"In the bright and prosperous world, even beggars can have three meals without worries and have enough to eat all day long. Why do you merchants have no way to survive? This is caused by greed. Where is the imperial censor? Expell this person from the court to avoid his dirty words.
Dirty words defile the Palace of the People!"
Changsun Wuji was furious and interrupted He Shao's cry with a loud shout. As the chief of the East and West Pavilions, he had the right to order the imperial censor to ask the officials who had lost their court rites to leave the Wanmin Palace.
Seeing that He Shao was about to be taken out by the warriors, Li Er said: "Let him come back and speak clearly. This is the Palace of All People, a place where all people can speak freely. One or two words cannot stain this pure land."
The emperor spoke, and He Shao was naturally brought back by the warriors. This time, there were thirteen more people kneeling on the ground. Li Er laughed and said: "That's strange. The imperial court gives tribute to merchants who have made meritorious deeds over the years."
Thirteen distinguished nobles were awarded. I didn’t expect that they would all appear in the court today. As for He Shao, you are famous for being good at dancing. I always want to get rid of your lord, but I can never find a suitable opportunity.
, you can always make the right contribution at the right time, at the right place, whatever! This is also your ability.
I remember last year, Yun Ye reported that you had monopolized the kerosene business in the fiefdoms of the Sixteen Kings of the Western Regions. If you didn’t make money for yourself, why would you go to the Wanmin Palace to complain? It’s Yun Ye who should complain, right?”
He Shao stopped kowtowing, raised his bleeding head and said: "Your Majesty, have mercy. Wei Chen is the largest wealthy businessman in the Tang Dynasty. Marquis Yun said that only in the prosperous times would there be merchants like Wei Chen who did not rely on plunder to make a fortune. Wei Chen also often
Be proud of this.
But now, the environment in which we live is getting worse day by day, and the profit margins have been compressed again and again. In a few years, there will be no so-called wealthy businessmen in the Tang Dynasty. Please give me your Majesty's advice."
Li Er made a strange noise and said: "Natural disaster? Or is it a man-made disaster?"
He Shao smiled miserably and said: "Your Majesty, my generation of merchants have been raised as fat pigs since ancient times. Now we have become fat and strong. When the time comes to be slaughtered, I only ask for your mercy and leave a pig for the descendants of the merchants."
Don’t kill them all to get food. Even if we are under the pressure of nine springs, we will never forget your majesty’s great kindness.”
Li Er thought for a while and said: "Such things do exist, but they were things before the previous dynasty. You merchants did not cultivate benevolence, were arrogant and extravagant, lived in strange villages, bought low and sold high, and made all the money in the world.
Dividends, an iron mouth, a pair of copper teeth, the egrets' legs to chop the meat, the mosquitoes to scoop the fat from their bellies, all the institutions in the world, a huge profit sign on the head, a money sign under the feet, win over the officials, corrupt the court,
Not to mention that Lu Buwei, Shi Chong and others actually sold the emperor as goods. The court should be more vigilant towards you, but so far in the Tang Dynasty, it seems that no wealthy businessman's property has been confiscated. Even if the wealthy businessman himself is guilty,
It's just about him personally, there has never been any confiscation of his family or genocide. He Shao, where do you start with your sorrow?"
""Business Code", your majesty, is the "Shang Code". Since the fifth year of Zhenguan, the tax rate in the Tang Dynasty has been increased from thirty taxes per one to fifteen taxes per one. The commercial tax has doubled. In the early years of our country, there were endless wars in the Tang Dynasty.
, Thirty tax is a national policy implemented by the late emperor to encourage commerce. It has been the same since the founding of the country in all dynasties. In order to quickly prosper the market, a tax rate that is very beneficial to merchants was formulated. After the country's situation stabilized, business
The tax increase is as it should be, and we merchants dare not have any complaints.
In the eighth year of Zhenguan, after His Majesty pacified the world and defeated foreign enemies, he once again raised the commercial tax to 1 out of 12 taxes. This was already a very reasonable tax rate. However, in the 16th year of Zhenguan, the Ministry of Household Affairs once again raised the commercial tax rate.
The tax has reached an appalling eight-to-one tax. This time it was increased for His Majesty’s implementation of the eternal event of no tax on farmers. We merchants also have industries, and the no tax on farmers is also a good thing for us, not to mention the no tax on farmers.
This is a huge benevolent policy, and the merchants of my generation have endured it with gritted teeth. The result is that prices have soared, small businesses have closed down one after another, and large businesses have tightened their industries. The business tax of our Tang Dynasty has dropped from six thousand three thousand at its peak.
The number of one million silver coins has dropped to the current 48 million, a total reduction of 15 million silver coins. This is already a very dangerous signal, which should have caused unrest among the people and the abuses of the country.
However, our soldiers of the Tang Dynasty fought bravely, opened up territories, captured kings and killed countless generals, and gained countless trophies. These large influxes of trophies injected new vitality into the already depleted treasury of the Tang Dynasty. As a result, all the things that would have appeared
The problems have all been covered up, the Tang Dynasty is still prosperous, agricultural taxes are continuously reduced, and the people also have a lot of savings, and the national fortune is prosperous.
No one will care about the difficulties of our generation of merchants. Isn’t the hard work and sweat involved in a piece of goods from production to transportation to packaging and sale not work?
In order to barely survive, Wei Chen went to the outside of the Great Wall. Before the smoke from the place where Yun Hou's army passed had cleared up, Wei Chen followed the road that the army had taken to do business in the desert. It was common for him to climb ice and sleep in the snow. Not only did he have to collect goods
, but also had to fight with scattered soldiers, the pain of which is hard to describe.
