Chapter 603: The Great Ming Wage Earner

Everyone's gaze toward Cui Chengxiu shifted slightly.

In everyone's impression, Cui Chengxiu was a despicable villain, practically the shame of the scholarly class. Not only did he fawn over the Emperor without restraint, he even flattered the eunuchs around His Majesty without limit — one could say he had no bottom line whatsoever as a man.

But this time, he made people notice something different.

The proposal he put forward could be said to be very good, and on top of that, he had previously managed to get the Imperial Academy matter done. No matter what methods he used, he had ultimately gotten things accomplished.

Under such circumstances, everyone felt that Cui Chengxiu seemed somewhat different.

But there were also sharper people, like Zuo Guangdou, who instinctively glanced at the Emperor.

Seeing the Emperor still sitting there without moving a muscle, Zuo Guangdou began to form some thoughts in his mind.

Cui Chengxiu was indeed despicable and shameless, but to say he had no ability would be a lie. Yet to say he had tremendous ability would also be a lie, because that was simply impossible.

It wasn't as if people hadn't dealt with Cui Chengxiu before — he simply didn't have that kind of ability. He was fine at shooting his mouth off and cursing people in normal times, but when it came to actually getting things done, he was useless, a complete waste. There was no way he could have come up with such a good plan on his own.

Then there was only one possibility — someone else's idea was being spoken through Cui Chengxiu's mouth.

Cui Chengxiu wasn't stupid. Didn't he know this was a matter that would offend every single person?

Although everyone despised him, he had still managed to win over a group of followers. But by doing this now, never mind those who already couldn't stand him — even the people who followed him would come to hate him to death.

Land was ancestral property, something that could be passed down through the family. Now you've dug a pit for them — how could they not hate you?

What were the two things people of the Great Ming did once they had money?

That was buying houses and acquiring land. This was something carved into their very bones — nothing else could be relied upon.

Even in later generations it was the same, except land could no longer be bought while houses absolutely had to be. We won't even talk about when one had no money — the moment one had money, the first thing thought of was buying a house. That too was carved into the bones.

Now Cui Chengxiu wanted to tear down people's homes — who could tolerate him?

He clearly knew this was a thankless task that would earn him nothing but resentment. Why would he still do it?

That meant Cui Chengxiu had a reason he had to do it — someone had compelled him to do it.

Was there anyone who could make him do such a thing?

Of course there was. Apart from the Emperor before them, even Eunuch Wei of the Eastern Depot probably couldn't. So who was behind this, stirring the pot, was quite obvious.

The Emperor said to investigate the land, and Cui Chengxiu proposed that all of it should be taxed — one could say they coordinated flawlessly. Even if people saw through it, no one dared to speak up. Who would dare voice this matter?

Zuo Guangdou didn't dare. He stood to one side with his head lowered.

In fact, Zuo Guangdou wasn't the only sharp one — many people had already sensed something was off. But everyone continued to play dumb; no one said anything.

Even old fellows like Han Kuang had long guessed this day would come. The reason was simple — ever since His Majesty completed the tax collection back then, they should have had this psychological preparation.

After all, at that time there was no money, so the Emperor had brought out the fields of the imperial estates. Even the estate lands of the imperial clan, the imperial relatives, and the meritorious nobles — those had all been passed down from their ancestors, handed down from Grand Ancestor himself. Even so, these people paid their taxes.

Everyone paid taxes, and only the scholars didn't — it looked very conspicuous.

For such a long time, Han Kuang had never imagined His Majesty could endure for so long. In his view, His Majesty should have done this long ago, yet His Majesty had held back all the way until now.

Bringing this matter up now was perfectly normal.

Zhu Youxiao swept his gaze across everyone's faces and said expressionlessly, "This is indeed a good method. What do all my beloved ministers think?"

Not a single person spoke. They were truly somewhat worried. Cui Chengxiu dared to risk everything, but the people present could not.

You see, Cui Chengxiu's reputation was already foul. For it to become a bit fouler now didn't matter. Everyone already wanted him dead anyway; now they wanted it even more.

But the other ministers were different — at a time like this, whether they supported it or not was very important.

Zhu Youxiao's gaze rested on them. Seeing that no one spoke, his eyes turned somewhat cold.

"Your subject believes this is a good method."

At this moment, someone finally spoke up.

Everyone turned to look and found that it was the Duke of Ying, Zhang Weixian, who had stepped forward.

Presumably the Duke of Ying saw that no one was speaking, feared the atmosphere would go cold, and so stepped out.

This matter had little to do with Zhang Weixian himself — whether they stepped forward or not made no difference. But when it came to expressing support for the Emperor, they never lagged behind others. After all, they had already paid their taxes; this time had little bearing on them.

But for Zhang Weixian, it was also rather pleasant to disgust the civil officials. Fear was impossible — it simply didn't exist.

Because Zhang Weixian and his kind were meritorious nobles. As long as the Emperor valued them, that was all that mattered — whether they offended people on the outside was unimportant. So what if they offended the scholars?

