The era of great change had a great impact on the people, especially the tax system and the household registration system, which could affect them immediately.
This would directly affect the stability of the country.
Therefore, Xiao Ruxun didn't dare to slack off on these two aspects of reform. While reducing taxes, he also exempted a number of exorbitant taxes that shouldn't exist, such as fire consumption and so on.
At the same time, he strictly restricted tax officials from coming up with all sorts of excuses to collect extra taxes. He had local prosecutors cooperate in collecting taxes. The Central Investigation Department set up branches in the areas that were under their control to supervise the whole process. Once they found any illegal tax officials, they would immediately arrest them.
This was a tax reform that benefited the majority of the people.
Another reform was also related to all the people, which was to abolish the household registration system of "military and craftsmen" since the Yuan and Ming Dynasties. Abolish the household registration system of military households, craftsmen households, medical households, station households, salt households, entertainment households, and so on, and grant them the status of civilian households.
The system of untouchables had existed for a long time in ancient China. Before the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, it was mainly used to refer to prostitutes and actors. During the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, the household registration system was unprecedentedly regressed. It actually divided the people of the whole country into many household types. Each household could only do the same thing.
The Ming Dynasty inherited this system, and there were also some products on top of it. For example, the system of the Wei Suo was based on the military household. This extremely anti-human and severely restricted the development of society was very ridiculous. Xiao Ruxun had long planned to abolish it.
And now, it was even better. Because abolishing the household registration system was equivalent to giving a favor to the people. Xiao Ruxun understood the principle of planting trees for the future generations to enjoy the shade.
Abolishing the household registration system, unifying the people into civilian households, unified management, reorganizing the household types into occupations, and allowing the transfer of different occupations. Once this decree was issued, it caused a strong reaction in the three provinces in the Southeast.
Because there were a large number of untouchables here, including the descendants of Zhang Shicheng who fought against Zhu Yuanzhang, and the descendants of Jianwen Emperor who fought against Zhu Di. They were all untouchables of the lowest status and were looked down upon by others. But under Xiao Ruxun's decree, they were also liberated and were given farmland.
They had changed from untouchables to taxpayers and received fair treatment. For them, it was like a rebirth.
The imperial court didn't dare to question the release of the other households, but the release of the military households made the officials panic. They didn't know why Xiao Ruxun was doing this. If the military households were released, who would become soldiers?
Therefore, Xiao Ruxun took the opportunity to launch his new military service plan, using a new military service system to replace the military household system, ending the tradition of being a soldier for generations.
This kind of reform to increase local control, increase the number of taxpayers, and improve social productivity and the loyalty of the people was something only a small government could do.
At this time, as the purge became more and more intense, when the resistance of the imperial court was unprecedentedly weak, Xiao Ruxun began to move against the six ministries. The first was the Ministry of Revenue. Xiao Ruxun ordered that the Ministry of Revenue be divided into two, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
The Ministry of Finance was in charge of taxation and finance, while the Ministry of Civil Affairs was in charge of household registration and civil affairs. Ye Xianggao became the Minister of Finance, and the position of Minister of Civil Affairs was temporarily vacant. It was given to a few assistant ministers to manage. No one knew who Xiao Ruxun had in mind.
But these reforms would definitely affect the whole. Since Xiao Ruxun had proposed the military service reform, it was obvious that he was going to move against many departments. The one closely related to military service was the household registration system. The Ministry of Revenue would definitely be affected. Ye Xianggao didn't have any doubts at all.
However, Ye Xianggao originally thought that he would be in charge of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, but in the end, he became the Minister of Finance. This made him somewhat confused.
In addition, Xiao Ruxun established a new department, the General Staff Department. The former Minister of War, Liu Huangchang, was transferred to the position of Minister of War. The military functions of the Ministry of War were inherited by the General Staff Department. The remaining functions of the Ministry of War were the same as the logistics department. They were in charge of military logistics and transportation. This was part of the original functions of the Armory Department and had nothing to do with military command.
In addition, the weapons research and development functions of the Armory Department were also separated by Xiao Ruxun. A separate Ministry of Military Works was established. The Minister of Military Works was Xu Guangqi, who was in charge of research and development and innovation of weapons.
The Ministry of Works was still in charge of all the projects in the world. There were no changes. They also added the function of innovating civilian tools. The Minister of Works was still Yang Yikui. He became the only big shot who didn't change in this political storm.
The super fat departments, the Martial Selection Department of the Ministry of War, the Civil Selection Department of the Ministry of Personnel, and the Merit Examination Department, were separated together to form a new central organization that reported directly to the Emperor. The appointment, dismissal, and promotion of military officials were also under the jurisdiction of this department. The Ministry of Personnel was only left with the function of managing the list of officials and issuing official certifications according to the organization's orders.
This department was not restricted by any other department and only listened to the Emperor's orders. The candidate for the Minister of this department was actually the Emperor's eldest brother, King Chu, Xiao Rulan.
Anyone with a discerning eye could see that King Chu would never become a Minister with real power. The actual head of this department was the Emperor, Xiao Ruxun himself. The few assistant ministers under him did have real power, but they were all Xiao Ruxun's trusted aides.
It seemed that in order to prevent the central organization from becoming a department with too much power that would hinder the Emperor's power, Xiao Ruxun used a member of the royal family who couldn't possibly have real power to be a puppet Minister. In reality, the power was in the hands of the Emperor.
If his guess was correct, the puppet Minister of this department would also be a member of the royal family, but in reality, it was in the hands of the Emperor.
The financial power, personnel power, and military power were all in the hands of the Emperor. The imperial court was under his control, and the ministers had completely become the Emperor's tools. They no longer had the ability to fight against the Emperor.
Against this background, the Central Investigation Department reported the results of the investigation of Zhao Shiqing's case to the Emperor.
This was a political case led by State Duke Zhu Yinghuai, who united several former nobles and some former officials of the Ming Dynasty. The cause was that they were dissatisfied with Zhao Shiqing being favored by the Emperor. They were very jealous of Zhao Shiqing, and then it developed into dissatisfaction that the Emperor didn't give them real power.
As a result, the case escalated to the stage of politics. Zhu Yinghuai decided to kill Zhao Shiqing to sound the alarm to the Emperor, so that the Emperor could figure out the current situation. He even united a group of former Ming Army officers and prepared to launch another coup if the Emperor didn't compromise. They would kill the Emperor and welcome the restoration of the Emperor, the eldest son of the former Ming Emperor, Zhu Changluo.
The case finally "came to light", and "the truth" came to light.
After the Emperor Xiao Ruxun learned the truth of the matter, he was "furious" and angrily demanded that all the nobles and officials involved in this matter be executed. All the men in their families should be executed, and all the women should be sent to the Musical House, and all the family property should be confiscated and sent to the national treasury.
As for all the participants at the grass-roots level who hadn't confessed before but now confessed, such as the officers of the former Ming Army, they should be dealt with together and eliminated.
As for Gu Dali and Tsai Kuo-chen, who had helped in the investigation in time, they should be given lenient treatment. They should be executed themselves, but their families could live. Their titles of nobility and official positions were abolished, and they were demoted to commoners. They were allowed to live in the capital, but they couldn't live in their original homes.
As for Zhao Shiqing, who had died a tragic death, he was granted the title of Wenzhong and the title of Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince. Zhao Shiqing's son received the favor of the imperial court, and he was granted an official position and rewards. His wife was given a first-class title and enjoyed the welfare of the country.
The Zhao family was grateful for the Emperor's consolation.
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