Wei Zheng laughed angrily at Li Mu's vowing tone. He spread his hands and said, "Easier said than done! What you just said also indicated that it is not appropriate to forcefully take back the inherited fields. Then you let people pay taxes?
Originally, they didn’t pay taxes! Furthermore, even if they paid taxes, those with more land would not be short of this amount of tax. On the contrary, those with less land would have a heavier burden. Your idea still cannot be realized. Is it possible that you want to rent a small land?
Have you prepared the recipe in one pot?"
"That's exactly what I meant!"
"That's exactly what happened..." Wei Zheng almost choked to death. He ignored Li Mu and looked at Li Shimin, saying: "Your Majesty, Zhuluhou is making nonsense! Renying Tiaofa is the most appropriate method passed down. Even if he
Even with extraordinary talent, it is impossible to come up with a better and more practical method in a short period of time!"
Li Shimin also had this worry in his heart, and frowned and asked: "Li Mu, do you have any solution? If you do, it's time to come up with it now. If not, you can't continue to mess around."
"Yes!" Li Mulang said loudly: "When I do something, I first think about the result. If the result is not satisfactory and not enough to convince the public, I will not do it in the first place." After saying that, he looked at the people and said: "I will do this.
You don’t have to compete with a wealthy family to take a gamble. I just want to tell you a truth, a very simple truth, no eggs are left intact after the nest is overturned!"
"Do you think that after the Tang Dynasty defeated the Turks last year, there will be no more foreign troubles? Or maybe you think that even if the Tang Dynasty is destroyed like the Sui Dynasty, a new dynasty will come out, and the family has been passed down for thousands of years. Change the dynasty, change the
Doesn’t it matter to the emperor?”
The officials' expressions were uncertain. Li Mu's words obviously spoke to the minds of many of them.
Li Mu sneered and said: "Wrong, very wrong! When Mu read the historical records, he only had one emotion: everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the world. When the world rises, the people suffer, and when it dies, the people also suffer! The rise and fall have changed, and the people have no life. May I ask you?
Sir, the family is the people? The clan is the people? It has been passed down for thousands of years, and the hard work involved. I believe anyone who has read family history will understand what Mu means."
"Understanding these principles, I began to think about how to make the people suffer less or less, make prosperity more prosperous, and make death come later. The conclusion I came to is that only when the country is strong can the people live and work in peace and contentment.
Only when the country is strong, with powerful families, aristocratic families, big clans, etc., can the inheritance be orderly and orderly without suffering the pain of replacement. And only when the country is strong can it resist foreign invasions. Could it be that you have forgotten that since the Han Dynasty, when the Rong and Di entered China, their
Ignorant of etiquette and ignorance of benevolence and righteousness, the people of the Central Plains suffered greatly, and among them there must be ancestors of the princes!"
"Today, the Tang Dynasty relies on the power of the Supreme Emperor and His Majesty two generations of emperors to unify the Central Plains again. Defeat the Turks and enhance the prestige of our country! Isn't it gratifying? Not congratulatory? A prosperous age cannot be expected? Everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the world. For the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, Mu thought
, the shepherds and the public all have the responsibility to contribute!"
"Throughout history, when a country is prosperous, the king is wise and the ministers are virtuous. How can a king be wise? How can a minister be virtuous? Dukes and selfless are just five words. No matter whether the monarch or the powerful ministers, the nobles or the aristocratic families, they all surpass the common people.
If there are many, there is a favorable trend. If it is not curbed, no matter how wise the king is or how wise the minister is, it will not be able to stop the general trend of destruction. The reason is very simple. When money and power are concentrated in the hands of a few people, the people are like cattle and horses.
Generally speaking, when life is unsustainable, what can they do if they don't rebel? How many people like Chen Sheng and Wu Guang are left in the history books? Although they will not win the world in the end, the world will perish because of them!"
"The method I propose now is not to harm your interests, but to prepare for a rainy day and prevent the Tang Dynasty from repeating the mistakes of the previous dynasty. If the powerful families are committed to the Tang Dynasty and support the Tang Dynasty, they should be happy with such a strategy to strengthen the country.
, if the powerful family has some thoughts that they shouldn't have..." Li Mu sneered and said, "Whose problem is this?"
Wei Zheng knew that he could not argue with Li Mu, so he gave up the idea of arguing and asked: "These are all off-topic, just tell me, what can you do?"
Li Mu looked at Li Shimin and said: "I have asked Chang Sun Chong and others to draft the detailed measures. Since we are talking about it today, I will highlight a few key points."
"First of all, within the four seas is the royal land. This sentence must not be an empty talk. In the reform of the land system, the first thing to confirm is that within the four seas is the royal land! All the fields within the Tang Dynasty belong to His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty.
, all belong to the state! And the land that everyone gets is given by Your Majesty. In short, Your Majesty is the owner of the land, and the land of all races belongs to Your Majesty! This should be written in the laws of the Tang Dynasty!
"
Wei Zheng said angrily: "Li Mu, do you want to take back all the land? Just now you said that monarchs and ministers should be strict with themselves and be lenient to the people. What does this mean? You will even overturn the livelihood of the common people?"
"No! I don't want to overthrow the people's jobs. I want to tell the people, as well as the nobles and aristocratic families, that everything you have now is shared by the Tang Dynasty! Only when the Tang Dynasty exists, your fields are legal.
After the fall of the Tang Dynasty, your rights and interests will no longer be protected in the next dynasty! Only by supporting and safeguarding the Tang Dynasty can you live and work in peace and contentment! What, am I wrong?"
"I..." Wei Zheng was choked up and screamed. No matter what he said, it was a trap. Wei Zheng took a deep breath, suppressed the fire in his heart, and said: "Even if you are right, how can you guarantee that Datang
Can every generation of emperors regulate themselves? This rule of yours gives the king the power to deprive the people of their lands at any time. If the emperor is in power, what will happen to the people?"
"The teachings of the Holy Ancestor are engraved on the beams and pillars of the palace, and future generations may not change them!"
"..." Wei Zheng had nothing to say. He snorted and said, "Just tell me, and I will refute it after listening to you!"
"Another important point is taxation. The current tax collection methods in the Tang Dynasty are commercial tax, head tax, and land tax. Put the commercial tax bill aside and let's not mention it for now. Let's talk about head tax and local tax. I think
Very problematic.”
Wei Zheng couldn't help but said: "This has been the case for thousands of years, what's the problem!"
Li Mu looked at Wei Zheng and said, "You are stupid, may I ask Mr. Wei how the poll tax is calculated?"
"It's calculated based on the number of people, why can't it be calculated?"
"Then let me ask Mr. Wei, how do you count heads? Can you accurately count how many people there are? How do you count refugees and black households?"
Wei Zheng stopped talking. He had to admit that in order to save taxes, there were not a few people who concealed their accounts, and there were so many refugees running around that it was impossible to count the numbers.
"This is just a small problem. The biggest drawback of the poll tax is that the rich have vast areas of land, but few people. The poor have no place to stand, and there are many corvees! Such a big drawback, Wei Gong just wanted to get over it by saying that it has been like this for thousands of years.