"Add two cents of silver per mu per mu."

When Zhang Han went out of the city, the discussion in Ma Chaoren's mansion had just begun.

Looking at everyone, Ma Chaoren said, "The summer grain that the province in Shanxi should pay is 2.8 million shi, which looks not much, the same as the one in Suzhou. However, the money in Suzhou has never been paid, but I have very little owed here in Shanxi. We should provide border troops. At the beginning of the country, we Shanxi owed very little grain. After a hundred years, local officials followed the old customs and thought that it would be impossible to accumulate as much as Suzhou."

Jiang Yanhong followed, "There are many official land in Suzhou. Judging from the heavy tax amount, it actually counts land rent. The summer tax here is summer tax, and the people have to count land rent. The burden is already heavy, and the acres of land are far less than that of Jiangnan. With this, with the additional salary, you have to pay two cents of silver for each acre of land alone. This is just a yellow list, and there are also white lists below. Everyone, the grain price seems to be rising sharply."

"The land in Shanxi is only 40 million mu, which is only a fraction of the amount in Henan, but the land tax is almost the same as that in Henan, which is a bit too much."

"The white list is still heavy, and the famous discussion on how to borrow posts to provide border military rations will definitely be a big deal."

"These benefits cannot fall on us. Most of them can be touched by generals and high-ranking officials and gentry. We are responsible for supporting and have no benefits. How can we convince people?"

"The people actually know the hardships of our people when they see our scenery."

"If we can't make money from the grain price, we can only sell our land."

"Even if the grain price is profitable, can't I keep more land acres? The high-ranking officials and gentry do not pay the land tax. Mr. Ma has the status of a juren, and the tax on tax is limited. Our land tax on land cannot be reduced. The more land, the heavier the tax on tax. Now we have to add additional salary and silver, which is really impossible to afford."

"This is really the benefit of the whip method, hehe, I can't talk about it all."

The people here are really resentful, and most of them are leaning against the whip method.

To be fair, the whip method was promoted by Zhang Juzheng with great courage. Originally, the two tax law of the Tang Dynasty included the tax of the body into the land tax, which was a way to reduce the burden on the people. Those with land paid taxes. Later, in the Song Dynasty, the people of Ming Dynasty had to serve labor and work. By the Wanli period, the miscellaneous labor expenses were distributed into the land tax. This was the whip method. In addition to turning the true nature, that is, grain into silver, and increasing the fiscal revenue of the court, it was to include labor service in the land tax to try to reduce the burden on the people.

In practice, if honest local officials can be faithful to the whip law, the court's income will increase and the people's burden will be reduced. However, in most places, the land tax will be collected, and it is heavier than before. There is also a layer of trouble of selling grain and paying taxes. Then the servants still have to do the same. In addition to the yellow list, there is also a white list, and the burden on the white list is ten times that of the yellow list.

Later generations always explained that the taxes in the dynasty were very light, and the facts were the same. The land tax was not heavy, and the commercial tax was even lighter. However, the exploitation of miscellaneous expenses in the local area was ten times or dozens of times the tax. Local officials, gentry, generals, including relatives, and these powerful sworms desperately knocked their bones and sucked marrow to squeeze the people. Even these small and medium-sized landlords kept complaining. From the Wanli to Chongzhen period, many small and medium-sized landlords in the north also went bankrupt. Fortunately, industry and commerce have always been away from the Ming Dynasty system, Ma Chaoren and others could only hope to operate commercial operations to reduce the pressure on themselves.

"There is also a commander-in-chief Zhang in the back of this battle. There is also a court official in my Ma family who is supporting him in Beijing. We must fight to the end." Ma Chaoren raised his glass to greet everyone. He has the status of a juren, but there are too many acres and the pressure is also great. Behind him is the entire Tianchengwei Ma family. At this moment, he can't help but say a word of retreat.

"The villain has met his boss."

In the village, Jiang Yi was standing next to a small wooden bridge with a smile on his face. He turned sideways and let the sideways. The one who came from the middle of the village road, which was less than ten feet wide, was of course Zhang Han.

This village is called Lizhuang. As the name is Kesiyi, most of the residents here are from the family surnamed Li, and there may be a few miscellaneous surnames, and the number of households is not too large.

According to the Huang Book of the government, there are only 131 residents here, and the 325 dynasties are located in the dynasties, but the actual number is more than 300 households, and the number is about 700, and the total number is nearly 3,000.

At that time, these populations could gather into a small town, but Lizhuang was located at the junction of Tianchengwei and Zhenluwei. The boundary was easterly and was at the remnant of the Daliang Mountains. The official road from Weizhou to Tianchengwei was very far away, and it was even further away from the large official road from the capital to the Pianguan. It was close to Huamen Fort locking Daliang Mountain. It was located in a remote place. The village road became narrower and narrower. It was difficult to walk on two-wheeled carriages, so they could only walk on mules, horses and unicycles. In this area, there were many people in the village and many acres around it, but there was no market town.

