Chapter 444 Waiting for the Chaos...

"what?"

"If you really do this, the whole Jiangnan will be in chaos!"

"This...this matter...we...I..."

Down the hall.

Xu Pengju's face was tense and he was hesitant. He thought that withdrawing from this matter might affect everything he had previously, so he stammered and was too embarrassed to say anything to regret it.

But he was completely panicked.

No matter what Xu Pengju thought, he could not have known that what Yan Shaoting and his men were going to do was to bankrupt the wealthy families in Jiangnan and clear out the land they had occupied in the past.

At this time, Xu Pengju finally understood why Yan Shaoting had to investigate the population and finances of Jiangnan since the very beginning when he was in Huai'an Prefecture.

All of this is simply laying the groundwork for this final step.

Yan Shaoting continued to pretend, and said half-truthfully: "Duke, you also know that the emperor asked me to go to Jiangnan this time, and entrusted me with the important task of governing the six provinces in Jiangnan, in order to increase the fiscal revenue of Jiangnan. I am not talented, and I can only think of this along the way. Only when the big families return the occupied land, can the court collect more taxes, and my mission this time will be completed."

Xu Pengju was panicking, frowning and saying in a deep voice: "But you can't do it this way. How on earth did you come up with such an offensive thing? If you really do it, I'm afraid you won't be able to come to Jiangnan again in the future."

Let big households clear out their land?

Xu Pengju even wanted to laugh.

Not to mention whether the Xu family of the Duke of Wei would agree to clear the land.

Even if it were any other company, they would never agree to it.

Why should the land, which has been worked hard and calculated bit by bit for dozens, hundreds of years and several generations, be returned to those peasants now?

Just because they have no land to farm?

So we have to give away all the savings of several generations?
Xu Pengju felt that if he could think of such a question, let alone others. He was afraid that if others knew the truth, they would curse him even more harshly than himself.

Yan Shaoting also looked helpless: "My nephew also knows that this is a difficult matter, and I don't want to become a rat crossing the street that everyone shouts and beats. So after thinking about it, I think if I can repay with good farmland overseas as compensation, my nephew will feel more at ease."

Zhang Juzheng also explained at the right time: "The court began to lift the maritime ban last year, with the people as the main force and the court as the auxiliary, not competing with the people for profits, and using the court navy to protect merchant ships going out to sea. Until now, the number of our merchant ships going out to sea has doubled. The Maritime Governor's Office has recently coordinated all parties and felt that ports, military camps, warehouses, etc. should be built in various dangerous places overseas to protect our merchant ships and naval warships abroad."

With Zhang Juzheng's official introduction as Governor-General and Minister of Maritime Affairs.

Yan Shaoting then said, "That's why we can send people to reclaim the wasteland in any place that is included in the plan of the Maritime Governor's Office. With the navy stationed there, the imperial court soldiers stationed there, and the people sent by us, it won't be dangerous to reclaim the wasteland or do anything else. As for the output, we can just ship it back in time."

"Do we need to pay land tax there?"

Although Xu Pengju is a fool and hesitant at the moment, he has grasped the key to the problem accurately.

Yan Shaoting couldn't help laughing, and under Xu Pengju's puzzled gaze, he looked at Zhang Juzheng.

Xu Pengju also looked over.

"Governor Zhang, the emperor and the court have asked you to be the governor of our dynasty's overseas affairs. Do you have an explanation for this matter?"

Zhang Juzheng looked strange and moved his mouth: "What do you mean? Has our dynasty gained new territory?"

Originally Xu Pengju was frowning.

But as soon as Zhang Juzheng finished speaking, Xu Pengju immediately smiled.

He kept nodding his head: "Yes! Yes! Then there would be no such thing as land tax."

I feel a little relieved.

Xu Pengju asked again: "But, Nanyang and Xiyang are not uninhabited, and they are out of reach. Even if the land there is top-quality, it is not valuable..."

Yan Shaoting glanced at him and smiled in his heart.

That's bargaining.

He nodded directly and said, "It is indeed the same as what the Duke said, and there is a difference between inside and outside. After all, it is better to go far away than near. But once you go out, the sea and sky are vast and there is no one to control you. You can do whatever you want. It's just a matter of getting a few more boats and transporting things back a little more troublesome."

Zhang Juzheng also stood up and said, "Runwu, I will go find Zhang Xialing and see if their Shanxi area can establish a good relationship with our Maritime Governor's Office."

Say it.

He bowed to Xu Pengju again and said, "I have official duties to attend to and cannot accompany the Duke here. Please forgive me."

After saying this, he didn't give Xu Pengju a chance to speak, and walked away under the other's gaze.

Xu Pengju frowned and looked outside the door, then turned to look at Yan Shaoting.

