Chapter 388 How Can Zhu Shuren Be Satisfied With Such a High IQ?
Faced with Zhang Huangyan's helplessness, Zhu Shuren looked confident. In his previous life, he was from a well-known think tank and had deep insights into the feasibility of historical fiscal and taxation reforms.
He will not simply copy the answers of future generations, nor will he blindly think that the later the method is, the better - it must also take into account feasibility and technical infrastructure. Some tax calculation methods of later generations, if the required hardware
If the requirements are too high, then you definitely can’t apply it to Damingsheng.
So after looking around at the other cabinet ministers in the room, he solemnly announced his specific implementation measures:
"Don't you know that it is much more difficult to collect industrial and commercial tax from the production link than from the transaction and transportation link? Therefore, the original Ming Dynasty's method of defining the production scale according to the number of looms to collect silk silk tax must of course be continued.
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But this is far from enough. We must use this as a basis to introduce new ones and draw inferences from one example, so as to cover emerging industries as much as possible and take into account fairness."
Zhu Shuren's few words to set the tone immediately aroused Zhang Huang's interest in Yan Shi Kefa. They were really curious about what Zhu Shuren could do.
Zhu Shuren continued: "I thought that the current Ding tax, or poll tax, could be canceled and re-established. In the future, farmers will not have to pay the poll tax. The people who farm the land have already paid the land tax, grain rice, or grain tax.
It is not fair to the extremely poor to make them pay taxes on a per capita basis.
If we only pay land tax, those with more land will pay more, those with less land will pay less, and those without land will not pay, and the people will not be forced to come out with thieves like Zhang Ni again."
If future generations had opened their eyes to look at Zhu Shuren's words, they would definitely have mistakenly thought that he was planning to "divide a small family into a single family." However, neither Shi Kefa nor Zhang Huangyan were time travellers, so they had no preconceived notions.
But they also immediately realized that this method was good for social fairness and could prevent people who had little land and no land from being severely exploited.
Just abolishing a tax with a very broad tax base would definitely have a serious impact on the Ming Dynasty's finances. But they did not see where this could increase revenue or what other things could be leveraged.
In fact, Zhu Shuren's approach is of course significantly different from the "sharing the family into the mother" in many time-travel novels - he has read many novels in his previous life, and he knows that writing about the story is the lowest cost for readers to understand
Without much explanation, this approach can give people the impression that "the country will be awesome after this change." As for the specific details of how awesome it is, it is no longer important.
It's a pity that Zhu Shuren is not writing novels. What he wants is to govern the country, so he only "disposes Ding" instead of "distributing Ding". Moreover, the deposed Ding is not all abolished, but only the "Ding" in the agricultural field.
Times have changed! Today's Ming Dynasty has begun preliminary industrialization efforts, which have been going on for nearly twenty years. The development of handicraft industry is far from comparable to that of the Qing Dynasty in history.
It can be said that although the output value of the Ming Dynasty's handicraft industry has not yet reached the level of industrial prosperity, it can surpass the Yongzheng and Qianlong years of the Qing Dynasty in history.
The steelmaking and metallurgy of the Ming Dynasty was generally close to the level of the West after the 1750s, at least a hundred years ahead of the same period in history. The level of chemical industry was even closer to that of the West in the 19th century.
In the textile industry, although there is no steam engine power, Xiaowan spinning machine (Jenny machine) and flying shuttle loom have been popularized for 24 years.
Nowadays, almost all the old-fashioned single-wheel spinning wheels in the entire Ming Dynasty have been eliminated. Except for a few remote and poor mountainous areas or places where barbarian chieftains live, the information is really limited and they cannot keep up with the times.
The output of cotton yarn, silk, cotton cloth and satin in the textile industry has increased to more than three times that of the Chongzhen period. Basically, in more than 20 years, the entire national output has directly quadrupled.
The cost and selling price of textiles have dropped significantly, clothing has become more accessible to the people, and overseas exports have also begun to become stronger. Historically, the Qing Dynasty was the largest exporter to foreign countries until a few decades before the Crow War.
It is still tea, not silk. This is mainly because the traditional Chinese textile industry production method is too inefficient and the production capacity is too small, so the industrial scale cannot increase.
At that time, it had been 80 years since the shuttle loom was invented in the West, but China was still using narrow handlooms to weave silk and satin. In contrast, the expansion of tea production capacity only required land, not industrial strength, so that historically the Qing Dynasty never
During the Yong, Qian and Ji dynasties, the growth of foreign trade always focused on tea.
Now, as Zhu Shuren has given the people of Ming Dynasty 150 years of textile industry reform ahead of schedule, Ming Dynasty's future exports of silk and other products will definitely exceed the value of tea.
Having said so much, it is nothing more than to prove one problem - today's Ming Dynasty already has a considerable industrialized population. It is estimated that if there are not 10 million people in the country, there must be several million.
