"Recover tax rights, increase commercial taxes, and return taxes uniformly...this, this..."
Zhu Biao's eyes widened and he couldn't help but paused at what he wanted to say. After several breaths, he gradually came back to his senses. He looked at the memorial with a complicated expression and murmured to himself: "If it can be done, then the Ming Dynasty will never be short of taxes again."
Han Du heard Zhu Biao's words, smiled and waved his hands, and said: "It's not as exaggerated as the emperor said. Even if everything is done, it will only make the collection and use of taxes more in line with the rules."
"Following the rules? What rules?" Zhu Biao couldn't help but ask.
Han Du sighed and said: "In the past dynasties, land tax, Ding tax, etc. were collected by various yamen. In order to recuperate the people and vigorously encourage the development of industry and commerce, the former emperor formulated the simplest commercial tax and set the The rule of thirty taxes and one tax was broken. This move can indeed help the world get out of the haze of war in a short period of time and become prosperous again. It is equivalent to hiding wealth among the people, which can benefit the people, but this move has great consequences for the Ming Dynasty and the court. But it is extremely disadvantageous.
If the business tax is too low, the court will not receive money, but the people will have a lot of wealth. Wealth will accumulate, and it will only accumulate where there is more money. If things go on like this, it will lead to a situation where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. "
"Wouldn't reducing taxes bring benefits to the people? How could the rich get richer and the poor get poorer?" Zhu Biao asked puzzledly.
Han Du shook his head and said: "If it were in the early years of Hongwu, it would indeed be able to benefit the people. Because at that time, everyone had just gone through the war and was still in panic. Everyone was thinking about how to save their lives. Life does not place too much importance on money. Among the people, there are ordinary farmers, landlords and gentry, some are extremely smart, and there are also people with clumsy talents. As the world settles down, the importance of money will continue to increase. These The gentry and smart people will naturally try their best to make money, but ordinary people still live day by day. Who do you think the emperor thinks this folk wealth will end up in? "
Needless to say? Of course it is in the hands of the gentry and smart people.
Although Zhu Biao did not want to see the people suffer, he did not naively think that ordinary people would be the opponents of the gentry.
"You mean to say that no matter how much benefit the court gives to the people, it will eventually fall into the hands of the gentry and merchants, not the people?"
"Of course, as the gentry and merchants have more and more money, they will not be considerate of the people like the imperial court. Instead, they will become more serious and rob the people of their wealth." Han Du sighed.
When everyone was in danger, everyone was still able to unite to protect themselves. But once the world settles down and there are no threats to life, some people will start to use the resources they have, or their ingenuity, to trample others under their feet and become superior to others.
This is human nature.
Zhu Biao suddenly became angry, clapped his hands suddenly, and shouted: "Since it can't benefit the people, then the court might as well take the taxes back!"
Han Du immediately smiled, nodded and said, "I have the same idea, so I proposed to increase business taxes."
Zhu Biao suddenly hesitated, looked at Han Du and said, "The new tax system you proposed is indeed good, but I think it would be more appropriate to discuss it with the ministers. Besides, you have to eat the food one bite at a time, you can Let’s change the tax system first. As for business tax, we can wait until later.”
"Of course." Han Du nodded slightly. I was indeed a little too eager and only wanted to solve the problem once and for all. But Zhu Biao's steady approach is better. Sometimes taking it slow will yield better results.
In the morning of the next day, after the others had finished reporting, Han Du stood up with the memorial and said loudly: "To your Majesty, I have this memorial."
"Accurate!" Zhu Biao spat out one word in a low voice.
Han Du straightened up, held up the memorial and said: "Your Majesty, taxation is the foundation of the country. As the Minister of Household Affairs, I often feel deeply frightened when shouldering such an important responsibility. Nowadays, the taxation of our dynasty is messy and includes many rents, mediocrities, transfers, and servitudes. There are also land taxes, corvées, miscellaneous taxes, etc. Even the tax collection differs between counties, let alone the people. Such many exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes will not only make the people miserable, but will also make it difficult for the county government to collect them. Therefore, In order to unify the taxation of the country, and to prevent the people from bearing too many exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes, the Ministry of Household Affairs specially drafted new taxation regulations and asked the emperor to review them."
Han Du just said that exorbitant levies and miscellaneous taxes were not conducive to the people's payment, which was considered polite. In fact, Han Du's deeper intention was to simplify taxes and avoid officials from arbitrarily expropriating the people to the greatest extent.
"Send it up." Zhu Biao said in a loud voice.
Wang Yue came down, took Han Du's memorial and presented it to the emperor.
Zhu Biao read the memorial carefully, raised his head and said to the ministers: "My dear friends, please read the details."
Then, Zhu Biao signaled Wang Yue to pass the memorial to several ministers.
Wang Yue bowed slightly towards the emperor and handed the memorial to Zhang Yan.
