Four hundred and thirtieth eight chapters tax increase
"Rogue bandits attacking Jiangxi?"
This news not only spread to various places in the south of the Yangtze River, but Pang Gang who was in Qingzhou would not be unaware of it, but unlike those panicked elite scholars of the Ming Dynasty, Pang Gang took a lively attitude towards this matter, although the current situation in the Ming Dynasty
The chaos was getting worse, but it did not affect Pang Gang's mood at all, because just a few days ago, Wei Manyu, who had already reached the due date, gave birth to a fat boy with white hair and fat.
After the news came out, the mansion was very lively for a few days. All the maids, old ladies and servants almost had their faces cramped with laughter, because the rewards in the mansion were being handed out continuously in the past few days, and these silver rewards were worth
With their monthly salary for a year, they were so happy that the servants in the mansion were looking forward to seeing one of the ladies give birth to a young master.
However, with Pang Gang becoming king and the birth of his second son, not only the palace, but also the servants under Pang Gang gradually began to talk. They were very curious, wondering which one of Mrs. Kong or Mrs. Wei would be the leader.
Go to their princess, after all, today is different from the past, this is related to the issue of who will be the eldest son or the second son in the future.
However, compared to the comments of the servants, Pang Gang didn't seem to care at all. At this time, he was staying in the signing room, looking at the simple map of the Ming Dynasty on the table.
This is a very crude map in Pang Gang's opinion. This map only roughly marks the place names of various state capitals, as well as some large rivers in the Ming Dynasty. But if you want to find the place names below the county level, I'm sorry.
,No.
However, in this era where there are neither communication satellites nor high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft, and we all rely on eye observation to draw maps by hand, there is no way. The map in Pang Gang's hand was obtained from the Ministry of War in Nanjing at a huge cost.
The purpose of what is obtained there is only to allow people to roughly understand the distribution of state capitals. As for more precise locations, forget about it.
This map is now marked with several colors by Pang Gang. The blue part represents Pang Gang's own territory, the red part represents the territory of the Ming Dynasty, the white represents the Manchu and the green represents the rogue bandits. The area now represents the rogue bandits.
Although there are only two places, Shaanxi and Hunan. But in the Hunan part, there is already a green arrow pointing to Linjiang Prefecture, which belongs to Jiangxi.
Looking at the arrow, Pang Gang frowned a little and said to himself: "This Liu Zongmin, I don't know if he can capture Jiangxi, but if he really captures Jiangxi, I'm afraid he will be attacked by all the Jiangnan gentry.
There will be a strong backlash.”
It is impossible to say that Pang Gang is not curious about Jiangnan. Jiangnan was a prosperous place in the Ming Dynasty. Historically, regardless of the Ming or Qing dynasties, Jiangnan’s annual tax revenue accounted for more than 70% of the national tax. As long as anyone
If he occupies the south of the Yangtze River, he can create a kingdom even with money.
Although Pang Gang was also very keen on Jiangnan, which had 70% of the Ming Dynasty's financial resources, he also knew that he did not yet have the ability to enter Jiangnan. With his current strength, if he rashly entered Jiangnan, I am afraid that what awaits him would not be a good thing.
"Tuk-tuk-tuk..." There was a knock on the door.
Pang Gang said without looking back: "Come in!"
Following Pang Gang's voice, Wen Renjun walked in with a bunch of official documents in his arms. As soon as he entered the door, he said: "Your Majesty, here are the official documents that I have received during these days. I have given instructions. Now they are sent to you for review."
Pang Gang waved his hand and said: "You are the magistrate of Qingzhou now. You don't have to ask me for instructions on everything. If everything is like this, what do I want you people to do?"
Wen Renjun smiled bitterly and said: "My lord, please calm down. If it were an ordinary matter, how dare I bother you because of my humble position? But these matters are very difficult, so I have to ask you to make a decision."
"Oh, what on earth is going on? It actually makes our knowledgeable and talented magistrate Wen feel troubled?"
