When the two chief officials of the Yushitai heard this, they both looked at each other.
They were officials who should speak out. Even if the emperor didn't like to hear it, they would say what they should say.
But at this moment, both of their eyes fell on the letter that the emperor had just read.
Being able to serve as the Censor of Taidu and the Deputy Censor of the Censor is already an undisputed big-shot figure in the court. People at this level cannot have low emotional intelligence. Everyone is discerning.
Seeing the emperor's reaction, they roughly guessed that there was probably a new development in the war in the north.
At this juncture, they naturally did not want to offend the emperor, so they all stood up one after another, saluted the emperor, and silently exited the Manna Hall.
After the two of them left, His Majesty the Emperor read Shen Yi's secret letter again with great interest, and the smile on his face could no longer be suppressed.
Eunuch Gao silently took out another document from his sleeve, handed it to the emperor with both hands, lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty, this is a private message from Shen Zhongcheng to you."
Private messages are naturally distinguished from public messages.
If the previous letter was Master Shen reporting his work to the emperor, then this letter is less formal and can be regarded as a private communication between the two.
While the emperor reached out to take it, he glanced at Gao Ming and said angrily: "Why are you sending it up in two batches?"
Eunuch Gao lowered his head and said: "The two adults from the Yushitai were here just now. I am afraid that I will delay Your Majesty for too long..."
The emperor ignored him. After opening the letter, he read it quickly and without raising his eyes, he immediately said: "Gao Ming, go and invite Prime Minister Zhao to me."
"Faster."
After saying this, he still didn't take his eyes off the letter.
Seeing what His Majesty the Emperor said, Eunuch Gao did not dare to neglect, and quickly bowed his head and exited the Manna Hall. He went to Zhongshu himself and invited Zhao Changping to the Manna Hall.
After Xianggong Zhao entered the Manlu Palace, he saw His Majesty the Emperor staring at a letter, seemingly deep in thought, and did not even notice that he had entered.
Zhao Changping bowed his head respectfully and bowed his hands in salute: "Old minister Zhao Zhi, pay homage to Your Majesty."
The emperor then raised his head and looked at Mr. Zhao, whose beard had turned nearly half white. He exhaled a long breath and ordered to the eunuch Gao beside him: "Gao Ming, please withdraw from the palace. I have something to do." Discuss with Prime Minister Zhao.”
Eunuch Gao nodded quickly and waved to the palace attendants in the Manna Palace, who immediately filed out. After a while, only three of them were left in the Manna Palace.
The emperor signaled Gaoming and handed the letter to Zhao Changping, then squinted his eyes and said softly: "Prime Minister Zhao should be aware of the land equalization exemption order issued by Shen Yi in the north. Now this land equalization exemption order has indeed allowed The people south of the Huaihe River have some resentment in their hearts."
"Shen Yi gave me a suggestion to solve this matter in the letter."
Mr. Zhao took the document with both hands, glanced at it, and then frowned.
He is a child prodigy, able to read ten lines at a time. Now that he has been an official for decades, he is even more sensitive to official documents. He read this letter in almost a few breaths.
He frowned, looked at it carefully again, then lowered his head and said: "Your Majesty, Shen Yi's first method may be discussed and implemented, but the second method may be difficult to implement."
His Majesty the Emperor sat in his seat and remained silent for a long time without speaking.
Shen Yi made two statements in this letter.
The first one is a way to solve existing problems, that is, to solve the problem of public grievances.
That is to permanently reduce part of the land tax and allocate it to the commercial tax.
The land tax in Dachen is not very high, but it is not low either.
However, the commercial tax is very low. So far, many places have only received 10% of the commercial tax.
It’s almost like tax exemption.
At the end of the day…
Or because most of the local merchants were connected to the scholar-bureaucrat class.
In fact, it was simply the family members of the scholar-bureaucrats in the imperial court who were doing business.
For example, the families of local scholar-bureaucrats, through their connections with officials in the court, acquired a large piece of land, tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of acres.
With a field of this size, it is easy for them to open a grain store. Even a local grain store is not a small business.
Furthermore, some places in the south of the Yangtze River where mulberry trees and silkworms were grown produced raw silk, which might have been sold to silk and cloth shops at the earliest. But as the scale grew, it would be easy to spawn their own cloth shops.
