Chapter 56: The Single Whip Method, the Final Glory of Grain Administrator

The first performance of the Art Troupe was deemed perfect.

Especially the grand chorus of one hundred singers and dancers under the moonlight, spreading the prayer of “May we all live long and share the beauty of the moonlight” among the people.

The emergence of the grand chorus art form astonished everyone in the capital. This refreshing style deeply impressed everyone, even including Ma Enhui who couldn’t help but praise it.

Since the Lantern Festival, the Art Troupe became renowned in the capital.

Not satisfied yet, Xie Jin, in front of the emperor, requested the Art Troupe to perform at his home to entertain his elderly father.

Emperor Zhu Yunxuan looked at Murong Jing’er, then said to Jie Jin, “Performing is not a problem, but the members of the Art Troupe need to eat…”

Xie Jin was a little puzzled. Did he have to provide wages to the palace’s Art Troupe?

Before Xie Jin could comprehend, Xu Huizu was already discussing the performance price with Murong Jing’er.

“One hundred taels of silver!” Xu Huizu straightforwardly made an offer.

Murong Jing’er was stunned. Could she earn one hundred taels of silver just by performing at the Xu family’s place? Wasn’t the money coming too easily?

Seeing that Murong Jing’er didn’t agree, Xu Huizu increased the offer, “Miss Jing’er, how about two hundred taels?”

Liu Changge leaned in, his face cold, and said, “Five hundred taels.”

Xu Huizu gritted his teeth and questioned Liu Changge, “Your parents are no longer here. Why do you need five hundred taels to go back? Go cool off somewhere else!”

Liu Changge felt frustrated. It was as if Xu Huizu’s parents were still alive. But he didn’t dare to say it out loud. After all, Xu Huizu was a duke, and he couldn’t afford to offend him. But he had to fulfill the task assigned by the emperor.

“Five hundred taels,” Liu Changge said with a stern face.

Xu Huizu, realizing the awkwardness on Liu Changge’s face, quickly understood the reason behind it.

Needless to say, this Liu Changge was raising the price as a “middleman.”

Normally, Xu Huizu would kick out such a middleman and solve all the problems. But this middleman was appointed by the emperor…

“Fine, five hundred taels!” Xu Huizu reluctantly exclaimed.

Murong Jing’er expressed her gratitude to Duke Wei on behalf of the Art Troupe.

When Xie Jin came over, it was already too late. Upon hearing the price of five hundred taels, he almost fainted. His annual salary was only five hundred taels…

Xie Jin gave up and decided not to spend this unjust money.

Zhu Yunwen approached and noticed that Xie Jin seemed eager to escape. He sighed and said, “Minister Xie, your father seems unhappy and troubled… As a Grand Secretariat of the current court, filial piety should be your priority, taking good care of your elderly parents…”

Xie Jin felt like crying, Your Majesty, is this how you conduct a robbery?

On the 16th day of the first month, during the morning court assembly

Zhu Yunwen officially issued a decree to proclaim to the world the implementation of the “Single Whip Method,” a taxation system for agriculture. It unified all land taxes, labor services, and various miscellaneous taxes and levies into one, collecting silver based on acreage or grain.

The Grain Administration system was abolished, and official collections were handled by officials.

Taking into consideration the varying fertility of the land and grain production, Zhu Yunwen adopted the recommendation of the Grand Secretariat and implemented a policy of collecting silver based on acreage or grain.

If the local land was fertile, silver would be collected based on acreage, while if the land was infertile, silver would be collected based on grain.

Under the Ministry of Revenue, two departments were established: the Agriculture Tax Department, responsible to the Ministry of Revenue, and the Inspection and Supervision Department, accountable to the emperor and the Grand Secretariat.

The Agriculture Tax Department would oversee national agricultural tax affairs, replacing the Commercial Tax offices, with the Provincial Agricultural tax department, Prefectural Agricultural Tax department, and County Agricultural Tax department.

Thirteen Provincial Administration Commissioner work together with the Provincial Agricultural Tax department to complete agricultural tax work within the province. The role of the Provincial Administration Commissioner has changed from being primarily responsible for tax administration to one of coordination, supervision, and distribution.

Coordination involves providing assistance to various levels of agricultural tax departments in solving problems they encounter.

Supervision entails overseeing the implementation of a Single Whip method by various levels of agricultural tax departments.

Distribution refers to the Provincial Administration Commissioner’s authority to allocate tax revenues among the different levels of agricultural tax departments based on the standard set by the imperial court: Three parts for the local government and seven parts for the central government.

In his edict, Zhu Yunwen clearly stated that three parts of the tax revenues should be allocated to the local government after deducting the expenses of the provincial, prefectural, and county administrations. If there is any surplus, it should be distributed according to the officials’ rank, decreasing progressively to benefit officials in their daily lives.