"My dear nephew, you have to tell me the truth. Can this be done?"

"You also know that this matter is not just about whether or not we will be criticized. Overseas is too far away. How big is the profit? You also said that there is no need to seek far away instead of near. If there is no absolute benefit, let alone outsiders, even I, as an uncle, can't easily agree to it."

"After all, no matter how good the things outside are, we can't see or touch them now."

Looking at Xu Pengju who is extremely shrewd in this matter.

Yan Shaoting stretched out three fingers.

"Thirty percent!"

"My Lord, I just want the Duke of Wei's Mansion to clear out 30% of the occupied land and set an example."

"When the time comes, the Duke's Mansion will let my nephew take charge and repay you tenfold!"

"When you go out in the future, you must always remember the Duke and the Duke of Wei's Mansion."

If it wasn't for the purpose of uniting all the living forces, Yan Shaoting really wouldn't want to go to so much trouble.

But there must be a leader in Jiangnan, otherwise it will not work and no chain effect can be formed.

As for why only 30% of the occupied land by the Xu family was required to be cleared out instead of all of it.

Because Yan Shaoting knew very well that in the future, the government and gentry would be integrated, the land tax would be distributed according to the amount of land, and the surplus would be returned to the public.

The more these people seize today, the more they will have to spend in the future.

However, Xu Pengju's shoulders trembled. He raised his hands and looked at his ten fingers: "Ten times! The ten times you said is..."

"There are acres of land! No need to open up the wasteland, just send people over to sow the seeds!"

Yan Shaoting spoke calmly.

In the past two years, I have arranged for many people to go out to sea. In addition to Changping and my hometown in Jiangxi, I have also recruited a group of people from other places and sent them out together.

Although he didn't know how much land had been reclaimed there, he thought it was probably not small.

And got the answer I wanted.

Xu Pengju frowned, his heart in turmoil.

Everything seems like a fairy tale.

If the person talking to me was not Yan Shaoting, I would never have believed it.

After a while.

Xu Pengju clapped his hands, and then he gritted his teeth and shouted, "Okay! I'll do as you say!"

……

The situation in Jiangnan was becoming increasingly wrong and tense.

The Yingtian Governor's Office, under the leadership of Hai Rui, has almost reached the point where it does not recognize any relatives.

All the twelve prefectures under the jurisdiction of the Yingtian Governor must conduct a thorough inventory of the land and population under their jurisdiction in accordance with his instructions.

In order to prevent fraud, the Yingtian Governor's Office also sent a special letter requesting the Governor's Tax and Military Office to send personnel to cooperate in going to various prefectures and counties to investigate and handle affairs.

Since it is a tax and military office.

You will know that in addition to the soldiers holding steel knives, the tax and military offices today also have a group of clerks who are good at calculations.

These people, together with the people from the Yingtian Governor's Office, led the tax soldiers armed with steel knives and spears to the local area. For a while, no one dared to say a word of rebuttal.

However, there was no rebuttal, but there was a desire to resist.

At least now, the prefectures and counties in Jiangnan are openly or secretly uncooperative with the land survey.

After all, if you want to find out the actual total number of acres of land in the local area, you must measure all the fields in every village, town, and county.

Only then can the total amount of farmland in the twelve prefectures under the jurisdiction of the Yingtian Governor's Office be calculated.

As long as the local government offices refuse to cooperate and say they don't know anyone who can measure the land, the people from the Yingtian Governor's Office and the Tax and Military Office can basically do nothing, unless they take a ruler and measure the fields one by one.

In fact.

This is basically what people in the twelve prefectures are doing nowadays.

As for why there was no one who could measure the fields, that was not something they could know.

Anyway, the imperial court does not require officials to know how to measure land.

For a while.

The local authorities began to confront the three government offices in Nanjing.

News from all over the country is also constantly circulating and transmitting.

"Send troops!"

"The only solution now is to send troops!"

"With the army approaching, I wonder if these people dare to resist stubbornly and pretend to obey but actually disobey!"

In the West Garden, Hai Rui, who had been busy for more than half a month, finally couldn't bear it anymore and slammed the table and started cursing.

Zhang Juzheng, however, had a smile on his face. Now Hai Rui had finally tasted the bitterness of the investigation of local farmland.

"Send the people from the Loyalty and Bravery Battalion and the Navy! These are the ones you two mobilized, so let them go!"

Hai Rui's eyes turned red and filled with murderous intent.

Yan Shaoting looked at him, wanting to laugh but not daring to, and advised: "Brother Gangfeng, don't worry. Don't you think about how Uncle Brother also went through a lot of trouble to check the land in Songjiang Prefecture?"