The non-agricultural productive population is so large that it deserves to be treated as a separate tax base population category and a set of rules specially formulated for it.
…
"So, my specific method is to set the population registration in the future - but it is not the classification of civilian households, military households, and craftsmen households like Emperor Taizu. Taizu's classification at that time required that in principle, generations should try not to change their profession.
of.
The Ming Dynasty's future permanent residence will allow descendants to change careers, and even the person himself can be given a chance to change careers during his lifetime. Changing careers will not affect whether he can be an official in the imperial examination or other benefits, but will only affect the way an individual pays taxes.
If you have a rural registration, you need to register your land. Once you have the land, you pay grain according to the area of the field, but you don't have to pay Ding tax. If you have a business registration, you pay industrial and commercial head tax, but you don't have to pay grain.
From now on, all food will come from people with agricultural registrations, and all money will come from people with industrial and commercial registrations. From now on, the two lines of money and food will be separated, and each will do his or her best."
Zhu Shuren eloquently and rigorously described his operation method of canceling the agricultural tax, but it did not count as "divide a small amount into an acre".
Zhang Huangyan and Shi Kefa were both quite shocked after hearing this. At first glance, it seemed very simple. If it could be implemented, it would definitely not only ensure the fairness of the people, avoid excessive exploitation, but also ensure the cost of the court - but they still felt that it was still necessary.
There are many loopholes that can easily be exploited.
Wang Anshi and Zhang Juzheng were both familiar with the history books about the malpractices they caused during their years. Especially as Shi Kefa got older, he paid more attention to reading history in his later years. He had studied the economic lessons of past dynasties for many years.
As for other listeners with lower levels, they are not qualified to react so quickly. They are still in a state of confusion.
Shi Kefa frowned and thought for a long time, then coughed and said:
"His Highness's idea is very good, which shows that he has the intention to benefit the people and the country. I also know that everyone in the world may be corrupt and self-interested, but His Highness will never have such thoughts when implementing the new tax policy. It will not be for the sake of
Make money for your own people.
However, since ancient times, there have been many people with good intentions who have done bad things. In just a moment, I have thought about several issues: First, if the people are to be registered to pay taxes, their livelihood should be assessed according to the practice of Taizu, and then the decision should be made.
Or should we let them register on their own?
According to His Highness, in order to prevent the people from being imprisoned, this registration is not fixed. The next generation of children is allowed to choose their own careers. He is even allowed to go to the government to choose a career and change his registration once. So most of them report it on their own?
As a result, when the new law was first implemented, people may not have known whether the actual tax burden was heavier than the agricultural or worker status, and they would register according to their own industry.
But as time goes by, many years later, with the stabilization of labor and food prices, people will also have a strong idea in their minds. Wouldn't they figure out whether the direct tax paid by workers is more valuable, or whether the grain turned in every year by farmers is more valuable?
And once the people compare their worth, there will inevitably be a place where the tax burden is actually worth more, and a large number of people will be lost, and it will be changed to a place where the tax burden is actually worth less.
For example, if grain is expensive and the grain tax paid is higher than the Ding tax paid, then the farmers' status will be converted to workers' status. Even if they are still farming, they will sell the grain after the autumn harvest in exchange for money to pay the workers' Ding tax.
If the grain is cheap, the situation will be reversed. Working status will be changed to agricultural status one after another. Even those who are actually still working will use their wages to buy grain and pretend to be farmers to pay for the grain.
What's more, the money and food required by the court have a fixed amount. No matter there is more money and the food is more expensive, or there is less money and the food is cheaper, it will cause the court's turnover to be reduced, which may affect the army's food and salary. In the end, the Taizu Dynasty will have to pay in kind.
Pay, or did Zhang Juzheng force him to change his position?"
Don't think that the ancients didn't know the arbitrage space of the "dual-track price system" and how much rush and confusion it would bring.
The people of the Ming Dynasty experienced a money shortage in the early years of the Ming Dynasty and had to pay in kind. They also witnessed Zhang Juzheng's whipping method. Because they had to pay silver, the people sold grain for silver, and the price of grain was so high that it was shipped out.
And become cheap.
Shi Kefa knew very well that as long as the people are allowed to arbitrage, in the end it will be the profiteers and the relatively cunning and clever people among the people, while the slow-responsive and clumsy people will suffer. Over time, the gap between the rich and the poor will become wider and wider.
As a pure Confucian under traditional moral regulations, Shi Kefa hates all space for financial speculation and arbitrage. He feels that as long as the new law introduces such factors, even if it can simplify the complex, it will also introduce new disadvantages.
However, Zhu Shuren was not unhappy after hearing his concerns. Instead, he felt that Daming was still capable of practical work.
