Half a month later, the Ministry of Revenue brought up the issue of increasing commercial taxes again at the court meeting.
This time, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development not only made calculations for the nationwide commercial tax increase, but also made plans for when and how to adjust it.
Zhou Jun, who was sitting on the throne, looked at the documents presented and was about to speak.
A chamberlain hurriedly walked in from outside the palace door, quickly came to the eunuch in charge of ceremonies, and said something. The eunuch in charge of ceremonies hesitated for a while, then came to the chamberlain eunuch Fan Jinian, and whispered something.
After Fan Jinian heard this, he raised his eyebrows and said in a low voice: "Nonsense!"
Zhou Jun looked at Fan Jinian out of the corner of his eye and asked, "What happened?"
Fan Jinian turned around and realized that many ministers in the palace had looked over and hesitated in a low voice: "Your Majesty, you are an elected representative listening outside the palace..."
Zhou Jun: "What's going on outside the palace? Just say it out loud."
Fan Jinian: "Yes, Your Majesty, I just heard from the chamberlain outside the palace that elected representatives want to enter the palace to discuss politics..."
Hearing this, many ministers were stunned.
Some people shook their heads and said, "Your Majesty allowed them to listen to the discussion outside the palace. It is already a holy grace. These people are pushing their limits and they still want to discuss politics?"
Someone else said: "That group of people can't even write official documents, and some of them can't even recognize the characters. How do they still want to discuss government affairs?"
Zhou Jun smiled slightly and asked Fan Jinian: "Why do they want to enter the palace to discuss politics?"
Fan Jinian: "The elected representatives heard outside the palace that the Ministry of Household Affairs was discussing commercial tax. They thought that the matter was closely related to them, so they wanted to enter the palace to express their views."
Zhou Jun thought for a moment, nodded and said, "Ask them to send a few people in. I would like to hear what they have to say."
When the ministers saw that the emperor allowed the representatives to enter the palace, they did not take it seriously. Everyone thought that the emperor was just on a whim and wanted to have some fun with these "common people".
Sha Shiqing and several business owners, guided by the chamberlain, entered the palace of power of the Tang Dynasty for the first time.
The faces of every elected representative were filled with nervousness and uneasiness, and some even almost tripped over their lapels while walking.
When many ministers saw this, they couldn't help but point and whisper.
After finally arriving in the hall, Sha Shiqing and other representatives knelt on the ground and shouted "Long live."
Zhou Jun: "Do you have something to say?"
Sha Shiqing kowtowed first and then said: "Your Majesty, ordinary people are brave and want to say a few words on behalf of the world's industry and commerce."
Zhou Jun nodded lightly.
Sha Shiqing: "Datang's industry and commerce is prosperous on the surface, but in reality, making a living is becoming more and more difficult. For example, in recent years, the price of raw materials has become more and more expensive, and it has become more and more difficult to hire workers who can be used as workshops and
There is less and less land under supervision, and even the purchasing power of gold, silver and copper coins has dropped a lot."
Before Sha Shiqing finished speaking, a head of the Ministry of Household Affairs held a book and said, "Your Majesty, the lives of merchants and shop owners have been going smoothly in recent years. Take the purchased house as an example. According to the records of the two cities, Chang'an recently
Nearly half of the buyers of the houses that were sold were business people."
Sha Shiqing: "The reason for purchasing a house in Chang'an was because the capital was moving south, and industry and commerce had to purchase a house before they could set up a branch here."
The head of the Ministry of Household Affairs asked again: "Datang Customs, extradition, seaports, etc., all have tariff records every year. The amount of taxes paid has been rising in recent years. Doesn't this prove that the industry and commerce are prosperous?"
Sha Shiqing paused for a moment.
Zhou Jun watched Sha Shiqing's performance from above and couldn't help but secretly shake his head.
Many years ago, Sha Shiqing, who was a slave tooth dealer, was not good at speaking and arithmetic. Unexpectedly, after so many years, although his personality has become much calmer, his speech and arithmetic are still unsatisfactory.
Zhou Jun was a little helpless. At this time, it still seemed very difficult to bring workshop owners, businessmen, miscellaneous students and other ordinary people to the court to discuss politics.
Firstly, the people are afraid of officials, which has not changed for thousands of years. Secondly, business people may not be able to understand the routines of officialdom after listening to the discussions for several months. This will be a long process.
At this time, Lu Ensheng, the Minister of Municipal Affairs Bureau, came out and said: "Your Majesty, I believe that commercial taxes should not be increased at this time."
Lu Ensheng's fate has officially entered the second half of this commercial tax debate.
Sha Shiqing and others had no official status and were all common people. When arguing with officials, they naturally lost momentum.
However, Lu Ensheng came from a merchant family and had been an official in Anxi for many years, so he was very familiar with the national economic and political environment.
