Liu Jin was in a good mood. He followed Emperor Hongzhi out to see the northern line cement kilometer that was under construction. The total amount of treasury taxes and silver for the latest January had been calculated.
In all parts of the Ming Dynasty, including overseas places, the Municipal Shipping Department and the tax bureau collected a total of 8.21 million taels of tax money in January of the 14th year of Hongzhi. This number was even larger than initially estimated, and it also made the government and the opposition
They couldn't help but be shocked.
Who would have thought that the Ming Dynasty would be so wealthy, and that the tax money collected in just one month was more than the tax money received in the previous year. This is simply incredible.
Although everyone knows very well in their hearts that no commercial tax was confiscated in the past, and they all know that if the imperial court actually levies commercial tax, the revenue of the treasury will definitely increase significantly.
But no one expected that more than 8 million taels of tax money would be received in just one month, which is a very huge amount.
After all, the tax money for next year will be nearly 10 million taels.
Such a huge financial revenue also made everyone from Emperor Hongzhi to ordinary officials couldn't help but get excited.
Without it, money is easy to do.
Emperor Hongzhi wanted to do many things, such as easing corvee and reducing taxes, abolishing capitation tax, reducing land tax, etc. These were all measures that could truly benefit the people at the bottom, and he had always wanted to implement them before.
It's just that the court also needs money to operate. The previous tax money and taxes on grain, cloth and other places were barely enough to maintain the operation of the court.
It is almost impossible to exempt the population tax, reduce the land tax and other places.
In addition, Emperor Hongzhi always wanted to build a strong Ming army, and now he got his wish. The military power was taken back to himself, and military expenses were paid out of his own funds.
The ruling and opposition parties also support the construction of a powerful Ming army. The Ming Navy and the Ming Royal Naval Academy, which are currently being planned and under construction, have received support from both the ruling and opposition parties.
Because everyone knows that the Ming Dynasty is no longer the Ming Dynasty a few years ago. It not only needs a strong army, but also a strong navy to protect the interests of the Ming Dynasty and at the same time open up more markets and financial avenues.
In addition, disasters often occur in several northern provinces. In the four provinces of Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan, and Shandong, locusts, droughts, and floods occur almost every year. Famines occur every year. At the same time, there are no summers on both sides of the Yellow River.
At that time, we had to worry about the Yellow River bursting its banks.
This has almost become a problem for Daming.
Therefore, Emperor Hongzhi also planned to not only move the population of these places as far as possible, but also to Liaodong, overseas Nanyang, or to the Golden Continent, the grasslands, or even Australia in the future.
In short, the population in these places must move out on a large scale to reduce the contradiction between man and land in these places. In this way, even if there is any famine, it will not be too severe.
Immigration requires a very large amount of money, and all of this requires money.
Unless you plan to be tough on immigration regardless of the life and death of the people.
Obviously, Emperor Hongzhi was not. He loved his people like his own son and was a good emperor.
Emperor Hongzhi made proper arrangements for the first batch of 300,000 people to go to Liaodong. Even though they migrated there in winter, no one froze to death or starved to death on the long journey.
After arriving in Liaodong, accommodation and meals were carefully arranged, all of which cost money.
These are all things that I couldn't do before, but now that I have money, I can do them all.
There is also the management of the Yellow River, the construction of dams on both sides of the Yellow River, and the construction of reservoirs, etc. These are all major projects that require a lot of money to be poured into them.
Now not only do we have cement, but the court also has money, so we can get everything done and get these things done.
This made the Ming Dynasty more stable, and from now on the north no longer had to worry about any disasters.
This is what Emperor Hongzhi wanted to do.
After more than ten years on the throne, Emperor Hongzhi feels that from now on, he can really make a difference. As for before, he was just doing light corvee and paying little tax, working diligently and caring for the people, but it is difficult to truly serve this country and this land.
Land does some real work.
No matter how much we love the people and how diligent we are, what will happen?
In the final analysis, we have actually not done many major things for this country that will truly benefit future generations.
Therefore, Emperor Hongzhi attached great importance to the large-scale construction of cement roads by the imperial court, because he clearly knew that this matter was a major event that would truly benefit the present and future generations.
Once cement roads connecting various parts of the Ming Dynasty can be built, it will be of great significance to the Ming Dynasty.
There are many things that I want to do, and only with money can I really be able to do some things.
As for the many ministers in the court, they were all very excited. The court was rich.
