The emperor and Wu Huaiyu were drinking tea under the sweet-scented osmanthus tree, and there were sweet-scented osmanthus cakes made from this year’s new sweet-scented osmanthus on the table.
The prince accompanied him.
Tomorrow is the Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15th. Today, Hou Jun will leave Chang'an for the Western Regions.
A letter was sent to Jiuzhongtian in the morning, and was demoted to Chaozhou Road eight thousand in the evening.
The emperor's treatment of Lao Hou this time was really swift and severe, but Wu Huaiyu could see that the emperor still loved this loyal and supportive partner.
This time Hou Junji reported Wu Huaiyu for treason, which was no small matter. If he was really investigated carefully, his fate would be much more serious than this.
After the emperor reacted urgently, he directly asked Zhang Anan to send Hou Junji all the way from Wude Palace to Weiqiao, and sent him to the Western Regions without even returning home. He also did not want the matter to escalate further.
"Prime Minister Hou and I have some conflicts. This matter may be just a misunderstanding. I don't believe that Prime Minister Hou will deliberately frame this. It must be that Prime Minister Hou has been deceived by the villains around him.
It's good to clear up the misunderstanding. Hou Xiang is still loyal to His Majesty, but suddenly going to the Western Regions is a bit overkill."
Wu Huaiyu expressed his attitude. He had no intention of adding insult to injury and would not continue to investigate further. He was willing to stop here.
This attitude made Li Shimin very satisfied.
The emperor even personally refilled Huaiyu's cup of tea, which was made of stone-topped dragon balls. The prince acted as a tea-making boy, quietly making roasted tea, tencha, boiled water, sencha, salt, ginger, orange peel, etc. The cup of tea given to the emperor was still
Specially added sugar and fresh milk.
"I am very disappointed by Hou Junji, who actually followed Yu Chigong's old path,"
Wu Huaiyu held the tea cup but did not answer.
If you don't add insult to injury at this time, you will gain more points in the emperor's heart.
While drinking tea, the emperor didn't want to talk about Hou Junji anymore. He could only say that this time Hou Junji really made the emperor dissatisfied. If it was said that he had a fight with Su Lie before, it made the emperor unhappy, and Hou Junji asked to lead troops to the west.
, in fact, the emperor felt even more disappointed.
Hou Junji exposed serious shortcomings in the overall situation. He was short-sighted and had no overall view.
This time Hou Junji reported Wu Huaiyu's rebellion, which made the emperor feel more and more that Hou Junji was not suitable to stay in the central government any longer. His demotion to the Western Regions as deputy governor was already a serious warning.
It still leaves a glimmer of opportunity. It depends on whether Hou Junji can train himself and improve his structure in the next few years. If he still can't keep up, then he may be like Yu Chigong. No matter how high he is, it will be difficult for him to enter again.
The center is up.
The emperor turned to talk to the emperor about the Yuyingtang, Shantang, Beitianfang, Huimin Pharmacy, Barefoot Doctor and Technical School.
"Although I went to Zhongnan Mountain to practice Taoism with the old immortal when I was nine years old, the old immortal also taught me to read the classics of Confucianism and Buddhism, understand the teachings of the three schools, and understand the thoughts of the sages.
The ancient Confucian sages said that one should cultivate one's moral character, harmonize one's family, govern the country, and bring peace to the world. He said that if you are poor, you can be good alone, and if you are strong, you can help the world. I think this is the most reasonable.
The greater the ability, the greater the responsibility.
Whether Bingyutang makes wine and sells wine, or Qianjintang sells medicines, these shops and workshops are running well and making money. In addition to paying taxes to the court and paying wages to employees, they should also use some of their earnings.
money to repay society.
Just like the imperial court collects taxes, it also takes them from the people and uses them for the people.
The Wu family's shops should also do the same, using part of their profits to repay the society for charity, building roads and bridges, caring for the orphans, helping the elderly, and helping those in need."
After a few words, the situation suddenly enlarged.
Li Shimin nodded repeatedly after hearing this.
"A saint is a thief, and businessmen and businessmen cannot just talk about business and pursue profit. They must still shoulder their social responsibilities. Businessmen and businessmen are also willing to contribute their meager efforts to the saint's rule of Zhenguan."
"If everyone had the consciousness of Qingyang, no dynasty would have suppressed industry and commerce and cracked down on low-income industries." Li Shimin sighed,
The vast majority of businessmen only know how to blindly pursue profits, and they do not hesitate to speculate and hoard goods at a loss, and even make fortunes from disasters and wars, and engage in various types of loan sharking.
