"The imperial court implemented tax reform and proposed that taxes should be taken from the people and used for the people~"
“It’s honorable to pay taxes, but shameful to evade taxes~”
In the streets and alleys of the capital, with the beginning of a new day, the voice of the newsboy is still very loud in the cold winter.
As newspapers have gradually become a must-read for young and old men in Beijing and Tianjin to drink morning tea and eat breakfast, the sales of newspapers are also increasing.
In the beginning, only 10,000 copies of the first issue of the Ming Dynasty Morning Post were printed, and Tianjin and Beijing each sold 5,000 copies. Now, the daily sales volume of the newspaper in the Beijing-Tianjin area alone has exceeded 500,000 copies.
Five hundred thousand copies, this is an extremely terrifying speed.
This is only in the Beijing-Tianjin area. In fact, the Ming Dynasty Morning Post has now begun to be sold to all parts of the Ming Dynasty. Although there is a time difference, it still doesn't matter. More and more people still like to read the Ming Dynasty Morning Post.
The Ming Dynasty Morning Post has also begun to set up a Nanjing branch in Nanjing. Every day, Kuai Ma will send content edited from the capital to Nanjing, and then the Nanjing side will step up printing and sell it to Nanjing and the Jiangnan area.
The daily sales of half a million newspapers also feed many children in the Beijing-Tianjin area.
These newsboys can earn one copper coin from selling a newspaper. Sometimes when they meet a generous gentleman, they will reward them with a few more coins. Selling dozens of newspapers a day is enough to easily support themselves.
Therefore, these newsboys are full of enthusiasm for selling newspapers. Rain or shine, the voices of newsboys will inevitably ring in the streets and alleys of Beijing and Tianjin.
"What?"
"Court tax reform?"
With the sound of the newsboy's voice, the old and young men in the capital were immediately startled, and then they quickly started buying newspapers.
Tax reform is a big matter, and it is related to everyone's vital interests.
"The tax reform of the imperial court, damn it, all those officials are so fat-minded, are they still willing to break the bones of us common people and suck out the marrow?"
Everyone's first reaction is to boycott, because they don't want to pay taxes. This is the case for everyone.
After all, tax involves one's own wealth. No one is willing to hand over their wealth obediently. This is nature. No one is willing to hand over the wealth they have worked hard to create to others.
Therefore, taxes have been mandatory since ancient times.
The Ming Dynasty Morning Post published the new tax system in detail, and also explained in detail the amount of tax that various industries need to pay, and also emphasized the role of taxation.
This tax is not for the enjoyment of officials, let alone for the emperor. The emperor has his own industry, and there is a lot of money. It must be funded by the treasury, and it does not need the support of the common people.
The money and food in the treasury are used to serve the people.
Building bridges and roads, building rivers, building reservoirs, spending on national defense, opening more schools, maintaining national stability, etc., on the other hand, instill in everyone the idea that this tax is taken from the people and used for the people.
It is honorable for everyone to pay taxes, but it is shameful not to pay taxes, to evade taxes, and to evade taxes.
As for brainwashing, Liu Jin knew very well that it was not only about brainwashing officials and officials, but also about brainwashing the common people. The most important point was that it was taken from the people and used for the people.
"Bang~"
"It's over. The court has changed the tax system. I don't know how much tax I will have to pay in the future."
"I have finally lived a good life for a few days, and now I am going back to the past."
"Isn't that right? In the past, although it was said that there was a tax of thirty to one, you basically didn't have to pay taxes, and everyone could barely survive. This kind of business is not that easy to do."
"Now, let's take a look at the various taxes, such as factory tax, workshop tax, business tax, etc. There are dozens of various taxes in total."
"Everyone will be crushed to death by these taxes in the future."
There is no doubt that as soon as the news came out, the entire Beijing-Tianjin area was in mourning. Countless people felt that a disaster was coming and that they would soon be unable to survive.
I was used to the good life of not paying taxes, but now that I heard about the tax reform, I immediately felt that this life was not going to be easy.
"What the newspaper said makes sense~"
"The imperial court has no money, and many things cannot be accomplished. In the past, it was always bullied by the grassland people. The most important thing is that without money, the border generals are in trouble and their combat effectiveness is low."
"In the past few years, the military system has been reformed, and the military household system has been changed to a compulsory military service system. Military expenses have also come from the emperor's internal funds, and there is enough money and food to meet the needs of the army."
"So the combat effectiveness of our Ming army gradually increased. Not only did they defeat the grassland people, but now they have included the grasslands in our Ming Dynasty's territory. They also taught the Japanese a lesson. From then on, there are no more Japanese pirates along the southeast coast."
"It is said that having money makes things easier, and this is also true for the court and the country."
"There are also cement roads between Beijing and Tianjin, which greatly facilitate the travel between Beijing and Tianjin. The imperial court is also preparing to build such cement roads in various parts of the Ming Dynasty to facilitate transportation in various regions."
