Chapter 49

"An additional two fen of silver per mu on the yellow notice."

As Zhang Han headed out of the city, the discussions at Ma Chao's residence had just begun. Looking at everyone, Ma Chao said, "The summer grain tax for the entire province of Shanxi is 2.8 million shi. It doesn't seem much, the same as the prefecture of Suzhou, but Suzhou has never paid its full quota. In Shanxi, the arrears are minimal, and we have to supply the border troops. Since the early days of the country, Shanxi has rarely owed grain. Over a hundred years, local officials have followed the old habits. It's impossible for us to accumulate arrears like Suzhou."

Jiang Yanhong followed, "Suzhou has more official fields, and the tax seems heavy, but it actually includes the land rent. Here, the summer tax is separate, and the people still have to pay the land rent. The burden is already heavy, and the land area is far less than in the Jiangnan region. With the additional tax, each mu of land will have to pay an extra two fen of silver just for the summer tax. This is just the yellow notice. There's also the white notice. Gentlemen, the grain prices are going to skyrocket."

"Our Shanxi has only 40 million mu of land, a fraction of Henan's, yet the land tax is almost the same. It's set too high."

"The white notice is even heavier, using the pretext of supplying the border troops, and the additional levies will be substantial."

"These benefits don't fall to us. Only the military families and high-ranking officials can benefit. We have to bear the burden without any benefits. How can we be satisfied?"

"People see us as prosperous, but we have our own hidden sorrows."

"If we can't make money from the grain prices, we can only sell our land."

"Even if we make money from the grain prices, would you keep more land? The high-ranking officials don't pay land tax, and Mr. Ma, with his juren status, pays limited taxes. Our land and poll taxes cannot be reduced. The more land we have, the heavier the taxes. Now, with the additional silver tax, it's really unbearable."

"This is the benefit of the Single Whip System, heh heh, it's endless."

The people present had many grievances, and most of them were directed at the Single Whip System. To be fair, the Single Whip System was promoted with great determination by Zhang Juzheng. The original two-tax system of the Tang Dynasty incorporated the poll tax into the land tax, which was a way to reduce the burden on the people. Those with land paid taxes. Later, during the Song Dynasty, in addition to the two taxes, the people had to perform labor services. By the Wanli period, various miscellaneous services and fees were also included in the land tax, which was the Single Whip System. Besides converting the original grain taxes into silver to increase the state's fiscal revenue, it also incorporated the miscellaneous services into the land tax to try to reduce the burden on the people.

In practice, in places with clean officials, the Single Whip System increased the state's revenue and reduced the people's burden. However, in most places, the land tax was collected as before, and even more heavily, with the added trouble of selling grain to pay taxes and being shortchanged. The miscellaneous services still had to be performed, and the white notice added a burden ten times that of the yellow notice.

Later generations often said that the Ming Dynasty's taxes were light. This was true; the land tax was not heavy, and the commercial tax was even lighter. However, the local miscellaneous fees and exploitation were ten to dozens of times the official taxes. Local officials, gentry, and military families, these powerful parasites, ruthlessly squeezed the people. Even the medium and small landowners were constantly complaining. During the Wanli to Chongzhen periods, many northern medium and small landowners went bankrupt. Fortunately, commerce and industry were always outside the Ming system, and people like Ma Chao could only hope to reduce the pressure of the yellow and white notices through business operations.

"This grain price dispute has Zhang Zhihuai's support, and my family also has a court official in the capital supporting us. We must fight to the end." Ma Chao raised his cup to toast the others. He had a juren status, but with too much land, the pressure was also great. Behind him was the entire Tiancheng Wei Ma family. At this moment, he could not afford to say a word of retreat.

"Your humble servants greet the master."

In the village, Jiang Yi was leading a horse by a small wooden bridge, his face full of smiles. He stepped aside, and in the middle of the village path, which was less than a zhang wide, came Zhang Han on horseback.

This village was called Li Zhuang. As the name suggests, most of the residents were surnamed Li, with a few other surnames, and the number of households was not large.

According to the official records, there were 131 households and 325 people in the village, but the actual number of households was over 300, with about 700 people, and the total population was nearly 3,000.

