In the late Qing Dynasty, due to the rise of the Taiping Army, the entire south of the Yangtze River was stirred up by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. As a result, taxes in the south of the Yangtze River were not collected. In order to raise military pay for suppressing the Taiping Army, the Jiangbei Camp of the Qing Dynasty set up a bureau in Lixiahe, Yangzhou to solicit donations.
According to the fertility of the land and the size of the land, donations were collected according to the number of fen of land, and a lijin system was gradually formed.
It was this system of lijin that allowed the Qing government to have enough food and salary to continue fighting. Moreover, the law gradually expanded to all parts of the country, and the harvest achieved was also very good. In the third year of Tongzhi alone, lijin was levied.
The gold tax was as high as 13.6 million taels, with the highest reaching 19.83 million. The gold tax system continued until the end of the Qing Dynasty. In the third year of Xuantong, the gold tax had reached 4,330 taels.
One million taels!
Of course, the Lijin system itself was also an evil tax. Although it was not collected directly from the people, the Lijin bureaus spread across the country made commercial activities very difficult, and also boosted the prices of goods at that time, which indirectly also pushed up the prices of the people.
cost of living.
But there is one advantage, that is, this kind of tax is directly oriented to merchants, not to the people. The turmoil caused is far less than that of a direct tax. The people will only resent the merchants, but not the court.
"My Ming Dynasty can set up a lijin bureau every hundred miles and a patrol post every fifty miles. If it can be spread across the country, I'm afraid there will be four to five million taels of silver in a year, and the national treasury will be greatly enriched by then."
Hearing what Lin Jing said, Chongzhen quickly became interested and said, "Is what you said true? Is it really as much as four to five million taels?"
"I think that our Ming Dynasty is not poor, especially those merchants who are extremely rich. Now it is really easy to collect these millions of taels of silver from them. Let me ask you the value of the goods that come in and out every year through the eight banknotes of our Ming Dynasty.
How much? Just one percent is an astronomical figure, and some goods can receive higher cents."
Indeed, Lin Jing has planned to mark those luxury items with a fixed price of 20%, so that he can get a good deal from the noble business travelers.
But Zhou Yanru was still a little worried. He whispered: "Your Majesty, I am still worried about the civil unrest caused by the mining tax. What if those businessmen oppose it? Besides, our Ming Dynasty ancestral system, all merchants
The tax is 1 in 30, and those who violate the order will be considered as disobeying the order. Now we have to levy another 100 cents, I'm afraid the merchants will not accept it."
Before Chongzhen could speak, Lin Jing sneered and said: "It's just some businessmen. If they don't accept it, will they dare to rebel? But if the people can't survive, once they rebel, they will be the next Li Zicheng.
The next Zhang Xianzhong!"
"Let me ask, who is more difficult to deal with?"
When Lin Jing said these meaningful words, it made Chongzhen finally make up his mind. He said: "If we can really follow what the emperor said, it is not a bad idea to abolish the Liao salary. As long as the total income does not change, so will our Ming Dynasty."
It’s time to reduce the burden on the people.”
Jiang Dejing, the right minister of the Ministry of Rites, stood up. He was originally one of the candidates who were about to join the cabinet, so he also stood in the Dongnuan Pavilion. He whispered: "Your Majesty, I thought that levying a cent tax would only cause trouble."
To increase the cost of business travel, they may raise the prices of goods in order to make profits, and then the people will still suffer."
Indeed, there are policies and countermeasures, and if the court gives them extra money, they will probably double the price and sell them, and then the people's lives will still be affected.
Lin Jing said softly: "I believe that all strategic materials related to the national economy and people's livelihood, such as grain, salt and other items, can be levied one percent of the price. Even if merchants increase the price, it will not be much higher. As for those that have nothing to do with it, it will not be much higher."
Even if the price of supplies for people's livelihood is increased, it will not have a serious impact."
Jiang Dejing smiled slightly. He was a minister who was very good at managing finances and military affairs, and he considered issues very comprehensively. In the eleventh year of Chongzhen's reign, he argued with Emperor Chongzhen on some issues concerning Guan Ning's army, and finally urged Chongzhen to change.
At this time, he asked Lin Jing, not because he was dissatisfied with Lin Jing, but because he hoped to improve the Lijin system.
For Jiang Dejing, he strongly agrees with the abolition of Liao pay, but there has never been any suitable opportunity in the past. Now that he has finally waited for such an opportunity, he does not want the Lijin system to become a tool for simply plundering the people.
"What should I do if the bureau charges random fees along the way, or embezzles money?"
Regarding the issue of corruption, Lin Jing could only shake his head and said: "I think that the Lijin Bureau is of great importance, so it is better to hand it over to the cabinet. If corruption occurs in the future, we will investigate it strictly."
Jiang Dejing finally nodded with satisfaction. He raised his hands and looked at Emperor Chongzhen, "I also agree with the establishment of the Lijin Bureau to replenish the national treasury and abolish Liao pay."
"In this way, the cabinet will go down to perfect the lijin system and set up lijin bureaus across the country. The specific regulations will be submitted by the cabinet." Chongzhen quickly issued the order.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Zhou Yanru had no choice but to agree. Of course, at this time, he was also thinking about whether there would be any opportunities to take advantage of the Lijin system... which might not be a good thing!
After deciding on this matter, Chongzhen couldn't help but feel a little excited. He smiled and said: "The emperor's plan is good, but I don't know what the third plan is?"
"Speaking of the third strategy, it is to recheck the national annual income accounts to see what went wrong!"
After Lin Jing's words came out, everyone was shocked, especially Chen Yan, the Minister of Revenue, who breathed a sigh of relief, and an unpleasant emotion emerged in his heart.
Chongzhen fell into silence slightly and said, "What did the emperor mean by that?"
"For the record, my father, I just want to ask Mr. Chen, what was my annual income last year?"
Lin Jing faced Chen Yan with a somewhat solemn look on his face.
Although Chen Yan is the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, he is very ignorant in his work, but he hesitated and said: "Back to Your Majesty the Crown Prince, I vaguely remember that last year the national treasury had an annual income of more than 5.7 million taels. After removing the unnecessary silver, the actual income was 400 taels.
Two hundred and ninety thousand taels, as for the grain, there are 15 million taels, the Liao salary is 9.8 million taels, the training salary is 3.4 million taels, and the total amount of silver is more than 17 million taels."
There are more than 17 million taels, but the military expenditure alone has exceeded 12 million taels, so there is really no money in the accounts of the Ministry of Accounts.
Lin Jing smiled and continued: "What about the annual income in the first year of Chongzhen?"
"I can't remember clearly..."
Chen Yan finally understood Lin Jing's thoughts, and the cold sweat rolled down his forehead.