Flat rates for thieves!

The Ming Dynasty had regular taxes, which were levied by the imperial court; local governments also had corresponding local taxes, which were used by local governments.

However, in addition to this, there were many additional miscellaneous taxes in the Ming Dynasty, some were temporarily levied by the court and local governments, some were imposed by the nobles themselves, and some were levied by Emperor Chongzhen in response to natural and man-made disasters.

It can be said that the people of the Ming Dynasty today are really taxed.

If Chongzhen and his ancestor Emperor Jiajing were the Emperor of Longevity, then it would be easy for Chongzhen to be the Emperor of Ten Thousand Taxes.

As time passes to the end of the sixth year of Chongzhen reign in the Ming Dynasty, all kinds of bizarre local taxes have become commonplace.

Take the people of Henan Province as an example. In addition to paying taxes from the imperial court, local taxes from the Henan government, additional local miscellaneous taxes, and three types of anti-riot taxes levied again by the imperial court, they also have to pay military training fees collected by Zhu Chunchen, the Duke of Chengguo.

Tax.

Yes, Cheng Guo Gong Zhu Chunchen also has to collect taxes, because he has hundreds of thousands of mouths waiting for food. These Qiu Ba uncles may not be good at fighting, but they are definitely good at eating. Don't let these Qiu Ba uncles have three meals a day.

There are meat and vegetables, but it also has to serve two meals.

If soldiers don't have enough to eat, they can't fight and there's no morale.

The Chongzhen court was originally engaged in a two-front war. Later, the burden of the two-front war was too heavy and Zhu Chunchen retreated to Henan. Therefore, the supply of food and grass to Zhu Chunchen was greatly reduced, and it was transferred to the northwest to give Hong Chengchou to fight the war first.

For this reason, Emperor Chongzhen wrote a letter to Zhu Chunchen to explain to Duke Cheng: After all, you are not fighting now. The northwest is at a critical moment, so you should tighten your belt first and hold on for a while. Of course, I have not forgotten Shandong.

It is so important that you are allowed to impose temporary taxes in Henan to meet military needs.

With Emperor Chongzhen's instructions, Zhu Chunchen naturally began to collect taxes.

Zhu Chunchen is not really a fool. He naturally knows that the tree of Ming Dynasty cannot fall, or that the tree of Chongzhen cannot fall. They are nobles and are innately attached to the imperial power. Only when the Zhu Ming Dynasty exists can they continue to enjoy glory and wealth.

Civil servants can surrender, local governors can surrender, but can they, the nobles enshrined by Zhu Ming, surrender?

The whole family is almost tied to death on the chariot of Lao Zhu's family. Only by preserving the power of Lao Zhu's family can everyone have a good life.

In order to preserve the fortune of the old Zhu family and ensure a good life for their entire family, Zhu Chunchen and Zhu Guobi really tried their best.

O conscience of heaven and earth, the people of Henan have to bear more than a dozen types of taxes, including the official taxes and miscellaneous taxes imposed by the imperial court in Henan, and the official taxes and miscellaneous taxes imposed by local government agencies, not counting various hidden taxes that can only be understood but cannot be explained.

With so many taxes on them, Henan's harvest this year was not good, and the people were already complaining and felt that they could no longer survive. However, various taxes from the court were increasing. Today's Henan is no different than a big powder keg.

Faced with this situation, Zhu Chunchen did not dare to act recklessly. He did not dare to tax the people any more, so he chose to ask the local government for money. After all, you collected so much money and food to support your country's war. What happened?

However, Zhu Chunchen did not expect that Emperor Chongzhen would also increase taxes!

When the imperial edict to mobilize troops from Huguang, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Fujian, and Guizhou provinces to the capital was issued only a moment later, the imperial edict to collect the wages of thieves from various provinces was also issued shortly after.

Now the people all over the world are really angry. It is a year of great disaster in the north. Although it seems that Gansu and Shaanxi are affected by the disaster, Shanxi and Henan are also affected by the disaster to varying degrees. However, the local government has not reported the disaster.

Just go up.

Now the court is not thinking about how to provide disaster relief or how the people can live, but they still want to raise taxes!

Since the Chongzhen Dynasty banned various new policies and laws and restored the original taxation in the second year of Chongzhen, the taxes of the Chongzhen Dynasty have been rising every year, and the pressure from the people has been increasing.