As a result, there has been a consensus that no businessman is a traitor, and all dynasties have carefully locked businessmen in a cage, not daring to let them out and let them develop.
"It costs a lot to adopt so many abandoned babies and orphans, and even fund the relief of orphans, widows, and disabled people, right?" Li Shimin asked.
"Do your best. I have made suggestions for the estates, shops, and even some partnership properties under the Wu family's name. I hope that part of the net profits can be used to invest in charity and fulfill my own responsibility and conscience.
,
If you make more money, invest more, if you make less money, invest less. The most important thing is to persist for a long time."
Li Shimin is more concerned about the future arrangements for those orphans.
Wu Huaiyu also answered that these people are still good people, but they are temporarily raised and taken care of by the Wu family. When they are ten years old, they will be arranged to be apprentices in the trading houses and workshops, which can be regarded as self-reliance and learning skills. When they are older, they will
Once you have the ability to make a living, you can choose whether to continue to be employed by a shop to make money, or to find another job.
"It is better to teach a man to fish than to teach him to fish. I also hope that these lonely and helpless people will be able to make a living and settle down when they grow up."
Li Shimin was a little surprised. The Wu family invested so much and basically asked for nothing in return.
"Your Majesty, these are good deeds done by the merchant house, and good deeds are done without any expectation of reward."
"I believe," Li Shimin handed Huaiyu another piece of sweet-scented osmanthus cake, "I heard that your Wu family's shops are all well-run and very profitable, but your Wu's shop is also very generous to the shopkeepers, not only in wages but also in wages.
It’s even higher, and there are even dividends on shares.
Your Wu family's shops have a good reputation, and they are even rare ones that do not lend money at usury. It is extremely difficult to do this.
I believe in the good deeds you are doing now,"
The prince couldn't help but said, "It would be great if all the industries and commerce in the world were like this."
"Your Highness, doing good deeds must be voluntary and cannot be forced or morally kidnapped. For industry and commerce, the most important thing is to enable them to operate in compliance with the law, pay taxes according to the law, and treat their employees preferentially. If these points are achieved,
To the imperial court, they are already benevolent businessmen and good businessmen, and they are worthy of commendation."
Li Shimin nodded, this view was similar to his,
Wu Huaiyu could always speak to his heart,
Heroes think alike.
"This time Sanyuan County cleared out land, and finally found more than 130,000 acres of hidden land. I was really surprised,"
Li Shimin changed the topic and talked about acres of land and land restrictions.
After reading Wei Zheng's land restriction order, Li Shimin felt that it made some sense, but was too idealistic and difficult to implement. He wanted to ask Wu Huaiyu what he thought about it.
"Field limits have been imposed in all dynasties, but it has been difficult to truly restrict land annexation. I feel that the land limit method proposed by Wei Shizhong is almost useless."
"What can you do?"
Wu Huaiyu shook his head.
"I don't have any good ideas. If the court takes action, it may cause great turmoil," he reminded the emperor truthfully. Now the court has just begun to trial the new two-tax law, which has already touched many interests of the nobles and powerful people.
That is to say, the emperor's prestige is now high, the Tang Dynasty is stable both inside and outside, and the situation is stable. Therefore, although there are some dissatisfaction, no one dares to obstruct the resistance.
But there is a degree to this kind of thing,
The two tax laws are being reformed over there, and land is restricted here, so it would be too much and not enough.
"I remember that you seem to have several thousand hectares of land, right?" Li Shimin asked.
Wu Huaiyu nodded. He heard the hidden meaning behind the emperor's words. Is it because you oppose the restriction of land because you have too much land?
"You should be very clear about the dangers of land annexation. If the court allows land annexation, the dynasty will inevitably weaken. I know the road ahead will be thorny, but I have to move forward."
The emperor said this, so Wu Huaiyu had no choice but to offer some suggestions.
"Land sales must be signed by an official deed, and 50% of the buyer's deed tax is levied."
"Reiterate that according to status and grade, the purchase and sale of slaves must be based on official deeds, and 50% of the buyer's deed tax is levied."
“The state enacts laws to grant client status to proletarians such as servants, maids, tenants, servants, etc., so that they can become good people of the country, have independent legal status, provide protection, and reduce their personal dependence on the landlord.”
"Those who already owned excess land in the past can be put on hold, but in the future, land must be occupied strictly according to status and grade, and excess land must not be occupied at will. Or, the border states have wide rural land, and land reclamation is not subject to restrictions."
