sbdcsierra Chapter 206: The Plague-stricken Han
Chapter 206: The Plague-stricken Han
On March 13, the second year of Zhiping in the Song Dynasty, Prince Huan Zhao Ceying and his entourage finally returned to Bianjing City after being away for nearly two years.
At the north city gate, Han Ming specially brought a group of Han Party officials out of the city to welcome them.
As for the conservatives, they probably now have a clear idea of which side Emperor Yingzong is on.
For this reason, the old faction, which had been appeased by Lu Baochen with great difficulty, immediately set up their positions and were ready to have a good fight with Han Ming and other new officials.
Unfortunately, Han was a bad person. He asked King Huan and others to take advantage of the salt inspection to root out the roots of this group of conservatives.
Faced with Han Ming and his gang who were secretly completing the land survey task at this time, even Han Zhang, Zeng Mingzhong, Zhang Sheng and other senior officials who supported him were very angry.
After all, the subsequent implementation of the "Single Whip Law" policy affected the entire ruling class of the Song Dynasty.
These civil officials, scholars, gentry and landlords are all the so-called "tax evaders".
In the past, they relied on tricks such as concealing registered population and land, and the fact that the imperial power did not extend below the county level to allow these people to annex a large amount of land without the knowledge of the court, and they did not have to pay taxes.
This meant that most ancient feudal dynasties faced financial exhaustion in the middle and late stages.
Then, various methods of levying heavy taxes and levies were used to collect them from local governments, making life difficult for the lower classes. Over time, this led to public resentment and a large number of rebellions and insurrections.
Han Ming's move was truly ruthless! He struck the snake at its weakest point, leaving the landlord class completely bewildered.
"One Whip Law? What a One Whip Law! They're actually combining taxes. Isn't this just cutting off everyone's financial resources?!"
"Has Han Jingyuan forgotten his origins? His Han family is one of the most prominent families of scholars in the Song Dynasty, with abundant land, population and resources!!!"
"It's not that easy to use our land tax to enrich the national treasury!"
"We must let the court and the government see our stance. Otherwise, won't this traitor and those peasants just ride roughshod over us and do whatever they want?"
"Marquis Han has gone too far this time! He's completely disregarding the survival of the people of the Song Dynasty for his own reputation!"
"Yes! We should report him!"
"If that doesn't work, we'll all retire and return home—!"
"..."
In a house somewhere in Tokyo Prefecture, many officials, young and old, gathered together. Judging from their appearance, most of them were fifth-rank officials of the imperial court in Beijing.
Their words were full of disgust and aversion towards Han Ming and the entire new school, and they wanted to eat each other alive!
In the dark corner of the house, a black shadow carefully observed the people present, wrote down their names and appearances, then flew into the door next to it, and easily found a way to leave.
In less than a quarter of an hour, Han Ming rushed back to the Marquis' Mansion after receiving King Huan and his entourage. The first thing he did when he entered the study was to take out the news brought by Yong Zeng.
"My Lord, as you are meeting me, I will..."
Han Ming flipped through the long and eloquent letter in his hand, and couldn't help but sneer at the corner of his mouth.
"It seems some people are getting impatient and want to unite and attack me?!"
Han Ming sneered and slammed the letter on the table. Yong Zeng behind him immediately changed his expression and looked at his master in surprise.
"Then add fuel to the fire and boost their momentum."
"Yong Zeng, bring out the idea that 'officials and gentry should serve and pay taxes together' that Jiefu and the others have been promoting. I'm going to give them a jolt!"
Han Ming had a wicked smile on his face, which made Yong Zeng shudder.
On March 17th, after some preparation, Emperor Yingzong specially convened a court meeting to discuss the issue of carrying out reforms across the country.
Prince Huan Zhao Ceying took the initiative to present the newly compiled "Zhiping Year Fish Scale Book" to Emperor Yingzong, which caused an uproar among court officials.
Then, under Sima Junshi's helpless and powerless look, the censors Tang Jie and Zhao Pin came out together.
