Zhu Yunxi wiped the corners of his mouth with a silk handkerchief and said lightly, "I just arrived in Beijing last night? Has Your Majesty thought about what to say tomorrow?"
Today, he actually came out of the palace to see Zhang Shan. The reason why the old man wanted to see Zhang Shan was not entirely because someone in the court was impeaching him, but because Zhang Shan mentioned a lot of local things in his own story, which attracted the old man's attention. For example,
He said that because of the developed trade and handicraft industries in Hangzhou and its surrounding areas, nine out of ten farmland areas have become mulberry fields, with no one growing food.
The only land for growing grain is still in the hands of temples, causing grain prices to be 20% more expensive than in other provinces. Once natural disasters occur, famine is bound to occur in Suzhou and Hangzhou.
There are also local businessmen and other wealthy families who have escaped from the business tax that is better than nothing, and have given the land in their own names to famous scholars, etc.
"Thank you so much for your concern, Your Highness!"
Zhang Shan was grateful for Zhu Yunxi's protectiveness. He sat down and bowed slightly and said, "As for what your Majesty asked, I will answer truthfully!"
"You look like an honest person, but as soon as you go to Hangzhou, you become a murderer. Dozens of monks were beheaded by you. Grandpa Huang read the memorial and said to me with a smile. Well, Zhang Xiandan became Zhang Xiandan
Iron Dan!" Zhu Yunxi smiled, and his tone changed slightly, "I heard that by cleaning up the monks' affairs, you also arrested many big people involved in the temple?"
"It's impossible not to arrest them!" Zhang Shan said, "Those people are so rich that they are not satisfied. They evade land taxes and business taxes. They obviously have no fame or honor, but speaking up for the local government is more effective than a scholar and a scholar!
When I was investigating the property of Lingyin Temple, some large households actually organized tenant farmers to resist official duties!"
"After I arrested the person, local scholars and lower-level officials wrote letters to intercede one after another."
Zhu Yunxi nodded thoughtfully and tapped his fingers on the table, "Don't be afraid of killing, I will make the decision for you! However, just killing is not the answer. Rich people who don't have some dirty tricks can't kill them all. The key is,
How will you manage it in the future?”
Zhang Shan paused for a moment and then said, "Your Highness, please make it clear!"
"The so-called tax evasion is due to imperfect tax laws or too low taxes." Zhu Yunxi took a sip of tea and said, "Jiangnan trade tax can be offset several times of land tax. When Grandpa Huang asked you, you lead the question to
Increase the business tax!"
"My lord, I understand!" Zhang Shan whispered.
Now that there is an introduction, the matter of business taxation can be put on the agenda. However, in the eyes of old men and traditional literati, tax collection is not a good thing. Not only will there be talk, but there will also be trouble.
But if you don't collect it now, you won't be able to collect it in the future.
At this time, the Ming Dynasty banned the sea, and private merchants were not allowed to travel to the sea for trade, but outside merchants were not prohibited. Tariffs were easy to calculate. A customs department was set up to inspect sea-going cargo, and they could always collect the goods in the same amount.
The difficulty lies in the commercial taxes in the Ming Dynasty. In all dynasties, taxes were collected at the city gates and on the canals. However, not to mention the officials who enriched their own pockets, even the merchants also had many ways to evade taxes. In the end, it was often
It would be good if only 10% of the 100% can be handed over to the country.
However, with the postal service, you can get twice the result with half the effort. The postal service issues bills of quantity and type for the goods shipped by the merchants. When entering various cities and passes, you can only enter the city by showing the bills.
Then the city gate tax or river tax is levied based on what is shown on the bill. Then the local tax department calculates the tax collected based on the postal bills handed in by the merchants.
Tax law is also a process that keeps pace with the times. Without hundreds of years of commercial society and repeated battles between businessmen and officials, it would not be possible to achieve it overnight.
But what you can collect is a little bit. The reason why the Ming Dynasty collapsed was because it had no money and could not collect taxes. In the later Qing Dynasty and the Qianlong period, the annual tax revenue of Chongwenmen in Beijing alone was as high as 900,000 taels of silver.
In Zhu Yunxi's heart, those who don't pay taxes are not good people!
At this time, the waiter's voice sounded outside the door, "Guys, please serve the dishes!"
The door opened, and the waiter led a few waiters to place exquisite dishes on the table. The dishes on the plate were full of flavor and flavor, and they were pleasing to the eye.
"eat!"
After the bastard tried them all, Zhu Yunxi picked up the chopsticks and said with a smile, "I forgot, you can often eat these dishes in Hangzhou!"
"I don't have spare money to go out to restaurants!" Zhang Shan said with a smile, "Hangzhou is a place where gold is sold. If I go to a restaurant every time, my salary for a month is not enough for a medium-sized banquet!"
"The salary of the Ming Dynasty is a bit low!" Zhu Yunxi ate a chopstick of Longjing shrimp. He felt that it was smooth, soft and tender, and also had the fragrance of tea. He smiled and said, "Collecting business taxes makes the place rich and the national treasury rich.