At first, the whole family could still be considered well-fed, then it would be one meal a day, then one meal a day, and then one and a half meals a day. The whole family was living in hunger, and the family was getting poorer and poorer.

There are more and more taxes to be paid...

The people are still patient, but their patience is about to reach its limit.

When the imperial edict to collect thieves' wages reached Henan, the people couldn't help but burst out.

"Sir, the common people already have to pay dozens of taxes. Why do they still have to pay a flat rate? This is a year of drought in Henan. Every household has no food or cooking. Where is the money and food?"

The clerk in charge of collecting taxes was very calm. He had seen many scenes of these people crying and saying how poor they were and how difficult it was. They were a group of untouchables, crying and shouting that they had no food and money, and they would be ruined every time they collected taxes.

It took a lot of effort, but so what?

How much should I pay in the end, or should I collect it all?

As the saying goes, if you squeeze it, you can always squeeze out some oil and water.

"Let me tell you fellow countrymen, this tax was set by the imperial court. It was levied by your majesty and his elders in order to deal with the Datong traitors in Liaodong. As long as your majesty defeats the Datong traitors, you will naturally not have to pay these taxes. At present, the imperial court is in difficulty, and everyone has more

Isn't it for you to be more patient and pay more taxes? As people of the Ming Dynasty, don't you have the spirit to contribute to the Ming Dynasty?" The official persuaded him hard, and now he also knows that it is not easy to collect taxes locally.

, if one fails, he will be besieged by unruly people, and there are more and more of these unruly people!

After hearing this, an old man couldn't help but ask: "Sir, your majesty, don't you know that Henan has suffered a disaster? Why do you still levy so many taxes? The life of the common people is really difficult."

"Well, what you said, how could the Ming Dynasty not suffer disasters? With a group of evildoers like the Datong Thieves, how could the Ming Dynasty not suffer from natural disasters and man-made disasters? If you don't help the court to exterminate the Datong Thieves, you will end up in a good place in the future? This is not for the court.

, It’s for yourselves.” The official said calmly, without even looking at these sallow and skinny people.

Finally someone couldn't help it anymore: "For us, for the court...Does the court really think about us common people? What kind of life did we live when the late emperor was in power, and what kind of life are we living now? Talking about the Datong thieves

It has made people angry and resentful, but Datong Society is clearly a new party and was built by Prime Minister Zhang! Others don’t know it, and Prime Minister Zhang doesn’t understand it either. Without Prime Minister Zhang, how could we have had the good life before?"

"After Prime Minister Zhang left, our lives became worse and worse. They said that there was a monster in the court. I think the monster is not in Liaodong, but in the capital! The good days are gone, taxes are increasing, and everyone is here to bully them.

We, what kind of day is this?"

The official finally couldn't stand anymore, and his face drooped: "I said, don't you understand? Your Majesty has to pay this tax. Can you just complain a few words and stop paying it?"

"Good days, good days, you have lived so many good days, you have had enough to eat for several years, why are you still not satisfied? The good days are not all given to you by the court. Now the court wants you to work harder, each of you

You are full of complaints, why do you still want to rebel?"

As soon as he said this, a stone was thrown and hit the official on the head, knocking him unconscious immediately.

The official felt dizzy for a while. He was shaking his head and felt the warm liquid flowing down. Suddenly, the official was horrified to find that his hands were full of blood, and his head had been broken by these unruly people!

"Rebellion, rebellion, a group of unruly people want to rebel despite living a peaceful life!" The official pointed at the crowd of people in shock and anger, as if he was not a small official, but a high-ranking governor.

"Peaceful days, if there really are peaceful days, who will rebel?! The Chongzhen Dynasty has more and more taxes every year, and it can't survive! We don't ask for a good life, but we always have to eat. Who is not a member of the family?

Son, who doesn’t want to raise children and support us in old age? If the court doesn’t allow our family to live, why doesn’t it allow us to rebel?” a man shouted loudly.

As soon as he shouted, the people immediately became restless. The few government officials who came with the officials were a little scared. They were just ruffians in the county. They only worked as outsourced temporary workers for the county government officials. They had never thought about dealing with the rebellion.

ah.

