Chapter 14: Completely Puzzled
Zhu Yuanzhang was feeling somewhat better at this moment.
If the Feng Shui of the imperial tomb was bad, there would be no need to keep it, and a place with good Feng Shui must be found to bury his father.
However, just thinking about Li Fan’s actions made him grind his teeth.
The other party’s methods were endless.
Because Fengyang did not have to pay taxes, the court had no idea of the actual figures.
It was unknown how well Fengyang was governed under the other party’s administration.
He then said to Mao Xiang:
“Send an order back to the capital and have them dispatch officials to Fengyang to audit the accounts! I want to see the real data of Fengyang!”
Empress Ma looked at the emperor with some surprise, unexpectedly he wanted to start auditing, curiously asking:
“What made you think of auditing the accounts?”
Zhu Yuanzhang’s face was gloomy as he looked at the prosperous Fengyang outside the carriage.
Xu Da’s earlier words had reminded him.
The entire Fengyang had indeed become wealthy, especially those mobile merchants, making Fengyang full of vitality.
Earlier, he had asked the owner of a noodle stall, and found out that Fengyang was no longer implementing the Great Ming’s ten percent commercial tax, but a combination of various other fees, reaching a staggering sixty percent.
However, there was a certain reward during the annual settlement, so overall it should be around forty percent.
He was astonished by such heavy taxation in Fengyang, yet the commerce was extremely flourishing.
He had to figure out how much revenue Fengyang actually generated in a year.
He then said to Empress Ma:
“Li Fan once said something back then that I remember very well!”
Empress Ma curiously asked, “What did he say?”
“The Ming Dynasty prioritizes agriculture over commerce, so why is the commercial tax so low and the agricultural tax so high?”
Zhu Yuanzhang couldn’t figure it out no matter how hard he tried.
He asked the great scholars in the court, but they stammered, unable to provide a clear answer.
They only repeatedly told him, to vigorously develop agriculture, as agriculture is fundamental.
But how to develop it was the key issue.
Now the entire Fengyang was vigorously developing commerce.
He understood what Li Fan wanted to do, but was there anyone in Fengyang still willing to farm?
If no one farmed, what would the people eat?
These were the problems.
Fortunately, Li Fan hadn’t been in Fengyang for long, and hadn’t caused too much harm.
As long as he seized the time to correct the situation, Fengyang should be able to return to its pastoral era, where commerce declined, the people were simple, and self-sufficient.
That was the way Fengyang should be.
He then continued:
“Although I don’t understand, I know that only by suppressing commerce can we make the people willingly farm!”
At this moment, Empress Ma didn’t know what to say.
She considered herself somewhat intelligent, but faced with such a problem, she felt powerless.
It was clearly a dilemma, and both arguments were reasonable.
Perhaps Li Fan could explain it clearly.
She then advised:
“We saw on our way here that the fields were full of wheat. How could agriculture be abandoned? Li Fan must have his secrets! Shouldn’t you ask him?”
Zhu Yuanzhang got angry whenever he heard Li Fan’s name, wanting nothing more than to kill him immediately. The idea of seeking advice from him was infuriating. Instead of asking Li Fan, he might as well ask the person lying on the ground. Zhu Yuanzhang could see that Zhu Shoucheng was pretending to be sick, moaning to gain sympathy. He snorted, kicked him, and asked:
“Stop pretending and get up. Isn’t Li Fan vigorously developing commerce? Why are there still so many people farming?”
Zhu Shoucheng, seeing he couldn’t fool Zhu Yuanzhang, slowly got up. He had been pretending, a trick often used when he was with the landlords. He didn’t expect Zhu Yuanzhang, who had similar experiences, to see through it. Now, with no way to keep up the act, he slowly explained:
“Although Fengyang encourages commerce, it requires a quick mind. Those whose ancestors have been scraping a living from the land don’t understand commerce and can only continue farming. Fengyang doesn’t have tax exemption privileges. Even officials’ families must pay taxes. Those officials and landlords find farming unprofitable due to the taxes, so they let the people farm the land in a semi-donation manner, only needing to pay the court’s taxes.”
Zhu Yuanzhang felt a headache coming on. He had painstakingly granted tax exemptions to officials to attract talent and encourage them to treat the people well, essentially passing on the tax benefits to the people. But it seemed not to have had the desired effect. Why was Fengyang different? The county government collected land taxes, yet these people still rented the land cheaply to farmers. His brow furrowed, utterly puzzled.
Empress Ma, seeing Zhu Yuanzhang’s frown, knew he was confused and tried to comfort him:
“If we can’t figure it out, we should ask Li Fan. I’m sure he can explain.”
Zhu Yuanzhang’s headache worsened at the mention of Li Fan. He was ready to deal with him, but seeking advice from him now seemed problematic. Hesitantly, he said:
“I’m ready to punish him. Asking him directly might be humiliating.”
Empress Ma, seeing his reaction, smiled and said:
“If you’re too embarrassed to ask, I can do it. He hasn’t seen me, so he won’t suspect anything.”
Zhu Yuanzhang’s eyes lit up. This was a good plan, allowing them to get information without revealing his identity—a perfect solution.
“Thank you for your help, honey!”
Empress Ma also wanted to meet the top scholar who had angered the emperor. Seeing the emperor’s anger subsiding a bit, she thought it wise to first see how he fared against Liu Bowen. If he could win against Liu Bowen, the imperial tomb matter would be easier to resolve. She needed to investigate first, so she told the emperor:
“We’re doing this for the good of the Ming people. It’s no trouble at all!”
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