East Palace.
Xiande Hall.
Li Shimin once held his enthronement ceremony in this palace. After he ascended the throne, he listened to politics in this palace for several years until Li Yuan moved out of Taiji Palace.
Today, Crown Prince Cheng Qian officially supervises the regency in the Xiande Hall.
The prince specially summoned Wu Huaiyu to appear in court.
"At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the three divisions of Yitong were the prince's Taibao, the Shangzhu Kingdom, the general of the Zhenjun Army and the right guard general, the bachelor of Chongxian Palace and the editor of national history. Zhenguan Yuancong was given the title of meritorious official, and 1,300 households were actually granted the title.
, Lingnan Road Observation deposed the Ambassador and Economic Envoy, Du Tuan Lian Envoy, Annan Protector, Jin Guogong went to the palace..."
I am not famous for giving praise and worship, and I am not attracted to the court.
Wu Huaiyu wears a purple robe and jade belt with a goldfish, and wears a three-liang crown to enter the palace.
On the throne,
The crown prince Cheng Qian was also dressed very grandly today. He traveled far and wide. He wore a three-beam crown with gold and a cicada. The crown was also decorated with nine jade beads, green beads and black beads. His hairband was decorated with tassels of green feathers and rhinoceros horn.
The guide, wearing a scarlet robe lined with crimson gauze and a robe lined with white gauze,
The collar, sleeve ends, placket and collar edge are all in plain black.
There are also square heart-shaped collars and white fake belts,
He also wears a leather belt, a jade pendant, a jade sword, and a ribbon.
Because I haven't been crowned yet, I wear a single bun.
Cheng Qian sitting in the hall was very different from usual, full of majesty,
In front of the Crown Prince are the five left-behind auxiliary ministers appointed by the Emperor.
The left servant shot Wei Guogong Fang Xuanling, the right servant shot the acting Duke Li Jing, the servant Wei Zheng, the Duke of Julu County, the eldest son Wuji of Zhao Guogong, the crown prince, and the right concubine of Zhongshu, the prince, admonished the officials, and the Duke of Gaotang County
Ma Zhou.
Under these five bosses,
The officials were divided into two classes, basically one class for courtiers and one class for East Palace officials.
"Give the teacher a seat."
Cheng Qian was very different today, and his speech was a little different, but his respect for Wu Huaiyu had not changed. As soon as he came in, the prince asked him to sit down without courtesy.
The emperor had already gone to Jiucheng Palace in Qizhou. Before leaving, Cheng Qian once again requested that Wu Huaiyu could stay to assist him in supervising the country. However, the emperor said that everything had been arranged and Wu Huaiyu went to Lingnan to guard the southern border for the Tang Dynasty.
This is an established arrangement and will not change.
Today is his first day in charge of the country, and it is also the day when Wu Huaiyu comes to bid farewell to his Majesty.
Although he was reluctant to let go, Cheng Qian couldn't do anything to keep him.
Since the teacher was in Chang'an, Cheng Qian felt confident and would not panic when he was in doubt. He could just go to the teacher. If the teacher was not around, he would not have anyone to discuss anything with.
Wu Huaiyu went to the palace to give his majestic speech, but he still expressed his reluctance to accept Qian in front of hundreds of officials.
After the meeting,
Huaiyu drank tea with the five left-behind ministers.
Changsun Wuji was the happiest. He did not expect that he would become the left-behind auxiliary minister. Although he still only held the title of Kaifu Yitong Sansi and Prince Taishi, after all, he became the auxiliary minister when the emperor was not in Beijing.
Political elder.
"Huaiyu, I have to thank you for recommending me in front of His Majesty and the Crown Prince," Changsun Wuji thanked him with tea instead of wine.
"Mr. Changsun is the uncle of the state and the prince's biological uncle. His Highness has been ordered to stay in charge of the country. Of course, you, your biological uncle, have to help." Huaiyu said with a smile.
I don’t know how long this time I will be in charge of overseeing the country, but it is obvious that this is a test from the emperor to the prince, and he must perform well. Changsun Wuji is the prince’s uncle, and he has been sitting on the bench for so long. Wu Huaiyu recommended him
If he stays behind to help, he will definitely work hard.
Among the five remaining ministers, of course Fang Xuanling is the main one. He is the emperor’s most trusted confidant and the prime minister.
As for Li Jing, he is a big shot in the military. With him around, no military commander would dare to mess around.
As for Wei Zheng, the servant, the emperor sometimes doesn't buy it, he is loyal and selfless, so it is appropriate for him to keep an eye on the court, the other ministers, and even the prince.