When Pang Gang heard this, he stretched out his hand curiously. Wen Renjun quickly handed the stack of official documents in his hand to Pang Gang. Pang Gang took out an official document and read it slowly.
His face looked a little ugly.
He casually pulled out a few more official documents and read them faster and faster. After a while, Pang Gang raised his head and asked calmly: "Are these all received at the same time?"
"Yes!" Wen Renjun nodded quickly, "All the official documents were received in the past three days. All wealthy gentry families have requested that the tax rate be reduced to the same as before, that is, to the level of 1 in 30, otherwise everyone
Businesses will be overwhelmed and have to consider withdrawing from Shandong and other places."
Pang Gang sneered noncommittally: "Haha... Is that what they all said?"
Wen Renjun said a little depressed: "Exactly, they seem to have unified their opinions and forced us to agree to their conditions with one voice."
Pang Gang hummed and said: "Haha, they are just drunkards who want to force us to bow to them."
Pang Gang proclaimed himself king. Although many gentry and wealthy households in Shandong, Henan, Hubei and other places wrote letters to express their loyalty, Pang Gang also knew that just listen to what these guys said. If you really believe them, you will die.
Not far away. And those merchants also believed that although Pang Gang had established himself as king, his foundation was stable, and many things had to rely on the support of rich gentry like them, so they had the courage to write a letter to Wen Renjun at the same time.
Qingzhou magistrate.
Wen Renjun glanced at Pang Gang and said hesitantly: "Your Majesty, since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the commercial tax has been set at 30%. If we rashly set it at 20%, those merchants will naturally fall out. Look,
Should we suspend the implementation of this measure?”
"No, absolutely not!" Pang Gang said without hesitation: "We have just promulgated these regulations. If we encounter a little resistance, we will take them back. How will we promulgate new policies in the future? If the following can follow suit, the government will still
What majesty!”
Pang Gang's attitude is very resolute. Since Pang Gang became independent, he has promulgated a new business bill in Shandong, Henan, and Hubei. The most important one is to re-enact business tax, raising the previous tax rate to 20%.
As soon as this tax rate came out, the government was in an uproar. Many merchants and gentry wrote letters and strongly requested to lower the tax rate, following the example of the Ming Dynasty. Some even threatened that if the Shandong government did not agree to their request, they would go elsewhere and stop doing business in Shandong.
.
Facing the requests that came like a snowflake, Wen Renjun had a calm temperament, but since he had just entered the officialdom, he had not yet finished cultivating his energy. For a moment, he couldn't help but panic, and he went straight to Pang Gang's palace.
.
Pang Gang looked at Wen Renjun, who was still a little out of breath, and thought to himself that Wen Ren Jun was suddenly brought to the position of prefect. It seemed that he still lacked experience and was still out of breath.
Pang Gang said in a deep voice: "You have to remember that the 20% tax is our bottom line, and no one can shake it. If those merchants don't want to stay here, we won't stop them. You can go as long as you want.
If we do business here, we must pay enough taxes, otherwise don’t blame us for being rude!”
Pang Gang's words were faintly filled with murderous intent. To be honest, ever since Pang Gang came to this era, he has always hated Ming Dynasty's cheating taxes. Thirty tax per yen. If this tax rate were placed in future generations, those businessmen would probably not even dream about it.
Everyone will wake up laughing.
When he first came to this era, Pang Gang could not understand that for a country as big as the Ming Dynasty, its tax revenue could not cope with some unexpected natural disasters and large-scale military operations? You must know that many countries in history were smaller than the Ming Dynasty.
Many countries have been able to carry out larger-scale military operations year after year with ease.
For example, not to mention those countries during the Warring States Period, Zhao State and Qin State used hundreds of thousands of troops in many wars. Many examples can be cited in later periods such as the Three Kingdoms Period, the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, etc. In contrast, in the late Ming Dynasty,
There is no need to talk about the nominal number of troops. In a real sense, using 100,000 troops to fight a war is close to the limit. A little more than 100,000 is okay. If it is close to 200,000, the national finances will no longer be able to sustain it. Such a large army
Country. A country with more than one billion acres of cultivated land and a population of nearly 200 million. The tax revenue is so low that it cannot even recruit 200,000 elite soldiers with real combat effectiveness. Then such tax revenue can only be said to be abnormally low.
the point.
