"A member of the Public Bureau? Ask about a county!? ”

Su Shun was stunned and stunned, and said in his heart, this Zhu Shun is really messing around, how can such a vulgar person be allowed to intervene in the political affairs of a county? If these rough people who run boats can ask about politics, what else do they need to do?

"Sixth brother."

Yuan Bao said to Su Shun, "Liangjiang has been this rule since the 29th year of Daoguang, regardless of Shinong industry and commerce, as long as the tax payment exceeds a certain amount, you can participate in politics." Public bureaus were set up at the county, prefectural, and provincial levels, composed of commissioners and gentry elected by merchants and gentry who paid more than a certain amount of taxes. The public bureau has the right to supervise the administration of the magistrates, and also manages the tax bureau with the magistrates, and can also impeach the magistrates, and can submit proposals to Emperor Zhu. In short, the power is very great, and the magistrates of the eight provinces in the southeastern and southeastern provinces are unlikely to dare to provoke these members of the public bureau. ”

Su Shun still shook his head: "Messing around, it's completely messing around!" The government governs the people and the gentry and businessmen, and the real good officials should be the masters of the small people. If the local officials are all subject to the gentry and merchants, who else will speak for the small people? Isn't this forcing officials and gentry to collude and exploit the small people? ”

Master Cao smiled bitterly when he heard this, the collusion between officials, businessmen and gentry has existed in ancient times, but this kind of thing cannot be put on the table before the New Ming Dynasty. The imperial court has also been trying to restrain it, for example, the law of being an official in a different place is to avoid too deep collusion between officials, businessmen, and gentry. However, in the new Ming Dynasty, officials and gentry and businessmen had to collude, and they had to collude. If any county official and the members of the county bureau are stiff, even if the backstage is as hard as a steel plate, otherwise they will definitely be impeached and removed from office!

Master Cao suddenly sighed: "Actually, the emperor already knows the way, and there is a wind blowing down from above, saying that he will soon rectify the rule of officials in the eight southeastern provinces." The main thing is that the gentry owe taxes...... Three months later, if the three clans of the public bureau member or the court official are in arrears. Immediate dismissal! ”

"It's not about overtaxing! The gentry had to make up for the arrears. The people pay more but do not return! Emperor Zhu's abacus is really fine! "Gualca. Yuan Bao laughed. "Which county in the eight southeastern provinces has not completed the tax collection quota? If you can't complete the tax amount, you will have to deduct the representative right of the provincial public bureau! If it fails to do so for three consecutive years, the public bureau will be disbanded and the military administration will be implemented, and even the county's imperial examination will be suspended. ”

Master Cao smiled bitterly: "Isn't it, Emperor Zhu's ability to make money is the best in the world, a public bureau traps businessmen, and an imperial examination encircles the gentry, and then links the public bureau, the imperial examination and taxes...... At present, there is indeed no county that does not meet the tax target, and most of them exceed a lot. Now the gentry have to pay the land endowment, and they can make a lot of money at once. ”

Su Shun sighed and said, "The gentry's house has silver in it. The tax arrears should not be, and now there is nothing to pay back on. It's just that it's too hateful for the people to pay too much and not return, so Emperor Zhu is not afraid of the officials forcing the people to rebel? ”

Master Cao shook his head: "Anti? Who dares! In the 2nd year of the recovery, the Cao Gang brothers in many places made trouble, what was the result? The current army of the Ming Dynasty is not the officers and soldiers of the Qing Dynasty in the past, and they are all like wolves and tigers! Thousands of Cao Gang brothers were killed before and after, and tens of thousands of them were arrested, and they were all sent to the Northeast as coolies!

And...... Although the ordinary small farmers in the eight southeastern provinces are hard, they are still better than those in the Qing Dynasty. After all, Cao Fu has been exempted, although Tian Fu is high, but there is only the main item and no miscellaneous faction. Although the officials below will charge a 'long price'. But it turned out that this was also the rule, so the peasants who had land at home could still get by. Even if you really can't get by. There are also three ways to live: going to the Kanto, going to the South Seas, and running to the Americas. Moreover, in the past two years, the industrial and commercial development of Yingtian, Shanghai, and Suzhou has been very fast, and there are still many large works under construction, so it is still easy to find a job to make a living.

But it's not too peaceful everywhere, these days the scholars in Sichuan are a little fierce, I heard that they have to boycott the imperial examination! ”

Speaking of this, the shipowner surnamed Cao also seemed to feel that his words were too much, Chong Sushun and Yuan Bao hugged their fists and got up to go to the stern of the sand boat to take the helm in person.

"Yuanbao, what's going on with the boycott of the imperial examination?"

As soon as Master Cao left, Su Shun asked Guerjia beside him in a low voice. Ingots.