Local officials below are all asking for money from the court to build roads, rivers, reservoirs, and schools. These are all good things that are useful for local construction and can quickly fill their pockets.
In the past, the imperial court had no money, so if you wanted to do these things, you could only do them in the form of corvee labor. Often, if you didn't do things well, you would be scolded, and you couldn't get any money.
So in the past, I was more Buddhist, and I had no motivation to collect taxes, nor did I have any motivation to do any major things. Anyway, I was just messing around, walking around, moving around, hoping to be transferred to a better place, and more
Go to the good yamen.
It's different now. The imperial court has money, and it wants to carry out infrastructure construction. People all over the country are asking for money.
The same is true among the various ministries of the imperial court. They have all proposed their own various plans. The Ministry of Works has built roads, bridges, rivers, reservoirs, etc. Not to mention, the Ministry of Personnel has also proposed a new plan.
The salary increase plan is to increase the salaries of officials up and down the court. Once the increase is made, it will be increased several times.
The Ministry of Rites also proposed to build special inns in Beijing and Tianjin to receive envoys from various countries. The standard should naturally be based on the standards of Tianjin inns.
It can be said that all ministries are asking for money. As for the purpose, of course they are all the same. First, get the project started. With these things, the money can naturally be put into your own pocket.
Of course, in this process, it is also appropriate to do some practical and good deeds for the court and the Ming Dynasty.
In a word, everyone from Emperor Hongzhi to ordinary officials were very happy. With the money, many things were much easier to handle.
Many officials who were opposed to taxation and tax reform are now silent.
Liu Jin's work was fully recognized by Emperor Hongzhi and the government and the public, although some people still impeached Liu Jin from time to time, saying that local tax agents were very tough when collecting taxes, and people who did not pay taxes were often very aggressive.
awful.
No matter you are a distinguished gentry or a local prince, the tax policemen don't care. They only care whether you have paid taxes. If you don't pay taxes, you will not be able to live a good life. After paying taxes, what will happen?
nothing.
Now seeing the people in these unfinished buildings crying constantly, Liu Jin's mood suddenly became very bad.
Before time travel, Liu Jin was an ordinary person. He knew the hardships of ordinary people and what a house meant to ordinary people.
Many people have to spend generations of savings to buy a house in the city.
Once you buy a unfinished building, there is really no voice to cry, and no one will make decisions for them.
I can't control the future, but now.
Liu Jin is in control of this matter.
Take a four-wheel carriage and go west along the cement road.
The first batch of cement roads built in the Ming Dynasty were mainly the north line and the east line. The north line was built from the capital to the west to Shanxi, and then to Shaanxi.
Not too far out of the capital, we arrived at the cement road where construction was beginning to begin.
Emperor Hongzhi and Liu Jin got off the carriage and came to the construction site of the cement road. Thousands of people were busy on the original long official road.
The original crooked pipes were straightened and widened, the original sloped areas were leveled, and reinforced concrete bridges were built over water.
The whole scene was in full swing, and everyone involved in the construction was very enthusiastic.
Looking along the official road, you can see this huge team from the end of your field of vision.
For the first time in the Ming Dynasty, cement roads were built on a large scale. The money came from the imperial treasury, and the local governments provided land, and they also contributed labor in the form of corvee and employment to build cement roads.
The so-called corvee plus employment was also proposed by some officials above the court. These officials believed that the court's road construction not only used the court, but also benefited the local area, so the local government must also contribute.
Corvee plus employment means that the local government recruits local people to participate in the construction of cement roads through corvee, but it is not free work. The court will pay a certain amount of labor remuneration, but it will not be very high.
In this way, local enthusiasm for road construction can be mobilized, and the government's treasury expenditure can also be increased.
Because everyone knows the benefits of building cement kilometers, the enthusiasm for building cement roads is very high wherever they go, and a large number of people actively participate in the construction of cement roads.
The construction of cement highways also adopts the method of segmented construction. According to the plan, construction starts in various places at the same time and is eventually merged together.
The advantage of this is that the cement highway can be built as quickly as possible. The disadvantage is that the demand for cement will be very large in a short period of time, so that the cement in the Beijing-Tianjin area begins to be tight again.
Production cannot keep up, and the price of cement continues to rise.
"Cement is really a good thing. With it, the chasm in the sky becomes a smooth road~"
Standing on a hillside, Emperor Hongzhi looked at the heated scene with a telescope, and he couldn't help but sigh.