"Folks, what kind of life did we live when the late emperor was here? Are we living the life that human beings live now? Individuals bully us, officials bully us, landlords bully us, and local ruffians bully us. But the imperial court and

It’s like being blind and unable to see!”

"Mr. Zhang is such a good person. He gives us tax cuts and allows us to live a good life with food, clothing and warmth. Whose family doesn't have a full stomach because of Mr. Zhang? Whose family doesn't have a few feet of cloth for their children and mother-in-law?"

Wearing clothes? But such a good official was forced to leave, and he said that Prime Minister Zhang was a monster. I finally understood it. Rather than being forced by the court to destroy his family and destroy his family, it is better to just rebel!"

As the man shouted, there were more and more echoes among the people. They were already suppressing their emotions and full of resentment. Now when the people listened to the movements of Shandong and Shaanxi, they seemed to have a fire burning in their hearts: Shandong and Shaanxi

There has been an uprising, now it is our turn!

"Rebellion! Rebellion!"

"Uprising, go to hell with the court!"

"If we are not allowed to live, we will no longer follow this court!"

The people clamored and swarmed the official and chased him away. As for the temporary government officials, they had long since seen the situation and ran away. As they ran, they shouted: "Rebellion, rebellion, unruly people have rebelled!"

The people know best who is good to them. Although the people are silent, they still have memories. They have experienced the events of the Tianqi Dynasty personally. They have seen that during the Tianqi Dynasty, the monarchs and ministers were dedicated to implementing new policies and working hard to make the people live a peaceful and healthy life.

Good days; it was exactly after experiencing the new atmosphere of the Tianqi Dynasty that the local economy was prosperous and the people were wealthy and had no worries about food and clothing; it was exactly after the great flood that we saw the monarchs and ministers take the lead in disaster relief and flood fighting, and the surrounding provinces and governments supported the restoration and construction from all directions;

It was after seeing the prosperity of the Tianqi Dynasty that the people became increasingly dissatisfied with the current Chongzhen Dynasty.

If you don’t seek to be as prosperous and peaceful as the Tianqi Dynasty, at least let the people have enough to eat, right?

After the prosperous age, no matter what, the people can live a peaceful life for a few years, but why is it that after the prosperous age of Tianqi Dynasty, the family of Chongzhen Dynasty was destroyed?

The common people didn't understand, and they didn't want to care about the filth and darkness in the court. They just wanted to have enough food and clothing, and live a decent life.

Unfortunately, the Chongzhen Dynasty could not meet such demands, so the people broke out.

This was not instigated by the Datong Society, but a spontaneous uprising by the people.

Zhang Xianzhong, who was facing the siege of Hong Chengchou's soldiers in Henan Prefecture, couldn't help but be overjoyed when he heard the news: "Hey, this dog court has really made people angry. They say that the Datong thieves are evildoers and that they want to pacify evildoers. I only look at the dog court."

They are all monsters!”

Sensing the grievances of the people in Henan Province, Zhang Xianzhong felt that he was energetic and active again. He immediately sent many people to various parts of Henan Province to encourage the people to rebel. He did not expect these people to join his team. As long as the people rebelled,

The Henan government will send people to suppress it, and his life will be easier.

And this is just in Henan.

People in Huguang, Sichuan, Fujian, Jiangxi and other places also began to revolt. For a time, with Emperor Chongzhen's imposition of thieves' wages, heroes surged from the north and south of the Ming Dynasty, and the fire of uprising spread everywhere, causing local government offices to be overwhelmed and went to court one after another.

Zhezi to Emperor Chongzhen.

The end of the sixth year of Chongzhen was spent amidst the continuous uprisings of the people in various provinces of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhengdan arrives and the New Year begins.

But Chongzhen could not see the renewal of everything, nor the scene of prosperity and peace. The palace was not very festive, on the contrary, it was very deserted.

Emperor Chongzhen received a steady stream of news from local areas during the Chinese New Year. Either the people here or there rebelled, as if the world of the Ming Dynasty was a broken sieve, leaking everywhere.

Under such circumstances, how could Chongzhen celebrate the New Year? How could he be in the mood to celebrate the New Year?

And money is needed everywhere. Where does Chongzhen get the money to celebrate the New Year?
To be continued...