At the same time, a new provision was added: if the annual surplus exceeds one million taels of silver, the officials would receive a negative evaluation.

Zhu Yunwen’s intentions were clear. The central government allowed the local government to take three parts of the tax revenues, which would serve as the operational funds for the local administration. If there is still a surplus, it should be shared among officials at various levels to improve their living standards.

However, the central government strictly prohibited local governments from accumulating an annual surplus exceeding one million taels of silver.

Otherwise, during the evaluation by the Ministry of Personnel, they would receive a negative assessment.

This limitation imposed by Zhu Yunwen considered three points:

First, local governments could reserve a portion of their finances but should avoid amassing excessive financial power that could threaten the central government.

Second, if there is a surplus in the local finances, it can be shared among officials. When officials have money, they would not hoard it but spend it, which would contribute to promoting trade and laying the foundation for future commercial development.

If officials have no money and lack basic purchasing power, how can commerce thrive?

Third, it aims to motivate local governments at all levels.

The larger the financial resources available to local governments, the more income they receive. Directly linking the finances with the living standards of officials helps drive local agricultural and rural development.

To address issues such as duplicated taxation and fluctuating grain and silver prices, dedicated grain-silver exchange points were established by the agricultural tax departments, with personnel from the Agricultural Tax department, Inspection department, and Provincial Administration office jointly overseeing them.

The agricultural tax departments have the responsibility to explain and publicize to taxpayers that taxes are only collected twice a year and that there will be no duplicate taxation. If anyone forcibly demands additional taxes, taxpayers can seek help from any of the agricultural tax departments, inspection departments, or provincial administration office and someone will assist them.

The implementation of a Single Whip method protected the interests of middle and lower-class self-cultivating farmers but affected the interests of wealthy farmers and landlords. The middle and lower-class self-cultivating farmers only have a limited amount of land, usually just a few dozen mu (Chinese unit of area), and they cannot pay much in terms of land or grain for tax purposes.

However, for wealthy farmers and large landowners, they own a significant amount of land!

A few hundred mu can only be considered as wealthy farmers!

True landlords and wealthy gentry would have several thousand mu of land, and it would be embarrassing for them to admit to having anything less. Some large landowners might even possess tens or hundreds of thousands or even millions of mu of land!

If taxes were assessed based on per mu or per unit of grain, the landlords would have to pay a much larger amount of tax.

In Changxing County, Huzhou Prefecture,

the Grain Administrator Zhou Bunong, accompanied by seven or eight attendants, arrogantly walked down the street, confiscating goods from the villagers’ stalls without hesitation, whether it was steamed buns or bamboo baskets. At the end, he would scold and curse, and the villagers dared not resist.

A familiar figure on the street caught Zhou Bunong’s attention, and he shouted, “Wang Erniu, stop!”

Upon hearing the voice, Wang Erniu turned around and immediately paled in fear. He started running away.

Zhou Bunong and his men chased after him until they reached Wang Erniu’s dilapidated courtyard. Wang Erniu rushed inside and barricaded himself behind the door, pleading, “Grain Administrator Zhou, please have mercy! I have already paid my autumn taxes. Why won’t you leave me alone?”

“Nonsense! You only paid five dou of brown rice. How is that enough? Do you think you can escape punishment by hiding? If you don’t pay in full today, I will confiscate your ten mu of land!” Zhou Bunong shouted loudly.

Wang Erniu stood by the window and cried out in pain, “I clearly paid three dan of brown rice!”

“There’s still a portion of that three dan that belongs to me! According to the imperial regulations, you are still short by two shi and five dou of autumn taxes. As a Grain Administrator, i bear the responsibility of collecting and transporting grain. If you don’t pay, I will go to Nanjing, meet the emperor, and make sure your entire family is killed!” Zhou Bunong threatened.

Wang Erniu had a mournful expression on his face. He opened the door and was met with a beating from Zhou Bunong’s attendants. Wang Erniu’s wife and children also ran over, but how could they withstand the blows from these thugs? Within moments, they fell to the ground, crying in pain.

“Search the place!”

Zhou Bunong commanded his subordinates, and they thoroughly searched the room, carrying out sacks of rice and rice jars.

“Lord Grain Administrator, there’s only about one dan three dou here, not enough!”

“Not enough? Heh, not enough, you say.”

Zhou Bunong leaned over, looking at the heavily injured Wang Erniu, and coldly said, “Either you’ll be executed by the court, or you sell me your ten mu of land for five dan of rice, or perhaps, heh, your daughter can be used to settle the debt.”

PS:

The data regarding the land owned by landlords in the text is not exaggerated.

During the mid-Ming Dynasty, some fields owned by kings encompassed millions of mu. However, it should be noted that the kings, as major landlords, were exempt from taxation.

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