He nodded happily: "What Mr. Shi Ge said is clear about its disadvantages. It can be said that you are dedicated to serving the public, and you will be encouraged if you are alone. If you implement it concretely in the future, you must always be vigilant.
Yes, as long as there is a difference in the burdens of workers and peasants and there is room for arbitrage, the people will inevitably be tempted to change their nationality to reduce their burdens. Therefore, this law has set two insurances:
First, as I said just now, although it is allowed to change one's nationality, it is not possible to change one's nationality at will. Each person can only change one's nationality at most once in a lifetime. If you are a man who is acting erratically, you will naturally be punished by national law."
Zhu Shuren was the first to point out that although the new law he wanted to introduce seemed similar to the "free choice of career" in later generations, in fact there was still a threshold. In the labor market of later generations, you can change jobs several times in your life, but in the Ming Dynasty, only
Can change careers once (workers are not restricted from changing jobs with different employers, but workers can only change careers once).
Of course, don't ask him with the demands of future generations. He is willing to allow people to change jobs once in their lifetime. From a horizontal point of view, it is already an extremely benevolent government. If it is left in Zhu Yuanzhang's hands, let alone that he cannot change jobs in his life, his descendants will change careers.
All are restricted.
Moreover, Zhu Shuren's restriction on changing one's registration does not involve the specific job the other party is engaged in. If he changes his registration to a farmer's registration, he will still be able to work if he no longer wants to farm and thinks it is cost-effective to work.
As long as you earn money from working, you can come back to buy grain and pay the agricultural grain tax. The country doesn't care what you do. All the country cares about is taxation.
After hearing this, Shi Kefa realized that he had indeed missed the point just now. With this back-up, he could ensure stability to a certain extent and curb speculative liquidity.
Zhu Shuren saw that Shi Kefa and everyone had understood the beauty of it, and continued: "The second insurance is that Gu decided that when the new law is implemented, the amount of Ding tax and land tax must be strictly assessed to ensure that the actual burden of land tax is greater than
Those with high taxes——
Don’t think that Gu is exploiting farmers and encouraging workers. This is strictly designed. Because under the new law, those who can be recognized as farmers must have land in their name.
If a family does not have land registered in the government's yellow register, and like the former tenants, contributes slaves, then even if they insist on farming, they will not be able to register as farmers under the new law.
From now on, all agricultural laborers will be recognized as workers, and they will be recognized as people who help the landlord to work and cultivate the land. Those who have permanent tenant rights will also be recognized as "having the right to be permanently hired by the landlord to cultivate specific land."
In this way, peasant status is actually equivalent to today's landlords, rich peasants, or at least middle-lower peasants who have some own land, and can never be poor tenant farmers who are destitute and have no place to stand.
The worker status includes both industrial and commercial craftsmen who actually work in the city, as well as extremely poor and landless peasants. This group of people is weaker than the land-owning people, and it is appropriate for the court to reduce their burden.
As long as it is ensured that the tax burden of landowners is higher, and landowners cannot convert to work status arbitrage before selling their land, and if they want to arbitrage in exchange for tax benefits, they must sell their excess land, then those who like to annex land can be
People cannot pretend to be citizens because they are reluctant to sell their land."
Zhu Shuren's new law must set the agricultural tax higher than the industrial tax or Ding tax, but there is no "oppression of farmers" because the farmers here are actually landlords and self-cultivators. And the "landless farmers" are counted
A worker.
Linking the conditions for changing careers to whether you own land greatly limits speculation. Some people would like to go to tax-rich areas, but they are reluctant to sell their land.
In fact, there is quite a "dividing the land among the land" nature, which puts all the land tax on the landowners, but does not see the "dividing the land" action, which is more clever.
Shi Kefa and Zhang Huang thought about it again and again, and couldn't help but be impressed. At least for now, it's hard to talk about other disadvantages, but it has indeed blocked the hole of preventing people from frequently changing their citizenship to arbitrage tax-depressed areas.
However, if this law is to be implemented, resistance will definitely be obvious. In the future, if families with large amounts of private land want to invest in industry and commerce, there will definitely be many restrictions.
According to Zhu Shuren's classification, you pay agricultural taxes. If you go to run industry and commerce, but fail to pay the industrial and commercial taxes truthfully, it is definitely illegal. It is considered tax evasion and will be thoroughly investigated by the court.
Therefore, if you want to be a big landowner in the future, you may not be able to be a capitalist and can only choose one. Or at least you have to engage in "separate holdings". For example, those wealthy families set up a branch to hold land exclusively for the family.
One branch specializes in industry and commerce.
For those solid players who look ugly, "want and want", want to invest in everything and don't want to miss any opportunity, they will probably resent the imperial court. But now the imperial court is very powerful, beating up so many foreigners, and still
With absolute control over the handle of the knife, it is estimated that they will not be able to make trouble.