Chapter 642 , Tianjin collects three million taels of silver a month
Qianqing Palace in Beijing.
"Your Majesty~"
"They just don't want to pay taxes, so why are they so angry?"
Empress Zhang came to Emperor Hongzhi with a cup of ginseng tea and said softly.
Her two younger brothers had been imprisoned by Emperor Hongzhi for several days. Her elder sister was also very distressed and pleaded with Emperor Hongzhi many times.
"If I just didn't want to pay taxes, I wouldn't be so angry~"
"Did you know that they ordered their men to kill more than a dozen imperial officials? They were so lawless and daring. This is all the consequence of your usual indolence."
Emperor Hongzhi looked at Queen Zhang and said.
"I know that they did go too far this time, but they are still young and ignorant. Just teach them a lesson and they will know they are wrong."
Queen Zhang nodded and said.
"Is it okay to just know that you are wrong?"
"If it weren't for your sake, they would be beheading them. I would just imprison them for a few days. This is already a very light punishment."
Emperor Hongzhi sighed, there was nothing he could do.
Because of this incident, both the government and the public have no idea how many officials have impeached the Zhang brothers. They have always offended a lot of people, and there are not even many people who can say a good word to them.
"I know~"
"But I also heard that the people from the tax office have sealed off their shipyards, cement plants, etc. If this continues, there will be no way to continue this business."
Empress Zhang was also helpless. She had pleaded with Emperor Hongzhi many times, but Emperor Hongzhi still did not let go. Obviously, he would not give up until he was punished properly.
Come to think of it, who asked them to beat the imperial officials to death? In the past, they were just ordinary people who bullied men and women. They could just turn a blind eye.
It was different to kill a court official, not to mention that this time it was Liu Jin who was leading the taxation work.
Liu Jin is not that easy to mess with.
Even if Queen Zhang is very partial to her Didi, she will not say anything wrong about Liu Jin.
Emperor Hongzhi now has endless money, can take back military power, and can make everyone in the government and the public obedient. All of this is because of Liu Jin.
His Royal Highness also has a lot of money. It can be said that his family owes Liu Jin a lot, a lot. The properties Liu Jin bought with them are worth tens of millions of taels of silver every year.
This is all real money.
She, Queen Zhang, can distinguish right from wrong, and she is also a person who knows good from bad.
"If you ask them to pay their taxes, I will issue an order to lift the seal."
"From now on, pay taxes honestly and be a good person~"
"The two brothers earn millions of taels of silver a year, but they don't even want to pay any taxes. I and the prince's properties have all been taxed."
Emperor Hongzhi thought for a while and said.
"Yes, I will let them pay taxes now~"
When Queen Zhang heard this, she immediately laughed happily.
It doesn't matter how many days I'm locked up. Anyway, I won't starve to death or freeze to death. In this palace, I don't have to worry about food and clothing. With her here, nothing will happen.
But the business under his command cannot be stopped. It won't matter if it stops for a day or two. But if it stops for a long time, it will be over.
Seeing Queen Zhang leave, Emperor Hongzhi shook his head slightly.
It's just that they have always indulged the Zhang brothers too much, otherwise they would not be so arrogant and domineering, even the imperial officials would dare to beat them to death. If it were anyone else, they would have to peel off their skin.
"Your Majesty, the Cabinet Minister, the British Duke and others are here."
At this time, Xiao Jing came over and whispered.
"Let them come in~"
Emperor Hongzhi nodded slightly.
Soon, cabinet ministers Liu Jian, Xie Qian, Li Dongyang, Hubu Shangshu Ji Zhong, Libu Shangshu Wang Hao, British Duke Zhang Mao and Liu Jin also came in to participate in the once-a-day Umrah meeting.
"Everyone, sit down~"
Emperor Hongzhi nodded slightly when he saw everyone coming in.
"Thank you, Your Majesty~"
Everyone sat down in front of Emperor Hongzhi.
"Your Majesty, there are many memorials impeaching tax bureaus across the country, saying that tax agents are barbaric and brutal, act wantonly, have no regard for the king's laws, and arrest people at will."
After chatting casually and politely, Xie Qian also took out a memorial and said respectfully.
When Liu Jin heard this, he glanced at him slightly.
This Xie Qian is now the most powerful backer of Jiangnan Shilin in the government and the public. He has always opposed the imposition of commercial taxes, because this has greatly harmed Jiangnan merchants, big families, big gentry, and big landowners.
Interests.
Business in the Jiangnan area is very developed, and according to the new "Da Ming Tax Law", commercial taxes are relatively high, which is much higher than the taxes collected by factories and workshops.
For factories and workshops, the tax rate is 100 tax 3, which can be said to be a very low tax rate. The tax rate for merchants and commercial firms is 100 tax 8, which is five points higher than the tax for factories and workshops.
Here in Jiangnan, everyone originally didn't pay taxes, and this has almost become a habit.