"Your Majesty, we, the Deputy Privy Councilor, Vice Minister of State Affairs, and Marquis of Anyang, Han Ming, have malicious intentions and have falsely disseminated the order to 'survey the entire nation' without the court's approval."
"Your Majesty, Young Han Xianggong has formed a clique for personal gain and abused his power internally; externally, he has secretly provoked the Second Song-Xia War. His intentions are truly sinister."
"To enforce discipline, Your Majesty, please conduct a thorough investigation of Marquis Han to serve as a warning to others—"
Tang Jie and Zhao Pin's words instantly caused an uproar in the court and also resonated with many people.
"Your Majesty, Lord Tang and Lord Zhao are absolutely right. Marquis Han is arrogant and self-righteous, acting recklessly and unlawfully. He violates the principles of a minister and should be severely punished to restore order to the court!"
"Your Majesty, I second the proposal!"
"Your Majesty, I second the proposal!"
"His Majesty,......"
"..."
The ministers were furious, and Han Ming seemed to have become the target of public criticism.
Emperor Yingzong, who was sitting at the top of the table, squinted his eyes, put his hands in his folds, and looked at the official who was speaking without saying a word.
The heads of civil and military officials, including Han Zhang, Zeng Mingzhong, Zhang Sheng, Ouyang Wenzhong, Prince Huan Zhao Ceying, Gu Tingye, Shen Congxing and others, all looked at each other and couldn't help but look at Han Ming who didn't say a word.
It turned out that this kid had the same expression and movements as the official above him, and he couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Seeing that Han Ming was indifferent, Tang Jie and Zhao Pin were furious and listed Han's crimes even more fiercely.
After a while, they found that the emperor did not respond. All the officials were stunned and looked at the expressionless Emperor Yingzong with some surprise.
"Lord Han, what do you have to say about the accusations made by the two censors?"
Emperor Yingzong did not care about the reports of these officials. It was nothing more than "too many lice to feel itchy, too many debts to worry about".
"Your Majesty, I feel that at this moment, the various provisions of the 'Single Whip Law' should be implemented swiftly."
"At the same time, I have also compiled a document on 'Officials and Gentry Must Pay Taxes Together', which roughly states that officials and landlords must also pay taxes."
"That is, the tax-exempt privileges of officials and landowners should be abolished."
"Emperor Renzong has been in power for over forty years, and now the country is facing a financial crisis and tax revenue is limited."
"This is because within the existing social system, those who passed the imperial examinations were exempt from corvée and taxes, while the truly wealthy, such as officials and landlords, did not have to pay much tax."
"This not only places the financial burden on the poor, but also leaves the national treasury empty."
"Therefore, I believe that this policy should be introduced to optimize the tax structure so that the wealthy class in society will bear more tax responsibilities."
Han Ming took out a document from the sleeve of his official robe and handed it over. His words made the noisy court fall silent in an instant.
Then the court was in an uproar. Everyone stared at the young man in amazement, and could no longer suppress the fear in their hearts and cursed loudly!
"What does this mean, Lord Han? We are here to inquire about the false dissemination of orders, not about reforms."
"Is Mr. Han trying to avoid the important issue?!"
"Master Han!!! You are not worthy of being a human being——!"
"Han Jingyuan—! You damned bastard—! Are you planning to push everyone into the abyss?!"
"Officials and gentry are all required to serve and pay taxes together? This is sorcery and witchcraft, not the way of justice. Such reforms are tantamount to destroying the Song Dynasty at your hands—!"
"Your Majesty! You must not read such a demonic book. It will bring disaster to the nation and the people!"
"Your Majesty, please think twice! Han Ming is causing chaos in the government. Where does this put Your Majesty and the officials?"
"..."
The crowd was excited and even more enthusiastic than before.
These ministers were so frightened by Han Ming's move that they didn't even have the strength to hold the jade scepter. Something called "catastrophe" kept hovering over their heads.