There are many examples.
To put it simply, in this era, although businessmen may not have much social status at the official level, they have actually seized a large amount of social production means and become the spokesperson for the interests of the scholar-bureaucrat class.
This is why business taxes are so low.
Because the referee's family was off the field.
Shen Yi's idea is to reduce the land tax by 30% or even 50% and recover this part of the tax from commercial taxes.
In the past, there was no reason to do so, but now the reason is very good.
In order to quell public dissatisfaction, for the Northern Expedition, and for the stability of the political situation.
This is the first suggestion to deal with the current situation.
The second suggestion is an analogue of the whip method.
To put it simply, it means re-clearing the land, integrating and unifying the various local taxes and servitudes, uniformly converting taxes according to acres of land, and converting all local labor servitudes into cash and handing over them.
In this way, local governments can avoid collecting money randomly, and on the other hand, it can simplify the taxation work.
More importantly, Shen Yi mentioned in it that the gentry and the gentry should receive food from one body. Although it was only mentioned in passing, it was enough to shake the world.
Mr. Zhao hesitated for a moment and continued: "Moreover, once these two methods are brought to the court for discussion, Shen Ziheng will immediately become the target of public criticism."
There is no other reason than that it harmed the interests of the scholar-bureaucrat class.
His Majesty the Emperor nodded slightly: "So for these two methods, he did not send official documents, but sent them to me via private messages."
Emperor Hongde closed his eyes and took a deep breath: "This is something that can only be accomplished if I have to do it."
After a long time, His Majesty the Emperor opened his eyes and said slowly: "My business tax in Dachen is indeed very low."
"Not to mention anything else, the income of the five coastal shipping companies in the past few years has been quite considerable. Moreover, the shipping companies are only engaged in coastal trade, and the internal business in Dachen covers thousands of industries."
"So I think it is feasible to increase the commercial tax to subsidize the land tax."
The emperor's tone gradually became firmer: "And at this moment, the people south of the Huaihe River have complaints. This is a good opportunity. If we bring this article to the court for discussion at this time, no one will say anything."
"I will consider this first clause for a few days and find a suitable opportunity to bring it to the court for discussion. As for the second one..."
He looked at Zhao Changping with a serious expression: "Prime Minister Zhao, you have been in the household department for more than 20 years. Tell me honestly, if this method is continued, will the benefits outweigh the disadvantages, or will the disadvantages outweigh the benefits?"
Zhao Changping raised his head and looked at the emperor seriously. Then he sighed and said: "Your Majesty, if we push it forward according to this method, it will definitely do more good than harm to the court. Leaving aside some local losses, this method will almost certainly It can double the imperial court’s annual income.”
"In the future, after the tax revenue from the northern border is collected, this revenue will increase even more."
"but…"
Zhao Changping whispered: "I'm afraid that someone will kill me in Deqing Palace rather than carry out this method."
"Officials in the entire imperial court will most likely oppose it."
The emperor looked at Zhao Changping and asked, "What about you, Prime Minister Zhao?"
Mr. Zhao said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, the veteran's wife owns a lot of land and is doing business in several provinces. She can be called a wealthy businessman. From this level, the veteran should naturally object."
"but…"
He lowered his eyebrows and said: "For the sake of the great Chen Sheji and the livelihood of the people of the world, I agree with this method in my heart."
"But these four words, the gentry receiving grain, cannot be pushed forward now."
Mr. Zhao said firmly.
"If you are not careful, the court will be shaken immediately."
The emperor nodded thoughtfully.
"That's the truth. Now that the Northern Expedition is underway, the imperial court cannot withstand the turmoil."
At this point, the emperor did not continue.
He didn't say a word.
Now, his prestige is not enough.
One day, the war in the north took a further step, and Hongde was really revived. At that time, his prestige was enough.
The emperor was silent for a while and said slowly: "After Prime Minister Zhao returns, let the Ministry of Revenue calculate how much additional commercial tax will be needed to fill the vacancy of 30% of the land tax."
"Let's get over this matter first."
"Things to come..."
Emperor Hongde said silently.
"Let's talk about it later."