But then Pang Gang thought of several questions. Why in the early Ming Dynasty, when Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di were in charge, the country carried out several large-scale project constructions, launched large-scale foreign wars, and did not do anything to relieve the victims when famine occurred.
Question. But it stopped working in the late Ming Dynasty? Is it because the economy in the early Ming Dynasty was more developed than that in the late Ming Dynasty? The economy of the Ming Dynasty was in continuous decline for nearly three hundred years?
This is obviously not a fact. Any study of Chinese economic history, as well as any records of people at that time, tell us a fact, that is, the economy of the Ming Dynasty became more prosperous and developed in the later period. By the Wanli period, the prosperity of the economy, productivity
The development reached a peak, which was beyond the reach of the early Ming Dynasty. Even in the Chongzhen period after continuous natural disasters, although the economy declined compared with the Wanli period, overall, it was much higher than that in the early Ming Dynasty.
It is not a problem. The economy is more prosperous, the productivity is more developed, but the country's finances appear to be more difficult. What is the reason for this?
With these questions, Pang Gang studied for several days and came to several conclusions:
1. The taxes in the Ming Dynasty were too low, with low agricultural taxes and even lower commercial taxes.
2. Taxation in the Ming Dynasty almost did not increase for more than 250 years (in fact, it continued to decrease, with agricultural taxes decreasing and commercial taxes decreasing even more).
3. In the late Ming Dynasty, people complained bitterly about any tax increase, so that when the government tried to increase taxes, there was a lot of resistance.
The more Pang Gang studied, the angrier he became. The emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, who was born as a cowherd boy, personally stipulated that "for all business taxes, one in thirty will be taken, and those who exceed the order will be considered as violating the order."
It doesn't matter what Zhu Yuanzhang said. After Lao Zhu's death, whenever his descendants had no money and wanted to raise taxes, they would be blocked by the civil servant group below using this "ancestral precept". As a result, the court became more and more
Poor, the business groups represented by civil servants below are getting richer and richer, land annexation is getting more and more serious, and the number of bankrupt farmers continues to increase. In the end, the old Zhu family killed themselves in this way.
Pang Gang did not want to repeat the mistakes of the old Zhu family. The army under Pang Gang had developed rapidly in the past few years, but the money used for the army was basically Pang Gang's own pocket, which he used to develop animal husbandry and breeding.
Money from farming and selling salt.
The annual military expenditure alone is an astronomical amount. If Pang Gang hadn't been supported by the mutated "Encyclopedia of Modern Weapons", I'm afraid Pang Gang would have gone bankrupt long ago. Before Pang Gang officially fell out with the court,
It was just a strict investigation of tax evasion. Although thirty tax dollars was not much, those businessmen still tried every means to evade tax. Later, Pang Gang got tough and punished a few guys who made a lot of noise and closed down their shops. Those businessmen were like this
Now I am more honest.
But after Pang Gang's new tax rate was introduced a few days ago, these businessmen and gentry finally couldn't sit still. The 20% tax is equivalent to paying one tael of silver before, but now you have to pay 60 taels. This is six times! How about this?
Don't let those merchants get away with it.
Wen Renjun was also a person with raised eyebrows. Seeing Pang Gang's face, he knew that Pang Gang had made up his mind that this matter was absolutely irreversible. After thinking about it, Wen Renjun asked with some worry:
"Your Majesty, where is Mr. Kong..."
Pang Gang said expressionlessly: "Mr. Kong is no exception. Although he is my father-in-law, he must pay taxes according to regulations. This is an iron law and no one is allowed to waver."
"yes!"
Wen Renjun gritted his teeth and walked out with the provocative document in his arms. His thin figure looked a bit decisive. He had heard something from Pang Gang's tone just now. If he couldn't do this well,
Maybe he really was going to be fucked off. He thought that he Wen Renjun had lived in poverty for ten years. It was not easy for someone to appreciate him and get the seat of Qingzhou magistrate. He would never dare to go in and be fucked off like this.
