After the liberation of Beijing, the unification of the Hunyuan Dynasty became a foregone conclusion.
In terms of employment, or management convenience, Zhu Yixi also has her own standards.
To put it simply, it is strong in the south and slow in the north.
That is, in the south, where peace has existed for many years, strong officials were chosen to implement the New Deal, while in the dilapidated north, traditional and moderate officials were chosen to govern.
For example, Jiangsu Province, Zhejiang and other places basically have no tax exemptions, while Shandong, Beizhili, Shaanxi, Henan and other places basically have tax exemptions ranging from one to three years.
As for increasing the population, corvee service was suspended for five years.
This is unthinkable in the South.
There was even an unwritten rule in the Ming Dynasty that people from southern Zhili were not allowed to serve as ministers of the Ministry of Household Affairs, for fear that they would be soft on their hometown.
Of course, when it comes to the issue of heavy taxes in Jiangnan, this is actually a false proposition.
There are always people who give examples, saying that the taxes of the Southern Zhili accounted for 20% of the imperial income, which showed that the people in Jiangnan had a heavy burden and had to support the Ming Dynasty with their own efforts. In fact, it is a biased opinion among the public.
Generally speaking, the reason why southern Zhili has high taxes mainly consists of two aspects.
One is the existence of a large amount of official land.
As the saying goes, economy determines politics, and politics is the feedback of economy.
First of all, the taxes on the official land were basically divided into 50 and 50. The official land of the Yuan Dynasty (the land of the civil and military clan of the Song Dynasty) and the land of Zhang Shicheng's noble family members all became the possessions of the Ming Dynasty.
In the early Ming Dynasty, major cases occurred again and again, such as the four major cases in the early Ming Dynasty, which almost wiped out the middle and upper-level bureaucrats in the court. Most of these civil servants and generals were from Jiangnan, and their fields were criss-crossed and became official fields.
Finally, the powerful forces moved to the south of the Yangtze River and entered Fengyang, where they confiscated a large amount of land.
Therefore, during the Hongwu period, the number of official fields in the Jiangnan region accounted for 70% of the total acres.
For example, in the late Hongwu years, the total farmland in Suzhou was 95,000 hectares, while the official land was 60,000 hectares, and the confiscated land accounted for one-third of the official land.
The highest proportion of official land is in Kunshan. Due to the concentration of wealthy people there, official land reaches a terrifying 80%.
Therefore, it can be said with certainty that the land cultivated by most people and gentry in Southern Zhili is composed of official land, so the taxation is the highest in the country.
Secondly, it is because the Ming Dynasty liked to use grain to calculate taxes for more than two hundred years. Many taxes in the Jiangnan area were calculated in terms of grain, so it was so high.
Crops such as silk, linen, cotton, etc. are also converted into grain to facilitate statistics.
Therefore, during the two hundred years of the Ming Dynasty, the Southern Zhili people complained a lot, but they only complained about the heavy corvee service, not the heavy taxes, because they were stealing government land to harvest the Ming court's wool.
As for the serious problem of white grain transportation, that is, the people in the south of the Yangtze River had to transport grain to the capital by themselves. Nanjing was originally not far away, but in the end they were forced to transport grain to Beijing, which led to the death of their families. In the Wanli period, the policy of silver transportation began to change.
Speaking of the official land issue mentioned earlier, it also gave the later Manchus a fool.
After the Manchus and Qing Dynasties got the fish scale book from the Ming court, they were very excited and went to the south with great interest to collect the official land and distribute it to the Eight Banners. However, it aroused opposition from the whole Jiangnan.
Because all official land and military land are occupied by landlords, gentry, and even the common people, you can impose heavy taxes, but you cannot make them hand over their land.
After a series of rebellions and uprisings, and even after refusing to compromise despite having a large number of titles revoked, the Manchu Qing Dynasty had no choice but to succumb.
For Zhu Yixi, 70% of the land in the Jiangnan area has been converted to rice, mulberry and cotton, so there is basically no point in collecting grain taxes.
It is better to take advantage of the trend and collect more commercial taxes on cotton, linen, silk, etc., which will bring more than harvesting grain.
Therefore, the food exemption is a benefit at no cost.
"The Ministry of Revenue also needs to pay attention to Anhui and Jiangsu. It will be difficult to get back the tax arrears without pressing them."
"In addition, the law of passing the examination must also be used. If the tax debt is not enough, we will be dismissed from office. Don't condone it."
The emperor made some suggestions, which was why he met with Zhao Shu alone.
The first assistant was personally in charge of the household department, and his experience in the Ming and Qing dynasties was that money can communicate with the gods.
Zhao Shu naturally understood the emperor's emphasis on money, but he felt that this was not the main purpose of the emperor calling him here.
He was simply very patient and just waited quietly.
After enjoying the sound of the rain hitting the glazed tiles for a long time, the emperor no longer hesitated and said directly: "In the end, the gold and silver from the internal funds are still local taxes, and should be collected by the Ministry of Household Affairs!"
"His Majesty--"
Zhao Shu was shocked and sighed secretly.
If you want to take it, you must first give it to it. The emperor is retreating in order to advance!
The two main sources of the emperor's internal funds were Jinhuayin and Chaoguan. Jinhuayin came from Jiangxi, Huguang, South Zhili and other places with poor transportation and remote areas. The grain harvest was converted into silver, which was about one or two hundred a year.
Ten thousand taels.
"The internal funds are not enough. If there is no gold and silver, wouldn't it be a injustice to His Majesty? The government and the public may continue to impeach the old minister..."
Zhao Shu said quickly, with bitterness written all over his face.
"That's it!"
Zhu Yixi realized something: "But since the emperor has said it, he must honor it."
"How about this!"
As he said that, the emperor suddenly said: "The canal's banknotes are also directly controlled by the imperial court, so I only need to pay the customs tax!"
"Customs?" Zhao Shu frowned and instantly understood the word. This is a matter related to overseas money, similar to the shipping department.
"The old minister is puzzled."
"After all, Shibo Division is too narrow."
Zhu Yixi said calmly: "The Ming Dynasty is only limited to Yuegang, and Nanjing and Nanjing are too few. I intend to open six new import and export commercial ports in Guangzhou, Fuzhou, Ningbo, Hangzhou, Songjiang, and Tianjin. In total, Nanjing,
Yuegang is the eight major customs offices that collect customs duties."
"Eight Customs—" Zhao Shu murmured, his face changing constantly, and he was constantly thinking about the pros and cons.
Undoubtedly, although the customs at this time did not know its benefits, Nanjing's Shipping Department alone collected more than 300,000 taels in taxes a year.
Even the eight major customs houses only have more than two million taels.
The eight major customs offices on the canal only amounted to two to three hundred thousand taels during the Wanli period, while the gold and silver collection was only two million taels. This is indistinguishable from the eight major customs offices.
But obviously, after the emperor implemented sea transportation, the potential of customs must be greater than that of internal transportation, and its future is promising.
In theory, the court would suffer.
But on the surface, the court is not at a disadvantage and the emperor is happy. Isn't this best?
In this regard, Zhao Shu wisely said: "How can I make it difficult for Your Majesty to provide supplies? The world will definitely blame you. Gold, flowers and silver will be included in the household department, and banknotes must not be transferred..."
As he spoke, he said thoughtfully: "The establishment of the customs has not yet begun. In order to avoid the shortage of the palace, it is too late to transfer the gold and silver in ten years."
"Ten years is too long."
The emperor shook his head and was very satisfied with Zhao Shu's thoughtfulness: "Just three years. After three years, the gold and silver will be taken over by the imperial court."