By the standards of the time, these people could form a small town, but Li Zhuang was located at the border of Tiancheng Wei and Zhenlu Wei, to the east, and near the Daliang Mountains. The official road from Wuzhou to Tiancheng was far away, and the large official road from the capital to Pianguan was even farther. It was closer to Huamen Fort, which guarded the Daliang Mountains. The village was remote, and the paths became narrower, making it difficult for two-wheeled carts to pass. Only mules, horses, and single-wheeled carts could navigate the area. Despite the large population and surrounding farmland, no market town had formed.

Leading the group kneeling was the village manager, Li Xiangfu, who had read a few books. He wore a square headcloth, a blue robe, and cloth shoes. He had a square face, a large red nose, and sleepy eyes. He still smelled of alcohol from a distance.

Behind Li Xiangfu were a few others, mostly hired by the old master to manage the village. The village could collect nearly 3,000 shi of rent each year, and it had cost nearly 5,000 silver taels to buy. Most of the Zhang family's land was here.

Zhang Han had seen the land deeds. The village had both the land and the surface rights, unlike other villages where the land and surface rights were often separate. Sometimes, the landowner didn't even know who was farming the land. The surface rights could be sublet, and after several hands, the landowner might not recognize their own tenant. Walking through the fields, the landowner might not know which plot was theirs, which was rented out, or how many hands it had passed through. Over time, after a few generations, some tenants might take advantage of the situation, get a land deed through the local government, and claim the land as their own. Of course, this required some connections, not something a simple tenant farmer could do.

There were also some fish, chickens, grass, cattle, and sheep, which were part of the Zhang family's income. Each year, a portion had to be paid. When the old master bought the village, he was so happy that he couldn't sleep for several nights, always smiling.

Zhang Han could understand this feeling. For an agrarian society like China, the desire for land was deeply ingrained. Moreover, land could be passed down, while the so-called rise of commerce and the emergence of capital were mere fantasies. In Suzhou, there were textile factories with thousands of workers, but the merchants used their profits to buy land or, like the Shanxi merchants, store silver in underground vaults at home. Capital could not expand because there were no chambers of commerce, and merchants had no political power or self-protection. A group of fat sheep influencing national politics and expanding capital was a joke.

"Please rise, I am still young and cannot accept such a grand ceremony."

When tenants bowed to the landowner, the landowner could whip them or have them beaten with a board, which was common. Of course, if the landowner's character was too bad, the tenants might sublet the land. Zhang Han understood this and spoke with grace and warmth, without the arrogance of a young landowner.

Li Xiangfu's eyelids lifted slightly, revealing a moment of shrewdness. Seeing Zhang Han still smiling, Li Xiangfu led the group to stand up and bowed his head, saying, "We were going to visit the master after the grain collection. It's been two or three years since we last met. The master has grown taller than most people. If the old master and the elder master saw you, they would be very pleased."

Zhang Han then remembered that he had indeed met this old Li when he was young, but he was a typical bookworm and very young, so he had only briefly bowed and left. At the time, Li Xiangfu probably looked down on him.

Zhang Han smiled, "When I was young, I was ignorant and treated old Li rudely."

In fact, he was still young, but he had a presence that made people unconsciously respect or value him. Dealing with Zheng Guochang and Ma Cheng'en, both a general and a fourth-rank official, they all respected Zhang Han. While money played a role, Zhang Han's outstanding demeanor was also a key factor.

Li Xiangfu repeatedly said he dared not, and then invited Zhang Han and the others to enter the village.

After crossing the dilapidated wooden bridge, they reached the village entrance. A dirt road wound forward, uneven and clearly damaged by carts during the rainy season, with no one willing to pay to repair it. On both sides of the entrance, bamboo was planted. In May, the weather was perfect for bamboo growth, and the bamboo shoots that sprouted in early spring had grown to half a person's height. The dense bamboo provided a sense of seclusion along the path.

Zhang Han said, "This bamboo grove is nice."

Li Xiangfu finally smiled and said, "The old master ordered it to be planted, saying it looked elegant. We also think it's nice. Over the years, it has spread and indeed has a certain charm."

After leaving the bamboo grove, the view opened up. Rows of thatched houses stretched out, about five or six rows, each with dozens of houses, spaced only a few dozen steps apart. In front of each house was a stone mill, and many families were drying freshly harvested wheat, the smell of hay filling the air.

At the village entrance were two dilapidated pavilions, leaning and broken. A few old men, bent over, were playing with a group of toddlers. Zhang Han glanced over, and the old men bowed even deeper, their faces full of fear. The children also huddled together, looking at Zhang Han with apprehension.

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