Your Majesty said that Wei Chen has monopolized the kerosene in the sixteen kings' fiefs, and a lot of wealth will flow into his pockets. But you don't know Wei Chen's suffering. The kerosene is indeed monopolized by Wei Chen. This is just an appearance. The oil spring is in
The sixteen kings fiefdom, therefore, the sixteen kings occupy 30% of the shares. Because kerosene is a military material, the Ministry of War must occupy 30% of the shares here. This is why your majesty said that Marquis Yun was deceived by the ministers, but ah, six
Either the vassal king or the Ministry of War occupies 60% of the shares. These 60% are real profits. The sixteen kings and the Ministry of War do not need to pay a single copper to share the most delicious fruits. And the humble ministers not only have to
Organizing production, transportation, and sales, while also having to bear heavy taxes of eight to one, can make kerosene from the oil springs in the desert and sell it to the people for lighting lamps. The profits during this period have been pitiful.
Our Tang Dynasty has abundant grain, and the price of grain is a very accurate indicator of tax rates. Due to the increase in grain output in recent years, there is a large surplus of silk and silk. Your Majesty, these two industries in our Datang Dynasty can no longer afford eight
Due to the heavy tax burden, in recent years, there have been almost no private grain stores or private cloth and silk shops in Chang'an. People buy grain and cloth from the official warehouse. This is because His Majesty allows the people to use grain and cloth at low taxes.
This is abnormal, my Majesty, an industry can only have added value if it continues to carry out deep processing and fine processing, and these deep processing and fine processing require the participation of merchants to make grain into various pastries and cloth into
All kinds of ready-made clothes, this approach can not only extend the industrial chain, but also provide opportunities for the idle labor of Datang to make money.
Your Majesty, after all, you want to feed the people of the world, but now, your army has nowhere to conquer, or if you can conquer it, the gain will outweigh the losses. Therefore, at this time, I, the Tang Dynasty, need merchants to help this great army.
The empire is creating blood. Only by continuously producing fresh blood can the giant of the Tang Dynasty remain standing.
My Majesty, it’s not that the higher the commercial tax is set, the more commercial tax our Datang will receive. There are rules in everything. Breaking this rule will only be counterproductive. I beg your majesty to give merchants some room to breathe.
If this continues, there will be no business in the Tang Dynasty, and the ministers will have to disband their shops and return to their hometowns to work on the farm. There will be no merchants in the Tang Dynasty to help your majesty feed the hungry mouths of the world."
"Please have mercy on your majesty!" After He Shao said this, the thirteen merchants below all kowtowed their heads on the smooth ground. Some merchants actually cried loudly when they thought of sad things.
Li Er was stunned. He Shao's words made his heart stir up a storm. How come there is such a saying? The higher the commercial tax is set, the income of the imperial court will actually decrease? There is no shortage of money and food in the hands of the people.
Ah, so Li Er fixed his eyes on Chu Suiliang, the Minister of Household Affairs, and wanted to hear what Chu Suiliang had to say.
Before Chu Suiliang came out to report, Xu Jingzong rushed out to report: "Your Majesty, I have a detailed report here. The highest commercial tax in our dynasty was in the fifteenth year of Zhenguan. Indeed, as He Shao said, the total amount
It is 63,460,000 silver coins. It is precisely for this reason that the Ministry of Revenue re-determined the commercial tax in the 16th year of Zhenguan. There is a reason why the commercial tax was set at eight taxes and one tax. The main reason is that
At that time, the Tang Dynasty had begun comprehensive construction. The canal, Shu Road, and Sanjing projects were fully launched. In order to obtain more money and grain, the Ministry of Household Affairs raised the tax rate.
The results were not satisfactory. The commercial tax in the 17th year of Zhenguan was less than the three million silver coins in the 15th year of Zhenguan, and then it decreased year by year. By this year, the commercial tax had dropped to a terrible level. The first three extreme settlements
, there are only 28 million silver coins. Although the quarter at the end of the year is the most important, Wei Chen believes that the total number cannot exceed 40 million silver coins, and most of the commercial taxes come from Guangzhou, Quanzhou, Mingzhou, Dengzhou
For the first time, the total tax amount of Zhouzhou, Hangzhou, Yongzhou, Yuezhou, and Chang'an is lower than that of Yuezhou. As for Yizhou and Yangzhou, they are no longer ranked on the tax payment list of the Ministry of Household Affairs.
The commercial tax on foreign trade has been higher than that on domestic trade, not because of the huge scale of foreign trade, but because of the huge profits of foreign trade. Indeed, as He Shao said, domestic trade has become useless. His Majesty’s grand plan to hide wealth from the people in recent years,
I am afraid that it will be swallowed up by the rising prices of goods. Once the commercial tax is not enough to support the state, the non-taxation of agriculture will become a joke! I, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, will also become the biggest joke in the world."
The silence in the main hall was frightening. After a long time, Changsun Wuji slowly said: "It's nonsense. Merchants are not engaged in production, so they should collect more taxes. In recent years, you have relied on the great prestige of the Tang Dynasty to knock the bones and suck out the marrow of those defeated countries. Is it possible?
Isn’t this what I just say? When the laws were revised this year, the old minister believed that the commercial laws should be refined. Until now, the old minister believes that agriculture and mulberry trees are the foundation of the country." (To be continued. Please search Piaotian Literature for better updates of the novel.