Hai Rui's eyes lit up, and he turned to look at Zhang Juzheng: "Yes, I just remembered that you have more experience than me in this matter. Why didn't you show up at that time?"

Zhang Juzheng snorted twice: "Don't you know to go find the imperial edict and the fish scale map stored in Xuanwu Lake first?"

Hai Rui was stunned for a moment before he finally reacted.

"Yup!"

"How could I have forgotten this? By comparing the imperial edict with the fish scale map, we can naturally check it faster and more accurately!"

As he spoke, he stood up and was about to go outside.

Zhang Juzheng shouted quickly: "What are you going to do?"

Hai Rui looked anxious: "I'll take people to Xuanwu Lake to find the things!"

Zhang Juzheng curled his lips and said, "I don't know when you will find it."

While teasing, Zhang Juzheng moved his mouth towards Yan Shaoting.

"Well, Runwu told people last night to go to the lake early in the morning to find everything. I think we'll have news soon."

Hai Rui was stunned.

He didn't understand what these words meant and immediately blushed.

But it's not shyness, but shame and anger.

A low drink.

Hai Rui's face flushed red. "You two are so good! You knew you could do this, but you made me do it for half a month!"

Zhang Juzheng laughed out loud.

It was not until today that he felt that he had finally vented his anger on Hai Rui and got some justice.

Yan Shaoting quickly stepped forward and held Hai Rui back, "Brother Gangfeng, calm down. Actually, it's not in vain that you've been working so hard for the past half month. Now that we understand who's behind them and their methods, it will be easier for us to do it."

After Zhang Juzheng finished laughing, he also said, "At the very beginning, Runwu wrote to the court. Since these officials are all so well-spoken but do not have subordinates who know how to measure the land, it is naturally considered that the officials have failed to do their job. Runwu wrote to the court and proposed that the court use this as an excuse to issue an imperial decree to punish the local officials and send people who are good at measuring land. I think there will be news in ten days."

Seeing that Yan Shaoting and Zhang Juzheng had already arranged everything, Hai Rui could only sit there angrily and said in a muffled voice: "What should we do now?"

Zhang Juzheng looked at Yan Shaoting.

Yan Shaoting narrowed his eyes.

"Then of course we are waiting for the chaos in Jiangnan!"

"Now that the waters are muddied, we can fish in troubled waters and remove those troublemakers!"

There was a hint of murderous intent in Yan Shaoting's words.

It is impossible that the twelve prefectures under the jurisdiction of the Yingtian Governor's Office could act in this way this time without someone instructing them behind the scenes.

He suddenly realized that his entire trip to the south of the Yangtze River seemed a little too kind until today.

Up to now, not even a single head has been chopped off.

The White Lotus rebels killed in Matou Town, Huai'an Prefecture do not count!
It's time to kill a few to scare them.

It would be best if the imperial court could step in and implicate a group of people.

Otherwise it won't be enough to serve as a deterrent.

……

"Reverse! Reverse!"

"Is Yan Shaoting trying to rebel against the heaven?"

Yang Zongqi, the Nanjing Governor-General and Minister of Grain, angrily rushed into the official residence of Zhang Shunchen, the Minister of Revenue.

The door to the house was not closed, it was just left open.

Yang Zongqi slammed the table and shouted in front of Zhang Shunchen: "Do you know? Yan Shaoting sent people to Houhu today to check the imperial edict and the fish scale map. What is his purpose? Does he think that all of us officials in Jiangnan are cheating? Or does he mean that officials in Jiangnan for two hundred years can no longer be trusted?"

"Zhang Butang, we must take care of this matter! If we don't, Jiangnan will probably have to change his surname to Yan!"

"Yan Shaoting can do whatever he wants!"

"Even if you, Minister Zhang, don't care, I have to take care of it too! I can't let outsiders criticize us for being unkind officials because of this matter!"

After a lot of cursing, Yang Zongqi pushed everyone away and rushed out of the Ministry of Revenue, leaving behind a group of clerks who were just watching and could not understand the situation for a while.

And in the government office.

Zhang Shunchen had a gloomy face and looked at Zhang Bin who was sitting next to him.

Zhang Xun's face was grim: "He is trying to pass on the blame! He is trying to help those big families, letting them know that he, Yang Zongqi, is still working for them. In the end, the blame and fault will fall on us!"

Zhang Shunchen snorted coldly.

"After all, he has been an official for many years. He is usually stupid, but now he is very smart."

Zhang Yan stepped forward and said, "What should we do now? Just watch as the situation outside becomes increasingly chaotic?"

Zhang Shunchen slowly raised his head and looked outside the door.

After a long time.

He just laughed.

"I'm afraid someone is waiting for the situation to become chaotic..."

…………

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(End of this chapter)