Ma Zhou was the lowest-qualified among the five ministers and the only one who had never been prime minister. However, he was also a confidant of the emperor and worked part-time as an official in the East Palace.
While drinking tea, Wu Huaiyu made some requests politely.
"Lingnan fully implements the two-tax law. I hope the imperial court can agree to formally implement the three-part fiscal and taxation system in Lingnan, with one share going to the national treasury, one share to the envoys, and one share to the state.
Twice a year, divided into spring and autumn."
Fang Xuanling stroked his beard, "Lingnan will fully implement two taxes, so it is inevitable that the tax will be divided into three parts. However, the three parts of local finance and taxation that were tried before were only the two main taxes of local tax and household tax. The rest are salt, tea, wine, and sugar.
As well as mining lessons, market shipping tariffs, and income from purchases and government operations are not included.
What does the Duke of Jin plan?"
Wu Huaiyu, who has long been in charge of Lingnan, now has sufficient personnel power, supervisory power and even military power, including financial power.
When the previous tax adjustment system was implemented, Lingnan was not able to truly grasp it. The local prefectures and counties in Lingnan paid tribute, but it was just a symbol. The court failed to truly collect taxes in Lingnan.
Even only controlling a few cities such as Guangjiaogui.
In the past two years, the imperial court has been conducting strategic planning in Lingnan. It has sent troops to conquer, garrisoned troops, sent officials south, even immigrated, built cities, opened customs, etc.
Lingnan is slowly coming under the actual control of the imperial court, and everything must be on the right track.
The current implementation of two taxes is also the focus of Wu Huaiyu's next work in Lingnan. Taxes must be collected, but after the taxes are collected, how to distribute them is also key.
The imperial court definitely wants to take more,
But Wu Huaiyu also needed finance and taxation in the local area. Whether it was to garrison troops, raise troops, conquer rebellions, support officials in Lingnan, or even build schools, farm fields, open businesses, etc., a lot of money was needed.
We cannot count on the central government to allocate funds for these.
Wu Huaiyu had to make money by himself in Lingnan.
Organize households and people, collect household taxes, inventory fields, cultivate grain fields, and collect local taxes.
Even the monopoly tax on salt, tea, wine and sugar, the mining tax on minerals, and even the pearl tax on pearl fishing, as well as customs duties, industrial and commercial taxes, etc.
We must all become formalized, and at the same time we must enrich our finances.
Wu Huaiyu had also reached a preliminary agreement with the emperor before, that is, the official tax of the two taxes was three points, one point was given to the national treasury, one point was transferred to Wu Huaiyu, the observer, and the other part was retained for state and county expenses.
Of course, this is only the official tax,
As for other industrial and commercial taxes, monopoly taxes, even customs duties, mining taxes, etc., Li Shimin did not say anything. Fang Xuanling hoped that all these taxes would be paid to the national treasury.
Wu Huaiyu was unwilling,
How much is the official tax, especially in a place like Lingnan?
The bulk of it must be other miscellaneous items, whether it is industrial and commercial taxes, customs duties, monopoly sales, or mining lessons, as well as various sales and purchases, as well as official income, these are actually a large amount.
It is difficult to develop in Lingnan without money.
Raising soldiers requires money, fighting wars requires money, and raising officials also requires money.
Not to mention building cities, repairing forts, building post stations and trade routes, etc.
"I look at all taxes, whether they are the two taxes, industrial and commercial miscellaneous taxes, or monopoly, mining taxes, customs duties, etc., they are all divided into three parts, one part for the government, one part for the envoy, and one part for the state, so
It also facilitates unification.”
Fang Xuanling refused.
If the three-cent tax rate remains the same in the future, then the central government will only get one-third of all taxes, while the local governments will get two-thirds. How will the court do anything in the future?
"Two-thirds of the regular taxes can be reserved for local governments, but for industrial and commercial miscellaneous taxes, monopoly, etc., I don't think the local governments should divide them any more. The court has more places to spend money." Fang Xuanling did not give in.
Ever since,
Wu Huaiyu, the chief official of Lingnan Province, was bargaining with the five left-behind ministers who were supervising the prince.
We discussed it for a long time, but neither one was willing to give in.
Finally, we had to invite Prince Chengqian to host the ceremony.
After listening to Wu Huaiyu's explanation, Cheng Qian said, "I feel that what the teacher said is quite reasonable. In the past, Lingnan only had sporadic tribute, and the imperial court basically received no tax revenue from Lingnan, and the small amount of income was still used in Lingnan.
To be continued...