The leader was the manager Li Xiangfu, the manager of the village. He had read a few days ago, with a square scarf on his head, a blue cloth lacquer, a pair of cloth shoes, a square face, a big rosacea, and his eyes were drowsy, and there was still alcohol in his mouth through many steps.

There were a few people behind Li Xiangfu, most of whom were hired to come and see the village when the great master was there. The village could receive less than 3,000 stone of land rent every year. When he bought it that day, he spent nearly 5,000 silver. Most of the Zhang family's real estate was here.

Zhang Han saw the farms here. The fields are all in the same place. Unlike other farms, the fields are mostly separated. Sometimes the land owner himself cannot figure out who is planting the land. The land owner can sublease the land according to the rules. The land owner cannot recognize his own tenant. When walking in the land, which piece of land belongs to his own, or rents it to someone else, or has several hands fallen, the land owner himself cannot figure it out. After a long time, it has been passed down for several generations. There is also a tenant who has made a secret and asked the yamen to secretly handle Zhangtianqi and make the land his own. Of course, such things need some connection, and it is not something that can be done by honest tenant farmers.

There are also some fish catches, chickens, grass, cows, sheep, and other industries, including the Zhang family's income, and they have to pay a portion every year. When buying, they rent the head, price the silver, and the quality, chicken, grass, wine, and calligraphy. They are clearly explained. Chang told Zhang Han that the old man was so happy that he didn't sleep well for several nights and he smiled every day.

Zhang Han can understand this feeling now. The desire for land in China is imprinted in the bones of the farming nations, and the land can be passed down from generation to generation. The so-called rise of industry and commerce and capital germination are simply a dream. In Suzhou, there are textile factories with thousands of people, but merchants still use money to buy land. Or they dig a cellar at home and store silver. Capital cannot be expanded any more, because there is no chamber of commerce, merchants have no right to speak politically and have no ability to protect themselves. Can groups of fat sheep affect national politics and expand capital? That is a joke.

"Please come up, I'm still young and I don't feel like such a big gift."

The tenant knelt down to worship the landlord, and the landlord was unhappy and took it down and beat the board. This is common. Of course, the landlord has a bad personality, and the tenant will also transfer the landlord. Zhang Han knew the reason well, spoke quite gracefully, and was very friendly. He did not have the arrogant attitude of ordinary young children, and did not have the teenager's feeling of being arrogant at all.

Li Xiangfu raised his eyelids slightly, and in a short moment he felt shrewd. Seeing that Zhang Han was still smiling, Li Xiangfu led everyone to stand up, lowered his head and said, "I said that after collecting the food, I went to the fort to pay my respects to my boss. I have been lasting two or three years. The boss's body has grown taller than ordinary people. If the great master and the old man met, they would be very happy."

Only then did Zhang Han remember that he had indeed seen this old Li when he was a teenager, but he was a standard nerd and young. He turned around and left after seeing the tribute. I am afraid that Li Xiangfu must have looked down on him in his heart.

Zhang Han smiled and said, "I was still ignorant when I was a teenager, so I was slow to treat Lao Li."

In fact, he is still a young man now, but he has some superior aura on his body, which makes people feel awe or valued before they know it, dealing with Zheng Guochang, and Ma Chengen, the general and the fourth-rank civil servants both attach importance to Zhang Han. Although there is money to lead the way, Zhang Han’s own temperament is very outstanding, which is also an important reason.

Li Xiangfu said he didn't dare to do so, so he asked Zhang Han and others to go to the village.

After passing the dilapidated wooden bridge, the entrance of the village was the entrance of the village. A dirt road was winding forward, and the road was uneven. It was obvious that the road was crushed by a car on rainy days, and no one paid to work to level it. Some bamboo was planted on both sides of the entrance of the village. The day in May was the most suitable for bamboo growth. The bamboo shoots that grew out of early spring had already flowed half a person high, and the bamboo was dense, covering both sides. The road in the middle felt a bit deep and winding path.

Zhang Han said: "This bamboo forest is good."

Li Xiangfu finally smiled and said, "This is what the great master asked to plant it back then. It looks elegant. The villains also think it is good. It has been spreading into pieces over the years, and it is indeed quite interesting."

After leaving the bamboo forest, I suddenly realized that there were large thatched houses stretched out in about five or six rows, each row with dozens of houses, only a few dozen steps apart. There was a yard with stone mills in front of each house. Many families were drying the wheat they had just collected. The smell of straw was very strong and came to their noses.
Chapter completed!