At this time, Sun Chengzong said, "Your Majesty, Grandpa Guo, if you talk about 'buying', it is also a good way." It's just that since it's a purchase, we have to pay for it anyway. If we want to collect the land under heaven and distribute it to the landless, I am afraid that the amount of this silver will be too large for us to imagine. ”

Chongzhen also frowned and said, "That's true. We can't take it by force after all, so where does this money come from? ”

He knew very well that since Qin Shuhuai would propose this method, he would naturally have already thought of a countermeasure.

Qin Shuhuai smiled slightly and said, "Indeed, with so many fields, we can't afford to buy it back." However, this money can be paid by the peasants, and it will be repaid in installments year by year, and the court will guarantee it for them. ”

Sun Chengzong and Chongzhen were both stunned.

"Installments?hehe, this old man has heard of it for the first time. Do you mean to pay a portion every year?"

"That's right. At present, the market price of one mu of fertile land is about seven taels, and we will collect it at the original price, and then repay it with the farmer's cultivation. The repayment period is 20 years, which means that one acre of land only needs to pay three coins and five silver a year. After 20 years, the field will be owned by the farmers themselves. ”

Sun Chengzong thought for a moment and said, "After 20 years, the land will belong to the peasants?" With all due respect, the landlord originally rented the land to the tenant farmers, and the rent collected in a year was more than that, and the land would always belong to the landlord. So, obviously, the landowners were reluctant to sell their land. In this case, how can we convince the landlords to sell their land is a big problem, and it is not necessarily that the imperial court will send troops to rob their land, right?"

Qin Shuhuai said, "The imperial court naturally can't forcibly occupy the fields. However, we can create an 'additional tax'. But if a landlord's family has more than 500 acres of land, let's collect a tax of one or two taels of silver a year on one acre of land.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, land annexation was extremely serious, and 500 mu was just the standard for small landlords. From this point, it can be seen that Qin Shuhuai wants to engage those medium and large landlords.

"This ......," Sun Chengzong smiled bitterly, "Isn't this forcing them?"

At this time, Chongzhen said, "I am already very merciful. If they were replaced by Gao and Zhang, they would not only have to hand over all the fields, but they would also not be able to catch a single one. ”

"Your Majesty, you can't say that. Sun Chengzong said, "But all the landlords, most of them are squires from all over the country, and many of them are highly respected, which is the foundation of our dynasty's governance." Many of them are loyal to the imperial court, and they don't say anything about the three sides, when the rogue is rampant, how many of them help the court to fight the rogue together, which can be said to be indispensable. Now that we are suddenly going to take away their land, this—this seems a little unreasonable. ”

What Sun Chengzong said is not unreasonable. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the gentry class was indeed the foundation for maintaining dynastic rule. In many places, the gentry would mediate neighborhood disputes, maintain law and order, and even collect taxes on behalf of the imperial court.

Qin Shuhuai said, "What Teacher Sun said is true, so we are 'buying' from them, not asking them." Moreover, we still have room for those who have less than 500 acres of land, and they can not charge additional taxes. The part exceeding 500 acres will be subject to additional taxes. In this way, they still have enough land heirlooms, so let's just let them sell the unreasonable part and buy it at the market price, why not?"

Chongzhen said, "I think this method is feasible. Teacher Sun, no matter how many squires there are, there are only those people, even if I offend them, it doesn't hurt to be scolded by them. Because there are more peasants who lack land, as long as these peasants say that I am a good emperor, I am a good emperor!"

Qin Shuhuai couldn't help but praise, "Your Majesty! This is called uniting the majority." As long as the majority of people support the emperor, the emperor is a good emperor. ”

Xindao, Chongzhen's judgment of the situation is becoming more and more accurate. He has already seen that only by solving the problem of the peasants can the foundation of the Ming Dynasty's ruling power be solid. As for the squires, as long as they could be guaranteed to continue to be rich, they would never have rebelled.

Chongzhen smiled and added, "However, those squires' emotions still have to be taken care of." We can say that this is not a land sale, but a charity, a merit. As I said before, for the squires who sell a lot of land, I can set up a memorial arch for them, or I can give them non-actual officials, or even give them honors! Don't they all have the heart to glorify their ancestors? I give them to them!"

