1748, Your Majesty, do you dare to exempt farmers across the country from taxes and corvee?
Chongzhen obviously also saw the necklace. Although he was the emperor, the landlord's family had no surplus food.
He looked at it with envy. He didn't have such a good gemstone to give to his wives and concubines to express his feelings like Yang Fan did.
He murmured in his heart, saying that there are gold, silver and jewelry everywhere overseas. It seems that Yang Fan got a lot of good things during this trip to the sea. He has never seen emeralds of this grade.
Seeing Empress Zhou and Concubine Tian, Concubine Yuan took over the necklace and couldn't put it down to look at it. He sighed in his heart, Yang Fan is so damn rich.
This necklace is a treasure from the treasure that Yang Fan and his wives found in Ryukyu. It is one of the thirty top jewelry pieces given to his beloved concubine by the Indian emperor.
The little girl is rolling around in her skin. She hangs it tightly around her neck. She doesn't want to take it off for a moment.
Unexpectedly, he was willing to give it to his future daughter-in-law today. It surprised Yang Fan.
This shows how much she loves her son.
Chongzhen looked at it for a few times and then stopped looking.
He took a sip of tea and continued: "Nowadays, the officials in the Ming Dynasty are corrupt. The court charges one tael of silver, but I dare to take the opportunity to collect ten taels. It's not that the wealth of the Ming Dynasty is not enough, but that the money has been embezzled by these moths. Now the government is financially strapped.
I can barely survive. I’m really worried to death.”
Chongzhen knew in his heart that he was able to dismantle the army and maintain a capable Beijing camp and garrison force because Yang Fan's Xinghe Bank acted as an agent for the payment of military pay.
The emperor gave internal funds to the troops under his control and did not go to the Ministry of Revenue. Of course, it was unrealistic to ask the Ministry of Revenue to provide money, and the Ministry of Revenue had no money to pay.
The officers and soldiers first went to Xinghe Bank to apply for passbooks. Then, according to the date, they were transferred from the Queen's funds deposited in Xinghe Bank to their personal accounts. The money went directly from the royal account to the officers and soldiers' personal accounts without passing through anyone in the middle.
No one can deduct it privately.
The officers couldn't get paid even if they wanted to, because it was necessary to verify personal identity when applying for a passbook. It was impossible to pretend to be the head of the household. Xinghe Bank would not piss them off. This was Dingyuan Hou's business. No one was afraid.
It's not that the Ming Dynasty's army can't fight, but it doesn't pay wages. As long as you pay the wages, the combat effectiveness of the Ming Dynasty's soldiers and horses will increase tenfold.
Yang Fan didn't expect that Chongzhen asked him to make suggestions for this matter. This matter was very difficult and had not been solved for three thousand years. Only when the emperor was very strict and had strong control could the degree of corruption in this matter be controlled.
For example, Emperor Yongzheng used unconventional means such as audits, spies, secret reports, encouragement of denunciations, and embezzlement of nine clans to pay compensation by one person, making the officialdom of the Qing Dynasty very clear and clear, leaving Qianlong with a very wealthy finance.
This kind of thing cannot be eradicated. It will also be a long-standing problem for future generations.
Yang Fan lowered his head and was silent for a while, thinking about what to say about this matter.
Chongzhen looked at Yang Fan expectantly. Ever since they met, there was nothing that Yang Fan couldn't handle or solve. He really wanted to work hard to revive the Ming Dynasty.
He looked at Yang Fan with burning eyes. Yang Fan's face was solemn and very serious.
Yang Fan was a little surprised. He didn't expect that Chongzhen really wanted to take action against this thousand-year-old disease, which made him think highly of it. This is a land that has been hardened for thousands of years. Since ancient times, common people cannot be treated with courtesy and officials cannot be punished.
If you want to clean up corruption in the Ming Dynasty, you have to attack the gentry and officials. Does he have the courage? Can he persist in the face of the gentry's crazy counterattack?
"Your Majesty wants to solve this problem, how determined you are, and how serious the consequences can you bear." Yang Fan finally raised his head and looked at Chongzhen and said.
Chongzhen said with a serious face: "I really want the Ming Dynasty to cheer up so that the people can live a good life and the court can operate normally."