As soon as Lu Ensheng came on stage, he did not argue with the officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs about how many houses the businessmen had bought or how much goods were crossing the border. Instead, he asked a question: "Your Majesty, if I remember correctly, in the 10th year of the New Year, the Datang Tax
Land taxes and commercial taxes each account for a considerable proportion of tribute. But why has the proportion of commercial taxes in tribute increased year by year in the past few years, while land taxes have decreased year by year?"
When Lu Ensheng mentioned the word "land tax", Luo Yingcai, the Minister of Household Affairs who had been watching from the sidelines, felt bad. He walked out from among the officials with his fat body shaking, bowed to Zhou Jun and said: "Your Majesty, in the tenth year of the new year
At that time, there were constant disputes in the world. The situation in Jiangnan, Huainan, Hehuang, Jiannan and other places was very dangerous. Therefore, it was impossible to do business and open shops in these places, and the business tax collected was naturally not much. In recent years, all thanks to
Your Majesty is wise, the world is at peace, merchants and village owners are making a living everywhere, the proportion of commercial taxes will increase, and the proportion of land taxes will naturally decrease."
Lu Ensheng shook his head at Luo Yingcai and said, "Master Luo, I'm afraid there's something wrong with this, right?"
Luo Yingcai looked at Lu Ensheng coldly: "Please enlighten me."
Lu Ensheng: "Shilang Luo just said that after the peace of the world, commerce and workshops picked up, which led to an increase in the proportion of commercial taxes. However, according to this, after the peace of the world, there should be more land that can be cultivated
Quite a few, why do we only see an increase in commercial taxes but not an increase in land taxes?"
Luo Yingcai rolled his eyes: "Unlike business and workshops, land reclamation, water conservancy restoration, soil fertilization and resettlement of refugees all take time. Compared with the land tax, the growth will naturally lag behind. If Lu Shilang
If you don’t believe it, you can go to the Ministry of Household Affairs to check the register, all farmers in the Tang Dynasty are registered.”
When Luo Yingcai said this, he was completely sure of Lu Ensheng. Even if he went to the Ministry of Household Affairs to search the records, he could not find any problems at all.
This is because officials collude with prominent clans and recruit farmers as tenants to control the land. Whether it is accounts, household registration, registration or tax payment, all documents have been prepared. Even if someone goes to check, they can't find anything wrong.
.
Lu Ensheng smiled slightly and asked: "According to Minister Luo, when farmers rent land, the Ministry of Household Affairs has arrangements and records?"
Luo Yingcai: "That's natural."
Lu Ensheng: "In that case, there is something that I would like to present to the Holy One for inspection."
Zhou Jun asked: "What?"
Lu Ensheng looked back and saw another official holding a brochure in his hand, emerging from the ranks of officials and walking forward slowly.
Zhou Jun took a closer look and saw that this person was actually Zhou Shang, the young master of Jingzhao Mansion.
Zhou Shang handed the document to the chamberlain and said: "As the young prince of Jingzhao Prefecture, I organized officials to conduct an investigation in Chang'an and Chang'an."
Zhou Jun took the document and asked curiously: "Investigation?"
Zhou Shang: "I have collected the salaries of employees inside and outside Chang'an City in the past six months."
The so-called salary refers to the salary offered during recruitment.
Zhou Jun opened the album and took a look and found that the salaries offered by merchants, wine shops, and coolies in Chang'an City were all extremely high.
When a commercial bank recruits a counter clerk, the monthly salary is as high as five taels. This salary standard is even the same as that of a low-ranking eunuch in the imperial city.
Zhou Jun flipped through the book again and found that a wealthy family outside Chang'an City hired workers, and their monthly salary was only a little over 200 yuan.
There is only a dozen miles difference between the inside and outside of the city, but the difference in monthly salary is dozens of times.
Zhou Shang said at this time: "Your Majesty has promulgated laws earlier, abolishing slaves and humble households, and prohibiting the master's family from signing death contracts with commoners. Both parties can only sign employment contracts on schedule... I looked at the monthly salary statistics inside and outside the city, and felt in my heart
One can’t help but wonder, there is obviously a shortage of labor in the city, and people are hired with high wages everywhere, but those hired workers outside the city, with meager money and food, want to join the rich families, why are they unwilling to go to Chang’an to make a living?”
When Luo Yingcai heard this, his face turned pale.
Of course he himself knew what was going on. Officials and wealthy people went behind the back of the court and used deceit and deception to sign death contracts with tenants and trap them with loan sharks. Moreover, if tenants want to enter the city, they must have a lead.
, officials need to rely on tenants to rent land, so naturally they are unwilling to let them leave, and it is absolutely impossible to issue household leads.
Zhou Jun glanced at Luo Yingcai, who turned pale, and then looked at Zhou Shang, Lu Ensheng and others. He put down the document in his hand and said slowly: "Let's put aside the business tax matters for the time being and withdraw from the court."