Qin Shuhuai immediately said, "The minister can also let the storyteller talk about it again, and praise their compassion for the world." ”

Seeing this, Sun Chengzong had to smile, "Okay, since the emperor and the grandfather of the country have made a plan, then the old minister will second." However, if you want to implement it smoothly at this time, you must first talk about the king of Fu. With the character of King Fu, I'm afraid we need to spend some tongues. ”

Chongzhen frowned and said, "King Fu's temperament is indeed a bit of his own way, but if he dares to block me at this time, I won't let him have a good time." ”

Qin Shuhuai said, "As long as the emperor says a word, the minister is willing to persuade the Fu King." ”

Chongzhen smiled meaningfully at Qin Shuhuai, "Brother Qin, you can go, but don't make the Fuwang Mansion jump, otherwise I won't be able to explain to my clan relatives." ”

"The ministers have a number, and the ministers have a number. Qin Shuhuai said very "sincerely".

"So, let's move on to the second one. Chongzhen took a sip of tea and said, "What does Brother Qin think about agricultural taxes?"

Qin Shuhuai said without thinking, "Of course, it is exempt from all agricultural endowments." ”

An understatement almost made Chongzhen squirt out a sip of tea.

Sun Chengzong's old eyes almost fell out of their sockets.

No agricultural tax?

For thousands of years, which dynasty and generation did not collect agricultural taxes?

More than sixty percent of the population of the Ming Dynasty are farmers, and they don't collect taxes from them, what kind of game is this?

Qin Shuhuai saw that Chongzhen and Sun Chengzong were surprised like this, and couldn't help but glance at them with rare and strange eyes.

He said, "Your Majesty, do you remember what the minister told you that night? As long as we adopt the minister's tax policy, we can collect 20 million taels a year from the salt tax alone, so what do we do with the millions of taels of agricultural tax?"

"This ......," Chongzhen pondered for a while, and then added, "But I always feel that something is wrong? Since the pre-Qin period, all peasants must be taxed, and it is nothing more than a matter of importance. If the peasants, who make up the majority of the population, do not pay taxes, will it be possible that all the income will be levied from the traders, who are less than 30 percent of the population?

Qin Shuhuai said patiently, "Your Majesty, do you think that if the peasants don't pay agricultural taxes, they really don't pay taxes? Next, we will not only tax salt, iron, silk, and tea, but also tax all walks of life such as transportation, winemaking, wine shops, and teahouses. As long as the farmer spends money on these things, then he is already paying taxes. ”

"This ......."

"The emperor can rest assured that there is only one result of the peasants' non-payment of agricultural taxes, that is, the peasants have more money in their hands and can buy what the merchants sell. The more the merchant sells, the more we collect taxes? ”

"And more importantly, once the emperor abolishes the agricultural tax, this will be an unprecedented event, and it will be a feat that the Qin Emperor, Han Dynasty, Tang Dynasty, and Song Ancestors have never accomplished, and the emperor will surely be famous for centuries in the name of holy virtue!

"The most important thing is that in this way, hundreds of millions of peasants across the country will be loyal to the emperor, and there will be no force in this world that can make them separate from the emperor!

These words were extremely shocking, and every word hammered Chongzhen's heart hard.

Especially the four earth-shattering words: an emperor through the ages!

If Chongzhen's ambition was only Zhongxing Daming before, then these four words made him see another possibility in his life.

An emperor through the ages!

How many emperors conquered the Quartet and expanded their territory, just for these four words?

Chongzhen felt his blood burning.

And Sun Chengzong was completely stunned.

Based on his political experience, he absolutely does not believe that the tax of the state can be done in this way.

But Qin Shuhuai's words made him speechless, and he couldn't find a reason to refute it at all.

Qin Shuhuai looked at the two people who were looking at each other, and couldn't help but say to himself, this shocked you like this?

If you tell you that in a few hundred years, not only will there be no taxes on farming, but the state will also give all kinds of subsidies, wouldn't it be shocking to you?

However, it is no wonder that there is no way to explain to them why in the era when the commodity economy is sufficiently developed, as long as the reasonable tax policy is mastered, the agricultural tax is only a fraction at all.

They just need to know the outcome.

After being silent for a long time, Sun Chengzong finally spoke.

"In this matter, Lao Chen thinks that it is better to take it step by step. The old minister suggested that the national field tax should be exempted for three years, and if the court did not have to worry about spending it for these three years, it could announce that the field tax would be abolished in the future. If there really is such a day, then the emperor will really do the great benevolent government that has never been done before, which is really a blessing for all the people, and a blessing for me in China!"

Chongzhen nodded excitedly, "Okay, then this matter will be played by Teacher Sun." Tomorrow, I will issue an edict to exempt the whole country from the field for three years! If it is three years later, oh no, if it is a year down this year, the court will have no worries, I will allow Brother Qin to play, and I will forever waste the field endowment!"

"Emperor Shengming!" Qin Shuhuai and Sun Chengzong said in unison.

After the matter of the new land policy was decided, the new policy of government officials became much simpler.