Yang Fan believed that his words were true, but Yang Fan was not optimistic about his willpower.
He was born in a deep palace and grew up with the hands of a woman. It is not like he was born from fighting on the battlefield. Yang Fan has always believed that at the critical moment, this Majesty, he cannot do it.
However, in a battle between emperor and minister, Yang Fan still planned to give him a chance to change the fate of his court and himself. With Yang Fan's current strength, in fact, no one is afraid of him. He doesn't care that the gentry will counterattack him if he comes up with ideas. Sooner or later, he will have to
Clean up theirs.
It would also be good to let Chongzhen do a test first to test the reaction of the gentry.
"Your Majesty, do you want to treat the symptoms or the root cause?" Yang Fan said.
Chongzhen was overjoyed, but he was afraid that Yang Fan would not dare to speak. This question was a scary question. I don’t know how many people were so silent that they didn’t even dare to mention it.
In other words, Dingyuan Hou doesn't care.
"Of course I want to cure the root cause."
If he said to treat the symptoms, Marquis Dingyuan would definitely give him an idea and fool him, which would have some short-term effect. After a few years, the situation would probably remain the same.
"Your Majesty, are you afraid that it will trigger a backlash from the gentry and officials in the world? They can do anything if they are anxious. This palace may not be safe," Yang Fan said.
Chongzhen is a man who regrets easily, so if he wants to say something to death, you have to think clearly.
After Yang Fan gets it right this time, he will go to the northwest and won't be able to come back for two or three years. He doesn't have time to wipe Chongzhen's butt. If the fire breaks out, he can only be responsible for it.
Now it seems that after Chongzhen cleaned up the Eunuch Group, he will also clean up the Donglin Group soon. The two largest party and government groups no longer exist. After the Fuwang Group was disintegrated, Mrs. Zheng also passed away, and their power disappeared.
He has tens of millions of silver reserves in his hands. He also has soldiers and horses that Xiao Shiwan can control in his hands. He is like a mouse with a gun stuck in his waist, so he has the idea of shooting a cat.
However, Yang Fan still planned to provide him with an idea.
"Since officials are all corrupt and money is withheld from them, then by not letting money pass through their hands, the problem can be completely solved," Yang Fan said.
Chongzhen was stunned. This sounded like if he didn't eat, he wouldn't have to poop.
"Your Majesty, do you dare to cancel all taxes and corvees for all farmers in the world? From now on, no copper coins are allowed to be collected from farmers. Anyone who dares to charge a copper coin will be severely punished." Yang Fan looked at Chongzhen.
, said word by word.
"Ah!" Chongzhen was dumbfounded. He didn't expect Yang Fan to say such words.
If the imperial court stops taxation, it is true that officials will not be able to be corrupt. Because the money is gone, how can the goose pluck out its feathers? At least you have to go geese before you can pluck out its feathers.
"What should the court do? No matter how bad the finances are now, there are still six million in taxes a year. How can the court maintain its operations without tax revenue?" Chongzhen asked excitedly.
"It's very simple. In the Hongwu Dynasty, the annual salt tax was 13.8 million taels. Now the population of the Ming Dynasty has increased from 65 million in the Hongwu year to 20 million. The salt tax can collect at least 40 million taels." Yang Fan looked at Chongzhen and said
.
"Your Majesty, today's fiscal revenue has doubled from more than four million to more than six million. At least more than three million of this is agricultural tax. Mainly land tax, calculation tax, oral tax (head tax), and the rest
The next 700,000 to 800,000 yuan is due to commercial taxes, fines, mineral taxes, and taxes levied by local customs offices... The extra amount is the tax revenue brought by the economic development of Beizhili in the past three years."
"If your majesty exempts farmers from all taxes, so that there is no tax on farmers, farmers in the world will never rebel. The Ming Dynasty is as strong as an iron barrel."
"As for this shortfall, Your Majesty can auction off the salt tax rights across the country according to the regional standards of provincial capitals, prefectures, and counties. That is to implement the tax farming system of the Yuan Dynasty. Set up tax farming for each region based on a total of 20 million
The minimum price. The tax-guaranteed merchants have doubled their profits, so many people must be willing to do it. From now on, it will be re-auctioned every three years. The highest bidder will win."
Chongzhen was dumbfounded that he could still do this.