Pay taxes?!
This is something these ministers have never heard of in their lives. Why should they pay taxes?!
The "One Whip" system after land surveying has already saved them a lot of money from plunder and exploitation, and now they are being asked to pay taxes. Isn't this asking for their lives?!
In short, after Han's move, basically no one would choose to report him anymore.
What we need now is to kill Han Ming to relieve the fear in our hearts.
In the eyes of Emperor Yingzong, Han Zhang and others, Han Ming's "reading and replying randomly" also scared them a lot.
Although the ministers no longer criticized him, an even more turbulent wave hit the other side.
"It seems that Mr. Han didn't explain his words clearly, which led to some misunderstandings?!"
Han Ming couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth, which made Tang Jie and others feel depressed.
Damn it, I'm not going to let this guy get into trouble again, am I?!
"Lord Han, please do not joke in the court. If you have anything to say, please speak freely."
Emperor Yingzong was now frightened by Han Ming's move. Requiring officials and gentry to pay taxes was something no other dynasty had done in the past thousand years. Wouldn't it cause chaos if Han Ming openly handed it over like this?
"Your Majesty, the greatest benefit of the so-called unified service and tax collection by officials and gentry is that it can control the gentry and crack down on illegal gentry."
"At the same time, it effectively regulated the relationship between the gentry, the common people, and the Song government, easing the conflicts among them to a certain extent."
"Protect the legitimate rights of officials and civilians, and maintain the effective rule of the Song Dynasty!"
"However, this is not to oppose them. Some local officials, seeking to gain the people's praise, deliberately oppress the gentry. However, the gentry may have ancestors or themselves served the country. Such noble families should not be deliberately suppressed."
"Gentlemen should be treated differently according to their circumstances: those with good conduct should be treated with respect and made role models for the other classes, and taxes should be reduced or waived to a certain extent;"
"Those who commit common offenses should be admonished and urged to correct their mistakes, and taxes should be collected normally. Those who refuse to correct their mistakes should be punished according to the law and taxes should be increased."
"This will curb their illegal behavior, promote the spiritual and moral development of the gentry class, ease conflicts with the common people, and ensure stability in the government and the country!!!"
After Han Ming's words came out, everyone fell silent. They were all thinking about the feasibility of this policy.
Turns out this is just preparation for his Han family!
His Han family, not to mention the previous dynasty, even starting from the current dynasty, has been a founding hero, governing the local area, protecting the territory and the people. For generations, they have taken advantage of their power and behaved uprightly, never oppressing the common people.
They even give back to their hometown from time to time and donate money to disaster relief. In short, they are a moral family of scholars and a family of learning, and are well-known in Anyang.
If Han's idea were followed, his family could pay less tax or even no tax.
And other families who oppress or exploit the people without authorization must pay taxes to death. Isn't this a death sentence?!
Tang Jie looked back and found that many officials with clean family backgrounds and virtuous ancestors were thinking about it, and his heart sank.
Damn! This is being broken down and pulled together!!!
These people must think Han Ming's move is a good one. After all, being able to pay no or less tax, doesn't that reflect one's own moral standards?!
Ancient literati liked this. Even if they were pretending, they could make people feel that they had good moral character.
In this way, in order to have a good reputation among the people, these gentry officials will inevitably treat the common people well and win them over, and will not dare to exploit them too much.
On the one hand, it saved taxes for the gentry and officials, and on the other hand, it created a more stable life for the common people, while also effectively increasing tax revenue for the national treasury.
Kill three birds with one stone!!!
In the eyes of everyone, Han Ming's move was a stroke of genius, which solved most social problems at once.
Emperor Yingzong smiled as he looked at the young man with an imposing bearing, and could not help but nod in admiration in his heart.
"You are truly worthy of being my Han family's Qilin son!"
As for Han Ming, he just felt that it was fortunate that he had the concept of "marketing" in his previous life to resist, and fortunately the ancients fell for the moral kidnapping, otherwise today's matter would not be over!