Could you wipe me out?

Now Zhang Weixian and his group had even more confidence. As military strength continued to rise, the power of the Staff Office as an institution grew day by day.

When one held power in one's hands, one naturally spoke with confidence.

Following Zhang Weixian's words, several more people stepped out from the Staff Office side, all uniformly in favor, and showered Zhu Youxiao with flattery.

The meaning was obvious — we approve of this matter. If anyone dares to oppose it, then we'll go after them.

Zhu Youxiao waved his hand and said, "Enough, I know of your loyalty. All of you, withdraw."

"Your estate lands have long since paid taxes. This matter has no great bearing on you either. When I levied the estate land tax back then, did I not ask you all first?"

Having said this, Zhu Youxiao turned his head to look at Han Kuang and the others. "I now wish to hear your opinions."

The meaning was quite clear — it was time to state their positions.

In truth, Zhu Youxiao had already made up his mind: whoever opposed this time would be replaced. Not to mention others — even if Han Kuang showed the slightest hesitation, he would replace him too.

The crowd said nothing, all looking at Han Kuang.

You are the Chief Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat — the highest-ranking official present, our leader. On ordinary days we defer to you and respect you. When it comes to a critical moment, shouldn't you also show some sense of responsibility?

Put plainly, they wanted Han Kuang to bear this burden. Cui Chengxiu proposed it, the Chief Grand Secretary approved it, and the rest of them were just a pack of followers — even after this got out, no one would attack them.

At worst, the criticism would be that the court ministers had no sense of responsibility whatsoever, without naming individuals. For those present, that was enough.

Han Kuang wanted to stand up.

At this point, he had no choice but to state his position. Whether it was the ministers present or the Emperor, everyone was waiting for him to speak.

Unexpectedly, Zuo Guangdou stepped forward directly.

"Your Majesty, your subject believes this is a good thing." Zuo Guangdou said directly: "Ever since your subject arrived at the Ministry of Revenue, I discovered that the accounts throughout the ministry were chaotic and overlapping, the personnel structure was even more appalling, filled with all sorts of personal connections, with corruption and embezzlement running rampant."

"If we could use this opportunity to clean up the Ministry of Revenue, your subject would also think it extremely good. Moreover, once such a measure is implemented, it can reduce the concealment of land among the people and increase the court's tax revenue. This is a good thing."

"But there is one thing Your Majesty should be concerned about—if taxes are raised on all the fields, won't that drive up the rents tenants have to pay? If so, the ones who suffer will still be those common folk who own no land to farm."

Zhu Youxiao glanced at Zuo Guangdou, surprise showing in his eyes.

He had not expected Zuo Guangdou to step forward at this moment, nor had he expected Zuo Guangdou to raise such an opinion.

In truth, Zuo Guangdou's thinking was quite thorough—this was indeed a problem, one that the Qing dynasty would later face as well.

The court's tax revenue would increase, but the people's lives would grow harder. Because the landlords would not absorb that cost themselves—they would simply raise the land rent and pass that cost onto their tenants.

The common folk's lives would become even more difficult. If not for sweet potatoes and potatoes, and if the weather had not improved, the common people would all have starved to death.

Zhu Youxiao naturally understood this matter even more clearly in his heart. Nor was he unprepared—having opened so many factories over these years, he had in fact already selected many landless commoners to work in them.

It was just that their mindset had not yet shifted—the common people were not psychologically prepared.

This time, he intended to do exactly this—drive some people off the land. Perhaps their lives would become less comfortable, but there was no other way.

As maritime trade expanded, factories everywhere would need more hands, and they would become the first generation of professional workers in the Great Ming.

As business grew easier to conduct and more hands were needed, they would gradually improve their lot.

Creating a batch of wage laborers left Zhu Youxiao with somewhat complicated feelings. But here, there was no way to explain this to Zuo Guangdou. So Zuo Guangdou raising the issue at this moment was also quite inopportune.

"This problem is easy enough to solve, easy to talk about." Zhu Youxiao looked at Zuo Guangdou and said: "Then lower the taxes—order all localities to reduce taxation, set a ceiling on land rent, and do not permit anyone to exceed it. Those who do will be severely punished."

Zuo Guangdou glanced at Zhu Youxiao, and seeing His Majesty staring at him, said nothing more.

Zuo Guangdou knew in his heart that the Emperor's policy simply would not work.

Land rent was something truly difficult to supervise—what was said publicly and what was collected privately could never be reconciled.

How many people did the local yamen offices have?

They could not manage so many matters. Add to that mutual collusion and going along with the corruption, and this matter would not succeed.

Zuo Guangdou very much wanted to ask, but he saw the warning in His Majesty's eyes and understood that this was not the place for it.

But he resolved that he would go find His Majesty to discuss it afterward.

Still, lowering taxes was a good measure—perhaps worth trying—but he feared it would only fatten the landlords, and the benefits would still not reach the tenants.