But when the tax police began to operate, the Jiangnan area was also filled with victims. Too many people were arrested by the tax police and imprisoned in prisons, including some powerful people, scholars, etc.
"Yeah~"
Emperor Hongzhi nodded slightly and took the memorial and read it. The writings in the memorial were very miserable. He described the tax collectors as cruel and violent officials who exacted excessive taxes, bullied men and women, and committed almost all kinds of evil.
However, Emperor Hongzhi still knew this well.
In the past few years, the power of the factory guards has been growing. Emperor Hongzhi allocates more than two million taels of silver from the internal funds to the factory guards every year. The factory guards’ gossips are spread throughout the Ming Dynasty. Nothing can be hidden from Hongzhi.
The eyes of the emperor.
Regarding the tax agents, he naturally ordered to keep an eye on them to see how these tax agents acted and whether they went too far.
Judging from reports from various places, although these tax agents are hard-core in their approach, they are principled.
They usually arrest people directly and lock them up among the big bosses of the tax bureau. They starve you and make you unable to bear it, so you take the initiative to pay taxes.
They never hit or curse anyone. Of course, if you encounter resistance during the arrest, they will let you know why the flowers are so red.
Generally speaking, the core of the tax police is to make you pay taxes. After paying the tax bank, nothing will happen. If you don't pay the tax bank, you will be locked in a prison, bitten by small animals, hungry and cold.
He did not commit any evil at all, as stated in the memorial submitted by Xie Qian.
Many of them are because the people being taxed are high-status people. If you suffer such grievances, it is inevitable to impeach the tax police.
"Liu Jin, look at this memorial~"
Emperor Hongzhi looked at Xie Qian, then at Liu Jin, thought for a while and said.
"Yes~"
Liu Jin took the memorial respectfully and read it very quickly.
Then he thought for a while and said: "Your Majesty, gentlemen, I also have the latest statistical data here. This is the amount of tax money received in Tianjin in January this year. As for the tax money from other places in the Ming Dynasty, it is still being calculated.
Yes, I think we can report it in a few days."
Liu Jin also took out a cup of memorial. The first month of the year passed quickly. He was busy with the affairs of the tax office. With the hard-core tax collection by the tax agents, Tianjin was the first to compile the figures.
"Why did you come out so quickly?"
When Emperor Hongzhi heard this, he immediately became interested and quickly picked up the memorial and read it.
"In the first month of the first month of the year, Tianjin received 3.21 million taels of tax silver?"
Soon, Emperor Hongzhi also said in disbelief. He looked at the numbers above again and again and confirmed again.
"Yes, Your Majesty, Tianjin alone received more than three million taels of tax money in the first month~"
"Among them, the Tianjin Shipping Department received 1.2 million taels of tax silver, and the Tianjin Taxation Office received more than 2 million taels of commercial tax~"
"Currently, the tax money has been escorted to the capital and handed over to the national treasury~"
Liu Jin nodded solemnly and said.
"How can it be?"
"This place in Tianjin can receive three million taels of tax money a month?"
Emperor Hongzhi was a little dumbfounded. This, this, the money was too much. In his opinion, it would be good if Tianjin could receive hundreds of thousands of taels of silver a month.
Calculating that the Ming Dynasty combined, all places can receive tens of millions of taels of silver a year. But who knew that Tianjin alone now receives more than 3 million taels of tax silver in a month. The entire Ming Dynasty plus
Come on, how much will your tax bill be this month?
"Isn't it possible?"
Not only Emperor Hongzhi, but all the ministers present also looked in disbelief. Is the tax money received too much?
"Your Majesty, gentlemen~"
"The Ministry of Revenue did receive the tax money escorted from Tianjin yesterday. The total amount is indeed more than three million taels of silver."
At this time, Ji Zhong, the Minister of the Ministry of Finance, stood up and said.
"How come there is so much tax money?"
Emperor Hongzhi shook his head in disbelief. This tax money was too much. This was just for Tianjin. If the entire Ming Dynasty were counted, there would probably be millions of taels of silver this month.
"Your Majesty, gentlemen~"
"There's actually nothing strange about this."
"Tianjin is an important town in the north of the Ming Dynasty and the largest port in the Ming Dynasty. At the same time, there are countless factories, workshops, trading houses, etc. in Tianjin. The three million taels of silver collected in taxes this month is not a lot."
"Everyone thinks it's low, mainly because the court couldn't collect tax money at all in the past, so they think the number is huge. Now they are serious about collecting taxes."
"Those who evaded taxes and refused to pay taxes in the past are now able to escape, and the amount of tax money will naturally increase all of a sudden."
Liu Jin smiled and explained.
In the past, the imperial court could not collect taxes at all, and local governments basically did not collect taxes, because collecting taxes was of no benefit and also had a bad reputation. If businessmen did not pay taxes, that would not be called tax evasion, that is, they would not pay taxes.
If no one asks you to collect taxes, will you take the initiative to pay taxes? The only tax that can be collected is the salt tax.