Chapter 28: The Heavy Taxation of Jiangnan

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Heavy Taxes in Jiangnan

By the afternoon, the rain finally stopped. Yet the sky remained overcast. Zhu Qizhen arrived at the Palace of Benevolent Tranquility in a sedan chair. The moment he entered, he sensed a somber atmosphere lingering in the palace. Upon inquiry, he discovered the reason: the previous night's storm had come so suddenly that the Grand Empress Dowager had caught a chill.

Shocked, Zhu Qizhen hurried into the inner chamber. There, he found the Grand Empress Dowager clad in white undergarments, draped in a robe, reclining at the head of her bed. Lady Hu was carefully serving her a bowl of medicinal soup.

Zhu Qizhen moved forward at once. "Grandmother is ill—why did you not send for your grandson?" he asked, taking the bowl from Lady Hu. He tasted the medicine gently with a spoon, and an indescribable bitterness exploded across his palate, forcing him to frown and nearly close his eyes.

Satisfied that the temperature was suitable, Zhu Qizhen said, "Grandmother, it's time for your medicine." The Grand Empress Dowager, seeing a shadow of Emperor Xuanzong in Zhu Qizhen, accepted the bowl and drank it all in one motion, seemingly unaffected by the bitterness.

Once the bowl was set aside—Lady Hu taking it away—the Grand Empress Dowager addressed Zhu Qizhen: "Do not worry. These old bones of mine won't give out so easily."

Hearing this, Zhu Qizhen could not help but feel his eyes redden, uncertain what to say. Though Emperor Xuanzong had been gone half a year and Zhu Qizhen had become accustomed to life without his father, the Grand Empress Dowager was surely not used to the absence of her son. The bond between mother and son is far deeper than that between son and father.

Though this illness was minor—a mere chill—age makes sickness unpredictable. In times where medical care is inadequate, such things are all too common. The Grand Empress Dowager had concealed her illness; had Zhu Qizhen not visited today, he might never have known. He understood well her reasons: she feared unrest in the court should word spread.

With Emperor Xuanzong gone, the Ming dynasty would be even more precarious were it to lose the Grand Empress Dowager as well. She worried that Zhu Qizhen would not be able to handle the situation.

Humans are not plants; how can they be entirely without emotion? Although Zhu Qizhen did not grow up at her knee, over time he had formed a deep connection with the Grand Empress Dowager—a bond part familial, part akin to that of teacher and student.

Despite being a woman, the Grand Empress Dowager possessed the bearing of a statesman. Affairs of the empire were clear to her, as if reading a text. Though the Empress Dowager treated him well, in vision and stature she fell short of the Grand Empress Dowager.

With the empire in her hands, the Grand Empress Dowager appeared to manage nothing, yet peace and stability prevailed, and officials held their posts. To entrust such matters to Lady Sun would be uncertain, and Zhu Qizhen feared what might result.

In a voice thick with emotion, Zhu Qizhen said, "It is I who have been unfilial, unable to let Grandmother enjoy her old age in peace, instead busying you with worldly affairs."

"My good grandson, you are far from unfilial. If any were unfilial, it was your father, who left the throne of Ming so young," replied the Grand Empress Dowager, pain evident as she spoke of Emperor Xuanzong. She forced herself to continue: "But tell me, what troubles you today?"

Zhu Qizhen explained the issue of overdue grain taxes. The Grand Empress Dowager smiled gently. "My grandson, you are perceptive. The most critical matters of the realm lie in the Nine Borderlands, for there reside our strongest troops. The other is Jiangnan, for it holds the empire’s wealth and grain. Using Jiangnan’s resources to support elite troops in the northwest—that is our dynasty’s policy."

"Emperor Taizong moved the capital to Beijing to control the Nine Borderlands’ armies."

"Emperor Taizu established the dynasty with the aid of Jiangnan’s wealth and grain."

"The heavy taxation in Jiangnan arose from this. If I am not mistaken, most of the overdue taxes are in Jiangnan, correct?"

"Grand Empress Dowager, you are wise," Zhu Qizhen replied quickly.