"It's not because of Western learning!" Yuan Bao snorted, "When Emperor Zhu first arrived in Hong Kong, he kept saying: Middle school is the foundation, and Western learning is for use. But now that he is the emperor, his true face will come out! He originally wanted to dig up the roots of Confucius and Mencius, and actually wanted to add Western learning to the imperial examination, and he wanted to use Western learning to learn from scholars, and he also opened many academies in the eight southeastern provinces to teach Western heresies! ”

"There's such a thing!"

An excited expression flashed on Su Shun's face, he took a deep breath, and said in a low voice: "Such a perverse act, why is it that only Sichuan scholars have come forward?" ”

"In fact, it is not only the scholars of Sichuan who are making trouble, Hubei has also been affected, and the scholars of Henan, Shandong, Beizhili and Shanxi are also making trouble, but the eight southeastern provinces are generally peaceful."

Gualca. Because Yuanbao has lived in Guangzhou for generations, he can speak pure Cantonese, and it is convenient to walk in the south, unlike Sushun, who knows that Lu Dao has a relationship with the Bohai State, so he was sent to the south to carry out activities, on the one hand, he opened a northern goods store to sell furs, ginseng, and horses to raise military funds for the Bohai State to buy military rations; On the one hand, he is also responsible for collecting intelligence in the south, so he has a good understanding of the situation in the eight southeastern provinces.

He said: "Because the gentry, merchants, and government of the eight southeastern provinces have colluded into one. Although Zhu Zhi's new policy was not very good for the Shengdou people, the gentry and merchants still benefited. The gentry had more opportunities to be officials than before, and the exemption from levies was also beneficial to the gentry. Not to mention businessmen, Zhu Wei was born as a businessman, and all the methods he practiced were conducive to industry and commerce. Moreover, in Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangnan and other places, the boundaries between gentry and merchants were blurred, and wealthy and famous gentry often concurrently engaged in business, and they were all beneficiaries of the new dynasty. Hunan Province produced many lords and ministers, and the Xianghu School of Science was extremely important in the new dynasty. Therefore, the gentry and wealthy merchants in Jiangnan, Fujian, Guangdong, and Hunan are all in league with Zhu Ming. Naturally, it is necessary to suppress the local hot-blooded scholars, and prevent them from standing up to defend the learning of the saints.

In Sichuan Province, the two years were military, political and civilian, and although the local gentry, merchants, and government colluded, they were not one. The relationship with the Zhu Ming court is not deep, and many people still have their hearts set on me in the Qing Dynasty! ”

Su Shun was stunned for a moment, and lowered his voice to a very low level: "Really? Sichuan people still want the Qing Dynasty? ”

Yuan Bao said: "It's true, the merchants who came from Sichuan all said so, the current Sichuan is not as good as the Qing Dynasty!" ”

"Really?" Su Shun frowned, what did he say in his heart, "The current Sichuan is not as good as the Qing Dynasty"? Now there is no place in China as good as the Qing Dynasty to unify the country!

"Of course." Gualca. Yuan Bao smiled and said, "Zhu Wei is careful to govern the eight southeastern provinces, although it is far worse than our emperor of the Qing Dynasty, but he has always put his mind into it." Sichuan is to let it go, just ask for silver, sixth master, do you say it can be good? Moreover, Sichuan is not as good as Jiangnan, Fujian and Guangdong through Haikou, and the people can still go outside if they can't survive, and this Shu Road is as difficult as the blue sky! ”

"Makes sense!" Su Shun nodded, as if he saw some hope. "I have to go to Sichuan, and I have to see with my own eyes what kind of chaos this Sichuan is!"

"To Sichuan? Sixth master, the emperor is still waiting for you to go to the grassland with grain, gold and silver. ”

Su Shun waved his hand: "You can let others do this, the Invesco who came with me is reliable, let him do it." Yuanbao, haven't you seen that this Sichuan is an opportunity for the revival of our Qing Dynasty! ”

"Sichuan? Sixth master, it's far away from Mongolia! ”

"Far from Mongolia, not far from the Tibetan border!" Su Shun chuckled, "Yuanbao, the one in the west and our emperor are brothers in the end!" He said softly, "You probably don't know the Dao yet, this spring, the fourth elder brother and Seng Lingqin led the troops to Xining, and allied with the Zasak of the 29th Banner of the Qaidam Mongols, and obtained their allegiance, and it is estimated that they have already marched to Tibet at this time." ”

"What! The fourth elder brother and Monk Greenqin are going to Tibet! "Gualca. Yuan Bao took a breath, "The emperor knows the way?" ”

Su Shun nodded: "I already know the way." He looked at Gualca. Yuanbao, "The emperor said that the fourth brother and he are both the sons of the first emperor, and they are both the hope of the rejuvenation of the Qing Dynasty, and no matter who they are, they are qualified to take on this important task." (To be continued......)