, if appropriate, I will also suggest that your salary be increased a little!"
"Your Highness, I am very kind, but I feel that although the salary is small, it is enough. The population of my family is small, but..."
"You have a small population, but you have a big family." Zhu Yunxi continued with a smile, "Looking at Shandong's memorial, the local official of Linyi, Shandong, the master of Qipin County, the bearers are his brother-in-law and brother-in-law, and the cook at home is
My wife and sister-in-law have their official robes patched, and my old mother still has to go to the mountains to dig wild vegetables!"
With that said, Zhu Yunxi seemed to have found a breakthrough point to solve the commercial tax problem. Originally, the Ming Dynasty could not collect taxes because of collusion between officials and businessmen, and officials from Jiangnan controlled public opinion and government affairs.
So now, if you use taxes to raise salaries for civil servants as bait, then the resistance will be much smaller!
"Although I am pedantic, I am not stupid. It is not that I want to please His Highness. There are not many officials like that!" Zhang Shan said with a smile, "Besides, the officials of Qingshui Yamen may be so poor, and they really did something.
How poor can a landlord and an official be?"
"Try this soup!" Zhu Yunxi smiled, pointing to the pot of emerald green water shield soup, and said, "It looks good, but I don't know how it tastes!" As he said this, he motioned to the bastard to give Zhang Shan a bowl and drank it himself.
He stood up and said, "Yeah, it's quite fresh. But it's not as delicious as the tofu made by your daughter!"
Zhang Shan's hand shook and he almost dropped the spoon he had just put into his mouth.
"You came to Beijing by yourself. Is there anyone at home accompanying you?" Zhu Yunxi continued to ask.
"My daughter is accompanying me!" Zhang Shan whispered, "My daughter has already come out of her filial piety period. She is already eighteen this year, and her marriage will no longer be delayed. The same year I was in Beijing, there happened to be a son at home who was about the same age as my daughter...
.......!"
"Let your daughter go on a blind date?"
For some reason, Zhu Yunxi became a little unhappy when he thought of Zhang Ronger's oval face, shallow dimples, and the way her fingers were twirling her hair when she spoke.
And this unhappiness became more intense and turned into anger as he thought about Zhang Ronger's pancakes, cold dishes, soups, and the beautiful figure walking on the embankment.
"Who is your age, what is your surname? Which yamen you are in? How many people are in your family? What is his son's rank? He is tall, short, fat and thin, and what is his character and moral character?" Zhu Yunxi put down his chopsticks and asked a series of questions.
Zhang Shan saw sweat on his forehead and said, "The same year as this minister is Cai Ying, the prime minister of Yingtian Mansion. He was a Jinshi, and the character and appearance of his family..."
"Cai Ying? No!"
Zhu Yunxi knew this person, and when he went to capture Daoran that day, Cai Ying was with him.
At that moment, he said dissatisfiedly, "Although he is a Jinshi, he is stingy in his words and deeds. He has the head of a deer and the eyes of a rat. Dragons give birth to dragons and phoenixes. The son of a mouse has to dig holes. With Cai Ying's virtue, how can the children born after him be better?"
?”
Zhang Shan couldn't sit still, his two sides trembled, and he said in a trembling voice, "But the two sides have already exchanged letters, and we have to see each other to see if it works..."
"What are you seeing?" Zhu Yunxi glared and said, "How can you, a father, take your daughter's life-long event for granted? Doesn't it mean you acknowledge it if you see it? Doesn't it mean you acquiesce?"
"You scholars all have a lot of face. If we really want to meet each other, why do you have the nerve to say no? What if that boy from the Cai family is a dandy with bad conduct? Wouldn't your daughter have wasted her life by marrying him?"
"Besides, your children must have good appearance and good figure..." As he said this, Zhu Zhuyunxi felt that these words were a bit explicit, so he changed his words and said, "Your daughter must be virtuous and virtuous.
When looking for a good match, if you act so hastily and waste your life, isn’t it a sin?”
"Hey, Rong'er is such a good girl, she must be careful about her marriage. How many people get married blindly these days, loving in front of others, but crying behind others. As a father, you don't think about it carefully!"
"Yes, yes!" Zhang Shan nodded repeatedly, "I was out of consideration!"
"Cai Ying!" Zhu Yunxi clicked his tongue, "Even though he is a Jinshi, being an official is the most useless, and you can't handle even the smallest things! You are a lonely person, even if you want to get married, you have to find a progressive family."
Poof, Zhang Shan beside him could no longer sit still and fell to his knees.
"Get up quickly!" Zhu Yunxi helped him up, "Gu said he didn't talk about you, so what are you afraid of?" He said with a smile, "I will see Grandpa Huang tomorrow, and Gu will want to talk to you. By the way, last time Rong Rong
The soup made by my son is good, let her make it for me again!"