"In the future, when the time comes, we can also clean up all over-occupations or force them to be resold, but we will impose a progressive tax rate on the excess."
"Click on the land for government soldiers, honorary officers and other fields. The court has the right to expropriate the over-occupied fields and compensate them at market prices."
Wu Huaiyu made many suggestions in succession. Of course, some of them can be implemented now, such as imposing deed taxes on land and slave sales.
For example, legislation protects the rights and interests of tenants, such as limiting land rent, interest, etc.
There are also some that are temporarily inoperable and are purely for the purpose of restoring the emperor's power, such as the restriction of slaves and land, the progressive tax system for excess land occupation, the liquidation of excess land, etc.
When Li Shimin heard this, he immediately recognized the good and the bad. It had to be said that compared with Wei Zheng's wishful thinking, at least some of Wu Huaiyu's provisions could still be implemented, and even some restrictions on mergers could be implemented.
"You can write a detailed memorial on these later,"
Wu Huaiyu knew that the emperor must have wanted to show it to the ministers for discussion.
When Huaiyu said goodbye and left the palace, Li Shimin rewarded him with a box of sweet-scented osmanthus cake and a box of Mengding stone flower dragon group tea.
"You bought thousands of hectares of land in a few years. It's amazing. It's better not to buy so much land in the future. It's quite hard for you to buy so much land and buy slaves everywhere."
Wu Huaiyu quickly agreed, the emperor doesn't really feel sorry for your hard work, this is a kind warning.
In a few years, thousands of hectares of land were acquired, which is indeed a bit fierce. Although most of the land is borderland, the quantity is there.
If your dignified prime minister takes the lead in annexing land, how can we discuss land restrictions?
"I plan to sell at least 3,000 hectares of land within two or three years."
Li Shimin was surprised, then smiled in approval.
After leaving the palace, he did not stay in Chang'an anymore and returned directly to Longqiao. His main errand now is to try out the new method in Sanyuan.
When I got home, I chatted with my wives and concubines about what happened in Chang'an during dinner, including the fact that Hou Junji was driven to the Western Regions without even spending the Autumn Festival in Beijing, and that he promised to sell three thousand hectares of land to the emperor.
"I don't agree." Fan Xuanfu objected excitedly.
Even Princess Yang Muyun of Huainan was surprised, "If the imperial court really wants to restrict farmland, it is impossible to attack Alang, so why take the initiative to sell the farmland?"
"Actually, you don't have to worry, there's something else going on."
The so-called inside story is that Wu Huaiyu planned to sell the 3,000 hectares of land in the frontier area currently under his name, mostly newly reclaimed wasteland, to some trading houses to build farmland for merchants in Kaizhong, who would grow grain in exchange for salt from Kaizhong.
Of course, these trading firms sold to are actually the Wu family's trading firms.
Left hand to right hand.
But in this way, those fields were transformed from Wu Huaiyu's private farmland into the frontier merchant farmland of the trading company, which was under the name of the trading company.
After a while, the actual owner was still Wu Huaiyu, but the land in Wu Huaiyu's name was immediately reduced by 300,000 acres.
"Why bother with so much effort?" Mother Lu Sanwu didn't understand.
Chen Runniang was worried, "Then if the court wants to levy a deed tax of 50%, a deed tax of 300,000 acres of land, how much will it cost? Assuming 100 yuan per mu, the transaction volume of 300,000 acres is 30,000 yuan, 100% of the deed tax.
Five deed taxes, that’s one thousand five hundred guan.”
"Actually, you don't have to worry about this. Now the imperial court has a policy to recruit merchants to reclaim wasteland for merchant villages in the border areas. There are many preferential policies. For example, the land reclamation merchant villages are tax-free for several years, and the deed tax is also exempted.
After it is converted into a commercial village, local taxes, free warehouse grain, etc. will be reduced and exempted in the future."
Although Wu Huaiyu's purpose is not to pay less taxes, it doesn't matter if it is reasonable and legal.
"If the land is transferred to the name of the commercial bank, will there be any hidden dangers in the future?" Fan Xuanfu still felt that this operation was a bit inappropriate.
"They are all land along the border. The quantity sounds scary, but in fact it is neither valuable nor easy to manage. If it is transferred to the name of a trading company, our family will not have much land left."
The emperor bluntly said that he had bought too much land in the past few years, so Wu Huaiyu had to show something.
