.

If it were the end of the previous version, or the later part of the next version, the eunuch could still wield power and influence.

Unfortunately, this is the Great Zhou Dynasty!
"Let him ask his master's opinion; if his master also supports his actions—"

Jiang Zhao stood with his hands behind his back, looking out: "Then let's see if it's eunuchs in power or scholars who govern the world."

This move, however, gives those inside the palace an opportunity.

Of course, it doesn't matter whether the person in charge surnamed Liu relays the message or not.

Anyway, he gave them a chance.

Afterwards, the specific details were released, which at least showed that they tried to appease the public before resorting to force.

"Yes."

(End of this chapter)