"Wisdom is not the point. Nearly all of Jiangnan’s land belongs to the government, which is hardly a new phenomenon. A single prefecture in Jiangnan can match an entire province elsewhere—especially compared to the impoverished western provinces like Guangxi, Guizhou, and Yunnan. Even the best counties there cannot compare; Guizhou might equal a single county in Jiangnan," she explained.

"Some say Jiangnan is taxed heavily because Emperor Taizu wished to punish the people for supporting Zhang Shicheng, but that is slander. Emperor Taizu loved the people dearly; in the Hongwu era, Nanjing’s people, for their early support, were exempted from taxes for years. Why then would Emperor Taizu treat Jiangnan differently?"

"Nonetheless, there are reasons for the heavy taxation," the Grand Empress Dowager paused.

Zhu Qizhen offered her a cup of hot tea and asked, "What reasons?"

She sipped the tea. "Jiangnan is rich, its population flourishing, its yields abundant. An acre in Jiangnan produces twice what the Central Plains yield, and three to four times what the northwest can offer."

"If not from Jiangnan, where else can grain be collected? From the northwest? The same taxes in Jiangnan are merely delayed in payment; in the northwest, they would provoke rebellion."

"Moreover, the heavy taxes in Jiangnan did not begin with our dynasty. We inherited them."

"Do you know of Jia Sidao?" she asked.

"I do. Jia Sidao was the last Prime Minister of the Song, a notorious traitor blamed for the fall of the Southern Song," Zhu Qizhen replied.

The Grand Empress Dowager shook her head. "Grandson, whether a minister is loyal or treacherous is what others say. You need only judge whether he is useful or not."

Zhu Qizhen pondered. "Jia Sidao—was he useful or not?"

"He was unlucky, but capable. In his youth, he drove back Kublai Khan at Ezhou, showing the qualities of a great minister. Later, he became universally despised, blamed for the dynasty’s demise. In my view, the Southern Song had simply reached its end," she said.

"The Southern Song, with a mere corner of the realm, faced Mongol attacks from three sides. Its finances failed, unable to support the army. At that point, Jia Sidao proposed the Public Land Policy: the government would redeem land in the two Zhe provinces and make it official land, the yields of which would support the troops."

"But if the Song had no money to support the army, where did he find the funds to redeem land?" Zhu Qizhen asked.

"Paper currency," she replied.

"And what backed this currency?"

"The redeemed land itself."

Shocked, Zhu Qizhen exclaimed, "Isn’t that just conjuring something from nothing?"

"Conjuring something from nothing?" The Grand Empress Dowager considered. "Quite apt. Jia Sidao managed to implement it, though he gained funds and lost public support."

"In the two Zhe provinces, who owned the land?"

"Mostly high officials and nobles, and some military officers. Since the Song’s founding, the dynasty raised its generals well but stripped them of military power. Now, both their power and land were gone."

"Who would still serve the Zhao family?" she asked.

"Jia Sidao surely knew this outcome, but without money, the armies on the front lines would have been the first to disperse. He had to address immediate needs," Zhu Qizhen observed.

"You are clever. Though Jia Sidao died, his Public Land Policy remained. The Yuan divided Jiangnan’s land among relatives and nobles, setting the tax system by Jia Sidao’s policy. When Zhang Shicheng conquered it, extra taxes were added."

"When Emperor Taizu took Jiangnan, years of warfare required resources, so taxes were only slightly reduced, but otherwise collected as before."

Zhu Qizhen thought to himself, "So this is how it was."

Administration requires costs. The people of Jiangnan had long become accustomed to this tax system. If the court could gain a bit more, only a fool would refuse. In this sense, it is clear that one always chooses the softest target, and this applies everywhere.

If you do not strive for your own interests, hoping for benevolence from above, it is likely impossible.

The Grand Empress Dowager continued, "Though the heavy taxes have burdened Jiangnan’s people, it has become customary. Jiangnan’s finances now account for nearly half the empire. If we were to exempt Jiangnan from taxes, the court’s needs would have to be met from elsewhere, and sudden increases would surely provoke rebellion."

"Though unfortunate, it must be so. Therefore, officials sent to Jiangnan must be chosen carefully—wise and able, to soothe the people."

"You must not act rashly."