Night soon enveloped the earth, and then the moonlight illuminated the earth silvery white. Now, after more than two years of management by Pang Gang, Qingzhou has developed into a very prosperous city. Not only are businessmen from various states coming and going in an endless stream
, even those Taiwanese barbarians often visit here.
The changes in Qingzhou have also led to the prosperity of many industries, including taverns, inns, rickshaw shops and even brothels.
Although it is already dark now, the streets of Qingzhou are still crowded with people and there are crowds of people everywhere.
On a street in the middle of Qingzhou City, there is a three-story restaurant, also called Zuixian Tower. Zuixian Tower was just built this year and was built with cement produced by Lingshanwei.
After it was built, it immediately became one of the landmark buildings in Qingzhou City. Of course, the price here is naturally high, and those who can come are basically either rich or expensive.
Tonight, Shopkeeper Zhao of Zuixianlou is standing in front of the door and greeting the guests enthusiastically.
"Hey... Mr. Wang, you haven't been here for a long time. You are a rare visitor. Please come in quickly!"
"Hey, Mr. Qian, you're finally here. Mr. Bao and the others have been in there for a while and have been waiting for you."
"Mr. Sun, please come in quickly..."
The plump and round shopkeeper Zhao and his two waiters stood at the door of Zuixian Building, nodding and bowing to the old men who had just got off the sedan, smiling so hard that the muscles on his face were squeezed into a ball.
When it was time to garrison, after everyone had gone in, shopkeeper Zhao took the lead and walked in. Behind him, the two clerks each held the handle of a door and pulled it inward. The door was made of heavy iron wood.
It made a creaking sound, and finally closed with a bang, cutting off the outside world.
At this time, there were more than a dozen tables placed on the third floor of Zuixian Building. These tables were now full of people. An old man about fifty years old, sitting on the east side and wearing a plain robe, looked at
Smiling at everyone, he stood up, cupped his hands and said, "Everyone, this old man Li Jierong is being polite."
Everyone stood up and returned the greeting, "Mr. Li, you are polite!"
Li Jierong said with a smile: "You are all smart people. You naturally know why I want to invite you to come over today, right?"
Everyone looked at each other and smiled bitterly. They were not fools. They naturally knew why Li Jierong, the vice president of the Qingzhou Chamber of Commerce, invited them here today. Wasn't it because of the tax rate issue that has caused a lot of commotion recently?
Although Li Jierong still had a kind smile on his face, his sharp eyes still swept across everyone's faces like lightning, and he still said in a slow and unhurried tone: "You should know that just a few days ago,
On that day, our King of Zhou issued a new law for merchants like us, which is to increase our tax rate to 20%!"
When he said this, Li Jierong's voice suddenly became sharp, and he yelled sternly: "Twenty percent, do you know what this means? This means that you have to give the hard-earned money to
Others are squandering arbitrarily, which will mean that we have to cut back on clothing and diet to satisfy the arrogance and lust of some people. Let’s talk about it, is this fair?”
"It's unfair, we will never tolerate such oppression!"
"Yes, we can't stand it!"
As soon as Li Jierong finished speaking, several people who were not sure whether they were overly excited or the people Li Jierong had brought waved their hands and shouted.
"Yes!" Li Jierong shouted: "We must not continue like this. If we accept this result this time, you can think about it, what will our children and grandchildren do in the future?"
"Yes, if each of our families pays an extra ten thousand taels of silver a year, then it will be one hundred thousand in ten years, and one million in one hundred years. Our children and grandchildren..."
When everyone thought of this, their hearts felt as if they were being cut by a knife. Originally, the tax rate of 10% from 30% for merchants like them was enough to make them feel distressed. Now Pang Gang simply raised the tax rate to 20%. This is simply a tax.
Killed them.
Thinking of this, everyone showed angry expressions, and their expressions were all seen by Li Jierong. Li Jierong knew that the time had come, so he stood up and said something else...
..
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