"All of this requires money. From this aspect, it makes sense that the tax is taken from the people and used for the people."
Of course, there are still some people who read the newspaper and feel that what the newspaper said makes some sense.
If the court had no money, it would not be able to feed an elite army. Without the protection of a strong army, the Ming Dynasty would be bullied by others, such as the grassland people in the past, the Jurchens in the Liaodong region, and the Japanese pirates on the southeast coast.
This is the best explanation.
Now that the court is rich and the army is strong, the Ming Dynasty has eliminated these disasters one by one, and has given the people of the Ming Dynasty a clear sky and a stable and safe life.
This reflects this very well.
However, there are only a few people who are sensible, and in everyone's impression, this tax is not a good thing. The best situation is that the court does not need to collect taxes and everyone does not need to pay taxes.
What's more, since ancient times, whenever the country was in turmoil and dynasties changed, literati always liked to blame it all on the emperor's ignorance and immorality and the court's excessive taxation.
In everyone's impression, the prosperity of the country was due to light corvee and low taxes, and the change of dynasties was due to the excessive taxation by the court, which led to the people's livelihood and the difficulty of living. Therefore, they all rose up and overthrew the original corrupt court.
The closest Yuan Dynasty is the best example.
At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, excessive levies and excessive taxes were imposed, and all kinds of exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes had been levied for decades. The people could no longer survive, so they revolted one after another and overthrew the rule of the Yuan Dynasty.
The founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Comrade Lao Zhu, was not only forced to embark on the path of rebellion, he was the one who understood the Yuan Dynasty's extortionate expropriations best.
Therefore, after seeing the news, many people shouted that if the imperial court imposed excessive taxation like this, it would inevitably embark on the path of no return for the Yuan Dynasty, which would probably lead to social turmoil.
Even some unreasonable scholars from the Imperial College gathered together, shouted slogans, and ran outside the palace, wanting to advise Emperor Hongzhi that the imperial court did not need to reform the tax system.
Once the imperial court reformed the tax system, it would inevitably lead to turmoil in the Ming Dynasty and the people, and the people would be in dire straits, etc.
In addition, there are also merchants, factory owners, trading houses, etc. who also have strong opinions and express their dissatisfaction one after another.
There was no need to pay taxes before, but now it is suddenly said that the tax system will be reformed to make everyone ready to pay taxes. Naturally, people are unwilling to do it.
It’s not easy to make money in business, it’s quite hard, and you have to pay taxes?
They didn't even know they had to pay taxes before.
However, although factory owners, workshop owners, and trading houses have their opinions, they are still relatively stable, because these industries are indeed very profitable.
Especially the major commercial banks in Tianjin, they can just take a ship to Nanyang, North Korea, or Japan, and what they get back is real money and silver. All the major commercial banks are making a lot of money, and they are rich.
Very.
There are also those factory owners, workshop owners, cement factories, textile factories, shipyards, etc. who are very profitable. They don’t have to worry about selling the things they produce. As soon as the factories start operating, money pours into their pockets.
Although they opposed paying taxes, they did not dare to make trouble. If trouble broke out and the court took action against them, they would be doomed.
More importantly, everyone knows that it is Liu Jin who is leading the tax reform this time.
Who is Liu Jin? He is one of the largest capitalists in the Ming Dynasty. Any one of his industries is the leader in the industry.
In this tax system reform, if you really have to pay taxes, the industries under Liu Jin's command will naturally be indispensable. Everyone is looking at Liu Jin. If you, Liu Jin, don't pay it, everyone will naturally follow suit.
If you are friends with both Liu and Jin, then everyone will follow suit. Anyway, people in the Beijing-Tianjin area know that it is not wrong to follow Liu Jin. Without Liu Jin taking the lead, naturally there would be no current prosperity in the Beijing-Tianjin area.
Apart from these, ordinary people in the capital are just watching the show, because in the new tax reform, there is no mention of taxing ordinary people at all.
Even some common people who own land still pay the grain as they should, and there is no change.
This time the tax reform focuses on commercial tax.
The real reaction in the Beijing-Tianjin area was in the two industries of gambling houses and brothels. On the day the news came out, the owner of a gambling house even said boldly that anyone who dared to go to the gambling house to collect taxes would have his hands on both sides.
The legs were broken.
Naturally, those who opened gambling houses were local gangsters and gangsters, and they were all ruthless. When they heard that the imperial court was going to impose heavy taxes on gambling houses, all the gambling house owners in the Beijing and Tianjin areas were furious.
As for the brothel and Chu Palace, they even said that if Liu Jin really dared to send people to their brothel and Chu Palace to collect taxes, they would let their girls go to Liu Jin's house every day to make trouble, and even
Let people make up all kinds of romantic stories about Liu Jin. Women are not easy to bully!