Zhang Yan glanced at Han Du reluctantly, reached out and took the memorial and opened it. He couldn't help but frown after just one glance at Zhang Yan. He read it silently and then handed the memorial to Qi Tai.
Qi Tai took a look, and a sneer suddenly appeared on his face. After reading it, he handed the memorial to the next minister.
After the other five ministers had finished reading, Han Du took the memorial and turned to the others and said: "I would like to briefly explain to you that there are three main points in the tax changes: first, to comprehensively clear the land in the world. The late emperor used three On the condition of being exempted from paying taxes for five years, we will attract people to cultivate wasteland. Up to now, even the Ministry of Household Affairs cannot provide an accurate data on how many acres there are in the world, so how can the Ministry of Household Affairs determine the taxes in the world? "
When the ministers heard this, they all nodded. More than thirty years have passed since the late emperor encouraged the people to cultivate wasteland. Although various prefectures and counties occasionally measure acres of land, many of them must be omitted. Even if some measurements are made, they may not be reported to the court. After all, if you can hide one acre of land, you will receive less tax on one acre of land. The officials below are naturally willing to save things when they can, and hide things when they can.
Only by clearing out all the land in the world can the court know how much tax should be collected.
"The second is to unify taxation. The current rents, taxes, transfers, and services are too numerous and complicated. After unifying taxation, each prefecture and county can know which taxes should be collected and which taxes should not be collected. Moreover, by simplifying taxation, taxes can be Disclose to the people what needs to be taxed and what does not.”
"The third is to levy money per mu, and set up a tax collection department to collect taxes. Each county government office is no longer responsible for tax collection, which can make the collection method more complete."
After Han Du finished speaking, the Fengtian Hall was so quiet that one could hear a needle drop.
Of course, all the officials have no objection to the first one, but the next two... Despite Han Du's high-sounding words, who among the people who can stand here is a fool? As soon as he heard this, he knew that the Marquis of Zhenhai wanted to take back the power of collecting taxes from the Yamen all over the world. This was no small matter.
Zhang Yan didn't have a good impression of Han Du in the first place, so naturally he would not let go of the opportunity to embarrass Han Du now.
"Marquis Zhenhai, you are the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs. Logically speaking, I will not interfere with how you collect taxes. Even if it is to measure the acres of land or collect taxes uniformly, it has nothing to do with me. But you Why can't all prefectures and counties collect taxes and then send them to the capital from the provinces? Why bother setting up a taxation department and let the taxation department specifically collect it?"
Han Du looked at Zhang Yan with a smile. How could he tell Zhang Yan about the benefits of taking back tax rights and collecting taxes exclusively? Therefore, Han Du just smiled and did not speak.
Seeing that Han Du ignored him, Zhang Yan frowned and immediately snorted in his heart, and was about to stand up and confront Han Du.
Qi Tai who was on the side said loudly: "Your Majesty, the Ministry of Revenue is in charge of taxation. Since the Ministry of Revenue wants to change the method of tax collection, I think it is the responsibility of the Ministry of Revenue, and I have no objection."
Zhang Yan glanced at Qi Tai in surprise. Neither he nor Qi Tai could deal with Han Du. It is precisely because of this that the two of them have been very close to each other during this period, and they seem to be reluctant to meet each other. According to common sense, Qi Tai should join him in opposing Han Du. Why would he speak out to help him instead?
As if he was predicting the future, Qi Tai turned his head and met Zhang Yan's eyes. He smiled and nodded towards Zhang Yan, giving him a reassuring look.
When Zhang Zhen saw it, he immediately lowered his head and said nothing.
Zhu Biao glanced at Qi Tai in surprise. He did not expect that Qi Tai would speak for Han Du at this time.
However, it is better to speak for Han Du than to speak against Han Du.
After glancing at the others, Zhu Biao immediately smiled and nodded and said: "Since all the dear ministers have no objections, let the Ministry of Household Affairs issue an official document and start rectifying the taxation."
After speaking, Zhu Biao stood up.
Wang Yue quickly swung his fly whisk and shouted in a sharp voice: "Retreat from the court!"
...
The ministers left Fengtian Hall with different thoughts.
Especially Zhang Yan, he couldn't bear it any longer as soon as he left the palace. He couldn't wait to find Qi Tai and quickly pulled him into the carriage.
As soon as Qi Tai sat down, Zhang Yan couldn't wait to ask: "Shang Li, what's the matter with you? How could you help Han Du speak for Han Du in the court just now?"
When Qi Tai heard this, he immediately laughed, stretched out his hand to signal Zhang Yan, and said, "Zhao Ji, come on, sit down. Don't be anxious, just listen to me slowly."
"How can we not be in a hurry? Shangli, do you know that when I saw you speaking for Han Du in the court just now, my heart felt cold. I thought..."
Qi Tai smiled unhurriedly and asked: "Do you still think that I will collude with Han Du?"
Zhang Yan looked at Qi Tai and said nothing, but his eyes clearly showed that this was what he was thinking at the time.
